Can't catch my breath

Have you ever witnessed something so breathtakingly beautiful that you can't quite accept what you just saw? That you think it can't be real because it was too....astounding, too perfect??

My mom told me it was a full moon tonight, and I love to go outside and look at the moon when it's blindingly bright and round, so tonight my parents and I stepped outside into the rather balmy (for MN) night air, and watched the clouds roll over that huge moon. After a while they left, but I stayed out to gaze at it; this thing was so flawless and white I couldn't help but be completely mesmerized. The clouds were rushing across that moon like flocks of birds, blotting it out and then breaking to show off the perfect brightness....

And then the stars! I took a trip to the Boundary Waters a few summers ago and had my first night paddle. It was amazing--we laid back in our canoes and just watched the sky change, observing all the stars and constellations (as well as seven shooting stars). I have never seen as many little twinkling dots in a navy sky as I did in that one night; tonight wasn't even close, but this is the most stars I've ever seen this close to a city. I think I saw Mars, glinting red way off in the distance, and a few other stars that literally twinkled--you haven't seen the night sky until you've stared into the blue-blackness and seen little pinpricks of light flickering on and off, like lightening bugs up in heaven. Train whistles echoed through the darkness, and with the wind rustling the bare branches of trees just enough to be calming and not creepy, I couldn't stop my eyes from sucking up every detail of the night. It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen in my life. I can see why some people are drawn to the night; I know I am.

~Josie

Those classical guys were NOT respectful

In quartet music, why is it that the viola hardly ever gets cool solo parts?!?!? I mean, sure, I'm completely biased, I'm not gonna lie, but why are the violins and cello cooler than the instrument which is a combination of BOTH OF THEM??? (For those of you who aren't exactly sure what I meant by that statement, the viola is played like a violin, is almost the same size, and uses the same octave, but has the same strings as a cello. It's pretty hardcore.) Mostly the only pieces that contain kick-ass viola sections to play are contemporary ones, such as music by Shostakovich and John Mackey (Strange Humors is viola-central) and the like. THEY saw the beauty of the Outkast Instramint, THEY realized it had been in the shadows of the cozy closet for far too long and needed some light (unlike Daniel Craig :-) ). So I ask you, what was the deal with these classical guys and the viola? What was WRONG with it? I can think of waaaaaaay too many cool things about playing it, that's for sure:

-Nobody knows what it is. Well, sort of.

-It's got the same loverly strings as a cello but is far easier to carry around

-It's big and tough-looking next to a violin, but still appears sweet next to a cello

-It's got a C string (yesssss resonance is a good thing)

-People always need violists, it's just a fact of string life, so it's hard to be out of work with a viola

-It has its own clef that everyone but violists hate, so it's all ours

-It's just plain cool

So why was it the instrument to be sheltered, cast away, forever reduced to scratching out dull harmonies and accompaniments?

*Sigh*

Okay, I'm exaggerating (why does that tend to happen when I discuss my instrument?!?!). This past summer at string quartet camp (I know, right? HA) I played Mendelssohn 12, and it was like an equal, beautiful tapestry of sound and color, with all the instruments at some point becoming more prominently colored in the weaving. Last winter I played an AMAZING Shostakovich piece (quartet 11) that felt like, instead of a tapestry, a bunch of threads bunched together; it was so bare, I'd say, so individual and together at the same time (I adore that piece--check it out). But really, we just got a new piece in quartet today, and it's Beethoven, which I like a lot, but our coach chose it because the CELLO gets a cool part, because the VIOLINS got the last cool part in our other piece. So when this year is over, it's my turn. I shall rebel and demand we get a piece I can boast about.

HA--watch, it'll be too hard for me to play. :-)

I am done now. Violas are respected just fine, I know. Really, I know. I'm not pissed. It's okay. Classical music kicks ass, period.

Intense viola activist-ing,

Josie

Memories....damn MN winters.....

Here's just a little something I thought I'd begin my "Poetry" tagline with. I wrote it.....eh, maybe six-odd months ago, but it reminds me of summer and evening, which is one of my favorite combinations. :-)

Days

Some are dark and dreary

Others filled with light and joy

Days

Drifting slowly away

Happening

Sunrise

Like vibrant paint splotched onto

A new white canvas

Waking up

At six o’clock

And realizing there is a whole one ahead of you

A whole

Day

To do things

Get things done

Suddenly you’re raring to go and ready to work

Let’s start!

Clouds swirling

Over a

Sky

The color of the

Caribbean blue ocean

Halfway over

And you’ve accomplished absolutely positively

Nothing

It’s too beautiful a day

To spend working

The breeze is far too nice to stay out of

You can’t just stay inside all day

at last

Evening comes

As quiet and serene as a pool of water

Relaxing on the porch

Is mandatory

The crickets lull you nearly to sleep

But you’re thinking about it

The day

You know you did nothing but

Still

It seems it was the perfect way to spend it

And you know it was completely worth it

Some are dark and dreary

Others filled with light and joy

Days

Drifting slowly away

Happening