Happenings

1. Violin.

Okay. I like violin. But my recital is in three days, and my piece is not recital-ready, and that is stressing me out a bit a lot. Ugh. But on a funnier note, here is a story: I was just doing my normal stuff the other day when my little sister, Ruth, emerged from the hallway carrying her little violin. "You should name your violin, Margaret. I named mine Susan," she announced. Leave it to her to apply names to instruments at random times. :) So we thought of names for my violin, looking for the perfect one. It needed to be elegant, because I am a classical violinist, and down-home style, because my violin is a fiddle. Now we can't decide whether it should be Clara or Johnny. It's not that bad of a predicament, I guess!

2. Thumbdrives.

I was going to add more to my NaNo novel on Sunday, but to my small horror, the thumbdrive I the keep the file on had disappeared. A mad racing over the house ensued, with me asking everyone, "Have you seen a tiny silver colored thumbdrive? No? Are you sure?" It was awful, but as I continued to search, I started to realize that losing the first draft of the novel wouldn't be that terrible. That made me feel like a traitor, for some reason... But I eventually found the thumbdrive in the pocket of my vest and of course was very glad to have it back. :) Remember this: USB thumbdrives are devious little implements of matter that will disappear if given the tiniest chance. Do not give them that chance.

3. Tangled.

Have you seen it yet? It's really great. Rapunzel makes a lovable heroine, and the details added to the story are just perfect. Good movie. :)

Not my image

4. Flickr

It's so fun! I started one the other day and have really enjoyed it. But I still have stuff to learn about it, too. :) Click here to see my photostream!

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Well, I am off to do algebra, bake cookies, and prepare for a busy weekend. Have a lovely winter day and thanks for reading!
~Margaret

Happenings

Hello everyone! It feels like it has been a while since I last posted, and I wanted to write something cool for this newest post, but nothing was coming. So I am just going to tell you all the stuff that has been goin' on with me lately!

1. I had a piano recital tonight. I told myself and everyone that it was just another recital and there was no way I was nervous. Psh, I do these things all the time, right? Right. Well, my number was third to last on the program, so I had all concert to NOT think about my turn. But when the time drew near, I was feeling acute anxiety. I had hoped to play my piece from memory like I could at home, but if I had not had the music in front of me while I was playing, it would have been a disaster. But I did it, and it's done, and I have all year to prepare myself for a butterfly-free recital next time! My friend and I also played a duet of "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera that we have been practicing for quite some time. It turned out very nicely, I think. Big sigh of relief :)

2. I have been very tired for last few days. The reason? Late night reading. The book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is the type that you simply cannot put down for at least five chapters. I have been letting myself go for up to ten, which means my light has been on at 12:00 AM on a week night. It's a book about books, and very suspenseful, so I am just loving it.

3. I am very fed up with school. I want it to be done!!!!! Maybe the snow (!!!) that is falling outside right now will help me get into the winter/school year mindset again. But for now it is Friday night, and I will block IT from my mind until next week. Starting now.

4. My delightful friend, Abigail, told a whole bunch of stuff about blogging, so now I know how to mess with the template and fonts and buttons and backgrounds.... Can you tell? How are you liking the new theme? This website has a wide selection of the cutest blog graphics I have seen yet.

5. More recital stuff: I have my violin recital tomorrow, and I am not as confident as I should be about my song. But my teacher (who you know to be very cool) is assured that I will do fine, so I am blaming the insecurity on recital jitters. Which still do exist, as I learned tonight!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Tuesday Night Magic

I have played the violin for about 7 years now. I used to hate it with a passion, thinking it was boring and useless and extremely hard. But I am over that now, thankfully. Two years ago I started private lessons with a new teacher, which completely changed my view on this wonderful instrument. She is a professional cellist, but she is also good playing the piano and the violin. My brother, also a cellist, had been taking lessons from her for about two years when I started with her. I was apprehensive at first, for this was the first new teacher I had in five years! My old teacher had been the easy-going director of the small beginner orchestra I had started out in. She was a good teacher, but with as many children as she had to teach, I got little attention and my playing did not improve much in five years. But I was still sad when she announced that she was retiring. Anyway. Back to the near past. After one year with my new teacher, I had made leaps and bounds with my playing and was having a great time, too. Yes, I was having fun! I look forward to Tuesday night lessons and try to live up to my teacher's hopes for me. She likes it I move with the music, which I am still shy about, and is all about resonance and good tone.
I still get discouraged sometimes when I practice at home. When I play my exercises for my wonderful teacher, and especially when she plays them with me, I get volume and splendid sound that I used to only dream of. It's like magic, what she does. I still have much to learn and far to go, but the dislike and anger I used to feel when I played the violin has been replaced with happiness and satisfaction with the music I make.