Becoming a Recipe Contributor

Recently, I made a banana custard slice with a recipe I found on the Natvia site.  The recipe had no photo, so once I'd made it (and, naturally, photographed it), I sent through the photo.  The photo is now the photo for that recipe - a little thrill right there.

In communication while sending through the photo, though, I was asked if I would like to be a regular contributor and tester.  The best bit - they send me stuff!  First I had to ask the people around me who would be likely eating the products if this was okay.  Grudgingly, yes...  So long as it's not too healthy.  As this is a sugar-type product, I'm pretty sure it will still be not so healthy, at least in flavour.  I just had to send my postal address so they could deliver free food to me.  Easy.  Looking forward to trying out some new recipes and inventing new combinations too.

Today's photo:

For a little while, the bridge on my violin has been ... not amazing.  Just a little bit bent.  Last week I took him in for either a new bridge or a repair, and went with the repair option.  Today I got to pick him up - ooh... So good to have him back, all fixed up and running smoothly again.

Outfit #86 - Thank You Accessories

Outfit:
Dress: Jeanswest (op shop).  Leggings: Ambra.  Shoes: no label, made in Spain, swapped or from Jeannie.  Earrings: ??? Pendant: gift.  Belt: Target.

Yes, I am aware I have worn this dress, with these shoes and belt and leggings, before.  The accessories saved the entire outfit from being a repeat though.  Phew.  I did have a different outfit planned, but couldn't find a component of it this morning (I'm in crazy mode right now) so Plan B... which had to be something comfortable in the heat, and with shoes suitable for walking all over the school looking for little people.  In a hurry, this is what I ended up wearing.  I love having decent air conditioning in my room... and I was quite comfortable all day, but it was really good to get out of this when I got home.

I even wore a flower in my hair. 

Today's photo:

This evening, I had a violin playing evening.  A friend is in that trying-out stage of violin acquisition, and asked me over for dinner and a play.  I took along mine as well, so our violins had a little party.  I like the first photo better as a photo

but I like the violin party feel of the second.

El Violin Y El Sombrero

Today was the second mariachi gig.  We played for the Independence Day celebrations for, pretty much, all of South and Central America.  For our publicity shots in June, we got to wear sombreros.  I found it so awkward, like I had a mega weight on my head... which is, in fact, the case.  Sombreros are heavy!  However, for the first gig (for Columbia's national day), we didn't wear them.  Today, we did.

On the upside, it meant I didn't have to worry about how to deal with the flower and newly short hair (although Elisa, our wardrobe consultant, did a wonderful job).  On the downside - and this is a huge downside - you can't play violin and wear a sombrero at the same time.  Unless you play solely on the G and D strings.  After our 3rd piece, I had to take mine off, I kept missing the string and making awful sounds. 

It was just slightly crowded in the 'backstage' area.  Apart from all of us (7 plus a singer plus Elisa), there were Christmas decorations (as seen in the photo), and about 10 sombreros, and big plastic bags of I have no idea what.  Awkward for photos, among other things.

Today's photo:

After we'd performed, my flower was sitting on one of the other sombreros.

The Grade 3 Approach

I can remember learning how to read, but I can't remember learning how to read music.  Although this is great in some respects, it does put me at a slight disadvantage when it comes to teaching students how to read music.  The Colour Strings method is fabulous for this, but I have limited opportunities to teach this - many of my students also learn violin in a class situation.  When this is the case, I have assumed their class teacher is teaching them how to read music.

However, one of my current grade 4 girls is really resistant to the whole reading music thing.  Which surprises me and frustrates me as she is quite a bright child, and plays beautifully, but will work out all the notes before playing.  Imagine the problems we are having now that we have full page pieces instead of 2-phrase pieces.  I started teaching her at the start of term 4 last year, and it was honestly only at the end of the most recent holidays that I realised why she doesn't read music.  And not just her, but many of the grade 4 children in my ensemble.  The strings teacher teaches them how to play strings.  And with a whole class of about 25 kids all at once and 4 different instruments and 3 different clefs, I don't blame her! 

