Home again, home again

One French movie (I've Loved You So Long), a disk of Two Towers appendices, most of Life of Pi, 16 hours, and two days of driving later, we're home from Florida. Time there seemed to rush past, and now I notice that there isn't much summer left. How that that have happened? I still remember the last day of 8th grade, walking out of the building and having two months ahead of me. Now we're down to less than one.

Hopefully the school year will go that fast? I still have a nice chunk of summer work (Scarlet Letter, moments sheet, and four chapters of German) but I have officially decided to make room enough to read the last two Lord of the Rings books before summer ends. It's too late to learn to play guitar before school starts, but I want to accomplish something.

Inspire me

It's obvious that I've given up on the 2009 Blog365. Ever since Jamaica, I've been behind in a lot of my Internet-type accounts, especially MySpace, DeviantArt, and Blogger. I've actually been on FaceBook quite a lot, just not for status updates.

As proven before, it's hard to stop blogging and then start again. I've been finding significantly more and more things that I would normally blog, though less and less desire to do so. Therefore, I ask your opinion: should I keep blogging?

You don't even have to post a comment. I have my SiteMeter put up, so by just seeing that you were here (and what your operating system, browser, and resolution were) for say, a minute to read this post, that'll be adequate. If you're still reading me ramble on, you're helping the cause! (If you hate this blog, then close out of it so as to cast your vote too).

Thanks!

Slow internet. Cell phone blogging. Saw "Up" and "Stand By Me" today and both were great. Hopefully internet works tomorrow.

Harvey has something to say

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Contacts and braces

What this post was supposed to be about, but my mom already mentioned those. She didn't say, though, that the world through contacts is kind of like HD TV except its the entire world. I'm still getting used to them, and they're quite strange...and the braces just plain hurt.

However, I suppose now I should say that, as everyone seems to know, today was not a good day in Celebrity World. To think that Farra Fawcett and Michael Jackson are dead is just completely unreal. I mean, one of the originals on Charlie's Angels and the King of Pop? They're like Steve Irwin, supposed to stay alive because tabloids can't stop posting about them.

I do realize that Jackson got himself into several...precarious situations, but it bugs me immensly when people talk about how the world is a "better place" without such a "terrible person". He was an American Icon with more talent than almost anyone on the music scene today, and was also among the first to really raise awareness of problems such as AIDS and famine in countries like Ethiopia ("We Are the World", anyone?) There were actual reasons behind the change in his skin color and his nose.

We're leaving for Florida/Fort Benning tomorrow and I really do hope a lot of the "celebration" has died down. Until then, I'll probably be taking Motrin and drinking milkshakes in the car.

Blog365?

One might notice that I've kind of given up on that idea. Therefore, when there is something to blog (like today), I will. If I blog it and it turns out to be 1:32, I'll just publish it with that time, probably. Maybe not. It'll all just depend on what I feel like.

I spent the large majority of today in the basement, where Maya and I recorded three lovely songs:

The Confrontation



Angel of Music



Macavity



It took the better part of the afternoon, and in the evening we (meaning Mom, Dad, and me, with Mike staying at home) headed over to a neighbor's house for a going away party. I was able to talk to/get to know some people who I've known for about a year, though never really "knew knew". Apparently, we have a lot in common, from Addams Family to musicals to Little Miss Sunshine. I went over to her house and we watched Edward Scissorhands (a favorite of both of us) until elven.

Though it sounds totally stupid, I'd like to point the sudden changes to Yes Man, which we watched the other day. I've sort of tried to start my own YES program for myself to open myself up to the neighborhood and make the most out of the last year at Fort Knox.

Jon and Kate

I have a strict policy on myself for not posting smilies on my blog, but I think that it can all be summed with one.

D:

Got nice little chunk of summer homework done, and forgot about blogging till now. Cell phone post...sorry.

What terrifies me

- Fires
- Spiders, cockroaches, and other such crawlies
- The THX Certified...certification preview
- The idea of AP classes

I really need to find my sheets for Plymouth Plantation so I can get that over with and start on Scarlet Letter. Between that comes 8 chapters of German, and typing up 14 chapters of German Vokabeln.

Why my blog is boring as of late

It's dawned on me that most of my interesting stories happen during the school year, when I can write about things such as being sent around the school a la Animal Crossing or accidentally getting hit in the jaw with a half-full Propel bottle. In the summer there isn't much for me to write about, because there is little going on. Mom seems to be covering Jamaica, so that leaves me with just about nothing.

