Dear Portland,
This Cesar Chavez Street thing is stupid. Just thought you should know.
Sincerely,
Sarah
Boise: Cute town, bad audition
I'm way behind on my blogging, so we now rewind to the end of May. Yes, May. That was the last time I slept in my own bed, in my own room, at my own apartment.
The first stop on my sumemr travel extravaganze was Boise, ID. I hadn't been there since 1993, so it was nice to revisit this cute desert town. Unfortunately, it was for an audition. I hate auditions, but I love trips, so I tried to make the best of my circumstances and enjoy the city.
I flew in the day before the audition, and despite it being May, Boise was rocking temperatures in the 90s. Dry heat, schmy heat-- it was too hot. On the plus side, I had reservations at the Modern Hotel, which is a great place to stay. In a previous life, it was obviously a tacky hotel, but it's amazing what a padded headboard, blue paint, and some cool lighting can do.
If they hadn't won me over with the decor, they still could have sealed the deal with the surprise on my pillow. Right there waiting for me was... an Idaho Spud.
Ducks!
The first stop on my sumemr travel extravaganze was Boise, ID. I hadn't been there since 1993, so it was nice to revisit this cute desert town. Unfortunately, it was for an audition. I hate auditions, but I love trips, so I tried to make the best of my circumstances and enjoy the city.
I flew in the day before the audition, and despite it being May, Boise was rocking temperatures in the 90s. Dry heat, schmy heat-- it was too hot. On the plus side, I had reservations at the Modern Hotel, which is a great place to stay. In a previous life, it was obviously a tacky hotel, but it's amazing what a padded headboard, blue paint, and some cool lighting can do.
Modern Hotel = nice
If they hadn't won me over with the decor, they still could have sealed the deal with the surprise on my pillow. Right there waiting for me was... an Idaho Spud.
They had me at the spud.
Also awesome? The bathroom, complete with a crazy-cool sink and one of those showers that has water coming out of the ceiling like rain. (Note: I took three showers a day while I was there. I blamed the heat, but I mostly just liked the shower...)
Modern bathroom extraordinaire
The modern rainshower inspired me to waste water!
The funniest thing in the room turned out not to be the Idaho Spud, but the information booklet. Idaho has a large Mormon population, and on the dresser? Not the Book of Mormon, the Book of Modern. Ha! Way to pun, hotel!
Book of Modern. Ha!
I really did practice. The picture below is meant to be proof. Look, I had sheet music and everything! And it was in a binder with plastic page covers and color-coded tabs!
I practiced, I swear
I only practiced for... 30 minutes, though. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? Then it was off to walk around in the ridiculous, sweltering heat.
What I didn't expect was Boise to be so green. The hills around the city were dusty and red, but a lovely river runs at the south end of downtown, and its network of trails certainly rivals Portland's waterfront.
Nature!
This brown house was something. I don't know what it was. I'm sure it was very exciting at the time, though.
Brown house!
Next, I stumbled upon a really cool Anne Frank memorial. It had a fountain, and lots of quotes, and I'm saying pretty shallow things about it since it was a month and a half ago, but trust me that it was neat.
Anne Frank Memorial Thing
Anne Frank memorial fountain
Next I walked under a bridge, which isn't that interesting except that I was getting loopy from the heat, and I was overly excited to see some ducks. I asked the ducks (aloud) if I could take their picture. They didn't answer me exactly, but their eyes said yes.
Bridge!
Ducks!
The river was pretty from the other side too. Also, pretty much the same.
More nature!
Even more nature!
On the way back north toward downtown, I got a great view of the hills. If only I'd had longer... They were beckoning, and I really wanted to hike. Stupid audition, ruining my trip...
Hills around the city
By now my flip-flops were chaffing holes into my feet, so I walked around barefoot. People could probably tell I was from Portland, because I'm sure I looked like a dirty hippie. Oh yeah, and I found an Idaho-shaped sign about how some people I've never heard of crossed in a ferry near there. I was forever changed by the knowledge.
Idaho ferry memorial thing
Downtown was cute, and I particularly enjoyed this fountain:
Fountain!
Another favorite spot? Main Street. It appears to be where the cool kids go, and I had some wicked good bento there.
Main Street
Weary from the heat and wanting to rest up for the next day, I returned to the hotel, showered a couple of times, ate my bento, and made quick work of that Idaho Spud. Also? Much HGTV was watched on the flat screen. (!)
Idaho Spud: The After Shot
I didn't win the audition, but I learned a lot about interior design.
The next day? A bad audition, some Middle Eastern food, more walking, some HGTV, and good friends (who were also in town for the audition). Special thanks to Elise and Catherine for being fun! I hope to make it back to Boise sometime to enjoy the great outdoors and NOT bring my flute.
(Note: I'm tempted to describe the audition, which was a horrific experience, but I'm choosing to keep it positive. Yay Boise! Suffice it to say, a waiting area full of nervous musicians who don't want to talk about anything but auditions is my definition of hell...)
Labels: trips
The return...
I'm back! I'm still not back at home, sleeping in my own bed, but at least I'm within 30 miles of it and have been reunited with the computer. Starting tonight? Fun blogs to catch you all up on the past nearly-six weeks of insanity. Get excited and stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I'm still alive!
I'm just at band camp. Yes, I'm at band camp. I'm convinced it's not lame, though, because I'm gainfully employed at the band camp as a faculty member. Basically I hang out with fun middle school and high school kids all day playing music and stuffing myself in the cafeteria. (All-you-can-eat will be the end of me...)
I'm having a great time, but it's quite difficult to get in any quality internet time, since I have nothing in my room but a bed and my suitcase of stuff: no internet, no radio, no TV, no anything. I just get the occasional few minutes to sneak across campus to my office (since the campus is at the college where I teach) and check email on my computer there. Other than that, my free time is spent on evil-doings, such as our secret plan to cheat at the camp boat race on the creek, and digesting the three desserts I ate at dinner.
Only a week and a half until my actual vacation will begin, and until then hang in there, kind readers! I'm sure I'll have plenty of inane stories for you soon.
I'm having a great time, but it's quite difficult to get in any quality internet time, since I have nothing in my room but a bed and my suitcase of stuff: no internet, no radio, no TV, no anything. I just get the occasional few minutes to sneak across campus to my office (since the campus is at the college where I teach) and check email on my computer there. Other than that, my free time is spent on evil-doings, such as our secret plan to cheat at the camp boat race on the creek, and digesting the three desserts I ate at dinner.
Only a week and a half until my actual vacation will begin, and until then hang in there, kind readers! I'm sure I'll have plenty of inane stories for you soon.
Labels: days
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Adventures in Connecticut
I'm only halfway through my awesome Connecticut adventure --have those words ever been put together before?-- and I've already packed in a ton of fun stuff. There's been lots of delicious food, including the best hamburger I've ever eaten at West Hartford eatery Plan B, and return trips to It's Only Natural and Tacos Mi Nacho. We also went for a beautiful walk through a wooded area that was unfortunately filled with mosquitoes wanting to eat Mike D, and I've done some kung fu watching, some reading at a really amazing park, plenty of practicing, and a fair bit of jogging.
Last weekend I attended Mike D's graduation, where Rensselaer awarded him his MBA.* Not only is that totally awesome, but I had a really great time hanging out with his parents and his sister Theresa. His mom and I happened to be wearing identical shoes, so there was plenty of fun to be had from repeatedly commenting on our good taste. Epic high five to my favorite recent graduate for being totally wonderful and finishing something really amazing! Oh yeah, and he earned his advanced brown belt in kung fu last week too, so I'm pretty much just watching a steady stream of remarkable accomplishments from Mike D on this trip.
Another highlight thus far was our trip to the climbing gym on Monday. I almost can't type about how great it was, because every muscle in my body still aches and I want to do nothing but lie prone until the hurting stops, but holy moly, before the pain set in it was pretty much the most exciting thing in the world. I went once with Alicia several years back, when I was at the peak of my fear of heights, and I was really bad at it. Last time I visited CT I did much better and pulled one particularly sweet move, but I still wasn't great and only succeeded on a couple of 5.5s and maybe a 5.6. This week consituted my third climbing excursion, and I'm proud to say I made it up a 5.8! Woohoo! The bottom of the climb was really hard, but I got creative and climbed the first bit-- it was in a corner-- with my back to the wall, and that did the trick. It felt really good, because I used to get stubborn about accomplishing things all the time, and my twenties have seen my dedication slide quite a bit. I think I'm finally getting my mojo back.
In store for the coming days? Last week we finished watching the Firefly series on Hulu, so tonight it's Serenity at Vivienne's on her gigantic TV. Tomorrow is a picnic lunch, some more kung fu watching, and dinner out on the town, where I will test out one of my new dresses (yay!). I'm not exactly sure what we're doing this weekend, but I'm sure it'll be really fun!
