Curvily Yours: Class #2

It really is strange being back in my "home" class and only knowing a few other people in it. Tonight was especially unnerving because the only girl I really knew was my old-time gal Ms Soarer. There were a few other girls that I had met recently. One being the girl who went through all my paperwork with me to sign back up for classes. The other, a girl who had been in the same teacher training tryouts as me.

I've been having a hard time reconnecting to class, maybe because my expectations and the reality of class are very different spaces. I remember someplace, warm, welcoming, and safe. But this new class hasn't lived up to that yet. With different girls in class each week it's hard to garner the support and camaraderie that I am not only used to, but expect to be there. I did enjoy our warm-up, but the pole conversations that we had felt one sided. And once again Ms Soarer was paired with me and another girl. I don't think this combo is working very well and I think I will have a chat with Mrs Suavity about it before class next week.

My personal dance this week was to Waiting for the End by Linkin Park.



It was interesting. Again, I could feel the frustration mounting throughout the song. There were moments when I broke free of it, but they felt fleeting. I think that it stemmed from having injured me ankle this past Sunday and feeling as though I can't trust my body. Not that it was actually my body's fault for once.

So many things to work out. Lots of mental merry-go-rounds pulsing through my head. I suppose to that end the lyrics of this song were fairly fitting.

This is not the end,This is not the beginning,Just a voice like a riotRocking every revisionBut you listen to the toneAnd the violent rhythm,Though the words sound steady,Something empty's within 'em,
We say "Yeah!"With fists flying up in the air,Like we're holding onto somethingThat's invisible there,'Cause we're living at the mercy ofThe pain and the fearUntil we dead it, forget it,Let it all disappear.
Waiting for the end to come...Wishing I had strength to stand...This is not what I had planned...It's out of my control....
Flying at the speed of lifeThoughts were spinning in my head.So many things were left unsaid.It's hard to let you go...
(Oh!) I know what it takes to move on,I know how it feels to lie,All I wanna doIs trade this life for something new,Holding on to what I haven't got
Sitting in an empty roomTrying to forget the pastThis was never meant to last,I wish it wasn't so...
(Oh!) I know what it takes to move on,I know how it feels to lie,All I wanna doIs trade this life for something newHolding on to what I haven't got!
What was left when the fire was gone?I thought I found right but that right was wrong.All caught up in the eye of the storm.I'm trying to figure out what it's like - moving on.And I don't even know what kind of things I've said,My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead.So picking up the pieces, now, where to begin?The hardest part of ending is starting all again.
All I wanna doIs trade this life for something new,Holding on to what i haven't got!..
This is not the end,This is not the beginning,Just a voice like a riotRocking every revisionBut you listen to the toneAnd the violet rhythm,Though the words sound steady,Something empty's within 'em(Holding on to what I haven't got!)
We say "Yeah!"With fists flying up in the air,Like we're holding onto somethingThat's invisible there,'Cause we're living at the mercy ofThe pain and the fearUntil we get it, forget it,Let it all disappear!(Holding on to what I haven't got!) 

The Winding Road

Monday, Aug 23

Ms Ianthine and I were up this morning before the crack of dawn. (Where does that expression come from?) A long trip ahead, we settled ourselves and the lovely Ms Xochi into the car for our trip from Detroit to Charlotte. A twelve hour drive if we were lucky.

So we chatted about life, what we have been up to, what we want to change, drama bombs, our cats, books, and just about anything really. And the trip just flew by. Before we knew it we were only 2 hours from home. Time really does fly when you are having fun. I love road trips with great friends. Ms Ianthine I'd drive anywhere with you!

We resorted to music for the last leg of our journey and I fell in love with Ms Ianthine's workout playlist. Great, upbeat, gets your body moving music. She was kind enough to burn me a copy of it to take home with me. Can't wait to upload it to my Amazon Cloud! 

