Leigh's Mental Lint

An 1810 Federal; because when you are looking for something to do this is it.

2010-06-02T08:41:00.000-04:00

Here it is! And what a lot of work it will be. It is currently divided into 3 apts. One on the east (river/right side as you look) one on the west and one in the, what we call, the carriage house. The basement runs the full length of the house and has a street level entry. Craig has plans to turn the basement into a garage. There are plans for french doors on the east side both floors and "Juliet balconies" for both. We are going to repoint the brick and then go with black/green trim instead of the white. We are still working out the actual details of the layout but current plans involve kitchen in the NE corner, family room SE (the front of the house is south facing) corner, and the more formal side will be on the west north and south side. Something like a library/dinning room NW and living room (have to have a place for the Christmas tree and for parties to flow into) on the SW. The carriage house for now will remain separate with a small commercial kitchen and a place for me to work on crafts and costumes without having all that crap in the house. Currently there is a small sleeping loft that will stay so that the carriage house can be used as a guest house!

This might seem like a lot of space for two people and a labrador but Craig and I love to give parties and have friends over for dinner. My daughter, Harmony, is soon to marry a terrific guy from Austria and we want his family to be able to come visit and not worry about paying for a place to stay. I have friends in Europe and across the US and we are hoping that we will have people visit pretty regularly.

This house is going to look terrific all seasons of the year and I can't wait to get started with the landscaping.

Pictures will be posted during the renovation.

Norbert has a new Home and so do we!

2010-05-30T22:02:00.000-04:00

Norbert now lives in a Rheingold Cardocase. If you haven't check out these cases; do! Very nice engineering and excellent workmanship. If you have the dosh by all means think about getting one for your horn.

Craig did buy the brick federal at the other end of town. We haven't sold the greek revival yet but hope springs eternal.

I'm getting ready to attend the IHS 42 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Dates are 18 - 23 July 2010. So soon I will have to make sure I have enough to do for the 17 hour flight from LA. My daughter lives in LA so I think I'll fly out a couple of days before departure for Australia. That will let me rest before another long plane ride. I have to tell you I'm dreading that much time trapped in a small seat. But I'm looking forward to seeing some of my new facebook "friends" and some real life friends as well. I've never been to Australia before.

The Quest!

2010-02-13T09:14:00.002-05:00

Not for a new horn but for a house! Craig felt he wanted to move to a bigger house. Some place he could have people stay. The house we live in now is a Greek Revival High Posted Cape. The title is longer and more grand than the house :o} The house is actually quite cute. I wouldn't have minded staying and doing a bit more work on it, (a master suite and another bathroom come to mind) but Craig wanted something different. So, the hunt began.

2009-09-04T18:17:00.002-04:00

And this is why I live in Maine. It's beaches and weather like this that make is easier to put up with the shoveling. This day was our reward for the cold and wet months of April, May, June and July. We even broke rainfall records for August.

2009-08-15T09:49:00.002-04:00

Three macs in the AM. Christina is just out of the picture on the left. We cover all three versions of mac laptops. This is the AM ritual at "Andy's Summer camp for Duffah Horn Players".

2009-07-16T13:43:00.002-04:00

I'm trapped in the guest room for the next two days. I've just had my radio-active iodine for the thyroid cancer. I can't play my horn for a week because the radiation is trapped in the body fluids and no one wants me to put radioactive condensation in my horn. So, I have my Kindle, laptop and I have internet. I'm catching up on all the blogs I like and I have my mouthpiece so I can play along to some music. I have ear training on my computer so I should be able to progress my playing to some degree. It's only two days right?

Frigyes Hidas Horn Concerto

2009-07-13T14:08:00.005-04:00

Here's a new concerto you all should take a listen to. Szabolcs Zempléni is the horn player and the video is on YouTube.
Just paste the following link in your browser and hey presto: new music for the horn and a talented young horn player.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Loewenberg50&view=videos#play/all/uploads-all/0/b0bcMXbvSyc

2009-07-04T16:08:00.006-04:00

A 4th of July thunderstorm rolls into Bath, Maine. Craig and I have the house all cleaned, the grill ready and all the ingredients for Gin and Tonics. Craig's going to get his Mom and I'll wait for Mark and Linda to get here so we can grill some steaks, have some corn on the cob and enjoy the company of some family and friends. Hope you all have a happy July 4th weekend.

