SMT 2013: Charlotte

Last weekend was the SMT's Annual Theory-a-thon in Charlotte. While I was there, I also heard people refer to it as Theory Camp and Theory Christmas. Theory Camp I understand, but Theory Christmas...that's too much. 

Anyways, it was a productive, fun, and also exhausting conference, per usual. I got to reconnect with lots of people from IU, though none of the students in this IU department ad were present, including Mark: 

I got to see my former classmate, Drew (shown below), give a paper about baroque dance that was great! He also played piano in his presentation to demonstrate different conceptions of baroque meter, and his playing is excellent. Presentations with live performance are always the best. 

The DJ and Bryn were present with little Trudy and it was great to hang out with Mama DJ for a bit in between sessions! Trudy is cuter in real life than in pictures, if you can believe it. 

This year's conference had included several great pedagogy sessions, though I was sad to miss Bryn's as it was on Sunday morning, during my flight (but you can check out the materials here!). I found those sessions particularly inspiring and I'm going to try to incorporate some more new tech/media into my teaching. I love the idea of having a short, weekly podcast to introduce the topic of the week for my students. 

I also somehow managed to do a bunch of personal work during the conference weekend. My plan was to go to things when I wanted to, but not to force myself to go to any sessions just because I was there. The result was that I had a little extra time on my hands to write, especially Wednesday afternoon before everyone else arrived. I had the hotel room to myself and got all kinds of stuff written before my roommate, Anna, arrived. It turns out that an expensive hotel room that does not include internet is a good place to get stuff done because you don't have the internet to offer distractions. It did give me the idea to get a few fun colleagues together, rent a cabin (or cottage, as the locals always say) somewhere pretty, then work all day and have fun in the evening. It would be sort of like an informal writing retreat! 

On Saturday I went to the parties and snapped this picture of several senior theorists playing poker at the end of the Yale reception.

Then John went to AMS almost right after I got back from SMT. Bobo and I had the weekend to ourselves and we filled our time with walks in the gray weather.

This was our first fairly cold weekend - highs in the 30s - and it's starting to feel like winter, even if it still looks like fall. 

Bobo has her winter wear all ready to go. She's wearing her red, heavier coat in the photos above. And below you can see her knit sweater for moderately cold weather. As you can see, she loves them both. 

IAA "Reunion" Day

On the second day of our trip, we headed to campus to wander around and sit in on some classes with our former teachers. 

We walked down to the lake from the Academy side, a ways away from our cabin.

Seagulls hanging out on top the dance building.

The fall colors on campus were stunning.

Main campus, between the dorms, cafeteria, and classroom buildings. 

We attended Mr. McCall's Early American History class on the slave trade. Mr. McCall was definitely one of my favorite teachers and it was fun to chat with him about the class material, and to pick his brain about the shutdown, the 2016 election, etc. 

(Me, Kira, Mr.McCall, Tracy)

Only a few of us registered for the reunion, supposedly the reason it was canceled, so we easily fit into a group photo. 

 We wandered around the concourse where our academic classes took place.

Saw some old faces...

and some new flyers for theory tutorial and the Chamber Singers concert.

We saw the new (to us) library in what used to be the gym. When we were there, the music library was very much like a dungeon underneath the cafeteria. But now it's a swank, college-style building with the internet and everything.

Kira and I also attended Dr. Van Maanen's first year music theory class and participated in the day's lesson on second species counterpoint. Woohoo!

 The day ended with a trip to the photo archives where former Academy conductor, Byron Hanson, hauled out a bunch of containers of Academy photos from 2002-2003. It was a perfect thing for us to do, and we almost definitely wouldn't have gotten to do it if lots of people had attended the "real" reunion.

If you'd asked me ten years ago if I would want to teach at Interlochen, I would have said definitely not. It's so cold and isolated in the winter, and I couldn't imagine wanting to endure that indefinitely (little did I know we would move to Canada, so the joke is on me). Now, though, I'm in my 7th year of teaching (!!!) and I would totally jump at the chance to teach at Interlochen. The kids are engaged, the institution supports creative work, and it's prestigious, so famous people visit on a regular basis. I might not want to live in Northern Michigan forever, but I would happily sign up for a winter there if it meant I got to teach in such a vibrant, intellectually stimulating place. And the winters are the price for what are a pretty beautiful summer and fall. Not that they have a job opening or anything, but I may keep my ear to the ground now that I've visited as an adult and witnessed the great teaching that takes place there. It makes me realize how lucky I am to have been a student in such a place.

