Quickies

Sorry about the prolonged silence. Up through Tuesday of this week I'd been utterly swamped with end-of-quarter and teaching-job application to dos, but now all of that's done and I have a few days of spring break to breathe a bit and get myself geared up for my final quarter at NU. There's been so much going on I can't possibly fill you in completely on everything, so here are some blurbs and pics to give you a rough idea of some of my recent activities.

Monday evening the U.S. Navy Band came to NU and delivered a spectacular crowd pleasing concert. Particularly exciting for me was the fact that Eileen Bedlington--one of my awesome roommates from my summer at Aspen--plays trumpet with the band. After the concert I went backstage to say hello and was completely surprised by how excited she was to see me again. We were able to take a couple hours and have lunch together the next day and it was great to hear about some of the things she'd been up to since I last saw her in NYC about 10 years ago. I was reminded that not only is she a fabulous trumpeter, but she's also an incredible artist, inventor, and builder--catching up was a whole lot of fun!

Rob flew in to town on Tuesday afternoon and the next morning we began the long drive back to Ithaca where I'll be spending the rest of spring break. That's right...my boyfriend came out to Chicago just to drive back home again...and that's a 12 hour drive...what a sweetie!

Well, actually, there's a little more to it than that. The big news is that Rob was recently hired as an assistant professor of physics at Oberlin College--a prestigious liberal arts college a little ways outside of Cleveland. By chance, Oberlin just happens to be right at the halfway point on the drive between Chicago and Ithaca, and we stopped for a night so he could show me around a bit and take care of a couple logistical details.

We took a peek around the music building (Oberlin is home to a very reputable conservatory) and were surprised to see that I am pictured on a poster advertising the AIMS festival I played in last year. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera so you'll just have to trust me on that one.

Rob also showed me through the science center and we poked around a bit in the physics building. The next morning we met one of the other faculty members for breakfast and walked back to the physics building again so Rob could inspect a room that's going to be used as office space for his future students. Later we were given a tour of a house Rob will likely be renting for the year. A faculty member is going on sabbatical and needs someone to look after his place. It's gorgeous--fully furnished with 3 floors plus a basement and a lovely forested backyard. The whole thing is just so thrilling and overwhelming I hardly know where to begin in describing everything. If I don't get the teaching position in Georgia, I'll be joining Rob in Oberlin and the place would be pretty much perfect for me as well. I'd be able to start up a teaching studio and work toward gigging in Cleveland, and the town and surrounding countryside is just the sort of environment that could feed my cravings for natural beauty. There are a few good astronomy clubs in the area, and--this is just too cute--the town's central park is inhabited by a small population of albino squirrels...

We arrived in Ithaca just a day ahead of Cornell's infamous dragon day. I'm tired of typing and need to get into the practice room again so I'll just show you pictures for this one. Follow the link above for more information.

I will say this...it looked like quite a party!