tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-280649822012-01-30T15:00:55.875-08:00I initially had this ambitious idea that I would blog about my interests, which are food, music, travel and foreign policy, to name a few, but most likely, it will be much more modest in scope--probably just random silly thoughts.anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.comBlogger2081100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-32320159132761703102011-01-23T03:10:00.000-08:002011-01-23T03:20:37.674-08:00

Ever since I have moved out of residential housing, I've averaged about £830 in monthly expenditures. It amazes me that I can live in Central London for this little, and I don't necessarily recommend living the way I do, b/c I rarely go out. . . but that said, it's doable. What's even crazier is that 3 of my busiest months as a student, I was able to live for under £500 a month--from April till

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-62186217486778699662011-01-16T16:53:00.001-08:002011-01-16T17:14:48.229-08:00

me: D! When are you coming to Europe?D: Hi! I have no idea!! I hope soon!How are you?me: I need a job, but otherwise, good.Are you flipping houses?D: haha.. are you going to stay in london?Well, not right now...me: I was gonna ask about exciting love prospects, but doesn't seem like you'd have time for such things!How is your mom?D: oh she's really stressed out.. so it's hard on her..

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-16278441028252770352010-12-05T14:53:00.000-08:002010-12-07T12:22:55.003-08:00

So there is this new movement on FB. Oddly enough, the movement started out in Europe over a month ago. I know this, b/c some of my classmates participated. But in Europe, it was just "let's take a fun walk down memory lane and post our favorite cartoon as a profile pic".Then one month later, this movement made its way to the US* but with an annoying armchair-activist twist, as many things that

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-43551760998358565932010-11-01T14:43:00.000-07:002010-11-01T15:08:17.047-07:00

Application question that I should be answering instead of blogging: Describe a time when you successfully solved a challenging problem or overcame a difficult situation using your initiative.Dear Bank,I really cannot think of a time that I overcame a difficult situation using my initiative. I dislike such questions. You expect us to show originality, yet, you ask such unoriginal questions. . ..

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-88413579576208678902010-01-10T13:56:00.000-08:002010-06-12T02:31:20.824-07:00

From a FB status: "If your selling a car on Craigs list make sure you spell at least the name of the car correctly or you make yourself look stupid. Chevy isn't spelled Chevie..."I suppose that people who cannot properly distinguish between "your" and "you're" don't make themselves look stupid at all. (Not to mention the fact that Craigslist, last time I checked, wasn't two words, but that's less

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-12982306152563522752010-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:002010-01-04T02:48:57.177-08:00

I'm wondering why I'm still on people's blog rolls, since I haven't managed to post a thing during that time.It has been quite a whirlwind of 4 months, though I have nothing exciting to report, except how much my life has changed. I'm in a foreign country, completely uprooted from the comforts and stability of my past life, far from friends, with very few material things (no TV, no CD player to

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-71602260648481392032009-08-10T00:41:00.000-07:002009-08-10T00:56:10.511-07:00

In short, it's because the people who work there are idiots. I mean, class A idiots. They might only take the best and the brightest from places such as Harvard and Stanford (they don't even deign to interview at my alma mater), but these people have zero common sense. To wit:I have been trying to obtain a visa so I can properly study how to become a despotic ruler. But one needs a visa to do

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-67603667515238233812009-06-20T01:00:00.000-07:002009-06-20T01:14:12.130-07:00

Actually, it's the same apartment, but photographed on different dates.1. Before June 10:2. Current state of affairsSame room, on 16 June:No wall decor, and no furniture-- at least in the living and bedrooms.However, it's much improved from how it looked just 2 days ago:And the bedroom:Not that I ever had that much furniture to begin with, but kindof looks spacious w/o the furniture.(Sigh.)

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-72811968120825175502009-05-31T22:00:00.000-07:002009-05-31T22:23:03.898-07:00

Why are men so damn vain? But before we ponder this, here's a GRE math question:Marsha, a half-time student who works full-time, does not have a lot of free time. She told her friend Fred that she did not have time this weekend to do dinner, because she was studying for exams. Which of the following activities would Marsha most likely agree to, if Fred were to ask her to join him?:a) A

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-20590951246730221992009-05-31T00:17:00.000-07:002009-05-31T00:23:33.948-07:00

This time, I was the one guilty of the transgressive behavior.So a question to all you performer types. Suppose someone wants to attend your recital, choral concert, etc., but a)he/she doesn't have the energy to sit up, sohe/ she wants to listen lying down in one of the pews, and b) about halfway into the second part of the program, the person's energy is drained to the point of needing to leave

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-21483509958638672762009-05-26T23:28:00.000-07:002009-05-27T00:40:00.475-07:00

What does one do with a beloved instrument that one no longer plays--an instrument that one has had since 14 and has been sitting and collecting dust for the past few years?I guess the sensible thing to do, if one is contemplating downsizing is to get rid of it. But I feel like part of my soul would be going with it.And so I'm doing the un-sensible and babbling about it in this anonymous

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-14479784059572520352009-03-29T00:28:00.000-07:002009-03-29T00:32:22.782-07:00

Things to do before I'm--well, I'm already 40ish, but here's a "wish to do" list, with no particular timeline, inspired by Yv's "Things to Do before 30" list. (You young one!!)1. Continue to learn new words, which means reading lots and looking up words every time I don't know what it means and keeping a vocab list, which I already do.2. Read all of Shakespeare's works. I think I've read most of

