How do you like my new couch? It's the most comfy piece of furniture we have over there at the moment. Yep, I'm losing it.....
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Color Therapy
Apparently neutral and "safe" colors depress me. My house is turning into a color riot. Considering the grueling ordeal that my life has been for the past few years, I need some cheering up and this color may very well do the trick. And when I grow up a few years from now I can always change it to something more mature, and elegant, as my mother would say.
How do you like my new couch? It's the most comfy piece of furniture we have over there at the moment. Yep, I'm losing it.....
How do you like my new couch? It's the most comfy piece of furniture we have over there at the moment. Yep, I'm losing it.....
Friday, January 9, 2009
Water Tower, Part Two
Since I have nothing interesting to blog about except for this, I guess I'll just post another water tower picture. Do two entries make a series?
This trio of towers can be found near the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and Route 28/198.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Water Tower
I took this photo a few days ago because this ugly old water tower was suddenly looking prettier than I've ever seen it. I guess the sunset helped quite a bit.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
MEMEMEMEME
Kate over at The Big Piece of Cake tagged me a few weeks ago for the WORLD'S LONGEST MEME!!! I've never seen such a long one before. It's been like a final project or something, and I started it last year so the dates are all off now. I'm not doing it over, so here's what I've got:
ALL ABOUT ME
10 years ago: This is hard - so much has happened since then! In 1998 I was in my second year of officially being just a bass player and not a piano teacher. I played in a bunch of local big bands and orchestras and with a jazz septet up in Baltimore. I played a bunch of shows and other miscellaneous gigs. I did a show called "Swingtime Canteen" for six weeks in North Carolina, and forced my husband to become more organized in the way he ran his business. What did I do for fun? Most of my fun involved playing the bass!
8 years ago: In 2000, I was playing in a popular local swing quintet, I had my first steady restaurant gig with a jazz trio - 2 nights a week for four years, I played for a big band theme cruise on the QE2, followed by a fabulous vacation in France and the Netherlands, and I ended the year at Bluesville in Tunica MS playing with the Artie Shaw band for New Year's Eve. I continued to work on the side as Doug's "office manager."
6 years ago: In 2002 I got my thyroid taken out and, like magic, I was no longer depressed for no apparent reason. I had started working on my M.M. in jazz studies but that was interrupted by a touring opportunity in the fall which lasted for four years. At the end of the year I ended up being car number 3 in a four car pileup and my bass was completely demolished. The repairs took 8 months but when I got my bass back it was better than ever.
2 years ago: 2006 was easily the crappiest year of my life. Although the fire happened in 2005, it wasn't until 2006 that I finally began to realize what we were in for. We were still dealing with all kinds of fire-related issues, both emotional and financial in nature, and I was not at all happy that I would have to stop touring and doing cruise gigs in order to deal with everything. We tried to plan our house while we were on the road but it was impossible. We were on tour for the first half of the year and had loads of fun in Albuquerque and Hawaii and other places too, but there was also a huge shadow hanging over us. When we got back home we emptied out the charred remains of our house into four huge dumpsters, sawed through the connection between our old house and the addition and watched the 1870s part, which we had lived in for our entire married life, get torn down and carried away. And then basically nothing else happened for the rest of the year. Except I took jazz theory at UMD to keep my mind off of all of the things that weren't happening. I told you it was a crappy year!
Five yummy things:
1. Peppermint ice cream from Gifford's.
2. Mexican chocolate - the kind that has cinnamon in it.
3. Smoked trout - I've only ever had it on cruise ships but it is definitely very very yummy.
4. Sauted spinach - see, I like nutritious food too.
5. Grilled cheese sandwiches made by Doug
That's not all, of course! And since it didn't say favorite yummy things, I just listed the first five things that popped into my head.
Five songs I know by heart:
I know a lot of different kinds of songs, and it's harder to think of the songs than it is to remember the words. This is a completely random list.
1. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
2. Deep Purple (When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls, etc...)
3. My Girl
4. Natural Woman
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)
Five places I would like to escape to:
1. Italy
2. Spain
3. Greece
4. New Zealand
5. Hawaii
Five things I would never wear:
1. Hats - I hate wearing hats!
2. Shoes that are too tight
3. Christmas sweaters
4. Orange
5. Chunky jewelry
Five favorite TV shows:
I haven't had a TV since 2005 and I've only watched TV in hotels since then so this list is kind of random and old.
1. Law and Order - all versions of it.
2. ER - is it still on?
3. Weeds - I rented it and watched it on my computer. I thought Season One was better than Season Two.
4. Friends - I only ever saw reruns. It reconfirmed my secret desire to live in NYC.
5. Days of Our Lives - but I haven't seen it in years.
Five things I enjoy doing:
1. Playing music
2. Traveling
3. Going to movies
4. Going to jazz clubs
5. Imagining my house being finished so I can get on with my life
Five Favorite toys: (in no particular order)
1. My Laptop, although I liked my last one better
2. My "Thumper"
3. Blanche (my CRV)
4. My instruments - although I don't really regard them as toys
5. My new sewing machine, although I haven't had much time to use it yet.
I'm sure this list will be completely different in another few months. It will hopefully contain exciting things like dishwasher, garbage disposal, TV, etc.
