I wanted to share some awesome links with you.  If you are bored, like I am, I recommend reading them!  (If you are a facebook friend of mine some of these will not be new to you.  Sorry.  I have to recycle my material sometimes.)

Firstly, a sad story about a friendless hedgehog.  If that doesn’t make your cold, black, heart grow…well, then nothing will. (thanks to Sarah for the link).

Here’s another great story from Sarah:  Tips for Single Ladies from 1938.  Some things never change! (That being that people are always trying to give advice).

Perhaps you’ve heard about the cicadas taking over St Louis?  Wonder how great moments in history would have sounded with cicadas?  No?  I recommend checking it out anyway.

This is less funny, but very interesting.  Did you know that women pass judgment on someone within 20 seconds of meeting them?  Does it take us that long? 

Next a youtube video.  Legend of Zelda for a cappella voices and violin.  Greatest thing ever.

Here’s one I lol-ed at from the onion.  Work Friend Accidentally Becomes Real Friend.  Hopefully that will never happen to me.

Here’s another good one, about a pitcher having trouble making his parents understand a no-hitter is still pretty good.  Any of you who have parents with high, exacting standards will appreciate that.

How about this?  A violin playing hitchhiker.  Just like that guy from Field of Dreams, I think.

Okay, all these links made me think of this video of a sheep wearing a mask.  It’s a few years old, but I still snickered.

And now for some random pictures that make me laugh (or cry):

And of course…(the greatest picture ever)…

As a blogger, I guess I should admit that I got free tickets to the circus.  Not because I’m a blogger though, but just because that’s how I roll. 

Everybody knows that depending on what business you are in you get certain perks.  Restaurant workers often get discounts or free food at other restaurants.  Celebrities get everything free.  Bankers and other wealthy businessmen get free Congress.  Since I’m a musician I get free symphony tickets and occasionally other stuff too.  One time I got a free viola A string, and I’ve also gotten some rosin and a gigantic stack of orchestra folders.  Crazy, right?  I believe I gave the A string to Chris and sadly he never said anything about it again.  Sort of like when I asked him a few months ago why he asked me to marry him…he said "I don’t know" and then we never spoke of it again.

But I digress.

Circus Flora was generous enough to offer comp tickets to the symphony members for last night’s performance of Vagabound Adventures.  As the usual date of a symphony member (or at least an "acting" symphony member) I was invited to go. 

They set up the "big top" in the parking lot next to Powell Symphony Hall (where the SLSO plays).  The tent IS air-conditioned.

Our friends Jon and Laura came along as well.

Laura’s more adept at posing for photos than I am since her group, Chamber Project St Louis (remember, concert next Thursday at 7:30) just had a lengthy photo shoot.

In any case, we weren’t supposed to take photos inside the tent so I’ll just tell you about it.  It’s set up in a circle with the action in the middle.

The show started with a narrator telling the plot.  I’ll admit, the plot was a bit thin, but who really cares about the plot?  There were jugglers first, lots of jugglers juggling in a variety of combinations of people.  Next was a contortionist.  First she brought one of her legs straight up in front of her body.  I leaned over to Chris and said, "well, I can do THAT, especially after attending Bikram Yoga."  Then she put that leg around back.  And then bend backwards and grabbed her ankles.  I can’t do those things. There was a funny act with a horse and then some acrobatics and tumbling by the St Louis Arches.  There was also a clown named Nino who kept getting in the way of things.

The big act before intermission was the Flying Wallendas on the tightrope.  I’d seen this act when the symphony played with the circus in the winter, but this time we were UNDER the tightrope.  And I mean, directly under, as in my neck hurt to look up, but yet I was afraid NOT to look in case they fell and I needed to move fast.  Wow.  Breathtaking.  (I recommend checking out those links if you are interested in the history of the family.)

At intermission we ran into a variety of people we knew—it seems many of the symphony members were eager to see the show for free!

The second act was again a mix of things.  A pair of brothers, "The Riding Donnerts", did a bunch of tricks while standing (or doing acrobatics) on the backs of horses going around the ring.  They were fantastic!  Then more clowning, more acrobatics, and then the finale–

The best act was at the end (as it should be)—the "Flying Pages" on the flying trapeze.  There were two trapezes and three landings and the whole act was incredibly exciting!  And yes, there was a net, unlike those crazy Wallendas.

In any case, I highly recommend seeing the Circus if you live in the area.  It runs all month, and you will love it.  We certainly did.

(See how I did that, as a review?  Aren’t I fancy?)

Tonight I am going to the circus!

I saw Circus Flora with the symphony in January.

Tonight we will see them in the tent in the parking lot outside of Powell Hall.  I can’t wait!

It’s been a pretty good week so far.  Tuesday was spent recovering from the weekend.  Wednesday I did a run with Jen in honor of “National Running Day.”  (Actually, no, in honor of “we ate way too much on Memorial day”).

Sunday will be my student recital at the house.  Better do some cleaning!

Next week, don’t forget, Thursday night, 7:30 pm Chamber Project St Louis Concert.

