Monday, April 18, 2011

Once a Cellist



My fingers hurt. This is because I just busted out the ol' cello (fondly named Dorian Gray), and after 4 or so years of dormancy, my poor cello fingers are extremely frail and pathetic. After about 15 minutes of playing, my bow hand is all cramped due to holding the bow all wrong (to be fair I've never held my bow quite right), and my left hand is absolutely stinging from plonking around on those strings. Ow. My most of me.

The reason I'm forcing myself to play the cello again (not that I don't enjoy it, but look at me, I can barely type), is that a friend has asked me to record a cello part for his band this week. His cellist had to bail at the last second, and as I'm the only other cellist he knows, I get to take her place! I'm kind of excited about it, but also super nervous and frustrated because I used to be a middling to decent cellist, and now I'm like a high school freshman all over again. It's rather depressing, considering that of all the instruments I ever played, cello was by far the one I loved the most (and the one I was best at).





I'm wearing: F21 dress and hat, H&M cardi and necklace.


Maybe one of these days I'll take some photos of Dorian to show off all over the internets, and maybe even Isidore, who is admittedly much nicer to me after years of disuse (there are no difficult fingerings to remember!). Isidore is my harp. I was never very good at playing the harp, but it's a lot easier to just sort of pick up and dink around on and create a pleasing sound, whereas with a cello you have to know what you're doing to make it sound at all nice.


20 comments:

Sara said...

You look like a little doll! I love the bright yellow hat and the elbow-patches are just too sweet :)

YES SHOW THE CELLO!! DO IT!! Oh and you should make a video! Just sayin'...:)

anne said...

I HOPE NOBODY COOL OR FAMOUS IS LOOKING AT ME
(LOOK. LOOK AT THAT GIRL.)


I seriously love your sweater with the elbow patches.

color shows said...

I love your stripes with the cardigan. And you seriously wear hats so well! You look adorable.

I can't play any instruments, so consider me jealous.

callie said...

CELLO TOO, MEG?! Seriously. I knew you played harp but cello too?! Were you raised in Rivendell?!! I was honestly just talking about how much I wanted to learn cello over the weekend. Teach me your ways! Anyways, I definitely want to see you playing both Dorian and Isidore so get crackin'! (: Also, little gold hat is a gem.

ilene @ muchloveilly said...

i want your hat. the color is perfect! ;)

Annalise said...

I only know one other person that plays cello, and no one I know plays the harp. You are quite the Renaissance woman. I would love to see a video of you playing your musical instruments. I bet you look adorable, since you do in these pictures.
XOXO

JennaStevie said...

I love the dress with the cardigan over top of it, so gorgeous!! I am jealous you can play an instrument, I wish I could, I lack the patience
xJennaD

Lulu said...

My husband saw your blog and was freaked out by how much we look alike. We even make some of the same faces!

And in response to your previous question, Charlie is part Cavalier Spaniel and part Papillion. We got him from a shelter not too far from us in January.

Felicia said...

I love that your cello is named Dorian Gray. And I am dreading how much my chops are going to suck when I pull out my bassoon this summer after a year of not playing. I should give my bassoon a name!

Heather said...

Oh hey I know that dress, we had a love affair awhile back, but she looks a whole lot happier with you. You look amazing and I am so in love with that sweater, it's ridiculous! I need to go to H&M right now. Good luck with getting your cello on, I want to hear sometime! <3

readwatchrelax said...

the cello? how awesome! I play the violin and have always been a big fan of strings. I have a fantasy of playing my violin in a cemetary in Paris at dusk....anyway, I digress!! ps. big fan of that hat, too! :)

caitlin said...

OH MY GOSH i have always wanted to play the cello (okay, in the past few years i've decided that it would be totally badass to play the cello because it's the sexiest instrument ever). i played the violin for seven years and couldn't get over my middling talent, so i quit.

anyway, badass. also i love your hat. best color ever.

gee said...

i want to see Dorian asap.
i use to play the violin many moons ago..
i am so sad i stopped. :(
why you always look beautiful without even trying?
seriously..
while i was away i re watched the xmas episode of dr who and thought of you..! matt smith is hot in that episode. i think i am in love.
can not wait for the NEW SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoox

Amber said...

i wanna hear you play Mr. Gray! I love the sound that comes out of a cello, very moody and pleasing to my ears.

Becky said...

ARROWED!

jo gwinnett said...

Love love LOVE that you play cello! I play too but would class my style as mediocre at best...My boyfriend treated me to a stunning cello for my 21st birthday last year but since we moved out to Vancouver for a year I've not had her with me so havn't played in a while :(
I absolutely love the instrument though and it crops up in pop/rock songs from time to time and always sounds amazing so your friend has made an awesome choice there!!

Good luck with the recording, would love to hear how it goes!

Alyspank said...

That's awesome you get to be involved in the recording of your friend's band! I'm sure it'll sound awesome so long as your fingers don't fall off from practicing. If they do, I highly suggest charging your friend a fee per finger lost.

Cute outfit for today :) OR.... for Monday, because blogger never put this in my feed because it's a jerk. At any rate, I love the elbow patches on the sweater!

Alyssa

Katrina said...

I love your elbow patch sweaters! This outfit looks so comfy cozy. I am currently freezing and really wish I had on an elbow patch sweater.

Also, super cool about getting to record your cello playing! I feel like a cello is not a commonly played instrument. I used to play flute, like every other girl in grades 5 through 9.

Monyka said...

Your hair is gorgeous love! and that's a lovely outfit :)

monikaamour.blogspot.com

Victoria / Justice Pirate said...

awww lovely that youp lay the cello!! I'd love to hear it!!!