This is me, in sixth grade--the year I discovered music. Don't worry--I won't
always look this serious. But the violin was the first thing I could really
pour myself into, the first thing that just overwhelmed me and swept me away
with the flood. Electronics did that for a while in high school, and then
Terri in college. My mom loved the violin because my grades went from mediocre
to stellar and I practised while she was at work.
Okay, remember when I said I wouldn't always look that serious? Well it doesn't
count when I'm playing. This is me doing something for the talent show--see
the guitar neck behind me? Some Philistine is about to ruin my performance of
Brahms with his rendition of "Stuffin' Martha's Muffin". Actually, that's
Traynor, not too bad a guy for a Philistine. Plus, he's the one who taught me
how to wire a stereo up with homebrew equipment for the best sound. (Alas for
Traynor, it wasn't enough to get him into my pants.)
This amazing specimen of a man is Dylan, my first boyfriend. Doesn't he look
charming? Doesn't he look dashing? Doesn't he look handsome? Doesn't he look
the very culmination of any high-school girl's sweaty-palmed dreams? Doesn't
he look like the kind of guy who would never sleep around on you with the girl
you thought was one of your best friends and then break up with you when he
arrived at the Junior Prom with her after you waited two hours for him to come
and pick you up?But Damn, could he play. I loved to sit and listen to him, and he loved how worked up listening to him play made me. An hour of Bartok or Mozart and he'd just pick me up and slide me into bed.
My senior year, I toured with Youth Symphony and we had a special engagement
to play in the Soviet Union. So there was lots of Stravinsky, lots of
Prokofiev, Gubaidalina.... Personally, I figured they heard the Russian
composers all the time, I wanted to play something new for them. So this is
me, standing out in front of some architectural disaster they had us staying
in, playing Irish fiddle music and other western delights for all three of
the passers-by. Bringing culture to the Soviet bloc at the cost of my frozen
ass. I don't think I was warm once that entire trip. I had just taken up the
flute and was going to play that instead, but it froze to my lip five minutes
before this picture was taken.
This is the Kremlin, a Victorian in Berkeley off of Telegraph. (I can't imagine
where they got the name.) This is where I lived while I was studying Music
Theory at (Like mother like daughter) UCB; Rick and his girlfriend, whose
name I forget, and Ellen, and
Leon had all been living there for a few years. Terri and I were freshmen.
I'm sure if you've been around me for more than ten minutes you've heard enough
about her to last you for a while. My first girlfriend, my Alpha and Omega,
and the song that fills my heart. You know, the usual. (We had a handfasting
after we got out of college, up at Muir Woods. It was lovely--I've got pictures
of it somewhere and I'll put them up sometime. I promise.) My room (And later
on, Terri's room) was that turrety thing in the upper right corner.
Remember Traynor? Four years later, he pretty much hadn't changed. This is us
playing at a ceili/benefit thing for a local gay rights group, On the Dot.
I got to give him a lot of shit for being the token hetboy, and he got to play
"Sexual Healing" for a bunch of hot babes. (: I think we ended
up making about $200 all told, which mostly got blown on the staff party
afterwards. I wasn't really into politics in high school, but college really
widened my horizons. Just like it's supposed to! (: See, Mom? It was worth it.
Speaking of Mom, she loves Terri. (I need to scan some pictures of her and
Terri sometime.) And she came and danced at our benefit. She
got a sort of a chance at a second childhood when I moved out, and we've had
a lot of fun together. We go out to movies together, we go shopping, we go to
Good Vibes--she's not my best friend, like a lot of girls say, but we get along
pretty well.
This is me in the '96 March--the picture got on the front page of the paper.
Chris is on my left, but you can't see her because she's hitting on this cute
Asian girl. It was great--a beautiful day out on the streets (very out) with
other women in a common cause. There was even a whole bunch of high school
girls--cute kids, start 'em out early. (: