Cookies!

I just finished making a double batch of crispy chocolate chip cookies for dad's very belated birthday. He likes em crispy, even though I disagree heartily...they should be chewy, I make them they way he likes. Then I bagged them all up and hid them away so mom and I won't be tempted to help him eat them. :)

Now on to Shabbat preparation. May Yahweh bless you all this lovely day!

Sharing Music

This afternoon 3 friends of mine and I decided to spontaneously visit the Summer-Wood Alzheimer's facility to play music for whoever would listen. We didn't have a very large audience but up to 7 people watched and listened as we all took turns playing our songs. I felt very brave as I played 5 or so pieces on the violin as well as several piano pieces. I didn't feel as nervous as I thought I would. After an hour or so we packed up and went to another nursing home(can't remember the name) and repeated our music there. It was an enjoyable afternoon and I feel like I have a goal for next week to choose some fun familiar songs that the elderly would enjoy. I would love to play at both places again.

A Long Day And A Violin

I found out earlier this week that Dad was planning a trip to Portland OR on Thursday to pick up some equipment for his business. As soon as I heard, I knew I had to go with him. The promised violin for my birthday 3 weeks ago still wasn't in my hands and I knew we would find a violin shop in the city. So, a 10 hour round trip plus six hours in Portland...let me tell you about my day.

We hit the road around 6 AM everything still frosty and snowy. While Dad drove I enjoyed the new book I ordered on improving one's piano studio. Less than 50 miles from home there was no snow to be seen and the temperature was in the upper 40s! We stopped at our favorite gas station in Biggs OR and it was there that dad realized that he forgot his wallet, thankfully he still had his cash and I had my checkbook or we may have been driving back home mission unaccomplished. I drove the rest of the way to Portland. Dad picked up his first load which only took about 15 minutes.

Next stop the violin shop, they weren't open when we first got there so we waited in the car for a few minutes with the rain pouring down. It was so much fun walking into a violin shop with violins, violas, and cellos everywhere, yes it was my first time in a violin shop. Here's what happens when you live in a small town all your life: When you walk into our local music store, what you see is guitars everywhere and 2 violins, an acoustic for $100 and an electric for $500.

Knowing I had a tight budget to work with, I asked to try out violins below the cost of $1500. If you don't know anything about violins you may think that is expensive but it is not uncommon to see violins for many thousands more. Then there is the bow which can range from $60 to thousands of dollars! Anyway, I knew I didn't want to torture myself by playing around with anything I couldn't afford. I played through a line-up of violins and one by one eliminating the ones that didn't sound good to me. After choosing one that I liked, I asked for the prices and discovered that I had chosen the most expensive one in the line-up. Then learning that it didn't come with a case or a bow and that it would go over my set limit I decided I would need to try a few more and hopefully find one that I liked that wouldn't go over my limit.

We decided to take a break at this point and head over to Vancouver to pick up Dad's other load and visit Racz European Violin Shop. Mr. Racz played us a sampling of some of his beautiful and original compositions. Here is a link to once of his pieces being played by Tatiana Kolchanova Parente http://www.youtube.com/user/Flaviflip?feature=mhum#p/a/f/0/Ydr53BVLHx4

Then he allowed me to play one of his violins which was MUCH nicer than what I've been playing on and though not expensive, was above my set limit. Mr. Racz helped me with a few tips and we played an easy duet. He complemented me by telling me "you should play the violin". Feeling encouraged I reluctantly said goodbye and we headed back into Portland to find a violin.

In the car I told Dad that my goal was to never play my old violin again so we had to find something that I liked before we left for home. Dad chuckled and asked what I'm going to do with the old violin. I told him that I will hang it back on the wall for a decoration.

Back in Portland I began the process of elimination on a new line-up of violins. At first I was at a loss, many of them just did not sound good to me. Finally I narrowed it to 2 violins that I couldn't decide which I liked better. One had a brighter tone and the other was warmer. I asked Dad for his opinion. I would play the same song on each and Dad would insist that the bright one sounded best, then I would play a different song and he would insist the warm one sounded the best. After going in circles like this for some time, I would torture myself by playing the one I had found earlier that I liked which was above my limit. We were both tired and starving and the shop was closing soon so I made my choice. I then tried many different chin rests until we found one that fit comfortably. With violin in hand we hit the road once again.

It poured rain like we haven't seen for a long time, the streets looked like rivers and there were huge puddles in the freeway. We got supper in Hood River at 7:30. Driving was a pain, I was sore from head to foot, the heated seats in the van are a blessing to a sore back. In some places there was fog so thick we could not see more than 20 feet ahead of us. We arrived safely home just after midnight. The cat and dog were both thrilled to see us back home. Mom wanted to see my new violin and as soon as I got it out of the case the cat claimed the case. I booted her out but she just sits next to it like it's her great treasure. Mom could tell right away that the new violin sounded nicer than the old one(I should hope so).