*He got an MBA from the school, whereas I can hardly spell the name of it...
Last weekend I attended Mike D's graduation, where Rensselaer awarded him his MBA.* Not only is that totally awesome, but I had a really great time hanging out with his parents and his sister Theresa. His mom and I happened to be wearing identical shoes, so there was plenty of fun to be had from repeatedly commenting on our good taste. Epic high five to my favorite recent graduate for being totally wonderful and finishing something really amazing! Oh yeah, and he earned his advanced brown belt in kung fu last week too, so I'm pretty much just watching a steady stream of remarkable accomplishments from Mike D on this trip.
Another highlight thus far was our trip to the climbing gym on Monday. I almost can't type about how great it was, because every muscle in my body still aches and I want to do nothing but lie prone until the hurting stops, but holy moly, before the pain set in it was pretty much the most exciting thing in the world. I went once with Alicia several years back, when I was at the peak of my fear of heights, and I was really bad at it. Last time I visited CT I did much better and pulled one particularly sweet move, but I still wasn't great and only succeeded on a couple of 5.5s and maybe a 5.6. This week consituted my third climbing excursion, and I'm proud to say I made it up a 5.8! Woohoo! The bottom of the climb was really hard, but I got creative and climbed the first bit-- it was in a corner-- with my back to the wall, and that did the trick. It felt really good, because I used to get stubborn about accomplishing things all the time, and my twenties have seen my dedication slide quite a bit. I think I'm finally getting my mojo back.
In store for the coming days? Last week we finished watching the Firefly series on Hulu, so tonight it's Serenity at Vivienne's on her gigantic TV. Tomorrow is a picnic lunch, some more kung fu watching, and dinner out on the town, where I will test out one of my new dresses (yay!). I'm not exactly sure what we're doing this weekend, but I'm sure it'll be really fun!
*He got an MBA from the school, whereas I can hardly spell the name of it...
Labels: trips
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Awesome.
Total Eclipse of the Heart is my new favorite karaoke song, but I had no idea about the video. Whoa. I'm glad someone did this, because it needed to be done, but I'd like to think I could have sung it better...
Labels: videos
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Where's Sarah?
I should get a red and white striped shirt and let you all try to locate me in a giant photograph, because I'm pretty much all over the place right now. I spent this past weekend in Boise at an audition, which I didn't win. Normally not-winning is my least favorite thing, but on this occasion I'm cool with it. I don't think that was the right job for me.
Anyway, Boise's cute and there are photos to come whenever I can beg/borrow/steal a chord to link my camera up to the computer. Getting back to Portland from Boise was a bit of a pain, as my one hour flight home was canceled, followed by a five hour wait in the airport and a connection through Spokane. Stupid flying.
I was at my mom's long enough to pack a bigger suitcase and spend one night of quality sleeping time with my cat, and then it was back to the airport and off to Connecticut. Thankfully, yesterday's trip to CT was totally fine and I got in right on time. I also finished a really great book, The Time Traveler's Wife, which I highly recommend. I do not recommend reading it on a plane full of people, though, especially if you're a sappy, sappy crier like me. Oh goodness, it's a good thing I have long hair to shield my over-sensitivity from the other passengers.
I flew into Providence, because it was way cheaper, and Mike D was nice enough to come pick me up. We had a delicious dinner with his cool sister Theresa and then drove back to CT last night. I'm now adjusting to my third time zone in three days, so I'm a little disoriented, but I'm really glad to be here and am looking forward to 2 1/2 weeks of awesome times, including some Firefly watching, board game playing, graduation attending, jogging, practicing, and maybe even some sleeping, once I adjust to the time zone. Hooray for vacation!
Anyway, Boise's cute and there are photos to come whenever I can beg/borrow/steal a chord to link my camera up to the computer. Getting back to Portland from Boise was a bit of a pain, as my one hour flight home was canceled, followed by a five hour wait in the airport and a connection through Spokane. Stupid flying.
I was at my mom's long enough to pack a bigger suitcase and spend one night of quality sleeping time with my cat, and then it was back to the airport and off to Connecticut. Thankfully, yesterday's trip to CT was totally fine and I got in right on time. I also finished a really great book, The Time Traveler's Wife, which I highly recommend. I do not recommend reading it on a plane full of people, though, especially if you're a sappy, sappy crier like me. Oh goodness, it's a good thing I have long hair to shield my over-sensitivity from the other passengers.
