Einstein's God

Here are some shots of our meatless Thanksgiving. The first is with Potter being her somewhat mad alter ego.

"And yet, as always, the springtime sun brings forth new life, and we may rejoice because of this new life and contribute to its unfolding. And Mozart remains as beautiful and tender as he always was and always will be. There is, after all, something eternal that lies beyond the hand of fate and of all human delusions. And such eternals lie closer to an older person than to a younger one, oscillating between fear and hope. For us there remains the privilege of experiencing beauty and truth in their purest forms." A quotation from the recent Speaking of Faith, a somewhat disingenuous shilling for Ms. Tippet's new by the same title, but interesting nonetheless. The interviews & transcript of the rest of the hour's show are @ http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/einsteins-god/.

In kind of a blue funk today, not sure why. I'm sure getting out & about in the neighborhood in between showers will help. 35F with a "feels like of 30F right now, heading up to 40F so they say.

Potter profile

Now how does this work, exactly??

Slight snow this AM, rain forecast 4 this afternoon. More taxes, tootling & toddling - best I get out this AM to avoid the precipitation, I guess. And I promised myself to get at this unslightly pile next to the computer today. Going to start that NOW.

My Vancouver light show

Here's a shot of Potter, who likes to move in to where I was sitting once I leave the couch in the PM. Here's a link to the light show I designed for Vancouver. Wonder how long these links will be good.
http://www.vectorialvancouver.net/archive.php?id=17104 One can design one's own here: http://www.vectorialvancouver.net/participate.html

Heading out soon for some acupuncture. The sun shone when I awoke today, but the weather babe said it wouldn't last. Off & on rain all weekend into Tues., so she said. 40F with a "feels like" of 33F right now and it does seem the clouds are moving in.

Firebush sunset

A shot taken 16.Nov.2009 (seems funny to type that now) of the fire bush next to the porch.

Tootling, stitching - and maybe toddling (at least as far as the Post Office (since it's apparently pouring down rain - but only to get worse later) to drop off the DVD of Berkley Square (a BBC mini-series I discovered - must have been one of the PBS catalogs we get in the mail). Andy's second day away from work - he says he'll "look at the paperwork" today. Here's hoping he gets to the health insurance piece.

Sorely tested

Here's a shot of Potter & Snitch one of the few times you'll catch them together.

Why the subject line? Well, I'm up early this AM since my mantra of refusing to live in Dread is what's being sorely tested after having awakened shortly after 5 & couldn't get back to sleep. Andy showed up yesterday noonish. He's been laid off. So I do take encouragement that he's already been contacted by people he's worked with before who've heard of the "blood bath" @ Ramp (they changed their name from Everyzing a few months ago) - his supervisor's boss also got the sack (how many others, I don't know). And that, thanks to the Obama Adminsitration's efforts, he will be eligible for unemployment benefits for a fairly long period of time. My greater concern is that he get his health coverage in place, either with COBRA or through Hancock.

I imagine he'll want to take some time off to recover from the 4-hour round trip commute, which is one thing he won't miss. And he was chafing under his supervisor's micro-managing, so in the end this will probably be a blessing. Oh, _there's_ the silver lining! :)

Farewell Forest Hills

Here are some shots from my last morning in Forest Hills. This is a shot from the third floor sitting room looking out onto the street in front of the house.

The photo below is from the third floor bathroom window looking onto the same street.

Then there's one is of Bill & Dale fixing breakfast & the woman in the back is their house keeper, whose name I can't remember, but she was a very sweet woman.

And one of the sort of main square - at least in B&D's part of the neighborhood. I was soon @ Grand Central, waiting for the Megabus home. B&D are soon moving into a 2-bedroom condo (or co-op - I can never keep them apart), with one bedroom reserved for work. Gone will be the days of having an entire floor to oneself.


