While this won't get Student Quote of the Year, it does deserve the title of Fun Conversation I Had with a Student the Other Day:

Me: Bach was the most famous Barouqe period composer.
Her: "Bach" sounds like "Spock." WHICH REMINDS ME, have you seen "Star Trek?"
Me: What - you mean the latest movie?
Her: Yes!
Me: I sure have! I've been a Trekkie for years.
Her: That was SUCH a good movie! I love Spock - he's so funny!
Me: (thinking that the actual funny part is that if you've only seen this movie in all of the Star Trek franchise, that might be who you pick for comic relief, and not somebody more in the forefront of funny, like Bones or Scotty.) Yeah, he is funny!
Her: I want to get a vulcan shirt. I've seen them online.
Me: Maybe you should get vulcan ears.
Her: Yeah! Maybe, and a shirt that says "I'm half Vulcan."
***Later, after the lesson is over and we walk outside the room***
Her: (to her Mom) Guess what, Mom! Casey and I are BOTH Trekkies!

My students are the best.

I need to constantly remind myself that I still have a week left of teaching after this week. My brain is on the verge of seriously checking out, telling me that "it is December and nearly VACATION."

While it is indeed December, there's still plenty of work to do. Tomorrow is the kiddo's recital, and while much of my energy is being spent getting them ready for it, perhaps even more is being spent asking whatever weather gods may be listening to not hit us as hard with the freezing rain tonight as predicted. They've worked too hard to get cancelled on.

And next week will be filled with new assignments and lots of inspiring talks about WHY it's important to practice over the holidays and that taking the entire two weeks off would be a very bad idea.

Do you suppose any of my students will take it to heart? More importantly, will I?

I sense a fight brewing in my own head to keep focused for the remaining teaching week. Stay on target...

And the winner for the best student quote this year...

"It turns out I couldn't find my practice planner because my cat gave birth on it!"

Called the winner a week early, but really, what's gonna beat that?

I am officially sucking at this posting every day thing. There are actually days where I just forget it's something to do.

Not that things aren't happening...

For instance, I have officially turned into a cold wimp. When it hit sub-zero temperatures in Chicago, I bundled myself up and marched on outside to school. Not as if I had a choice, since I didn't have a car, but I was always brave about it.

This week has been below 20 degrees before noon, and it's seriously cramping my style, not to mention making it REALLY hard for me to get outside and go to the gym. It really takes a lot of talking myself into it.

Plus they're forecasting snow this Saturday... that's right, on recital day. And when the snow hits the ground here, it tends to instantaneously turn into ice. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen - my kiddos have worked too hard!

Sending us warm thoughts would be wonderful. Meanwhile, I'll keep kicking my students in the butt. Even easier when I've had my exercise...

Okay, so I didn't post on the 5th, gosh darn it. I guess I'll have to make up for it today with a couple of blog posts.

I know I'll most likely be complaining about the lack of gigs in a couple weeks, but having played my last concert of the year, I've got something infinitely precious: free days!! And today is one of them. I've got big plans, and I hope I can get through them all:

Clean the apartment (this is a pretty big task in itself, making me think I should get on it instead of write about it)
Assemble the tree
Practice stuff I want to practice, and not stuff I have to
Take a stab at making gluten free bagels (this will probably make up my second post today)
Go grocery shopping

The weather here is making it hard to leave the house, which makes me think I should just do it and get it overwith, and spend the rest of the day being domestic-y and warm. Did you know it can stay below 40 degrees for an entire week in Portland? I sure didn't.

Update later as to how I do.

I've decided today to turn the blogosphere outward a bit... I need some advice. This is the first year T and I are hosting the Christmas season at our house, and because we've never had such a great place to plant ourselves, we are sorely at a loss for Christmas decorations. I am going to be the recipient of a plastic tree, courtesy of my violin friend who is making the big step up to a big tree this year. So now we are charged with stringing it with lights.


