Pianistimo, I was wondering...

[ihatepop]

...have you ever considered writing a book before?

The words that you have released on PS already can fill up the word limit for wikipedia(if there is a word limit). No, wait, you can even overflow it.

You really should consider writing a book, pianistimo.

ihatepop

[pianistimo]

ok.  what shall i write it about.  and, do you want the first chapter online or somewhere else.  i see.  you want to keep me busy.

well, actually - as it stands - i've been practing this chopin etude op 10 #4 all morning. 

[pianistimo]

and, well -dealing with a brillo pad that got stuck in the garbage disposal.  these mundane things are probably the more interesting story.  'how i got the brillo pad out of the garbage disposal' 

here it goes:

i knew i had made a terrible mistake when, in the midst of dirty dishwater swirling down the drain, there was no brillo pad in sight.  my first thought was 'how can the disposal keep on working when a brillo pad has gone down it?'  thankfully, i kept my wits about me and turned of the disposal - but not wanting to find out how badly the mess was - i decided to keep my hands out of it.  sort of ignore the problem for a while.  hoping my subconscious would think of a solution (besides sticking one's fingers down there - terrible for a pianist - to extract a brillo pad.  pianists fingertips should be used for delicate purposes.  not brillo pad extractions).

after much thought - a speedy turn on and off of the garbage disposal seemed the best way to handle the situation.  just sort of swallow the thing like a giant anaconda with a human.  the first swallow is always the most difficult.  getting the whole thing down.  once it's down, the juices get flowing - and then, you get this motion.  forget what you call it.  it pushes the 'food' 'object' whatever - down further until it is swept away in the incremental suction and contraction simultaneously.  where it comes out nobody knows. 

once a problem like this is solved - it is easy to move on to the more difficult problems that one typically faces every day.  you know.  that durn refrigerator shelf that slips off when the teenager yanks the door open.  spilling salsa for the 105th time with a loud 'ooops.'  velcro was tried the other day.  but, you should never ask someone who has no aesthetic purposes in mind (like my husband).  black velcro.  strapped to the top with the hook side out and the sticking side facing in.  smushed together.  holding the shelf as though it were made for a 7-11 take-out of black coffee with 5 itty bitty red straws so one can drink a sip instead of a drop. 

[ahinton]

and, well -dealing with a brillo pad that got stuck in the garbage disposal.  these mundane things are probably the more interesting story.

"More interesting" than what? (or is that either a stupid question or one to which I'd be better off not knowing the answer?)...

'how i got the brillo pad out of the garbage disposal' 

here it goes:

i knew i had made a terrible mistake when, in the midst of dirty dishwater swirling down the drain, there was no brillo pad in sight.  my first thought was 'how can the disposal keep on working when a brillo pad has gone down it?'  thankfully, i kept my wits about me and turned of the disposal - but not wanting to find out how badly the mess was - i decided to keep my hands out of it.

Two very wise decisions if you ever want to play the piano again...

sort of ignore the problem for a while.  hoping my subconscious would think of a solution (besides sticking one's fingers down there)

I've never tried sticking my fingers down my subconscious...

terrible for a pianist - to extract a brillo pad.  pianists fingertips should be used for delicate purposes.  not brillo pad extractions).

Maybe you could demonstrate that to me sometime (don't worry - I won't tell anyone...)

after much thought - a speedy turn on and off of the garbage disposal seemed the best way to handle the situation.  just sort of swallow the thing like a giant anaconda with a human.

What?!

the first swallow is always the most difficult.

You've done this anaconda / human / brillo thing before, then?

getting the whole thing down.  once it's down, the juices get flowing - and then, you get this motion.  forget what you call it.

Wowee! It's a good thing I know that this is meant to be in the same context as the above, otherwise Nils might delete your post on - er - some grounds or other...

it pushes the 'food' 'object' whatever - down further until it is swept away in the incremental suction and contraction simultaneously.  where it comes out nobody knows. 

The mind boggles...

once a problem like this is solved - it is easy to move on to the more difficult problems that one typically faces every day.