I know this was a rather long post so I'll end here but be watching for my next post which will include a photo of my new violin and maybe a video if I can polish something nice to play by then.

Hi everyone! I finally got my first violin video posted on youtube, thanks to my dad who helped me. Before you click, absolutely no laughing allowed or aloud unless you are willing to post up your own video of YOU playing the violin. :) And if you are going to criticize my playing, please only constructive criticism or encouragement so I can improve, alright? OK, so click away http://www.youtube.com/user/Flaviflip?feature=mhum I'll try to keep posting as I improve.

Gettin Old, yep!

It's my birthday eve tonight, yep tomorrow I'll officially be 29. Should I pluck out those two gray hairs that are up on top? A lot of people still mistake me for about 24, hopefully that's a good thing. I actually like the two gray hairs, they add character. I told my parents that I wasn't going to celebrate my birthday this year but they are rebellious parents. Dad told me that it wouldn't matter if I celebrated or not, that he still would celebrate. There are good things about birthdays like splurging and eating pizza for supper tonight, a yummy but bad for me treat away from the raw foods. And dad told me he would buy me a new violin for my birthday which is pretty special. I wasn't planning on upgrading my violin until I could prove to myself that I could really play. I don't really have any plans for the day, just hours of teaching, practice, and perhaps a visit in between with good friends. That's really the best part, the friends and the sweet words exchanged.

This is IT!

OK, so here goes...My latest very FUN endeavor, which has been taking between 1 and 3 hours of my time each day, I obsess over it day and night, I can hardly wait to be proficient at it, I hired a teacher to help me with it, it has inspired me in other areas of my life, iiiisss....maybe I won't tell after all,.... kiddin! It's my dearly beloved violin that I've had forever but just never got around to learning. I don't know how old I was when I first decided that I wanted to learn violin but I'm guessing I was about 5. At the time we were poor and there was no chance of getting lessons. Dad picked up a violin at an auction for about $25 back in the 80's and we ended up hanging it on the wall as a decoration for 10 years! When I was a teen I asked Mom if I could have it and she said yes. So I took it down, repaired it's cracks, refinished it, and restrung it. I think I was 16 or 17 when I first hired a teacher who said she would come out to our home for the lessons, at the time I was well on my journey in piano lessons and thinking about teaching. I found the teacher to be frustrating and not the most helpful and after about 4 lessons I learned that she didn't even play the violin herself!!! I was SHOCKED! I cancelled my lessons and put away my violin(I thought forever, yes, I was just being dramatic). Really though, I had lost the spark that I needed at that time to continue learning. Over the past 12 years(I know, I'm getting old) I've gotten the violin out and tried to screech out a song only to put it away very quickly, horrified at the awful sound. So... now I'm as surprised as anyone that my interest is reawakened at this time. While attending the Feast of Tabernacles I met another older beginning violin player who inspired me to try again. When I got home I opened my violin case and began playing and now I can't put it down. After 10 days of consistent practice I decided I'd better get a teacher before I developed some bad habits that were hard to fix. Being a music teacher myself, I understand how important it is to get that feedback from someone experienced. I had my 3rd lesson this morning and I've completed one and a half levels of "All For Strings" method. I'm eager to get down the art of vibrato and excited about learning some classical pieces. Next week I'm even hoping to take my violin to the Alzheimer's nursing home and play for the elderly, hopefully they'll forget how badly I play and welcome me back the following week. :D I'm already setting my sights BIG, maybe in ten years I'll be teaching violin lessons myself, perhaps when I'm 50 I can give a solo recital at the local theater. Ha, Ok so now you know and you can keep your eyes peeled for the video that hopefully I will soon post on youtube. I want to keep a record of my progress that way I can look back and be appalled at how bad I was and encouraged by my progress. Oh, and I forgot to mention how my violin practice has been inspiring me in another area. Since you can only practice so much before you get too tired from building all these new muscles for holding the violin, when I'm finished with my 3 hours of practice I just sit down at the piano and give it a few more hours of practice. It may sound crazy to you non musicians for me to practice music up to 5 hours a day, and to those of you who are musicians, well you probably wonder why stop at only 5 hours, right? I kind of go through these phases with my piano, sometimes I go for months without practicing(feel guilty for it too) but sometimes I just can't find a good enough reason to get into it. So any little bit counts, an hour or two and some goals to shoot for at the piano is a big thing for me right now. I have to say, I feel like a kid again!

Should I tell?

I've been debating over the past three weeks whether or not to share with my friends here my latest endeavor. Any time you start something new there is a bit of risk involved, will I follow through, will I succeed? Or will I give up when things get too busy or perhaps I'll be so bad at it that I won't want anyone to know that I ever tried? OK so the first two weeks passed by so quick and I've been having so much fun that now I'm investing even more time and money into it. Curious? Maybe I won't tell just yet. ;) I'll give a hint: it requires, daily concentration, motivation, dedication, and interest.