I've decided that since I have blogged for quite some time before I was introduced to Blogger, that I would compile my old facebook notes and myspace blog entries into one big blog on my blogger. I didn't want to put it in the blog I already started, rather, I just wanted to put everything together so I could use ONE site to blog on from now on. I didn't want to delete them, because I am a blog hoarder. They are not necessarily posted for people to read, but they are open to public viewing. The preservation of these blogs is out of my own concern.
This particular set of blogs and notes goes back to April 10, 2006. I was 17 years old.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Myspace blogs 2006
April 10, 2006- "My life"
Well, it seems like things are getting tougher. I'm supposed to have my English homework finished by tommorow, but I doubt that will happen. Mrs. Lewis gives us entirely too much work for the time she expects us to get it finished. I don't think that I'll ever understand that woman. Generally, I make fairly accurate first assumptions of people, but she's one of the very few that I haven't figured out after about 3 months. I'm just thankful that it will be over soon. I want April to be over soon... There's a lot on my plate right now. I finally finished memorizing the Chopin piece that I'm playing at my recital. "After the Storm" and "Last Date" are coming along I suppose, and there's quite a few tweeks I still need to make for all of them. 18 days left. Ok...I really have to go now...finishing those questions for English will take a while......Later- Mary sue
April 30, 2006- "piano, piano"
OK, so the other day was my big piano recital...I graduated out of my basic courses...Next level: COLLEGE! I have a plaque and everything...I told Joanie that I was going to hang it on my office wall at Juliard, in about 30 years. For now, it hangs above my bed in my room, and it will probably stay there until it rots. Anywho, my recital went well, but my ankle problem is flaring up again...I can't tell if it's a pulled muscle or a tendon, but I noticed it when I started playing chimes for band (those of you who are not musically educated: chimes have a sustaining pedal like pianos), and it became worse during what I call "rigorous recital heck time". In other words, April is heck month for me anyways, because sitting at a piano for 4 hours a day is not easy on my back. I literally have butt prints in my piano bench. Despite all of these physical ailments, nothing will ever keep me from my piano. As sad as it is, my family views it as a piece of furniture...one day, I snapped because someone sat a drink on my piano...I tend to snap when people mess with my piano, and I'm very particular as to what display items such as picture frames, seasonal decorations, etc. are allowed. Now, they seem to be a lot better about what they sit on my piano, especially since one day I threw someone's car keys across the room, along with a bottle of nail polish that Anna had sitting there. A few times, I threw things at who ever sat pointless objects on my piano. Believe me, I have good aim when it comes to throwing. Seriously, my weird rules have purpose...My sisters can both play piano, but I'm the only person in my family that takes it seriously. I'm usually the only person that sits on my piano bench, and I don't like to look at stupid things while I play. It seems like throwing things across the room got the point across. Not to mention, car keys tend to scratch polished wood. I know that my piano isn't as awesome as a Steinway, but it looks the way it does because I've took great care of it for the last 10 years. Piano is great, awesome, wonderful...there's no way to explain or understand it. Woah...this blog is really long now, so I'm going to end it...peace out! --MaRy SuE
May 18, 2006- "Piano, Piano! Oh how I love it!"
Well, I've never really told anyone about how I started piano lessons... Back when I was little, my parents decided to buy a piano and take my sisters to lessons. I was too young at the time to start, so I sat back and watched. I knew that I always wanted to play. When I was four or five, I started playing little things, mostly just the melody of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", and a bunch of the songs that little kids learn. By the time I was 7, my parents started taking me to lessons. I started out well...I didn't really read the music at first. In fact, I played alot of the songs in the books by ear because I had already heard Jackie and Anna play them before. My teacher would always tell me to quit guessing notes! After 9 months, I had my first recital. After a few years, I was really bored with all of the little lessons from the books. I was almost ready to quit, but I remember sitting at the recitals watching the older kids play. There were two girls who were really awesome. As I sat there, I told myself, "I want to be just like them." I started with Beethoven's Fur Elise. It took about 6 months for me to memorize it all. I didn't tell my teacher that I was working on it until about a month before my next recital. She asked me what I wanted to play, and I sat down and played Fur Elise for her. It was obviously a shock to her that I went straight from a dinky little lesson book to Beethoven. Things were fun from then on. I was always the kid at recitals that played the classical pieces while everyone else played from books. I eventually decided that I needed more of a challenge. I performed my own written piece when I was in eigth grade. It's been 10 years since I started, and I can't imagine my life without being able to play piano. Later people, MaRy SuE
June 13, 2006- "SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!"
Wooty woot...I managed to squeeze out of Mrs. Lewis' class with a 98 for the last 6 weeks...that makes my semester grade a 91! I hated that woman, but I think I like her now that I'm out of her class. So...What I wished for is finally here...out of school and into summer...I'm fried, and I have water in my left ear that probably isn't going to come out, so I'm doomed to the inevitability of sun poisoning and swimmer's ear again. This Saturday, Dad is renting a boat to go out on Summersville lake. I was thinking about inviting a friend, but I think that this is supposed to be more of a family outing. So...that's probably going to be a lot of fun. In case some of you haven't figured out, my sis is having a boy. So far, everything is going great, and the baby is perfectly healthy. Today, Mom ordered some Old Navy Baby off the internet... We've started planning the baby shower...I think it will be a huge turnout, because the bridal shower was probably the biggest bridal shower I've ever seen. Anywho, that's about all of the interesting things that are going on in my life right now. Laterz- Mary Sue
June 25, 2006- "Awesome weekend"
I went to Richwood this past weekend, and it was totally awesome. Mom's sister, Betty, and my uncle Wayne flew in from AZ, then, on Friday, my cousin Mary and her hubby Devin flew in. (yes, her name is also Mary...along with mine and my Mammaw's LOL). I haven't seen my cousin Mary in like 10 years, so I don't know her too well. This was also the first time I ever met Devin. He's a really cool guy. So, this "other" Mary is extraordinarily talented....heck, she kicked talent in the butt and went straight to "gifted". She had a gig at a bar in Richwood, and underaged little me got to go. I could only stay until 10 p.m., but that was probably the most entertaining 2 hours I have ever had. Not only is this cousin of mine an awesome guitar playing singer lady, she also writes her own music and has unintentional comedy when she's on and off stage. She is so totally my new musical role model.....check her out at www.maryhoffman.net .....OH....she aslo has a myspace music page, so check it out!
