NaBloPoMo thoughts

I'm not sure what the Pillsbury dough boy has to do with it, but today is the last day of National Blog Posting Month. I have thoroughly enjoyed the month and found many wonderful new blogs and blogging friends through it. I have found it is not so easy to post something worth reading every day. On the other hand, participating in the event has allowed me to experiment with posting in ways that I might not have otherwise and not to worry about whether anyone is reading.

I am happy to report that Katie (see yesterday's post) did indeed finish her NaNoWriMo novel and said my NanoRhino helped. She really helped me enormously, too, and I thank her for that.

Today is also the last day of my most recent crazy-round-the-clock work schedule, and I look forward to having a little more time for practicing next week, and for art and reading. And perhaps twiddling my thumbs for a bit. Christmas is upon us, but we've decided to keep it very simple this year.

Unfortunately my flute/cello group will not be playing our regular holiday party this year. The sponsoring organization has decided they need the space we would ordinarily take up for more party-goers. They did invite us to attend as guests, but that is not the same! We will probably play at a nursing home instead, but we have a two-hour program of music and will have to cut a lot to play our usual 45 to 60 minute program for a nursing home. I love playing Christmas music and hate to cut any of these pieces! One year we had five performances during the holiday season, including New Year's Eve performances in two different towns, but perhaps that was excessive. :-)

There are two fiddler events this weekend, the women's practice session, and a performance of the whole group on Sunday as part of the weekend's Christmas parade and activities (we start early). However, it will be just fiddle tunes, no Christmas fiddling tunes, unless we learn some really quick!

Have a good weekend!

NaNoRhino

This NaNoRhino is especially for Katie, who also likes to draw, to encourage you to scamper across that 50,000 word finish line before Friday's deadline. Good luck!

Just imagine he is chasing you. I know it doesn't even look like he can stand up straight, but just imagine. I know you can do it!

(The rhino is from this week's Drawspace challenge. )

Cello lesson

I brought my four-flat version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and my treble clef version of "Gesu Bambino" to my lesson this week. My teacher gave my a few fingering improvements on them both, but all in all she was very happy with my playing of both pieces. I am feeling good about them, and still haven't transposed the Bambino to bass clef. Hmm, maybe I can actually read from treble clef now. It's probably better to play from the score anyway, so I know where the vocalist is.

The organist has said that the vocalist likes to sing freely not according to any strict tempo. Fine by me. A fiddler once told me, at a fiddle session, that I was holding out some notes too long. He said he could understand why, because they sounded so beautiful on the cello. :-) I took that as a compliment, though I could tell he was frustrated because I wasn't playing the tune (Star of the County Down) the same way he was.

He was playing 3 quarter notes per measure. I was playing dotted-quarter, eighth, quarter in certain measures, so yes, my first note was more drawn out than his, though not because I was mesmerized by the music, but because I was playing the standard version of the tune. In a typical fiddle session, the person introducing the tune gets to play it the way she or he wants to, so I eventually won that discussion. I will apply the same logic to Gesu Bambino. However the singer wants to sing it is fine with me (so long as all three of us can all stay together).

5 things about the New Yorker

Melissa tagged me for either the 5 Things or the 7 Things meme recently. Since I already did the 7 Things, I'm going to just do 5 today (I'm tired).

Because I was reading the New Yorker when I was thinking about this "5-Thing" thing, I have decided to do this one, as "5 Things about Me and the New Yorker."

1. I have subscribed to the New Yorker since I was 18 (42 years).

2. I used to read the New Yorker front to back, story by story, looking at cartoons in the order they appeared. This was in the day before the New Yorker had a table of contents. It just seemed the right way to read it. It the New Yorker didn't want me to know the contents, then I would just let it be a surprise to me. Now, I read the cartoons first, and more often than I care to admit, the cartoons only.

3. I used to be an abstractor/indexer for a quasi-government research agency in Washington D.C. I would read research articles, write a summary of them and select keywords to describe the articles. This was all done on worksheets, because computers were huge things kept in large rooms, not on people's desks way back then. I used to open the New Yorker on my desk and spread my research articles around it so that I could take a break and read the New Yorker when the research articles got dull, and no one would know the difference (today's equivalent would be surfing the web when you should be working). Despite this distraction, or maybe because of it, I was always the most productive worker.

4. I have always wanted to be a cartoonist for the New Yorker. I have never even had an idea for a cartoon, so it seems unlikely this will happen. I appreciate the cartoons though. My mother always admired the little filler drawings in the New Yorker, not the cartoons. Because of her, I admire the filler drawings too.

