February update
Over my Christmas and New Year week stay in Sydney, I managed to rack up 3 hours of relaxing massage and a pedicure. I seem to spend a lot of my money on massages when I go to Sydney because we don't have the walk in massage places in Albury. The pedicure, well, I didn't buy that one. Leysa did and I got funny looks from people walking past the place at Hornsby Westfield. Lets just get one thing clear, I won't get a manicure haha. While in Sydney, I succumbed to purchasing an upright piano. It's not a well known brand - Kohler and Campbell, but its tone is very bright. I've just had to be weary of my practising hours. When I used my digital piano, I could practise at any time. I think the hours for acceptable noise levels are from 8am-10pm. Still hoping I can make the eisteddfod this year, but it could conflict with WYD2011 Madrid! The eisteddfod should be the least of my worries...I still need to practise up and learn new pieces.
Gershwin Prelude 1
Recorded after the Albury Eisteddfod. A few slips here and there (hey I'm human right?). Looking forward to play this at the Wagga Eisteddfod. Hope it all goes well!
Chopin Black Keys Etude
Just had a little tinker on all the ebony keys (only one single ivory in the right hand during the entire piece!) after the Albury Eisteddfod. Now that I watched myself play, I could be a little brisker with the tempo I think...
Eisteddfod update
The Albury Eisteddfod went well this year. I was really happy that some friends came to add to the crowd on the Tuesday night, otherwise I would have been playing alone! My performances went really well on Tuesday but I need to work a bit more on my Black Note Etude for the Wagga Eisteddfod (haven't played there in years!). So now that there's a bit over a month until then, I can get back into my fitness, which is pretty much just for tennis. Anyone know of some good Fitness News sites for me? Every time I think about exercising these days, I think back on when I would find ways to lose weight the easy way - quick fix solutions like tablets or simply go to the gym but eat Maccas afterwards haha! I never would have looked at changing my diet back then...the hcg diet or hcg drops would have looked interesting though. I'm sure there would be some skeptics that are against the hcg diet, just like my Powerbalance band too (another story about that later 
)
July Update
The last few weeks of July and early August brings the eisteddfod to Albury-Wodonga. I've noticed that my contemporaries has slowly faded away from the competition (everyone getting older or I just don't want to grow up?). I still enjoy playing because it's probably the only time in the year where I get to perform what I've been working on. I'm going to enjoy listening to the others in the Chopin Piano comp though. The age bracket for the section I'm in is 14 years and over, I think there are about 4-5 other competitors. So anyway, apart from the practise and my nervous wait for next week, I'm also entered in the Wagga eisteddfod. I haven't been there in a while so it will be great to here what other talent and hardworking musicians are out there in country NSW.
July also brought my 1 year work anniversary. The place is awesome and I've good people. I even managed to score an invite to the social club function last week. Meeting colleagues outside the workplace is always fun and gives you a chance to interact in a different environment. So anyway, I leave you with a few photos of the evening and my eisteddfod pieces (along with youtube links to my favourite performances).
Bach BWV 848
Chopin Trois Nouvelle Etude No.1 in F minor
Gershwin Prelude 1
Khachaturian Toccata
Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C # minor
Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 5
Social Function
I love Paddies!
I guess we were tired?
Piano Recital – Beethoven Sonata Op 10 No 2
One of the pieces I played for my AMusA diploma. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't play it as well I played during the actual exam! I've been too engrossed in learning Chopin's Black note etude.
Cleanup
I've got a lot of junk in my room...organised junk I might add. I just wanted to get rid of the clutter I have accumulated over the number of years. It's quite annoying to see how much useless stuff I kept that went straight to the bin. I'm going to make it a weekly chore at least to get rid of some of the clutter. Cleaning through stuff always takes so much longer than expected because you analyse every single thing you throw away. In my case, I stumbled across something surreal
Click on image to open full size
Ahhh, the joys of cleaning up - brings back memories (not that I can remember this one clearly as such).