Last post for January

I totally scored big at the record store by my apartment, In Your Ear. Ever since I was 16 and received a record player for my birthday, I've been obsessed. And thanks to all you hipsters who have made collecting records an actual "thing". It was so hard to be standing in the classical music section and not buy every single recording of everything they had. But I did make out pretty well:

1. Bernstein conducts Copland with the New York Phil(harmonic)
2. Rostropovich playing Dvorak cello concerto, USSR radio orchestra
3. Heifetz playing Brahms violin concerto with Chicago
4. Richard Stoltzman/Richard Goode Brahms clarinet sonatas
5. Brahms 3 and Tragic Overture with Boston Symphony
6. Beethoven 7 with Berlin
7. Beethoven 6 with Berlin
8. Leon Fleisher, playing Rachmaninov and Franck with Cleveland
9. Beethoven 9, Rudolph Serkin, New York Phil
10. John Patitucci (for all you jazz folk)

All for under $25.

Also made a lovely dinner, complete with a baked potato (dairy free butter), oven roasted veggies, and chicken thighs with hoisin sauce. Basically, caramelization on the chicken and veggies was what we were aiming for. Basically dessert. Washed down with UFO Raspberry.

Also finally saw Scent of a Woman. You might have remembered a post I did back about my week in the DR, because we played a tango called Por Una Cabeza, which is featured in the movie. Finally got it, and wow. It just goes to show that Al Pacino once again owned his role, and that is why he is among the greatest of the actors. Ever. Here's the trailer.

This is the next movie I plan to see, if you wanted something completely different:

So looking for a restaurant recommendation? Cheap Thai food perhaps? Really good crispy chicken pad thai and chicken satay...go to Noodle Street, and adorable restaurant (and menu) with an awesomely friendly staff. Perfect for a student budget, delicious, and filling. I ate here with a friend after our orchestra rehearsal when it was snowing and gross outside. And I think mother nature is really confused again, because yesterday there was a 40 degree difference between the single digits it was hovering around last week. I actually didn't have to wear a coat for most of the day, until it rained. Hard. 

There is a point when rain is refreshing, like in the summertime when it's warm out. And even though it was pretty warm yesterday, there comes a time when you get so wet, an umbrella is just useless. This happened to me when I was on my way to meet some friends at The Ave. It was my first time there for beers and bar food, but under rather unfortunate circumstances. Yesterday after our rehearsal, one of my best friends at school received a call from her roommate. She was all smiley and whatnot because she was on the way to pick up her new pet, but all of a sudden her demeanor completely changed into shock. One of the bad things about living in a city: burglary. While she and her roommate had been out, someone had broken in with a crowbar and taken some really valuable things. What is wrong with people? They even took her winter jacket. 

There's always sketchy stuff going on in cities, and BU has a great emergency alert system: when a crime is reported around campus, or the area that students live in, we get a call/text/email right away to let us know which areas to avoid, suspects to look for, etc. Luckily, our apartment is relatively safe. And if I walk home after dark, my street is very well lit, but I still never listen to my headphones, or check my phone. I try to walk with people if I can, or take the T. My area is pretty well populated, but even though I don't really worry about things happening, you can never be too careful. 

Aside from everything else, I've been doing a lot of research for my challenge next month which I will unveil tomorrow. These little challenges have been a really good idea. To recap:
August-picture a day, September-30 days of water, October-Be a tourist in your own city, Novemeber-take a trip to the DR, December-kindness, January-internet diet. These little things have created little habits in my life that are good. I drink more water, I spend less time wasting away in internet land, and I'm more apt to go exploring in Boston. Stay tuned tomorrow when I post about my new challenge.

And listen to this. It's great. It's a string quartet that Dvorak used with the music from his first song cycle. You can tell it's supposed to be for a vocalist with the prominent melodic line, but it's just beautiful.

Dominican Style

On Saturday night I was kidnapped by Dominicans.

Let me explain. 