5. My mother also subscribed to the New Yorker. She read the articles, but did not like the contemporary fiction and I have to agree that much of it seems pointlessly plotless or unnecessarily incomprehensible. Here is an article I like on certain types of contemporary fiction: A Guide to Literary Fiction.


And, because they haven't been tagged for anything lately, I tag GottaGoPractice and Guanaco for this 5 or 7 Random (or organized) things about yourself. Have fun!

NaNoDone!

I am very happy to announce that I have crossed the 50,000 word mark and am officially a NaNoWriMo winner! The novel isn't actually done yet. There is still the big concert at the folk music festival and the resolution of the environmental pollution/cartoon animation mystery, but that should be no problem to wrap up, making up chemicals and chemical interactions as I go.

However, I have decided to completely reorganize this novel-like object and start all over again, from a different viewpoint, in a different point in time, and with slightly different characters. The new novel will have sparkling dialogue, creative wordplay, subtle intellectual humor, and a twisting and turning plot that ultimately makes sense and leaves you with a nice fully resolved feeling in the end. My current novel is lacking some of these things! But I can't tell you how happy I am that I participated in NaNoWriMo, and that I made it across the finish line.

My review of August Rush

Not enough cello.

Even when Lila is playing the cello, the guitar music from her lover's band across town overwhelms the sound of the cello, and Lila seems distracted by his music and not fully involved in her own cello playing.

My daughter loved the movie and thinks I am much too critical. You have to go see this movie with the idea it is a fairy tale, not a real story. It does have an nice, fully-orchestrated sappy, feel-good ending designed to reduce one to tears. Love and music! What more could you want?

Above is an interview with Keri Russell about playing the cello in the film.

Fiddle practice

I practiced some fiddle tunes today, and finally came up with an arrangement of Arkansas Traveler for cello that I like. There are so many, many ways of playing this piece, and sometimes you get attached to a particular way.

The way I have written it out here will work with the way our fiddle group plays it, but avoids shifts to fourth position because our group plays this very fast, and shifting takes time. Well, for me, anyway. So, this is my "Easiest, Speediest Arkansas Traveler for Cello." You can make it even easier by playing every other note, as quarter notes, in measures 10 and 11 and 14 and 15.

November 23 is Buy Nothing Day

Today, I just found out via NaBloPoMo, is Buy Nothing Day in North America (it's tomorrow in other parts of the world), a day to try to counteract rampant consumerism, especially in the U.S. See the Buy Nothing Day (U.S.) site or the New York Times article for more information. I'm all for it, and my husband and daughter, who are both working in retail today, would probably appreciate it too, if maybe a couple of people decided to stay home. I guess I am going to have to go see What Would Jesus Buy, too, although my guess is that the movie industry contributes quite a bit to consumerism.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My daughter's handiwork

I am happy to be spending Thanksgiving Day at home, cooking up an embarrassingly large quantity of sumptuous food for a fairly small number of family members and friends, and looking forward to enjoying everyone's company later in the day.

I am thankful for family and friends
for art and music, and especially the cello
for the natural beauty of the land and sea
for warm smiles and hearty laughs
for love, and hugs and kisses all around
and for this huge pile of ultimately rewarding work
that I must buckle down and catch up with
while that turkey is cooking.

I wish you all the joys of the hoilday.

Oh, Little Town of Four Flats

I agreed to play a couple of pieces on the cello at a friend's Christmas church service: "Gesu Bambino," in which a male vocalist sings the solo and the organ and I play accompaniment, and "O, Little Town of Bethlehem," in which I play solo cello with the organ.

"Gesu Bambino" looks fine, though I will have to transpose the treble clef to bass clef. I can read treble clef, but not reliably in stressful situations like a performance.

"O, Little Town" is in four flats. My first reaction, was, oh no, I can't do this, especially as a solo. I'll transpose it to E minor, an easier key for me. But, then I decided to give it a try. It is more challenging in F minor (4 flats) than it is in E minor (one sharp), but it is not impossible. It will give me practice with lots of different positions, and it is a nice slow, passionate tune that I can sing along with when I practice it. According to Wikipedia, F minor is "a key often associated with passion," so I'd hate to change the key arbitrarily, even though every other version of "Little Town" that I have found is in one flat. I have a little over a month, surely enough time, even for me. It is, after all, a short, repetitious piece, and this particular arrangement with the organ looks good.

I will let you know how it goes. :-)

Two-Thirds and Merry Christmas in Vegetablese!

