Leah

So I’ve been on hiatus from blogging at all this last month-plus due to the explosion of the fall semester that inevitably occurs 3-6 weeks out from finals.

What’s new?

1. My hard drive crashed last week. It’s been rough. But I finally got my computer back today, and it’s like starting fresh and actually feels rather cleansing. I can now just take a deep breath and move forward. No news yet of how much if any data will be recovered. I remain hopeful, however, because really, why not?

2. There are about two weeks before most of my DMA applications are due. I almost have all of my ducks in a row. I just need to finish the actual applications online, update/print all of my scores I intend on sending out, and of course, finish the orchestrated chunk of my thesis that I want to send out as well. All of this has been put on hold for the last week as a result of point 1. Dumb.

3. I am almost done with my ensemble for the semester. It’s been swell. I like playing piano in an ensemble. It’s stressful but not nearly as much as solo playing, which gives me the shakes.

4. I have so much classwork to catch up on it’s not even funny. A 10-12 page paper due in exactly one week, an opera proposal for a play I haven’t even read yet in three, a 20 minute presentation over lord knows what in three, and a 16-20 page paper due in four.

So for now I bid ye adieu mein interwebs. And also a fond farewell to my friend sleep. I’ll miss you both. See you again mid-December!

I just finished reinstalling Sibelius onto my computer. Nose to the grindstone. Pedal to the metal.

In honor of our first real fall weather on Sunday I decided to make some autumn comfort food: French Onion Soup. I’d never made this soup myself before, but as it is one of my favorites I thought I should at least give it a try!

I started the way I usually do when making a more or less standard kind of recipe—I looked up a bunch of different ones and picked what I liked out of each. I mostly stuck to my man Alton Brown’s recipe with some additions/subtractions from here and there. I was mostly intrigued by his use of apple cider in the recipe, so I had to try it out. I did use a beef bouillon cube instead of consomme (forgive me, AB! Cubes store much better in my teeny weeny kitchen than cans do!), but to counteract a minor offense, I used my tasty/frozen homemade chicken stock. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any wine handy so I tried to make up for it with some balsamic vinegar. This was unfortunately not as successful as I’d hoped it would be. The soup as a whole was intensely flavorful, but a bit too sweet for my liking. And also a bit thick, more like an onion stew. I might not let the broth cook down so much next time.

I splurged on fresh thyme (which I’m now obsessed with and want to put in/on everything I make) and a $10 block of gruyere cheese for the croutons (which really helped balance the sweetness of the soup, i.e. made it edible).

There’s really no better excuse for a good cry than cutting up a whole mess of onions. I’m pretty stressed these days with school, applications, and composing, I feel like I’m kinda out of it most of the time. I needed to let it out a little. I tell myself that I like being busy and that it keeps me motivated, and this is sometimes true. But sometimes I’d rather just be chopping onions.

Anywho, the real moral of the story is that I will surely make this soup again in the near future, but perhaps not on a Sunday when I am unable to go to the liquor store and get some actual wine to help balance the rich flavors of sweet, sweet caramelization.

If at first you don’t succeed: try, try again. And even then, keep trying until all the tears are gone and there’s nothing left but sheer will.

Today I applied to my first composition competition in over a year. It was an art song competition I have entered before and obviously had no luck with. I feel better about it this time around, though. I really feel like my recent work is strong enough to compete.

I reapplied to SCI (Society of Composers Inc.) today as well. They have this fabulous e-publication called the SCION that is basically a list of most of the major competitions and calls for scores out there with all of their criteria laid out in a tidy format. Even with the $30 member fee, if I can apply to several competitions without fees, the thing really pays for itself.

I’m feeling motivated to be more proactive with my career and get my name out there. I want to have more performances and opportunities to write for people—more musical experiences outside of the university.

And let’s face it, I really want more bells and whistles on my resume.

But the first step (well, pre-first step, actually) is to write some more music, which as of now is my thesis. The thesis is the first step to many of my goals, come to think of it. Graduate, get into a DMA program, become a professor, become a better composer—all of these things and more. It is, however, becoming somewhat elusive. I really like some parts of it; some, I really don’t. Unfortunately the ‘some I really don’t’ tend to occur in the beginning, which is what I’m working toward having completed by the end of November for my portfolio. A tall order. I’m convinced I can make it better though. Honestly, I have no other choice.