A good friend of mine was in town and we met at a bar called Coco's Lounge in JP, and I'm pretty sure I was the only white girl in the entire establishment. There was awesome loud music, everyone was speaking Spanish, there was crazy dancing, everyone was beautiful and the drinks were plentiful. It had the exact feel of being back in the Dominican Republic, out at night, despite the freezing temperatures and icy sidewalks. Even though it was cold outside, I was surrounded by the warmest people. We stayed until last call and then peaced out...of the city. 

We ended our night (very early morning) in Easton, MA, where I had never been before but it was a cute quiet town. Well, quiet until we got there. We continued the crazy dancing until around 5:30 in the morning. In a way, it was a lot like the RISE after hours dance club I've been to, except we were all dancing in pajamas, and there were snacks and drinks (no shortage of Dominican rum). At first I was a little shy about dancing, mainly because I sometimes end up looking like Elaine from Seinfeld. But something about being around people who could actually dance made me break out of my shell a little bit. They taught me how to Dougie, then we learned the Party Rock dance (now every day I be shufflin'), and then we did the Gangnam style dance in a weird kind of line dance form. Not to mention all the booty shaking and jumping around. 

What I thought I looked like:

What I probably looked like:

I really wish I had taken some pictures or videos to remember the occasion, but that just means it's going to have to happen again! 

The next day was the obligatory "lazy Sunday" in which you lie around in bed, or in this case wherever you happened to crash on the floor/couch for a few hours before getting up. One part of you is still sleeping, the other part of you is waiting for other people to wake up, and the last part of you is still recovering from the night before. 

Regardless of how tired I was, I did manage to perform in a fantastic and fun concert at BU. It was a very horn-y concert. Here's some of the music we played, courtesy of YouTube. (These clips obviously aren't of us).

We played two pieces:

Today I resumed the regular schedule of going to school, with the exception of a short video interview for the MESDA group. In fact, we wrote up a report that you can view on the website! Here is the link:

Acordes de Esperanza

On February 4th, if you're in town a week from today there will even be a Citizen's Artist talk at BU about all the thing we did in the DR and how it changed not only the lives of the students there, but also ours, in a big, big way. 

Cheers to everyone! Have a great week. 

Magical Three Day Weekends

Ah, the magic of three day weekends. I've always felt like there should be a day in between Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday night I went to a great concert at the Lily Pad in Inman Square, seeing basically the same jazz band I went to a week before, with the addition of a great trumpet player. Since he put a video up on YouTube for public viewing, I'll share it with you folks! Here in an excerpt from his piece "Lindsey" which he wrote for a good friend of his, on her birthday.

I would also suggest if you're in the area to go next door to The Druid, a great pub with lots of amazing stouts, IPAs and other beers on tap. If you're more hungry than thirsty, I would try Cinderella's Pizza, which is closer to Central Square (about a 15 minute walk from the Lily Pad, and seems a lot longer in freezing winds and dropping January temperatures). Even though I am lactose intolerant, I'm still thinking about you cheese lovers, hence the pizza recommendation, but they also have lots of sandwiches and other entrees, and it's super cheap!

On Monday, I went to Finale, which is a restaurant, bakery, and dessert place. I had a mouthwatering pizza with goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, fig sauce, arugula and walnuts. Turns out, I can eat goat cheese without the lactose intolerance repercussions. Dessert was another issue. We shared a dessert sampler which had a mini boston cream pie, creme brulee, chocolate mousse, whoopie pies, apple pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. The lactose intolerant in me thought about it for a second, before taking a huge bite of the boston cream pie. I pick my battles.

Yum! 

On Tuesday night I went to go see Silver Linings Playbook...there are so many ridiculously good movies out right now. Silver Linings Playbook is a really great feel good movie, both funny and serious, with some really fantastic acting. And I respect Jennifer Lawrence so much more as an actress.

