Baby sitting

Mum is baby sitting for these two, Georg and Sofie. They are just adorable, yet very cheeky. Especially Georg. He's a real teenager!

Helene, the shrink

...or demonstrating how dad looks while stretching his neck.

Snow!!

And it gives me such a great feeling of Christmas.

Christmas man

We had to clear our driveway from all the heavy snow. Why not turn it into some fun? We'll lit the torch later too!

Sushi!

One half-japanese sister and a percussive dad. Of course during the cherry blossoming...

Wisdom

Pauline left a note before she got to work this morning. It made me smile

Prepared!

The people in this house has foreseen the upcoming disasters. Maybe even looking forward to it. Imagine to buy property several kilometres from the sea, but three decades later it's turned into a house by the shore. Then it's very convenient to have a diving board ready!

Cars...

My Grandmother joined my brother and me for our late breakfast. She is usually quite a talker, and today was no exception. But, she told us something I have never heard about before - her fathers cars.
I knew he had cars at a time when not many families had them - and that he was a hound for gadgets. But, imagine to have a Chevrolet Cabriolet, 5 seats, from 1921 and then a Nash 1930 model (also from the Chevrolet company), in Norway at that time. Or even better: kept until now.

I have always been fascinated by old veteran cars, but to know of these cars kind of make my heart ache.
"star light, star bright..." Where is the blue fairy when I need her??

oldcarandtruckpictures.com
Nash on wikipedia

At peace

My grandfather took his last breath last Saturday, surrounded by Grandma and their 3 daughters.
May he rest in peace!

The funeral was yesterday, and it was just beautiful. All the flower decorations matched perfectly, all autumn colors, and made the small, intimate chapel warm and inviting. My uncle played "Oblivion" by A.Piazzolla, a wonderfully written piece. I don't think it could have been more perfect.

I love you, Grandpa!

Dad!

On my way to work this morning I happened to see this bus. Even in Kristiansand we see Modum.

Delayed birthday

For Anna, and this is the cake. Isn't it just incredibly imaginably decorated?

Concert

We managed to play it all without stopping, and since I haven't yet celebrated my job we drank some champagne back stage. Yummie

Hard work...

In the middle of my busy fall, we're doing Pierrot Lunaire. The weather is bad so it doesn't feel so horrible to be inside practicing. Then again, the concert is on saturday. I think it'll be good, but just now it feels a bit ...exciting...

Arnold

Just outside the rehearsal hall, going to practice Pierrot Lunaire, I picked up this little fellow from the road. Cold and hungry I guess. I miss summer already...

Wyrd Sisters

Quality time with my sister this weeken. We've done nothing but enjoying every moment. The highlights has been: Sisterly talks (all day and into the small hours), strolling around the city, the movie Up (with the only minor disappointment that it was dubbed), Indian food and long breakfasts. I don't really want to put her on the 5 o' clock-train...

HEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

This morning I was woken by a fantastic phonecall.
It was the leader of the audition jury who called to tell me that
I HAVE WON A TRIAL!!!

SSO, here I come!

Jeez, I can't really believe it. It's so unreal.

Location: In Kristiansand, the borrowed flat

Mood: In shock, but overwhelmingly happy

Eating: nothing yet, have to consult Helene (she's on visit :))

Drinking: ..hm, should probably run to the monopoly to get some champagne

Page turner

That's my job for today. Lars A and Andrea has a concert in Grimstad and needed a page turner. My salary is said to be a great dinner. Why not!

