Sheet music

6.12.10 - This is probably my oldest and most used music book. I love playing the Venetian Gondola Boat Song (Op 30 No. 6) by Felix Mendelssohn because it's in a minor key (F# I believe) and I love minor songs. Songs in a minor key - to me- are like pictures in high contrast: much more interesting if done correctly and harder to pull off, but intriguing if you can.

Look at my book! It is falling apart. So sad. Every time I play through it, a piece falls or gets torn off.

For Elise (Bagatelle No.25 in A minor). She must have been a special girl for Beethoven to name this piece in her honor. Romantic. Music fact of the day: Fur Elise was found and published 40 years after Beethoven died.

6/8 is a difficult time signature...especially in A major/F# minor. I hated counting aloud during piano lessons...well, actually I rarely counted (6/8: one and a, two and a...) during practice sessions and then all of a sudden, in the presence of my strict Russian piano teachers, I counted like a pro. Ha.

My upright

6.12.10 - Happy August! My birthday is a week away.

This week my blog is focused on all things pertaining to my piano. The above picture is of my cute little brown upright piano. I got it when I was about seven when my family moved from South Minneapolis to the suburbs. If you didn't know, I am a classically trained pianist with about 10 years of professional lessons under my belt and have been playing for about 17 years total..wow, that is a lot of time! I didn't practice very much during college because I didn't really have much access to a piano, but now that I'm back home, I've started to play again and although I have my bad days, it is still nice to know that my fingers can fly across octaves when I play the songs that I know very well.

Sometimes when I play, I don't even have to think. My fingers just know where they need to go and I never count anymore (I've always hated counting to keep time), I just remember how the song is supposed to sound and sometimes I change the time signature to suit my mood. Sound lazy? Yeah it is, but I'm not a professional competing pianist anymore, I just play for fun.

My baby grand piano. 

My dad told me when I was little if I kept up with my lessons and competitions he would buy me a baby grand. I don't really remember the details, but let's just say I don't really want one now and it's a good thing because there isn't even room in my house for one. Maybe one day if I have $40,000 or $50,000 around and the space for it, I'll get a black Steinway baby grand, but until then, my upright is just fine.

Le jardin

6.5.10 - The garden. I've written about it before, but I will say again that I do not garden, also I admit that I have more of a black thumb instead of a green thumb, meaning I have probably killed nearly every plant I've ever had, but I can design and decorate (and photograph!)  - so that's good enough...right?

Cilantro ready to be planted by well-manicured hands.

Cilantro planted.

Joshua's hands after digging around in the dirt.

Pink roses

6.7.10 - I really like the color pink. I used to love it in a juvenile way - buying tons of pink Lisa Frank pens and stationary when I was a youngin', but I have since then upgraded to buying pink flowers or bangles, and speaking of pink, these pink roses in my front yard are quite lovely.

A pink rose beneath the shade of a nearby brick column.

Many pink rose petals fall from the rose bush to the ground around the trellis and when a strong wind blows, the rose petals flutter down the street bringing their fragrance with them.

A bee and sage

6.3.10 - Russian Sage from my front yard...I think. If I'm wrong, let me know. This is either Russian Sage or a hybrid, Blue Spire (but it looks purple so I'm not really quite sure).

BEE! I think I'm been half-way stung once when I was a child, but since then never. Hovering around this sage was slightly unsettling because there were tons of bees and I felt like they really didn't like me in their bubble.

Clouds and silhouettes

5.30.10 - One evening I was outside my house and I looked up and saw this. I really like silhouettes, but I never play with them enough in my photography. I should really work on that.

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Updates:
After dealing with a damaged BlackBerry since Thanksgiving, my cell phone finally stopped working for me and I had to get a new one. I got a BB Bold yesterday and I love it. T-Mobile's 3G is cool. I know there is a 4G, but I went from no G to 3G so it's quite an improvement for me.

My high school reunion is coming up. I know it's only been five years, but I guess everyone wants to trade stories on how we all have four-year degrees, are living back home and are working meh jobs. Fun! Hopefully a lot of my friends will show up and that will be cool.

I've got a new freelance gig and I just spent a half-week "vacationing" with my nephew at my sister-in-laws. P.S. My nephew is SO CUTE.

Oh, and after a few weeks of thinking about this, I've decided to make it official. The new and improved me no longer participates in the MN nice nonsense that I keep getting dragged into. I will say what I think and confront people who need it. This is my effort to be less passive aggressive, although I usually am not, but it's just better to be honest - AND it totally helps with communication and the sustaining of relationships. What do you think?