Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Petaluma .. if I had to change my name to a place, I would choose Petaluma. Here are some reasons I love that town:



the reflections in the river


the old buildings that look like LeRoy

the bubbling fountain
Leah Brooks at 12:40 PM

It's FREE CONE DAY at Ben & Jerry's!
Leah Brooks at 8:29 AM

Friday, April 25, 2003

This morning I spent time at a high school. Schools in California really don't look at all like the one I went to in western NY. There is a courtyard and the buildings are not made of brick and they have a look of worn inpermanence. But that smell - they sure smell the same. Is it a combination of dirty gym clothes and moldy socks? or is it the odor of boredom mixed with jealousy and anxiety?

There was a group of kids standing around before class started, and they were discussing whether or not they would ever NEED algebra in life after high school. One thought that you might need it to figure out where a tree would fall if you were cutting one down. (well, actually that would be geometry, wouldn't it?) Another thought that you could use it to figure out your shopping bill, but they decided that would be more simple math, not x-squared or "a + (b*c)" type math. I was going to chime in and tell them how I had used algebra just yesterday, designing a database.. but the world of work, I think, is too foreign to them. They can imagine working in yard or shopping for a family, but not slaving in front of a computer, running equations and logic problems til you're blue in the face.

My quartet sang for a class, the school girls choir, and taught a tag or two. How fun! You could tell they rarely get to sing anything as fun as a barbershop chord. They sang for us, and it was Stabat Mater. Why do schools still make kids sing in Latin????


Leah Brooks at 1:24 PM

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

I got an email the other day from the person organizing my 30th high school reunion. I used to be fascinated with the concept of reunions, and went to several, including my 20th. I still do have a hankering to know what some people from high school are up to today. However, I really have no desire to go again. What I learned from attending several reunions:

1. the people you really wonder about never show up at the reunion
2. most of the people at a reunion never moved away from town and are not that interesting
3. many of the people who thought they were better than you in school still think so (even though they are not)
4. all the girls look better than the guys
5. someone may come up and tell you why they hated you in high school and you don't really need that information

I do hope they will mail out an "update" to let us know what we missed.
Leah Brooks at 12:17 PM

Tuesday, April 22, 2003

I installed blogroller, which will allow me to put links on my sidebar whenever I find something cool. Take a look at my "current favorites" area, and check for the latest additions.

Yesterday I spent in pain, having strained my back doing some heavy garden lifting on Sunday and then taking a long hike. (well, maybe the hike didn't hurt it, but it didn't help..) Pain is not a good thing. I don't recommend it. It is exhausting and wears your personality down to a nub. Today, much better, thanks! I'm even going to teach a class today, and yesterday I could not imagine myself having the necessary oomph.
Leah Brooks at 9:21 AM

Monday, April 14, 2003

For those of you who like words, and like to keep up to date with the latest neologisms, go here.
Leah Brooks at 10:59 AM

Friday, April 11, 2003

Happy Barbershop Quartet Day!


Leah Brooks at 4:50 PM

Wednesday, April 09, 2003

The results are in - and the regional competition was a great success for me and my groups this year. On Q! got a fourth place medal - finally back in the top five again after a three-year hiatus. I think it's my personal best ever on contest stage. My voice sounds clear and strong on the audio tape, and I felt so calm and collected. The judges' comments were all about "MORE, MORE!!" - so the next step is to take this calm collected sound and expand it with more energy and dynamics.

The chorus won FIRST PLACE! We are so relieved and happy. It has been a very hard year for the chorus, with Jan's illness and with our drop in membership after the last international contest. Now we have a full 18 months to rebuild, instruct ourselves and get new members so that we can hit the top in Indianapolis.

For photos of the competition, go here.
Leah Brooks at 2:11 PM