I'm sitting down on this rainy Friday night, having decided that I'll do a bit of work so I won't have such a long day at the office tomorrow. My rather mischievious cat decides that it's playtime. Catnip toy in paw, a Chritmas gift from grandmother to grantcat, she gets overexcited and loses traction on the hardwood floors of my living room. I glance over as I hear a panicked scratching on the floor and see her skidding towards the small piece of furniture on which I've decided to place my glass of red wine. For the record, red wine makes working on a Friday night rather more enjoyable. I manage to catch the glass of wine, but not the contents before they go splashing all over the floor, wall, and surrounding furniture. Kitty scurries off. I, in a huff, grab my all purpose Mr. Clean cleaning spray and don't hesitate to get on all fours to scrub up the mess. To my amazement, I discover that red wine doesn't stay red for very long when in contact with Mr. Clean. It turns blue.
I've now poured myself a second glass of wine, and am once again sitting down to start working. I wonder if any readers can explain this strange phenomenon - that is the red wine turning blue, not the tractionless cat.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Monday, 6 February 2012
My love affair with music
I just came home from choir practice.
Yes, you heard me right. Choir practice. Those of you who know me can say I am by no means a singer, nor do I intend to be. I joined the choir as part of my new year's resolution: to get back in to music in a big way.
I've been playing music since I was quite young. I started plunking on the piano in the garage when I was... maybe 7 years old? I'm sure my Mom would know the exact age. Guitar came next as soon as I could reach my arm (but not quite my eyes) around the body of my Dad's acoustic. I started playing saxophone in elementary school, probably around the age of 10, with the Grade 6/7 concert band. A few other instruments have come and go over the years as I got bored - flute and bass for example - but the first three stuck around.
I hit my best when I got the chance to play with (or at least open for) some incredible musicians: Martha Reeves, The Temptations, Gene Hardy, Jim Byrnes... but around 18 years old, I started to take university really seriously. I let school take over my life for a few years. I hardly did anything else, and music dropped nearly off the radar. To be honest, there wasn't really a better excuse than that.
I moved to Vancouver, which made it easier to avoid questions like: "who are you playing with these days?" and "did you bring your horn?" I would make excuses like "no one at the moment; I haven't really broken into the scene yet" and "oh, well I walked on the ferry and didn't want to carry my sax." The more I said it, the more I believed it. The more people would ask, the more I would shy away from the idea of playing again.
Long story short, music became a real sore, soft spot for me. I can honestly say that I became afraid to try playing again. About a year ago I decided to pull out my sax, just to see if I still knew how to play it and all that came out was horrible honking noises and squawks. Sounds funny right? The bloody thing just about broke my heart. I put it back in its case.
I can't say there was a definite turning point, but I can say that over the last few months I finally took a look at my relationship with music. I was terrified of trying again, because I knew that there was no way I'd be where I was before. I was worried about disappointing myself. I was hesitant to even give myself another chance and skeptical of my ability to really try.
The New Year just happened to come around at a convenient time. While I haven't been known to make resolutions (again, probably for the fear of disappointing myself), I decided that 2012 was the year I'd get back into music in a big way.
And so I am.
So far, I've joined a community concert band, a jazz ensemble and a choir. I've purchased a new sound module for my keyboard, eliminating the setup hassle that comes with a computer/MIDI keyboard combination. I put new strings on my guitar, and put it next to my bed, ready to play at a moment's notice.
All this has put my playing time to 5-10 hours per week, which I think is a pretty good start. I even solo-ed on Sunday night. Yes, musician friends, you're rolling your eyes at me but it's a big step OK?! And there I go being defensive again. My confidence is growing each time I play, or sing for that matter. Hopefully some day I'll get back to where I was before, and maybe even beyond.
Thanks, everyone, for listening to me blather on about my battle against myself. And thanks, everyone, for asking those difficult questions, because you were right. And thanks in advance, everyone, for coming to my terrible, out-of-tune concerts in the near future because you love me and support what I'm doing. Yes you do. Don't deny it.
Yes, you heard me right. Choir practice. Those of you who know me can say I am by no means a singer, nor do I intend to be. I joined the choir as part of my new year's resolution: to get back in to music in a big way.
I've been playing music since I was quite young. I started plunking on the piano in the garage when I was... maybe 7 years old? I'm sure my Mom would know the exact age. Guitar came next as soon as I could reach my arm (but not quite my eyes) around the body of my Dad's acoustic. I started playing saxophone in elementary school, probably around the age of 10, with the Grade 6/7 concert band. A few other instruments have come and go over the years as I got bored - flute and bass for example - but the first three stuck around.
