av8rmike

So.... yeah, Jamie hopped a last-minute flight Saturday night. We went to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday and I cooked her dinner that night.

Today we finally managed to catch up with my friends Katie and Eric and their impossibly cute son, recently settled into their new house. We couldn't play any chamber music becuase they couldn't find the music they'd packed away. It'll have to wait until another time.

Best Labor Day weekend I could have asked for.

In case anyone actually wants to know what was going on all weekend.... but rather than type it all up myself, I'll just excerpt from Jamie's journal and change the relevant pronouns. What was that about great writers just steal? ;)

Thursday - Jamie's (rescheduled) flight got in around 1:00 in the afternoon. We mostly puttered around my place before dinner. We went over to [my] dad's house, where [Jamie] got to meet [my] dad, stepmom, brother Phil (who took the train down from NYC), and [my] very eccentric cousin Gibson (who was visiting from the UK). After a very delicious steak dinner, we retreated to the room with the creepy doll and piano for a jam session. [Phil] plays viola, and played for us the Telemann Viola Concerto, which he's using for an orchestra audition this week. [Jamie] and I played the 2nd movement of the Bach Double, with Gibson playing the orchestral accompaniment on piano. That was a lot of fun. [I] played a number of pieces with Gibson accompanying, including The Lark Ascending, and a Brahms violin sonata. [Jamie], Phil and I played a trio arrangement of the Sinfonia from Handel's Messiah that [her] friend Diana was kind enough to arrange for us, and [she] enjoyed playing it so much [she] asked if we could play it again! ;) Sometime way too late, we left and drove back up to the city and eventually crashed for the night.

Friday- Started bright and early (relatively speaking) by going down to pay Roger, [my] luthier, a visit, as [Jamie] is still on the lookout for a new violin. We spent over an hour playing at least a dozen violins, and [she] ended up leaving with a Sofia violin on trial. That afternoon, [I] took [Jamie] to the music library at Peabody Conservatory, and [Jamie's] mind just about went 'asplodey being surrounded by the thousands of music scores there. We went to the Little Italy neighborhood for a fantastic dinner at [La Scala]. We had a grilled Caesar salad that had a smoked flavor to it from the grilling, and I was surprised at just how good it was. Spicy croutons, too! After dinner, we made our way to the Fells Point neighborhood, and I got to see part of the harbor (though not the Inner Harbor) and other neat stuff.

Saturday - [Jamie] got to see the Inner Harbor, including the USS Constellation, and lots of what I presume were Mennonites handing out "Be Saved!" literature in their white bonnets and long dresses. We headed over to Lexington Market, which is somewhere [her] friend Bruce told [her she] should go. [She'd] never quite seen anything like that. That night, [I] had a string ensemble concert. [She] enjoyed the concert a lot, especially the Corelli Concerto Grosso, and the Boccherini Cello Concerto in [G] major, which was performed with cello soloist Jason Love, who also happens to be the music director of another orchestra [I] play in. He was fantastic; it was quite a treat to see. [Jamie loved the second movement, especially watching me play and wear a tux. ;)] A little excitement ensued during intermission, when the bassist decided to take a swan dive to the floor. (It was really terrible. She was apparently suffering from post-concussion problems and fainted -- fell right to the ground. Not with her instrument, at least. Intermission lasted a little longer while we waited for the ambulance to come and take her away.) We had a late dinner at a tavern close to home after the concert, seated next to three guys who were quite openly gay. As much as [we] tried not to eavesdrop, [we] couldn't help it, and when they started talking about dressing up as a washer and dryer for Halloween ("We could be the stackable washer and dryer." "You'd be on top!") [Jamie] just burst out laughing. Luckily, this amused and didn't upset them.

Sunday - Sunday morning we headed down to the Baltimore Farmers' Market. Fresh produce, butter, cheese and baked goods, along with prepared food dishes, crafts and a trumpet player who apparently only knew four notes. We split a strawberry and Nutella crêpe, and a cinnamon chip scone for breakfast, which was quite delicious. [Jamie] got a chocolate macaroon brownie that was just about the size of the state of Delaware for [her] plane trip. Headed back to his apartment, and did some violin playing. Well, [I] did most of the playing, and [Jamie] spent a lot of time trying to get over [her] fear of playing in front of [me] [but she did very well-- she shouldn't get so worried =)].
After deciding that she couldn't keep the Bulgarian violin we'd borrowed, I had to take her to the airport, where the only meal we could get in time was a plate of tri-colored nachos. Regrettably, her flight wasn't delayed or cancelled or anything, so we had to say our good-byes. I went over to Dad's afterwards, but I think they were just tired of too much company. I did get to see Becki's neat pictures from Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

It's going to be really hard to get any work done today... Fortunately, I don't seem to be doing anything high-priority compared to the last few weeks.

I'm going over to Dad's place after work, because our cousin is in from England until the end of the week, and also my brother's coming down from New York this afternoon. I'm bringing my violin, and we'll probably play through some of the stuff my cousin needs to work on (he has to accompany a violinist in a few weeks).

Jamie's flight gets in after midnight. No, I won't forget to pick you up. ;) Tomorrow, among other things, we'll be going downtown to try some new instruments.

Saturday is a concert with my string ensemble, which I pretty much just want to get over with. Anything else that happens is just icing on the cake! =)

I don't think I could come up with the right words to adequately describe this weekend. Jamie already provided a pretty thorough write-up, but sorry, most of you won't be able to read it. I'll write more when I get home, though.

To summarize: Wow. Just... wow.

I don't feel like writing a big blow-by-blow weekend summary, as has been my usual thing in recent weeks. Mom came to visit Saturday morning, both because of my concert that night, and a concert Sunday afternoon in which her next-door neighbor's kid was playing. She got to meet Dayna and met up with a college/high school friend she'd been wanting to see. We also had great fun trying out the French press, and boy, it makes some good, though strong, coffee.

My concert was really fun. The soloists were good, much better than they were in rehearsals. Mom told me I move around too much and need to sit still when I play, but other people said I was interesting to watch. My stand partner and I both move a lot, so we're kind of a dangerous combination! I was also told by one of the first violinists that her and I are basically "carrying the section", which I guess is a good thing.

Sunday I went to the Hopkins Orchestra concert after Mom left. I got to talk to a few friends and thanked the conductor for his recommendations that I seek out other groups to play in (since I can't play in Hopkins).

It was in the 60s yesterday; today it's snowing. What, am I back in Pittsburgh?