Fake Nerds

First cute 20 something: "It's full! Oh man! But I just saw Him walking into the building!"

Second cute 20 something: "Really!"

First cute 20 something: "Yeah...I saw this guy in a brown suit, like, walking from the parking lot into the building and I was, like, is that Him?! And then I was, like, Oh my God, I think that's actually Bill Nye!"

Rob and I were walking back from Rhodes Hall after taking a gander at the newly installed solar-noon clock funded by "The Science Guy" when we overheard the above exchange taking place between some Cornell undergraduates. Nye was on campus yesterday to give a lecture and then dedicate the unique clock which is designed to not only give the time of day, but also indicate the point at which the sun is highest in the sky--solar noon. Once per day a complex GPS-controlled system of reflective lenses, ducts, and mechanical doors will direct photons streaming away from the high-noon sun to illuminate a sun-shaped design on the clock's upper face. It will glow for a couple of minutes every day...finicky Ithaca weather permitting of course.

My astronomy buddy Patrick had alerted me to these happenings by email the previous night and when the website instructed attendees to arrive early, I'd guessed that 1/2 an hour ahead would probably be sufficient. Rob and I arrived at 11:00 for Nye's 11:30 lecture, but were discouraged when we encountered the enormous line of college students, parents with young kids, and a few stray professors snaking endlessly through the innards of Statler Hall. The bottom section of the speaking venue had already filled up and we arrived just as staff monitors were about to open the balcony. Once the doors were open the line moved quickly...

...and as we ascended the stairs just a few yards from the balcony's entrance we were actually starting to become optimistic about our chances.

No sooner had we reached the top of the stairs when an usher came to the door and said, "We're full!" A staff member explained to the disappointed crowd that there were no remaining seats for the lecture, but invited us to come back at solar noon for the clock's official dedication a couple hours hence. The star-struck masses dispersed a little deflated, and Rob and I decided to head over to Rhodes for a quick look at the clock before going home.

When we overheard the exchange that started this post, Rob and I both rolled our eyes a little. I guess it's pretty cool that a science person is able to attract so many googley-eyed admirers, but I got the feeling that the overwhelming response to the event was due less to the coolness of the science involved than to the fact that Bill Nye is a TV star. I thought aloud to Rob, "These star-struck undergrads couldn't possibly be 'true nerds'...could they?" And there's no way the crowd of newly-minted sorority sisters that cut in line right in front of us (they didn't get in either...HA!) were actually interested in hearing about solar time keeping...right? I mean, if this sort of thing were really that popular among the student body the membership of the Cornell Astronomical Society would be bursting at the seams...rather than slowly waning. I guffawed at the sudden trendiness of fake nerdiness and felt more than a little swelling of pride that I had been a "real" nerd for long enough to have paid some dues.

I'm more than a little embarrassed by this now. Whatever motives existed behind the overwhelming attendance of Nye's lecture, it's wonderful that so many people (genuinely nerdy or not) came out to celebrate something cool about the mechanics of our solar system. All the times I helped out at star parties back in Utah, the public I enjoyed talking with most were ones who had never looked through a telescope and didn't know you could actually see PLANETS...IN the SKY...With your own Eyes!

Maybe there were some that made it into the lecture yesterday who wanted nothing more than to be able to say to their friends back home, "I was in the same room with that wacky Science Guy from TV," but in all likelihood, there was something that Nye said that made them perk up for a moment and go "Really? I never knew that...cool!" If that happened--even once or twice--then Halleluja! Anything that leads to more support of science in our society these days is more than welcome in my book.

Storms

In the wee hours of this morning Ithacans began feeling the effects of Hurricane Irene as the massive storm slowly moved inland to blacken our skies. The strength of the storm has increased markedly as the day has progressed. What felt like a gentle breezy trickle around 10:00 am is now an angry gushing monster with flood warnings in effect, winds at 30-35 mph and gusts up to 50, and a constant driving rain. When I drove into Cornell for my morning practice the clouds were speeding across the sky above Cayuga Lake at a frightening pace.

To be sure, our little corner of Irene is nothing compared to what others along the eastern seaboard have endured.

