it's official:

I've been living here long enough (two and a half months, just about) that I no longer bring my camera with me wherever I go.  Train rides?  Just commuting.  Old churches?  Old hat.  (Ha.)  Although it spells doom for this blog (who wants to read a bunch of picture-less text?) it does mean that I'm more comfortable, and more adjusted, to my life here.  

Or, maybe my arm is just too sore to type.  (Not entirely a joke.)

At any rate, I don't want to imply that I don't still miss California desperately.  Because I do.  (Lately: sourdough bread. Dori and I would always have a loaf on the counter, and we ate so much of it that it was usually fresh.)

This week I've been traveling every day to Bern, for a program of Pergolesi and Michael Haydn.  The concert has no intermission.  What is it with these people?  As part of the continuo section I don't get any breaks, and I simply cannot play for two hours straight, it's too tiring.  Someone needs to tell them.  Maybe once I learn some more German.  

The church is pretty cool, it was built in the 1270s (I know).  As the only one on kontrabass I'm quite exposed, and it's a good opportunity for me to play extremely well in tune.  In general I'm rising to the challenge, but you know, being a good bass player isn't the easiest thing in the world.  It takes a lot of concentration. 

The other funny thing about this concert is that there is a violinist who looks like an almost perfect combination of Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty on the Wire) and Bradley Cooper (has been in some movies lately, though I haven't seen any of them).  When he plays, he slouches in a way so reminiscent of how McNulty would slouch if he were a Baroque violinist that I almost can't believe my eyes. 

Something I wished I had had my camera for was a transitional window display in on of Bern's major department stores.  During the day, I suppose, they had been prepping for the new beach scenes by putting out manikins and setting up props.  They saved clothes and hair for last, and must have run out of time, because when I walked by there were at least 8 separate displays of nude, bald figures (women, men, children) in poses that could only be described as suggestive.  Or, even, extremely suggestive.  I couldn't help but notice that all the lady manikins had articulated nipples.  Maybe an acknowledgment of how cold it can be in Switzerland?  Yeah, maybe.  I'm sure accuracy was the goal with that one.