December Art Trading Cards - Holiday Traditions

Finally finished. I did Christmas Movies as my subtheme. In the States, these movies are standard staples of the holiday season. Therefore, I'll consider them a Holiday Tradition. 
Happy Holidays Everyone!

Miracle on 34th Street, 1947 A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965 Linus gives his blanket for support Frosty the Snowman, 1969 Elf, 2003

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, 1964

How The Grinch Stole Christmas, 1966

A Christmas Carol, 1951

It's a Wonderful Life, 1946

A Christmas Story, 1983 You'll shoot your eye out

A Friend's New Dog

Jasper, 5 x 7 Pastel

December Drawing

Signed up this month for the Drawspace December Art Card Trade - Theme Holiday Traditions. Figured it was something constructive to do while classes are on winter break. When I was a kid, my mom used to make me draw Holiday Cards every year. First thing I did when I moved out of the house was BUY Holiday Cards. Took me years to get over that trauma :)

Here's an attempt at a portrait for this week's Drawspace challenge. Ink and Pastel, approx 3 x 3

Uh oh, Nonet.

Well, the good thing is you can't hear the cello :)

Cello Thoughts

A friend asked me the other day about my cello playing. I tried to explain that I had an upcoming recital that was way too hard for me. The friend said "Can't you just practice more?". Truth be said, this is a hobby not a vocation.

I'm probably not willing to put in more than an hour a day. Trying to explain it to my friend helped me understand the process better. If something is too hard -- that is -- I don't have the skill set for it, it is like trying to lift 50 pound weights. If I am used to doing 5 to 8 pound weights for 20 reps at a time, no matter how much I "practice", I'm not going to be lifting 50 pound weights anytime soon.

Another example, I gave was, that practicing the cello is like running a marathon. Playing an instrument not only requires knowledge and musicality, it's also very physical. Playing too much hurts if you're not used to it.

A Friend's Grandson

I received a cute photo in my email and thought it I'd try to draw it.

5 x 7 pencil.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

Checking in - It's November Already

What shall we do for my bday this year? I can't remember what we did last year. Hubby says "Well, there's a stamp show in Bulgaria". Sure, why not? We have friends to visit, cheap dentistry besides great food and historic tourism.

It turned into two weeks off from work and school. I was planning on doing my online class and some work remotely. However, on the first day of the trip (having just punched in the wireless key for the hotel) the netbook crashed and wouldn't get up again. Thus, I had Enforced Vacation.

It was worth it. Friends took us to classical music concert -- Schumann's Manfred Overture, Strauss' last four Leider, and a very crisp Brahms Symphony #4. This orchestra gives a 30 concert season. Hubby was jealous.

Some pics at: https://sites.google.com/site/2010bulgariasofia/home

Chamber Music teacher wasn't amused by my two week absence. I did take the Martinu Nonet seriously enough to actually see a cello teacher for some tips on how to tackle it. The class ran through it this week and I think I will need to memorize one section because it just flies by too fast to sightread.

Gotta Practice

Chamber Music assignments have finally been settled for this term. The class has more instruments than usual. An extra cellist has arrived in the form of a bassist. There wasn't any parts left for another bass player so she decided to play the cello instead.

I've been assigned the Martinu Nonet, Beethoven String Quartet, op. 18 #6 and Holst Jig, Op.29 #2 (All first movements) -- not too terrible when played slowly -- a terror to play up to tempo. It's metronome practice time!!!

Underdog

I haven't done much drawing so thought I'd revisit Drawspace and see what's up this week.

Here's my two submissions with an "Underdog" Theme.

Nonet

First chamber music class of the season. Teacher's trying out a Martinu Nonet. I think the first movement is doable. It was fun. Also sight read a little modern piece which wasn't too hard. I enjoyed playing after being off all summer.

Balkan Camp

Just spent 3 days in Rock Hill, NY with Earl, his sister and cousins at the Eastern European Folklife Center Balkan Camp Workshop. It was our first time there. We flew up to Baltimore to Earl's sister's home and then drove about 6 hours to the campsite The food was very good. Plenty of salad and many good diet choices (besides the evil stuff). Also provided late night snacks. They served baklava twice and even had a lamb roast party with grilled vegetables, hummus and baba ghanoush on the last day.

The Iroquois Spring camp had excellent facilities. The showers, etc. were actually in the back of each cabin. There were parties all night long. We were very lucky and got some cooler weather. It has been a very warm summer. I did some dancing and tried playing the Bulgarian tambura which is tuned like a guitar and played like a mandolin. Earl participated in several ensembles. He's in the videos below.

July Update

http://travelgalitz.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/a-touch-of-shanghai-expo/

This is the last post for my China trip.