Heading out soon for the Cambridge grocery run - it looks like the snow/sleet/rain will hold off until later today, praise be. The rehearsal went not too badly last night & it's more work in front of the metronome (no, not a dwarf living in the Paris metro) getting those expletive deleted arpeggii in shape. And of course stitching - if the weather holds off, I might even get a toddle in - best do it today because what we're forecast for tomorrow is awful. One degree below our forecast high for today of 38F & a "feels like" of 29F. The sun is lovely behind the pearl grey clouds.

Aslan?

For some reason this reminds me of something from the C.S. Lewis Narnia series. It's the doorbell to Bill & Dale's lovely house in Kew Gardens.

Went to a concert played by friends Jan & Frances Pfeiffer-Rios & a couple of their colleagues last night. Mozart String Quartet in G Major, K.387, Ravel Duo for Violin and Cello, Beethoven Piano Trio op.70, #1, "Ghost". I'd heard the Ravel before but the other were new to me (at least I don't remember having heard them). The concert was free, so you couldn't beat the price with a stick. I think taking pieces too fast in that space, though, (it was a church) is not a good idea - esp. in the Ravel, I thought the slow mvt. could have been even slower & the last movement as well, in order to hear all the complicated things that were going on. More variety of tone colors would have been good too - I esp. liked the spookiness of the string sound in the Beethoven slow mvt. & wish they'd used more of that in the slow movement of the Ravel. Nothing like an armchair quarterback, eh? Today, tootling, toddling & laundry then a Melrose rehearsal. Tomorrow heading out for the Cambridge grocery run & hope to make it home before the lovely "wintry mix" descends on us for the rest of the week. Lovely.

Martian in disguise?

Off 'n on sunny here today - 35F (feels like 23F so not that bad) going up so they say to 41F. I've begun looking for our species croci & snow drops but don't see anything yet.

An interesting talk this morning on Speaking of Faith "Robi Damelin is an Israeli who lost her son to a Palestinian sniper; Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian who lost his older brother to an Israeli soldier. But in their unlikely friendship and determination, these two defy headlines of despair. They are part of a citizen-led movement to turn pain into hope." to quote the website. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/ I was interested to hear Robi talk about the Presbyterian church's debate re divestiture - but was in & out of the car doing Sun. AM grocery shopping, so will have to see if I can find that particular segment in the transcript. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/no-more/transcript.shtml

Other than that, tootling, toddling, laundry, & vacuuming on the docket for today. Beginning my first top-down sweater, first raglan & first mohair all in one swell foop & struggling with that expletive deleted Dvorak arpeggio. Why couldn't he have written the piece in Eb? It would have been _so_ much easier than that forked fingering in F.* I should always have such problems.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4376403.html - search for "fork"

I heart NYC

Had to grab a photo of this on (I think) 6th Ave. (Avenue of the Americas be damned). The fellow whose head you see in the lower left corner is my friend Dale who went with me to the Bauhaus show @ MOMA that morning. Student showing up soon 4 a lesson so I'd best get this off quick. Then to a Polarity treatment & some tootling & stitching & toddling if the spirit moves me. Hope all's well by you.

MOMA Dejeuner

For some reason this reminds me of a Bonnard (one of my favorite artists) interior. http://tinyurl.com/yap744z Heading out soon for acupuncture. Tootling, toddling, stitching on order. Planning to stop by Windsor Button en route home to check for, guess what?

MOMA Garden

This is a shot of the MOMA outdoor sculpture garden. Heading off soon for an Alexander lesson. Another interesting Closer to Truth segment - this on about what an expanding universe means (I know what an expanding waistline means - time to toddle more). Finished the cardigan last night - now to find some buttons. I like Perl Grey's stuff - I wonder if anyone around here carries them.

Bigger Archer

Here's the aforementioned larger version of the archer statue. Lucky the man next to him isn't taller: he'd be in the line of fire.

Tootling, toddling, laundry (what's the "t" word for that?), & stitching on the docket. Still struggling with that F arpeggio in the beginning of Dvorak 5 - trying it in different keys to see if that helps.