2009-07-01T08:17:00.004-04:00

This is Ken Pope checking out the braces on my Hoyer 5802CK. As you all may know, I recently purchased this horn from Ken. I love it but I noticed an occasional buzzing when I played around Ab to C# (in the staff). He was checking the braces just to make sure.... then had me try to get the horn to buzz. I did but Ken couldn't hear it. So he tried and when he got it to buzz we still couldn't figure out where it came from. He twisted his mouthpiece and it seemed to stop. So who knows. I love visiting Ken and his shop gets more and more cluttered each time I see him. This time it was cluttered with stuff still in boxes and people. Two trumpet players (I think) two children (not Ken's) and me; all arrived at the same time. Poor Ken. Anyway I wanted to get a few other things while I was there and so I bought a "Mighty Bright" stand light (pretty darned good light and small for portability), some Hetman synthetic oil, a "Reiniger fur Valdhorn" (this has sponge ends instead of brushes), the "Evolution of Musician" poster, the Urtext edition of Mozart 3 and a Laskey 80G mouthpiece. The only thing I couldn't get was a jar of "spitballs".

Mouthpieces

2009-06-25T10:09:00.003-04:00

These are my mouthpieces.
In the top picture the E. Schmid is on the left and the Pizka is on the right. In the bottom picture they are reversed.
The Schmid has a slight bowl shape to the cup and a fairly wide rim.
The Pizka has a funnel shaped cup and a narrow rim.
I like the slight cup of the Schmid and the narrow rim of the Pizka. I also notice that more of the shank of the Pizka goes into the mouthpipe than the does the Schmid. I don't know if that means anything.

This do-da I bought at Macomb

2009-06-25T09:13:00.006-04:00

I bought this little do-da at one of the tables in the Little Lincoln Room at Macomb. It has my Pizka mouthpiece in it. I can't remember who was making these. Half the time I was talking to someone while I was buying things. I like it. I don't know why except that it feels a lot better than just using the mouthpiece, which is what I used to do. There's a hole in it and I have no idea what it's for if it's really for anything. I like using this first in the morning, before I even put the horn on my face. It just feels good to slide around on it and I'm much more accurate first thing out. Soon I'll start using it to play along with some horn music. I remember doing that when I was first learning how to play. It got my face used to jumping intervals at performance speed. Plus it was a good way to while away the drive to campus or anywhere else for that matter.
It's called "Just-a-Pipe" and it's from Medlin Horns (thanks John K.) and here is where you can get one:
http://medlinhorns.com/index.php/just-a-pipe/

Still Lousy Weather Here in Maine

2009-06-25T09:02:00.003-04:00

For about the length of my walk with Ianto this morning, I thought the sun might finally come out. You know, just a bit. For a while. Just to see what it was like. Because I have forgotten. This has been the most depressing spring and summer (so far) I can remember. I've been back from Macomb since the 8th and I've only seen the sun for 3 days. I got so desparate that I went to the beach with Ianto and had a very long walk. Hardly anyone was there; just a few folks fishing and some people walking the dog as well.

I Could Use Some Sun

2009-06-21T09:50:00.003-04:00

I'm fighting the blahs right now. My relationship with my longtime boyfriend is crumbling from the inside and to top it off it doesn't feel like summer here in Maine at all. The weather isn't helping because it's putting a serious cramp in the high I had from Macomb. There have been only 3 days of sun since I got home from Macomb and the weather is forecast to be rain all week. Like I said *bleah*.

However, the practicing is progressing and I find my self sitting in the chair trying to remember what I did when I first took up the horn. I was an adult when I started and I had no preconceived notions about what and what not to do. The horn majors at my college just pointed me in a direction, gave me method books and fingering charts and would sometimes sit in my practice room and play intonation exercises with me. It was perfect. I learned by example. If they where in a practice room, so was I. I loved being surrounded by people practicing and being "musicians".

I realise that I need to find some outlet for my horn playing. I've sent an email off to the Maine IHS rep in the hopes that I can get into the swing of the horn world. I'm also looking to take lessons. I need focus and situations where the expectation is strong that I will put the horn on my face. I'm hoping to get into my old community band. They have a 4th of July concert that I'm planning to go to just so I can say hi.

