Books

I open at the close

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Tonight I am finally going to see the Harry Potter movie!  I must admit I am looking forward to it, but not as much as many have.  Most of the movies have disappointed me.

I started reading Harry Potter back shortly after the third one (Prisoner of Azkaban) came out.  I can’t recall if this was over Christmas break or summer vacation.  I was visiting home and my mother encouraged me to read the books while I was there.  Being ornery, I naturally resisted.  But she kept talking them up and I was visiting for several days.  I started the first one one night when I was bored, and I was HOOKED.  I read all three books in the next 24 hours, and then (if memory serves) I reread them all before I went back to wherever I was living (Cleveland, I believe).

I had to wait almost awhile for the next book though…I pre-ordered it to arrive when I was in Breckenridge, Colorado, the next summer, as a member of the National Repertory Orchestra.  It arrived ONE day before the actual release date.  Go figure.  I was preparing to solo with the orchestra (Saint-Saens Havanaise) but the piece was short and naturally I was having mild playing problems so I took it easy on practicing and read Goblet of Fire instead.  AWESOME.  It took quite the dark turn, didn’t it?

Then it was a long wait for Order of Phoenix.  According to Wikipedia THREE years passed.  It was an awful three years.  By then (2003) I was living in Charlotte, NC, playing with the Charlotte Symphony.  I had had such good luck pre-ordering Goblet that I did the same.  It arrived at my doorstep on the day of the release and I naturally shut myself in to read it.  Intense.  And long.  If you can’t tell, I am an incredibly fast reader, so I really appreciate a long book.

By the time Half Blood Prince came out I was back in Cleveland.  Got that one mail order as well, but I recall I had to interrupt my reading to go play a wedding gig.  I was up late into the night finishing it.  When Snape killed Dumbledore, I was sobbing like a baby.

Then the end:  Deathly Hallows.  I was in the Bahamas when it came out so upon our return to Florida (we were on a cruise) the first stop was a bookstore.  I spent the rest of the day reading it, and then as usual, rereading it.  It was a fantastic ending to the story.  And in my mind, that’s when the story ended.  Though, it never really ends, because you can always start it again from the beginning (and I do, at least once or twice a year.)

So that brings us to the movies.  Since I know and love the books as much as I do, the movies have always disappointed me.  I enjoy them (for the most part, except HBP has some parts that really bug me, and so does OoP) but I don’t love them.  So while I’m looking forward to tonight’s movie (and I am, I truly am) and while I will likely cry every time Dobby gets killed, I will never feel them with the same voracity that I do the HP books.  And it’s not that I don’t appreciate movies, because the Lord of the Rings is just amazing, and I prefer the movies to the books.

I know a lot of {younger} people that grew up with Harry Potter.  I feel like I grew up with Harry Potter as well, except it was my early adult years.  That’s what I find most interesting.  Those years at the end of school and at the beginning of my career and my adult life…that’s when I had Harry Potter.  Like many other musicians, I haven’t exactly followed a direct path anywhere, and I still don’t know where I’m going.  Sometimes it feels like no matter what we do, we still just have to wait for something to happen to us. 

Kind of like you are a young boy, living under a cupboard.  Okay, no.  No that’s not the same at all.  I’m sorry for even attempting to make that analogy.

But still…I remember being young so well.  I still feel young a lot of the time.  In fact, maybe I didn’t grow up with Harry Potter.  Sometimes I feel like I am still waiting to grow up.

Do you feel that way too?  Like you are still waiting to grow up and any evidence to the contrary is simply you faking it?  Do you also wonder why Harry and Ron can’t ever learn anything without Hermione’s help?  Is that just a guy thing?

What’s most amazing to me is that Chris and I have been dating the entire time I’ve been reading Harry Potter.  And that until we got engaged people found that to be a bad thing.  Why is it so horrible to have dating somebody since 1999?  Doesn’t that show a certain level of fortitude and commitment?

Last word for today:  A friend messaged me a link to a blog that I wanted to share with you about balance and exercising.  She suggested that I was too hard on myself sometimes.  (I know.)  That’d be a whole ‘nother blog entry, about my lack of balance and how I seemingly cannot pursue anything half heartedly.  BUT I must publish so I can practice another hour before teaching while standing up straight with my chest up (when in doubt, chest up) and I will tell you all more about posture another day.

