September 26, 2005 at 5:36 AM

Have you ever gone on a walk and been completely pre-occupied then realising too late that you really should have been paying attention? No? Ok, well I did that this weekend. I was out on a walk while down in Vancouver and fooling around with my camera because I wanted to take a picture only to suddenly bang my knee and ankle into this angled iron post. Initially it didn't hurt so bad but I felt rather woozy and dizzy, then it started to hurt. I now have two very nice swollen, purple-ish bruises that are quite sore. To add to this wonderful Saturday morning excursion of exercise and well-being I somehow managed to lose one of my contact lenses. Hmm..... Now I have to wait until my new lenses come in sometime this week before the gift of clear vision is restored. That was rather frustrating. I have glasses but find them uncomfortable and annoying to wear, especially for playing and being out and about doing things.

Saturday was a good day all in all though. I had a violin lesson most of which was spent working on my Bach Fugue but then some time on vibrato and the Barber concerto. Chords are so much easier to play and make sound nice now! I feel like I have direction in the Fugue and I know what I want to do with it and where I want it to go. Now I just have to practice. I feel so motivated and excited to go and practice it now. Before it seemed almost like a chore because even though I haven't been working on it long I just didn't really have an idea as to how I could make it sound better. There were of course some obvious things but I was doing things I didn't realise and making the chords sound really nice and beautiful when there's so many of them was a real obstacle for me. I now have the tools I need to make it sound good!!

After my lesson, later in the evening I managed to get 45 minutes of good work in on the first half a page or so which made everything my lesson sink in more, I think. It's pretty rare where I feel so excited to go and practice right after a lesson like that but if it wasn't 10 at night and if my hands weren't needing a break I would have practiced a lot more, I just felt so excited to get in there and work on it! I'm all inspired now!!! I wonder how long this feeling will last though.....*crosses finges* ......hopefully for awhile at least!

I really appreciate having the opportunity to study with a teacher who doesn't accept anything but the very best of your ability. It motivates you to work harder and believe in yourself because they believe in you and your ability to suceed and acheive a high level. Even though compliments aren't being handed out I still leave with this feeling of a sucessful (not nessecarily great playing....) lesson.

Shortly after my lesson I got to meet up with some relatives I haven't seen in awhile for a walk, music and fish & chips! You can't go walking by the ocean without getting some fish & chips that are for sale along the warf, it just wouldn't be right. It was really nice to get to visit with family and tell them about my trip in the summer, show them pictures, and to just catch up. I played a few different Bach movements for them and the Vitali Ciaccona.

Well it's been a long day sitting in the car, traveling back home, doing homework, reviewing lesson notes and packing up/unpacking. I think I'm going to hit the sack!

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on September 26, 2005 at 6:31 AM

I'm sorry you had mishaps in your walk, but I hope you got some good photos.

I like your description of a great teacher as someone who challenges you to be your very best because he believes in you. Hallelujah! I've been fortunate to have some teachers, especially professors in college, who held me to high standards. They believed in me so much that I started to believe in myself. Now that I'm a teacher, I hope to give those same gifts to my students.

From Carley Anderson
Posted on September 26, 2005 at 3:38 PM

I empathize (sp?) with you, especially the contacts part. Sorry for you! (That's great about the practicing!)

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September 26, 2005 at 5:36 AM

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