2009-06-12T11:26:00.002-04:00

This is the best picture I have of the 4 Hornsmen of the Apocalypse (4HotA or "The 4 Hornsmen"). And their playing is Hot! I meant to post this earlier but forgot. Members are, L to R: Audrey Good, Gerry Wood, Paul Blackstone and Tony Licata.

Prelude to June 5 Afternoon Concert

2009-06-12T11:08:00.002-04:00

Daegu Horn Ensemble from Korea; Jin-hyoun Baek, Director

High Horns in the Daegu Horn Ensemble.
Music played:
Farewell Fanfare by Young-jo Lee
"The Lunar Song" for Horn Ensemble by Eunsil Kwon
Tristan Fantasy by Wagner arr. Herman Jeurissen
"Garak" for Horns by Yung-yoon Jo
Hornissimo for 8 Horns in F by Burton Hardin
Arirang for Horn Ensmble a traditional Korean Folk song that I love. No Arranger is listed and I wish it had been because I would like to have this.

June 5th Afternoon Concert

2009-06-12T10:59:00.003-04:00

Virginia Broffit, Jon Boen and Jan Bach after Virginia and Jon played Jan's Four two-bit Contraptions.

Some thoughts on Friends

2009-06-11T07:44:00.003-04:00

Lowell and Mrs. Shaw. I've known them since Banff. I alway like spending time with "Mrs Spike". She makes me laugh and I really like it when people make me laugh.

Which makes me think about the people we know from the horn workshops. We don't know the day to day stuff of their lives but we concider them friends. As a matter of fact, if any of the people I met came to Maine I wouldn't hesitate to offer a place to stay. I really like to think that if they needed a kidney I'd be there. I think we see the best of each other when we meet at these workshops but I don't think that devalues the relationship in any way. We all have different levels of friends and the more contact we have with other people the better the life we live. Think of all the places I can go now and be able to talk to people after a concert. If I go to Regina I like to think that Richard and I can at least meet at the local coffee shop and catch up for a hour or so. If I go to the symphony I can go say hi to him after the concert. If I'm in Chicago for what ever reason I can try to meet up with John. Same with Ken, John, Mary, Bruce, Catherine, Dan etc.
These are friendships and lives shared by the joys and struggles we have with a rolled up bit of tubing and it makes my life richer and happier with the sharing.

IHS Banquet

2009-06-10T18:21:00.004-04:00

These are Catherine Roche-Wallace's students plus Kyle in the middle. Kyle worked Ion Balu's table all week.

2009-06-10T10:25:00.004-04:00

So. I'm home now. I rolled into Bath around 7:30 - 8:00pm then Craig and I went straight to the cabin for a small pizza and a mug of Pemaquid Ale. The Cabin is right across from BIW and serves the best pizza. I've lived in Naples, Italy and when I tell you the pizza is good, then it is. Unless you are into that thick crust, Chicago type stuff and then I have to wonder why you would spend so much money on a pile of dough. Also, just so you know, that stuff isn't pizza.

It's been cold and rainy since I got home and I've had to turn the heat on. 50Degrees and dark is kind of miserable.

I went to my storage room and picked up my practice chair, two extra mouthpieces the stand and my music. I've set it up in the livingroom. Ianto finds the horn sound interesting at first; he even stands with his head at my bell. Then he gets bored and lies on the couch until I'm done.

I have three mouthpieces that I'm trying on the Hoyer; a Halstead-Chidell, a Pizka and a E. Schmidt. So far the Schmidt is working. The Pizka is good too but I will need to strengthen my chops before I can play in that narrow rim again.

2009-06-07T20:06:00.000-04:00

Banquet in full swing.

Play Misty for Me

2009-06-07T20:03:00.004-04:00

I thought you might like to see what kind of sacrilege is perpetrated in the "Church of the Living Horn". Yes that is a mellophonium. And for once it lived up to it's nomenclature, well the mello part anyway; nice job Brother John.

2009-06-07T19:47:00.004-04:00

I'm feeling a lot bad about not making the last lecture (Richard Burdick's) or the Grand Finale. I've recently been diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer and they haven't got the thyroid meds down yet. I've been pushing all week and now I'm just so tired I'm going to post to this and then finish packing for a 6am leave time tomorrow. I should roll into home around 7:30pm if all goes well. I've still got more to post about the conference and I'll do that when I get home.

