I always say it, but I should really write more often on this thing….it's been about four months now. We're still in the heat-end of summer, looking forward to the cooler time of fall. Which I have to hope is just around the corner. We've been in a serious drought now for awhile, and cooler temperatures and some rain would certainly be welcome right about now.
Anyhoo, a new school year has started and here we are on week three already. This is shaping up to be a really light semester actually; the number of concerts we normally do is way down, most particularly in the student recital area. I guess I'm kind of looking forward to having a little bit of a break, more or less. Maybe I can catch up on some other things that have fallen to the wayside. Like writing music…
It's hard to believe it's been over a month now since our Mickey passed away. He was such a good kitty. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition last November (read the blog about that). It was tough seeing him go, but at least we all got to say goodbye. And he fortunately went peacefully, more or less, on his own. Which is about the most I could have hoped for. I certainly don't miss force feeding him pills twice a day. But his company and personality are sorely missed. There will never be another one quite like him.
I just finished conducting the Preview Show for RSP. What a trip that was! After arranging half of the tunes and trying to figure out how to run the other half, and correcting problems in parts and finding out there were whole songs the cast were doing that we knew nothing about, I was pretty burnt out on the whole project. But the show itself went really well in the end, and people seemed to really enjoy. Still, I don't think I'll be doing that again next year; I just don't have the time, and apparently nor do I have the patience, to do something thrown together like this.
Playing 'A Light in the Piazza' with Green Valley Theatre was far more rewarding. What a neat show! At least musically, anyway. It's the first time I've played a musical without amping the bass. And it didn't really need it. An amazing score with a flare for the operatic, it was a delight to play. Certainly one of the most musically rewarding experiences I've had in a long time. And hey, I've been around for awhile!
Well, I suppose I should get back to the Defensive Driver Training which I'm supposed to be completing online to continue driving state vehicles. I've been letting it just run in the background, and every once in awhile I go to it and press the forward button so it goes to the next slide. I have no idea what it's talking about, but the little quizzes at the end of each section are easy enough that you can just guess on them. So, back to it I suppose!
...It's still 90 degrees outside…come on Fall! I'm waiting!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
May the 5th
Yesterday was May 4, a quasi-religious functional "holiday" celebrated by geeks around the world as Star Wars day. Nothing wrong with a little fun I suppose, though every time I read "May the 4th be with you" on Facebook, my gut reaction was to respond with "And also with you". Amen. I didn't do it however; every once in awhile I'm actually able to curtail my smart aleck persona. But it reminds me of a church service! I guess everyone takes what they will from things they hear and see.
Anyway, it's May now and Connor has passed the 6 month mark. He's still an unusually happy baby (for the most part), and we've been able to successfully take him to a multitude of restaurants and even a couple of River Cats games already this year. And yesterday he went to Cal Fit for the first time, and had his first time in a day care setting as well as getting spend some time in a pool for the first time. He really enjoyed it! It's a good thing he doesn't mind being with strangers or being away from his parents...
This is the busiest time of the season for me; I performed my annual concert countdown and discovered that the first 16 days of May hold 29 concerts (and two festivals). We've already downed a festival and 8 of those concerts. so it's winding down! I spent a bit of time at school this weekend, which always makes the weekends fly by. Can't believe it's another Monday already!
This summer will be Connor's first, and our summer vacations the first chance we've had to really spend time doing things with him since our maternity and paternity leaves expired. Not sure what all we'll do; perhaps go camping or maybe even take a cruise to Alaska (if the fares come down…). Not that I'll be idle and bored with nothing to do this summer - I'm conducting for the musical The Producers at Runaway Stage from May 30-June 22, and I have a whole load of composing and arranging I've committed to. So it has the makings for being an intensely busy summer, despite my secret inner resolution to take a break from it all and vegetate for awhile.
Well, what see what comes of it all. Two more weeks till finals!
Anyway, it's May now and Connor has passed the 6 month mark. He's still an unusually happy baby (for the most part), and we've been able to successfully take him to a multitude of restaurants and even a couple of River Cats games already this year. And yesterday he went to Cal Fit for the first time, and had his first time in a day care setting as well as getting spend some time in a pool for the first time. He really enjoyed it! It's a good thing he doesn't mind being with strangers or being away from his parents...
