Saturday

Even though the previous two weeks have been so busy, there is no rest for the weary! Saturday, I had a full day planned--it was VIOLA DAY! The Utah Viola Society sponsors a viola day at the University of Utah twice a year, and October 15 was the day!

Before I could go to viola day, however, Bruce came home from work, and he had had quite the eventful night. Friday night was a BYU football game--the homecoming game, actually--so the hotel was full of CNN people and lots of football fans, including lots of older couples. That kind of busy he was expecting, but what happened next was unexpected. At 6 AM, he got a panicked call from a lady asking him to call 911 because her husband was bleeding and had vomited and she was very worried. The phone system was kind of wacked, so he had to call 911 on his cell phone, and then they wanted to talk to the lady who was having the problem, so he had to have them call the hotel and then transfer the call to the room. By the time that happened, the paramedics were already coming in the door. They had an adventure trying to fit the gurney into the elevator, but did succeed. However, the man (who was actually an older man) had died before they got there, and Bruce was told by one of the medical officers that there would have been nothing anyone could do even if they had gotten there a minute or two earlier--whatever the medical emergency was, it was one of those that would not be anything but fatal.  So, I hope the man and his wife had a really fun night at the football game and I hope they were really happy on what was his last night on earth!  So, that was a first for Bruce--a death in the hotel. The general manager commended him for handling the situation really well and staying calm, and keeping a smooth operation running with other patrons while the emergency was underway. Bruce was worried about how they removed the body without upsetting other people, but the GM told him (because they had not done this until Bruce's shift was over) that it actually went really well. Happenstance allowed some good timing. There were families with small children, and they all left just at the moment the elevator doors opened while the body was being brought out. So...that was Bruce's excitement.

He went to bed, and I went to Viola Day. Viola Day is capably organized by Brad Ottesen and Julie Edwards. Brad is artist in residence at Utah State, and Julie is a violist in the Utah Symphony, and they are both good friends and lovely people.

Julie with the viola clef cookies that are a feature of every Viola Day.

This was a special day because we were honoring David Dalton.  Dwight Pounds had given a presentation about the Dalton-Primrose Collaboration at both Viola Fest at Oberlin in the summer, and again at the congress in Cremona. We had the same presentation, only Dwight's part was delivered by Aaron, David's only son. Then there was a question/answer period which was supposed to be David, Donna and I. (Me for questions about the archive.) However, David answered all the questions except for what year Primrose died (1982) which I answered, and I think Donna answered a one-word answer, too. When Brad, the UVS president, said we needed to end, David said, "But the ladies haven't had a chance to say anything!" We were just up there being lovely to look at, I guess.

Next up was a concert of transcriptions done by David Dalton, and before each one, he would tell a bit about how it came to be, who published it. Each piece was played by a former student. Oh, and Brad and I were the stage managers--we didn't do it the traditional way because we also wanted to be in the audience. But in between, we jumped up to move instruments and music stands and things.

First, Leslie Richards played Suite for Viola and Keyboard by Marin Marais, with Loren Carle on harpsichord. David did this transcription while a student at the Eastman School of Music, then took it to the music librarian and asked what he should do with it, and she told him to "start at the top" with music publishers.  Two of them were interested in publishing it, and he decided to choose Peters. He and Donna and their new baby were on their way to move to Munich for some study when he stopped at the Peters office in New York. They asked if he wanted to take a cash payout, or receive royalties. He didn't think there would be THAT much demand for the piece, and they needed money for their move, so he took the cash payout. About 20 years ago, he discovered that the piece was on the Royal Conservatory required list for all of the UK and the commonwealth, and it is still selling today. "I should have taken the royalties!" he said.

Next was Emily Barrett Brown playing the Donizetti Romanza with Melissa Heath, soprano, singing what would have been Donna's part back in the Dalton performance days, and Lara Allen on piano.

Then Caryn Jackson Bradley played an Aaron Minsky work, Truckin' through the South. I think that the Donizetti was published by OUP, and then they asked him to do the transcription of a series of Minsky pieces, of which this one that Caryn played was one. (He asked for royalties on the OUP items.) Caryn is a small girl, hugely pregnant with twins, due in November.

