The Road Frequently Traveled

One time, I got sent to another state on business. I got most of the way to said state without a hitch: no taking wrong exits, no getting lost on back roads, nothing. Until the very road the hotel was on. As it turns out, this hotel has a very, very small sign that's the same color as the bush behind it, and since it happens to be dark at 9 pm and the sign didn't have a light, it was nearly invisible. So I drove up and down a 3+ mile stretch several times, which left me in despair and wondering if I should just pull over to the side of the road and sleep in my car. Both the despair and the sleeping-in-the-car plan may have been coping mechanisms that were laughable enough to keep me driving, but still. Sleeping in the car would have been very uncomfortable though, so finally I pulled a How to be a Millionaire and used up a lifeline.


It was extraordinarily helpful! I might have been driving forever without it.


I don't really count not being able to find something as being lost. I knew what I was looking for was supposed to be exactly where I was. But I'm not convinced I can still use "I've never really, really been completely lost before" as a claim to fame, especially since I have another getting lost story that's even better than this one. I'll tell that one another time. Oh well. Call it a humility check?

Opportunity of Wonderful

Maybe you were not as interested in the Royal Wedding as I was, but regardless of whether you got up at the crack of dawn to watch it or not, you should find it interesting that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are visiting Canada between June 30th and July 8th.

Better yet, they're stopping in Montreal, which, as we know from last year's escapade, is not so far from my house.

Conclusion: since a possible trip to Montreal was in the works anyway, we need to go over the first weekend in July.

(Because who would pass up an opportunity to see foreign royalty/the world's most famous couple in person?)


[souce]

Erie, PA!

Fact # 1: Erie is the farthest west that I have ever traveled in the US. Sad, right?

Fact # 2: Traveling to Erie was a lot of fun!

Nathan, Sarah, and I left on Friday morning around 8, picked up Lisa a little down the road, and were on our way soon thereafter. In the parking lot where we found Lisa, we also saw Mr. Buswell, a violin teacher who taught at Gordon and who just so happens to be a rather famous, internationally-renowned soloist. Exciting!


We didn't stop and say hi though, because we may or may not have been running slightly behind schedule. 9 hours and lots of toll booths later, we made it to Erie, where we met Andrew and other family members too. In my opinion, roadtrips with good friends are great, even when you're really overtired.

The next day was Andrew's 21st birthday! Happy birthday, Andrew! We celebrated first by going to a rehearsal for the Christmas service/concert the next day, but then with Chipotle-style "wraps," Funfetti cake sans frosting, ice cream, wine, and a movie later that evening. Yay!

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning, worked on our puzzle in the afternoon, and then went to the service/concert at night. Playing at the service/concert was actually the point of going to Erie, but it was only one of the many highlights of the trip. Fact # 3: this church is gorgeous. Here's the view from the oboist's chair...


As previously stated, Christmas concerts like this one are what make Christmas truly Christmasy for me. This one was no different. How wonderful it is to have the opportunity to play glorious music (which, as musicians, is what we like to do best) to celebrate the birth of Christ. Moreover, it's a collaborative effort, and something that is deeply meaningful to everyone present. We looked fancy in our concert dress too! Fact # 4: my friends are super, and I love them all dearly.


Post-concert, we went out to birthday dinner at a hibachi restaurant. It was so cool! They cooked the food in front of us, and it tasted delicious!



They gave Andrew some fried ice cream for his birthday, which was a little weird.


Finally, the next morning we finished our puzzle (Lisa, Sarah, and Andrew did most of the work, but Nathan and I helped too), ate a little breakfast, and went on our way.



Now we're all back on the East coast (or in Vermont...which has no coastline), but it was a lovely, lovely trip. Let's do it again sometime.

New Music

Lately I've been on an iTunes purchasing spree. Yesterday I finally bought the "24 Hours of Classical Music" album, which is probably the best deal ever. I mean...how often do you get 316 tracks for $9.99?!? And for the most part, they're good recordings too. Major win. Then this evening I bought an album of Bruckner's sacred choral music. The first time I listened to it, I almost cried. That doesn't happen often, so I figured that it belonged in my music library. Since I've been buying so much music, I thought I should make a list of all the things I want to buy. Music, that is, not everything....

-Mahler's Symphony No. 2
-Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (the oboe has the main theme; it's a must-have)
-Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony
-Brahms' Symphony No. 3
-Mahler's Symphony No. 7
-Rachmaninoff's Symphonies No. 2 and 3
-Haydn's Symphony No. 96 (we're playing this in orchestra; also has a nice oboe part in the third movement)
-Haydn's Creation
-Dvorak's Symphony No. 8 (played this in orchestra last year)

The list could go on and on, but this is just what I came up with tonight. In some ways, I feel like my familiarity with the major works from the entirety of the musical repertoire is like my limited experience with fruits and vegetables. I know what I like, and I listen to the things I like all the time, but there are a large number of major works that I am unfamiliar with. For example, I couldn't have sung any of the themes from any of the Brahms symphonies until very recently, and even now I would probably have a hard time coming up with them immediately. Maybe it's because I don't really remember much of music that I haven't played unless it has a very singable melody. I don't know why that is; it's probably a skill that I could cultivate if I practiced it often enough. Maybe the "24 Hours of Classical Music" album will help me with that.

