Workshop

“The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.” - Jon Kabat-Zinn

One of my favorite things about living where we live is the relatively low cost of living. Our home is beautiful and at this point, Zheng and I are each able to have amply-sized offices. 

I’m a recovered clutter-bug, but now with digital technology and the ability to store things via cloud or scan (or however), it has helped me stay much more organized, and as a result, much less mental clutter or chatter. 

I re-organized my home office back in late February, and I feel like it’s one of the most important reasons that we’re in the thick of a very busy “season” (concerts, projects, life, taxes, etc) but that I’m still feeling some semblance of sanity.

Here is a photo of an in-process “arrangement,” one which will be performed with the New Mexico Philharmonic, my beloved UNM Chamber Singers, and my husband’s combined middle school student orchestras! You can read more about that concert here.  

Re"cat"itive, Purr-relude, and Aria

The real musical critics in our house are our two felines, Panda (age 4, male) and Lucia (age 5, female). Panda came to us through my sister Kelsey, and was our first “joint purchase” as a married couple. Lucia came to me from friends at Eastman, and was part of my marriage “dowry” (ha ha).

Both of our furry friends are obsessed with listening to us practice. If they are in a particular mood, they will pay a visit to our visiting students, my coaching clients, and friends and colleagues who grace our home with their beautiful sounds and spirits. This website has an interesting point of view about why, and how, cats purr.

They are also quite adamant and vocal about when they are fed their “wet food,” how often their box is cleaned, and if they would like to snuggle with us in the master bedroom or on the sofa.

In the past, I think I’ve measured too many things that don’t matter. Today, I had a great, long quality “kitty snuggle” with each cat, and that "has made all the difference" (with only slight apologies to Mr. Robert Frost). 

Here’s to 2018, with many kitty snuggles, moments savored slowly, more meals and quiet time with Zheng, mindful artistry, more fun, more books, prayer, and surprises. 

An Emerald Layover

Booking round-trip European flights from Albuquerque can be quite expensive. So when I had the option of flying through Dublin on both the inbound and the return flight, I jumped at the opportunity (and the price!).

The trade-off on the return ticket was an overnight stay in Dublin (16 hour layover). 

My new friend and colleague, who I had just met at Franz-Schubert-Institut, happens to be a Dublin resident, so the layover worked out perfectly. (Thank you, NK, for the amazing hospitality!). 

I was properly greeted at the airport. 

And then after some lovely aperitifs and music-listening, we hit the town for some proper fish-n-chips and, after, the quintessential Dubliner magic potion. 

As James Joyce says in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, "My heart is quite calm now. I will go back." 

And my heart is quite calm now. 

The time away, immersed in texts and music, helped me become more of myself. As Dr. DL says, "Schubert's song can rid us of our bad habits." I have played that line over and over in my head, wondering what he meant, and also finding its truth. 

I do know that I haven't written, and that usually my time away is a time to write more. This summer ended up being an exception, and my challenge is to write as I continue to unravel the many gifts that studying this summer afforded. 

I am thrilled to be going to home and to be reunited with Z, and I am also happy to be bringing home a better version of myself. 

(... though I know the old version was also just fine, as well ...)

The "point" of vacation

I guess I do realize that I write more when I’m “away” then when I’m in the day-to-day rhythm then when I’m traveling. 

Zheng and I are enjoying some much-needed “down-time” before I head to Europe for a pilgrimage (more about that in another post). On today’s adventure was the Art Institute of Chicago. Neither of us had been, and we were very much looking forward to it! Along with some famous works of art (I had to explain some of them, including Dorian Gray as Faust, etc.), it was fun to take in the museum and see the exhibits. 

I had also forgotten that “La Grande Jatte” (inspiration for Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George) was at this place, and we turned the corner and got a surprise! The up-close encounter to the “pointillism” was fantastic … 

Getting close to the artwork was informative because you could see an added border, used by Serrat to contrast the frame to the painting itself. He also used, points, dots and jabs to get the affects that we can see from afar.