June 26, 2006- "$7.31"
Ah, yes, the story of $7.31...Last summer, I was required to go to a week long Health Sciences & Technology Academy summer camp at West Virginia University. This camp was an absolute necesity for me to have my college tuition paid for. I wasn't too reluctant in going, because I really love science, and this year's camp for me was "bio-medical", but Morgantown seems like it's a million miles away from home when you have to stay there for a week with no piano. What was worse, was that I was the only girl from LHS going, and I ended up with a really annoying roomie. I was home sick the whole time.....and hungry the whole time...I wondered if WVU towers cafeteria even abided by health codes. Luckily, I managed to survive on strawberry poptarts. So, I was partially miserable the whole time. As weird as I am, I was really excited about the trip to the cadaver lab. We went in there, and it was nothing like I expected. Sorta gross....OK, really gross...but cool...Anywho, I had on gloves, so I was picking up hearts and lungs and the like, then we went on around the lab to the "wall of babies". This upset me greatly, because there's nothing worse to see deformed, dead little babies, preserved in glass cases, some of which were the result of abortions. I tried my best to tough it out, but I eventually just looked away...I happened to look down at my hands, and I noticed a hole in one of my gloves! Eww...I had body preservatives on my finger...even though it was completely sterile, I started flipping out just because of the thought of the matter....I held back my tears while I walked out of the room with the teacher, then when we made it to the door, I took off my gloves and threw them in the trash while I was telling her about the hole in the glove...So, we rushed to the bathroom so I could wash my hands. I think I washed my hands about a million times....then I was OK....still grossed out, but OK. So, later that day, we went to lunch. I had no appetite after the cadaver incident. Then, after I saw the fried chicken that was being served, I decided to leave the cafeteria(that nasty chicken looked like preserved flesh). Eventually I made it through to the last day. We had this semi-formal dinner on the last day...It was in a big room with a grand piano! So, I decided to go over and ask one of the mentors if I could play...He said yes, not knowing my "secret" talent. I went over and started playing, and he grabbed a glass and sat in on the piano as a tip jar...To my amazement, people started throwing money in! When I made it back to my dorm afterwards, I counted it up....It came to a total of $7.31... That was the first time I ever made any money off of my piano playing!
July 11, 2006- "Interesting facts about the piano"
Interesting Facts about the Piano:
The Piano was invented in 1726 by an Italian, Bartolomeo Cristofori.
The name piano is an abbreviation of the original name for the instrument: piano et forte or soft and loud.
There are over 5,000 moving parts in a piano.
Each note in a grand piano has more than 35 points of adjustment. Over 3,080 adjustments for the entire piano.
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the stretched steel piano strings. In a concert grand, it is close to 30 tons of pressure. The average string having about 160 pounds of tension. There are 230 strings inside a typical piano.
The action of a grand is superior in many ways to a vertical piano, one being that any key can be repeated (reset) faster than any vertical upright (regardless of the name given by manufacturers i.e.: upright grand, studio grand, inverted grand, etc.).
If all of the strings were of the same thickness and under the same tension, with high C being the usual two inches, low C would have to be about thirty feet long. For this reason, lower strings are weighted by wrapping copper or iron wire around the core wire. The lowest octave having two wrappings.
If a piano hammer were attached directly to the back end of a key, when the key was depressed, the hammer would hit the string and stay there, damping out all vibration and sound. For this reason, all piano actions have some kind of escapement mechanism for each key, allowing the hammer to be released from the key just before hitting the string. When the key is released, the action returns to its original position and resets itself for another cycle.
Most pianos have two to three pedals.
The right pedal is always the sustaining pedal (damper pedal), it raises all of the dampers at once, allowing all notes which are played to continue sounding after the keys are released.
The left pedal is always some type of soft pedal. In vertical pianos, and some grand's, it moves the hammers at rest closer to the strings, decreasing their travel, and thus striking force. In most grand's, the soft pedal shifts the entire action sideways, causing the treble hammers to hit only two of their three strings. The lower strings shifting the two strings to one. The shifting type of soft pedal is called the una corda pedal.
The third or middle pedal is usually called the sostenuto pedal. It sustains only those notes which are depressed prior to and while holding the pedal down, and does not sustain any notes depressed after holding it down. This is like having a third hand to sustain certain notes, while playing others.
In some instances, the middle pedal is the bass sustaining pedal, which lifts only the bass dampers. Some uprights use the middle pedal as a practice pedal, which lowers a thick piece of felt between the hammers and strings, muffling the tone. Once in awhile, you will see the middle pedal being used to lower metal studded tap strips between the hammer and the string, creating a tinny honky-tonk type sound. This is often called a Zither, Harp or Mandolin.
August 12, 2006- "The past few days"
So... first off, the band is so totally doing awesome, even though we have a few "little ones" that seem to have ADHD or something. I'm super excited about this season, because it is much better than I expected. I'm not sure if the show and music is really easy or if I finally got the hang of this marching band thing.
Jackie's pregnancy is decent. 3 months to go!!! I'm a bit aprehensive now, because she went to get checked for gestational diabetes, and her blood glucose levels came back as 161 for the one hour test (it's supposed to be 139 or lower). So, yesterday she had to go have the 3 hour test. We still don't have the results, but I'll keep it posted. If she does have gestational diabetes, I don't guess that it will be too bad, because she only has 3 months to go. We've been planning the shower... It's supposed to be on September 9th..... I have a parade that morning...BLAH...
OK, last night I changed my guitar strings... aparently, I don't know what I'm doing because I went to stretch my strings and tune my guitar this morning, and the smallest string came off...I don't think that I wrapped it around the peg enough...
Yea, Hillary came over... we're so goofy... we really didn't do anything but watch movies and look at pictures of handsome male country singers on the internet, but it was fun....I'll have to say, she's probably one of my only friends that actually bothers to call me. Mmmmm chocolate cake!