Tickling the Ivories

I miss having a piano. When I was younger I took lessons for several years. I wasn't a very technical player, but I loved to figure out songs by ear. And most of the songs that I played were from memory. Now, it seems that everywhere I turn someone new is taking lessons and I am envious. So when staying at Mr Timbre’s house I took advantage of the chance to play his beautiful piano. I was chagrinned to realize that I have almost completely lost all of the pieces that I used to have memorized. I wonder if I can talk Mr Mine into us getting a piano....

A different kind of workout: Lesson #3

As my third violin lesson commenced I realized that no matter how well my home practices go it always feels like a performance when I play for my teacher. I get nervous and all concentration seems to go right out the window and suddenly I am flustered and frazzled and every note I play comes out wrong. And I am once again in fourth grade with my fingers all tied in a knot and knowing nothing. Christina had a lot of suggestions to give me on things to work on. So I left with a lot of homework assignments.

So as not to feel defeated I went home and practiced for an hour and wouldn't you know that the notes and positioning and the bowing all went much more smoothly once I was there. Safe and sound.

I'm hoping that this week I will get in more than one practice. Although Mr. Mine and I will be leaving with Ms Pasadena on holiday this coming Saturday so I'll have a 2 week break from practicing. I thought about taking the violin with me, but I would worry too much about something happening to it. 

Haunted by Imelda May

I first heard this song two weeks ago when I was searching for new music for my dance class. Her voice and this song in particular has been haunting me. I love it, therefore it's constantly stuck in my head. The slow sultriness speaks to my curves. I'm hoping to break this out in class tonight, we'll see how it goes!

My Great Aunt's Violin

There just happens to be this lovely tan colored wall across the street from my music academy and since my lessons are only a half hour long I end around 4pm. Which is just about the time the sun starts going down here in LA at this time of year. So I took a few moments to breakout my violin and take some pics while I still had the warmth of the light. 

This is my violin, it was found a long time ago in my Great Aunt Dot's attic. It had some water damage at the time but we were able to have it repaired. I love this old violin it's a pleasure and a privilege to play it. At the time it was found I was using a rented violin which sounded, well, it sounded a little like I was trying to play inside the Tin Man. I'm hoping that once I get bold enough I will actually post a few videos of me playing. We shall see :)

You can see that my poor case has been used as a cats' scratching post. The little stinkers. 

Percussion Head: Lesson #2

I truly had forgotten just how much you have to keep track of while playing music, especially a stringed instrument. There are the normal things that I remembered, such as the placing of my fingers and how to use the bow(rusty but still working skills) and then there were the other things. Such as counting the timing in the song while reading each note and paying attention to whether there was an extra flat♭ or sharp♯ just waiting around to trip you up.




Today for my second lesson we moved on from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star into something slightly more complicated Bach's Minuet 1, and finally onto the classical piece that I had brought with me to work towards Bach's Concerto for Two Violins: 1st Movement.


Just to give you an idea of what madness I am working towards:

BACH'S MINUET 1

BACH'S CONCERTO FOR TWO VIOLIN

Attempting to do all of the above creates quite a lot of confusion in my brain these days. I marvel at how when I was in high school doing all of that seemed like a piece of cake. Now it just feels like someone is playing percussion with my brain. Due to all this pounding in my head today I sounded a bit like a stampeding elephant. Hopefully after another week of practicing I will be a bit more graceful with my playing. 

A Girl After My Own Heart

Dancing AND playing the violin?? Who knew such a talent existed. While I was searching for musical inspiration for my violin lessons I stumble across this crazy wonder. Meet Ms Lindsey Stirling, she's amazingly spirited and brimming with talent. Hope you enjoy her as much as I did.

Mellifluous Muse

I can listen to this over and over again. Simply just marveling at the beautiful resonance that I can only hope to one day achieve. I heard this for the first time about a month ago as part of a mash-up. I could play this daily and just be happy. Since I had my first violin lesson yesterday I have been thinking about the suggestions my teacher made. She suggested that I find a piece of music that I want to work towards. Perhaps this should be it!



Oh, and here is the original mash-up that I found it through!