Tales From The Lane
Living Your Best Life as Creative Artist
My Month of Home
December. Month of holidays, vacations, family and get-togethers. Whether you are celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, or the First Snow Day of the season, there is no denying that December is one cozy-ass month. Even here in Bermuda, the lights in town are twinkling, and the nights get chilly enough to throw on a sweater or curl up in front of a fire. And for that reason, I decided to make My Home the focus of this month. Read More
Holiday Gift Guide for Your Kid’s Music Teacher
I get asked about 50 times a year by my non-musician friends and family members what an appropriate gift would be for their child’s violin/piano/clarinet teacher, so I thought I would post a few ideas. You will notice one entire category that is missing from this list, and that is: ANYTHING that has music notes, treble clefs, or any music joke on it (Like a magnetic fridge pad that says “Chopin Liszt”). As I said to one disappointed friend who had sent me a link to a website dedicated to such atrocities: You’re an accountant; would you be psyched to get a pair of cheap mini-calculator earrings? No? Well, there you have it. Just remember, when the piano teacher in your life isn’t patiently teaching kids how to find inner discipline, listen critically and build the character skills necessary to bring about world peace, they are actually perfectly normal people. And please remember, as always, it is truly the thought that counts. It’s nice to mark this mid-point of the year with a show of appreciation and as a way to reflect on accomplishments thus far. That can be in the form of a heartfelt note and a hand drawn picture from the student, or it can be a purchased gift. Below, I have compiled a list that covers a large range of price points, and of course, gift cards are always adjustable according to one’s budget. Hope it helps, and please feel free to pass it around! Read More
The $100 Bill
What would you do if I handed you a $100 bill?
I once had a student who started cello lessons with me when he was 5 years old, and he LOVED the cello. He loved playing the cello, he loved practicing the cello (as soon as he woke up-at 5am! Much to his parents’ dismay). But he had this weird thing he did–He only used about 3 inches of bow–ever (probably due to the fact that he was trying not to wake his parents up!). And every week he would come into his lesson, sad about his lack of tone, and I would say “Use your whole bow! Use more arm weight! Yes!!!! Just like that! Do it again! Terrific! Okay. Practice this piece like that, with big bows, and you’ll always sound like that”. And he would leave his lesson super excited about knowing exactly what to do to get that great big cello sound he was after. And then he would come in a week later, using only 3 inches of bow, and sad that he sounded so wimpy. And we would repeat the cycle. Read More
30-Day Focus Project: November
Ahhh November. Here in Bermuda, November is a tricky month. For instance, yesterday was 78 degrees and sunny. Today, I’m wearing jeans and a sweatshirt hoping Paul will be inspired to build a fire and bring me a cup of tea. Read More
Chicago!
Remember that little trip to Chicago I took in October? It was just last week, but it feels like it was a gazillion years ago! It was exciting, exhausting, exhilarating, and everything you would expect. Overall, my experiment of going to a city and playing as many concerts as I could for as many different groups of people as possible worked. I learned a hella lotta stuff about the whole process of sending press releases, booking concerts and venues and more importantly, I learned a lot about myself and what I need in terms of concert prep. Read More
A Punch in the Face
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” -Mike Tyson
If someone had told me that I would be quoting Mike Tyson on this blog, I’d have punched THEM in the face. But, alas, it’s true. My best laid plans for a totally Career-Centered Month were thrown for a serious loop when I managed to spill water onto my laptop. Long story short, KAPUT. nothing. Did I run regular backups? Of course! Just not in the last 8 months or so, and that hard drive is in my condo in Boston, which I can’t get into until November.
Thank god for dropbox, but that giant spreadsheet that I have been working on for the past year with all of my contacts and venues and programs and A WHOLE YEAR OF RESEARCH? GONE… Gone…. gone…. Read More
Happy October!
Happy October! Month of fall foliage, Halloween costumes, apple picking and pumpkin spice lattes. I will have none of those things in Bermuda; here, October means hurricanes, getting the garden planted (and then losing it all to the afore-mentioned hurricanes) and finding lightweight clothing in fall colors. Bermudians love their Fall Fashion, even though it’s 85 degrees and sunny! Bless them. But don’t worry, I’ll be spending a lovely 9 days in Chicago playing concerts and working with various student groups. I’m so excited for all of that, but I’m also excited to take a few walks around Lake Michigan, oohi-ng and ahh-ing over the changing leaves, and I will probably bribe my nephews to hit-up starbucks with me once or twice a day for a PSL fix.
After an awesomely productive and enlightening September, I’m excited to move onto my next 30-Day Project. September was “Health” and if you are curious, you can read about it here and here. October is going to be…….drumroll, please….. “Career”. Specifically, my performance career. (Spoiler alert: the “Teaching” and “Youth Orchestra” aspects of my career will each have their own month). I’m looking forward to booking some more concerts for this year and next (and the next—I’m already booking concerts for the 2019-2020 season!) cleaning up and updating my website, maybe getting some new headshots done, and learning how to write and send a good press-release, amongother things. I’m looking forward to ending the month with new kinds of content and a lot more of it to choose from. Obviously I’ll be practicing a ton gearing up for my week of concerts in Chicago, and I’m curious to see how playing so many recitals in 1 week will feel. I’m starting things off with my brand new business cards that the mother of one of my students designed. Didn’t she do an incredible job?
