tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125084932012-02-16T17:58:45.940-06:00La Corniste Folle is french for "The Crazy Female Horn Player". Appropriately, you'll find posts including anything from symphonic silliness to the mirth of motherhood, with the occasional rant thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.comBlogger1171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-74520832745744966822009-09-12T13:44:00.000-05:002009-09-12T13:44:25.570-05:00

This post represents Sophie Elizabeth Lewellen's official welcome into the blogosphere! We're thrilled to announce that she was born via VBAC on Wednesday, July 22nd, at 9:54pm. She was born at Columbia St. Mary's Hospital and was 6 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 inches long. She is absolutely perfect, healthy, and cute as a button.She is developing beautifully and physically thriving. She's 7 weeks old

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-84426063026710462742009-07-12T12:11:00.003-05:002009-07-12T12:32:49.915-05:00

I am so bad about updating this thing. I can't believe that the last time I updated this was right after Ben's 1st birthday. Whoa.He's now nearly 19 months, which is such a fun age. He is extremely mobile, increasingly interactive (to the dismay of our three cats), and very smart. Certain things about his behavior continue to amaze and interest me. For example, when I was little I loved to color

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-18787568615856611252008-12-21T18:59:00.007-06:002008-12-21T21:03:14.440-06:00

Wow. Where did the time go? I'll give you the cliff notes version of what's been going on in the Hamlin-Lewellen hemisphere...It's butt-numbingly cold here in Milwaukee. Weather.com just showed us at a whopping 6 degrees with 30mph winds. Which, it computes, means it feels like it's -17 degrees. So we're freezing our gazoingles off. We also got completely bombed with snow. We got a foot of the

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-65569442245055341592008-10-25T15:58:00.004-05:002008-10-30T19:51:08.446-05:00

Whoa! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been busier than Sarah Palin's wardrobe fund manager! Lots to report...where do I start....Ben started crawling shortly after his 9 month birthday, and he absolutely loves it. At first it started off as this cute little "pull forward/drag knees" sort of motion, and then very quickly it escalated into full-blown maneuvering on all fours. He

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-28011509473889527042008-09-16T19:55:00.006-05:002008-09-18T21:52:06.312-05:00

I first discovered yoga back in 1996.Before we talk about yoga, though, I need to give you some background. I had been out of graduate school for 2 years, and frankly, wasn't coping too well. It was the common illusion at CIM that you, of course being the best in your class (ha ha), would win a job right away; but this was not the case for most of us.In fact, I was only just beginning to break

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-15523809873592414532008-09-12T09:29:00.002-05:002008-09-12T09:34:23.571-05:00

Wrong Woman, Wrong Message By Gloria SteinemSept. 4th, 2008 LA TimesHere's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-73094107216363513362008-09-08T13:27:00.004-05:002008-09-08T14:34:31.157-05:00

This Friday, poor Benjamin had his very first illness in his entire life - a cold.We felt just as bad as he did, since there really wasn't much we could give him except Baby Tylenol, our congestion removal assistance (with one of those sucker bulb things) and most of all, lots of comforting.Probably the worst part of it, aside from the general discomfort, was that his favorite self-soothing

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-65796785218509996742008-09-05T16:11:00.002-05:002008-09-05T16:16:22.530-05:00

http://my2bucks.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/"A woman voting for Sarah Palin would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.":)

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-43955080290582417242008-08-30T19:25:00.004-05:002008-08-30T20:43:45.954-05:00

Several days ago I went to another big makeup and beauty retail shop that touts itself as a "the store on everyone's lips". I was thinking it would be like another Sephora.I was sooooo disappointed. Chagrined, really. Crestfallen, if you will.They had proudly displayed a full array of - are you ready for this? - drugstore makeup!! Now, why would I waste the gas to drive out to this so-called "

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-21309472965132823712008-08-26T16:23:00.002-05:002008-08-26T16:30:26.767-05:00

Today, August 26th, is the 88th anniversary of women getting the right to vote.This means that there are women currently on this planet that were alive during a time when it was illegal for them to vote.This blows my mind.It boggles me that it hasn't even been 100 years yet that women have had the right to vote.That's sort of depressing, actually. And inspiring at the same time. I will absolutely

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-29792886881617433982008-08-23T16:31:00.005-05:002008-08-26T21:28:06.832-05:00

Those of you who've been reading this blog since the Democratic primaries know that I was a huge Hillary supporter from day one. And I still am. I found it near impossible to switch gears to Obama when he won the nomination, and I have been having a devil of a time mustering up enthusiasm for the upcoming fall election because of it.Which is so odd. I am very much aligned with Obama on pretty

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-82745864430084032552008-08-23T16:06:00.002-05:002008-08-23T16:23:51.980-05:00

It's been about a week now that Ben has been consistently sitting up independently of any support! This is exciting for us, of course, because it's a developmental milestone, but he doesn't care about that. For him, it's a whole new perspective. He is now the master of his domain! Well, the master of the 2 foot radius that surrounds him, at least. He can see what he wants and can reach for it.I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-48864233257328310662008-08-22T14:25:00.003-05:002008-08-22T14:40:40.586-05:00

