Via Sequencia

Poem for the First Day of Spring

Spring and sprung,
the grass is ris'.
I wonder where the boidies is.
The boidies? They is on the wing.
Oy, but that's obsoid!
Everyone knows the wing is on the boid!

  --Anonymous

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar

Greetings, my dear readers . . . and welcome to 2008!

I don't usually go to the annoying and futile bother of resolutions for the new year, but I feel strangely compelled this year. Here we go:

1. Be it resolved that in 2008 Sequencia will return to proper blogging, for the edification of himself and his readers.
2. Be it further resolved that in 2008 Sequencia will get more sleep on average per night.
3. Be it further resolved that in 2008 Sequencia will start using his health club membership.
4. Be it further resolved that in 2008 Sequencia will endeavor not to be annoyed by his partner, family members, superiors, subordinates, pedestrians, other drivers, neighbors, politicians, or anyone else who has annoyed him in the past year.
5. Be it further resolved that in 2008 Sequencia will not beat himself up when he fails to fulfill the terms of resolution 4, especially when it involves politicians.

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Nativity, one and all!

All good things must come to an end

Annoying Funny how the power(s) above have a way of throwing at us little reminders during times of real joy and maybe just simple contentment that life isn’t supposed to be easy or at least isn’t free from a certain pre-ordained number of inconveniences.

Today we are traveling back home from our wonderful week in London. I’m so glad that Incontesta and I were able to bring good old Mumsie with us, because it’s been quite evident that this trip was for her the holiday of a lifetime.

After a very long day yesterday of master class teaching and recital-ing with our friend’s voice studio, we all went out for tapas, where we ate and drank ourselves silly. Then we said “so long” to our dear friends, went back to our hotel at about midnight, packed our bags for our imminent departure, and I then went to the WiFi hotspot to verify our airline reservations. Oops! We leave 40 minutes earlier than we planned for when we made the car reservation for our trip to Heathrow in the morning. “No problem,” he said when I called to change our car from 9 am to 8 am. Anyway, by this point, it’s 3 am and our car is coming at 8. Better get to bed!

Got to Heathrow without incident. Our driver was Italian. He said, “some Italian guys just tell you their troubles whether you want them to or not,” as he proceeded to tell us all about his “slutty” and “evil bitch” of an ex-wife who ruined his life. Mom was giggling in the back seat all the way to the terminal, I think.

At the United check-in, we found out that we could upgrade to business (thank you very much!—the only way I could have made this flight home, I think, what with my lovely leg). So, we got to treat ourselves and Mom to the royal treatment all the way to the end, including an extra three hours in duty free for the last minute shopping, due to the later flight. Those poor schmucks in economy with their lack of leg room, not to mention their seats which only recline to a point. Maybe in the end, though, it comes down to the free drinks in business. “Keep that lovely wine pouring, please!”

I ate my tasty (for airline food, certainly) filet mignon with asparagus on the side, drank a couple glasses of red, then finished it all off with some ice cream and a glass of port. Now it’s nappy time. Mmmmm… Haven’t had much sleep, and this will feel good.

And sleep I did.

Just woke up a few minutes ago, went to the loo, and discovered that in my sleep, the nose piece of my glasses has gone missing somewhere on this Boeing 777. (Note: this is the pre-ordained inconvenience  from paragraph one. But you knew that, didn’t you?)

Oh, well. it’s a small price to pay, I suppose, for what has been one of the most enjoyable weeks that I’ve ever spent with my mother. I doubt there will be too many more opportunities for us to do things of this magnitude for her over the coming years. I love her so much (and my husband, too, for his role in the thing). Talking about it seems to diminish the magic, but all I have to do is look at the scores of pictures that I took of dear old Mum while we were exploring all those historical places she’d only dreamt of seeing, and the magic of the moment is right there in her smile.

Here's to London!

More from London

Today at 3 o'clock, I teach my piano master class. The youngest of my students is 9, and the oldest is 14. I'm imagining what the repertoire will be. Hot Cross Buns? Go Tell Aunt Rhody? Liszt's Années de Pèlerinage? Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata? Apparently, the 14-year-old is quite advanced.

I'm sitting here trying to think of all the tricks my teachers used with me when I was that young to get me to relax, to think outside the box, to want to practice. I wonder how many of them I'll be able to pull out of my dusty old memory to use today. How do you teach a 10-year-old in a master class? Oy!

Yesterday's voice coachings and master class were fun. Incontesta worked his magic with three beginning students, all in early days of study (2 months to 1 year). Then tomorrow is the big day: an all-day (6 hour) voice master class with 10 students, ending with a full class recital of all the pieces studied in the class.

But back to today for a moment. After the music is over and done this evening, we are taking our hosts out for a lovely dinner at Le Bistro, a wonderful French restaurant here in their little area of London that Incontesta and I fell in love with last time we were here. I've been looking forward to it all week!

The picture I've included here was taken on Tuesday, our first full day here in London. We'd just taken our flight on the London Eye and were on our way back over the Thames toward Westminster Abbey, where we spent the next three hours. It was by far the worst weather we've had all week. But it was quintessential London, I suppose. Perfect for Mumsie's first day. I like this picture because the smile on Mum's face tells the whole story. She has had the perfect time! And she even said that the weather was perfect, since it seemed so London to her. In the background, of course, is Big Ben, the one landmark that has always been London in her mind. She has had a fascination with the old boy since she was a little girl.