I've begun poking around for large wind ensembles to use @ Wellesley this summer. Found a nice double wind quintet by Emile Bernard - the music's in the public domain, but no one's posted it to any of the websites like the Sibley Library @ Eastman or IMSLP.org so most likely the folks will have to shell out the $55 for the parts (and $45 for the score). :(

There is enough snow outside to shovel, but if I wait long enough it will melt - always feel bad for the mail carrier, so I'll most likely go out soon & clear the walks.

Hot Cross Buns*

Well, the snow is falling but temps scheduled to hit near 40F so rain is on the way - "accumulating slush" was the way one weather babe described it. Lovely. My big dilemma - to go to the Post Office today or not - I've agreed to swap some yarn with a fellow Raveler - but usually would avoid it like the plague on a Monday & esp. after a three-day weekend. May I always have such problems. Would also like to head down to Tedeschi's (a local corner mom & pop store) for the Tues. NY Times - always like the science section. So best I head out before the streets get worse. Tootling & tackling the huge pile of papers here next to the computer also on the docket - and maybe a crack @ the taxes? If only I could find the Turbotax CD (I think it's somewhere in that pile).

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Cross_Buns

Autumn in New York*

Another shot from the Met Museum roof garden. We're forecast for another lovely "wintry mix" overnight tonight. Glad I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow. Of course the weather babe hedged her bets saying if the storm tracks further north snow totals would be less, if south more. IOW stay tuned & watch the commercials. :|

Had a weird frustration dream yest. Mom, Dad & I (and various other relatives) were somehow in Paris and me starting a dissertation (maybe my subconscious telling me I should get a move on looking into getting mine published?), I was totally lost trying to get back to the hotel, wandering around not-very-scenic parts of the city & blocked at every turn by the Seine having overflowed its banks. What's up with that?

Tootling & toddling on my docket this Presidents' Day. Am heading to the end of the second sleeve on the cardi that's on the sticks now. Button band, pocket band, washing & blocking soon to come. Ain't life grand?

* http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627069322595612 (a very old Ella)

Faces? You want faces?

Well, here they are. A day of tootling, toddling & stitching awaits.

As wonderful as it is to hear the BSO, I have to confess to a certain amount of pain as well: there in piccolo position is a woman I knew when she was an undergraduate @ Carnegie Mellon and last I knew was in a small orchestra in Ohio, and the 2nd flute pro-tem is occupied by a woman I was literally head to head with for a position with Boston's Civic Symphony. I also have to admit to a certain amount of depression - which, if it's really anger turned inward, must be at the life choices I made that have me in the audience while they're up on stage (not to mention pulling down over $100K/year for the privilege.) I struggle to remember the Desiderata's dictum not to compare oneself to others, and think it's providential that I was unable to get to sleep last night and so slept in a bit this AM so I was doing my morning ablutions during a radio segment interviewing a New Orleans musician. His parting words to the interviewer "remember that your worst day can be a blessing because you might learn something from it." So I strive (to avoid using the word "try" since a therapist once told me that "try is a fail word") to find the lesson in that pain. Perhaps it's as simple as "count your blessings."

More maelstrom, Watty & Anne

More maelstrom
With pix of second cousins, Watty Strouss & Anne Watkins.
28F with a feels like of 19F, heading up to 35F so I imagine I'll be going out for my dailyish toddle soon - the blood results from the last draw (unfortunately not fasting so the results are skewed - fasting one taken this week so we'll see) showed a big increase of HDL (at least as far as I can remember) so here's hoping I can put off taking anti-lipid meds more than the fish oil. The older you get the more you talk about your illnesses, it seems. Hope all's well with you. OXOXO JR

Maelstrom

I suppose a cloudy day is the best backdrop for this sculpture that's on the Met Museum's roof garden. http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={6267CA47-491B-4776-A468-0673F8362B0F} It was my first time up there (at least that I can remember). Bright & sunny here today - 26F with a "feels like" of 14F. No snow in the forecast except maybe Monday night - Tues AM. TIme will tell.

Heading off soon to an acupuncture appt. I lied when I said next week I only have this appt. I forgot about my Thursday Alexander lesson in Somerville, & the Polarity treatment on Sat. Beats going out every day, though.

