Five from badmagic

1. Music

As i have discovered in conversations with nancylebov, i had a best-case experience in my years in the public schools of Prince William and Fairfax Counties, Virginia, US. Mrs. Davis was the music teacher at Dale City Elementary school when i was in grades 1-4. From her, and my mother, i learned my love of song and singing. From Mrs Davis, we learned to read music. We had to prove we could read at least treble and bass clefs by the end of grade 3 or early grade 4 (we had year-round school back then, so things were a bit more fluid like that than today).

We had music class for an hour a week, on Wednesdays or Thursdays in my years there. We spent part of each class singing, with a student changing the overheads for lyrics we did not know, and with Mrs Davis sitting with her back to us, playing the piano for us to sing with. I loved watching Mrs Davis play the piano, because the visual patterns of the keys as she pressed them was beautiful and mesmerizing.

I came home from school one day when i was 8 and said to my parents, "Mommy, Daddy, i want to learn to play the piano". They looked at each other, at me, back at each other, then Mom asked me why and i told her about watching Mrs Davis and i wanted to do that. By the end of that month, i had piano lessons, along with S and T Frey, who lived down the street. For six months, i practiced at the Freys house every day after school. Then, in the Fall, on a Monday, a modern upright was delivered to our home and put into the edge of the dining room, along the stairs. So i could practice at home then.

The next year, in Grade 5, age 9 at the time, i came home and said i wanted to learn to play violin. So, dad took me to the local music store, and rented me a violin. A few months later, a private tutor was recommended to me, and her neighbor was selling a full-size violin, which i was finally big enough to play. So my parents bought it for $600. I still have it, and still play it. It's worth a very good bit more than $600 today.

In High School, i was no longer concertmaster, and so switched to viola, as i made only 3rd chair in 1st violin, and any 2nd-rate violinist would surely be a 1st-rate violist. I found i liked viola better - the mellower sound, the larger size, the more laid-back people, the less cut-throat competition for position, the generally cooperative environment the violists created.

I went 20 years playing viola, and a tad of cello, before performing on violin at the behest of muzikmaker21, with whom i still have symphonic intentions - literally. (I see opening with french horns and cellos in the lead, and building from there - we'll see where it all leads).

My performance of music - instrumental or vocal - is more important to me than recorded music. I do have my share of recorded music, and groups and performers of which i am quite fond - a couple of which to the point of being rather a groupie.

And any comments i make on music are incomplete with a shout-out to Hazel Cheilik, under whom i studied orchestral and chamber playing in high school, and a tip of the hat to my dearly departed friend Buffy Beverage, a cellist whom i am honored to have known, and even more honored to have played with for years in quartet and in ensemble. Oh, i did a year on the big bass drum in marching band in 4th year of high school, too.

2. Manners

Hm. Manners. Well, when i was five, i came home from a day of play for lunch to a fully set table - multiple forks, spoons, finger bowls and all. That afternoon was spent teaching me what various forks were for, how to use them, that one uses one's flatware/silverware from the outside in toward the plate, where to find the finger bowl, water glass, wine glass, cordial glass, and what. This was considered a standard extension of please, thank you, if you would be so kind, and don't chew with your mouth open. This was a thorough introduction of things to come - visits to friends of my father's on Embassy row, parties at embassies, visits to the White House (not state events), dinners at the trout club and more.

Recently, i think it was November, my mother spent an hour explaining to me about her efforts to be fair to us two kids, to treat us equally, to spend the same amount of money on us both. I think it was in large part to her explicit and implicit examples of fairness and treating all with dignity, even when it is not easy, and my inherent desire to have a peaceful environment, plus reinforcement from our wonderful neighbours, and my friends, that has inspired me through life to - mostly- try to behave my best, though i know i fail on that grandly at times, being human and all.

I started reading Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners, quite young, and being a budding faggot from a young age, certain bits of formality and stuffiness are core components of my character.

This topic was hard. I think that's all i have to say, though follow-up questions may clarify what i'm fairly sure i just obfuscated.

