My first cover!

It's not National Geographic, but it's a start. This summer I took some pictures for a woman who breeds British Shorthair cats. She wanted some pictures of herself with her cats and horses for use on her webpage and to provide when newspapers interviewed her. While she was changing outfits, I entertained myself by taking pictures of her adorable kittens. I really wanted to take one home! She submitted this picture to the Swedish British Shorthair club's magazine.

Channeling my inner musician

Last night I went to a classical concert for the first time since I've been in Sweden. I went by myself. Malmö Opera was doing a program out here about female composers. That intrigued me because I couldn't even think of one female composer. The performers were a pianist, a violinist, a cellist, and a soprano. They were all women, but only the soprano was a Swede. They were also very good! I don't know why my expectations were lower, but they really were first rate.

They started the program with a baroque piece by Francesca Caccini (1587-1640). She was actually a successful professional musician and part of her father, Guilo Caccini's, touring company. Later, she was employed by the royal family in Florence. Besides playing the music, the also told about the composer's life. After the baroque era, things got much tougher for women. Music was considered an appropriate pass time for an upper class woman, and a useful skill for attracting a good husband, but it was not a woman's place to perform in public or compose, especially after she was married.

We also heard pieces by Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896, wife of Robert Schumann) and Alma Schindler Mahler (1879-1964, wife of Gustav). Both were talented musicians who were married young to their much older composer husbands. Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) was Felix's older sister. Her father disapproved of her composing, but both her husband and brother supported her, and Felix even published some of her work under his name.

My favorite piece of the evening was a piano trio by Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944), a comparatively well known French composer. Here's a clip of it performed by another group.



I also really enjoyed Villanelle by Eva Dell'Acqua (1856-1930). Again, this clip is performed by somebody else.



I haven't listed all the pieces or composers, but they ended the evening after only an hour with a song by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944), a largely self-taught American composer and musician who became quite successful after her husband's death.

My daughter's first violin concert

My daughter started playing the violin this fall, which means she's been playing for about a month now. She's not so into practicing, but then, she's only 7. I was shocked when we got a note from her teacher asking if she wanted to participate in a concert together with music students from all over the district, the local gospel choir, and a couple of professional musicians. Beginner violinists are not anything anyone would want to listen to, not even their parents. My daughter can't read music yet and can barely play open strings. This couldn't possibly be good.

Much to my surprise, it was good. Hats off to the strings teacher, or whoever it was who did the orchestration, because they figured out how to make beginners playing mostly open strings and simple rhythms not only fit in but contribute to a really good performance. The beginners played on four of the songs and had front row seats for the rest. There were some solos by a few of the older kids who were also quite good.

The pros, Triple & Touch, put on quite a show. They did some songs where the kids played backup. They also did some songs where the young soloists played along with them. Furthermore, they did some musical stunts/jokes. At first I thought this was kind of hokey, but it grew on me, and clearly the rest of the audience responded well to it.

The show was two hours long, but the kids held up well (better than my husband anyhow, who's not good at sitting still). At first I was horrified that the tickets cost over $20 each, but the music school itself is really cheap, so I figured this was how they made up the difference. I expected to see only parents in the audience, but the school gym was packed full of parents, grandparents, and extended families. I think they were all pleased with the show.

Nobel Surprise

I was at a course for local businesswomen last week, and I was surprised that they were anxiously awaiting the announcement of the Nobel Prize in literature. I felt rather out of my element here because the literature prize is probably the one that interests me the least, but I went along when they gathered around the TV to hear the news. I'd never heard of Herta Muller, and judging by their reaction, they hadn't either. I was curious if their interest was in the Nobel prizes or in literature, so I asked what they thought of the medicine prize which had been announced the day before. I thought telomeres were pretty interesting stuff, but apparently they did not.

The big surprise came later when Barack Obama won the Peace prize. My first reaction was that he hadn't done so much yet, but then I realized that it's not so much about succeeding but for trying. It's about having the right attitude and spreading hope, and that's nothing to sneeze at. And if by receiving the prize now, it helps him succeed, all the better.