Summary: This was my third trip to China and I thought I'd try something different from the normal tourist route--a homestay in a modern industrial city of China plus a month of studying Mandarin.

Things Discovered: Doctor/Dentist visits were very easy and cheap.

Things I knew about in advance, but still had difficulty coping with: Smog

Things Enjoyed: Calligraphy studies

Things Missed: Enough time to visit the nearby historical and scenic regions

Chinese Calligraphy - 4th Lesson

It's been fun living and studying in China this past month.

Monday through Friday - I have 4 hours of private mandarin lessons. Then I have calligraphy class every other day.

Here's a sample - the first character in each row is the teachers. He circles the ones he likes.

A Great Little Wall

http://travelgalitz.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/a-great-little-wall-and-more/

Hu Hu Shui Mountain

http://travelgalitz.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/hu-hu-shui-mountain/

Beijing and Beihai

http://travelgalitz.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/beijing-and-beihai/

Cleaning the Closet

I was looking for a map of Shanghai in the hallway closet and found unexpected gems. This closet is full of antique mysterious flotsam. I tossed maps and souvenirs of places forgotten with time. Exhumed ancient mementos. Cleansed binders of scholarly pursuits of yore. I was pleased to find my very first Chinese lessons from 1992. Since I wrote everything like it sounded to me back then, I had fun trying to interpret my notes. I discovered a poem that I just re-learned this year. I remembered learning a song but hadn't heard it since and couldn't remember the name. Just considered it a casualty of time. Found the song in my notes and then on the net. I remembered the melody as being pretty and find that my opinion hasn't changed. Here it is. It's a little jazzier than the version I learned but the melody is basically the same.

Summertime

Once again I have fallen into the no practice mode of summertime. After chamber music class stopped in April, I haven't felt compelled. Did join my husband to play continuo at some early music recorder workshop sessions. The music was pleasant and within my range for sightreading.

Vacation begins in two weeks -- I'll be off to China for 33 days to study Mandarin and plan to spend a couple of days at the Shanghai Expo. Then my sister-in-law invited me to join her at a Eastern European Folk Life Workshop in upstate New York for the second week in August.

August 23rd school starts and I begin working on my Master's Degree.

Neat

The magnet school I help out has been just listed as one of six finalists in the White House Commencement Challenge. Pretty neat, huh? http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/notifying-commencement-challenge-finalists

One Down One To Go

We had about 10 minutes to rehearse before the recital with the guest violinist. Last movement went too slow but we'll get another chance to play on Friday. I'm surprised at how well one can hear the cello part even with the mute on :)

Grueling GRE

I took the GRE this morning. It was NOT easy. My friends had given me conflicting reports. Some said it was a breeze while others said it was the worse thing ever. I did do a little preparatory work. Looked over a couple of practice tests which was a good thing because some of the vocabulary and questions did appear on the test today. I ran out of time on the quantitative section and had to guess the final 15 answers. I'm not used to working without a calculator. Despite this, my unofficial scores should be adequate for my major.

Two Concerts

Last night a friend gave me tickets to New World Symphony's Baroque Concert. They played a nifty little piece by Jean-Marie LeClair called "Glaucus and Scylla". It was originally an opera but rearranged for orchestra. LeClair also had the honor of being among murdered composers. Being isolated, he was found dead two months later clutching his red Strad violin.

Today, we went to see my chamber music teacher's concert of twentieth century music. Here's an excerpt of one of the more interesting pieces.

Pain Free but Muted.

I was able to play cello Tuesday night without pain. The middle finger on my left hand isn't bothering me anymore although the right hand still gives me a twinge now and then.

We now have a bass player for the Brandenburg so the sound is a little bottom heavy. I put my mute on. The slow movement doesn't need any extra bass, maybe I'll just air bow. Teacher wants to do all three movements for the recital April 13th. It will be interesting to see if the recorders actually play in tune.

300 Tang Poems

When I was in China back in 2002, I picked up several children's books. I hope to eventually work my way through them. Here's the first offering.

chán

蝉

cicada

chuí ruí yǐn qīng lù

垂 緌 饮 请 露,

dangling caps (to) drink invites (the) dew

liú xiǎng chū shū tóng

流 响 出 疏 桐.

flowing frequencies emit thinly (through the) "Chinese wood-oil tree"

jū gāo shēng zì yuǎn

居 高 声 自 远,

resides (the) loud noise (of) self (heard) far

fēi shì jiè quī fēng

非 是 藉 秋 风.

not is because of autumn wind.

Moral: if you live high (on the social ladder) your voice carries far.

Minor Injuries

Managed to fall up the stairs the other day and whacked both middle fingers of the left and right hand. It made for interesting cello playing at chamber music class. Happily, C natural and F natural can be played in half position if given enough time.