This term, then, with the start of private lessons for the current grade 3s, I am taking a different approach from before.  I'm focusing less on bowholds and more on note reading (not neglecting the bowholds though!).  They get to write more music - both writing the songs they already know how to play as well as making up a song for me.  And I'm using the Colour Strings/Kodaly method as much as I can.  The school at which I teach is a Kodaly school (this is such a blessing, my work-load is halved) so the students already know so many good songs, and the music teachers have the same approach that I would use with the strings method.  One of the principles of the Kodaly method is spiral teaching, revisiting known material to learn knew elements.  For my grade 3 students, then, I have them write out the songs they know from strings class, and we are learning to play songs they already know from music classes. 

The drawback of this, though, is that once they know which song they're playing, and which finger to play first, they stop reading the notes and just go from memory.  Phase 2 begins tomorrow.  I'm printing a sheet of short songs for them, some that they know (or should know) and some that I'm just making up.  This week they get to read the notes without me spoon-feeding them which song is which.

As an aside... One of my semi-colour strings girls at home is also in grade 3 and learning through school in group classes as well.  Last week I tried her on singing a song we already know (like Mister Sun) and then playing it on the violin, starting on different fingers and strings.  Not a problem.  This week we tried a slightly more complicated song (Look, Lamb, Look) - still not a problem.  Then we did the G major scale in 2 octaves - still not a problem.  If you're not a string player, this involves 2 different finger patterns and (when I teach scales anyway) keeping on thinking for much longer than normal.  Her dad doubted she'd earned a sticker but I think it was justified!

Today's photo:

I had lunch at Jeannie's today (yummy buckwheat pancakes) and sitting on the deck, the sun came through the clouds and back again enough to make this photo exciting in the taking. 

Daily Photos Catch Up

Since promising to take a photo a day, I have been very slack in posting a photo a day.  I've still been taking them, I just forget to upload...  So here are the last 8.  Yikes!

Monday, June 18.  This agave plant is one of many on a nearby street.  I have thought about photographing them on several occasions, so I'm glad I had an excuse.

Tuesday, June 19.  A street near the school at which I teach.  Seeing this tree change over the year is a great joy.

Wednesday, June 20.  These fluff-balls are right by the footpath at home.

Thursday, June 21.  Fete de la Musique, and I was the contact for St John's cathedral.  Most people don't see the wonderful light show that happens in the cathedral - between about 11 and 3 the stained glass produces these wonders.  I hadn't seen this kaleidoscope effect before.

Friday, June 22.  Sunlight in the courtyard catching this new aloe vera flower.

Saturday, June 23.  This is a great guard dog.  Seriously.  When I returned from my run on Saturday, Gracie was mostly inside but with her head outside, keeping tabs on the goings-on outside.

Sunday, June 24.  I had less than an hour at home during the day, in which I ate lunch.  After calling Gracie back from barking at a passing neighbourhood dog - and she came, too - I gave her a little treat.  She stayed for more.  I caved.

Monday, June 25.  After running a practice half marathon on Monday, the weather was quite cool and overcast.  Perfect practice weather.  Standing under the light, the light and shadow visible through the f-holes was striking.

Tuesday, June 26.  A sneak peek of tomorrow's post...  Growing up, my favourite food was green apples.  Apples, generally, but I remember a few bad experiences with red apples so I preferred green for a long time.  Whenever my mum was cooking with apples, I'd hang around for the peel.  An all-in-one peel was a bonus.  When visiting my grandparents, my grandfather (who was born in Scotland) told me that, if you peeled an apple or orange with an unbroken peel, you should throw it with your right hand over your left shoulder (preferably with your back to the fireplace), and the letter it most closely resembled would be the initial of the person you would marry.  (Not surprisingly, 'S' was a common result).  Similarly, twist an apple stalk going through the alphabet and the initial on which it breaks off is the initial of your future spouse.  This is a habit I still have.  Anyway, tonight I managed two unbroken apple peels.

Mariachi and French Twist

Yesterday, Viola Man asked if I'd be interested in being one of two violins for a mariachi gig coming up soon.  Well, why not?  Rehearsal this morning (thankfully!) was a great start to my holidays. 

