Notes from a Monday

1. Today, I nearly strangled a fifty-year old (I'm guessing?) piano teacher with my own bare hands. Her name is Doris (of course) and she is a heinous betsch everytime she comes in. The grand epitome of everything you do NOT want your child exposed to when taking music lessons. Also, I have determined that she smells like whatever she had for lunch three days ago mixed with wet cat food.

2. I just downloaded an obscene amount of music from iTunes. I couldn't help it. It all started with Mendelssohn's "Scottish" Symphony (It's one of the audition pieces next week for the UW Wind Ensemble -- hey, better to prepare one week before an audition than never at all, correct?), then Smetana's "Die Moldau" (I was listening to it on the radio, which made me realize what a travesty it is that I don't have a recording of it in my own personal collection), which was on an album which contained Dvorak's "New World" Symphony (One can never have enough recordings of this piece -- or any Dvorak piece for that matter...plus, c'mon, Vienna Philharmonic? Um, yes please.) which naturally led to the Dvorak "American" String Quartet (Oh God, yes more Dvorak! Don't stop!) and ended with, yup, you guessed it, yet another recording of Ysabel's Top Rated Most Orgasmic Piece In The Entire Universe Ever: the Dvorak Cello Concerto* (Ooooh, how did I live this long without a recording of Jaqueline DuPre's performance? Jaqueline DuPre with the Berlin Phil, no less. I mean, I've got Yo-yo Ma with Berlin, Rostropovich with London and Jan Vogler with New York, but this one was a blatant hole in my obsession collection. I nearly soiled myself - in a good way - upon listening to the first minute of the second movement...).

3. This Friday is payday. Thank the lord because, well, see above. Also, the next time Doris comes in, I may not have the strength of will to not strangle her and then I will have to post bail.


* As previously mentioned by me here, here and here.