Lately I've been feeling like I'm on a treadmill. The stuff I have to do never stops. It's really too bad I don't have time to get on a real treadmill. That would actually be fun - and good for me too!
Today was an excellent day. I was playing bass all day long so I'm all happy and unexhausted and my back feels great for a change. Poor Doug had to work over at the house all by himself today. Too bad. I'm tired of being tired. I needed a break. He likes working on the house so he can just keep doing it until he's finished.
Anyway, I played in the crazy time signature big band up in Baltimore from 11:00 until 1:00 and then played the 2:30 show of The Music Man at the Atlas Theater - sightreading=fun! Then I went with some orchestra people to the Argonaut and had a lovely Portobello mushroom sandwich and sweet potato fries, followed by a fabulous latte at Sova, my favorite H Street coffeehouse. Then we all went back and played the 7:00 show.
The Music Man is not really one of my favorite shows - it's kind of square or something - and not very "jazzy" but it does have some lovely bowed string parts, so I enjoyed it anyway.
The thing that really made my day happened during the opening scene where all of the travelling salesmen are riding the train to their next destination and reading newspapers while they ride. The guy in front who I could see from the pit had an old looking newspaper with a picture on the back of a kid with an afro. I thought that was kind of odd. It was a little too 1970s-looking for a show that supposedly takes place in 1912. Then I looked again and I swear that picture was of Michael Jackson when he was about 10 years old. And that is hilarious because Michael Jackson is originally from Gary, Indiana. Gary, Indiana is mentioned a lot in the show and there's even a song with that title.
So whenever you hear "Gary, Indiana" mentioned, are you reminded more of Michael Jackson, or the song from The Music Man? I guess it might depend on how old you are.
Here's the video from the movie, which features Ron Howard in his pre-Opie days and Shirley Jones in her pre-Partridge Family days. It's kind of adorable but it's also slightly cringe-worthy. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label i'm not miserable. Show all posts
Showing posts with label i'm not miserable. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
a little bit sad it's almost over
School is winding down now. My classes are finished and all I have left is giving the final exam, which I've already finished writing, to my improv class next Monday. Once I finish grading the projects and the exams I'll be done. I loved teaching this course and I'm actually going to miss it next semester in spite of how much work it was to prepare for it each week. It's nerve-wracking to do something like this for the first time but I really enjoyed organizing the material into a semester long program and planning all of the various activities that would reinforce the stuff that I presented. The students seemed to think that it was challenging but fun and they all made good progress. It was a very satisfying experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to teach it.
We are going to be working like crazy on our house for the next six weeks because Doug thinks we can have it finished by the final inspection deadline. I've fallen for that kind of talk before. We'll see....
This weekend I've got a gig in Atlantic City with an all girl band called the "Swingettes." I'm carpooling up with a friend from here and we will be playing with other people we know from NYC and Philadelphia. That should be fun. Except that I've got a Messiah rehearsal the next morning that I have to rush home for, and it's on Kent Island. And then there's the rest of the weekend. It's fun to be busy with non-construction type activities though. My hands like that a lot.
We are going to be working like crazy on our house for the next six weeks because Doug thinks we can have it finished by the final inspection deadline. I've fallen for that kind of talk before. We'll see....
This weekend I've got a gig in Atlantic City with an all girl band called the "Swingettes." I'm carpooling up with a friend from here and we will be playing with other people we know from NYC and Philadelphia. That should be fun. Except that I've got a Messiah rehearsal the next morning that I have to rush home for, and it's on Kent Island. And then there's the rest of the weekend. It's fun to be busy with non-construction type activities though. My hands like that a lot.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
It doesn't take much
Here are ten things that have made me very happy recently:
1. The weather has warmed up to a somewhat normal temperature.
2. Doug has put most of the floorboards down on the back porch and has finished nailing most of what he has put down.
3. Yesterday we finished putting up all of the Tyvek inside the back porch and we put up most of the rest of the siding inside the porch. It will look even nicer when it is finished
4. Today I put up most of the rest of the siding on the outside of the back porch. I'm just waiting for Doug to cut the final piece. It will look even nicer when it is finished.
5. Today we took down most of the scaffolding on the south side and some of it on the north side. It will look even nicer once it is all down.
6. Today Doug finished putting up the soffit trim on the north side so the north side is almost finished. It will look even nicer when it is finished.
7. Today we loaded up the truck with a huge amount of construction trash and I drove it to the dump and they didn't make me go in the truck part which is great because I forgot my dust mask.
8. We might actually finish most of the outside of the FoamCoreFantasy before we start working on the inside. Maybe. But I'm not holding my breath.
9. Most of the things we've done recently are much closer to being actually finished than usual.
10. I was able to accurately use the word "most" more often than the word "some" for a change, in describing our recent accomplishments on the house. I'm happier than usual about our progress because "most" is much closer to "all" than "some" is.
1. The weather has warmed up to a somewhat normal temperature.
2. Doug has put most of the floorboards down on the back porch and has finished nailing most of what he has put down.
3. Yesterday we finished putting up all of the Tyvek inside the back porch and we put up most of the rest of the siding inside the porch. It will look even nicer when it is finished
4. Today I put up most of the rest of the siding on the outside of the back porch. I'm just waiting for Doug to cut the final piece. It will look even nicer when it is finished.
5. Today we took down most of the scaffolding on the south side and some of it on the north side. It will look even nicer once it is all down.
6. Today Doug finished putting up the soffit trim on the north side so the north side is almost finished. It will look even nicer when it is finished.
7. Today we loaded up the truck with a huge amount of construction trash and I drove it to the dump and they didn't make me go in the truck part which is great because I forgot my dust mask.
8. We might actually finish most of the outside of the FoamCoreFantasy before we start working on the inside. Maybe. But I'm not holding my breath.
9. Most of the things we've done recently are much closer to being actually finished than usual.
10. I was able to accurately use the word "most" more often than the word "some" for a change, in describing our recent accomplishments on the house. I'm happier than usual about our progress because "most" is much closer to "all" than "some" is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)