Today marks the 2/3 point through NaBloPoMo and NaNoWriMo. Whoopee!! At this point I am about 70 percent through my novel (word-count-wise, not in the sense that it has any relationship to anything you might actually want to read), just slightly ahead of schedule. I am hoping to finish it over the weekend so that I will have the remaining week in November to write some coherent blog posts--because I probably will only have the energy to write about three posts in December. :-)

No Plot, No Problem, the guide to NaNoWriMo, suggests that, this week, participants draw colorful and detailed maps of the settings for their novels: perhaps the city where the action takes place, or the layout of a house or other building. Sounds like fun, and useful, too, and I will try to find time to do it.

Rallentando mentioned the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra in a recent post. Thanks to Donna's suggestion, I was able to find several Vienna Vegetable Orchestra clips on YouTube. The orchestra members hollow out veggies and play them like recorders or ocarinas, but most of their instruments are not melody instruments, but rhythm-based percussion created by slapping one veggie against another. It's nice, but sounds like a drum circle not an orchestra. Perhaps it is difficult to get the carrots to play in tune with the broccoli.

I came across another guy in Japan who plays tunes on his veggies. I found him very entertaining, and I hope you do too. Here are my favorites:

First, his rendition of Angels We Have Heard on High, on large broccoli ocarina.

Next his Old Castle's Moon on carrot pan-flute. (You will recognize this from the Suzuki books).

Finally, Old Folks at Home, on slide carrot ocarina.

If you like these, there are more at heita3's page.

I could not find anyone playing an instrument made out of a potato. There is a sweet potato ocarina, but it is made out of clay, not a real potato. How disappointing!

Mini Piano

I am really, really busy today! No time to blog. Here's piano to play while I work. Have fun!

Happy Holiday Cards

Every year I decide to make my own Christmas cards, and most years I never get around to it. This year, in the nano spirit, I signed up for an Artist Trading Card (ATC) exchange of holiday cards. Participants create small (2.5" by 3.5") cards in any medium for other participants, and each person ends up with a set of cards by different artists. This is done all year round by dedicated artists, usually with seasonal themes. The one I am involved in is holiday or winter themes and there are 12 participants, which means I have to make not one, but 11 different designs. Sounds like fun. :-)

I have already made numerous cards, often redoing cards several times before I am satisfied with them. By satisfied, I mean, I don't think they are going to get any better. So here are a few, most still in draft form, for your amusement. They are cartoony, drawn in ink and water colors.


This is the third time for this design. The chocolate chip cookies still look like potatoes. It represents those calm happy warm social moments of the holidays.



This is a small version of a card I made maybe 25 years ago. In the larger original, there is a tree cookie cutter, so you can tell the intent is to make Christmas cookies. This is based on my cat and kitchen at the time. And I still have the canisters. The original was more festively colored, and I will probably do this one again.

This is a poinsettia. I have since downloaded a zillion photos of poinsettias from the Internet and even went out and bought a poinsettia--before Thanksgiving!--as a study for this. I have done this several times, and will probably do it several more times.


This is not a Christmas theme, but I like it, just the way it is. I am going to try to make it holiday-ish, perhaps by tossing in a poinsettia!

Annie

We went to see the Falmouth Theater Guild production of the musical "Annie" last night. It was excellent, casting was wonderful and included many very talented child and adult actors/singers, many of whom we knew through our kids, school, and past productions.

I thought for sure I had seen "Annie" before, but I didn't remember the depression-period theme. I was starting to get a little depressed myself, due to recent talk of recession, but Annie managed to cheer me up. Annie gets adopted in the end, of course, by rich Daddy Warbucks, and all is well.

I wonder if anyone has written a sequel to "Annie," how her life changes after she is wealthy. Maybe when I finish my current novel-like project....

How to Draw a Cello

Step 1.Draw three potatoes stacked on top of each other. Big one on the bottom, medium one on the top, and small one tucked in between. You can also think of this as an awkwardly constructed snowman.



Step 2. Connect the potatoes and add "cello corners."



Step 3. Erase the parts you don't need.



Step 4. Add a celery stick at the top and a toothpick at the bottom, held in place by a gumdrop.



Step 5. Add a crescent roll on top of the celery stick and decorate with four lollipops.



Step 6. Turn it around, and there's your cello.


With apologies to B. Kliban and his "how to draw a cat" cartoons.

Halfway

Halfway through NaBloPoMo, I have run out of things to say, so today's post is a short one (for me) about the effects of nablo and nano.

Visits to my site are way up, according to Sitemeter. Some of this is due to other nablos and nanos visiting my site, but most of it is a result of people searching for information on the movies or cellists and musical groups I have mentioned, and a fair number are people looking for information on how to draw cellos and celery. Yes, people are looking for information on how to draw celery. I am happy to provide that.

