Ah, you got a final lesson in before Christmas

I guess you have bags of time to get that 'homework' in though...

Until next Wed..

One part of homework is a 2 page prelude from that Chopin book... and it's supposed to be quick.

On the plus side, 3 pieces now cleared out of my backlog! 2 more seem to have been added to the list though...

Apparently my teacher only had 1 pass this term. The rest were merits and distinctions (best part of a dozen!)

Great! The fruits of her labour are definitely showing in you Sol

Thanks, Barry

Apparently we will be tackling counterpoint pieces in the New Year... hurrah!

I am happy when I discovered the program for the spring at TYO:

Smetana: The Moldau

Janacek: Taras Bulba

Martinu: Memorial to Lidice

Dvorak: New World Symphony

Counterpoint! Once you get to use a harpsichord, Baroque counterpoint will sound rather good...

I'm going through a Baroque phase at the moment, listening to lots of it! I already have a massive list of stuff earmarked for study!

Right : we've gotta hire the harpsichord at Belsize next year

One of my favourite orchestral works ever!!

It's Christmas Eve!

Winning the volume fight against my sister's electric guitar.

I had never heard of it however I really liked it once I had spotified it.

What did you drown her out with?

Myself! Belting Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the top of my lungs (the Eva Cassidy version with the really loud, belted high notes. )

Granted I'm not sure her amp was at full volume, but i still think it's an accomplishment.

I think that's pretty impressive.

It was one of the pieces I studied for 'O' Level back in the Paleolithic Era...wonderful stuff!

Heehee, I love that game!! The piccolo always wins

My piano teacher telling me that my Christmas Carols sound like they will be perfect .... for Christmas 2010!

The fact that I know that I don't have to work tomorrow! Oh, and the fact that it's Christmas Eve!

Has no forumite been happy since Christmas Eve?

I tried to post on here last night, but my internet wouldn't let me.

It was last night, but Wensleydale. Nice moist, creamy, crumbly Wensleydale. (with a potato and spaghetti hoops).

Knowing I don't have to worry about dinner tommorow night, because lots of TYO members are all going out to a restaurant to have dinner together, so someone else can worry about the mess rather than me for a change!

More likely we've all been far too happy to have time to post!! (I hope so anyway!)

What's made me happy today is my daughter's decision to stay in the UK until Monday, rather than flying back to Moscow for New Year as originally planned. It's lovely to have her for four whole days more.

Not here...

Beer helps... doesn't do much for my piano playing, though.

Poor Sol! I'm sorry Christmas was a flop for you. Did Father Christmas bring anything nice? (Apart from the beer?!)

I'm happy all the time


Apart from when I worry about the 'shortness' of life


Then I forget what I was thinking and go all happy again


Getting down on the rug and playing with a cardboard tube and a small dog makes me very happy

I do like Wensleydale... yummy

What's made me happy today?...having a pj day!!! Really enjoying this lazy day, listening to music, reading, writing, watching TV. I should do it more often!!!

Corr, j-e-a-l-o-u-s. I've been sitting at work wishing the day would end. It's all Jack Frosts' fault.

My flute is singing today. Not sure what I'm doing differently to yesterday and the day before. Lets just hope I can replicate today's version on Saturday and not yesterday's.

Carlsberg was very kind to me and I didn't suffer any ill effects today thankfully! But then, I didn't have to wake up for work today which helps a lot!!!!

The kitties, they can never fail to make me happy

My sister got them a reindeer on a piece of elastic, tied to a stick, which chirps when shaken around. They LOVE it!
They're all so funny I've just been playing with the big fluffster. He's a bit of a wuss, and gets scared/offended by everything. He's not as fast as the other two, and looks so sweet and wuffley when he plays, like a big cotton wool ball. The other day I was playing with the others and my mum, and he was watching. Then he jumped out and joined in with this huge dopey smile on his face, playing so slowly and pathetically compared to the others that we burst out laughing. He looked absolutely mortified, stopped playing, then ran downstairs and sulked. He was so upset, poor thing, completely ignored us for hours.

Anyway, his favourite game involves the long heavy curtain at the front door. He hides behind it, while I poke the hem with a stick toy, then he jumps out and grabs it, lets go, and shuffles back under. If I leave him under there, and go to watch TV, he brings me the toy like a dog, then rushes over to the curtain and hides, waiting excitedly. Dawww, he's such a sweetie

Adnam was fairly kind to me...ish...

Finding a tiny baby fish in my tank - especially as some new addition s before Christmas had wiped out most of my stock with some unknown disease.

Was a nice surprise. I'm calling it miracle fish!! The single female platy that survived was obviously pregnant

It may well yet be eaten by another fish but here's hoping.

Can you get some kind of protectcive thing to put it in so that it still has the fish water but the other fish cannot get to it? Not sure if such a thing exists as I don't know much about fish (except that cod and salmon are nice to eat ). You could maybe improvise something.

Well it's still there!! And the thing is it's not the type of fish I thought! It's a guppy! One of the females I put in that didn't make it must've been pregnant. On it's own Flossie I think more isolation would stress and kill it. It needs to be able to hide in the leaves etc. If there were a number it might have been a good idea. Thanks anyway.

I realised I had £20 of Itunes vouchers in my room as well as £45! I think I should tidy more often!
I managed to spend the Itunes vouchers in about 2 minutes, and have been listening to the new music all morning!
I bought:
Rachmaninov Preludes played by John Lill
Rachmaninov Suite No.2 for 2 pianos played by Martha Argerich ( ) and Nelson Friere
Chopin Etudes played by Nicolai Lugansky

Very nice!

Some successful performances - including my piano one

and a lot of enjoyment listening to and making music with others Thanks folks!

Playing for the hymns at church didn't go too badly. I think I'm getting a bit more confident.

One of the most wonderful days on Kinder Scout I can recall (and I've been walking there on and off for over 30 years). Fabulous fluffy powder snow, cold and clear. Plus the slightly dodgy road conditions seemed to keep the hordes away. A great start to the year.

Delivery of three DVDs - West Side Story, The Commitments, and Gone with the Wind

Booking my holiday to Borneo for next month. Yippee! No snow there.

Excellent!!! Have a fab time there!!!

*wonders where Borneo is*

Here

Very nice! Enjoy, JoMook!

The next time it runs Nicki will be Oct 2011 so it wont run through the summer, should help you? Haven't even started yet! and I so much wanted to be well ahead!



Enjoy, my neighbours are off in a couple of weeks on some cruise, carribean I think, somewhere exotic anyway, they have got the right idea! lol

It has just been announced that Flyb will be running from Gatwick to Limoges for July and August 2010, I may actually manage to get out and see my grown up son for a weekend!

Listening to Faure's Romance Sans Paroles (Opus 17, No 3) which is on the alternative pieces for Trinity Guildhall Grade 7 piano. Finding copy of the music online and trying to play it. I have decided it is such a beautiful piece that I will do it for my exam (although I did grade 7 in 1991 I am doing it again). It is almost as lovely as one of the other pieces I have chosen, Poulenc Nocturne no 8.

Now I have to make my mind up whether to look at Heller, Epilogue no 25 instead of a Kuhlau sonata which I have been working on. The Faure will replace my previous choices which were going to be either Chopin Mazurka in A minor or Tchaikovsky April, from the seasons.

So much choice this time round. There certainly wasn't this sort of choice when I last did the exam.

Having lots of money on my bank account - which I haven't had since summer 2008!

Depends what you call a lot of money!

For an 18 year old student I have quite a high figure in the account balance section of my account overview.