Short Oslo visit

My dear Dad drove me to the trainstation at Kjelsås today. I was going to go back to Kristiansand with the 11.11 train from Oslo S, so he thought it convenient to take the train down to the city. It turned out to be a bit nerve wrecking...
Yesterday I had a morning date with Wendy, a percussionist (former student of the dad!), at 08.30.
We took the bus to Kristiansand Airport together. We were both going to Oslo with the 10.30 flight. I was going there for a funeral and to visit the cello doctor, Wendy for the written exam for her lisence.
I had my fridge with me, so I had included some negotiation time on the airport. Luckily I didn't need any, except for checking in. My booking number wasn't valid. Hooray.
Wendy and I split up at Gardermoen, and when I came to Oslo S, I realized that I had some spare time before I had the short rehearsal with the organ-player at 13. I rang my sister, and she had 30 min. break, so I jumped on a bus and visited her at school. My first time to Elvebakken VGS. It was great to see where she's spending so much time!
Then I headed off to Helsfyr.
No problem.
Looked for the krematorium (it's just a chapelle now, but it used to be a krematorium until august).
No problem.
Asked for a place to warm up.
N problem.
Where were the organ player? And when to play? Where?
some problems.
When he finally came, we had 3 min. of tempo setting, and then he was off.
Problem!
The place was a maze, we had very little time left, and we had not even been through the Swan. Well, it all went well. Luckily. Despite that the Swan was more like an old one, struggling to breathe and absolutely not ready for takeoff. But it pleased the family, so I should not complain.
Afterwords, I met Mum for a coffee at the central station. We met Guro on our way too, so she joined us.
It was a very pleasant coffee date, I could have one every day!
At 16 I was on my way to Urs, the magic sound doctor for my cello. I spent around 1.5 hours in his workshop, and now it's almost as nice as it was in May. The dryness of autumn makes strange things with my wooden soundbox, but we're experimenting with millimetres and it works.
Then I could catch my bus to Dads house and see Pauline and Helene. My sister is having Desucon this weekend so we were bleaching her hair, sewing a belt and being very creative. And then watching True Blood. Finally.
And this morning I got to see my Dad too, before he drove me to the trainstation. He got very nervous on my behalf because the train didn't show up. It turned out to be 15 min. late, and then I would miss my second train. Next train would be too late for me; I wouldn't be there for the premiere of La Boheme. ooops.
But 11.11 I was well seated in my train, and now I'm on my way out the door to play some beautiful music in a way too small pit.

Joy of the day!

I was looking for a nice, comfortable black bra. And I learned something. I'm a size smaller than I thought. What a smack in the face! But this one from Simone Perele is amazing, so it's ok. And beside reading Stieg Larsson, I was met by a very nice message just now. We had an open dress rehearsal, and my neighbour downstairs listened. He liked it so much that he put this note on my door!

What an outfit!

Natasha was very inventive!

Luxury!

My day has been superb! Got to practice some hours, swam 1025 m and came home to dinner before coffee, bun and rehearsal for La Boheme. Annas cooking was excellent and spicy! Please, come here every day!!

Count Thumper!

And he has a wife, a wealthy one too. I had a great laugh!

Obsession

During my quests searching for different things on the internet, I somehow stumbled across some beautiful venetian masks. I knew about them, of course, but never really gave them a second thought.
Until now.
They are just amazing, stunning, beautiful...

and very often quite expensive.

But every girl has her dream, right?

LOOK!

Breakfast at Tonjes

Flu-times

So why not go and be a princess about it?

Friday!?

La Boheme makes my muscles ache, or rather, sitting and playing and then be home doing the same, makes my muscles ache.
So to prevent becoming really huge and sloppy, I went for a swim.
(After a decent visit to Drømmeplassen, a café in the centre of Kristiansand, with Anna.)
I knew I only had an hour in the hall (including everything), because of some diving class. but I went anyway. Better with a little than nothing. And then I'm off with a good start.
I knew the orchestra has a brilliant deal with them, so I approached the guy at the front - quite frank, telling him I was from the orchestra and wondered if there was any discount. It turns out that the permanent players goes for free, but the subs (even those on longer term) have to pay full price. Darn.
Well, I go for the second cheapest thing they have, which was a 10 clip cupon. It's not one card. It was 10 of them.
Really.
I managed to do 500 m, and then 7 minutes in the sauna before i had to leave.
Back home I knew that Schönberg was waiting for me. Pierrot Lunaire, movement 19 "Serenade". The BIG cello movement.
Aaaah!
It's tricky!!!!

(I see green!... sometimes it all feels like I could be in "Death at a funeral". Valium, anyone?)

