leaves...

day one

2011-03-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the first day of Lent and my first day sans Facebook, and already I'm feeling the need to publish, thinking, "Oh, a status update would be nice right now..." So, here I am. Yeah, we'll see how this next month-and-a-half goes!
But about that update: "More snow! pretty. And an inversion! not so good. Hope I can avoid the allergic-sick of the last inversion. Blech!"
And now... off to make this Administrative Chi Alpha Wednesday morning a productive one!
A blessed Ash Wednesday to you.

old MySpace posts

2011-01-13T22:41:00.007-07:00

Yes, I'm reviving the blog. See, i'm deleting my MySpace (finally!), but a few "MySpace only" posts made me nostalgic. So I'll repost them here, 4-5 years (!) later....

new "friend"

march 3, 2007. 11:32 PM

Hi-dee-oh. How ya'll doin"?
:)
I am now a "friend" of Mark Heard, or rather, the MySpace tribute to Mark Heard, since he passed away years before the internet, never mind MySpace, got started. For those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Heard, I hope you'll trip on over to the profile and check out his awesome, quirky music. I first heard his music about 10 years ago - thanks to Jo Muelheisen! - when I was coming out of pretty hard time. It was one of the things that helped me process all that stuff in the context of a God-centered worldview. Some people have called his lyrics pessimistic, but I see them as hopeful. Life can be really, really hard, but there is always this thread that points back to truth and love and beuaty and a Creator who is so good.
I just read something on a tribute page to him on this website, and wanted to pass on these lyrics to a song from his 1980 album Fingerprint. Happy reading.

Remarks To Mr. McLuhan
Copyright Palmfrond Communications
What difference does it make
If this was once upon a time
You supply the stereo
And I'll supply the rhymes
I'm aided by machinery
In hopes to reach your mind
Can you hear me
Can you hear me now
Just a needle scratching ridges
On this one way plastic groove
My vinyl destination
My revolving imputation
I'm singing and I'm playing
But my lips don't have to move
Can you hear me
Can you hear me now
But just as loud and clear
You hear this song come through the air
It's funny, but it's as close as I can come
To really being there
Frozen in this record
Are fingerprints and messages
Can you hear me
Can you hear me now

well, alright

may 6, 2006. 9:229 am.

so i just found out that my friend working in China can't see my blog there. dude, what's up with that? anyway, for her sake and for the MySpace friends who never get around to visiting blogger.com, i will start doing some posting here. this is a pretty crazy time for me: next week is finals week and immediately after that i am moving and then heading off to Europe for a 3 week missions trip (gasp for air). so i'm just gonna copy to MySpace my most recent post from leaves... . hope you like.

blog smog

march 18, 2006. 11:07 am

welcome to my new little MySpace. i enjoy blogging but have trouble keeping up with posting on just one blog, so i won't be posting here hardly ever. instead, you are invited to skip on over to ...leaves. nothing super exciting, just my silly thoughts on this crazy life journey, and links to blogs of some cool friends. they make me feel cool by association. :)

later.

-sylvia.

Regarding Jessica...

2010-06-02T22:27:00.005-06:00

...an update on my friend Jessica DeMilo

Sigh. She's much better in a lot of ways, but she still has such a long way to go. Theoretically, there is this window in which they need to get a certain amount of therapy in - a window in which she has the best chance of recovery. Of course, God is above and beyond all theory and chance, but it seems He often works through the wisdom of doctors, nurses, etc., so we take their advice seriously.

Anyway, specifics: For about a month now, Jessica has been at the Rehabilitation Institute of Montana here in Missoula. They work her hard. Some results? She is eating a bit, but all food must be pureed to a pudding/yogurt consistency. Nothing more or less solid, because she has been silently aspirating. This is scary because it usually causes pneumonia or a bronchial infection. Related to that, she has two conditions (dysarthria and dysphasia) that also severely affect her ability to speak. Still, she is saying a few words, and every once in a while these are quite clear. She is spelling out other words sloooowly on a magnetic board with therapists and her mom.

Jessica has been able to put her full weight on her feet for up to 30 minutes while strapped into a table/chair type thing. She gets outside now in a wheelchair, pushed by her mom or nurses or friends. Her long-term memory is good - she remembers me! :) - but her short-term memory is touch and go. This makes her very frustrated, as you can imagine. A few weeks ago she really got her sense of humor back, or at least the ability to express it, and there were lots of smiles and laughs. One of my favorite things about her, one of the things made her such a fun roommate, was that I could always make her laugh. So it was great to hear her laughter, and see that she seemed to still got my odd/dry/nerdy sense of humor. This past week, though, she has been really depressed. At times, she refuses to participate in therapies, and this lack of participation hinders her progress. It's like she's finally well enough to realize just how bad things are.

Her mom asked her a few days ago, "Are you talking to God?"
"Yes."
"Is He talking to you?"
She shook her head, No.

So my main prayer request (besides, of course, "Please heal her, God!") is that Jessica would hear from Him, feel His presence, and know that He has not abandoned her. I think that is the only way I could hope to get through this if I were in her place.

Thanks again for your prayers. I want to hope and believe that God will use all this for His glory someday. Most of the time I really do believe it. I''m thankful that God is working in me to make it an all-of-the-time-faith sort of thing!

today

2010-03-11T12:04:00.011-07:00

So back in the day, I used to blog regularly. Wrote all kinds of stuff. Then facebook happened. :) But seriously, the past few months, this has been where I have posted thoughts on my friend Jessica and the trial she and her loved ones have been through since November 11. And now...
Today is the 4 month anniversary of Jessica's accident. Slow, very slow, but steady progress has been made. Her mom can finally leave town to work in Dillon half the week without stressing too much, really trusting Jessica's in the best of hands for her care. So everyone goes on with their lives, but still we hope and we pray, "Full recovery."
Amen.

an update

2009-11-27T20:58:00.009-07:00

I spent most of the day with two of the three DeMilos. Jessica is looking sooo much better than when I saw her last Saturday. The swelling has gone down quite a bit, and the head bandage, or "turban" as her mom Tejeanne calls it, has been removed. Jessica is moving more as well, and I saw her eye-lids flutter quite a few times. Two different nurses said they saw her eyes completely open. She's clearly still in a coma, but these are good signs. The two visual shocks for me were that she has almost no hair - so sad - and the wound itself. At first I only saw a small part of it and was like, What? All this stress, worry , trouble for that?!? Then I saw the whole thing, the stitches going back, way back over her head. Oh dear God, how is she even still alive? Oh that's right: God. And prayer. And these miracles we are all praying for. Yeah.

As of last night, the plan for today was to move Jessica from the ICU to the Medical ICU, described by her mom as "a separate wing of the ICU, which is a step-down in terms of care protocols." Before this event, I joined Tejeanne for lunch at IHOP. After "quick" trips to Barnes and Nobles, Staples and Micheals, we went back to the hospital, and I helped her take down the cards, posters, flyers, pictures, stuffed animals, flowers, etc. that have adorned Jessica's first hospital room. We trekked around the corner to the new room with all said flotsam and jetsam on a cart, then began re-posting them. We got half-way done before a whole host of nurses wheeled in Jessica. Her mom and I vacated for a few minutes while they got her settled. Standing outside the door, we could hear beepings and coughings. Jessica really struggles with being moved around, like her brain is totally overwhelmed with the stimulation - but not as much as last week, not as much as in those first few days, and this is encouraging. Still, it's hard to hear for those few minutes. Eventually they were done and we went back in. We finished putting everything up - cards, banners, pictures and finally decorating with the post-it note hearts that have words her friends use to describe her on them - written in glitter pen of course. Tejeanne chatted up a few nurses, made sure they had her phone number, made sure they heard stories about Jessica so that they can see her as more than a body in a bed.

Back here at home, the "slightly ghettoesque apartment" I've shared with Jessica for four months, I decided to check out her blog again. Reading her posts I wondered, Why haven't I read these before? These are hilarious! Oh yeah. I didn't need too. We talked and laughed together all the time. Hoping, praying, looking forward to such times again.

prayer du jour

2009-11-26T14:52:00.005-07:00

I'm praying for my roommie Jessica every day, many times a day, but today a new thought: God, I want a miracle. And not just a "medical miracle." A miracle miracle. God, I pray for a full recovery for Jessica - a miracle miracle. Amen.

woke up to Jessica's alarm this morning...

2009-11-13T06:31:00.004-07:00

Early Wednesday morning - we think around 7 to 8-ish - my roommate was in a really bad car accident. She had been on her way to work in Polson, a town about 70 miles from apartment here in Missoula. The roads were icy, she was probably running late... she lost control of the car, did a 180, spun into the oncoming traffic of the opposite lane, and another car hit her from behind. The front of her car was also smashed up, but no one is sure why... But the bad part is that something struck her in the head and fractured her skull. She was unconscious when medics got her out of her car. She was wearing her seat-belt so there were no other injuries, really. But she is in a coma.

When I woke up Wednesday morning around 7:30 am, I was happy to see the snow - love snow! - and really just wanted to stay in bed but knew I needed to get some work done. I'm self-employed so that isn't always easy on a day like that. I remember thinking "This feels like a good day to cuddle under a blanket with a good book or a movie." I did, however, get productive pretty quickly, had breakfast and all that, and I wrote a letter to my mom talking about stuff going on in my life - good stuff for the most part. Then I started working on stuff for work - finding information online for the a violin student, etc. Around 11:00 am I heard a knock on the door to the apartment. I was dressed pretty scrubbily for the at-home-work morning, so I only answered the door after a quick look in the mirror. :)
It was Crystal, one of Jessica's good friends, and a roommate of Michelle, another dear friend of Jess'. I'd only met her once so it took me a couple seconds to remember her. Once we'd figured that out, she was like, "Have you heard about Jessica's accident? Her mom called Michelle and was totally freaking out, but it's her mom so we don't know what's happened. We heard something about a fractured skull and she's going in to surgery, but can't tell how serious it is. But we just wanted to make sure you knew. We are going to the hospital right now."
"Thank you so much for finding me... can you wait a minute and I'll throw on some clothes and come with you?"
When we got the hospital we were told she was in the Intensive Care Unit, just getting out of surgery, so we were sent up to wait in that waiting room. We didn't know anything more for hours. The doctors and nurses weren't talking to us til her mom got there, and she wasn't going to get there til 3 pm. I had brought work with me to do, the girls had brought homework. We got a little done, then as random bits of information trickled in despite the stated prohibition ("don't talk to Jessica's friends til the mom gets here"), it became harder and harder not to worry.
The ICU waiting room has jigsaw puzzles. The three of us started on one with great care, adding the extra challenge of not looking at the picture on the box to guide us. We had fun, we laughed, trying not to think too hard...The hours passed.

Eventually her mom came, and more visitors, folks from her work. We prayed together. We hadn't seen her yet, but it became clear that things were very, very serious. I started working on getting out of the rest of my evening's commitments - a Chi Alpha small group and some work. I was a mess.
Finally all was clear for a group of us - about 8 - to go in to see Jessica. I was really worried that I would not be able to handle what I saw, pass out I mean. But on the other hand, I also knew that "the monster in your head is worse than the monster under the bed." I had a feeling it would not be as bad as the all the anxiety of waiting and imagining the worst. In a way I was right. Seeing her as I walked into the little room I thought, "I can do this." I mean, it was awful, but she honestly looked better than I had feared. Still, I cried. And I couldn't really talk when it was supposed to be my turn, except to say, "Hi Jessica it's Sylvia."
We prayed again in the little room. We comforted her mom. We talked about Jessica and what we liked about her. There was laughter mixed in with tears. There was prayer for healing. I wasn't feeling faith for much of anything. All day, people's positive words had felt foolish, and seeing her wasn't changing that.

I had dinner - "Cheeseburger Pie" - with Crystal and Michelle at the bachelor pad of Crystal's boyfriend Nick and roommate Matt. I sent an email on one of their computers. I worked hard to push through the despair I felt and learn a Spanish card game. It was worth it, we had fun. And brownies. Perfect.
Michelle and Crystal offered to let me stay at their place, and so did Scott and Anna, my . I hadn't thought about it til they mentioned it but right away I realized I didn't want to spend the night alone, never mind alone in an apartment filled with Jessica's stuff and still fresh memories of normal life, "before" life. I worked out some details and got Scott to come pick me up after I got stuff from the apartment. Once to their place, we talked and prayed for quite awhile. Scott sent an emial to the Chi Alpha phone list. Around 11:30 pm, I headed to bed in their guest bedroom. I couldn't sleep. I kept waiting for my phone to ring. I kept thinking how much I wished I could turn back time. I prayed, for Jessica, me, her mom and her sister, the person who was driving the car who hit her. Maybe I got 2.5 hours solid sleep.

Morning at the hospital felt more hopeful. I stayed til 12:30 pm, then had to get some work done. All afternoon my phone was on vibrate in my back pocket. There were texts and calls, but just people wanting information, not "Come to the hospital now!" Fear and anxiety washed over me again everyonce in awhile, but I pushed them down. There was more prayer for Jessica, with Chi Alpha girls in our one-on-one mentoring times, and in our Student Leader Resourcing meeting. The students were so gracious and kind and encouraging to me in their prayers. They said they were surprised at how well I was doing. I told them I had not been so composed the day before.
After that Chi Alpha Leader meeting, I walked home, got Jess' teddy bear "Arktos" - Greek for, yes, "bear" - and walked to the hospital. Another evening of prayer, waiting, puzzles, hoping, encouraging her mom and sister. I had more faith at this point, faith for a miracle, but still not as convinced as some...A group of us started a CaringBridge site for our friend.
I spent the night at the apartment last night, and when I woke just before 5 am my first thought was "wow, I slept well... but why am I awake?" Then I heard it, an alarm. I had to get up, go to Jessica's room and turn it off. She must have reset it Wednesday morning right after she got up. I missed it yesterday morning becuse I had been at Scott and Anna's. I hadn't been able to cry since Thursday morning. I wasn't sure which was worse - unable to stop crying or not able to cry when you want to. Think the latter. Anyway, after the alarm, I couldn't fall back asleep, so I got some food, read Hebrews 11-12:3, and wrote this blog post. I really need to go. Scott and Anna are picking me up in 20 minutes or so. It's the Barnett's so maybe more on the "so" side! :)
Thanks to anyone who read this and prays. Just wanted to get this out of me, make sure I don't forget this time, whatever happens. more posts to come. Please check out the CaringBridge site for more info about Jessica's current state.