I got so sucked into - and swept up in - mountain life in Breck this summer that I found it very jarring and strange somehow to come back to Wisconsin.I don't know what it is. Perhaps the perfectly manicured gardens and hanging baskets I got so used to in that affluent ski resort area made the weeds and overgrown gardens in my own yard seem that much more glaring. Or the two-story condo we had to

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-3002948314671525112008-08-10T15:54:00.002-05:002008-08-10T16:28:21.483-05:00

This summer has flown by faster than a greased pig, so much so that I literally haven't had a nanosecond to write about it in here. So here's the Reader's Digest version of things.Our basement is stabilized - dry and mold-free, and waiting for us to get home next week to choose new carpeting to be installed. Since we are not putting down padding underneath it, we opted for a high quality, thick,

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-58003972528005310672008-06-14T12:07:00.004-05:002008-06-14T12:27:11.422-05:00

Well, after buying and setting up a dehumidifier (which we needed anyway) and a large metal turbo floor fan that could rival a small monsoon in our basement, it turns out that we had mold already growing in the rec room carpeting. Poor David had even borrowed our neighbor Nancy's ShopVac and had spent long arduous hours sucking up water from the floors, to no avail.Fortunately, nothing we really

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-76311884216168350732008-06-08T10:32:00.004-05:002008-06-08T10:46:03.251-05:00

Holy sewage flooding, Batman!Wisconsin was a hotbed of storms yesterday, with seven counties statewide reporting tornado sightings. Milwaukee county (ours) wasn't one of them, but we got an unprecedented deluge of rain.In fact, we got so much rain that the municipal sewage system of Milwaukee couldn't keep up with it. We have two sump pumps in our basement but the well was still overflowing. I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-12824544327500717892008-06-05T18:24:00.011-05:002008-06-05T21:53:12.360-05:00

I can't believe it. It sure doesn't seem like it.Well, here in Wisconsin it doesn't, anyway. It's been cold and rainy. The rain part is fine; I love rain. It's my favorite weather - specifically, big, loud, flashy thunderstorms. We had some of those last night. I nursed Ben during one of them and during his burp break, he saw some lightning as he was standing on the nursing pillow looking out of

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-87968014414550429512008-05-28T08:43:00.003-05:002008-05-28T08:45:52.277-05:00

Forget that the news idiots mistakenly label her as a member of the orchestra; she was in the orchestra chorus. This is so maddening I am seeing red....New Information in Orchestra Member's DeathMelanie StoutKatie DeLongMILWAUKEE - Shocking new information in the murder of a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. The new information comes from the restraining order the victim filed against

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-67140689227568580372008-05-25T20:47:00.002-05:002008-05-25T20:57:09.191-05:00

A wonderful, brilliant, talented woman that I knew, who sang with the MSO chorus, was brutally stabbed to death in the parking garage across from the Marcus Center.I knew her. I loved her.She was tall, vibrant, extremely friendly and outgoing, and so full of energy. She was the librarian for the MSO chorus. She was so sweet to me; we talked often backstage whenever the chorus was performing with

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-26226003456746839642008-05-23T23:12:00.002-05:002008-05-23T23:34:17.358-05:00

That's supposed to be one of the first signs of teething. We have the motherlode of drool in our house now, and Ben is its fountain. Gnawing and refusal to nurse are other symptoms. We've got that action going on too.And our previously amazing little sleeper, who was sleeping 12 consecutive hours at night, has now been waking at around midnight, screaming bloody murder. To be fair, last night he

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-4857947212712146032008-05-20T08:15:00.006-05:002008-05-20T08:48:01.691-05:00

Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't stop? As in, you have the TV news channel ticker at the bottom of your conscious mind that is telling you everything that needs to be done, and everything on the list seems completely urgent and in need of doing RIGHT NOW?What's so strange is that I actually have the healthy, good-for-me thoughts in my brain: "Today I should do yoga...I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-27945616697294299732008-05-15T21:33:00.005-05:002008-05-15T21:47:39.748-05:00

I heard this AWESOME editorial on NPR yesterday, and I just had to share it. It completely sums up why I was so excited that Hillary was in the game, and is a very accurate portrayal of the female experience in this country - from my vantage point, anyway. It reminded me of one summer wedding I attended, where someone asked me, "You didn't bring a date?! When are you getting married?" after I'd

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-72877121859943728852008-05-12T14:19:00.009-05:002008-05-13T23:01:35.268-05:00

So there are these really great inventions called nursing covers. They're basically a swatch of good-quality fabric that ties around your neck so you can feel more comfortable adjusting yourself in public while nursing. I personally wanted one because the logistics of getting comfortably set up to nurse Ben while trying to remain modest were, to say the least, challenging.There are some things I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-79238620320637950812008-05-10T11:54:00.010-05:002008-05-10T13:28:51.244-05:00

All those naysayers who said my life as I knew it would end when I had a child can go kiss a moose. I still make time for the things I want to do, but I've actually become more efficient because I have less time to waste. This is good for me, since most of the things I used to waste time doing weren't really all that interesting or good for me anyway.The writer's strike helped me phase out my "

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-18388551108159032192008-05-04T14:02:00.006-05:002008-05-09T15:57:36.519-05:00

Hey there. I'm having a ball practicing these days, for many reasons; but the biggest and best is that I have a new horn!A bit of history: I had bought a Yamaha triple horn in 2004 to blend better with the MSO section (the first brass double horn I'd bought, a Conn 11DRS, was too dark for the section and didn't blend well). To understand what a triple horn is, you need to know what a descant horn