In other news, I'm going to a wedding tomorrow in Rhode Island. I've never been to RI, as far as I can recall. I can't imagine it's too much different from other northern east coast states, but we'll see if there are any huge culture shocks. Highly doubtful. Also, this will probably be the fanciest wedding I have ever attended and will probably ever attend, unless I suddenly acquire a multitude of very rich and engaged friends. That seems unlikely. I hope that I know all the rules for proper etiquette and common civility. If I do, everything will be fine. If I don't...well...I guess it could be awkward.

A 4th of July to Remember

For the 4th of July, we (Nathan, Sarah, Chaz, Andrew, and I) went to Washington DC. We left soon after work - around 4 in the afternoon - and started driving, arriving around 1 in the morning.

Our hotel turned out to be right in front of a club, which must have been closing around the time we got there. Everyone was outside, which was a little nerve-wracking, but we got inside the air-conditioned hotel soon enough. The next morning, we got up and started sight-seeing. First we went to the WWII memorial, and then on to the Museum of National History. We saw some cool stuff like the costume worn by C-3PO in Star Wars, the earliest surviving John Deere plow, and some models that looked extraordinarily life-like. When we found them, we immediately decided to pose with them, resulting in some fun pictures....

We walked to a nearby food court for lunch, and then headed back to the museum for some more historical education. Unfortunately, lunch didn't sit very well with me and I ended up in the bathroom wondering if I'd make it through the rest of the day for about an half hour, but it passed quickly enough and life went on. We saw the Julia Child kitchen, some dresses of the first ladies, and, appropriately enough for five music majors, finished up with the musical instrument exhibit. That evening, Andrew and I walked to the capitol after dinner and found the Capitol Concert! We heard Lang Lang play variation 18 from Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme by Paganini. While it wasn't the best performance of all time, it was a fun walk and we took some great pictures of the capitol building at sunset.

The morning of the 4th, we went to church at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which was a 1.5 mile walk from the hotel. The church was small but beautiful, the priest was English (complete with accent), and the choir was magnificent. Furthermore, the congregation sang heartily, making the service a very satisfying experience for everyone. After church, we ran back to the hotel, then ran to the metro station, from which we went to the National Cathedral. There seems to be a theme in some of my recent travels: whenever going to a cathedral, a long, hot walk uphill is involved. This trip was no exception. Yet again, however, the hike was worth it as the cathedral was beautiful, huge, and full of people listening to organ music. We didn't stay for the concert there (see photo as to why), but we did see a stained glass window with a moon rock as well as the grave of Woodrow Wilson.

This adventure was followed by another walk to the metro station, then a walk to find food, a walk to other food after we found out Chipotle was closed, and yet another walk to the National Air and Space Museum. I found a funny sign in the women's bathroom there.

Finally, to cap off our 4th celebration, we went to the Air Force Band concert at the Arlington Memorial, where we heard some nice patriotic music, watched some fantastic fireworks, and met up with Nathan and Andrew's dad as well as some of Chaz's high school friends. We all thought the memorial was really cool:

In an effort to find some celebratory Mexican food or ice cream, we trekked around the city for another two miles or so until we decided it was time for bed and headed back to the hotel. Total number of miles covered on foot on the 4th of July: more than 13. Go us. Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

On Monday, we said goodbye to Nate, who was staying in DC for awhile longer for a conference of the American Guild of Organists (I think?), got some breakfast at both the whole foods market and Starbucks, dropped of some Chex Mix and head phones that Nate forgot, and started driving back to Massachusetts. On the way back, we stopped in Philadelphia for some lunch (we finally made it to Chipotle!) and visited the Wanamaker organ in the largest Macy's store in the US.

After taking a few...ok, maybe several...wrong turns, we figured out where we were going and made it back home by 11:30 that night. All in all, I think it was probably the best 4th of July experience of my life so far. Maybe we'll do it again next year!

Summer vacation? Montreal!

It's been awhile since I've updated anything here. The lack of writing is mostly due to the fact that summer started, and life, believe it or not, got crazier. I guess in a sense it just got different, but the amount of time I spend in my room has significantly decreased, thanks to the 6-day-per-week work schedule that organizes my time. It looks like this: physical plant work on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 7:30 am until 3:30 pm; babysitting Monday and Tuesday from 10 until 3, babysitting Thursday from 9:30 until 5, and church on Sunday. I guess that means I don't have too much time for a Sabbath rest, but Sunday afternoon can count for that, most likely. The rest of my time should be spent practicing, but I have yet to figure out how to work that in as the music building closes a full five or six hours earlier than it does during the school year. Inconvenient. Luckily, I should be able to practice tomorrow morning from 7:45 until 9-ish, which should help my embouchure get back in shape.

Since the last time I wrote anything, I journeyed to Montreal! It was lots of fun. We visited several churches including one with the second largest copper dome in the world (St. Joseph's Oratory), saw the Bodies Exhibit (I would strongly recommend it for anyone who is not squeamish about the human body), and ate lunch at a very good restaurant next to the underground city. Getting to St. Joseph's turned out to be more of an adventure than we planned - including a uphill 15-minute hike - but the views, the church, and the organ (!) were totally worth the sweat and inhalers involved in the arrival. It was gorgeous:

And the organ was magnificent!

We got a bit lost on the way back to Vermont, but the GPS saved us and we got back in time to see the sunset over Lake Champlain in Burlington.

Overall, a most excellent day trip.