Busy Month

As the title says, September was a very busy month.

The month began with a visit to Oklahoma for a memorial service for my late teacher, David Etheridge. I am truly grateful to have been part of his legacy. While the circumstance was tragic, seeing so many people who shared my own sentiment, was touching. This will be the last thing I say on the subject but I feel like it should be said: I miss him terribly but I'm glad to have spent 8 years as his student. I think about him every time I even think about clarinet and it is heart-wrenching but I hope it never stops. While I can no longer ask him for a letter of recommendation, I feel like a rockstar every time someone asks me who I studied with. Again, I miss him a lot, but I learned a lifetime's worth while he was here.

Elissa, Me, Chauvin, Chase and Spencer

Kelly and Christina

Ok, there are my thoughts - on to happier things. I really enjoyed my Oklahoma trip. I only wish it were longer. It was wonderful to see so many friends from my past! My how time flies. It seems like just yesterday we were making a studio "bench" and playing Play That Funky Music White Boy in the orchestra room. Yep, you heard right... we were that cool. (Once, we got a noise complaint at a hotel for singing Bach chorales too loudly... haha, that was also the trip where Dr. Etheridge drove the 18 passenger van like his Miata while commenting "Oh, you guys" as we tried to make a beat-less chord in the back...) Good times.

Old paper comments...

Back in Philadelphia, school has really started to get going. I love my Current Topics class. We read, argue/discuss and write. The end. But it is so rewarding and wonderful to be allowed an opinion. As a future college educator, I would love to find some way to teach my students that if you don't have an opinion on the matter, you just aren't thinking about it hard enough. We turned in our first paper and though the little blue microsoft word editing boxes covered my screen, they all said really good things that I just didn't know. I think this means my writing might actually be improving! Yay, me ;)

Current paper comments!

Aside from class, other things are going really well! I auditioned for ensembles here and since I am unavailable during large ensemble times, I was placed in a woodwind quartet with the principal orchestra players! We are having a great time and working on putting together a recital for later this semester. Also, this week was my first week as a rep for the Philadelphia Orchestra. We had a concert for college students only and it was fantastic. The house was absolutely packed and the program included Joshua Bell playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Mahler's First Symphony. There was a big reception in the Kimmel Center lobby after the concert with free food, drinks and "stuff" (water bottles, gift cards, tickets etc.). I am definitely looking forward to more Phil Orch events!

But alas, from here on I will be a writing fool. I have 3 major (20 page) papers and a film scoring project left for this semester. Also, I have picked a Thesis topic and am VERY excited about it but you'll just have to check back next time to see what it is! Until then, cheers and Happy Fall!

Here I Go!

Much better week. My glass is definitely filling up. First of all, I think this my be my new car....

 haha, just kidding. I just saw it on my way to school and had to take a picture. I don't even need the one I have but this one is totally rad... and kind of makes me want to watch "Back to the Future." 

Birthday flowers from my "new family" :)

Fun w/photo booth.

Right, so the family has finally moved into the house! I love it. The kids are so full of energy, it is hard not to want to join them. I have to say, I much prefer waking up to the sound of baby coo's and toddler laughs than to the alarm clock. There is something so cold about an alarm clock that begs you to sleep just 10 more minutes whereas, the hustle and bustle of people (okay, very very little people) makes you want to get up and see what's going on :) 

Also, my exams are over!!!! We'll see how I did soon. I'm not so sure about how they will turn out. I had 4 and on the first one, I got so wrapped-up in the creative process of my figured bass exercise (wrapped-up in a good way...) I totally forgot about time. The figured bass was part one of three on that test and once I finished that part, I only had 14 min to finish the rest of the test!! Yeah... didn't finish the last one but I feel like I got enough of the rest of it (except for that Gr6 that I stupidly wrote down as being some weird dim. chord... stupid) to possibly show that I am not completely un-intelligent.... I hope. :/ whoops. They can't take an acceptance back right? Oh well, I just hope I get to keep my spot in the Current Topics class this semester!! So excited! 2 guest lecturers and sooo many articles that I've been anxious to discuss!!!

