Sheesh! Okay, I need to put a Post-it note on my monitor that says "update webpage". The last few months have brought many changes into my life, mostly positive, I must say! I have moved out of the ghetto section of Jamaica Plain (frequently known as "Jamaica Spain", for obvious reasons) and relocated to a much nicer neighborhood on the other side, near the Arboretum, Forest Hills Cemetery, and best of all, next door to Kate. Talk about a short commute to rehearsal. :-) I have replaced the roommates from hell with two very nice ones, both female this time, and one, in fact, being an old friend and quartet-conspirator, Holland Phillips. Speaking of quartets, another summer festival friend, Betsy Sellers, is moving to Boston in the near future, and as both of 'em are violinists and darn nice people, quartet may actually happen! About time!

And in this possible quartet, I will be playing my newly acquired, long desired, absolutely stunningly awesome Cornelissen viola! After about a dozen years of wanting one (brought on by hearing Francie Martin Silos's instrument), and 6 or so of off-and-on searching, one practically fell into my lap near the end of winter, and I just couldn't say no - I was hopelessly in love. So I scraped together my inheritance from my grandfather, dug into my car-fund (please car, keep running!), borrowed a bit, hiked the limit on my plastic and somehow made it happen. Anybody wanna buy a Weinstein or a Roth? The Weinstein specs and pics are on my main page; Roth info is coming, but if you want to know more, email me. The sound is amazing, it's much easier to play (okay, okay, yes, it's a little smaller, sheesh), and it blends beautifully with both Kate's cello and Holland's violin. Among other things.

Soundfest 2004 just finished up, and I have surprised several people by sending a couple of my students this year - makes me feel old, I tell you. As usual, it was great to see old friends and ex-coachees, although as several of them are now taller than I, slightly odd as well. But I won't be growing again, so I guess I must resign myself to being surpassed by kids who used to come up to my shoulder (or lower). I hope to send many more next year, as you can never have too many violists! We're gonna take over the world! :-)

Over on the running scene, after a sort of babysitting 5K in March and a 10K in May for which I was woefully underprepared (but finished sub-10:00 miles anyway, somehow), Kate and I have been training hard for the Boilermaker 15K in Utica on 11 July. My goal is to finish it in under 1:30:00, preferably with 9:00-9:20 miles, as long as it's not too beastly awful hot. We've been running 5 times a week, and putting in some pretty nasty hills, among other things, and I suppose if I'm not ready now, I never will be! The team motto is "No Pansies!" - having run just over 100 miles in the month of June, I would have to say that I am, in fact, NOT a pansy. So there. Meanwhile, the fireworks are starting hereabouts, so happy 4th of July, all! And while I'm at it, let's get this chucklehead moron out of the White House, shall we? ;-)

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