OK takes the Cake

Pretty Much

Wed, 28 May 2008 06:01:02 GMT

Well, it's finally time to organize all my papers of ideas and start writing this book.
I have a few ideas for books, but I have to pick one, or merge some of them, which I will probably do.
The main idea is to explore the musical survival skills of female performers/composers who've been active 1970-ish to the present.
If this venture is successful, I hope it helps those who read it, and I also kind of hope it gets on the shelves of corporate bookshelves everywhere, only because then I might have a chance of making some money on it.
Haha, yeah right!
Regardless, all ye women musicians...expect me to bother you with questions and videotapes during the next two years!

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:44:19 GMT

big, steamy vegan poops,
or tiny, crusty rabbit turds?

yay, vegan!

forgetful fanny

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:15:51 GMT

i seem to be neglecting my livejournal account because i post on blogger so often!
if you'd like to read that, the link is

http://olliekieffer.blogspot.com/

also on my page are links to bonnie and cody's blogs.
i've missed livejournal, where i can keep up with good folks like quindoo, tim, and sarah k.!
life has been pretty good lately.
the opera is over now, and the run was very successful. i had a great time, met a lot of contacts, and got to perform in a setting i've rarely done...chamber group with no conductor accompanying an opera!
working at the coffeeshop is going pretty well. my back gets really sore and bad after working an 8 hour day shift. i meet interesting people there a lot (lee orr came in there yesterday--haha!), and i am getting to know my bosses there better. also, i come home with some tips each time i work, which i use to buy groceries and pay for gas, or whatever, like yesterday, where i spent all my tips at the thrift store on vhs tapes. oh well!
i am on my way to becoming a vegan. i haven't eaten any meat in a week or so, but i still have a tiny bit of dairy here and there, and stuff with eggs in it. and isaac and i will finish up all the tuna we bought. i feel healthier and better already.
each morning i make a smoothie made with various combinations of these ingredients, and that is my breakfast, and it helps me feel very awake and poop a lot in the morning:

soy milk
orange juice
frozen berries
frozen fruit
banana
tofu
dark chocolate

but also i have been doing some reading on the meat industry and how totally gross most meat is here, and how the animals are sick and covered in their own poop and can't move and are skinned alive and abused and eat food filled with pesticides,
and i just can't eat meat anymore. my heart says no.
two good books about being healthy:

"diet for a new america"
"skinny bitch"

teaching at stockbridge and the charter school is going well. i am learning that i need to be a better discaplinarian. i am just too friendly, and kids will run all over you sometimes. i like middle schoolers, but i REALLY miss teaching advanced students. i tire of teaching kids to clap quarter notes and eighth notes, and sometimes they still don't understand it. there's not a lot of musical depth or understanding at this level of teaching and learning. it's just motor skills, really.
but, nonetheless, young lives are changed by the power of music, and i am blessed to be able to teach and get paid pretty well!!
this weekend i play with MYSO and also with the ludwig symphony. good times!
i miss adam and sarah.
i am sad that i probably won't get to see them till a few months after clarkie dean is born (sometime in the spring, maybe?), because i won't see them at thanksgiving or christmas, unless i happen to drive to minneapolis for a day during thanksgiving, which, well, i just might do! then i can see bonnie and many other kieffers too!
mom has started training for her new part-time job. pray for her, because training is fulltime and intense, and she doesn't sleep very well at night.
i went to the gsu percussion ensemble concert with jessica last night, and it was very good. it was a low-key concert. isaac and chris and renuccio played "rain tree", which i played on my chamber recital many moons ago. and i still love those lighting effects!
i also love that there is a fellini's pizza like a mile away from where isaac and i live. we are becoming regulars there!
overall, i am the most well-adjusted, secure, and stable i have been in my whole life. my mind isn't racing like an insane rat all the time, like it has for the past 27 years or so. i am learning some patience, and i am learning to balance things out, and take life one day at a time.
i feel often that i would like my life to be more exciting, more dangerous, more full of crazy late nights and too many performances, and drama;
but i realize that that is just the way i've livcd in the past, and the past is gone, and the present is here.

now!

