-Going to the Hollywood Bowl and getting kickass seats so that we could see the piece with the marching band really well but they weren't blaring their instruments in our faces.
-Shopping in great outdoor malls - I'm actually not done doing that
-Being able to take practice breaks by going for a swim
-Catching up with Greeleyites that I hadn't seen since November
-Playing in the faculty concert with a fine Russian violinist that referred to my playing like "Playing with a twin"
-Getting immediate results from my lessons with Mitch and actually looking forward to practicing because I feel like I have a better idea of how
-Going to the beach with the Colorado gang, and specifically witnessing Guyver psyching himself up for about 10 minutes and then racing towards the ocean only to do a belly flop in the freezing cold water
-Talking on the phone with Hugh Fink, one of my favorite stand up comedians, former writer on SNL, and, as it turns out, one of Mitch's good friends
-Playing the Brahms with Beatriz, Peter, and Brooke, feeling like all of the sudden I have control over what I could actually do with my life
-Watching a sunset over the mountains from a beautiful and very, very large house in Calabasas
-Going to the Huntington gardens with Vicki, closet botany expert
-Hanging out with so many people who make me feel warm, welcome, and successful so much that I'm very sad to leave them all here
-Discovering Peter. I'm afraid there's too much to say in one entry here.
Since Mom and Dad (and I, really) left Colorado, and I've only lived in Chicago for a year, I'm confused as to what I could call my home. LA is the first place in years that I feel so easygoing in. It's a crowded place with a magnificent musical scene and an array of people I'm not sure I'd find anywhere else. It's a city of a specific attidute... what the attitude is, I haven't quite figured out yet. And more so than any summer, I want to come back to LA more quickly that I'll probably be able to imagine.
I went, from the beginning of this trip, from a scared, unsure masters student, doubtful she could ever make it in the real cutthroat world to someone with renewed faith in their passion. In fact, the beginning-of-the-trip Casey was starting to consider other possible vocations. But through lots of tough love and lots of really easy love, I've found a support group who believs in me. And LA houses them all, plus potential gigs, amazing sights, and a pace of life I could definitely get used to. Stuff has happened to these people I look up to. They've all gone through tough times. But because of LA, they seem to be okay.