Yoko defended her thesis yesterday, after Tom's hilarious introduction with funny pictures of Yoko (and her desk). It was sweet :) Then around 11:30am, we started the celebration. This commenced with Yoko wearing her hat (the one that Robin decorated with ER network), Tom's reading of a really funny poem (2 pages long!! and he even made the whole thing rhyme. it was hilarious) that he wrote for Yoko, and a round of congratulatory champagne. Then mid-afternoon, Tom announced that he got his HHMI funding renewed for the next SEVEN years (he just heard. big day!). So he's all set. I don't think any of us was surprised, but it's good to know for sure.
Today's lesson will be the third (THIRD!) cello lesson for which I've done less than 50% of the practicing I've wanted to do. It's partly because I came home way too late during the week, and it was in the 30's outside without heat in my apt (i.e. my fingers were freeeeeezing and I didn't want to get out of my bed), but also I've been less excited to practice. Remember back in October when I was screeching on the cello for 2-5 hours a day, every day of the week! Well, now I've hit that point in cello playing where I'm not super excited about how cool octave double stops look :P It's misery to play. Thumb positions aren't as exciting as I once thought either -- the thumb is so incompetent for getting a sense of where the notes are on the fingerboard, compared to the other 4 fingers. I've also hit a plateau with Kol Nidrei -- I can hit all the notes, but it's hard to make it sound the way I want (story of all musicians' life). But after weeks, Kol Nidrei is also beginning to feel like un-seasoned pasta. It's kind of a bland piece. Needless to say, I was so excited about the cello to begin with, that I still have a lot of motivation. And if nothing else, perseverance/patience is a key trait of any musician, right? :) [and scientist. bleh]