Suddenly March

I've been playing the violin for over a month now.  I can play (well, take that with a grain of salt) "Twinkle Twinkle" in three keys, a song called "Boil 'em Cabbage Down" in four keys, three scales (and broken thirds for them).

This weekend, I played a concert for my Mom on facetime.  Thank goodness for Moms, because she was that weird combination of totally patient about how bad I sound and proud.  Thanks, Mom.

***

I get these sorts of emails from students, appropriately polite, at least:

Dear Professor Bardiac,

I need help on my paper.  Can you read it and tell me what to do, please? 

Thanks, Student


I never know quite how to handle these.  Fortunately, the one this morning hadn't remembered to attach the draft.  But the student had already missed a conference appointment.  I think he'd get a whole lot more help talking in person, but how to convince a student of that?

***

I chair an interdisciplinary type program's curriculum committee, and a couple of years ago, we denied a colleague's request to do X with a class, but asked the colleague to rethink, and said we'd be happy to have further conversation.  This spring, the colleague suddenly wants to do X, so I asked the colleague when they'd like to be on the agenda, and they chose a date, and said they'd do the paperwork stuffs.  We confirmed the date (which is this week).  I worked on the agenda last week, and emailed the colleague asking them to send me the paperwork so that I could include it on the agenda.  And finally, yesterday, I got an email promising the paperwork today.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, when I was working on the agenda, I found a couple of hours to work on doing X for a different class (something that's not mine, but taught by an adjunct, and we don't ask adjuncts to do this paper work, since they're not paid for it, so I said I would, and finally did).  The paperwork for X is a stupid irritation, but you can pick up the language from the forms used for other courses, which makes it slightly easier.  After figuring out how to sort of do it (it's on the agenda for the committee this week, and one of the committee members is super duper smart about these things, and will help me get it into shape).

It's the sort of thing that's irritating to do, and easy to put off, but once you start, only actually does take a couple of hours.  (Like, say, taxes for many people, and unlike, say, a huge stack of grading.)

***

I went to a concert with a pre-talk this weekend.  Both were really good.  The pre-talk was perfectly aimed at helping non-music folks gain a greater understanding and appreciation of what we'd be hearing, and really well done.  The speaker is a friend, so we (and another friend) sat near each other at the concert .  At the intermission, a retired faculty member from music came over and was critical about the talk because the speaker hadn't mentioned that one of the pieces (not the one she focused most of the talk on) was partly arranged by someone else.  Seriously.  It was so effing rude.  First, it was BS criticism, and second, if he wanted to criticize something for real, if there were really a problem, he should take the speaker aside and talk to them privately.

But the concert!  Oh, our women's choir sang on one of the pieces (a concerto with many sections) and they were beautiful, and even more beautiful were two soloists, a soprano and mezzo-soprano, both students, who just blew everyone away.

The concert made me want to go home and practice.  (Instead, I went to bed.)

***

I think everyone on campus has a cruddy cold, lots of coughing and hacking.  Me, too.

Some Changes for the New Year

I got a smart phone.  Yes.  Thanks to my sibling and his son, who were upgrading theirs, my Mom and I both got smart phones.  Now she texts me good morning and good night, and maybe one during the day, and it seems very good.

A couple of months ago, I was talking to a friend who teaches stringed instruments here, and she was talking about teaching using the Suzuki method, and how people can learn to hear by training their ear and such.  The thing is, I've been wanting to do something creative, and something new, and something that involves learning.  And, I started mulling.  So I asked her, and I think I'm going to be taking violin lessons when she returns from break. 

Well, assuming I have a violin.  My Mom brought me my Dad's violin to use, and my friend, Strings, let's call her, suggested I get the bow checked because it probably needs new horsehair.  She suggested a place in town to ask, but said they usually charge more than they should, but for the new horsehair, it wouldn't be too outrageous.  They looked at the bow and the violin, and said the bow's got a crack, and so does the violin, and on and on.  They gave me an estimate, and I took the violin and bow home, and emailed Strings to ask her about the estimate, and if she trusted them to do the work.

Strings said the estimate sounded way too much, and gave me the name and number of her instrument person in the big city a couple hours away.  I'll call on Monday, and if possible, go see him with the violin, and see what can be done.  She said he's super, and she trusts him with her instrument.

But I'm excited, and a little daunted, all at once.

I've got a huge to-do list for the break, but I'm having trouble getting stuff done.  I think when I have some free time, I somehow think there will be plenty of it, and of course there never really is.

I just got James Shapiro's The Year of Lear in the mail, and I'm looking forward to it.  I really enjoyed 1599, and I'm guessing it's the same basic idea, a really deep exploration of the year and Shakespeare's work.  But there's so much else I should be reading in preparation for SAA and my classes!