Random musings
/I just signed my new passport, as if we’re traveling anywhere soon. Our last trip abroad was in 2018, to Italy; we were supposed to cruise the Rhine last year, right after As You Like It closed, but we all know how that went. Viking Cruises has lovingly bombarded us with emails and mass mailings to comfort us in the meanwhile.
In about an hour I will load up my cello and drive to Duluth, GA (about an hour), so that the good folks at Huthmaker Violins can figure out why it’s howling and fix it. I keep asking if it’s something I’m doing wrong, but all the kind people keep saying no.
I’ve been taking cello lessons for two years now. Am I any good? Not in the least. I am just now moving beyond “first position,” and if you think I am anything like the cellists you see on YouTube, with their fingers flying up and down the fingerboard, bless you for your confidence in me.
Part of it is that I don’t practice nearly enough. I know — after two years of working haphazardly — that my fingers, short though they are, will do what is required of them after hundreds of repetitions, so why don’t I just get to it and work through those hundreds of repetitions?
Pure laziness is the correct answer.
Why do I continue to take lessons if I’m not going to be serious about playing? Mostly to remind myself that I can’t be good at everything, and that anything I want to be good at requires assiduousness on my part. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
The weather here has been particularly glorious the past couple of days, which has been a relief to those still clearing our streets and repairing our homes after the tornado of 3/26.
Project updates:
Lichtenbergianism for Kids is just sitting there waiting for me to tackle its design/layout.
The labyrinth refurbishment is moving off square one: I have contracted to replace the broken sound system and the rotting landscape timbers; next for me personally is sewing the fence art project panels.
The GALAXY Project is in the hands of the engineering team. (We’re also in limbo until the Event Committee for Alchemy makes the decision that it’s safe to have the burn.)
