My Favorite Website EVER!!!

I LOVE sheetmusic!!!
Of course I do. Who doesn't???
It tells you how to play all of your favorite pieces.
That if you can find it.
And that is why I love IMSLP.org!!!
For about a year and half I sat in my room with my violin; confined to hymns, Christmas songs and bluegrass fiddle tunes.
There's nothing wrong with those pieces but if you love Classical music as much as I do you get kind of bored and playing the violin isn't as much fun as all your friends at church and biblestudy(who play The Great Classics)make it out to be .


Until one day...

The International Music Score Library Project walks into your life.
The free public domain music library.
Online since February 16, 2006 · 29,567 works · 73,532 scores · 1,135 recordings · 4,223 composers · 37 performers

It was "love at first pageview"!!!
That is where I get almost all my classical sheetmusic now!!!
Everything from Canon in D to Polonaise de Concert!!!

Before you know it you are playing fun pieces you never even knew existed!!!

Stradivari's Genius

I found this book the other day at the library.
When I first picked it up I thought that it looked kind of boring but I got it anyway(no clue why).
Well on the way home I started looking at it and read a little bit of the introduction;
I LOVED it!!!
It is a book about Antonio Stradivari and 6 of the instruments that he made.
Of course I didn't get to read the whole thing because we had to return it to the library(one of the many, many bad things about being a slow reader) but have no doubt, I will get it again!!!

Sunset On Seagrass

No, it's not really seagrass but this photo reminded me of being at the beach with the sun setting over the dunes so that's why I titled this post what I did.
And I took about a billion of these photos (okay, maybe not a billion but a lot) so I might post some more later.

I Have A New Favorite Composer!!!

Aaron Copland is fun!!!
I've always been a little prejudice about him because he was slightly more recent (1944)and I have never really liked music from that time period because it always seemed to sound well... "messy" I guess could describe it.
You know, odd harmony at times, different sections of the orchestra seem to be almost fighting against each other to be heard, things like that.

Yes I know that that is what the composer wanted but I have always liked how Vivaldi, Bach and all the other composers like them kept all their instruments together, playing happily.
And don't even get me started on how unpredictable Brahms' music is!

But I will be prejudice no more!
It all started when I would play violin with my friend Ren.
She would always ask me if I had ever heard "Rodeo".
Well I hadn't but then the other day my mom found THIS website.
THIS is "Rodeo". You have to listen to it!
And another pretty one that he wrote is Appalachian Spring.
After I heard those songs I got a Aaron Copland CD at the library and I am enjoying listening to it.
I am also enjoying not having to blog everyday but I will try to get so more of the camping photos up soon!

Farm Painting

I liked how over-using the editing software can give it a painted look.

Two Different Angles

It is interesting how taking a photo from a different angle can change your view of it.
These two photos were taken from the same place on the trail but the camera was turned at a different angle for each one.
In the first one the trail looks shorter and in the second the trail looks so much longer.
It is neat how you can change little things to make your viewers see things so differently.

P.S. We've been on a camping trip in the Smokey Mountains this week so I have LOTS of photos to post as soon as I get the chance.

A Cheerful Good Bye

This is the first photo we ever posted on this blog.


And this is the first photo I posted when I decided to post for a year.


And this was yesterdays post; my last one.
Sniff...

I can't decide which one was my favorite from the whole year so please comment on the post you liked best and tell me if it was your favorite.


And now for...

my "speech."


Well this is it.
My good bye.
And as I don't have very many parting words to say, I borrowed a few from
a friend who also posted photos for a year and who has better grammar they I do(you can see his photos HERE).


Here they are (edited slightly):

(Evan)
Today I have posted for a 1 year and I'm done.
As I was thinking about the experience of posting per day… I reflected a little on the frustration of *needing* to post a photo.
I felt like it forced me sometimes to put up photos of lesser quality, or without any story of how it was made or why I liked it.
I don't want to do that any more.
So as of today, now that I've reached my milestone, I'm going to stop *needing* to post a photo every day.
If I have photos, I'll post them every now and then.
But I won't dig back in my archives(or borrow someone else'), and dress up some old photo just to keep up the "high score."
I'm only going to post a photo if I really think it's quality, and I'll also really take the time to write something good to go along with it(or try).

(Erin again)
Here is the deal:
I found posting every day to be just a wee bit exhausting.
I mean every day I had to find the time to get on the computer, open up the page,pick a photo(that was REALLY hard), think of a title(or a least try),etc.

And I'm also going to try to limit my computer time a bit more.
I may end up posting often or you may never hear from me again.
Only time will tell.

I'm also thinking of expanding my blog
(just a wee bit).
Seeing as how I LOVE music so much it will end up being more of a photography/music blog.
Is that okay with everyone???



And in honor of that: does everyone know what a "Wolf Tone" is???

A Letter In The Mail

Quaint isn't it???

The Big Splash

When we go to the pool we always have "Splash Contests."
This is a picture of Rachel's splash.
Surprisingly she did not win.
I was the one who won but no one got a picture of that.

Window To Heaven

Aha!!!
It's another "Sky Photo!!!"
How exiting!!!
This was taken the nigh of the Film Festival when it was still light outside.
I got so busy that the next time I looked up there it 10:00 at night and pitch dark outside.

Fall Is Coming!!!

I'm running out of photos!!!
I haven't been on a photo-shoot in a while so I'm posting photos that look a like a lot but I am going to try to go out today and find a nice photo for my 1 year mile-marker that is coming up in a few days!!!
We will see!!!

But i think that it is officially FALL!!!
Don't you???
I mean it's September, the trees are starting to change colors and...
there are only 102 days left until our church's Lessons and Carols Service(my favorite time of the year)!!!
So come on, let's get EXCITED!!!

Cheerful Cups!!!

I have some more that I might post later but I think I will edit them a little bit.
This was Micheal's favorite and he wanted me to post it.

~Home~Sweet~Home~

I liked how the colors were so bright(I didn't edit the colors)in the morning light that I took this photo in.

~Untitled~

I Wasn't Sure...

...whether I liked the way I edited yesterdays photo or this one better.
Which do you think???

Reading A Story

Isn't Michael cute reading his firetruck book?

Another Photo Of No One Playing The Violin

~Untitled~

Lock&Key