Here are the traditional ones... when I was a kid, I knew no other Christmas lights. Generous size, multi-colored, and the ultimate example of "festive."


Now these are a little more classic... these represent a clean, pristine holiday season, and have always been presented in my mind as wrapped around the trees of those who really have their life together. I'm not saying I'm part of that group, but I have no problem perpetuating the illusion.


These are always nostalgic. And probably necessary if I wanted to feel like it was Christmas in, say... 1992. I'm sure that was a good year.

But, ooooooh...


We may have a winner.

M&M's, by the way? Gluten free. :)

I could post today about how much money sucks. About how much I suck with money sometimes, about how other people suck with money, and about how our success is inevitably measured by money. I'm at a place where I have it... just enough, anyway to give it away to utility companies, credit cards, and student loan corporations. But I'm also at a place where if others default on it, I tend to be in big trouble. So I could continue this post about the gig I played the first week of November which I have yet to be paid for, and how the date which we will be payed has not yet been nailed down.

But I won't - there are plenty of happier subjects at hand:

I work with very smart people and get to collaborate every day with their talent.
I have figured out how to cook for myself and my very finicky stomach.
I have an amazing family, two members of whom I get to see in 22 days.
My husband? Just plain cool.

Sometimes you need a few more good thoughts to outweigh the frustrating ones.

Turkey Pho

I was somewhere in my education at UNC when my dear friend Stacey approached me and told me I had to, HAD TO try pho. We drove into the Vietnamese section of Denver (yes, non-Denverites, there is one) and marched into the pho restaurant Stacey had recommended. I fell in love, and gotten it several times since, until...

DUN DUN DAAAAAAAAH... CELIAC DISEASE!

The main ingredient in this delicious noodle soup is broth, and broth can be tricky. Depending on how it's made, barley can sneak in at every corner, and authentic pho restaurants (with the best pho) are run by authentic Vietnamese people, and the language barrier can sometimes make it difficult to explain your condition. Luckily, my mother got me a subscription to Cooking Light long ago, and I dug out an old issue that has plenty of ideas of what to do with your leftover turkey. (Turns out an 11-pound turkey for three people creates lots of leftover meat.) There it is, smack on page 250: turkey pho!

After a search around Tigard for star anise (thank you, Whole Foods), I was able to find everything in the recipe. Last night I enjoyed my first batch of homemade pho. Appropriately burning my mouth after just the right amount of sriacha being added.

My sister suggested I could market this newly activated domestic gene I've suddenly developed. Become a gluten-free, dairy-free Martha Stewart. I would love to give it a shot, but it seems there are a few people who already may have this market cornered. Delve into anything in the gluten-free girl's blog (link to the right) and you'll see there are so many amazing people who have paved the way for me to live normally.

I have never savored leftovers so much in my life. I hope this is a continuing trend.

NaBloPoMo Take 1

Inspired for the past few years by my One Brick Shy friend you see in the links on the right, I have decided to give NaBloPoMo a shot. That's National Blog Posting Month. I figured December was a good enough month for reflection and currently unknown chaos that's sure to ensue, so here I go.




Today, after a half-hour drive, a small parking fee and a fairly large card charge, I am officially walking around today feeling like I look GOOD. I got my hair trimmed to the bob I've been rocking for the past few months, and finally managed to add some highlights. I was a little nervous when my stylist suggested "golden" highlights... I've had blonder hair coloring before, and it tended to wash out my face. But Angela has never steered me wrong, so I relinquished all control. She brought out not one, but three different hues to put in foils in my hair. It's subtle, but lightens up my color and gives my face a wonderfully bright look. Now I can start December feeling hot.

And that is all... I'm hoping for less superficial vibes for the next few weeks! Thoughts about the hair would be welcome.

Disgusting

I have never been so revolted by people on BOTH sides of the aisle in Congress. I listened to the end of Obama's health care speech last night, on my way home from work. I had tuned in late enough that NPR made sure to get Republican and Democrat responses to the speech.