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-23601751534221309142008-05-04T13:59:00.003-05:002008-05-04T14:01:15.192-05:00

....you are officially making it easier for me to envision voting for Barack in November, as I suspsect will be the case, when you say crap like this unabashedly to the press:"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Clinton said April 22 in an interview with ABC. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel,

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-86983658905836076922008-05-02T23:24:00.004-05:002008-05-02T23:39:29.914-05:00

Well, after being initially all fired up about Hillary and put off by Obama, I am now pretty much disgusted with both of them. This primary delegate crap has gone on too long, and while I'm still halfheartedly rooting for Hillary to win the candidacy, I pretty much don't care at this point. The fact that this has been drawn out so long does not serve the party well in the least, and as evidenced

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-3168709134975170492008-05-02T10:48:00.002-05:002008-05-02T11:20:55.089-05:00

At Benny's 4 month appointment two weeks ago, the doctor told us we could start him on rice cereal.I was ecstatic.Not that I don't love breastfeeding, because I do. Especially now that he's bigger - 14 pounds - I've discovered the joy of lying down on the bed and just relaxing, reading as he nurses. (I didn't feel comfortable doing that when he was much smaller, and I never sleep now when he does

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-50018708164021929432008-05-01T10:56:00.003-05:002008-05-02T10:46:54.179-05:00

Last week we left on Wednesday to go to Wooster, Ohio, a small town about an hour and a half southwest of Cleveland, where David's parents live. We had a fabulous time. Mimi (my mother in law) threw an open house style party the next day. Several of our NE Ohio friends and family came to visit, including David's close friends Joan and Marie (former co-worker and college buddy, respectively), my

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-18421255687344523532008-04-06T17:05:00.004-05:002008-04-06T17:23:17.109-05:00

Well, it's official - spring is finally here!At least for a few days, anyway, here in good ol' Wisconsin.This past week was a doozie for me. I finished organizing, data-entering and spreadsheeting all of our tax information to get to our accountant by Tuesday. UGH. Then I went back to work officially full time after being on maternity leave, and it was a 9 service week. (A service, in orchestra

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-33422876431160212272008-03-31T12:24:00.006-05:002008-04-06T17:25:06.827-05:00

I remember back when I was freelancing in NE Ohio, playing Principal Horn with the Akron Symphony. We did this annual outreach benefit concert that was an outrageous success every year. It was called "Gospel Meets Symphony." I remember being completely blown away by the incredible power of the energy onstage.I was raised Methodist in a wonderful church in Cincinnati. It was a great church to grow

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-44930499595801606902008-03-09T09:09:00.004-05:002008-04-06T17:26:19.436-05:00

Ooooooooooog.So Benny is going through a growth spurt, which means that after several nights of sleeping "through the night" (7-8 hour stretches) he's suddenly getting up every 2-3 hours in the night to eat ravenously. We had been spoiled, and this is a rude awakening. (Make that several rude awakenings.) During these feedings he is so voracious you'd've thought he'd never eaten in his life. He's

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-20002625047393869092008-03-05T22:47:00.002-06:002008-04-06T17:26:54.528-05:00

I truly do not understand the need for delegates (and the electoral college, for that matter) in our democratic process. It seems to me that they both undermine the democratic process. Why vote when others are going to do it for you?I really honestly want to know why they are necessary. Am I missing something here? Isn't an individual vote count enough? Why don't we trust American citizens to

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-70354584684479117872008-03-05T20:38:00.002-06:002008-04-06T17:26:54.529-05:00

Okay, I have to stop and breathe here for a minute.I apologize for the vehemence and over-opinionation of my last post and particularly my response to BigRedEO's comment. This primary election is the most heated and hotly contested one that I have ever seen (or been aware or interested enough to notice) in my life, and I have to admit that I have gotten overly involved emotionally.The good news

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-5352966742680792262008-03-04T22:20:00.004-06:002008-04-06T17:26:54.529-05:00

Yay!!!After being disappointed by Wisconsin's bahama mama Obama-rama last month, I am proud to see that my dear home state of Ohio did not fail me! Hillary is my GIRL!! I find it hilarious that Barack's slogan, "Yes We Can", is also the mantra of the kid's show "Bob The Builder". Hmm.... Much more presidential:Yes SHE can! And I believe: Yes, she WILL!!! Man! I haven't been this excited since

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-86851089347147730752008-02-29T11:44:00.001-06:002008-04-06T17:27:22.502-05:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-89321326570563854152008-02-26T11:28:00.007-06:002008-04-06T17:27:22.502-05:00

So today I was reading Seuss's Fox In Socks to Benny, and was delighted to find an entire section that had a Seuss character named Ben in it!!!Bim comes.Ben comes.Bim brings Ben broom.Ben brings Bim broom.Ben bends Bim's broom.Bim bends Ben's broom.Bim's bends.Ben's bends.Ben's bent broom breaks.Bim's bent broom breaks.Ben's band. Bim's band.Big bands. Pig bands.Bim and Ben lead bands with

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-83666647074485654862008-02-22T15:49:00.005-06:002008-04-06T17:27:55.278-05:00

