Classical Girl’s Violin Debut at DWF Airport

I’m traveling this week, which makes for less blog time, so I thought I’d be lazy and deposit an old, favored blog in here that I wrote five-ish years ago. It’s about travel, so that counts, right? And it’s been a while since I’ve given my adult-beginners-on-the-violin readers a story, so here you go. I … Read more

Dvořák Saves the Plane

Remember the movie Snakes on a Plane? Yeah, me neither. But let’s call this Strings on a Plane. It’s a warm afternoon in Beijing and a plane full of people are buckled in, awaiting departure that the crew can’t seem to get permission for. The plane has been grounded on the tarmac for not one, not two, … Read more

A Perfect Moment via “O Mio Babbino”

Friday night, just before 6:00pm, I was driving my son to the middle school he will be graduating from in a matter of days. Eighth grade dance night. He’s developing that closeness with his classmates, male and female alike, that I remember doing at the end of my own eighth grade year. In some ways, … Read more

10 things my cats have taught me about ballet

A pas de chat, for those of my readers who aren’t dance people, is a ballet term that translates as “step of the cat.” It’s a subtle little leap under yourself, one foot up, the other instantly following. You come down, maybe six-to-twelve inches away, landing in the same soft, one-foot-then-the-other movement. Like a cat. … Read more

To the Parents of April Jones

Dear parents of April Jones, I read the news today that Mark Bridger was found guilty of abducting and murdering your five-year-old daughter, April. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22687971 I read on and on, riveted and horrified that this atrocity could have happened. I saw the picture of your daughter, bent my head, and wept. Every parent throughout the world, upon … Read more