The problem with nablo is that I don't have time to write some posts that take a little more time to write, like a thoughtful post on drawing celery and cellos, or playing Scottish fiddle music on the cello, or reviews of two wonderful CDs by Scottish cellists, Seylan Baxter and Christine Hanson. I will write these reviews, but, for now, all I have time to say is that I recommend them both very highly!

As for nanowrimo, I have discovered that I can write a novel if I just sit down and do it. My novel will require a lot of editing, but there is definitely a plot, characters, and even humor in it.

I have met some interesting people in both nablo and nano and am tonight meeting with another nano novelist with whom I have a lot in common. She's even a musician. It is great to talk to her and others about this noveling experience. I am also in touch with a very energetic nano writer and college student, and her enthusiasm helps keep me going.

I feel a little the way I did when the kids were little. This is loads of fun, but could I take a nap, for just a day or two?

Fiddle Women

I attended the second gathering of the women's fiddle group last night. Before the gathering I spent some, but not enough, time learning "Booth Shot Lincoln," which the larger group has been playing for a few months now. It is a perky little tune, despite its name, and repetitious, which makes it both easy and initially confusing to memorize. It's in the key of A, which is not so easy on the cello as it is on the fiddle. I'm playing around with the octaves on the B part of the tune; I like the low sound on the cello, but the high octave might suit this tune better.

It took me forever to tune my cello last night. Perhaps it did not like the journey out into the cold because it usually holds a tuning very well. I finally got it in tune as the group was finishing up "Booth." Because this is a kindly group, we played it again later so that I could practice it too. This is a good tune because it is played at a speed I can handle, though I didn't quite get all the notes last night. Obviously I need to practice the tunes every day, not just the day before the session. We played the Scottish tunes I brought to the group last time, as well as some others we've been working on. All in all it was a good session, except that the host's dog insisted on barking loudly at the cello. Frequently. I've never had such a negative reaction to my playing!

I like this group for many reasons, not the least of which is that we are focusing on a small group of new tunes, rather than playing a whole selection of new (to me) tunes each time. The people (9 women tonight) are good and dedicated players, we tolerate sheet music, we play a little slower than the main group of fiddlers to better learn the tunes, and we meet only once or twice a month, which fits into my schedule. All I have to do is remember to practice between sessions, and all will be well.

Martian Child

My daughter and I went to see Martian Child over the weekend. I don't go to movies very often, but I've been reading No Plot, No Problem (a guide to novel writing for NaNoWriMo), and one of the suggestions was to take a break and watch a television show or go to a movie and think about plot development. My daughter picked the movie, but it turned out to be a great one for my purposes. The protagonist is an author (a very successful one, kind of a science fiction version of J. K. Rowling) who decides to adopt a seven-year-boy who thinks he is from Mars. He's single, a widower, so the movie is all about the connection between the father and his unusual son, without the bother of interaction with a mom or even a nanny. It all works out fine, of course, because this is a movie, and the father writes a novel based on the experience, guaranteed to be a feel-good best-seller.

The real-life book that the real-life movie is based on is "semi-fiction" by [apparently famous] science fiction author David Gerrold who adopted a six-year-old son as a single parent. In real life the Gerrold and his son played a game about pretending to be Martians; the child didn't really believe he was a Martian, as he did in the movie. In real life Gerrold is gay, and the father in his real-life book is gay. I guess introducing the whole issue of gay parenthood would have changed the focus of this movie. Perhaps they could have made his sexual preferences ambiguous, though, instead of making him a widower still grieving over his dead wife. The book was originally a short story, then revised as a novelette.

My NaNoWriMo novel (also more truthfully a novelette, estimated to run only the minimum 150 pages) is "semi-fiction" too. It's based on an experience that happened to me about ten years ago. I am making lots of changes to "novelize" my story, but sometimes truth is so much stranger and more satisfying than fiction, and sometimes I just want to tell the story the way it happened. I have introduced several other characters, and I made myself a proficient cellist in the novel, though I did not take up the cello until a couple of years after the events in the novel took place, and I am not yet as proficient as the narrator of my book. I threw in a harp player for good measure. Adoption was a factor in my real-life experience so one of my characters is an adoptive parent. In my novel, the two main characters, who would not have done this in real life, collaborate to write a musical instead of a novel. I needed to depart from reality a bit and wanted a feel-good ending. :-)

So, it was the perfect movie for me to see, legitimizing the "semi-fiction" novel and allowing me continue merrily on my novelization path. I just hit the halfway mark of 25,000 words and added a word-count widget to the sidebar of this blog so that those who are interested can see how I am doing.

Next, my daughter and I plan to see August Rush, another adoption tale, this time with cello. Hmm, I wonder who will play the cellist when my book is made into a movie....

