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Friday, April 6, 2007
Well - after a flood of requests, I've decided to update the old journal. Ok, after 1 request, I've decided to update the journal.
Not much is new honestly. I still hate my job - possibly more than ever. I love the benefits of working here, I like the paycheck, I like the people I work with in general, I even like one of my bosses for the most part, but the other one is such a nasty bitch that it makes all of the rest almost not worth it.
Ultimately, I'm hoping that the gigs will pick up and I can go part time here, keep my benefits and my nice boss, and gig and/or teach to suppliment the income. The gigs are really starting to pick up, so it's becoming more and more of an actual possibility. However, without any consistent gig, it's hard to give up some of my salary and hope that the gigs continue to come in. Although, I guess at some point you have to take a leap of faith.
Plus, I sort of think that the past year of trying to gig and work fulltime has almost killed me. It's great - I love that I'm getting so much gigging, but at the same time, it's really hard to work 40 hours (and honestly most weeks its more than that), and gig, and have any semblance of a social life.
A big deciding factor will probably be how the Indian Hill Orchestra audition goes at the end of the month. It's a part time, union orchestra in the area. They do about a concert a month. It would be a nice consistent gig and would inevitably lead to other gigs. So, if I win that job (I got invited straight to the finals b/c I've been playing with them all spring), it will be easier to make job related decisions knowing I'll have that income every month.
In other audition news, I've decided to take the auditions for the Florida Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony - both at the end of May. Both fairly big auditions. Should give me a good idea of where I stand in comparison to other people doing this level of audition. I think I have a legit shot at advancing in either or both - but if I don't, I'll need to really re-evaluate the "I want a big job" idea and figure out if I want to put in the time and energy, above what I already do, to make it happen. My other option being I stay around here instead and work up my freelancing career in hopes of eventually just doing that fulltime. Which is a REALLY hard way to live, but maybe thats the only way I'm going to be able to do the music thing. We'll see I guess.
So lets see, thats work & bassoon.
Because of gigging and auditioning, social life is pretty non-existant, though I will say that things took an unfortunate turn for the tragic with the cute library boy. After months of ridiculousness - he proved to be a typical guy. He's about as emotionally closed off as they come, can't handle confrontation of any sort and freaks out over really stupid little things. Oh, and can't take responsibility for anything. So yeah, we won't be dating anytime in the near future. Or the far future for that matter. We're trying to do the friends thing, because as a friend he's great - but he's mad and me and I'm mad at him and basically we both just need some time to chill.
In other news, baseball has started and I still don't care. I thought maybe once it started up I'd get sucked back in - but so far I've resisted the urge to watch a game.
Actually I haven't even had the urge to watch a game. I guess thats a good thing. I don't really have the time to devote to watching baseball anyway.
Oh - also, I have a stress fracture in my foot. Lovely. Painful. Not sure exactly how it happened, some combination of high heels, crazy yoga and running. Poor ouchie foot. It's better today than it was on Wednesday when I couldn't even walk. At least today I can gimp around a bit. As long as it's healed by July when I'm going on a yoga/kayaking retreat, I'll be fine. :-)
And I think thats about all I've got. Not particularly interesting.
I promise to try and update more often, though it probably won't happen. From now until June I'm pretty booked. Good - in a really exhausting sort of way. :-)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
In my defense, I've been really busy. Though that is a sort of lame excuse I suppose considering I spend a good 6-8 hours each day perched infront of a computer at work.
But is updating my LJ an appropriate use of work time? Do I care if it's not?
So, lets see, where to begin....
Ok, ok. New apartment. It's rockin. We're having a housewarming party March 17th to celebrate said new apartment. Thats right. St. Patrick's day. There will be much rejoicing. And green things of all shapes and sizes.
I've been in "bassoon hermit" mode preparing for festival/fellowship auditions. Spoleto went really well. I was under the impression that Tanglewood went really well also, but I've since been told otherwise. New World is next week. And then I get to move onto actual job auditions. I think I've reached that age where I will no longer be doing summer auditions. I'm going for real jobs here now. I'm beginning to question my teacher a little bit. It's come to my attention that she's been blatently overlooking some things in my playing which have proved detrimental to me in auditions. She explained that "those are things she doesn't focus on because she assumes I'll fix them on my own". Now, I pay her $100 an hour to tell me what's needing fixing in my playing, not to assume that I will fix it on my own. I appreciate that she thinks I'll fix them on my own - however, if you consistently hear something being done wrong, and you don't hear it being fixed at all, wouldn't it make sense to stop assuming and say something about it. Even just a "do you know you're doing blah blah?" It really makes me question what else she is overlooking. I think it may be time to take a few lessons with some other people and see what they have to say.
