To be Appreciated in Trichotomy

Short note before I go on...

So, my 6th Carnegie Hall concert is tomorrow. Strangely I don't feel as much of a panic as I did in previous years, even though I am arguably less well-prepared. I think it has to do with the fact that the open rehearsal got good responses even though I knew it sucked. That kind of took away the incentive to do really well, and, with it, any pressure of doing really well.

On the other hand, I was feeling so much pressure before the open rehearsal that I was physically feeling a little sick, so it's probably a good thing to have some pressure taken off. Anyhow, I'm just looking forward to getting through the day tomorrow. Probably go in to the city around noon, have lunch, watch Captain America around 1, get some coffee when I come out, and get to dress rehearsal at 4:30, then plan Angry Birds back stage until it's my turn. The fact that I've done it that many times sort of took the mystery away.

I could remember the first time I performed there; I couldn't sleep the night before. And now, it is becoming just another concert.

I think perhaps, it's a sign that I should stop and let the experience fall on to someone else for whom it matters.

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Thinking is hard - that's why most people don't do it

The first of April marks the beginning of the second quarter of 2014 at work. I've finished all my task from the last quarter, and was given a task to design the central part of our new infrastructure - basically it'll be the heart of our dta pipeline. So thist past week consisted of me talking to a lot of people, reading documents, and drawing design figures, most of which won't work. I tire more easily because I've been working harder, but have a lot less to show for it.

I was hoping not to have to use my brains too often, but considering it's been a year since I have had to come up with a critical piece of design, I guess it is fine. In fact, last week when our team lead was telling me, "when you design XYZ, you should consider these options", and I said, sure, if I am doing it. His reply was, yes, you are, there are no better candidate.

That's a bit unfortunate, considering that I am the most junior person on the team. The fact that I got a "proving ground" last year to design a new system from scratch was only thanks to my lack of experience, and thus ineligible to work on pieces requiring prior knowledge. But at least I am glad they like my work - my team lead kept commenting on how my code was the best thing in our team right now. And our manager said he was worried that the work I did the last two quarters were not "challenging" enough for me.

It's nice to be recognised and appreciated.

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Good hosts

La Professeure's sister-in-law is giving a concert this weekend too (on Sunday), so her brother and parents all came to visit, with the intention to go to both my and her concerts in the weekend.

So it's been a busy weekend entertaining them. Since my sister-in-law comes in often it's quite routine seeing her, but entertaining her parents is a bit of a production.

However, La Professeure is taking care of this - she is like the PR specialist in our house - so I can focus on the concert.

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