I could talk about how we set up my bed (I traded my daybed for my dad's old double bed), but, really: do you honestly want to hear about it? I'll blog that when I have a comforter instead of makeshift sheets and all, but right now it isn't that blogworthy.

My blog is at it's best when it's like a never ending version of Idiot Girls, and whether the kind of post would fit more in Flying Tantrum of Death or Action Adventure Club doesn't particularly matter. When I'm cool with it, I like talking about strange things that happen to me throughout the day.

I'm trying to think, and the only thing that hits mind is that, in response to the loud hum of the vacuum, Harvey, who I was holding, did a nice little number on my arm---three inches across and drawing a little blood, to be precise. I tried calming him but he kept trying to claw himself away until I had to just grab his feet and toss him on the bed in the next room.

Now I look completely emo. I wear jeans during the day to cover up the scabbed bug bites from Jamaica (and my non-shaven legs because I'm afraid to shave over so many open wounds"), and now I have a line down my arm. Good time to be wearing jeans and hoodies---the newspaper today boasted something along the lines of "Humidity rises temperatures in area by at least three to seven degrees all week!"

There. If I could blog that on a daily basis, maybe I'll get somewhere. On other days, I suppose I'll lament about the blog. Either that or share random, stupid facts about something I did that day (Like put up a bed or cheer on the wrong actor in Matrix just because I knew who Hugo Weaving was and I didn't have the foggiest clue who anyway else was).

New logo!

I realized that my old logo (and layout) was incredibly outdated, for I had short hair and was incredibly pale. A week in Jamaica and a year just about anywhere changed that up. Therefore, I spent my evening sprucing up the blog with a fresher vibe.

What sayeth thou?

What makes me sad

- Roadkill on the dog-walking route
- Depressing Facebook status updates
- Not being able to eat because of the spacers...
- ...and thus having to skip out on eating Indian with everyone else and settling for chewing up lettuce with my front teeth

Orthodontics

I disapprove of it.

I'm getting braces in a week, and to prepare myself for such a daunting endeavor, I got spacers put in. Two, actually, one on each side my mouth, bottom set of teeth. They hurt like nobody's business, and I'm having non-fond recollections of when I had my oral surgery. However, with the surgery they gave me Amazing Happy Drugs (that were NOT crack before anyone gets ideas) that made the world seem a lot better. The most they suggested here was Motrin.

I took Motrin a couple hours ago, and it helped about as much as eating a stack of paper would. Reread that a few times if it doesn't make sense, because it isn't supposed to.

On a better note, Mom and I went to the (new and larger!) music store next to the Indian restaurant where we had lunch, and I found the piano sheet music to selections of the first to Lord of the Rings movies. I haven't really gotten into the second one, but so far I have four songs played through in Fellowship: "In Dreams", "Lament for Gandalf", "Many Meetings", and "May It Be". I want to get into "Isengard Unleashed" (or at least the selection for "Haldir's Lament" for reasons I'm sure many of you are aware of) in the second one, but I'm taking it a song at a time. It's nice to have some new sightreading and sheet music, though.

New baby

Meet Harvey:

The next week's posts are cancelled

I'm going to be in Jamaica for six nights starting tomorrow, and while I'm taking my computer (movie watching and writing purposes only---not Internet) there will be no blogging. I'm going to be keeping track of what goes on and taking pictures, though---on Tuesday when we come back I'll bring everyone up to date by posting on the appropriate dates.

And on a side note---Happy 15th, Karen!

Blogging Lull

I have recently been in a huge thing about not feeling particularly bloggy. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but each night at about thirty till midnight, I wind up slapping some video up rather than posting actual words.

I think that I've been using all my Writing Energy on this fanfiction. I've gotten a nice little bit done on that, but here...no comment.

Vitamin String Quartet

Is officially my new favorite group.

Bask in their epicness:

Putting on the fake house

With Dad (and my grandparents) coming tomorrow, a large chunk of today was spent getting the house in enough order so that it looked like we were mostly on top of things (in other words, the "fake house"). The rest was at Kohls, where we finished up our shopping for Jamaica. I got a lighter hoodie (as in not black or teddy-bear-fur-lined) and several camis, which, after the long trip to New York and Company, was all I really needed (and a coverup for the beach, which was actually from Wal*Mart).

We are (for the most part) READY!

Blast to the past

I'm going through an Animaniacs obsession. Until recently, I hadn't seen it for years but now that I understand a lot of the cultural references it's amazing.

Here are some of my favorites:







They don't make cartoons like this anymore!

From yesterday

I got my hair darkened and highlighted:

Request #1

More photography

The cake is a lie...

