Whoever started the "graduate students have more free time myth" is completely full of it. We may have fewer classes, but we make up for it in teaching and extra rehearsals, that's for sure. I've got two trios, a quartet and two quintets going on all at once at the moment - all different instrumentation with concerts and trips and of course, rehearsals. Kvetching aside, I'm having fun. We're getting ready to head to New York City to perform the Schubert Cello Quintet at St. John the Divine next week - that's Lin He, Jeanie Park, me, Philip von Maltzahn, and Keiko Forrey, which would be more fun if it weren't jury week. I took mine last year (about the only smart thing I did last year, really), but two of the others have theirs. And then we start the build-up to graduation - would be nice if I could actually get people to respond to this crazy project I have to do, but oh well, such is life and you can't depend on other people and all that junk.

As for next year, um, I'm working on it, really, I'm just too picky about what I want. The problem is I know exactly what I want and always have, so compromises are a bit difficult, if you see what I mean. I'm sure something will turn up at some point, as long as my head doesn't explode from overstress (or zany polyrhythmic quartets - but that was yesterday, so I guess I'm safe there). As long as I'm playing lots and lots of chamber music, life isn't too terrible. Oddball trios at the moment - flute/violin/viola (with Liisa Grigorov and Courtney Scherzinger) and oboe/viola/piano (with Heather Armstrong and Korey Barrett), and besides the Schubert quintet, also the Weber Clarinet Quintet (with Trevor and Lin, plus Yi-Ting Chen and Chris Dingstad). Hmm, hopefully I'll get some good recordings out of all this.

And of course, graduation is coming up (again), when I will receive yet another very expensive piece of paper which may or may not mean much of anything. It'll look good on the wall, I suppose. If I have a wall. And hey, I'm really thrilled, leanne.com is no longer a porn site, but a free-email domain. Yeah! So now I have yet another email address over there, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. They have some seriously strange domains available. Wow, that was a doozy of a non-sequitur, even for me. Guess it's time to end this ramble - besides, it's gorgeous out and I think I'll try and find someone to play chess with in the park.

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