Tell an Ish person to show up around 9 a.m., and you'll see them somewhere around 9 a.m. Tell them to show up at 9ish, and you'll see them anywhere from 9:05 to 9:20. You have given them license to dilly dally, and who wouldn't take advantage of that? The other night at the big shindig dinner party, one of the drummers said the rehearsal the next morning would begin at 9ish. "I am an ish person," he says. Immediately the clanker goes off in my head--oh, good, I thought. I can deliver my daughter a little late. No Ish person is early, so if you say 9ish, that does not mean give or take 5, 10, 15 minutes. It's exclusively a taking phrase. Take an extra 10 minutes to drink your cup of coffee. We won't mind. We're Ish people. Sunday's rehearsal started at 2:00. Because it was conducted by the same people who conducted the Saturday rehearsal, my understanding was 2-ISH. My daughter is worse than I am about taking liberties with Ish time frames, so she d...
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That's the second time I've cried in two days. I know I'm getting older but that's one side effect I hadn't expected.
And both times (Nimrod, yesterday) were connected to you and your horn.
You say you cannot vouch for the quality of the writing; well it is wonderful. Not just the raw truth of it, but the way you totally involve the reader in the minutiæ of your everyday life, complete with laughs, and then that awful news hits us almost as shockingly as it must have hit you …
If you play the horn a hundredth as well as you write, you must be a virtuosuo.
I was sad enough about your family life, but then to lose your only real friend.
You write beautifully. That was a long time ago, but I'm really sorry.
Diver, I believe I've heard the Nimrod thing before--I wish I could have heard it live.
I am hardly a virtuoso--in fact, when I left the arts building after my lesson this afternoon, I practially cried, trudging down the sidewalk in a crumpled up heap of insecurity and self-doubt. There's always another chance to not suck, I keep telling myself.
And no self-doubts; every note you play is the best note you have ever played.
And get online and get hold of a copy of Elgar's Enigma Variations. Nimrod is heartbreakingly beautiful (and great for horns).