cough cough sneeze cough

Erm, so I haven't been blogging much lately. It's been busy, despite spring break occurring at some point. The highlight of the month: the John Williams AYS gala. Jenny and I giggled every time we got to Darth Vader's march. Sayuri's theme from Memoirs of a Geisha was beautiful and included a lovely EH solo :) Harry Potter, ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List, all good stuff. This is music I've grown up listening to and loving. Come to think of it, Star Wars might be the most recognizable "classical" theme (we can safely say "symphonic," no?) other than Beethoven 5. Whenever I played it while introducing the oboe to classrooms, it was the one theme EVERY kid knew, and it always got them excited. JW was lovely and humble and rather quiet. My parents came, they loved it. I drove them down to Huntington Beach for a conference on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I got sick on Monday. I am still sick, and I don't seem to be getting better. I am waiting to receive some excellent photos from Jenny from our hike sometime last week, which I hope to post here. Anyway, I'd really like to get better so I can focus on recital preparation. OK, I really need to sleep now. Goodnight.

fluxus

In honor of the midterm I have tomorrow for my avant-garde class, I am posting some Fluxus art ideas from a Yoko Ono exhibit I went to several years ago.

Waterdrop Painting
Let water drop.
Place a stone under it.
The painting ends when a hole is drilled in the stone with the drops.
You may change the frequency of the waterdrop to your taste.
You may use beer, wine, ink, blood, etc. instead of water.
You may use a typewriter, shoes, dress, etc. instead of stone.
1961 Autumn

Painting To Be Constructed in Your Head
Hammer a nail in the center of a piece of glass. Imagine sending the cracked portions to addresses chosen arbitrarily. Memo the addresses and the shapes of the cracked portions sent.
1962 Spring

Painting for the Wind
Cut a hole in a bag filled with seeds of any kind and place the bag where there is wind.
1961 Summer

wanted: balance

Argh, I wish my life were more balanced. It seems that these days, I either have a billion things going on or NOTHING. And oddly enough, NOTHING can make me more anxious than EVERYTHING. Well, it's not that I have absolutely nothing. I performed Berio's "ricorrenze" this Tuesday evening with my quintet, I had a lesson yesterday with a particularly wonderful member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and I have an audition on Monday and church gig on Sunday. But I haven't had orchestra rehearsal, which is what my life usually revolves around. My time has been completely unstructured, which is great once in a while, but it's difficult to stay focused and motivated with no routine or schedule. I only have one student since the other has opted out of lessons for a while, and he wasn't home for his lesson on Wednesday. I've been at home a lot, which is nice because I haven't had to drive, but I get cabin fever. I'm bored of running, and I want a bike. I tried to go out and get one today, but the local Sears doesn't have them, and the bike store only had super fancy ones. I just want something simple to ride to the beach. And my mother doesn't want me to get one because she knows lots of people who've been in bike accidents. I try to reassure her that the ride to the beach is on a smaller road with a bike lane, but I'm sure she's picturing me driving on the 10 or something. Anyway, I'm restless and this extra time has just allowed me to start thinking about the summer and next year and the rest of my life and start to FREAK OUT!!!! Oh well, soon this little empty time will be over and I'll have rotation in school and Debut and AYS and a recital and I'll be longing for a break, but right now, I just wish things were a little more even. Better go practice.

Oscar fun

I watched the 80th Academy Awards today! Fun times. I like Jon Stewart. I was really glad No Country for Old Men won. I love DDL, but I saw both Eastern Promises (an excellent movie!) and There Will Be Blood (a good movie, but not my taste), and I honestly preferred Viggo Mortensen's performance. But whatevs. And I think Amy Ryan was really awesome in Gone Baby Gone, but I didn't see Michael Clayton, so I can't judge her against Tilda Swinton (she kind of looks like she's from outer space, no?). Owen Wilson was not his usual happy-go-lucky, silly self, and that made me sad. I was glad "Falling Slowly" won for the song, and I think that Glen Hansard is kind of a jerk (there's lots more people to thank, but you know who you are, so I don't need to say your names?? when else are you going to recognize someone's help to your big win but at the AWARDS show?? among other reasons), so I found it amusing that Jon Stewart called him arrogant. I'm glad he brought Marketa Irglova back to say her thanks. She's born in 1988? She's only 19?? Yikes. Hmm that would also make Glen 18 years older? Is that right? I'm bad at math. Anyway. Lots of pretty people and gorgeous dresses. Kind of funny to think that I watched on TV only about a mile from the actual event.

There always seem to be lots of articles about how ridiculous the Oscars are and that they don't actually reward the best movies. Well, it's Hollywood! What do you want? Just enjoy the show, that's what I do. And a lot of those recognized are really excellent movies, performances, achievements, etc.

I also decided that I wish I could be a cinematographer, though it sort of seems like the kind of thing you either have a talent for or don't, rather than something you can really learn. I mean you can learn how to do it and the theory behind it, I'm sure, but when it comes down to it, you really need to just have an eye for it. Anyway, I love my one foray into total pop culture for the year :)

PS I was glad Dario Marianelli won for best score for Atonement. It was a good score, and I've liked his work before.

chamber music hero

The best comic ever.

My roommate's mom pointed this one out to me. It's particularly wonderful since my roommate plays cello :) I've even had a discussion with people about the possibility of "oboe hero," but this is even better. So thanks again, Jan!

I didn't really celebrate Valentine's Day the way you're supposed to today, but that's OK by me. I did get to hear Allan play Bach, though, which is always a treat.

C is for Cookie

And that's good enough for me.