Mahler's Third Symphony

Bill worked at home today, primarily outside. I also did a lot of planting of flowers. We both got bitten up by those darned blood sucking demons of mosquitoes.

After getting completely filthy, I took a quick bath to sluice off the dirt, and got dressed in some clean clothes. About that time Steven got home from school, and I made a point of spending the afternoon with him, so he won't feel too overlooked on Bill's big weekend.

So we went to Target and I let him pick out some nice clothes and dress shoes for Sunday. He's gotten a lot taller again lately, and none of his clothes fit quite right anymore. It turns out that he has a longer in seam than either his older brother or his father now!  Silly kid is all legs!

After that we went to the haircut place so he could get his hair washed and cut. Then we went out for ice cream. Then we went to a bookstore and to the video game store.

By the time we got home, I had to hurry and change into nice clothes for the date I had with Dan. He got home a few minutes after Steven and I did, and he must have set a world record for taking a shower and getting dressed!

We went to Orchestra Hall in Detroit, and listened to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.They played the Third Symphony by Mahler.

And for whatever reason - maybe the great program notes, maybe the short lecture the guest conductor (James Conlon) gave about the music before the concert - I now have such a better grasp on what this music is all about. This is one of those I didn't really "get" (sort of like Beethoven's Third before Matrixman did such a great job explaining it).

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra kicked serious ass with this music. The guy behind me was so excited at the end of the first movement he yelled "WOW!!!!" really loudly. I don't think he meant to, I think it just spontaneously erupted from his mouth, because he turned all red right after, but the conductor and the musicians all got big smiles on their faces.

They had an opera singer from Sweden named Birgitta Svenden sing the solos. She had this wonderful, rich voice. Lovely, just lovely.

And I was very pleased with my husband's reaction. He can take or leave most classical music, though he is partial to Beethoven. But he really liked this. He was the first person in the audience to stand up and start yelling and clapping at the end. He loved the first movement, especially the tuba and trombone solos.

The way the conductor explained the music is that Mahler was writing a large and profound novel, and each of his symphonies is a chapter in his life's work. Titan tells the story of youth, of finding out that life isn't all that easy after all, and getting pissed about that, and triumphing anyway. Resurrection is about death and resurrection, and asks some serious questions about both those and traditional Christian beliefs. With the Third, Mahler asks serious questions about CREATION.

The first movement describes a world ready for life, with mountains and volcanoes and tectonic plates - but it is frozen. The orchestra has to unfreeze it, with the arrival of the Greek god Pan and his band of rag tag musicians. With Pan comes life and the arrival of summer.

The second movement describes vegetation, then the third movement goes on to describing animals. Both involve struggle against the elements and for survival.

The fourth movement moves on to humans, and to the profundity of both human grief and human joy.
O Man! Take heed!
What says the deep midnight?
"I slept, I slept -
from a deep dream have I woken -
the world is deep,
and more deeply pondered than the day.
Deep is its pain-
Joy, deeper still than heartache.
Pain says: Pass away!
But all joy seeks eternity -
- seeks deep, deep eternity!"

The brief fifth movement is about angels, represented by the women's and children's choirs.
Three angels sang a sweet song,
with blessed joy it rang in heaven.
They shouted too for joy
that Peter was free from sin!
And as Lord Jesus sat at the table
with his twelve disciples and ate the evening meal,
Lord Jesus said: "Why do you stand here?
When I look at you, you weep for me!"
"And should I not weep, kind God?
I have violated the Ten Commandments!
I wander and weep bitterly!
O Come and take pity on me!"
"If you have violated the Ten Commandments,
then fall on your knees and pray to God!
Love only God for all time!
So will you gain heavenly joy!"
The heavenly joy is a blessed city,
the heavenly joy that has no end!
The heavenly joy was granted to Peter
through Jesus, and to all mankind for eternal bliss.

After the angels comes the final movement - What Love Tells Me. Love is the pinnacle of all creation.Themes briefly explored in earlier movements come back as the music slowly swells to a higher and higher spiritual realm.

After the concert we drove to Greektown for a leisurely dinner at New Hellas. We ordered our beloved flaming cheese and had great Greek food.

It was a great day, and a great evening.

Pearl Jam

Just realized I had never talked about the Pearl Jam concert. So I copied and pasted this from a discussion board where I am a member and where I talked about the concert right after it happened:

I got the tickets a couple of weeks ago, but did not tell the kids. So last night we told the kids we were going out, but refused to tell them where. They whined a lot. When we got off at the Palace exit, we told them we were going to biggest clown convention in the world being held at the Palace (my older son has a terrible fear of clowns). That freaked them out!!!! Then they saw the big sign saying "Pearl Jam in concert" and they were very happy.

Yeah, I am a mean person, and I sometimes play tricks on people. hee hee hee

Pearl Jam is very good in concert. They have a lot of energy and fire. For this concert, they played a lot of music from their new release, Pearl Jam, mixed in with occasional old treasures like Jeremy. It was very enjoyable.

senior honors night

Yesterday I had no work as it was senior's honors night at the high school.

Actually I spent most of the day with my Bill; it turned out good.

I got to bed about 4AM due to covering part of the midnight shift. Then Steven woke me up at 6:30AM and Dan woke me up again about 8:30AM, both of them looking for things. It was grim.