A few more fun things I've done instead of spending it on the internet? I went to a delicious Thai restaurant, Brown Sugar Cafe, really close to BU and my apartment. Had a great dish called Honey Pork, which came with veggies (mushrooms, baby corn, peppers, tomatoes), with a delicious honey garlic sauce...savory, sweet, and extremely filling. Can you say food baby? I was so full I was having some issues with my breath support later when I went to practice my excerpts. It being Friday night and all, after practicing, I ventured out into the Bostonian tundra, which was snowing, and met a good friend at City Bar, in the Lenox Hotel that I've blogged about before. We had a lovely little hang out and caught up, since we haven't hung out since before Christmas. I was also really glad not to have a repeat of my cowboy-boots-meet-icy-sidewalk incident from two years ago, where I was on my way to play pool at Jillian's and had a bad fall right outside my apartment, and bruised my tailbone pretty badly. 

Oh, and backing up a little bit to Thursday night, I went to see the BSO perform another great concert. Saw Symphonic Metamorphoses by Hindemith. The last movement is also transcribed for wind ensemble, and it's really one of my favorite pieces, so I'm going to include that at the end. Also saw Steven Hough perform Listz's first piano concerto, as well as Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev (not to be confused with the Tchaikovsky version). I'll also include a movement at the end of this post. 

I'm doing a few more fun things this weekend, that I'll surely write about, but for now, I need to hit the practice rooms before my rehearsal for Schumann...and I will include that music in my next post. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend everyone! 

Hindemith conducting his own piece! With Berlin Phil...

And here we have an excerpt of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra. Not only is this piece pretty bad ass, but it has some great moments for all instruments, including orchestral saxophone. A few words about being a wind player. I usually judge the integrity of the recording of this particular piece by the sax player. Not only is the solo towards the end the first notes the saxophone actually plays, but it's on a loud low note which is hard to articulate at the dynamic marked, also...while everyone else is playing the orchestra is gradually going up in pitch. When the sax comes in on the correct intonation, it sometimes sounds a little off because everyone else is playing a few cents sharp. So if the notes come out, the phrasing makes sense, and it's in tune, I nod my head in recognition that being a wind player in orchestra is difficult, and whomever is playing that particular part nailed it. Enjoy. 

10 days later...

I'm back everyone! I have taken a good 10 days off blogging, which is a testament to my goal of not using the internet as much. I've been replacing the time I usually would use surfing the web and mild Facebook stalking with fun things! The last few days in Rhode Island were a blast, and since I've been back in Boston I've been extremely productive, with a lot of fun things in between. I almost don't know where to begin, so I guess I'll start with my last weekend in Rhode Island/first weekend back in Boston.

Providence never ceases to bore me. Maybe it's because I spent my senior year of high school not in Barrington, and went to college in Boston that I seriously missed out on the nightlife. Since I've been frequenting Providence more often, I've spent a few nights at The Whiskey Republic, formerly known as the Fish Company. There's a deck outside with a good view of the city and it's right on the water, so I'll definitely be coming back for the summer. We got there before the music (and cover charge) started and found a table in the back where we met up with some friends who were leaving pretty early. Because we're all intelligent and mature adults, I'll leave out the part where we played truth or dare and laughed really hard at our own antics. We met up with some more friends, the DJ started and we danced the night away.

Then I arrived in Boston.

If you're ever in the mood for some jazz, I very highly recommend Wally's Jazz Club. It's located on Mass Ave, pretty close to the orange line stop. It was my first time there, and I suggest getting there early (close to 9), because by 9:30 it was packed. My friend and I squished our way up to the front (luckily we are both small) and we were nice and close to the band. After a few tunes, the people right next to us at the bar left and we got some awesome seats. They have a good selection of beers and mixed drinks, not to expensive, and there was no cover. It goes without saying that the band was incredible, but I'm saying it anyway. A good friend of mine is a jazz sax player and they played a set of all his music, plus a few tunes written by the guitar player and it was mind blowingly awesome.

After a few days of practicing, going to the gym, and a few casual hangs I saw Zero Dark Thirty. I just finished reading No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden. I understand that both the book and the film are surrounded by controversy, and I'm not here to argue what I think is right and wrong. All I am saying is that both the book and the movie (the movie is not based on the book) were both well done, and that I think it was one of the best movies that I have ever seen, and will see for a while.

A few more words on a few more fun things...

Monday night bowling at Kings. Super fun. While waiting for a lane, we played skee ball, where I owned everyone and held the high score...until some dude who we were waiting for came at the end and beat me by 20 points. Kings was having a New Year's Eve promotion, so we got an awesome sparkly hat, and whoever was skee balling/bowling had to wear the hat (obviously). At midnight there was a countdown and we all said "Happy New Year!" Which was really weird and anticlimactic. We clinked glasses and awkwardly wished each other a happy new year, even though it's been 2013 for a week and a half now...but we were still fabulous. In bowling I came in second...to last. I own duckpin bowling, but royally stink at normal real people bowling. The next day my voice was a little hoarse, since we cheered and high-fived everyone no matter what they rolled. Example: "Alright Celine! Woohoo! You got a ball in each gutter!" It was a very supportive crowd.

Last night we celebrated the birth of one of my very good friends who I've known for about 5 years now. I was coming from Harvard where I was subbing with my old youth orchestra, and met up with everyone at Korean Garden in Allston. We had some delicious Korean barbecue fare, and I ate a lot of things that were really good, but pretty much had no idea what I was ingesting most of the time. Then we stopped in at a local liquor store before arriving at our final destination: Jin Karaoke. I couldn't find a website for this place, but it is seriously serious about karaoke. First off, you go with a group of friends and you get your own room, complete with couches, a TV, microphones, and two huge books of Korean/Japanese/American pop songs. Secondly, it's about $40 an hour, and with 5 people, it turned out to be about $7 a person. This was my third time here, and we usually BYOB. We sang the typical Barbie song, some Lonely Island, Nicki Minaj, and Ke$ha...but then we also sang weird things like Eye of the Tiger and Danny Boy. The last song of the night was of course Gangnam Style, with the dance. Of course!

But it's not all fun and games. I should also mention that I've been working really hard in the practice room. On top of re-learning Mahler 1, a wicked hard wind ensemble piece, assorted chamber works, and solo rep for my recital, I'm getting some more excerpts under my belt. And that includes the formidable Daphnis et Chloe excerpt:

It's actually not that bad, but it's on almost every orchestral audition. The audition is in less than a month, but it's totally doable. I've been thinking while writing this post what I should include musically. I was thinking of putting an excerpt for Mahler 1, since we're playing that in orchestra right now. I have so many good memories involving that symphony, mainly because we played it all throughout our China tour. And then I played it again while studying at New England Conservatory. Even though this is my third time playing this symphony, I'll never get tired of it. So many times during our first rehearsal I smiled at all the beautiful parts, fondly remembering our trek through a foreign country, and perhaps some trouble that we got into along the way :)
I think that I'll end with Daphnis though, so you can hear what the above picture actually sounds like. I'll do a big Mahler post later. Have a fantastic weekend everyone.

Here is Seiji Ozawa conducting a gorgeous and thrilling piece of music. Enjoy.

Replacing Internet with the Beach!

It's been nine days since I decided to cut down on my internet time, and it's working. Slowly, but surely. I've decided to go sans Facebook for a week to see how that goes, since that's where I waste most of my time. I'm been focusing my energy on practicing and getting some work done, seeing and talking to more friends, and listening/learning more classical music. And if you are worried about procrastinating online during school or work, here are some gadgets to check out: Beat Web Procrastination. I found this link while procrastinating.

When I was in New York, I figured it would be easy to stay away from technology. The morning when I was walking around by myself was when I was most tempted: to update my status, check-in, add photos, etc. It got so distracting that I turned off Facebook notifications. Then I deleted the app. Then I had to deactivate my Facebook. 

 

In the meantime, I've done some more fun stuff. 