[ and yes, the pun from the title ] 

Addio del semestre passato

Hello from Dallas, TX! It's the point in the semester for myself (and I'm sure for my colleagues and students) where we feel like imitating our beloved cat Panda ...

 

And it's time to think, and re-think, what went great, when it was "working," and what needs to be tweaked (or tossed). 

What worked ...

This is the first semester that my husband and I have been homeowners. While this comes with the obvious benefits of building equity, being able to deduct mortgage interest, and getting a serious upgrade on space and storage, we are able to make our own decisions (small and large) in terms of decorating and even structural elements to the house. Zheng has spent some spare time building walls and laying concrete. His most recent project was to demolish and re-finish the fireplace in slate. (We have some popular DIY shows to blame for this!).

This is also the first semester (even though it's the fifth at UNM) where I have been in a more secure position with my job. Last year was a harrowing year in terms of applying for tenure-track positions, as my job (full-time lecturer at the time) was getting converted to a tenure-line. I was the equivalent of an NYC apartment in a building that was "going condo."

This year brought additional, important professional opportunities - increased work with Santa Fe Opera, Opera Southwest, my first time teaching at OperaWorks, and more opportunities with the New Mexico Philharmonic - 2017 will bring more abundance. I am continually greatful.

I joined a yoga studio (this one) and have been practicing regularly at one place since August. 

It shouldn't be rocket science to a musician that there is no alternative to practicing. 

I'll keep this up in 2017 and will adjust my teaching hours slightly to fit different possible classes into even more of a practice routine. 

(Did I just put myself before my career?) 

Another major change for me has been adhering to a strict ketogenic diet since August. I may never go back to the years of loving bread and its progeny ... not only has the weight-loss been sustainable and significant, but my chronic imsomnia is greatly improved. 

Tweaks (I'm sure more are coming ) ... 

People discuss "resolutions" and mine is a stolen one from a dear friend. It is simple - book 45 minutes per day of reading time. And stealing from another great artist in the collaborative piano field, which is to read and write one poem per day. 

The effort in noticing

Over the Christmas break, I noticed that I had a lot more scope - and space - for the imagination.

I noticed and remembered things about my teenage years, now bygone, that I hadn't thought about for a very long time.

There was a period of two years, following Oberlin, when I was living my own flat for the first time. I knew *nothing* about housekeeping, decorating, cooking, dating, or being a very young professional musician in a large musical community.




Yet there I was.

Some close friendships forged in those years remain close to this day. And I still remember being happy, non-judgemental on my self, and have fond memories of the coffee shop and grocery store nearby.

Sometimes we ask, how can our "older" self be a gift to our younger self. That question is on the point of absurd. It's impossible.






It is entirely possible, however, to have the past teach the present.




Therein lies the reason for this blog.

We've had more snow here in January than last. (We didn't have any in the northeast for Christmas!). It has yielded some gorgeous pictures and moments. Now that Zheng is teaching during the day in addition to evenings, I am without a car altogether. My commute is by foot.




I'm able to stop, breathe, and take pictures.




Even the ordinary can stop us in our tracks.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Wellesley Dr SE,Albuquerque,United States

Grains of Sand (White Sands National Monument)

Just some shots from a necessary (short, relaxing) getaway with Zheng to see some of the vast beauty of our "new" state ... as it still feels new ...

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower 

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 

And Eternity in an hour ...."

Every Night & every Morn

Some to Misery are Born 

Every Morn and every Night

Some are Born to sweet delight 

Some are Born to sweet delight 

Some are Born to Endless Night 

We are led to Believe a Lie

When we see not Thro the Eye

Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night 

When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light 

God Appears & God is Light

To those poor Souls who dwell in Night 

But does a Human Form Display

To those who Dwell in Realms of day" 

- William Blake, 365 Auguries of Experience

Eastern Impressions

Zheng and I made our recital debut as a married couple yesterday. We had been invited to perform Chinese music, in combination of both violin and viola with piano (unaccompanied would have been fine, but we found music with piano parts. Well, most of them).

