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| where the Pope hopes to be tomorrow |
I just got back from spending the day with my friend Megan. i left before the sun was up in order to avoid the worst of the morning traffic, and was successful in that regard for the most part. Anywhere near southern California is going to have traffic to some degree almost any time of the day or night, but there are times that are worse than others. I came home later than my parents would've liked. They know I'm an adult and don't try to impose a curfew on me, but they're not thrilled with me being on the freeways much after 9:00p.m. I understand where they're coming from and try to humor them for the most part, but I didn't feel like dealing with even 7:00p.m. LA traffic.
Megan is a vocal performance major at her college. She has her junior recital (I was able to bypass the junior recital thing by doing faculty juries, which are slightly more demanding, but you can avoid the hassle of a dress recital hall, reception, and all the hoops. Just play well and everyone is happy. Also, i was never technically a junior, so I'm not sure when I would have done it.)
Megan's junior recital is scheduled for late February, while my senior violin recital is scheduled for late January. She wants me to be her accompanist. It would be much cheaper, as the going rate is about $200 for a junior recital and $300 for a senior recital. I would not charge her. because i don't attend her university, she has to obtain clearance to use me as her accompanist. Such would involve my auditioning or getting a faculty recommendation from my own university. Had we coordinated tings better, I could have auditioned today. I don't mind auditioning via skype, but I don't really want to make a trip into LA just to prove to some professor that I actually do know how to play the piano. I'll probably fill out their forms and ask my new professor to sign. Since her even is well after my last concert, and I really don't need to practice with her until a week before her recital, I can't see my professor refusing to sign. In a worst-case scenario, as in if I got sick or had a relapse of myositis (which isn't supposed to happen until between five and twenty years after the initial occurrence) my mom could play for her. Any significant illness that would prevent me from playing is highly unlikely anyway. Since I'm not collecting a fee, I could use it as volunteerism on my medical school aps.
Megan has not decided upon a final repertoire for her recital. She doesn't have a car, but I told her she should take the train here for the weekend in the next few weeks and get my mom's advice on what to perform. My mom knows at least as much about her voice and its relative strengths and weaknesses as her professor does. My mom has been listening to Megan's singing since Megan was ten.
We got Megan's paper completed even though it's not due for two weeks, and I helped her to brush up on some calculus that she had forgotten. She didn't take the AP test for it in high school, which she now greatly regrets.
Saturday I start my final weekend of my internship. My dad always wants me to drive there the night before because of morning fog on the 101, but my direct supervisor said I don't have to report until noon, so I can stay home tomorrow night. I'll still have to stay at my aunt's and uncle's Saturday night, but one night is not so bad. Everyone there is really nice, but their children always want me to play board games or card games (they don't even have an X-box or gaming system; my aunt and uncle say they're not good for kids) and I feel guilty saying no, because I can remember worshipping older cousins and wanting them to play with me.
So I have tomorrow to practice and to otherwise do exactly as I please. my dog is feeling neglected, so he needs to go on a long walk in the morning. Otherwise, the day is wide open.
This blog is ended. Go now in peace to love and serve the Lord and to walk your dog or your neighbor's dog or someone's dog. With all the power vested in me by absolutely no one, I have declared tomorrow to be "Walk a Dog Day."
Megan is lucky to have a friend like you who can play piano for her. I had to hire the wife of the woodwinds prof at my college. She is now a music professor herself.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had learned how to play piano instead of wimping out when I was eight.
Thanks. She is properly appreciative. Her parents are divorced and are fighting over who should pay for what as far as her education is concerned. Nothing is stipulated in the divorce decree,as maybe it shouldn't be, as parents don't necessarily owe their childrena college education, so she doesn't have a lot of spare cash laying around. It's just irritating because they both have plenty of money and could come up with a couple hundred bucks a month to hep her to keep a rood ov er her head and keep her fed. on the other hand, that which does not kill you makes you stronger. She got a job at one of those restaurants where the wait staff breaks into song out of the blue, and the tips are supposed to be quite good, so I'm hoping she'll be a little more comfortable financially. Scholarship money covers her tutition and books, but not much in the way of her living expenses. My mom took her groceries several times last year because she was literally going hungry.
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