P.S.  If you haven’t done so, introduce yourself in my last entry!  I’m so pleased to hear from some of you and I’ll be checking out your blogs (if you have them, it’s not at all required) later tonight or tomorrow.

P.P.S.  I feel a little manic today!  Sorry for all the blog posts, I just have so much to share.

overconfidence

Random thoughts

Introduce yourself!!

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I’m curious about you, the readers!  If you are a reader, PLEASE consider introducing yourself in the comments.  Where do you come from?  Why do you read my blog?  Any questions or suggestions for me?  I’d love to hear from you!

www.marriedtothesea.com
www.marriedtothesea.com

Every single day somebody finds my blog by searching for “cheese” or “cheese slice.”  Do I talk about cheese very often?

Other searches this week:

very beautiful pedicure – why thank you, and a manicure now as well.

marathon running loses control of bowels – never fails, people love searching for this.  I had to take the picture down though. 

jon hamm personal email – if you find it, let me know!  I’m sure he’s waiting to hear from me.

getting into a symphony without a good resume – how about getting in without a good audition? But have you read my orchestra auditions for non musicians post?

i am a reader and a runner blog – I guess I’m these things…I hope they enjoyed what they found!  Remember I also play the violin and I’m mildly sociopathic with an inflated sense of self…just kidding!

violin cake – sounds delicious!

purple pig calamari – oh YES.  So good.  Also contains vegetables, a bonus!

outdoor hot yoga phoenix – wouldn’t that simply be doing yoga outside in phoenix in the summer?

There’s something narcissistic about having a blog and writing about yourself.  (I think that’s probably an understatement 😉  )  The question is:  have I become MORE narcissistic since starting this blog or have I always been that way?  Karen and I were discussing this the other night—she thinks I haven’t changed much since we were friends in Cleveland.  I guess I was narcissistic then as well?  I think I’m a good friend too though.  I try not to just talk about myself, in fact, since I put it all out there on the blog I can spend more time with friends asking about them and listening rather than telling them about my life.

Or am I deluding myself?  What do you all think?

Unrelated:  my weekend may have caught up to me last night during my run.  I was going for 4 miles, and only made it 2 miles before I had to stop and almost threw up.  I fought against nausea for the rest of the run…I could blame the heat, but I will probably blame my weekend activities instead.  No lasting harm done though, I’m sure.  Only up two pounds this morning…not great, not great.

Remember:  PLEASE introduce yourself in the comments here!  No more lurking 😉

www.marriedtothesea.com
www.marriedtothesea.com

Random thoughts

Blistered feet

I knew I’d be doing a lot of walking in Chicago, and when I was packing, I considered my footwear carefully.  I failed though.  I failed so much.  I spent several nights in severe pain.  I don’t understand what went wrong—I chose shoes I had worn for lots of walking in the past…maybe it was all the walking in the rain?  Either way, how gross are my feet right now?  And seriously, yes, some of those blisters hurt so much but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.  Become one with the pain, right?

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I am vain enough that I wouldn’t consider wearing my running shoes around town sightseeing, so after a few days all I was left with were my old school, cheap (free from a wedding), old navy flip flops in black (versatile, match everything!).  And I wore them all day yesterday when Karen and I walked over 6 miles.  You might be surprised to hear that my calves and feet are really sore now.  Crazy, right?  

Every time I try to pack lighter, I wish I’d packed more stuff.  I always pack the wrong stuff.  I needed more shoes and more shirts.

Random thoughts

Happy Birthday to Leslie

It’s the big 3-0 for Leslie (my younger sister)!  Go you!

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Halloween.

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Rock’n’Roll Phoenix Marathon 2010

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Leslie and Albergo the cat, Leslie from a younger time

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Leslie and her fiancé Peter

(Really I’m just stalling here…I am done teaching and I need to get a run in to counteract the ridiculous amounts of calories I ingested over the weekend…and it’s really hot.)

And I forgot to blog about my brother Jesse’s birthday a few weeks ago…Happy belated birthday to Jesse!

