The music must go on

It was my 6th violin lesson today and it has been an interesting learning experience so far. My teacher is very patient and more enthusiastic about my playing skills than yours truly. I love to playing the violin and feel so refreshed after every class. I am having a hard time co-ordinating the notes I see and finding the corresponding note on the string. But hey...I am trying. My order for a metronome was delivered today and it was different playing with that ticking sound. I have still not mastered 'holding' the bow and keep getting corrected every class.

I met student A in my first class. She has her class after mine and would usually come in a few minutes early with her mom. She must be a teenager and I've never heard her play although I've entertained her with my 'open note' skills. I met student B for the first time a few weeks ago and got a shock. He cannot be more than 6 years old ! He was so tiny and cute and my jaw hit the floor when I heard him play Bach. How could anyone so tiny play something so advanced?!! I was so amazed and felt so strange to be learning to play at my age. So every time I go for my class, I listen to B play and enjoy it so much.

I missed a class last week and rescheduled it for today evening. I met student C who was playing before my class. I met an 'adult' student for the first time and he was playing superb songs. C must be in his 40's and I was really happy to see an adult learning to play. My day got even better, when my class ended and I met student D. She must be around my age and she was the first person I met who was also learning to play from Wohlfart. He wrote these learning books for violin more than 100 years ago ! Anyway, coming back to D, I told her I was so happy to see an adult learning from the same book as me (beginners). She expressed similar feelings and commented about only meeting kids playing so well and giving her a complex ! We laughed and encouraged each other. Our teacher told us to just keep practising and not give up :-) .

The Crater Lake Weekend

V and I sent off early on Saturday morning and headed towards Oregon on I-5 in the wee hours of the morning. We're spending the long weekend in Fort Klamath near Crater Lake with 2 other friends. After driving for a couple of hours, we finally took an exit to highway 58. The scenery changed dramatically as we drove past beautiful lakes, sometimes on either side of the road. One of them was simply called Lookout Point Lake and it was beautiful, the right side of the lake looked blue while the left looked green. We're finally getting closer to the destination and decided to check on our friends, R and VA. Sadly, neither V not I had a cell phone signal at this point. How frustrating ! Ofcourse, we seem to be surrounded by the most beautiful mountains and green pastures and not a soul was in sight for miles. There were no other cars on the road, very few houses were seen. There were many cows, horses and even a few animals that looked like an alpaca in the pastures. My phone rang suddenly and it was VA, he asked us to turnaround as we had just passed him at the intersection. We got lucky to have been in a small section where all of us had signal and no other cars were in sight.

It was already past noon and so the first agenda of the day was lunch. None of us recalled having passed any restaurants nearby and so we just kept driving on highway 97. We suddenly spotted a restaurant called Melita's and it seemed decent. We went pleasantly surprised that it was very cosy inside and the menu actually looked very appealing. There were quite a few veggie options, bearing in mind that we seemed to be literally in the middle of nowhere. VA and I ordered some jalapeño melts while V and R tried some chicken. The food was fantastic and the prices were cheaper that most restaurants. We quickly decided that we would come for dinner and even decided what to eat.

We proceeded to check-in into our inn, and were happy with the accommodation. The Aspen Inn was very comfortable and incredibly cute cottage. There was a queen size bed downstairs and 2 twin beds on the loft. The bathroom was very clean, and they had the oldest microwave and TV model that I had ever seen. The owners were also very friendly and amiable. We took all the local maps that we needed and asked for recommendations on things to do and finally headed towards the lake.

Crater Lake was incredibly beautiful. The snow added to its beauty as all of us stood mesmerized for sometime. The R unpacked his camera gear and started talking pictures with his SLR. I did not expect so much snow and just wore sneakers to the lake, as a result found it very slippery. We then decided to get some warm coffee in the lodge. The challenge seemed to be that it was completely covered in snow and we did not where the entrance was. We went off the beaten path and did a hike through the snow, and I slipped and fell, to the great amusement of all. We got our warmth back inside and we also bought some souvenir's. The lady at the counter gave us some ideas on where we could go the next day. As the rim was covered with snow, there was not much we could see at the lake. We left the lodge when we noticed a nice entry to it from the street. The trek through the snow was unnecessary after all !

We then set off towards Diamond lake when it started raining. We finally reached the lake and found a look out point. We were not very happy with the sight, perhaps, the rain and cold weather had a role in it. It was a pretty lake but not worth driving 1.5 hours in the rain. We then drove back and reached Melita's at dinner time. The pasta I ordered was heavy but tasty. We had one of the best salad's there. Satisfied, all of us went back to get some rest.

Day 2 - to be continued.

What to do in the next 10 years

Archana tagged me to write about my plans for the next 10 years. So, here is a list of 10 things I would like to do in the next 10 years, in no particular order.

1. Buy a house.
Hopefully I will have money saved up for it soon :-)
I would like to have a room where I can play my violin (so that no one complains).

2. Travel to Europe.
This is something I always wanted to do. I happened to watch a lot of Rick Steves travel shows recently and am inspired to travel to Europe more than ever. While on the topic, I would say I love his travel shows the best followed by samantha brown on travel channel.

3. Learn to Swim.
This has been on my list of things to learn for a long time, hopefully I learn it this summer. I love being in the water, sadly, never learned to swim.

4. Play in an orchestra.
As a child, whenever I heard violin concerts on the radio, I would aspire to play in a western orchestra. I still feel the same, hopefully with my baby steps, in learning western classical, I will achieve this goal.

5. Be fit.
Last year, has been very erratic and I've neglected the gym. I am making amends now and trying to get back to something I really enjoy. I hope to lose weight and be fit soon and continue being 'fit as a fiddle' over the years to come.

6. Career and Personal Growth.
Well, I just started working and hope to grow in my career. I've a few certification exams I am planning to take soon. Hopefully I will pass them hehehe. I also want to learn a foreign language and take some formal dancing classes with my hubby. I also want to learn to paint, don't know if I have the skills for it, but want to definitely give it a try.

7. Be a better person.
I've so much to improve and change in myself. I hope to be a better daughter, a better wife, a better friend and a better person each year. I hope to make new friends, keep in touch with my old friends, and share new experiences with the ones I love.

8. Spiritual Growth.
I've so many plans in this area, and I hope to achieve them. Someday, I would be able to dedicate atleast 10 minutes of my time to just meditate.

9. Enjoy Life.
In today's busy lifestyle, we sometimes, forget the simple pleasures in life. I hope to balance all the elements in life and enjoy the ride ! I would like to continue enjoying all outdoor activities, travel, hike, dance, enjoy good food and take life as it comes. I want to have a beautiful garden and a dog :-)

10. Be more organized.
I like being organized and am not happy over many of my current habits. I hope I improve and find time for all the things I want to do !

Violin Blues

I was 10 years old when I had my first violin lesson in carnatic music. I don't really remember much about it, except that my teacher was a very patient lady. I had classes every weekend and I used to find them very boring. I stopped after a year due to reasons I don't remember now. Then, I began to learn again after when I was a teenager; this stint was longer for about 3 years. I was one of those students who was quick to learn but practiced very little. My parents always encouraged me to practice and get better at it. By now, I enjoyed playing the instrument but was still lethargic about practicing.

After a gap of a couple of years, I decided to give it my shot again. It was back to sarali varisai and the usual path; this time I reached varanams (songs). It was a good achievement for me; just because of my sheer laziness. My mother always used to say that I would miss it later and I used to be amused. I quit playing when I was in my engineering and hardly touched the instrument after that.

Fast forward a few years, I am in the US and I begin to miss playing my violin; especially when I hear any song with a violin in it. My mother was right (aren't they always?). I did think about enrolling in a class but never got around to it.

All that changed today. I went to the violin store and picked out an instrument to rent. I figured that I would start playing and then buy my own instrument later. I also found an instructor and would start my first western classical lesson in a couple of weeks. Till then, I am going to try to play all the carnatic music lessons that I can pull of the web. I am very excited about playing a violin again. It would be interesting to learn a different style of playing.

I only hope my neighbors don't complain :-)

Ash hears a Boo

Over the last couple of days, I watched two interesting period movies, both approximately in the 16th century.

The first one as this title suggests, stars, the actress I love to hate, Ash. Frankly, I did not want to watch the movie, Jodhaa Akbar; but V wanted to and his friends were waiting for us in the theater. Surprisingly, the movie was not bad at all. This is one of those few where I could bear, Ash's acting. She looked beautiful and sleep-walked through the role. Hritik looked good too. The movie was shot well, the palaces were just beautiful. There is a scene, when Jodhaa comes to her new palace, and she is shown to her room. It was so grand ! She had a room just for changing clothes that was bigger than my whole apartment! The jewelery was gorgeous, in fact, I was surprised at some of the styles, as they resembled the popular costume jewelery of today. I have seen very Bollywood movies with huge war scenes, this was one of the few. It was not fantastic but good for desi style. Watching one of the war scenes, reminded me of a game of chess, complete with soldiers, horsemen and powerful people of elephants. The songs were also good. The only thing bad about the movie was the length, it was too long and tended to just drag. But, looks like it is not very popular at the box office; especially for Ash. Interesting fact I learned during the movie, did you know that Akbar the great was an illiterate? That did not stop him from being one of the greatest rulers though.

The second movie, the other boleyn girl, was also very interesting (spoilers below). The story is based on the rivalry between 2 sisters, Anne and Mary, over King Henry VIII. Mary becomes the King's mistress first and gives birth to a son. Then, her sister has an affair with the King; she drives the King to divorce his wife, Catherine. His marriage is on the rocks because the Queen cannot give birth to a son, so in order to divorce her, he even makes up his own law and goes against the church ! Tut, tut ! Men ! The King then marries Anne Boleyn, she gives birth to a girl. She then succumbs to pressure for giving birth to a son, gets desperate and almost cheats with her brother !! This is seen by the brother's wife, and she reports to the King. Needless to say, the King, who is already unhappy by now and overcome with regret, charges the Queen and her brother. They are both sentenced to death. Phew ! Quite a story, eh? Now, comes the most interesting part, Anne Boleyn's daughter, becomes the greatest Monarch of England, Queen Elizabeth I !! Yes, folks, all this is a part of history.

It was interesting to see both these movies, and the role of women in those days. It seemed to revolve around, giving birth to a male heir; combined with politics, manipulation, power, lies, etc....somethings never change eh?

Lets eat Wasabi !

My friends visited us from the Bay area and Dallas for New Year and we were out in downtown Seattle one night. I had heard a lot about a Moroccan restaurant called Marakesh and so decided to eat dinner there. So, 6 souls braved the cold weather and walked to 2nd street from Seattle Center. We finally found the place and were really hungry. The restaurant was so popular, that we did not get a table. Dejected, we decided to find something else. P suggested Wasabi Bistro less than a block away on the same street. Some of us had never tried a sushi place and this one seemed really nice from outside. The staff was very friendly and we got a table soon. The restaurant looked really nice and they had some really nice options for vegetarians too. So, we're all settled in, had miso soup, some delectable tofu starters (the best tofu I've ever eaten) and waited for the main course.

The waitress was really friendly and suggested some dishes that were not on the menu. We happily ate everything she brought to our table. I had a sushi roll called green decadence roll which looked like a caterpillar. It was very tasty and so were the other dishes. It was a totally enjoyable dinner where everything was just right. I tasted the pungent wasabi for the first time. Then, suddenly the guys started talking about who would finish their wasabi; and before we knew it, there was a wasabi competition. This was pure fun for me and A, who kept laughing at everybody's reaction to wasabi. At the end of the night, all the 4 guys with us had finished their wasabi. S was crowned Wasabi King for having finished the fastest. Then, it was time to head back into the cold night. We had a good time with good friends. I would definitely go back and enjoy the sushi rolls.

The next night, we went back for dinner to marrakesh and were disappointed. The food was average and pricey and it was not worth it.

I prefer going to wasabi bistro anyday.