Vacation 2012 Anticipation

I'm really looking forward to getting away this Friday. Perhaps in a way that goes beyond typical pre-vacation excitement. It's been a while since I've felt such a desire and need to just escape. Cut myself off from my daily life, immerse myself in something different, but still remain within the familiar comfort of my family. Here are a couple pretty pictures of where we are headed.

(photos: 1, 2)

Sunday Seven

When the times are tough, I really should be the most diligent about finding the good in my days. Though the weather was gorgeous, these past few days have been a little turbulent, for reasons here and there.

Quotability

"So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: 'Is this person in between me and what I want to do?' If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way.

Do your thing and don't care if they like it."

-Tina Fey, Bossypants

(photo via Cup of Jo)

Bike Riding

When we were young, my dad would take my sister and me out for a bike ride once a week to pick up the Sunday paper. The corner convenience store right outside the neighborhood was the perfect distance away. But we always took the long way. Up, down, and back up again we rode, along the hilly contours ubiquitous and so characteristic of rural Massachusetts. There was a secret shortcut through the back, one that required the utmost bravery to offroad down a steep dirt path riddled with bulky, twisted tree roots. In my memories, each one of these Sunday mornings, the weather was always perfect. The wind through my hair, despite my helmet head, made me feel weightless. It wasn't until much, much, later - long after we stopped these bike rides - that I realized how much I loved them....

A few weekends ago, the three of us went out on a short ride through our subdivision. No longer on our childhood bicycles, my sister and I felt a bit wobbly riding these vintage and just-a-little-too-large-that-they're-a-little-scary bicycles my dad got for a total of $15 (for two bicycles!) from a police auction more than a decade ago. The roads were flat and we rolled slowly along the sidewalks. Good speeds for us to get our "bicycle legs" back.

And the weather was just like I remember.

Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo

I first performed in my cousin's wedding when I was 12 years old. Later, I became a wedding musician for hire through high school and college. Now I only do it occasionally for my very favorite people. I had thought by now, I'd heard or played nearly all of the good wedding music. However, for her candle lighting, Care requested this piece - one I had never heard of before. I'm seriously obsessed, listening to it on repeat even as I type this. Not only is it just so tender and beautiful (Italian opera will always get you!), but I reflexively think of Care and Rus' equally tender and beautiful ceremony. For me, this piece will forever carry the poignant weight of such happiness.

Something Blue

Feeling a little blue tonight after all of this weekend's excitement. Where I thought I'd be coasting on a high from all the fun and laughs I had, I'm mostly just nostalgic for when 515 and high school friends were all together. In true Dramatic Dorothy form, I was even moved to tears during a moment of ennui this afternoon... It really hit me then how rare and difficult it is for us to all get together now, and how it will only get more difficult. But of course, I know that these fleeting moments of longing are but a small price to pay for such funny, moving, beautiful, and true friendships. After all, we are but only a few key strokes away...


(photo of dusk from my neighborhood)

Sunday Seven

The "perfect weekend" version of a Sunday Seven: