Rest Stops

Now, one of the coolest things about the last few days spent in Invermere was the drive. The Rocky Mountains are nothing to sniff about. They never fail to completely take my breath away and make me marvel at all of the beauty the world has to offer. The drive from Calgary to Invermere is unbelievable. First, you pass through Banff National Park, then almost immediately into Kootenay National Park. This is nothing like driving on the East Coast.

And one of the ways I realized that was when we made a pit stop on the way back. The rest stops on the PA Turnpike are more like food courts than anything. There's a plethora of fast food, some very large restrooms, and probably a Cinnabon.

But in British Columbia, this is what you get:

From Jeff's Cabin,...

And while I at first lamented the smell, I looked up and to my right. And this is what I saw:



And a few thoughts came to mind, but most notably, "Wow. I can actually get over the smell if that's the view."

And now, for some valuable advice:

If anyone ever smiles sweetly at you and tells you that you should come stand under this beautiful snowy tree, don't do it. They may look like they are sweet and nice, but they are not to be trusted, particularly if they are Canadian.

From Jeff's Photos...

Excerpt This...

So, I lent my copy of "Excerpt This" to a colleague of mine at work about, oh, four months ago. And I finally got it back today. And I was just on YouTube looking for hilarious horn videos (because these things happen every once in awhile) and this guy who posts horrible videos of himself playing excerpts has posted a new video of himself playing along to a Jamie Aebersold CD. Now, its not that bad. I give this high school kid props for having the balls to post videos of his horn playing online. And you can't knock his enthusiasm, truly. But what's hilarious is that if you go to his YouTube site, you can see all the comments. And someone actually compared him to Adam Unsworth, saying "You sound like him!"

And I'm like, "Huh?"



For those of you who have heard Adam's CD, particularly the tracks where he utilizes the "half valve" as a legitimate musical technique, I think you will agree that this kid sounds NOTHING like him.

I am a geek.

My First Album Cover.

Things I like:

1) Canada.
2) Vacation.
3) Sledding.
4) Cooking.
5) Hanging out with friends.
6) Cabins at lakes.
7) Being in Canada, on vacation, sledding, cooking, and hanging out with your friends for a few days at a cabin by a lake.

My Xmas Letter

Some of you might have gotten the email version of this, so I apologize. I really do hate Christmas Letters, but its just so darn efficient.... Anyway, here it goes.

Dear Everyone,

Oh Dear, I hate Christmas Letters. I always swore I would never write one. And this is what, the third year in a row I've sent one? Heck, this isn't even a letter. Its a Christmas Mass Email. The worst kind. *sigh* I think I have to resign myself to the fact that this is it. I've become "That Girl."

But I have, in fact, become "That Girl With A Job." As many of you know, the orchestral job market is hardly big enough to be considered a "market." Its more of a "lemonade stand" than a "market." I have, however, found an orchestra that want me at least for a year. Naturally, as is par for the course for me, I managed to find one in CANADA in THE COLD PART. (I don't think there are any NOT COLD PARTS of Canada, but some have assured me that its"not as bad" on the coasts. I think they are talking about the east and west coasts, not the north coast. Just a hunch.) At any rate, I have been learning quickly what it means to live in a pretty cold climate. Here are the highlights:

1) I had my heat on in September.
2) I spent a large sum of money on "winterizing" my car. Poor Nemo the Neon, he just didn't know what'd hit him when it was -30.
3) I now plug my car in at night to keep the fluids from FREEZING.
4) I know how to drive in all sorts of conditions thanks to the fact that Alberta refuses to plow.
5) Plows. I remember snowplows. I think I saw one. Once.
6) At first I wondered why they don't even salt the roads. Turns out, salt is fairly ineffective when its -25 degrees. Fahrenheit.
7) After its been -30 for a week or so, once it warms up to +3, it feels downright balmy outside.