When I read about the Ghost Town that is Manhattan I was reminded of the Nor'easter Rob and I experienced while on a trip to The City a few years ago. We had tickets to see Shostakovich's opera The Nose and made the mistake of walking to Lincoln Center from our hotel near Times Square during the worst part of the storm. The wind blew like mad and sent torrents of rain battering against our nearly useless umbrella and we arrived at the Met freezing cold and soaked to the bone. Needless to say, we took a cab home.

Later we were both shocked by the carnage left in the storm's wake. I have never seen so many dead umbrellas in my life. Their shredded carcasses were everywhere: sprawled against the sides of buildings...

...filling every street-corner trash can...

...and plastered limply to the soaked sidewalks...abandoned by their owners to rot in the gutters like so much trash...

The sight was disturbing and tragic.

Knowing how brutal such winds can be to umbrellas, I opted to leave my trusty little black one at home today and just let the storm bluster away. Yes, I got a little wet during my walk from the parking lot at the Space Sciences building to my practice room at Lincoln Hall, but I was happy to have saved my umbrella for use during future--and more humane--rain storms.

Mmmm...lemon!

So...you remember those incredible Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cookies I told you about a couple of months ago? Well, Rob and I had this great idea that we should try the same recipe but use a lemon cake mix instead, and OH MY GOSH they turned out so great!

I can't get over how easy they are either. One of these days I suppose I should try to make my own cake mix to use in the recipe so I feel like less of a cheater, but...nah! Why not just enjoy some easily achieved goodness now and then.

Drawing Music

I finished a drawing this morning.

It's one I'd begun working on while still in Austria and started life as one of my usual bic-pen-on-cheap-paper doodles that emerged while I listened to Miserere: a cd of works by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Soon after I completed the central figure however, I started to imagine great flowing wings trailing behind her and realized I'd have to more rigorously plan out the rest of the drawing if it was going to end up being successful...

Once the "wings" were finished the sketch sat dormant for a few weeks. I felt there was something more I had to add--something in the background--a light or "source" of some kind that the figure would be moving toward--but no ideas worth committing to the page (since I was working with pen every line was a commitment) took shape in my mind, so I set it aside for a while.

I finally returned to it yesterday when I was in need of a time passer while Rob worked. For the sake of consistency I put on the Pärt again and assumed my usual preferred drawing pose: belly down on the living room floor with a pillow underneath my elbows. After two back-to-back listens of Miserere I called it quits for the day, but picked things up again this morning determined to just get the dang thing done.

Today's sound track was Drukqs by Aphex Twin: a brilliant electronic-music artist Rob had introduced me to earlier in the week while we drove to Dryden Lake for an afternoon stroll. Rob once attended a lecture given by composer John Adams (one of my favorite composers) where Adams presented Aphex Twin as an example of a pop artist who was creating serious music. The first track of Drukqs, "Jynweythek Ylow" (Cornish for "electronic machine") is a beautiful and imaginative prepared-piano musing that I immediately fell in love with. It took my thoughts back to times of playful childhood magic when I still believed faeries cavorted through the woods and wishes said over a shooting star came true. The rest of the cd alternates between these idyllic excursions, acid house music, and downright creepy abstract soundscapes that remind me quite a lot of work done by Atomic Shadow (aka: my wicked step-dad).

And after all of that, here is the final result...

Trumpet these days

It's been a little while since I gave you an update on my progress on the horn so I thought I'd catch up a bit with that today.

The summer months have largely been overflowing with hours for me to fill with my own rigorous, but basically comfortable mixture of practice and rest. Even considering the AIMS experience, I'd looked at this summer as a relatively stress-free stretch of time I could use to overcome the last stubbornly lingering issues with my "new" embouchure, and more thoroughly incorporate the best things I'd learned from Charlie and Barbara into my playing. To a large extent I feel I've basically accomplished those goals, but as Fall quarter looms just under a month into the future, I'm starting to feel the pressure of impending auditions, and just a little bit of trepidation over jumping head on into another demanding year at NU. This time around I know more about what's in store...and just how thoroughly I will be challenged by it.

