av8rmike

Shakespeare may have written, "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them", but he didn't say anything about having greatness occurring only to people they know. I refer to two incidents in the past week where things happened to other people in my life:

Two co-workers of mine were on a team that caught a 97.5-pound white marlin at this year's White Marlin Open. As such, they get to split over $800,000. We'd better get a lot of doughnuts at the office after this one.

Then yesterday, my brother was on a JetBlue flight back from Pittsburgh to JFK and overheard an irate flight attendant swearing over the PA system and exiting the plane via the emergency slide. Then he encountered the same flight attendant on the train relating the story to another passenger. Naturally he tweets about it, and within hours, the NY Daily News is interviewing him to get the story. By now, most of the major NY and national media have picked up the story and run with it. Too bad I missed his TV appearances on CBS' The Early Show, FOX News, and the Today Show. But, like I told our mother, once these things are out on the Internet, they never really go away.

The holiday again involved turkey and all the fixings at Dad's place, mostly because I didn't want to make the drive to Pennsylvania. Mom had other guests and plans for tonight, so even if I did drive up, I'd have left by this afternoon anyway. Dad made a small turkey (~10 pounds), so there was just enough left over for maybe one sandwich for each of us. Becki made these "creamed onions", which I didn't eat, and a corn/broccoli casserole that wasn't too bad. There was something of an ideological battle over sage vs. no sage in stuffing, so we'll see how that gets resolved next year.

I'm mostly sitting around today and trying not to piddle all the time away with computer games. Things are pretty dead outside, so this is a good weekend to start cleaning up the place. And no, no 5 AM shopping today. =P

As has been the tradition for the last two years, I went back home to play the July 4th concert with the orchestra there. The twist this time was that my brother was also coming back to play, fresh off his own concert season. The program was almost identical to the ones from the last two years, and even the same ringers were back. This year, no one from the 1st violin section bugged me about my tuning technique, nor did we play in the stadium or under a giant tent. There was just enough threat of rain to make the director call the concert indoors, which meant inside the local hockey/multi-purpose arena. That development alone was enough to make my mom decide that we'd all go to either New York or Baltimore (or somewhere else) rather than risk having to play this horrid concert again, and inside the run-down arena.

There was one funny moment, though: Running into my old high school music teacher at the rehearsal, because her five-person a cappella group was performing with the orchestra. She was totally shocked to see not only me, but my brother, after 12 and 15 years, respectively.
Speaking of whom: My brother is a chatty drunk, and unbearable when he's waiting to hear back from a woman. He already knows this, though. :P

I was in Burlington Coat Factory on Saturday, looking for winter coats. Arundel Mills mall was a madhouse already, but that's another story. So, I'm pushing through all the wool coats when I see something come flittering down from on high. It looks like a $1 bill, but I pick it up, and it's a $20! ($20 can buy many peanuts!) I looked around furtively a little bit, but no one else saw me, and it didn't obviously come from someone nearby. Score!

I was out that night with about 20 people at EDO Sushi in Pikesville, and the amount I ordered came out to about $20. Easy come, easy go.

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I won't be in PA for Thanksgiving. Mom was planning to go with some friends and Dad and my stepmom are going to be here by themselves, so I'll go over there Thursday. Although, Dad confessed to me last night that he likes the jellied cranberry sauce. You know, the kind that remains in the shape of the can after being removed? He said he likes being able to slice it and add it to the turkey sandwiches. I guess I can see his point.

In case anyone actually wants to know what was going on all weekend.... but rather than type it all up myself, I'll just excerpt from Jamie's journal and change the relevant pronouns. What was that about great writers just steal? ;)

Thursday - Jamie's (rescheduled) flight got in around 1:00 in the afternoon. We mostly puttered around my place before dinner. We went over to [my] dad's house, where [Jamie] got to meet [my] dad, stepmom, brother Phil (who took the train down from NYC), and [my] very eccentric cousin Gibson (who was visiting from the UK). After a very delicious steak dinner, we retreated to the room with the creepy doll and piano for a jam session. [Phil] plays viola, and played for us the Telemann Viola Concerto, which he's using for an orchestra audition this week. [Jamie] and I played the 2nd movement of the Bach Double, with Gibson playing the orchestral accompaniment on piano. That was a lot of fun. [I] played a number of pieces with Gibson accompanying, including The Lark Ascending, and a Brahms violin sonata. [Jamie], Phil and I played a trio arrangement of the Sinfonia from Handel's Messiah that [her] friend Diana was kind enough to arrange for us, and [she] enjoyed playing it so much [she] asked if we could play it again! ;) Sometime way too late, we left and drove back up to the city and eventually crashed for the night.

Friday- Started bright and early (relatively speaking) by going down to pay Roger, [my] luthier, a visit, as [Jamie] is still on the lookout for a new violin. We spent over an hour playing at least a dozen violins, and [she] ended up leaving with a Sofia violin on trial. That afternoon, [I] took [Jamie] to the music library at Peabody Conservatory, and [Jamie's] mind just about went 'asplodey being surrounded by the thousands of music scores there. We went to the Little Italy neighborhood for a fantastic dinner at [La Scala]. We had a grilled Caesar salad that had a smoked flavor to it from the grilling, and I was surprised at just how good it was. Spicy croutons, too! After dinner, we made our way to the Fells Point neighborhood, and I got to see part of the harbor (though not the Inner Harbor) and other neat stuff.