To sum up:

Republicans: A catastrophe!
Democrats: A beautiful speech!
Me: YOU ARE ALL CHILDREN.

Here's what I would love: civilized, rational people summing up the pros and cons of Obama's plan, vocalizing the needs and wants of their constituents in a calm way. Hopefully taking as much time to listen as they would to speak, if not more. I'm usually liberal leaning, but really EVERYONE is disgusting me. Joe Wilson's rude outburst is just as offensive as Howard Dean's smooth-talking "What a home run!" in referencing the speech.

Can someone point out to me some members of Congress who actually LISTENED to the speech, and didn't form a knee-jerk reaction based on whether or not they believe they should be perceived as rejecting or accepting anything that comes out of the President's mouth?

I'm open to recommendations.

Food

I've been living for a good 13 months gluten free now. It's still a surprise when I have a wonderful, savory meal without running to the restroom. Or taking a nap. I've learned this past year that food is actually meant to energize you, and not slow you down. Before The Diet, I much preferred performing onstage on an empty stomach. Now I can't go on without having had something good to eat - I'm learning to burn calories in a good way and then refuel myself later.

It sounds like such a "well, duh" thing to say, but I'm still overjoyed every day I have successfully used food to my advantage. I have been able to go long stretches of days without a stomachache, something I never thought was possible before.

Back when I was first adjusting to this new way of eating, I read an article in Living Without magazine that was talking about the best way to eat out frequently being gluten free. The first tip the author gave was to break your emotional attachment to food. The theory being, that if you can bring yourself to accept that not every meal you have will be satisfying, you will be able to more readily adapt to difficult situations and enjoy the good meals even more.

The Diet, it turns out, had the exact opposite effect on me. I am even more emotionally attached to food now. Knowing that it's something I need for survival AND pleasure makes my relationship with food nearly codependent. There are wonderful consequences to this, and that is that I crave new recipes and savor the ones I am delighted with. Cooking and thinking about what to cook next has been an exciting adventure around here.

The flipside, of course, comes when I'm past denying that there may be one more thing I have to eliminate from my diet. I've been trying to ignore it, but my body is now screaming at me that I am lactose intolerant as well. I'm making an appointment to get the official diagnosis, but in experimenting with dairy free and dairy-full meals, it's pretty clear that I feel better when I don't have a lick of lactose. My stomach is much more relaxed. My energy level is up. My migraines decrease.

I didn't know how much this was upsetting me until a conversation with T last night, when I asked if we could try a dairy free meal to see how I reacted.

"Sure," was his response. He was a vegan for two years, after all. This would not be a dealbreaker for him.

"Great... I'm going to make some black bean chili." Totally easy and cheap, and super good with cheese and chips from Trader Joe's.

"Okay, sounds fine."

"I'll get some shredded soy cheese to put on top."

"Okay, I'll get real cheese."

I paused - clearly this wasn't an unreasonable thing to think. The cheese doesn't go directly into the chili pot. it's a topping we add to our own individual bowls. At first I tried to argue that only one packet of shredded cheese would be more cost effective. He waved it off, saying he didn't mind buying the real cheese himself.

This escalated into a point where I was pleading with him to eat the soy cheese with me. "Why?" he understandably asked.

"Because I don't want to feel like a freak for cutting one more damn thing out of my diet!"

This surprised even me. I had been so optimistic up to this point, knowing that lactose intolerance was not something I had to monitor so closely like gluten. No cross-contamination issues, just ask for the cheese off my salad. Get another burger besides the cheeseburger. Use soy cheese when you can.

T asked thoughtfully, "You feel like a freak?"

"Kinda."

He shrugged. "Okay, then, if you want me to eat it with you for that reason, that's not a problem."

And we did have a lovely black bean chili tonight, complete with soy cheese. T even commented on the stellar meltiness, which had obviously been improved upon since he had last had it.

And my tummy? Full. Happy. Not bloated. Crap.

