Fall Quarter 2009

After a whirlwind summer, Fall Quarter 2009 has started. I'm in the College Chorale at Foothill College again, and have begun a 2-year sequence of Ear Training classes at DeAnza College (the class is entitled "Musicianship" so I may refer to it that way from time to time), plus I'm taking 2 classes needed to complete an AA in Music at the end of this quarter. It won't be the end of my time at Community College - I have a few more classes to finish my California GE requirements - but it's an important landmark on my journey toward a Masters degree.

One of the classes is a 3-hour class on Monday evening, "Health Education". It doesn't seem to be all that hard; it's just going to be a matter of attending the classes & keeping up with the reading.

The other class is "Early American Literature (1492-1864)". We started with Lincoln and are working backward in time - I had to read Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" today.

That class meets every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with readings due on each day. On Tuesdays & Thursdays, we are quizzed on the reading, and on Fridays we have an essay test tying the weekly readings all together. Also on Tuesdays & Thursday, we have to write a journal on the readings due that day. The professor (Dr. Lankford) prefers that they be done as blog entries, so that's what I'll be doing.

When you see those posts here, you may think, "What does this have to do with music or handbells?" and the answer is "It's a requirement for my degree." :-)

In addition to my classes, I'm also going to PT for my shoulder 2 or 3 times a week. Back on March 31, I had a SLAP repair, a Sub-Acromial Decompression, and a Capsulorraphy for a luggage injury I sustained last summer (I had to suddenly change directions with a heavy suitcase & tore my labrum cartilage). My arm was in a sling for 2 weeks. Even after a lot of physical therapy, I ended up with Adhesive Capsulitis (AKA Frozen Shoulder) and so had more surgery last week: an Arthroscopic Capsular Release with Lysis of Adhesions and a Manipulation Under Anaesthesia.

Sonos is going to Japan this December, for the sixth time. We just started rehearsals this weekend; I think we've got a really great group this year & am excited to go. I'll be doing the paperwork for our visas again, which is no fun, but has to be done.

And lastly, to top it all off, Brian got a new job - in San Diego. He starts on Thurs, Oct 1, and moves down there tomorrow (to an Extended Stay America apartment). I will follow in late December or early January - date still TBD. The ringers at my 2 churches took the news relatively well. I have a lot to do to transition to a new director at each place - inventory, library, etc.

Well, I have to write a journal entry about Herman Melville, so that's it for right now.

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