_ It’s pretty typical that I take breaks from practicing – after all, I do have a full time job and little kids to take care of. I tend to make myself practice by scheduling performances when I know that I might feel the urge to not practice – like summer time. So, I didn’t practice for the last week and two days, and boy did it feel good. The usual knots in my back were not there at my monthly massage this Wednesday: I take it as proof that not practicing on occasion is healthy. Today I started working my way back in with a good 45 minutes of warm-ups. There’s something so very soothing and comforting about the warm-ups: in the best possible situation I do the same routine daily, as I have for the past 25 years…    

So I’ve picked these things up here and there. Mostly there, since I wasn’t here yet. Open strings to start with, always. Finger exercises from Seppo Laamanen (My first Liminka music camp, maybe 1984?) and Sevcik. Shifting exercises from Lauri Laitinen, my first major teacher with whom I studied for ten years. Scales in thirds, courtesy of Kazimierz Mikhalik, Poland (1991).

This got me thinking: I started playing cello in November or December, 1981. Exactly 30 years ago!! My first concert was in the spring…I better ask my mom for the date, even if it’s just an excuse to bake a cake and celebrate the 30th anniversary of my first performance :) 

So people keep telling me I need to start a blog instead of using my first page as one. I guess I can see the sense in that. But isn't it just a totally self-serving thing to blog about upcoming performances? This is going to require some thought... The function of the web page is to tell people what's up with the concerts and stuff - true. It's hardly interesting to see a list of performances and a stagnated page with no context. I play so many different kinds of music that I feel like the calendar requires a companion, glossary or something, which is what the first page ramblings were meant to do...to keep things alive a little bit :) The blog could do the same I suppose - but it feel it's more official in some way! So maybe I'll keep the first page for a bit and let the process evolve, see if I can think of anything interesting to blog about that has remotely anything to do with music, cello, teaching or whatnot. And not too much about highlighting the next performances...

I read a lot of those interesting mommy-blogs that say everything that needs to be said about motherhood and working. I don't want to talk about politics publicly. I have some ideas, though, about new music blogging, or string quartet blogging, or just writing about those things.  It'll be interesting to see if I can find my voice, and what better way to do that than in the eye of the public...on the internet (And yes, I am trying to get rid of the habit of using the "..." at the end of every sentence.)