Megan Mason played two of the Chants d'Espagne by Joaquin Nin, and I remember no stories about them at all.

And last was LeeAnn Morgan playing a Primrose transcription of the Telemann Concerto--David Dalton helped Mr. Primrose to get this published, and actually helped him with a lot of the music copying to ready it for publication, and then LeeAnn did her dissertation on the Primrose transcriptions with a lot of help and encouragement from DD, hence it was included on this program.

Last of all was a group called "Camerata de Maglione de Alto Clef" a name totally made up by Brad, and probably butchering a couple of languages--he was trying to say something about the Chamber Ensemble of the Alto Clef Sweater in homage to DD's sweater. Eleven of DD's former students played "A fourth of a fifth of Beethoven" by Joel Belgique, who is another of DD's former students. They all donned mustaches to honor DD's ever-present, over decades, mustache, and it was really fun especially since the mustaches had a tendency to fall off and get stuck on violas, music, the floor, hair, clothing. It was comical.

Emily Barrett Brown, a tall young girl I don't know, LeeAnn Morgan, Leslie Richards, Tally Turner, another girl I don't know, David Dalton, Caryn Jackson Bradley, Megan Mason, another IDK, Claudine Bigelow, and another IDK.

David was, of course, thrilled And also a bit embarrassed by the attention, because that is how he is. He said, "You don't usually get an opportunity like this, to be honored like this, more than once in your life--and that is usually at your funeral!" He also pointed out that all the students on the program were ladies--he was apparently a good teacher for ladies! He said, "I don't know what happened to the young men..." (well, Joel was represented through his music, at least.)

So...a fitting end to a post that started out talking about an old man dying. Just a different old man. (I am glad that DD was alive to be toasted as he was this day!)

Back to England!

Hurray! I have pictures! Now I can post about Day One in England: Salisbury and Stonehenge.

We started the day by walking to the station, Harrow on the Hill, to catch a train to take us to meet Ellie, who would be driving us in her little tiny car.

 I asked David to take another picture to show the station itself, because I think it is very lovely.

 We got to the destination station (wherever it was) and waited for Ellie to pull up, and then we were on our way. She decided to drive "the Oxford way" because she is familiar with that road, since she works in Oxford. I had not thought to tell Amy Felin that I was even going her direction--I didn't think I would be anywhere near Oxford, and then I was!

I loved driving through the English countryside. After dealing with Milan and London largeness and associated transportation, this country girl was ready to sit back and just watch the scenery go by. So lovely!

We stopped at Salisbury, in a park and ride. You park your car, and then ride the bus into town. Your fee is 3.50 pounds for up to four people, and that pays for two-way transportation plus parking. That seemed like a great deal to us.  We first wanted to find some lunch, so we found some pasties to buy, which we were going to eat while sitting on the lawn at Salisbury Cathedral.

However, before we got to the cathedral itself, we could see that Salisbury is a very lovely town!

 Honestly, I did not even notice this, but David or Ellie must have taken a picture of it, because here it is: part of the picturesque things in Salisbury!

 The cathedral was not even on my radar, but I am so glad that David knew about it, and suggested we go there! And seriously--if we had known how cool it was, we would have planned our day differently, because we did not go inside the cathedral proper nor climb the steps to the tower! And we should have, because this is a cathedral of superlatives:
First off, it is very old, built between 1220-1258.
Second, it has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom (123m/404 ft).
Third, the tour would have shown us the interior of the hollow spire, with its ancient wood scaffolding, a sight not seen very many places.
Fourth, the cathedral has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain (80 acres). (This is a part that we actually did see.)
Fifth, the cathedral contains the world's oldest working clock (from AD 1386)
Sixth, the cathedral has the best surviving of the four original copies of Magna Carta--this we did see.
If I remember correctly, on my mother's side, we descend from John Lackland, the lack-a-daisical king whose lackluster performance led to the need for the Magna Carta.