September 18, 2006- "Long time, no blog"
So yea, I sorta forgot to remember to put an update on my upcoming nephew. Luckily, Jackie doesn't have gestational diabetes. However, she probably needs to quit drinking all the Pepsi considering the fact that the baby kicks nonstop...that kid is going to be caffeine depentent when he gets here. Anywho, Jackie goes to the doc tomorrow to get another ultrasound. Actually it's not really a doctors appointment because she's just going up to MSU to get it done. I'm really excited about getting those pics tommorow...I'll get them posted up on here ASAP.
A few days ago I decided that my piano bench for my keyboard in my room was too boring, so I ventured off to the dreadful Wal-mart to get some acrylic paints (my bench in my room is home made). I finally finished the bench after about 3 days, and it looks pretty sweet. I might as well post that pic...go look at it!
I've realized that some people are totally stupid. Office aiding has it's days, and today just sucked. We ended up with a student in the office all third period because they didn't want to go to class. Drama, drama, drama...I really can't stand this kid, because they are constant trouble and they speak before they think. Aside from the profanity, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when I saw this person in there. Another thing that aggravates me is when people call asking to talk to their kid during class. Come on, people...no, I am not getting your kid out of class just to tell them that you love them...sorry, but I have too many phone calls to answer for Kuhn and King. So yea, Mr. Cangemi had his "confidentiality" talk to Ashley and I... at first, I didn't really think of it as being a very important issue, but after being in there for 3rd block over the course of 3 weeks, I totally get it. You wouldn't believe half of the crap that goes on. Don't ask me, just know that it's a circus.
Ok, I know this isn't really a good way to end a blog, but I have a speech to write... later
December 7, 2006- "Back to blogging"
I've pretty much slacked off from blogging ever since my nephew was born. Anywho all of that went well, he weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces, and they named him Joseph Randall. I've also been bogged down with school, even though my classes are super easy. So. Yesterday I rearranged my furniture in my room. For some weird reason I've been in a huge cleaning mood for the past week. Perhaps I just needed a change. I'm finally improving on guitar. I still pretty much suck, but I'm not as bad as I used to be. Other things are getting in the way of practicing. I have auditions at Glenville State and Concord coming up, and I've been devoting my time to piano...I also need to work on something for flute. Anywho, I'm not really in the mood for blogging...There's nothing else to do right now...My room is clean, I have no homework, and it's snowing outside...I'm taking a break today from practicing because I'm starting to wear myself out. Ok...this blog is getting more pointless as I type, so I'm gonna go. Laterz
December 7, 2006- "Merry CHRISTmas!"
Just in case some of you haven't heard or read the REAL Christmas story out of the Bible, here you go. Merry CHRISTmas! -Mary Sue
Luke 2
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Courtesy of www.biblegateway.com
December 23, 2006- "Blame it on your sister"
Here lately, my house has been a complete mess...It's not really an "ew" mess, just a "week before Christmas" kind of thing. Yesterday, we tried to straighten things up a bit. I managed to get my room and the bathroom cleaned, while Mom worked on the living room and kitchen, making separate piles of Christmas presents that would either be for people in Richwood or local friends. I decided to call Hillary and invite her down. Anna and I went an picked her up, then fought through the insane crowd of last minute shoppers at Kohl's and Walmart, then we came back to my house and watched a movie. Afterwards, my room became a total mess because Hillary and I got bored and we decided to get my hemp stuff out and make necklaces... HUGE MESS..... In between all of the crazy stuff we did, my cordless phones kept disappearing (there's 2 identical phones that can be put on docks in the kitchen and the den). I don't know how many times I pressed the "page" button to find the phones, but one ended up in my room, and when Mom asked me where the other phone was, I said "Anna had it last"...Mom used the page button, and we found the phone in MY room ...For once, I finally got caught blaming something on my sister!
Well, it seems like things are getting tougher. I'm supposed to have my English homework finished by tommorow, but I doubt that will happen. Mrs. Lewis gives us entirely too much work for the time she expects us to get it finished. I don't think that I'll ever understand that woman. Generally, I make fairly accurate first assumptions of people, but she's one of the very few that I haven't figured out after about 3 months. I'm just thankful that it will be over soon. I want April to be over soon... There's a lot on my plate right now. I finally finished memorizing the Chopin piece that I'm playing at my recital. "After the Storm" and "Last Date" are coming along I suppose, and there's quite a few tweeks I still need to make for all of them. 18 days left. Ok...I really have to go now...finishing those questions for English will take a while......Later- Mary sue
April 30, 2006- "piano, piano"
OK, so the other day was my big piano recital...I graduated out of my basic courses...Next level: COLLEGE! I have a plaque and everything...I told Joanie that I was going to hang it on my office wall at Juliard, in about 30 years. For now, it hangs above my bed in my room, and it will probably stay there until it rots. Anywho, my recital went well, but my ankle problem is flaring up again...I can't tell if it's a pulled muscle or a tendon, but I noticed it when I started playing chimes for band (those of you who are not musically educated: chimes have a sustaining pedal like pianos), and it became worse during what I call "rigorous recital heck time". In other words, April is heck month for me anyways, because sitting at a piano for 4 hours a day is not easy on my back. I literally have butt prints in my piano bench. Despite all of these physical ailments, nothing will ever keep me from my piano. As sad as it is, my family views it as a piece of furniture...one day, I snapped because someone sat a drink on my piano...I tend to snap when people mess with my piano, and I'm very particular as to what display items such as picture frames, seasonal decorations, etc. are allowed. Now, they seem to be a lot better about what they sit on my piano, especially since one day I threw someone's car keys across the room, along with a bottle of nail polish that Anna had sitting there. A few times, I threw things at who ever sat pointless objects on my piano. Believe me, I have good aim when it comes to throwing. Seriously, my weird rules have purpose...My sisters can both play piano, but I'm the only person in my family that takes it seriously. I'm usually the only person that sits on my piano bench, and I don't like to look at stupid things while I play. It seems like throwing things across the room got the point across. Not to mention, car keys tend to scratch polished wood. I know that my piano isn't as awesome as a Steinway, but it looks the way it does because I've took great care of it for the last 10 years. Piano is great, awesome, wonderful...there's no way to explain or understand it. Woah...this blog is really long now, so I'm going to end it...peace out! --MaRy SuE
May 18, 2006- "Piano, Piano! Oh how I love it!"