New home

It's funny how it is with new places. Especially if it's not yours.

How to open the windows?
How to get the fan working (don't want the cooking fumes everywhere)
Is there some internet around? wireless or with a chord?
Can I practise without annoying the neighbours?
Where did he put the plug for the bathtub?
Does the fire alarm always go off when you light a candle?

Well, the windows had a hidden button on the side (this was a new thing for me! old invention probably),
the fan was just unplugged, and the internet was hidden under the TV.

Then it's the shopping.
No essential ingredients anywhere, so I found a local chinese shop and the Rimi across the street.
Gourmet!
...


Glad the swimming hall is not too far away.
Just, when is it open?
Need to check the net...

Šišky

Some of Roberts production of slovakian dounuts. He made them (and meatballs) as a farewell thing as I leave for Kristiansand tomorrow. It's quite sad to leave him, my friends, the house and my puzzle behind, not knowing when I'll see them again. All packing is done. Got only 4 kolli. Picture coming up soon.

Time to blog

Sitting in the bus, soon home. These weeks are exhausting, so making dinner for my self after work and some practice wasn't too tempting. Cissi was dead too, so we hooked up and ate burger at Sting. Yummie! Lots of energy is required for Wagner, even though it's much easier to play from 2nd desk. What this picture has to do with this? Nothing, except it was from when Robert gave me a guided tour through Pileas on sunday. Made orders and checked the cleaning. And I finally got to see the salamander.

Saturday night fever

Saturday night was dedicated to the immortals.
First Robert and I went to see the old silent movie "Nosferatu" - accompanied live by Kitchen Orchestra (free jazz impro. Quite loud, but good anyway). They had announced half price for vampires, and I could not resist that. Had to dress up!

Afterwards, we went to a place called Sting. It's an art cafe/pub. There Tor was celebrating his 50th birthday, and so what would be better than get two vampires dropping by?
There was music, food, cakes and great people.
It all went way past bedtime...

Puzzle progress #2

Finished the green parts! Yeay!!

Yeay!

Now I'm having a phone, and managed to put it up for mobile blogging.
Finally some pics again!!!
It feels better to put some pictures in here too, not only text.

This week I've not been at eaze. First week of my 2 weeks audition round 3. Horrible feeling!!!
Last night was the first concert of two with Bizet symphony and some musical highlights. The second principal player was next to me, and I know him quite well - so it made me all a bit more nervous than I would like to be.
Not fun.
Not at all.

But as Dad said, maybe it's a good sign. I was very disappointed with my audition too...

Flying windows

This week is my first of two in SSO. It's actually a 3rd round in an audition, so I'm a bit nervous. Bizet symphony and some musical hits makes it a tad easier, but still. Jazzy rhythms are always a challenge! As a spice in the morning, I saw a flying window. Sign of luck?

For Knerten!

Wish to be home with you now, roam the city and stuff our bellies with cake, popcorn and tea. And some afterparty with Spyro..
Misa loves you!!

and happy Jewish new year!

Location: In my house
Mood: post-concert, homesick
Eating: breakfast....
Drinking: espresso with warm soymilk
Listening to: Handel's Agrippina (in my inner ear)

Phoneless #2

Didn't get the mail to Hotel Norge when I was there. I think.
Or?

...they might have sent my mail to the orchestra a little too early.

The orchestra sent it to my mothers adress, without consulting me. (They thought it weird that they would get any mail for me...)

My mother is slow, and didn't think of sending me my mail.
I called her through Ingrids phone, so I hope she'll send it all 2morrow.


Location: UiS, Music department
Listening to: Frenetic piano practise.
Eating: Nothing, but still remembering a chocolate from Sjokoladepiken
Mood: OK - waiting for the baroque group to come and move the harpsichord.

Quotation

Ma Jian is an exquisite writer. In his book "Red Dust" you can find millions of great sentences.
Like this one:

"...Kanksje er det sann, at nar menneskene mangler idealer, kan pengene bare kjope glemsel, og ikke frihet."

Stavanger Baroque Ensemble

SBE is having concerts on Thursday (Bethel at 20) and Sunday (Sola Ruinkirke at 18).
Lovely, lovely program!!!