I guess I live "abroad" now, though Canada is in many ways "America-Lite." I like Canadians, though. They generally have a great sense of humor (please note the spelling of humor) and they're friendly. I've been trying to decide what it is to be Canadian, rather than American, and here's the best list I can come up with.

To Be Canadian Is:
1) To have the need to wear a maple leaf or a Canadian flag on your person at all times in order to distinguish yourself from being American.
2) To have health care.
3) To be allowed to marry whomever you want, regardless of their gender.
4) To misspell "honor," "color," "favorite," "center," and "check."
5) To watch curling on TV and understand what's going on.
6) To learn to ice skate at roughly the same time you learn to walk.
7) To go to a store called "Future Shop" and know that no one is going to try to read your palm when you walk through the door.
8) To have an infinitely more singable national anthem than the Star Spangled Banner.
9) To have the Queen on all the monopoly-esque money.
10) To not have a hole in your life where WaWa, Dunkin' Donuts, Qdoba, and Chipotle should be.
11) To put "eh" at the end of sentences. Don't try this at home, Americans! It can get addictive!


***

It really has been a busy year, though. I spent my summer in Ocean City, NJ playing principal horn with the Ocean City Pops. Playing pops music all summer certainly took its toll on my chops, but more importantly, I never want to play another show tune again. At least until next summer, when I find myself repeating my mantra "I have a summer job, I have a summer job, I have a summer job..." Working at the beach has its upside though. Most notably, I get to see the Atlantic Ocean at least three times a week, and the people are great. I got to solo with the orchestra, too, which was fun.

Notable musical experiences include second horn on Mahler 2 in Allentown. I know, I know, "Allentown?" you're thinking. "Like, that mid-80s Billy Joel song?" Yeah, that very same Allentown. They have a decent per-service orchestra, though, and in this case, the first four horns of the section were really good, and I think there were some really great musical moments. I wouldn't mind playing in that particular section every day. **Geeky horn moment** Three Geyers and a Lawson is a great combo for a section. Really.

And as most of you know, I had two weeks of pure bliss subbing with the Philadelphia Orchestra in February. Simon Rattle and Christoph Eschenbach conducted... It culminated with a "run-out" to Carnegie Hall. I don't think I'll ever recover from that experience. Just to sit onstage with those musicians is a privilege. Here, I'll relive one of my most professional moments ever for you:

"Hi this is TN and I'm the personnel manager of The Philadelphia Orchestra. I'm just calling to find out if you are available to sub with the orchestra over the course of the next two weeks."

Long silence.

"I'm sorry, lemme get this straight-- did you just say you're from The Philadelphia Orchestra?"

"Yes."

"Ok. *gulp* Just checking."

***

I spent a week at the Banff Centre in early December this year, which was incredibly fulfilling. I found out that I had a week off from my job due to the lack of horn parts in the Messiah, and decided that rather than staying in Calgary, I would spend some time in the Canadian Rockies playing music. It was a really fun experience, and I got more out of it than I expected. I made some great friends and found that if you need to refresh your soul, some alone time in the mountains is the way to go.

***

I have managed to carve out a nice little life for myself here. I joined a gym, which is something I've always wanted to do. After a few months with a trainer, I actually have a muscle or two! I've also managed to make a really great group of friends in the orchestra. I love my job, in case you hadn't guessed, and the rest of the horn section is great. But the "Under 30 Committee" (as we've come to be named) is a really fun group of people. I'm staying in Calgary for the holidays this year and though I'm bummed that I won't get to see my "real" family on Christmas, I'm excited to spend time with my "family" here. I hosted a Christmas Eve party last night, complete with a Secret Santa gift exchange and a rousing game of Cranium. I did almost burn the house down trying to make a fire in the fireplace, but despite the slightly rustic smell of my house, it's none the worse for wear. A good portion of the evening was spent sitting on the kitchen floor while the smoke cleared from the rest of the house, but if nothing else, it made for a hilarious story. One that I will probably not live down for a VERY long time.