Last night I went into Providence to visit the friends...it was a chill hang. If you're looking for a small bar I recommend Captain Seaweed's. It's a little dive with fun decor, and apparently a pretty cool patio, although it was too cold for me to be curious enough to check it out. We shared a couple pitchers of Drifter Pale Ale (not usually what I go for, but a good beer nonetheless) and requested some songs to be played on the jukebox, before finally deciding to head back where we watched a movie.  

This morning was great, because I got up early (although not by my own doing), and was able to go for a walk on the beach with my mommy :-)

Even though it was cloudy, there were some really nice colors in the sky, and we saw some really beautiful and peaceful scenery...

Taken at Roger Wheeler Beach

Peaceful

A fishing boat in the distance

The Heritage fishing boat

Lighthouse at Snug Harbor

Seagulls looking for clams

There are absolutely no reasons to dislike the East Coast, and every reason to love it. Yes, it gets cold up here in New England, but between the awesome history and beautiful scenery is where home is for me. 

Yours truly 

xoxo

Nothing Like a Little Adventure

I always forget how close I live to the Big Apple...it's so easy and cheap to get there, but it always seems like it's so much further and so much more of a hassle to get to. I have lots of friends who are always telling me to "come down and hang out!", and I always enthusiastically reply "yes! soon!" and then soon never happens and I remain a crappy friend. But this weekend I finally did it! I went on a tiny little adventure. 

The day started off with a short trip to New Jersey, where we were visiting family. We had dessert before our dinner, played a few rounds of ping pong in their basement, then went to an Italian restaurant. Then around 8 I escaped on the New Jersey Transit into the city, transferred trains at Secaucus to Penn Station, hopped on the 1 train going uptown and arrived in Harlem. I was visiting a fellow woodwind/jazz musician, and we were listening to some very cool music. And then he showed me some old Charlie Parker recordings, which he described as such: "Just when you're about to think the choir is starting to sound a little cheesy, he just comes in with the baddest sax solos". For example:

Then we took a train downtown looking for a little bar where we could catch up, and found a nice little dive-ish bar over in Soho, close to Katz's deli. It was very festively decorated still, even though we are well into the new year. I didn't catch the name of the bar, but I did notice that it was open later than bars in Boston, and I realized how convenient it was that the subway is open all night. After a few pints of Guinness, we decided to head back (word on the street is, the quickest way to Harlem is on the A train), and finished the night off with a nice relaxing hang. 

The next morning (this morning), we had to leave a little on the early side, and I ended up heading back downtown on the 1, switching over to the N at Times Square, and getting off at 28th street. My first mission was to find something to eat. I stopped in at Roastown Coffee, had a little breakfast sandwich and a large amount of water. I had about an hour and a half to kill before I needed to meet up with my family, so I decided to get some fresh air. There is really something to be said about walking around outside by yourself. It's good for your soul. 

I took a walk through Madison Square Park...

Walked through the Union Square Greenmarket, and enjoyed a cup of hot apple cider...

And I sat briefly to admire the Flatiron building.

I made my way over to my aunts apartment, where my family arrived slightly before me (I would have been there on time but I was so busy listening to my ipod and loving the fact that I was in NYC that I inadvertently walked a few blocks in the wrong direction). From there, the boys went to go play football and eat pizza, and the girls took off and did something way more cool. 

My aunt showed us this awesome place called Eataly which I can only describe as an Italian Faneuil Hall. It's got little shops for chocolate, meat, cheeses and wine, plus there are little restaurants inside, and tables where you can eat at, it was certainly an experience to be had. We managed to find a spot at a table where we split some sandwiches, I had a porchetta sandwich (roasted pork seasoned with garlic and rosemary with giardiniera), and my mom and aunt had a piadina sandwich (14 month aged prosciutto with provolone). 

The girls, enjoying lunch, and an ample pour of wine

Bread

The market-type area, with shelves and shelves of pasta

Cheeses

Um that's not pizza. It's focaccia. 