3. Boardgames

Some time in the late Summer or early Fall of 1975, my mother sat down on the floor with me and we played Monopoly. Her stated purpose was to teach me better how to count and to make change and about money. That Monopoly set was a wedding gift from her parents, as no American household is complete without a Monopoly set. Years of family games of Monopoly would follow. Scrabble got added as i moved into Kindergarten in July of 1976. Dad started teaching me chess in the Spring of 1977, just after i had tubes put in my ears. As we move into 1978, my sister was big enough that Candyland and Trouble appeared. That Xmas, my great-grandma Shoenmann (Mom's Dad's Mom) gave my own Scrabble set, which i still have. Risk entered the picture at some point, along with many others. Other friends had other games, and we would get together and game when we weren't in the woods or along the creek or at the playground, or it was too hot, or rainy, or icy or what.

My college years were spent sharing housing with various friends, including a particular happy house in Circle Towers in Fairfax. One day, we were siting in the library, which adjoined the kitchen. One roomie was tossing oranges, which were in a bowl on the counter. So we all started throwing oranges at one another, then we ran out the door to the nearby park and played freeze tag for a while, then ran back to the house, picked up the oranges, and we guys insisted the ladies play Risk with us. They cleaned our clocks quite thoroughly that game.

A few years ago, scruffycritter introduced me to chez_turtle, where it turns out the hostess, chelona is someone i knew from, and lived with during, college.

In addition to board games i play Babble, and on Facebook, i'm always up for a game of Lexulous, Wordscraper, or Word Twist.

4. Conversations in selki's kitchen.

*Tries frantically to think why badmagic would choose this topic* *shrugs shoulders* selki is a gracious hostess always, and her parties always have lovely people at them. In the kitchen, getting food, making food, throwing away trash, grabbing a drink, doing dishes or whatever we are doing, is where the most intimate conversations usually happen in my experience.

Kitchens invite that. They are warm. They are about feasts and cookies and iced tea and coffee and camaraderie and kneading bread or biscuits.

5. The state that taught you to keep toilet paper in your car.

The State of New York. I have family in Chautauqua County. Several of my friends went to Cornell in Ithaca. One passes through NY from S to N along I-87 on the way to Quebec Autoroute 15. Back when, there were signs: "Primitive Facilities Next n00 miles". What that meant was that when you pulled into the rest area, there would be a mound to the left with a wooden sign in it that said "Men" and a mound to the right with a sign in it that said "Woman". Behind each mound was a pit toilet. So, it was bring your own or use leaves. That's all there is to say about that.

NY is a lovely state, an i spend 2 weeks each year in that state, one week in the Summer, and one week in October. I spend additional time there from time-to-time, visiting family or just being there. I go to New York City sometimes, too, which is nice, but, though a part of New York State, New York City and Westchester are not like what is N or W of them.

Cinco de ogam*

1. Chamber Music
The other day i told you a bit about me and music, complements of five from badmagic. So, i started studying violin at age 9, when i was in fifth grade, in my last year at Dale City Elementary School. Grade six found me at Mils E Godwin Middle School, studying under M. Trowbridge, who is retiring this year. I'm performing at the retirement concert in June of this year.

The Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association (VBODA) sponsors Solo & Ensemble - a blind-judge competition on a regional basis. When i was growing up, Districts 9 & 11 were one unit, today they are separate; i grew up in District 9, and went to HS in District 11. Results from Solo & Ensemble lead to applying for Jr (middle school) or Sr (high school) regional orchestras.

Mr Trowbridge referred me to M Hall, who became my private tutor for several years, and starting in Grade 6, i participated in Solo & Ensemble and Regional Orchestra. I won consistent awards for my playing from then through graduating, both solo & in ensemble. En ensemble, i was in a string quartet or quintet through middle school and part of HS.

I'm classically trained in violin and viola, as you may have gathered. I have extensive orchestral experience, both in string and in symphonic orchestras. I enjoy orchestral playing a lot, and enjoy orchestral performances. But, it is en ensemble chambre that i am most at home. I love the intimacy of playing with the smaller group - the deeper mutual cooperativeness it breeds, the deeper insight into the roles of the instruments generally and with in a piece it reveals, the flexibility of instrumentation it allows.

Let's look at a piece that most everyone knows and likes, and most musicians i know play but hate, is Pachelbel's Canon in D, or properly, Canon and Gigue in D major for three Violins and Basso Continuo.
With two violins, a viola, a cello and/or bass, we perform as written. With a violin, two flutes, and a viola, the viola part is dropped, the flutes and violin take on the violin roles, and viola picks up the cello/bass part. A trio of violin, viola, cello yields Violin I, Viola, Cello.