Tomorrow I'm off to BC to spend a few relaxing days in the mountains with those same friends who witnessed "That Christmas Eve When LR Almost Burned Her House Down." Its going to be a great time of movies, food, outdoor activities, and inevitable laughter. I can't wait.

If you've made it this far, you are blatantly aware that this is already way too long and simply must end soon. So I can only hope that all of you had as great a 2006 as I did. It definitely had its ups and downs, but this was a really exceptional year for me, and I feel very very fortunate for all that I have seen, all I have accomplished, and all of the incredible people who have included me in their lives. I don't much believe in God anymore, but I still feel truly blessed.

With Much Love,

LR

NPR

Thank God.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6673671

Dunkin Donuts and a Wawa

I just woke up.

I want coffee, but I don't want to make it myself.

In Philly, a brisk walk to Dunking F***ing Donuts or a quick drive to WaWa would do the trick. For $3.00, a cup of (decent) coffee and a bagel toasted with cream cheese would be all mine.

Do I have that option here? No.


While Spot might want his Taco Hell, I want some foodstuffs from the Philadelphia region. In no particular order:

-A medium coffee from Wawa. No cream, no sugar. And none of that Starbucks shit.

-A hoagie from Wawa, where I don't even have to talk to someone to order it.

-A slice of pizza. Philly style, thin crust, made by Italian immigrants, pizza. Maybe from that place on Pine Street, or even the crappy stuff from Academy Pizza across from the Kimmel.

-A burrito from Qdoba with extra guacamole, preferably the Qdoba on Walnut or near Penn, not the one on City Ave. Everyone knows the one on City Ave kinda sucks. I mean, in a pinch, ok, but given the choice....


Oh Philly, how I miss you.

And they even laughed.

I hate holidays. Hate 'em. I guess I might have liked Christmas when I was real little, but I don't even think that is true. I don't think it took me long to figure out that while everyone acts happy at the holidays, a good portion of the population is actually incredibly stressed out and miserable.

So when I was approached about doing the opening remarks for the Holly Cole "Night Before Christmas" show a few nights ago, I said "Sure!" I mean, we all know I relish any opportunity to make an ass of myself in public, and this seemed perfect. So I had to walk onstage and welcome our audience (a packed house!), thank our sponsors, and then tell some sort of "personal story." So I thought about saying something about the spirit of Christmas and being thankful and shit, but don't we get enough of that? I thought about talking about what a horrible scrooge I am, but that seemed inappropriate. I thought about talking about some of the WORST gifts I've ever received, but none came immediately to mind, actually. I contemplated actually saying something insipid and Hallmark-y, but that's not my style.

So instead, I opted to talk about my family. I used to think that my family was totally dysfunctional. Then I realized that EVERYONE'S family is dysfunctional. And if you meet someone with a normal family, you should turn tail and run away. Frankly, they're probably really boring anyhow. I realized quickly that "spending time with family" ignites a flame of dread in most people. I'm not saying that we all hate our families! Quite the contrary, most of us love our families. But we love them in spite of their more difficult character flaws, not because of them.

So my speech went something like this:

"Christmas is a busy time for musicians. I think I speak for most of my colleagues on stage when I say that it doesn't really feel like Christmas until you've played the Nutcracker so many times you just want to rip your hair out.

Seriously, Christmas is a time for music, and food, and spending time with the people you love. This is one of my first Christmases away from my family in Pennsylvania and there are a few key parts of the festivities that I will miss. Like when my Gramma leans over and says, "Hey L, Why don't you go pour me a bourbon?"

I'll also miss the inevitable exile to the "kids table." My family doesn't think I've figured out yet that the kids table is actually the "not married" table. Everyone else there is under the age of eight and still plays with their food.

But time has shown me that your family is not necessarily the people who are swimming in the same gene pool. I'm excited to spend this holiday with my new family here in Calgary and want to thank you for making the CPO part of your holiday. As my Gramma would say, "You should come see us more often!"

