Civic Engagement

What a crappy week. I don't even know why. I really wish I had something to complain about here, but I don't. It was just kind of blah. And tiring. For no reason. Dude I'm freaking exhausted right now. Maybe I have mono.

Some good news happened during this time though. I found out for sure that I'm going to New Orleans over Spring Break to volunteer for recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The way that storm was handled..for years now..is an absolutely tragedy, and nothing less than a failure of such proportions that we should all be ashamed as Americans to have let it happen in what should be the greatest country in the world. Now, that rant aside, though the government should be doing 300% more to clean this mess up, the fact remains that they simply are not. So that leaves volunteers to pick up the slack, something I cannot wait to do.

My family lives on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi (side note: I still spell that in my head every time I write it. Oh, second grade.) They were incredibly lucky to have come through the storm with homes. My Aunt Clara, however, sent photos to our family of the damage all around them. There was virtually nothing left in places. 

As for New Orleans itself, the destruction there is something that likely affected all American musicians in a way at least slightly deeper than sitting through a news report. New Orleans is far from an economic center of music in the United States, but it is easily one of the cultural centers. It is a city where music thrives as not only something seen in halls and bars on weekends, but on the streets all the time. And it is a city that every American musician has a soft spot for. And if they don't, they should.

During the time that Katrina struck, I was working as a newspaper delivery driver part-time. The radio was typically tuned to NPR or Air America. This was not CNN or your evening news. These stations held back nothing in the grizzly details, they spoke to people in the arena-turned-bathroomless-shelter and on the streets. It was almost unbearable to listen to it and think 'New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.' This, combined with my family's proximity and my soft spot for New Orleans left a lasting impact. Then I started hearing about college groups that were taking trips down there. I've always wanted to be a part of one, but it wasn't offered at Castleton. So this trip is something that is years in coming, and I'm looking forward to it.

Not to mention, Spring Break is the second week of March and I live in New York. New Orleans is warm.

Music...

...is starting to go much better for me now. Over the break between semesters, I only practiced twice. In a month. Now, those of you who are musicians probably just shit, unless you're vocalists, in which case you're shocked that it's possible to practice as much as twice in a month.

But honestly, even though my playing took a giant step backward in that time, my passion for music seems to be rebounding. Last year was an incredibly scary year for this. I quite literally had no urge to play at all by the end of it. And music has been what I've concentrated on the most since I was six years old. 

But now that I took that break and the semester began again, I've had much more energy and no problem convincing myself to practice. I swear, I barely played at all last semester. And though I didn't play in many ensembles, every rehearsal was drudgery. Not so this time. Even though I am not enjoying the literature quite as much, rehearsals have become fun again. 

I am primarily an instrumentalist. I perform on tuba, double-bass and trombone. This semester I started singing again, in the Chamber Choir at Saint Rose. Though it is not a very high-level choir (anymore, apparently), I am really enjoying singing in it. Because singing isn't my main focus in music, it becomes an outlet much more easily than playing.

But one of the best side-effects of my month off: because my practicing is more enjoyable now, I'm more consistent in it, and improving more rapidly. Part of this is because I started religiously sticking to my daily routine, which is a heavenly gift to any tuba player. (For more info, comment this or email me.) 

Also, expect updates to my concert calendar, as more dates will be added, hopefully soon. This semester I am in the following ensembles:

CSR Wind Ensemble (Principal tuba)

CSR Brass Choir (Tuba)

CSR Chamber Choir (Tenor I)

Trombone Choir (Bass trombone)

Chamber Brass (Tuba) (includes trio, quintet, sextet and septet)

Sage City Symphony (Double-bass)

and one more, which I will post as soon as I learn the name of it.

A lot of the reason that I posted this is to lend a small bit of (probably bad) advice to others experiencing burnout like I am just getting through. Also, I'm just happy that things are getting better, and wanted to write about it. And I wanted to do it now, because tuba playing is going to suck this week, because I have a canker sore on the very tip of my tongue. It's from a food allergy to milk fat. And the only thing to win over my tuba playing this weekend? Ben and Jerry's. And it was soooo worth it.

Inarticulation

So I haven't posted anything in a little while. Not that things have been quiet; the first week of the semester just ended, and it was everything but quiet. Then this weekend was one awkward moment after another, because let's face it, I was awake. Also, Mere is visiting, which tends to multiply the awkward by some number higher than one. 