Here are my tasks for the next month in a nutshell:

THE POOL AUDITION

Repertoire:

movements 1 & 2 of Tomasi's Tryptique

and standard excerpts from:

Debussy, La Mer

Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue

Schumann, Second Symphony

Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade

Strauss, Don Quixote and Ein Heldenleben

Everyone plays a pool audition during the first week of classes in order to be placed in the ensembles and--if you're among the winners--into each studio's excerpt class. By some miracle, last year I made it into excerpt class every quarter, so even though I know there are a bunch of new grad students coming in next year, the thought of losing the pools and not being in excerpt class grates against my naturally competitive nature.

The pools are basically set up to feel a lot like a professional orchestra audition with a proctor, a screen, and the whole bit, so it's also a good chance to test one's general audition effectiveness. Because I'll only be in the relatively blissful alternate reality of student life for one more school year, this aspect of the pools weighs heavily in my mind. A lot sooner than I'd like to acknowledge, I'll be out on my own and hoping that whatever education I got at NU prepared me well enough to be a serious contender on the audition circuit. As part of that education I'm trying to treat the pools with every bit as much thoroughness as I would any pro audition.

It would also be nice to demonstrate to Barbara and Charlie that I've continued to work hard even after all the difficulties I experienced over the past year. I'm still not sure I've given them the best impression of who Kelly Ricks is...and I would like to remedy that.

THE RECITAL

Repertoire:

Torelli, Sonata in D for Trumpet and Piano

Peeters, Sonata

James Stevenson, Vignettes for Trumpet and Percussion

Due to the aforementioned "difficulties" that some of you may remember from...oh, about January through TODAY, I was not able to stick to the usual plan of completing one of my two required recitals during my first year as a grad student. As a result, I'll somehow have to manage both this year. My plan was to practice hard all summer and give a recital during the first couple weeks of fall quarter, and then prepare during the winter quarter to give my final performance in the spring. Now it seems more likely that I'll have to move recital #1 a little later into fall quarter so I'll have time to find a pianist, rehearse with the percussionist, and get some coaching from Charlie.

Today the rep is sounding decent. I've got almost everything up to performance tempo and I've made some progress training my embouchure to execute the quick switches between C trumpet, B flat trumpet, flugel horn, and piccolo trumpet required by the program I selected. The biggest remaining challenge will be developing the efficiency and endurance I'll need to make it through a full recital. Because of my embouchure issues this is treacherous ground--I need to work hard enough to build strength and improve efficiency, but not so hard that I injure myself. Yesterday I made it through the entire Peeters and the Stevenson and bits of the Torelli, but spread apart into two separate practice sessions. From here, I'd like to start playing through two pieces in one session, and then eventually (closer to the recital date) all three.

THE FIRST SOLO CLASS

Repertoire (best case scenario):

Plog, Concerto No. 2, 1st mvt.

Every Wednesday throughout the school year the trumpet studios convene at noon for solo class. Usually, Barbara's and Charlie's studios meet separately, but for the first three weeks all of us combine as every student performs a solo with piano. The only restriction is that the piece must be for a "big" horn (B flat or C trumpet). These first three classes feel like a sort of debut. With all new students performing first, the veterans are introduced to the new faces (and perhaps even scope out the competition for the year), and in the two following weeks the rest of us demonstrate a little of what has occupied us all summer...which ideally has involved more trumpet playing than sunbathing.

For me, this solo class feels like an opportunity for me to say, "Ok guys, I know you had to put up with a lot from me over the past year--covering for me when I struggled, trying to ignore all the times I didn't quite make it in performance, and listening to my constant flow of excuses about my embouchure--but now I'm back and I'm ready to shoulder the load WITH you. I'm ready to be more colleague than project, and I'm looking forward to a good year." Of course I won't get up on stage and say that directly, but I'm hoping a strong performance will communicate the idea well enough.

Taking on the Plog again might be a bit of wishful thinking. I performed it years ago on my Juilliard senior recital, but it's a very technical piece that exploits the aspects of trumpet playing I've been struggling with most over the last year: range, and that all-important and ever-elusive BRILLIANCE of sound. Basically, if I can keep the "brilliance" happening (and by brilliance, I mean the sound as well as all the technical and physical things that result from the achievement of that sound), and I work out all the little finger and tongue twisters, I'm set. If it gets down to the wire and things don't seem to be working I can always just play a movement from the Peeters, but I would much prefer doing something different...taking that dang bull by the horns and rising to the challenge.