So I ordered the original Barenreiter Bach Cello Suites score from http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/, which is a great online source for pretty much anything you could ever want (a relief for us professional musicians who get tired of schlepping ourselves around to various local music stores who only seem to have band method books and Easy Piano versions of classics like High School Musical and

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-40573712515852927552008-02-19T23:38:00.004-06:002008-04-06T17:26:54.529-05:00

I'm officially bummed out that Hillary lost the Wisconsin primaries...but there is yet hope! I am optimistic that she will win Ohio, and Texas is looking good too. I'm sorry, but the more I see and hear of Obama, the less I like him. He has the vocal intonations of a preacher getting his congregation all riled up (which in and of itself is annoying), but where are his strategies? Where is the

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-60691830137970749852008-02-17T10:56:00.007-06:002008-04-06T17:27:55.279-05:00

I have had a great time playing Richard Strauss's opera Salome this week, happy that I was in relatively decent shape and able to step in when they hadn't found a horn player to replace me. I had missed my job. And I had never played a Strauss opera.It was a great experience, but initially Salome totally kicked my ass. The counting, instantaneous meter and tempo changes, and transpositions were

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-43502957337153712172008-02-10T11:07:00.001-06:002008-04-06T17:29:13.159-05:00

I knew I was asking for it when I moved to Wisconsin, but come ON.This past Wednesday, we got clobbered. I think it set records. We got a whopping 18 inches throughout the course of the day (as evidenced by the piles of snow you can see by our driveway and front walk), and it was such an intense blizzard that the MSO canceled both subscription rehearsals it had scheduled for the day, and the

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-87786261625190805012008-02-05T23:13:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:29:13.160-05:00

It's so strange to think about it, my loving motherhood so much.I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. When you're pregnant for the first time, it's bloody terrifying. You have absolutely no idea how a baby will change your life. Sure, people tell you, but you can't know how you, personally, will change, react, grow, feel. All you can do is hope that you will survive the immense and drastic

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-63524911396143007452008-01-31T21:52:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:30:12.494-05:00

This morning, I was for Obama to get the nomination for the Democratic ticket, but now I'm not so sure. I watched the live streaming video on cnn.com of the California Democratic primary debates tonight, and man, I was so blown away by Hillary I couldn't believe it. I absolutely loved her. It was hilarious - a woman wrote in to the debates, saying that she was 38 years old (I'll be 38 this Sept.)

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-46551998348562500402008-01-29T19:47:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:29:13.160-05:00

From the moment we started studying eagerly for our Big Delivery in our childbirth classes, it was made quite clear from the beginning that the non-surgical exit strategy (yes, I'm avoiding the V-word) was The Holy Grail of Birth Experiences. I read horrifyingly dismal statistics about Cesarean recipients having higher rates of postpartum depression, citing feelings of failure as a mother and

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-5881481198524738032008-01-28T23:34:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:29:13.161-05:00

Today was a balmy 44 degrees! Break out the bermuda shorts!Obviously those of you who live in more moderate climates don't understand (lucky for you). This is a heat wave for us poor Wisconsinites. We've been dealing with bitter cold single digits, like many of you in the upper midwest, so the Hamlin-Lewellen family pounced on this chance to get outside without freezing our gazoingles off. David

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-10169231189661892702008-01-25T23:35:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:29:13.161-05:00

So a few days ago, I said to David, "I'm going insane. I need to get out of the house." David was very understanding and said that he was surprised that I hadn't gone crazy with cabin fever sooner.I am definitely a "homebody" type; I love to stay in with PJ's on, reading, watching TV, playing on the computer (of course), etc. etc.. So this predisposition has helped me in a big way to remain sane

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1178370468339475542007-12-16T10:21:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:39:00.979-05:00

Hello there, festive and faithful friends and family! No news here, which I suppose is good news as my due date isn't officially until 12/27. I went on maternity leave last week and am loving it. For several days I went crazy, running all the last errands and buying all the remaining baby things for the nursery and layette and my hospital bag. Since then, however, my doctor has told me to take it

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-69301194354477976562007-12-01T12:46:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:39:00.980-05:00

This week we're doing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. This represents my last full week before going on maternity leave. I'll be off until April 1st, at which point I'll come back to play Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. I'm looking forward to being off, but I'm also apprehensive. Will I go insane without the structure and fulfillment of my work, which I generally really enjoy? Yes yes, I know I'm going to

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-42441359137622493942007-11-28T11:17:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:39:00.980-05:00

So has everyone finally emerged from their post-Thanksgiving tryptophan-induced comas?We had a lovely celebration with symphony friends who take "orphans" (those without family in the vicinity) into their festive home for major holidays. Because El Bambino is now taking up a significant portion of the room previously reserved for my vital organs, I was immediately stuffed, despite the fact that I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-70176646291375579932007-11-09T11:07:00.000-06:002008-04-06T17:39:00.981-05:00

So I'm in the home stretch (not to be confused with stretch marks, which, thanks to the luxurious Body Shop Cocoa Butter Body Butter my awesome sister gave me, have been kept at bay) of my pregnancy! Thank god. Because things are getting uncomfortable.Oh, it's all normal. I had an appt. with my doc yesterday and she said that the discomfort, shortness of breath, fatigue, and puffiness are all

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-41082118225738044052007-10-29T13:00:00.001-05:002008-04-06T17:36:15.424-05:00

