Thank you to StudentAdvisor.com for sponsoring this post. To learn more about MOOCs visit Mooc.StudentAdvisor.com.

Do you think of yourself as a lifelong learner?  Do you have curiosity about the world beyond what you already know?  Were you always trying to take the maximum number of hours of classes in college beyond just the requirements for your degree?  Do you love to read?  If you answered yes to any or, better yet, all of those questions, you might want to consider taking a Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC for short.

Many world renowned universities such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford and Duke have free open online courses available for anyone who is interested.  There are a variety of websites that offer these courses, such as Edx or Coursera.  Basically it’s like going to a university and taking classes, but it’s a virtual college that is free and open to anyone.  Either way, you can attend class in your pajamas!

I have never taken a MOOC before but I have been interested ever since I heard of them.  The problem I had was deciding what course to take.  There are so many subjects that I didn’t get to learn about in college (I was a music major.)  The subjects offered range from Greek Literature to Psychology to Game Theory to Calculus.  Some of the courses are 5 or 6 weeks long, some are longer. The descriptions are well written and very appealing.  For a few short hours of studying a week you’ll become an expert in Sociology or Climate Change or Statistics.  My brain starts spinning at the possibilities of things I could learn!

For the rest of this blog post, please visit (insert link to post here)

For more information about MOOCs, please visit StudentAdvisor.com. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I think that’s what people are doing, right?

My mom recently had some slides converted into digital form. I wanted to share a few of me as a kid!

Me holding my sister Leslie. Look at those CHEEKS! And my adorable eyes and blonde hair.

Me, Leslie, and my brother Jesse. Leslie laughed because I was stuck with the yellow pjs since they had pink and blue covered. Already chewing my fingernails, it looks like.

I was evidently very proud of my baby sister. Who possibly had the mumps in this photo…she had the biggest cheeks anyone has ever seen.

Like now, I tanned easily.

An early violin recital. I seem to have won some sort of award than Leslie is taking a bow for.

Remember the dome house that my dad built and my parents live in? Here’s the beginning of the construction. I’m in the green with stripes. That’s my Dad, me, Jesse, and Leslie.

And one last one, as to not leave my mom off the blog. On the couch, my dad, baby Leslie, my Grandma and Grandpa (mom’s side), my Mom. In the front, Jesse and me.

Aren’t old pictures the best? I probably take more pictures in a couple of weeks than we used to take in a year! It was different when you had to buy film and pay for developing, wasn’t it? But I think that makes the pictures more precious, in a way.

Recently I had a violin recital at my home for my home students. Each year I invite the parents to bring goodies for a little reception afterwards, and for the past three years one of the parents has brought violin shaped cookies. Aren’t they adorable? (not to take away from what the other parents brought—butterscotch brownies, fruit, more cookies…I love my students!).

I don’t have a recipe to share, but it’s a sugar cookie recipe. The detail in the icing is so fun! (You should totes pin the recipe.)

One student was overheard saying “I don’t know how many of these I’ve eaten, but I can’t stop.”

Saturday is a big day!

Saturday morning: the 80’s race…(I haven’t totally settled on my costume, but I think you’ll love it.)

(already got our shirts and race numbers)

Saturday night:

Chamber Project St Louis. 8 pm at the Chapel. Tickets on sale now.

(from a couple years ago.)

And then…one more week of my school. I’m thrilled to tell you that I’ve gotten a bunch of new students going into the summer and feel confident that I’ll be at the same income level by fall (if not higher) through private teaching! Though I’ve enjoyed many aspects of teaching at the school I look forward to finally really working for myself 🙂 When a door closes, I find…another bigger door often opens. You just have to look around! (sappy inspirational paragraph) And yes, I’m still accepting new students, gladly!

Wish me luck this weekend!

(Did I use enough exclamation points for you?)

Somebody found my blog the other day by searching for “how to tell if your violin is depressed.” I thought I’d use that as a prompt and tell you five ways to tell if your violin is depressed and five ways to help. (Note: Depression is a serious illness and in reality, the best and sometimes only way out is to seek medical help. )

How to tell if your violin is depressed:

1. It won’t stay in tune. You’re constantly tuning it and wondering if it’s the weather or if it’s the humidity. It’s neither.

2. It’s covered in cat hair. All different kinds of cats. Violins tend to seek out cats more when they are sad.

3. It only wants to play sad pieces like Barber’s Adagio. If you try to play something happy like Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony it transposes it into a minor key and before you know it, you’re back in Barber’s Adagio.

4. Your violin won’t eat and sleeps all day in its case.  It refuses to come out even for its previous favorite activities like Kreutzer Etudes and Scales.

5. You find a lot of empty alcohol and prescription drug bottles hidden in the trash and you don’t remember drinking or taking any of them yourself. That’s just your violin, self-medicating.

How to help:

1. Blast happy, joyful tunes at your violin all day long. I recommend a lot of Mozart and perhaps the last movement of the Organ Symphony by Camille Saint-Saens.

2. Practice, practice, practice. Aka, fake it till you make it. If you pretend it’s not depressed, on occasion, your violin will pull through. Try scales, Sevcik, etudes, and your violin’s old favorite pieces.

3. Sometimes putting your violin together with other instruments can help. For instance, consider another violin, a viola, and a cello. Get them to play some Beethoven String Quartets (personal favorite, opus 132). DO NOT let them play Barber’s Adagio. If this fails, try a larger group—include woodwinds, brass, percussion. Mahler Symphony no. 2 might be a good option for that. (You’ll need a chorus too.) Again, do not let them start playing Barber’s Adagio.

4. Buy it a new, colorful case. Studies show that bright colors can help. Continue to avoid direct sunlight though as violins, unlike humans, do not like direct sunlight.

5. If all else fails, your violin will need professional help. Take it to a luthier for repairs. Consider planing the fingerboard, a new bridge and/or soundpost, an adjustment, a thorough cleaning and polishing, and of course, all new strings! If that doesn’t make your violin happier, then nothing will.

How long since I did an oatmeal post? Years, I think.

In the past, I’d been doing overnight oats. You add milk, yogurt or water to a serving of oats and refrigerate it for a minimum of overnight. That was before we lived in a house with a microwave. Since we have a microwave now, I’ve discovered that regular oats only take about a minute and a half to get to the consistency I like. I still do overnight oats occasionally or (and sorry I’m not sorry) I make OOIAJ (overnight oats in a jar) to use up the last bits of “nut butter.” Chris thinks I’m crazy but it’s a nice treat.

Oatmeal. 3/4 cup. Cover with water. Microwave for 1:30 (yes, I don’t care for it too soggy.) Add spoonful of “nut butter”, scoop of “protein powder” and your choice of fruit. And coffee. WIN.

Pictured below: raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. No banana this week: I ate those plain.

Are you a creature of habit for your morning meal?