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:12:51 GMT

aaah the computer's about to boot me off! damn half an hour at the library. got two interviews for americorps sites coming up...st. paul library, and the ppl on chicago ave. nice. also finding some teaching work for the fall. hopefully some for the summer too. ok. doing well...it's hotter n a ballsack here. lookin forward to seeing dad this weekend!
ahoy!

them digs them digs

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:29:19 GMT

Welp, Mike Ross is at the Mayo Clinic, and today he starts his plasma transplant, which is 5 hours a day for a few weeks. It's going to suck hard. Mike Ross is The Man. The dude who first got me excited about music and percussion. Pray for him! If he makes it out of this whole ordeal it will be a miracle. Also, Grandma Kieffer is still in the hospital, but she leaves tomorrow. She is doing a lot better! She had a really bad kidney infection, but the antibiotics are finally working. Bless her, too! Going on 80 and taking it like a true Kieffer kicker! I love you, Gramma K!
Today I got my prescription refilled for free, and hung out with Quindoo. We had a good time, good talks, and baby Judah is doing great. He is the smiley-est kid around.
I am finally getting back on track for finding a job in Minneapolis. I sent an email out to all the cousins letting them know I need some teamwork; I need some help in this move! In our 20's we work so hard to be independent, to take control of our new adult lives, to do things right, to be on top of things. But I will tell you this, we need to all help each other. That is what we are here for, to be good to each other, and to help each other along on the road. And I sure can't make this move on my own. I need moral and physical support! Looks like I might be rooming with Bonnie for the summer, or for a long time, which would be super cool. Now...just earning enough money to actually make the move! Hi HO!
We have to hang on to our Bucksnorts, and strap 'em on tight. Without a sense of humor and goodheartedness amidst the rough spots and the good spots, we will never make it.

Lewis

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:04:16 GMT

"We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship."

--C.S. Lewis, from "The Weight of Glory"

Every day I read a little bit of Jonathan Safran Foer's "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." The book is knocking my socks off.

I know who da winner is! Harold, I know who da winner is!

my horoscope from this week's creative loafing magazine

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 17:52:53 GMT

The time is ripe to sign a new contract with yourself. Put it all in writing--I mean the promises you want to make to your future self. Describe the ideals you intend to live up to, the freedoms you want to fight for and the changes you want to make in the world around you.
OK!

ya can't trust nobody on the internet

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:16:28 GMT

for how many questions about what kind of underpants i wear...how did they come up with this?

The Everything Test

There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.

Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too! Enjoy :-)

Personality

You are more logical than emotional, more concerned about others than concerned about self, more religious than atheist, more dependent than loner, more lazy than workaholic, more traditional than rebel, more engineering mind than artistic mind, more idealist than cynical, more leader than follower, and more extroverted than introverted.

As for specific personality traits, you are adventurious (100%), religious (90%), adventurous (80%), artistic (79%).

Stereotypes
Emo Kid	89%
Punk Rock	80%
White Trash	55%

Life Experience
Sex	29%
Substances	32%
Travel	26%

Politics
Your political views would best be described as Libertarian, whom you agree with around 53% of the time.

Socioeconomic
Your attitude toward life best associates you with Upper Class. You make more than 0% of those who have taken this test, and 72% less than the U.S. average.

If your life was a movie, it would be rated PG.
By the way, your hottness rank is 64%, hotter than 90% of other test takers.

TAKE THE TEST
brought to you by thatsurveysite

AOF

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:51:57 GMT

I just went to a concert at GSU of the Sylvia Smith percussion Duo. They played theatre/percussion pieces by Stuart Saunders Smith. It was marvellous. Then, Isaac, Caleb, Chris B., Joan, myself, Sylvia Smith, and Ayano Kataoka all had mediterranean lunch together in the basement of the Healy building! What a blessing.

