friends

rob birthday

in , ,

here are some pics of rob, me, and the cake i made for his birthday.
mostly because mum demanded that i show her pictures of the cake.
and also to commemorate an amazing celebration that ended with
roti roll and skee ball and narrowly avoiding running into maestro gilbert at a house party {i don't wanna talk about it}.
-yeh!!

happy birthday, rob!

in ,

if you do not know me personally {or even if you do}
you probably think that rob is my 
boyfriend,
husband,
fiancée,
or 
relative.
he is none of those. 
though we've already agreed that his nuggets will call me 
aunt molly and mine will call him crazy uncle rob.
rob is one of the first people i met at juilliard,
he has always been there to encourage me,
to tell me i'm being silly,
to help me with what-the-ef-i'm-gonna-do-with-my-life,
and to shut me up when i say something like "omg juicy couture."
when i went through the great break up of '08 and refused to eat,
he delivered me salami sandwiches and o.j. and said all the right things*. and then put in a good word for me with the hottest straight dancer at juilliard.
*he always says all the right things anyways.
and speaking of sandwiches, we took a cross-country sandwich tour road trip later that year in his little vw bug. it was so cute.
one day we will live like they do in big love where we dwell with our respective spouses in houses that join in the backyard.
i can't imagine life without the rob.
so here's to you, rob tickler!
happy 25th birthday!!!!
-yeh!!!

interview: conrad tao

in ,

 {classy conrad}
{kind of hipster conrad}


you may know conrad tao from the front page of itunes this week,
or from being the only classical musician on that forbes 30 under 30 list,
or from soloing with like every orchestra ever...
i still think of him as the toddler that played the 
mendelssohn violin concerto with our youth orchestra.
though he's twice the height now, he is still has that face, 
the super smiley one!
and i love running into him at juilliard because it reminds me of
all my fun youth orchestra times way back when.
here's a little interview with him:


tell us, preferably in another language, about the best taco you ever ate.
it was in an open storefront taqueria in mexico city; i can't remember the name of the place. all i remember was losing my arrachera virginity amidst a heavenly cornucopia of flavor. cilantro and raw onions (which i used to abhor) were in abundance. ahh. divinamente delicioso.

if you were forced to trade in your piano for enough of one flavor of pringle (or any other food) to fill the same amount of space in your home, which would you choose and why?
original. i don't mess around!!!


if your compositions were a restaurant, which would it be?
kefi--flawed, occasionally overindulgent, perpetually aiming for bold flavor, always well-intentioned.

what is your favorite thing to eat after a performance?
mcflurry, no contest. close second: a fat medium-rare burger with mushrooms and oodles of cheese. it can be room service or it can be a bison burger at proof on main in louisville.


thank you, conrad!!
-yeh!!


{top photo credit: ruiming wang}