Five people who I am tagging to fill this out:
I don't like to bug people, but I guess tagging is part of the whole meme process, so here are the lucky recipients:
1. Sing Like Sassy - to get back at her for tagging me for my first and hopefully next to last meme.
2. Bozoette - because the last time I tagged her she said she actually enjoyed doing memes.
3. Livit, Luvit - because she might enjoy doing this and I think people would enjoy reading it.
4. Looking2Live - because it's her fault I even got into blogging!
5. The Gilahi Blog - this is kind of a random choice because I mostly just lurk around his blog - he's probably going to wonder "what the hell?" if he ever even happens to stumble upon this.
Whew, done!!! Enough about me already!
ALL ABOUT ME
10 years ago: This is hard - so much has happened since then! In 1998 I was in my second year of officially being just a bass player and not a piano teacher. I played in a bunch of local big bands and orchestras and with a jazz septet up in Baltimore. I played a bunch of shows and other miscellaneous gigs. I did a show called "Swingtime Canteen" for six weeks in North Carolina, and forced my husband to become more organized in the way he ran his business. What did I do for fun? Most of my fun involved playing the bass!
8 years ago: In 2000, I was playing in a popular local swing quintet, I had my first steady restaurant gig with a jazz trio - 2 nights a week for four years, I played for a big band theme cruise on the QE2, followed by a fabulous vacation in France and the Netherlands, and I ended the year at Bluesville in Tunica MS playing with the Artie Shaw band for New Year's Eve. I continued to work on the side as Doug's "office manager."
6 years ago: In 2002 I got my thyroid taken out and, like magic, I was no longer depressed for no apparent reason. I had started working on my M.M. in jazz studies but that was interrupted by a touring opportunity in the fall which lasted for four years. At the end of the year I ended up being car number 3 in a four car pileup and my bass was completely demolished. The repairs took 8 months but when I got my bass back it was better than ever.
2 years ago: 2006 was easily the crappiest year of my life. Although the fire happened in 2005, it wasn't until 2006 that I finally began to realize what we were in for. We were still dealing with all kinds of fire-related issues, both emotional and financial in nature, and I was not at all happy that I would have to stop touring and doing cruise gigs in order to deal with everything. We tried to plan our house while we were on the road but it was impossible. We were on tour for the first half of the year and had loads of fun in Albuquerque and Hawaii and other places too, but there was also a huge shadow hanging over us. When we got back home we emptied out the charred remains of our house into four huge dumpsters, sawed through the connection between our old house and the addition and watched the 1870s part, which we had lived in for our entire married life, get torn down and carried away. And then basically nothing else happened for the rest of the year. Except I took jazz theory at UMD to keep my mind off of all of the things that weren't happening. I told you it was a crappy year!
Five yummy things:
1. Peppermint ice cream from Gifford's.
2. Mexican chocolate - the kind that has cinnamon in it.
3. Smoked trout - I've only ever had it on cruise ships but it is definitely very very yummy.
4. Sauted spinach - see, I like nutritious food too.
5. Grilled cheese sandwiches made by Doug
That's not all, of course! And since it didn't say favorite yummy things, I just listed the first five things that popped into my head.
Five songs I know by heart:
I know a lot of different kinds of songs, and it's harder to think of the songs than it is to remember the words. This is a completely random list.
1. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
2. Deep Purple (When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls, etc...)
3. My Girl
4. Natural Woman
5. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)
Five places I would like to escape to:
1. Italy
2. Spain
3. Greece
4. New Zealand
5. Hawaii
Five things I would never wear:
1. Hats - I hate wearing hats!
2. Shoes that are too tight
3. Christmas sweaters
4. Orange
5. Chunky jewelry
Five favorite TV shows:
I haven't had a TV since 2005 and I've only watched TV in hotels since then so this list is kind of random and old.
1. Law and Order - all versions of it.
2. ER - is it still on?
3. Weeds - I rented it and watched it on my computer. I thought Season One was better than Season Two.
4. Friends - I only ever saw reruns. It reconfirmed my secret desire to live in NYC.
5. Days of Our Lives - but I haven't seen it in years.
Five things I enjoy doing:
1. Playing music
2. Traveling
3. Going to movies
4. Going to jazz clubs
5. Imagining my house being finished so I can get on with my life
Five Favorite toys: (in no particular order)
1. My Laptop, although I liked my last one better
2. My "Thumper"
3. Blanche (my CRV)
4. My instruments - although I don't really regard them as toys
5. My new sewing machine, although I haven't had much time to use it yet.
I'm sure this list will be completely different in another few months. It will hopefully contain exciting things like dishwasher, garbage disposal, TV, etc.
Five people who I am tagging to fill this out:
I don't like to bug people, but I guess tagging is part of the whole meme process, so here are the lucky recipients:
1. Sing Like Sassy - to get back at her for tagging me for my first and hopefully next to last meme.
2. Bozoette - because the last time I tagged her she said she actually enjoyed doing memes.
3. Livit, Luvit - because she might enjoy doing this and I think people would enjoy reading it.
4. Looking2Live - because it's her fault I even got into blogging!
5. The Gilahi Blog - this is kind of a random choice because I mostly just lurk around his blog - he's probably going to wonder "what the hell?" if he ever even happens to stumble upon this.
Whew, done!!! Enough about me already!
Resolutions
Since 2009 is probably going to be the best year I've had in a long time, I thought it might be appropriate to make a couple of resolutions that will make the year be even better. I don't usually bother making resolutions but this year seems different somehow.
From now on, for as long as it lasts, I'm not going to turn on my computer each day until I've put in 45 minutes on the Lifecycle. So I'm replacing 45 minutes of sitting around wasting time with 45 minutes of exercise. Going online will be my reward for having exercised. It's a win-win situation.
