When I examine myself and my methods of thought,
I come to the conclusion that the gift
of fantasy has ment more to me than my talent
for absorbing positive knowledge

- Albert Einstein

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Everything you imagine is real

- Pablo Picasso

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I have a terribly active imagination

I don't e mail my friends enough, and when I do write them I rarely have enough interesting stuff in my life to write about (who wants to get a letter / e mail that says "I had a beautiful spinach salad for dinner, and walked to the park tonight. My cat just puked on the carpet and one of my students learned how to play C natural today!")

I get really excited about C naturals and a good spinach salad (and one knows one has found a 'kindred spirit' when they also get excited about C Naturals) but how many times can a person write about C Naturals before it becomes cliché'?)

I ought to do something really exciting -- so I can entertain my e mail buddies and have fascinating blog posts, but it hasn't happened yet. (So instead I make up interesting stuff from my 'Imaginary Life' Some of which is shared, some of which is secret!)


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Oh it's delightful to have ambitions.
I'm so glad I have such a lot.
And ther never seems to be any end
to them - that's the best of it.
Just as soon as you attain one ambition
yu see another one glittering higher
up still. It does make life so interesting.

Anne Shirley
from L.M. Montgomery's
Anne of Green Gables
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I went to elementary school, then jr. high and High School (my HS has since closed - but I had nothing to do with it!) and eventually , on to a small (yet "World Wise") Liberal Arts College where I majored in music education.

Then I got a job as Elementary Orchestra Director in an amazing school district. I had some awesome students, (mostly) fabulous colleagues, and great admin. support, but I needed to move on to new and bigger things.

Brother Jon suggested I "throw my life away, dye my hair blue, and join a rock band" Being a electrical engineer with pyrotechnic tendencies, he even master-minded a way to make me look cool (and "punk-rock-like") by having the scroll of my violin burst into flames at the end of a flashy solo! (he says it'd be better than smashing a guitar around like they do on TV!)

As much fun as playing a flaming fiddle might be, I decided to quit my day job, go back to school, and pick up a degree in Arts Administration. (Other than Rachel Barton there's not a lot of demand for punk rock violinists!)

By the way, Rachel B. is my favorite Violinists
Yo-yo Ma is my favorite cellist
Keith Lockhart is my favorite Conductor

REAL Vanilla is my favorite ice cream flavor
Cookies-n-Cream is my second favorite flavor
Half Orange Sherbet/ Half Vanilla is my third favorite flavor

I really like Ice cream!

Waffles could quite possibly be the worlds most perfect food (not the "leggo my eggo" waffles from the freezer, but REAL belgium waffles, made in a waffle iron) I love waffles!

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I am an artist when I discover shadows made by the moon,
or trace patterns in the sand,
or when I name the colors inside a shell.

I am an artist when I notice that the sea is a mirror for the sky,
and when I make something from the things that I collect.

From I AM AN ARTIST
by Pat Lowery Collins

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I have a true artistic temperament - complete with random right brain organization skills, and a general carefree attitude, but I grew up in a house full of logical, rational, mathematical people, (a.k.a. engineers)

These "engineers" taught me their logical, rational, reasonable ways and supressed my natural artistic spacey-ness. This turned me into what I like to think of as a "creatively logical" kind of person. (Arts Administration is the PERFECT field for me!)

SO . . . I have combined my background in education with the arts administration stuff to become the Education Manager of an awesome organization. I get to help artists prepare programs for classrooms and help teachers work with artists. I also get to do young people’s concerts, curriculum writing things, and lots of research/brainstorming.
It’s the perfect job.

I have a cat (named CAT or KITTY)
AND I have two nephews.
PLUS there's the dog that adopted me.
The dog sleeps under my bed (except for when there’s thunderstorms or fireworks, then she likes to sleep in the bathtub).

My Myers-Brigg "type" came out as INTP. My "True Colors" Personality came out as Green My "modal preference" came out as Abstract Sequential. And the "Personal Power Profile" put me in Stage 2. (Do you feel like you know me yet?)

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Shall I go off to South Arica?
Shall I put out my ship to sea?
Or get in a cage and be lions and tigers?
Or - shall i be only Me?

- A.A. Milne
from When We Were Very Young


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * My favorite color is blue - but for a long time I refused to have a favorite color. (I didn't want to hurt the other color's feelings!!) But, in 1st Grade, Mrs. Homan mentioned that her favorite color was purple. I decided that if Mrs. Homan could have a favorite color, it'd be ok for me to like purple too (I adored Mrs. Homan, anything she did had to be right and good!)

My camp name is REEP (short for Reepicheep, who is a brave little mouse) I often feel like a mouse - but rarely feel brave.

Camp is Good. (I love camp!)
Camp Friends are some of the best
Camp Songs, Camp Fires, Camp Games, and Camp Counselors are good too! (I LOVE CAMP!!)

But as a kid, I didn’t like camp.
I got terribly homesick.
But was the homesick kid that refused to talk about it, or cry in public – so instead I was just privately miserable.
Everyone else thought I was just being shy.

I am shy.
It takes about a year to really get to know me.
Unless you are super friendly, or we’re in a situation that expediates the ‘get-to-know-you’ process.

I wanna go see the world, visit my old camp buddies, and just travel. I'd love to backpack through Europe, (and the maybe Africa!) but can't even carve out time enough for a weeks worth of camping in my own state (Although I have a secret dream to get away this December. I donno if I can possibly even sorta make that work out – but stay tuned for details !!)

THE END!!