When we renovated what was previously the music studio to become the baby's room, we moved the upstairs TV down into basement storage, simply because we have a fairly small house and couldn't figure out where else to put it on the main floor. (We have a large TV in the finished rec room downstairs, so it's not like we're anti-TV or anything.)So now, I am still watching TV, but it's very conscious

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-27336892941186660352007-10-29T12:32:00.001-05:002008-04-06T17:38:15.433-05:00

I think it's telling that my last post to this public blog was all the way back in August, for crying out loud. I have been writing a ton in my private blog, but somehow knowing that the entire googleable population could find and read this blog online was really cramping my style.So I changed the name of this blog and its website url, which is now http://lacornistefolle.blogspot.com/ (french for

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-63881405524836644182007-08-30T17:04:00.000-05:002008-04-06T17:39:00.981-05:00

Hey faithful bloggers! It's been far too long since my last post; I'm long overdue to post something here. So here's the Darcy Digest for the past several months...First and foremost, David and I have a new little cousin! Sara Cordelia Lewellen was born to Andrew (David's brother) and Pamela Lewellen on August 17th. She is absolutely gorgeous! I will send you the link to pictures soon. We are

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-59272501202502019432007-06-27T10:33:00.000-05:002007-06-27T11:25:14.868-05:00

So has anyone seen any good movies lately?Appropriately, David & I went to go see two movies within the past week that had to do with pregnancy (how often does that happen, that there are two movies out at the same time about being pregnant?!), both of which were wonderful. Waitress, a Sundance Film Festival hit with Keri Russell as the star, was very well done, had a great message and was very

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-62053656991856032182007-06-07T12:46:00.001-05:002007-06-07T13:20:47.369-05:00

Hello Junebugs! How is your summer going so far?Our peonies have started to open; the fuschia ones just have buds, but the white ones have started to bloom in their snowy fragrant glory. Our vegetable garden (largely David's impetus, but I help out and enjoy it too) is planted with multiple varieties of herbs, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and zucchini already soaking up the sun.The

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-91888622168703027952007-05-06T10:03:00.000-05:002007-05-06T11:06:45.791-05:00

Okay, folks. I'm getting about nine kinds of tired of this 40's-50's Wisconsin weather. It's MAY, for crying out loud! It's time to break out the cute summer blouses, the capris and pedal-pushers, the adorable new summer sandals! It is time to show off one's pedicured tootsies painted all kinds of cheery corals and reds and pinks!It's time for the HEAT!!I was born in Georgia and grew up in

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-80196156874154378742007-04-01T10:57:00.000-05:002007-04-01T23:43:53.931-05:00

Dearest friends and family,I have been thinking of you often and fondly during the past several weeks. Things have been wonderfully busy and rich with activity. I am exhausted but happy and fulfilled, so it's a good exhaustion. :)And thus I finally sit down to write to you on this lovely Sunday morning, wet with the first of spring rains and smelling of our green garden, sprouting new growth with

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-13876292340931479332007-02-23T14:27:00.000-06:002007-02-23T23:06:02.169-06:00

Sometimes, it's comforting to realize that even the great masters throughout history had to start somewhere. As in, some of their early stuff is really really bad. I am shaking my head in astonishment this week as we do Verdi's "Macbeth". I don't know much opera, and I'm not the world's biggest opera fan. (I'm trying to be, since I'm married to one, but I don't know if I'm cut out for it.) So I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-80047406037830272102007-02-09T12:29:00.000-06:002007-02-09T12:01:57.540-06:00

What next, a solar-powered player piano? An eco-friendly electric guitar amp that runs on vegetable oil? Composting your discarded clarinet reeds?No, this takes the cake, as far as I'm concerned:http://www.digitaltrumpet.com.au/It looks like a machine gun, especially in the case, but also when the guy's holding it. But then again, who am I to judge? I know plenty of trumpet players who would just

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-22826684008920826032007-02-05T13:22:00.000-06:002007-02-05T14:02:15.398-06:00

http://www.weather.com/ says that currently, here in sunny Milwaukee, it has gotten up to a whopping ZERO degrees. It was -11 this morning.And that's without the wind chill.I have to go out and run errands today - we are horribly low on produce and I need to be eating lots of it - so I plan to wear yoga pants under my sweats and to keep my entire head wrapped in my extra long knitted scarf.Ooog.

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-49249122738706101772007-02-02T10:51:00.000-06:002007-02-02T11:19:53.997-06:00

A few Sundays ago we did the probably best young children's concert - we call them "Kinderconcerts" - that, in my estimation, we've ever done since I've been with the orchestra.Bob McGrath came to work with us! Remember him, from Sesame Street?! I totally adored him! He was exactly the same as you remember him - sweet, effervescent, and unbelievably amazing with children. And a huge advocate of

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-67545192362396305882007-01-19T22:59:00.000-06:002007-01-19T23:14:47.079-06:00

So far, 2007 has proven to be a very busy and exhausting month for MSO musicians.Last week we did both Stravinsky's Petrouchka and Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. I would like to sit down and have a little chat with whoever programmed that doozy of a concert. It was exhausting, both mentally and especially physically. I do love both pieces, but I've never played the Tchaik without an assistant and I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-61407860940333489582007-01-16T17:30:00.000-06:002007-01-16T17:48:57.105-06:00