Again, the name of the game here is to make a little bit of progress in this area each day. Make necessary investments and read whatever I can find on the subject. If you have any ideas, please send them along in the comments. And in the meantime, Enjoy a caramel apple and a cider doughnut for me, please.
My Healthy September Post-Mortem
Boy ,this month got busy! I started out letting you know about my Month-long Focus Project on my Health and had every intention of posting a couple of times each week about various things. Somehow, it is September 28th and I have posted not one lousy update. So, here we are, 4 weeks into the month, and 2 days away from a glass of wine! Here’s how it all went.
“Sober September”. Paul and I managed to go an entire month without drinking alcohol. To be fair, we each had 2 cheat days. For him, it was after the last fitted dinghy race of the season. Tradition holds that the trophy gets filled with rum and everyone passes it around and drinks from it (I know, gross, but they LIVE for this shit) and I sort of felt like it was an important moment for him since it was also (possibly?) marking his early retirement from fitted dinghy racing. My cheat day was when I was out having dinner with some dear friends. Our 2nd one was after I returned home from a couple of intense weeks in Boston, and we went out for a romantic dinner. We each had a glass. All told, we both had the equivalent of 1 day’s worth of wine over an entire month. Not too shabby. Lessons learned? Well, it was a very boring month, to be sure. We didn’t go out as often and spent most of our evenings at home working. A couple of times it felt silly not to be enjoying a nice glass of wine (when we were out for tapas, after a long tough day at work, etc). But I think we both realized that most of the time we are sipping away, it’s mostly out of habit. I was just as happy drinking a glass of Pellegrino while cooking dinner. It didn’t have to be wine. And Paul was just as happy with a cold glass of ginger beer as he would have been with a dark and stormy. What we needed was the ritual of stopping our work days, pouring a glass of SOMETHING and hitting pause. I don’t think that drinking wine is going to be a part of our daily routine anymore, and I also think I will appreciate having a nice glass of wine with a nice meal, or to celebrate a happy occasion–once in a while. Also? I lost 7 lbs, so there’s that.
Eating healthy: This one I wasn’t so strict about, though I did do a massive food shop and meal-prep when I got to Boston for two weeks of teaching and rehearsals. I cooked up tons of vegetables, some salmon, chicken breasts, wild rice, and salad fixings and was happy as a clam for those two weeks. I had options (chicken or fish? Broccoli or asparagus) but my choices were limited enough that I never had decision fatigue about my meals. I would make a jar of chia pudding or overnight oats for breakfast and mix them up with some fresh berries and a little coconut yogurt. Lunch would be a salad from my pre-cut veggies, and dinner would be equally easy. I felt great, slept great, was hungry at mealtime, but not starving for snacks. I brought mini packs of almonds and dried cranberries to rehearsals and that was basically it. Unfortunately, when I got back to Bermuda, that plan went down the tubes. Paul and I just like very different kinds of food. He likes to throw things together into a kind of stew/chili/casserole type of situation (served over starch) and I prefer my food to be cooked separately (but unlike a three year-old, it’s okay if they are touching on my plate). I can’t deny how much worse I feel for how I’ve eaten the past two weeks vs. how great I felt the first two weeks, so I might need to put my foot down and make it happen (sorry, babe!) We watched the documentary “What the Health” which everyone and their brother seems to be talking about. Honestly, It made me question both the validity of their accusations (it all seemed a bit too much) and how much animal product I’m willing to have in my diet. Since I have trouble being any kind of an extremist (I couldn’t even go 30 days without a glass of wine!) I hesitate to say I’m never going to eat meat or cheese again. I have been using Almond milk and I switched to coconut yogurt, and I’m trying to be more mindful of meat and dairy choices. Voilá.
Exercise: I did manage to get back into a running routine. I maybe didn’t run as often as I wanted, but I managed a consistent 3-4 times a week. I learned two things. 1) it’s a lot easier to run when your body is lighter. Seriously, I always wondered how women who had never run before could throw on a pair of sneakers, and go out and run a 10K that first weekend, when, after months of running, I wouldn’t have even made it through a 10K without huffing and puffing. Now I get it. They are tiny to begin with, and aren’t lugging as much weight around. Even just dropping 7 lbs, I can run faster and farther and it feels easier. So, here’s to the next 7 lbs, and the next. 2) having great music really helps. I downloaded Kayla Itsines’s SWEAT playlist from itunes and it is amazing. Love it. I want more. Need more. Please send playlist suggestions ASAP!
Small habits and check-ups: I took care of the two big one (or two)-offs: My annual “wellness exam” and mammogram with my Dr. and seeing my dentist for a cleaning and updated x-rays, and I tried to tweak little daily habits: flossing more regularly, drinking a tall glass of hot water with lemon before I have my coffee (and drinking more water in general) and doing more sit ups and squats and things like that around the house at random times.
So overall, I think my first Focus month was a pretty big success. Aside from the weight loss, I definitely have more energy, my skin looks better, and I just feel like I am living a healthier life. I feel good about setting up good habits that I can continue through the rest of the year, am in a good groove with my running routine and am excited to continue to tweak my (our) eating habits.
New post next week to announce my October Focus Project! I’m excited.
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