When Bill got home from the graduation ceremony rehearsal, I explained to him that I had a bunch of errands to run, and could he please come along with me to make sure I did not fall asleep while driving?

So we ran errands all day. We went to Bill's bank so he could deposit a paycheck; went to the high school so he could turn in a straggler textbook; stopped at a convenience store for some caffeine; went to Target to buy him some dress clothes for honors night and for graduation day along with some new dress shoes; got him a hair cut; got some mosquito spray for the yard; stopped off for some lunch (at that point I realized I had eaten nothing all day and that might have been part of why I felt so icky); stopped off at the bookstore and did not find the specific book we were looking for; stopped off at a second bookstore and did find it; and stopped off at the gourmet grocery store and got many cool cheeses.

Steven will get his turn today for some new dress clothes and shoes. And a chance for some lunch.

Last night the honors night was very enjoyable. Bill was awarded two local scholarships. That makes a couple thousand more, to go along with the state scholarship he was awarded the other day and the Presidential scholarship he got from Ball State. Maybe we can afford this after all! Most of his tuition is now covered by scholarships; we will have to pay primarily for his room and board and books. One of his friends got a great scholarship for full tuition and a book allowance for a year from the local community college. That is a great kid and we were sitting by his parents, who were overwhelmed when it was announced; it was wonderful to see their faces! No child or family could deserve such good fortune more than they!

After the awards ceremony the high school served up pizza and pop and everyone milled around and talked and congratulated each other.

It was a very pleasant evening.

another work week finished

Short work week this week, sandwiched in between two long weekends. It is over, and I am very glad. There was a call-in on midnights tonight, so I had to work over yet again.

I had hoped to get a lot of yard work done over the next three days but it looks like there will be thunderstorms everyday. I guess I will be doing housework instead. I have to bug bomb the yard for the mosquitoes before I can do much out there, anyway. We have lived here for about five years now; we have never seen such bad mosquitoes as we are having this spring. We are thinking it must be the very wet weather we have been having? A cloud of the nasty little blood suckers comes in with the poor dog every time I let him out to pee. I run around the basement and try to smack them all before they try to bite the humans and cats. Bad enough that they are tormenting the poor dog.

There's certainly plenty of housework to do - there is always plenty of laundry to wash, and I need to scrub down both bathrooms.

It looks like I will be missing the going away party for my friend who is transferring out to Los Vegas. It will be on Saturday night, and we already have two parties to go to on Saturday, as well as being the evening my two sisters will be arriving in town. This is going to be a crazy weekend...tomorrow (well, I suppose I should make that tonight) is the senior class honors dinner. Friday night Dan and I are going out to a concert (Detroit Symphony Orchestra playing Mahler's Third Symphony) to celebrate one of our chicks making one of the great transitions to adulthood, Saturday will be parties & relatives, and Sunday will be the graduation itself............

I'd better go take a nice long shower and get to bed...I need rest and a huge drink of water.

another bit of good news

Got a letter from the state of Michigan in the mail. Bill did well enough on the state mandated exams for seniors, that they will be giving him an academic scholarship. And it is even good for Ball State, even though BSU is in Indiana. That will be some thousands we will not have to scratch up.

Only one night left of work this week. Since I got stress diarrhea once again, that is a good thing.

My two elder sisters both sound as if they will be coming for the weekend and for Bill's graduation. Hopefully that will go well! You never know with family stuff...could be wonderful or a living nightmare...

a bit of good news

I just checked on the patient whose life I supposedly saved in April. Over the long weekend he started doing much better. He is able to sit up in a chair for hours now, is alert and able to joke around, and is able to eat and drink small amounts of very gentle foods and liquids. He is still in the ICU and has a long way to go, but he sure came a long way this weekend.

long weekend

We had a very enjoyable long weekend in Kentucky.

On Saturday we left around noon, and got to Lake Cumberland in the early evening. The cottage was very nice. It was two stories, with bedrooms and a bathroom in the upper floor, and a half bath, a kitchen, and the living room in the lower floor. It also had a wonderful deck, where you could sit and relax and enjoy views of the lake and of the surrounding forest. The lake was down a small cliff, and you could watch the never ending parade of boats for hours, if you liked.

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast at the restaurant in the Lodge (which had a wonderful view of the lake), then went grocery shopping in the little park store while the kids played miniature golf. Then we all took long naps. In the evening, Dan and the kids went and played golf on the little par 3, 9 hole course. Then they went swimming at the indoor pool at the lodge. Afterwards, we cooked dinner and relaxed. I called a couple of friends, which was very nice.

On Monday we got up and packed, then ate breakfast at the lodge restaurant and then started the drive home. Near Lima, Ohio, we ran into a horrible storm with torrential rain and hail while on the freeway. Everyone had to pull off to the sides of the road. You couldn't see a thing!

When we got home Dan and the kids installed the window air conditioners. It got really hot over the weekend. Unfortunately. I got diarrhea within fifteen minutes of walking in the door. I might have been exposed to a bug down south, or possibly eaten something funny, but it might also be stress related. I felt so much better over the course of the weekend, too. I was really bummed out when the sudden and frequent trips to the bathroom started once more.

I have started taking some steps to try to reduce my stress levels, beginning with one step I have been thinking about for months now...we will see if that helps...

 

At least I only have two nights of work this week, though I will have a lot of housework and yard work to do to make up for that. Bill's graduation is coming up this weekend!!!