...but at least the brownies were okay.

I suppose that many of you have read my mom's unfortunate case that has left her prisoner in bed. I've spent a nice bit of the day running up and down stairs getting things like the ice pack, her purse, pain killers, etc.

She made an odd request this afternoon: "You know, brownies would really make my ankle feel better :)"

Many of us know that brownies do NOT possess the magical powers to heal sprains. I couldn't say no, but was still rather nervous. She was asking me, who can't even cook a can of microwavable soup without ruining it, to work the oven and make brownies by myself. I think those painkillers must have had some sort of if-you-feel-high-you-feel-great kick to them.

I didn't kill myself, burn down the house, or, worse, the brownies. I couldn't cut them after spending a nice hour or so making them, though. They were like rubbery little bricks. Eventually, I gave up and told everyone (meaning Mike, who was getting Mom's stuff on a plate so she wouldn't have to get out of bed) to grab a hunk of brownie, because cutting them into was NOT going to happen.

Several more trips downstairs to do things such as microwave the brownies, retrieve forks, and box up pizza, we began eating brownies at about 9:40. Everyone else really liked them, but after wasting spending all that time on them, they just weren't as good as I thought they could be.

Time to ask the readers

I've been in a lull of blogging lately, and I'm not entirely sure what to write. Therefore, I'm asking you, my lovely readers, to tell me what YOU want to read.

Seriously. I'll do pretty much anything. You want movie reviews for a week? I can make that happen. An essay on the music of Danny Elfman? You got yourself an essay. A random file on my computer, a picture...whatever.

Dancing Queen

Isn't Maya epic?

A spin off of "Name that Tune"

Rather, it's "Name this Cat":



Help? (After "Sweeney" was shot down, I'm rooting for Boris. Suggestions are welcome.)

Oh my god

I'm done with middle school.

YESSS!!!

School Countdown: 1 day

I can't believe that I'm actually writing this, knowing that next time I blog (unless I do so at 6:20 in the morning when I'm eating breakfast) I will officially be done with middle school. Like, not just done with that one particular year of middle school. Done as in DONE done.

While at times it has been a really long year, for the most part (and considering the length of a year), it truly has gone by fast. This is one of those times when I'm not getting all sentimental-"Slipping Through My Fingers", though.

Rather, here's a better one:



So to kind of sign off...thank you, readers, for putting up with my rants this year when you probably had better things to do. Be ready for some posts tagged with "Summer"---this is the final "Spring"!

School Countdown: 2 days

Today was the final orchestra concert. To get an idea of how several of them went, heres recordings from three of them:

"Under the Sea"



"Finale" (Beethoven's 5th)



"Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme"



"Pink Panther" (My bassoon demonstration. This was today)

School Countdown: 3 days

Two orchestra concerts today. One tomorrow.

Griped about the dress code for a nice chunk of the evening. Probably what's most frustrating is that there is no way that hasn't already been approached to change the code. I used to be all passionate about can-we-wear-hoodies, but now if we could just untuck our shirts I'd be the happiest camper ever.

School Countdown: 4 days

And two of them (tomorrow and Wednesday) are Orchestra Concerts, so I won't even be there.

I feel insanely on top of things, as I have plans for the first week of summer to be completely set aside to getting my life back in order. I'm using my trusty Remember the Milk! to make lists of things I need to do, and I honestly can't wait.

Only four more days until I have to start writing "Summer" as my tag instead of "Spring"!

Blissful Nothingness

I feel terribly guilty, as every night before I go to bed I realize I haven't blogged. I dread doing it, and then smack a video or LOLcat in and call it content. True, there is no oath for this year that it making me blog, but I know that if I stop doing it then I won't ever start up again.

So I'll report what happened today: nothing. You all know that that means something. A full day with no commitments? That's a rare treat at the old Taylor place.

For the first time in ages, I slept in. REALLY slept in---the dog woke me up at 10:30. I piano-ed for most of the day, digging out sheet music from years ago to songs such as:



and

Happy Richard Shufelt Day!

That wasn't supposed to make sense. It's a Musical Theatre joke.

Speaking of which, the final recital was tonight, and the only thing that stands between me and the end of the school year is three orchestra concerts and the final two days of school.

From algebra class

"Kaitlyn loves to draw :3"

Making my spot in the world

I went to about ten minutes of the final school board meeting today, and they went over the results of the schools for the QAR (some school test-thing that proves that yes, we are a school). I was given a golden ticket forever ago to go and talk to them, and I did. I told them greatly about how there was a rather limited source of different levels of education and that I was typically bored in class.