Okay, so remember this post from last year when I talked about the stupid mouse in my new CRV's glove compartment? Well, we cleared all the bags of birdseed and bird suet cakes that had apparently served as the deluxe mouse buffet out of our garage. I saw none of the evidence of mice that I had seen before (gnawed restaurant napkins and scatalogical souvenirs) for the rest of the year. I thought

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-90877628355201192082007-01-04T10:37:00.000-06:002007-01-04T10:41:02.047-06:00

This was posted to the orchestra-l email list I'm subscribed to, and I thought it was fascinating. Very interesting perspective on how orchestras function in other corners of the world!**********************As a young, aspiring cellist there are a few places I thought I might end up: London, Paris, New York, perhaps even Berlin. Over the years this list altered slightly but one place that was

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-17650090081411513272007-01-03T13:12:00.000-06:002007-01-03T13:54:37.625-06:00

Ahh....a new year.I was chatting with my brother yesterday and he sounded surprised that I found this one of my favorite times of the year. While I admittedly think that much of February and March is a dreadful stretch of winter, there's something about it that allows for introspection, quiet, space to achieve and grow.And it also means, if you made it to January, that you survived the holidays.

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-48373744207946741522006-12-10T22:07:00.000-06:002006-12-10T23:20:13.082-06:00

I am finally home safely from Key West, where I had a particularly rejuvenating and refreshing time both physically and mentally. It was so good to arrive home - yay, home! - to the enticing aroma of roast chicken and vegetables David had thrown in the oven before he left to pick me up from the airport (what a sweetie), to take a shower in my own bathroom (liquid hand soap in designer fragrances,

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-50563076067106022032006-11-26T15:32:00.000-06:002006-12-12T16:03:59.796-06:00

I wrote this post a while ago, back in November, when David & I saw two operas in the same week!Upon my request, having never seen a R. Strauss opera live, David and I went to see Chicago Lyric Opera's Salome with Deborah Voigt leading the cast in a stunning performance. Interestingly, Voigt was previously fired from a production of Salome in London for being "too overweight" for the director's "

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-73588707439506507262006-11-26T15:14:00.000-06:002006-11-29T13:26:03.391-06:00

So....seen any good movies lately?We saw the movie Borat a few weekends ago and it was absolutely sidesplitting, though I admit it wouldn't be for all palates. The humor was definitely crude, but in a brilliant and politically satiric way. It's basically a mock documentary (mockumentary?) about a journalist from Khazakhstan (played by SNL's talented Sacha Baron Cohen) who comes to the US and

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-12573232542443705062006-11-26T14:00:00.000-06:002006-11-26T19:25:02.528-06:00

David and I have returned home from a brief and fun visit with my family in Cincinnati. We especially enjoyed our little niece, Jenna, who is totally into the whole princess thing. She has both Cinderella and Snow White dress-up outfits and loves dancing around in them. I was recruited several times to provide live dance piano music for Jenna and David; it was so cute when she needed a dance

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-28992938283328417972006-11-13T10:53:00.000-06:002006-11-13T13:01:12.974-06:00

My lifelong dream has been to own my own piano, and we'd been saving for a while for it. Finally I decided it was time, and started doing the research which I had time to do because of the Mozart Festival's scant horn requirements.What I found was that really good, used, full-sized uprights (48" or taller) often sounded better than a lot of the used grands out there. I really enjoyed the process,

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1162964437938015762006-11-07T22:58:00.000-06:002006-11-13T10:43:52.613-06:00

Man, there has been so much happening and I haven't blogged about it at all. Ugh! I feel SO blogstipated! :) (Ha ha, the blogger spellcheck doesn't like that word!) I think that's because there's been so much I've wanted to blog about, so I wanted a big block of time to blog. (Would that be a large "blog" of time? har har) But alas, that blog - er, block - of time somehow never happened. So I'm

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1162010557184799612006-10-27T23:38:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:13.158-06:00

Hey all...it appears I can now add to my press quotes if I ever want to have a "press package" - here's the review from my Morceau de Concert performance in Green Bay, the last performance and the one my mom was able to attend! I was so happy she flew out to see us for a weekend and hear the concert.***********Posted October 16, 2006Milwaukee Symphony shines for Civic Music AssociationBy Warren

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1162001933417064872006-10-27T21:18:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:13.059-06:00

On Tuesday night, went to see the Milwaukee Repertory Theater's production of August Wilson's Gem Of The Ocean, which moved me more deeply than any other play I've ever seen. I cried and cried and kept crying as I left the theater. I told David I want to keep subscribing to this incredible group's productions - I felt honored to have been touched and moved so deeply. That's when you know you're

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1157568601576888052006-09-06T13:19:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:12.848-06:00

Hey you guys.First of all, if you're getting this via email, it means I've decided to keep you on my Friends & Family email list. I deleted over 70 people from my list that never respond to or email me, and of course those who have openly criticized my e-missives. (Leslie, that was a great suggestion...thanks...)So now, I feel much less of a need to censor myself for those I wasn't sure liked my

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1156160871267416602006-08-21T06:31:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:12.467-06:00