When the cathedral comes into view, it is breath-taking!

 Inside the cloister walk looking out to the opposite side:

 I do not have the vocabulary for everything in the cathedral that we saw, so I will just let you look at pictures:

 I don't have the vocabulary for this either, but will try to explain. There are seats around the edge of the room where the Magna Carta is on display that are for the saints. They are placed in calendar order, but I am not sure who was included, though I remember they started in January.  Anyways, I accidentally named both of my sons with Saint names, and on the calendar in this room, they are next to each other. But due to the way things were, not so next to each other that I could get a good picture of them together. Saint David's day is March 1: 

 And everyone, of course, knows that St. Patrick's day is March 17.

 Apparently one of the two photographers of the day took this picture of me, though I don't remember it!

David was apparently not behaving very well, so Ellie stopped to put him into the stocks for a bit of punishment...

We reluctantly left, because we had a scheduled time at Stonehenge, for which we were going to be late. David was not worried, though, because on a Monday that was not a school holiday, we were not likely to encounter so many other people that it would become a problem. However, we were worried enough about it that we did not opt for the greater cathedral tour. Once outside, though, we stopped for the obligatory call-box photos:

 

And when we passed this window, I wanted a picture! The shopkeeper was making fudge on a slab with a large paddle, and in front was "Fudgehenge." Too good of a picture to miss!

And then, we were off to Stonehenge. It was the loveliest day for it! Blue sky, green grass! A bit chilly and windy, but completely gorgeous. First, the three of us, taken by a gentleman for whom David served as photographer, and he did the same for us.

As you will be able to see in some of the photos, they had Stonehenge roped off well away from it, and we could not get very close. I do not know why it was different for Patrick and Josie. When they went, even though it was a beautiful day in July, only their group was there, as well as four Wiccans. They told them to walk wherever they wished, but not to touch a stone. (So, of course, Patrick had to immediately touch a stone!) Patrick also said that the Wiccans summoned crows. Who came when summoned. For us, there were birds, but I don't know if they were crows, and they came of their own volition.

Me, without the coat that I am wearing in so many photos for like ten years!

David and me and Stonehenge

Different view of the same participants

This bird sat there for the longest time, as if to say "You can't touch these stones, but I can fly up here whenever I want to!"

Then we were in the car again, tired and happy and getting hungry, off to the Godivalas for dinner and FHE! To get to their house in Wing, you have to turn into this place that doesn't look like a driveway, that looks too narrow for a car to fit. But it is a driveway! And cars do fit! David lived at the Godivala home for a few months.  When he would say their name, I thought it was maybe Portuguese or something, because David has a tendency to speak with a portuguese accent. But when Ellie was here in September, she told me that Godivala is an East Indian name.

So then of course it made sense to me, since Hindi. -vala or -vali is a suffix that means "person who" (sometimes spelled -wala or -wali because w/v are pronounced the same). So, if you have a person who does laundry, that is a dhobivala. And a person who serves tea would be a chaivala. A dudhvala is a milkman, or a person who delivers milk. So, knowing that the last part of their name was vala, I just needed to know what godi meant, which it means dock. So a godivala would be a dock worker. And it turns out, as Richard Godivala explained to me, that his great-grandfather indeed had a very large and prosperous dock in Bombay, and changed the family name to Godivala because of his business.

We were served pâté for the first course, to be spread on toast with a variety of chutneys to choose from. I spread a bit of it very thinly on my toast, and Gemma said, "You didn't take very much--do you not like pâté?" And I had to admit, "I have never had it before, so I don't know if I like it or not; but I am afraid I might not like it, so I am taking it in small amounts."  I am just not a big fan of meat in general, and of liver in particular. So. I tried it! I took seconds and thirds, but only small seconds and thirds.  Then we had stroganoff and I ate a good amount of that (lots of mushrooms)! Afterwards we laughed and talked and played games, before taking a few pictures.