I'm going to go back to the tall skim latte as my drink of choice. It's time for the peppermint mocha phase to end. So I'll be saving money and calories - another win-win situation.
The good things in store for me this year are moving back into my house, getting my master's, taking a trip to Norway and Denmark, getting back into exercising, and who knows what else.
From now on, for as long as it lasts, I'm not going to turn on my computer each day until I've put in 45 minutes on the Lifecycle. So I'm replacing 45 minutes of sitting around wasting time with 45 minutes of exercise. Going online will be my reward for having exercised. It's a win-win situation.
I'm going to go back to the tall skim latte as my drink of choice. It's time for the peppermint mocha phase to end. So I'll be saving money and calories - another win-win situation.
The good things in store for me this year are moving back into my house, getting my master's, taking a trip to Norway and Denmark, getting back into exercising, and who knows what else.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year!!!!!
We are home from our New Years Eve gig already. I think this might be the best one ever. It was a short concert with a good friend of ours so it was fun and we got home at 10:00. Amazing! We get to celebrate together at home for a change.
This got me thinking about past New Years Eve gigs. Doug has always worked on New Years Eve so I'm pretty used to not ringing in the new year with him. We always see each other later. There were two particularly lonely years when one or the other of us was working on a cruise ship over the holidays. For me it was harder when I was on the ship and he was home than the other way around.
In recent years we've actually played some gigs together. The first time we were playing in two different groups, but in the same hotel so we carpooled down to DC. We worked up in Baltimore with our friend Bob Fields a couple of times. In 2000 we played with the Artie Shaw band in a casino in Tunica, MS at a place called Bluesville. The next year we played at the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels.
During the time we were on the road, the NYE gigs became more sporadic. Sometimes Doug would have one and sometimes I would. But we've never both been off at the same time, until this year. So it's time to crack open the champagne now. Happy New Year!!!
This got me thinking about past New Years Eve gigs. Doug has always worked on New Years Eve so I'm pretty used to not ringing in the new year with him. We always see each other later. There were two particularly lonely years when one or the other of us was working on a cruise ship over the holidays. For me it was harder when I was on the ship and he was home than the other way around.
In recent years we've actually played some gigs together. The first time we were playing in two different groups, but in the same hotel so we carpooled down to DC. We worked up in Baltimore with our friend Bob Fields a couple of times. In 2000 we played with the Artie Shaw band in a casino in Tunica, MS at a place called Bluesville. The next year we played at the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels.
During the time we were on the road, the NYE gigs became more sporadic. Sometimes Doug would have one and sometimes I would. But we've never both been off at the same time, until this year. So it's time to crack open the champagne now. Happy New Year!!!
distracted by nature
We finally figured out a way to get all of the excess 12x4 sheets of drywall down two flights of stairs without killing ourselves.
Step One was to cut half of them down to 10 feet and the rest to 8 feet lengths. It is amazing what a difference that makes. They are about 17 percent less heavy, and with the shorter and more manueverable length they are completely manageable.
Step Two was to pace ourselves, so there was a little free time between each panel to check out the rather dramatic and rapidly changing weather. I took these out of the window of my house.
So windy!
And snowy!
And even snowier!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Monday, December 29, 2008
dirty and tired...and tired of being dirty
I have no life. I've spent the past week covered in fiberglass and drywall dust. It's gross. I hate getting all dirty. I can't stand it. People look at me funny when I go up to MacDonalds to use the restroom. The only place where I feel that I look acceptable is at the dump. I love the dump. I can get rid of nasty dirty pieces of junk. People don't look at me funny there. I have to wear a dust mask all day long. That is uncomfortable. It's too humid around my mouth when I wear a dust mask. When the dust clogs the outside of the mask it feels like I'm being smothered and I start to gag. Yuck. Clearly I wasn't cut out for this lifestyle, that's all there is to it.
Today started out nicely enough though. I got up and washed my hair and it stayed clean for five whole hours while I played my brunch gig. I love my brunch gig so much more than I love working on my house. It's such a wonderful escape from life's daily trials. I escape easily, or perhaps I should say I amuse myself easily. Today while playing I began to notice some rather interesting things in the floor tile at my brunch gig. Am I hallucinating again?
Today started out nicely enough though. I got up and washed my hair and it stayed clean for five whole hours while I played my brunch gig. I love my brunch gig so much more than I love working on my house. It's such a wonderful escape from life's daily trials. I escape easily, or perhaps I should say I amuse myself easily. Today while playing I began to notice some rather interesting things in the floor tile at my brunch gig. Am I hallucinating again?
This little dude's hairdo reminds me of Kid'n'Play from the early '90s.
A couple of ladies - can you see them?
Kermit, is that you?
Look, a little fishy!
and Mr. Hippopotamus
SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!! PLEASE!!!!!
A couple of ladies - can you see them?
Kermit, is that you?
Look, a little fishy!
and Mr. Hippopotamus
SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!! PLEASE!!!!!
.
Friday, December 19, 2008
so busy....
My blogs have kind of fallen by the wayside recently, and now that I finally have a free minute, I guess I might as well throw up some pictures (since I seem to also have diarrhea of the camera) and try to remember what I've been doing for the last week.
The things you can buy in New Jersey!
Why is the beach so pink?
I guess I was walking around in the Red Light District
We saw this on the way home. Too bad they were closed!
Sunrise on the Severn
This must be the Great Wye Oak's great grandson.
