...Izee's Thread

[Izee]

...Performing music...Rags and some others will understand...

...Music always hit a part of my brain that nothing else could enter, when I was performing.  I would be sitting at the piano, watching my hands...I would be thinking of how I wanted to handle phrase...and they would usually do what I wanted them to.  That is when my mind went 'off to a New World'... ...I really believed that they had their own minds...and I would get angry at them when they hit a wrong note.      The same thing happened when I played the cello...and I WAS NOT A CASUAL PERFORMER!     I would walk off the stage, and GLARE AT THEM... …I would calm down, a bit, and go back out for a few bows...but would cuss my hands out when I got back to my Apt.   

...But, the experience of performing music is like nothing else in this World.  I insisted that my children learn instruments...my daughter learned to play the clarinet well, she and I played trios with a pianist.  My son didn't do as well...but he did other things fairly well. 

...I have experienced many emotions when performing music...and tears would be running down my face many times...

…But, Rags and others may have had this experience.  My body would fill with energy, and when the cello section had a dramatic melody...I would feel what was like an 'Orgasm'...but it would just be in my mind...my body would be clean...and not sweating.  I would wonder if I had been 'visited' by a Higher Power...who was approving of what I was doing.

[RAGNAR]

Why I never understood the need for musicians to use drugs. You run such highs, lows and everything in between during the entire gig. I have noticed no two people feel exactly the same thing even from the same piece. It can be compared to sex I suppose. Some shows your entire body is electrified, others not so much even though it is the same piece. Sometimes you hit a stage of near euphoria early on that you ride the entire show, sometimes it comes on later and hits like a truck and the entire earth moves. But if you don't feel anything, then you are not making music... you are just playing notes in succession.

But the real orgasms came for me after the show most usually with some chick about three rows back center with great tits and legs to die for when wearing high heels.

 

[Izee]

...Why I had to leave the first firm.     I had a good friend when I was driving to night Law school...we got together a group, but they flunked out, or dropped out.  So, for three years...a NAVAL AVIATOR and I drove to the classes.  We would alternate driving, and at times when I was driving, he would tell me tales of when he had been in battle.  I once let him drive me to the Alameda NAS, and I climbed into his Corsair, and looked over all of the instruments.  I had flown gliders...and I just chuckled as he explained them to me...I said..."I flew a plane without an engine...and got to 10,000 feet."  He swatted me, and took me out to a very nice lunch.   

…He set up a plaintiffs attorney firm...I joined a defense firm.  We sparred a number of times, and would get a drink afterwards, and I would calm down.  He and his wife are the 'Godparents' to my daughter...he and I were very open to each other. 

…I was visiting him at his office, and he was determined.  He explained an accident to me, and showed me the report.  His client, that he had just signed up, was a paraplegic...(Paralyzed from the waist down)…and the cause of the accident was a guy driving a truck.  I made some comments about the case.  There was a 1 million policy.

…A month later, it was late at night, and I needed to stretch my legs, and walked down the hall.  I found the Junior partner and a senior staff attorney sitting together.  I smiled, and walked in, and asked what they were talking about.  They said that they were trying to figure out to STEAL the case!     I listened in for a bit, and went home.

…I sat FOR DAYS...trying to figure out what I SHOULD DO!!!  Legal Ethics are very strict...you violate one...you LOSE YOUR LICENSE!!!  I figured out that what I had heard wasn't attorney/client conversation...it was just ASSHOLES TRYING TO STEAL A CASE!!!  I told my friend of what I had heard...and he got ready. 

[Izee]

...The Junior partner, and the associate, did EVERYTHING they could do to steal the case.  My friend would have a drink with me, and I would just nod, and say..."I can't comment".  My friend mentioned that he had discussed hauling my ass into the Courtroom, to tell what I had heard.  But, his more experienced friend said..."No, we have to protect our source".

...So, that is why  I changed Firms...*Stealing cases*...nothing much lower...

[siren]

i'm so sorry You've gone through all you have.  *huggles lots*  i'm always here for you if you want someone to talk to, my sweet friend. Take care of yourself first, afterall, you were victorious in what occurred, and can hold your head up high.

[Izee]

...Performing Music...

...As Rags has added, performing music is no comparison to listening to music.  Your mind wakes up in unusual ways, and your body is full of different emotions,  Most of the time, I would be full of energy, but, other times, I would pack up my cello, and leave.  It was easier when I was performing on the piano...I would just quickly slink out the back door of the auditorium, and walk to my apt.  Once, my door was pounded right after I got home...and I opened it, and two of my friends said..."Hey, we arranged a reception for you."  I freshened my makeup, and did my best to look happy as I circulated among the guests.  They were all complimenting me.  Problem was...at that time in my life...I was focused on being 'perfect'.  I was just focused on the few missed notes, and a phrase that didn't go as I had wanted it...and totally forgot the passages that I had played very well.  When I got back into the cello a few years later...I was more forgiving of myself.  I would just chuckle when I hit a wrong note, and would focus on performing the rest of the work.