I'm distressed to think that you should think that you encouter even worse problems than this on a daily basis, but I must congratulate you on your enterprisingly courageous approach to them and, if you're capable of solving a problem like this one, I shouldn't be so surprised that you can have conversations with God...

spilling salsa for the 105th time with a loud 'ooops.'

Do you mean that one has to practise this 104 times before getting it right?

velcro was tried the other day.

Not in the salsa, I hope - pretty indigestible, that stuff - and I bet it plays havoc with your stomach lining when it adheres to it...

but, you should never ask someone who has no aesthetic purposes in mind (like my husband).

To do what?

black velcro.  strapped to the top with the hook side out and the sticking side facing in.  smushed together.  holding the shelf as though it were made for a 7-11 take-out of black coffee with 5 itty bitty red straws so one can drink a sip instead of a drop. 

Ever thought of buying a new fridge? Or dishwasher? Or husband? Or something...

You know, Susan, I really think that you should practise the piano more; apart from any other considerations, it would get you out of these bizarre situations...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

well, actually, alistair - i have even worse ones when i practice.  for instance, the inevitable overheating of my casio's input output plug.  causing a veritable increase in background noise.  i've learned - however  - how to take care of that.  what is more immediately pressing - is the idea that one of these times the velcro from underneath the casio (holding it to the stand) will break in a really passionate passage and send the casio tumbling sideways (as i've never been able to fully center it on the stand - due to the fact that i have an L shaped work station - with the computer on the right - and the cords exactly the lengths they need to be to be plugged in).

so - as it stands - as long as i can use one or the other hand to sort of stabilize and/or catch the instrument in mid-air - whilst playing - i'm ok.  (we'll not get into the plastic music stand- nor the pedals).

btw, i'm never giving up my husband.  even if he can't fix everything.  i mean his caulking job around the tub.?  i have to stand in front of it when guests come.  he blamed it on the caulking dispenser.  (i say, keep him away from cake decorating).

[ahinton]

well, actually, alistair - i have even worse ones when i practice.

Don't worry, Susan - I can't hear you from here...

for instance, the inevitable overheating of my casio's input output plug.  causing a veritable increase in background noise.  i've learned - however  - how to take care of that.  what is more immediately pressing - is the idea that one of these times the velcro from underneath the casio (holding it to the stand) will break in a really passionate passage and send the casio tumbling sideways (as i've never been able to fully center it on the stand - due to the fact that i have an L shaped work station - with the computer on the right - and the cords exactly the lengths they need to be to be plugged in).

But don't you have a real piano on which to practise?

btw, i'm never giving up my husband.  even if he can't fix everything.  i mean his caulking job around the tub.?  i have to stand in front of it when guests come.  he blamed it on the caulking dispenser.  (i say, keep him away from cake decorating).

Especially not in the bath, I'd say. And, by the way, you'd better not tell him, but I'm still cogitating on your remark about
"getting the whole thing down.  once it's down, the juices get flowing - and then, you get this motion.  forget what you call it."
and trying to figure out exactly what it was that you might have been up to (or down to) and with whom that prompted you to express it in these exact words...

By the way, Irvine Arditti (the famous violinist who founded the equally renowned British contemporary music specialist ensemble the Arditti Quartet some 30+ years ago) used to sport a hairstyle that resembled nothing so much as a brillo pad and, in one of my (many so many) worse moments it occurred to me that, were I ever to be commissioned to write a piece for them, the opening performance direction would almost certainly have to be Allegro con Brillo...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

yes.  i have a real piano on which to practice.  for that matter - i have a very real husband, too, and yes i've practiced nearly everything on him, too.

dr. ruth should be called in before this gets out of hand. 

anyways - good luck finding someone to calm your unquieted spirit.  i didn't realize that quote would get to you .  must be more careful and listen to bob about words that one should and shouldn't use when referring to musical things.  of course, in this instance it WAS a brillo pad going down a garbage disposal. 

funny about the guys hair and 'allegro con brillo.'  it wasn't kissen was it?  nevermind.  he's been the brunt of too many unkind and unfair jokes.  sorry.  irvine ardetti i see.  i think as long as a person looks like they have hair - it's good.  well, for that matter, even if they don't have hair - it's ok.  better than the side effects of supposed drugs that make hair grow back.  good grief.  a man might get his hair back only to suffer massive kidney damage. 

what i liked was that stuff for men that was sprayed on and looked like real hair.  i thought it was cute.   

[ahinton]

yes.  i have a real piano on which to practice.

I had assumed as much, but I'm relieved to hear it.

for that matter - i have a very real husband, too, and yes i've practiced nearly everything on him, too.

So it would seem!

dr. ruth should be called in before this gets out of hand.

Dr. Ruth who? And how can it get "out of hand" when the activities suitable (and unsuitable) for a pianist's fingers were the subject of discussion at one point?

anyways - good luck finding someone to calm your unquieted spirit.

What on earth is that supposed to mean? I hope that it's not some indication that your usual sense of humour went down the garbage disposal with that Brillo pad...

i didn't realize that quote would get to you .

Beyond seeing the double entendre that you may or may not have intended, it didn't, really...

must be more careful

Oh, no, Susan - please don't spoil the effect to which we have all become so delightfully accustomed!

and listen to bob about words that one should and shouldn't use when referring to musical things.  of course, in this instance it WAS a brillo pad going down a garbage disposal. 

Er - am I missing something here? I'm less than clear on what's supposed to be "musical" about a Brillo pad going down a garbage disposal (can't wait for the explanation!)...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

you want to know the truth?  i actually did stick my hand down and pull out the brillo pad.  but, that wouldn't have made the short story very interesting.  but, in my head i imagined what it would be like to try to keep the garbage disposal operating whilst eating a brillo pad. 

alistair, never mind me.  sometimes i just get - well, a bit kooky.  but, i always seem to come out of it every couple of days.  studying the bible seems to calm my unquieted spirit on the days when hubby has to leave to early and can't come home for lunch.   thereby alieviating any physical need to flag down the mailman or go door to door around the neighborhood in some sort of panic.  (btw, i've never done that - but i did once threaten to my husband to do it if he didn't come home at lunch.  not really intending to go through with it - but sounding like it).  three children can reek havoc on spare time. 

the double entendre - i don't know.  i suppose that magazines that go on about this sort of thing - and phone numbers one can call to hear all the details - are just boring.  why not go do the real thing and get it off one's chest or wherever it is bothersome.  the best way to do that is to get married.  then, you just expect that sometime within a year you will not be so desperate as to pick up a phone or look on the internet or buy a cheap magazine - because hey - you have that hot man or woman at your fingertips.  (pun intended).

[penguinlover]

This is hilarious.  Just reading the whole thing made my day, which was pretty boring until now!  Susan, you have such a way with words, and of making every day things seem funny.  And if you didn't stick your hand down the disposal, who would? 

[pianistimo]

you may be my solitary humor fan - but hey - it's life when you have kids.  erma bombeck all the way! 

[ahinton]

you want to know the truth?

Why? - will it set me free?...

i actually did stick my hand down and pull out the brillo pad.  but, that wouldn't have made the short story very interesting.  but, in my head i imagined what it would be like to try to keep the garbage disposal operating whilst eating a brillo pad. 

I didn't want to admit it but I'd assumed as much, actually...

the double entendre - i don't know.  i suppose that magazines that go on about this sort of thing - and phone numbers one can call to hear all the details - are just boring.  why not go do the real thing and get it off one's chest or wherever it is bothersome.  the best way to do that is to get married.  then, you just expect that sometime within a year you will not be so desperate as to pick up a phone or look on the internet or buy a cheap magazine - because hey - you have that hot man or woman at your fingertips.  (pun intended).

Susan, dear - it was - a - JOKE! Lighten your darkness, I beseech thee, O Susan - or at least lighten up, anyway...(!!)