Holly Cole wasn't that great, and she doesn't look nearly as hot as she does on her headshots. And we think she might have been drunk. But I had fun anyway, both talking and playing. My mom always said I should do standup, and I've always told her that she was the only one who would laugh if I did. But I actually proved myself wrong. All I needed to do to get an audience was move to Canada!

Skankfest

Why would I bother blogging about something if my bass-toting buddy Jeff has already said it just perfectly? Read this blogpost to find out about my weekend.

Great Sex(tet)

Sometimes you find things/people/experiences you didn't even know you were looking for.



I looked out of my practice room and there were four elk poking around for food. They were incredible! Much bigger than your average white-tailed deer.

I hiked up to the top of Tunnel Mountain a few days ago, which is more of a "large hill" than a mountain, at least compared to the peaks around it. Particularly in comparison to Mt. Rundle, pictured below. (I had a good time figuring out how to use the self-timer function on my new-ish digital camera.)

The Ren Revitalization Process

Through the hilarity of my health insurance and extended benefits, I have $350 of massage therapy coverage to use during the month of December. So far this month I have had three massages, and I don't even think I'm halfway done. The way I figure it, by the time Christmas rolls around, I'm going to be so relaxed I won't be able to walk anymore.

Banff is great. I leave on Monday after a completely inspiring week. I've seen a ton of incredibly high quality concerts, and put together the Poulenc Sextet in what amounts to record time. I love my job, don't get me wrong, but dealing with the attitudes of certain jaded orchestral musicians is an ongoing struggle for me. This has been a happy reminder that there are still MANY musicians who have integrity and vision, who are constantly striving for a high quality product.

Last night was one of the most spirited, honest performances of my life. I was eating a sandwich the other day and met up with two pianists, one who plays in the Poulenc Sextet, and the other who I was meeting for the first time. As we did the "get to know you" speech, E continually answered the questions posed to me when my mouth was full of ciabatta. E joked, "We play chamber music together. I knew everything about her from the first note." And while it was said as a joke, there is a certain underlying element of truth to it. There's a shared experience of playing and performing music that is truly special, and is particular to chamber music. While I get that feeling with orchestral playing, this was a reminder of something that has been missing in my life.

So I think I'm going to start a chamber music festival this summer. Anyone wanna play?

The Centre of it All

So, as many of you are aware, I am spending a week at the Banff Centre doing a "Short Term Career Development Residency" which is a fancy way of saying that I'm practicing and looking at the mountains a lot. I spent a good portion of the summer of 2005 here doing masterclasses with Froydis and playing in their orchestra. And while it was a great experience, I would have to say that this is even better.

The Banff Centre is an incredible place. Its the kind of place where you could say "I want to make art out of a woodblock, cardboard box, and a spoon" and they would say, "The woodblock's in the closet, here's a spoon, and how big did you want that box to be?" The Arts program here exists to make artists' lives easier, to enable them to create. "Inspiring Creativity" is their motto, which is appropriately vague, I think. Is the creativity inspiring, or should I be inspired to create? Its a lot of both, I think.

When I first arrived, I had a meeting with BS, the former first violinist of the St. Lawrence String Quartet and the new Artistic Director of the Banff Centre. And he said, "What do you want to do?" And I told him I want to get better. And he said, "What do you need from us?"

I've been to four concerts, most of which were modern music. And while I think that some of it might tend to get a little (as DS would say) "navel gaze-y" it is comforting to know that people are making art, creating music, and thinking about things that are so far out. And its great to know that the Banff Centre is so close to what is, for now, home. I feel like I'm going to come out of this week being reinspired to play the horn. Its just what I need as the next two months approach. I have a lot on my plate, and I know I can be successful if I can just get my head on straight.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go practice. After that, I have to have my third massage of the week. :-)