Harp Recital

I played the harp on a three-harp piece at Duquesne University the other night... All but a few lucky parents were priviledged to see my first classical performance debut in Pittsburgh. 'Course, the harp is not my instrument, and I've only taken four lessons, and I was the only boy, towering over the other harptastic blond girls. And the piece was on the program between the principal harpist of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a five-year-old girl who was too short to even sit on the bench. We made a small impact, but it felt good to perform again! And then we got desserts.
Photo: Me playing the harp. Just kidding. Don't I wish. It's King David, circa 1600, on a triple-strung harp, wearing fantastic sandals. But both performances did include a little kid to hold up the music.

Palindromesemordnilap

There are some great palindromes out there. They read the same both forward and backwards. "A man a plan a canal Panama", "Madam I'm Adam", even "Yo Banana Boy!" Sally introduced me to "Sniffum' Muffins" yesterday...but perhaps my favorite palindrome is Avobilhucoiefokniserjaerhobnbohreajresinkofriocuchlibova!
Oh, it has to make sense? Right. Let's stick with Sniffum' muffins then.
(Thanks to Scott for hilarity.)

Fallingwater and Ohiopyle

This past weekend the gang and I went to see Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's 1930's masterpiece of a summer home for the Kaufmann family. Then we went down the road to Ohiopyle, PA for a fantastic lunch on the river, songs in the grass, and warm rays of sunshine! First, we sandwiched Fallingwater between our heads like a delicious architectural Oreo.

The building is amazing for its cantilevered 'horizahnal lahns' (horizontal lines, as our tour guide told us) but I think it's equally impressive for its snapshot into what was the ideal living conditions for the architecturally radical at the time- claustrophobic hallways lead out to sunlit rooms, which lead out to bright verandas that feel like they're floating on the water. Some of the things that were crazy for the 1930's now seem absurd, like the low ceilings, and mazelike houseplan, but I could see what Wright was envisioning, and with tens of millions of dollars over budget, presto! He got what he wanted. The rooms are quite tiny, but every small detail has been accounted for- even the electrical outlets submerged into the floors. I loved this lower level pool, which looked mysterious and magical. We sang Beatles songs in the grass and wished we were born in better days. As if the 1960's were better days, but we know better.
I stuck my feet in freezing springtime river and Matt got chilly vicariously. It was even a good hairday (or lack thereof) for both of us.
We all appeared in the obligatory self-photo, which for some reason I look like the only comfortable subject:
These pictures remind me of my excursions with another Fantastic 5, this time from TA 46 at Vassar. We took great trips to Dia:Beacon and Storm King Art Center on similarly sublime summery days. We all met up again in Washington DC recently for more fun and frolic! (Does anyone have photos they could send me of that weekend?) Perhaps good things come in fives.

Sometimes you have to make a choice.

Two homonyms diverged in a yellow wood...
and I took the road not shaken?

Kites

I miss flying kites! Every spring my family would go to my aunt's backyard, which was a big open field with lots of wind. Everyone's hair would end up looking really windblown-glamorous for the rest of the day. The winds usually died before the kites got into the air, of course. Or it would be too windy, and all our kites would be torn into pieces. I miss those days.

Lunchtime Chamber Music

I went to a lunchtime Chamber Music Concert today to hear a cool guitar and saxophone duet (called Driveline by David Kechley) and there were three other groups on the program as well, including an amazing flute and marimba duet. I was the only student in the audience. Actually, aside from the two coaches of the chamber groups, and the guy who helped set up chairs, I was the audience. I tried to clap extra loud.

Moby and a Bee