Blogger Milestone

This is officially my 200th post! I think I've come a rather long way from when I just did NaBloPoMo, when I had about 45 or so posts. Now, I feel all proffesional and persistent. I'm about to finish the 5th month of straight blogging, and I don't intend to stop anytime soon!

Besides that, I'm currently syncing my iPod. We're going on YET ANOTHER trip, starting tomorrow, and I want to have some more music. I've put two or three new CDs on it, and I bought three songs using the remains of a few gift cards. I'm ready!

At last, my arm writing is complete again!

For the first time in a few months, I've been able to write as my messed up roleplay character Galhaggar Tavis (Gal for short). It's really fun being able to play the Bad Boy for a change, because the sky's the limit: he can speak English, has a lot of charisma, and controls over about 30 people. Sure, I can't write him much, but it's nice being able to once in awhile.

Summer: Day One

Today was the first official day of summer, and it was awesome! I did more or less nothing until rehearsal time, and afterwards I did the same thing. The only interesting thing is that I found my new favorite song: "Bleeding Love".

Official End-Of-The-Year Countday: 0 Days

Well, today was the last day of school, and it couldn't have come sooner. I'm looking forward to a great summer, and not think a lot about 8th grade. For now, I'm rehearsing, sleeping late, and---of course---blogging.

Official End-Of-The-Year Countday: 1 Day

Yes, boys and girls, tomorrow is the LAST day of school. I'm really excited (Last first period! Last second period!) and I can hardly wait for the day to be over. I'm bringing my Phantom sheet music for band, and we're doing more or less nothing in any of my other classes. Then, I have rehearsal for forever (Three hours), and Friday will be totally FREE!

On other note, the End-Of-The-Year Dance was tonight. I had a lot of fun, and I think I liked the ending song best. Possibly because I knew all the words---and was about the only person who did?

"Human Home Again"

Well, we made it back from Erie. We listened to four showtunes on the way back (Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast, Man of La Mancha, and Little Shop of Horrors), made two stops at Starbucks, and one detour at IKEA---love, love, love!

Now I just have to survive a two day week and I'll be FREEEEE!

(Still) At Katherine Kastle

Today was great, as was yesterday. We mainly just spent the day at home, but watched the sun set over Lake Erie earlier this evening. I had probably THE MOST relaxing shower about five minutes ago (Pennsylvania has wonder water!), and Katherine and I are about to watch CATS.

On another random note, I wound up playing "Phantom" on their piano so many times (Four) that Katherine's parents, mostly her dad, spent the afternoon coming up with spontaneous parodies to the theme.

I want a Big Mac now,
And Katherine's fries!

I think I'm going to wind up spending the eight-hour car drive back to Fortress Knox coming up with yet more parodies. Perhaps even spreading out to "Music of the Night". We have "Das Phantom der Oper" with us...hmm.

At Katherine Kastle

It's been awesome here in Pennslyvania, and we're finally about to settle down and watch Vitus to end a fun-filled day. I'll still be posting for real on Monday, so hang in there!

Posting from Katherine Kastle

Hi! We made it to PA with no difficulty, and we're finally here. I'm just going to be posting quickie-posts for the weekend, but I'll be back on Monday. Toodles!

Official End-Of-The-Year Countday: 3 Days

Well, we didn't dissect any more forgs today, and I am VERY happy about that. Even if I get a bad grade on it...I'll live.

We mostly just had Awards Day. I got a few awards (Alright, nine, but I wasn't expecting most of them, ESPECIALLY the health, science, and math ones), and I had some cake. Overall, it was a pretty good day!

Field Day is tomorrow, and I'm being picked up around noon to head down to PA. Katherine, can't wait to see you tomorrow! I'm looking forward to a morning of rowdiness, an afternoon of showtunes, and an evening of DDR/talking/other sleepover-type things.

Official End-Of-The-Year Countday: 4 Days

I love Wednesday. It's a short day at school, and I usually don't have any homework. It fits my agenda rather well, so it might be one of my favorite days of the week: after Friday and Saturday, of course.