My beer foam made a happy face :)

So, cheers! to the end of a very strange summer, new friends and to the start of what is promising to be a very good school year :)

Oklahoma in 3 weeks!!!!

impressive hornet's nest

So, I've been trying to think about blog topics. I've been feeling a bit melancholy lately - a little homesick, a lot anxious... but I really hate reading whiny blogs, so I decided against it. This morning however, I went outside and the sun was out and the weather was nice and cool (a breezy 82 degrees!!). The cat that lives on our front porch was sprawled out in the front lawn in front of the quite impressive hornet's nest - just soaking up the sun. It's hard to see such simple beauty and feel down at the same time. Thanks kitty and thanks Mr. Sun, that's just what I needed.

kitty!!!

That said, I will share the one bad thing that has happened.... Car break-in, check. I have been officially initiated into the great city of Philadelphia - the city of brotherly love.  The other day, I went out to my car in the morning and it looked like a squirrel had gotten in and torn little bits of paper and spread them around my car. Then I noticed that the glove box had been emptied into the passenger seat and finally - I saw the back passenger window shattered across my backseat. It was a strange emotion. I was quite perplexed since they seemed to have taken NOTHING except a few pennies in the front dash... Oddly enough, the stuff that was in the backseat was all stuff that I was taking to Goodwill the next day. Had they taken it, it would have saved me a trip, haha. Oh well, guess I'm glad they didn't take anything like say - my car battery, or engine. (My friend said this happened to him...) I think it's time to change my Oklahoma license plate to PA.

Presser Hall - Boyer College of Music and Dance

On a brighter note, next week is exam week! Ok, fine. It's not so much brighter as it is just better than being robbed. I get to give my knowledge away. Yep - this glass is determined to be half-full. I am actually enjoying studying for my entrance exams. It's always fun to go back through my old notes and see what useless things I wrote down because I had no idea they weren't important. (For example... Bach took a coffee break... and went 200mi past the local Starbucks.) Don't worry, I've decided not to study the notes my 18 year old self wrote... Yay, Norton Anthology (which by the way, was my first book to be checked out from the Paley Library at Temple University). Too bad the exam only covers Baroque-present. I could have kicked some Medieval ass. Just saying. (oddly enough,  there is also no twentieth-century theory.)

Alright, so continuing with the theme of the incredibly random blog, I do have one more story. I'm sure it is because the city is so heavily populated, but the "wild-life" here is unbelievably tame - specifically the squirrels. First, there is one that literally lives in the campus library. He isn't shy - he just walks around keeping an eye on things. The security guard at the front door (you have to show id when you go in any building on campus) said that he has been put outside several times but he always manages to come back in. Other than Paley (his name since he lives in the Paley Library) I have had one other squirrel encounter. I was sitting on a bench by the clock tower on campus and this squirrel comes up and sits on the bench with me. He gives me a little squeak (or huff...) and when I don't respond, he starts walking into my bag. Then I remembered that I had a little bag of goldfish crackers left over from my morning with the kids. Just to see if he would, I took the bag out and gave him a goldfish. He literally took it from my hand, sat on the bench while he ate it, then came back and huffed at me for another. The overgrown rat, ate the entire bag of goldfish - a human child size portion! I have to admit, it was kind of fun sharing my snack with my new friend ;)

Paley the Library Squirrel

I like goldfish crackers and snacks w/friends :)

Week 2

Today I started watching the movie Under the Tuscan Sun and I started to feel a bit inspired. Not that Philly is anything at all like Tuscany (in fact I could think of no place more distant) but it does have its charms. The other day, Jess came to visit and we had a great day. Our first stop of the day, the Kimmel Performing Arts Center. It seemed appropriate. From there we went to the fantastic little cafe, Così. Nothing like a turkey and brie sandwich on homemade flat bread to kick off the day. And of course, we had to have dessert. Down the street, we found a Max Brenner Chocolate shop. Oh man, talk about chocolate overload. I had a chocolate chai and Jess had hot chocolate (made by dissolving chocolate pieces in steamed milk over a tea light fire in the bottom of the cup... really cool). Then! The barista decided that we needed to try a handmade chocolate milkshake. 8 oz. of shake each (neither of which were finished) and we were so full on the delicious chocolate, we decided we'd better quit while we were ahead. So, onward and upward we went. Next stop, the Liberty Bell. Neat. (ok, admittedly, I feel like American history is not so much history as it is just the recent past, so while it was cool...) After the bell, we tried to find the Jewish Museum but it was being renovated and moved so instead, we ended up in the synagogue where this sweet little old lady gave us a half-hr long spiel on how Judaism ended up in the US. While this sounds dull, it was kind of awesome. Her enthusiasm was contagious and her historical knowledge was inspiring. After a short trip to see the grave of Benjamin Franklin, we decided that it just wouldn't be a proper excursion in Philadelphia without a cheesesteak. With the advice of Jess' boyfriend, we set of on a taste test to determine who had the better steaks, Pat's or Geno's (the are literally across the street from one another). The winner.... Pat's. Hand's down, Pat's. If you want onions, you order a Steak and Whiz Wit. All in all, great day. All 10 new lbs. of it ;)