Crooked Still changes

I saw a notice for a Crooked Still concert the other day, and the photo did not appear to include cellist Rushad Eggleston. I finally got around to checking the Crooked Still web site and found that Rushad is, indeed, leaving Crooked Still, one of my favorite folk/bluegrass/alternative bands, initially because of Rushad. Their last concert with Rushad is November 18 in Northampton, Mass.

Rushad, according to the Boston Herald, has moved to the West Coast, but neither Boston-based Crooked Still nor the newspaper offer additional information. From his MySpace page, it looks like Rushad's and his new group is called the But, Wizards?, with Nico Georis and Gabriel Cazes. Judging from the photos, these two areas wacky as Rushad. I have to admit Rushad can be too wacky for me, but he contributed so much music and personality to Crooked Still.

The future of Crooked Still looks rosy, though, even Rushadless. The band is adding two new members, cellist Tristan Clarridge, 21, and fiddler Brittany Haas, 20, (sister of cellist Natalie Haas). Clarridge plays multiple instruments, won the Grand National Fiddle Champion four times, and has played with Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, as has Haas. Haas is a well-known fiddler who has amazing played with numerous groups. She is also studying ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton. Impressive, especially for such young'uns!

I'm a genius! You're a genius!

As it turns out, it isn't really a good thing to have a "genius" level blog. It simply means your blog is hard to read because you use polysyllabic words and long sentences. The idea is to write so that people can understand you.

Here's a discussion on readability and another chance to test your readability and analyze the results: Juicy Studio: Readability Test.

Even more information on readability can be found at, where else?: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Readability Tests, but Were Afraid to Ask.

Meanwhile, thanks for reading my blog. At least now you know you're a genius for doing so.

It's Almost Christmas

Ok, we have another month and a half to go, but if you are a musician, you are probably already rehearsing holiday music and making performance plans.

If you're in the Cape Cod area, do make plans now to attend the annual Holiday Music Open House at Johnson Street Instrument in Falmouth on Thursday evening, December 20 from 5 pm until 10 pm.

Bring your instrument(s), and we will play fiddle, early, and traditional holiday music. All manner of instruments are welcome, even those without strings. We'll provide sheet music (for C instruments only) and an assortment of delightful refreshments. We will fiddle from 5 to 6 pm, and play early and traditional music from 6 pm on. The shop will be open for last-minute gift buying.

Feel free to comment or e-mail me if you'd like more information.

The insurance adjuster, or It's always something

I'm waiting for the insurance adjuster to come by and take a look at my car, damaged by last weekend's storm, when it was hit by a tree limb.

He just called to say he would be late getting here. He ran into a pothole and damaged his wife's brand-new car. Oh well, I hope she will get a quick resolution! Me, I'll be waiting a while longer.

What Instrument Should You Play

The first time I took this quiz, the answer I got was that I should play the piano. I kept changing my answers to try to get the cello. I got an accordion once, and the drum, but after a while, all I got was the harp. The harp isn't bad though, and "It's just your style to play an eccentric, hard to transport instrument" sounds familiar. Excuse me while I go play my soulful cello.

You Should Play the Harp

You are a sensitive soul, with a great admiration for beauty. You definitely have what it takes to make beautiful music, but most instruments are too harsh for you. You are subtle, shy, and even a bit spoiled. You're very picky about most aspects of your life. It's just your style to play an eccentric, hard to transport instrument like the harp that few people consider. Overall, you have the relaxed demeanor of a leisurely upper class person, and your music would reflect that. Your calm yet soulful harp playing would be sure to help people forget their troubles for a while. Your dominant personality characteristic: your zen-ness. Your secondary personality characteristic: your quiet independence.

What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

Bonus question for the day, found on NaBloPoMo: Is it Christmas yet?

www.isitchristmas.com

Nano update

It's hard to believe we're already one week into November. One week into the month of daily blog posting for NaBloPoMo and of writing a 50,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo. That and a Nor'easter will wipe a person out.

Thus far, I have posted to my blog every day (allowing myself a post I didn't quite post until the next day because of the storm), I have written 14,120 words of my novel-like construction (an average of 2,000 words per day), and I have met many interesting bloggers, novel writers, blogger-novelists, blogger-musicians, and blogger-artists.

The NaBloPoMo site is great for getting to know people and finding blogs of interest. About 6,000 bloggers are participating and there are a multitude of special interest groups (including cello bloggers). I have joined groups for people who are doing both the novel and the daily blogs, people who love books, people who love music, people who live in New England and people who live in Massachusetts, people who are creative, and people who sketch. I have a bunch of "friends," some of whom I have actually communicated with. I have checked out many people's blogs and they have checked out mine. It feels like a bustling social, colorful endeavor, and it has been fun meeting people.