Obviously, this was my first time.  It turned out to be the singer's first time also, and things weren't going superbly well until the bass and lead guitarists turned up.  Then, all these charts started to work properly.  Some of the music I found familiar(ish), some was totally new - but after playing the few songs we rehearsed several times, they are now on repeat in my head.  It was also like a Spanish immersion experience, about half the language spoken was Spanish and then it would switch suddenly to English.  I was surprised how much I could understand, although by the end my brain was a little slow.  Note: in a music rehearsal, numbers are important.

Having a morning rehearsal (what self-respecting muso does that, really?!) meant I was desperately in need of a coffee by about halfway through, and amazingly hungry by the end.  We went to the sushi place at the Barracks for lunch, then French Twist for a (much-needed!) coffee.  I've often walked past French Twist heading towards Libertini's, or back to the Palace Cinemas or fab, but never walked in.  I really like the French vibe - dark wood floors, display cases (with many yummy goodies), shelves with bottles and tea sets and things.  We had to go to 2 registers before we got to the one that would take our order, but once we'd ordered there wasn't a huge wait.  Having coffee in a gold-rimmed cup is lovely!  Coffee itself was average but (as you might have realised) the chocolate topping is important, and as that was good, it passes the test.

The Mount Isa Gig - Part 2

On Tuesday, I flew with a quartet to Mt Isa for a gig.  We were a morale-boosting team, effectively, and played for one of the phosphate mine's regular theme nights.  The day after the gig, we were due to be flown by the mine to Townsville - another new place for me.  As breakfast finished at 7 and the bus to the airstrip didn't leave til 9:30, we had a few hours to look around.  The first thing I noticed was the safety record sign.  I don't know if 20 days is a long time in mine safety (can anyone tell me?) but it was definitely a reminder of the sort of environment in which we found ourselves. 

A couple of the miners offered us a look around the mine, but it turned out we needed a 4 hour induction...  The boss, though, organised for us to be driven out to the mine and have a look around, even though we wouldn't be allowed in. 

Cue very Australian scenery.  Tuesday's skies were nothing but blue, but Wednesday had a fair bit of cloud cover.  The sun peeking through made for some fabulous colours!  I kept my eyes peeled for wildlife, but only saw a kangaroo.

The mine itself was impressive - all solar powered too.  The gypsum stacks were so large, the cranes look tiny at the top.  And because of the layout of the land, and the location, as soon as there are lightning strikes as close as 50km they have to pack up.

One last shot of the town - love that red soil and blue sky!

So, mine visit = New Thing #1 for Wednesday.  New Thing #2 was flying in a Fokker 100 to Townsville.  Giggle.  This was much bigger than Tuesday's rubber band plane, this had about 100 seats.  With all these mine folk knocking off, effectively, I was still surprised by the amount of alcohol I saw being consumed on this flight.

Our flight arrived in Townsville about midday.  We all reconnected with the world and didn't talk until we picked up our bags (absolutely no phone service for a whole day).  Our flight to Brisbane wasn't until 8:10pm - the last for the day and obviously the cheapest flight.  Townsville airport doesn't have lockers.  Thankfully, Mikey was just going to study, so we caught a taxi to town, and parked ourselves inside the Townsville Brewery.

After lunch and a game of Scrabble, Viola Man and I set off for Castle Hill - after the obligatory "I'm in Townsville" photo.

Yes, it's winter, but Townsville in the early afternoon is not all that cold.  In the sun, and climbing a steep hill, it was actually quite warm.  Super skinny jeans, long socks, black top and converse were maybe not the greatest choice.  Some workmen we passed even laughed at us, saying "it's really steep!"  But it was worth it - a fabulous view of the water and islands.

We came down for a much-needed coffee, then walked along the Strand and back.