Well, I've never really told anyone about how I started piano lessons... Back when I was little, my parents decided to buy a piano and take my sisters to lessons. I was too young at the time to start, so I sat back and watched. I knew that I always wanted to play. When I was four or five, I started playing little things, mostly just the melody of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", and a bunch of the songs that little kids learn. By the time I was 7, my parents started taking me to lessons. I started out well...I didn't really read the music at first. In fact, I played alot of the songs in the books by ear because I had already heard Jackie and Anna play them before. My teacher would always tell me to quit guessing notes! After 9 months, I had my first recital. After a few years, I was really bored with all of the little lessons from the books. I was almost ready to quit, but I remember sitting at the recitals watching the older kids play. There were two girls who were really awesome. As I sat there, I told myself, "I want to be just like them." I started with Beethoven's Fur Elise. It took about 6 months for me to memorize it all. I didn't tell my teacher that I was working on it until about a month before my next recital. She asked me what I wanted to play, and I sat down and played Fur Elise for her. It was obviously a shock to her that I went straight from a dinky little lesson book to Beethoven. Things were fun from then on. I was always the kid at recitals that played the classical pieces while everyone else played from books. I eventually decided that I needed more of a challenge. I performed my own written piece when I was in eigth grade. It's been 10 years since I started, and I can't imagine my life without being able to play piano. Later people, MaRy SuE
June 13, 2006- "SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE!"
Wooty woot...I managed to squeeze out of Mrs. Lewis' class with a 98 for the last 6 weeks...that makes my semester grade a 91! I hated that woman, but I think I like her now that I'm out of her class. So...What I wished for is finally here...out of school and into summer...I'm fried, and I have water in my left ear that probably isn't going to come out, so I'm doomed to the inevitability of sun poisoning and swimmer's ear again. This Saturday, Dad is renting a boat to go out on Summersville lake. I was thinking about inviting a friend, but I think that this is supposed to be more of a family outing. So...that's probably going to be a lot of fun. In case some of you haven't figured out, my sis is having a boy. So far, everything is going great, and the baby is perfectly healthy. Today, Mom ordered some Old Navy Baby off the internet... We've started planning the baby shower...I think it will be a huge turnout, because the bridal shower was probably the biggest bridal shower I've ever seen. Anywho, that's about all of the interesting things that are going on in my life right now. Laterz- Mary Sue
June 25, 2006- "Awesome weekend"
I went to Richwood this past weekend, and it was totally awesome. Mom's sister, Betty, and my uncle Wayne flew in from AZ, then, on Friday, my cousin Mary and her hubby Devin flew in. (yes, her name is also Mary...along with mine and my Mammaw's LOL). I haven't seen my cousin Mary in like 10 years, so I don't know her too well. This was also the first time I ever met Devin. He's a really cool guy. So, this "other" Mary is extraordinarily talented....heck, she kicked talent in the butt and went straight to "gifted". She had a gig at a bar in Richwood, and underaged little me got to go. I could only stay until 10 p.m., but that was probably the most entertaining 2 hours I have ever had. Not only is this cousin of mine an awesome guitar playing singer lady, she also writes her own music and has unintentional comedy when she's on and off stage. She is so totally my new musical role model.....check her out at www.maryhoffman.net .....OH....she aslo has a myspace music page, so check it out!
June 26, 2006- "$7.31"
Ah, yes, the story of $7.31...Last summer, I was required to go to a week long Health Sciences & Technology Academy summer camp at West Virginia University. This camp was an absolute necesity for me to have my college tuition paid for. I wasn't too reluctant in going, because I really love science, and this year's camp for me was "bio-medical", but Morgantown seems like it's a million miles away from home when you have to stay there for a week with no piano. What was worse, was that I was the only girl from LHS going, and I ended up with a really annoying roomie. I was home sick the whole time.....and hungry the whole time...I wondered if WVU towers cafeteria even abided by health codes. Luckily, I managed to survive on strawberry poptarts. So, I was partially miserable the whole time. As weird as I am, I was really excited about the trip to the cadaver lab. We went in there, and it was nothing like I expected. Sorta gross....OK, really gross...but cool...Anywho, I had on gloves, so I was picking up hearts and lungs and the like, then we went on around the lab to the "wall of babies". This upset me greatly, because there's nothing worse to see deformed, dead little babies, preserved in glass cases, some of which were the result of abortions. I tried my best to tough it out, but I eventually just looked away...I happened to look down at my hands, and I noticed a hole in one of my gloves! Eww...I had body preservatives on my finger...even though it was completely sterile, I started flipping out just because of the thought of the matter....I held back my tears while I walked out of the room with the teacher, then when we made it to the door, I took off my gloves and threw them in the trash while I was telling her about the hole in the glove...So, we rushed to the bathroom so I could wash my hands. I think I washed my hands about a million times....then I was OK....still grossed out, but OK. So, later that day, we went to lunch. I had no appetite after the cadaver incident. Then, after I saw the fried chicken that was being served, I decided to leave the cafeteria(that nasty chicken looked like preserved flesh). Eventually I made it through to the last day. We had this semi-formal dinner on the last day...It was in a big room with a grand piano! So, I decided to go over and ask one of the mentors if I could play...He said yes, not knowing my "secret" talent. I went over and started playing, and he grabbed a glass and sat in on the piano as a tip jar...To my amazement, people started throwing money in! When I made it back to my dorm afterwards, I counted it up....It came to a total of $7.31... That was the first time I ever made any money off of my piano playing!
July 11, 2006- "Interesting facts about the piano"
Interesting Facts about the Piano:
The Piano was invented in 1726 by an Italian, Bartolomeo Cristofori.
The name piano is an abbreviation of the original name for the instrument: piano et forte or soft and loud.
There are over 5,000 moving parts in a piano.
Each note in a grand piano has more than 35 points of adjustment. Over 3,080 adjustments for the entire piano.