As you can see, it's really different from anything I've ever been to. Except for maybe one place that I've been to in Rome. 

After our lunch, we stopped by a little shop called Whisk which had a lot of cute Hampton-esque kitchen items, and stopped by Starbucks (no link necessary there) to bring back some coffees. The boys were already back when we arrived, and we had some snacks (little ice cream cones from Trader Joe's). It's also a tradition to play a few games together, so we played categories, and also this really fun game called Don't Scramble the Egg Game, inspired by the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Then it was time for goodbyes, and hugs, and a few last minute pictures before making our way out to the car for our drive home. 

And that's how my adventure in New York went. 

There's really something to be said about just doing it. Just hop on a train, find your way there, and visit old friends who you love spending time with. 

And you know what? It was totally worth it. 

A New Years Resolution Challenge

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve! Mine was fabulous.

Went to a lovely party where I got to see a healthy portion of my friends, and also made lots of new ones. We counted down, hugged, smooched, high-fived, toasted, and enjoyed life. Surrounded by smiles, laughter, and hilarious people, 2012 came to a rather smooth close.

Yes, I even straightened my hair. 

The first few hours of 2013 were great as well - never underestimate the power of hanging out with friends outside on a back deck...even if it was around 30 degrees. Those of us who were smart enough to bring our coats outside stayed for longer, while others wearing little tiny dresses and tops went inside after a much shorter length of time. Floating to different groups of friends and socializing with the many people I met that night shook me from my week of psuedo-hibernation and food comas, and got me really enjoying life.

If you told me seven or eight years ago that the bass clarinetist in my high school concert band would some day make breakfast for my friends and I, there is no way I would have believed you. Sure enough, the morning of 2013 was great, watching the parade while eating an excellent home cooked  breakfast and sipping on mimosas (what else should we have done with the left over champagne?). The first day of the new year was also bitter-sweet, for we had to say goodbye to one of my very best friends. But only for a month! This brave little soul is venturing all the way to Argentina for a month (talk about an awesome 30 day challenge right there!). I'm already looking forward to having her back, except that she'll have an envy-worthy tan and tales of her far away venture.

My little world traveler 

I've been thinking a lot about those resolutions. Although I do plan to eat healthier and exercise more (like the rest of the population), some of my friends are taking a temporary hiatus from Facebook, emails, internet, and the works. Being a student, I can't not check my emails, because I might miss some really important things. Facebook and twitter are a means of social interaction, communication and picture sharing. And I can't leave my faithful blog readers hanging by not blogging! I've been using my computer also to watch movies, catch up on other blogs, and I even used it this morning to edit my good friend's college essay. Thing is, we can't escape technology, but we can control how much we use it. So, for the next 30 days I am going to severely limit my internet intake to one hour. For one hour, I will browse the web, catch up with friends, and blog. When that hour is up, my computer will be off, and I will be doing something else...like reading, practicing, and doing other productive things.

But there are exceptions. 

1. I am still going to use my phone to text, call and perhaps play a few rounds of Words with Friends, but if I find myself using Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, I am going to have to turn it off. 

2. I am allowing myself to use YouTube and Naxos Music Library (outside my hour limit) to listen to repertoire that I want to learn for chamber music, clarinet, and to learn orchestral excerpts. Facebook will not be open during this time. 

3. My computer will only be on if I am using my hour of internet, watching a movie that is only available online with my little brother, or uploading music to my iTunes, since I am home and desperately need more of my CDs on my computer. 

With those exceptions in mind, I am now going to disconnect myself. And if it wasn't going to be hard, it wouldn't be called a "challenge". 

Adieu until tomorrow, my friends.

from nathanneil.com 

And in case you haven't been following along, here is a reminder of my other 30 day challenges since I've started this blog:

-Picture a Day, August

-30 Days of Water, September

-Be a Tourist in Your Own City (Boston), October

-Go to the Dominican Republic, November

-Learn Something New/30 Days of Kindness, December

-Internet Diet, January