...I took private lessons with a World Class Performer... …and after a year I was playing better than I had been.  Of course...I spent HOURS practicing every day!  It was hard, but I really wanted to get back to my skill level.  It worked... …One season, I had joined a new Community Orchestra, and was sitting LAST CHAIR in a section of 8 cellos.  I had to turn the pages for my standmate…an elderly woman who couldn't see the music well.  I marked our music with LARGE numbers to show easy fingerings.  During a break, I was sitting and practicing the Symphony...and the Conductor moved me down to the next stand.

…I got moved up a stand a few rehearsals later.  The Conductor would ask me to stay after a rehearsal, and listen as I played a passage, and we would talk about it.   Then, he wanted to perform the entire William Tell overture...and the Principal and I played the solos in front of him.  The Principal just laughed, and said..."I will turn the pages...so I became the new Principal.   

...I finished the solo at the concert...and she whispered to me...as sweat was dripping off of my nose.  "That is a real Bitch Kitty...I HATE playing it!"  I just nodded

[Izee]

...My favorite concerto..."The Dvorak"   
https://youtu.be/nJSlmoXpzfM
...I actually got to where I could play this...pretty much... ...the emotions I would feel would be very intense.

[Izee]

...We just finished a REALLY NICE DINNER...   I am living with my elderly Mother, watching over her, and paying all of the bills.  I just don't go out, I don't want to contract the virus and bring it back.  My Brother brings us food, and I write him a check...   He brought in Chinese food, and we sat around the table, and ate.  He ALSO BROUGHT US PRESENTS!  My Birthday was on May 8, and today is Mothers Day!   

...My Mother received a package of paper towels...and I got...A BOX OF KLEENIX!!!!   

...I was laughing so hard, it was difficult to write the $73 check for the groceries and the Chinese food...

…I will return the 'favor' when his Birthday comes up in June.....

[RAGNAR]

LOL

Not sure about you sis, but I am soooo over this plague stuff.

I want my life to return to its normal state of insanity.

[Izee]

...Not sure that everyone knows what a 'Gamba' is...   It is short for 'Viola de Gamba'.  It is a Renaisance Era instrument, and it is related to the modern String Bass.     Please look at it, it is shaped like a String Bass, with drooping shoulders.  The cellos are of the 'Violin' Family, and have rounded shoulders.  This one has seven strings, my Gamba has six strings.  (My cellos have the usual four strings).  I can't play my Gamba this well...but it shows what it is capable of.   

...https://youtu.be/z7S07C_FX2E

[RAGNAR]

Well get you Gamba in gear Woman!!!!!

 

[Izee]

...I had a very emotional event the last hour.  I "pulled off my wedding ring".  I had kept it on, even after he divorced me.  I just loved it...and men stayed clear when I sat at a Bar for a drink after a deposition.  So now, both hands look the same...

...It is probably for the best,

[Izee]

...Just gonna ramble for a bit...

...I had a BLAST in college.     I was the Principal Cellist, and Glen Chin was the Principal Bassist.  We got to like each other, and hung out a lot.  We looked so different, he was an obese Chinese guy, I was a slender Hispanic.  Often, after a rehearsal, we would go out and he would take me to 'back alley' places for oriental food.  He would speak Chinese to the waiter, and I would just sit, and hope that what he ordered for the two of us was something that I could hold down.  He would call me, and I would wait outside of my apt at 10:00 pm, and he would drive us into SF...and I didn't know WHAT TO EXPECT!!!  His Family owned a VERY famous restaurant, and sometimes we were given a back room...and other times his Cousin came out and scolded him!   We would sit at the Bar, and eat some noodles...and then go to Tower Records.  Glen never told me of what his Cousin had said...I never tried to study Chinese.   

…I went to Law school after I graduated...and Glen went to...HOLLYWOOD!!!!   He has appeared in many Movies.  My Ex hates the Actor who killed Glen in a very popular movie.   

…Glen did teach acting classes, and when I had a case in LA I would visit him.  I kinda had fun...he would greet me in front of the students, and I would plant my butt in a chair and watch.  During breaks, some of the students would come up to me, and ask..."Are you someone important?"  I would just look at them, and Glen would say..."Yes, She is...get back to the stage."  I guess that if I had wanted, I could have had my hotel room full of whoever I chose.   

…Glen died this year, and I am a bit angry at myself...

…We never got to say 'farewell'...but...He died in his sleep...

[RAGNAR]

So long as you remember him, he is never truly forgotten.

[Izee]

...Here He is...he was quite a Man.  He introduced me to so many different cultures...and places that I was scared of...I would be the only non-Chinese...and guys would be 'eyeing me'.  But, Glen was huge, and they all knew who he was, so they were polite.  He would test my eating capabilities.  Once, he said that we were going to go to an 'all you can eat' place in Chinatown, SF, so I starved myself for two days.  I was VERY pleased when I ATE MORE THAN HE DID!!!  I plucked a prawn off of his plate, with my chopsticks, while he was slumped back in his chair...ate it...and said..."I won."   So, he paid for the ENTIRE MEAL! 

...He was a very kind man.  He had studied 'Music Therapy' at UOP, and would invite me to help him.  We would drive to a residential mental health facility, and get the patients to get involved in some sort of music.  He could get the most ill ones to shake a tambourine, or bang on a drum. 

…You are correct, Rags...He will always be in my memories...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Chin