Sometimes it feels like all I do is work.

I am, on the other hand, looking forward to getting a solid 8-or-9 hours of sleep tonight. YES.

The next comic is going to be full of puns. And Meg Ryan. And probably anthropomorphic reeds. Everybody loves anthropomorphic reeds! But take note: it is Heather’s fault.

Now I am off to wash dishes and sleep. Urgh.
Love,
Ren

And now I’m playing on Jim’s oboe-to-lend-students-when-their-oboes-are-broken. It has a plastic top joint, and has been dubbed “Plastic Fantastic” by the studio. Classy! But it is not nice that I have to take my oboe to Gary Armstrong’s. I should call him, coincidentally, and make an appointment for Monday. Hm hoom.

Even if *cough*Jim*cough* snapped a spring on Theophilus yesterday, I got a lot done! Made a couple of reeds…gouged and shaped quite a lot of cane, tied some blanks…and! I got to buy an old water stone of Jim’s (which is apparently fantastic) AND a burnishing rod which is pretty much the most amazing freaking thing EVER. My knives are sharp! I am happy when my knives are sharp.

I highly recommend them things.

Bad point of gouging cane yesterday: I had to use the school’s old planer, because Graham has cleaned all of his stuff out of the studio (I’ve never seen it look so clean, ever), and he took his pregouger with him. I’m thinking it would be a good investment to get one. Price ranges? $73.00 at Midwest Musical Imports, $100.00 at Forrests Music, $84.95 at Weber Reeds.

If any oboists read this, do you know where else I could look?

I hope you like today’s comic. It might be a little obscure if you are unaware of Meg Ryan movies.
Her romantic comedies are one of my very, very guilty pleasures.

Much love,
Ren

Stars are coming to the Starlight on September 4th! I am way, way, way excited. I went to the Orange Monkey yesterday–for my first time ever–to buy tickets for me and three friends. There was *one* left. I bought it. I am going to Encore Records today to buy the other three. Ack! But hurray! Stars!

I started listening to them a surprisingly short while ago, when they put out Do You Trust Your Friends? a totally-freaking-amazing remix album (of Set Yourself On Fire”). I started listening to that because my favourite artist, Final Fantasy did a remix of “Your Ex-Lover is Dead”. It is lovely. So is the rest of that album. Stars tend to write melodic-pop, which is easy to ignore because it’s somewhat mundane. “Do You Trust Your Friends” was an eye-opener to the actual nature of the songwriting, and it’s incredibly cool to compare the remixes to the originals. And, like I said, I have a whole new appreciation for those originals.
Stars’ new album, In Our Bedroom After the War” is out on iTunes and Zunior, but not in actual record/cd form just yet. (I’ve been reading conflicting reasons for the digital pre-release-thing. One reason is “Stars is recognizing digital music as a new medium”. The other is “there was a leak anyway”. Maybe both!)

Anyway. I like the album. But I’m not…I’m not a huge fan of Torquil Campbell’s voice. Or maybe it’s his oddly assumed singing accent. It doesn’t sit right with me. It’s better, though, with Amy Millan. She’s awesome. Highlight tracks currently: “Personal” and “Take Me To the Riot”.

Erm…oboe stuff. I got this email from Jim this morning:

Hi Esther,
I’m building pregougers in September. They will be La Creme De La Creme. They will be combination pregouger/guillotine. I have a planer in my studio that you can use. I’ll call [WLU secretary] on Monday and tell her that you’ll be coming by to ask to get into my studio. She will escort you to my room and you can pick up one off my desk. There are 2 of them there.
Best,
Jim

Holy excited about Extra-Special Pregouger, Batman! YES!

Glove,
Ren