Immature Golf

Curious sculpture park spotted along highway 13 just outside of Ithaca...

And you're telling me I have to hit the ball where?

Saturday Schedule

9:00 am: roll out of bed, use the bathroom, get a drink of water...and go back to bed.

10:53 am: wake up (for reals this time) get a drink of water, get back in bed, and cuddle with Rob for a while.

11:12 am: make a smoothie--1 banana, 3 strawberries (frozen), 4 black berries (frozen), a handful of blueberries (frozen), a dribble of vanilla, a bit of OJ, and some milk--blend until smooth (and apologize to the neighbors under your breath for making such an ungodly racket on a Saturday morning)...get back into bed for more cuddling as you sip your smoothie.

11:26 am: pry yourself out of Rob's embrace and head back to the kitchen to make some cereal--1 cup of rolled oats, 1/2 cup of unsalted sunflower seeds, 1/2 cup of raisins, and milk...enjoy in bed as Rob dozes next to you.

11:36 am: shower, get dressed (hot little black dress? Why not:), and ready the trumpet stuff for practicing.

12:00 noon: practice--warm up to some AWESOMELY sweet high notes (go for that high F today!), kick some ass on the Plog Concerto, and paint your toenails during your practice breaks.

1:03 pm: grab the nifty hippie-ish purse that mom made for you, get in the car with Rob and drive down to the Ithaca Farmer's Market...

1:07 pm-whenever: ENJOY!!!

...load up on everything fresh and lovely (Oh yessssss!!! they have those little orange tomatoes!), and do your best to fit it all inside your massive hippie purse. Buy a compostable cup of that famous freshly-squeezed lemonade you've been craving since you were last here (more than a year ago), and snitch a bite...or two...or three...of Rob's hot-out-of-the-oven flatbread pizza...

Smile for a picture...

2:15 pm: decide you have enough stuff to make a delightful dinner and head back to the car, but make sure to stop for a couple minutes and take a photo of the beautiful Cornell campus...

2:23 pm: unload the booty! (and snitch some berries)

2:30 pm: check email, (snitch berries), check blog (ignore the stats page...and snitch some berries), and then make out with Rob for a good solid 20 minutes...

2:57 pm: make a grocery list of things you'll need to flesh out dinner tonight--pasta, garlic, bullion, olive oil--and to make pesto tomorrow--parmesan cheeze, pine nuts--(what else are we going to do with all that basil?) and head back down the hill to Wegmans (but not before snitching some berries on the way out the door...mmmmm!!!).

3:18 pm: wander aimlessly looking for the pine nuts until you finally give in and ask the nice young man in the green shirt where they are.

3:21 pm: wander aimlessly looking for the garlic, until you go back to the center aisle and consult that same nice young man...

3:24 pm: wander aimlessly looking for the bullion, until you have to go back and apologize to the nice young man for basically having to do ALL your shopping for you...but then at least you find the bullion.

3:32 pm: miraculously find one more interesting variety of bottled root beer for cousin Jessica's bottle cap collection: Maine Root

3:46 pm: drive home and vow that you won't buy ANY MORE FOOD for at least 3 days...well...maybe some Nutella if we run out of that.

4:15 pm: work on a blog post (I said IGNORE THE DAMN STATS PAGE!), curse about how much time you're wasting on this silly blog...and then keep writing 'cause you know you love it.

6:30 pm: finally acknowledge that you're hungry and head into the kitchen to assemble your masterpiece! Pour some olive oil in a pan, turn on the heat, chop the onions, add a generous portion of garlic, about a serving of bullion, drench with balsamic vinegar, and add slices of hot sausage. Ask Rob to take all the little stems off the tomatoes and slice them each in half until you've added the whole bunch of them to the simmering pot of savory goodness. Slice up a fresh red pepper and tear off some basil leaves...mmmm...what a smell! Let the pot stew as you cuddle with Rob sommore...

Lose track of the time...

