Practice Journal

It's snowing (again). I'm sitting in the office, surrounded by lights (this winter thing doesn't really agree with me) and cats (mostly sleeping on the desk and surrounding chairs). I'm just about to finish my (first, large) morning cup of coffee, looking at my schedule, and wondering what (if anything) to write about today. This post has been percolating in the back of my mind for a while now, but I had no idea of how long until I took a look at my drafted (but never finished) posts. Wow, a whole page-worth, and I started this one on December 7, 2006. I suppose I should write it today, before it celebrates an anniversary in limbo.

My original idea when I started this blog was to use it as an on-line practice journal. Nine months after the idea was conceived and I set it up, I finally began, not with practicing, but with foster kittens. It's been a duality since then, schizophrenic in common parlance, though that is a completely inaccurate use of the word. But it works for me.

I played the 'cello off and on (and mostly off) for a decade before the 'cello-bug bit me and I decided to get passionate about learning to play it well. Along with finding a new teacher (T2-) who was willing to do some serious technical work with an adult, I started a practice journal to organize my goals and my work. After surveying all of the commercial products available at the time (not nearly as many as now), I pronounced them all inadequate and made my own. Thanks to some nifty plastic ring binders I found at Staples, I made up an official-looking journal for each year of study.

This is a random page from the third year:


You know what? If I write everything I want to about the elements in this journal, and my thoughts about what I am in transition to, well, lets just say it exceeds the standard scope of a blog post. So consider this the inauguration of a series. Tomorrow I'll describe the sections for you.

Or not. That's the nice thing about a blog. No commitments <g>.