Time to head back to the allergist for a lactose intolerance test. It may not be necessary, but I do know I won't have the discipline to avoid dairy unless I'm given a medical diagnosis. I also don't think I should complain about my ailments until a doctor tells me I have them. It makes the whining much more satisfying.

Lucky readers. I hereby promise not to make the next few posts so negative and oh-woe-is-me. I've got enough stress in life from other areas that if I can get this one little problem fixed, I can concentrate on some other stuff with renewed optimism and energy.

And eventually, I'll be able to go back to food with the same convictions.

Our brains are hard wired with music

Stop thinking music is dispensable.

Pros of summer:

Nice weather, for the most part, although the recent heat wave in an apartment on the 3rd floor with no air conditioning rendered me completely useless for a good week. No relief even from the car, since the AC is broken in that, too. We are now back to highs in the mid-80's and lows below 70. The Northwest is now as it should be. (read: cooler than Colorado in the summer.)

More lacksadaisical schedule. I'm only teaching five days a week instead of six, and there are very few gigs coming my way. There's some great things about relaxing for a couple months. I get to do things like... read for pleasure.

Allergies go away from spring. (Took them long enough... I was taking Claritin way into July.)

Cons of summer:

The mosquitos. Enough said.
***

Okay, not enough said, because I am in pain from my stupid bites I got in a distant relative's backyard the other night. 13 in total. One of them is on my foot - this happens once almost every summer. First there's the bite that I absentmindedly scratch, only to discover eventually that my fingers are gnawing away at my skin, and scream, "Oh, no!" Then there's the mad rush for Benadryl cream, which will indeed help every bit I have EXCEPT the one on my foot. Then there's the swelling - it will go away temporarily when I ice it and rest it, but as soon as I need to put any weight on the darn foot (like, when I walk ANYWHERE) the blood rushes down and the foot begins to grow to the size of Connecticut again.

So my plan for today, pretty much, is to make my students do all the work. I'm not getting up from the chair in the studio. They'll be able to take one look at my foot and see how hobbly and gimpy I am.

I just hope nobody thinks I have the mumps!

Dear Citizens of California:

Have you ever thought of this?

California is a heartbeat away from declaring bankruptcy. (Heard it on PRI's "Marketplace," please don't try to deny it.)

Weddings are a multi-million (if not multi-billion) dollar industry. That's money going in to venues, food vendors, fancy attire, florists.... you get the idea.

So, yeah, citizens of California. Make it so that the thousands of couples in your state who actually want to get married and pour all this money back in to your economy CAN'T. That seems reasonable.

Californians are EXTREMELY proud of their state. (This is not a fact I heard on "Marketplace," but I don't know anyone, Californian or not, who would disagree with me.) I'm just suggesting the people who are squeamish about gay marriage take one for the team.

Could the Supreme Court, by the way, have chosen a more "try-to-please-everyone" judgement? You can't say that some people are more equal than others. That's not your job.

Thanks for listening. And stop being so stubborn when there's an answer to your financial troubles right in front of your face.

It's bizarre what a difference seven years can make. When I was 19, I remember going across the street to my friends' apartments, getting happy with some drinks, and the next morning curing the oncoming hangover with some scrambled eggs. I was good to go.

I got quite a bit happy last night, and had tons of fun in the process. Of course, today, my stamina is quite low. I just want to go back to bed. This will require some energy of sugary sodas to get me through. That's a medication I normally reserve for migraines. Is there any relation?

I have noticed that there is no sign of a headache... that in itself will make my day much easier. :)

I'm feeling a little silly posting something like this - it tends to have a little too much overdramatacism attached to it, and I've heard so many comments of "You're so young! Don't WORRY about it!"

I have reached what I think is as close as I'll get to a crossroads in my career path. And it's been a long time coming - my professor in undergrad told me that I seem to be interested in what appears to be a musical buffet, and I can't decide on my main entree. I could teach, I could be in an orchestra, I could play chamber music, I could research. BUT, as it turns out, I can't successfully do all these things. And this bums me out, because I would really like to.