Work sucks - I won't even go into a rant on that. Nobody needs to hear it.
Things are progressing, albeit ridiculously slowly, with the boy. The very frustrating, very cute, library boy. For fear of jinxing any progress we've made, I will not be discussing it here. Ha ha.
Finally - I've become a really sucky red sox fan apparently. Today is the first spring training game....and I didn't know this until about 20 minutes ago. In years past, I would have had a countdown to this day. I would have told everyone. This year - I didn't even know. What sort of fan am I?? A totally disinterested one. My disinterest stems from the fact that I'm convinced they will suck this year - possibly worse than last year. I may be able to muster up some interst once the actual season starts, but even that is probably questionable. Sad but true.
So, thats about it I guess. I'll attempt to update more frequently.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Yay - I've moved out of hell and into a nice, warm, friendly, cozy new apartment with Bethany!!
It's still in the "putting together" phase, but it's well on its way.
In other news - I'm a rockstar bassoonist. I played a KICK ASS Spoleto audition today and I'm happy to report that I now can kick Beethoven 4's ass. I ROCK.
I'm insanely busy - work, auditions, gigs, stupid boys - it's exhausting to be me.
I now must go pay bills. Fun fun.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
5:43PM
It's 4:23. I want to go home now. NOW.
I have reeds to make. And yoga to do. And the BSO concert tonight.
I'm thinking I'll bust out of here and try to catch the 4:45 bus home. I know, I know. It's only 15 minutes early, but by leaving 15 minutes early, the bus should miss the "right around 5pm" traffic down Mass Ave and I might actually
get home by 5:15. Or, maybe if Ellen is going home, I'll just wait until 5 and catch a ride with her and still will be home around 5:15. Of course, I sort of wanted the exercise of walking part of the way home....oh well. I'll do an extra 20 minutes of yoga instead.
I'm a yoga bunny. You know, like a cardio bunny. But with yoga. And granted, I've only been doing it for a week. But I LOVE it.
Thats right. Kristin hearts yoga.
In other news - less than a month until I move into my new place with Bethany. Very exciting.
The next few weeks should be hectic...not b/c I have much of anything to do, but just b/c I have so much to do in the following weeks....so it's really pre-emptive hectic. Jan 22-28 I have gigs every night. Then I move on Feb 1 (though more likely actually on Feb 3). Feb 6 Spoleto audition. Feb 9-10 running a conference here. Feb 17 Tanglewood Audition. Feb 21 running a 1 day colloquium here. March 9 New World Audition.
So basically before the craziness starts around the 22nd, I'm going to have to pack, make enough good reeds to last until mid March and basically have finalized all of my audition rep to a comfortable level. Awesome.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
well, here it is, january 31, 2006.
i've had a very productive day so far....got up (productive in and of itself really) and went to my first yoga class. i have to say, i could very easily get addicted to it. i totally want to go every day. time and money will not allow me to do that, but i'd certainly like to. i think i'll aim for 3 or 4 classes a week. i think thats do-able.
then i went and bought some banannas, avocados and figaro food. came home, made some soup and balanced my check book. well, attempted to balance my checkbook. i came up off by $94 again. not quite sure how that happened. obviously i forgot to put something in, but i can't figure out what. honestly, i dont really care. i reconciled it anyway and just put a big old debit of $94 with no explination. ha ha. rock on.
did some laundry and watched some of the patriots game - yay patriots.
worked on reeds for a good 2.5 hours, maybe more. i sucessfully made 6 reeds that i think will be good. i, of course, can't tell them that b/c then they'll rebel. but i think its safe to type it. reeds can't read afterall. man, i crack myself up. they're not quite great reeds, but i think they have potential - i'll take them to my lesson tomorrow and maybe suzanne can work some of her badass bso mojo and make them super. i'm hoping to have my tanglewood audition reeds picked out in the next two weeks so that i can put them aside for a few weeks and just take them back out the week of the audition. this is a new thing for me. i usually don't pick out my audition reeds until a week or 2 before the audition and then just hope they last through the audition. suzanne thinks you should pick your reeds a month before the audition, put them away, and take them back out for the week of the audition. and since she's, ya know, in the bso, i think i'll try her game plan this time around.
