Tales From The Lane
Living Your Best Life as Creative Artist
My 30-Day Focus Project
Ahhh….September. It’s right up there with New Year’s Day and, of course, every single Monday of the year in terms of reeking of Fresh Start-Ness. I’m coming to the end of my Transition Week and it was full of scheduling (lessons), reflection (on the last season), and planning (for this season). I had my trusty Ink & Volt planner by my side, and as I was thinking through my 30-Day Challenges (an awesome feature of this planner—I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone working on any kind of project or in any period of growth—so basically everyone) I kept thinking about Gretchen Rubin’s book, The Happiness Project . It occurred to me that the two concepts could be joined together in a pretty amazing way for me this year. Read More
The Transition Week
I believe that summer begins on Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day, and I strongly adhere to that schedule each year. This year, however, I have realized the importance of the “transition week” in getting myself from pre-Labor Day, when my life revolves around lakes and sailboats and sleeping until 9am if I want to, to Post-Labor Day (when people actually expect me to do some work). Maybe it’s because I have had such a whirlwind summer; The America’s Cup started Memorial Day weekend, lasted 5 weeks and brought 4 sets of houseguests. In the middle of that I played a full recital with an entirely new program. Then Paul and I finished teaching and we had our three-week staycation filled with beach picnics, snorkeling, swimming, sailing and a plethora of fun social events on the island, followed by Chicago to see my family (there were definitely s’mores–YES!) A week of camp in Boston, 2 weeks of camp in Maine, and then our road-trip to Baltimore, Charleston and DC. I have spent the last 3 days at our condo in Boston basically comatose. I am ready for the new concert season to begin, and yet my brain has turned to mush. I know that I have been practicing, but the lack of routine always throws me off and makes me feel like a total slacker. But as desperate as I am to get back to that routine, if you told me the season started tomorrow, I think I would fall to the floor, curl up in the fetal position and start crying, because I’m not READY!!!
Thus, ladies and gentlemen, “The Transition Week”. Read More
Eclipse or Bust
When Paul heard that we were going to be at a friend’s wedding in Baltimore two days before a total eclipse was due to occur in Charleston, SC, he informed me that we would, in fact, be heading south to witness this incredible feat of sun and moon. I tried to explain to to my dear Englishman that, although they might LOOK super close on a (small) map of the US, Charleston, South Carolina, was in an entirely different part of the USA than Baltimore, but there was no changing his mind. He was determined. He pulled the “But I’m a SCIENCE teacher” card, and I had no choice. He booked what might have been the very last hotel room in Charleston, ordered us some of the very last over-priced eclipse glasses and that was that. And so I found myself in our trusty CR-V last Sunday morning, slightly hung-over and too tired to argue, being driven 600 miles south from Baltimore, to see this spectacle of nature with my very own eyes. Read More
AC Fever
This past weekend I went to Boston to host the chamber music concerts over at the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. I flew in on Thursday evening, a few days in advance of Sunday’s Marathon concert day, but by Friday night, I was sick as a dog! Knocked down with a fever and couldn’t even keep a couple of aspirin down. I spent most of Saturday in bed, and spent Sunday coasting on adrenaline and ginger ale. With the help of my amazing colleagues and cheered up by some seriously fine playing by all of my students, I made it through the (12-hour!) day.
But that’s not really the fever I wanted to talk about. When I returned to Bermuda yesterday the marinas were already filling up with gorgeous, sleek J-Class boats, majestic Tall ships and sexy Superyachts. The count down to the 2017 America’s Cup is now in the single digits and the energy around town is infectious. Read More
What I do All Day
There are two questions I am often asked by my non-musician friends and family:
The first, is a general, “So….what, exactly, do you do all day?”. When I tell them I practice, they look at me kind of funny.
But then when they see me perform, they inevitably ask the 2nd question: “How do you know where all of the notes are going to be?”. I’d love to simply refer them to the answer to my first question, but that would seem rude. I’m not offended, I swear. I get it, what I do is really strange. I spend hours alone in a room with the door shut “practicing”–whatever that means, and then I perform. Actors have their fellow cast members. They go to rehearsal, they interact. There is a clear process of learning and memorizing lines and stage direction that the common person understands. Athletes? They work either with the rest of their team, or if it is a solo sport, they at least work with a coach. They do drills, they discuss their technique, how to improve. They can measure their progress through speed and distance. But a musician? Hmm. Weird. So, here it is: A day in the life of a musician. Or at least the practice room part of it. Read More
We’re going to Mexico!
Guys, this year has been a whirlwind of activity over at Sundeck. A new home, new website, cd release, new blog, and a whole lotta flights and concerts. P has also been working like a dog-teaching an overloaded schedule, designing the sets over at the community theater, sanding and repainting his boat and building/refinishing various pieces of furniture at home. We are both ready for a reboot, and are pretty psyched that our spring breaks actually coincide this year. In past years when we were doing the long-distance relationship thing, we were grateful that, because our breaks DIDN’T line up, we got to spend about 4 weeks in a row together–I spent my two weeks in Bermuda, and he spent his 2 weeks in Boston. But because of that, we could never “go on vacation”together; one of us was always working.
So THIS year, we are going on a real live vacation to Oaxaca and Huatulco Mexico. We often travel during the summer months because as a musician and a teacher, we are “off” the month of July, and I have always traveled for work, but to take a week in the middle of the “work year” and get away from it all feels like the ultimate luxury to me. It feels like we are going to be playing hooky for 8 days!
We are planning on staying at a bnb in the center of Oaxaca city and exploring Monte Alban, the markets and the amazing restaurants that I have been reading about. And then we are going to fly down to Huatulco for a couple of days of sand, surf and utter relaxation. Have any of you been to either place? Any recommendations? What are the “not-to-be-missed” spots?
The Flight to Bermuda
When people ask me where I live, I’m not quite sure what to tell them. You see, after 5 years (one married) of doing the Boston-Bermuda long-distance tango with my boyfriend/husband, Paul, I decided to give up one of my jobs (the teaching position at an amazing school that required me to be in town M-F every week), and move to Bermuda. Except that I didn’t, really. Not exactly. Read More