When Rob finally admits he's hungry, put some water on to boil in a separate pot and add a little milk and water to the sauce. Toss the linguini into the boiling water and prepare a couple of plates for the impending feast.

Serve up the fresh, organic, home-made goodness and gloat--just a little--when you realize how incredible the meal turned out!

For the evening's entertainment, bring up a great episode of Star Trek TNG (Conundrum) on Netflix and savor every bite.

Finish off with a spoon-full of Nutella...well, ok, go ahead and have two BUT THAT'S IT!!!

It's a Small Universe

Yesterday evening Rob and I went to Cornell so I could practice and he could sit and listen adoringly to every scale, lip slur, and tonguing exercise I could muster. It blows my mind that he actually enjoys listening to me practice every day, but I'm not going to complain too much. If anything it's great training for me to maintain focus and composure with someone sitting in front of my bell.

Afterward we walked back to my car underneath tantalizingly clear skies and I asked Rob if he thought the Fuertes Observatory would be open for viewing. The Cornell Astronomical Society hosts public star parties there every clear friday night, but it'd been quite a while since we had one of those so we hadn't yet been over to check out their old 12 inch refractor. Rob agreed it would be worth investigating so we dropped off my stuff and headed out.

Cornell's residence halls opened yesterday and orientations for the upcoming school year have begun so walking from the space sciences building (where Rob works) to the upper east side of campus was like swimming upstream. Waves of expectant students were trekking in herds from the dorms to "college town"--an area of Ithaca known for its late-night student-oriented socializing/eating/drinking opportunities. As we brushed shoulders with rowdy and newly-independent undergrads Rob and I rolled our eyes a bit and quipped that as youthfully goofy as they all seemed right then, they were still somehow good enough to get into an Ivy League institution...something that at least I could never have hoped to qualify for...at least fresh out of high school.

When we reached the main complex of dormitories and frat houses, spotlights glared up into the night sky and a heavily amplified announcer was riling the crowds for some kind of concert or party. An amazing rusty-orange waning moon had just cleared the treetops when we spotted the red lights of the observatory. Any possibility for becoming dark adapted had been lost to the spotlights so as we ascended the hill toward Fuertes we stepped cautiously. Around here you never know when a gorge is going to open up in front of you, or a curious bear is going to come lumbering out of the woods...

The observatory looked deserted at street level, but there was a bike tied up around back and the lights in the lobby were on, so I eventually decided to quit my shyness and open the door. A guestbook was set up on a small table against the wall and arrows pointing the way upstairs had been hastily scrawled in sharpie on some old typing paper. When we reached the top of the short spiral and reentered the darkness, we joined a small group of people clustered around the eyepiece of a beautiful old refractor pointing high into the summer sky. We each took a turn taking a peek at the pretty little fuzzball that is comet Garradd...where is it?...you mean that little fuzzy thing above the star...huh...cool...and I kicked myself for leaving my camera in the car.

Just off to the side of the telescope dome was a good sized balcony and a number of other people were hanging out there fiddling with some medium-sized dobsonians and a nice pair of mounted binoculars. Though the level of light pollution emanating from the nearby dorm festivities was almost shameful and the seeing was further corrupted by high humidity, it was nice to be out under the stars with a bunch of fellow nerds and enthusiasts.

I introduced myself to an involved looking guy wearing a Cornell Astronomy t-shirt and asked some questions about the club and its activities. Long story short here--turns out that Art is a composer and music theorist and is friends with Dr. Ashley, the teacher of the Music and Memory course I had taken at NU during spring quarter...the smallness of the music (and I guess now astronomy) world never ceases to amaze me! Rob and I hung out chatting with Art (or "purple" as he called himself) until a blazing Jupiter rose above the trees and the observatory closed for the night.

We walked back to the car--this time swimming upstream through herds of undergrads stumbling back to the dorms after their college-town escapades--and (after picking up my camera) paused to take this shot of the moon and Jupiter rising between two of Cornell's physics buildings--one old and one brand-spankin' new...

When we got home, I captured the celestial pairing again, shown here in a heavily i-photoed version...certainly not great astro-photography, but kinda pretty none the less...