(Even if you are not committed to writing a post every day, you might want to visit NaBloPoMo just to see what's happening and maybe find some new blogs of interest. You can still participate, even if you know you're not going to "win." If you are a member of CelloBloggers, you can just use your ning login information.)

Curiously, before November, I always had plenty of ideas about what to blog about, and I blogged frequently, though not quite every day. Some days, I would have to choose between 3 or 4 blogworthy (in my opinion) topics. Since the start of blogwriting month, I have been starting to wonder if I can find enough topics to make it through the month. I'm sure I can, but there is a little stress about this that I didn't expect to feel. I am thinking of starting a notebook of blog ideas, kind of a journal about a journal.

NaNoWriMo is a little different. It is hard to meet people there because the website is very slow, mainly because there are, I have heard, about 100,000 people writing novels this month. All my "writing buddies" on nanowrimo (except for one) are people I met on NaNoBloMo or Drawspace.
Even if you don't talk to your writing buddies, they are good to have because you can compare your word count with theirs, and, if they post an excerpt from their novel, you can read it. It is also possible to go to local gatherings of nano novelists and meet them in person. There is a meeting nearby tonight, and I might stop by on my way to early music rehearsal.

Both nanos have forums where you can read and post to your heart's content when you are not blogging or noveling. On the novel forum, I read the posts of a college student whose self-imposed goal for the month is to write not one, but three novels, and not 50,000 word (about 150 pages), but 100,000 word novels. (And you thought college students went out partying to relieve stress!) She finished her first 100,000 word novel on Monday, I think, about five days into the month. That is a lot of writing. She says she types very fast and she does not go back to edit. She or another fast writer said that they do not pause to think of exactly the right word or turn of phrase; they just plow through the writing. Well, to each his own, but 50,000 words is enough for me. And to me, writing involves a lot of thinking of just the right word to use.

Am I writing a decent novel?, you may ask. Probably not, but I am viewing this as practicing, kind of to figure out what I want to write, and where I want to go from here. It's experimental. I am glad I am doing this, and I have to say that I wouldn't be writing a novel if it weren't for nano. I would have quit the first day, saying this is just too busy a week (every week is) for writing. But, I am committed to aiming at 2,000 words a page. It is not that hard. I've been doing about 1,000 in the morning and another 1,000 in the evening, at one or two sessions in the morning and one or two in the afternoon. In terms of word count, 2000 words a day is really quite achievable, and a draft novel in a month, or even two, is quite doable, so long as you persevere. Of course it will need to be edited, but I usually enjoy that part of writing.

Because I have been so organized about writing this month, I have also been more organized about work and cello practice. Believe it or not, I am practicing more than usual, and also spending more time with family. I may collapse at some point, but, for now, all is well.

Last Class

Last night was the last night of my seven-week Basic Drawing class. I could barely drag myself there. I was so tired and the anticipation of another drab still life to draw did not do much to encourage me. We are drawing in pencil, so I guess the teacher thinks it appropriate not to include colorful items. I hadn't done my homework (finishing last week's cello drawing) because, well, I just didn't have time. I actually fell asleep a couple of times while drawing last night. I could tell by the stray pencil marks on my teddy bear.

I have to say the class has been valuable, despite its limitations. For one thing, it gets you over the staring-at-a-blank-page-and-wondering-what-to-draw stage. There is something intriguing about drawing, even if the subject matter is a not what you might have chosen. And there is nothing like someone saying, in essence, "draw!" to get you moving.

I also learned that sketching is not always a quick and easy process. It takes time and you need to allow time. Drawing the final picture takes even longer. It's tied in to this concept of talent. People tend to think only people who are talented in art or in music can draw or make music. Talent does play a role, but practice may play a bigger role.

Erasing and revision is part of the process. I remember the teacher telling someone that their celery was in the wrong location in relationship to the bowl, and suggested that she erase her celery and redraw if closer to the bowl. The woman protested, "It took me so long to draw that celery." The teacher replied, "You did it once, you can do it again." (This reminded me of ensemble rehearsals when you all get through a tricky passage, and someone says, "Let's do it again, to cement it." And you're thinking, "I don't want to! I just barely made it through that time!" But, you did it once, you can do it again--and, in cello playing, you should!)

You get social support for your art in class. There are others trying to do what you are trying to do, and you can encourage each other. It was only in the last couple of weeks that people in this class started talking to each other and showing each other their work, or at least not hiding it and saying it was awful. I was so impressed with the progress of the older (than me) woman who sat next to me. She only started drawing in July and last night showed me her very intricate drawing of a harbor scene with a multitude of buildings and surfaces. We talked a bit about how to draw rock outcroppings. You can also get this social support online, in places like DrawSpace, where you can chat with others, participate in weekly drawing challenges, and upload your art for all to see and comment on. In fact, there is probably more support in the online group than in class, but I do appreciate the face-to-face contact in art class, and the real-life smiles.