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-81210838874691947082009-03-28T23:35:00.000-07:002009-03-28T23:35:00.928-07:00

If your friend tells you about his composing angst and says something about his fear of not being able to compose "something better the next time", do not tell him that "well, Mahler didn't compose anything to match his second symphony after he wrote that, and no one seems to hold it against him. . ." because it will not go over well.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-19289534468984467872009-03-28T23:33:00.000-07:002009-03-28T23:52:37.173-07:00

. . .is that I have virtually no free time, which is why this blog has been relegated to the back burner. One of my friends once told me that he can do at most two things before he feels like he's stretching himself too thin. He made this point to explain how he couldn't have both a time-consuming hobby and a girlfriend at the same time. It was either grad school and girlfriend, or grad school

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-83771557652102592832009-01-21T23:01:00.000-08:002009-01-22T00:12:54.907-08:00

Ok, this is probably akin to beating a dead horse, and I have more productive ways to waste my time than to devote time to this, but I couldn't resist.So what can we say about the top 100 musical selections that 6200 voters who purport to like classical music picked this year?-Evidently, they don't like Haydn.-They also eschew string quartets. (Boccherini's Fandango, which isn't a quartet anyway

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-41113773261256526772009-01-19T23:19:00.000-08:002009-01-20T00:30:22.568-08:00

Two things moved me to tears today.First, I listened to MLK's speech for the n-zillionth time.But this time, on the heels of what is about to happen tomorrow, it made me cry.Now, I'm listening to our choir singing Pablo Casals' Nigra Sum, which uses text from Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. It opens with "I am black and beautiful". Granted, the Song of Solomon refers to a sun-darkened

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-62656291841464811742009-01-06T00:56:00.000-08:002009-01-06T01:24:33.599-08:00

Happy New Year to my two remaining readers! Actually, it has been weeks since I've checked my spy meter, posted anything on this blog or visited some of the blogs I used to regularly visit, so for all I know, maybe no one reads this anymore, in which case I can make all sorts of private confessions, call people all sorts of names, etc. Though I'd be seriously amazed if anyone stops by anymore,

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-66521222513064085402008-11-24T21:16:00.000-08:002008-11-24T22:23:48.517-08:00

With abject apologies to my boss. . .-Arrive at work before 8 a.m.-Do actual work for 1 hour-Talk to one of the researchers about pseudo-despotic regime programs~15 minutes. Tells me I should apply to pseudo-despotic regime programs, because they are much easier to get into than despotic regime programs.-11:00: take a "short" break to fill out a gazillion transcript request forms (one for each of

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-23854351279935140272008-11-19T22:51:00.000-08:002008-11-19T22:56:49.621-08:00

A quick post to say that I hereby preemptively declare this a meme-free zone.5 more weeks of this madness, I hope. And to this madness I now must return. . . (sigh).

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-80919015907480422532008-11-13T14:07:00.000-08:002008-11-13T14:13:43.125-08:00

Do I go listen to the SLSQ perform Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time tonight after my midterm? The midterm that I've been studying for days for, and is the cause of sleep deprivation, and will likely drain my brain of the ability to have any sentient thoughts afterwards?Is this a good state of mind with which to go and absorb Messiaen's magnificence?I like what I have heard of Messiaen, but

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-26914270022224934922008-11-08T21:50:00.000-08:002008-11-08T23:56:29.459-08:00

Ok, if you are composing a piece of music and you want to insert an anti-semitic* shriek, what key would you use?Hint: It's evidently used in all of Mahler's symphonies.????*given that it's allegedly in all of Mahler's symphonies, I am confused as to whether an "anti-semitic shriek" is a shriek that is anti-semitic, or whether it is something that shrieks at anti-semitism. On second thought, I am

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-29967017115568520232008-11-08T21:23:00.000-08:002008-11-09T00:09:22.587-08:00

On the top of that list is Boston. (actually, Cambridge, to be exact.)Even though I'm applying to 3 schools in that area, which is more than any other city.A pity, since of the places that offer despotic regime study, it's one of the places I wouldn't mind living for a few years. I'd need to figure out what to do come February, because February in Cambridge is miserable, but so is February in

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-34505993009968212142008-10-27T22:43:00.000-07:002008-10-28T00:23:31.113-07:00

My friend, in an email to her mother, after she got home from her first Wagner opera:"You are a bad, bad mother for not ever introducing me to Wagner. You are a horrible parent!"

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-32261023798673657992008-10-27T22:23:00.000-07:002008-10-27T22:30:03.237-07:00

I went to the gym after work today. I'm normally not a fan of the gym, but I have to admit, it's highly efficient when one doesn't have a lot of time (or it is dark out, and one doesn't want to go running alone). It's also a fascinating place to do some people-watching, as it is the epitome of the divided attention-span lifestyle that is so common in our (post?)modern society. You know, the one

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-2041763575501007382008-10-25T21:54:00.000-07:002008-10-25T22:03:40.568-07:00

Please don't call me an animal hater, but I'm torn about Prop 2. It should be a no-brainer, because in theory, I'm all for more humane conditions for animals, and I find factory and large-scale farming utterly appalling. This is why I mostly buy eggs and produce from the farmer's market, where I can grill farmers about their farming practices and make sure they're not injecting extraneous

