Month: May 2011

A massive weekend is behind us. Thomas and I have just come home after having seen three movies in as many days. Thanks, Groupon. 

Oh yes, the length of my hair will be right about here this time next year. I just won’t have that mustache.

We also reserved our reception site for the wedding. I made sure to warn him that my hair is quite likely to resemble William H. Macy’s in “Lincoln Lawyer” by that point (yes, this is one of the three movies we saw over these past few days). I will have to dye it a nice off-blond, just like Will. 


One reason I have to believe I am actually in my mid-eighties: I complimented (truthfully) one of the residents I had in a my music therapy groups on his delicious choice of footwear. Yes, Velcro played a major role in the construction of this shoe. And yes, there was food on the shoe. 


On the wedding front: I had a dream the other night that our guests were falling asleep at our reception because the music was so poor, but I saved the day by calling the DJ of my high school prom(s). Those guests were much happier dancing to Shania Twain, Sublime, and the like, than to the nothing that we had apparently provided.


In other words, the Memorial Day weekend has been very nice. Now, to another week. 

Tonight I hosted a group for music therapists and interns who live in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area. The group went well– we shared songs, improvised, and even got to Skype with one of our newer colleagues who recently moved to Indiana. 


I have visions for this group. I’d love for us to meet on a monthly basis and facilitate workshops for each other, such as guitar maintenance, vocal warm-ups for those therapists who were not trained in voice, and even how to utilize social media. Hopefully, more of the music therapy community will join. Ideas abound. (One of the perks for hosting this group is that Thomas bakes chocolate chip cookies for anyone who is there. Damn good cookies.)


I also have visions of conducting research in the future. But that’s for another time.

I will keep this short. I just got home from my first softball practice. My first fastpitch softball experience of any kind in nine years. 


I can hardly type, nor can I properly grip my beer. 


Now I have calloused fingertips on my left hand from playing guitar and violin, and a possibly- soon-to-be calloused index finger on my right (from pitching– who knows how much I’ll actually do at this point).

Wear your gem sweater. (Another picture not taken by me.)

One of my best friends just informed me that he is going to get married next summer, too. Here is what he and his fiancé will be enjoying. Lucky.


“If you want to survive, just shoot them in the brains.” — Leslie Hall

I enjoy shopping in essentially no circumstance. Yesterday, we went shopping for eight hours. Eight hours. A full night’s sleep. We happened into this Disney World-esque town that consisted of brand new shops, stores, and restaurants, mashed into a few blocks, surrounded by massive piles of the dirt that was moved to accommodate their existence. I say it was Disney World-esque because it seemed so new and pretty and resort-like. I could’ve sworn we were states away from Minnesota, only because this weird place seemed so foreign… And now you can tell how often I go shopping, and for that matter, shopping in suburbia. 


Tornadoes touched down, damaged property, and killed and injured people in Minneapolis yesterday. The weather seems to be especially bad these past few months. Thankfully, we were not affected by the weather and do not know anyone who was, but I feel for those people who were. 


Partially because of the weather, we did not go camping this weekend as we had planned. The other part of the reason is that I am much more indoorsy than outdoorsy. I like being outdoors, so long as I have access to the indoors. (This is much, much more true in the winter than the spring and summer. Let’s just say I am not a happy snowshoer/inadequate snowboot-wearer who owns nearly no outdoor gear to protect myself from cold under 60 degrees Fahrenheit. And let’s also say that I will take this information into account and continue to complain about how much I hate the cold.)


Does anyone else feel that music is their job and not their hobby, and that therefore it’s no fun to do outside work hours? I ask this because, while we did not go camping, we did meet the campers/outdoorers for dinner, after which they were going to gather for a sing-along. I promptly rejected that idea, even though no one asked nor had they actually started to play.


Let’s recap: This weekend was all kinds of crazy, but pretty neat, too.


No pictures today. I’m trying to get myself to take at least one picture once a day. But I did not do such a thing on this day. 

Apparently I glean a huge amount of confidence from simply being around other music therapists. On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity and privilege to rehearse with my ex- co-intern for an event in which we are performing, and the familiarity I share with him was so helpful to me. He and I are in the same, beginning phase of our careers, and we have positions in similar facilities, and the act of discussing experiences we’ve had with our co-workers and residents was just so dang refreshing. 

Bash in the grass

One of my favorite music therapy bloggers (Kat Fulton at Rhythm for Good) posted recently about the importance of creating space for a music therapy session. Oh, for that to happen…


This weekend, we are supposed to go camping, but of course we’re also supposed to get a bucket of rain all day tomorrow. 


Tonight: an orchestra concert.

Nothing like being completely worthless all night last night and then waking up at 1:30 AM because A., I was dreaming that I wore jeans to work on a not-casual dress code day that is every day but Friday; and B., I was convinced that I am doing a terrible job as a music therapist. I essentially didn’t sleep for the remainder of the night. Maybe it was the full moon a couple nights ago. 


I “taught a class” or “conducted a session” (something I can’t call music therapy because there aren’t goals, apart from providing an engaging experience, in mind for my residents/clients) this afternoon that was one big factor for my unease last night. I “taught,” or rather “shared,” the knowledge I have regarding the difference between violin and fiddle. Ever seen/heard a Chinese erhu? Did you know that it is technically a fiddle? 


Another reason I can’t call this particular session/class/what-have-you music therapy is because it’s an open group– anyone can come and go at any time. Does anyone have music therapy groups that are open? This is an honest question; I’d love to know.

Mine.

And: Has any violinist out there have any suggestions for alleviating back pain that I am almost certain is caused by playing violin? My hard cider and extra strength Tylenol combination isn’t doing the trick. 

Today I attended a seminar on fall prevention in nursing homes/care centers/skilled nursing facilities. Doesn’t sound like fun? Yeah, it wasn’t, but our presenter was fantastic. She used a fantastic quote from Maya Angelou: “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” Unfortunately, she was using it to reference the kinds of care provided to residents of nursing homes decades ago. 


Tonight marks the only unspoken-for, unscheduled night I’ll have for seven days. Luckily, the weather is fantastic, so we planted our few plants. 


I am developing a website to use professionally. I am considering dividing my blog, and dedicating a professional blog to that particular site, and moving this one to another place. When I decide, ’twill be done, and it’ll be easy to use. 

A really intense few days lie behind me. Big downs and big ups, and I am happy to have had a day of a big up. However, I think it’s interesting to notice that sometimes the amount of worry and anxiety I experience about a particular event really isn’t too irrational– I performed pretty badly, I am sorry to admit, at an event over the weekend, and it ruined my day. And most of the days coming up to the performance. I have always been one to worry, and this time it was justified. Huh. Not a fun realization. 

Flowers also known as tulips

But, Thomas and I have found places we’d like for our reception. That’s awesome news. And we started the gardening process. Also good…


I am spent. Here is a picture Thomas took.

And, I got to see one of my very best friends, and also one of my bridesmaids, tonight. Her boyfriend played a show at the Triple Rock Social Club, and I will be fortunate enough to see her tomorrow night and into the weekend. If Ever Was a Fire will be playing tomorrow night in Des Moines and the following night in Ames. I wish them luck; their drummer was very good. J

I have picked up another job, as of last week (and potentially another, third job), and I am already noticing some possibly great opportunities with one of my groups, as well as challenges with my identity as a music therapist. I am content and excited to be developing more experience with the senior population, and that I am using my other primary instrument– the violin/fiddle– in a much more prominent way. But the challenge is that this particular group, and actually many of the others I facilitate, are open groups– anyone can come, anyone can go. I am able to balance such a session with the 1:1s (that I am absolutely loving) with people in assisted living, which happen directly after this particular open group. However, I feel that there are so many obstacles in the way.