God is in control and He is good.

a good read

2009-07-12T18:15:00.007-06:00

just one of those articles i liked so much i wanted to post on facebook and here. challenging and thoughtful. and readers' comments are interesting as well. gotta love Relevant.

všetko v poriadku

2009-06-16T21:58:00.021-06:00

So a bunch of folks have asked about my trip to Central Europe, especially the last week when I was traveling alone. Before I get to the good stuff, here's a basic outline of how I spent my time.

From May 18 through June 3, I was assistant staff for the 2009 Big Sky Expeditions missions team. Our group was made up of 7 college students, team leader Scott and his wife Anna, and me. We spent 8 days in Slovakia, and then another 8 in Poland. My itinerary from there: Krakow, Poland to Banovce nad Bebravou, Slovakia (June 4); Banovce nad Bebravou to Bratislava, Slovakia (June 5); Bratislava to Vienna, Austria (June 6); Vienna to Brno, Czech Republic (June 8); Brno to Prague, Czech Republic (June 9); fly out of Prague (June11). A canceled flight left me in Salt Lake city for an extra day, and I got back to Missoula on June 13, tired and sick with a cold, but happy.

And now, some highlights:

Seeing Wagner's Die Walkurie at the Vienna State Opera. Watching from the very top step of the top standing area in the hall, I was enthralled from the first notes in the cellos and basses. While I still can't condone the plot (yikes!), it is very fine art. I never thought I'd like Wagner.
Seeing the Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein, also with a cheap standing area ticket. Music there was pretty good, too. :)
Meeting people from all over the world. At the international church in Vienna I met Americans, South Africans, a Kenyan, a Romanian, a German, a Pole and even a few Austrians. After lunch at a Mongolian grill, most of us went out for coffee at McCafe. Totally sacrilegious, I think, to get lattes in Vienna at McDonalds, but that's what they wanted to do! And it was there that I discovered that one of the aforementioned Americans recently met someone in Minnesota that I know from Boston. Small world.
While I mostly traveled alone, I was met at bus and train stations by old and new friends at every stop along the way. Yes, all that email correspondence paid off! "Hello. Are you Sylvia? I'm..."
A few of these friends were able to show me around their cities - my own personal tour guides. Sweet.
Waking up and wondering, "Where am I?" Between the time I left the Big Sky Expeditions team in Krakow on June 4, and when I slept in my own bed again June 13, I slept in 5 different apartments, 5 buses, 3 train cabins, 4 planes and on 1 basement couch. This morning, somewhere between waking and sleeping, it happened again. I woke up just enough to remember, smile, and roll back over.
Watching the beautiful Central European countryside pass me by on buses and trains: green and hilly, accented by the red roofs of villages, a few kilometers apart, and the occasional castle.
There were a few moments when things got interesting - for example, the first day of my solo trip when I traveled alone into central Slovakia, far from the tourist path. On my second train of the day, I asked the young lady sharing my cabin if she spoke English. She shook her head sheepishly. With gestures and a few words of Slovak from the phrasebook I had bought, I asked her when the train got to Banovce nad Bebravou. Our attempts at understanding each other were not very successful. I couldn't tell if she couldn't understand me, or if she didn't know the answer to my question, or both. A little while later, I was thinking about trying to find the train conductor. Then I overheard my cabinmate say "Banovce nad Bebravou" to someone on her cell phone. The next thing I knew, she was handing me her phone.

"Hello?" I said.
"Hello," I heard a woman say to me in halting English. "This bus... no go... Banovce nad Bebravou."
"Oh, thank you! Thank you very much."
Smiling, I returned the cell phone. My cabinmate said to me "Trenčín," and I knew she meant that it was the stop at which I should get off. I replied "Ďakujem veľmi pekne!" [Thank you very much], a phrase I repeated a few more times before we parted ways.
Things like this happened a couple of times, people helping me out in moments when I really needed it - the lady at the airport on Vienna who told me where to find free internet for a few minutes, the train conductor in Trenčín who pointed out my bus, the family in Salt Lake City that took me in for a night and a day. I felt surrounded by angels...

Meeting and chatting with missionaries and ministry leaders in Brno and Vienna - just getting a taste of the reality of these places and what God is up to there. Exciting, challenging, raw.
A few God encounters, particularly in Krakow and in Brno, when He felt very near and I felt a hairsbreadth away from knowing what He has been leading me in to. So close, but not there yet. Still, the experience made me think I'm on the right track. Some things I know: I really like it there, I know I'll go back, and I'm sure I'll live somewhere in Europe at some point. Probably Central or Eastern Europe... but who knows. And the exact date I may be arriving? No idea. Sigh. Guess God will let me know just in time. That seems to be His way with these things. :)

A new Slovak phrase: "všetko v poriadku"
From what I understand (which is very little!), this phrase means something like "Everything is okay." It's what you tell your mom when she calls to ask you if you made it somewhere safe. I think in English I would say, "I'm good." I felt this was an appropriate phrase to end this post since, despite all my stress and worry over this trip (before and during!), everything was... good. And some parts were very good. And I arrived back in Missoula safe and sound enough to set even my mother at ease!

Update (June 30): to see pictures from my trip, visit my Central Europe '09 set on my flickr photostream. Enjoy!

všetko

2009-05-22T07:47:00.009-06:00

what am i doing? why am i here?
trust and faith
uncertainty and fear

the first day driving from Vienna to Nove Mesto nad Vahom, through little Austrian towns, hearing Hillsong United song in Jan's CD player, suddenly feeling moved, and the words "I am called" - or was it "You are called" - suddenly in my head.
a day later, not one email from all the folks (missionaries, pastors, friends of friends) i contacted. no email about the summer opera. no relief from the thoughts in my head... discouraged.

in the park after prayer, sharing time in a circle with church folk, a UM student shares "everyone on this team is here for a reason... He will show you..."
a rollercoaster of emotions
what am i doing? why am i here?
"I will show you."

i like them, i am scared they don't like me
as much as i don't feel at home in the States at times, and i just want to GO, there are little things - cultural understandings - that i miss. i just don't know what they think of me and this absolutely terrifies me. in the States i am shy and reserved, here i feel comparatively pushy and annoying. not more so than other Americans, but... i think the others on the team don't want it as much, don't care as much - no, one other is aggressive in her questions, her hunger to learn. but i am not sure they appreciate this in us. i don't know if i am being obnoxious or intimiadating. or if they are just thinking, "Those Americans always need reassurance" looking in the eye all the time...

and no courage it seems, even to ask for help finding a watch...
i can't do this, dear God, it is all too much.

just now, email from Czech missionaries - they want me to work with them for a few days even! and a place to stay near Brno, maybe in the city if i don't mind staying with folks who don't speak English. hm. and the email about the opera! both of them actually. thanks! so... up we go again.

"všetko"
My new favorite Slovak word, meaning "that is all."
That is all for today.

moment of faith

2008-11-11T18:23:00.001-07:00

So I had this interesting experience last night. I was driving from teaching a violin lesson to Walmart, just running some errands. I turned the radio on and heard “more than fine/more than bent on getting by/more than fine/more than just okay.” Immediately I had this image in my mind of me, shoulder deep in a pit of muck and junk, an accumulation of my fears and worries piling up all around me. Then I saw myself lifting up my arms to Jesus and crying, “Pull me out!” I realized at that moment that it had been awhile since I’d asked God to do that for me, pull me above my circumstances, and that in that time I had been slowly sinking deeper into something like quicksand, or maybe “slowsand.” If anyone were to ask me how I was doing I’d say “I’m fine. Okay. There are hard things and struggles but I’m getting by.” But I really want more than that. I really believe God has called me to more than that. “Getting by” is not the abundant life Jesus promised.
I’m not on a first name basis with Jon Foreman and am not entirely sure what the song “More Than Fine” meant to him when he wrote it, but to me it is a reminder of John 10:10, where Jesus said “I have come that they [that is, you, me, us humans] may have life and have it to the full.” In the Message paraphrase of the passage, Jesus says, “I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself…”
I believe that I am living a full life, an adventure, one that’s going to extend into eternity. It’s just that I forget. I let the worries pile up and dull the joy God has given me. But in His awesome mercy and grace, God keeps pursuing me, asking “Don’t you want to get above that?” Sometimes, I finally get a clue and ask Him to help me. And every once in a while, He blesses me with a moment of clarity, a moment of seeing His reality in front of me, and all around me. My circumstances are no different in that moment. Everything is the same, but I’m not. I recognize Jesus as the Gate and the Good Shepherd whom I can trust, and I have a little more faith, a little more hope, and I really feel – at least for a moment - God’s joy in me.

driving lessons

2008-07-08T08:14:00.002-06:00

Check out this hilarious highly opinionated take on drivers in various parts of the US. Note: I think it's only available til early August, so... look it up now!

wordle!

2008-07-07T18:07:00.005-06:00

I'm not sure how you pronounce it, but I'm in love with wordle! I'm playing with it lots in preparation for the first Bible study of the summer tomorrow night. Here is what I've come up with so far... More to come I'm sure.

attention all word nerds

2008-05-08T08:07:00.004-06:00

I just stumbled on an awesome little podcast the other day from PRI's "The World." It's a new weekly called The World in Words. The thing that pulled me in was the title on Monday's podcast: "Russian names, Putinisms and a diplomatic mistranslation." So I gave a listen and then backed up to hear last week's podcast, featuring national anthems and IKEA-speak. It's a nice, mid-length podcast, 15-20 minutes, and has reporters visiting and interviewing all around the world. Finally, it has the added distinction of coming from the public radio station in Boston. So what else is there to say? It's amazing.

a may day's thoughts

2008-05-02T15:00:00.010-06:00

On my Trike, Summer 1980

Just a quick note in celebration of the best month of the year! And while I'm not entirely thrilled about adding another year to my age, I love that May is the cusp of summer, the edge of the excitement, with so much to look forward to in the near future: fireworks and hiking and rafting and road trips and sunshine and swimming and ice cream and barbecues... To top it off, I have great memories of earlier years when birthdays were all about homemade cakes and backyard relay races with neighborhood kids. Those were the days. Whatever this month means to you, whatever memories it holds, I hope that this time around it treats you well.

Of the Dead and Dying

2008-04-20T15:07:00.007-06:00

How's that for a seriously morbid title? I thought it might be a good way to catch your attention. But this post is not about people, just blogs and their links.

You see, once upon a time, a long time ago - back in 2005 - a bunch of my friends started blogging. We had lots of fun welcoming each other into the "blogosphere" and exchanging comments and posting sometimes witty, sometimes moving, sometimes dramatic news on these, our own websites. Then came MySpace, but it was ugly and spammy and so we used it rather judiciously. But then Facebook opened up to everyone, not just preppy undergrads, and it has proven deadly for the older version of blogging. I have hardly kept up this site at all until, every few months or so, I randomly hear that someone still checks it. So I make go at it, and find it's still fun, and I've decided "leaves..." isn't going away anytime soon. But of the links listed to the right of my posts, many haven't seen a new post in over a year. On the one hand, I feel bad just removing my friends' old blogs from my list, in case said friends actually resurrect their creations. On the other hand, I love organization and making sure my own little part of the web, be it very, very small, is updated and current. So I decided to write this post in order to both reminisce and to list a few of my friends' blogs that I'll most likely be be taking off the template in the near future. This way, their names and links will endure as long as blogger itself remains. In memory of all the good times...

el blogo de la falda
freelance poedry
ich bin ein londoner
jamey orange
ohiodawa
whence flies the knat

But perhaps the cycle of Blogger life will continue? Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the Ocean Skater to the blogosphere.

Mexico '08 Missions Trip

2008-04-05T23:30:00.001-06:00

the Missoula team: Sara, Sylvia, Emily, Megan

Just a few stories and a few more pictures. For more of the latter, go to my flickr site.

So these four ladies, three UM students and myself, left Missoula at 9:30 pm on Thursday March 20. This was the first leg of our journey on a missions trip with two organizations, Youth for Christ and Get Away, Give Away. We arrived in Twin Falls Idaho around 4:30 Friday morning. This is where we met up with 13 folks who had driven down from LaGrande, OR. Megan and I had stayed awake and split the driving from Missoula, so when we got to Twin Falls and found out everyone else would be up at 6 we just stayed up. We played 3-way "War" with Megan's friend Smitty. We were quite tired and silly. It was fun.
About 7:30 am all 17 of us, from here on out known as "the LaGrande Group," piled into two Suburbans and a pickup truck. We drove all day and reached Las Vegas in the evening where we spent the night in a church. (This was known as the location of "the last shower." Showers at our campsite in Mexico were a bit more primitive.) On Saturday, after 20+ hours of driving, we finally arrived in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Here we met up with the main group of folks, most of whom were from Eugene, Oregon, as so were known as "the Eugene Group." In the next 5 days "in country" the forty or so folks on our team of two groups built three houses. Those of us from Missoula also led a Vacation Bible School for neighborhood children and those at the house sites where we were building.

"Tent City" (aka "camp"): This was our home for the week.
It got pretty windy!

Highlights of the week:
1) Wednesday, the last day of VBS
This was our largest group of VBS kids and Megan kept saying her Spanish brain was going to explode. We shared the story of the Jesus' death and resurrection with the kids. I held up the picture book and Megan read the translation into Spanish. I helped the kids put "brillantes" (glitter) on the paper crosses they were making, and a few of them copied "Gracias Jesus" onto crosses made out of popsicle sticks. I loved that we were planting seeds in little hearts and minds and watering these seeds with love and songs and fun games like "pato, pato, ganso" (duck, duck, goose.)

Singing at VBS. Note the the camp showers in the background.

2) Anna and Abel and their 8 kids
Megan has had a few chances to share about the trip and each time she talked about this family and she cried. Anna and Abel have 8 children and recently moved to the border town of San Luis from Chiapas, the southern part of Mexico. We had the pleasure of building them a new house. Our first day at the plot of land Anna and her husband own she said over and over again how great God was to provide for her and her family. She brought most of her kids to VBS each day and she was very involved answering questions and making crafts. Later, Megan was working on Anna's new house and overheard her singing the VBS songs to her children. At the end of the week, the whole team visited each of the new houses and prayed over them and the families that would be living there. As we surrounded Anna, Abel and their children, Anna cried while clutching a calendar that the folks from LaGrande had given her. It was clear that we were seeing God move in her heart and our work there not only blessed her materially but also brought her closer to God.

Anna and her youngest, Luis de Jesus

3) Thursday morning, last day of work
This was the rush to get our houses to a finishing place. We needed to be done and leaving Mexico by about noon, but the houses weren't done. In past years, the team had consisted of 60-80 people. This year we were a small and mighty 40-something. In addition, the owners of 2 of the original 4 building sites found themselves in property disputes while we were there, so we were not able to build in those sites. We were able to start a another house, but two days late, and the church we planned to build most likely be built next year. The other family, who had thought themselves owners of the original "Site 1" plot, we could only pray for, that they would be able to settle this dispute and maybe get a house next year.