Last night before I went to bed I heard this "I'm gonna kill you" cat yowl - very different from the hissy, spatty stuff Potter & Snitch usually get up to - turns out there was a ginger & white cat on the table on the porch & Snitch was going nuts. I guess she either _really_ doesn't want another cat coming in or she has it in for that poor guy - he was looking at me through with window with a "what did I do?" look.

Left out

I'm guessing this sculpture is by Rodin - and that the guard is being left out of the conversation.

Heading off soon to the dress rehearsal of tonight's BSO program - I'm hoping that La Fleming doesn't mark her way through the Strauss.* Barely a couple inches of snow here after all the hoopla yesterday - which, I suppose is a blessing getting around here today - my across-the-street neighbor, whose husband died in Nov, & whose son had some kind of weird seizure a couple weeks ago & is still in the hospital, had to go to the hospital herself a week or so ago & have surgery done to remove a blockage of her carotid artery (on top of her diabetes), has to go to the hospital today to have her staples (whatever that is) removed this early afternoon so not having over a foot of snow will certainly make her life easier.

Today's Closer to Truth was "What is God like" - or as I wished it were "What is Godlike?" http://tinyurl.com/yc43cpw As usual, I found Huston Smith's (he of the experience with many faiths) interview the most interesting. I've learned that they do have the title of the show @ the beginning & if you search for that you can find the interviews, though there's no podcast per se of the 30 minute program. Another interesting thing is that there are _more_ and longer interviews on the website. As my Alexander said, "pretty heady stuff for 7:30 in the morning."

Acupuncture tomorrow & then a blessed week of only having to leave the house for next Friday's appt. The last couple weeks have been hectic with MD appts., etc. Don't know why they all seem to cluster together, but it sure is nice to have next Monday off from the orchestra & no grocery runs or other trips in the offing. Hope all's well by you. OXOXO JR

* http://voicestudio.kristinaseleshanko.com/SingingTerms.htm

Circles & squares

Ah, the wonders of geometry. And actually the photo below should be parallelograms or something like that (veluti in speculum - where did THAT come
from?).

Heading out soon for an MD appt - I think I'll let the T do the driving & pray the snow isn't coming down too hard on my way home 10:00AMish & that I'll make it here early enough that I can enjoy the storm from the comfort of indoors.

The masterclass yesterday was wonderful - and the snippets of the singing I heard Ms. Fleming do in the class convinced me I needed to hear her do Strauss' Four Last Songs in person - unfortunately the evening performances were sold out (or had tix too expensive for my pocketbook) so I hope I didn't make a mistake by getting a ticket to the dress rehearsal tomorrow AM @ 10:30AM - here's hoping we're dug out by then.

Hunter & hunted

Funny how sequential photos can have a narrative one doesn't notice until processing them for upload. Here's hoping he misses. I swear this same archer sculpture, in a larger form, is in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. There's also a larger version in the downstairs sculpture garden @ the Met.

One of the flutists I didn't think had a chance actually won the competition on Sunday. So, once again, the Pappoutsakis jury goes not for the fastest & loudest, but listens more below the surface. Good on them! The rehearsal didn't go too badly last night. We have next week off (yippee!). Renee Fleming master class coming up this afternoon, after a morning shopping trek to
Cambridge. Then teaching a lesson tonight & an MD follow-up appt. tomorrow morning. Then I get a day off. Yippee, skippee!

Deco desk

This is in the "Masterpieces of French Art Deco" the highlight of which was a floor to ceiling carved mirror from the Normandy (unfortunately the museum's website includes no pictures from the show).

Late start this AM - the Pappoutsakis competition had 5 finalists & with a longer-than-usual program for each of them to play, it lasted from 7-9:45 with a short break (so I wasn't abed until after 11:30 - having wanted to finish Wolf Hall before retiring).* I didn't hang around to hear the results but I imagine it will be a Korean sweep since neither of the two Caucasian women competing came near to matching the grasp of the instrument (despite some good musical ideas) of the other three, all of whom were from Korea (and played on gold flutes). And all in gowns - the finals were nowhere near that formal when I was on the Board. Nor were the programs printed on such fancy paper - things have changed.