The trip to Atlantic City last Friday was quick but fun. My friend MyCatTom and I yakked away for the entire trip up and the entire trip back which made the drive seem really short. We rehearsed in the afternoon and did the concert that night. The various "Swingettes" came from DC, NY, Philadelphia, North Carolina, and Atlantic City. I enjoyed playing with all of them. There wasn't much free time, but I was able to hobble on down to the beach. It was unbelievably cold and windy there. On the way home the road was extremely well-lit by an enormous full moon.
The things you can buy in New Jersey!
Why is the beach so pink?
I guess I was walking around in the Red Light District
We saw this on the way home. Too bad they were closed!The Messiah rehearsal and concert over on Kent Island last weekend went well. But I had to get up at the crack of dawn, which not exactly my favorite time of day.
Sunrise on the Severn
This must be the Great Wye Oak's great grandson.I'm totally finished with school for the semester. I really enjoyed teaching my class, but I'm glad I don't have to do it next semester because my own course load is going to be much larger than it was this fall.
I'm playing a musical adaptation of Theodore Roethke's poem "The Waking" for December graduation at UMD tomorrow. Just me and a singer. She has a beautiful voice and it's a pretty cool piece. The bass part works great in the original "guy" key but the transposed bass part lies in a kind of awkward and less resonant area of the bass, so there's no way to make it sound as good as the recording. Even the bass player on the recording would not be able to sound as good in the key I'm doing it in. So that's a little frustrating, but I think the over all effect will still be nice. I haven't played in a hall as big as the Comcast Center for a few years so I'm looking forward to that as well. We had the soundcheck this morning and the sound guy is great. I'm digging the reverb - a lot! Anyway, here's the original version of the piece, in the original, more resonant key.
I'm playing a musical adaptation of Theodore Roethke's poem "The Waking" for December graduation at UMD tomorrow. Just me and a singer. She has a beautiful voice and it's a pretty cool piece. The bass part works great in the original "guy" key but the transposed bass part lies in a kind of awkward and less resonant area of the bass, so there's no way to make it sound as good as the recording. Even the bass player on the recording would not be able to sound as good in the key I'm doing it in. So that's a little frustrating, but I think the over all effect will still be nice. I haven't played in a hall as big as the Comcast Center for a few years so I'm looking forward to that as well. We had the soundcheck this morning and the sound guy is great. I'm digging the reverb - a lot! Anyway, here's the original version of the piece, in the original, more resonant key.
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.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Eww...
I just played an orchestra concert with totally stringy hair. I had to help install a new window today and by the time we were finished there was only enough time for a quick shower, not nearly enough time to wash and dry my hair. Yuck. Oh well, it was just a short holiday pops kiddie concert but still...I'm grossed out. Fortunately I'm off duty over at the house for the rest of the day so I've got time to wash my hair, exfoliate, moisturize, put in my contacts, and even apply some makeup(!!!) before my gig tonight. Yaay!!!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Mystery of the Acorns
For some reason this acorn issue has been gnawing away at me all week, ever since I saw this post, on Looking2Live's blog and this one, on the Washington Gardener blog. I can't say that I'd noticed any acorns, or lack of acorns for that matter, but what I had noticed was that the squirrels in my yard were becoming very fat and they've been extremely busy simultaneously eating and burying things that are distinctly bigger than acorns. Maybe they are black walnuts? Today I finally had a chance to investigate this acorn mystery and this is what I found under the oak tree out back:
So we actually do have some acorns, but they are pretty small. Unless you look really closely they kind of just look like random chips of loose bark. Meanwhile the frantic chewing continues:
About ten seconds after I filmed the chewing action my backyard suddenly turned into Silver Spring's answer to the Serengeti:
Notice the chewed up shrubbery at the end of this video. That is what the deer do out way out here in the suburbs. And my voice is hoarse from inhaling wallboard dust all morning.
As I was heading off to my rehearsals I spied an interesting bird up on the power line so I rolled open my sun roof and took this picture:
It looks like some kind of hawk and and it really was that color up there glowing in the afternoon sun. It almost looks fake - sometimes my camera seems to brighten the colors by all by itself, depending on the lighting. So maybe this bird is a "Golden Hawk?" I have no idea.
It's kind of strange that so many different animals presented themselves to me for photo-ops today. Maybe I should have combined this post with the one I made earlier today. I could have called it "Wallboard and Wildlife!"
6:30 AM in the morning vs 6:30 AM at night
6:30 AM at NIGHT
6:30 AM is a time when I am rarely up and about, but this week I've actually seen this time of day from two different perspectives.
Sunday night I was preparing the class that I teach on Mondays and in an amazing burst of energy, with help from some coffee ice cream, I finished the lesson plan for both this past Monday and next Monday, and then since I wasn't sleepy yet I went ahead and wrote the final exam! So I'm all done with the real work of teaching the course except for the actual teaching, which is totally fun, and grading things, which is always interesting and sometimes fun too. By the time I was finished with all of that it was 6:30 AM. So I went to bed on Sunday at 6:30 AM at night.
Then today (only two days later) we had a 6:30 AM in the morning delivery of wallboard over at our real house, I mean our fantasy house. That was rather painful for me. We actually had to get up at 5:30 to make it over there in time. The light is certainly very different in the early morning hours. I think it might be the best thing about this hour of the day.
Based on my experiences with 6:30 AM this week, I am officially declaring that 6:30 AM at night is much more pleasant for me than 6:30 AM in the morning! Can you tell that I'm sleep deprived?
