Monthly Archives: November 2008

Friday!

Not that my weeks are such that Fridays are any better or worse than the other days, but old habits die hard.

Cello lesson went well. I’m definitely getting a handle on the bow hold, and on how the weight of the bow arm evolves as the bow is drawn across the string in order to maintain an even sound with the same power at the tip as at the frog. Now we’re finessing the elbow leading thing, and left-hand finger movement within the same position as well as properly shifting from first (and second and third and fourth) to fifth. (Because of the body of the cello being in the way, you see. Here is a classic example of How Things Will Be Easier With A 7/8.) And either my teacher is being extremely enthusiastic in order to be encouraging and supportive, or I’m genuinely making progress. I’ll assume the latter and be happy, as there have only been three lessons so far.

There was no traffic on the way home. None. Zero. Either there was some sort of holiday I’m unaware of, or everything was just going right. I ended up not taking the 13 sud, as when I took it north at 3:30 the lines to access the 13 from the 40 est were backed up halfway to blvd. des Sources, and it would only get worse as rush hour progressed. I ended up taking des Sources sud to the 20 and there wasn’t even a slowdown where the 13 sud joins it. Mysterious.

The barbecue pulled pork was a huge success last night, so huge that I would seriously be considering doing it again tonight if it wasn’t pizza night. And I love my homemade pizza with much love.

So overall it was as good a day as the previous Thursday had been horrible. Very nice indeed.

Today: More writing. What else? This is what work means. I’m taking a couple of weeks off from the freelance evaluation thing; I need to recover and get some serious progress made on my own stuff.

ETA: Spoke too soon; an assignment just landed in my inbox. It’s a second evaluation for a new draft of a manuscript I evaluated earlier this summer, and the first draft was decent, so it shouldn’t be too harrowing.

Orchestrated Update

It was good to focus. Must flee now to brush my teeth and pack up to head out for the cello lesson.

Orchestrated:
New words today: 1,439
Total word count, Orchestrated: 36,090

Reconciliation with the best friend, tutoring set up with new guy. Excellent. The plot proceeds apace. I suspect there is a chance meeting coming up with the nemesis.

I fly!

Also, Good Things

Because I should note these things for my records:

Gas is currently priced at 88 point something cents per litre, which is a full fifty cents below the high it hit this past summer. I honestly never thought we’d see it below a dollar again. (The ninety-nine point whatever cents it was sitting at does not truly qualify as under a dollar.)

And today is an incredibly beautiful Indian Summer day, warm and sunny and still. Heavenly. We’ve had highs in the double digits for the past three days.

Oh, let’s add a few more thing to be thankful for and call this a Blessings post:

The bow hold and the leading with the elbow thing last night at orchestra. Look, I can be taught! (The mess I made of the Vivaldi? Not so good. Ditto on the scale runs in the Haydn. But you know, that can be easily remedied by the thing called Practise. I just need to remember that there is Orchestra Stuff to Practise as well as Lesson Stuff.)

Sleep. Sleep is good. So is my son calling “RISE AND SHINE!” from the living room when I’d gone back to bed to snuggle with Nixie and, erm, had fallen fast asleep again. Oops. Extra sleep, kitten cuddles, a conscientious son. All good things.

There was no one on the roads this morning. No one. I wonder where everyone was.

Did groceries, got lots of meat and such for a decent price. Treated myself to a bag of chips.

Now, to work.

Doctor’s Report

Yay, I am doing just fine, thank you! So fine that we’re going to try lowering the dosage of the fibro meds again.

Also, those headaches? The ones in the front are almost certainly sinus headaches, due to congestion. “But I’m not congested,” I said. “You are,” she said with a smile, “I can hear it in your voice. Congested sinuses have nothing to do with breathing. Your voice sounds different because it usually resonates in the sinus chambers, which are more full than they should be. You’re allergic to a lot of stuff. This time of year there’s still a lot of ragweed and leaf mold and it won’t go away until we’ve got a good blanket of snow on the ground. Take an allergy pill in the morning and see if it gets better.”

Oh. Huh. Right. I forgot about that allergy thing. And the headaches at the back on the right? I figured they were tension headaches, and she nodded. “Do you do a lot of computer work?” she asked and then kind of laughed because she remembered that it’s pretty much all I do. And then something occurred to me. “I just started cello lessons again, and my teacher has me…” I sat forward and positioned my shoulders and bow arm properly, and immediately felt the muscle just behind my right shoulder aching a bit as it settled into the place we’re training it to go. “Aaaaaand…. it’s right there. Never mind, I just figured it out.” We laughed again. Nice to recognize what’s going on in one’s own body. Good thing I hadn’t made the appointment just for that. Also good to know that once the muscles are used to the new position the headaches will fade away.

I’ve got a flu shot scheduled this Saturday with the boy, too.

Now to go get myself an allergy pill, make lunch, and maybe write for an hour before I have to get ready for my lesson. And this time, I will be Mentally and Emotionally Prepared for traffic. I will take the 40 est and the 13 sud come what may instead of avoiding them, and stay on the damn highway 20 est until the St-Pierre exit, since experience has shown me that going around the other way (Lakeshore into LaSalle) is just as congested with traffic and construction. I will make sure to have very good music in the car’s CD player. The rice has already been made for supper, and the pork tenderloin is slow-cooking with barbecue sauce. The caregiver has reassured me that a few minutes late isn’t a huge deal. I’m good.

Orchestrated Update

Took the morning and the first half of the afternoon off. Did me good, too. Took those Tylenol and lay down for an hour. Played a lot of cello, finished reading a book. Made dinner and didn’t screw it up.

Orchestrated:
New words today: 1,776
Total word count, Orchestrated: 34,683

And evidently wrote, too. Yay me.

*Squint*

I think I may actually be getting a handle on this new bow hold thing. No pun intended, but if you like it, it’s yours. The proper bow hold works quite well with the drawing-from-the-elbow thing. Who’d’ve thought? Let’s see if we can actually demonstrate it at tomorrow’s lesson.

These more-on-again-than-off-again remarkably bad headaches are going to be the first thing I talk to my doctor about at my appointment tomorrow morning. Because, seriously? No fun. If they were all in the same area I’d be extremely concerned, but they migrate all over the damn place. Today it’s the sinus areas in the forehead and inner eye/nose area. I’m going to go torpedo it with Tylenol and lie down for a while.

House was in fact on last night, although it was a repeat. It was a repeat of one I hadn’t seen, so all was well. And The Tudors was also on, although we started flipping to ABC and Jon Stewart during the commercial breaks to watch the pretty blue states pop up on the US electoral map. Saw McCain’s very graceful concession speech, but couldn’t stay awake long enough to watch Obama’s victory address, which was by all accounts pretty impressive. Reading it for myself this morning confirmed it.

Yeah, it’s lie-down time. The monitor’s doing nothing good for the headache. And although the lovely, lovely sun outside is, glorious, it’s not helping the headache either.