In fact, my day would have been PERFECT if:

• This one guy didn't promise to hug me and then NOT FOLLOW THROUGH (Grr)
• We didn't have to dissect frogs in science
• We didn't have to dissect frogs in science right after lunch
• The frogs were already partially dissected, and will remain that way, so in BAT class I'm going to be sharing my table with a dead frog. (The person who's supposed to sit by me somehow migrated to the other side of the room)
• We have to finish dissecting tomorrow

The annoying thing is, my science teacher said we'd only dissect one, and that anyone who didn't want to wouldn't have to. Apparently, that only counts for FULLY dissecting a frog from scratch, but everyone has to finish the "recycled frogs" from the High School.

However, I do have a list of things that make me happy:

• It was short
• Science was the shorted period of the day (Not much time for frog dissection!)
• Tomorrow is Awards Day, therefore I get to break dress code to dress up all pretty
• Friday is field day, which, even though it isn't my favorite activity, we get a dress-down day
• We're leaving for Pennsylvania Friday afternoon
• We're only going to have 2 more days of school after the PA trip
• I've turned in over half my textbooks
• Rehearsal is on Tuesday
• We have a school dance on Tuesday night

"Always look on the briiiight side of life..."

Official End of the Year Countdown: 5 More Days

Still, nothing major happened today. I went to school, had rehearsal, and then went to bassoon. We just had Vietnamese food for dinner (Tofu, bean sprouts, lettuce, and rice noodles in fresh rice paper- yum!). Now, I'm doing my homework/talking to Maya, and I'm about to type my poem for English class. I'm turning in all my writing assignments tomorrow, and then it'll finally be done!

Just short Wednesday, rewards day on Thursday, field day on Friday (And being picked up at about noon to head to PA for a couple days), then do-nothing Tuesday and Wednesday. Whoot whoot!

End of the Year Countdown: 6 Days

I can hardly believe that this was the last Monday of the year. I'm totally happy, and I can't wait until next Wendsday. However, I'm insanly jealous: Mike's last day is tomorrow, while I'll have 5 days left. Oh well---5 days isn't all that much...right?

This week just seems to be dragging so much, it's driving me insane. I want the year to be over with!

Official End-Of-The-Year Countday: 7 Days

Whoot! We're in our final two weeks of school, and the second week is just a two-day week where we'll be doing just about nothing. Basically, I just have to get through this week, and I'll more or less be done.

Seriously: for the next few days in Language Arts, we're going to be watching Animal Farm. In Social Studies, we finish up New Zealand tomorrow and play the Map Game for the rest of the week/year. In literature, we do another story or two. Science...we finish studying amphibians by dissecting frogs (EW!). We're probably going to be doing a lot of review in math, in a Battle of the Sexes style. Usually, guys and girls wind up tied, though, so it isn't much of a tournament.

We're doing PowerPoint's on music careers for two days in band, then we have 2 or three days of bringing out instruments. We're going to spend the rest of the time playing Guitar Hero. (Or in the instrument closet---my awesome band teacher lets Kari and I escape in there. Squee!) Finally, Computer Apps...you know the deal with that.

It's been a pretty good year (A very LONG year), but I'm so happy for it to be ending!

Videos, Videos, and More Videos

Yesterday was my piano recital. I played "Johanna", one of my favorite songs from my favorite show, Sweeney Todd. Here's the clip:



I've also been busy in the fictional line of filming. Since December, I've had an idea for an animated music video. I just got around to doing it, though. After a few days of hard work, I present my anti-suicide music video to "March On" by Good Charlotte:



I think it turned out rather nicely. I don't know what JPEG-ed all the images, as they weren't all JPEGs. Oh well---you can still see what they are.

One week of school!

Well, seven days total, actually. But there's this weekend, then a three-day week, then a three-day weekend, and finally a 2-day week where we'll be doing more or less nothing. Oh well.

A lot actually happened today, but I can't blog it all. I will say that it was Mike's Beethoven day, so I was checked out of school early to see it (And I was feeling like crap anyway). Everyone did a really nice job, and I actually got to play Fur Elise towards the end! (The high schoolers tried to finger it out, and Mark told Mike to move over and give me a try, as he knew I could play it. Thanks, Mark!)