I assigned Zheng the task of finding the music and researching its origin (region, composer, a possible program). He did this with might aplomb. I noticed that the audience was very receptive and attentive. 

The third selection had only the solo part at the ready. My task - invent a part that was complimentary (and that didn’t sound like either hokey-Asian-pentatonic or something from the third grade). I was up to the task. I even inserted an homage to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” before the fast section.  

This music is meaningful and specific to time-and-place. Zheng's explanations were very inviting to the audience. The music was *not* difficult, in terms of technical demands (pianistically) or difficult to understand for a first-time listener who was more of an avocational purveyor of concerts. 

What this taught me was ... we don't need to hit the audience over the head at *every* performance with cerebral, esoteric music. Light, tonal melodies and folk music very much has its place - even in 2015.

We will share more videos soon - enjoy this first one! You can find it by clicking on this link.

PHOTO: A photo from our rehearsal dinner!  

VIDEO: The second selection on our program - the "Mongolian Shepherd Song."

The Importance of Good Diction

One of the running jokes that Zheng and I have is how we are "heard" or understood. 

I really love making Mandarin speakers laugh when I make feeble attempts at what is perhaps the most difficult language in the world. I've already mixed up the words for "pig," "God," and "wine," though making puns in Mandarin about "God being a pig if he drinks too much wine" are still underappreciated by my Mandarin-speaking friends. I've also thoroughly embarrassed myself in Mandarin many times - quite a feat when you know less than 200 words.

(Perhaps because it's only funny to me - or they haven't gotten my sense of humor yet.)

And for the record, the sounds and tonal patterns for the aforementioned words are far too close for comfort. 

Zheng has an equally hard time (sometimes) being understood by Americans. When we moved across the country last year, at first, we hit some cosmopolitan areas. Rochester (for as much as I hated the weather) was quite international for a city of its size. I suppose the amount of university students and trained professionals in that city don't hurt this. Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati were also no problem.

However, once we left Pennsylvania Ohio and headed into states which boast fundamentalism, fried food, and moonshine, my beloved husband had to work very hard to be understood. 

I think he scared a KFC employee half to death when he asked which flavor was "local." They didn't know how to answer. So I had to laugh to myself about the confluence of a) employees of a national chain and b) the fact that some of these people have probably never ever seen an Asian. 

The climax of the confluence of foreign accents and "local flavor" happened somewhere between Kentucky and Oklahoma. My husband was ordering his favorite "starter" drink, which is "ice water with lime." After a panicked look passed the waitress's face, she turned to me and asked,

"What?"

Which really in dialect, sounded like "WhaAAAAAUUUUUUUHHHHHHT"?

The *next* question continues to be one of our favorite running jokes. As if my husband would have "really" ordered what the waitress thought he had ... 

 

 

PHOTO: This exemplifies an experience which still makes us laugh, and something that raises the eyebrows of many guests in our home. 

Whatever. It's our house. 

It's also a very fun reminder to my students about how much diction (and diphthongs, consonants, and the dismount of one vowel to the other) actually do matter in life.

Visa - It's Everywhere *You* Want to Be

So, imagine our reaction, twenty-four hours before taking off for Europe together, that I get a message from Delta:

"One of these passengers needs a visa in order to get into the European Union."

And I knew that this passenger was not me, since I've crossed that border many times over the last twenty years. No, it was my beloved and brand-new-green-card-carrying dear husband. We were told by our immigration lawyers, who had helped us get Zheng's green card, that he would not need a visa to travel as an American Green Card Holder (90 days in Europe, no questions asked), and that he'd be able to re-enter the US without a problem. 

He didn't leave on this trip. The advice we had gotten was wrong.

He needed what is called a "Schengen Visa." The Schengen Area in Europe is collection of countries, belonging to the EU, who have agreed to have a common borders and customs policy. One Schengen Visa will allow you to visit many places (these are now memorized). Hong Kong-ese, and citizens of Macau and Taiwan do not need passes, but People's Republic of China citizens do indeed need one. 

