6.Jan.2011

Pix today from 6.Jan.2011 - mostly Met museum portraits of men I'm sure I'd have fallen in love with had I met them.

Heading off now to tootle. 3 sessions I hope today - two rehearsals & a performance this upcoming week & lots of high fast notes - just what my left shoulder needs. :|

I had hoped to include a quotation from the transcript of today's On Being episode but there it wasn't. I encourage you to listen to the podcast, esp. the part where Vincent Harding talks about Kumbaya.

Snooky & the metronome

Sorry I've been out of touch - our phone & internet have been down (again) since Monday. What is this, Boston becoming Baghdad?

Real Men Knit

I love the way the narrator felt he had to explain what he meant when he said "grab your sticks". ;)

Potter seems none the worse for wear - thank goodness. I don't know if it's psychosomatic but I feel dizzy every time she enters the room. Haven't brought myself to pet her yet, but make loving noises whenever she's near.

NYC Day 3 & Potter

Well, we just got Potter from the animal hospital - where she apparently didn't eat much in the 3 days she was there. We've got to keep her more of less off our laps & handle the kitty litter gingerly for the next 2 weeks - and then bring her back for a check up a month after that and then another check up some time after that - so she'll really have had her fill of the carrier by the time this is all over. She seems less traumatized on her return this time than the first time she had to overnight @ Angell, so I guess that's good. Photos today from 6.Jan.2011. Several Klee's & an interesting bldg. & sculpture.

NYC Day 2 & Potter

Shots from around the Met Museum & Guggenheim on 5.Jan.2011.

We dropped Potter off @ the hospital today - she won't be back until Sunday @ the earliest & we won't be able to pet/hold her for more than 20 minutes/day for weeks after that. But they say there's a 95% cure rate for hyperthyroidism using this radioactive iodine. Andy insisted on looking @ the cats up for adoption as we left - I always feel so sad walking away from those animals - while well cared for @ Angell - esp. the gray & white one named Bob who was Potter's exact counterpart - though male.

Didn't feel much like practicing when we go home - to our catless house (at least for awhile) - but the piccolo arrived from _its_ stint @ the repair place so practice a bit I did, just to see if everything was copacetic. It seems to be playing much better - the repair person basically took it apart & treated it as if it were a brand new instrument. So I'm hopeful that _at last_ the thing will stay in adjustment for more than a few months. Fortunately she said it was still warranty work so I had to pay for neither the 3-hour repair nor the shipping.

Back in the deep freeze today, but they promise mid-50s by Friday - entirely _too_ warm for Feb. ask moi.

En route & NYC day 1

Pix today from 1/3 & 4 of my New York trip. The first shot is Boston's Chinatown as seen from the bus. The indoor forest was the NY Times new bldg. The patio shots are from Magi & Michael's wonderful apt. in Harlem. The park shots are Central Park - on a walk from M&M's place to the Met Museum - a longer, colder jaunt than I'd anticipated. I have no idea what the latin says, but liked the bldg. decoration. Then come some shots from inside the Met. The Wright sprite, or a version thereof, graces our garden in the summer & living room in winter. I like the indian story teller I shot (with the camera) after lunch. I wonder if the stained glass picture with the waterfall was the inspiration for one of the stained glass windows in the Menominee Presby church.

I'd be a fool

Pix today from 12/28 (the side yard) & 30 (a wonderful snow wave)/2010. Poem from yesterday's Writer's Almanac. Heading out soon for Alexander lesson - am SO glad I didn't venture out last night to teach - it had started refreezing by mid-afternoon & would have been a total mess travel-wise by 4PM.

Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom

by Dorothy Parker

Daily dawns another day;
I must up, to make my way.
Though I dress and drink and eat,
Move my fingers and my feet,
Learn a little, here and there,
Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,
Hear a song, or watch a stage,
Leave some words upon a page,
Claim a foe, or hail a friend—
Bed awaits me at the end.

Though I go in pride and strength,
I'll come back to bed at length.
Though I walk in blinded woe,
Back to bed I'm bound to go.
High my heart, or bowed my head,
All my days but lead to bed.
Up, and out, and on; and then
Ever back to bed again,
Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall—
I'm a fool to rise at all!

Two-hour delay? I think not

Pix from the storm we got Dec. 27, 2010.

I was doing my best to have an attitude of gratitude while shoveling more than an hour in the rain. Blech. The Governor told all non-essential personnel to stay home. Harvard closed. Northeastern? Two-hour delay. So rain/sleet all day & then refreezing tonight - I think I'm going to cancel lessons today anyway, NEU admin be damned. Yesterday morning nineish during the snow storm I _tried_ to take Potter to the vet for her hyperthyroid treatment - got 1/2 way there & realized it was hopeless - even if I got there by the time I'd dealt with the intake I don't think I could have gotten home - at least for hours - as it turned out things eased up noonish. But heading out in the rain on top of snow and then snow again this PM? I think not. :) Tootling & stitching on order for today.