End of Fall Semester

Well, the end of Fall Semester draws to a close at Forte Music School. Luckily the economy isn't causing too much trouble for us. We'll have about the same amount of students going into spring, which isn't as good as an increase, but a lot better than a dropping off. Generally, we're seeing that parents are pretty set on keeping music as a priority in their childrens' lives. If people are cutting expenses, I've heard a lot of stories about vacations or going out to eat being taken out and keeping the more worthwhile activities like piano in. So that's very good to hear.

Eric's 2008 Movie Hits and Dissappointments

HITS:
The Dark Knight
Benjamin Button
Wall-E
Iron Man
Tropic Thunder
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Burn After Reading
The Bank Job
Seven Pounds
Sex and the City Movie
Ghost Town

DISAPPOINTMENTS:
Indy 4
Eagle Eye
Hellboy 2
The Day the Earth Stood Still
21

THE ONES I MISSED AND AM INTERESTED IN:
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Rachel Getting Married
Doubt
Quantam of Solace

Teaching Stories

I have "classic" kids stories every day of my life while teaching. Kids of all ages are full of surprises and craziness. Now that I've been teaching private lessons for over four years now, my biggest surprise is how they all grow and mature. I've had some of my students for a LONG time now. I've seen fourth graders turn into teens, I've seen teens turn into young adults, I've seen four-year-olds grow into little adults, I've seen adults turn into little kids! :) In one week, I've seen a 10 year old tell me that he "wants to learn more about politics so that he can keep up with the world." An (very accomplished) adult say that she's much too scared to play in a recital. A pre-teen tell me that she's going to be an international star by the time she's 20. And an overachieving young man who even though he knows that he's not going to be a concert pianist, wants his songs to be perfect...more perfect than anyone who's ever strived for perfection in their life. I don't have a boring job. I have a job that with every second teaches me what it's like to live life. :) I'll post some more specific stories in future posts, I promise. They are numerous. I sometimes feel that I have over 50 children of my own and sometimes just want to share every second of every one of them.

The Forte Music School Bowling Team!

Well, for the last 3 months, myself and 3 others from my work have been participating in a bowling league. It's a "happy hour" league...so it's mostly just for fun, however there is a pretty healthy bit of competition involved. It's been a great league so far and we're all having a blast. It's nice that it fits into our late schedule and we've met a lot of great people. We're definitely one of the more "fun" teams to play with, but we're also last in the league...Mostly because we're having too much "fun" :) Nothing like taking your aggressions out on a bunch of bowling pins.

New Years Weekend

Well, New Year Eve was better than I thought it would be. I had a good time playing games with some friends. I did some more biking and I've been venturing out a little further with each ride. This area is pretty hilly and I'm still getting my body to cooperate with this "winter exercise" thing... I came across a cool fountain I hadn't noticed before. I'm hoping to work up enough skills to make it to a great place just a few miles from here. A McMinemin's (A Portland Brewery chain) that's up in the middle of nowhere a few miles from here...I'm pretty sure that I could make it there at this point, but not quite sure I could make it back! :) I also spent a lot of time this weekend journelling. I didn't really think I would be into it, but it feels really to good to write...helps me process. I countinue to learn more and more about myself with everyday. I know this sounds a bit cheesy, but I'm finding that I can see my own faults a lot clearer these days. 2009 will be a good year to work on those. Bring it on...I say!