YouTube

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 05:56:33 GMT

In 2007, I can log onto YouTube and see a video someone made back in 1994 of Cap'n Jazz playing live.
How about that.
Today I played along with a recording of "Omphalo Centric Lecture." When I was senior in college that piece was so hard. Now it is easy-breezy.
That said:
Earning a Master's degree does, in fact, make you a stronger, more mature musician. No bones about it. (It helps if you freelance occasionally and ok, play in a professional chamber group, even if the music is sometimes cheesebaggy).
Having gone through a lot of Shit in my life, I've come to see that plateaus of various sorts appear amidst the hills and valleys.
This plateau is Good.
Mercy, Lorda mercy, is it good.

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 23:49:49 GMT

I saw Rafa's band play last night at Loca Luna. I then decided that whatever I do in life, I will always play the drums.
Even if I go crazy when I get old. Anyone who wants to keep me accountable to this, just let me know.

2 Great Things:
1. "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis
2. Ludwig Symphony rehearsals

2 Dumb Things:
1. marta
2. paying $2.00 for bottled water because you can't get tap water at a bar

2 Great People:
1. Keiko Abe
2. Allen Otte

I also learned from my dad's physical therapist friend that sucking in your gut while walking, sitting, and doing everything is almost as good for your abdominal muscles as 100's of situps or crunches.

lots of punks

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 02:42:05 GMT

drove back from savannah today. gmea was good. our hotel room was huge and i had a giant soft bed all to myself. had lunch with bro and dad at a rad place across the way from the flying biscuit. we walked in piedmont park and watched the dogs. got back to my house, and i drove off with the gang to swayze's. tonight was our first show! it went really well. there was a large crowd of high school age kids dressed in their finest. we sold cd's and t-shirts. dad and bro came. rad. am now about to sleep because i burned 2,000 calories playing 20 minutes of incredibly fast and loud drums, and have travelled much, and am tired. tomorrow is "trio per uno" rehearsal for chix in alabama. then perhaps a drive in movie with bro and dad. anyone else who wants to come is welcome! hopefully the rain will abate. it was so beautiful and sunny out today.

progress

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 15:41:57 GMT

last night we recorded the rest of my drum tracks save the newest song (which we will do as a whole band after the jan. 27 show), and 3 of the songs are almost completely done! wooo hooo! starting to sound like a real band!
also i filled out my FAFSA online.
and i have no idea how i am going to buy a plane ticket to milwaukee to take my audition. (it's way cheaper to fly into milwaukee than madison or even appleton).
but heck!
tonight i teach, and then practice marimba over at GSU, in which, for many reasons, i get a lot more accomplished than when i am at home.

pet peeve:
people who spell "are" instead of "our".

there is no fear

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:24:51 GMT

the reason for love is to kick the ass of fear.

Grace

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 18:44:35 GMT

I screwed up again
like I said
I have been a woefully naughty girl
(with some shining moments)
and I waited long past due
long past when Intuition shone on me
showed me the right thing to do
instead I sat on my hands
like a little child
and said NO!
I want it my way

I wanted it my way
and I ended up hurting
me and you
I just want to serve you
as friends do
and not hurt you

when I was a little girl
I asked Mom
why grownups don't get spankings
and she told me
that God allows life to punish grownups
but children must be punished by their parents,
yes and grownups have to face their consequences
(what are consequences?)
and it sounded like some b.s. to me
but she was right
of course she was right
I figured that out
a long time ago
and she said "trust me,
when you are a grownup
you'd wish you could just get a spanking"
and I didnt understand

just now a friend wrote to me
and she said
God forgives
we are the ones who take so long to let go

am I the only one who takes this long?