Policia. At least this one didn't come at 3:30 am like a few of the others...

That said, Thursday was a bit of a scramble at each of the houses. The new "Site 1" house was built for Bernardo and his wife and children. They have been great friends to the Get Away, Give Away teams in years past. They owned a plot of land but not been able to afford to build while still struggling to pay rent in another location. It was wonderful to bless this family and exciting to see their plans for this house as a place of blessing not only for their family but for the neighborhood. :) With this house we decided we just needed to get second floor walls, roof and insulation for those up since these are the parts most needing a team of people. A roof was also important since Bernardo needed to sleep there in order to guard the new house. He was confident that he could finish the rest himself. Thursday morning I had the chance to work on this house with him and a handful of the Eugene group folks from about 20 minutes before sunrise until around 11:00 am. It was intense and fun and very rewarding to reach our goal.

Prayer at Bernardo
and family's new house.
Note the unpainted
second floor wall
and the corner of a roof!

So in summary, it was hot. It was sandy. It was very dry. It was tiring and challenging. But God showed up and directed our steps in amazing ways. It was an amazing week.

ich mag Google '08

2008-04-01T08:50:00.002-06:00

Here it is again. I've decided this must be my own personal Valentine's Day for Google or something. Anyway, in case you somehow missed it, here is a link to this year's April Fool's joke. I have a feeling the folks at Google look forward to this day all year long.
:)

Mexico '08 Trip - Teasers

2008-03-29T17:02:00.009-06:00

me and Cristal, one of the children whose family got a new house

So I just got back to my house, just got back into Missoula less than an hour ago, and I'm really excited to sit down and let you all know about my trip. Wow. That's my first thought. So much to write. It was basically an amazing trip. It took two days of driving to get to San Luis, Mexico, a border town in the desert. Then it took two days to get back. In between I met lots of cool folks from Oregon, helped build three houses, camped in the desert, and made friends with some beautiful Mexican children. I'd like to write more ... but later, cause I'm pretty tired and I need to do some serious laundry - there is sand in everything. For now, here's a few pictures, teasers you could say. More - stories and pics - to come.

Yanco, Cristal, Kayla

view from the road of one of the new houses I helped build

Happy Spring!

2008-03-20T11:26:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to wish all a happy first day of spring. And to celebrate - well, actually it has nothing to do with it, except that next week is Spring Break here at the U. of Montana, and on said break a few students are going down to Mexico for a missions trip. And I have the privilege of joining them. No, I don't remember where in Mexico. I am not leading the trip so I'm shunning all unnecessary responsibility. Just kidding. I just haven't made the effort to remember. Anyway, we will be building houses for some folks and running a Vacation Bible School for a few days. I'm looking forward to it. We start the drive down tonight, with stops in Idaho Falls and Las Vegas. I would appreciate your prayers for our travels and for our time sharing Jesus with little kids. In addition, some of the folks we'll be working with on the building part of the trip aren't yet Christians. They're high school kids, and I am praying that we, the group of college folks from Missoula, will have and take divine opportunities to share Christ. So that's all for now. I just spent a half hour trying to see if I could do the Mobile Blogging thing. I think my phone is just a tad bit too primitive to make it happen, or maybe my brain is... Anyway, I've decided ya'll will just have to wait 'til I get back for an update. :) Til then, many blessings and happy spring.

me skiing!

2008-03-12T20:41:00.012-06:00

Me with Anna Barnett, getting ready to ski!

Hello to my dear friends and family. This past Sunday I wrote a post on the Chi Alpha Montana blog about our recent Ski Retreat in Darby, MT. Here it is for your reading pleasure. I've also added a video that Scott Barnett, my Chi Alpha boss, took of me "skiing" on the Bunny Slope.

One week ago at this time I was really, really sore from my first time skiing ever. In the past I've always told folks that I'd never ski cause I have bad knees. Then when it turned out that we would have an entire Chi Alpha retreat built around the opportunity to ski or board, and to do so in beautiful Western Montana powder on amazing Rocky Mountains, how could I resist?!? So I took the plunge and loved it. Somewhere in the middle of the 1.5 hours it took to "ski" down the easiest Green Dot trail, however, I realized (remembered?) that the main reason I've avoided skiing/boarding is fear. I don't even like going down a mountain on foot when it's really steep, never mind flying down it on little waxed pieces of plastic. So that was huge for me, learning to trust that if I did what Scott and Anna said I would not die! Mind you, I still have bad knees but they were not what hurt; every thing else did. :)

Songe and Scott

Songe and Ben were the other beginners on the slopes. [Songe is an international student from Zambia who first saw snow four years ago in his freshman year at the U. of Montana.] Ben was the Natural of the group, and with just a few times down the Bunny Slope he headed up the mountain. Scott and Anna were the patient teachers that stayed with Songe and I most of the day. I'm not sure how Songe felt by the end, but I was pretty excited since I was finally learning how to turn. Hooray!

Most of the folks experienced with the snow sports had their own snowboards. Amanda was the beginner of that group, and, similar to Songe and myself, she expressed super gratitude for her friends who stuck by her all day. Megan was their photographer and took lots of sweet shots, including ones of Ken, who is known to anyone who has done the Mini-Missions trip to Plains. He was our guest speaker Saturday night, and God really spoke through him to quite a few of us. Then we Chi Alphans got a chance to pray for him and his wife and daughter, and God really spoke through us to bless them. Then we all slept like babies. Most of us spent the night in the sanctuary (girls) or upstairs classroom (guys) of a local church let us use for the weekend. It was a good night, and a good weekend. God is good, yes?

Megan, Ken, Chris, and John

Megan and Annie

On the Ski Bus, from Darby to Lost Trail Powder Mountain.

The boarders having lunch in a yurt

old quote

2008-02-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to save this quote somewhere. I've finally found another good one to take it's place for awhile in Just for Kicks. I saw it on a coffee cup last summer and still love it. I've tried to recreate how it was formatted on the cup.

"People don't read enough. And what reading we do
is cursory, without absorbing the subtleties
and nuances that lie deep within - Wow,
you've stopped paying attention, haven't
you? People can't even read a coffee
cup without drifting off."
- David Shore, creator and executive
producer of House

Three Mothers by Sonia Lambert

2008-01-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I'm reading this book, and it's messing with me a bit. It's been a long time since I've read a work of fiction and been so thought-provoked, or maybe it's "provoked to thought," on issues of relationships and life and dying and eternity. Okay, that's kinda heavy. Maybe I should back up.

First off, I've already told God that my parents are not allowed to die, before I do at least, or at the very least until they've accomplished all the things they're desperate to accomplish, feel called by God to do. That said...

My mom gave me this book for Christmas. It opens with a poem by Phyllis McGinley:

Mothers are the hardest to forgive
Life is the fruit they long to hand you,
Ripe on a plate. And while you live,
Relentlessly they understand you.

I can't remember the last time my mom gave me a novel. At first I was reading it only to please her, even though the poem makes me feel prickly and like I want to argue with it somehow. I started the first chapter three, no four, times; I just couldn't get into it. Somewhere along the way I did, though, and now I have to work to put it down. It's beautifully written, all about the tensions between mothers and daughters. It's pretty intense, but not overwhelmingly so, partly because there's a healthy does of wit and the mundane stuff of life mixed in with the deep. And it doesn't hurt that the author plays her cards up front: in the first chapter the main character's mother (Vera) has just died and and the daughter (Susie) is dealing with the loss. Part the grief process is sharing with us, the readers, the stories of the lives of her mother and grandmother. Each had dictated these to Susie in the weeks before Vera's death. So it's semi-chronologically written. Each person's story is, mostly, in order as it jumps between each women's voice. It works.

But what about my questions? Well, my first reaction when observing the excellent portrayal of a daughter in grief, hopeless, exhausting, all-consuming, was this: "I'm so glad that we have God, and a hope for heaven; this is not the end for my mom and I." Then the question pokes it's head in, not in words of course, but subliminally: "Who am I to presume that I am - my mom and I are - in the right and they - the author and characters - are in the wrong? Who is to say that there is something after this?" I dwell on this for a few pages in the back of mind, then later it comes to me. How come in every culture there is the instinct for mothers to nurse their young. It's only when this activity hinders modern, rational, mechanized life that it is discarded or smothered. This is similar to faith and the search for the eternal. They got in the way of our understanding, or our understanding was too small for them, and so they were discarded, are squelched, until in moments of sheer panic even this young, post-modern, post-Christian main character Susie "made bargains" in her head, "Please God, at least five. Please God, make it ten."

So I've solved the problem of God and heaven, being there and all! :) But what about my mom and I? This book feels like good medicine, like something that's hard to swallow but I think will help our relationship. I'm sure I won't be able to identify with motherhood entirely until I experience it myself, but I am again made grateful for own mother's accomplishments. No, that's the wrong word. Successes? Abilities? Goodness? Motherly-ness?!?

I'm not sure how the fictional story will end yet, either, but it's a good read. There are some great lines, some poignant observations, and the author brings her characters to face death without the hope of an afterlife head on. As of yet, there's neither a Romantic spin on the beauty of it all or a superstitious bent of somehow existing after death sans God. While I can't agree with the author's assumptions, I admire her courage to stand with them even when it's uncomfortable. So, yeah, I'll let you know how it goes. Just had to get it all out of my head. Thanks for reading.

happy memory

2008-01-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

I just learned that this month marks the 50th anniversary of the plastic LEGO brick. An even more random fact: According to LEGO.com, "today’s LEGO bricks still fit bricks from 1958." I remember lots of happy hours making LEGO cars and trucks and police motorcycles. I think I still have that somewhere, even... And yes, I have a little, very little, tomboy streak in me. :)

"a new post"

2008-01-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lance's January 19th post over at the Chi Alpha, Montana blog, I'm feeling guilty enough to post again! But seriously, I've been thinking about posting this slideshow since the beginning of the month. For any folks not here in Missoula and otherwise unfamiliar with what I do here, this might help you get a better idea of the work I do with the students at the University of Montana. I hope you enjoy it. Happy 2008!

Look for me with a chainsaw. Never fear: I didn't actually use it!

culture clash

2007-11-24T23:53:00.001-07:00

I like to keep up with the news in my home towns - Boston, Boise, Missoula. It's always fascinating the differences in content on the newspaper websites that I visit. On the main page of Boston.com I found, though did not explore, an "Interactive Homicide Map" of all the homicides in Boston this year. Sad. Then over on the Missoulian site, I find an article about Missoula annexation, and the growing pains rural residents have felt, an article I'd never read in Boston! It's amazing how many worlds exist on our little planet. I think it's important to remember to look up and around every once and awhile and see what else - good, bad, and ugly - is out there. Just a thought.

car update

2007-10-25T23:44:00.000-06:00

Oh yes. Super cool thing that you all here in Missoula know about... I lived only a few weeks without a car before I was offered a free car. Actually, not one, but two friends here offered to give me cars that they weren't using, for one reason or another. I chose the newer, lower-mileage, automatic transmission one, and wow, what a gift it has been.

It looks kinda like this when I drive around town. :)

at long last...

2007-10-25T23:31:00.000-06:00

A quick follow up.
Yes, I did get that job. For the past 7 weeks I have been working as a Personal Care Assistant (PCA) for a lovely young lady who attends U. of Montana. Other good - no great - news: I am gonna play a few gigs this season with the Helena Symphony. As in, I'll get paid. What a concept! :) Lastly, I now have a few violin students. I am so glad to be teaching again; I find it invigorating, somehow.
So I have three part-time jobs: Chi Alpha staff, PCA and violin playing/teaching. I enjoy them all, for different reasons, though I can get a little exhausted at times, especially when "shifting gears" between one job and the next. But it's good, and I am happy to be here in Missoula, and sooo grateful to have work.

fyi - potato

2007-10-07T19:40:00.000-06:00

So I needed a quick answer to, "How long should I boil potatoes?" I Googled "how long to boil potatoes" and the first site to come up was idahopotato.com, specifically the "Frequently Asked Questions" page. Perhaps it's a bit of overkill, but whatever you wanna know, I'm sure it's there.
And for more potato fun, visit itubers.com. The must see is the Opera Singing Spud. So much for a quick answer to my question...
:)

I have a job!

2007-09-07T18:48:00.000-06:00

Or at least, I think I do. Since I'm a pessimist, I won't blog much about it, just in case it doesn't work out. But if it does, details will follow. :)

the Move to Missoula

2007-08-30T20:57:00.000-06:00

As promised, a post with pics about my moving adventures. Here goes.

Arizona tea in hand, one last picture before hitting the road

an hour later: guess i'm staying in Boise a few more days

It has been quite the adventure. It began on Saturday August 18 and is still going since some of my belongings and (totaled?) car are still in Boise. And no, still no official word on whose fault the accident was and if my car is totaled. I seem to remember a little song:
"Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry..."

But I digress. After the wreck, I had my car towed to my Atmore house in Boise, where I lived all summer. I ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream and watched silly movies and tried not to do any thinking about the future for the rest of the day. Sunday I reported my claim and Monday I took my car to the Auto Body shop. After a few days of waiting for official things to happen, and seeing little results, I decided to go up to Missoula as soon as possible.

My friend Jamey drove down Friday August 24 with her dad's '83 Ford truck. We packed it to the gills and headed out late Saturday morning. It was a typical southern Idaho day: sunny and hot. With no air conditioning in the truck, we had the windows down and turned the music as high as I could stand. Then, a merciful break from the heat in a reservoir park.

the cold, mountain water felt so good.

All was fine until about 15 miles outside of Blackfoot, ID when we heard a mysterious sound. Since we had no idea what it was and since the truck need more gas anyway, we pulled into Blackfoot, Idaho and began the process of looking puzzled next to the truck and having random men come up to us and offer advice, lots of advice. Of these, some relatively knowledgeable ones told us the truck was un-drivable until a mechanic could look at it. On Monday, which was two days away.

quelle horreur! Jamey reenacting our expressions upon learning our fate...

Each of us spent time talking to our dads, trying to get advice. Jamey's parents said they'd drive down to us from Missoula. (My family was in New York. Not gonna make it out to Idaho!) We got some supper and wasted some time at the local Walmart. And then we slept on the lawn of Jamey's great-uncle's house, since he wasn't home and we couldn't afford a motel.

Sunday morning, as soon as it was warm enough to get out of our sleeping bags, we had a picnic breakfast and colored in these giant coloring pages (Pirates of the Carribbean themed) that we had found at Walmart.

