Sticky post
On Being Selfish
The other day, I paid an extra $49 to have this mammoth sit/stand desk delivered from IKEA to my door-step, and I spent all evening putting it together. Until… I got to the point where the hieroglyphic instructions show TWO PEOPLE smiling as they breezily lift the desk up from opposite ends and flip it over. I bet they put this stupid desk together in … Continue reading On Being Selfish
Sticky post
The Final Stretch
I am at that point in my audition prep where I’m in a terrifying race against my body—trying to squeeze in enough osteo and massage therapy and physio appointments; and ingesting enough teas and…calming medicinal substances…to off-set the hours of practice that are making my left-shoulder hang stubbornly 5 inches lower than my right; my ring and pinkie fingers on both hands go completely numb, … Continue reading The Final Stretch
Sticky post
How to Fill Up your Concert Halls
For decades, we have been telling ourselves that we need to be perfect if we want to satisfy our audiences. But AUDIENCES DON’T WANT PERFECTION. They want to see themselves reflected on stage. They want humanity. Continue reading How to Fill Up your Concert Halls
Sticky post
The Trouble with Auditions
I have wanted to play in a professional orchestra ever since I was 16 years old, when I played Don Juan in the first full-orchestra rehearsal of the 2002 National Youth Orchestra of Canada. I had watched my mom play viola in Symphony Nova Scotia since I was a baby, because she raised me by herself and often brought me to rehearsals, plunking me down … Continue reading The Trouble with Auditions
Sticky post
Hey. I Love You.
As it turns out, writing a blog post every single day is definitely not sustainable—not in my world, not right now as I’m trying to work up my millionth violin audition for the Montreal Symphony—even if I tell myself each post can just be whatever I barf out in 30 minutes. Because what actually happens, is that by the time I start writing, I enjoy … Continue reading Hey. I Love You.
Sticky post
I Hate Everything (one week a month)
I know it’s the week before my period when my favourite thing on earth—my beloved over-sized 3-year old kitten, George Michael, annoys the ABSOLUTE CRAP out of me. Unfortunately for him, the sound the creaky floorboards make in my new-old house as he innocently walks on them sounds just like the sound my couch makes when he is very deliberately destroying it. “STOP IT, GEORGE! … Continue reading I Hate Everything (one week a month)
Sticky post
The Number One Rule in the People Pleaser Handbook
How can writing feel so natural, yet when a friend asks me to edit a piece of their writing, I have a mini panic-attack? I look at their words staring back at me from the page, unable to form any kindof coherent opinion—except for highlighting the parts I like. It’s almost like I’m blocking myself from having anything close to a negative thought, because the … Continue reading The Number One Rule in the People Pleaser Handbook
Sticky post
A Big Caulk Job
I spent a good part of yesterday, one of the last few nice days of the year, inside caulking my windows. I’ve moved into a very old apartment, with those kind of giant windows that think they’re all romantic, opening like shutters that take up the whole room, and hemorrhaging cold air in the winter. Luckily, the previous tenant left me a big blue metal … Continue reading A Big Caulk Job
Sticky post
Don’t Bring Tea to a Bluegrass Jam
If I drink 2 beers these days, I wake up with a hangover. I don’t normally drink that often, but lately I’ve been hopping out to a lot of social things, and they tend to go hand-in-hand with booze. Last night, I made some tea, put it in a thermos and threw it in my bag before biking to a bluegrass jam in a friends’ … Continue reading Don’t Bring Tea to a Bluegrass Jam
Sticky post
Concert in a Bathtub
As much as I wanted to stay in last night as I was drifting to sleep at 6:30pm on a cold, dark, rainy, windy eve… I put on pants, left the house, got on the orange line, met my friend Scott on the Berri Uqam platform, traveled together on the green line to Homa, got off and walked up the empty street and into what … Continue reading Concert in a Bathtub
DeRollerCoaster 