Oh, and Tuesday is my birthday.  Just saying.

Whaddya think?

Today I decided I liked the one shoulder look.  And I guess I don’t need to worry about whether I can play the violin in it, right?  What’s funny is that most of those pictures are from sketchy looking chinese sites.  Very odd.

I need to try on some dresses.  Not sure how that "trumpet style" will work.  Could be nice, could make me look fat.

What do you all think? 

Can you believe it’s June already?  I feel old when I say things like that. 

So it’s the third day of the online virtual pretend summer retreat.  Yesterday was all about sleep, and I generally get plenty of sleep so I felt good about that one.  Today is about my diet. 

On day #3, the main goal is just to cultivate an awareness of what/when you are eating and think about how your diet is serving you.

It’s very interesting timing because my trainer’s weight loss competition started yesterday.  I’m attempting to lose 12 pounds in the next two months or so.  I’ve been eating pretty healthfully, and I know (hypothetically) what I need to cut out of my diet to lose weight (or minimize, at least, i.e. cheese and alcohol.)  If I win the competition I get a free month of training…

The recommendation is to "play food blogger" for a day and keep track of everything I eat.  I am supposed to be keeping a food diary (not like the food diaries from my "trips out west" in middle school where ice cream was served at 10 am and turkey sandwiches shortly after and then bedtime…then again, perhaps a very similar idea…) and while I haven’t officially started keeping a food diary yet, perhaps today will be a good day to start.  I will not be blogging that, however.  You don’t get to see what I eat in a day, sorry.  None of your damned business.

(I know if I want to lose weight that I will go to bed hungry.  That is just how it works.  The question is am I ready for that, and can I work out and run the way I want to if I am going to bed hungry?  And don’t say, oh that’s not healthy.  That’s how it works for me.  And yes, I embrace that feeling of hunger.)

Next comes the Michael Pollan book suggestion.  I haven’t read "In Defense of Food" but I did follow the link to the 12 commandments of eating (and I love seriouseats.com so it was a win-win).  Follow this link!  I know I should read it, but I read "The Omnivore’s Dilemma" and found him to be somewhat insufferable and pretentious.  Sorry.  I just can’t.

Perhaps I’ll try the meditation idea for lunch (– for one meal, try to go without media/entertainment –) I generally read while eating (if I am alone) and I suppose no harm is done to try to simply eat.  

Happy Wednesday!

It’s amazing how my outlook has changed lately simply by being DONE with in-school teaching for the year.  And for more than that.  Possibly forever.  I just wasn’t enjoying my work the past six months or so, and now that I am DONE with school, I am much happier and carefree.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you know this.  And April/May were particularly tough months for me, but now I feel lighter and more ready to face my future.

One of my favorite bloggers is running an online six week virtual summer retreat, and I first read about it a few weeks ago during a darker time.  And thought, wow that’s a perfect idea to get my spirits up!  This retreat started today.

This week’s theme:  Inside/out

Now, the retreat doesn’t require blogging about it, but I just wanted to touch on a few things that I thought of while working on today’s "assignment."

Writing assignment: we were asked to write down what an "ideal day" would look like.  In the spirit of the retreat—making it work for me rather than somebody else– I decided not to actually do this, but I did brainstorm some of my favorite activities and things that I love to do.  Basically, I love to read, cook and eat, and hang out with Chris and other friends.  The next part was to try to incorporate some of these "ideal day" activities into today.  EASY as it’s a holiday…I am basically having the perfect day!  I already read quite a bit and soon Chris and I are going to a barbecue with friends. The only thing perhaps missing is a long run with Jen to really feel alive, but I did that yesterday.  I even "meditated" for a few minutes and considered how to redirect my outlook on a few matters that have been causing a bit of trouble.  Yes, even though I make a lot of jokes, I do occasionally look seriously within myself—this retreat is part of that.

I also read the recommended reading "you’re already perfect" by zen habits. 

The author says "You’re already good enough, you already have more than enough, and you’re already perfect."

"You’re already perfect. Being content with yourself means realizing that striving for perfection is based on someone else’s idea of what “perfect” is … and that that’s all bullshit. Perfect is who you are, not who someone else says you should be."

It’s so true.  I forget how good I have it sometimes.  My life is pretty darned awesome, and I need to remember that all the time.  It’s so hard for me to NOT compare myself to others (and my competitive streak always kicks in then, because I want to be the best.)  Instead I should remember I am already awesome and perfect!  So I can relax. 

(It’s easy for me to say this right now, in a few hours I will likely be again comparing myself to everybody else and noticing where I come up short.  Such is the way my brain works.  Excuse me, my perfect brain.)

In addition to the daily assignment, the weekly assignment/goal is to ruminate on the following:

■ what really works for you?
■ when do you truly feel your best?
■ what gets in your way from making your ideal health practices a reality?

I’ll be thinking about these things all week. 

Want to join me on the virtual summer retreat?  There’s no cost and no commitment.  Let’s do it!