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

ok, alistair.  don't you ever wonder about things that you are too scared to try but just wonder what will happen anyways.  i mean - the second half of your life you could try marriage.  just to see what would happen.  i think you are a very charming and intelligent and humorous guy.  sometimes girls wonder why all theguys like you are confirmed bachelors.  but, it's ok. if you don't want to follow my advice.  it takes time for someone to fully comprehend what they want anyways in a mate. or even if they don't really want to bother.  i accept the latter if this is really something that you feel strongly about - especially as you need peace and quiet for composing.  i'd hate to see you hook up with a woman like me.  taking all your lunchhours and devouring you hand and foot.  you might end up wanting a piece of yourself back and having to plead and bargain for it.  (give me back my hand - i must write). 

kinda reminds me of that movie 'three marriages and a funeral' where what's his name asks to have his hand back.  btw, i think it was kind of a let down when he proposed not marrying to his beloved.  'let's not marry' - and she says ' i do.'

[ahinton]

ok, alistair.  don't you ever wonder about things that you are too scared to try but just wonder what will happen anyways.

Pardon me, Susan, but you already know that I'm a composer, so what else do you think happens when a piece begins to germinate except the precise scenario that you just mentioned?

i mean - the second half of your life

Do I take it that you have determined that I've already used up my first half? (in which case, thanks a bunch!...even if you are correct...)

you could try marriage.  just to see what would happen.

Whose? Oh, wait abit, I see what you're getting at now - but Susan, ma chère, you know nothing about my marital status whereas I do know, from your own frequent observations, about yours - and it bothers me abit to think that you might, as you appear to do here, recommend marriage not as the "honourable estate" as which it is commonly portrayed but merely "just to see what would happen"; is that why you married? (not that that's any of my business, of course)...

i think you are a very charming and intelligent and humorous guy.

That's very sweet of you to say so, although I'm far from certain that I live up to your flattering estimation...

sometimes girls wonder why all theguys like you are confirmed bachelors.

Do they really? All of them?

but, it's ok. if you don't want to follow my advice.

Whether or not it may be "ok", as you put it, I'm not really sure why you're giving me this "advice", actually - but no doubt you'll tell me in due course...

i'd hate to see you hook up with a woman like me.

Are there any others? Women like you, I mean, not women in general (for I do know that there are quite a few of those around)...

taking all your lunchhours and devouring you hand and foot.

You've suddenly developed a thing about lunch hours, have you not (or at least you've just let us all know about it)...

you might end up wanting a piece of yourself back and having to plead and bargain for it.  (give me back my hand - i must write).

I don't ever recall either selling or giving away any of myself, actually (and perhaps I'd not have been able to do either in any case)...

kinda reminds me of that movie 'three marriages and a funeral'

Four Weddings and a Funeral, actually - and, for the record, I'm no Hugh Grant, either as in his part in that movie or as in real life...

where what's his name asks to have his hand back.  btw, i think it was kind of a let down when he proposed not marrying to his beloved.  'let's not marry' - and she says ' i do.'

Pass...

Susan - please do not worry your head about this; don't you have enough to think about already, what with a husband who rarely returns home for lunch despite all your culinary diligence and invention, several children, a piano, a recalcitrant brillo pad, a garbage disposal machine that does those extraordinarily double-entendresque things that you say yours does - and, just to cap it all, a fridge that spills salsa on the floor the moment anyone even so much as thinks of opening its door?...

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

i'd hate to see you hook up with a woman like me. 

Are you a hooker?

Thal

[pianistimo]

it wasn't an offer, thal - calm down. 

it so happens that my husband was home for three days last week and we had a quite enjoyable time together.  and, i don't think that his lunchtime escapades - although infrequent as you say - (did i tell you?)  due to miles between his work and here - are too hard on him.  in fact, he left with a little energy left for the few hours he was returning to.  one can never tell what exertion can do to a man.

[thalbergmad]

The pleasure of the flesh is a sin.

You should say 50 hail mary's and run round the church.

Thal

[ahinton]

Are you a hooker?

Thal

No, I don't think that Susan even plays for the local team...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

it wasn't an offer, thal - calm down. 

He probably couldn't afford you anyway...

it so happens that my husband was home for three days last week and we had a quite enjoyable time together.  and, i don't think that his lunchtime escapades - although infrequent as you say - (did i tell you?)  due to miles between his work and here - are too hard on him.  in fact, he left with a little energy left for the few hours he was returning to.  one can never tell what exertion can do to a man.

