All posts by hannahviolin

I am a violinist. I also enjoy running, working out, reading, and hanging with my friends and cat.
Biking, Weather, Weddings

If I title this post using the phrase Breaking Bad does that mean I’ll get more traffic?

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No, I haven’t finished watching the final season yet. I will tomorrow. (Probably). But I’ve read all the Game of Thrones books so I know what happens after that. Also I watched the movie Prisoners and figured out what was going on about halfway through so I definitely feel good about my chances here.

The weekend flew by. Saturday was full of work.

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Wedding ceremony at Our Lady of the Pillar

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Cocktail Hour at the Artist’s Guild. This was not our setup, obviously—this was for the band who would be playing after us. I bet they were more fun, though we played opera arrangements for 90 minutes, and the Carmen arrangements made me want to brush up on my Carmen Fantasy. And then thinking about Carmen Fantasy made me want to really buckle down and compose my dream piece: Fantasy on Themes from the Sound of Music. I wonder if I have the skills for that?

Sunday was full of entertainment, including a bike ride on the Riverfront Trail. Action shots–

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It looks like the seat could probably be higher.

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It is worth noting that I wanted to get a cool purple-ish helmet at Target but my head is too large for ladies’ helmets.

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Biking is so much funner than running. Why did I just learn this recently?

Monday was different because instead of my full day of teaching I did some canceling/rescheduling in order to play at a fundraising event. The cool part was that the Mayor was there and also the Attorney General of the State of Missouri. I didn’t take any pictures because I was on good behavior and that can seem creepy, but it was enjoyable and we got to hear some speeches (totally made me feel like I was on the West Wing for awhile there.) We also got to play an arrangement of one of my favorite songs—”The Luckiest” by Ben Folds. It always makes me a little teary.

Saw this on a blog I read recently. It’s from the 30 Happiest Facts of All Time.

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Speaking of running—I figured I’d sign up for a 5k after Thanksgiving (this is in addition to telling Leslie to find a Thanksgiving 5k in Phoenix, where I’ll be spending my Thanksgiving vacation. Yes, why don’t I say Thanksgiving again.).

Cats. It benefits cats. I can’t think of anything more fitting, honestly. I think running for a cause other than myself might be my best bet.

Random thoughts

Caturday: Not my cat but yours

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So I promised guest Caturdays, and even though most of the time my blog is (I’m sure) one giant disappointment to you all, this time I’m totally going to do it!

I wanted to start with my friend and blog reader Michelle, who can be found on twitter @mamarcus17 and also has a food and restaurant blog at www.stlcheesegirl.com. The guest feature was really her idea, so I wanted to feature her cat, Haley today:

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I kinda feel like I’m running a weird cat dating site right now. Haley is a beautiful black cat with glowing eyes. I suppose you don’t want to let her cross your path, huh? She probably doesn’t enjoy long walks on the beach or holding hands.

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Unlike most cats, it seems that Haley will sleep in a bed designed for her. But she won’t be happy about it.

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This one was labeled: “Haley’s new hat.” Which makes me wonder a) what her old hat looked like, and b) what the person who made her wear this for the picture looked like afterwards. That’s not a happy cat. I would like a closer look at the hat though!

This last one is my favorite. Imagine this staring at you when you wake up from a lazy afternoon nap…

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SCARY. But that’s what you get for being so lazy. Judgment.

Anyway, if you want your cat to be featured or included in a future Caturday post, email me (hannahviolin at gmail dot com) your pictures and information. I’ve already gotten quite a few submissions so if I’ve gotten yours already, thanks! Should we make it a weird contest where you vote on your favorite? The winner could receive something like a free can of cat food or a handmade cathair sweater (does anyone knit with cat hair?)

Check out my post on Wendy’s Flatbread Sandwiches. Help a girl out by checking out the links in the posts, okay?

Performing

Going full nerd

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My friend Sarah and I have been having a fairly regular weekly “movie night.” Really it’s an excuse to get together and chitchat without spending much money, but lately we’ve been trying to watch a variety of classical music movies, combined with a funny movie too. The thing about movies is that they are long, and since we live in the iPhone age, it takes a lot to keep our attention. (Something shiny! The internet! Look, it’s a cat!)

Last night we watched most of “7 Psychopaths” before turning it off (well, I don’t know if it was most, it felt like a lot though) and then we watched “Carnegie Hall.” I ordered this movie from Netflix after seeing the video of Jascha Heifetz (my previous cat’s namesake) playing the Tchiakovsky Violin Concerto and couldn’t resist. Spoiler: the movie is both awesome and terrible. It’s awesome because there are some fantastic musical performances from very old musicians. It’s terrible because the plot is both confusing and fairly non-existent, and the acting is bad. I highly recommend it.

 

The other noteworthy performance was Artur Rubinstein performing a couple of pieces on piano. Sarah and I were struck by how high he lifts his hands while playing (we are terrified to do that on the piano because we would likely hit all the wrong notes on the way down.)

 

We thought this was hilarious. I’m not sure if you had to be there, but I had to share it with you.

I found the video of him playing the entire Ritual Fire Dance on the youtube as well.

 

Anyway. Like I said, full nerd. I won’t even tell you about our lengthy conversation about the russian bow hold versus that of the franco-belgian school and the evolution thereof, because you would point and laugh at me.

So—what are some good classical music movies and good funny movies that will be good for future movie nights? We want suggestions!

Weddings

Lots of pictures from the weekend

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Okay, so I’d thought I might do a Caturday post yesterday, but it’ll have to wait until next week. I’ve received quite a few fantastic reader submissions, and I’m (obviously) accepting more! If you want your cat to be on the blog, email me a picture and some information about yourself or your cat that you would like to share! (hannahviolin at gmail dot com).

Anyway, it’s been a busy weekend. Three weddings…

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The first was in Marthasville at St Ignatius Loyola Church.

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Then to Bee Tree Park.

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Such a beautiful day!

Sunday (today) I had a wedding at the Muny in Forest Park.

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We literally could not have asked for better weather. It was a phenomenal weekend for outdoor weddings.

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What else did I do over the weekend, you ask? I mean, yes, I worked a fair amount.

But I went for a walk with my friend Laura in Tower Grove Park on Friday—it was rainy but a nice walk:

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Piper Palm House—I love the way the sky looks!

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Went out for Vietnamese food with a friend, and enjoyed a tasty Rogue Dead Guy ale. It was a new to me place called Banh Mi So, and advertises they have the best spring rolls in St Louis. I think that might be correct—they were delicious. I didn’t take a picture of them, and I’m trying to remember what they had in there: I believe it was fried mung beans. We also had a mung bean pudding for dessert—it was like rice pudding but with mung beans.

Saturday night was a girls’ night at Cork Wine Bar.

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I took a picture of them taking a selfie. I think that sums up the evening.

Oh, and something I’m very excited about: a friend found a bike for me—I’ve finally decided it’s time to follow in my dad’s footsteps and start biking again.

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It needs a few things, but should be good to go soon! Couldn’t beat the price either 😉

And since no post is complete without a cat picture…

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yet another repeat of..

Repeat of blog business from previous post: SEND ME YOUR CAT PICTURES FOR A VERY SPECIAL CATURDAY POST…read on for more information.

A few blog business items:

Check out my posts on Yoplait Fruitful and Wendy’s Flatbread Sandwiches. Help a girl out by checking out the links in the posts, okay?

Oh, and a great idea that started with a comment from a dear reader: want your cat to be included in a semi-regular kitty round up? (I imagine it’ll be on a Caturday)—email me (hannahviolin@gmail.com) with some awesome pictures of your kitty or kitties and I’ll include them in an upcoming post! If you have a blog I’d be happy to link to it, or a twitter handle or whatever. This could be a one time post or an ongoing thing, depending on YOU.

MOAR CAT PICTURES PLEASE!!!!!

Random thoughts

I may spoil some things for you in this blog post

People get all up in arms about television spoilers.

Now.

Maybe I’m just old and lame, but if the shock of what is going to happen is the only thing keeping a show from being ruined, then it probably wasn’t that great to begin with. For instance: was the Sixth Sense such a great movie, really? Is the Star Wars Trilogy ruined once you know that Darth Vader is Luke’s father? And did you know that the Titanic SINKS??

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I like rereading books and rewatching shows and movies that are good. Maybe I’m just not a fan of suspense and plot twists and surprises? Nonetheless, I don’t worry too much about spoilers.

Which brings us to the latest season of Breaking Bad. Currently I don’t have cable television but I got jealous of all the vague tweets and people raving about the latest season, so I purchased it on iTunes.

Hmm. I should have known better. I didn’t really think the first half of the “final” season was that great, and I’m not loving the rest of it either. For me, the show has lost what made it so great in the beginning. And honestly, it’s not that shocking OR unpredictable. Or I’m jaded and bitter and have a cold, black heart. Who knows.

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I was getting really excited about practicing the same two bits of the Nutcracker Overture again. Practicing is hard work and serious business.

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A friend sent this picture from the baseball game the other night. They do a promo of the Symphony playing “Meet Me in St Louis”. The season started this week and I’m excited to see Ein Heldenleben next week!

