i dunno. i wasn't there.
yesterday was a whirlwind! i was up til 3 on wednesday, so i didn't get started until, like, 10 am. i did a stiff thursday set of yoga, and pondered what to wear.
i had audience at city hall to learn about discretionary funds from the city for violence prevention and with the craigslist foundation as part of a focus group surrounding their non-profit bootcamp held in the fall. i felt both of these were opportunities to interface with peers in the community.
i had a bummer of a staff meeting yesterday where i asked the question, "if a million dollars came in the door on march 29th, what would happen?" and i was met with the response that all the changes that have been made would remain. if finances is the main point and that would resolve our financial challenge, i don't quite understand that logic. i'm obviously not privvy to certain information so i am going to continue to:
concentrate on making web site material relevant, uploading the work of my students from the past, documenting practices, and advocating for funding streams that have not been persued.
i was energized by the city hall audience with Supervisor Fiona Ma, however. again, met with peers in the social benefit work. apparently we were impressive because of our young women's presence.
i guess i take for granted that our young women can speak for themselves. i suppose that's not the general experience of most people with teenaged women.
after that meeting, i was psyched to make a connection with an internship organization that supplements stipiends for placement of youth in organization. woo! collaboration-o-rama! i'm looking forward to how that moves forward!
after a brief touchback to the office i headed off the the craigslist thing in the rain.
buckets, people. buckets.
downtown was a snarl of trolley buses, commuters exiting the city, and cabs. while navigating for a decent parking spot (it was after 6 pm, after all!) i had an interesting conversation with my executive director. she wants to be cautious about how we position our organization in public. i agreed. there was a palpable tension that was never named. i pledged my commitment to resolving our organization's challenges by being present in the community and bringing knowledge about these resources back to the office. and i am not sure why that's being met with resistance. hrm.
so off to the focus group and as i walk in i hear the voice of a colleague who is on the board of streetside stories. cool to hear his voice and to join a room full of folks who are my peers.
we jammed, we gave opinions. we ate pizza. and i found the dialog stimulating, not the boring, "does the blue background or yellow background work for this logo?" a mini-networking session that allowed for frank discussion around our impressions of the craigslist foundation..
after that i gave my colleague, jason, a ride home. he lives close to the office and i wanted to practice my violin. on my way to the office i got a call from lara who's boyfriend was playing at biscuit and blues. dude. i'm down. i've MISSED that girl!
i said i needed to practice first, though.
so i went to the office and i practiced a bit. the latest piece of music sandy gave me is super challenging and my ear is unhappy because my strings are out of tune. i am practicing the fingering of the pieces, but i would like to hear the melody, use that to help me measure my success.
i find it strange to move between the strings...an f (first finger on e, the highest pitched string) to an octave lower, f, (second finger on d, the second lowest pitched string.). following the scale is fine, but i am stumbling with the abrupt transition. especially on the 8th notes. that's a quick change!
so i shall ask sandy on monday her suggestions for that. the metronome is a help, but i know that i am still looking at notes and doing a mental count along the staff to figure out...oh...wait...1,2,3 lines equals b. like i am learning how to read.
well, i am learning to read.
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