6:30 AM in the MORNINGSaturday, 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.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Tennessee Tour
We left late Wednesday night last week for a little mini-tour which involved a lot of driving but was also a lot of fun. We had some gigs with a Benny Goodman/Peggy Lee tribute show that started in Cleveland, TN on Thursday and ended in Bluefield, WV last night. The headliners were from Boston, and most of the rest of the band was from the Knoxville area except for a drummer from North Carolina.
I had most of the day off on Friday so I did some exploring in the Knoxville area, but it was so cold that I spent the entire morning goofing off in a coffee shop in downtown Knoxville before heading out in my car to check out the rest of the downtown area and some sections south of town. I attempted to go for a walk by a lake. It was a pretty lake but too cold for me so I finished the day back at the coffee shop.
One thing I noticed while hanging out there was that a lot of the customers had nose piercings, which is fine, but they weren't the usual single stud or loop on the side of the nose - instead a lot of them had a piercing through the middle that looped down and ended in two balls, with one coming out of each nostril. Maybe it was the weather, but I started thinking that it looked like they all had silver snot hanging out of their noses. Now that's a whole lot more attractive than real snot so I'm actually kind of glad it was silver. But ewww, what if you had a piercing like that and suddenly had to blow your nose?
When I went to pick up Doug I got to see the amazing restoration and remodeling work that Vance and Emily are doing on their house way up on a hill overlooking the Tennessee River and downtown Knoxville. The style of the inside of their house is exactly how I want mine to look if we ever get to that point. Emily has done most of the molding work herself and has even built a few couches! Now I almost feel like trying that. Almost. Anyway it was very inspiring, and cool to see how good some of the things I had been envisioning actually look in a real house.
(A real house, as opposed to a Foam Core Fantasy).
We drove about an hour east to the Sevierville area to spend the night at Tom's house which is on top of a ridge way out in the woods in the Great Smoky Mountains. His driveway was about a half mile of this:
Tom's house reminded me of a ski lodge - very rustic but very nice. Doug said it was sort of log cabin style construction. If so, it was the most luxurious log cabin I've ever been in. The weather was appropriately cold - it got down to 17 degrees that night. Tom's girlfriend Teresa made an incredibly delicious dinner for us and also breakfast the next morning. Then we caravaned up to the gig in West Virginia.
Tom was nice enough to find an orchard store that we could stop at on the way that had Doug's favorite apple, the Arkansas Black, in stock so we bought an entire bushel of them.
I had most of the day off on Friday so I did some exploring in the Knoxville area, but it was so cold that I spent the entire morning goofing off in a coffee shop in downtown Knoxville before heading out in my car to check out the rest of the downtown area and some sections south of town. I attempted to go for a walk by a lake. It was a pretty lake but too cold for me so I finished the day back at the coffee shop.
One thing I noticed while hanging out there was that a lot of the customers had nose piercings, which is fine, but they weren't the usual single stud or loop on the side of the nose - instead a lot of them had a piercing through the middle that looped down and ended in two balls, with one coming out of each nostril. Maybe it was the weather, but I started thinking that it looked like they all had silver snot hanging out of their noses. Now that's a whole lot more attractive than real snot so I'm actually kind of glad it was silver. But ewww, what if you had a piercing like that and suddenly had to blow your nose?
When I went to pick up Doug I got to see the amazing restoration and remodeling work that Vance and Emily are doing on their house way up on a hill overlooking the Tennessee River and downtown Knoxville. The style of the inside of their house is exactly how I want mine to look if we ever get to that point. Emily has done most of the molding work herself and has even built a few couches! Now I almost feel like trying that. Almost. Anyway it was very inspiring, and cool to see how good some of the things I had been envisioning actually look in a real house.
(A real house, as opposed to a Foam Core Fantasy).
We drove about an hour east to the Sevierville area to spend the night at Tom's house which is on top of a ridge way out in the woods in the Great Smoky Mountains. His driveway was about a half mile of this:
Kind of exciting in a Deliverance sort of way!
Tom's house reminded me of a ski lodge - very rustic but very nice. Doug said it was sort of log cabin style construction. If so, it was the most luxurious log cabin I've ever been in. The weather was appropriately cold - it got down to 17 degrees that night. Tom's girlfriend Teresa made an incredibly delicious dinner for us and also breakfast the next morning. Then we caravaned up to the gig in West Virginia.
Tom was nice enough to find an orchard store that we could stop at on the way that had Doug's favorite apple, the Arkansas Black, in stock so we bought an entire bushel of them.
They got quite a bit of snow down there in southeastern West Virginia, but the roads were fine.
This mountain didn't photograph very well because of the glare of the sun - be sure to shield your eyes!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
trying to appreciate the cold
I'm stuck working outside these days and unfortunately it involves a lot of standing around in the freezing cold. Fortunately I'm able to entertain myself by taking pictures until the next time I have to help Doug lift something, hold a board in place, or help with the sawing.
Azaleas aren't really supposed to bloom in November, are they?
The sky to the south
The pine tree to the north
Azaleas aren't really supposed to bloom in November, are they?
The sky to the south
The pine tree to the north Monday, November 17, 2008
weird but good made-up turnip slaw
Our landlord brought us a bunch of super fresh looking turnips from his garden. I don't usually go out of my way to consume turnips, but I have enjoyed turnip greens in the past. So we immediately cut the tops off and cooked the greens. They were pretty good.
