This is the Title of an Uncreative Violinist.:)

This morning, I met my two friends at 8:30am for another long run.  We were very, very slow: 8 miles in about 90 minutes, but it was such a fun run.  Maybe one of the most fun ones I've had in a long time.  We started on the Olentangy Trail headed towards downtown Columbus and cut through OSU's campus; we turned around and ran back up on High St. where we passed many temptations including a couple bakeries, a frozen yogurt place (which we later hit up after our run) and a mouth-watering farmer's market.  I never realized how bustling that area was on a Saturday morning!  Now I know where I'll be running every weekend:) After we indulged ourselves on frozen yogurt (I had dutch chocolate/peanut butter w/ WAY too many toppings) we were still hungry and headed over to the food truck I mentioned in my last post.  I had an arepa, which is a sandwich of sorts made out of cornmeal w/ pork and a spicy green sauce.  It was delicious. After that, my friends ...

I went to bed rather late last night (or this morning, I guess) which was pretty stupid since I agreed to meet two of my friends for a run at 8:30 in the morning.  I woke up sometime before my alarm went off because there was a glorious storm, and I'm ashamed to say that my first thought was,  "It's raining? Great! I don't have to run after all today. I can sleep in!"  And I fell asleep and had a scary zombie dream that didn't end very well.  I then woke up and got dressed for our run (it stopped storming just in time... craaap yay). It was a perfect run:  cool weather with breezes here and there, great company, and minor body pain!  We did close to 8 miles in 1:21:37. Yes, we're all slow when we run together non-competitively.  I'm okay with that if I can increase my distance each time.  I set up a profile with dailymile and recorded all my runs this month, and boy, am I slow when I'm not running a race!  I run at like a 10-11 minute mile...

On August 7th, food blogger, Jennifer Perillo , lost her husband, Mikey, to a sudden heart attack.  I read about her tragic story through a few other blogs that I read, but you can go to her blog directly and read for yourself about how much she loved her husband and how everything she did or made was inspired by or made for him. I know people experience pain and loss every single day, but every time I read a personal account, it opens up another window of realization that life is so precious and unpredictable.  We may try to control what does and doesn't happen in our lives, but in the end,  we don't really have as much control as we thought we did. I read about Jennie's loving memories of her husband and about their two young daughters, and I wonder if that could ever happen to me once my husband and I start a family.  Of course it could.  How would I possibly get through it?  People do get through it because they have to.  No other choice. ...

This feels like the last week of summer, although technically, Fall doesn't begin until September 23rd.  Some students started school already, and my teaching schedule returns to afternoon/evening hours only next week. I was shopping at Kohls yesterday looking for more running clothes (funny how I no longer am too interested in everyday fashion and always head straight for the active wear department at stores), and as I was leaving, I caught smells of Autumn near the registers.  They're already having sales on Fall decor and candles--I can't wait to fill my house with smells of cinnamon, spices and pumpkin--mmm!  This is, without a doubt, my favorite season of the year; the weather cools down, the outside colors are gorgeous, the smells are heartwarming and besides that--my wedding anniversary is in the Fall, too:)  My husband and I agreed on choosing October for our wedding date and I vividly remember how perfect that day was, too.  It was bright out, not c...

Once a year, hubby and I play the obligatory church service at his hometown church in Middletown, OH, and every year, he stresses out over what to play since he doesn't really "play" his violin anymore.  Last year, he lifted a piece by Vivaldi and wrote it out on Finale since it was nowhere to be purchased or found since apparently the only evidence of some of these violin concerti is on a recording by Pinchas Zukerman.  Probably one of the better concerti Vivaldi wrote, but, unfortunately, they are not available for the public to play.  I played the tutti part on the organ and he played a simple part on the violin and it was gorgeous.  This year, when Ryan asked me what we should play, I at first suggested just an easy duet for two violins; but after more thought, I remembered Vocalise by Rachmaninoff which I've always wanted to play (on either violin or piano).  So that is what we'll be playing this Sunday. I am cheesy, but what is not to love about this pi...

Ahhh, weekend--where did you go?!?!  Besides my wedding gig, it was pretty  uneventful and far too short.  Yesterday, we stayed in most of the day and I baked and cooked more than any other day last week.  We did step out briefly to catch "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" which I did enjoy, but as always, we got screwed with less than savory clientele at this particular theater, and this couple who traipsed in late made a beeline for the two empty seats right next to us.  Screwed!  I was trying to be positive and whispered to my husband as they zeroed in on the seats that, "maybe they'll choose other seats...these ones are way too close, who does that?"  They did!  Their tushes hadn't even sat all the way down before they were making a bunch of noise, repeating all the lines in the movie, shrieking way too loudly at the CGI apes. Besides that, the movie was great.  I recommend it! On a more serious--and unfortunate--note, please, PLEASE ke...

