![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
An almost-normal Saturday...
Aug. 7th, 2004 10:13 pmSort of.
I mean, a normal Saturday for me involves translation, but the phones have continued to be quiet, except for a couple of people who very likely saw my name in the byline of my article in the Chronicle (which must have arrived yesterday for them as well) and decided to call, one to complain about not getting SLD materials after having joined the Division some time ago, the other to find out if I knew anyone who worked English into Russian who was willing to work in-house for two months in Denver (albeit with no reimbursement of per diem expenses).
The second situation sounds very much like the year-long in-house postions that were being sought last year (although those did provide per diem). Both fail to understand a basic fact of freelance life: the more successful a freelancer is, the more clients he or she has, and the less likely he or she is to take on assignments that will take them out of circulation, so to speak, for any length of time. In fact, the longer the time, the less likely is a positive answer.
In fact, it may be that my relatively meager invoice total for July (and the not-so-great start to August) is a direct result of my having taken the Kazakhstan gig, which lasted basically 7 weeks. Then again, it just may be that July was a slow month (at least, that's what I'm being told, and there is no reason to think anyone is trying to mislead me on this).
Last night, Galina and I attended a performance of a festival called Music in the Mountains, which brings various classical performers to this part of Colorado (certainly Durango and Pagosa Springs). It was held at the Bootjack Ranch, out toward Wolf Creek pass. The program started with the Italian Concerto, by Bach, and was followed by a violin sonata by a fellow named Ysaÿe. The piece, the Ballade sonata, undoubtedly took a great deal of skill to play, as it was quite intricate, but I felt the skill and the intricacy were wasted on a cacophony of discordant sounds that made me imagine only how good it would be to be somewhere away from this noise.
I must have still been reeling from that piece during the next one, because I normally enjoy works by Debussy, but his Sonata for violin and piano in G minor just sat wrong with me.
After the intermission, the program called for Brahms Piano quintet in F minor (opus 34), which I enjoyed, and which evoked a taste of my favorite work by Brahms, his Fourth symphony.
I spent the entire day at the store today and came back home to find Galina going through a large pile of pens, markers, and pencils. After watching the tube for a little while, and after I took a short nap, we decided to go out to dinner, to the Montezuma Vinyard, where we dropped $55 on a nice piece of salmon and some giant prawns. Afterward, we stopped by the video rental place and took home Dirty Pretty Things, starring Audrey Tautou.
I found the story both disturbing and revealing, as the plot developed around a pair of immigrants (one from Turkey, the other from Nigeria) who dream of a new life as they get bumped around in the seamy underbelly of London. In the end, Galina didn't think I would have enjoyed the movie, but I surprised her.
There was more rain today, some so intense it woke me from my nap. That's good news for mushroom gatherers, and I have half a mind to get up really early tomorrow and go out into the woods, as the conditions seem right and my workload may explode this coming week. Carpe diem, as the old man put it.
Cheers...
I mean, a normal Saturday for me involves translation, but the phones have continued to be quiet, except for a couple of people who very likely saw my name in the byline of my article in the Chronicle (which must have arrived yesterday for them as well) and decided to call, one to complain about not getting SLD materials after having joined the Division some time ago, the other to find out if I knew anyone who worked English into Russian who was willing to work in-house for two months in Denver (albeit with no reimbursement of per diem expenses).
The second situation sounds very much like the year-long in-house postions that were being sought last year (although those did provide per diem). Both fail to understand a basic fact of freelance life: the more successful a freelancer is, the more clients he or she has, and the less likely he or she is to take on assignments that will take them out of circulation, so to speak, for any length of time. In fact, the longer the time, the less likely is a positive answer.
In fact, it may be that my relatively meager invoice total for July (and the not-so-great start to August) is a direct result of my having taken the Kazakhstan gig, which lasted basically 7 weeks. Then again, it just may be that July was a slow month (at least, that's what I'm being told, and there is no reason to think anyone is trying to mislead me on this).
Last night, Galina and I attended a performance of a festival called Music in the Mountains, which brings various classical performers to this part of Colorado (certainly Durango and Pagosa Springs). It was held at the Bootjack Ranch, out toward Wolf Creek pass. The program started with the Italian Concerto, by Bach, and was followed by a violin sonata by a fellow named Ysaÿe. The piece, the Ballade sonata, undoubtedly took a great deal of skill to play, as it was quite intricate, but I felt the skill and the intricacy were wasted on a cacophony of discordant sounds that made me imagine only how good it would be to be somewhere away from this noise.
I must have still been reeling from that piece during the next one, because I normally enjoy works by Debussy, but his Sonata for violin and piano in G minor just sat wrong with me.
After the intermission, the program called for Brahms Piano quintet in F minor (opus 34), which I enjoyed, and which evoked a taste of my favorite work by Brahms, his Fourth symphony.
I spent the entire day at the store today and came back home to find Galina going through a large pile of pens, markers, and pencils. After watching the tube for a little while, and after I took a short nap, we decided to go out to dinner, to the Montezuma Vinyard, where we dropped $55 on a nice piece of salmon and some giant prawns. Afterward, we stopped by the video rental place and took home Dirty Pretty Things, starring Audrey Tautou.
I found the story both disturbing and revealing, as the plot developed around a pair of immigrants (one from Turkey, the other from Nigeria) who dream of a new life as they get bumped around in the seamy underbelly of London. In the end, Galina didn't think I would have enjoyed the movie, but I surprised her.
There was more rain today, some so intense it woke me from my nap. That's good news for mushroom gatherers, and I have half a mind to get up really early tomorrow and go out into the woods, as the conditions seem right and my workload may explode this coming week. Carpe diem, as the old man put it.
Cheers...
