What's a glute?!

Early morning after a rough night of bad dreams..... cheez-its and chocolate mousse for breakfast.... throwing my phone in the washing machine and not realizing it until it was too late.... tater tots and gin and tonics for dinner.... driving for over four hours today.... up to my ankles in mud.... a day in nature.... warm, dry and clean clothes - and also a warm, dry, and clean puppy....

Here is one of the the highpoints:


For much better photos that give a better idea of what we actually experienced, check out my sister's blog.
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In other news: There IS no other news.
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Sunday Soiree

In the spirit of the Fourth of July, several of my musician friends came over for a soiree of sorts. The program included Brahms, Amy Beach, Bach, Henry Martin, Faure, some jazzy musical theater pieces and a flashy Romanian piece by ?????? (Otilia - please fill in the blank!).

It was festive and dorky and I was so excited to hear my piano played so beautifully today. I recorded everyone, but without being given their permission, I'll only include my playing here.


This is the opening of a Schumann piece titled Kreisleriana, which is based on a very strange book by E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Kreisleriana opening

A slightly more typical and festive way of celebrating the Fourth of July is with a picnic near the beach:

The above photos were taken by my sister April.

Four Seasons in Rome

I read the perfect book recently. Four Seasons in Rome is an eloquent account of an author's experience living in Rome for a year with newborn twins and a book-writing project. Anthony Doerr got to experience fatherhood in a foreign country - where experiencing something as little as going to the grocer can seem alien.

The book alternates between stories of raising newborns and impressions of Rome. My favorite was when many months into the trip, when needing to communicate, Doerr found that most of his vocabulary had to do with where Romans he met could find a double stroller such as the one he brought with him from the states.

In other news: A Polish Catholic monk publishes a book providing married couples a theological and practical guide to spicing up their sex lives; Goldie Hawn thinks Kate Hudson needs to stop dating and settle down; And Ted Kennedy is going to be given honorary knighthood in recognition for his work as peace advocate in Northern Ireland.

Mother's Day

On Mother’s Day this year, my family not only celebrated our appreciation of our mothers (yes, plural), but we also celebrated spring. With gifts of flowers and other things that will sprout, a quick trip to the cemetery to bring flowers to past-mothers, and a bout with crazy Chicago traffic, followed by a meal of everything delicious that is currently in season– it was spring at its finest.

Just days before Mother’s Day, my local grocer sent me an e-mail to let me know that not only were they selling pies for Mother’s Day (three cheers for strawberry rhubarb pie with an oatmeal streusel!), but they had gotten in fresh morels. Now I KNOW that much of the enticement in morel season is the foraging for them – but here in Chicago, the little grass I DO encounter outside of my yard is frequented by pet owners and I wouldn’t eat anything I found there, even if I were so lucky as to spot a morel. Plus, some morels are poisonous. I don’t recommend serving THOSE on Mother’s Day.

Alas – I don’t have pictures of any of the people who I celebrated with on Mother’s Day, but of course I DO have a picture of the food. Below is my first serving of Angel Hair Pasta with Morels and Asparagus. I recommend it with good bread, a little parmesan cheese, a couple of bottles of wine and a strawberry-rhubarb pie. Quick – it is all still in season!

Botanic Gardens

Ahhhhhhhh - Spring. Ahhhhhhhh – environments carefully manicured to make Chicagoans feel as if they are a part of nature. Ahhhhhh – too much sun!

This past Friday, Otilia and I went up to the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe for most of the day. We walked the whole thing – more than once, sat and had a snack in an orchard, wrote postcards in an English garden and a Japanese pagoda, and ambled along enjoying the colors, the warmth and the peace.

Fringe tulips – aren’t they fabulous?! They look like CLOTH!

This would be okay in my front yard.

I came home with a mini-rose plant of my own and a mini-sunburn to mark the first bit of Vitamin D I have gotten in a while!


In other news: Many people are unaware that alcohol contains calories, pandas show a preference for artificial sweeteners, Paris Hilton takes Amanda Bynes' ex to Japan, and Happy Mother's Day to all three of my mothers!

Cello and Piano

Really now.  What is better after a long day than good sushi, a bottle of wine and sightreading Chopin with your sister?  

All of the above while messing with my new recording device.

There you have it:  A bit of Chopin.

I'm completely neurotic - why didn't anyone tell me?

Here it is - the end of February.  Have those of you who made New Year's Resolutions stuck to them?  Were any of them major changes to be made?  Starting a healthier lifestyle?  Spending more time with your family?  Saving money?  Well, studies show that over the age of 30, our personalities are pretty fixed and these changes are much harder to make.

Regardless of individual personality, according to an article I read in Scientific American Mind, as the years pass, our eagerness for novel experiences and our stimulation by the world outside our personal and professional arenas diminish.  It is thought that this was to help stabilize families for child-rearing.  For those of you who are uncomfortable with this idea - fear not!  After age 60, when it is no longer essential to maintain that stability, that openness to new experiences that was squelched for procreating purposes reemerges and our personalities become more malleable again!  We're free to travel the world!  Change careers!  Become a hobo!  Take piano lessons!  ;)

To see where you fall on the Big Five Personality Traits, (with openness being the one that begins to decline in your late 20s) take the free test here.   I still scored pretty high in openness (76%), was pretty average in conscientiousness (69%) and extraversion (50%), but scored a mere 1% for agreeability and a whopping 90% under the label "neurotic."  C'mon!  Get to know me!  I'm great!

In other news:  The problems with the economy have driven diners to go to great lengths to avoid paying for their truffles; goldfish can navigate mazes much the same way rats can (though under water); and be careful what you post on facebook - it isn't really private (did anyone ever think it was?)!  

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