A Week in Review: NaNoWriMo and/or Nutcracker

I decided a while ago not to do NaNoWriMo this year, until last night when I started dreaming up characters and a story. As I fell asleep, I thought to myself, "I can definitely do this!"

When I woke up, I realized I am a bit crazy.

My earlier decision to abstain from this year's NaNo will remain in effect. Why? Mostly due to the fact that I get the opportunity to play the principal clarinet part in The Nutcracker this year, something that I have always wanted to do. And, since I do not want to be one of those people who show up unprepared (it baffles me how even after 20+ years of playing the exact same thing people are unprepared...it's called P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E, people!), I intend to spend all the time I would be writing, practicing.

This was a hard decision as the writer in me is throwing an outright temper tantrum, which, to be fair, is fair. I keep putting my writing aside in order to pursue these musical avenues, but sometimes decisions need to be made. If I find myself with extra time this November, I will certainly try to write down the story about the characters that made an appearance last night (and whom I am sure will start pestering me incessantly). But this November is dedicated to practicing both for The Nutcracker as well as the Winds of the Sound quintet recital (which you should all come to on November 23rd; it'll be great music!)

Meanwhile, to all those NaNoers out there: Best of luck to you all!

P.S. And, if I wasn't already convinced that I need to expend my energy into practicing this November, I got a sign this morning as well: Northwestern University has released archived audios of Robert Marcellus masterclasses! *Nerd Alert* Robert Marcellus is a big name in the clarinetting world of yore (and continues to influence the clarinet world, though he passed away in 1996). A fantastic player, he also taught brilliantly and intellectually to both students and fellow clarinet teachers. There's rumored to be 175 hours of pure listening pleasure in these audio files as he talks about technique and repertoire, critiques pieces and he provides constructive criticism to those performing the pieces in his masterclasses. I've already gleaned pearls of wisdom from the bits and snatches I aurally flipped through today. Suh-weet!