Cold here this AM 25F heading up supposedly to 35F (the widget on this computer doesn't five the "feels like" but apparently the wind, which was brutal walking the several blocks from where I parked last night to the site of the finals) apparently hasn't let up. Still don't have the mouse I ordered for the other computer when the left button stopped working and esp. on a MAC, a non-working mouse is a PITA). Off to a Melrose rehearsal tonight, some tootling (and toddling?), and stitching between now & then.

* http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/books/391

That musta hurt

A shot from the indoor sculpture garden @ the Met Museum. What a great place. Cold here today & have mixed feelings about missing all the snow down south. It would be great to have _something_ on the other hand getting to the Pappoutsakis finals tonight would be a challenge. I only worry that they're going to get out at the same time as the expletive deleted football game does. Time will tell. Meanwhile it's tootling & toddling if I can make myself get outside when it's below freezing. Some stitching & catching up on TV online, too, I imagine.

Sometimes the most beautiful things aren't man made

Here are a couple shots of the windows in the Lehmann gallery @ the Met Museum. The Carter Flute Concerto yesterday was a fabulous piece, and Elizabeth Rowe did an incredible job with the flute part. I'd like to hear her more - one thought was that she has an incredible control of the instrument but I didn't get a sense of a strong personality - though it could have been the piece. The Brahms 4 was also worth the price of admission. I got to the box office shortly before it opened & struck up a conversation with the guy in front of me. I had planned to spend $29 or more for the tix (depending on what was available once I got to the window) but it turned out that they were selling rush tix for $9 (one per person & you couldn't pick the seat). So I got a row in the center section of the orchestra row B! Perfect for seeing Ms. Rowe but not the best for a blended orchestral sound. But you can't have everything - where would you put it? (Snitch is crawling all over me, making typing difficult. Maybe if I ignore her she'll go away - yup, that seems to have done it.)

Off soon to a "get to know your sewing machine" class at a yarn store down the road (Dorchester Stitch House if you must know), then off to a Polarity treatment & then tearing back here to teach the young woman who (I think, if the weather doesn't get in the way) is coming up from NYC. She took a couple lessons a few years ago as she prepared to go to England to study with Peter Lloyd & I guess she liked it - and at the end of the lesson we had last week, where we worked on a Telemann solo flute piece, she suggested she'd like to come back for work on the Sancan Sonatine, which is also on the list of pieces she needs to prepare for a competition recording she has to make on the 13th. Tomorrow is the Pappoutsakis competition final round @ 7PM, Monday the Melrose rehearsal, then Tues. Renee Fleming is giving a masterclass @ HU @ 3PM & I have a lesson to teach @ 7 that day - so a busy next few days.

Interesting grate

I think this is from the American Collection @ the Met Museum. Andy just walked in the door saying he didn't feel well - don't know how far he got on his trek to work. Said he didn't feel bad enough to go to the hospital so I guess that's good. I'm heading out soon for some acupuncture & then I think I'll head over to Symphony Hall - they're doing the Carter flute concerto with the principal flutist of the BSO, Elizabeth Rowe, as soloist & the Brahms 4 (which I'll bet she won't be playing since she's doing the solo, drat) & there are still $29 tix available so I hope I can snag one. Hope all's well by you. OXOXO JR

St. Germaine? and Why is Consciousness So Baffling?

I thought this painting was by an artist called St. Germaine but now I can't find it anywhere on the Met Museum site. That'll teach me not to make a note or photo of the wall caption.

Listened to another installment of Closer to Truth - this one about consciousness - he interviewed 6 people in 30 minutes, which, on a topic like this, was just too short with any one of them. I've finally found a way to pinpoint the interviews at least on this show - here are the links to the Why Is Consciousness So Baffling - in case you're curious, they're here http://www.closertotruth.com/search_results.php?search=baffling&x=0&y=0. I'm looking forward to listening to the longer on-line versions to see if they're any more satisfying than the short snippets they included in the broadcast show.