But honestly, I haven't had much to say. Actually this might not be entirely true. The other day I had an idea for something that I would going to discuss in depth on here. It would have been a very insightful take on something relevant to our current societal state or political landscape. Then I forgot what I was going to write about.

So I'm putting this up because I don't want a lack of updates to risk a loss of readers, especially since there are probably only two of you. So I will leave now with a promise: this week, expect words. More of them than this. And these words will probably be about something too. At least, it's worth a shot.

Performances, Spring '09

So I keep getting asked about when and where I am performing this semester, so this seems like an excellent way to get the word out. I can just give people the link, and they can get the full list. And then they can stay and read my deeply insightful and flipping amazing blog.

Not all the dates are in yet, but this is what I have so far:

February 15: Sage City Symphony Chamber Concert: 4:00 pm. (Double-bass)

Greenwall Auditorium, VAPA Building, Bennington College.

March 5: CSR Wind Ensemble: 8:00pm. (Tuba)

Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, The College of Saint Rose.

March 8: Sage City Symphony Youth Concert: 4:00pm. (Double-bass)

Greenwall Auditorium, VAPA Building, Bennington College.

CANCELED due to Alternative Spring Break. Well, not the concert, but my playing it. You can still go.

April 18: CSR Chamber Singers: 8:00pm. (Tenor)

Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, The College of Saint Rose.

April 20: CSR Brass Choir: 7:00pm. (Tuba)

Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, The College of Saint Rose.

April 27: CSR Brass something (I don't know which group): 7:00pm. 

Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, The College of Saint Rose.

May 2: CSR Wind Ensemble: 8:00pm. (Tuba)

Picotte Recital Hall, Massry Center for the Arts, The College of Saint Rose.

May 3: Sage City Symphony: 4:00pm. (Double-bass)

Greenwall Auditorium, VAPA Building, Bennington College.

Wine and cheese.

That is the extent of the food preparation that I can handle tonight. I don't know why; usually I'm pretty awesome with food. Tonight I made eggs on toast with neufchatel, one of my favorites. It was boring. Then I made a salad but I had to start a new bottle of dressing. The dressing wasn't good. Then I tried my new espresso machine for the first time. I'm sure it was mostly due to the fact that it was my first time ever making an espresso anything, but my mocha latte sucked. I drink like 8 espresso drinks a day, I've seen people do it enough. But no dice. Tomorrow: less espresso, more milk, less chocolate, more talent. 

Finally, something kind of worked. It was toasted garlic demi baguette with affinois cheese (kind of like brie with herbs...but not the stony herbs that would have made this particular combination taste better). I had this with Little Black Dress merlot. It was...not as bad as everything else I prepared tonight. But it was off. Maybe I should have gone with the beaujolais nouveau, to match the French with the French. Or maybe I need the rosemary and olive oil demi baguette that Hannaford so rudely had none of last night. Or. Maybe I'm having the kind of day where everything tastes bad. It's possible; I'm in quite the mood.

Either way, I am confident in the fact that after scouring the supermarkets tomorrow for my good salad dressing, going with a healthy dish of Thai or Chinese food for dinner, maybe starting my running routine, and sleeping off my current outlook, things will taste much better.

Communication disorder.

I suck at updating this page. And not only because I'm lazy. It just took me days to figure out how to actually log into it. (Blogger changed the login process to Google. That combined with the fact that my login didn't really work combined with the fact that I'm not that bright made it a bit difficult.) I mean it's okay because I'm pretty sure that no one reads this anyway. But still.

So Christmas/birthday/New Year's was interesting. I was with family for all of it, including New Year's Eve in Burlington with my cousins and my fruit fly. Other than that, I've basically accomplished absolutely nothing on this break. I wonder if maybe that's a good thing. I'm ridiculously burnt out; maybe I need this break.

Most of what I did accomplish involved actually making New Year's resolutions for once, freaking out about various life-related things, canceling (tentatively) a recital I had planned for the late spring and discovering cell phone service at my parents' house for the first time ever (as I was on my way out for the final time in weeks...gah!)

At the moment I really want a mocha from either Starbucks or the Muddy Cup. But I don't want to drive. And the Muddy Cup is a 10 minute walk. So I'm writing a blog entry to delay my travels. My aversion to movement at the moment is fierce. But...it's time to go get that mocha. Obviously it's that time because I just resigned myself to going and someone IMed me.

Update: I changed my mind. A mocha is just not important enough.