I must say that this has been a great workshop (that's an old school reference) for me and I've met lots of new people and caught up with some old friends. I bought some CDs, some music, a horn and a MB case. Not bad for a week.

I'm already planning a trip to Australia for next year's workshop.

2009-06-07T12:54:00.000-04:00

The Advisory Council getting done the job of running the IHS.

2009-06-06T21:11:00.002-04:00

See Stuart? He's so nice. See the tag on his shirt? It was a scrolling banner. Very Silly. In a nice way.

2009-06-06T20:55:00.001-04:00

The best picture of John B. ever. John and Mary (lower left in white) are waiting for horn choir rehearsal to start.

2009-06-06T20:14:00.002-04:00

So yesterday, after much hassle, the air conditioning and hot water finally died for good. Fortunately the temperatures have been reasonable and it's been breezy too. So it's quite nice in the room. That water however Yikes. That was cold but I had to wash my hair. I can do it again if I have to before I leave. Fortunately, the cafeteria downstairs is on it's own system so they have been able to keep feeding us and keep us cool.

One of today's guest artists was David Griffin (4th horn with Chicago) and he was fantastic! I really like the Bruce Broughton Sonata he played. Broughton wrote the music for Silverado; which I LOVE. I still don't remember the movie that well but I know the soundtrack by heart I listen to it so much.

My friends: John, John, Bruce, Mary, Kylie, Alex, Alicia and Daniel with Catherine waving the stick, played at lunch today. Only I didn't get to hear anything but the last two fripperies. The Burger king line was long but to make matters worse my order of value wopper junior, value fry and drink (just so you know how small this order was) took, are you ready: 20 minutes! The choir only played for half an hour. Bleah. What I heard sure was great. John K's hat was very fetching.

I bought two CDs from Richard Burdick and I'm listening to them right now. I'm listening to his arrangement of the Holburg Suites. I really like these. I might get them when I can find enough other horn players. Richard plays all the parts on the CD.

Today were finals for Solo, Ensemble and Jazz solos. Best of luck to all playing tonight. I'm going to wait until tomorrow night to hear the winners.

So Much To See and Think About

2009-06-06T20:10:00.003-04:00

Just a few of the horn cases in daycare. I remember when all the cases were black and you couldn't find yours unless you tied something on the handle or had patches on it.

2009-06-06T17:43:00.003-04:00

I have pictures and I have stuff to say; it's just that I accidentally crushed the mini end of my camera's USB cable and I had to borrow a friends. Some great things happened and I'll be back after dinner to tell you all about the last couple of days. Tomorrow is it folks and I'll be on my home to Craig, Ianto and Maine on Monday.

2009-06-04T21:45:00.001-04:00

OK folks, you didn't really think I would let you go before I showed you my new horn?

2009-06-04T21:35:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody, say hi to Richard Burdick. He's already my kind of guy: see that mac. Proves he's a genius to me. Richard plays Principle with the Regina Symphony (that's in Saskatchewan for you geography impaired). His business is called i-ching-music, so check out his website: http://www.i-ching-music.com I'm going to check out his CDs tomorrow.

Alright kids, that's enough for today. You've all been really good. Off you go to practice Kopprasch and uncle Kenny Betts will give you a gold star.

2009-06-04T20:23:00.007-04:00

So I'm listening to Andy Pelletier's CD of Randall Faust's music while I write this. I'm sure to loose my train of thought especially since the song on now is Rondo for Horn and Piano and this punter (me) knows enough to recognise flipped Mozart when she hears it. I love this piece!

That reminds me; anyone ever think about horn and hand bells (lord that sounds like a piece Schickele should write)? I heard something yesterday (have to go see if I can find it) with a piano accompaniment and I thought; hey that would sound nice with hand bells.

This was an exciting day. I bought a new Hans Hoyer 5802 and a Marcus Bonna gig bag in Red. Everytime I go to a horn conference I see all these shiny horns and all the folks behind the tables with looks on their faces like my lab uses on me everyday. I just want to buy a horn and make these talented folks happy. But, I'd always have a horn and the timing was never right when I was able to get a new horn.

