Josh -- I've been reading and meaning to say hello for awhile, and I can no longer avoid that. Hello. This piece touched me in a few tender places. I met you long ago in the Market Street flat I shared with Roger W, your oboe teacher at the time. It was he who introduced me to the particular plight that is the Loneliness of the Long Distance Reedmaker. I can still hear the frantic ("is this the one ? did I get it? is this concert-worthy? will I be in a foul or good mood tomorrow?") squawky toots like it was yesterday and not when Winona Ryder was still the hot ticket. You & your brother gave us a sneak preview of Haiku Tunnel, that was really fun. I was turning to your blog this evening trying to get some relief before catching up on lost work, as I have been dealing for the past 72 hours nonstop it seems with my own mother's decline. She's been fiercely in the denial stage for the past 5 months. It's very hard, and today was an especially rough one. Then I read down... oh yeah. Your mom too. So much for escapism. I'm sorry you went through that.
I'm in awe of your titanium-strength perseverance and astounding weight loss, and I enjoy your turns of phrase. You're a really amiable presence on my screen. Thank you.
Hi, Laurie: Thank you for these beautiful comments!!! Ah, Roger -- what a dear sweet brilliant soul!! He actually gave me an oboe lesson recently, via Zoom!! And of course his cameo in "Haiku Tunnel" is the highlight of the film! I'm so very sorry for all the incredibly hard things you're going through with your mother!!! Thank you for your lovely words of support, which make me feel really, really great!!!
I can't believe this passed me by before today! What a delightful image, you & Rogie reunited over reed angst. And a reminder that that dear sweet brilliant soul & I are overdue to reconnect.
I remember seeing your show "Sea of Reeds" where you demonstrated shaping a reed onstage before the performance! While making sure to explain to onlookers that this was not the actual reed you would be performing with on stage that night :-)
Thank you for explaining the arduous reed making process. Quoting Mr. Spock, "fascinating". This also requires a lot of discipline. I know you can do it. Happy and successful scraping. (You may want to decorate your Sukkah with the less than perfect examples.
And I thought I was being dragged into crazy obsessive stuff trying to learn how some 1980s cameras work that I inherited from my father. When I was in various bands years ago I never really paid attention to oboists sculpting their reeds, now I realize I should have.
Man, it was hard enough practicing violin just with having to tune it. Oboists rule! (Kinda literally: it's the oboe who gives the A to the concertmaster, right? I mean, if concertmasters even still lead the tuning?)
I don't know what orchestras do to tune these days, Alice - it's been so long since I've been to a live concert!! Back when I was in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of New York, I used to infuriate the different sections by giving them all slightly different A's (not on purpose!).
Fascinating process, Josh. Thanks for all those reed-making details and the images too. I had no idea. And my older brother even played oboe, but I never heard him talking about it. Maybe that's why he played sax and clarinet more than oboe.
I like you and your mother as a "swell team." I grew up with puns too. Thank you.
And more congrats about putting the too long belt and compression socks into a still life where they now belong.
Remember that line from the I Ching, "Perseverance furthers."
So many good wishes for your efforts at it all, Josh! Thanks for the detailed description of that process. As a violinist, I've somewhat ignored the magnitude of that effort of dear colleagues to make their beautiful sound. I'm humbled.....
Josh -- I've been reading and meaning to say hello for awhile, and I can no longer avoid that. Hello. This piece touched me in a few tender places. I met you long ago in the Market Street flat I shared with Roger W, your oboe teacher at the time. It was he who introduced me to the particular plight that is the Loneliness of the Long Distance Reedmaker. I can still hear the frantic ("is this the one ? did I get it? is this concert-worthy? will I be in a foul or good mood tomorrow?") squawky toots like it was yesterday and not when Winona Ryder was still the hot ticket. You & your brother gave us a sneak preview of Haiku Tunnel, that was really fun. I was turning to your blog this evening trying to get some relief before catching up on lost work, as I have been dealing for the past 72 hours nonstop it seems with my own mother's decline. She's been fiercely in the denial stage for the past 5 months. It's very hard, and today was an especially rough one. Then I read down... oh yeah. Your mom too. So much for escapism. I'm sorry you went through that.
I'm in awe of your titanium-strength perseverance and astounding weight loss, and I enjoy your turns of phrase. You're a really amiable presence on my screen. Thank you.
Hi, Laurie: Thank you for these beautiful comments!!! Ah, Roger -- what a dear sweet brilliant soul!! He actually gave me an oboe lesson recently, via Zoom!! And of course his cameo in "Haiku Tunnel" is the highlight of the film! I'm so very sorry for all the incredibly hard things you're going through with your mother!!! Thank you for your lovely words of support, which make me feel really, really great!!!
I can't believe this passed me by before today! What a delightful image, you & Rogie reunited over reed angst. And a reminder that that dear sweet brilliant soul & I are overdue to reconnect.
I remember seeing your show "Sea of Reeds" where you demonstrated shaping a reed onstage before the performance! While making sure to explain to onlookers that this was not the actual reed you would be performing with on stage that night :-)
yeah! Cool show!
Great progress on the weight loss! Kudos!
Thank you for explaining the arduous reed making process. Quoting Mr. Spock, "fascinating". This also requires a lot of discipline. I know you can do it. Happy and successful scraping. (You may want to decorate your Sukkah with the less than perfect examples.
And I thought I was being dragged into crazy obsessive stuff trying to learn how some 1980s cameras work that I inherited from my father. When I was in various bands years ago I never really paid attention to oboists sculpting their reeds, now I realize I should have.
Man, it was hard enough practicing violin just with having to tune it. Oboists rule! (Kinda literally: it's the oboe who gives the A to the concertmaster, right? I mean, if concertmasters even still lead the tuning?)
I don't know what orchestras do to tune these days, Alice - it's been so long since I've been to a live concert!! Back when I was in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of New York, I used to infuriate the different sections by giving them all slightly different A's (not on purpose!).
So proud if you!
Fascinating process, Josh. Thanks for all those reed-making details and the images too. I had no idea. And my older brother even played oboe, but I never heard him talking about it. Maybe that's why he played sax and clarinet more than oboe.
I like you and your mother as a "swell team." I grew up with puns too. Thank you.
And more congrats about putting the too long belt and compression socks into a still life where they now belong.
Remember that line from the I Ching, "Perseverance furthers."
"Perseverance furthers" - I love that, thanks!!
Don't break my heart--my achy, breaky heart.
Sometimes I worry about you, Craig!
I bet Harry Houdini would have been really good at making reeds. Just saying.
Thank you Josh.
So many good wishes for your efforts at it all, Josh! Thanks for the detailed description of that process. As a violinist, I've somewhat ignored the magnitude of that effort of dear colleagues to make their beautiful sound. I'm humbled.....
I started learning Yiddish as part of grieving a loss. And it's so much fun! So we can find joy in our sadness.