There is approximately 18 tons of pressure being exerted by the stretched steel piano strings. In a concert grand, it is close to 30 tons of pressure. The average string having about 160 pounds of tension. There are 230 strings inside a typical piano.
The action of a grand is superior in many ways to a vertical piano, one being that any key can be repeated (reset) faster than any vertical upright (regardless of the name given by manufacturers i.e.: upright grand, studio grand, inverted grand, etc.).
If all of the strings were of the same thickness and under the same tension, with high C being the usual two inches, low C would have to be about thirty feet long. For this reason, lower strings are weighted by wrapping copper or iron wire around the core wire. The lowest octave having two wrappings.
If a piano hammer were attached directly to the back end of a key, when the key was depressed, the hammer would hit the string and stay there, damping out all vibration and sound. For this reason, all piano actions have some kind of escapement mechanism for each key, allowing the hammer to be released from the key just before hitting the string. When the key is released, the action returns to its original position and resets itself for another cycle.
Most pianos have two to three pedals.
The right pedal is always the sustaining pedal (damper pedal), it raises all of the dampers at once, allowing all notes which are played to continue sounding after the keys are released.
The left pedal is always some type of soft pedal. In vertical pianos, and some grand's, it moves the hammers at rest closer to the strings, decreasing their travel, and thus striking force. In most grand's, the soft pedal shifts the entire action sideways, causing the treble hammers to hit only two of their three strings. The lower strings shifting the two strings to one. The shifting type of soft pedal is called the una corda pedal.
The third or middle pedal is usually called the sostenuto pedal. It sustains only those notes which are depressed prior to and while holding the pedal down, and does not sustain any notes depressed after holding it down. This is like having a third hand to sustain certain notes, while playing others.
In some instances, the middle pedal is the bass sustaining pedal, which lifts only the bass dampers. Some uprights use the middle pedal as a practice pedal, which lowers a thick piece of felt between the hammers and strings, muffling the tone. Once in awhile, you will see the middle pedal being used to lower metal studded tap strips between the hammer and the string, creating a tinny honky-tonk type sound. This is often called a Zither, Harp or Mandolin.
August 12, 2006- "The past few days"
So... first off, the band is so totally doing awesome, even though we have a few "little ones" that seem to have ADHD or something. I'm super excited about this season, because it is much better than I expected. I'm not sure if the show and music is really easy or if I finally got the hang of this marching band thing.
Jackie's pregnancy is decent. 3 months to go!!! I'm a bit aprehensive now, because she went to get checked for gestational diabetes, and her blood glucose levels came back as 161 for the one hour test (it's supposed to be 139 or lower). So, yesterday she had to go have the 3 hour test. We still don't have the results, but I'll keep it posted. If she does have gestational diabetes, I don't guess that it will be too bad, because she only has 3 months to go. We've been planning the shower... It's supposed to be on September 9th..... I have a parade that morning...BLAH...
OK, last night I changed my guitar strings... aparently, I don't know what I'm doing because I went to stretch my strings and tune my guitar this morning, and the smallest string came off...I don't think that I wrapped it around the peg enough...
Yea, Hillary came over... we're so goofy... we really didn't do anything but watch movies and look at pictures of handsome male country singers on the internet, but it was fun....I'll have to say, she's probably one of my only friends that actually bothers to call me. Mmmmm chocolate cake!
September 18, 2006- "Long time, no blog"
So yea, I sorta forgot to remember to put an update on my upcoming nephew. Luckily, Jackie doesn't have gestational diabetes. However, she probably needs to quit drinking all the Pepsi considering the fact that the baby kicks nonstop...that kid is going to be caffeine depentent when he gets here. Anywho, Jackie goes to the doc tomorrow to get another ultrasound. Actually it's not really a doctors appointment because she's just going up to MSU to get it done. I'm really excited about getting those pics tommorow...I'll get them posted up on here ASAP.
A few days ago I decided that my piano bench for my keyboard in my room was too boring, so I ventured off to the dreadful Wal-mart to get some acrylic paints (my bench in my room is home made). I finally finished the bench after about 3 days, and it looks pretty sweet. I might as well post that pic...go look at it!
I've realized that some people are totally stupid. Office aiding has it's days, and today just sucked. We ended up with a student in the office all third period because they didn't want to go to class. Drama, drama, drama...I really can't stand this kid, because they are constant trouble and they speak before they think. Aside from the profanity, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be when I saw this person in there. Another thing that aggravates me is when people call asking to talk to their kid during class. Come on, people...no, I am not getting your kid out of class just to tell them that you love them...sorry, but I have too many phone calls to answer for Kuhn and King. So yea, Mr. Cangemi had his "confidentiality" talk to Ashley and I... at first, I didn't really think of it as being a very important issue, but after being in there for 3rd block over the course of 3 weeks, I totally get it. You wouldn't believe half of the crap that goes on. Don't ask me, just know that it's a circus.
Ok, I know this isn't really a good way to end a blog, but I have a speech to write... later
December 7, 2006- "Back to blogging"
I've pretty much slacked off from blogging ever since my nephew was born. Anywho all of that went well, he weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces, and they named him Joseph Randall. I've also been bogged down with school, even though my classes are super easy. So. Yesterday I rearranged my furniture in my room. For some weird reason I've been in a huge cleaning mood for the past week. Perhaps I just needed a change. I'm finally improving on guitar. I still pretty much suck, but I'm not as bad as I used to be. Other things are getting in the way of practicing. I have auditions at Glenville State and Concord coming up, and I've been devoting my time to piano...I also need to work on something for flute. Anywho, I'm not really in the mood for blogging...There's nothing else to do right now...My room is clean, I have no homework, and it's snowing outside...I'm taking a break today from practicing because I'm starting to wear myself out. Ok...this blog is getting more pointless as I type, so I'm gonna go. Laterz
December 7, 2006- "Merry CHRISTmas!"