i'm currently watching a show on the discovery chanel about an expedition to climb mount everest. and i have to say, i totally want to climb mount everest. not that i ever would, but in theory i think it would be such an amazing experience. in an attempt to curb this desire in me, the very cute boy gave me "into thin air" to read - about the 1996 expedition up everest that ended up with a whole bunch of dead climbers. but even so, i still think it would be amazing. amazing, but something i don't think i could ever actually do. nor would i probably really want to...but i think you get my point.
oh and ps - the team doctor on the show is really adorable. i'd totally climb mt everest if he was there....
moving right along....
i think it is now about time to commence with the new years eve festivities......
until next year....
Saturday, December 23, 2006
2:52PM
apparently, if you need to do last minute christmas shopping - the place to do it is in Harvard Square on the Saturday before Christmas. it was like a ghost town. amazing really.
Friday, December 22, 2006
I've decided I'm bored with the gym and want to do yoga.
So, please share....do you do yoga, and if so, what kind? And why did you chose that?
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
guys suck. SUCK. SUCK
i can't express how much guys suck right now. all caps and bold doesn't even begin to do it justice.
Monday, December 11, 2006
11:22PM
If you have not seen Happy Feet, you should. For seriously.
Come on now, tap dancing, singing penguins. How can you go wrong??
Go. Now. Enjoy.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
9:49PM
just incase you were wondering - 5 pops concerts in 48 hours is not fun.
3 in 1 day....even more not fun.
bleeding lips. boooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
9:08AM
.....AND JULIO LUGO??????
WTF MAN.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
why are the red sox so god damn stupid??
5 years. $70 million dollars. definitely the type of deal you want to give to a 31 yr old, injury prone outfielder. i'm sorry, are we the yankees?
and we're not keeping christopher trotman nixon why again?
and don't even get me started on the cora/pedroia tag team at either short or 2nd that they're talking about.
mother f******.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
so last night I had a lesson..and after said lesson I'm hanging out with my teacher, as I tend to do after lessons....and we're talking about TV and I happen to mention "The Office" and she says "oh, thats the show with John on it".
So it takes me a minute and then it clicks and I say "I'm sorry Suzanne, but you're on a first name basis with John Krasinski???"
When she first won the job in Boston, 6 or 7 years ago, and moved here, she rented an apartment from his family and lived two houses down from them.
How frakkin cool is that??
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
I was, mistakingly, told by someone who had seen a certain episode of a certain TV show tonight before me, that I would enjoy said episode.
Um....for real?
B/c really - I was not such a fan of the episode, starting in about minute 5. And then I kept expecting something great to happen at the end b/c I was told that I'd like the episode. So I'm sitting there watching, thinking, well, there are only 10 minutes left, its about to get good.
And I guess it did get good. The murder was one of the 2 or 3 people I expected it to be. And I was half right about the rapist....
And unfortunately, my other prediction for the episode was also right.
BOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I can't say I'm particularly happy.
:-(
I heart Logan Echolls.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
...that I totally hate a fictional TV character right now b/c she's being stupid and mean to her fictional TV boyfriend?
I'm sorry. I love said boyfriend. Truth be told, he's the only reason I watch the show. And I don't like where things are going. I knew they'd go there eventually. But jebus, I don't like seeing said boyfriend with tears in his eyes b/c his cold hearted, untrusting, bitch of a girlfriend ignores his call and he sees her do it.
Is it possible that I'm too invested in this?? Yes, I think maybe I should step away from the TV.....
Sunday, November 19, 2006
I'm not gonna lie, I've become a morning person. For those of you who knew me anytime before, oh say, this past May, this should come as something of a shock. I used to be a fan of sleep. I'd sleep until 10:30 or 11am on the weekend. And then I'd take a nap in the afternoon also. Yup - LOVED sleep.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan of sleep, but since my surgery in May, I've been sleeping much less and I'm now a morning person. I get up at 6am most mornings. Keep in mind, I could get up at 8:15 and still make it to work on time. On the weekends I'm up by 8 - usually earlier, sometimes of my own choice, usually b/c my roommates suck.
This all being said, being at the airport at 6:30am on a Sunday morning - not my idea of a good time. Being at the airport at 6:30am on a Sunday morning with a bunch of hicks from South Carolina? Even less my idea of a good time. I'm sure that sounds all sorts of wrong to say, ask me how much I care.