Heading off soon for an Alexander lesson - gotta finish the ribbing on a sock so I can start the second one not on the train. I'm scrambling to get the Sancan Sonatine back under my fingers since the flutist form NYC is coming back up this Sat. (at least she's planning to) for a lesson on it. May I always have such challenges for a day. And may you.

Medieval column

While I waited for cousin Anne & Watty (are you related to someone who's related to your cousin via the cousin's father who was married to your great-aunt's daughter?) I took some pictures @ the Met. Here a couple from the Medieval rooms.

Heading out soon for a follow-up dermatology appt. Will most likely take public transportation since, even though it takes longer, it costs about 1/2 what driving & parking does. Plus I'll get some more work done on my sock. Got all the way to the arm hole separation on the lovely cardigan I'm working & had to frog it* back about 10" because I forgot to put pockets in. Grr. Don't want to take that on the T with me cuz it's just too bulky. Then it's some tootling & laundry folding for moi. Fascinating, no?


* http://knitting.about.com/od/knittingglossary/g/glossaryfrog.htm

Interesting ornament

Here's an interesting ornament - or I imagine there must be some specific name for a thingie above a door but I don't know it - on the upper East side of NYC heading toward the Met Museum. They do have fancy, schmancy buildings up there.

Orchestra rehearsal last night went OK - except the conductor threw in an unannounced run-through of the Dvorak at the last minute. I wasn't expecting to have to play that expletive deleted first movement F arpeggio that he's taking faster than any professional orchestra I've heard play it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz31dlMJjjw I think he was nervous because he things we don't have enough rehearsals btwn now & the Mar. 1 concert so he wanted to see what shape the whole symphony was in. Over all, not a bad work - I think I agree with David, the first clarinetist, that the last movement is the weakest - lots of bombast & little else. The slow movement is lovely. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIJeLPqwpXs&feature=related (we don't take it nearly at this funeral tempo - it's marked andante for Pete's sake.

A student coming for a lesson tonight, but otherwise the day is mine to do with as I please. It'll be a bit chilly for a toddle, with a high forecast of only 32F, but the wind's supposedly died down so maybe my lips won't get so chapped.

Forest Hills Street Scenes

Here are pictures of Bill & Dale's entryway, street view, and a local spire. The whole of Forest Hills was designed by Frederick Olmstead, Jr., and Bill & Dale say they feel like they're on some kind of movie set. Originally planned for affordable housing, that went by the by very early on.



Yesterday I went out to the car around 8AM to go to the grocery store only to find the car battery had died. Turns out the
Prius has _two_ batteries - one that powers up the computer that runs the diagnostic to see if the car can start (that lives in the house that Jack built) & the another bigger one that powers the car. Fortunately it was the smaller of the two that had died & fortunate, too, that it happened today & that I didn't discover it @ 6:30PM tomorrow then I was planning to get to Melrose - or worse, at 10PM tomorrow when I was planning to come home. The batteries apparently are like the new digital broadcast signal - you either get it or you don't - no such thing as a fuzzy picture. Unlike regular batteries, that give you some warning that they're failing by cranking for awhile before actually starting the car, these batteries work until they don't, with no indication that they're about to do. :| So I spent a couple hours or so @ the fix it place once we got the battery jump started, had a nice conversation with a woman there (who'd been there since 9:30AM & I showed up sometime after noon - and her car _still_ wasn't ready when I left sometime after 2!) who was also knitting - I got a lot of work done on that sock, I can tell you.

I decided not to practice when I got back and, boy, take one day off and it already shows up in my dreams - last night of sitting in the front row in the orchestra (in other words in full view of the audience) and having the other flutist & I sharing a stand with our music suddenly falling off all over the place during a performance, and the conductor deciding to reprise the entire Shostakovich symphony because he wasn't happy with the way it went the first time. At least I wasn't dealing with the melty flute, which is another performance anxiety dream I commonly have when I've not practiced as much as I think I should. :|

So that's my weekend saga. Could have been worse - could have been raining. :)