One of the recommendations for Scott was "provide different education through differentiation." That's me right there, readers!

Upon finding this out, I did the usual victory-slam (like in Mean Girls where one arm is a sling and you fling the other arm into it).

Thing is, the slamming through the other hand/fist up...into my face.

Oh, and my German video got first at State! Mike got second, as we were, again, the only people to do videos. You'd think there would be more Berlin Film-Fest hopefuls in Kentucky.

For those of you who missed my movie, Schwimmen!, here it is:

Events on an eventful day

• First orchestra concert where we go to the schools
  
• Went with Mom to say "hi" to one of her friends who worked at the school
  
• ...and gave an impromptu bassoon concert in the Special Needs room.
  
• Attempted to put hair in bun
  
• Failed
  
• Went to rehearsal
  
• And stayed their an hour longer than it said we would be there
  
• Wasn't able to go to Joana's to pick up my character shoes (Sorry, Joana!)
  
• Planned to look over my agenda for tomorrow

As for Aubrey---I was totally, totally, TOTALLY going to write Vagrants today. Insanity is what insanity was, sooo that didn't go over. But I really wanted to, believe me.

What I might be ashamed to say

Last year, around this time, I prided myself in being an almost-vegetarian. Today I wound up eating three turkey sandwiches.

I can't be completely blamed for the first one---it came with the school lunch for the field trip, and it was paired with a thing of orange juice and some apple slices. From there, I couldn't find much around the house, and so another sandwich.

For dinner after the dress code meeting? Guess.

From the files

Ice cream with Julianna in Carlisle:





A little rock figurine I drew in Sketcher:

Never thought I'd be saying it

But I ducked out of YTHC this season. It's been an insane year, and I haven't exactly had a break from anything. With Dad deploying and Jamaica and everything, I don't think I could have balanced everything out.

I might be working backstage in July, though. I really just need to take June off and breathe.

My life

Is terribly uneventful right now.

Well, yes, I have recitals and concerts pretty much all of next week, and today Mom and I went to Louisville to get some shopping done and listen to a concert by a friend of ours. But everything seems to be covered on Mom's blog.

I feel the need to still post here, though. That way, if something comes along, I'll post it rather than viewing it as no real importance.

Blog365: Day 136

Nothing terribly exciting happened today, but perhaps you can find some interest in my mom's blog. (I'd like to take credit for the sweater issue, as Mom stole that bit of shenanigans from my dress code survey. And yes, Mom, that is the third time I've said "shenanigans" today. That was my fourth.)

Cell phone blogging. On my way to Etown for another exciting adventure. Real post tomorrow. Sorry.

These are a few of my favorite things

Put it the order they occured:

- Not having German homework
- Rereading Phantom of the Opera for the third time (This is a beaten up copy---pages are tornish and edges curling, not to mention today it went through the rain)
- Having 11 days of school left
- Studying for the science test...
- ...but Mom picking me up just before my teacher gave out the test
- Splitting a Hershey's bar
- Watching the Pilates group lesson
- Having my own Pilates lesson (Including the AMAZING Cadilac---I felt like I was jumping out of Cats. It's amazing.)
- Lunch at Whole Foods
- The last Musical Theatre rehearsal
- Diablo
- Taking out DanceDance Revolution and being beastly at it
- Going to bed early (Well this WILL occur in several minutes)

All in all, a splendid kind of day.

Thanks, Papa!

For sending me this:

"I AM your host!"

I got to play Drama Department MC for the chorus concert tonight. I actually only got to read announcements, but I'd have loved to pull a real Joel Grey, excessive makeup and all:

So

I'm having second thoughts about this school talent show thing. I really don't know anything that I haven't already played that's a huge audience pleaser (such as Ice Dance or Sorcerer's Apprentice).

Anyone have an idea for something I could whip together really quickly on piano? I guess I could do something on bassoon but I've been doing so much of it lately. Besides, everyone in that school knows that I play bassoon and that I play it pretty well, so it isn't the huge surprise factor that I'm going for.

And now everything is fine

Because I found my socks.

Socks: MIA

My lucky socks are missing. Like, we checked the band room AND the gym. And in just about every other place they've been. They're gone!!! So I've been spending some time trying to find them...please send Good Sock Hunting Vibes!

Power to the purple socks

One of the lovable (read: strange) things about me is that I have a pair of purple-striped knee socks that I wear every Thursday. I don't even care WHAT I'm wearing---those socks will go with it somehow. Everyone seems to love those socks, and so Thursday is typically one of my favorite days of the week.

