March 8, 2015

I have been sick all week. Here are a few pictures from a trip I took to Mission Bay yesterday with M. I felt well enough to go and was glad I did.

- Antisocial Violinist

March 1, 2015

I was sick all week and spent most of my time lying on the couch and coughing. Besides that I had a Music History exam, a German test, a performance with my quintet for the Telegraph Quartet masterclass, and two orchestra concerts, one of which involved a runout to Las Positas college in Livermore. I have only one picture from that runout unfortunately.

Here is a green hill behind Las Positas, and I climbed to the top of it with two trumpet colleagues.

Here is the sunset sky outside of my school, sometimes the only really beautiful thing I see all day.

And here is something that just looks wrong

- Antisocial Violinist

February 22, 2015

This will be a short blog post, because I don't have any pictures, didn't go on any expeditions and spent most of the week practicing for the recital tonight which M and I are sharing. It has been doocedly hot here, which I dislike. The days have been packed with things like rehearsals and competitions and lessons. Even this weekend has been full of stuff, which I also dislike. And I haven't even started studying for the Music History exam this Tuesday.

The one notable item this week was International Freak Day, which takes place on February 19th.

Hope to give you a better blog post next week (but don't get your hopes up - after all, y'all don't pay me for these publications  ;)

- Antisocial Violinist

February 15, 2015

My theory was correct!! After the dress rehearsal before the Monday orchestra concert, our section leader said to the violas, "In Uranus, are you guys putting down your bows for the pizz section?" The principal violist didn't hear him and said "What?" So our principal said again, even louder, "In Uranus...." and Scott interrupted and said "The Magician, say The Magician, it just avoids so many problems..."

I was quite pleased to have my theory confirmed.

Scott also thought we should play the movements out of order, and have the audience guess which planet is which. I supported this idea. We could have a poll, and prizes for those who get them all right. I greatly enjoy audience participation.

This weekend I went on some expeditions with my new caching friends. Yesterday we were in and around Golden Gate Park and the Panhandle, and today we went to Pine Lake Park and Merced Heights.

Cachie

But what about the Liberal Scots

I think this is one of the artsiest photos I have ever taken.

Found a pencil in the branches

Pine Lake

- Antisocial Violinist

February 8, 2015

This week Ken Slowik was in town to play a concert with Ian and our baroque cello teacher. He's the curator of the Smithsonian Musical Instrument collection and an accomplished cellist, gambist and fortepianist, which is what he was playing in the concert. I managed to make myself useful during their week of rehearsals by lending Ian a baroque bow, tying gut strings, checking the balance, lending them my black wire stand and turning pages at the concert. It was wonderful to see them rehearse. When all was done, Ian gave me half a tuna salad sandwich (???) as compensation (???) and I ate it for dinner the next day (???).

But that's not the whole story. What actually happened at the concert was this: the 3 of them played a Haydn trio, then Ian and Mr Slowik played a Schubert sonata. I was watching them as they finished the first movement, which has a soft and gentle ending, and as just they were playing the last note I saw some strange lights begin to flash. Then an obnoxious alarm began to whoop loudly. Then the intercom came on and informed us that the fire alarm had been pulled. Perfect timing! We had a full house, and the entire audience had to troop outside and stand on the sidewalk in the night while the firefighters came and checked things out. Ian began to express a desire to call it a night and go home. Fortunately everyone wanted to hear the second half, so when we were allowed back into the building, they resumed the Schubert from the second movement.

I found some of this "Pretend Play Money" lying around in the lift at crew. I think it's from one of the opera scenes.

It's smaller than an actual dollar bill - only about the length of my palm.

I filed my American taxes and was reminded that if I am married, I am married. Even if my spouse is not in the USA, I am still married.

On Saturday I went to Bernal Heights with some friends. I was displeased with the walking tempo of the others (you'd think they were 100 years old) and with the monologue of one of our companions (who shall remain nameless) which lasted almost the entire duration of the expedition. However, it did not spoil the trip (it takes a lot to really spoil trips) and the rain came on and off, and there was drifting fog over the city which made it look like an alien town. M said she felt like we were on another planet. I took some photos which don't do it justice so I won't post them, except for one shot which I think turned out to be very effective.