In a chamber group, at least in rehearsal, players may swap parts to gain better understanding of timing or parts where you will see revealed how your part should be louder/softer/faster or what.
And in a chamber group, there's a bit more time for silliness, which is always a happy.

Starting in 9th grade, i paired up with Buffy Beverage, a cellist for chamber work. We had various violinist with us through the years. We performed all of us for 5 years. I do so miss Buffy, though i also have a wee bit of frustration in knowing that her death resulted in part due to her mismanaging, or not managing, her diabetes. Ah well, i enjoyed my time with her on this plane, and am sure she is well where she be.

In attending a chamber group performance, usually the venue is smaller and more intimate. As an audience member, you not only hear the music, you see the camaraderie of the musicians, get to see who the lead player within the group is - the one to start the playing and guide the others as needed.

Here in Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Art, for 67 years now, has maintained a schedule of concerts, usually of chamber groups, in the Garden Court of the West Building. The concerts are on Sunday evenings, and are free. One of the many, many, many free cultural gems that we here in DC have the benefit of.

2. CUUPS
As most of you know, i'm a Unitarian Universalist with Friend(Quaker) leanings. CUUPS is the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, a group that is no longer affiliated with the UUA, the Unitarian Universalist Association. The UU congregation with which i was last affiliated, the wonderful UU Church of Silver Spring, MD, does not have a CUUPS chapter, but rather has Gaia Circle, a member-led pagan group. As a result, though i'm sure they're a fine organization, i have no personal experience with CUUPS aside from knowing they exist.

3. Dadaism
De do, do, do, de da, da, da is all i have to say to you. Wait, no, that's not it. This movement, along with surrealism, make me happy. That is all, for now. No reason, just happiness.

4. España
In grade 8, was sent off to Spain. My Spanish accent and usage solidified there. I speak Castillian with a ceceo - meaning lisped - accent. I was there just as my dad was diagnosed and beginning to fail physically. It was there, for the first time in months and months, i could forget about that. There i saw the breathtaking beauty that is La Valle de los Caídos, which despite the controversy round its construction, is a beautiful and fitting memorial. There i met Sonia, with whom my friends and i danced the zarzuela and tarantella and played crack-the-whip in the plaza where Bar Carlos V was in 1984, and may yet be. There spent i 8 hours in the airport in Palma de Mallorca because ETA terrorists blew up the TWA office across the street from where we lived in Madrid, and next to the Burger King where we sometimes ate lunch. But for that vacation, we too might have died in that bombing. There, in i think it was El Corte Inglés, E bought that lovey white skirt with the black pinstripes and the pink and blue polka dots that i still remember fondly.

There i spent a couple weeks in Barcelona, a beautiful and vibrant city that i feel rolls together the best of New York City and Washington, DC. Walkable, with palms in the harbor and along Las Ramblas, and cacti in a garden on the mountainside of Montjuïc. Something to do 24h day in a reasonably compact, nicely walkable city. I'd like to go back there, as last i was there Sagrada Familia as yet had no roof, and its spires were still not all complete, yet it was stunning in the way that Gaudí's buildings and works always are. Barcelona, as Montreal, are places i feel at home in as DC, which says a lot about both places, at least to me.

I remember the barren desert plain of La Mancha, flat, grey-brown and empty but for the occasional olive grove or vineyard. I remember the tiny, medieval streets in Toledo, which still then looked enough like El Greco's Vista de Toledo as to be recognizable on approach, centuries after he painted it. I remember how in each church we visited, the docent would always proudly show the 1 or 2 windows that survived the Civil War, and how all the other windows are replicas of the originals, and how they each took the time to point out how the replacements differed slightly from the originals, in that larger glass could be used due to advances in glazing. I remember the sadness in the voices of the docents at the few churches where no windows survived the Civil War. I remember the majesty of the still-in-use Roman Aqueduct in Segovia.

And most of all, in hindsight, i remember the lovely respite from dealing with life at home and Dad's illness. And i wish i'd thought to get Jonathan's phone number back then. More about that another time.

5. Kyrie/Κύριε
The beauty and simplicity of this pleases me much. I find it meditative, grounding. And, it's ancient Greek - hello!


*Ogam is not a month, but a man.