Do you really mean that, after all those years of marriage (presumably to the same husband), you can still "never tell" what exertion can do to a man? Isn't it about time that you could? And, in any case, there's exertion and exertion, the latter of which might provide a disincentive to return to work after "lunch" in any case; are these the kind of "lunch breaks" that you were referring earlier in your apparent concern for what might happen if I happened to "hook up" with a "woman like you"? Just curious...

I wonder if it might be a very good idea to return to the thread topic here, which, as best I recall after all this - er - exertion was about whether or not you should write a book; how on earth you could possibly find time to do that, what with all the other activities already mentioned here in addition to all those others in which you have frequently told us that you indulge, I have less than no idea...

Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

hmm.  who to answer first?  50 hail mary's - for what we did?  if that was all - i'd have done it again in ten minutes.  whew.  that catholic faith lets people get away with a lot.  but, wait - i'm married.  i've been married 21 years - to the same man.  we have three children together and i think he wanted a fourth one - after not wanting any the first go around.  what i dearly love about my husband is that he always says 'whatever you want.'  this can be any decision at all.  sometimes he gets away with a lot because of it.  i mean - i think i'm getting whatever i want - but, he kind of blinks his eyes towards the choice he thinks i'll take.  seriously, i think he's some kind of master of hypnotism or something (just kidding).  how is it the decision that i make is always ok with him? 

about the exertion.  i have noticed that it affects my husband very randomly.  one day (or night - as it were) leaving him completely energized and thus staying up half the night - and other times completely snoring in a matter of seconds.  i suppose this could be abook.  he might not want me talking about him in this manner.  but, as i see it - we ARE talking about him.  i am completely jealous and insanely in love with him - moreso today than when i married him.  he is a very strong man - but very sensitive and tender, too.

time.  well, i have to go to a volleyball practice, i'm told.  will write about that later.

[ahinton]

hmm.  who to answer first?

Well, it's clearly Thal, as demonstrated by your

50 hail mary's

No, dear; no apostrophe (let alone an apostate) - mind you, I don't know that many Marys that hail from anywhere...

- for what we did?  if that was all - i'd have done it again in ten minutes.

Done what? Not that Brillo pad routine again, surely?...

whew.  that catholic faith lets people get away with a lot.

Are you sure about that? And isn't that just abit partisan of you to say such a thing about one whole sector of your fellow Christian fraternity?

but, wait - i'm married.  i've been married 21 years - to the same man.

Well, I'm pleased to hear that it's to the same man; I believe that bigamy is illegal even in Pennsylvania.

what i dearly love about my husband is that he always says 'whatever you want.'

I wonder why that is...

this can be any decision at all.  sometimes he gets away with a lot because of it.

He's not a Catholic, is he? (see above)...

i mean - i think i'm getting whatever i want - but, he kind of blinks his eyes towards the choice he thinks i'll take.  seriously, i think he's some kind of master of hypnotism or something (just kidding).  how is it the decision that i make is always ok with him? 

I guess you'll have to ask him; I don't think that anyone here would be able to answer that question with any real degree of certainty...

about the exertion.  i have noticed that it affects my husband very randomly.  one day (or night - as it were) leaving him completely energized and thus staying up half the night - and other times completely snoring in a matter of seconds.

Once again, the mind boggles; have you yet worked out why these exertions leave him energised after some occasions and snoring after others?

i suppose this could be abook.

Muss es sein?

he might not want me talking about him in this manner.

Oh, that possibility has suddenly occured to you, has it? Abit late now, surely?!...

but, as i see it - we ARE talking about him.

No, not "we", Susan; YOU!

i am completely jealous

Deeply destructive emotion, that...

and insanely in love with him - moreso today than when i married him.

Are you saying that, your love for him notwithstanding, marriage to him has enhanced your insanity over those 21 years?

he is a very strong man - but very sensitive and tender, too.

That's nice.

well, i have to go to a volleyball practice, i'm told.