Today my little dream came true. I was not only able to get a great deal on a great horn, I was able to purchase it from the lovely Ken Pope. How much better could a day get? I spent most of the day fiddling with the horn and the case (which I purchased from Sorley's Horn Shop), eating lunch, talking to Mr and Mrs. Spike and finding out about some cool music apps for my iPhone from a really nice trumpet player; Director of Jazz Studies here, John Cooper. One of them is for you educators and it's called Instruments in Reach (Basic) and it give you fingerings for wind instruments. Are you sure you know the fingering for A#3 on Bassoon? Yeah I thought not. Check it out.

Oops Andy's done; time to find something else to listen to. How about Rick Seraphinoff's Cornucopia? That sounds good. I can go from Randy Faust to Frederic Duvernoy can you?

I only made it to one event today and that was "Fearless Horn Playing" with Jeff Nelsen. He was fun and provided some great insight into "Fearless Horn Playing". His students were in the audience and clearly love this guy. If you want to see more about Jeff's playing philosophy check out his website:
http://www.jeffnelsen.com/

One of the most satisfying messages presented during this workshop has been the admonishment to realize that our horn skills should not define Who we are as humans. This has been mentioned by several lecturers and I don't remember hearing this message at other conferences.

But you know, it could be just me. Maybe I'm finally hearing the positive messages that some players are putting out there.

A Horn God We All Can Admire

2009-06-04T10:49:00.002-04:00

Andy is always helpful to his friends. Here he is using his patented technique to check valve compression for Ken Pope. What a trooper.

2009-06-04T10:47:00.000-04:00

Gracious and Smiling: that's Andy in a nutshell.

2009-06-04T09:54:00.002-04:00

Turns out the day cleared up nicely yesterday and today looks like it will as nice but warmer.

I didn't get to bed until 1am; after the evening concert I went with the "Rat Pack" to listen while they read through some Christmas carols a friend of Catherine's had arranged. I look forward to getting a copy in the mail some day. After they had read through the arrangements we went out to a local bar for drinks. I only had one beer.

Yesterday was notable for many reasons not the least of which was Douglas Lundeen's performance of the Rossini Prelude, Theme and Variations. I had only heard the Baumann version which was considerably faster than Lundeen's performance, but it wasn't better ( I'm a huge Baumann fan so it hurts a bit to say I like someone's performance better than Baumann). Douglas sounds a bit like Baumann, with his delicate spinning vibrato (tastefully employed) and his compact sound; but his interpretation was lyrical and singing wheras Baumann's seems almost mechanical, I'll listen to the Baumann again but I'm sure I'll still like Lundeen's version better. I wish you all could have heard it.

The thing, that knocked my socks off was Andrew Pelletier's lecture "A Duet with Silence: Pacing in Solo Horn Music" This young man (he's always going to be a youngster to me) opened my mind to horn playing. I had been so closed off and internal about how I play and what I know (or more acuately, don't know) that playing became something to "conquer". In his lecture Andy pointed out the pluses of the literature and while doing so he mentions that the literature is valuable in the overcoming of nerves in a performance. The way to do this is to record your playing. All the time. And because you don't need accompaniment you can play anytime, anywhere, for anyone. Your relationship with your audience becomes more intimate and neither can hide in the trappings of Harmony and Accompaniment. You have to tell the audience what _you_ think the composer is saying and make them understand by your scholarship, talent and stage craft. Because Andrew has such an innate and ever-present joy in the horn, his statements become comforting. You can except what was previously a frightening concept (playing in a terminal at LAX between flights) as just something you do. If he tells you it will be fun and you will like and it will help you be a better horn player; well then you just do it because you believe him.
I attended USM the same time Andy and his wife Tina did. I remember Andy as just the "hot young horn genius" in a very small pond. No kidding, the kid was good. But there are a lot of "hot young horn geniuses" and you never know how they are going to turn out.

Andy knocks my socks off. Needless to say, he's turned out very well.

And I haven't even told you about how beautiful his playing, how velvety his sound and how inspired his musicianship. In the evening concert Andy played the Bernard Krol Laudatio (which I have), the Halsey Stevens ( I think) and Three English Folk Songs by Randall Faust written for Andy (which I am going to get, if there are any copies left). If this was a CD I'd buy it. And then buy if for all my horn playing friends.

Seriously folks, I would do anything I could to get a lesson or a lecture from Andy. He's funny and charming and very accessible and gracious.

Andy Pelletier is my new personal horn god. He makes me happy to play my instrument.