I flew into Providence, because it was way cheaper, and Mike D was nice enough to come pick me up. We had a delicious dinner with his cool sister Theresa and then drove back to CT last night. I'm now adjusting to my third time zone in three days, so I'm a little disoriented, but I'm really glad to be here and am looking forward to 2 1/2 weeks of awesome times, including some Firefly watching, board game playing, graduation attending, jogging, practicing, and maybe even some sleeping, once I adjust to the time zone. Hooray for vacation!
Labels: trips
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Anatomy of an Audition, part II
1. If they say we're allowed into the building to warm up starting at 8:30am, I will be there waiting when they open the door at 8:30am. I only need 15 minutes to warm up, and they aren't drawing numbers until 9:30am, but I am compulsively early for everything.
2. I will warm up for 15 minutes and then wish I weren't there for the next hour (because they will run late anyway). Make that the next several hours.
3. They'll draw numbers and we'll all stare at each other with envy. Ooooh, she got my lucky number, and that brat gets to go at the end, and ha! that loser has to go first. Sucker!
4. I'll end up stuck in the giant cattle corral of a warm-up room trying to read my book while surrounded by a cacophony of flutists playing every excerpt as loudly as they can. They will run through their full-range chromatic scales incessantly as though that's going to help them in any way. There will also be at least one meek looking girl playing everything with a metronome, probably very out of tune.
5. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ONE, THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE. There will be a group of people, with one girl as their noble leader. Most of them will have gone to school in NY, and they go to every audition in the country. They will talk incessantly about the flute as follows:
"Hi, you look familiar. Were you in the semi-finals with me in LA?"
"No, I didn't advance in LA. Billy Jean won that, right?"
"Yeah, and they only put three people in the finals."
"The didn't take anybody from the afternoon. They cut Peter and the Wolf from the list and then barely listened to us. They'd obviously decided ahead of time not to put anyone else through."
"Billy Jean sounds great-- she has a Lafin headjoint on a Brannen. I hear the waitlist for them is up to eight months now. What kind of flute do you have?"
Then a discussion on gear that will last for the entire day ensues, interrupted only by more discussion of who won what job and who studies where and with whom. This makes me madder than anything in the world. Whenever anyone introduces themselves, I really want to get right in their faces and yell, "I'm Sarah, but you don't want to talk to me, because I have OTHER HOBBIES."
5. Everything will run ridiculously slowly, and everyone around me will practice non-stop, as though if they didn't learn everything in the past six weeks, they're going to learn it now, surrounded by other flute players an hour before the audition.
6. Everyone will have really expensive instruments, and mine is not so great and the keys won't seal for more than a couple of weeks after each repair, so I'll leave feeling sorry for myself because I can't afford a nice flute.
7. I won't win. Like this time, when I didn't win. (Usually I advance, though, and this time I was cut after prelims-- lame!)
Auditions stink.
(Other than that my life is great though, so don't cry for me, Argentina. I'm going to change out of these formal clothes and get myself out in the sunshine!)
2. I will warm up for 15 minutes and then wish I weren't there for the next hour (because they will run late anyway). Make that the next several hours.
3. They'll draw numbers and we'll all stare at each other with envy. Ooooh, she got my lucky number, and that brat gets to go at the end, and ha! that loser has to go first. Sucker!
4. I'll end up stuck in the giant cattle corral of a warm-up room trying to read my book while surrounded by a cacophony of flutists playing every excerpt as loudly as they can. They will run through their full-range chromatic scales incessantly as though that's going to help them in any way. There will also be at least one meek looking girl playing everything with a metronome, probably very out of tune.
5. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ONE, THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE. There will be a group of people, with one girl as their noble leader. Most of them will have gone to school in NY, and they go to every audition in the country. They will talk incessantly about the flute as follows:
"Hi, you look familiar. Were you in the semi-finals with me in LA?"
"No, I didn't advance in LA. Billy Jean won that, right?"
"Yeah, and they only put three people in the finals."
"The didn't take anybody from the afternoon. They cut Peter and the Wolf from the list and then barely listened to us. They'd obviously decided ahead of time not to put anyone else through."
"Billy Jean sounds great-- she has a Lafin headjoint on a Brannen. I hear the waitlist for them is up to eight months now. What kind of flute do you have?"