Our flight home...well, we knew we were in for not great treatment.  Jetstar has a reputation, and it is not good.  They are so picky about carry-on size!  Our violin cases were about 10cm too long (although much narrower).  Mikey took out his violin, showed that it was acceptable, and said he would take his violin on board like that.  Viola Man did the same.  I took a deep breath and trusted my case (knowing I'm a bit clumsy and would be likely to run into something).  I then chewed my lip for the entire waiting time and flight time.  The cello always has to be checked in, so Mikey and Viola Man had a jam session.  No one complained - in fact, while waiting at baggage claim, some other passengers started dancing.  Which was great, but if I'm flown somewhere for a gig again, I'll stipulate that I will not fly Jetstar.  Other than that though, this was a great 2nd day.  What an experience!

The Mount Isa Gig

Just before Easter, I received a text from someone I don't know.  "Looking for a violinist for a quartet gig in Mt Isa"... Ok...but I don't know who you are... "Flights, accommodation, food all paid for, plus [$$] for 3 hours playing"... Sounds great, but I don't know who you are!!!  A few more details, then he told me who gave him my number, so I calmed down a bit and checked my diary.  Normally I'm a little cautious about who's playing when I accept a gig, especially if it's a long one, and especially if traveling is involved.  I'm even pickier with travel companions.  But, in the spirit of trying new things, I told myself to just plug in my earphones if necessary and just play, enjoy going to somewhere new in the middle of a school week.  The next day I found out who else was playing and I breathed a sigh of relief, then did a little happy dance.  Tuesday morning found me then at the airport, bound for Mt Isa.

First New Thing: traveling Qantas for the first time in years and years.  More than that though was the commuter feel of the flight.  No-one seemed to be going on holidays, Mt Isa is pretty much a working town.  And I've never had to catch 2 planes to a gig before!

New Thing #2: hitching a ride on a rubber-band plane.  This was a slightly larger one than they would normally use - ours was a 10-seater instead of the usual 5-seater.  I loved it.  Felt much more like real flying.  From reading a detective book a long time ago, I was prepared for the "how much does your luggage weigh?" and "how much do you weigh?" questions.

The pilot, our co-passengers, the miners and everyone else we came across - they were all so friendly, warm, and welcoming.  I felt not quite like a part of the family, not quite an honoured guest, but somewhere in between.

It was about a 20 minute flight to the mine.  The airstrip is about halfway between the actual mine and the village.  We found out those are 20km apart because they know if there's an acid explosion it can travel up to 19km.  The village used to be an actual town named Monument (there's an Aboriginal sacred site visible from most of the town), and it's mostly blocks of 4 rooms and 2 bathrooms, with some houses.  It's basic, but people are there to work.  There is a big emphasis on health and safety.  Health facilities (a gym, pool, tennis courts, lumpy football field) as well as nutritional advice and self-test breathalysers surrounded us.  Rules are strict and enforced - failing to wear a seat belt, driving over the speed limit, and turning up to a shift over the limit are all instant-sacking offences. 

The gig itself was in 2 bits, a set for those just waking up for the night shift, then a longer set for those coming off a shift.  The idea was a black-tie theme night, and we were the first live band they've flown in.  I wasn't really sure what to expect.  We definitely weren't doing the 'oh my special day must be perfect and I just want classy strings playing just classical music' thing.  We played a mix of classical and not - like tangos, ACDC, Beatles, jazz, Billy Joel, Queen.  And they seemed to love it!  We were warned the first crew would probably be not so enthusiastic - they would have just woken up and knew they were missing out on the 'real' party, and were just about to work - but I got a nice vibe from them, some took photos and some hung around to listen.  The second crew were definitely enthusiastic.  The black-tie idea was embraced by some, and given a nod by others.  Most there were just coming in from working, were still in their fluoro work gear but added a bow-tie.  A few sparkles, a few broken glasses, nice food.  Many people came up and complimented us.

We went to the bar area afterwards and had some drinks, played ping pong, foosball (for one goal - then the ball was lost and a very Aussie scene ensued), and pool.  Standing around gossiping about other musos, we were then approached by a miner in a yellow, acid-resistant suit.  A bit of chat later, and it came out that most of the miners were out in the beer garden and thought we were too posh to have a party.  Acid Suit Man said, he was pretty sure we would have gone to uni, so we'd be fine for a bit of drinking.  And so we got to know the miners a little better.

