You know you love playing a sport if when you feel like you are about to have a heart attack, when every inch of your body is telling you to stop, when you feel like you can barely walk, you somehow still find yourself saying, "there's still light out...we can play for a while longer."

Mr. Moyse told our flute class at his chalet in Brattleboro the following story.

"I had an Italian houseguest who spoke no French. I spoke no Italian.

'Early one morning, we took a car to a scenic spot in the Jura Mountains to watch the sunrise.

'We were overcome by the beauty of the moment. Spontaneously, the Italian shouted, "CRESCENDO!"

I heard a John Williams medley today. Man, I wish that he had done all of the Harry Potter movies. They could have been so much more awesome.

It's hard to believe sometimes that certain pieces haven't always existed. There was a point when some of our parents were alive and West Side Story hadn't been writtten yet. Can you imagine? And the Olympic theme was written at one time, but it's such a standard now that I can't believe that there was any point in time when the Olympics existed and the theme didn't.


Unrelated...
I got my permanent retainer removed.

Whenever it rains here and I have nowhere to go, I feel like I have somehow beaten nature. I think to myself, "hahaha! I don't have to walk out in the rain." And life is good.

I am back from Buffalo, and I can honestly say that the trip was one of the best trips I have ever taken. There was a part of me that was longing, just longing, to reconnect with the northern branch of the Stahls, and now I have finally done it

Of course, the reason I came was to get a lesson from Bonnie Boyd at Eastman. I had the lesson, and it was pretty good. I could see her as a potential grad school teacher. The only catch is that she doesn't have any grad openings for next year. D'oh! I would say that I wish she had told me that before I spent $200 on a plane ticket, but I had such a good time on this trip that it doesn't matter. Sometimes God works in ways we cannot understand, but I believe that sometimes He works in ways that we can understand. I needed a reason to come and meet my family again after all of these years, and the lesson served that purpose.

So, as it turns out, the lesson was the least significant part of my trip.

Definitely my favorite part of the trip was going to my cousin Kerry's house. She lives on the top of a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, and she owns so much land that you wouldn't believe it if you saw it for yourself. I have never seen a house with such a beautiful view in my life. It's so peaceful there, with wide open spaces, it just gave me this feeling of calm that I haven't had since childhood. Traveling around her muddy woods and farmland in the vehicle she calls "the mule" gave me a feeling that I was one with nature. It sounds crazy and cliche, but it's true.

She has two adorable kids, Elizabeth who is five, and Gabe who is about 1 (I think). They were both awesome kids, and I loved playing with them.

It takes a long time to drive from Buffalo to Rochester to the top of a moutain and back to Buffalo, so I spent a good portion of my first day talking with my aunt Karlene, who got to tell me about everything related to my New York brethren.

That night I went to the local relay for life, which I only mention because there were a bunch of raffles there, and my cousin TJ ended up winning the raffle called "wheelbarrow of booze." He paid $5 for about $500 worth of alcohol and a wheelbarrow to boot.

The next day was also awesome, and the highlight was getting to meet my cousin TJ's baby Avery. I freaking love that little girl! She was so precious and happy all the time, I couldn't stop watching her. I can imagine that if I got so attached to her that much in the short amount of time I was there, how attached parents must be...

I caught up with my two cousins, who have both married within the last couple years or so, and their wives. They sure have changed a lot since I lived in New York, and it was truly wonderful to see how things have turned out. We went out to lunch at my favorite restaurant of all time, Chefs (you know you're jealous) and then hung out at my cousin Jeff's ultra-awesome house until I had to leave that day.

All in all, it was a great trip and the Eastman thing didn't bother me one bit. I didn't know how much I needed that trip until I made it. Going back to my true roots always awakens so many memories, happy childhood memories, for me. The deer head when you first walk in, the moat we always tried to jump over, JoJo's, the accent that everybody has and denies, birthdays with my cousins, the list could go on. It was one to remember.

I have PICTURES!

All of the Stahl babies end up with blond hair and blue eyes. I seem to have missed the bill on that one.

Here's little Gabe, the newest member of the clan.