On the way home we found some slides and an angry restaurant.

This weekend we had orchestra concerts: "The Planets" and a piece by the winner of the composition competition. I have noticed that Scott refers to all the planets except one by their names (Saturn, Mars, Neptune etc.). I have not yet heard him say "Uranus"; instead he says "The Magician, please." I am certain he does this on purpose to avoid a word that sounds awkward whichever way you pronounce it.

- Antisocial Violinist

February 1, 2015

This week in orchestra we rehearsed The Planets. Scott said "Last week I had someone ask me why there was no Earth in The Planets." I REALLY wanted to say that it was because Earth hadn't been discovered yet.

After the same rehearsal we were striking the stage. One of my fellow crew members attempted to throw a plastic stand across the stage into the stand rack. It flipped upside down as it sailed through the air and hit the stage with a tremendous crash. The flat plastic part broke in half, ruining the stand. The best part was that none of us had even tried to stop him; we were watching the proceedings with interest.

In music history class we have been learning about one of Stravinsky's most famous ballets: What's Left of Autumn.

This weekend was mostly filled up with life-maintenance busywork which does not warrant inclusion in a blog, except for my trip to GGP today. I found some caches I've had my eye on for months, explored the Botanical Gardens for the first time and revisited some old spots. A very satisfactory trip overall.

Magnolias in bloom

A Lenten rose??

Big-ass tree stump with a cache inside

Now here's something you don't usually see.

Bloody violists never shower

Yeah that's a California plant alright

St. Francis?

What a flower!

Tree hair

LOL!

You see this kind of stuff a lot around here.

- Antisocial Violinist

January 25, 2015

Wait, back to this place again? How did that happen? I knew I was back in San Francisco when I called up M after my flight and we went out to dinner and on the way back we saw a guy riding a penny farthing bicycle down Market Street. It was a very brief glimpse or I would have snapped a picture. You don't see that in YYC.

I am taking similar courses as last semester (performance classes, 20th century World History, 20th century Music History and Second Semester German) plus orchestral excerpt class. I was relieved that there was a spot for me in this course as I need to learn those excerpts before I graduate - how else can I get a job with CPO?

I have started going to a Young Adult group at St Dominic's church in Cow Hollow. Although I have great friends and colleagues at school and a wonderful parish community at Nativity, I do miss being around other Catholic young people and it's great to have found an active YA group here. They meet every week and there are guest speakers, discussions and debates, community service projects, hikes, dinners and home masses. If any anti-religious people happen to be reading this, please note that I do not accept flak.

By the second Music History class I was already bored and began looking through the table of contents in my Norton score book. I saw a title that made me look twice. It was a piano piece by Erik Satie and the title was in French and I thought, "That can't be right". So I turned to the score and saw the English translation which confirmed my fears: "Dried Embryos". Apparently it's a satirical jab at composers who use overly descriptive titles.

Dvorak piano quintet this semester, and I'm on viola!! I'm still with my trusty chamber-mates M and N, with the addition of Xiao Pang (whom some of you may remember from MMB) and a Masters' student from Toronto. Yay for all-non-American chamber groups!

Yesterday I went to a Cachers and Crepes breakfast event that turned into a full-day expedition with three other cachers. We went up Mt Sutro and back down again and then got some other caches in the area and a multi in GGP. The day was bright and sun clean and sharp. Plus I finally met some other young, female cachers! Seems like this was a good week for me to start making friends with people my own age (which, as many of you know, is something I appear to have difficulty with)

 Here are some pictures.

I've been looking everywhere for someplace that would ash my clothes! I wonder if they use fireplace or volcano?

It's a bright day, a clear day, a sharp new clean day

Abandoned porch

A rope to help you get up the hill

Richmond on the right, Sunset on the left, the green strip in between is GGP

Weird people we saw on top of Tank Hill (NOT cachers)...

Sutro jungle

Why does the ivy only go halfway up?

The Fairy Shrine

Would be a good spot for a cache

Hi there.

Oh come ON, you didn't even try!!

If anyone wants to send me black ink or gel pens, they would be most welcome.

- Antisocial Violinist