Then a discussion on gear that will last for the entire day ensues, interrupted only by more discussion of who won what job and who studies where and with whom. This makes me madder than anything in the world. Whenever anyone introduces themselves, I really want to get right in their faces and yell, "I'm Sarah, but you don't want to talk to me, because I have OTHER HOBBIES."
5. Everything will run ridiculously slowly, and everyone around me will practice non-stop, as though if they didn't learn everything in the past six weeks, they're going to learn it now, surrounded by other flute players an hour before the audition.
6. Everyone will have really expensive instruments, and mine is not so great and the keys won't seal for more than a couple of weeks after each repair, so I'll leave feeling sorry for myself because I can't afford a nice flute.
7. I won't win. Like this time, when I didn't win. (Usually I advance, though, and this time I was cut after prelims-- lame!)
Auditions stink.
(Other than that my life is great though, so don't cry for me, Argentina. I'm going to change out of these formal clothes and get myself out in the sunshine!)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Anatomy of an audition
Step 1: Panic and self-loathing
For one to two weeks prior to the audition, it is important to simultaneously think I am naturally the greatest flutist to ever live, and think I am a total failure who has frittered away my twenties and forfeited any right I had to a successful career. Basically, I could have been the best, but instead I am a slacker and didn't live up to my potential. Second place is first loser.
Step 2: Ignoring positive reinforcement
Next, play my orchestral excerpts for friends and family, who will give me some minor feedback but mostly tell me I'm great, because that's what nice people do. Then I can play devil's advocate and make everyone uncomfortable by telling them why they're wrong and I'm actually quite a miserable, ineffective human being.
Step 3: Shopping
Avoid practicing and any kind of self-analysis by buying clothes and eating cake, if I have cake. Hopefully I have cake.
Step 4: Harumph
Get really grumpy and decide I don't want to talk to anyone. No one will know that I'm even grumpy, though, because I don't like to be rude or troublesome, so externally everything will look like I'm fine and just a little tightly wound.
Step 5: Be charming
I try to be really nice and fun in the warm-up room so that everyone likes me, because I'll inevitably be rejected by the orchestra, but at least their personnel manager will think I was delightful.
Step 6: Play really well at first and then eff something up in a huge way
Pretty self-explanatory. I'll play well for a while, realize I have a chance at winning, freak out, and screw up. Usually by then the panel is on my side because I played so well at the beginning, so sometimes they'll let me try the thing I screwed up two, even three times. 1/3 of the time I'll fix it; the other 2/3 of the time I'll screw it up worse each consecutive time as I panic more. This all occurs with zero elevation of heart rate or sweating, because I take beta-blockers that give me the emotional response of a sociopath.
Step 7: Go home and swear I'm never doing this again.
Then do it again.
For one to two weeks prior to the audition, it is important to simultaneously think I am naturally the greatest flutist to ever live, and think I am a total failure who has frittered away my twenties and forfeited any right I had to a successful career. Basically, I could have been the best, but instead I am a slacker and didn't live up to my potential. Second place is first loser.
Step 2: Ignoring positive reinforcement
Next, play my orchestral excerpts for friends and family, who will give me some minor feedback but mostly tell me I'm great, because that's what nice people do. Then I can play devil's advocate and make everyone uncomfortable by telling them why they're wrong and I'm actually quite a miserable, ineffective human being.
Step 3: Shopping
Avoid practicing and any kind of self-analysis by buying clothes and eating cake, if I have cake. Hopefully I have cake.
Step 4: Harumph
Get really grumpy and decide I don't want to talk to anyone. No one will know that I'm even grumpy, though, because I don't like to be rude or troublesome, so externally everything will look like I'm fine and just a little tightly wound.
Step 5: Be charming
I try to be really nice and fun in the warm-up room so that everyone likes me, because I'll inevitably be rejected by the orchestra, but at least their personnel manager will think I was delightful.
Step 6: Play really well at first and then eff something up in a huge way
Pretty self-explanatory. I'll play well for a while, realize I have a chance at winning, freak out, and screw up. Usually by then the panel is on my side because I played so well at the beginning, so sometimes they'll let me try the thing I screwed up two, even three times. 1/3 of the time I'll fix it; the other 2/3 of the time I'll screw it up worse each consecutive time as I panic more. This all occurs with zero elevation of heart rate or sweating, because I take beta-blockers that give me the emotional response of a sociopath.
Step 7: Go home and swear I'm never doing this again.
Then do it again.