Towards the end, what did everyone do? Clean up the displays like good people? Help serve lunch? No! Do a clash-of-the-centuries verison of the ever-popular Soulja Boy:



I don't know everyone there, but there was Beethoven (Duh) and Mother Teresa somewhere in that mix. There were so many that could have added even more fun, though: imagine Jane Austen crankin' that soulja boy?

Yet Another Obsession

I'm obsessed with several things, including:

• Danny Elfman, Alan Menkan, and Tchaikovsky music
• Tim Burton movies with Johnny Depp
• Johnny Depp in general
• Roleplaying
• Jacob Black, who is much cooler than Edward Cullen will ever be

Most recently, I've gotten a new obsession: old Disney movies! Stuff that came out before the weird Finding Nemo-type animation started. I loved the old animation style, and the older movies are just A LOT better than the newer ones (Although I do love me some Ratatouille)

So far, I've gone through crazes of Lion King, Pocahontas, Anastasia (OK, so it isn't Disney, but whatever) and Beauty & the Beast. I'm actually STILL going through that craze, as I will never get enough of Angela Lansbury's Mrs. Potts.

However, today I got a new Disney obsession: Hunchback of Notre Dame! I've actually been to Notre Dame, so I think it makes sense. I haven't seen the movie since who-knows-when, but I've been doing what I usually do: finding the songs on Youtube.

I don't know just how many times I've listened to "Bells of Notre Dame" today, but it's been several:



I actually think that Clopin (The puppeteer) actually goes up with Mrs. Lovett, Elphaba, and Aldonza in the Dream Roles section of my mind. Then again, it's probably more with LeFou from Beauty and the Beast in the Impossible Dream Roles section, as

A) Clopin is a guy, like LeFou, while I'm not
B) "Hunchback" isn't even a stage musical

A New Type of Procrastination

Ever since January, I've been stalling on making an animation for a certain song.I have the storyboard for it laid out and everything, I've just never convinced myself to make the actual video. However, today I decided to get started, and wound up getting a good 15 slides of animation done!

However, that does have its hurts: I have a map due Friday that I haven't even touched. I'm planning on doing it tomorrow, though...in between working on my website and this secret animation.

See? I'm getting even more stuff done by neglecting one little task. Aren't I time-management-savvy?

How to spell "Deja Vu"...

...and other random things I learned in Computer Apps.

Seriously---I've finished all my work in CA for the REST OF THE YEAR. That's still two and a half weeks of school! It's really getting a bit annoying, having so much free time and nothing to do. I'd normally use it as a study period, but I hardly ever have homework now, so I always have an hour of Solitaire facing me (We're not allowed to randomly search the web during 'free time', which I have too much of. No roleplaying for me, I guess).

I am allowed to work on my website, but there is little to convince me to do so, as I'm just editing now. I might as well bring the disk in, though: I have nothing better to do, and I really need to get my site done. I suppose I can send stuff through my Gaggle email thing---I'm the only one who sends stuff to me, anyway.

I'll need to make a checklist of the entire site---one BIG checklist. Once every page is completely finished, I'll be able to check it off. Hmmm...

Moving on to Bigger and Redder Things

As most of you know, I play the bassoon. I've been playing it since November, but have only gotten serious in the past two months or so, when I've been taking lessons.

Well, I'm playing bassoon at the next and final band concert on Thursday. We're going to KY Kingdom, which I think is going to be really fun. I've never been, so I'm interested in seeing what it's like.

I brought the bassoon to school for the first day this year today. Oddly enough, I'm still sitting with the flutes. Oh well---I can hear the bass players well enough. It's interesting to see how much more I pay attention to all the instruments now that I'm not playing the melody line.

It's also fun watching people stare in amazement as I pull out my RED instrument. My BIG red instrument. My WEIRD big red instrument. First they guessed it was just a bigger oboe (Nooo), then a clarinet (NO), and then they gave up and figured it had a weird sound (Somewhat true).

I introduced them to the wonders of bassoon by playing a little bit of "Sorcerer's Apprentice", which I figured they would recognize. Whether they did or not...well, they know what it sounds like!

As my title says, I'm not moving onto bigger and better things (As the flute and oboe are awesome). I'm simply going to bigger and REDDER things.