And you do what you're told, yes?

will write about that later.

I thought you might...

Best,

Alistair

[ahinton]

The pleasure of the flesh is a sin.

I'm not sure that Susan would necessarily agree with that, you know...

You should say 50 hail mary's

I didn't know that Mary ran a taxi business, still less that you were promoting it...

and run round the church.

In this entire scenario, do remember that Susan is not a Catholic, so the Hail Mary thing is a non-starter and the church she'd run round would presumably be one of those small Pentecostal ones so, given her energy levels, that wouldn't take her long at all...


Best,

Alistair

[pianistimo]

alistair is right on this one.  i don't think adam and eve 'fell' when they did it.  (thus promulgating the notion that one is always in a continual state of falling when thinking or doing it).  yes.  i think if they'd listened loud enough, God would have said 'and it was very good.'  after all, He was the guy who made it.  i mean - why would he put them in a garden together naked and expect nothing to come of it. 

not sure about running around the church.  i have not been able to run since i broke my leg.  in fact, a fast walk is about it.  but, i can bicycle.  and, well, slide sideways on the icy snow outside.  ? i don't know why the kids like to go so fast - but they're all sledding in the backyard on the weekends on basically ice.  that would scare me not to have any sort of literal thing to grab or hold on to.  you have to fall of the sled and tumble to stop.

time management.  my husband really helps on that one.  he goes to work.  i go on pianoforum.  pianoforum is my work.  although he tells me that it probably would be a good idea to get a job soon.  outside the job that i have chaufferring, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, doing laundry, etc. etc.  the way i do it - is i spend about 2-3 hours working very fast (it's sort of like my exercise routine).  then - i sit at piano forum.  then, another spurt of 2-3 hours.  hopefully.  sometimes the second one is not as effective.  getting sidetracked by phone calls and dillemmas.  why does the neighbor's cat have it's tongue frozen sideways on the side of it's mouth?  (i actually chased it for a couple minutes - calling here kitty kitty - but it wouldn't come to me to get it inside the house).  just as well - as it might spray the walls or something.

[ahinton]

alistair is right on this one.  i don't think adam and eve 'fell' when they did it.  (thus promulgating the notion that one is always in a continual state of falling when thinking or doing it).

I didn't say that! Anyway, do you therefore mean that you think that Adam and Eve did it standing up? And whilst this "continual state of falling" when thinking might be indicative of a kind of mental giddiness generated by the act of thinking, the same state when doing what you seem to say Adam and Eve did standing up would surely make it a pretty unconfortable experience, wouldn't it?

yes.  i think if they'd listened loud enough,

How can one "listen" "loud(ly)"?

God would have said 'and it was very good.'  after all, He was the guy who made it.  i mean - why would he put them in a garden together naked and expect nothing to come of it.

You don't suppose that He might instead have said "how was it for you", do you? (what might get lost or misrepresented as a direct consequence of Bible translation has, after all, already been considered here aplenty)...

time management.  my husband really helps on that one.  he goes to work.

And that helps you manage your time?

i go on pianoforum.  pianoforum is my work.  although he tells me that it probably would be a good idea to get a job soon.

(...and lead us not into temptation...)

outside the job that i have chaufferring, cooking, cleaning, paying bills, doing laundry, etc. etc.  the way i do it - is i spend about 2-3 hours working very fast (it's sort of like my exercise routine).  then - i sit at piano forum.  then, another spurt of 2-3 hours.  hopefully.  sometimes the second one is not as effective.  getting sidetracked by phone calls and dillemmas.  why does the neighbor's cat have it's tongue frozen sideways on the side of it's mouth?  (i actually chased it for a couple minutes - calling here kitty kitty - but it wouldn't come to me to get it inside the house).  just as well - as it might spray the walls or something.

But this apparent nightmare will surely end in a better life eventually, won't it? (and I don't mean in the hereafter, either...); you make it sounds as though that constant sense of falling might be quite a good thing in such unenviable circumstances - indeed, almost carrying with it the hope that one might fall out of this seemingly interminable loop altogether if one were to fall far enough...