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-17503100809836305862008-10-25T13:43:00.000-07:002008-10-25T20:15:02.275-07:00

JoL: I'm throwing an election party. Do you want to come?Anzu: Sure. When is it?(JoL and Sage are in stitches next to me.)Sage: election party. (To JoL) Don't invite her. She doesn't get it.. . .Anzu: I have a class, but depending on the time, maybe I can make it. We should have a post-election party to celebrate McCain's victory.(Again, they burst into laughter.)Sage: Uh, I think that's the

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-45866855946298024462008-10-21T21:03:00.000-07:002008-10-21T21:19:53.893-07:00

The question of the day is if you take some entity and call it evocative, alluring and all sorts of flattering adjectives, and then tell tens of millions of people this, keep broadcasting this until people believe it, does the entity eventually become those things it is described as, even if it didn't start out necessarily possessing these qualities? And what if enough people do believe that

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-1732827724476450072008-10-20T18:54:00.000-07:002008-10-20T19:35:20.449-07:00

I was wondering, does anyone go to the polls to vote anymore?I don't know if this is a geographic thing or a generational thing, but I've been discovering over the course of the past few weeks, via conversations about the elections with various people, that everyone I seem to know votes by mail-in-ballot. (Well, either that, or some cannot vote at all.)Granted, my sample size is small and

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-5467207024763938902008-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:002008-10-13T19:34:30.739-07:00

Ok, I need to take a few moments and gush about "Die Tote Stadt" for just a brief moment. I just got back from it, and the music was stunningly beautiful. I knew nothing about this opera, other than the fact that it doesn't come around to these neck of the woods often. I did listen to parts of the soundtrack so I had an idea of the music, but listening at home is never quite the same as

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-47841102268431365142008-10-12T02:19:00.000-07:002008-10-12T11:18:32.356-07:00

mille fioriI suppose it's too late to tell you to go catch this exhibit, since it's no longer at the DeYoung. So I'll just tell you that it was a wonderful exhibit. They let us take pictures, which made it even more enjoyable. Half the fun was playing with the lighting and shadows and trying to capture that on film. I went up on Friday of closing weekend, several weekends ago. I almost skipped it

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-87867640361254003572008-10-07T23:32:00.001-07:002008-10-07T23:44:26.131-07:00

And in other news, I've stopped worrying about the election, because if, unlike the stock market, the past is any indication of the future, then I just saw proof that Obama will be our next president. See for yourself if you don't believe me. If we don't want to break this 28-year streak, he must win, right? Right?

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-72252190310129821932008-10-07T23:13:00.000-07:002008-10-08T00:35:32.903-07:00

After my ancient Gree—nay, Linear Algebra—exam today, I decided I needed something the equivalent of vegging out in front of a TV and thus dusted off my LoR CD and relistened to it. I haven't listened to it since—gosh, has it really been that long?—2001 or so.Howard Shore has been getting a quite a beating fairly recently (as has John Williams) in one of the discussion threads of one of my FB

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-55442224346794088592008-09-27T23:00:00.000-07:002008-09-27T23:14:54.471-07:00

Do you know what makes me really really grumpy?Opening the election materials and finding a FOUR page ballot that contains SIXTEEN freaking ballot measures that I have to vote on. I remember when I lived in NJ when ballots were ONE page long. That is how long they should be. A max of two pages, with maybe a half a dozen measures at most. But SIXTEEN!?And for f#$'s sake (yes, I'm really (really)

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-21249928780072138002008-09-27T08:30:00.000-07:002008-09-27T09:08:24.543-07:00

Quick. Without using the search powers of Google, how many octaves does our national anthem span?I pondered this very question at work yesterday, though not out of idle curiosity.So before you read on, take a moment, and sing the (U.S.) national anthem to yourself and figure out the range. No peaking at scores, no instrumental aids, and no internet; just your voice.If you answered 1.5 octaves (

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-6014695780907175662008-09-22T19:56:00.000-07:002008-09-22T20:41:07.515-07:00

AThe price of a movie ticket BThe price of an opera ticketA The quantity in column A is greaterB The quantity in column B is greaterC The quantities are equalD The relationship cannot be determined from the information givenIt's official. Here in the Bay Area, it is officially cheaper to attend an opera than it is to go see a movie.The price of a movie ticket: $10.50The price of the cheapest

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-11675572796894421862008-09-21T00:50:00.000-07:002008-09-21T02:47:25.639-07:00

I. triumphantNot that many people care (however, this being my blog, I exercise the right to write about things that only I and two or three other people might actually care about), but I am happy to report that my first hurdle towards despotic regime-dom has been cleared. I got my target score for the math section of the GREs. Phew.I am so. damn. relieved.Almost triumphant, in fact. Well, except

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-77023514729124485992008-09-17T01:12:00.000-07:002008-09-17T14:24:42.046-07:00

(No doubt some of you have already seen this, but someone brought it up at dinner the other day, and we were in stitches over it. . ..)Seven score and five years ago, Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address.Six score and 17 years later, someone reworked it to fit boardroom presentation format and accommodate modern-day attention spans and intelligence levels.Hmm. If I had any more brainpower left in

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-20733064917509687702008-09-14T00:29:00.000-07:002008-09-14T02:02:42.005-07:00

A secondhand bookstore is a very bad place to go to for someone who is trying eke out a minimalist existence and not accumulate stuff. But sometimes, the deals are so good, one cannot resist.As my one diversion from studying, I walked over to the used bookstore to try to get rid of my Devil Wears Prada and Bee Season. They didn't take Bee Season, but gave me $2 for Prada.I had a 25% off general

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-77044640978200465502008-09-07T12:29:00.000-07:002008-09-08T01:05:07.560-07:00

Our dog (the one who didn't compose any Beethoven symphonies) passed away this morning.Even though I'm not a pet person, and knew this was coming, it seems that no amount of mental preparation or rationalization quite buffers you from the sadness and numbness that suddenly outpours out of nowhere when the reality hits. Kind of like a brick wall, really. One minute, you are theorizing about "when

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-74237152092110495502008-09-05T00:41:00.001-07:002008-09-05T00:42:42.032-07:00

is when you have to miss your colleague's engagement shower, b/c you have a class to go toandyou leave work at 4:00 to get to said 5:30 class and are still 45 minutes lateandby the time you get to class, there's only 25 minutes left of lectureandyou realize it took you 2 freaking hours to drive a mere 28 miles to San Joseandyou (slurp) have to (slurp) sit next to (slurp) the guy (slurp) who (

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-87183716778260832962008-09-05T00:40:00.000-07:002008-09-05T00:41:19.694-07:00

is chopped up heirloom tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, basil from your own garden, and a few chopped kalamata olives thrown in for good measure, mixed up, and then generously seasoned with freshly ground pepper and salt, and a teeny drizzle of good quality EVOO and enjoying this on a balmy summer dayandtopping that with a postprandial piece of dark chocolate with ginger bits.Gosh I'm so boring I

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-16706772533607004272008-08-30T21:20:00.000-07:002008-08-30T21:42:20.521-07:00

Boys, don't read this, since it will probably bore you.* * *Ala: I just read about my responsibilities as the maid of honor, and according to this guidebook, I'm supposed to help you pee. I love you dearly, but I'm not sure I want to take my relationship with you to that next level.Ch: I'm perfectly capable of peeing on my own, so I won't need your help.* * *Ala reads something out loud about the

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-16396853902882225912008-08-30T20:52:00.000-07:002008-08-30T21:47:01.853-07:00

Had a girls+guy night last night at H&NMs. I skipped the Mamma Mia part of the evening, but joined them for dessert. H&MM officially announced their engagement, and lots of oohing and aahing over rings, etc. ensued.They bought a house together and have more or less combined/merged most of their belongings.Their dishes and kitchenware are merged.Their home decor and furniture are an eclectic mix

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-62044390419241610092008-08-29T19:51:00.001-07:002008-08-29T20:38:14.369-07:00

Alas, I couldn't find my linear algebra notes from college, but while I sifted through the contents of my boxed up past, I did come across this high school bio lab report from many many moons ago, which reminded me of why I wouldn't've (if that isn't a real word, it ought to be) survived in a school system in Japan, where you don't get away with submitting lab reports written in bright pink ink

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-50304810968308798882008-08-29T00:18:00.000-07:002008-08-29T15:09:15.554-07:00

Are people ever turned off by the search terms via which someone lands up on their blog?Well, when you've just come home exhausted from work/classes, the last thing you want to know is that five people landed on your blog today searching for some variation of "Why Asians have slanted eyes" or "Asians, tilted eyes". UGH.First, lest someone land on this post using those very search terms, Asians

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-80809430333589823262008-08-23T22:00:00.000-07:002008-08-23T22:09:20.984-07:00

Ok, S, Yv and Sage Broccoli know about my aspirations to become a despotic ruler. I really need to stop blogging and buckle down and get on with the first part of my five-part plan in order to achieve this hefty goal. (f(x) =1/y, where x=number of blog posts, and y=how much stuff I'm supposed to be doing instead of blogging or trolling around on FB.)However, yesterday, I spoke with an expert in

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-22866038051149510832008-08-23T21:50:00.000-07:002008-08-23T22:00:29.683-07:00

Ok, there are two things that make me theoretically* swoon. (*theoretically, because I don't actually swoon. I'm more of a gusher, but swooning sounds so much more. . .Elizabethan and grown up and proper. As an aside, swoon should always be italicized, because it just looks more unstable and swoon-like that way.)One is my Congan drum instructor, who is unfortunately gay, but has a beautiful tenor

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-27203273939251551132008-08-22T20:06:00.000-07:002008-08-22T20:52:02.742-07:00

Not to abuse my ghettoizing power as a blogger, but while I have the fleeting attention of a certain critic, I wonder if it would be out of bounds for me to present to him my Wishlist for the SF Chron. He can ignore me if he wishes, but I can't not try. :) I've made these requests before, but here is the reader's digest version (I don't want to push my luck that far):1. I would like to find the

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-77260819814370993932008-08-21T00:55:00.000-07:002008-08-21T01:02:44.152-07:00

Said by my choral director, during my voice check: "You shouldn't feel like a slacker. It's not like you sit at home and smoke pot for 5 hours a day."Hmm. If only he knew. . . On second thought, I don't want him to know anything.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-71236468399086863132008-08-20T18:07:00.000-07:002008-08-23T09:45:18.416-07:00

Yikes. I don't know anything about this piece or much about Tan Dun to legitimately critique this review by Mr. Joshua Kosman, but it is pretty scathing. He does not mince his words. At all.He seemed to find the first half pleasant enough. But not so the second half:Thereafter, though, things soon bogged down. Kenneth Frazelle's Piano Trio, commissioned for the occasion, turned out to be a long

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-68567077627553707252008-08-17T15:56:00.000-07:002008-08-17T16:11:35.451-07:00

Last night, my friends let me sit in on one of their rehearsals of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in D minor. Wow. Except one former professional musician, none of them are professionals, and all haven't really played in years, but they sounded great together. I couldn't just pick up my violin and play like that. The pianist was just something else. Prior to last night, I had never heard her play, but

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-5183786525669336642008-08-14T00:49:00.000-07:002008-08-14T02:04:47.797-07:00

Well, I think my parents just officially moved, b/c I can't get through on their old line. Phooey. The most important phone number for almost half of my lifetime--the number I called when I felt homesick; the number I called whenever I needed more $ during college; the number I called when I finished my finals, graduated, got into grad school, got a new job or quit my old job; the number I

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-62323738674102084052008-08-13T19:01:00.000-07:002008-08-13T20:04:51.188-07:00

I got a looooooooong-overdue bike tuneup today. It was so long that they had to replace both the chain and the rear cassette. I usually do it once a year in late spring or at the start of summer, but this year, I haven't been able to get my act together. Thus, my annual bike tuneup was 3-4 months late.One of these days, I will learn to tune up my own bike (like when an REI w/in biking distance

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-66358080960475833312008-08-09T17:59:00.000-07:002008-08-09T20:42:16.209-07:00

Thanks to my friends who have actual TVs, I got to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night at Betlan's house. She also has couches. Occasionally, it's nice to sit on real furniture, too. So we had the opening ceremonies, replete with running commentary throughout the entire night.(In Kurtagian style, this is homage à Yv, from whom I've borrowed this style of irreverent

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-55045058083886072642008-08-09T17:22:00.000-07:002008-08-09T17:46:41.482-07:00

From an unnamed test prep booklet, this little gem, at the end of the math review section that I just (begrudgingly) finished doing, b/c my math skills have atrophied to the point that my math scores would be an embarrassment, were I to take this test right now:"If you are scoring above 700 on the GRE Math, you may get some hard questions involving concepts that we haven't reviewed in this

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-78320620942954542082008-08-07T21:31:00.000-07:002008-08-07T22:29:19.651-07:00

Ok, I'm fretting, among other things, over a voice check/evaluation that we are supposed to have in a week or two. I think the last time I've done one of these was shortly after I joined. It has probably been around 4 years since my last one--enough time for him to forget that I'm a dismal sight reader--if he knows this at all. Sometimes, if a piece is in the right key (=keys with sharps in the

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-40191883809825647602008-08-05T21:29:00.000-07:002008-08-06T07:01:38.626-07:00

This applies mainly to the audience for the concert I just attended last weekend. At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon. . .1. To the guy in front of me who was peeved about being "cut off" in line and yelled at the poor usher and held up the line: it was a free concert. Stop complaining and just go enjoy the free music.2. To the guy who was siting diagonally across from me: I don't know

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-32899807899930965022008-08-03T22:10:00.000-07:002008-08-03T23:08:40.242-07:00

I went to a chamber concert (more on this later. er, maybe.) that featured works by Janacek and Shostakovich. Good stuff. Before performing Shostakovich's piano quintet, the cellist said that Shostakovich's works were like "Tchaikovsky with Stalin sitting atop of him". Hmm. Very interesting imagery.However, to me, parts of this particular piece sound more like a modern (subversive?) twist on

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-83675342332437050452008-07-31T21:16:00.000-07:002008-07-31T22:09:42.314-07:00

One of these weeks in which Sisyphus seems to have reigned over my various projects. . ..I don't mind his poking his head in for a short visit occasionally, so long as he doesn't stay too long and leave behind such a welter. But a welter he did leave, leaving me to deal with the mess he has left behind, and perhaps causing the world to go slightly off-kilter with that accursed stone of his.Or as

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-27580806184127967292008-07-31T21:00:00.000-07:002008-12-09T17:30:11.849-08:00

Ooh. And these pickles that I was supposed to wait seven more weeks for but broke down and opened a few minutes ago are just lovely. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Mmmmm.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-64498717810318330712008-07-30T12:08:00.000-07:002008-07-30T12:14:53.363-07:00

Shouldn't be posting at work, but I can't resist and this will take me less than a minute. Does this email make anyone else sneer? Shake one's head in disbelief? Hmmm. (from an email excerpt)----------------Corporate Sales ManagerVirgin Charter3420 Ocean Park Boulevard Suite 3050Santa Monica, CA 90405Please consider the environment before printing----- End forwarded message -----

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-69512422588422337372008-07-29T17:00:00.000-07:002008-07-29T17:54:38.029-07:00

Heh. Although I know hardly anything about contemporary classical music, somehow one of my posts made it to this contemporary classical music blog. Check it out.Since the author of the blog linked it and commented that the connection I referenced between sex and classical music seems tenuous, I thought I'd take the opportunity to link to the original article and offer more context. I should've

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-61562145497236397892008-07-27T01:05:00.000-07:002008-07-27T01:49:33.411-07:00

I kvetched about this a while back, but given the surfeit of posts that are rife with grammatical errors and misspellings of late, I think I need to re-kvetch about people who call themselves elitists, yet can’t spell/write. I know that some people give me a hard time about correcting people’s grammar (though evidently, they feel no need to correct me when I make equally ridiculous mistakes

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-26262312926888302212008-07-13T14:30:00.000-07:002008-07-13T16:05:29.424-07:00

I just finished reading Eugene Onegin, which I mostly enjoyed, but it reminded me of why I'm not into poetry/verse. Like a Mahler symphony (well, ok, some of them. Some are beginning to grow on me, and some I like, but I just cannot sit through and sit still for 2 hours straight of some of his 2-cd-length symphonies. One CD at a time, sometimes, but unless I have a lot of time on my hands, 2

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-14466762419479164522008-07-12T15:15:00.000-07:002008-07-12T23:42:18.478-07:00

After being good about doing my cross-training, and then biking home, I had a lovely lazy summer night solo dinner to ring in the weekend.On my ride home, I stopped by the local cheese mart to pick up a Manchego crusted with rosemary and (my favorite--) aged Gouda. I then stopped by Cost Plus to pick up dark chocolate with sea salt, which, to my annoyance, they didn't have, so I picked up a

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-82197410624624840722008-06-28T23:52:00.000-07:002008-06-28T23:55:34.724-07:00

I can't find the really fast version, but this is hilarious, even if you're not a mom. Check it out.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-10688513608598721402008-06-28T00:33:00.000-07:002008-06-28T01:21:41.830-07:00

I have a vexing dilemma at work.You know how your parents told you not to lie, because once you start, you have to keep telling bigger and bigger lies to cover up the first one? They were right. I have a colossal snowball-sized problem.So before I rot in hell for lying, please help me. Some of you know the nature of my dilemma. Let's suppose, that like me, you're a 50 year old lesbian, give

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-24069701049771259112008-06-19T21:49:00.000-07:002008-06-19T23:23:43.284-07:00

Pardon the graphic expression, but wow. I really managed to stoke someone's ire. I shouldn't laugh at someone getting so worked up over this, but this is kindof amusing to see someone take something so inconsequential so seriously. I mean, it's one thing to get riled up over the mistreatment of POWs or the injustices of the world, but all I did was ask whether Eric Satie's music was considered

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-84297192155989122812008-06-09T20:20:00.000-07:002008-06-08T20:22:52.079-07:00

Being away from the internet this whole weekend made me realize that I do far more productive things with my life when I'm not blogging or randomly surfing the net or bloviating about my favorite 20th century composition, etc. on Facebook's discussion groups. I always think I am an internet junkie (aren't we all? Those of us who read/write blogs and do FB), but when I was away from it, I did not

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-58255279667660696242008-06-08T00:59:00.000-07:002008-06-08T21:48:24.287-07:00

I spent the weekend in Sacramento at S's wedding. It was a lovely wedding. It got a tad cold toward the end, but otherwise, the weather was very cooperative.* * * * * * * *I. Friendship and SI have known S since the first week of my freshman year in college, when he accosted us for weeks to try to borrow our computer, so he could allegedly "hack" into a professor's computer and download

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-65071718991271685892008-06-04T22:52:00.000-07:002008-06-04T23:02:21.237-07:00

Sometimes I read these things and wonder a) if critic A and critic B went to the same performance, and if so, b) how two very knowledgeable people who are for the most part, fair reviewers, could have such drastically different appraisals of the same performance.Critic A gushes about the performance, and writes a lovely review, while critic B doesn't write a scathing review, but doesn't seem

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-86671704487164298632008-06-04T20:44:00.000-07:002008-06-04T22:47:18.030-07:00

I don't know why the local papers make it utterly impossible to find classical music reviews but this is one of my major grievances with some of these papers.Sure, I can Google it, but then sometimes, I end up finding out more information than I really want to know, such as the disposition of a certain critic's undergarments (read the comments), when all I wanted to do was read about Wang's

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-17825185511715130152008-06-01T00:09:00.001-07:002008-06-01T13:08:38.749-07:00

One of my classical music groups on Facebook is having a fascinating discussion on the future of classical music. Well, ok, both fascinating and frustrating, because we seem to keep going around in circles and extrapolating people's responses.It started out with someone asking where classical music is headed, composition-wise. The OP (original poster) talked about the break down in conventions

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-42591876046071983722008-05-31T22:14:00.000-07:002008-05-31T23:03:41.423-07:00

Evidently, I look like I'm 22, because I got asked three times at the dance thing last night whether I was "almost graduating". True, the dance thing was held on campus, so there is a high concentration of students. I'd say half or more of the attendees were students, but still. It's one thing to be asked this if you're like 24, but at my nearing-middle-age age, I'm not sure what to think. It

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-79149835616187737872008-05-31T19:02:00.000-07:002008-05-31T21:05:01.813-07:00

Ok, I'm not proud of this, but yesterday, I told someone to fuck off. I think aside from my brothers, I've only told 2 or 3 other people to fuck off (it kindof looses its dramatic effect when you do it all the time--besides which at this age, I feel like I should be better at expressing myself than resorting to expletives), but I must admit I have a short fuse at times.Setting: I just parked my

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-46729809976959490202008-05-26T22:02:00.000-07:002008-05-30T10:07:31.832-07:00