I wanted a picture of myself with Gemma because we have a mutual friend, Sinead, in Ireland, who I thought might like to see a picture of us together. Sinead was Josie's hostess for a week in Ireland a few years ago.  We were reminding each other of how we knew Sinead. It turns out that Gemma had a dating relationship with Sinead's brother, Patrick. Richard remarked, "England is littered with Gemma's former boyfriends." David says that Richard is quite proud that out of all those boyfriends, he landed up with her!

Beautiful Gemma and Ridiculous Me

Jacob, Richard, Cyrus and David in back. Martha, me and Gemma in front.

 And the ridiculous pose, except for oblivious me.

 Then Ellie drove us to the station, and we went to David's new place in Harrow, and we went to bed very late.

We did not rush out in the morning, but when we were ready we set out and did a LOT of walking around London Town.

 Can you pick me out, looking up at the National Museum?

 I liked this display that says: "Islamic rule was generally characterized by religious tolerance, with Muslims, Jews and Christians living together in relative harmony." Which is how it should always be.

 In the Indonesian section, looking at shadow puppets. Which David did not know about, and which I did, since gender wayang is gamelan music especially for shadow puppets.

 David in front of the Korean house:

 Me in front of the Canadian display:

 And David was just the right height for me to put his head in the Inuit man's hat! Perfect!

 I wanted a picture of me at Tottenham Court Road because of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion." The study of that play was half of my independent study in Drama 30 in high school.

Act II
THE FLOWER GIRL. Good enough for ye-oo. Now you know, don't you? I'm come to have lessons, I am. And to pay for em too: make no mistake.

HIGGINS W e l l ! ! ! [Recovering his breath with a gasp] What do you expect me to say to you?
THE FLOWER GIRL. Well, if you was a gentleman, you might ask me to sit down, I think. Don't I tell you I'm bringing you business?	25
HIGGINS. Pickering: shall we ask this baggage to sit down or shall we throw her out of the window?
THE FLOWER GIRL [running away in terror to the piano, where she turns at bay] Ah-ah-ah-ow-ow-ow-oo! [Wounded and whimpering] I wont be called a baggage when Ive offered to pay like any lady.   Motionless, the two men stare at her from the other side of the room, amazed.
PICKERING [gently] What is it you want, my girl?
THE FLOWER GIRL. I want to be a lady in a flower shop stead of selling at the corner of Tottenham Court Road. But they wont take me unless I can talk more genteel. He said he could teach me. Well, here I am ready to pay him—not asking any favor—and he treats me as if I was dirt.
MRS. PEARCE. How can you be such a foolish ignorant girl as to think you could afford to pay Mr. Higgins?	30
THE FLOWER GIRL. Why shouldnt I? I know what lessons cost as well as you do; and I'm ready to pay.

So here I am at the corner of Tottenham Court Road, or near a corner at least.

And then we went to Trafalgar Square, but you already know that!

New York

Well, I am not going to lie, New York terrifies me a little bit.  I was pretty nervous getting off the plane, but Blake (a former student in the MAD library) had sent me really good directions.  A few years ago, when Josie flew to New York alone, Blake met her at the airport. But he was just working then, and since he is mostly just a gigging musician and the assistant to a Broadway music director, he could work around the schedule and take her to and from the airport, which was sooooooo awesome of him. But, now he is also doing a PhD, and since I have been in New York before, and I am a big girl, he expected me to find my own way. I knew to:
take the AirTrain to Jamaica
get on teh E train bound for Manhattan
get off at 50th St.
his building is on the corner of 51 St. and 10th Ave.
It all went smoothly, except that I could not get my phone to work to call or text ANYONE. My phone thought it was still in Italy, and it was winging out with the things I was expecting it to do. (It thought it was in Italy whilst in England, too, but that didn't seem to bother it as much.)

So, Blake's fiance Marti was trying to reach me, but that was impossible. Blake was trying to reach me, my family was trying to reach me.  When I got to Blake's apartment, where Marti met me at the door with the doglets, George and Blanche, I finally figured out how to actually turn off and restart my phone, and then It sorted itself out and worked just fine. Since I had no phone, I just followed Blake's really good directions, and except for going the wrong direction on 50th St and 8th, ending up at 7th instead of 9th, I had to do a bit of walking around Manhattan, but ended up where I needed to be.