Just in case some of you haven't heard or read the REAL Christmas story out of the Bible, here you go. Merry CHRISTmas! -Mary Sue
Luke 2
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Courtesy of www.biblegateway.com
December 23, 2006- "Blame it on your sister"
Here lately, my house has been a complete mess...It's not really an "ew" mess, just a "week before Christmas" kind of thing. Yesterday, we tried to straighten things up a bit. I managed to get my room and the bathroom cleaned, while Mom worked on the living room and kitchen, making separate piles of Christmas presents that would either be for people in Richwood or local friends. I decided to call Hillary and invite her down. Anna and I went an picked her up, then fought through the insane crowd of last minute shoppers at Kohl's and Walmart, then we came back to my house and watched a movie. Afterwards, my room became a total mess because Hillary and I got bored and we decided to get my hemp stuff out and make necklaces... HUGE MESS..... In between all of the crazy stuff we did, my cordless phones kept disappearing (there's 2 identical phones that can be put on docks in the kitchen and the den). I don't know how many times I pressed the "page" button to find the phones, but one ended up in my room, and when Mom asked me where the other phone was, I said "Anna had it last"...Mom used the page button, and we found the phone in MY room ...For once, I finally got caught blaming something on my sister!
Facebook notes...
"I may be a nerd, but the circle of fifths is pretty awesome."
March 6, 2008
Why perfect 5ths are my favorite interval:
The circle of fifths has a connection with EVERY aspect of music!
Most contemporary music begins with a I-chord, then proceeds to a V-chord (why this is even relevant is beyond me, but I find it interesting that this is usually the case in contemporary music)
Transposition- some of the most common band instruments are tuned as follows:
Alto Sax- E flat
Trumpet- B flat
F Horn- F
flute/ trombone- C
Notice that from Alto sax to trumpet is a perfect 5th, trumpet to F horn is a perfect 5th and so forth. Nice.
Physics----
An overtone is a higher natural frequency for a given note. The overtones are "harmonic" if each occurs at an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency----5 being the most relative to 1, for example, C and G are more closely related than C and D.
5ths invert to 4ths---4 chords are the third most important chords in popular music today, next to the tonic (one) and the dominant (five)...
The circle of 5ths is as follows: C G D A E B/Cb F#/Gb C#/Db Ab Eb Bb F C---notice below on the circle that as you go around it, the number of flats or sharps in the key signature increase or decrease to a certain pattern.
Also, the perfect 4ths and 5ths of each note are on either side of the key note--- for example, C and D are on the left and right of G. C is the 5th in the key of G major, and D is the 4th.
Anyways, all aspects regarding music connect to each other and is always applicable to playing an instrument or singing... Just another reason why music is so fantastic!
"Weird math...actually, another one of my crazy ideas"
April 29, 2008
I've decided that there's a better math that is rediculously confusing but actually useful--- I call it "music"...
I'm making this stupidity up as I go, so you should only read this if you have nothing to do:
In music, 6-2 can actually equal 5....I'll explain---
On a keyboard, you have in order- C D E F G A B C
this is a C major scale- A is the 6th note, D is the 2nd note, the generic interval from D to A is a 5th, therefore 6-2=5....
4-3 would still equal 1.
5-4 would also remain 1
3-1 is 3
7-5 is 3
7-4 is 4
5-2 is 4
4-2 is 3
6-3 is 4
We should teach this in schools as a revenge towards "regular" algebra. It would confuse the crap out of everyone, just like algebra confuses the crap out of me......YAY music!
"Recent life update"
August 4, 2008
Finished with teaching band camp. It was pretty fun. I am really glad that I am out of high school and away from most forms of pointless drama that I don't prefer to hear about, like people throwing cheap Avon engagement rings off of the balcony because high school couples breakup on a daily/hourly basis and can't seem to control themselves (pretty stupid). I may as well get used to it since I'm going to be a teacher. Fun experience for a little money. I think I have a hidden mean streak that erupts when people outwardly don't pay attention. My only complaint is missing the DCI show in Charleston on the 28th...Phantom Regiment was there.
Ooodles of fun for the next week, since Dave is coming to the house. He's taking his last class online for his surveying degree because he got a job surveying for CSX railroad for the next 14-18 months. I'm excited for him, since he can pay off his student loans and then some with this job, but I'm going to miss having him 3 minutes down the road.
I move out in 10 days. Sheesh. I'm excited for school to start, just not moving out now since I know Dave won't be here all the time. I have a feeling I'm going to get really good at piano this year because most of the people I know fairly well here are busier than I am and I usually just see them in music classes or something. Rarely did I just hang out with people last semester because of erratic schedules and most of my time away from class and practice was spent with Dave. I'll have a few new professors to get used to as well.
My fish died while I was away working band camp. I'm debating on whether I should get more fish or not. If I do, it will probably be cheap feeder goldfish that won't get stuck to the internal filter that killed my beautiful/expensive neon, lemon, and rummynose tetras. Cheap goldfish- lots of color for a small amount of money. I'm just mad because I spent $16 total on 9 tetras that were too stupid to stay away from the filter. Aargh.
I have a tan line from my watch. Lots of sun and the resulting nausea/dizzy feeling last week. I'm dreading band practice because my issues with sun poisoning seem to be much worse this year. I can put on SPF 35, re-apply long before the directions say, be outside for an hour, and still burn.
Anywho, that's all...more to come after next week.
August 20, 2008
A new fall...
Back again to school....
I've been arranging music for 3 part marimba. My first attempt went toward the super mario brother's theme song and I managed to finish it in 2 days. I've yet to show it to Mr. McKinney on a count of my fear of harsh criticism... I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and give him a copy to see what he says. Good luck, me.
Mrs. White all of a sudden seems to like me for some reason. I'm glad we no longer hate each other's guts. I was really happy when she said "I'm impressed!" after I played a bunch of 1,4,1,5,1 cadences in quite a few more keys than I left being able to play at the end of last year. She actually said "I'm impressed"....wow. Shocker.
Band is yet again, awesome. So far, it is very loud and well, loud. We sound much bigger than we look. Pretty well-balanced this year:
6 flutes
3 clarinets
2 alto saxes
8 trumpets....8...
3 mellophones
around 5 baritones
maybe 2 trombones
5 tubas
lots of pit percussion
lots and lots of battery...
LOUDNESS!!