And, finally, class is valuable because you have to set aside a certain huge amount of time (in this case class was 2 hours) just to draw. That's not always possible at home, where everything else seems more important. Going to art class allows you time to draw and gives you motivation and validation for it.

So, I'll probably take another real-life drawing class, after the quickly approaching holiday season. Meanwhile, I'll work on the online lessons, perhaps using color pencils--when I have time.

Extreme Cello Playing

In this month of extreme blog posting and novel writing, I thought it would be nice to mention Extreme Cello Playing. I found this site while looking for cello photos on the Web, and there are lots of great photos of cellists on this site. Extreme cello playing is, essentially, playing the cello in extreme locations. Here is a quote from the site:

Extreme Cello Playing was born after three cellists from Sheffield [England] read about, and watched on television, the sport of "Extreme Ironing", in which contestants iron clothes in locations such as up mountains, up trees and under water. They are judged on both the extremity of the location and quality of the ironing.

... This gave them an idea: if a household task such as ironing can be performed in extreme locations with such panache, why not a creative activity like music making?

So, they play on the top of cathedrals, on playground equipment, and, most recently, at each of the streets included in the London version of Monopoly--all in one day. I'm not up for playing on cathedral rooftop myself, but I must admit I find this sport of extreme cello playing appealing. Two concerts and a nap might be my limit for one day though.

Powered up

What a treat to walk into the house this afternoon and find every light ablaze. The power has been restored and the temperature of the house has risen from 55 F to 65 F, warm and toasty. :-)

I will be busy catching up for a while, but it is nice to be back.

Flute Choir Concert

I have to admit that I did not practice very much for Sunday's flute choir concert, except for rehearsals, until Sunday morning, in my colder than normal house. We were not satisfied with our last rehearsal, and joked about telling our audience that this would be an open rehearsal, not quite yet a performance. But, everyone must have practiced. Things went pretty well, I think--much, much better than our last rehearsal. There were no major screw-ups, and, at times, I thought we sounded quite good. I played flute this time, not cello.

We played for the residents of the assisted living center which gives us a place to rehearse every week. It's a great arrangement, and we love playing for them because they are so friendly and appreciative. Perhaps they were more appreciative than usual yesterday, given we had arrived just as the electric power was being restored, and prior to the cable television being restored. Everyone wanted to see the big game (football, the Patriots), but were quite happy with us while they waited. We brought muffins and cider, and dressed in autumn leaf colors--quite festive!

I should mention that we are really not a flute choir; we're a flute quartet. In the past we have had as many as eight players, but most flute choirs have 12 or 20 players with a full complement of piccolos, alto flutes, bass flutes, and even odd flutes like E flat flutes. We have one alto flute player. I love the sound of the alto flute. I sometimes play bass flute parts on the cello. I'd buy a bass flute, but they are way too expensive, around $4,000, and the bass flute parts are often optional and thus not always inspiring to play.

Next rehearsal, we start in on the Holiday music. For the past five or six years, we've been playing at a local library's holiday party. We're background music and play for about two hours, taking a break to sample the many wonderful snacks people bring. It's one of my favorite events.

Still no electric power at home.

If a tree falls.....

So, I was working at the violin shop yesterday, during the storm, when a woman walked in and asked me if I had a green Saturn. Yes, I do.

"A tree fell on it," she said.

"Was it damaged?," I ask.

"Yes," she says, looking at me gloomily. She was holding a driver's side mirror in her hand, evidently ripped off my car in the process. I took it and went with her to the parking lot behind the shop.


A large limb had, indeed, fallen on my car, but it only punctured a hole in my hood. The mirror in my hands did not belong to my car, but to another car that had already left the scene. I was overjoyed. My car was still in running order, and I would be able to go to the movies as planned. (See yesterday's post.)



The woman who had brought me to my car seemed to think I was nuts to be so happy that the damage was only minor. But, you know, in the scheme of things, this is fixable; this is irritating, but temporary.

We lost electric power at home at 2 pm yesterday, and it is still out. The symphony trip was canceled, and we did not go to the movies. About 55,000 homes lost power here, and so did the movie theaters and restaurants. Police were advising that people not travel unless absolutely necessary.

My daughter and I played board games by lantern light (battery-powered, no flames!) all evening, huddled under blankets and afgans, listing to a portable radio, eating apples, cheese, and crackers for dinner. I have not turned the heat on yet this year, as temperatures have been mild, but last night, if I had heat, I would have turned it on! It was 59 degrees F inside this morning.

