new socks!

I'm very happy with my new running socks. I hope they work well for me tomorrow! I am currently enjoying one of the perks of this job: days in mazatlan, enjoying the sun and the fresh air. Sometimes I think that I am crazy for wanting to leave this job... am I? I can't tell. I'm too excited about my socks.

Bug on Fire

I walked home from the theater this evening around 10pm. A few minutes later, I took chico outside for a walk, but we were surprised to find an old VW bug on fire about 100m from our apartment! I couldn't resist loitering with the rest of the neighbors, but I began to get worried when the fire started "bursting" and "exploding". Was something going to shoot out and hit my eye? Yikes!

Chico was especially nervous. There were so many people and cars and motorcycles and babies and people pointing and taking pictures that he just couldn't handle it. He bolted for the apartment and hid in the dark bedroom.

No one knew how or why the car was on fire, but they sure loved it!

Never a dull moment in Culiacan.

reeds for sale!

I sent off my latest order of 5 reeds to GDL today. I was hoping to send them yesterday but i ran out of time. I really like making reeds for customers. What a satisfying way to do something for my fellow oboists!

Anyone else want some reeds??

oboe or die trying

the last few days have been quite an emotional roller coaster! Recently I have been feeling motivated to make the last year of my master's degree, which starts in january, worthwhile, but I hit yet another wall this week. I suppose it is all part of the artistic process, but it really sucks! Yesterday's frustrations culminated in throwing 4 reeds across the room. When one refused to break, it was systematically shoved into the brick wall. Ah, the release! the drama! the satisfaction!

Sadly, one reed was actually pretty decent.

Alas! I was able to burn off some of that rage (me!!? rage??) dring my evening 5 mile run. I started out very very VERY slowly, but sprinted for about the last fill mile. It was exhilerating.

Today started out with a long walk to pay the internet bill. Slava, Chico and I were all panting by the time we got home. It's already 90 degrees outside. Afterstumbling into the AC paradise of the apartment, we made fresh grapefruit juice and mixed it with a little cranberry juice. We had last week off from work, and this week's program only requires one oboe, so it's another week of the "artistic process" i suppose.

Now i'm considering wandering over to my reed table to assess the physical and emotional damage of yesterday.

A long time without writing

That is, without writing HERE. I have been writing on my other blog, though.

Yesterday was chico's birthday! He is now 1 year and 1 day old. Tomorrow we are going to have a dog birthday party for him. Yes, i know. We are crazy. Igor will be chico's favorite guest, i'm sure.

In other news, I'm headed back to Los Angeles in January to finish up my pesky master's degree. I'm excited for the change, but i will miss Slava terribly while i'm there. He probably isn't going to be able to go with me because of the INS (grrrrr....).

I have decided to do 2 things in the next few months: 1) Train for and run the Los Angeles Marathon on March 2, 2008. and 2) Practice my ass off on the oboe and become super-bad. If i'm going to play that thing, i'm finally going to play it right. And then after I finish the degree, I am serisouly considering picking up my baroque oboe getting another master's or working on a DMA in Early Music. Yes, yes, i know. I really am insane.

killer bees?

Our season ended without a climax last week: We arrived in Guasave to play our final concert (Holst's Planets), but when we got to the hall we found the interior air thick from a recent fumigation. A security guard had opened the hall earlier for us, and found a swarm of african killer bees had infested the entire building! Bizarre, indeed, but the worst part is that guard was actually attacked by them, and died later at the hospital. We did not play that concert. Instead, we waited around for an hour for them to bring us our customary "box lunch" (stewed pork, beans, warm tortillas) and then we got back on the buses and drove the 2 hours back to Culiacan.

We said our goodbyes to people, and the season was over! Everyone was thankful for the concert being cancelled, but my heart goes out to that officer's family. I wonder what it was like to find those bees. Did he know what they were? Did the operators of the theater know they were there? Did the bees suddenly smell fresh meat entering through the back door, and then instantly swarmed and attacked him before he could leave? It's a really strange scene to imagine. I would hate to think it was due to lack of preparation/communication that he went there unprepared. Later in the week, an officer here in Culiacan apparently was attacked and killed by similar bees in the shade of a tree. He died later as well.

Remind me to stay indoors today. Anyway, tomorrow we go to Queretaro for C and I's wedding. After that, it's off to Seattle!

sistahs!

Yeah, we are awesome. Just beYOND awesome. Unstoppable. Amazing.