Besides the Brandenburg 4, I'm working on the first movement of Haydn's String Quartet opus 77 #1. Our first violin was out of town Tuesday night so hubby stepped in and took it "at tempo" which was actually a lot of fun because at that speed one doesn't have time to worry about getting all the right notes.

GREat - To Be a Master.

I bit the bullet today and decided to try for a Masters Degree in Information Services. A major part of my indecision about graduate school has been deciding what major. Will now have the hoops of the admission process to jump through -- recommendation letters, transcripts, etc. plus the GRE test. Scheduled it for the end of March. It's a good thing that I reviewed algebra and geometry last year for the GKT.

Happy Tiger Year - Happy Valentines Day!

White tiger, Miami Metro Zoo

Spent the holidays repairing desktop computer - two power outages in a row zapped the video card. Yes, I know I should have had a UPS, but when the last one died I didn't bother to replace it.

Went to a huge Chinese New Year's Eve Party Saturday night which had tons of food, backyard fireworks, and "Karaoke". My first time / attempt at this sport. I made a the lowest score of 22 trying to sing "Under the Boardwalk". Seems I only knew the refrain. I made a decent score of 83 with "When I'm 64". "Raindrops keep Fallin' on my Head" was sung with style and was a crowd pleaser, but the machine only gave me a 66. Of course, I couldn't sing any of the Chinese songs. I only know one folk song and it wasn't available on the DVD.

Sunday, we joined ten friends for a dim sum brunch that lasted from 11am to 3pm. We got a big surprise when a guest of one friend decided to pay for the whole table!

Then we went to Walmart to buy some flowering plants to add to our "dead zone" list. Plants don't live long in our house generally, but we figured that flowering plants would live longer than cut flowers.

I rounded out Valentine's Day by going to sleep at 5 pm and not waking until 7 am!

Brandenburg Blues Part II

GGP, you were right, I should have studied the part more. Cello one decided that getting employment was more important than the class and has skipped out.

Now I have a string quartet, a piano quartet and the Brandenburg to work on. When it rains it pours. Before this tragic event (in my chamber music teacher's eyes) I just had a little baroque piece to play with a recorder.

If I play open strings, the Brandenburg first movement isn't too hard...

Nifty Learning Chinese Sites

http://hua.umf.maine.edu/Chinese/games/games.php

Especially love the Snow White storyboard and the fruit game.

Didn't like the directions game because it was so repetitive, but it finally reinforced the difference of words "right" and "left" in Chinese for me. I was always confusing which word was which direction.

http://www.archchinese.com/

Worksheets and animated stroke characters. Helpful when one is not sure which direction the stroke needs to go.

http://www.nciku.com/

Don't know that character, mouse it into the graph and nciku will find it for you.

http://usa.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=translate

Received an email from your teacher all in chinese characters?

No problem, just copy and paste it into this site and you'll get the drift of the message.

http://www.enterzon.com/

Feel like wandering around in a free virtual game exploring a chinese town. This one's for you.

2010 Why I Am I So Busy?

Monday evening I have a Language Principles and Acquisition class. One of 3 courses needed for a ESL certification in Florida.

Tuesdays, I have Chamber Music Class

Fridays, I have Chinese Workshops.

Mon, Tues, Thu and Fri I help out the local magnet school either volunteering in the morning or subbing.

Wed and Sat I help out the local CPA with taxes.

In between I'm supposed to squeeze exercise, celloing, Chinese writing practice, and playing Scrabble on FB with my cello friends.

This reminds me of when I was a kid, I had to write letters all the time to relatives.

Dear Aunt Theresa,

How are you, I am fine.

I am very busy.

Oh well, "they say" No Rest for the Wicked.

Pumpernickel

I was at a wholesaler's a few months back and noted that a 20 pound bag of rye flour was $10.

Rye flour is tough to get in the stores in Miami, Florida and when a store stocks it, it's expensive. I lugged home this huge bag, saved up milk containers from Costco for three months and finally transfered the flour into more manageable portions. Now that I'm inspired from the Julie/Julia project maybe I'll actually use it :)

Succumbed

Peer pressure? Ease of use? Because I could?

Anyway, I made my first official e-book $9.99 purchase. "Julie/Julia".

Reading about the exploits of a fellow blogger and french cooking did me in.

Brandenburg Blues

This year's chamber music class is working on the Brandenburg 4 -- the one with the recorders. Hubby heard wind of this and decided to join. He bought a plastic Aulos alto 700 recorder and started practicing in December. He hasn't played since he was a teen but after a few fits over some high notes he was off and running. This week, a real cellist showed up (one who has been playing for many years) and since he was such a strong player, I was moved off . The class also had a guest professional violinist play the first part and the group sounded really good -- without me.