Jamey's mom took this picture of Jamey and I under the Weeping Willow that Jamey liked so much. After a short drive and look at the truck, Jamey's dad decided it was probably okay, and we started driving again, with Jamey's parents in her mom's car behind us just in case. This is where we stopped for lunch.

Yesterday's Calf-A in beautiful downtown Dell, Montana (pop. 10?)

We finally landed in Missoula on Sunday August 26 at about 10 pm. I was seriously relieved to finally, finally be in my new home.

greetings from 59801

2007-08-27T12:41:00.000-06:00

just wanted to let y'all know that i finally made it to Missoula. more about my adventure in Blackfoot, ID coming soon.
happy monday all!

here we go! er, maybe not...

2007-08-20T20:42:00.000-06:00

Saturday mornin' I was all giddy with excitement about driving up to Missoula. I finally got all packed, got everything I needed for the next few weeks in my car, got some last minutes pics with my roommates and a pic of me with my packed car - so proud of all that work to make it fit. And off I went.
I didn't get too far. Instead, I found myself in a wreck just 30 miles north of Boise, in a town called Horseshoe Bend. No worries. I'm fine, my violin and computer and all the other stuff in my car - these are all fine. My car that? Not so much! The passenger side is pretty messed up. The front windshield is buckled and cracked, and the back windshield and back passenger-side windows are completely gone. The hood is buckled from the right, the part immediately above the right wheel is gone, and the whole passenger side is scraped. As I rode in the tow truck coming back to Boise I looked back at my poor, poor car and thought, "Did I have an antenna? I don't remember..."

So now I am playing a waiting game. Waiting for the claims adjuster to call me, so I can tell him/her the auto body shop where the car is, and then waiting for those two to chat, and then waiting to hear if my car is totaled and, officially, whose fault it was. All signs at present point to the accident being the other guy's fault. Other's opinions about it being totaled vary more. No matter; I can't make any concrete plans until I hear from the insurance one way or the other. Grrrr. Anyone else hate waiting? Anyone else feel lost when you find yourself in an in between place - not here, not there? Sigh. :)

I'm soooo grateful that the car took all the damage. I really have nothing to complain about. To all my friends and family who are praying and helping me in these days of in between, thanks a bunch. I'll let you know more when I know more!

Walking Around the Corner

2007-08-17T09:18:00.001-06:00

Greetings from Boise State University's Albertsons Library. I am in here for, pretty much, the last time. My classes are all done. The final 25lb-cotton-paper version of my thesis was turned in last week. It's probably on the way to the bindery now. Grades are in now, too. Wow. I'm done with school. When I get that diploma in the mail, then it will really sink in!

And now? Well, tomorrow I move to Missoula, Montana. If you only read this blog and haven't gotten any emails from me, my deepest apologies. To fill you in, for the past 8 months or so, God has been turning my world upside down. While my life plans are only slightly tweaked, and I'm only moving one state away, my life view has undergone some significant channges. This move to Missoula, to work on staff with Chi Alpha at the University of Montana, is just one step in the direction of that new view.

How am I? I'm equal parts excited and terrified. And a little sad to be saying goodbye to some folks here. But excitement for the plans God has for me long-term, and the commitment I made to do this, these keep me moving forward. The unknown waits around the corner - funny thing, though. We never really know what the future holds anyway, right? We think we do, but we don't. Every once in awhile God allows us to feel just how much we don't know. I guess that's a huge part of faith, maybe the thing in its entirety. So here's to taking the risks and walking around the corner. Here's to faith in the One who is deserving. I hope you all get a chance to live in this faith, too. :)

"eeehh!" or "about my new profile picture"

2007-07-05T22:39:00.000-06:00

On the one hand, I really like this picture of me and Beth. It was taken in a park in Kosice, Slovakia. It was a fun, hot day of Ultimate Frisbee and volleyball and music in the midst of a very good trip. On the other hand, I feel an explanation is due: Someone said "Make a funny face" and pointed a camera at me. Of course, I really prefer to be on the other side of the camera, but the end result is that I have very few pictures of me, and even fewer that I like. Thus, for my profile pictures on MySpace and such I have to take extreme measures: half an hour taking and deleting shots on my cell phone(old picture) or cropping out my sister (flickr pic). This one is enough me that I don't need to crop but was enough someone else that I didn't feel as awkward on the wrong side of the lens. Sure, it's silly, but I like it ...okay?!?

Central Europe blog post

2007-06-07T13:36:00.001-06:00

posted a few days ago on MySpace.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

It's my last full day in Central Europe and I'm finally posting something! It's been quite good, but too much has gone on, both in and around me, to sum up here. Just some snapshots:
- cute little Fiat's parked half on the road and half on the brick sidewalks.
- shy Slovak teenagers insisting that they can't speak any English, and then carrying on full, if broken, conversations
- Krakow's Ryneck Glowny ('nuf said. love that place.)
- a Slovak teen who says she wants to travel around the world, and my heart goes out to her: "Be careful," I say, and try to remind her that there are some who would take advantage of her deisre to work in another country.
- Roma villages and ghettos full of poverty and beautiful faces.
- "football" (aka soccer) with a team of American folks and Roma girls against a group of little Roma boys. they were losing pretty badly til and older guy (teenager?) joined us, helped them win by one and then proceeded to professes his love to me! :/
- internet cafes where I meet people from all over the world and see local kids playing computer games.
- Turkish coffee and peach tea at a little Roma church near Kosice, Slovakia

I must confess that at this point I still don't really want to go home. Sure, there's people I miss and I miss having access to a washing machine and a dryer and kitchen where I can cook my own meals and being able to read the signs and all my musical activities (like really practicing!). But I think I like it in this part of the world. I suppose I'll be back someday...

just thinking...

2007-04-20T19:02:00.000-06:00

...it seems appropriate with all the violence in the news and hardship in the world to remember the words of a few famous dudes.

"The land [of Mordor] seemed full of creaking and cracking and sly noises, but there was no sound of voice or foot. Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever above its reach."
-J.R.R. Tolkien. The Return of the King p. 244.

"In this world you will have trouble; but take heart, I have overcome the world."
-Jesus. John 16:33

Peace.

ich mag Google.

2007-04-01T13:24:00.000-06:00

Last year they brought us Google Romance, the year before something called Google Gulp and now... Google Paper. Last year, still relatively new to the google universe, I fell for the foolishness and posted about it, unaware of my ignorance 'til cuchillo commented. And then of course I felt like an idiot but then recovered in my response... This time, I got halfway through the page before I remembered, "Oh yeah! ohhh, Google..." I think it was the goofy pictures next to the goofier "testimonials." What really puts it over the top is the claim that "Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum [huh?!?], and thus, actually helps the environment."
There is another Google April Fool's joke out there, according to some folks on the web way smarter than me, but it all reads like Greek to me so it's a little less funny, somehow. Anyway, happy April Fool's and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself.
:)

some feel good tees

2007-03-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

hi all.
just wanted to point out my new link to the blog for Off Your Back Shirts, a little company that some folks from my corner of Boston started. it's headed up by Paul Daigle, who was assistant pastor at my church, River of Life, for a few years before starting a house church with his wife Diana. Paul is really passionate about Jesus and people and social justice. he's pretty involved in the One Campaign, and recently he started Off Your Back Shirts to sell organic and fair trade clothes. if you go to the website where they show the company's products you'll see pics of a couple folks I went to church with. this cracked me up, to see these folks, including the pastor's daughter, modeling. :)

the interesting and the curious

2007-02-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

(Subtitile: Post of things I found on the internet today. Enjoy!)

First...
I'm still on the email list of my church in Boston, River of Life Chruch in Jamaica Plain (aka JP). The folks there are like a family to me, so I like to know what's going on and stuff. Today I got the weekly update nad it was called "RoL - Wears Name Tags - Refreshments & this Sunday. " Nametags? That got me curious, so I followed some links and was like, "Oh, this is interesting." If you are not familiar with JP, this "Name Tag" organization is so JP. Here's a few links. First, to the blog site talking about RoL Church. Second to the org's about page.

Second...
I'm not much of a bandwagon jumper (or jumper-on-er, if that's a word), so when new things come out, I tend to view them skeptically, from a distance, and wait til I have a good reason to waste my precious time/money/other resource on them. Or maybe it's the fact that I am so skeptical that keeps me from jumping on wagons... Anyway! All that to say that in the past few days I have finally been getting into video on the internet, YouTube in particular. Then to really get the interest up, today I got this email from my violin/orchestra prof:

String Players,
I thought you might get a kick out of this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5MLNMgpywk
Mr. Purdy

kick i did. i mean, wow! so much fun!

Not more than a few mnutes later, Mr. Purdy also sent this email:

Okay, we may need to start a BSU fan club, this is pretty clever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG6Ef-NQCi4
Mr. Purdy

So I thought I'd pass these on to you, to enlighten you, and to let you in on how very silly string players are in what we do and in what we love to watch others do. Let me know if you can recognize all the tunes in this video. I think I know the older ones. It's the rock/metal stuff from the late 20th century that throws me.
Til next time,
-later.

a set of coca-cola flatware

2007-01-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

ever had one of those days? one of those when you feel like hitting your head against something very hard with the hope that you can knock some sense into your brain? i guess you could say it's a bad day. not a "this-is-the-lowest-point-of-my-life" day but a "wow, am-i-really-that-much-of-an-idiot?" day. well, that was my day today.

first, i realized this afternoon that because i had thrown away the box my new printer came in, without taking the UPC code off it, i can't get my $80 refund. groan. so, basically, i threw eighty dollars into the dumpster. ohhh, that hurts. of course, the only reason i bought the printer in the first place was i could get it free when buying it with the PC. oh well. it's only money, right?

about an hour before i realized this i had been talking to my dad on the phone. he mentioned the Patriots v.s. Colts game was gonna be on and asked if i was going to watch it. i said, "oh i have so much work to do... but i guess i can leave it on in the background like you dad." the joke is that my dad often does this "on-in-the-background" thing, but repeatedly gets sucked back to the TV, much to my mother's dismay. :)!! anyway, that happened to me, too, but it was fun, and i didn't feel too bad since i thought that i had enough time still to get my work done. and even though i was bummed the Pats lost, it was good to see Payton Manning and the Colts finally get to the Super Bowl. so hooray for the underdog. turning off the tube then i resolved to really get to work. i went to my computer and opened up my school email. then i saw "Brittany's Violin Recital", an old email, and i remembered that it was today. at 7:30 pm. it was 8:25 pm, and i had a pie in the oven. ARGHH! i had promised Brittany that i would be there...
so i turned off the pie early and ran across the street - super hooray for living on campus! - and made it for the last piece of the recital. sometime soon i'll have to confess to Brittany that i forgot about the recital and ask to hear the recording the sound guy makes of these things.
sigh.
after getting back to my apartment i was feeling low, so i pulled out the Waterdeep Worship cd. i love these guys. i love these songs that ooze with God's patience and grace.
"You are beautiful my sweet, sweet song... All my worries and my shame, rest in You... Those who trust in the Lord are as Mt Zion... You alone are faithful..."

by now you gotta be wondering what deep spiritual concept i will be pulling out of the title of this post. sorry, but i can't think of one. but the set does make me smile. i found it at the thrift store today, and i'm really proud of myself for it. :)

anyway, another day another dollar. here's to tomorrow.

happy, happy, merry, merry

2006-12-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

"On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
two turtle doves,
and a partridge in a pear tree."
The twleve days of Christmas - what a great invention for procastinators like me! :)
But seriously, Merry Christmas to all my friends around the world.

a sappy true story

2006-11-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

i usually post on blogger and myspace cause my friend in China can't read blogger there... huh?? anyway, in response to my last post about Switchfoot, she wrote...
"So the violin is a him not a her! hmmm interesting. Now I am wondering the gender of other instruments? Are all violins hims? or just yours?"

so in response to that...
i don't know about other violins never mind other instruments, but my violin is a he because it's name is Vio III (yes, that's "Vio the third") and that sounds more male than female, right? back in the day when i was in elementary school i found myself calling my first violin "Vio" so i decided that was its name. my family is notorious for naming inanimate objects. all of our cars have had colorful names and my mom calls her flute "her first baby", so that's where i'm coming from. anyway, since i was too lazy to come up with new names for the two violins that followed, they have been named after their "forefather." :) and last year, late one night after a long day (or maybe it was early in the morning after a long night; either way it is imperative that i blame my goofiness on a serious lack of sleep), i decided to name my violin bow cause it's also important, and it deserves a name, too, right? i decided on "Lino", because "vio" plus "lino" is "violino", which is Italian for "violin." and, yes, "Lino" is female, because, well, a bow just has to be.
yes, this is all very sappy. so embarrassing. can hardly believe i'm posting this for the world to see... but that's what blogs are for, right?
:)

the silence is broken ...

2006-10-18T14:43:00.000-06:00

...with apologies to cuchillo

So I go outside to eat a late lunch, since it's a gorgeous sunny day and the leaves are all dressed up in their special colors. On the way out from the Morrisson Center I grab a copy of Thrive, the free weekly 'zine that the Idaho Statesman puts out. I glance through to find some decent articles then just happen to catch a glimpse of an ad with the word "Switchfoot" as I am flipping through. I go back and find the page, read "This Saturday!", and my brain cries, "Nooo! How did this happen. They come to Boise and I can't see them!! Any Saturday but this one, not this one!"
See, I have to work this Saturday because there is some Marching Band ...thing in the afternoon/evening. And after that I'm in a performance of Orff's Carmina Burana, which should be really cool, actually, and I am looking forward to it. I will be playing "in the pit" for Ballet Idaho's presentation of this masterpiece, and two choirs are involved as well. Great music and lots of fun to play... But Switchfoot, why did it have to be this weekend?
When I was in Slovakia this summer and found out that the band had been in Pocatello the week before our trip started in May, I said that if they had come to Boise that week "I would have given up my first child!" Well, I guess my violin is almost like my first child and, no I can't give him up for even Switchfoot, so, alas, I will miss their concert this weekend. Sigh.

And that's what brought me to break my blog silence today.

oh, i know you!

2006-09-23T16:36:00.000-06:00

As promised, I've been too busy for blogger, for mySpace, even for much email, but this week I got back some pics of my week in Boston, and I wanna show 'em off. So here are a few. Enjoy.

I was so excited to make it to the beach once this summer. A lovely sunday afternoon/evening at Horseneck Beach with the ladies. The water was just warm enough, the waves were perfect and the sky was clear and sunny. Quite lovely.

Mid-week I had a chance to hang out with my friend Vanessa and her little family. It was great to meet baby Joshua in person for the first time.

