Dear Rhythmic Remembrances (2)

Dear Afro I wish I had,

Precious

I love a good female voice. I think for those of my 90s generation, sometimes there's nothing better than a Sarah Mclachlan (spelling?) or a Paula Cole song, or even just the girl you hear at the beginning of the Titanic movie who ooooooooos her way in and out of the film. I've been looking to identify today's top female voices- not that my opinion really amounts to anything. BUT I chose my favorite 3: Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine, Janelle Monae and Esperanza Spalding. Sorry Beyonce- I love single ladies as much as the next girl but I digress.

Esperanza plays upright acoustic and electric bass, she's a professor at Berkeley, an incredible jazz vocalist and musician, plus I'm insanely jealous of her Afro. The first time I heard her was watching TV with my friend whom I call Toon and she was a guest artist with David Letterman.

"Precious" is song about women demanding respect. The, "Just because you bought me dinner does not mean I have to have sex with you," sort of respect. My favorite line in the song says, "You say I set you up like I was different than what I am offering and you say I let you down, and drug your heart around, did you forget about, all of the love and the acceptance that you promised me too?"

Now I'm not saying I'm an angel. I feel I have to say this in case an ex boyfriend is reading. I'm not claiming a tattered heart trampeled on by the bad intentions of all men- I've done my share of trampeling. All women have done their fair share. BUT as a people we cannot avoid the fact that too many women feel they owe their bodies to someone who does not deserve it. Ladies, make your own decisions about when you feel it's right. If you have to question it or you are receiving an ultimatum? Just walk. You're worth more than that.

Boys, don't think I hate you. I don't. This is a great song by a strong, talented woman and it can be enjoyed by all. Trust me, I still catch my guy friend S____ R_________ humming it sometimes, 2 years after we had the disc on replay in my car. $5 to anyone who can fill in those blanks, haha! He'd kill me.

Here's the original clip from Letterman- Enjoy!



LoveAlways,
Gnarleigh

Dear Melodic Memories (1)

Dear cello master of the universe,

Cello Concerto in B minor

I started playing the cello when I was eleven years old. I think my father was pretty ecstatic simply because he had always tried to incorporate classical music into our car time together. Sometimes I liked it, other times I didn't but come on. What little kid doesn't want to play an instrument that's as big as them? When I started taking lessons and realizing I had somewhat of a natural talent for the instrument, my dad grew even more excited. He started buying all these recordings of cello solos, which in turn got me excited at the thought of playing them one day! This specific recording is of Leonard Rose performing Dvorak's Cello Concerto, one of the toughest pieces for a cellist to perform. I fell in love.

I'll always remember the deafening volume I made my parents play it in the car as they drove me to my lessons. I got mad when they turned it down to ask me a question, and I would always make them wait until it was over, which was very convenient since the piece is about 40 minutes long. I was a punky little kid.

The day of my first lesson with my new teacher was a big day for me, because I was 15 and taking lessons from the university professor. I came in, sat down, and he asked me what I had been working on. I plopped the music on his stand and said I wanted to play this concerto. He couldn't help but laugh, and looking back it's a funny memory I'll have. I have yet to play the concerto, not sure I ever will, but my love for this piece is ongoing.


Below is a FIVE MINUTE youtube clip of Jian Wang performing an excerpt of the concerto. I sincerely hope you take the time to appreciate the overwhelming beauty of this piece. And I promise: Tomorrow's music will have words!



LoveAlways,
Gnarleigh

Dear Love Life

I will begin with a story. I was chatting with my mom and sister, Ashley, one day about the normal things female kin talk about. Ashley got slightly pouty faced over the fact I hadn't sent her my most recent composite picture to proudly display on her refrigerator (or wall, not sure where my picture goes in her house). I apologized, but then assured her it was for the best since I had henceforth cut off 6 inches from my hair. I let her know I had recently made plans to have pictures taken with my cello and I would be sure to send her a print. "Oh good! I guess that's the closest thing to a couples picture I'm gonna have from you."

Now I want to clarify that by no means was I offended by this comment- I laughed pretty hard, and I know she meant no harm. Besides, it's not like haven't been asked "So you gotta man in your life now?" by everyone from my brother to my brother-in-law's grandparents. My sister is 5 years older than I, married and has foooooouuuur (beautiful) children (ghaaaaaasp for air). She's in a different place in her life than myself. However, going back to when she was my ripe age of 23 she was married and pregnant with her first child. My progress? Some girl asked a friend and I if we were lesbians at a bar the other night. Oiph.