I'm excited mostly because we're playing "Firebird" and it gives me that fuzzy feeling/goosebumps I get when I hear nicely balanced chords in a particular order.
A lot of people are getting married around me. I'm still dating on a serious level...There should be a level in relationships between dating and engagement because if there was, this would happen to be where we are. Dating seriously, but not engaged or ready to get married. Dave is definitely a keeper.
There's some randomly cool girl that transferred to GSC... English major sophomore that plays guitar and sings, and is very good at her "hobby" of playing guitar and singing. This seems like an interesting person so far, and she's super friendly. Too bad more people can't be friendly like this and awesome at guitar at the same time.
Anywho, I've yet to meet the new voice professor, but she sounds cool from what Sheri said. We'll see tomorrow.
Tired. Going to bed. Band on the field tomorrow! WOOOOOOT!
"16 facts about me"
December 4, 2008
THE RULES: Write down 16 interesting facts, goals, or anything interesting about yourself. Tag 16 people, but make sure to re-tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you it means I want to get to know you better. :)
1. I'm one of those "bottle it up, explode later" kind of people.
2. My favorite color is purple.
3. One of my favorite places is Summit Lake.
4. I once tried out for the basketball team when I was in 7th grade. I'm actually glad I didn't make it, otherwise I wouldn't have joined the band.
5. One of these days, I'll visit Ireland.
6. I have a chocolate labrador named "Patty"....
7. I use Aussie shampoo...most of the time.
8. I like the idea of kayaking.
9. I tend to have a need to be by myself occasionally. Haven't figured out why.
10. Church pianist.
11. I'm usually pretty busy throughout the day.
12. I've been known to skip meals to make time to play piano.
13. I really miss my high school band geeks.
14. I once worked at wal-mart. Not for a while, anymore...
15. I'm almost finished with this.... I had trouble coming up with some of these....
16....I love Dave....that was an easy one.
"Heck yeah"
December 11, 2008
The concert band reading session was yesterday. I'm very very very excited, mostly because of the decision to include Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-flat, but also some other grade 5 "war horses". Woot. I love it. I'm definitely a Holst geek, since he pretty much started the REAL idea of concert band rather than just writing for symphony orchestras and the like. First Suite, Second Suite, The Planets (particularly Jupiter)... I could listen to Holst ALLLLL day. We're also playing some pieces by a guy from Nicholas Co. named Paff. His stuff seems OK. Definitely not Holst, but it's OK. We're eventually supposed to have chair tryouts after, but I've decided that since flute is not my main instrument, I have no chance with Jess Jaffre around to kick my butt. :) Practice remains.
This semester is OVER, thank God. Tomorrow is my last final, then I'm home free for a month. I've been waiting for this for a while. I'm immensely excited to get out of my Educational Psychology class, since it seemed to be more about arguing about pointlessness than psychology. Next semester with piano will include the 2nd and 3rd movements of Kabalevsky's Sonatina in C Op. 13, and more endless amounts of Czerny exercises. I'm beginning to warm up to the Czerny exercises though. I suppose it's for the better....My fingers on my left hand are actually starting to work independently now...
Colored Christmas lights in my room have really made this place a little bit warm and romantic, and less like a hospital room. The incessant buzzing of the fluorescent light was beginning to annoy me. I believe the Christmas lights are here to stay for a long while.
I miss Dave, loud conversations, and holding his hand.
I've decided that God really intended for me to be here. There's just so many people that I've met that are literally life-changing. I actually wonder where I would be without them. With my darling being gone with work, I was a little weary of being by myself with nobody to actually sit down and have a serious conversation with, then I met some truly phenomenal people (you know who you are...little buddy and shivvertwitch). Thank God for that.
March 6, 2008
Why perfect 5ths are my favorite interval:
The circle of fifths has a connection with EVERY aspect of music!
Most contemporary music begins with a I-chord, then proceeds to a V-chord (why this is even relevant is beyond me, but I find it interesting that this is usually the case in contemporary music)
Transposition- some of the most common band instruments are tuned as follows:
Alto Sax- E flat
Trumpet- B flat
F Horn- F
flute/ trombone- C
Notice that from Alto sax to trumpet is a perfect 5th, trumpet to F horn is a perfect 5th and so forth. Nice.
Physics----
An overtone is a higher natural frequency for a given note. The overtones are "harmonic" if each occurs at an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency----5 being the most relative to 1, for example, C and G are more closely related than C and D.
5ths invert to 4ths---4 chords are the third most important chords in popular music today, next to the tonic (one) and the dominant (five)...
The circle of 5ths is as follows: C G D A E B/Cb F#/Gb C#/Db Ab Eb Bb F C---notice below on the circle that as you go around it, the number of flats or sharps in the key signature increase or decrease to a certain pattern.
Also, the perfect 4ths and 5ths of each note are on either side of the key note--- for example, C and D are on the left and right of G. C is the 5th in the key of G major, and D is the 4th.
Anyways, all aspects regarding music connect to each other and is always applicable to playing an instrument or singing... Just another reason why music is so fantastic!
"Weird math...actually, another one of my crazy ideas"
April 29, 2008
I've decided that there's a better math that is rediculously confusing but actually useful--- I call it "music"...
I'm making this stupidity up as I go, so you should only read this if you have nothing to do:
In music, 6-2 can actually equal 5....I'll explain---
On a keyboard, you have in order- C D E F G A B C
this is a C major scale- A is the 6th note, D is the 2nd note, the generic interval from D to A is a 5th, therefore 6-2=5....
4-3 would still equal 1.
5-4 would also remain 1
3-1 is 3
7-5 is 3
7-4 is 4
5-2 is 4
4-2 is 3
6-3 is 4
We should teach this in schools as a revenge towards "regular" algebra. It would confuse the crap out of everyone, just like algebra confuses the crap out of me......YAY music!
"Recent life update"
August 4, 2008
Finished with teaching band camp. It was pretty fun. I am really glad that I am out of high school and away from most forms of pointless drama that I don't prefer to hear about, like people throwing cheap Avon engagement rings off of the balcony because high school couples breakup on a daily/hourly basis and can't seem to control themselves (pretty stupid). I may as well get used to it since I'm going to be a teacher. Fun experience for a little money. I think I have a hidden mean streak that erupts when people outwardly don't pay attention. My only complaint is missing the DCI show in Charleston on the 28th...Phantom Regiment was there.