Food, Travel

The Purple Pig

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I just got home from Chicago a little bit ago.  I hate all those things you have to do when you return home—pick up piles of mail, unpack, figure out the funny smell, clean the cat litter, feed the cat, pet the cat, etc.  I used to travel a lot more than I do now between work and being a long distance relationship, and those things have always annoyed me.

But, let’s talk about my last day in Chicago.  Karen and I didn’t have any real plans, so we headed for Michigan Avenue to do some shopping.  We didn’t really want to spend much money shopping as we’d been spending ridiculous amounts of money on going on, so after a bit we decided to go bowling.  She had only been bowling once before in her life and wanted to try to improve.

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I am not a good bowler either.  (Today my right arm is ridiculously sore from two games…).  By the end of the second game my thumb had gone numb, and at one point I was worried I had reinjured my right shoulder.  Bowling was fun, but perhaps not the wisest choice. 

Next we hit up the Hancock building.  There is a restaurant on the very top (95th floor), and we got a couple drinks and enjoyed the view.

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It was nice for a bit then some clouds (?) came in and the view was ruined.  We decided it was time for dinner!

Off to the Purple Pig we went!

Evidently there aren’t any restaurants in Chicago where you just order your own food, so once again we went to a tapas (small plates) style restaurant.  The waitress thought this was unusual but we had her ticket 😉

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Prosciutto bread balls, calamari, fried deviled egg, and ham/egg on toast.  Not pictured was the beet and goat cheese salad and the squid with fingerling potatoes.  And the sparkling wine.  I decided it was a sparkling wine day.

Dinner was delicious, especially the calamari salad, and we decided to book it over to the Navy Pier to ride the Ferris Wheel.  We ended up riding the Ferris Wheel and a swing ride.

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I think Karen was starting to get the hang of the "take pictures for the blog" thing that I do.  In any case the rides were fun, and I felt so wonderfully touristy.

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What is this?  Does anybody know?

We then decided it was dessert time.  Off we went to a place I can’t recall the name (Bin 36)  Delicious desserts and more sparkling wine—I had a wine flight of sparkling whites, and Karen had a different flight.

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Last we decided to go a jazz club called the Green Mill.  There was a $4 cover (only!) and the singer was really quite good.  I can’t recall her name.

And that’s it!  I drove back this morning and have a few students shortly.  I’m EXHAUSTED.  But it was a great trip overall, exactly what I needed, and I’m super glad I was able to go.  Thanks Karen!

Food

Eating my way through Chicago

I didn’t realize that my visit to Chicago would turn into a foodie’s dream, but I daresay it has.  I woke up today dreaming about the carrots I had last night at the Publican.  Yes, it’s a little strange to dream about carrots, but these weren’t ordinary carrots.  They were magical.  I don’t know exactly how…they were described as carrots with ricotta salada and almonds.  I didn’t take any pictures of the meal though.  We also split beef tartare (OMG), scallops, arugula salad, and radishes.  It was a vegetable heavy meal, and OH so good.  The Publican isn’t Avec, but it’s good.

Speaking of Avec, (and yes, I am) I found an interesting article on epicurious about it.  That focaccia the writer talks about is one of the best things to order there, along with the chorizo stuffed bacon wrapped dates.  (Just writing that…you KNOW there’s no way that can go wrong.)  I think right now my ideal meal would consist of those two things plus the above mentioned carrots.  In fact when Karen and I went to Avec Friday night we had some leftover focaccia and a date, which we TORE into last night when we got back.  And though not as good as originally, still better than most food.

The only thing I’ve been craving lately that I haven’t gotten is cheesecake.  I’ve been denying myself dessert, even when we ate lunch at a french bakery.  The bakery had all manner of ridiculously good looking pastries and such, but we didn’t order anything.  I have learned that is a big part of not gaining weight, not ordering everything you want :(  But many days have gone by, much good food has been eaten, and yet the dessert craving has NOT gone away.  So I think perhaps today is a good dessert day.

Or not.  My brain is torn:  attempt to win Mike’s weight loss competition?  Or lose handsomely, covered in cheesecake crumbs and sauce from the bacon wrapped dates?  It seems those are the two best (only?) options.

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thoughts about violin, teaching, running, life.