Still on my laptop

I've recently moved my laptop over to my bedside table. It was cold in the corner where it used to be, and I can pull a blanket out on my bad. It's rather cozy, and I like the setup a lot.

I've spent basically all of today in bed, working on my laptop. I did actually get work done, though: between hands of Solitaire, I finished my dreaded 50-question pre-test. If this thing turns out to be extra credit, though, I think I'm gonna scream. It took me about THREE HOURS. And I still have a few math problems to do, clean my room, and pack up, all in thirty minutes. Better go take my Melatonin now so I can actually go to sleep.

Good thing: I'm going to be bringing my bassoon to school starting tomorrow! I'm playing it at the KY Kingdom concert, so we need to rehearse. I'm really excited, and I think my band teacher is, too: we, by far, have the smallest bass section ever. Heck, in my 2nd period class, I'm the only kid who plays a bass clef instrument. (We have a bass clarinet and a TC baritone, but apparently they read really low treble clef) Other than that, there's two trombones and an electric bass in third period, making four of us bass clef readers in 7th grade. There's about 4 or 5 in eighth, totalling to 8 or 9. Not bad---unless you count that the clarinet section alone is bigger. Not to mention a zillion a one flutes, several trumpets, etc. We're really washed out!

Hopefully, the almighty bassoon will bring some bass-ness and mellowness to the mix. We need some!

Tomorrow is Work Day

I've always loved Saturdays. Fridays are pretty cool, but Saturday is awesome.

Sunday...not so much. It's the day that I have to do all the homework that I've stalled on, and I have a LOT of homework this week. I have to make a stupid practice test over Animal Farm---with 5o questions---due Monday! I'm NOT going to forget the answer key this time and get a 50% on it, as I'm a third done and it's taken me an hour. Hopefully, typing will make it go faster.

I also have a few math problems. No problemo: that's what calculators are for, right?

Then there's practicing piano and bassoon. I have TWO concerts/recitals this week, a band concert on Thursday and a piano recital on Friday. I'm playing bassoon in the concert, and I need to look at my sheet music. Come to think of it, I also need to email my band teacher and ask her if she wants me to bring my bassoon rather than my oboe on Monday.

Finally Friday

And it's about time! I've been waiting for today all week, as now we only have two more real weeks of school.

The annoying thing is, I've finished all my work for the rest of the year in Computer Apps. My teacher offers extra credit, but I have an A+ in her class. Therefore, I have 12 hours ahead of me of study hall. However, usually I spend most of it going over one question: homework?...or Solitaire?

I'm a Snowball!

Not literally, but not quiet figuratively either. I finished Animal Farm for my Language Arts class today, and I'm surprised to say it was actually quite good! I compared some people to characters in the book, and I came up with Maya as Clover. I would probably be Snowball, but I don't know.

I was rather impressed with the ending. I liked how it was a blend of Russian history and out-in-the-country England. The way everything seemed to dissolve under the power of the aptly named Napoleon was rather interesting, as was Squealer's little rants and raves. Towards the ending (Starting in chapter seven), I was starting to get annoyed, as this were dissolving a little TOO much. However, in the end, it was all good.

All in all, I'd suggest you read this if you haven't! It's interesting, and the characters are all lovable...in their furry, possibly tyrant-like way. (Gotta love them Stupid Sheep, though!)

Rehersal: CANCELLED

Well, I was SUPPOSED to have rehersal for Beauty and the Beast today, but the vocal teacher/pianist wasn't here. It took everyone until about 6:30 to realize there WAS no rehersal, and that we had spent an hour and a half doing nothing.

Mostly nothing. We were supposed to bring a notebook and a pencil, so most people wound up drawing. I didn't do much---just a really bad sketch of Beast and a random drawing of a random person I randomly made up. Surprising, this one girl seemed to really like the way I drew people, and wanted to know if she could copy it to have a replica. I shrugged, and when I finished (I was about to head out the door), I just gave it to her. She can keep it, throw it away, forget about it, whatever: we all win!

Bird Problems

The birds have been getting bigger, and I will admit they're pretty cute now:



There are a few little problems, though.