I must admit, I was quite anti-mine before this.  The destruction of our country is not something I can readily support.  However, from the first plane flight onwards, I started to realise that this is life for so many people.  It's not an easy life - the work is dangerous, the locations are isolated, you're away from your family and friends for stretches of time - so the mines try to make it as bearable as possible.  There was a real vibe of trying to look after the workers in body and soul.

Aside from that, I felt so much a part of the Real Australia.  The red soil, big blue skies, flies, that feeling of being so far in the middle of the country (relative to Brisbane anyway!), the silence, emus and kangaroos and all sorts of birds, and the people.  Greetings are standard and often sound like Carl Barron's "Owzitgarn".  People work out how to do things without a shopping centre down the street - like Luke's cufflinks made from nuts and bolts.  Acid Suit Man's suit he'd stapled together that afternoon - I wish I'd got a photo before it was ripped off him (he only just avoided a face plant - yes, this was a tame night).  Interesting fact: you have to be clean-shaven to work.  You can tell if someone's going home the next day as they won't have shaved.

Ooh, New Thing # whatever we're up to - I don't normally do drinks with lots of people I don't know.  Our other violinist had an early night so he could study, but photos were taken of me, Viola Man, Dani (our cellist), Luke (cufflinks) and Acid Suit Man (Tyson).

I think I like this less-composed photo better!

Kitchen Appliance Reorganisation

A few months ago, Viola Man hosted a quartet night and I discovered we had matching coffee grinders and coffee machines.  His were side by side, which is nice and logical.  Mine were not.  My grinder was to the left of the sink, in the corner next to the stove.  My coffee machine was to the right of the sink, next to the microwave.  This irregularity has been on my mind ever since that quartet night.  This morning, I decided enough was enough.  I would move the microwave to the left of the sink, and the coffee grinder next to the coffee machine. 

After today's gig (playing for the official opening of the North Lakes Day Hospital), I had a snack and a cup of tea, then got to work.  The coffee grinder I moved to the bit of bench in front of the microwave.  The microwave is huge (the reason, in fact, I have it - my old neighbour redid her kitchen and it wouldn't fit in the new one), and it is heavy, so I kind of slid it along past the sink.  There I remembered why it's been where it's been.  It takes up almost the entire corner between the stove and the sink.  Hmm.  Plan B: keep the microwave in its corner, move the coffee machine to the left of the sink (keeping the grinder there, obviously).  This has the added benefit of not dripping water over clean dishes in the drying rack.  The drawback is, if it's to look all neat and symmetrical, it's a long reach to get to the switch on the grinder, but I think I can deal with it.

Yes, I bought a 'cappuccino shaker' about a week ago.  I love it.

Today's Daily Photo:

3 parts of this photo.  1 - it's at a gig (it's Saturday, after all), during the speeches.  2 - I'm wearing my new leopard print stockings, purchased yesterday, and feeling rather daring.  3 - I have my violin back!  Just before the staff concert, the fingerboard started coming off.  Yes, that was 2 months ago and I only just got him repaired (not by my regular violin repairer, who's on leave for a while).  I love having my violin back.  The other violin I play is lovely and I am so fortunate to be able to play her, but she's not mine, and I'm very conscious of her story when playing.  But my violin is my violin, and it feels so right playing him again.  And yes, the other violin is female (a 'strong woman' according to her maker), and mine is male.  A very French male.

Ted's Place

 This is the view from Ted's place.  Ted is an 80-something-yr-old from church, who has been building a place up in the mountains for many many years.  At least once a year he invites a crowd up for lunch.  Every time, I have declined the invitation.

I am not a very social person.  The idea of being in the mountains with a group of oldies... well, it's not a terribly inviting proposition.  At a Christmas party last year, I had a brainwave.  I much prefer playing at parties rather than being a real guest, so I thought if I took my trio up and played, I could still accept the invitation but not feel socially awkward.  Ted was thrilled with the idea and has been handing out invitations for about a month.  Because yesterday was St Patrick's Day, there was a bit of an Irish/green theme.  I didn't actually end up taking the trio, as my brother (the cellist) was running a half marathon this evening, but Jeannie and I played duos. 