This is the busiest time of the season for me; I performed my annual concert countdown and discovered that the first 16 days of May hold 29 concerts (and two festivals). We've already downed a festival and 8 of those concerts. so it's winding down! I spent a bit of time at school this weekend, which always makes the weekends fly by. Can't believe it's another Monday already!
This summer will be Connor's first, and our summer vacations the first chance we've had to really spend time doing things with him since our maternity and paternity leaves expired. Not sure what all we'll do; perhaps go camping or maybe even take a cruise to Alaska (if the fares come down…). Not that I'll be idle and bored with nothing to do this summer - I'm conducting for the musical The Producers at Runaway Stage from May 30-June 22, and I have a whole load of composing and arranging I've committed to. So it has the makings for being an intensely busy summer, despite my secret inner resolution to take a break from it all and vegetate for awhile.
Well, what see what comes of it all. Two more weeks till finals!
Friday, January 24, 2014
12 Weeks!
Well it's hard to believe that Connor passed his 12 week milestone last night. It's been a whirlwind of time, and it seems like only yesterday we were leaving the hospital with him. I have to look at his first pictures to realize just how much he's grown in that time. You don't notice these things so much on a day to day basis, but comparing photos from last Halloween certainly paints a picture! He's now pushing at 13 pounds and seems quite tall when he's standing up (with a little help of course…he's not THAT advanced!)
So my days are spent at work now while Connor stays with his various grandparents. Nights are spend trying to squeeze in a few hours of sleep here or there until he wakes up demanding milk or attention. Or both. Of course sometimes he's just annoyed that he has gas. And boy does he have a lot of that!
He's not quite crawling yet, but he does seem to enjoy "tummy time" more, and he holds his head up high, and you can tell that he's certainly trying to struggle and move himself. He'll get there, but in the meantime he has to rely on us to schlep him around.
Meanwhile, today is the last day of break before school starts on Monday. Over the winter break I was able to re-input the score of my transcription to Shostakovitch's 2nd piano concerto. I'd had written it many years ago for a friend to play with a local professional wind ensemble, and now another group wishes to use it in performance. Thankfully I had enough time to input everything and create new parts, as it allowed me to correct several mistakes from the original, as well as to add in rehearsal numbers and a few limited cures to help the players in rehearsal. The performance should be in May, so I look forward to hearing it again!
Connor's first Christmas was fun, albeit rather low-key. We did the normal Christmas morning at my parents house and Christmas afternoon and dinner and Whitney's mom's house, followed by the annual post-Christmas trek to Reno to see Whitney's dad. Fortunately there was no snow on the road. Or rather unfortunately for California, as we're currently in a record breaking drought which promises a bleak year here if things don't turn around. But last year it was snowing so bad that we barely made it through the Sierra Nevada. What a difference a year makes!
So now it's on to work for the day, and the last chance to prepare for the spring semester at Sac State. Eh, I think I'm ready. For summer vacation that is!
So my days are spent at work now while Connor stays with his various grandparents. Nights are spend trying to squeeze in a few hours of sleep here or there until he wakes up demanding milk or attention. Or both. Of course sometimes he's just annoyed that he has gas. And boy does he have a lot of that!
He's not quite crawling yet, but he does seem to enjoy "tummy time" more, and he holds his head up high, and you can tell that he's certainly trying to struggle and move himself. He'll get there, but in the meantime he has to rely on us to schlep him around.
Meanwhile, today is the last day of break before school starts on Monday. Over the winter break I was able to re-input the score of my transcription to Shostakovitch's 2nd piano concerto. I'd had written it many years ago for a friend to play with a local professional wind ensemble, and now another group wishes to use it in performance. Thankfully I had enough time to input everything and create new parts, as it allowed me to correct several mistakes from the original, as well as to add in rehearsal numbers and a few limited cures to help the players in rehearsal. The performance should be in May, so I look forward to hearing it again!
Connor's first Christmas was fun, albeit rather low-key. We did the normal Christmas morning at my parents house and Christmas afternoon and dinner and Whitney's mom's house, followed by the annual post-Christmas trek to Reno to see Whitney's dad. Fortunately there was no snow on the road. Or rather unfortunately for California, as we're currently in a record breaking drought which promises a bleak year here if things don't turn around. But last year it was snowing so bad that we barely made it through the Sierra Nevada. What a difference a year makes!
So now it's on to work for the day, and the last chance to prepare for the spring semester at Sac State. Eh, I think I'm ready. For summer vacation that is!
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