IHS '09

2009-06-03T08:36:00.003-04:00

The view of the weather outside my window. No sense straightening my hair today either.
It's comforting to start my day with a BBC Podcast; having access to Internet is really wonderful!

Today I hit the ground running. First, breakfast downstairs.

2009-06-02T22:27:00.002-04:00

Jenny (?) gets her first Natural Horn Lesson from Rick Seraphinoff. I'll go check out his table more closely tomorrow. I did a quick run of all the tables today.

2009-06-02T22:25:00.001-04:00

Natural Horns, shiny and new. Yes I want one.

2009-06-02T22:21:00.001-04:00

Lowell (Spike) Shaw and friends treat us to Dessert, Bipperies, Tripperies, Fripperies and Quipperies.

Day One IHS '09

2009-06-02T21:21:00.007-04:00

First thing I must confess to: I called the doggie daycare this morning. I had to find out if Ianto was fine. He is and he's being a really good boy. *sigh* love that dog.

No breakfast in the dorm today so we went off campus for morning sustinence. Catherine needed her gallon of coffee and John and I needed our tea. Thought it might get rid of my headache but that didn't get taken care of until after lunch when I broke down and took some Advil and Tylenol. 1/2 hour later it was gone. Believe me folks, you don't want to have a headache and be in the "noisy room". Which, for all you new to the horn world, is the big room with tables of horns and everyone is trying out whatever loud horn excerpts they know.

It took me all day to get to Macomb and I didn't drive.

2009-06-02T00:46:00.003-04:00

Look; hornfolks waiting for the train.
Did you know that if you don't drink anything all day, you won't have to use the bathrooms on the plane or the train. I could't fly out of Portland (ME) because I couldn't find a flight that would let me catch the train to Macomb so I had to fly out of Logan. Here's the way I traveled today. Leave Bath at 8am and drive 2 1/2 hours to Logan. Wait 2 hours and fly for 2 1/2 hours. Take the El for 45min and walk a couple blocks to Union Station then wait 2 hrs for a 3 1/2 hour train ride. The possibility for a travel cluster frack was defcon 5. NOTHING went wrong! It's just that it's midnight here (1am for me) and I should be in bed. Asleep. But I'm not.

I didn't know it would be so hard to leave Ianto.

2009-06-01T17:24:00.001-04:00

Who would have thought that I would feel so badly about leaving the dog at the Doggie Spa? I missed him so much that it took me a while to get to sleep. Anyway I'm off in good time. The trip to Logan went smoothly. I checked my bags at the curb (let me say that was the one pre 9/11 luxury I really missed) and had two hours until departure. Just enough time for a manicure. They had my favourite OPI colour, O'Hare and Nails Look Great. And I'm flying into O'Hare!

Here are some pictures flying out of Logan. It's a beautiful day today; sunny and cool.

2009-06-01T17:21:00.002-04:00

This is Union Station. I'm waiting for the 5:55 Amtrak to Macomb.

2009-06-01T17:16:00.002-04:00

The Chicago sky line was a little steamy and acording to my weather underground it is 25 degrees WARMER in Macomb that it is in Bath, Me.

2009-06-01T17:11:00.003-04:00

So far so good. The flight out of Boston was smooth. The weather was cool and the sky was blue.

Pretty Day in Bath, Maine

2009-05-31T11:20:00.001-04:00

This is the view of the Kennebec from the end of the street. If you go upstairs and look out the bedroom window you can see the river. Hey; a "River View" !
What you can't see is BIW (Bath Iron Works) just to the left; and the big blue ugly dry dock.
In any other part of the US it would be awful to live next to a shipyard but not here. The neighbourhood is mixed that is true but for the most part the houses are high posted capes in various sizes. The gardens in the neighbourhood are really quite lovely. It make's Ianto's morning walks pretty terrific.

