Lesson 10/25/03

We worked on a couple duets today. The first was a minuet (I forget who it was by) that I started on Thursday. We made it through, but it was fairly slow. I’m going to continue working on it for Wednesday.

The other minuet I worked on turned out fairly badly. Part of the problem is that my high D and C# are both very out of tune, even with the new mouthpiece. If I could remember to open the high D only a crack, it comes out more in tune, but I’m not yet skilled enough to remember that. I think I’ll move on to a different piece tomorrow.

On my way out of the store, I picked up a new book of movie themes (with an accompaniment CD). One of the pieces is from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which is probably the whole reason I got the book.

The Core

2/5 stars

Like Volcano, there’s not much to say about this one. The core of the Earth has stopped spinning, due to a weapon developed by the US (in retaliation to a perceived weapon developed by other countries). The science is dodgy, but then one does not watch these movies for the science (though it’s really hard for me to turn off my inner-scientist).

Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth

by E. L. Konigsburg

I read this book as a kid, and was reminded of it when I looked through CasualReader’s book relay page. I was too slow to pick up the copy that was offered there, but several weeks later, Andrew spied a copy at a garage sale.

Elizabeth and her parents moved to a new apartment building in a new town over the summer. When school starts, Elizabeth has no friends and no one to walk with to school. Then, while walking back to school after lunch on Halloween in her hand-me-down pilgrim costume, Elizabeth sees a girl up in a tree. This girl is also wearing a pilgrim costume, but hers looks older and more authentic that Elizabeth’s. Her name is Jennifer, and Jennifer is a witch. During the next several months, Jennifer takes Elizabeth on as an apprentice witch, as they collect the ingredients they need for a flying ointment.

I loved this book as a kid. Reading it again brought back some nostalgia for those days. This is a good book about friendships, and also very fun to read right near Halloween.

Goosebumps Books — #19 and #20

by R. L. Stine

I picked these up to release on Halloween, so I decided to read them through first. As with the other two I read, these were fun stories, especially for kids.

Deep Trouble (#19) Billy Deep Jr. and his sister visit their marine biologist uncle on his research boat every summer. The kids are supposed to stay away from the coral reef, but Billy is up for adventure. Adventure is what he gets…in the form of a half-human, half-fish.

The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight (#20) Jodie and Mark visit their grandparents’ farm every summer. Grandpa usually tells great scary stories, and Grandma makes the best chocolate chip pancakes nearly every morning. But this year, things are different. Stanley, the hired hand for nearly 20 years, had put up a whole army of evil-looking scarecrows. Grandma and Grandpa seem more than a year older than last summer. And Jodie spies the scarecrows twitching one night…all of them in unison.

Cute Niece

While I was talking with Dave tonight, I asked if Kira had received the Halloween package that I sent. He said yes, but that they weren’t letting her open it yet, since it was a Halloween thing. I told him to go ahead and let her open it, since next week is not only Halloween, when she might be getting other treats, but also her birthday (so many October birthdays!).

The package contained just a few little goodies — a stuffed animal (a black cat in a pumpkin costume), a book (Mouse’s First Halloween), and a couple pieces of candy.

Kira had already wished me a happy birthday, with a bit of prompting. (Mom says that Kira is just getting used to the phone — last week Dave was on the phone with Mom and asked Kira if she wanted to talk to Grandma, so Kira picked up her toy phone.)

A couple minutes after she opened the package, Dave and I were talking about some random subject, and Kira apparently came over to Dave with a purpose, and wanted the phone. Suddenly I heard a muffled, “Thank you” from the other end. Then Dave came back on, and confirmed that I’d heard “thank you”, but through a mouthful of chocolate. Too cute.

Looking Back Over the Year

Just last year, I had barely started my PhD thesis research. Now, a year later, I have passed my thesis proposal defense, and have completed a first run at a data pipeline. I have downloaded just about all of the data I will be analyzing (with the exception of data that will be added in the coming year or so).

Andrew and I have been settling nicely into our life together. We seem to share the house and our lives very easily, and I feel so luck to have him in my life. He’s loving, caring, has a great sense of humor, and can weather out my dark moods. I can’t imagine having anyone else in my life.

I’ve started to take control of other parts of my life. I’m starting to feel more and more like a “real person.” This has been a struggle after all my years as a student. Somehow, it’s hard to think of myself as a full-fledged person when I’m “just” a student. I feel as though I’m not really contributing anything to the world. Now, even though I’m still a part-time student, I’m starting to see that I have lots to contribute, and not just to the scientific world. My definition of success is changing.

Bike Ride

It was 36 degrees (F) when we got up, which was just a bit cold for me, but we waited until the sun came up before we went. I’m thinking that this will be our last bike ride of the year — I was chilled. I know that some people like the feeling of cold air in their lungs as they exercise outside on a cold day. However, I find it painful. I had learned this long ago about myself when my family used to cross-country ski in the woods behind our house, but in my long years trying to forget winter, I had forgotten. Oh well, the bike ride was fun anyway. It was good to get out one last time.

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been out on the bikes. I do bike about four times a week on our stationary bike, but of course it’s not the same. I started to get disappointed on this ride, because I found myself tiring out after just a couple miles. Just six weeks ago I was ready to do the WABA 12 mile ride, and today I could barely do a few miles. In the end, we did 5 miles.

Then I started to think about it more, and recalled that when we started biking this spring, I was barely able to do 2 miles. So, frankly, if 5 miles is now a “bad day”, I think I can be pretty darned proud of that.

My Birthday!

Well, I turned 32 today.

Andrew and I started the day with a bike ride. After the bike ride, we went for a birthday breakfast at Anita’s, a New Mexican restaurant in town. They have wonderful breakfasts! I had a breakfast chimi with eggs, veggies and potatoes wrapped in a tortilla and fried (it’s my birthday…I can be a little bit bad). My breakfast also came with an apple-filled chimi, so I shared this with Andrew. Yum.

I had a make-up sax lesson this afternoon, so after we got back home, I showered and practiced.

The we went off to the mall. We had a couple errands to do, but our main reason for going was that I wanted my birthday dinner at Uno’s Pizza. After dinner, we went off to Target, my favorite store in just about the whole world (not that I’ve seen much of the world…). I picked up a copy of the Indiana Jones trilogy and the new Barenaked Ladies CD.

Then it was time for cake and presents. Andrew was very naughty, and got me a new iSight, so that I can chat with my parents, once we get our computers all set up (Mom and Dad have been having internet trouble, and I still need to pick up iChat AV). Dad’s been after me to get a working camera since they got their web cam, so now I can get after him to get his internet happy.

All in all a very fun day!

A Bride’s Book of Wedding Traditions

The book catalogs some of the roots of our current wedding traditions. Many traditions date back to ancient times — for example, using the fourth finger on the left hand as the wedding ring finger originated in ancient Egypt. The other traditions date back to marriage by capture, marriage as a means of property transfer, marriage as a means to produce heirs, or superstitions about evil spirits.

I want to avoid any of the fertility traditions — there will be no baby’s breath at my wedding! However, the superstition traditions are more than welcome. I’m not superstitious, but it’s still fun to buy into a little of the hype. I’ll certainly be wearing “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue”! Though I won’t go so far as making my bridesmaids dress exactly like me (to confuse evil spirits).

Unfortunately, I was often left wanting more explanations on the traditions — the short paragraph or two was often not enough.

The Frugal Bride

The advice in the book seems sound, though I mainly picked it up at the library for the “Questions to Ask” Lists. I have another book on saving money on weddings — Bridal Bargins by Denise and Alan Fields — that I actually own, so can dog-ear pages and mark up.