Two cantatas by Handel, a Biber sonata and Vivaldi's Autumn.
And I'm starting to get into the mysterious world of continuo playing! Mostly thanks to Ingrid on the harpsichord. And not to forget the andante bass and Siciliana..
(The harpsichord is a beauty! Made by Max for SSO, and we got to borrow it. A real luxury!)

I'm SO looking forward to play this! Hopefully our precious singer will stay healthy. (She's been feeling weak, but I hope it'll pass. I think she has had too much to do for too long.)

And then I've been shopping a bit. With new look comes a craving for something to go with it...
I found my jacket!!!
Mango saved me, but now I can't find a picture of it anywhere... Will take one some day and put it out here so you can see. I just love it!! <3

Phoneless

My phone is currently not working.
More precisely; my SIM card is currently not working.
Well, it's actually been disabled...




This is the story:
I got a great deal (according to the phone seller) from this company called Tele2. They would send my SIM card to Hotel Norge (Kristiansand) and everything would be fine. It's not, because it didn't arrive in time. The seller said he would send it straight away, but he didn't send it until 1st of Sept. (Wee bit late!)
Now I'm in Stavanger (can pick up anther SIM card for 100 NOK at some place) - the old SIM card is now disabled, and my new card is possibly in Kristiansand. And I can't call them to ask if they can send it here...
Really annoying!!!!

Guts

This week (and next) I'm playing a baroque project in Stavanger with Stavanger Baroque Ensemble. We'll do really nice pieces by Handel; the Agrippina and Armida kantatas, Biber sonata for violin and Vivaldi's "Autumn". My problem is (still) the instrument. Anders was so kind to let me borrow his baroque cello - but unfortunately it is way too heavy for me, and I had to struggle to get the sound out of it. I got the brilliant idea of putting gut strings on mine. It was quite a success last time I did so, so I thought why not!
But, there is always a but. My string holder now is totally different, so I had to put the knots in the place where the rings usually are. Gaaah! Hope the gut will stay in there - otherwise I'll get a string or two in my face.

Me

In the electric chair.. Well, haven't managed to take a better picture so this'll have to do. I think the back turned out really good too. Now I'm just curious of how the curls will react.

A change

I decided to but my hair again. I wanted a real change, and now I've gotten that! This is my hair!! HappyTonje

Another week has passed

And this one was spent in Kristiansand. The program this week was quite nice!

Stravinsky's Pulcinella suite

Beethoven Violin Serenade (F major)

Mendelssohn "Scottish symphony"

And my home was Hotel Norge. Not as fancy hall as they have in Hotel Ernst, but the breakfast is great. Their bread is amazing - and now I've figured out how to get my soy milk too, so I can have my daily müsli.

The concert was, as usually, at Thursday - 19.30, in the Church. Since it was the season opening concert, there was expected to be quite a lot of people. Unfortunately, the weather was making some trouble, and there were several other concerts going on at the same time so the number of people in the audience was rather low. I had fun anyway!

-and afterwards we were invited for soup in one of the new restaurants in town. 

Both Friday and today, I had rehearsals with a new ensemble: Ensemble Suo Nordico. We're going to have a concert in Kristiansand on the 7th of November. Very ambitious program with some new pieces by Swedish composers mixed with some more central works in the genre: Schönbergs: Pierrot Lunaire. I'm in for a real challenge!!

The group is a great mix of everything from older, more established players to young ones, still studying. They are all enthusiastic about the group, and very sweet people. I'm looking forward to know the pieces and play together with them. I'm sure it'll be both fun and good music!

While we have these rehearsals I'm living in Lars Auduns flat. He is not at home, so I feel a bit like a house occupant... haha

Location: Lars Auduns flat

Mood: Tired, lots of thoughts

Eating: Banana

Listening to: Wagner on Spotify

Sunglasses

My very pink sunglasses has a tendency to end up being tried. This time it was Siv who got them. They even combined well with her outfit!

I's have worked here since all day!

