*sigh*

Where did the weekend go?

Oh right, 9 hours of opera rehearsal.

Can anyone name this tune?

I’m playing with Union Avenue Opera the next couple of weeks. We are performing Wagner’s Die Walkure. It’s nice to be playing some real music especially since I didn’t get to go do that in Colorado after all this summer. (Readers can surmise little of my summer has been like I planned.)

Violin wise, this year I’m not playing with Chamber Project St Louis. I’m pursuing other more traditional chamber music opportunities (sonatas, piano trio, quartet) and hope to have a few performances this year. I’d go more into the reasons why, but it’s not important or professional of me to do so.  (I wish them the best.)

Blogging is funny like that, isn’t it? You can’t actually say everything you want to. I’m sure you guys don’t really care, but with some very well read and well known blogs, people get upset when bloggers don’t share everything. The thing is—you just can’t, unless you don’t care about anybody else but yourself. You can share a lot, but there are things that happen in your life that you can’t share every detail of, either because it’s primarily not your business, or perhaps because professional it would be a very bad move, or maybe for potential legal reasons. Does that mean bloggers are liars? Yeah, probably that’s what it is. We are all lying to make you think that life is amazing and when you are feeling upset, you are being RIDICULOUS!

(No, THIS is ridiculous)

It makes blogging a challenge sometimes when things aren’t going as well. Plus, none of us want to be seen as a whiner, right? As much as people don’t think you should be happy all the time, nobody wants to read a blog of somebody who just complains all the time.

Recently a twitter follower asked me how do I decide what to blog about? Well, obviously I don’t make any decisions at all and simply blog about whatever is running through my head at the time. This is why nobody really reads this, which is probably for the best 🙂

Yes, I really do wear those giant glasses when I run. I don’t go fast enough that they catch much air and slow me down.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away, I used to be a runner.

And when I was, long time readers will recall, perhaps reluctantly, that I once lost a big toenail.

What I didn’t mention on my blog was that my OTHER big toenail also had something weird going on with it. It had been partly black, but I was never able to get the nail off. After worrying about it for awhile, I finally decided that I would just give up and ignore it and hope that someday it would be normal again.

Saturday after I showered I happened to look at my toenail (imagine me sprawled out on the couch watching Breaking Bad or How I Met Your Mother on Netflix, and randomly inspecting my toes) and realized that it was loose. I pulled on it and VOILA!

A big part of it came off! BUT underneath…was a brand new nail.

You can see where the toe went together the last time I got a pedicure (badly needed at this time, I apologize)…how cool is that? Now both my big toenails are basically okay! (The side of this one is still a little discolored, but I’m going to continue ignoring it.)

After this I naturally texted these pictures to my best friends. Most people were pretty grossed out (you’re welcome) but my friend Sarah made a meme of it.

This month has been a blur. I could say, oh, hey, sorry I haven’t been blogging as much. Or I could say, oh, hey, I know you don’t CARE I haven’t been blogging as much. Or I could just pretend that it doesn’t matter…because truth be told, it doesn’t!

One thing I’ve NOT been doing lately is really working out. I think I have run (note the grammar, please) three times this past month. I haven’t gone to the gym.

Result: okay, I’m probably less healthy and less strong. But I’m less hungry! And I haven’t weighed myself, but I think I’ve even lost a few pounds. I consider what I’ve been doing to be intuitive eating. I’ve been eating exactly what I wanted, and I’m not going to lie. Usually that’s pizza. But by telling myself I can eat what I want, I find I don’t want to go crazy, because then I feel gross and full. Weird, right? I didn’t read any books about it though, so there’s that. I’m just…eating what I feel like. And occasionally that even includes vegetables.

(this one never includes vegetables)

I’m actually back at the gym tomorrow though. We’ll see how my month of virtually not exercising has treated me. I did a bunch of body weight exercises last week—this included 100 lunges and 100 squats, and then I couldn’t really walk for a few days. I missed that feeling, but I do also like the feeling of being able to walk properly. I’m torn, I guess.

I’ve been obsessing over the show White Collar lately too. If you follow me on twitter you’ve picked up on this. Not gonna lie. This has something to do with it.

And this:

Plus it’s a smartly written show and very entertaining (I swear!). In the past two weeks since I became obsessed, I started to feel like I was ALSO in some complex world where I needed to stay 18 steps ahead of everyone and that everything that anybody said was richly laced with deep meaning. And then I realized that a) I’m not actually smart enough for that (I forgot the house alarm code once, just out of the blue, and once I put in an old zip code at the gas station pump, simply because I forgot) and b) most people are just living their lives and not everything everybody does has an agenda.

It must be exhausting to live like the people on that show! (yes, I’m aware they are actors.)

But still…worth it, right?

I know I shouldn’t objectify men and all that (or people, objectifying people is wrong, dear readers!). But..PRETTY! You should watch the show. (This is not a sponsored post, but I would be willing to get paid to watch the show, honestly. I’m not even making that part up. I would watch the whole series again if somebody paid me to.)

Excitement this week: My folks just stopped by on their way further west (driving, not biking), and I’m headed to Chicago for a long weekend visiting my friend Karen (Karen, if you’re reading this, I should give you a call or at least get your address) and hopefully eating at Avec… less side pony, more bacon wrapped dates! (intuitively that’s what I think I want).

Yes, I have to watch on my computer since the TV isn’t hooked up right. And no, it’s the middle of the afternoon so I’m not actually drinking right now—I have to teach soon! But, otherwise, that pretty much sums up my summer.