I feel a fresh wind of air
blowing past me
the sun came out today
bright against the stark grey
of yesterday

and quite on accident
I have taken another step
in the right direction
four more months of this place
and then I can be wiped clean
of this crazy dirty city
I can pack up my things
and drive a thousand miles north
a thousand miles north
oh God
a thousand miles north.

the cultural expectations of a woman

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:38:19 GMT

haha just kidding. i'm not going to talk about that.
thankfully i have not yet entered the realm of marriage or having children so i have far less of that business to deal with. instead i can be a working young woman and if anyone gives me crap for being a musician and having oddly colored short hair, as roseanne says, they can "suck my balls."
anyway!
started reading a new book called "women with add". it is good. especially the first few chapters. i feel like i am reading my life story, both behaviorally and emotionally. i feel validated and less alone. apparently there are other women out there who are also a freakin disorganized, cloudy-brained mess! and we can get help! God bless us, first and last.
it continues to be warm here, the sun comes out most days and by the afternoon it reaches 55 or 60. it gets cold at night. what a strange, strange winter. it is my last winter here. i am leaving in may.
good musicians/groups to look up if you're bored or interested:
gentle giant
john zorn
anathallo
bang on a can
terry riley
have a good time!

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 23:57:09 GMT

how is everyone? i am doing allright. alllllright. the church gig this weekend was pretty awesome...but 1 hour too long of christmas music! they didnt give us our checks after the show, which totally screwed me over, but, in the style of how the Lord takes care of my crazy assed life, things are going to work out somehow. just payin off stuff a little late i guess. anyway. tonight i am practicing a ton for DMA stuff. have to get a copy of the bach gavotte for my 2-mallet selection. back when i played that piece for the verbier audition, everyone was doing it with 4 mallets. perhaps this will be impressive for me to tone it down with 2.
tomorrow i head off to columbus with karen for another christmas gig. been thinking about how i can be a more outwardly loving person. suddenly i have become this single person who spends a lot of time by myself. just myself. i spent a shit ton of time by myself all those years in school but i was always BUSY, you know? this is a new spot. i suppose everyone goes through it. unless you get married or something, but then one can still get lonely i am sure. i am excited to see baby judah this weekend! well that is all i have to say. teaching jobs are looking up for 2007...looks like i will be doing indoor percussion at east coweta and maybe teaching young children's music classes.
wow. i love reading my friends pages here on livejournal. you all are really neat. tim had this thing where you write 10 things down you would say to 10 different people. 10 things you might be afraid to say to them, but don't say who it is! fantastic. i want to do that right now but i have to meet isaac so i can go practice and drink my caffeine. i swear one day i will get back on my ADD meds, prob. when i start school again. i can't do one thing for more than 20 minutes at a time. argggggg.
sammiches!

faith

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:26:38 GMT

if we just have some faith things will work out...they just will.
i am experiencing a wild wave of happiness.
it happens when i remember there is nothing to be afraid of, ever.
even more grad school.

i admit it

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:29:26 GMT

I am such a pansy. I want things in music to be easy. I complain when I have to learn hard licks. I don't want to be like that! I don't want to be one of those freelancers who is comfortable with their work and never gets any better.
Naughty naughty Hobags!
In other news...Ludwig Symph. this weekend. Always a crazy schlep-fest...I wonder if there will be any donkeys on stage this time? Or maybe a choir of Malaysian children playing bagpipes? Or maybe a Unicorn prancing around to the "Trischt-trascht Polka"?
I am fighting off a cold. Better get to bed.

