F is for Focus: Part 1

What a week for the healing power of classical music!  Okay, maybe not literally, but I was suffering from a bit of a chest cold last week and after two wonderful orchestra performances in the last 4 days, I am starting to mend.  It could have been the extra rest and the chicken noodle soup, yes; or, it could have been the sounds of Rhapsody in Blue or the (fast version) of the Shostakovich 5 finale that rid my lungs of this hostage taking cold.

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Glowstick Symphony

The signs that summer vacation is looming are quickly becoming more obvious than those for the failed rapture.  I had my final band concert of the year last week and the students (and their teacher) are having a hard time trading their daydreams of golfing and bicycling for reappearing concerns over the intonation issues at m9 of Pomp and Circumstance or the Star Spangled Banner; and who could blame them?  The students have been hard at work over the last few weeks and I'm pleased to say that their hard work paid off with their last concert.

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Another Brick in the Wall

It’s hot, sticky, perspiring, and fantastic!  Even though my colleagues and I are sweltering away in our classrooms (our high temperatures over the weekend clocked in around 65 degrees, while three days later we skipped past our first 80 degree day and hit 92 degrees), I can’t help but enjoy this heat.  I had a romanticized conversation with my fiancée last night about waking up on my own terms, going for a long bike ride, reading a good book, napping, and then practicing my chip shot in the back yard with an ice cold… lemonade and the smell of burning charcoal.  Pair this with the occasional vacation, teaching symposium, or bachelor weekend in Las Vegas and you’ve got the makings of a great summer vacation.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the need (or lack of need) for summer vacation.  Many of the articles that I’ve read touch on the same overall principals:

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