I hit my best when I got the chance to play with (or at least open for) some incredible musicians: Martha Reeves, The Temptations, Gene Hardy, Jim Byrnes... but around 18 years old, I started to take university really seriously. I let school take over my life for a few years. I hardly did anything else, and music dropped nearly off the radar. To be honest, there wasn't really a better excuse than that.
I moved to Vancouver, which made it easier to avoid questions like: "who are you playing with these days?" and "did you bring your horn?" I would make excuses like "no one at the moment; I haven't really broken into the scene yet" and "oh, well I walked on the ferry and didn't want to carry my sax." The more I said it, the more I believed it. The more people would ask, the more I would shy away from the idea of playing again.
Long story short, music became a real sore, soft spot for me. I can honestly say that I became afraid to try playing again. About a year ago I decided to pull out my sax, just to see if I still knew how to play it and all that came out was horrible honking noises and squawks. Sounds funny right? The bloody thing just about broke my heart. I put it back in its case.
I can't say there was a definite turning point, but I can say that over the last few months I finally took a look at my relationship with music. I was terrified of trying again, because I knew that there was no way I'd be where I was before. I was worried about disappointing myself. I was hesitant to even give myself another chance and skeptical of my ability to really try.
The New Year just happened to come around at a convenient time. While I haven't been known to make resolutions (again, probably for the fear of disappointing myself), I decided that 2012 was the year I'd get back into music in a big way.
And so I am.
So far, I've joined a community concert band, a jazz ensemble and a choir. I've purchased a new sound module for my keyboard, eliminating the setup hassle that comes with a computer/MIDI keyboard combination. I put new strings on my guitar, and put it next to my bed, ready to play at a moment's notice.
All this has put my playing time to 5-10 hours per week, which I think is a pretty good start. I even solo-ed on Sunday night. Yes, musician friends, you're rolling your eyes at me but it's a big step OK?! And there I go being defensive again. My confidence is growing each time I play, or sing for that matter. Hopefully some day I'll get back to where I was before, and maybe even beyond.
Thanks, everyone, for listening to me blather on about my battle against myself. And thanks, everyone, for asking those difficult questions, because you were right. And thanks in advance, everyone, for coming to my terrible, out-of-tune concerts in the near future because you love me and support what I'm doing. Yes you do. Don't deny it.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Working in town means I can have a life outside of work
Hi again! Well, you may have noticed that I've changed the name of this blog. As the sub-header indicates, I wanted to keep writing now that I'm done in Fort Mac. Well, I can't say I'm really done in Fort Mac, in fact I expect to be back there this spring. But that's a story for another day.
A brief update on my life since I last posted:
I'm still working with the same company, but now in the office as a Project Coordinator. The job has been pretty good so far, though I'm not learning nearly as much as I was when I was on site. I'm finding that my new position is a whole lot of administration and accounting-related duties, of which I'm neither good at nor fond of. Our group is pushing hard to get a full-time accountant-type person in the office, which would relieve me of 75% of my day-to-day work and allow me to learn some new skills. Let's hope it works out.
Working in the office means I have a regular weekday schedule, allowing me to have a life outside of work. I started training for the BMO Half Marathon. Yes, folks, that's just over 21km. I've been training quite seriously and am up to about 11km on my long-run days. I've also started playing music again, as it was my new year's resolution.
I have a lot to say about the running and the music, but I'll have to save those for later posts. Right now it's time to go to bed. Goodnight, everyone.
A brief update on my life since I last posted:
I'm still working with the same company, but now in the office as a Project Coordinator. The job has been pretty good so far, though I'm not learning nearly as much as I was when I was on site. I'm finding that my new position is a whole lot of administration and accounting-related duties, of which I'm neither good at nor fond of. Our group is pushing hard to get a full-time accountant-type person in the office, which would relieve me of 75% of my day-to-day work and allow me to learn some new skills. Let's hope it works out.
Working in the office means I have a regular weekday schedule, allowing me to have a life outside of work. I started training for the BMO Half Marathon. Yes, folks, that's just over 21km. I've been training quite seriously and am up to about 11km on my long-run days. I've also started playing music again, as it was my new year's resolution.
I have a lot to say about the running and the music, but I'll have to save those for later posts. Right now it's time to go to bed. Goodnight, everyone.
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