Best,

Alistair

[tds]

susan, my cat is now pregnant for the 38th times. it looks like its due this week. do you want some of the kittens?

[ihatepop]

susan, my cat is now pregnant for the 38th times. it looks like its due this week. do you want some of the kittens?

How old is your cat?!

ihatepop

[tds]

dont know for sure. actually it's my sister's cat but i take care of her more than she does.

rastus, the cat, is always pregnant. she old but god, she pretty.

[pianistimo]

aww.  i like stories like this.  i sorta wish i hadn't neutered my cat after her first litter.  they were so cute, too.  at the time we rented a home and the owners didn't like us having the first one probably.  but, she is a very clean cat and takes good care of herself, too.  she is very pretty, to me, as well.  and her temperament is really unusual - i think.  she's like the queen of sheba and i like it when she preens and takes care of herself, too.  she looks really great for 17 years.  she had four kitties the first time - and probably could have had quite a few more litters - but she has sort of a frailness to her, too - and the kitties might have worn her out if she had more.

speaking of all this, alistair, i think my life would be a nightmare to you - just as yours seems one to me.  if i had to compose for a living - whew.  i would be starving.  as it is - i really do like the life i've chosen.  the first few years after having a baby can be a bit of - well, just things that seem to happen at untimely moments.  ie poopy diapers.  but, after the diaper stage- there's really nothing to fear. 

i really do like having a family and i don't consider it a burden.  it's a privilege.  and, i do like to work - despite what i say about being lazy sometimes - i do make up for it.  believe me.  there have been times in my life that i didn't go to bed until about 1:00 am. for several days to weeks (between baby and jobs).  i had three businesses - piano lessons, tutoring reading, and sewing.  i did the sewing during the week mostly - and the piano lessons on weekend.  also, tutoring during the week.  sewing was what i did until 1:00 or so in the morning - and i had a couple of really great years of income sewing anything and everything people wanted.  couch covers, chair covers, dresses, duvets, pillows, etc.

the tutoring was easy money at the time, too. because i like to work with kids.  the thing is - i think i was a bit overwhelmed after a while when the second child came.  we had moved to another location in lancaster where it was much hotter.  i still sewed - but again in the evening.  it was over 100 degrees many times during midday.  that was really difficult to get used to.  once you do - you just do less work during the really hot period of the day or you'll be too tired to do anything later.

in any case.  i truly do like to work.  i'd rather be working than resting really.  to me, piano IS work.  thereby giving me a reason to practice.  my hubby says when i go back to work to possibly take an accompanying job like the one i had back in california.  that was very fun.  i like getting paid for doing musical things.  hey, if anyone let me - i'd write their dissertations (but, unfortunately - that is illegal and improper).  say a rough draft of stuff that they need information on and don't have a library nearby.  we have a great library at west chester.  both music/and regular.  between the two - there is a lot of great information.  i like musicology.

[elspeth]

susan, my cat is now pregnant for the 38th times. it looks like its due this week. do you want some of the kittens?

Do tell us when they put in an appearance! A friend of mine used to work in Greece, and everyone in the apartment block she lived in adopted a pregnant stray, it and the kittens got terribly spoiled, both by the people who lived there and those like me who were just visiting for as long as our friends would put up with us! Sadly my friend couldn't bring one of the kittens home that she'd got very attached to - quarantine rules and so on.

[pianistimo]

i've been thinking about this offer for two days,  now.  at first i thought it was a trick of some kind.  then, i thought - barring them being all male and spraying the house up and down when they grow to teenage years - they could actually be kinda cute and nice to have around.  even if they were all limpers.

then, i thought - wow. tds would come all the way to philly to bring some kitties.  hmm.  i think i'd rather hear him play the piano.  but, the kitties would be like a bonus. 

i'm just not sure.  my husband has severe allergies and whenever i suggest letting our youngest have a pet - he's kind of standoffish.  and, my older son is neither for or against cats - but really can't stand them on his bed.  i don't mind the cat at all.  but, if we got another one - i don't want her/him unloved by anyone in the house.  gotta find a catlady for them in your neighborhood.