I didn't practice. I didn't blog. I didn't work on my novel. I didn't work. I thought it best to stick together in a storm, and we do enjoy board games. We played Cranium and Eat It (a trivia game about food).

I got up early this morning to work and to practice the flute for today's flute choir concert. It is sunny and bright, but still no electric power or telephones. I need to catch up on work today, but am looking forward to getting back to noveling as soon as I can.

It was a dark and stormy....

Note: I wrote this blog post on Saturday, but was not able to finish it and post it before we lost electric power. Since it is NaBloPoMo, I am claiming this as my Nov. 3 post! We still have no power. I am at my home-away-from-home, the violin shop, which is closed today.

It is a dark and stormy afternoon here on the Cape. We're waiting for the Nor'easter (remnants of Hurricane Noel), which is scheduled to slam* into the Cape sometime this evening. It is already battering* the Northeast coast. Already it is raining and the winds are gusting*.

(*Note that these are required words to use when writing about a storm.)

I do hope it clears up a bit this evening, as forecasted. My husband is planning to help chaperone a group of 7th and 8th graders to a symphony performance tonight. I opted out (having done my fair share of chaperoning when the kids were in high school), and hope to go to the movies with my daughter.

Going to a movie is actually a suggested exercise in noveling month. No Plot, No Problem, the official guide to NaNoWriMo, suggests that you take a break from writing during the first week to watch and analyze a tv show or movie for plot, character development, resolution, etc. A movie is, of course, not a book, but there are similarities.

I'd almost rather stay home and write, provided we still have electric power this evening, but I do need a break.

Some NaNoWriMo participants have actually finished their novels already, or at least claimed that they have. I find this hard to believe. I would write more if I didn't have these pesky work and family responsibilities, but I see no point in careening through this novel. It is kind of fun creating the characters and subplots and even going back an editing a little as I find my story diverging from earlier concepts (though you are supposed to hold off on editing until National Novel Editing Month).

Cello sketch no. 1

At my drawing class this week, we brought in photographs to draw from. I drew from a photo of me playing the cello on the deck. This is the small sketch that you do before attempting the larger drawing. I didn't finish the larger drawing. So far, the larger drawing is a better drawing of me, but I am playing a sadly misshapen cello. I like the cello in this sketch though. I have a feeling it will take me a few sketches to get what I want. And I will probably put myself in a long, flowing gown, rather than in the t-shirt and jeans. The teacher wanted me to put in the deck and trees, which I hadn't intended to do. Maybe in the next version I will eliminate the railings. Or maybe the horizontal lines are good, balancing all the vertical lines. Maybe I should just draw them straighter. You can probably tell I didn't want to put them in.

For those of you clamoring for news on how NaNoWriMo is going, I wrote 4,081 words on November 1. I haven't had much time to write today, but am nearing 5,000. My goal is 2,000 a day to make the 50,000 word goal before the end of the month and/or allow for days when I have no time at all to write. It helps to compare your output with your "writing buddies." Most of my writing buddies are people who are also doing NaBloPoMo. I haven't communicated with them. I just look at their total word count, and they look at mine. My favorite buddy though is a college student I met at Drawspace, with whom I do exchange e-mail. She is a couple of hundred words ahead of me write now. It's a great motivator--seeing her word count climb!

Dia de los Muertos

My Dia de los Muertos skull candle-holder and t-shirt.

Though I don't actively celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), I like the idea of the holiday, to remember, honor, and communicate with the dead, rather than run screaming from them. In Mexico, and other countries that celebrate Day of the Dead, the holiday is for inviting the dead back for a day for food and drink, music and laughter, and maintaining the connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead. In contrast to other cultures in which the subject of death is avoided, Day of the Dead offers a whimsical view of death using humorous skeleton sculpture and paintings, poetry, special holiday foods, and festivities. Music is commonly represented in the skeleton artwork, but I am not familiar with specific Day of the Dead songs. Sol y Canto, a Latin American band that performs in the Boston area, talked and sang about the holiday on a recent WUMB broadcast, but I only heard a small portion of the show.


The holiday does have its grisly aspects. According to Wikipedia, "in the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth." Now skulls are made of sugar and are made as a welcoming treat for both the returning dead and the living.

Because our family and extended family includes people from Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatamala, I feel a vague connection to this Mexican holiday. I used to produce a musical and educational Latin American Festival in Boston. I bought the t-shirt on a visit to Olvera Street in Los Angeles, while visiting relatives there. And, this year, I think I might honor my parents with a Day of the Dead remembrance, even though they were Irish and Hungarian. Hope yours is a good one, should you celebrate!