I've had cooked turnips maybe once or twice - I remember them being kind of bitter and mushy. I'm okay with bitter, but not when combined with mushy. Our landlord said that he usually slices his turnips to put into salads. That made me think that raw turnips probably taste similar to jicama or radishes. Then I started imagining coleslaw with turnips instead of cabbage. Doug went on line and found out that turnip slaw actually is a thing that people make. Some of the recipe reviews weren't too favorable but we decided to go for it anyway. Except that we didn't follow any of those recipes.
We knew we were going to have a mixture of turnips and carrots, but then Doug decided to throw in an apple, which totally matches the turnip's texture but is sweeter. Then he asked me if I thought some red bell pepper would be okay. I thought it would be weird, but maybe not too weird for this particular salad. Then I thought of adding dried cherries - which is weird, but it ended up to be an excellent accent flavor. Our made-up turnip slaw turned out to be really delicious - very fresh and tangy, and just a tiny bit sweet. I would have prefered less sugar, but I think some sugar was probably necessary to counteract the bitterness of the turnip.
I actually didn't make this turnip slaw - Doug did all the work. I'm glad he likes to cook because I get to just sit here and say add this and add that. I usually come up with more delicious food combinations than he does, so it works out. He's the cook, and I'm the "food designer." Ha Ha Ha. But this time we designed it together.
So here's the very vague recipe:
Shred 1 turnip, 2 small carrots and 1 crisp unpeeled apple.
Add 1/2 chopped red bell pepper and about a half cup of dried cherries
Make a dressing by mixing mayonnaise, white vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper
Stir it all up and enjoy. It's pictured here on a bed of spinach in a cracked bowl.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
November Sky
The sky went through many changes this afternoon.
Here are a few of the photos I took today:
You can make them bigger by clicking on them. They look better bigger.
Yep, I've been around the block a few times.....
As if I wasn't busy enough already, now I'm in grad school, trying to enrich my life as Doug and I drive ourselves into the ground building our house. I was awarded a teaching assistantship so sometimes I am also the teacher of some of my fellow students. On top of that I'm quite a bit older than most of the kids in my department and I'm the only female. I've kind of been enjoying the weirdness of both of those things. It can be pretty amusing at times. My immature sense of humor is serving me quite well in this situation.
So yesterday I was running the jam session and one of the guys came up to me afterwards and said "You seem like you've been around the block a few times...." and then asked for some advice about making an audition tape for something. I was kind of flattered that he'd ask me such a question and also relieved .... I guess..... that he was at least thoughtful enough to use the word "seem" instead of "look." I guess he was trying to be all casual and cool with that "around the block" expression. Anyway, I was laughing about that for the rest of the day!!!
So yesterday I was running the jam session and one of the guys came up to me afterwards and said "You seem like you've been around the block a few times...." and then asked for some advice about making an audition tape for something. I was kind of flattered that he'd ask me such a question and also relieved .... I guess..... that he was at least thoughtful enough to use the word "seem" instead of "look." I guess he was trying to be all casual and cool with that "around the block" expression. Anyway, I was laughing about that for the rest of the day!!!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
an extra day in New York
The plan for the next day was to get up, check out of the hotel, get my car before the street cleaning deadline, drive downtown to pick up my bass, and then head home. But I was really enjoying my solitude so I decided to see if my room was available for an additional night. It wasn't, but they did have a different room so I decided to stay. I opened the curtains and looked out the window. The view included a brick wall about four feet across from the window and this plastic owl:
I turned right on Canal Street and went over the Manhattan Bridge and that became Flatbush Avenue. I've seen that street on subway cars so I thought so far, so good. I'm not lost yet. It went by Prospect Park, which I'd heard of. It looks like a beautiful park and it's big - maybe it's Brooklyn's answer to Central Park. So far Brooklyn seemed really nice - it's kind of more like DC than Manhattan in a way. At least what I'd seen of it so far. At this point I had no idea whether I was heading towards Coney Island or not, but I was perfectly happy driving on Flatbush Avenue for no particular reason.
Anyway I took Ocean Avenue all the way to where it sort of bumped into a harbour and I turned left on Emmons Avenue but it ended after a few blocks. The area I was in was called Sheepshead Bay.
To the left
I guess he was there to scare other birds away.
I had to check out and register separately for another room so I left my bag in the checked baggage room and got to my car about 10 minutes late. It was the only car left on that side of the street and I guess I lucked out not getting a ticket or getting towed.As I was heading back uptown after picking up my bass I suddenly, on a whim, decided to see if I could drive to Coney Island. It was about noon and my room wouldn't be available until 2:00 and I was already in my car, so what the hell. Except that I've never been to Coney Island and the only thing I knew about its location was that it is on the ocean in Brooklyn. Since I have a decent sense of direction and had plenty of time to kill, I wasn't too worried. If I couldn't find it, I'd see other stuff instead.
I turned right on Canal Street and went over the Manhattan Bridge and that became Flatbush Avenue. I've seen that street on subway cars so I thought so far, so good. I'm not lost yet. It went by Prospect Park, which I'd heard of. It looks like a beautiful park and it's big - maybe it's Brooklyn's answer to Central Park. So far Brooklyn seemed really nice - it's kind of more like DC than Manhattan in a way. At least what I'd seen of it so far. At this point I had no idea whether I was heading towards Coney Island or not, but I was perfectly happy driving on Flatbush Avenue for no particular reason.
Right after Prospect Park I saw Ocean Avenue and figured that was the ticket and it did seem to go in the right direction. It went for a long way through some beautiful old neighborhoods with really great architecture. I passed an absolutely gorgeous old synagogue called Midland or Midfield. Unfortunately my camera was in the back of my car and it was raining so I didn't get a picture. Then I saw Avenue M, N, O, and P, and was getting all excited that I'd see Avenue Q (I've seen "Avenue Q" but not the actual street) but there was a Quentin Street or something and then it went back to Avenue R, etc. I thought that was pretty rude.