I wore a green bracelet from the Eumundi markets, and lime green retro platform stilettos.  No pic of them just yet, but I'm hoping to wear them this week.  It seems there were as many comments about my shoes as there were our playing.

We started with Jigs, Reels and Hornpipes and then moved on to tangos.  This group (maybe 40 people, at a guess) was the most appreciative audience we'd ever entertained.  They danced, they clapped, they cheered and whistled, and all at the right times.  They even fed us.  After we'd finished, another guest (who happens to be an actor, entertainer, amazing brain) sang a song and told a story, and another guest sang a song also.  There were a few tears...

I was very glad to be playing (and therefore have only a short time for socialising), and very glad to have Jeannie there as well, but even gladder to have finally accepted an invitation to see Ted's place. 

The Embrace of Technology

I often have parents say to me, "I have no idea if she's getting it right or not.  I'm hopeless with music".  I've found that a lot of parents feel out of their depth when it comes to helping their children.  For some of them, this is partly by design, as they realise when they don't do it for their kids, the kids are forced to learn it all fully, themselves.  One of them even said that to me yesterday - and this is from a parent who is able to occasionally sit in on the lessons.  But a lot of my students I teach during school, and their parents don't really have the option to come in and listen.  Plus, I see most of my students for a half hour lesson.  Minus the time it takes to collect and return the little ones.  Minus the time it takes the older ones to remember they have a lesson, ask their teacher to leave, and make the trip to my teaching room.  And then they are back in school, absorbing a whole lot of other information.  Not to mention, the multitude of extra-curricular activities undertaken by young people these days.

It would be great if I could send my kids away and they remembered how to work out how to do something, even if they didn't actually remember how to do it straight off.  But...  In recent years a few parents have asked for Youtube recommendations.  I resisted a little (I much prefer students to work it out themselves), but it really minimises conflict at home if the parents can show a Youtube video to their child and say, See it really doesn't sound like what you just played.  Last year, I upgraded to an iPhone, and near the end of the year I discovered the sound quality of string playing on the Voice Memo function is really not bad.  This year, I have started recording what the student needs to practice that week, or the new thing, or something that still isn't right.  Then on Thursdays I email it through to the parents or, sometimes, direct to the student.  Some students have now started bringing their ipod to their lesson and I can record straight onto that.

I started noticing benefits straight away.  As soon as I did the first recording for one child, that student looked up at me with big eyes and said "Wow.  You're really good".  Well, yes.  I'm a professional.  This way the student hears, right from the beginning, what the goal is.  Tuning, rhythm, and musicality have a benchmark, and the student can aim for my way immediately.  Moreover, the parents can hear that benchmark as well, and even if they are, in fact, "hopeless with music", they can compare notes (ooh, sorry for the terrible pun!).  And as the weeks progress, they accumulate a collection of recordings of everything they need to be playing.  One parent even emailed me yesterday to let me know that her child practices playing along to my recordings, and if they don't match, she has to start again.  Gold.

Outfit #12 - Bonus! - Staff Concert

 Tonight was the school's annual Music Staff Concert.  I can humbly say, it was pretty spectacular (as it always is).  I can't really imagine wearing something other than black to perform, so the black dress came out again.  I love these shoes (I know I say that a lot, but still...).  They may look dainty and uncomfortable, but I've worn these for 14 hour days and still felt human.  Stiletto, but a mini platform, a strap to keep things in place, a cute little bow.  These photos were taken once I returned home, but I think it's the camera rather than the tiredness that's the cause of the red eyes.  Although, this was the least scary of the lot.

Outfit:
Dress: Hot Options.  Shoes: Pulp Noir.  Earrings: silver roses.  Hair clip: ???  Violin: made by Arthur John Parkes.  It's a long story, but he's now a bishop.

Obviously, the concert was not in my living room.  And I never actually play in this exact spot, ever, because there's a wall. 