2009-05-31T10:29:00.001-04:00

Laziness has it's long-term problems. I find that if you put off doing the things that need doing (brakes on the car, painting the house, finding a place to board your dog, filling your prescription, going to the doctor because your voice has gone hoarse; for a couple of years ... etc, etc) it will come back to bite you on the butt. The doctor and the dog boarding thing is on me; the brakes, precription and painting the house are on Craig. The boarding for the dog worked out. They had one slot left for next week; but the meet and great had to be worked into an already full schedule. I had my errands planned (the waxing and the pedicure and the last minute gathering of the "stuff") but Craig (ah Craig) had to get the brakes fixed on the car before it went from Maine to Pennsylvania (on Monday, when he was originally scheduled to take me to Logan) with his mother and sister for a funeral. What's the problem? Weelllll: The Brakes Needed To Be Replaced A Year Ago, When The Warning Light Came On!@#!&!!
Leigh (when the warning light came on in October 07): What does that mean? Is it that the brakes need to be checked?
Craig: Yeah, they're fine tho.
Leigh: Really? You're going to drive to Alabama for work shouldn't you get them fixed?
Craig: No, they're OK. I have other things to do right now.
Leigh (who just knows this is going to bite HER on the butt sometime): Yeah, but it wouldn't take long. I can follow you to the Garage and you can leave the car. You really should have the brakes looked at before you drive that far.
Leigh (one year later on the drive back to Maine from Alabama): Are you going to get the brakes fixed before we leave for Maine?
Craig (Who has had a year to get it done in Alabama): They're fine. I'll do it when we get back to Maine.
Now it's May and there is this strange metal on metal sound when you request some stopping action on the part of the brakes. But, I only whinge because it inconveniences me. I have my own panic stricken series of errands to perform before I leave for IHS '09 on Monday and I was counting on Craig to, to...... Oh never mind. I'll go order that refill online for him since he decided that working overtime this morning and going out for drinks tonight is a better use of his time; you know, before we have to leave @ 6:30am tomorrow. Don't worry Craig, I'll take the dog to the boarder, order and get your perscription, find, wash and fold your clothes, print out directions and itineraries; you just paint the house, mow the already mowed lawn, wash the car, and work 6 hrs.

The Doctor? You are wondering about the Doctor.
Well, it's Thyroid Cancer. Not a big deal in the Cancer world; but it meant surgery twice (bleah!!!) and a paralysed vocal chord. Paralysed in the open position so I can't sing anymore (and yes I could before the Cancer) and no breath-control so that means I can't speak very loudly and I have no ability to control my phrasing. That makes horn playing difficult to say the least. I've got to look into my options on that score. I think doctors can inject teflon or something to push the vocal cord to the center and close up the gap. I choke alot now when I eat or drink and I get short of breath and closing the gap will help with that. It will make it easier to play horn again and that is what I really want.

Prepping for IHS '09

2009-05-29T15:17:00.000-04:00

I can't imagine anyone taking time out of a day to give a rat's hindquarters what I think; but if it means that I might not yell at idiot drivers as much, then I'm willing to give it a shot.

I'm rounding up my toiletries and electronics for a week long gathering of hornplayers. I'm amazed at the sheer number of gadgets I can't seem to do without. There is the camera and the laptop (how could I blog about IHS '09 without them); then add the iPhone, the Kindle, the iTouch (Hey, it's a 2hr & 40min flight, a 4hr wait for the train and a 3 1/2hr train ride to Macomb & I need to be entertained as if I were a hyperactive 8 year old.), the attendant power sources and finally, my travel hair dryer. There are unctions and potions, underwear, overwear and footwear; I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw myself upon the mercy of the baggage gorillas and check a bag.

Any one Horn Player reading this is going to think: "Hey, I thought you were going to a Horn Conference; I see no mention of a (sic) "French" Horn."
If you are one of those jazzers who think that any instrument is a "Horn" you would be mistaken and let's get the geek disclaimer out of the way now: "Horn" is the voted upon nomenclature for my instrument. Learn it, use it, deal with it.
Anyway, you would be correct in your observations. I'm not taking a horn this time; I sold mine a couple of years ago and stopped playing because I'm an idiot. No, really. Ask anyone. I have psychological issues that transcend time or reason and one of the utterly foolish things I have done is randomly stop playing the horn. My old horn teacher would say it was because I was lazy. Now I won't deny the epithet, I am lazy; but I have never been lazy about my Horn playing. "Scared" is a more accurate rationale. Not a good one but an accurate one and I should probably think some more about that over the next week.

Presenting: Ianto

2009-05-29T14:36:00.000-04:00

This is Ianto, my chocolate lab. I adore him. This is his favourite pose. Dog filet, superdog whatever; he's a sweet boy.