Of course, that's not the end of the story. I want to give a big solute to the people who figured out fiber optics, telomeres, and ribosomes. And also to the first woman to win the economics prize (even if that one's a bit harder for me to get my mind around).

A miracle worker

My husband just got home from a week in Korea. I guess that was exciting for him even though he was at a conference most of the time. I would love to be able to travel like that.

In case people were concerned about us freezing here, we finally got the radiator system hooked up again last weekend, so we're doing okay.

My last few weeks have been busy with a lot of little things. I've had an assignment to take a few pictures at a local library--they have a new computer with a business database, and they need pictures for a brochure. I've been taking care of the pictures from the wedding I photographed in September. It also seems like all of my wedding customers from earlier this summer have suddenly decided that they need to get on the ball and order their enlargements and such.

I've also done some pictures for women from my local businesswomen's network. I expected these to be quick and easy jobs, and most were. One woman clearly mistook "a little retouching" for working miracles and expected me to be able to remove 30 years worth of not wearing sunscreen. Not wanting a dissatisfied customer, I got myself a book on Photoshop and went to work. I spent a total of about 2-3 hours per picture for 8 pictures. Here's a couple of before and after shots.

It's time to say the F-word.

I've been avoiding it all summer. I've noticed that people talk about preparing for winter, but they don't talk about fall. I know I've been trying not to think about it and refusing to say the word. But that's it. I just can't hold on to my delusions anymore. I have to admit that it is fall. In fact, it was fall already last weekend. I should have taken the hint when the flowers on my chrysanthemum plant succumbed to frost, but I let that slide. I neglected to acknowledge the autumnal equinox. I pretended not to notice that the leaves were changing color. This morning there was frost everywhere. I even had to scrape my car. That was the last straw. Fall has fallen.

My husband got back from Phoenix yesterday, where it was 108 F (42 C). Here it was sunny and clear but windy and only 50 F (10 C). The cement floor has been replaced in the front room, but the radiator system still can't be hooked up. I've been having fires in the bedroom fireplace almost every evening, and I've changed to the winter weight bedding. It's time to put away the summer clothes and get out the winter clothes. Every day it gets darker and colder, and while the weather's really quite nice (like a crisp and clear winter day in California) I can feel it getting me down.

Updates

Tomorrow I have a wedding to photograph--the last one of the four I had booked for this summer. Fortunately I also had some other small jobs in between. My husband is in the US on a business trip, so his mother is watching our daughter for the weekend.

When I got home from dropping her off this evening, I found our driveway, courtyard, and front yard full of cows. They looked at my car but were not impressed. As I called the farmer from my car, they eventually stepped out of my way enough that I could park the car. The farmer drove up, and about half of the cows followed him back towards their pasture. The rest of the cows were busy sucking plums off the plum tree and couldn't be bothered with anything else. It's hard to describe what that sounded like, but I'll never forget it. I went out with a flashlight and tried to get them to move along. I clapped, I stomped, I gestured like I was directing traffic. The cows gave me the evil eye and went back to the plums. "Mooooooooove," I said. The cows mooed back. I don't speak cow, but I don't think they were kind words. "Mooooooooove!" I repeated, and they did. I'm sure it helped that the farmer was also calling them.

In other news, my pantry is still free from meal worms--thank goodness! Violin lessons are going okay. My fingers seem to remember what to do, but my brain doesn't remember much more than scales. I'll have to dig through some of those boxes that we never unpacked and see if I still have any of my sheet music. My husband's contract was renewed for another year. Last Friday, some workmen came to jackhammer up the floor in the front room where the radiator pipe was leaking. They were supposed to come and pour new cement this week, but (no surprise) that didn't happen. Hopefully it will get done soon, because it's getting really cold at night. The days are still pretty nice. I will not tempt fate by saying the F-word, but the leaves are starting to turn. I have decided that summer will last through September. I'm not in denial, but I have to go now and put more wood in the fireplace.