Dear Elizabeth, the happiest and craftiest girl I know.

And we certainly can't forget about Avery, the most precious little girl EVER.

BEST TRIP EVER
EXHAUSTED
MORE LATER

Well, I am-a ready to go to the New York. Wish me a safe and turbulance-free flight, especially since I have a slight history of motion sickness and it is expected to rain in Buffalo tonight. :o

Yesterday at work, one of the really funny ladies in the office became a naturalized US citizen. We had a natualization celebration for her. It was great. Today after I had been bored at work for about an hour, she poked her head into my office with a grin on her face and yelled "GOOD MORNING!" and then ran away before I had a chance to react.

It's things like that that make me actually like my job.

Also, today Dave Glerum played both Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin and Ravel's Piano Concerto. Two jazzy piano concertos in one day? Heck yes.

I might have computer access there, and I may not. So signing off for now, hope I come home in one piece (and not frozen!).

I'm-a flyin to Buffalo/Rochester this weekend to visit some family and get a lesson with Bonnie Boyd from Eastman. I am quite excited. It's a whole different world up there. And with any luck, I might just make it to Chefs...

I am probably going to make a road trip to NC sometime in July to have a lesson with Dr. Buck from Arizona State (she teaches at Brevard). I started thinking about what we would talk about, and I imagined her asking me why I didn't go to Brevard. Then I got mad about Brevard all over again.

In other news, I am fairly certain that Joe Girardi is psychic.

It's raining really hard and I do NOT have to walk in it.

Tallastupid.

---------------------------------

So one of the lyrics in a VW song are as follows:

How am I supposed to pretend
I never want to see you again

which I find very clever. It can be taken two different ways. There is obviously no punctuation in music, so it can either mean "How am I supposed to pretend [that] I never want to see you again?" or the slightly meaner "How am I supposed to pretend? I never want to see you again."

Those guys.

Clearly, my natural talents do not lie in throwing a frisbee.

I just love the twinkle, the excited look in rookies' eyes when they play. The look that tells stories of how hard they have worked, and the wonder that they have finally made it, living the dream in the majors.

Melky had it, Pedroia had it...someday I'll have it.

SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 2 ROCKS MY WORLD.

The problem here is that I enjoy life a bit too much. There are many activities I would like to do every day. Since I never have enough time to do all of these activities, I am always dissapointed that something had to be sacrificed. Thus, while I feel like I have wasted the day every single day, I really did the best I could to compromise.

God, family, friends, flute. That's my newest order.

Dreams aren't worth anything if you don't enjoy life in the process of achieving them.

The alphabet and I are very well-aquainted...I mean, well-acquainted.

A great sermon...Yankees win...FSU wins by a landslide (we're in the world series, yo!!!)...enough practice time...a good game of Ultimate (my team didn't win, but I did manage to make some plays)...watching the clouds pass the stars...and games with the gang.

That's what makes a good...nay, great...day.

Do you guys ever fear that maybe your friends don't enjoy your company after all? I believe we are all a lot more insecure than we must appear on the outside.

This has been one of those weeks that is so good that I spontaneously dance around my room in bursts of joy. Nothing special going on, I just love this here life I have been given. And Vampire Weekend.

Earthlink's Top Headline of the Day:
Alleged 9/11 plotter says artist made nose too big

What is wrong with these news headlines?

I simply cannot stop listening to Vampire Weekend!!! They're my new favorite band, I am in love with every song I have heard. Even the ones with cursing, though I wish they wouldn't do that.

Have a listen

In case anyone is wondering about my life right now (hahahahah!!!), I will post later (hahahahaha!!!). Good joke, me.

JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA
JOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBAJOBA

At one point someone told us "you two were made for each other," and at the moment I really believed it to be true.

I am such a hypocrite.
YOU ARE SUCH A HYPOCRITE.

(get it?)

PS Ultimate rocks my socks. I am going to be sore until I play again next week, and that's the way it should be.

PPS Go to the PostSecret exhibit at the Brevard art museum. It appeals to all kinds of humans. You'll like it.

About Obama:

"He smokes so he can get the redneck vote."
-Dad