Ooodles of fun for the next week, since Dave is coming to the house. He's taking his last class online for his surveying degree because he got a job surveying for CSX railroad for the next 14-18 months. I'm excited for him, since he can pay off his student loans and then some with this job, but I'm going to miss having him 3 minutes down the road.
I move out in 10 days. Sheesh. I'm excited for school to start, just not moving out now since I know Dave won't be here all the time. I have a feeling I'm going to get really good at piano this year because most of the people I know fairly well here are busier than I am and I usually just see them in music classes or something. Rarely did I just hang out with people last semester because of erratic schedules and most of my time away from class and practice was spent with Dave. I'll have a few new professors to get used to as well.
My fish died while I was away working band camp. I'm debating on whether I should get more fish or not. If I do, it will probably be cheap feeder goldfish that won't get stuck to the internal filter that killed my beautiful/expensive neon, lemon, and rummynose tetras. Cheap goldfish- lots of color for a small amount of money. I'm just mad because I spent $16 total on 9 tetras that were too stupid to stay away from the filter. Aargh.
I have a tan line from my watch. Lots of sun and the resulting nausea/dizzy feeling last week. I'm dreading band practice because my issues with sun poisoning seem to be much worse this year. I can put on SPF 35, re-apply long before the directions say, be outside for an hour, and still burn.
Anywho, that's all...more to come after next week.
August 20, 2008
A new fall...
Back again to school....
I've been arranging music for 3 part marimba. My first attempt went toward the super mario brother's theme song and I managed to finish it in 2 days. I've yet to show it to Mr. McKinney on a count of my fear of harsh criticism... I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and give him a copy to see what he says. Good luck, me.
Mrs. White all of a sudden seems to like me for some reason. I'm glad we no longer hate each other's guts. I was really happy when she said "I'm impressed!" after I played a bunch of 1,4,1,5,1 cadences in quite a few more keys than I left being able to play at the end of last year. She actually said "I'm impressed"....wow. Shocker.
Band is yet again, awesome. So far, it is very loud and well, loud. We sound much bigger than we look. Pretty well-balanced this year:
6 flutes
3 clarinets
2 alto saxes
8 trumpets....8...
3 mellophones
around 5 baritones
maybe 2 trombones
5 tubas
lots of pit percussion
lots and lots of battery...
LOUDNESS!!
I'm excited mostly because we're playing "Firebird" and it gives me that fuzzy feeling/goosebumps I get when I hear nicely balanced chords in a particular order.
A lot of people are getting married around me. I'm still dating on a serious level...There should be a level in relationships between dating and engagement because if there was, this would happen to be where we are. Dating seriously, but not engaged or ready to get married. Dave is definitely a keeper.
There's some randomly cool girl that transferred to GSC... English major sophomore that plays guitar and sings, and is very good at her "hobby" of playing guitar and singing. This seems like an interesting person so far, and she's super friendly. Too bad more people can't be friendly like this and awesome at guitar at the same time.
Anywho, I've yet to meet the new voice professor, but she sounds cool from what Sheri said. We'll see tomorrow.
Tired. Going to bed. Band on the field tomorrow! WOOOOOOT!
"16 facts about me"
December 4, 2008
THE RULES: Write down 16 interesting facts, goals, or anything interesting about yourself. Tag 16 people, but make sure to re-tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you it means I want to get to know you better. :)
1. I'm one of those "bottle it up, explode later" kind of people.
2. My favorite color is purple.
3. One of my favorite places is Summit Lake.
4. I once tried out for the basketball team when I was in 7th grade. I'm actually glad I didn't make it, otherwise I wouldn't have joined the band.
5. One of these days, I'll visit Ireland.
6. I have a chocolate labrador named "Patty"....
7. I use Aussie shampoo...most of the time.
8. I like the idea of kayaking.
9. I tend to have a need to be by myself occasionally. Haven't figured out why.
10. Church pianist.
11. I'm usually pretty busy throughout the day.
12. I've been known to skip meals to make time to play piano.
13. I really miss my high school band geeks.
14. I once worked at wal-mart. Not for a while, anymore...
15. I'm almost finished with this.... I had trouble coming up with some of these....
16....I love Dave....that was an easy one.
"Heck yeah"
December 11, 2008
The concert band reading session was yesterday. I'm very very very excited, mostly because of the decision to include Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-flat, but also some other grade 5 "war horses". Woot. I love it. I'm definitely a Holst geek, since he pretty much started the REAL idea of concert band rather than just writing for symphony orchestras and the like. First Suite, Second Suite, The Planets (particularly Jupiter)... I could listen to Holst ALLLLL day. We're also playing some pieces by a guy from Nicholas Co. named Paff. His stuff seems OK. Definitely not Holst, but it's OK. We're eventually supposed to have chair tryouts after, but I've decided that since flute is not my main instrument, I have no chance with Jess Jaffre around to kick my butt. :) Practice remains.
This semester is OVER, thank God. Tomorrow is my last final, then I'm home free for a month. I've been waiting for this for a while. I'm immensely excited to get out of my Educational Psychology class, since it seemed to be more about arguing about pointlessness than psychology. Next semester with piano will include the 2nd and 3rd movements of Kabalevsky's Sonatina in C Op. 13, and more endless amounts of Czerny exercises. I'm beginning to warm up to the Czerny exercises though. I suppose it's for the better....My fingers on my left hand are actually starting to work independently now...
Colored Christmas lights in my room have really made this place a little bit warm and romantic, and less like a hospital room. The incessant buzzing of the fluorescent light was beginning to annoy me. I believe the Christmas lights are here to stay for a long while.
I miss Dave, loud conversations, and holding his hand.
I've decided that God really intended for me to be here. There's just so many people that I've met that are literally life-changing. I actually wonder where I would be without them. With my darling being gone with work, I was a little weary of being by myself with nobody to actually sit down and have a serious conversation with, then I met some truly phenomenal people (you know who you are...little buddy and shivvertwitch). Thank God for that.
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