The big event of the week was my sis' wedding on Saturday August 5th. Here we are behind the church during the reception. More pictures of the wedding will be up on flickr... eventually. :)

oh dear

2006-08-10T18:10:00.000-06:00

It's August and my blog is so, like, outdated! I've been a little busy and so blogging has taken a backseat. So no for some quick updates:
1) My sis got married in Boston, last Saturday Aug 5. It was beautiful. I played the "Romanze" from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht Musik for her aisle-walking. My dad, now 10 weeks post hip injury, was able to walk her down the aisle but had to use a walker. This was quite an accomplishment considering what he has been through these last few months. Anyway, the wedding was a great end to a great week in Boston with friends and family.
2) I finally got to enjoy a sunny float down the Boise River this Sunday. I flew into Boise from Boston around noon and then headed to the park. The Pursuit had an outreach of sorts, inviting folks to float the River and then hosting a BBQ in the park where folks get out to of the river. All passers-by were invited to free chicken and chips and Coke and such. I met some cool folks, including a guy who just got back from 11 months in China. And we think we have pollution!
3) I filled up my gas tank for the first time on Tuesday. Hope I won't have to do that again for awhile. I'm trying to ride my bike alot still. Anyway, I felt real proud of myself after I filled the tank by myself and didn't forget any important steps or cause any explosions!
My life is about to get ridiculously busy, so this post could be the last one for a month or so. I still love you all. I just need to make time to eat and sleep and all, ya know? So, 'til next time.... peace.

so i guess i'm a grown up now

2006-07-18T11:05:00.000-06:00

keys to my "brand new-to-me" 1991 Saturn SL2

summer fun

2006-07-17T13:05:00.000-06:00

For six of the seven weeks between my Poland/Slovakia trip and my week in Boston (just two weeks til then!), I'm working full time in the Marching band office. I've had some fun, too, and wanted to share with you folks some "firsts" I've had this summer.
FYI: Since I'm trying to save money after developing 204 pictures from the missions trip, I don't have pics of my own for any of these events, but check out the websites that I've linked and get the full multi-sensory experience! (hee-hee)

Floating the Boise River
It's a Boise institution, this river, and floating it on a tube (or raft or whatever else will float) is the thing to do on hot afternoons, especially this past July 4th weekend since the "powers that be" finally opened the river to the public just before the holiday. So, on Sunday July 2, after a hot, sunny morning, I was excited to join some friends for my first river float. By the time we got on the water, it was cloudy, but the air was still warm. Then we saw it: lightning, and lots of it. Beautiful and only a little frightening. Later when folks asked how the trip went, I said...

the lightning was cool.
the thunder was cool.
the rain was just cold.

So it was quite an adventure. But I guess I'm a glutton for punishment since I headed out to float the river again on the 4th with another group of folks. Mind you, the forecast said nothing about clouds or rain, but by the time we had rented our tubes and were on the water, the sky was again covered with clouds. This time we missed the rain by about 5 minutes. Every day I ride home from work along the river and watch folks basking in the sun on their tubes and rafts and laugh to myself because it hasn't rained in Boise since those two days, nearly two weeks ago! :)

A fellow Boisean and flickr geek took pics of some other folks on the river Sunday July 2 in the middle of the rain storm. Check out his photoset here.

National Fiddlers Contest and Festival Weiser, ID
A big deal for this cute little town in rural Idaho, close to Idaho/Oregon boarder, the fest has been held every year the third full week of June since 1953. It draws something like 350 contestants from 35 states. I just went out there on the last night of competition for the Grand National final rounds. It's a family thing, with kids as young as 5 and as old as 80 competing in 7 age divisions, in addition to the Grand National division. Lots of fiddlers! In another part of town, an open-air stage showcased local bluegrass musicians and other oldtimey stuff. We saw a bunch of kids from a local clogging school perform. Cute. While oldtime fiddling is not my favorite of the fiddle styles - I'm a Celtic girl all the way :) - the event was definitely a cultural experience, deep in the heart of rural America.
For pics and to hear some tunes (Real Audio), check out this site set up by Idaho Public Television.

DCI (Drum Corps International)
So what is DCI?
Before this summer, I had no idea. But this past week I was initiated into all things marching band-ish with the goings on in my office: "Cavalcade", a camp for high school marching band kids and their directors; and "Thunder in Boise", my first drum and bugle corps show. It has been "the off season" (non-football/marching season) ever since I first started working in the office in February, so it has been pretty quiet most of the time. Not so last week! The phone was ringing off the hook with parents calling about last minute stuff for their kids in camp, and the office was full of directors schmoozing, and I took so many ticket orders over the phone for the DCI show I think I could still recite the schpeel in my sleep. The day of the show was long. On the other hand, even though I worked 10 hours, my boss and supervisor worked something like 14 hours each. Anyway, I enjoyed the show more than I expected to. There is something cool about all the uniforms and choreography and dance and flags. The kids who do these shows range in age from 14 to 22 and they tour all summer long, with rehearsals every day and adjudicated shows two to four times a week. I suppose you could say they are "uber" band geeks and many of them are quite talented. At these shows you discover a whole 'nother world, and folks get quite passionate about the groups, evidenced by the corps' paraphanelia for sale at each show. Also, don't ever confuse a marching band with a drum and bugle corps, at least not to those in the know, or you will receive a lecture on the differences between the two. :) To get the lowdown - you know you want to know - and even see one of those multi-sensory experiences I mentioned, go to the About DCI site. Warning: the video is a promo for DCI and kinda sappy!

So that's some of the things I've been up to. I heard rumors a few weeks back about some friends going to a rodeo, and there's always a chance for more River floating, so more firsts may be coming soon. And I'll let you know if I ever make it down the river without rain!

Big Sky Expeditions 2006

2006-06-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

"Big Sky Expeditions" is the name of the Chi Alpha group that has been doing this trip to Central Europe for the past 4 years. This years' team - mine! - went first to Krakow, Poland and then to two different towns in Slovakia: Banovce and Banska Bystrica. Here are a few pictures from the trip. To see more Slovakia pictures, you can go to my flickr.com photostream. Eventually I'll have all my Poland pictures there, too. Enjoy.

Our first morning in Krakow, we found out that the city was greatly anticipating the arrival of Pope Benedictus XVI the following weekend. These posters, the first outward signs of Krakow's preparation, were found all around the city and reflected the hope that this new pope will "walk in the footsteps" of their beloved John Paul II.

Here is the picture I mentioned in my first post from Krakow.

We spent most of our time in Krakow working with University students. Our first Saturday in Europe we did the tourist thing with some of the Polish students as our guides. I took this picture of my group - three Poles and four Americans - in the Ryneck in front of the Medieval Linen Building.

the Pope, the Polcja, and a lot of cameras

After leaving the hustle and bustle of Krokow, we settled in lovely little Banovce, Slovakia. Our three days there were packed with activity, including minstry among the local Roma kids.

My friend la falda with "her kids". She's spending her whole summer there. So cool.

We finished our trip with five days in Banska Bystrica, a small city in central Slovakia. The team picture above was taken there in the city square, which I was told is the most beautiful in Slovakia. Our time there was spent doing some outreach and some work projects. The latter included cleaning out some rooms that a local church is renting. After removing a dumpster-load of trash that was under years - decades? - of dust, the team painted the room that will eventually be the new sanctuary.

My last picture in Slovakia. We left Banksa Bystrica, Slovakia at 3:00 in the morning on June 5 to catch a flight out of Vienna at 8:00.

Back in the States the next day, I finished up my last roll of film with some shots of Montana on the eight hour ride home from Bozeman.

Boston dreaming on a sunny Boise day

2006-06-23T15:20:00.000-06:00

so i am looking at flights to Boston for my sister's wedding and suddenly i'm imagining flying into Logan and seeing my friends and my family and the ocean and going to RoL Church the next day. i'm getting all itchy with anticipation just thinking about it and it's 5 weeks away. i guess i'm just gonna have to visit boston.com to tide me over for the day.

i'm so excited to be going home.

Mission Trip Story

2006-06-22T09:16:00.000-06:00

For all you folks who keep asking to hear more, here's a taste. Because I don't know how to say it better than this, here is what Curt and Sara Hobbs, the missionaries we worked with in Krakow, Poland, wrote on their blog. Some brief background info: the Hobbs hail from Wyoming, where they were campus ministers with Chi Alpha before going to Poland about 4 years ago.

Bucking Broncs + Jesus!
May 28, 2006

This past week we finished up our time with the Chi Alpha team from the Big Sky Region. God showed His amazing love and the way He draws people to Himself. Maria was one such person He drew to us. She is a lady in her mid-late 30's like us. She had left Poland and traveled, checked out Buddhism, and New Age stuff. She has mixed it all together with the Catholicism of her childhood. But she saw our group praying and worshipping in the Blonia (field/meadow/park) near the student hotel. She said she saw "white light" around us and joined in. She showed up the next day even though the rain kept us from doing "devotions" in the Blonia.

Then several days later I was waiting to pick up the kids from school and I saw SOMETHING straight out of the Cowboy State! Across the street I see an automobile that had a WYOMING bucking bronco sticker on it So being the rude, loud and brash American that I am not, I went up to the car and knocked on the window to a surprised woman. I tried to assure her I was not going to hurt her or rob her.

I asked her where she got that wonderful bucking bronco WYOMING sticker and during the conversation, Maria came up. She was as surprised to see me talking to her friend as I was to find out that someone in Krakow has even been to Wyoming and liked it so much that they'd buy such a sticker.

So that was an exciting confirmation for her that God is indeed working and drawing her to Himself. They joined the group for our last outing with pizza and waiting to see a glimpse of the Pope. Please pray that we can connect her with some Poles in the next couple weeks before we go [on furlough] so that God can continue to work on her.

Waiting for the pope after eating pizza, Maria and her friend chat with members of the Big Sky team.

quiet weekend

2006-06-10T21:24:00.000-06:00

so i'm back, in Boise and just about adjusted to the time zone, the new apartment, and my new roommie who likes to keep our suite at about 65 degrees fahrenheit year-round. these days i am really enjoying tall glasses of 2% milk and Boise sunshine and sleeping in my own bed. but i miss my "team" and Europe and the red-tiled roofs and green rolling hills. i think that the hardest thing to get used to now is how quiet it is. for three weeks, i was hardly ever alone. i was part of a family of 22 and most meals and bus rides were accompanied by chatter and laughter. we were almost always loud enough to broadcast "We are Americans!" to all the folks around. more often than not, this was quite embarrassing, but now i miss that, too.
okay, enough melancholy. i have a full summer ahead of me and the trip to Poland and Slovakia got it off to a wonderful start. up next, working at BSU's week-long chamber music camp for junior high and high school kids. and soon my 7 rolls of Poland/Slovakia pictures will come and i can have a blast remembering and sharing the memories with folks. so i'm off to enjoy the quiet of my own, somewhat chilly, room. :)

hello from Krakow

2006-05-23T12:09:00.000-06:00

sorry it's taken so long to post. here is the e-mail i sent out last Friday...

On 5/19/06, Sylvia wrote:

i'm here! i have only a few minutes in this internet cafe. wish i could send you the picture i just took, looking out to Ryneck, the market square, in the center in Old Town. full of people, old and young. they are shopping, chatting, eating, flirting, biking, etc. it feels good to be in a city again! Beautiful, old, buildings; so much history; good food; crazy language; kind people. check my blog for pics later.
do widzenia.
-sylvia.

good day

2006-05-23T11:52:00.000-06:00

at first, it was quite hard for me to open up and talk with Polish folk. most of those my age and younger speak English, so the language barrier is not as big a problem as the fact that they are introverts and so am i. anyway, Saturday my team broke intsmall groups and we spent the afternoon touring the city with a handful of Poilsh university students and so i got more comfortable. what did we do? well, we ate "pancakes", more like crepes, for lunch and then toured the main Krakow attraction, the Wawol castle, which dates from the 13th century. beautiful. before meeting up with the rest of the big group for supper we behaved like the locals and strolled along the Wisla, the river that runs through the center of Krakow. unlike the locals, we taught our Polish guides how to play cribbage. :)
while it is still not easy for me to walk up to people and chat, today i was able to overcome some fear and talked with a lovely young lady, Ange, at our first outreach at her university apartment complex, what they call a "student hostel". my teammate Crystal had been talking with her and a few of her friends for awhile before i joined them. after i asked them where i could find a "toalety" - public bathrooms are scarce in Krakow - she lead Crystal and i up to her dorm room. over the tea and small sandwiches she offered us - gotta love European hospitality! :) - we continued our conversation through broken English, French, German, Polish and gestures. Ange is in the midst of studying for exams - ten of them! - and said yes when i asked if we could pray for her about these. Crystal told me that she and Ange had talked earlier about the Pope (big dude here!) and Jesus, and that Ange said that the old pope was in her heart while the new one is in her head. And Jesus? he is in here heart. hmmm.... there was a sweet presence in the room when we prayed and after we finished she placed her hand on her heart and smiled at us. i did too. i felt like we had found a sister...
more to share, but gotta run. paying to use the internet so need to keep it short. hope ya'll are well. blessings from the other side of the world. and thanks to all of you who helped me get here. :)

You know it's gonna be a fun week when...

2006-05-08T10:07:00.000-06:00

...the power goes off campus-wide on the first morning of finals.

I arrived at the Morrisson Center around 9:20 to meet up with my accompanist. I noticed that the computer lab was dark and thought "that's odd", and as I walked in further I smelled something funny. Then I went to get my violin out of my locker and found the instrument locker room pitch black, and I was like, "Oh dear". So glad that I had my bike light in my backpack. "Always be prepared" means I'm usually carrying more than enough junk to keep me outfitted for the first year after a major disaster, but it has its advantages at times. After I got out my violin and music, I chatted with the department secretary who told me that she had heard about a professor giving a test orally, and maybe "he sang the musical examples"? I headed up stairs to warm up and find my accompanist in her usual practice room. Instead, I found the conducting class crowded in the hallway, using the electricity from the room to power a boombox CD player so that they could do their final exam. I sought out another practice space and was about to get warmed up when the power died in there, too. Groans of exasperation came from other rooms where students were getting ready for their performance juries (kind of like finals for private lessons). I finally found my accompanist and we rehearsed to the "mood lighting" from the small amount of sunshine that made it into her husband's office. After a good little rehearsal - my jury isn't 'til Wednesday and I think it is gonna go well. :) - I left the office and found a bassist reharsing in the hall with his accompanist. They had pushed a piano out from a window-less classroom to utilize the emergency hall lights that were still on. Probably the best scene of all was of the aforementioned conducting class. Now without power from the practice rooms, they had migrated out-of-doors. When I rode past the group on my way to work, Mary was conducting her final to band music blaring from someone's car with the rest of the class and the prof seated on the sidewalk watching her. Hey, that works!