As we learned - how you can travel is dependent on which country issues your passport.

I am proud of both of us, how we are handling the last-minute change when we had planned to be here together. He is holding down the fort at home, and I am here, recovering from jetlag, enjoying some very close friends, and staying in an area (Italy, but Europe in general) which is definitely a "second home." Thanks to technology, wi-fi and FaceTime (we are an Apple family), my husband and I can talk for free and look at each other, with a pretty good connection. 

Here's to staying connected with loved ones! 

PHOTO: Taken two days before I left, while we were visiting my grandmother.

Ice Cream on Route 66

We took a lovely road out of Eureka Springs, AR into Oklahoma. I was amazed by the openness, scenery, and tranquility of this part of the country. 

As we were preparing to leave Oklahoma (this was on a Saturday), I was saying to Zheng, 

"We should really get an oil change and get the car looked at. We will be driving through some remote country, and we should make sure everything is in working order." 

And sure enough, we pulled up to a car place that took walk-ins. Minutes later, our car was getting an oil change and we were getting good wifi and free popcorn. 

(God provides things in very mysterious ways!)

Tulsa was the next stop. My dad had shared a memory from his teenage years with his family when they traveled out west:

"We stopped for ice cream every day at 3." 

One of my few regrets was that this rule was not introduced at the beginning of the road trip. It is also a reminder that I have a hard time resisting ice cream with "peanut butter" as a main ingredient.

PHOTO: Braum’s stop, somewhere in Oklahoma … 

 

Local Flavor

One of the many things that Zheng and I share is a desire to get to the heart of a place. This is tied very closely to three things. If you ask yourself, how do people spend their:

1). Time
2). Money
3). Appetite (food)

you will have a very accurate read on what is popular in a given area. 

Albuquerque, NM

1). Time: Hiking the Sandias, going to the Rio Grande park, shopping (there are a significant amount of furniture stores in ABQ), coffee shops, watching Breaking Bad 
2). Money: Native American or summer-styled clothing, Mexican influenced cookware and decoration
3). Appetite: Mexican food, great food in general, good barbecue

During our drive, we tried very much to get a sense of the “local flavor” of any given state, city, town, etc. 

Here were some observations from a Chinese (now permanent US resident!) man, who has lived in the United States for six years:

1). Lower gas prices mean worse houses (and cars).
2). Walmart is everywhere.
3). People dress very poorly (clothes don’t flatter them, clothes don’t match, aren’t kept in good repair, little taste) and often the clothes don’t fit properly.
4). Pennsylvania had the worst roads of the eleven states. 
5). Also, the longest and most boring drive (and also most harrowing due to very narrow roads) was the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension.
6). If you enter a state through a Native American reservation, you will not see any labeling or signage.
7). Americans really love drive-in food. (He meant drive-through windows).
8). Americans love to go to church!
9). Fast food is cheap.

One of the best meals we had was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The restaurant was called “Local Flavor Cafe” and has remarkable food. When my friend B.C. came to visit Arkansas four years ago (and also would join me on a very interesting road trip!), we had a meal there. When we re-met (and my husband and his fiancée met each other), we still talked about that meal! It seemed to be an obvious choice that Zheng and I would eat there during our trip. 

When Zheng and I were in Kentucky, he insisted on eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. Despite the fact that it is a chain, I agreed. We were ordering and he asked the cooks, “What is the most local flavor?” They didn’t understand him, so we went with the “original” chicken.

We chose a route that maybe meandered, and maybe was a little out of the way at times. But we saw a lot of America, as our friend John says, “that many Americans have not seen!”

PHOTOS: Local Flavor Cafe, Arkansas

Art by Accident

If you google “Art by Accident,” you might come up with an article discussing a Kafka short story (“The Hunger Artist”), and then listing Tim Burton, George Lucas, and Robert Plant. I don’t think that you can put Franz Kafka in the same class with these three men … 

But I have given serious thought to “artistic things created by accident.” Such as a work of art, which gets altered or damaged in some way, and then it is because of its flaw that it becomes famous. 