Anyway I took Ocean Avenue all the way to where it sort of bumped into a harbour and I turned left on Emmons Avenue but it ended after a few blocks. The area I was in was called Sheepshead Bay.
So I turned around and headed south. I turned left at the next road that I thought went east and that finally took me to the ocean. I parked and walked up to the boardwalk there. I was surprised to discover that nearly everyone was speaking Russian. I used to play in a balalaika orchestra and I've been to St. Petersburg a few times so I know what Russian sounds like. It definitely was not Yiddish. Also, people were dressed the same way they do in St. Petersburg - kind of more dressed up than you'd ordinarily expect to see at the beach. Anyway, I discovered that I was in Brighton Beach and Coney Island was farther south on the same boardwalk.
But it was cold, windy, and a little bit damp, and my still-recovering foot was not feeling that great so I got back in my car and drove a little farther south. About half of the stores had signs with Russian letters and no English letters. This one had both:
I didn't really realize there were actual Russian neighborhoods in Brooklyn - because I don't know anything about Brooklyn! So I'm already making some cool discoveries on my little trip to Coney Island. I guess previously I thought all of the Russians mostly lived in Jewish neighborhoods, which shows how little I've actually thought about where Russian immigrants might live. Because, obviously not all Russian immigrants are Jewish. Duh!!! Anyway the balalaika players in DC certainly don't all live in the same neighborhood.
I still had my bass in the car and the neighborhood did not exactly have what I would describe as a crime-free vibe, but I managed to find a parking space that offered a little psychological protection, if nothing else:
I didn't see a police station, but there sure were alot of police cars parked there. Now this is the kind of building I was really expecting to see:
And especially this one, which is where I ate lunch of course!
They grill their hot dogs so they have delicious little burned places on them. I got one with sauerkraut and mustard. Yum! After lunch I went to the beach:
And then to Astroland. Everything was pretty deserted. Since I was having a deliberately antisocial trip, I kind of enjoyed that. I would have ridden on these rides if they'd been open. But I think I read somewhere that some of the main rides in Coney Island have recently closed for good. That's a real shame.
Since the weather was so dark and dreary I was not able to obey this sign:
I decided to see where the "Belt" Parkway went when it was time to head back to Manhattan. I lucked out once again. It went near Governer's Island where I stayed once when Doug was in the Air Force, and then there was a tunnel to Manhattan that I didn't even know existed which eventually became the West Side Highway. So that was super convenient. I didn't find any street parking so I parked in a garage instead. When I got back to my hotel my new room was ready and it had completely different scenery out of its window:
To the left
And to the right
I went up to the TKTS place and got a half price ticket to see Gypsy which was excellent, but very long. The kids in the show were fantastic. The orchestra was fantastic and it was great to see them behind the stage for the overture and entracte. Patti Lupone's Mama Rose was very different from Rosalind Russell's. She really made it her own. I'm not sure if I liked it better, but I did enjoy the fact that it was different. Her voice was a little distracting because the tone quality varied widely throughout her range. She had a lot of breaks. But it was all in tune. The final scene where she kind of goes nuts was intense and powerful and her tonal quality was all of a sudden extremely consistent. Maybe her voice only works really well at super loud volumes.
After the show I went down to Knickerbocker's and heard JoAnne Brackeen and Cecil McBee. They were wonderful as usual.
The next day I headed home. The clouds began to clear away the second I crossed into Maryland. Doug said the weather had been warm and sunny the entire time I was gone. But that's okay. The weather in NY was a better match for my frame of mind during the time I was there.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Alone with my thoughts
This is kind of rambling – but that’s the way my brain operates on a day like today. I’m on a quick little trip to NYC that is all about me for a change so I don’t have much to distract me from my thoughts.
I’m taking my bass up to my favorite luthier for a little touchup work, then I’ll go hear some music, pick up my bass tomorrow, and head home. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a trip to New York that didn’t have some other people or agenda attached to it and although it is always fun to go to NYC for any reason, I especially like going there by myself.
I haven't completely isolated myself – I’ve checked in with Doug a couple of times. The first time was after I passed the Moravia Road exit on 95. I always think “there’s Bob Fields' exit” whenever I drive past it and it's been a while since the last time I was up that way. Bob had a rehearsal band that met in his basement nearly every Tuesday morning for more than 30 years. He wrote a whole slew of 7 piece arrangements that were really fun to play. I was his regular bass player for five years until about 2003, when I began to be out of town more than I was home. I loved playing with him and was really sad when he called me to sub a couple of months ago and I couldn’t do it. I wish I had just cancelled whatever it was that I had because that would have been my last chance to play with him. He passed away almost a month ago. In his usual understated way, he kept quiet about how sick he actually was. I wish I’d known. I miss him. So I called Doug and we talked for a while.
Not more than an hour went by before someone called me with some sad news about my friend John Greeley, who is also one of my very favorite drummers. We used to have a steady gig together but our paths stopped crossing as much after I went on the road and it’s been nearly a year since we last played together. I always had in mind that he would be over at my house all the time for jam sessions after we moved back in. But he passed away last night so that’s not ever going to happen. John was a super nice guy and a fantastic drummer. He was always up for a jam session if he didn’t have a gig. His lung cancer was pretty far along when it was first diagnosed about six months ago.