Shrine of the Muse Divine

After my high school reunion this weekend, I've decided to post a whole series of landscape photos. Because northern Michigan is just that beautiful!

Our cabin was beautiful, too. But I only managed to take a photo of the fake moose head on the wall of Kira's room. I kind of wanted to take that moose head.

And also our cabin from the front. 

Since I've been getting up early this semester, I was able to sleep in until 7:30 and still see the sunrise each day we were there. And as Kira was able to book us a cabin right on Green Lake, I made a special trip outside each morning to take pictures as it happened. 

Our cabin was about a mile from campus, near Diamond Park Road, surrounded by the firey fall colors. 

I was compelled to take a photo every few minutes or so when the light changed. 

Also, we were near Indiana Street! I realized that in the same week I will have spent time in Interlochen, Bloomington, and London. All three of my schools in a week. It's sort of like an autobiographical road trip. 

The sun really started to come up and the lake changed color quickly.

And then everything started changing color.

The view from the porch.

On the last morning, it was fairly windy and the water was choppy. 

What an amazing place this was to go to school. No wonder I decided to become a composer.

It was so good to be back.

Another List, Because I'm Lazy

It's that time of year, I guess. A bunch of crazy stuff is happening in October so I'll have no shortage of stuff to blog about. But for now, another list of the happenings around here this week.

1. Swimming is fun, but getting up early is a struggle. Especially on a morning like last Tuesday when it was crazy foggy. You'll have to take my word for it that this is a picture of the UWO stadium at about 5:50 AM. Saturday evening practices are a little more chill; this week we did a time trial for 400 meters free, and then 50 meter freestyle sprints. It turns out I've added 1 second to my 50 free time per year since 2001, the last year that I was officially timed. So that's not awful, I guess. I can work it back down over the next few months before the first masters swim meet. Everyone on the team is super nice and encouraging, and there truly is a huge range of abilities. After the time trials, we also did some relays, and we played a game called the Human Cannon. Six of my teammates launched me forward to see how far they could move me if I didn't try to propel myself (I'd say I made it about 20 meters - impressive!). Why on earth did I wait 4 years to try the triathlon club? I have no idea. 

I'm ready for the weather to actually feel like fall, but I won't complain because I think complaining about it being 70 degrees and sunny is a #whitgirlproblem.

2. John and I have been taking turns bringing Her Ladyship, Le Beaux Royale, to the dog park. She blends in perfectly with the fall foliage, which, I have to say, is pretty beautiful. I had no idea London had such nice dog parks! She blends in so well, in fact, that you can hardly see her in this picture: 

Taking her to the dog park is a great way to end the day on Friday and it really makes her happy. Sometimes there are a couple of other greyhounds there, and the three of them start to approach warp speed. Last week they were running around the trees in the wooded area of the park, and I was amazed that they could avoid running into the trees head on. [NERD ALERT] It was like that scene in Return of the Jedi on Endor when they're chasing each other on air bikes (similar clip here).

3. Last week, my church invited Rev. John Shelby Spong to speak as part of a year-long series of events celebrating the church's 125th Anniversary. We had a great turn out! Also, look how pretty my church is. 

Spong is kind of a controversial and I think he prides himself on shaking up conventional thinking by making polemical statements. I was a tad disappointed in his talk, since he spent most of it using the history of science to disprove a lot of older church thinking (Galileo proved the Earth is flat, etc) that I didn't find particularly shocking or useful. Perhaps I'm being too picky, but I was hoping he would make some concrete suggestions about what could be done on a local level to address a lot of the church's problems (institutional misogyny, aging congregations, etc). On the other hand, a bunch of smart people from my church got together the following week to discuss their thoughts on his talk, and I really enjoyed that. The people at my church are willing to have uncomfortable conversations and that's a big part of why I keep going back. 