I love it when people are forced to improvise. While it can bring out the worst in some people, it brings put the best in most and makes for this fun, quirky atmosphere. I love the smiles passed between folks who usually walk past one another without so much as an acknowledgment, and the laughs, the sense of comraderie. Makes for a good ending to a good semester, don't you think?

flight

2006-05-05T10:40:00.000-06:00

wow. today is the last day of classes, the end of the semester, the end of my first year at Boise State. where did the time go? just flew away i guess. yesterday i performed some solo Bach in String Area Class. i played a movement of the E major Partita from memory, which was a little nerve-wracking, but it turned out all right. in Area Class, as in Studio Class, the profs and the students in the audience give feedback after each person's performance. one guy said he liked the dynamics in my performance, that my fortes were loud and strong, and my pianos were soft but they didn't disappear. that made me so happy to hear, especially since in the past i have had a tendency to get weak whenever i try to play softly. somebody else said i filled up the room, and since i was playing in a 200-seat recital hall, that's a pretty sweet compliment. i had a couple little memeroy lapses and, in those spots my tone got funky and i made up a few notes in order to just keep going, but overall it was a good performance.
wow. i remember at the beginning of the semester looking at the performance calendar for the violins and seeing my name at the bottom on the last Area Class and wondering how it would be; it seemed so far away, and now it's gone.
now on to another project, another bunch of stuff to finish before the i am done for the school year: performance juries and a 10-page paper and accompanying presentation and a pedagogy final. then there's getting ready for the trip to Poland/Slovakia and moving and a little recital with my students the day before I leave Boise for three weeks. after a road trip up to Bozeman, MT, i meet up with my team on Monday the 15th and then head out of the country.
wow. i'm really going. i can't wait to fly...

long quote

2006-04-18T22:35:00.000-06:00

It's been a long while since I posted, and even longer since setting up a decent quote. Please accept my apologies, or at least this excuse: I'm quite busy now, with the end of the semester just a few weeks away. I have lots of projects and a paper and performances to play and others to watch... And then it is a beautiful spring out there, and I want to enjoy that, too. Also, in the past month I have begun to make friends here, and suddenly I have other stuff to do besides homework on weekend evenings! So, yes, been busy. But, fear not, faithful readers, the posting may falter, but it will not fail! :)

That said, I wanted to share with ya'll a quote from a sermon a few weeks ago by Paul, the pastor of my church here in Boise. We were looking at Acts 2:14-21 and the quote there from Joel, concerning the end times, when Paul said, "There's indication in the Bible that there's going to be more disasters... People look at last year and go, 'Man, what a year: the tsunami and hurricanes. Now, tornados and all these different things - Windows on a Mac...'"

snowshoeing - the real pics

2006-04-02T18:45:00.000-06:00

just in case you haven't tripped on over to my photostream at flickr.com lately, here are a few of my favorite pictures of that snowshoeing trip, these from my real camera. enjoy!

proof...

2006-04-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

...that Google is letting success go to its head, - er maybe heart.

"When you thnk about it, dating is just another search problem.And we’ve thought about it. A lot. Google Romance™ is our solution."

oh dear.

randomness

2006-03-25T20:11:00.000-07:00

so it's that time again, time to write, and i am glad to do so but a warning: this post will be less focused than most, just a bunch of little things to say.

first, i finally broke down and joined MySpace. ahh, sigh. i am almost ashamed to say that i am really enjoying it... mostly beacuse i have friends - oh, yes i do have friends! oh dear. i mean, two of these friends make music and they have some of their stuff on MySpace so it is superfun to hear it, 'specially cause one of these guys is back in Boston, and hearing his so-called "jambient" brings back happy memories of dancing with friends. and then there is the fun of finding music by other folks via friends' friends. all this to say, if you are on MySpace, check out my little space here .

next.
i feel i little embareased about the pig thing. i posted the present "quote" on my sidebar on a day that i was buzzing with sugar, caffiene and seriuos sleep deprivation. not sure which day that was cause the past few weeks have been a blur of such days! yes, i'm so glad it's finally spring break. i took a three hour nap today. sweet. anyway, that's my excuse. when i have a better quote - and i'm looking hard now! - i'll post it ASAP.

finally, i had another intriguing "home" moment. i was watching the weather channel a few nights ago, you know the "Local on the 8's", and they were showing the satellite view of the Northwest and i had this thought, that, yeah this - Boise, this corner of the Northwest - feels like home. it was a sweet, fleeting contentment. Thanks God.

"follow this bike to..."

2006-03-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

my bike's rear fender is now a rolling endorsement for my church. not that i've actually ridden it there, but, theoretically, i could. it's just that i'd end up all sweaty and gross after the six miles from my house. might make the "meet and greet" time over donuts a little awkward.
not sure how long the sticker will last on the plastic. looks cool for now though.

snowshoeing

2006-03-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

yesterday i went snowshoeing for the first time. i remember being a little kid and first hearing how Native Americans had used snowshoes and thinking, "wow, walking on top of snow! i wish i could do that". so i guess the trip was a little dream come true. we - me and some folks from the Pursuit - went up to Morse Creek past Idaho City and hiked up the side of a mountain. we stayed on the trail where the snow was pretty packed down, so next time i wanna work even harder and practice "walking on water".
as i have probably mentioned before, living here in a desert valley i really miss the snow. so it was great to see lots and lots and lots of it. beautiful. Heather and i both took lots of pics, her with her fancy, schmancy digital SLR and me with my trusty film SLR. i shot a whole roll on my camera - kind of a splurge for me - and mailed the film in this morning. i can't wait to see how they turned out. til then, here are the two pics i took with my phone.

Heather and i say "cheeze"

kudos

2006-03-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

just a quick thanks to Kate for helping me get the "Just for Kicks" section up and running on the sidebar. she is finishing up a long stint of involvement with the Marching Band, first as a student marcher, then a GA and most recently part-time staff, before heading off to bigger and better things. check out her blogs. she's seriously addicted to writing!
anyway, Kate did the template thing quickly this morning at work. no, I'm not reading Curious George. and I actually like alot of the music on her office computer. it's an eclectic mix, to be sure, but keeps me humming as I file band pieces with titles like "Ferocious Fanfares" and "Born to Boogie".
so tommorow I will update "...Kicks". I gotta find a cool quote. hmmm. maybe it will be quote of the month.

still under construction

2006-03-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

okay, so now my brain hurts. i can't yet figure out how to finish what i started but eventually i want to have a little section where i periodically update silly quotes and list books and music i've discovered recently. til then...

another quote i came across the other day, this time on a bumper sticker:
MONEY TALKS
mine says goodbye

and a cool book, especially for you Russia aficionados:
The Fire Escape is Locked for Your Safety: On the Road in the Former Soviet Union, Molly J. Baier

happy weekend!

under construction

2006-03-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

howdy faithful readers.
just an fyi:
for the next hour i'm going to be experimenting with my template, so things might look wierd for a bit.

victim

2006-03-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

ah, the music stand. when it works well, we pay it no respect, just grab it by the neck and drag it around. then when it isn't fucntionioning correctly, we groan and abandon it. worse, it is an easy target for fits of rage that come upon the frsutrated musican practicing challenging pieces. looks like someone lost it one day in the practice room and this stand was the closest object at hand.
what a pity.

:)

Quote du Jour

2006-03-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

Heard on The Effect this morning:

"Two things we know for sure.
One, there is a God.
Two, you are not Him."

:)

sunny days

2006-02-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

"Today is a beautiful day to be a college student", I find myself thinking as I walk across campus, passing crowds of other college kids doing the same. The sky is blue with just a few puffy clouds, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and there is a gentle spring-like breeze. And while I am working on just a measly nap (less than six hours of sleep since yesterday), I have finally sent off my applicaiton for Big Sky Expeditions' summer missions trip to Eastern Europe. Ahh, it feels good to get something done. Now where's that cheap caffeine in the form of 25 cent can of Shasta Cola...

Gatherings - Part I

2006-02-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, and my blog isn't going to die out, either. Guess I have been experiencing a posting dry spell. Anyway, I'm back, and here is the second installment in "what I did over my winter vacation". I'll try to finish it before June. :)

Decmeber 25th is Happy Christmas and Merry Birthday for my dad. In the evening, after finishing the traditional Christmas stuff, we do Dad's B-day and, inevitably, there is a "surprise cake". Here he is with his 61st.

My sister Therese and her fiance Chris, aka, "Chrese and Tris, I mean Chris and Therese."

It was great to see Nate and Tina and the new addition, Anastasia, as they visited friends and family across the US during their summer break from work and school in New Zealand.

My favorite "expecting" couple, at a cafe in Central Square, Cambridge.

For a family outing, we drove to Fitchburg and then to... some other Massachusetts town where we ate supper at this buffet. Favorite part: singing Christmas carols all the way as we drove through the dark, pointing out impressive Christmas light displays every now and then.

Par-tays

2006-01-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the first round of pictures from my three weeks in Boston over the break between semesters. The time was full of gatherings so I decided to theme these blog posts around those meetings. Enjoy!

For Holly's b-day she wanted to eat out and do Karaoke so Alice directed us to Cathay Pacifica. After stuffing ourselves with Chinese food, we headed to Pacifica's lounge where Alice, Holly and the latter's "little" brother took turns serenading us.

New Years Eve, Adam and Jack were co-hosting a party at the Reel Bar in Allston with another DJ dude. At first unable to decide whether or not to trek out, the five of us ladies in the Yuill Circle house finally started off to the party at 11:20 pm and made it to the bar just in time for the count-down. Then we danced another hour to the smooth sounds Jack was spinning.

Jack and the Ladies

Finally, a few days before I flew back to Boise, the White ladies invited folks to join them at Matt Murphy's pub for a goodbye dinner before their move up to Anchorage, Alaska. Lot's a laughs, some hugs and pictures, and promises to visit someday. Good times.

Brenna and Cait

more pics of this shindig

quick post

2006-01-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

howdy folks. just found it humorous that Boise State's library now has a blog on blogger.com. someone even left a comment on the first post. :)

Hallelujah, Hallelujah...

2006-01-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Choirs are singing!
Angels are dancing!
Bells are ringing!
Organs are resounding!
(big gulp of air)
I got a Graduate Assistantship!

I will be working in the office of BSU's Marching Band greeting folks at the front desk as they visit the office and answering phones and organizing the music library, etc. It's not the most glamorous job in the world but I'll get all my tuition and fees paid for as well as receiving a stipend. One thing that I'm looking forward to is helping the office move into their new digs in the newest building on campus - a multi-million dollar monstrosity that will be the indoor practice space for the football team as well as holding offices for athletics and cheerleading and Marching Band. It opens at the end of this month and so a lot of my job will be helping with that transition.
So that's the big news of the new semester. Since I'll be working 20+ hours for my GA and also teaching a couple hours a week, as well as being a full-time grad student - yeah, I think that's it - I am hoping to get a room in a Suite on campus. I don't feel like I'll have any time to commute, especially since I am still car-less.
I start this new adventure next Wednesday. Check back here for more episodes of this particular drama. :) And thanks, gentle reader, for taking the time to share this good news with me!

Boise again

2006-01-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

so i'm back. i had another funny home moment on thursday, in the middle of my day o' travel "out West". i got my awesome parents to drive me two hours from Boston so that i could fly out from Providence, Rhode Island - much cheaper than flying form Boston's Logan. (Thanks again.) i spent the 3 hours from Providence to Atlanta reading a book i picked up at Salvation Army. i tend to "get lost" in fiction, whether it's a book or a show on TV or a movie. it's like i live in that place/time/experience for a little. so after i "deplaned" the jet from Providence and started walking thorugh the Atlanta airport, i tried to orient myself: "Where am i going? oh yeah, i'm going home" and the image in my mind was Logan airport. then i had to smile to myself and remember that "home" this time was Boise...
but it's good. i'm looking forward to classes starting again and i love looking out and seeing mountains. i already miss having friends nearby, but i've got this stubborn hope that i can and will make real friends here. one promising thing: i think i've found a church. it's called the Pursuit and meets in a movie theater cause, although it has about twice the number of folks as River of Life, my church in Boston, the Pursuit is only two years old. i've gone twice now and so far the folks at this church seem real cool and so i feel very hopeful.
what else... other than trying to get back into practicing and working at Interlibrary Loan - very excting! - i am not terribly busy. which is fine. oh yeah, i am also catching up on past episodes of "Lost". yes, i too am a "Lost" addict, thanks to my roommate. i fell into it at the beginning of the season last fall and now i suffer from withdrawal if i miss an episode. to make matters worse - better? - Chica got the first season of the show on DVD for Christmas so i've spent a few hours nearly every night since getting back to Boise in front of her big TV catching up with the show. well, i am still on vacation, kinda...
well, gotta run. til next time.

"home" is a relative word

2005-12-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

so when i am at my parent's apartment, i say "home" and i mean the house at Yuill Circle where i lived for three years with some of the awesomest roommates ever before i had to move closer to school and later out of state. over my Christmas break i am spending most of my nights at this house, aka "the art house." but when i am here i find myself thinking, "i need to do such-and-such when i get home", that is, my house on Centennial in Boise. on the other hand, a few weeks ago when i was on my way here from Boise for the break and i said i was "going home", i was referring to the city of Boston, but it felt most appropriate to start off my stay at my parents' place, cause that's kinda "home", too... anyway!
i have been really, really, really happy to be here. it's just great to be around people who love me and know me and still like me, too. sure e-mail and blogs and phone calls are great, but since i think of "home" as where my relationships are, it's really good to be here. so, to my friends in the other "home" places, sorry i can't visit just now, but i'll try to keep in touch.
and to everybody, happy new year!

back to the future - part III

2005-12-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

I open this post with a picture of me and my other human housemate, Chica. A picture of her son Zeek and the most-beloved cat Sammy can be found in part II .

Here is a picture from Thanksgiving. I spent it with Tot, her family in nearby Meridian, Idaho, and the inimitable Chris. Tot her mom and I had just finished the most annoying Scrabble game ever. We each had trouble getting good letters and it just never got exciting. But we persevered, and took the picture to prove our success at finishing! Oops, I blinked. Oh well.