This morning, I slept in a little longer than I intended to, but I was still determined to get my long run in today.  I pulled into Whetstone Park and walked to the trail where I planned on running and headed south towards downtown Columbus.  I was hoping to get 7 miles and then turn around and go back the same way so it would force me to get in 14 miles; but around mile 5 there was a detour on the Olentangy trail and I made several turns getting lost, so I just decided to turn around and head back.  Going back, I ran up some steps that led to High St. where I decided to run north to get back to my car.  I figured that I could reward myself on the way with a pit stop at Starbucks.  I was parched as I didn't drink enough water before running, and running on High st., I didn't have as much shade as I did on the trail. Let me tell you, it felt SO incredibly good to walk into that Starbucks!  I ordered a iced venti black tea and an iced water and chugged both...

I always used to believe that when it came to violin performance, there were only absolutes: obviously the basics, like good intonation, clean tone and precise rhythm--but also the smaller stuff, like how to put the bow away in the case, how taut the bow should be when tightening right before playing, etc. It didn't dawn on me until recently, that many of the things that I was either taught or just told by various teachers, teaching assistants and many violin peers (including my own husband) were possibly just personal opinion and not necessarily solid fact or the only correct way to do things. It seems to me that musicians are very picky--and we need to be, of course--and that once we find something we really like or that we think works for us, we stick to it and don't budge from it for a very long time.  When I look at other every day situations in the world, though, I realize that I don't apply mindlessness in assessing one's opinion of, say, what good food is...

School is starting soon for kids, and frankly, I'm a little relieved, even though every summer seems to not be long enough for everyone.  I'm getting pretty sick of the weird schedule I was keeping  for my students' sake.  At the beginning of the summer, I looked at all those huge gaps I was going to face and just shrugged and thought, "eh, it'll just force me to practice more."  Wrong!  I'd shop instead, or browse the internet, or read a book---anything OTHER than practice.  So in about two weeks, the fall schedule will begin and I'll be limiting my teaching to after 3pm only. In other news, my husband signed both of us up for a 20K next month.  Next month! Ummmm, yeah...we'll see how that goes.  He did it last year and really liked the location; it's at Hocking Hills, OH and I hear it's beautiful. Oh, and here's a picture of me crossing the finish line at the Dublin 5K last week: I'm the one with no bib number, since I didn...

I made a mistake in my last post:  I apparently misheard what my husband said at the race and the course was not actually 2.6 miles but 2.96 miles.  That makes me feel TONS better:)

Well, I ran the Dublin 5K yesterday evening with mixed results.  I started off trying to stay close behind the person carrying the 8'30" balloons, but eventually, I fell behind and I think I was doing a 9 minute mile pace.  It was SO hot, hotter than the forecast predicted, so I think everyone had a hard time doing this one.  At some point, I caught up with one of my friends, and we pushed it to the finish line where the clock read 26'13".  When I saw that, I thought, "really? woohoo!!"  However ,  my hubby and a few other runners who had GPS watches, claimed that the course was only 2.6 miles.  What?!  What kind of race shortens their course without saying anything?  I was a little deflated when I heard that, because considering how NOT fast I feel like I was running, and the finish time I know I had, it kind of made more sense that maybe this 5K really wasn't a 5K.  So if, in fact, we all really did 2.6 miles, my time probably would ha...

Last night, I toiled into the wee hours of the morning making the best chocolate chip cookies ever for a going away party our studio is having for one of my students.  I'm partially kidding--it didn't really take that long, but I WAS up late last night because I had put it off until the last second.  While making the cookies last night, I asked my husband if he wanted to take some to work with him, but he refused and I assumed he just didn't want to share with his coworkers.  I set aside a few cookies for him in a tiny tupperware container, and put the rest on a large serving plate and covered it.  I figured the average person would look at the two and know that the larger plate was for the party, and the smaller one was for home. I was wrong. This morning, I left the house first to teach a couple students and waved goodbye to hubby as he was running back home from his morning run.  When I returned home, I went about my business doing stuff around the house ...

After my double workout lifting weights and running last Thursday, I took a very long break.  I took 2-3 days off and did absolutely nothing assigning all the blame on my aching arms.  My wonderful hubby, however, pushed me to get my bum off the couch on Sunday afternoon and go for a run outside.  He said, "only 3 miles, trust me".  So I trusted him and went.  It was hot.  I was dying.  I whined a lot and stopped a few times to walk.  We finally make it back home and I tell him, "that felt longer than 3 miles", and he says: "well, that's because we ran 5 miles".  I should have thanked him, but I was in a bad mood, so instead I just fumed over the fact that he had "lied". But now I'm glad he pushed me, and he pushed me again late last night.  On Mondays, we both get home pretty late and eat dinner late as a result.  Since I was making dinner, I figured he wouldn't mention working out so late.  But I check my email and there i...