Keepin on Top

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:57:15 GMT

I finally paid my fee for my DMA app, and requested transcripts to be sent from CCM and GSU. All right! Pandeiro class went very well this morning...the piece is pretty much ready to go, and I am excited to play on the PE show next Tuesday. Sunday, Monday, and Weds of this coming week I am playing a kiddie concert with the Columbus Symph., and Friday through Sunday of next weekend I am playing with Ludwig, andSat. night 8pm is the house show with my band and Sam's band. Ace Hardware is going okay...I knew I would probably find myself disgruntled after awhile, but this is mostly only because it is difficult to talk to the managers...they are always running around like crazy people because the store is getting ready to be sold and totally remodeled, and I need to ask off all the time for gigs and whatnot. I probably will not have a regular schedule with them till December. And well, the pay kind of sucks. But until a car lands in my lap (which it just might), I've gotta deal. Ah well. At least marching band season ENDS after this week! Whoo hoo! Also, I start a new teaching job at a charter school that just opened in Decatur. It's only 3 students but pays very well.
Went to the Earl last night and saw The Slackers play. It was a blast! I haven't drank that much beer and danced to ska music in a long long time. I went with James, the singer from my band, and ran into BJ, Richard. Also I ran into a guy I dated 2 summers ago (for like a month)...that was kind of weird! But,we all had a good time, and the ride home on the back of the Vespa was exhilarating and cool-breezy.
I am renting a car for the first time ever for next weekend's gig...ooooh, I hope it all works out. Time to go home, eat, clean up my totally disastrous room, practice yet another Jen Mitchell piece, and go to my very last E. Coweta marching band rehearsal. Holy moses.
WHOA! Is it possible? Yes, yes it is...after I teach on Friday, I have nothing going on! WOWEEE!!!!!!!!

what on earth is going on?

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:22:10 GMT

I tell you, I must be pregnant. Aside from this being totally impossible, I do not know what the F is going on. Is this just the worst week of PMS and period-like symptoms without the bleeding?
And why are my boobs the size of St. Mary's cathedral?! Well, at least they don't hurt so much anymore.
Tomorrow at 8:30am I go pick up my check at Ace, go to pandeiro class, get my rolling suitcase, head over to Karen's, and we will head out to Macon for the weekend. Mmmm hmmm. I totally have not printed up my parts yet.
Tonight I am practicing Jen's piece and also the pandeiro piece, having ska rehearsal, packing, and various other whatnot. Thank GOD there is no marching band! Sighs of relief!
I am going entirely in flashy, unclassy pink for my costume. I think the children will laugh.

Life is either All or Nothing. There is Everything, or there is Nothing. I really think so. And one must pick which road they want to go down. So many people are in the MIDDLE...well, everyone is in the middle. That is our human frequency.

yessss

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 15:31:02 GMT

Today I got my Pearl pandeiro with a case and a tuning key! HOT STUFF!
Adam and Sarah come in like 4 hours!
Whooo hooo!
Also I just got another gig. Yes, I have six gigs in the next two weeks, four of which pay.
Busy beavers.

Because I havent said It...

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 19:26:33 GMT

I love you.

5:30am

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 00:26:18 GMT

Heck! It's beautiful and quiet, weird and suspicious walking to and away from Marta stations at 5:45 in the morning.
Check it.
I started my new job at the hardware store this morning. It went well. I am already the Queen of the cash register. I think it's going to be a good gig. And at 8 dollars an hour, I'm going to be totally rolling in piles of COLD HARD MONEY. I like the people I work with. The job is fairly laid back. So ok, that is my impression after one day.
2 new things to learn now:
1. how to successfully wake up at 5:30am for work
2. how to still get my practice time in!
Whatever. It's pretty much the same schedule as grad school except I'm not stressed! HO HO!
Life is good. It's becoming the Fall. Marching band season will be over before we all know it.
Heard a good band tonight, called Devotchka. That could perhaps be how one spells it.
Going to hear Bartok's MSPC this weekend at the ASO.
And my band The Disregardables now has a Myspace page, without any music.
The ADD workbook is slowly coming along.
Anyone want to drink some pumpkin beer with me?

chicken

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 14:42:11 GMT

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
jesuslovesrock goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as a chicken.
trombontim gives you 3 milky white grapefruit-flavoured gummy bats.
jesuslovesrock ends up with 3 pieces of candy.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.