I've been in good old South Carolina since Wednesday. The people are very nice - but I'm so not a southern person. I like the fast paced north. The slow moving, good old hometown blah blah of down here is a bit much for me.
I spent the past few days rehearsing with the Charleston Symphony and then played a concert last night. A good time in general. The orchestra was ok, not great, but ok. It was a very weird mix of older people who had obviously been playing there for like 20 years and young people for whom this was obviously their first job - and probably one they hope to move away from in a few years after getting some experience. Case in point - the English horn player, Nick. Nick and I are friends once removed....we know about 10 of the same people but have somehow never met. He just won the job here this past summer. He's AMAZING. Absolutely gorgeous sound and I have no doubt he'll land himself a nice big job sometime in the near future.
It got me thinking - how much do I want to have a music job. I mean, would I settle for winning a job in an orchestra like Charleston? I think that would be horribly unfufilling. Like say you REALLY wanted to be a college professor at Harvard, but ended up working at UMass instead. Still a good school.....still a college professor job....but just not quite what you'd though you'd be doing.
I want to play in a top 15-20 orchestra. Obviously, the BSO, NY Phil, Philadelphias of the world are a bit out of reach (plus all have young sections so won't have openings for YEARS) - but the next level, thats what I want.
I have my work cut out.
So my flight back to normal land is at 8:35 - with a stupid ass layover in Philadelphia. There are no direct flights from Boston to Charleston. Proof that it's not worth coming down here. Ok, thats not fair...its a very cute little city. Just not a city I'd ever want to
live in.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
The gigs they just keep rolling in. Ask me when the next weekend is that I'll be in Boston. Go ahead. Ask.
Mid-December. Thats when. Yikes!
Anyway - so, all you Albany-area people...I'll be in Albany Dec 1, 2 & 3. Anyone want to get dinner? Lunch? Drinks? Any of the above?
Thursday, November 9, 2006
Hey Republicans....You SUCK.
Pity that whole mid term election thing.....
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
I got a fairly random call this afternoon. "Hi Kristin, this is Sarah calling from the Charleston Symphony. In South Carolina." (um, ok?) "I was given your name by the personell manager at New World and was wondering if you could come down next week to sub with us?"
So, I'll be flying down to South Carolina next Wednesday night, rehearsing Thursday, Friday and Saturday, concert on Sat night, home on Sunday.
How cool??
On a total side note - Fitz, my personal trainer, is kicking my ass.
Monday, November 6, 2006
actually, the back was already pretty broken....but recent events have confirmed the break.
i don't like my living situation. this is no surprise to anyone who knows me at all. it was always meant to be a temporary arrangment. i've now lived here for a year and a few months.
i can deal with the fact that nobody seems to want to turn the heat up (i get it, we're poor, heat is expensive)....i can deal with the slamming doors.....i can deal with the complete insensitivity to the fact that other people live here and a little consideration might be appreciated.....
yesterday was the first straw. i got up, as i always do on sunday morning around 730 and took a shower. around 830 i was drying my hair, IN MY BEDROOM when unnamed roommate knocked on my door and said "i was sleeping, your hairdryer woke me up."
um - excuse me? you slam doors at 645 on saturday morning ever week, but my hairdryer at 830am is too mmuch to take? the door was shut btw.
so whatever. i could probably even deal with that and just go with the assuption that i live with morons.
later yesterday, an unnamed roommate says to me "i'm thinking of using some of the carpet stuff for fleas" (b/c her nasty ass animals have brought in fleas and she refuses to just flea bomb the house which is really the only way to deal with it anyway but heaven forbid she listen to me who has lived with animals my entire life and knows this shit). so anyway, i being highly allergic to carpet sprays and powders and all that say "please dont use the carpet dust stuff, i'm really allergic to it, i'll do the bomb this weekend if you want."
so tonight, i come home from work, go to the movies, come home and what's been sprinkled all through the house? thats right, the flea powder carper stuff. i immediately started sneezing, my eyes got puffy and my throat started closing up.
you have got to be fucking kidding me. its not like she didnt know. I BLATENTLY ASKED HER TO NOT USE THE DAMN STUFF.
i am so done with living here. i dont care how cheap the rent it (its not that cheap btw). it is not worth the bullshit i have to put up with here.
as i type this, its 57 degree in here b/c really, heat? whats that?
Current mood:  pissed off
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