4. I only have to make it until Thursday afternoon before the fun starts. Then it's off to Michigan for a few days of Interlochen party time!

American Thanksgiving 2012

Last week, we had our third annual American Thanksgiving Dinner with our friend, Gwen. John helped me reign in my excitement and only plan a very large meal, instead of a crazy big one. Like previous years, we made a Thanksgiving dinner without meat, but in this case, a large amount of dairy, and somehow, no soy products.

We set the table for four, and unfortunately one of our guests got the stomach flu the day before. He kindly stayed home, instead of spreading his virus to us. 

Yes, I was that person who made the little pears with name tags on them, an idea I saw all over the internet this year. It was actually really easy and kinda fun, even though I felt silly making fake little name tags and tying them on to pears. 

Here are some links to the recipes we enjoyed. 

Basic Cranberry Sauce from MarthaStewart.com (the sauce in this photo is in progress, of course). John said he didn't like cranberry sauce, but that this recipe converted him. I had no idea it was so easy to make! Berries + sugar + lemon zest + water + heat. Done. 

Our sick friend was supposed to bring pie, so at the last minute, John and I decided to make a pumpkin pie from scratch (who are we?!). Actually, we practice "cutting in" all the time when we make biscuits, so John handled the crust recipe like a pro. 

Here's the pie before it baked: voluptuous vegan pumpkin pie, from Vegan Pie in the Sky, from the geniuses at the PPK.  

This pie turned out 50% awesome, 50% not quite right. First, I subbed tapioca flour for agar powder, which was probably an error. The consistency wasn't quite right for pumpkin pie. Also, we under baked it, so the crust on the bottom was a little chewy. Still, the spice balance in this is great, and it's not very sweet. To make the filling, you just combine all the ingredients and dump them in the pie shell, much easier than cooking them on the stove first. Making the crust was somewhat an epiphany for John, since he didn't realize it was so simple. I think this pie has him pretty excited, and that this will be the Christmas of Pies. 

We also made this Pear and Pecan Cornbread Stuffing, also from the PPK. 

This stuffing is delicious. It dries out easily, so be generous with the stock, especially when you reheat it. I think it needs about 2 cups of stock from the start, and we've added more with the leftovers. It's so flavorful and good, I can't wait to make it again at Christmas.

This picture of John maniacally stirring is the only one I got of the mashed potatoes. We didn't follow a real recipe here, just cubed and boiled potatoes, mashed them with chopped rosemary and a bunch of butter and cream. It's basically potatoes+fat. We use red potatoes and leave the skin on for a little color. 

I made brie en croute with the cranberry sauce pictured above. I loosely followed a similar recipe using apple compote from Annie's Eats, just to get the general idea of how to wrap it and how long to bake it.   This brie turned out beautifully, because, how could it not? Brie oozing out of puff pastry? If you don't like that, then I can't help you. Once it came out of the oven, we started eating it so fast that I didn't snap a picture, but take my word for it that the finished product was really pretty and presented well. We ate it with some cranberry-pumpkin seed pita chips from Costco, which I would highly recommend. You need a firm cracker to stand up to all that brie. We meant to also use green apple slices, but it completely slipped my mind when the time came.

You'll notice from the picture that I didn't really wrap it in any kind of systematic way. I just gathered the pastry up around the brie a bit at a time and kind of knotted it at the top. John and Gwen literally exclaimed "Oooh! Ahhh!" when I took it out of the oven. Can't wait for Christmas when I can make this again. 

Here is my plate. Clockwise, from 1 o'clock, you have the cornbread stuffing, then mashed potatoes, blanched green beans (just so we could say we had a veggie, and for something green on the plate), then the actual "main" course: Apple Walnut Lentil Loaf, from Oh She Glows. As predicted, the loaf was a big hit and we gave some to Gwen to take home. It would definitely please any vegetarians, vegans, or omnivores you serve over the holidays. Just make a little extra glaze for dipping.

No post-bake photos of the pie, since we covered it in whipped cream and stuffed it in our faces. I hope you had a Happy American Thanksgiving, or a regular Thursday, depending on where you are. Here's to a delicious holiday season!