For example, think of the crack in Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. It might be the only bell that is famous because of its non-function.

Two things cropped up in Eureka Springs which brought this idea to mind. We luckily stayed there two days - so after the day of the longest drive, we stayed put. (One of the many things on the trip that we did right). 

When we were having an espresso break in Eureka Springs, we sat at a table which was decorated in mosaic. Not just any mosaic - mosaic that was made from broken pieces of pottery and China! It was fascinating to see the different colors, textures, and origins of the dishes. It is a good idea for a future project! 

The other photo was one that Zheng took of a biker bar, leaving Eureka Springs’ downtown to return to our hotel. I love the photo … clearly not the right aperture or shutter speed, but it's fantastic!

 

Zheng of the Ozarks

The halfway point to our travels was Eureka Springs, AR. It’s a little out of the way, in that you’d really have to search to find this place. But I knew it would be right up Zheng’s alley, and so we went there. It’s also not particularly expensive, if you plan it right (one hotel night was $49.99, for example) so it fit our budget pretty well. 

The Ozarks are the closest thing that America has to the Swiss Alps. That is, if the Swiss Alps had motorcycles.

I spent two summers (’09 and ’10) as a vocal coach at Opera in the Ozarks. I did pay a quick visit back to “campus,” held at a place outside of the town called “Inspiration Point." Many things have changed since I was last there (new Executive and Artistic Director).

Time and hindsight has proven my two summers, especially the first one, very fruitful. The first summer was the one that helped me discern whether to start a doctorate and “what was I supposed to do with my life.” Long walks on a nearby hill, and lengths of time drinking coffee on the “slab” helped solidify what would be an eventual plunge into the Eastman DMA program. This summer was two summers before I would really have a life-changing spiritual experience in Hungary, but now, I see my time in Arkansas as a prelude to some long rambles through Europe (summers of 2011 and 2012).

Zheng was fascinated by the Old Western feel, the shopping, the individuality of the place, and restaurants, and of course, finding Jesus. The “Christ of the Ozarks” statue is, of many things, unforgettable. 

PHOTOS: From Eureka Springs and Inspiration Point. 

Automatic Shot!

Anyone who has spent any amount of time with my darling husband knows the significance and humor behind:

“Wait - let’s get a picture together. Automatic shot!”

He has mastered the art of the “hold out the camera in front of you and take a picture” [a.k.a. selfie] and my favorite … 

- the “set up the camera on a remote ‘pedestal,’ set the ten-second automatic timer, and RUN towards the group or couple shot! 

These have resulted in a few funny moments. Recently, in Eureka Springs, AR, we did a lot of “automatic shots.” These resulted in some funny photos, and hilarious ten-second slices of Zheng running, like a mad man, to get in the photo.

PHOTOS: from “automatic shot!"

Toddler Chinese

Zheng and I spent a wonderful night last night in Nashville, Tennessee. We were hosted by graduate school friends of his. I had heard a lot about these people for a while, so it was nice to finally meet them. They have been married for several years. They now have a son who is about two years old. 

When we arrived at their place, I walked into their apartment and smelled something very unusual:

I had not smelled home-cooked Chinese food for about three weeks. I felt at home immediately. 

I also was surprised to learn that, in being around Chinese speakers, and now into Rosetta Stone study of Mandarin, that I was able to pick up a lot more than I thought. 

(We will not discuss the fact that their two-year-old son has better Chinese than I do.) 

He was a real cutie to meet. 

Thank you, R, L and L for a wonderful time! 

PHOTO: Me and Lucas!

Day 3 of the Road Trip

Greetings from Day 3 on the Road

Zheng and I feel so blessed that so many people have given us so much in the past month. We are so grateful that people have offered us free places to stay, wonderful meals, gatherings with friends, and an army of help in getting out of our old apartment! 