I'm single. I'm okay with it. Is it weird I'm sharing a blogpost about it? Perhaps. Yes. But I can't help but be compelled to share how I feel about it. Yes, I feel lonely sometimes. But I also feel independent- I have a great job, exceptional friends, an intriguing mix of hobbies and I have yet to give in and buy that first cat. My mom actually told me I had to get a husband and keep him for a year before I could even think about getting a dog.

I'm content. I'm excited about life. I'm excited about opportunity for things besides who awaits at the other end of my spaghetti noodle. Until then, it'll be just me and Felix (my cello) hanging on my sister's refrigerator. Or wall. Whatever.

LoveAlways,
Gnarleigh

Here's a guilty pleasure for the road from one of my favorite movies.

Dear Body Image

Some of you may know that I was (and always will be) a Tri Delta. For those of you who didn't know, SURPRISE! I'm a sorority girl :) Trust me, I've gotten all the questions: Why do you pay for your friends? How much time do you spend on your hair? How many bump-its do you own?

1. I paid for electricity in the house, not friends.
2. I really do take a lot of time on my hair, there's no denying that.
3. NO BUMP-ITS. I'm a professional teaser, thanks to my Tri Delta sister Lauren (prosororitygirl.blogspot.com)

But aside from all that, sororities do GREAT THINGS. Tri Delta mainly focuses on raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a cause for which our chapter raised well over $20,000 while I was an active collegiate member. But for the past few years, Tri Delta has brought awareness to another worthy cause: Fat Talk.

Fat Talk is, "Do these jeans make my butt look too big?" or "I shouldn't eat this bagel, I'll be in a swimsuit later." ALL GIRLS ARE GUILTY. So Tri Delta hosts Fat Talk Free Week, a week that bans negative talk of some one else's or one's own body image. If you look through my twitter feed (look at my side bar) you will see many tweets from this week of things that my sisters LOVE about their bodies. I've thrown in a few from myself, and I've really gained confidence by simply acknowledging what I love about myself. So, in honor of Fat Talk Free Week, I give you my letters.


Dear Ugly, Calloused Fingertips- I love you because you are the result of playing the cello for 12 years.

Dear Mole on my face- I love you because you are like a Cindy Crawford or Marilyn Monroe mole.

Dear Eyes- I love you because when people get close they notice the yellow ring around your pupils, and you look like sunflowers.

Dear Legs- I love you because you carried me 13 miles for a half marathon- and for over 100 miles of training.

Dear Feet- You aren't all that good looking, but I love you because I love to go barefoot and walk around.

Dear Lovehandles- I've learned to love you :)

Dear Eyebrows- I love raising you. Especially righty, lefty doesn't like to move.

Dear Wrinkle on my forehead- I'm only 23 (almost) so I don't think you should be there, but I love you because I believe your appearance was accelerated by lots of facemaking and laughter.

DELTA LoveAlways,
Gnarleigh

PS- Go to endfattalk.com to learn more about Fat Talk and body image.

My week of AWESOME.

I apologise (that's how the British spell it). There will be no letters in this blog post, just merely my own ramblings. I wanted to blog though, because I accomplished something amazing last Sunday, and will also accomplish another amazing thing tonight! Okay, so people do it all the time, and a lot do it much better than I. But hear me out before you say "That's what she said".

I ran a half marathon on Sunday! It was a huge personal goal, and one that confronted one of my aforementioned flaws- inconsistency. The past 12 weeks I've been slaving away at training (neglecting my blogging). If there was one thing harder to keep consistency up than with blogging I would definitely have to say it would be running. Running between 10-30 miles every week is no joke, and there are a number of mental hardships to overcome.

But this, ladies and gentleman. Was all worth it.


Look at that face! Look how happy I was! Aw. Presh.


Now as for tonight's accomplishment, it lies on the other side of my life spectrum. I am a cellist in the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, and tonight for our opening concert we are playing a piece that I've adored for years: Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Resurrection. I want you all to know that I cry during this piece. A lot. I've never been too fluent with my words (unless I can go back and proofread them), and I connect with music simply because it says what no one can possibly ever say.

This piece is titled the Resurrection because it deals with the uncertainty of death- It starts very dark and intense and ends with what literally feels like Heaven. I'm not kidding. Heaven. It's a very special occasion for me to play this piece, and I feel honored to have the ability to perform it.

That is the end of my letterless rambling, but I hope you all share in the fact that accomplishing such seemingly monumental things in our lives should never be deduced into "meh, anyone could do that". What matters is that YOU did it, and YOU are awesome. This week, I am AWESOME.

LoveAlways,
Gnarleigh