oboeinsight

Via The Collaborative Piano blog I read that the flute may soon be replaced by robot.

Hah! Have you ever sat next to a flutist? Have you ever gone shopping with a flutist? Have you ever seen a flutist’s jewelry?

Somehow the sound isn’t the “all of it” when it comes to being a flutist.

And did you get a look at that cowboy hat wearing robot. Yeah. Right.

Truth be told, there are days when I actually dress up. I don earrings and makeup. I might even wear high heels. When my music colleagues compliment me (usually after I’ve had to pick them up after they faint with shock) I just tell them I’ve come in disguise … as a flutist.

I think it has something to do with their pretty shiny instruments. You know? 😉
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I received yet another email asking me to teach. Teaching what isn’t entirely clear, but I’m assuming it’s voice lessons. Heh. Sure. I can teach voice lessons. Right after I teach my class in brain surgery.

Here’s the message, typos and spacing errors and all:

From: shelia4learning@unionplus.net
Subject: Interested in your Services !!!
Date: September 12, 2006 11:35:12 AM PDT
To: kymillers@peoplepc.com

Interested in your Services !!!
Hello ,
Good day to you , My name is Shelia , i happen to be a student in Central London , I am a student of extreme intregity and i am also a singer , I am interested in learning from you also if you can help me also brush up my talent so i can perform better in it prolifically .
I have a occassion coming up by soon in the United States, and i will be have to perform there and also perform vocally, i need you as an instructor and teacher.Kindly mail me back if you will be able to
help me in my Venture . I will gladly pay for your remarkable services ,also let me know the type of teaching you do.
I will be very glad if you can reply back to my e-mail here so we can proceed on me making arrangements as to how to start .
Thanking you in anticipation for a favourable reply.
Shelia.

Shelia Thompson.

I just love that this is a student with extreme integrity.

Part of me wants to write back and say I charge a million per lesson and please send cash, but the smarter part of me hit the delete key instead. Besides, I, too, have extreme integrity.

These are such stupid scams, and yet some folks have fallen for them. Sigh.

In Other News
I can’t help but laugh at all the talk around this area of the world about the San Francisco 49ers. It’s just hilarious. They lost to Arizona (27-34), but the talk is all about how wonderful it is that they weren’t as bad as anyone thought they’d be.

I hope no one ever says that about my oboe or English horn playing.
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Okay … a little rant here. I just have to dump this here and be done with it. Bear with me, please. Or just skip this post!

I was reading a blog recently that dealt a lot with the blogger’s children and all that they are required to do during the school year. Yikes. What a list this person had. And nowhere was there mentioned anything that sounded recreational or playful. I know things are different than back in the dark ages, when I was (starting to) grow up (but never finished). I know that competition at colleges is crazy. I know that we are trying to raise test scores and that we’re all being told now that we can do it all and have it all and be anything we want to be (sad lies, if you ask me) … but can’t kids have a little fun?!

I realize I’m a lazy bum a lot of the time. I know I’m not a rocket scientist (and never will be). But I do also know that I am able to enjoy life and relax. These parents and children I see are so busy pushing and excelling I’m not sure they know how to just “be”. And I think that’s sad.

In the long run, I don’t think it matters what you high school GPA was. I doubt that, ten—maybe even five—years after you graduate, anyone will say, “So, what was your high school GPA?” (And if anyone did, would you even care to befriend that person?) Sure, grades are important. But so are social skills. A lot of the kids I see that are so caught up in grades desperately need to take a social skills class. And maybe get a B now and then. (One former student I had‐long ago enough now that I can write this‐could never stop yawning during the lesson, and told me that a math class would have to be repeated if the B+ he/she had didn’t go up to an A: mom insisted on an “A only” policy. For both middle and high school.

There are certain smells that bring me back to my childhood. Two are the smell of a certain shrub, and the smell of our lawn. I remember, via those smells, somersaults and hide-n-seek. Being outside, playing hard, running and goofing off. So much fun!

I hope my students are allowed to have fun. It’s so much more enjoyable to see them smile than to see them yawn.

Rant over and out.
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