In talking to one of Zheng's and my best friends, we discussed how unusual it is sometimes to be on the receiving end of something. My parents are both very giving people, and have raised us to be "givers" rather than "takers." In this, giving, or being a device of output (playing, product, information) is more comfortable than being on the receiving end. 

This experience of moving and starting a new life in New Mexico has taught me a lot. There is beauty to giving and receiving. And there is a way to both with Grace. 

We received an unexpected wedding gift last night. We had the pleasure of meeting up with one of my old friends and meeting his lovely fiancée! Today we visited an old friend of mine from graduate school, and we will stay with some of Zheng's friends from his first year of graduate study in the US! 

Luke 6:38 states:

"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

I'm not sure what exactly we have done do deserve such generosity and hospitality, but we surely are grateful. We will continue to extend hospitality and generosity at every turn imaginable! 

We also have cleared: PA, NY, PA, OH, KY. 

Photo: a cute puppy in a Nashville art gallery, showing me "hospitality"

The beginning of a road trip

Well, greetings from Dr. And Mr! 

We have lived through a difficult move and are now headed to upstate New York, for the shortest of visits. We head to Buffalo tomorrow for the final stages of Zheng's immigration. Our interview is the last step into his getting a green card. The process has been arduous, time-consuming, and expensive.

So we will be happy to have this behind us. After that, we head to Albuquerque! With some visits along the way. 

I will catch-up with graduation and moving posts, but I figured I should post regularly on the trip. I know that if I get caught up on what I "didn't" write, nothing will happen. ("The perfect is the enemy of the good," Voltaire wrote long ago. I definitely agree!). 

We will share our adventures, and playlists, photos and tales. 

On the road, 

K and Z

A very happy year ...

A year ago, Zheng proposed on the flank of the U.S. Capitol building. That building and that city will forever have great memories for me because of that.

"Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate."  ~Barnett R. Brickner

We’re enjoying a quiet celebration tonight, complete with grilled ribs on our little grill, and a trip out to my favorite wine bar. We are lucky, we are grateful, and we are so happy for everyone who has shared in our journey together.

Wild, part 2

I would be remiss if I didn’t continue my post from almost a week ago. There are other things to write about this week, but I must finish this idea. 

In thinking about the remarks and feedback I got, the underlying statement which I am choosing to read is:

“Please, when you are newly married, or when you decide to get married, don’t get rid of anything that is quintessentially you. Don’t stop traveling, playing, performing, reading, discovering …” 

Of course not. Let’s think about how Zheng and I met …

While traveling, in order to play and perform with one of the top violists in the United States, and while I was over there, I was writing (the single most-populated category on this blog is still China), and discovering an entirely different world.

So you see, my husband and I met while I was simply “doing my thing.” 

(If I could have a dollar for every time I really worried about my romantic life before hitting 30, I could retire tomorrow).

Zheng and I met when I was on the wildest trip of my life. I don’t see things morphing into the barefoot-kitchen-vacuuming-hairbow stage ever, and definitely not soon.

I will now share the sweet story that prompted this subject in the first place. Zheng and I were off most of last Sunday together. We played church together, and then I was free until 7:30 PM. 

After taking a nap, and then starting to prepare dinner, Zheng asked me what I was going to do next.

“READ!” I said with such reverence … 

So I took some tea into our bedroom. The cats followed me in. I started reading on my Kindle, interestingly, “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed. (I highly recommend this book. It’s really beautiful). 

Enter Zheng, with his iPad mini, proceeding to set it up to watch something … meaning make noise, meaning destroy the beautiful reading silence and disturb the sleeping kitties snuggled at my feet.

Absolutely not.

I told him that if was going to snuggle next to me and watch, he had to put earphones on. He protested. 

I assured him that I was serious, and that he could go watch TV out in the den, or else use the headphones. He acquiesced. 

See … I haven’t lost any spark or fire. I’m lucky to have a spouse who understands this.