Monday, July 03, 2006

Angie and Ashley acting out Yankee Doodle Dandy
Ashley, Rachel, Rachael and Angie
NO, NO, NO
Boston at Night with the Charles River (kind of blurry)






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Sunday, June 25, 2006

Au bord de l'eau

S'asseoir tous deux au bord du flot qui passe,
Le voir passer,
Tous deux s'il glisse un nuage en l'espace,
Le voir glisser,
À l'horizon s'il fume un toit de chaume
Le voir fumer,
Aux alentours si quelque fleur embaume
S'en embaumer,
Entendre au pied du saule où l'eau murmure
L'eau murmurer,
Ne pas sentir tant que ce rêve dure
Le temps durer.
Mais n'apportant de passion profonde
Qu'à s'adorer,
Sans nul souci des querelles du monde
Les ignorer;
Et seuls tous deux devant tout ce qui lasse
Sans se lasser,
Sentir l'amour devant tout ce qui passe
Ne point passer!

~Sully Prudhomme~

At the Water's Edge
To sit together beside the passing stream
and watch it pass;
Together, when a cloud glides by in the sky,
to watch it glide;
When a thatched house sends up smoke on the horizon,
to watch it smoke;
If a flower spreads fragrance nearby,
to absorb its fragrance;
Under the willow where the water murmurs,
to listen to it murmuring;
Not to notice, while this dream lasts,
the passage of time;
Only to adore each other;
Not to care at all about the world's quarrels,
to ignore them;
And alone together, in the face of all that grows weary,
not to grow weary;
To be in love while all passes away,
not passing away!

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

"If you have become bitter and sour, it is because when God gave you a blessing you clutched it for yourself...If you are always taking blessings to yourself and never learn to pour out anything unto the Lord, other people do not get their horizon enlarged through you."
~Oswald Chambers~
What a wonderful and exhilerating feeling it is to come home from work in the evening and not have any work to get done that is due the following day or any time in the weeks to come!!! Yay for Summer breaks!! Lots of events and happenings have occured in the past week or so. It rained ALL last week. Wednesday it rained so hard and there was so much wind that the rain was blowing sideways for about an hour - no joke! Within that one day I had gone through about 3 outfits. Using an umbrella was simply futile as what I really needed was an "umbrella-bubble"!
Everyone give out a big cheer and congrats to Angela who graduated from Harvard Law last Thursday - and if you think of it send an encouraging word her way as she continues to study for the Ohio Bar exam in July. Also in July, my Angela will be moving back to our native land of the Buckeyes where she has accepted a job at a legal aid office in Lorain County. It's the end of an era!!! Well... ok, maybe not an era - but close enough. I was talking to Stefan this morning and he said he was sad for us but I told him not to worry because we can never be separated - we will again be roommates someday!!!!
Which brings me to a new topic - as of August 1 I will welcome a new roommate into my life - BREE!!!!!!! Kudos to Bree and her choice of a roommate (he he he). All will be welcome to 4:00 tea-time, Pride and Prejudice movie nights, Bridget Jones Marathons, and the list could go on and on and on. Bree is also going to be preparing for her Master's Recital this semester so good wishes go out to her as well!
Ok... back on track with this past week's happenings. The admissions and advancement offices at Longy are working on some cool projects for Longy's website, among them putting up a podcast where visitors to the site can listen to students talk about Longy. On Friday, 5 of us sat around a table in the recording booth and were "interrogated" for 2.5 hours on why we chose music, longy, our best and worst days at the school, life in Cambridge/Boston and so on and so forth. It was a really great time and we are going to record several more sessions throughout the summer. I'll let all know when the podcast link is up. Hey, if I don't become famous for my instrument, perhaps I'll become famous for my funny stories!!!
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner and baby are our new neighbors!!! Ok... I lie - BUT they are renting a house in Cambridge just around the corner from Harvard Square. Saturday we were celebrating Angela's birthday and later, at a shop next to the cafe we had just left, Michelle came running down the stairs saying "I just saw Ben and Jen and baby!!" I was sadly 30 seconds too late because by the time I made it outside they had either turned the corner or gone inside a store. However, it has been said that it will not be unlikely to see them frequently in Harvard Square.
Last night was the Longy Gala at Symphony Hall. I didn't perform this year - but I did work. It was a lot of fun - and a lot of work. However, dressing up in a cocktail dress and being *charming* is worth a long evening. I even made my debut as a page turner in Boston's Symphony Hall! Brian Moll (chair of the Collaborative Piano Departmant) and Ashley Hall (trumpet - Artist Diploma) performed an incredible (and incredibly FAST) piece. Man - she's so good. Look for her in a year or two or NOW - Ashley Hall, trumpet. In any case - I hope Brian doesn't read this but there were acouple times I was like "OH MY GOSH WHERE IN THE HELL ARE THEY???!!!". I wasn't able to make the rehearsal so I was going into this "page turning debut" quite blindly. Luckily, and by the grace of God, I turned the pages when they needed to be turned and in time. I only had a couple moments of panic attacks... whew...
So, now my life is back to a bit normal. It did not seem like a Monday yesterday because of the gala which means that this week is going to be super super long.
To close out - go see A Prairie Home Companion. It's super cute. The best part of the entire evening was when they made some joke about mid-westerners and the whole lot of us that went burst out laughing to which we realized we were the only row laughing and had just marked ourselves as THE mid-westerners in a nearly packed theatre!
Ciao!

Monday, June 05, 2006

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths
Enwrought with golden and silver light
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

~William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Monday the girls and I (Angela, Michelle, Bree, and Naoko) took a road trip up to Amesbury to Jayne's house for a studio party/cookout. We spent the later afternoon playing croquet, eating, playing Kubb, more eating, and then a rousing game of Pounce and Apples to Apples. The weather was gorgeous and the company fantastic. Jayne definetely needs to host more parties! :-P


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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

God is gone up with a triumphant shout!
The Lord with sounding trumpets melodies:
sing praise, sing praises out unto our King,
sing praise seraphic-wise!
Lift up your heads, ye lasting doors, they sing,
and let the King of Glory enter in.

Methinks I see Heaven's sparkling courtiers fly
in flakes of glory down him to attend,
and hear heart-cramping notes of melody
surrounding his chariot as it did ascend;
mixing their music and making ev'ry string
more to enravish as they this tune sing.


- Text by Edward Taylor (1647-1729)
from "Sacramental Meditations"

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Graduation Day 5/21/06

Shadi, Lorena, and I
Lorena and I
Deirdre and I











Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Well, in the words of my friend Sarah "You're no longer a BM but an MM!!"
Yes - it's true my friends! 2 years have come and they have gone and I can hardly believe it. This whole past week has been a complete whirlwind to me - from my recital to graduation. I have a piece of paper and credentials that claim I'm a "master" at something - but really, how much can a person actually master in 2 years!? Not trying to be pessimistic - I mean, I've definately grown A LOT and gotten a good hold of myself and my instrument but I also feel like it's just the beginning and that I've not quite 'master'ed anything quite yet. Hence, staying for another year to keep the momentum going when it's still good. Graduation was bitter sweet for many reasons. The most bitter part was not the leaving (because I'll be back!!) but the fact that I couldn't share the day with my closest and dearest friends who deserved to be there and to be recognized for all their hard work and couldn't because of tests tests tests and rules rules rules. The past two years have not just been molded by my teachers, coaches, and my own hard work but even more so, and perhaps most importantly, by my friends who lend support, give love and constructive criticism and make the experience what it is - perhaps very rare to find at a higher education conservatory of music. I could only half enjoy the day because of not being able to share the celebration with them. However, the other 1/2 of me WAS excited. The speakers were fantastic and it was wonderful to have my family and Sarah there to see me graduate.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Flying Kites and Such...
After rousing good fun in Room 10 (the reception room)- we came back to our apartment and played a jolly good game of Apples to Apples which lasted until 2:00 in the morning! The wine had worn off by then and we were also getting down to the bottom of the pile in cards. I promise that I have nothing against Rosa Parks!
Thursday morning Hannah, Jonathan, Sarah, and Simon and I walked down to the Charles River and flew the kite that Jonathan brought with him. There was just enough wind to actually allow the kite to stay up in the air for a while.

Yesterday (Friday) Sarah and I went to the Longfellow house over on Brattle St. in Cambridge. I had never been and it was really interesting! I love historic places! Last night, my parents and brother arrived so now we have full house! We walked all over Boston today and we are so exhausted. It's fun having them here!























Hannah and Jonathan setting up the kite
Do you see the kite??
Jonathan and Sarah and I
Cambridge Commons - Yumi sporting her new haircut
Sarah and I
Naoko and I

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Master's Recital





















Jayne and her student
The 3 babes
My collaborative gang
Naoko, Mike and Sara
Sara and Bree





















Two Rach(a)el's and a Louie
Angela couldn't believe I was actually wearing fishnet stockings under that dress!
Ashley and Me
Capital group (with one from Manhattan :-)




















Longy friends group pics
A little too much wine for Rachael - it looks like I'm crying but I'm actually laughing hysterically
Ballet dancing with Angela
Bree and Michelle swingin me around Room 10 - look at the hair!!