I guess while I am on the topic of food, I will post a few pictures of the many food varieties we have here in Philadelphia. Now, I'm not talking about types of foods necessarily (though there are many), I am talking about the many variants on how you go about getting your food. Need some water (or a pie?)? There are people standing in the median, ready to sell it to you through your car window at the stop light. Want some water ice (Philly's version of the snow cone), there are stands everywhere. My favorite though... the food trucks. Whether it is fruit salad or Irie food you are looking for, we have a truck for that (possibly even on the same truck). Bon appetite!

Week 1

Welcome to my blog. Thanks to all of you who saw me off. It was really wonderful to see that so many people cared. That said, I am here! Here is a rundown of the events of the first week....

This was my first impression of the city. My fault completely. After driving for 2 days with minimal sleep, I decided that I would go by the new house just to make sure I knew where I was going when it was time to meet the family. Mistake... somehow, my exhausted brain didn't register the fact that it was 12:30 at night and I would be driving through downtown Philadelphia... The GPS took me through probably the worst neighborhood in North Philadelphia and my instant reaction was... holy shit, I feel like I am in real life 21 Jump Street. What I saw... 3 drug deals, lots of wary stares at the dumb kid who obviously doesn't belong, 2 police officers with bullet proof vests ON THE OUTSIDE, and more tagging than I would ever have cared to see. I got out of there as soon as I could and called Mom on my way out of town. For a few minutes, I seriously contemplated calling ASU and accepting their DMA offer. Thankfully, Mom told me to go a little bit out of town, stay the night and go back in the morning. Good call Mom. Lesson learned. 

In the morning, the site was quite different. Truly awesome and obviously full of history. This building is down the street from the Temple music building and is a sorority house. It is fairly typical of the buildings in this corner of the city.

When I pulled up to meet the family, I was beyond relieved. They are absolutely wonderful and showed me around the real Philadelphia (the good parts). First stop, the new house. Second, the co-op (so popular here, you only have to work 9 hrs a year!?!) :) 

The house. The house is this spectacular old house from c. 1850. Including the basement and the attic, there are 5 floors! My apartment is on the 3rd floor, the old maids quarters. The picture on the left is the dumb waiter elevator (original to the house) that goes from the first to the 3rd floor by way of a rope pulley system, right through the middle of the winding staircase.  The painters have been here for three days taking down the old floral wallpaper and painting the bottom 2 floors. The family will move in starting next week. (Officially in 2 weeks). They currently live only 2 blocks away and I've met up with them daily. Don't worry, the house has an alarm system so I'm safe on my top floor apartment. If anyone were to break in, I would hear all 40 stairs creak (I would laugh hysterically if they tried to use the noisy elevator. It takes several minutes to pull it up and they would have to lower it first.) Anyway, here are a few pictures of the inside of my apartment. It is full of treasures. My favorite so far is the cassette tape of Heavy D & the Boys (a personal fav.) and the book "Optical Mineralogy" printed 1933 and owned by a Harvard professor. 

The Fresh Grocer

Southern Yams

As a last thought, I am interviewing to be the music teacher for the Regina Coeli Academy (a private Catholic Liberal Arts primary school) so keep your fingers crossed! Also, there are SEVERAL professional musicians in my neighborhood including a pianist next door and a flutist down the street, so here's hoping they can help me find some students. 

On of the many abandoned buildings in Philadelphia.

Off to Philadelphia in t-minus 3 days!!