The only other disturbing thing was seeing a great big live rat on the subway rails. And also seeing a smashed dead rat on the subway rails.  I was just happy because I got to Blake's house while it was still light. Marti was busy changing the sheets on the bed for me, and then he went out and left me alone with the dogs. I was in the bedroom, they were outside enjoying the whole apartment. They are cute and small and yappy and jumping all over you.

Blake's apartments costs $5600 per month and it is going up to $5750 soon. YIKES!!! Five guys live there, so they each pay over $1100 a month. Makes our student housing prices seem not so bad. He said that he had been living in Brooklyn, where it is cheaper, but he felt that he was jeopardizing his career, since there was often a chance of being late to important events. So, while it is expensive, it is very nice and clean and secure with a fabulous view.

Blake and all his roommates are music or theater people. One, Hernando, is an angel in Kinky Boots on Broadway now--his Broadway debut, after touring with the show earlier. I did not meet him. (But the dog Blanche is his, and I definitely met her!) Everyone has crazy schedules, as you can imagine.

Thursday morning, Blake and I left at 7:30, still on the E train, bound for further in, to the 4th Ave. terminal, for a short walk to NYU for Blake, and Judson Memorial Church for me. And they are right beside each other, so we had a great walk and talk.  We took a selfie:

He showed me this cool church that the actor Jude Law bought and turned into his private residence. I have always wanted to do that! But something tells me that I could never afford to buy a church like the one Jude Law bought!

Judson Memorial was not open yet when we arrived, so I spent a half hour walking around Washington Square, which is right across the street.  There is a little Arc de Triomphe there, but guess who is on it? That would be George Washington! (and not my grandson Benjamin, though he may think it is him, since he has taken on George Washington as an alter ego)

There were lots of birds and squirrels, 

and lots of people with dogs, all headed for the little doggy playground.

Here is another picture of the park, and a shot of one of the NYU buildings across the street:

And then, when I saw lots of people gathering at Judson Memorial,

I knew it was the Theatre Library Association people, so I headed over to the conference, which was very good. But I was developing a terrible cold and so I tried to sit away from people where I could continuously blow my nose without sharing my germs. So it was not the best networking experience ever! Here are some interior and conference shots:

Our conference was about Fringe Festivals, hence the fringe. And because we are artsy people, they had lots of things to decorate our name tags with

Even though I am mostly off sugar, I did eat a lemon macaron because I touched it because I wanted to take a picture of the TLA decoration for Theatre Library Association.

I opted to go straight to the airport; not because I didn't want to go back to Blake's, but because I did not want to ride the subway twice when once would do it. I am very, very intimidated by that subway! Besides, I needed to be at the airport at about 5 AM so I would have had to get up in the middle of the night to arrive there on time, and that added an element of scary, plus I would not be able to sleep for worrying about making it on time.

It was 4:30 when I got on the subway, and there were plenty of startling people. Like the lady singing loudly and bearing testimony of Jesus loudly for like an hour. Her voice wasn't tired? I mean, I love Jesus, but it seemed a bit much to me. And I felt badly for the sweet little muslim lady who had to stand right beside the evangelist for a good long while. There was the guy in the wheelchair rolling the whole length of the long subway soliciting donations for his children. And there were the guys who were yelling at each other in obscenities. But no rats--so bonus!

I went to terminal 4 to pick up my heavy bag which I had checked there, and went to terminal 2 where my flight in the morning was supposed to depart from. And bought some kleenex! Then I settled down to read. Terminal 2 is smaller, and when I fell asleep, an airline worker came around and gave the half dozen or so of us sleepers a pillow and blanket. I don't think that would have happened in terminal 4--too many sleepers. So the night went well.  There were security guards and even a couple of soldiers, and the cleaning crew, and us sleepers.  When they posted the next day's flights, however, they had moved my flight to terminal 4, so back I went, checked in, bought more kleenex, got on my flight, and Patrick picked me up, and now I am home.