Finally, a follow up to my last
post. (I guess I finally figured out how to make the link thing work. Can you tell?!?) Basically, a fellow grad student of violin, J, needed another violinist and a violist for a quartet gig at a wedding in McCall, a ski resort town about 90 miles north of Boise. Since it's a pretty good distance, J decided to make a vacation out of the trip, so she rented a hotel room for the night before the wedding and asked if myself and the violist, K, would like to join her. She didn't exactly have to twist my arm. Sunday morning before the wedding, we took a drive up into the mountains near Cascade to visit a primitive hot spring pool. After soaking for about an hour we drove to McCall, met up with the cellist, and played happy wedding music at the stunning White Tail Lodge. The wedding took place in a room that overlooks the lake, and beyond that mountains, just after the sun set behind those mountains. Wow. To finish off the fun, after we finished playing we took the tip a member of the wedding party gave us and used it to eat at the Mexican restaurant Chapala. Fast, cheap, good. And then J paid us $100 each and thanked us.
"No, no, thank you!"

ummm...

2005-11-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile so I guess I should post something. Not sure what to write since not much is going on. No, let me re-phrase that. A TON is going on, but none of it makes interesting blog material. Basically, I am practicing alot and studying and practicing more and trying to get some sleep, too. One piece of good news is that I passed the Theory Predictive Exam so I am very, very close - just 1/9th of the History Predictive - to being a regular status grad student. Yay. I've got my classes set for next semester and I'm looking forward to them. I'm also excited that the solo piece that I've been working on since September - 1st movement of Mendelssohn's violin concerto - is finally starting to sound like music! I will perform it in early December then play it again for my jury (like a final for private lessons; a pretty big deal) a week later. So, nothing exciting...
I do get a whole week off of classes for Thanksgiving. That's pretty sweet. I also have a pretty cool weekend ahead of me. I don't want to give it all away, yet. I'll just say it has something to do with hot water and mountains and getting a paid mini-vacation.
:)
Pictures will come soon, I promise. Til then, Happy Thanksgiving!

back to the future - part II

2005-10-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the much anticipated sequel to part I. I will flatter myself in the belief that I am not the only one anxiously awaiting its arrival. :)
If you want to see more, click here. Enjoy.

I (usually) sleep at home, but this is where I live

Theory homework on the banks of the Boise River

I call this my "super commuter" look

Zeek and Sammy, two of my housemates

at the end of one of those days

2005-10-20T21:32:00.000-06:00

i'm thinking, it feels so random to be here,
in this little city
in the desert...
looking up to a clear sky, a moon
and a host of stars,
a quiver of a moment of faith

i'll take that.

"Someday my prints will come..."

2005-10-18T03:55:00.000-06:00

Actually, I am still using up the last of a second roll of film of my exlporations of Boise so I can post cool pics of the city for ya'll to enjoy. Til then, here are a few pictures taken by other folks and posted on flickr, hand-picked by yours truly, for your "touring Boise by internet" pleasure. enjoy.

an outline of the state of Idaho

somebody's picture of the
football stadium at my school

the Friendship bridge, a footbridge across the Boise River, near the BSU campus

the water fountain at Boise Center on The Grove, in front of the tallest building in Boise

oh, those Sox

2005-10-08T17:53:00.000-06:00

My favorite phrase last year regarding our Red Sox was "The Hunt for Red October," with "red" in the old fashioned font like the B on the baseball caps. And then, wow, what an October it was! But now... it is with great sorrow that I acknowledge the end of of the Red Sox reign as world champs. They fell to the White Sox in the ALDS yesterday, swept in 3 games. Ah, sigh, there's always next year... now, where have I heard that before?

Still, I can't help but grin at the high drama we Bostonians feel for our sports, with a healthy does of cynicsim, of course. To sum it up, here's a quote from the Globe's website : "Certainly, the 2004 Red Sox took us on a ride that we can’t possibly ever expect to enjoy again." For more of the sob story: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/slideshows/alds

And now, I guess it's "Go White Sox!" Hey, they've been waiting since 1917 for a World Series win, so it's only fair right? :)

obsession

2005-10-04T19:50:00.000-06:00

Inspired by cuchillo's and la falda's musings on the subject, here are some quotes I use to psyche myself up for another day of sleep deprivation.

"There's no rest for the wicked
and the righteous don't need it." -my dad.

"to sleep is weak." -magnetic poetry on my fridge.

"Caffeine is cheaper than sleep." -when weighing Coke v.s. nap

"Sleep is for wimps." -today's thought.

"Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation." -Author Unknown

"To Sleep, Perchance to Dream; ay, There's the Rub." -Shakespeare's "Hamlet"

When I told her about my crazy schedule of late, my roommate said, "Welcome to grad school". So it may only be October, but I'm really looking forward to vacation. 'Til then, I guess I'll be chuggin' along... "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."

back to the future - part I

2005-09-21T15:33:00.000-06:00

Unlike my friends who have digital cameras or cell phones with cameras, I have to wait a bit to get my photos onto my blog - wait for them to get developed, then posted online, then i have to transfer them to a disk and find a copmputer that will work with flickr and blogger and me! :) A few weeks ago I sent a few rolls to be develpopled and now they are online. hooray. I'd love to share them all but instead i'll share a few here now, spacing them out over a few posts, and encourage you, my fair reader, to check out flickr. so this first episode of the trilogy will be a look back at the last weeks and days before i moved out here to Boise. Click on the pictures to see the descriptions and more exciting pics on flickr.com. and enjoy!

Poetry on the first floor fridge at 22 Drayton

Holly, Kate and I after a night at WaterFire.

Hot sticky wednesday night, sayin goodbye to some dear friends over an outdoor dinner at 18 Yuill Circle.

Jack's Party

glory vessel

2005-09-20T07:10:00.000-06:00

"i get so clumsy
i get so foolish
i get so stupid
and then i feel so useless
but You're sayin' you love me
and You're still gonna hold me
And that you wanna be near me
cause You're makin' me holy
still makin' me holy"

yesterday was one of those days when nothing seemed to be going eaxctly right. i got a whopping 3.5 hours of sleep sunday night/monday morning, trying to get this killer theory homework in on time. that didn't work, so i was a zombie all day and for almost nothing. after scraping through a Violin Litereature class for which i was semi-prepared, i found a spot on the old couch in the music student's lounge and slept like a dead thing for about an hour, revived by the sounds of kids and parents coming out of after-school private music lessons. after chowing down on a couple nuked burritoes for supper, i headed to orchestra where i had a not-so-succesful rehearsal, making a glaring mistake on this same spot i have yet to get right (it's one of the soli spots, so yes, everyone hears it!). as orchestra ended, and my day at school came to a close, i was looking forward to jumping on my bike and riding home. i love the biking and, tired as i was, i was looking forward to sleeping in my bed. that's when i discovered that my bike light had been stolen. arggh! i mentally kicked myself for not storing it in my locker during the day, and then had to admit, "oh well, it's all God's money", a phrase that i am relying on big time these days! so yeah, i was feeling pretty clumsy.
this morning, i was praying and remembered that yesterday - or was it sunday - i had had a revelation: i realized that in settling into a new place i had forgetten that God could use me to share His grace and truth with my new "neighbors", Boiseans. remebering again made me think how awesome God is, so patient and faithful, even when, especially when, i am niether of those things. i mean, not only did it take me 4 weeks look up from my own little life, but then when i did remember the God perspective, i promptly forgot about it a few hours later! then this song came back to me, about God still making me holy...
so here i go on another day. my efforts to please God are, in of themselves, useless, but somehow God is growing me into a vessel for His glory. my hope is that i can remember to keep my eyes open enough to see it.

good to be here

2005-09-10T20:44:00.000-06:00

Last night I did something kinda crazy. Today I led a rather solitary existence, but my day was a full of exploring and music. Crazy, exploring and music. Good things. Where to begin?
Well, this morning I checked out the weekly Capital City Public Market I've heard so much about. Described as a European-style open market in downtown Boise, it boasts locally grown and crafted food, art and music. Unlike Boston's Haymarket, which is the cheapest place to buy fruits and veggies from April to October, the Market here is more upscale, more about quality food at decent prices. And it is definitely an Event. Boise is funny that way, very conciously building its city-ness. It's kinda cute, really, like a nine-year-old glaring up at his 6-foot-2 cousin and insisting, "but I AM big!... or, well... I WILL be!"
Anyway, I liked it, the morning downtown. For the first time since landing in this little piece of desert, I had the thought, "it's good to be here." Another thing I am enjoying is riding around the city on my bike Joe - he's basic transportion, a working bike, an average Joe; gotta love him. Then there is food gathering. I do most of my grocery shopping at this awesome store called WinCo that's near campus. It's set up semi-warehouse style, and they don't accept debit or credit cards beacuse the fees assocaiated with those would "cause a Price Increase", as the sign ouside the front door says. I go at least once a week and get a couple bags, just enought to carry on my bike, then store the food in my instrument locker at school til I go home. It's great to open my locker at the end of the day and get a whiff of blueberry/apple granola and ranch salad dressing mix! :)
Anyway, last night. Basically, it rained. This was the first time I'd seen precipitation since I got here, so it was a new thing for me. My first or second day here I found that I loved the smell in the air in the morning. I realized that it was the smell of dew on the dry ground and grass - a wet hay smell, I guess. Yesterday, it was a lovely evening, cool and windy, and some pretty clouds. Then it started raining and I decided I just had to be out in it. By the time I got out on my bike after supper, it was around sunset and the raining as hard as ever. I was soaked after just a few minutes and thought, "Sylvia, what are you doing? you're gonna get sick or run over because it is dusk and raining and the people here do not know how to drive in the rain..." Then I saw the rainbow, so clear and close it looked like solid thing, a beautiful sight with one end of it touching the yellow-brown foothills and the other melting into a tree straight ahead of me. At one point I looked up and realized that could see the whole rainbow, then looking back to the road I saw a deer just to my right. Frightened by my presence, she scampered off, and I was like, "Thanks God; this so great. I'm wet and freezing and tired and sore, but it is definitley worth it!"
So I made it back home all right, took a hot shower and slept like a baby. Today, after experiencing downtown Boise, I got a dose of Boise State community when I went into the Student Union to make a couple photocopies and the Food Court was set up as Bronco football central. The weekly game, this one against Oregon State, was being watched by a roomful of blue and orange clad fans. Already being a football fan, I found the atmosphere infectious and I took a moment to watch a play - two minutes left in the 1st half. 4th and goal. good guys, up only by three, on offense. could they get it??? "Ohhh." great defense by OSU. Palpable dissapointment, but not yet worried, still up by three points, right?
So, I headed back to practicing my violin - 3 and a half hours today; not bad. Then later, I attended the recital of a young Russian pianist brought into town for the Student Union's Classic Performances series. His name is Vasilly Primakov. He gradauted with his BM and MM from Julliard, and now at 26 he is an up-and-coming performer touring the globe, even including Boise, Idaho. A real handsome dude in the head shot on his bio, he is also wonderfully dorky in person as only artsy folks can be, pianists in particular, I think. He wore these great pointy shoes and made faces while he played and he performed Chopin and Beethoven like nobody's business. I laughed, I cried, I sighed - not out loud of course, but I did do a "woo, hoo!" whem he finished the last piece, a stellar rendition of Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata. And we all gave him a much deserved standing ovation.
So that was my day and a half. I'm not sure what I'm doing for church tomorrow. I think there's a little church near by that I can bike to, so more exploring first thing in the morning. Better get some sleep then, eh? So thinks for reading and Guten Nacht.

Good blog day

2005-09-01T15:16:00.000-06:00

So, it's September 1.
September 1 is a day that seems to require recognition. It's not up there with December 25, or January 1, or July 4, but still, it has a certain weight to it, like - dun-dun-dun - "the End of Summer is Here!" or "Here comes autumn", if your glass is half full. Either way, the day is significant in my brain for some reason, so though I have nothing particularly exciting to say, "Here Is A Post".
Some good news: I have allergies, so a dose of Alavert a day has made me feel mucho better!
The bad news: I have allergies, which I have never had to worry about before. Blech. The worst thing is that I seem to be at least slightly allergic to the cats that I live with. When she first advertised the room in her house, my housemate - henceforth "Chica" - said that a renter would have to be ok with cats and kids, cause she has three cats and a kid - henceforth "Zeek". I told her I was cool with both and, no, I was not allergic. So here I am... with itchy eyes and ears and the occasional sneeze. Other folks have told me about similar experiences when first moving here. It's a drastic change in environment, from a humid, coastal one to the desert, so I guess it's not surprising that I developed allergies all of a sudden. My reactions are mild now that I'm taking the Alavert, so I am planning on staying with Chica and Zeek, but I am running my new Holmes Air Purifier 24/7.
So, as warned, this really wasn't exciting at all, but... oh! It's my mother's birthday! That's what it is! So this is why writing is important, boys and girls: it develops the Mind, it stretches Creativity, and it helps you Remember Stuff You Forgot. Anyway, gotta run and make a phone call.

Thursday, Week 2

2005-08-25T18:49:00.000-06:00

Today I took the bus home from school. Wow that sounds like I'm in elementary school, doesn't it?! Seriuosly, it was not a big yellow one, but a city bus, part of the Valley Regional Transit system. I got to talking with another new grad student in the Music Department, a pianist. Neither of us knew anyone when we first arrived in Boise, and she had just been in New York for a year after moving from Russia. We both got into our conversation and she missed her stop. Oops. Anyway, it was great to make a friend, ya know? On the other hand, the bus doesn't run all that frequently and stops altogether before 7 pm, so one of the one of the highlights of this week has been having an independent mode of transport - a bike. I found it Sunday at the Idaho Youth Ranch (a thrift store) for $30. It isn't exactly high quality but I find its issues somewhat endearing. Half of what makes riding a bike fun is the road traveled. Lucky me, I live just a few blocks from the Greenbelt, a bike path that goes along the Boise River, all the way through town and right past the Morrison Center, where I have most of my classes. It's a pretty sweet way to commute, riding next to the rushing water and under trees and past joggers and walkers.
A couple other highlights:
+ When attempting to checkout a "Current Periodical" from the BSU library, I was told "a graduate student can check one out for two days. Are you a grad student?" with a little thrill in my heart, I was able to say "Yes, I am"
+ I was pretty discouraged by my performance at the Orchestra seating audition last Saturday. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that I ended up where I had hoped to be - prinicipal second. And I even have a cool little soli part with the other principal string players in one of the pieces. (fyi: "soli" means that the four of us play like a quartet with all the other instruments in the orchestra silent for a little while)
+ Eating my luch on the lawn in front of the Morrison Center, people watching the students and faculty - theatre, dance and music.
So I am slowly settling in to this new place. Can't wait til my cold has finally cleared up and I can really enjoy the mountains, the sunny days and this great opportunity to study music at the graduate level. I will not be sick forever...

