Vacation

February 20th, 2006 ~ Monday...I think

6:08 p.m.

Conspiracy

So my friend Jonathan directed me toward a website that has all these random funky t-shirts with smart aleck sayings (as that was my staple before I started to work, and to some extent I still enjoy them), and I came across one in particular, which inspired a brilliant idea.

Everybody in 2nd period (or 1st period, for that matter) should all buy and wear THIS SHIRT on the same time, just to bug Jake. I would find that highly amusing, and would probably laugh for a good 5 to 10 minutes as Jake would walk around going, "What the heck!"

I'm in the middle of grading. And my brain has turned into mush. Reading over 100 reflections is tedious enough, but when you guys have boring reflections...eesh! And then to break it up I grade practice records or listening logs, which is totally and completely boring. Well, the listening logs are neat because I get to see what you are listening to. But then you have those cheaters and I HATE having to catch the cheaters, and people who don't format things properly and blah blah blah. I need chocolate milk.

I need to do something more stimulating for my brain.

Maybe I should go play Tetris....reawaken the addiction....

February 18th, 2006 ~ Saturday

7:32 p.m.

The Gift of Sight and Ice Cream

As I told some of my classes, it is officially my favorite season: Girl Scout Cookie ICE CREAM season. Huzzah! If you have not yet experienced the joy that is Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream, I feel deeply sorry for you. My personal favorite is the Tagalong Ice Cream (I love peanut butter). I've tried the Thin Mint, but not the Samoas. According to the website, the ice cream is supposed to last from January until April, but I did not see the ice cream until Thursday.

On Wednesday, I got new contacts! They are 30 day 30 night kind that you keep in for...30 consecutive days and nights. That means you only take them out once a month (though I'm planning on taking them out weekly to clean them, despite the fact that I'm not required to). You just can't appreciate how exciting this is unless you also have truly awful vision. I'm at -7.25 right now (though my sister is -11 and my dad is even worse than that). So the fact that I can now wake up and SEE THE ALARM CLOCK is a luxury I haven't experienced since I was...12.

Sight. Who knew?

Other than that, I am just nursing my cold. It's not bad at all, as I'm only at 99.5 (child's play, when it comes to my own sicknesses). I'm taking it easy and watching the food network and some reality show involving Lisa Loeb. I should try to be productive tomorrow though...at least a bit. I should do laundry. I need to wash my favorite pillowcases. They are double sided, and on one side is a green cartoon triceratops, and on the other is a blue cartoon tyrannosaurus rex. =D

You're never too old for dinosaur pillowcases!

February 13th, 2006 ~ Monday

7:36 p.m.

"We're not Michelle Kwaning this!"

Can anybody name that quote?

Well. I'm sad. My poor Michelle is out of the Olympics, bowing out in her ever graceful and classy way. I'm so disappointed for her. Now what do I have left to watch...CURLING?! Well, there's hockey, but even that...sigh. Poor Michelle. I don't particularly like any of the other figure skaters, and the one pairs skater I like isn't in the Olympics this year. So I'm lugubrious.

Or maybe it's that I can't breathe through my nose. Maybe that's what's making me lugubrious (I love that word). I can't tell if I'm sick or have horrible allergies or both. But suffice it to say, I've spent most of my weekend resting up and trying to get over that sick feeling presiding in my head.

I'm in this chamber group called The Blackbird Project, and last night we sightread the Suk String Serenade (and I still say that you say Suk --> Sook, not SUCK). My sightreading skills are rusty. First movement is in 4, but is conducted in 2. Second movement in 3 is really in 1. Third movement in 4 is in 8. And I forgot about the last movement. Counting is hard. =D I guess I just need to sit down and practice so that I don't Suk (har har har).

February 10th, 2006 ~ Friday

9:40 p.m.

Olympics...and my random commentary.

It is really quite interesting to watch all the background on athletes and countries. I think it's tremendously awesome that African countries come to the Winter Olympics. That takes guts! And all I have to say is that poor Michelle Kwan better take the gold. That poor girl deserves it.

As I watch the different countries enter the stadium (and I have to say, I'm a little bit uneasy about the whole Mussolini affiliation...) I can't help but think...who picked the music? If I were Australia and Austria, walking into Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive", I'd be a little bit insulted, I have to say. Did I detect Sister Sledge's "We Are Family"? What's going on?

Awww, Bermuda only has one athlete! That poor guy must be lonely.

"Freak Out"?! Bosnia shouldn't put up with that. Neither should Brasil or Bulgaria. Man...it's going to take a long time to get to the end.

I wonder how each country chooses their flag holder. Except Bermuda...aw, and Cyprus. They only have one athlete too. Aw and Ethiopia (who goes to the University of New Hampshire, incidentally). And Kenya. And Luxembourg (who has one small 17 year old girl). Madagascar...geez, there are a lot of countries with just one athlete. Senegal. Thailand (who's 47 year old skiier is a professor).

Go Japan! hehe. Aw, Japanese people are cute. They're all waving and giving the peace sign.