I was really glad to be alone for the drive up so that I could think about all of the wonderful ways that these two people had enhanced my life, as a musician and also on a personal level. I feel very lucky to have known both of them, but I sure wish they were still around.
The one bright note for the drive up was that it took only 3 hours and 20 minutes to drive from the outskirts of Silver Spring to Lower Manhattan. I don’t even think I was driving that fast – I just drove straight there and didn’t make any stops. So at least the super gloomy trip was unusually short.
When I got to David Gage’s shop, he and everyone else there was in a very celebratory mood about Obama’s victory. It hadn’t been on my mind at all today so far. It was nice to see them all so happy. Later I got lucky and found street parking a block and a half from my hotel and I don’t have to move my car until 11:00 tomorrow morning. As I was walking to my hotel I heard conversation after conversation about Obama. It seems that all of New York is happy today.
Tonight I went to the Blue Note and heard Charlie Haden’s Music Liberation Orchestra with arrangements by Carla Bley. It was a musical celebration of our country – every arrangement was based on specifically American songs. The orchestrations were quite interesting. All of the players were outstanding. The group consisted of three saxes, two trumpets, french horn, trombone, and sousaphone with piano, guitar, bass, and drums. I was amused to observe that Vincent Chancey, the french horn player and Curtis Fowlkes, the trombonist, standing next to each other kind of reminded me of John Clayton and Ron Carter. The players were all outstanding. They had exceptional control of their quiet range so it was a very pleasant overall volume level for such a large group. Charlie Hayden has some issues with tintinitus and can’t tolerate loud volumes anymore. It must be pretty awful to have a problem like that, especially when it affects what kinds of groups you can play with. But in this case I would say the group benefited from having to play softer – and the audience benefited as well.
While they were playing Amazing Grace and the theme from the New World Symphony, my mind started wandering again, back to John, and Bob, and then also to Larry Eanet and Keter Betts, and finally to Frankie Condon and Bill Potts. I hope I see them all again one day.
I’m taking my bass up to my favorite luthier for a little touchup work, then I’ll go hear some music, pick up my bass tomorrow, and head home. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a trip to New York that didn’t have some other people or agenda attached to it and although it is always fun to go to NYC for any reason, I especially like going there by myself.
I haven't completely isolated myself – I’ve checked in with Doug a couple of times. The first time was after I passed the Moravia Road exit on 95. I always think “there’s Bob Fields' exit” whenever I drive past it and it's been a while since the last time I was up that way. Bob had a rehearsal band that met in his basement nearly every Tuesday morning for more than 30 years. He wrote a whole slew of 7 piece arrangements that were really fun to play. I was his regular bass player for five years until about 2003, when I began to be out of town more than I was home. I loved playing with him and was really sad when he called me to sub a couple of months ago and I couldn’t do it. I wish I had just cancelled whatever it was that I had because that would have been my last chance to play with him. He passed away almost a month ago. In his usual understated way, he kept quiet about how sick he actually was. I wish I’d known. I miss him. So I called Doug and we talked for a while.
Not more than an hour went by before someone called me with some sad news about my friend John Greeley, who is also one of my very favorite drummers. We used to have a steady gig together but our paths stopped crossing as much after I went on the road and it’s been nearly a year since we last played together. I always had in mind that he would be over at my house all the time for jam sessions after we moved back in. But he passed away last night so that’s not ever going to happen. John was a super nice guy and a fantastic drummer. He was always up for a jam session if he didn’t have a gig. His lung cancer was pretty far along when it was first diagnosed about six months ago.
I was really glad to be alone for the drive up so that I could think about all of the wonderful ways that these two people had enhanced my life, as a musician and also on a personal level. I feel very lucky to have known both of them, but I sure wish they were still around.
The one bright note for the drive up was that it took only 3 hours and 20 minutes to drive from the outskirts of Silver Spring to Lower Manhattan. I don’t even think I was driving that fast – I just drove straight there and didn’t make any stops. So at least the super gloomy trip was unusually short.
When I got to David Gage’s shop, he and everyone else there was in a very celebratory mood about Obama’s victory. It hadn’t been on my mind at all today so far. It was nice to see them all so happy. Later I got lucky and found street parking a block and a half from my hotel and I don’t have to move my car until 11:00 tomorrow morning. As I was walking to my hotel I heard conversation after conversation about Obama. It seems that all of New York is happy today.
Tonight I went to the Blue Note and heard Charlie Haden’s Music Liberation Orchestra with arrangements by Carla Bley. It was a musical celebration of our country – every arrangement was based on specifically American songs. The orchestrations were quite interesting. All of the players were outstanding. The group consisted of three saxes, two trumpets, french horn, trombone, and sousaphone with piano, guitar, bass, and drums. I was amused to observe that Vincent Chancey, the french horn player and Curtis Fowlkes, the trombonist, standing next to each other kind of reminded me of John Clayton and Ron Carter. The players were all outstanding. They had exceptional control of their quiet range so it was a very pleasant overall volume level for such a large group. Charlie Hayden has some issues with tintinitus and can’t tolerate loud volumes anymore. It must be pretty awful to have a problem like that, especially when it affects what kinds of groups you can play with. But in this case I would say the group benefited from having to play softer – and the audience benefited as well.
While they were playing Amazing Grace and the theme from the New World Symphony, my mind started wandering again, back to John, and Bob, and then also to Larry Eanet and Keter Betts, and finally to Frankie Condon and Bill Potts. I hope I see them all again one day.
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