Day 4

2005-08-19T19:41:00.000-06:00

My brain is smushy. I have had a cold since Tuesday and I am only starting to feel alive again today. Not real fun to move to a new place and have to introduce yourself as your nose drips and your hands are grimy and your head feels like a bowling ball... "Hi, my name ith Sylvbia..." Well, considering I survived two placement exams during the height of the cold Wednesday and Thursday, I think I'm gonna make it, with a little help...
Here's to "PBS kids" and "Insider" and DVDs of sappy chic flicks! Here's to Puff's Plus and the faith that my cold won't last forever! Here's to getting my cold out of the way before the semester starts! Cheers! (with little plastic cup of Nyquil)

New home, new life - Day 1

2005-08-16T08:12:00.000-06:00

Right on schedule I woke up this morning at 6:30 am Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Unfortunately, I am in Mountain Daylight Savings Time now. Ah, the joys of flying. Another funny thing about flying is that because you travel so far so fast, your mind takes awhile to catch up with being where you are. As I was landing at the Boise airport last night, I found myself thinking, "woah, am I really here? This place is so far removed culturally and socially from where I was just a few hours ago. crazy." After dropping off stuff at our place, my new housemate took me out to eat with some of her friends. This was an awesome treat but it was late for me - 11:00 pm Eastern time. I was so blasted tired I felt like I was in a dream. After I had some food, I started feeling a little more human and really enjoyed the company of the folks.
So here I am, heading off to my first day in my new life. Suffering from a lack of sleep and way too much of a cold - allergies? - I'm a little woozy but excited. I'm going to meet with my new violin prof in a few hours and then get my new student ID and ... new, new, new. Here I come, world. I have landed and I hit the ground running!

I'm gonna fly

2005-08-14T11:52:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow afternoon, I fly "out west". No postings recently because this past month has been super busy, packing and studying for placement exams and practicing my violin and learning to drive. Yes, folks, I have a license. Drivers of Boise beware: a Bostonian will be on the road in 48 hours! :)
This past week has been full of saying "Au revoir" to people with last-minute hangout out times, including a "Mini Vac" to New Hampshire's White Mountains with family and a dance party hosted by my friend that went into the wee hours of the morning. So I am really tired and my brain is fuzzy, but I wanted to post 'cause I get envious when others have new posts and I don't. :) silly me.
See you soon, from the other side of the country.

about dorchester

2005-08-04T14:55:00.000-06:00

every once in a while - between the stenches of inner-city pollution and trash, mingled with aromas from Puerto Rican, Virginian, and Liberian cooking - i'll get a whiff of the sea. sometimes it is so brief that my mind registers "ocean" without my properly smelling it at all. still, i get a sudden happy memory of sand and salt, and i hope for a stronger sea breeze to pass me. in the city, you can't seek the smell of the sea, and if you sniff too hard it is gone. so when it finds me, it is always this pleasant surprise. i'll miss that.

Lawn Party

2005-07-17T15:00:00.000-06:00

In the tradition of the great parties thrown by the Green Street Girls (Sept. '97 - July '01) and the Hyde Park Honeys (Aug. '01 - July '04), the Daughters of Yuill Circle (Aug '04 - present) hosted a smashing success of a Lawn Party this past July 2nd. I helped out as the event's official Office Administrator - that is, I made up and sent out the evites! :) Of all the years I've helped with these parties, this was one of my favorites. It wasn't the largest, nor were there as many activities as other years. I just found myself walking around, seeing little groups of people lounging here and there in the house and outdoors - it was a gorgeous day - and I felt really happy, like an acute case of joy and thankfulness for the relationships that surround me. My favorite part any of our large parties is when people from different parts of our lives came together and got to know one another. This party lived up to the expectation. There was my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Glenn (visiting the Northeast from their retirement home in Las Vegas) chatting with the woman I work for and a guy from my church. And then Bev, a lady from my church, was talking with another party hostess, Kate, and Jim, a young man from the Christian fellowship at my school. Then there was an art friend, a guy who paints sheep and lives with musicians I know from my school, eating and talking with my sister and a high school friend of ours and some folks who went to art school with my former housemates. And there was... it was just so cool! There's this line in a song by Sarah Groves that sums it up: "I wish all the people I love the most / could gather in one place / And know each other and love each other well" I guess I won't see this completely 'til heaven. So, until then, there will be parties, once, twice or maybe even three times a year. So if you are around Boston or Boise (or Missoula?), don't forget to look us up and find the party. And bring a friend.

Holding Pattern

2005-07-06T08:38:00.000-06:00

Smaltzy music and "all representatives are busy helping other customers" in a voice recording by a guy who sounds really annoyed and then finally it rings and rings and rings and rings... Hey, I think they hung up on me. Harrumph. Another try and the line is busy. Now, a half-hour later, I have gotten through to the voice recording again, so more holding and why not post a blog while I'm at it! Nothing exciting, of course, just a hot, sticky day. When I was a kid, summer was my favorite season because it was when I could go swimming. Now, I don't seem to have time buy a swim suit, never mind actually swim. I really need to do that, though, as it is my last summer close to the ocean, for a couple years at least.
Oh, oh! It's ringing... and ringing and ringing and ...click. hmm, maybe I'm not gonna get through to these people this morning. grrr. I'll give it one last try.
July 4 was good, spending time with family, including my aunt and uncle who now live in Las Vegas. They were back here in New England visiting friends and family for the holiday weekend. My mom, dad, brother and I spent the afternoon with them at the campground in Littleton, Mass. where they like to stay in their fancy little RV. Then, since I got back to Boston later in the evening than I had planned, my friends didn't feel up to getting out of the house and joining me to hunt down some fireworks, so I just watched the Boston Pops concert/fireworks on TV with my parents. My brother, ever the social one, spent the evening in front of the computer. But the highlight of the weekend - and of my summer so far - was the lawn party on Saturday. That was a blast. More on that in a future post since I have no more patience for the annoying Muzak and voice recording.

picture picture on the blog

2005-07-03T16:16:00.000-06:00

graduation

so i think this might work. i've finally been able to work on a computer that will let me upload my ol' fashion film photos onto flickr. so this first pic, a long awaited graduation one, is a test. Beth, Vanessa and i pose for the camera in the cavernous gym where us grads-to-be lined up before marching out to the lawn where the ceremony took place. the three of us are string players who survived the umb orchestra, with about 9 years of rehearsals and concerts between us. oh, the memories! so here goes, a post via flickr.

Oh, oh that's my cue!

2005-06-14T07:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I finally received the official letter from Boise State University affirming that the Music Department will give me $2,000 in scholarship money. While this will only be a small amount compared to $12,000 in tuition and fees for an out-of-state student (ouch!), it's better than what that very-cool-but-rather-expensive-school in Wisconsin offered me - nada. So the other day, I sent them the little "I will not be attending U. Wisc-Madison" card. I was truly honored to have been admitted to that program in the first place, and the audition out there was definitely worth the money and effort for the experience alone. So, Boise...
Any time I tell anyone here in Boston that I'm going to Idaho they look at me like I grew another head all of a sudden, and they say something about potatoes. Never fails, because potatoes are all we New Englanders know about Idaho. And the funny look is because we are raised in a snobby intellectual atmosphere that says, educationally, there is nothing worth visiting between here and California. This isn't terribly encouraging to me, as you may imagine! Still, I think it's where God wants me... though I'm not sure how I'll like it, and after six years of not liking my schools (except for the four awesome months at UM), I really, really want to like my school. So I am pretty ambivalent and not a little scared about the move. On the other hand, my violin teacher here has visited Boise and she thinks I'll like it, and both she and my parents believe that I'll flourish outside out of the stress of this city. And then this morning, reading an e-mail from my advisor at Boise State, the Graduate Program Coordinator, I started to get an inkling of excitement, reading how "there are several incoming graduate violinists" - woohoo! peers! - and there may yet be money for me as a Marching Band Assistant ("No marching required") and seeing the dates for the predictive exams in Music Theory and History and seeing how supportive and friendly both my advisor and future violin teacher have been already and noting the audition date for the orchestra and... It's happening. I'm going to a real music school. I'm going to get a Masters of Music. Wow. Thanks God.

Calling All Word Nerds

2005-06-08T18:55:00.000-06:00

Since finishing classes and my recital, I've found myself loving books again. I've been devouring a wide range of non-fiction, and I am presently on the hunt for a good summer novel. My reading list thus far: Fast Food Nation (fyi: just added to my profile as a fave; yes, it's that good); Adoption Nation; Blue Like Jazz (I think this makes three times?) and just today at the library I found a new brand new book called Do You Speak American?. I knew I'd picked a winner when I opened up the first page to a "map of the principal dialect areas of the United States and Canada, as identified in the new Atlas of North American English..." cool! sweet! uber... something...
Speaking of being a nerd, it seems to me that it should be "principle dialect areas", not "principal", according to my elementary school Spelling class - "the principal is my pal", so, generally, a principal is a person. I just looked the homonyms up in the dictionary and I still can't decide which should be used in the case of the "dialect areas". What do you think?
Happy reading!

a rambling of happiness

2005-06-03T22:12:00.000-06:00

daaa-ta-ta-ta-taa-daaaaaa-daaaaa....
if i were real cool and smart and if had a cell phone, i could do an audio blog. if i had a digital camera, i could snaz up this post with a picture or two. sorry folks. just words again! so the translation of that opening? ahhh, it is the processional march for commencement. you know, the processional march. see, i graduated today. i'm done with my BA, i'm done at UMass Boston. wow.
daaa-ta-ta-ta-taa.....
it was a gorgeous day, sunny with a nice breeze coming of the blue, blue ocean. still, by the third hour, i concluded it was not the best day to find oneself sitting under the open sky in a black cap and gown! from a combination of little sleep, baking in the heat, playing a gig at a reception and the a mini cookout party at "the girls' house" in Hyde Park, i'm exhausted. still, i wanted to get this out, that i'm a graduate. pardon the archaic Bostonian, but i'm psyched. i yelled and whooped at the end when the president conferred the degrees upon my class. and during the long, long reading of names - one after another after another - i cheered for the few of the 2700 other graduates whom i actually know. i was able to run into a few others and get pictures and i even got a surprise congratulations from the accompanist at my recital right before i walked. (i guess he was on the organ with the daaa-ta-ta-ta - oh, sorry.) all in all, it was surreal: to hear my name read, knowing that my face was simultaneously broadcast on the jumbotrons on either side of the stage, then to walk up to the platform, get that empty diploma case, shake a hand - did i shake the chancellor's hand, too? - walk down the stairs, "hold up your diploma and smile", and then ...it's done. phew.
well, i hope to have some pics up on this blog soon. until then, here is the link to the UMass Boston site and one pic of the president and chancellor and that lady who gave the longest speech. oh, that's not what she's famous for?
daaa-ta-ta-ta-taa-daaaaaa-daaaaa....

freedom and rest

2005-05-26T07:55:00.000-06:00

i feel like a giddy six-year-old, just finishing her first year of school , experiencing her first summer break... i feel like a bird set free from a cage.. i feel like a little like a three-toed sloth...
I have finally finished my year, and thus my time, at UMass-Boston. The last component was my recital on Monday. It was quite the learning experience, to say the least. How did it go? you ask. Well, I played okay. I am my own worst critic, however, so I must also say that my audience of family members, friends and classmates enjoyed it. That's a good thing. And now it is done, I am done, and I am feeling blissfully lazy (see three-toed sloth). To do list: eat, sleep, read, chip away at the huge cake my parents bought for the reception after the recital. That was fun - tons of food, people from all different parts of my life. I spent the hour or so going around making sure I chatted with everybody and introducing this person and that - "being presidential", as someone said.
Graduation isn't until Friday, June 3, with Honors Convocation two days before. So by the beginning of June, the close of this chapter will feel official. And then I'll be ready to head out West... kind of. I'm planning different ways to say goodbye to all these people who are dear to me. I hope these lame attempts to say how much "I love..." and "I'll miss..." will be understood and appreciated, seeing as they are coming from someone who doesn't say these things nearly enough. And just yesterday, I found myself wondering, again, why am I not only leaving everyone I know, but also going somewhere I know no one? Sure, it was the Montana trip that made this seem possible for me, and yet now I ask myself and God "Wouldn't it be safer to stay here or go back there?" Then I think of Narnia and Aslan and the response to Susan when she asked if the great Lion was safe.
"Safe? said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King..."
It follows, doesn't it, that life in the midst of His hands will be a wild adventure, never easy, but good? So, in the coming days, I will attempt to be human again - from cheetah to sloth to human, what a week! I must restore order to the trash heap my room has become, get a summer job and earn some serious cash, call people I haven't spoken to in months, and take time to smell the roses and such. And, last but not least, I have the privilege of getting ready to "Go West, young [wo]man!"
...speaking of lame...

Stress

2005-05-10T16:50:00.000-06:00

In the days and weeks leading up to my audition at the U. of Wisconsin Madison, there were a few times I found myself thinking, "This is it. I am going to go mad." My mind was reeling and the pressure to succeed was greater than any I had ever experienced before. There were too many things to coordinate, too many people to keep up with, and too much music to learn. Well, I didn't lose my mind, the audition went well enough that my first thought afterwards was, "hey, I want do that again", and I even got accepted to the program for which I was auditioning. Best of all, right afterwards, I got to enjoy a great mini-vacation in sunny Missoula, MT. Sigh. Those were the days.
Now, here I am back in a place where I am questioning the strength of my sanity, whether that be when I decided I wanted to do a senior recital or now that said recital is almost upon me. There are just too many things to coordinate, too many people to keep up with and too much music to learn. When I tell folks about my recital, I vacillate between (one) really wanting them to come 'cause "It's gonna be fun" and (two) panicking, which makes me think I should say "You don't have to come" and/or "Don't tell too many people about it." Actually, I did say both of those things today... hmmmm. So I don't make a great self-promoter, eh?
In the midst of all this, what I really want is for God to be pleased with me. And I want Him to get some kind of glory out of me and my playing, or despite me and my playing, if need be! So back to the woodshed I go, with a prayer that He give me both the wisdom I need to deal with people and the grace to be a Glory-to-God-producing musician. That's really all any of us can do, right?

I believe a few introductions are in order...

2005-04-30T21:40:00.000-06:00

This is just an initial post to introduce you to my blog and my new, little blog to you.
you: hi.
leaves...: hi.
I hope to use this tiny piece of cyber space to keep you (my friends and family) updated on my life's happenings as we spread around the globe to newer and ever more exciting things - jobs, schools, life-callings, and such. I look forward to comments and feedback, but please do be polite about it. We are a new to this, you see, and leaves... is quite sensitive. :)

Happy May!