Probably this is too super classical nerdy for anybody outside of the strange world to get, but whenever I think of Ein Heldenleben—I think of this PDQ Bach quote—I believe it was for the piece “Bach Portrait”, a great work about What Copland did for Lincoln, what Beethoven did for Wellington, what Tchaikovsky did for little Russians, and what Richard Strauss did for himself. (I tried to find a video of it on the Youtube, but failed—I found Bach Portrait, but I believe the quote is from the introduction before the piece plays. Nonetheless. I promise you it’s very funny to hear it.)

Repeat of blog business from previous post: SEND ME YOUR CAT PICTURES FOR A VERY SPECIAL CATURDAY POST…read on for more information.

A few blog business items:

Check out my posts on Yoplait Fruitful and Wendy’s Flatbread Sandwiches. Help a girl out by checking out the links in the posts, okay?

Oh, and a great idea that started with a comment from a dear reader: want your cat to be included in a semi-regular kitty round up? (I imagine it’ll be on a Caturday)—email me (hannahviolin@gmail.com) with some awesome pictures of your kitty or kitties and I’ll include them in an upcoming post! If you have a blog I’d be happy to link to it, or a twitter handle or whatever. This could be a one time post or an ongoing thing, depending on YOU.

Deep Thoughts

I used to, but now…and an important announcement at the end about caturdays

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I feel like lately I’ve had a lot of conversations about things that end up with me saying, oh, yeah, I used to (fill in the blank) but then (voice trails off).

For instance “I used to run around Forest Park weekly, but now…” or “I used to eat really healthy and have a vegetable at every meal, but now…” or “I used to play a different concert with a different orchestra every week, but now…”. The list could go on and on.

The question is: what is important to me. Honestly, I’m eating like crap, and I felt so much better eating better (and I have loads of clothes that are a bit or more too tight, there’s a definite connection there)…I’d like to be that way again. Running…well I definitely need more physical activity in my life, though I’ve been getting better recently. A friend and I have been doing some running and actually I went hiking over the weekend, and that is helping me feel better about myself. (Way easier to force yourself to run when somebody is meeting you too.)

Minor problem, I turned my ankle on a “run” this morning—stepped off the path and MAN that really hurts. I hadn’t rolled my ankle in awhile…and I forgot how freaking much it hurts.  But that’s a little setback, I can deal with a little setback, right? (Ignoring the fact that the entire year feels like it has just been one little setback after another, I will continue to maintain positivity as best as I can.)

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Violin wise…it’s always a question of what do I want. My entire adulthood has been based on “hey, I really like playing the violin, how do I make this my living.” It’s a constant stream of trying to cobble everything together…and this year I’m excited to have some regular chamber music rehearsals happening in addition to my teaching, practicing, and wedding gigs.

So…I’ve talked about how I’ve tried to let myself off the hook, (and a few years before that, oh, and wait here’s another one about not comparing myself to…myself) and how I am trying to relax and just be and be okay with that. But honestly, I don’t WANT to eat like crap and just sit around watching netflix. I think that’s boring and among many things, I don’t want to be boring. I also don’t want to look back on my life and the things I used to do fondly, I want to be doing those things. But it’s a challenge, and I know I have to strike a balance figuring out what I am mentally capable of and not to stress myself out more or be too hard on myself…but I don’t want to use that as an excuse.

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Though maybe sometimes lying on the couch watching TV and trying to figure out which face angle is best for selfies is just what the doctor ordered…I’ve decided it depends on whether or not my ear is showing as to which side of my face is best. This is the real important stuff I manage to accomplish, rather than checking off important items on my to-do list like getting my BOW REHAIRED.

I do often feel like I’m just going in circles…I’ve written this post over and over, haven’t I? Maybe this time I mean it, with “it” meaning whatever I want it to mean. And I really do need a bow rehair in a bad way, and that needs to happen this week. (We string players have to get the hair on our bows replaced every so often as it gets old and worn out. The bow is made of wood and the hair is horsehair, and that’s the replaceable part.)

A few blog business items:

Check out my posts on Yoplait Fruitful and Wendy’s Flatbread Sandwiches. Help a girl out by checking out the links in the posts, okay?

Oh, and a great idea that started with a comment from a dear reader: want your cat to be included in a semi-regular kitty round up? (I imagine it’ll be on a Caturday)—email me (hannahviolin@gmail.com) with some awesome pictures of your kitty or kitties and I’ll include them in an upcoming post! If you have a blog I’d be happy to link to it, or a twitter handle or whatever. Whatever information you want to share would be awesome.