Okay, so here's the continuation (and hopefully near end) of the Home DeepPoo Saga...Tuesday, August 8th: I call Home Depot at 10am and ask for a manager to cancel the installation order and demand a full refund. This time, I speak to a guy named Franco. I go down the entire list of events with him. He said he was sorry but that short of giving me 10% off of the installation, there wasn’t really

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1156156254715078432006-08-21T05:23:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:12.343-06:00

Yes, apparently someone on my (perhaps not so rigorously screened) "friends and family" email list has told others in my orbit that I have "Blogarrhea"!Of course the person who used what s/he probably thinks is such a witty term did not talk to me directly about his/her distaste for what s/he apparently thinks is "TMI" with regard to my blog, because where would be the drama in that? It's much

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1154887242671361762006-08-06T12:02:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:12.235-06:00

So much has happened since we got back from our marathon trip out east.For those of you who are interested, here's the rundown...July 20th: Had a much needed 2 hour session with my massage therapist. It was pure bliss. She uses hot stones, this luscious peach scented oil, and fabulous relaxing music. From there, went to Home Depot to purchase a new garage door opener. Old one died before we left

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1150685946662710642006-06-18T21:44:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:12.127-06:00

We have a new addition to our family!! Meet Bianca! She is a 9 month old long haired kitty, white with blue eyes and brown spots/tail. She is extremely affectionate and loves to snuggle! She makes the cutest little squeaky meowing sounds. She's in that awkward "cat puberty" stage, where she's not really a kitten anymore but she's not really full grown yet either, so she looks a little gawky (to

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1150685059156586352006-06-18T21:01:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:12.020-06:00

Sheesh...I never thought it would come to this, but.......I haven't had time to blog lately!! Yes, shocking, but true. But understandable and even logical, given the work I've been doing for our quintet's huge Symphony on the Square feature concert debut this Thursday at noon at Cathedral Square. I'm really psyched about it. I did arrangements of Star Wars, Joplin's Elite Syncopations, the Stars

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1147538894813096182006-05-13T11:46:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:11.894-06:00

We're doing Beethoven's 9th Symphony this week. It's one of the "top 40" classical pieces, to be sure, but it's still a fantastic piece of music, and I had a "moment" last night toward the end. We were careening full speed ahead to the very end of the piece, and I was thinking about how amazing it is that I get to do this, to participate in one of the world's greatest artistic masterpieces. What

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1147374611768074262006-05-11T13:35:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:11.765-06:00

Well, this is going to be a bit of a hodge-podge of a post with lots of little and unrelated things to report...sort of a potpourri of news!!David and I went to go see Akeelah and The Bee last Saturday. It was a very inspiring story about a gifted African American girl in a lower-income area of LA finding support and strength in her community to reach her full potential. I highly recommend it! It

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1146942091799497142006-05-06T13:17:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:11.609-06:00

This past Christmas, David's mom (my MIL) Mimi gave me a gift that would be more exciting to me than she would have ever imagined.The gift was an iTunes page-a-day calendar. Every day, I read a new page about a new song and/or artist that I may or may not have ever heard about. I am more and more easily bored by the 2-3 chord progressions in the typical over-processed "pop-in-a-blender" stuff

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1145804458680332462006-04-23T08:59:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:08.676-06:00

Whew!! Well, I'm finally getting around to uploading pictures from my wonderful trip out east to visit friends and family in the NE Ohio/Buffalo NY areas. I had a GREAT time. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Tamara and Bernie, with whom I stayed for the first two nights in Cleveland. They have a great house just south of Lakewood in a great area, and have a house with 6 affectionate, happy

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1145503383813120712006-04-19T21:58:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:08.561-06:00

A few weeks ago, David and I were ecstatic to see the little sprouts of activity popping up in the new flower bed we dug last November. We planted over 120 bulbs!This is what we saw a few weeks ago:Well, every day has been another beautiful bloom. The crocuses, which you can see above, were the first to peep out. And today, this is what our garden looks like!! We are just thrilled! Here's a

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1145330000131178262006-04-17T21:58:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:08.440-06:00

Yes, that's right! David's birthday is tomorrow, April 18th, 2006. He is 39 (for the first time, ha ha, Grandma Ginny), and I made him a chocolate cake from scratch! It was a lot easier than I feared it would be, and it turned out fantastically! I used the Betty Crocker cookbook that Mimi, my mother in law, gave me for Christmas. That book has come in so handy! It has the best recipes and they're

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1144848666491198372006-04-12T08:04:00.000-05:002006-11-12T17:03:08.322-06:00

Hey there Bloggers...I've had a sore throat and runny nose for the past day and a half. In addition to these symptoms, last night I was also woozy, dizzy and very fatigued. I'm hoping that it's just overwhelm, and possibly allergies. I'm avoiding medicine and am taking Vitamin C lozenges. I'm trying to get a lot of rest, but today I got up at 6am because I couldn't sleep. I'll try to go to bed

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1143353503979009282006-03-25T23:56:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:08.227-06:00

You know how it is when you've got a whole, huge cheesecake or other similarly decadent dessert in your fridge? The first piece is amazing. Maybe you have a piece after dinner for the next 3-4 days, and it's still tasting really good. But by day 5 your taste for it starts to wane; your taste buds are saturated with the flavor and it's no longer as orgasmic as that explosively delicious first

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1143073414667424072006-03-22T17:55:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:08.090-06:00