Seriously, the music. What's going on. Is this a sign of who the torch lighter will be? Is it going to be Aretha Franklin? Oh my gosh, it's Funkytown! Depeche Mode! "I just can't get enough". SWEET DREAMS by the Eurythmics...this is seriously weird. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR by The Buggles! Hah! (HA! One of the commentary people just noted that they're walking in to "seemingly random" 80's songs.) CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU by...I don't know. Oh. My. Gaw. YMCA! VILLAGE PEOPLE! That's WAY too funny. Seriously, seriously? The United States is coming in to THINK by Aretha. YES! It's Barry White's YOU'RE MY FIRST, MY LAST, MY EVERYTHING. That's better than Funkytown =P BURN BABY BURN

And with that, it is now 11:09, and I am so insanely tired. I'm going to bed.

February 9th, 2006 ~ Thursday

10:38 p.m.

Music of the Night

I couldn't wait. The notion that I would have to wait for Amazon to get my beautiful Bach Suites CD was just unacceptable, and I attacked the poor cashier guy at Barnes and Noble this evening instead. So I went to Barnes and Noble and bought the Bach Suites, and a Green Day CD, and...Rilo Kiley.

What can I say. I like music.

As I was looking for Prokofiev Symphonies (specifically Symphony #7, because that one rocks my socks), I was distracted by the odious Pachelbel. There was a section for him, and I noticed a "Greatest Hits" CD. I thought to myself, huh, really? Greatest hits? But he only had one hit...how on earth did they make a Greatest Hits CD from only one hit? I picked up the CD, and looked at the 8 tracks listed. I kid you not, SEVEN of the eight tracks were different versions of Canon in D.

What IS THAT?!

That's not a Greatest Hits CD! That's one piece played over and over again! It's like torture! I don't want to hear anybody play Pachelbel's Canon, much less Canadian Brass...

Anyway, that made me laugh out loud in the store. Imagine any other artist doing that. ::: shaking my head in disbelief and amusement ::::

February 8th, 2006 ~ Wednesday

10:37 p.m.

He's Back!

George is back! After a depressing middle school meeting, I drove to Orange to pick up George and his new lethal endpin, and my newly rehaired bow. Upon returning home, I eagerly took George out of his case and admired the new extra pointy endpin XD He sounds lovely, and now he doesn't slide away! So that's a good thing.

Except I practiced a tad too hard, and my fingers hurt (and since I haven't played in 5 days, my fingers weren't prepared for my gusto). And I think I found a copy of the Bach Suites I enjoy by none other than Yo-Yo Ma. I actually already have a version of him playing it, except it is in Baroque tuning (which is about a half step lower than current tuning), and because of my perfect pitch, it messes me all up and I can't listen to it. But this new version (which is actually older than my current suites) I found...oohhh. It's intense. Just go to Suite No. 2, the Gigue...wooooo....usually the Bach suites are all light and airy and polite...but not this version. Woo. It rocks. I may have to buy it.

So now I'm listening to the free samples of the bach suites, and perusing what Amazon recommends for me.

I should really go to sleep.

February 7th, 2006 ~ Tuesday

10:57 p.m.

Yo-Yo Ma

I wonder who Yo-Yo Ma looks up to. Who inspires Yo-Yo Ma? Who and what inspires you when you're considered the best of your living genre?

Last night, at 12:30, as I was drifting off to sleep with Jay Leno in the background, I suddenly heard the distant words, "Yo-Yo Ma." My eyes popped open and I blindly felt for my glasses (I have horrible vision), and scurried over to my television. And sure enough, there was Yo-Yo Ma! And for those of you who don't know who he is, he is this incredible cellist who not only has mastered the classical world but is known for crossing genres. Anyway, I just sort of looked on in awe. Everything looked SO EASY. And he has these gigantically long fingers! NOT FAIR. Stupid genetics. His bow was so fluid, and he moved up and down his cello as though it was nothing. It was almost sickening in a really good way.

So I had a dream. In it, I was playing cello, and my cello sounded SOOO GOOOD. It was deep and rich and booming (much like Yo-Yo Ma's 1733 Italian cello that's worth 2.5 million dollars....), and everything was so easy to play, and everything sounded so wonderful. And then I woke up. And was sad. =D

In the meantime, George is getting a new endpin installed and I'm getting my bow rehaired, so I haven't played my cello since Friday. I miss him. George, that is. Hopefully I'll get him back tomorrow afternoon. Until then...in my dreams?

February 3rd, 2006 ~ Friday

8:54 p.m.

I'm a laggard...

It's been a while since I've updated. And for that, I suck. Sorry guys, but what can I say...I have a life =D

As I sit here, watching Spirited Away (a really cool movie that's showing on Cartoon Network), I am also re-arranging my piece that Concert Orchestra at Vista Verde is going to sight read next week. Flump and Fwa Go To France! (Though it's soon to be renamed....sorry Charlene). The name comes from the sounds we made last year in Concert Orchestra at Plaza Vista. The FLUMP of not playing chords together, and the desired FWA, a light airy sound. I'm not sure why they're going to France...but why not go to France. They have these stuffed Eiffel Towers there that I wish I had bought for myself...but forgot (and got for all my friends instead).

I seem to be having difficulty staying on one train of thought. But that's okay. It's Friday. And I have every intention of going to bed soon and sleeping until noon tomorrow.

I hope to get my new endpin installed! It's so sharp and crazy. I could seriously hurt people with it. Though, let's be honest here, most likely I'll end up inadvertently injuring myself. Still. Some things are worth the pain =D Also, I plan to get my bow rehaired. I normally try to get it rehaired every 3-6 months. It has now been since June. Of 2004.

Oops.

All righty, well that's all for now. I have to finish my movie and boil some eggs.