I'm down to one plant and it is really growing like crazy. There are some small buds that look like they may become flowers within the week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they turn into little pumpkins.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday, July 08, 2007
The day the music died (addendum)
So I ordered this marimba. I'm not telling you how much it cost. Suffice it to say you could easily buy a small Korean automobile for the amount of money I will be paying for this marimba.
It's going to be very nice and I am very excited.
The problem is that I could be waiting until November for it to arrive.
You see I ordered it from this guy I used to go to school with who now custom builds marimbas. It's an odd career choice, but he's becoming quite well known for this. Well known in the marimba community at least. Since it's just him building the instruments, it takes awhile to get your marimba. He promised me that he would work hard and try to get it finished earlier, but I don't have much hope. He's a busy guy and a quality instrument takes time to construct.
In the mean time, here's a picture of one of the marimbas this guy has built. Mine will be similar, but with a metal frame. And less shiny.
It's going to be very nice and I am very excited.
The problem is that I could be waiting until November for it to arrive.
You see I ordered it from this guy I used to go to school with who now custom builds marimbas. It's an odd career choice, but he's becoming quite well known for this. Well known in the marimba community at least. Since it's just him building the instruments, it takes awhile to get your marimba. He promised me that he would work hard and try to get it finished earlier, but I don't have much hope. He's a busy guy and a quality instrument takes time to construct.
In the mean time, here's a picture of one of the marimbas this guy has built. Mine will be similar, but with a metal frame. And less shiny.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The day the music died
Long ago (it feels like a lifetime), I considered myself a musician. I had dreams of becoming an orchestral percussionist with a major symphony. I worked hard, practiced my excerpts, and spent hours in the practice room. The summer prior to my senior year at Florida State University, I stood in a practice room playing my marimba. Next door I could hear one of my fellow percussionists pounding out the xylophone part to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. I stopped playing and listened to him practice the part over and over; slowing it down and picking out each note, striving for absolute perfection. He continued to play the same few measures over and over and frankly it started to get on my nerves. It was at that moment I realized that I would never be a professional musician. I simply could not be that person obsessively practicing the orchestral excerpt, removed from the rest of the music.
A few days later, I told my instructor that I would not be auditioning for graduate performance programs and would instead pursue a career in arts administration. I finished out my senior year of college earning a Bachelors in Percussion Performance, hoping that I would be able to find a job doing something in the arts world. I put away my mallets and instruments and didn't touch them for 8 years.
Today and I am in a nursing career that I love. (I'll save the story of how I got into nursing for another day!) Though recently I have felt like something was missing from my life. That thing that is missing is music. I have decided to welcome music back into my life and have done so with gusto. I have joined a local community band and will start playing with them in August. I have pulled out my mallets and snare drum and have started practicing once again. Most significantly, I am having a 5 octave rosewood marimba custom-made for me. It will be a few months until it is ready, but I have already stated planning what music I will play once it arrives.
Perhaps 8 years was too long to be away from performing, or perhaps it was just what I needed. I can't really say. All I know is that music is once again enriching my life and I really believe it's here to stay.
A few days later, I told my instructor that I would not be auditioning for graduate performance programs and would instead pursue a career in arts administration. I finished out my senior year of college earning a Bachelors in Percussion Performance, hoping that I would be able to find a job doing something in the arts world. I put away my mallets and instruments and didn't touch them for 8 years.
Today and I am in a nursing career that I love. (I'll save the story of how I got into nursing for another day!) Though recently I have felt like something was missing from my life. That thing that is missing is music. I have decided to welcome music back into my life and have done so with gusto. I have joined a local community band and will start playing with them in August. I have pulled out my mallets and snare drum and have started practicing once again. Most significantly, I am having a 5 octave rosewood marimba custom-made for me. It will be a few months until it is ready, but I have already stated planning what music I will play once it arrives.
Perhaps 8 years was too long to be away from performing, or perhaps it was just what I needed. I can't really say. All I know is that music is once again enriching my life and I really believe it's here to stay.