• The birds are getting too big for the nest, despite the new wing.
• The birds are learning to fly, therefore making it nearly impossible to get them back IN the nest when they fall out
• We're not sure if all the birds are going to accept the new nest we've been preparing for them: a laundry basket with a towel in it.

I just tried to help my mom load the birdies back into their nest, but they just kept flying/falling out the other end. Ugh.

So, if there are any other bird people out there, what would you suggest?

Home again!

Well, we finally made it back from Alabama. IT's weird: the trip back up from somewhere never seems to take as long. Anyway, it's great to be back. What's NOT great is that we still have three weeks of school! Still, it's May, and the end of the year is marked on my lovely Good Charlotte calendar. That's a rather encouraging thought. Still, I just want summer to be here!

Pictures will be coming tomorrow, as my day will be rather boring.

Photos Coming Soon!

I saw one of my best friends, Ally, today. It was great to finally meet her! As expected, we did he usual "Mischa-Gwen-Mark-Danika-Oh-my-gosh!" talk. It was a lot of fun, and I hope we can get together again sometime.

Considering we're still in AL, I can't post photos. Howeverm we have them, and I'l hopefully be able to post them soon.

From the Files in the Dark Office

Yes, I'm still feeling too lazy to turn the lights on. My laptop has NOT had a miracle from the Gods, so it's still not working. Oh well.

Today I did the stupidest thing you can imagine: jumped into the lake. It was about 70 degrees outside and pretty windy, and it was cloudy, too. Not incredibly warm. The water was ALSO about 70 degrees, which a lot of people know isn't very warm.

Still, I decided that my trip wasn't worthwhile unless I went swimming. I wound up staying in the water for about 10 minutes, as it was COLD. Add this as number 3298 on the great list of Stupid Things Alicebelle Has Done.

Headin' Down to Alabama

I'm writing this from the dark office at my grandparent's house. It wouldn't be dark if I turned the lights on, come to think of it, but I'm being lazy. I give myself a little slack: we just drove for 8 hours, and I'm still a little sick.

My stupid laptop isn't working either here or in the car, so I had to go to my last resort: homework. Ew. I officially have a grudge on the continent of Africa, because it has so much freakin' stuff to put in my stupid map! Today was South Africa, and it didn't fail to impress me with its too-much-stuff-in-too-small-a-space-ness.

We're going to be here until Monday, so I'll be having relatively short posts from this dark office. (That is, unless some miracle happens and my laptop begins working again. But that's wishful thinking.)

Concerto Number II

Today was the night of my second band concert. It was a bit shaky at first, but it turned out really well!

First problem was that my oboe decided to go a half step flat. It didn't matter as much in the concert music (I'd be drowned out by 5 clarinets and 4 flutes anyway), but my friend Kari and I were doing an oboe-flute duet. It was going well until today, when WHAM! It sounded horrid.

My band teacher looked a little mortified as I told her that I didn't think I could use oboe for the duet. However, all was not lost. I pointed out that I could also play the flute, and I might be able to play my part of flute. She shrugged, handed me her flute, and we tried it. Behold! It worked.



I did mess up in a few parts, but bear in mind: I practically sight-read that thing. I had played it once on flute before, and that's it. However, my friend Katie was rather impressed, and she's a REALLY GOOD flutist.

After our songs, I was feeling a bit deflated. I had (What I thought) messed up major-time on my duet, and my oboe was STILL freakishly flat. I sort of felt like crawling under a rock and dying. Then again, I also felt like sending the flute over to the Salvation Army's metal collection, but I refrained from both tempting urges.

At the end, Mrs. Redmon was giving out awards. I wasn't really expecting to win Best Woodwind (I didn't), and I wasn't that upset about it. I play three different woodwinds, one of which I taught myself, so I knew I was one heck of a woodwind player, and didn't need a trophy to prove it.

However, Mrs. Redmon also gives out her own awards that aren't voted on by the band students. She gives out awards for Most Improved and Most Outstanding Musician. I think it was two awards for Most Improved (one for seventh grade, one for eighth). The Most Outstanding had four, two for each grade level. Imagine my surprise when she looked in my direction and called me up to receive my award:



THAT, my friends, was a truly awesome night!