Hello ever-ee-bodeeeeeee! (Thank you, Grover.) How have you all been? I'm been MIA lately because I've been: recuperating from my audition physicallyfeeling completely drained from my audition emotionally and mentallyplaying computer games (my latest is www.bigfishgames.com 's "Plantasia" - highly addictive) to try to decompress from the auditionunfortunately eating more sweet things than I

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1142387026773507142006-03-14T19:34:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.965-06:00

Hey blogmeisters. I just got back from Pittsburgh today; I didn't get out of the prelims, but I learned a lot from taking this audition. They asked an excerpt that I hadn't banked on them asking, and it caught me off guard. Worst of all, I didn't have it copied into my practice book for this audition, so I couldn't practice it in the warm-up room before I had to play. I think it would have made a

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1141743686770556152006-03-07T08:56:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.849-06:00

My Clevelander friend Eric noticed this rather glaring typo published for all the Cleveland world to see. He has since alerted the Earth Day Coalition, but not before they had plastered their unintentionally lewd signs all over every bus, billboard and bulletin board in the Cleveland area.Look closely at the "Ride a free" line. The typo gives the whole event a rather different kind of appeal, now

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1141690526186538832006-03-06T17:28:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.741-06:00

Well, the opera is over now and it's my day off (Monday, yay!). The pit work was very pleasant, actually; not much to do, but what we did have to do was relatively interesting. I even had a few solos {gasp!} which was a very nice surprise. I was seated at the edge of the pit closest to the audience and furthest from the edge of the stage (not under the lip of the stage, as much of the orchestra

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1141490358869308602006-03-04T10:12:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.618-06:00

Great news - my foot is feeling much better! I discovered this new kind of ACE bandage at Walgreens that has latex in it and doesn't require any fasteners; it adheres to itself! Ah, technology! It's very elastic, doesn't take up very much shoe space so I can wear all of my normal shoes, and makes my foot feel almost normal!So to celebrate, today I am going to break my yoga fast and try to do some

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1141071926458073822006-02-27T14:01:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.512-06:00

Have any of you been watching the Olympics? What are your favorite events?I haven't really been watching. The reason for that is that it is so similar to striving for achievement in the professional music world that I need a break from the mentality of striving for perfection and achieving the ultimate performance. It's what I do every day. During my very first year at Oberlin just months into my

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1141070362189600912006-02-27T13:39:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.419-06:00

Well, 4 concerts later, we finally finished our all-Tchaikovsky program. And I've decided that if I don't play any Tchaikovsky again for a long time, it will be just fine with me. :)Seriously - it was a great weekend, and with the exception of the Classical Connections concert on Thursday, all of the concerts were full houses, and every performance got a huge roaring standing ovation for both the

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1140755854951944092006-02-23T21:56:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.300-06:00

Wow, what a week we're having, busier than usual. Typically we have 7 or 8 services (a service is defined as either a rehearsal or a concert, anywhere from 2-3 hours in length), but this week we have a whopping 9. We're doing 4 concerts this weekend, and Saturday night is being televised live on Milwaukee Public TV. It's an all Tchaikovsky program, which is fine; I like Tchaikovsky, but in doses.

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1140408406796259312006-02-19T21:58:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.204-06:00

Several weeks ago, Dr. Drew Kennedy, the Minister at First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee (my church), gave a phenomenal sermon during which he quoted this beautiful poem. It really spoke deeply to me, and helped me to be more courageous about facing my fears and welcoming change and the unfamiliar into my life so as to keep growing. The Guest HouseThis being human is a guest house.Every morning

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1140406287692092442006-02-19T20:40:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.103-06:00

We had a run-out concert in Whitewater, WI today. I have no idea where that is. I ride the bus and read the whole time so I have no clue. I think it is somewhere south and west of Milwaukee. We did a lot of nice, good fun pieces. Wagner's Flying Dutchman and the Intermezzo and Toreadors from the opera Carmen were the most fun for me to play of the whole program, but there were some other nice 2

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1140239063235349512006-02-17T22:33:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:07.000-06:00

I had to dedicate a post to some new online purchases that I have been enjoying immensely!!The first thing is green tea. I found this fabulous website, Hibiki-an, that exports real, authentic green tea from Kyoto, Japan. They have the real stuff! If you look at the cost per unit of weight, it seems expensive, but because it's sooo strong (as I found out when I brewed my first pot) a little goes a

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1140237168340938272006-02-17T22:13:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:06.900-06:00

So tonight the phone rang, which took me considerable limping to answer (David's out at a concert he's reviewing for the Journal Sentinel). Once I got there, this irritating survey person started going through an obviously recited spiel, and finally got to a question. I figured, well, I worked this hard to get to the phone, so I might as well make my opinion count. He said it was a survey on "

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12508493.post-1140059538954674812006-02-15T20:25:00.000-06:002006-11-12T17:03:06.789-06:00

Well, this morning when I was leaving to go out to the garage to work, I fell. The upper left part of my left foot (not my ankle) twisted outward to the left, and man did it hurt.Several expletives later, I had managed to scrape myself, my horn, my purse and black carryall bag up from the asphalt to get to the garage. Thankfully I only drive automatics so I could still drive to work with my good

Darcyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07230728216528089355noreply@blogger.com2