Saturday - [Jamie] got to see the Inner Harbor, including the USS Constellation, and lots of what I presume were Mennonites handing out "Be Saved!" literature in their white bonnets and long dresses. We headed over to Lexington Market, which is somewhere [her] friend Bruce told [her she] should go. [She'd] never quite seen anything like that. That night, [I] had a string ensemble concert. [She] enjoyed the concert a lot, especially the Corelli Concerto Grosso, and the Boccherini Cello Concerto in [G] major, which was performed with cello soloist Jason Love, who also happens to be the music director of another orchestra [I] play in. He was fantastic; it was quite a treat to see. [Jamie loved the second movement, especially watching me play and wear a tux. ;)] A little excitement ensued during intermission, when the bassist decided to take a swan dive to the floor. (It was really terrible. She was apparently suffering from post-concussion problems and fainted -- fell right to the ground. Not with her instrument, at least. Intermission lasted a little longer while we waited for the ambulance to come and take her away.) We had a late dinner at a tavern close to home after the concert, seated next to three guys who were quite openly gay. As much as [we] tried not to eavesdrop, [we] couldn't help it, and when they started talking about dressing up as a washer and dryer for Halloween ("We could be the stackable washer and dryer." "You'd be on top!") [Jamie] just burst out laughing. Luckily, this amused and didn't upset them.

Sunday - Sunday morning we headed down to the Baltimore Farmers' Market. Fresh produce, butter, cheese and baked goods, along with prepared food dishes, crafts and a trumpet player who apparently only knew four notes. We split a strawberry and Nutella crêpe, and a cinnamon chip scone for breakfast, which was quite delicious. [Jamie] got a chocolate macaroon brownie that was just about the size of the state of Delaware for [her] plane trip. Headed back to his apartment, and did some violin playing. Well, [I] did most of the playing, and [Jamie] spent a lot of time trying to get over [her] fear of playing in front of [me] [but she did very well-- she shouldn't get so worried =)].
After deciding that she couldn't keep the Bulgarian violin we'd borrowed, I had to take her to the airport, where the only meal we could get in time was a plate of tri-colored nachos. Regrettably, her flight wasn't delayed or cancelled or anything, so we had to say our good-byes. I went over to Dad's afterwards, but I think they were just tired of too much company. I did get to see Becki's neat pictures from Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

...And posting from Mom's brand-spankin'-new computer. We spent yesterday driving back from Staples in a monsoon with a new computer desk in the back of my truck. The cardboard box was ruined, but the desk pieces were fine. Then I managed to glue one of the goddamned pieces in backwards. Fortunately the glue hadn't set yet.

We also made a zucchini bread and grilled some tuna on Mom's new tiny propane grill. Today, besides setting up the computer, we also lugged bags of pine mulch around the yard. Mom sure knows how to keep me busy. In about two hours is the rehearsal for the symphony concert tomorrow night. There's some weirder stuff this year, like the Nashville and New Orleans song medleys. Rest assured, I'll post all about it, for the benefit of the one person left I know is still interested. ;)

Either there hasn't been much going on, or I just forget to write down the random things I think about posting. Anyway, I never said much about what went on over the weekend in New York. My brother already posted a pretty good summary, so read it, if you dare... I'll get around to posting the pictures one of these weeks.

The vital stats

Shows watched: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a new and very cute musical. For the life of me, I can't figure out why it had to be a musical at all.

Restaurants visited:
Ellen's Stardust Diner in Times Square, the 50s place with the singing waiters.
Chelsea Market, home of the Food Network. It was certainly very nice, but it lacks the "open-market" feeling of a place like Lexington Market.
Mahmoun's Falafel in Greenwich Village.
Magnolia Bakery, also in the Village.
Penang, for Malaysian/Thai, which doesn't seem to have its own web site, but seems to be a popular name for restaurants.
Delta Grill, a Louisiana/Cajun, which my brother decided was good, but still not as good as the real thing in New Orleans. OK, just the beignets.
Phil's friend James' baked ziti Sunday night was good, too, but doesn't count since he's not a restaurant. The Sopranos is a hard show to jump into the middle of.

Celebrities spotted:
Timothy Daly and Željko Ivanek, both of whom are in the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial". It also stars some guy named David Schwimmer, but we didn't catch him walking into the theater.
Edward Hibbert (Gil, the British guy from "Frasier"), whom we saw just after leaving a Starbuck's on 9th Ave. We also chose not to shake him down for anything.

Oh yeah, we also went to Zabar's and the English/Scottish import store that has the cat that got stuck in the wall. I can't remember the name, butMyers of Keswick, it's the place in the Village that sells Scottish eggs and Spotted Dick.

Going shopping for clothes this weekend with my mom and brother wasn't as bad as I might have feared. I still need things like shirts, certainly, but I found two pairs of pants and a new pair of dress shoes. My brother's trip in to take a TV off my dad's hands seems to have been pretty successful as well. We even bought Mom a new receiver/amplifier for the ancient stereo, but I may be making another trip north to help her hook it up.

First rehearsal back in Columbia tonight in about 2 weeks. We'll see if the practicing I did over the break made any difference, or if I have a new seat assignment.

I'm posting from a Hampton Inn somewhere near Reading, PA, and my brother is being nice enough to let me use his computer and wireless connection to get caught up on my e-mail and friends list. Now I'm going to give him his computer back and let him do whatever he needs to do.

Back in western PA tomorrow!

I have to take off 2 days of work this week: Thursday for the holiday, and tomorrow to drive up to Pennsylvania in the morning. My step-mother's mother died Saturday morning and the funeral is tomorrow. She was very sick, had been in a nursing home for about a year, and not improving much, health-wise. So, it wasn't exactly unexpected, it was just a question of when.

I still did fun stuff over the weekend, but it doesn't feel right to talk about it all now.