Just a couple of random thoughts --

This is a quiz for all my former students who are at college and have lots of time on their hands and are getting quite adept at taking tests, I hope!

1. Drum Majors - don't play drums and usually not a Major - explain.

2. Drum cadence - has nothing to do with a musical cadence - explain.

3. Heterophony - come on, music majors!

4. Why can't 6/8 time be reduced to 3/4, but 4/4 can be reduced to 2/2?

5. Why is there always an eternal freshman?

6. Who is always right, and why isn't that sign at the Newington Stew's?

7. Why haven't you brought me coffee?

(Perhaps these tests would be more interesting if I had some outside participation!)

Musical question

Okay, for all you former student musicians that I have coached on the way to musical greatness - What is the meaning of cwrubatolife? Now don't go looking into your online musical dictionaries and no fair googling it either. Just pure knowledge, that is what we are looking for!

I am sure you have all seen this picture before - a stamp, or poster, etc. But the original statue is in Philadelphia. In fact, there are several there - this one is in Love Plaza on 15th Street, right by William Penn standing on top of Town Hall. Another one is on the campus of UPenn, where lovers pose for the mom!

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene hit our backyard around 8:15 am as a major tree in our backyard split in half, felling a huge branch all across our backyard. The tree fell across our "dancing" deck and split a little wooden table in half. I don't know if it is bad or good news that we can't get into the shed to retrieve the chain saw or the lawn mower!

my favorites!

Just a thought

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-XIw25stadsLGcWnWaIesRyPPkw8Fhe8ShPOwDCCQUEfsMLBPpm4G1_scFlQ-syB5-OCzo6XAwKTMLNrt2cTmAYYklWXNftuXv3xmJIrnqcEuAD168S_Nnvg2fbVdzP7s3Yw_2ufiERhE/s1600/purplefountaingrass.jpg">

I've been thinking lately that maybe retirement is not for me, maybe it's not my bag, maybe I wasn't cut out for it, all that stuff. Then I realized, while I am sitting out on my deck, having a leisurely breakfast, cup of coffee, listening to an album composed by a former student (which is great, by the way - you should all go to his website and download his first album - zachheyde.bandcamp.com)that teachers meetings are this week. BANDCAMP is this week. And no offense, Rick, but this beats that anyway you shake it!

And then I realized that I wouldn't have been able to spend the day yesterday at Elizabeth Park, surveying the flowers, stitching with friends, and having a lovely lunch by the Rose Garden. I wouldn't be able to to to DC next week to visit my daughter. I wouldn't be able to go to my condo in Myrtle Beach in November to enjoy the lovely fall weather there. So I guess retirement is a pretty good place to be!

Party pictures

Purpose of this blog

When I first set out to write this blog, I had planned on it being funny stories about my teaching and being a high school band director. So let's see if I can dreg up a few ---

1. High school band trip - student gets caught with nipper bottles in his backpack during the xray inspection into the capitol building.

2. Same trip - another student gets caught "lowering" nipper bottles on a string outside his hotel room to the girl's room below his after curfew.

3. Another high school band trip - Arrival in Los Angeles to play several concerts only to find our entire battery of percussion equipment never made it out of NYC!

4. Entered gr. 9 general music classroom (back in the day when 9th graders took general music!) to find all the desks and chairs piled high in one corner with student "tarzan" pounding his chest on top.

5. Student losing his shoe in the mud on football field during half time show.

6. Student losing the bottom half of his clarinet on the football field during half time show (Do you think you could have bent over and picked it up???)

7. Yes, student forgetting his instrument on the band trip.

More to come ---

Back again!

I know I have been very bad about keeping up this blog. And I don't know if I'll get any better, but I have been thinking about posting over the last month, and unbeknownst to her, my daughter has inspired me to continue. So we'll see what happens.

Most of the spring and early summer was spent getting ready for our East Coast Celebration of Rachel and Zach's marriage. We had a wonderful time, it was a gorgeous day. My friend Lissa helped tremendously getting everything ready and helped serve, etc. It was especially great to have my family here - brother, sister, nieces, nephews, step-kids and wives, daughters and their mates. And I got a picture of my five kids! And their spouses/significant other. Very happy! I will work on figuring out how to post that picture, as of right now it is on my phone!

You were all right!

Yes, it is true, I am a bad blogger! I was told I would forget about the blogging, and it is true. I tried not to admit that I would forget, but alas, I was wrong. I don't really know what has kept me away, I am retired, after all! I do have some other stuff in my life now, but really, I am retired! So I am not going to say that I will be really attentive to the blog now, but I will TRY to at least make an entry now and again!

Entry today - 3/10/11 -

Really excited to go to Portland in April to see daughter and son-in-law's new house! Yes, they bought a house this past month, and I get to visit and paint! Oh, joy! I think it is going to be painting over the pink dining room - they get to choose the color, of course, but I know it won't be pink!

Also excited about a needlepoint workshop I will be attending in New Jersey in a couple of weeks - three days of immersion into this new project I am excited about. I will post a picture if I ever get it done!

For you music geeks, I am playing in the Capitol Winds, an adult group based at Hartt School of Music. Our concert is May 4th, and we are playing some really neat and difficult stuff - Festive Overture by Shostakovich at a really ridiculously fast tempo, the Haydn Trumpet Concerto played on the baritone horn, by a really ridiculously talented player, and Illyrian Dances by Guy Woolfenden, just a really ridiculously great piece! We are also playing other stuff, including a new piece by John Mackey entitled Hymn to a Blue Hour - you should check it out - it is beautiful.

And lastly, if I did this correctly, there should be a picture of the beach from our condo in Myrtle Beach. I took this in January when I had some R&R for a week there.