Hi! Thanks for your interest. An introduction to what this blog is about is over on the left sidebar. Some of the things I didn’t mention in the "About" section are as follows:

First, I need to thank those whose influence will definitely be felt throughout this blog. Thanks go to the countless friends, acquaintances, teachers, and strangers who taught me many of the things I plan to share in this blog. Most of my favorite teachers were not famous—most were very respected in a small area, but some were not even well known in their community for their craft, which makes their contribution to my education all the more wonderful and miraculous. I studied with one teacher because he spoke English, in a country that spoke another language, and yet he was very diligent about giving me a good traditional music education. Another teacher in the United States came out of retirement to work with me. Oh, I appreciated her!

Yet another, Janet Anderson, the one who started my violin education, is sadly no longer with us, and yet I owe her the world. I’m sure I wasn’t exactly an easy student as a child, because I was intelligent, and so I thought that equated to me being competent automatically. You know the type—the kid who thinks she knows better what needs to happen and who doesn’t listen because she’s “noodling” when the teacher tries to explain. At one point, this particular teacher nearly threw in the towel and my mom had to beg her to continue teaching me. Gratefully, she did. There are others who were a light to me in an otherwise dark world. Thanks go to all my teachers.

Thanks go to the amazing photographers, Laura Bunker and Lindsey Jackson, respectively, who took my portraits you see featured on the homepage of my website and my blog. I don’t know if Laura remembers me, as her particular set of pictures were taken nearly ten years ago. But her excellent work has been a blessing. And thanks go to one of my former adult students, Dean Eliason, who paid for them as part of a recording project he co-sponsored.

Thanks go to my incredible husband, Nathan Shaskin, who put in so many countless, patient hours, not just coding much of my website himself, but teaching me how to assist in the process.

Secondly, for those who don’t know, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ideally, it’s a complete way of life, not just a Sunday religion. Sometimes we’re referred to as “Mormon” (an old nickname with reference to the Book of Mormon) or “LDS” (for Latter-day Saint). So if I throw around the term “LDS,” you now know what that refers to.

In writing my posts, I operate under the assumption that my readers have an understanding of basic violin terminology (like what a fingerboard and frog are, or who Heifetz was). If not, there’s always Google.

Thanks for reading!