Mum, here's to you and your first trip away from North America! Hope you remember it fondly.

And now we work

First, let me tell you that this trip with my beloved partner and my dear old mum couldn't be going more swimmingly (touch wood, as they say). All the walking that we had to do over the past four days, what with airport terminal lengths, going to and from trains and buses to tourist attractions, and shopping for hours, Mumsie has been put through it (so have I with my damned leg, but never mind). Not once as I've glanced over at Mum has she had a scowl on her face. It's always a smile. I really do believe that she's having the time of her life, which was our goal. I doubt she will ever make a trip like this on her own or take the initiative to arrange one for herself and a friend, for instance. So this holiday to the UK had to happen! And so it is.

As of today, we've passed half-way point. We are basically finished with the touristy things we had planned: the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Harrods, the Tower of London, etc. I think that's enough for three days, don't you? To be honest, I'm exhausted!

Fortunately, for my aching thigh and calf, today begins the working part of the vacation. For the next three days, I'll be accompanying voice master classes, instructing students in vocal coachings in preparation for those classes, and teaching a piano master class of my very own! Also, there are recitals to sit through and play for after each of these classes. One very nice side effect from all of this is cash. Each of these coachings and master class sessions earns us a few pounds to minimize the damage done by an exchange rate of about $2.10 per £1.

So, dear readers, I'm off to coach and be a musician rather than a tourist. Mumsie'll be watching, so I hope I make her proud.

Cheers!

Mumsie and Single Malt

It’s 6:50 am. I’m unable to get back to sleep. My sciatic nerve is in withdrawal, but I don’t want to feed it any Vicodin® yet, for fear of what will happen toward the end of the day while we’re enjoying Hap’s spectacular Thanksgiving dinner. Mumsie and Incontesta are both blissfully snoring away, resting up for the yet-another-big-day-of-touristy-goings-on we have planned. Today’s excursion…the Tower of London! At this point, I could happily stay here at the White Lodge, our lovely, quaint hotel in Crouch End, where we have free internet. I could sit here and blog, upload pictures of our adventures so far to my much neglected flickr® account, take my pain killers, and rest my weary, over-annoyed leg, but I’m afraid I’d feel like I was missing something!

Never in a million years could I have anticipated how much fun it was going to be to bring Mumsie on this (for her) once-in-a-lifetime trip to the UK. She says she’s having the time of her life. And her smile seems to bear that out. We’ve practically walked her into the ground (her pedometer measured 11,699 steps yesterday). We started out by taking the tube (yes, the same line she stopped on Tuesday) to Green Park, through which we walked to take some pictures of Buckingham Palace and the big set of balls on the lion statuary outside it. Then we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where I got to see an amazing keyboard instrument collection that Incontesta has wanted me to see for years. They also have some of the most beautiful liturgical pieces of art in the world: chalices, crucifixes, monstrances, thuribles…you name it, they’ve got it. I was enthralled.

After that (as if we had any energy left) we went to Harrod’s and spent more of our very expensive British monies on trinkets to go on the mantle back home and goodies to go into our tummies last night at Hap and John’s. I must say that the £39.50 I spent on the bottle of Laphroaig® Quarter Cask single malt was the best $80+ I’ve spent since landing on Monday (curses on the mortifyingly horrible exchange rate we’ve got going on this time!). I think maybe seeing Mumsie drink some of it was worth twice the price! The American Express bill at the end of the month will probably send us to the poor house, but there it is.

OK, y’all…tell you all about the Tower later. Cheers!

Rip Van Sequencia awakes from a 2-month nap

All-a-y'all's yelling finally woke me up. It's sure nice to see that at least a handful of you miss my posts!

Here's a little list of highlights of the past two months:

• I have very recently crossed over to the beautiful, clear, and I'm-better-than-you land of Mac
• I am in (occasionally excruciating) pain from sciatica in my left leg
• I am enjoying (occasionally blissful) moments of Vicodin®-based relief
• A got a nice shot in the arm from one of Incontesta's university colleagues this week
• My mother has called me no less than 4 times a day for the past three weeks as she prepares to come with us on a week-long trip to jolly old England (her first trip outside the US)
• I have completed four movements of Meriam Mass

Here's another little list of highlights of upcoming events:

• In three days, Mom will hear and sing Meriam Mass for the first time (it's named for her mother, my grandmother)
• In three days and a few hours after the just-mentioned church service, Mom, Incontesta, and I will board a direct flight on United Airlines for Heathrow Airport in London to begin our 7-day working getaway
• I will continue to (hopefully) enjoy (occasionally blissful) moments of Vicodin®-based relief

I will endeavor to keep you updated with some sort of travelog over the next couple of weeks. I will also endeavor to get back to blogging. I think that my new MacBook Pro® will help me to attain this goal.

Ready or not, Queenie...here we come!

Reprieve!

After a long week of demolition, construction, disconnecting and reconnecting of appliances, and a painfully obvious dearth of hotness among the contractors and laborers, a breath of fresh air finally arrived as a member of the two-man team sent to restore the forced cool air to our townhouse. As I said in a previous post, the concrete guy was on the cuter side, but he can't hold a candle to this guy. How do you like my sneaky photography from one of the upstairs windows? If he had known I was taking his picture, though, he might have smiled, eh?