The Wonderful World of Manchester

Vermont is exactly what you would call "idyllic." Manchester, in particular, is just as quaint and charming as you could possibly imagine (due, I suspect, to ridiculous zoning laws). The entire town looks a lot like this:



Adorable, isn't it? There's so much green and cute little cottages and shops and sheepdog trials and anything you could imagine that is adorable. I've decided, though, that there are a different set of rules in Vermont than elsewhere.

1. You must mow your lawn (on a riding mower, no matter how large or small your lawn is) at LEAST three times a week.
2. Fifty percent of the citizens must drive Subarus.
3. You may not wear jeans with holes in them.
4. You may not use any swear words, or any obscene hand gestures.
5. You may not have sex.
6. All shops must be closed by 8pm (or earlier, if possible).

I'm not entirely sure about #5 (haven't done a lot of research), but they have all these cute little Bed and Breakfasts, and every house here looks like it could be on a postcard, and I think the entire state would lose its innocent charm if people were doing The Nasty inside their adorable little country cottages.

Anyway, it's great here, if a little humid (and this room a little musty-smelling). We're two weeks down, four to go, and I am definitely missing home, and that special someone who I get to marry in a few months. I know, call the wah-mbulance.

I'm a Thief!

I stole this from Jessie's blog. She didn't tag me, but I'm sitting here at the church with no space to practice but with internet access--so here goes:



10 years ago: I was thirteen--just out of 7th grade--awkward, and trying desperately to be "cool," which at thirteen meant little more than wearing the right kind of shoes and hanging out with the right people (even so, I couldn't quite cut it). I was unhappy and trying to be someone I was not, and having a hard time trying to make who I was and who I wanted to be the same person.

5 years ago: It was the summer between high school and my first year of college, and was in very many ways an important one for me. I was eighteen and thought I had reached the pinnacle of my existence. During this summer, I had my first pseudo-boyfriend (along with my first kiss), was preparing madly for the cross-country move, and DEFINITELY thought the world revolved around me.

5 months ago: It was January. I had just returned from a trip to Hawai'i with my family--the first time I'd been away from Andy since we'd started dating three months prior--and I'd just realized how much I missed him and wanted him to be a part of my life.


5 things on my to-do list:

1. practice, practice, practice
2. write a letter to the grandparents
3. call the temple
4. try to get a hold of the lady for a ride to church on Sunday
5. practice some more


5 snacks:

1. baby carrots
2. apples and peanut butter
3. Clif bars
4. peanut butter crackers
5. okay, cookies.


5 billionaire things:

1. buy a house for Andy and me
2. buy a baroque cello, and maybe upgrade my modern cello
3. travel the world: Japan, India, Egypt, Australia, Thailand, Brazil, etc.
4. found a school for children in developing countries
5. donate to lots of charities


5 places I have lived:

1. Sierra Dr.
2. Magnolia St.
3. The Regency #11
4. The Regency #13
5. The Random House


5 things you might not know about me:

1. My right eye is way worse than my left eye
2. I'm a sucker for reality TV shows
3. I've been a vegetarian since my freshman year of high school
4. My bra size
5. I wash my feet almost every night before I go to bed


5 people I tag:

I refuse to tag five people.

Hip hip hooray!

The most exciting discovery of the day is the fact that there is a very strong wireless signal at the church where all our activities are housed for the festival. If I'd known that before, I could have been checking my email from the comfort of my own laptop during my lunch hour!

So far, so good, though, here in the Manchester Music Festival. Vermont is beautiful, and so ridiculously green. I guess I'm used to Texas, where there is just death all summer long. The weather is great, if a little moist, and the people are really nice. I'm sharing a house with four other musicians, and it's great.

Saw Wall-E on Saturday night, and it made me cry. I missed The Boy so very much--the vast majority of the movies I have seen recently have been with him, and it made me sad to watch a movie about robot-love and not have him next to me. I just wanted to hold his hand and put my head on his shoulder and be close to him . . . sigh. I'm a sap.

Today, I get to teach a ten-year-old boy how to play the cello from ground zero. We get a week to teach them, and I don't know how effective that is going to be. Oh well. I'm glad I have one of the older kids and not one of the tiny ones.

Anyway, I miss everyone. Especially The Boy. Sigh.

In the Green Mountains . . .

As soon as the rest of my quintet gets here, I'm going to have to drop this post and go play some Dvorak, but for right now, let me just briefly tell you what's going on:

I'm here in Vermont, at the Manchester Music Festival, playing chamber music all day and enjoying the beautiful, charming town that surrounds me. I'm playing the Dvorak piano quintet, and also the Arensky two cello quartet, both of which are great fun. It's so far been great, and I'm far less homesick than I was in Toronto. I don't really know why that is, but I suspect it may have to do with the fact that I know some people and I'm not living all by myself.

Anyway, the rest of the group is here now, so I'd better go start unpacking to be ready to play my little heart out.

Maybe I'll update more later, but I don't have anyplace for easy internet access, so that's not a surety.

The Question

It was perfect. :-)

"The Question"
(Old 97s)

She woke from a dream
Her head was on fire
Why was he so nervous?
He took her to the park
She crossed her arms
And lowered her eyelids

Someday, somebody's gonna ask you
A question that you should say yes to
Once in your life
Baby, tonight I've got a question for you

She had no idea
Started to cry
She said in a good way
He took her by the hand
Walked her back home
And they took the long way

Someday, somebody's gonna ask you
The question that you should say "yes" to
Once in your life
Maybe tonight I've got a question for you

I've got a question for you...