This is a conductor?
After what seemed to be two of the most stressful, frustrating, irritating weeks in recent memory (I'm sure there have been others but I don't know if they would have been in consecutive weeks), I found myself on the way to the Youth Symphony this morning.
This was not planned as I'd been booked into so many meetings that I didn't think they were planning to have me go, however the principal (who is on my shit list) decided at the last possible minute that I should be boarding a bus. This was o.k with me, as a Keith Lockhart fix seemed like just the ticket to make the misery less miserable.
Wrong. No Keith. I don't know why. In his place was some Welsh guy named Grant LLewellyn.
Who?
The program makes him sound important, but I have my doubts. He had the strangest conducting style I've ever seen. He kept his arms out at shoulder height, elbows locked. His movements were huge and harsh, and you always knew where the downbeat was, which was confusing as it was generally over his right shoulder. I kept praying he had a good grip on the baton as if he'd lost it he could have "put someone's eye out with that thing"! He directed with great vigor, but with his locked arms and knees he'd start leaning and I was wondering if he'd tip over.
They played Haydn's "The representation of Chaos" and his conducting reminded me of someone moving in slow motion. As if his whole body was slogging through jello.
I can't say I though he was all that great. Of course no one else I was with noticed any of these things about him.
I am a bit odd I think.
I have the coming week off, and I am hoping to get to NYC mid week, but that seems to be very iffy right now, as I am again dealing with a sick cat. For no apparent reason. But it is making me absolutely crazy. I am not dealing with it at all well.
Let's just say I could be spending the week cleaning carpets again.
Or sitting in the middle of the room weeping.
Listening to: Notre Dame de Paris
Reading: New York: Apple of My Eye Helene Hanff
Weather: sunny, 60
Trivia: Who first used concrete for large constructions?
Although concrete was known as early as 2,000 years ago, its first use in major construction projects was in ancient Rome. A good example is Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli, Italy, which was built around 120 AD. There, the Roman Emperor Hadrian experimented with various forms and styles of architecture, making use of concrete in conjunction with bricks, tufa, and other materials. The Villa at Tivoli is especially noteworthy because of the interesting use of curves, domes, underground passages, ponds, and other elements. New materials made new forms possible, and Hadrian's Villa shows some of this experimentation in its many interesting vistas. Many Roman buildings made of concrete have lasted through history because of their unique chemistry. The Romans mixed their lime with pozzolan, a kind of ash produced by a certain volcano. The peculiar chemistry of the resulting concrete was one of the reasons for its durability.
Cool word:paucity [n. PAW-suh-tea]
Having a paucity of something is not having enough of it. This noun can refer to a smallness of number or quantity but always means a lack. Example: "We guessed from the paucity of details available that the police were still investigating." Near synonyms include dearth, scarcity, shortage, deficiency, and scantiness. Paucity entered Middle English from the Old French paucite which was derived from the Latin paucus (few). The pau- root has also given us the following words:
- pauper: someone who has no financial means
- pauperize: ruin
- poor: penniless
- few: scant
Motto: The only difference between my life and the Titanic is that the Titanic had a dance band.
previous |
next
|
Home |
Horoscope
ARIES
There are weighty matters to be sorted out in your finances, but instead of panicking in the face of setbacks you need to keep your eyes on the long-term objective and look to underlying values rather than being fobbed off with a temporary gain. It is very much up to you to press home any advantage or angle that you see, and hold on for the ride. You can achieve some kind of breakthrough.
If you find yourself feeling a little reserved or withdrawn, your partner might not appreciate your attitude or might feel that you're ignoring them a bit. It's more likely that you've probably just got a lot of work or responsibilities to deal with, and you might be a little more focused on some of those more practical aspects of life right now. Your energies are probably a little better suited to dealing with business partnerships today than with personal ones.