Thursday, June 29, 2006

It's up!!

Hey you guy's! (flash back to Goonies........)

okay, anyways- I hope to do a real post tomorrow sometime- as I leave Saturday to go and teach band camp. But I wanted to let you know that our make-shift website is up and running!! check it out at coachhousemusic.blogspot.com and follow the links!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhtml

So. I guess it was inevitable. Finally with a few free days, I decided that it was time to start building the webpage for Coach House Music. Now, this is no easy task for me...... considering that the first class I ever failed was Grade 7 Computers. And ever since I received that ominous big fat F, I've felt a little (more like hugely) overwhelmed whenever something to do with computers came up.

This actually all started with the map I recently put up (I have a viewer in Turkey!!). I just can't seem to figure out how to move the stupid thing over to the side, to the bottom right corner. So, I contemplated changing blog templates (hence the chaos, if you've been browsing recently). Yesterday I bit the bullet, and thought- What a great idea it would be to go to Chapter's and get a book on HTML. Over 2 hours later, after trying to read and understand countless books and computer jargon, I settled on 2...... One on blogging, and the other on HTML. I came home, and went to work.

I've started working on the Coach House Music site, which for now is going to be a blogger blog. After I'm finished teaching camp in 3 weeks I'll have a bit more time to devote to the actual webpage. But for now, it's just fine having some info up and running.

Obviously I got side tracked, and as you can still see, the map is still NOT in the lower right hand corner. Maybe later this afternoon.

You can check out Coach House Music here.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

dad's day!

Happy Father's Day Dad!!

Saturday, June 17, 2006

death by doritos take 2

oh yeah-

i totally forgot to write about one of the other strange new gig happenings today. I was playing a long phrase- and went to take a big breath- and totally choked on the huge strand of hair I had just inhaled!! And it wouldn't blow back out! Do you know how hard it is to play with a big clump of hair stuck in your mouth?? I felt like 'it' from the Adam's Family.

Here's some pics for all of you who still think of me with a pixie cut:

getting long!!

And this is how I plan to prevent future hair inhaling: yay for high ponytails and headbands!

death by doritos

man. i just cannot get enough of zesty cheese doritos. evil things, they are. and VERY not macrobiotic, let alone even a tiny bit healthy at all. Jeremy came home from the grocery store the other day with 2 bags. and now they are both gone. now don't go getting the wrong idea here- i did not eat them all....... i just happened to finish off the last bag (half a bag??? yikes...) must be more like 1/4 of a bag?? well, they're gone now- and from now on NO MORE DORITO'S!!!!!

and what drove me to come home and eat the last 1/4(?) bag of doritos?? WEDDING GIG. ahh, the wedding gig. Well, they are good for learning about what you NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS want at your own wedding. need i say more? okay- but just for you...

my wedding gig story.

It is 40 above today. Hot, sticky- not condusive to sleek, sexy hair a la last post. no way. a mass of curls- tamed (kind of) into submission by a combination of 3 hair products. I meet my ride at the subway stop 2 over from mine- and after waiting for only 2 minutes- my makeup has melted half way down my face, and the kind of beaten into submission curls are delightedly expanding into some kind of poof that could only be rivaled by some bridezilla's coif.

We drive in the fantastically fresh and cool air-conditioned car to the gig, swap the fancy white birkenstocks for high heels, and head into the venue. Play for 20 minutes before the wedding, change rooms- and then play MUSIC OF OUR OWN CHOICE for the ceremony. fine- no problem- we have good taste. As we are playing the recessional, the bride and groom decide it would be a great photo opp to stand behind us while we are playing and pose for a few pics. fancy.

we finish the piece, grab our stands- and manage to get through the swarm of people blocking the door giving tons of cool cash to the newlyweds, and set back up in the dinner room, play a bit, have a break (ahh- the booze looks so tempting.. i.... must....... resist..........) and enjoy a cool club soda. Now the plan is to play for an hour during dinner..... only after about 15 minutes we're interrupted by the dj, who (at the request of someone there) wants to mix it up a bit- while they are waiting for salad, after already starting the soup. So, we head to the back of the room (again, must.... resist.....) and get a water. Then what happens?? The dj's pull out a HUGE SPINNING WHEEL, and make some of the party spin it- and now comes the real good time.

Out from under his navy velvet covered dj table, he pulls what could be a limbo stick- but with handles on either side, and a ball hanging by a thread attached at the middle.... which the maid of honour and best man proceed to place on their hips, and try to sway in time to get the ball to circle aound the rod....... and all DURING DINNER. after a few other equally entertaining festivities, we resume playing for the last 20 minutes of our scheduled time.

Now, don't get me wrong. It really wasn't THAT bad. The bride and groom were really sweet, everything was mostly tasteful (except for the maid of honor- who looked a bit like a hooker wearing a short black dress, cut down almost to the belly button, and patent black 4 inch heeled sandals, complete with rhinestones, which wrapped around up to mid-calf). The funny thing is that the woman who runs the (quite posh) venue, was telling us that it was the most expensive wedding they've had there. With the full dinner we (mostly) played for, another full meal at 11, brunch the next day- and only a guest list of maybe 45 people.

whoah.

time for a beer on my patio.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

giggles and the grumpy dude...

uhh. I have a killer headache, and I bet that typing at my computer is not helping that. oh well. I just got home from a gig playing for a retirement party. I should be out getting groceries so I can make something for dinner (pasta salad tonight!!) but I just can't muster up the energy to walk to the store. So how 'bout an interesting story from my subway ride home??.....

Remember what it is like to get a fit of the giggles? I can remember a couple very inopportune moments when I had the giggles hit me. (Rehearsing in Wind Ensemble with Mary... try and try, we just could NOT stop laughing. I had tears running down my face, ugh, it was so great and so embarrasing and so awful all at the same time) anyways. These 2 young teenage girls got on the subway, with a SERIOUS case of the giggles. The subway was also delayed, so we were at a stand still for a very long time. So, these 2 girls are sitting across from eachother- one beside me. And I really just couldn't help myself from smiling. It was so refreshing, seeing such happy, out of control laughter on the end of the day commute home- when most people are grumpy.

So, I'm totally enjoying the out of control laughter of these 2 girls. They'd just about get it under control, and then one of them would burst out into a fit of laughter. After a while, all of a sudden this guy sitting across from me bursts out, "DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM OR SOMETHING??!!!"

I was floored. I couldn't believe it. Everyone around these 2 girls is smiling, trying not to be sucked into the laughter abyss- and this dude, starts to start something!! Before I could even think, I was getting involved- "What's wrong with laughing??", I said. I think he was surprised that someone else would even get involved. But here I was thinking, wow, this guy has serious issues, if he, a grown man, has to yell at 2 young teenage girls, because they are LAUGHING.

Do you know what his response to me was?? "Well, one of them keeps looking over at me!! " Okay guy, you are sitting across from a giggling girl on a super packed subway. Where on earth would you like her to look???!! I couldn't believe that this grown man was so self involved and so conceited, and had so little confidence that he wanted to start something with some girl because he thought they were laughing at him. I couldn't believe it. I was like, "Dude, (I actually said dude!! where did that some from?!! I NEVER say dude!!!) you are sitting across from them, on a packed subway. Where else would you like them to look???" Keep in mind that I am dressed to the nines at the time- just coming back from a gig. I'm wearing a very expensive black tuxedo suit, I have great make-up, and my hair is tamed and sleek- blown straight. not the sort of person who typically gets involved. and then I call him DUDE!! Anyways, he shut up right away- realizing that he was facing a formidable enemy ;) (haha!!) I think he felt pretty embarrased, actually. He pretended to sleep- at least until I got off the subway to go home!!

That's my story. And now my stomach is the one growling with anger. I guess it's time to go visit the corner store.

Have a great night!!

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

my Dad got a hole in one!!

Congratulations Dad!! That is so amazing!

Monday, June 05, 2006

show and tell

here are some show and tell moments from our past weekend:

Learn to play the violin

Thursday night we went to see the TSO play Shostakovich Symphony 10 and Violin Concerto #1, with Maxim Vengerov playing (obviously) violin. As soon as he started playing, I realized what a violin is supposed to sound like. He was AWESOME. We got our cd signed after the concert. Jeremy thought up the idea for the quote.

There were 7 plus the mommy

Jeremy noticed (last night during our bbq) that he had some very cute and very curious spectators. Baby raccoons are really, really cute. This tree is just behind our coachhouse, and we occasionally hear squirrels and raccoons jump off the tree and run across our roof.

My snazzy new sandals

Jeremy also got a sexy new pair of shoes. Alas, he is wearing them today so I can't take a picture. We had a great time on Saturday while shopping on Queen Street. We were looking for new dishes, but didn't have any luck. We did get a shiny chrome dish rack though! China town is great for cheap finds. I'd post a picture of Jeremy's prized new mixing bowls, but that would be out of control, plus the batteries in our camera just died. Maybe next time.