Anna and I went to eat at Heat. We've renamed it WWS (worlds worst service). The food though, was very good. It tasted very well after a long rehearsal, practice and a walk. Besides, Annas company is really interesting :)

Dessert

Back in Hotel Norge after a weekend of Händel in Lillesand with Lars Audun and some other players. Nata is here this week, and when she came to the hotel we went out for a little something. She and Siv, another sub., wanted some real food, but I went for the dessert!
Kick's brownie (actually, it was ordinary chocolate cake, not brownie) was yummie <3

Idiot!

The busdriver (I'm on a bus for train, so...) took my cello down from the upper shelf by him self. It was, apparently, dangerous. So this is how he put it. Idiot!

Lakrismjeltblåvinge!!

I was skimming through the news on net, and found this note:

Lakrismjeltblåvinge

This little butterfly was labeled extinct, something which made me very sad. Then you have all the other tragedies, like the run-away-bees (I've seen several yesterday, so I'm glad they're still around here up north), the wild orchids (someone deliberately murdered them!) and all the other poor creatures that suffer from our stupidity. This story made me smile - I'm sure nature will take it's revenge one day.

Puzzle progress

While I'm practising and Robi is at work, his mum is trying to put some of my puzzle together. This is our status so far. It's kind of possible to see the outline, isn't it?

SPOTIFY!!

This autumn I'll join my "roots" (if those are with the gypsies, as certain sources tells me) and be a nomade. Well, not completely, but I'll be travelling back and forth between Stavanger and Kristiansand a lot. And I have done one of my 11 weeks in a hotel so far, and what is more necessary then than some music you can listen to?
I asked for a Spotify invitation (you need one if you don't want to pay for a month...) and got one from Egil. And that was a salvation! Now, for the first time since - hm, ever, that I feel like a music nerd. Really.
So now I'm reading my music online and listening to it at the same time. I feel a bit sorry for my local library, but then again I hear a lot more!

www.spotify.com

Exactly!

Frode Øverli. I say no more!

Guess what!

At hotel Ernst, where Peder also lives this week, they have something quite interesting. Chewable omega 3 capsules. They tempt up with "fresh taste" and that they're in vegetable gelatin. Yeah, right. I'm sure it's some kind of tourist gimmic. When you try, you chew it and then you burp horrible codliveroil-taste for a week. Gotcha!

Cactus

This guy took a short rest to smoke under the cactus. What a lovely sight in Havnabakken!

Family dinner

Since Helene came home from Japan, her schedule has been packed with reunions. This time it was Lille Sau. She had invited Ann with family and us for dinner. I don't see any of them very often either, so it was a great opportunity for me to meet them all too! Thank you, Lille Sau!

Sunday jam

My old school buddy was playing at Hr.Nilsen last sunday. He's based in USA so I don't see him often. Since Synne was here, I brought her too. It was great! Then I remembered why I went to a lot of jazz concerts during my days at uni..

I found myself

on YouTube!

Place de Brouckere

Wild and Crazy

A lioness on a housewife holiday to the City of Tigers...

Lilies

Pauline grows them in the garden, and now around sunset they smell intense and delicious!

Wedding!

Ingvilds sister got married today, and I was asked to join the quartet. The bride was amazingly beautiful (as expected), the groom handsome, and the priest funny. He was! And we played canon by Pachelbel inside the church and Mozarts "ave verum.." outside. I was suprised by a bottle of wine and a wedding-book.

My baby!

It's here!!!

Look, isn't it just cute?
MSI

Now! Take a look at it :)
I've got the red version, of course...

Hahahaaa!

This is amazingly funny :)
But I guess you have to be Norwegian (or an extremely intelligent Swede) to understand it...

"Svensker er virkelig dumme"

Look!

And then we met Islam who taught mea how to put on this scarf. Don't I look kind of cute? Wonder if I should turn muslim.. Well, maybe not.

Shopping

With my incredibly pink sister. Did I say pink?

2 good friends

Banki and his Japanese substitue has become really good friends. Aren't they just the cutest? Now it's just matter of time before I see their owner again too.. Can't wait!!!