I’m tired. Beat. Exhausted. And glad that I’m finally done with my concerts. Phew. I don’t know why it consumes my life thus, but for the past few weeks, I feel like I’ve put my life on hold to focus on this music. Now I’m glad to be done with it all and have my life back again. Since we never get reviewed, I’ve decided to post my own review/thoughts of the concert. (I mean, heck, it’s my

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-33091408340792989922008-05-24T16:40:00.000-07:002008-05-24T17:02:31.844-07:00

I went to Whole Paycheck today to get some ingredients for an asparagus tart and a strawberry balsamic gelato. I'm in the sugar section contemplating whether the extra cost that WP charges warrants the convenience and premium quality of their fair trade ultra-virtuous cane sugar, when I saw out of the corner of my eye, on the bottom shelf, a packet of sugar that proclaimed that it was vegan.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-70078335860933183352008-05-21T22:54:00.000-07:002008-05-21T23:05:00.974-07:00

Where do people get such bizzarro ideas!?!?!?!? They come in silver, too. (Click on the "Limited Edition" tab on the left.) Personally, I don't think this--oh, never mind. I don't even want to go there. . ..

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-60303409540742215242008-05-20T22:45:00.000-07:002008-05-21T09:06:51.521-07:00

Oboe is one of my top three favorite instruments. (Well, actually, my new love of late is the English horn, but I've only started listening for them in the past few years—ever since a friend played a beautiful accompaniment to a soprano part. I don't remember the name of the piece, but it was a lovely soprano/horn duet by Mozart. We certainly didn't have a horn player in any of my high school

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-72461139343877698482008-05-19T23:00:00.000-07:002008-05-20T00:39:28.248-07:00

$42 million dollars. What would you do if you had $42 million to wast--er, spend? Go on a vacation? Retire? Start a philanthropy?It's not exactly a problem I have, unfortunately, though the first thing I'd probably do is quit my job and travel for a year. Then I'd buy a house someplace-- perhaps one here and one in Paris or in the Italian countryside? Oh, and I'd buy a house for my parents and

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-12150439444654174152008-05-11T14:29:00.000-07:002008-05-11T15:48:31.820-07:00

Will the people at Disintegrating Organic Tissue Matter kill me if I use one of their posts again as fodder for my own post? Ok, so I won't do that, except to mention that I was practically seething when I read this review of Hilary Hahn's recording of Schoenberg's violin concerto that they refer to in their post.I'm seething for different reasons than they are. For more details, you can read

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-38399510885401330132008-05-11T02:58:00.000-07:002008-12-09T17:30:13.355-08:00

I called my mom yesterday to wish her a happy mother’s day. Of course, instead of talking about motherhood and lovely brunches and flowers as other normal mother-daughters might, we talked about none of these things. Well, ok, I did ask her what she did, so that took up 5 minutes of our conversation. Instead, a big chunk of our conversation was spent discussing less, um, quotidian things.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-8955817037217390572008-05-04T21:03:00.000-07:002008-05-04T22:03:57.798-07:00

I am too behind on my music and other things to legitimately post (but evidently not too busy to troll around on other blogs), but I had to comment on this idea of amplifying bassoons.Short summary: guy, who is normally more of a rocker dude goes and hears Beethoven's Ninth, which, at the risk of sounding clichéd, was and is still probably one of the greatest, most groundbreaking things written

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-53155755037117304072008-05-02T23:52:00.000-07:002008-08-23T09:50:59.670-07:00

I suppose playing a game of virtual tag is friendlier than virtual playground bullying. But still. Grumble grumble grumble. Gripe gripe gripe. I have been tagged by the folks at Detrius. So now I am "it". Here are the rules:1. Pick up the nearest book.2. Open to page 123.3. Find the fifth sentence.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you. (last part

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-28863553234705287162008-05-01T22:53:00.000-07:002008-05-02T11:37:27.775-07:00

This week, every time I have listened to Bach's chamber music, I have become uncontrollably weepy. Sometimes if I listen to a particularly moving recording of something I like (e.g. Szeryng playing the Chaconne) I get teary, but I'm usually not weepy.Earlier this week, I heard the Oistrakh father-son combo playing Bach. It wasn't an interpretation I liked too much (too too much vibrato), but

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-14595428354084638442008-04-24T22:05:00.000-07:002008-04-25T01:55:32.412-07:00

Apologies in advance for the rambling/incoherent trajectory that this post might end up traversing, but I have no idea what I'll end up writing.It's been one of those weeks. I'm last-minute cramming for a concert. I have friendly visitor ants who can't seem to understand how much I detest their presence in my house and keep stubbornly returning, despite my multiple killing rampages and threats.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-39916689808122595562008-04-22T17:15:00.000-07:002008-04-22T17:25:17.189-07:00

Take it from my Chinese language teacher--Chinese is apparently "similar" to Spanish. I don't know enough of either language to verify this, but I have had five classes so far, and in every class, the teacher has said at least once, "See? It's like Spanish," when going over a grammatical point, which probably means that Chinese is also like French as well.So then I decided to tell my

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-20122857493855234502008-04-20T16:44:00.000-07:002008-04-20T17:37:01.151-07:00

One of the great joys of singing in a choir that promotes contemporary works is that we get to sing a lot of great new pieces. For the most part, this is fun and a great learning experience. However, sometimes, I have mixed feelings about commissioned pieces, because there is that element of surprise and you never know what you will get.Now I realize that having a piece commissioned is quite a

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-21301780527254935712008-04-18T00:09:00.000-07:002008-04-18T00:18:42.347-07:00

I learned something new today.(Disclaimer: I blame my ignorance on the fact that I mostly don't eat these things.)Perhaps this is common knowledge to y'all, but did you know that sweetbread (one word) is some animal part that I probably wouldn't eat, rather than (as I would've expected) a bread that is sweet?!?!?!?Now why on earth don't they just call these things what they are-- the thymus gland

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-70114036233857359142008-04-13T14:19:00.000-07:002008-04-14T00:39:55.343-07:00

I’m a week or two behind the blogoshere, but gosh. I don’t believe my eyes.In high school, classical musicians were never the ones who were into popularity contests. We were too above that. (Or maybe we just weren't popular.)Popularity contests are so 1989. So junior high (or high school). I hated it back then and now, I mostly don’t pay attention or care. But popularity contests are back with

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-47931126153171314272008-04-12T22:37:00.000-07:002008-04-12T23:25:49.099-07:00

One of my favorite quotes from one of my former violin teachers is "you can't do quality control and production at the same time." She was referring to violin-playing. Maybe this isn't so odd, but whereas I am a lousy proofreader of my own writing, I was much better at being critical of my own playing. In fact, I suspect I drove my private instructor nuts, b/c she'd have me play whatever piece

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-75401544482368676872008-04-12T17:25:00.000-07:002008-04-14T09:20:28.529-07:00

Ignorance is bliss.Or so they say.I can't decide whether I'd rather be blissfully ignorant and consume things that will kill me or be the so-called empowered consumer and avoid all things that have a remote chance of disrupting my hormones or causing cancer, etc. etc.I'm already borderline-obsessive about reading labels, so I really don't need another thing to obsessively worry about.But before I

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-22276138769132396392008-04-12T16:16:00.000-07:002008-04-12T16:39:43.718-07:00

A while back, I was at a friend's wedding. An evening wedding that required semi-formal attire.When it came time for dessert, the server came around and asked us if we wanted coffee or tea. Well, in the east coast, they must've not yet caught on to the idea of serving decaf or herbal tea at 10 p.m., because they didn't have that option. They did have decaf coffee, but I don't do coffee.So I

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-38888131992683630632008-04-11T23:21:00.000-07:002008-04-11T20:11:23.281-07:00

Hmm. I wonder what my director's objection was to the following blurb that I proposed we send to the media and put on our website to describe our upcoming concerts:blurb A:"Join the ABC Congan Drum Ensemble as we bring you innocuously tuneful do-re-mi pieces withlyrics derived from poetry composed by local children. You will hearthe sounds of mashed potatoes, Disney,

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-14217779671550288002008-04-08T20:02:00.000-07:002008-04-08T21:08:20.800-07:00

I really need to stop reading blogs outside of my regular reading list o' blogs and read Tolstoy's War and Peace instead. It has been on my list-of-books-to-read-before-I-die and I haven't even bought it yet.Sometimes, I read blogs and find great things, like aschoenbergesque.Other times, I read blogs (the same blog, even) and I end up finding out about the disposition of a certain critic's

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-54329583296178891592008-04-06T23:02:00.000-07:002008-04-06T23:20:25.134-07:00

aschoenbergesqueI need to incorporate that into my next concert description blurb!(aside: should the "s" be capitalized, as in, aShoenbergesque? That looks kindof weird.)Found it here (click on the comments), but I'm not sure whether to credit this blog or Joshua Kosman, so I credit both.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-8265973545715297472008-04-05T18:28:00.000-07:002008-04-06T09:57:20.577-07:00

I finally found my black folder. Whew. Also, the music locations have now been consolidated down to eight places.The featherpuff cinnamon rolls are baking, the upma is gently stewing, and I'm held hostage here till they finish, after which I shall consume them for dinner. (Yes, I know. I'm a bad person. But this bread has cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, eggs, and milk powder, so it is

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-69419023153141644162008-04-05T14:31:00.000-07:002008-04-05T15:00:29.648-07:00

It's the day before my concert, and here I am tearing my entire apartment--all 400 square feet of it-- to look for my black music folder. (I'm also looking for my black dress, but that is another worry.) I've looked in all of the obvious places. And actually, it's only about 250 square foot of search space, since I'm pretty sure it's neither in the bathroom nor the kitchen.Now I should be

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-57349227704446212662008-04-04T23:15:00.000-07:002008-04-07T18:14:15.709-07:00

I need to stop. Really.But I can't stop eating these. They are utterly addicting. I have Lala to blame for this. She is the one who introduced me to these. She keeps them in her cupboard and adds them to salads. I really like the crunch it imparts to her salads.I usually buy the raw kind bulk at Whole Paycheck, just b/c it's less packaging this way, and I can control the quantity I buy.

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28064982.post-22595370831444080022008-04-04T14:23:00.000-07:002008-04-04T21:13:27.197-07:00

Ok, what does it mean when someone calls someone an "ex-_______-to-be"? (_______=wife, boyfriend, etc.)Does this mean that I know something that the ex-boyfriend-to-be doesn't yet know? (Because you either are or aren't dating someone, right? So conversely, one either is or isn't an ex-boyfriend, right?)Is this a roundabout way of saying, "I'm about to break up with ______" and am being

anzuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00435743221183393781noreply@blogger.com0