Things you need.

I've seen these lists in blogs before, but never really paid much attention to them.
(short version found below)
Life's been going on, classes keep happening, strings keep snapping, bridges keep falling (stringed instrument bridges, not major road ways over water), and Ms. Johnson keeps cracking bad jokes.
But what I've been paying attention to is what makes me happy. So, here's a list of things that are very much responsible for my quality of life right now:

1) Cooking nights. Once a week, Sophie and I pick out a recipe or two and cook up a storm. In the past we've made ravioli and marinara from scratch, chicken and dumplings, a Mediterranean feast (including pita bread from scratch), and other delicious things. This week was chicken pot pie and Chocolate Brownie Cookies. Let me post that again, because these Chocolate Brownie Cookies were THAT good. Do it. Make those. Eat them. We enjoyed our first cookie with a glass of milk, and then Sophie upped our game for round two, serving them with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

2) The OK Factor. These lovely ladies recently released their first album, Water Street. It feels like a good talk with your parents on the couch or a run after a stressful day at work - comforting and inspiring. Pushing and pulling the right amount, like a much needed massage. Go listen. Seriously. Click on it NOW.

3) I'm currently reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I read this on the bus or subway almost every day, and it is so interesting. It's about a corner of the world I'm not very familiar with, and additionally it takes place when I was a child - focusing on Pakistan before 9/11. It's written beautifully, describing mountainous and foreign terrain alongside the challenges and successes of visiting and aiding people of many different cultures. Read more about it here?

4) This video. My friend Sydnie teaches band in Tokyo and posted this video. Ira Glass is the (beautiful and amazing) host of This American Life and is featured in this video speaking about creativity and perseverance. I know it's more about writing, but I found it to be very applicable to me as a first year teacher and musician. I love it. Watch it.

5) Fiddle Lessons. St Patrick's Day is coming up, so I'm getting ready! Could be performing at the Canadian Bar... so I decided to find some resources and a teacher. I had my first lesson last Saturday and it went really well. Learned some tunes, straight and normal... and then how to ornament and change it to make it more Irish. I'm glad to be a musician in more than one sense, as a teacher, as a singer (in the Camarata Chamber Singers!), and now as a beginning fiddler.


So! Here's the short version:
Make these cookies.
Listen to The OK Factor.
Read a good book  (I'm diggin' this book)
Watch this video.
Go learn something new.

love,
emm