I work with really talented people.  Not just great teachers, but really skilled performers.  We should be charging $50 a ticket minimum!  It's a bargain at gold coin donation.  I was part of 3 things, as well as the (unrehearsed) group staff thing at the end.  5 of us on strings accompanied our Head of Music and a singing teacher in 2 parts of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater.  3 of us performed the last movement of the Brahms trio for French horn, violin and piano (agh!  written in a key that's great for horn, not for violin).  And 2 of us performed the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia duo, on violin and viola.  This was the 2nd time I've performed that piece, and thankfully it went much, much better this time.  The last time, my E string slipped near the top of the last page, and I just could not foresee success for those ridiculous runs.  I had to stop, retune, and then start up again - it really ruined the mood.  This time, all strings stayed put, the music (mostly) stayed on the music stand, and after the first couple of bits my arms and brain calmed down.  And because I apparently have a smile fixed to my face whenever I'm performing, no-one could tell the nerves were there.  Success!

The Teaching Policy

For the last couple of years, I've been a fairly cruisey teacher.  If a student couldn't make a lesson for some reason, that was fine.  I'd use the time to practice or check Facebook.  When I was not given much notice for a student who paid cash, and they asked for a lesson at a different time, I'd accommodate them because I knew I wouldn't be paid otherwise.  But towards the end of last year, it got worse - 10 minutes' notice for a really poor excuse, for example.  Or forgetting.

One of the discussions during summer school centred on billing students, and there was an article doing the rounds from a parent's perspective.  This parent believed if you can't make your appointed lesson time, you should not ask for another time, no matter how much notice you give, and you should still pay for the time.  He was an economist and had a well thought-out argument regarding perishable goods etc.  I know I can't jump straight in and tell the parents of my students that, but I started thinking about this.

And then I realised that the only way I will be able to budget for anything successfully would be if I became less Nice.  So, after thinking about this for a while, I wrote up my new Policy today.  It took a while to work out how to say "Pay me my money!" but eventually I found a suitable wording.  It still has the 4 hours' minimum notice for cancellation, but they are now required to pay me if they don't give enough notice and I will send an invoice if I haven't received payment for a missed lesson.  Deep breaths.  Now I just need to be strong and stick to it. 

Every year I put in a word about practicing.  This year I included a sentence about priorities.  I am sick of hearing "Oh I do a lot of sport, on Monday I do this, on Tuesday I do this".... It just goes on and on.  Yet there are others who do all those things and still fit in regular practice.  I like those students.  And generally, they like their lessons a whole lot more than the other sort of student.  This year also has a note on buying instruments.  Cheaper is not better when it comes to violins.  If you skimp on a violin, at best it will just be hard for the student to make a good sound.  But at worst, you'll be replacing parts that will quickly cost more than the original cost of the instrument.  And it will still sound bad and be hard to play.  Always buy the best you can afford.

Outfit #7

 Outfit details:
Shirt dress: Jeanswest (op shop).  Belt: Target.  Leggings: Ambra.  Shoes: from Jeannie.  Olympics earrings: gift.

I think of these earrings as Olympics earrings.  They were a birthday present I received during the last Olympics, and they are gold, silver and bronze (although it's a bit hard to see in the photo).

Today needed a bit of a fun outfit (yes, all black can be fun...) as I was helping with grade 3 strings for the first time.  I won't wear a short skirt next time - I forgot how little grade 3 kids can be, and there was a bit more 'sitting on the floor' time than I had anticipated.  For them.  This was my first group string lesson experience.  I've never taught a group of more than 2, and when they're in an ensemble they can already play.  Trying to position 18 violins/violas on little shoulders not used to this whole shoulder rest/chin rest thing, with the addition of school badges, making it not incredibly uncomfortable - it's tough.  And then all over again in the next class.  I had one boy approach me after - "can you put on badges?  Can you put mine back on for me?"  Their teacher (their real teacher, doing all the work) does such a great job.  All the kids said at the end that it was really fun.  And mostly they could count to 4 and do a little dance in the middle (interesting, in some cases, very energetic in most cases).