Beginning the Winter Months..

Winter can be a long ordeal in this part of the country if you're not equipped to deal with endless days of snow, cold, and sunless skies. I usually try to keep the doldrums at bay by immersing myself in the things that sometimes get pushed aside during the flighty days of Spring and Summer.

I don't concern myself with trying to find ponderous material to stretch my brain cells. If it comes my way and I welcome it, so be it.

The first book of the new year that I've read is Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. It's chick lit from the same duo that gave us The Nanny Diaries, however I liked this story better.

Part of what grabbed me and had me laughing throughout the story was that the character is the same age as me and the book featured flashbacks to the main character's youth. The authors manage to mostly accurately capture the era and the trials of junior high and high school. Plus, the main driver of the story is that a girl finally is given the opportunity to tell off a guy who hurt her. I had the guts and opportunity to do this a few times in my previous dating career. There is a certain satisfaction when the telling off is deserved.



Pictures And Sound's self-titled album is something I downloaded from eMusic a month or two ago, but just started listening to more frequently. Yes, the lead singer sounds a bit like Chris Martin of Coldplay, but I like the simplicity of these songs. My favorite so far is "It's You" (Behind the scenes on recording this song starts at the 1:19 point).




Now that I've had a few weeks off from my dizzying schedule of performances, I realized I should replace my strings on my violin before rehearsals for Warren Orchestra started up this month. I decided to try a new brand per Violinist.com's Guide to Choosing Violin Strings.

The Pirastro tonica set for violin seemed to fit my needs and the price wasn't bad on Shar. Unfortunately, I didn't quite have the funds to purchase a back-up of the same brand. For that reason, I've been saving the old set of strings I take off my violin just in case I'm met with a breakage.