the pattyo

***LOOK HERE! :-)

***Random Thoughts

Brandon has a difficult time throwing away his design journals. I have a difficult time throwing away my arts journals. But libraries won’t take them. Too bad.

The boys are cleaning their rooms and putting the boxes of Legos in a stack in the family room, to be put into storage. When they came out with them they said “Can we play Legos in the family room?” They never said “play with Legos” … it was always just “play Legos.” Funny.

Green Bay is ahead of the Washington Redskins. Some say this means something … that if Green Bay wins, Kerry wins. We’ll see.

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders all have very straight hair. Is this a requirement, I wonder. (I’m glad that musicians aren’t required to have a certain hairstyle! Or style at all, to be honest, since I am often lacking style!)

… and now it’s time to dry my hair and get ready for the 2:00 concert. (I wish Dan could have come; I think he’d have liked this one.)

***Set Those Clocks Back!

I always enjoy the extra hour, as well as the morning sun.
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***Update

Good concert tonight! I actually enjoyed myself. Yay!

Oh … and an update on getting into the US: an IDRS member wrote to say his bassoon quartet has been unable to get visas. He’s from San Jose, Costa Rica.

The Bergen Woodwind Quintet
is not being allowed to come to the US for the concerts they had scheduled. I guess they are too much of a risk and aren’t being granted visas. You know how dangerous we musicians are!

Joking aside, this is ridiculous. I’ve heard so many stories about artists having to cancel tours here.

Land of the free and home of the brave? I don’t think so.

***For Some Reason

My cellphone doesn’t work in my dreams. It’s similar to running (you know how you try and try to run but you can’t sometimes?). I dial … and dial … and nothing happens. Weird.

I knew you’d want to know that.
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***Pumpkin Carving Time!

If you want to avoid the mess, but feel like carving a pumpkin or two, give that link a go!

***My Health

The good news: I’m a whole lot better today.

The bad news: I can no longer use my cold as an excuse for any oboe troubles I have at tonight’s rehearsal or the concerts.
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***YAY SOX!

Not bad, eh? Four games. Four wins. Done.

***Dan … Tee Hee …
our marriage is fine, thanks.

Please don’t get any ideas from this!

… and I do miss you. :-)

(For other family folks — Dan is down in SoCal for meetings.)
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***But I Don’t Eat Beef!

So … the World Series … Game three … if anyone hits the “Taco Bell target” everyone in the United States could pick up a free beef taco. Read about it here.

Big Whoop.

Now if it were a chocolate milkshake I’d be a whole lot more excited!
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***QOD

We are trying to make the point, by our lives, by our work, that personal responsibility comes first. We are born alone, we die alone, we must each of us do what we can for God and our brothe–not God and country, but God and our brother, as Christ put it.

-Dorothy Day

***Rats

I’m getting a cold. That’s crummy since I have symphony this week. But all I can say is …

GO SOX!

Well sure, that has nothing to do with my cold. But why dwell on the rotten stuff when I can dwell on baseball, eh?

For those of you who don’t follow baseball but still need to know these things because otherwise you may as well not call yourself an American (if you aren’t from the US you still might want to know), the Sox won yesterday. It was an ugly game (really dumb errors were made) but they still won. Today they already had one ugly moment … silly sox … maybe they are right about calling themselves Idiots!
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***Wishing

You know what I’d like to do?

Move.

It would be impossible to move right now, of course, but I still think about it sometimes.

I want a smaller yard (really I want a patio with only a patch of dirt but I’m not sure how that would go over with my better half!). I want a house without ugly grasscloth (or whatever it’s called) on the family room walls. And I want a house that isn’t in need of repair. Right now this one is in need of work and neither Dan nor I have the time or skills to do the work. Well, okay, I suppose I have the time … but somehow it never feels as if I do!

But oh well. We can’t move, so I’ll just dream about it on occasion.

I can dream, can’t I?

I’m not whining, really. I’m very thankful to have a house at all. And mostly I’m quite content. I was just thinking about this silly grasscloth and all, and a friend of mine just wrote on his blog about the fact that his family is going to be putting their house on the market.

Oh … it IS raining now. And Jameson is home from the football game (although they did get rain while they were there which is a shame for all those clarinets and saxophones). But isn’t the rain good news? (See the post directly below if you are wondering what this is about!)

***Rain?

I’m hoping! It “spit” for a little while and now it’s just overcast and windy. I want rain! NOW. I want it while I’m not driving to UCSC or walking to the concert hall.

That’s not asking too much, is it?

Of course I guess I should at least pray for rain to start AFTER Jameson gets home from the high school football game. Lincoln High doesn’t have a marching band, but the kids still have to play in the stands. Playing in rain is not only unpleasant … it’s bad on instruments! And just plain silly to do.

***Honestly, Give Me Honesty! Please.

Truth is mighty and will prevail.
[Lat., Magna est veritas et praevalebit.]
-Thomas Brooks (he is said to have been the first to use the expression, 1662)

Do you think that not getting caught in a lie is the same as telling the truth?
-said by character Joe Turner in a movie based on James Grady’s “Six Days of the Condor”

I would prefer that people tell me the truth even if it hurts rather than finding out that the person I think I know isn’t even “real” … you know what I’m saying? I guess I’m tired of people trying to shelter me by showing me a false person.

Ah well.

I think some people feel a great need to protect me from who they are. Maybe I’m scary. Maybe I’m too harsh. Maybe my expressing my opinions makes some people unable to express theirs. I wonder.

But I still prefer the truth. Honest and true.

I’m a big girl. I can handle people thinking differently than I. I can handle them doing things that I don’t necessarily agree with.

Okay. Rant over.

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***Back to Dry Weather … for a time

No rain today, and it’s pretty darn sunny out there!

Unfortunately this means reed making is a pain; when weather changes it means our reeds change. They say rain will be back next week which means anything I work on this week will play differently then. Such is life! I need to get a good supply of reeds started because it turns out I’ll be playing principal next week. It’s stressful, to be sure, but at least I’m employed!

***GO SOX!

Isn’t it cool that they won the American League Championship? I think so. I do hope they can win the World Series. Seems like they have it in them this year!

Tonight we watch the Astros play the Cardinals … and it’s a “brie and bread” night. Yum!
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***A Fun Birthday Dinner!
… and can’t you tell?

***It’s Absolutely Pouring

Rain is here. And in a big time way. The gutters are overflowing and the rain is pounding on our roof. Brandon should be thrilled (he likes to get some weather).

Of course this means accidents on the roads; I went past an overturned car on 280, and the passenger side was totally smashed in. From what I could see it looked like there was only one occupant in the car, though, and he was outside of the vehicle. I drove to Palo Alto this morning and you can bet I was very cautious!

***Pretty Funny!

Well, okay, maybe not for Bush voters. :-)

But anyhoo, just a bit ‘o humor.
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