For a few months (which is probably not nearly enough time) I focused sincerely on orchestra auditions. And then it hit me that at the moment, teaching my kiddos is the most rewarding part of my day. I thought "I'll go get a doctorate," and then I could teach in the college system somewhere. But is that actually what I want? Or should I keep pushing ahead with the students I have, trying to get them ready for bigger auditions and better positions? (It may not surprise you to learn that I've grown quite attached to them.) Of course, this also precludes my desire for educational outreach a little bit. Researching and practicing pieces on a theme and then performing a set of lecture recitals sounds absolutely dreamy to me.

It's frustrating as well, because with all my wedding planning (which I'm also enjoying!) I have a mighty full brain. It's close to max capacity, and I think after the wedding, I'll have oodles of free brain space to fill. And yes, I realize I'm mildly comparing my brain to a computer hard drive. It's not an unreasonable analogy.

I am getting married in 10 and a half weeks. Holy crap.

I'm not nervous in the least. Sure, I'm getting the typical anxiety dreams and such, but they're never about cold feet or Tom forgetting to show up or something. No, they're about things that would NEVER happen. Like my niece saying she just didn't feel like being the flower girl anymore. Or Tom and I getting lost in the hotel and missing our own ceremony. Or our photographers getting pissed off because I did not look model-y enough to be a bride.

Shit, what if any of those things DID actually happen?

The most amazing thing is how sneakily the date is sneaking up on us. Tom and I recently celebrated five years of being together. It was a great milestone to reach. However, the whole night was just an example of how much we've grown as a couple. I felt like we slinked through the ODS building without a stumble, floating through as if we could each anticipate the next step of the other. We held hands without looking at them ahead of time. Stealing a kiss in the elevator, catching a drink at the bar, and sighing with content at the view from the thirtieth floor all went without a hitch or a second thought at what the other may be doing next.

And now we're getting married. I just don't think things will change all that much between us when we get back home. It's a big party for our family and friends, and an excuse to vacation nicely in Denver. And after that? We'll go back to coming back to the apartment after work, taking our respective places in the living room (me on the couch, Tom on the recliner) and checking out some of our shows on the TV while eating whatever concoction we felt like whipping up that night. Correct me if I'm wrong - I think this is already marriage. The rest is just paperwork.

Maybe after we get married, we can frame the paperwork and hang it somewhere to remind ourselves of this change in our relationship that I'm very excited about and yet don't forsee as much of a change. Anyone have any insights?

So far, I've eaten today:
Goat milk yogurt with pomegranate (thank goodness I finally figured out how to get the seeds out of these things!!)
A smoked salmon and cream cheese sushi roll

After my $8.99 purchase of a toaster, my next plan is to fire that baby up and finish off the rest of my homemade tzatziki sauce along with some quinoa tabbouleh atop a piece of gluten free toast.

I'm just impressed with myself! Not to get too sentimental here, but being diagnosed with celiac really has opened my eyes to the wonderful world of food out there. When I ate anything and everything, I didn't have to look to far to find something I liked. I tended to stick to the stuff that worked for me and my taste buds. So when a lot of those things are suddenly not options anymore, you find yourself looking harder to find things that delight the tongue. And in the process, you end up discovering foods that weren't even a twinkle in your eye before.

I'm eating WELL, here. In fact, tonight, Tom and I are making burrito bowls a la Chipotle right here at home. We've been doing great with cooking lately. We improvise, we steal recipes from our friends, and we imagine how to make the stuff we eat at restaurants all the time. (Which we'd end up having to modify ANYWAY.) And reading posts like the ones over at the gluten free girl website make me crazy inspired to try new things. (Of course, Iron Chef America also gets me inspired... just a completely different source.)

I tell you, if someone ever says to you, "Look, the bad news is that you have to be diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. The good news is that you get to pick which one!" Pick celiac. It's so doable, and frankly, I'm eating a much more balanced diet than before. I guess I pretty much have to.