This week, those socks were dirty. I figured that I could go a day without them. After all, how terrible could it be?

I was sadly surprised. Let's just say the day started out with my reed cup spilling IN MY PURSE and my best reed almost breaking and then went downhill.

Tonight was the band concert, so naturally I was freaked out that the absence of the socks would throw me off. Mom did laundry and threw them in, but with the dress code being black pants, white shirt, I couldn't very well slip purple socks past the band teacher.

So, in hopes that it might work, I threw those socks into my bassoon case and took them with me. Yes, readers, you might call me a geek but I NEEDED those socks. Badly. The solo was that night and I didn't need any more misfortune. (When I had to leave the case in the band room, my mom threw the socks in her purse so as to keep them near).

My reed fell to the floor twice, but thankfully we were in the gym---rubber floor! It bounced several times as I yelped "NOBODY MOVE!" and blew it off. It didn't break or even crack. I had a sense that the socks were beginning to work their magic.

Did they do a good job? I'll let you be the judge there: here's the video of me playing "Sorcerer's Apprentice", my dream piece since 5th grade (as well as the piece that made me want to play bassoon in the first place).



I'd like to say that I'm pretty beastin' there, if I do say so myself.

For the second year, I won the award for "Most Outstanding Musician: Female". I find it interesting that I've gotten it on two different instruments---last year I played oboe, and this year bassoon. Here I am with...pretty much everything:



And here's me with my amazing band director ("I love you Mrs. Redmon!!!"):



I think tonight was a very appropriate final gig for that bassoon; the high school is wanting their instrument back. I'll still have the other bassoon, though, so I'm not quitting---you'll be able to hear about plenty more bassoon drama later. I need a couple days to focus on something else, like piano.

BEEEAST!!!

Penultimate concert evening

The middle school concert is tomorrow, so I'll be able so show off some wicked bassoon (Sorcerer's Apprentice, as I've said more than ample times) and hopefully it'll all go well. I'm kind of hoping that the rehearsal doesn't go AMAZING, because that's what happened with the high school concert: our rehearsal went bad, but the performance was nothing short of epic (for what our 23 members can do, which is quite surprising!)

Of course, there is the other music, but I'm not terribly concerned about it, as I can play it fairly easily. It's not terribly hard music, but with everyone coming together (and with PERCUSSION! I haven't played with percussion in middle school since forever ago) it sounds much better.

Then it's dashing off to Youth Orchestra, which I'm kind of nervous about. It IS just rehearsal, but I've been neglecting my music since I've been going insane on this bassoon solo.

Oh, and I totally love my accompanist and band teacher. They helped my mom and I schedule a get-together with the accompanist to practice without a bunch of people listening in as I learned what the piano part was---I had never heard it until this afternoon. He was rather friendly and helpful, and even let me record him playing it so that I could run through it a few times at home (which I have taken full advantage of).

One concert down

The high school concert is down, and in two days is the middle school concert. Tonight went surprisingly well, despite me not really practicing my music (and only seeing the final piece this afternoon). We played us a mean "Heron Bay" and "Mission: Impossible", and "On a Hymnsong by Philip Bliss" went really well as well.

Oh, and my new nickname is apparently Hannibal Lecter. Inside joke from band with "Annabelle" somehow sounding like "Hannibal". Thus, Hannibal Lecter.

Now I'm working like a mad hatter (HAH HAH HAH) on "Sorcerer's Apprentice", all my orchestra music, and what I'm planning on doing for the end-of-the-year Talent Show. My song of choice (played on piano and hopefully singing as well?)

Bullet statements

• Mom let me sleep in late today because I knew I wasn't doing anything in first through third period (and it turns out I wasn't). It was nice to actually sleep for the first time in several days.
  
  
• The piano player for "Sorcerer's Apprentice" didn't show up today...again. I'm getting a little anxious about it.
  
  
• I'm not entirely sure what to do for an upcoming school talent show.
  
  
• The first rehearsal for Wizard of Oz was tonight, and despite being in a rather nasty mood about it beforehand, I'm really excited now.
  
  
• Maya sent me this:
  
  
  
  
• The high school band concert is tomorrow, so I practiced some of my music for that (and Sorcerer's Apprentice). Looks like I'm a beast on Apprentice and somewhat adequate for high school music.
  
  
• I really wish I didn't have to go to school tomorrow. We're not doing anything as far as I know. Hopefully, we'll finish Sound of Music in German.
  

Blogging from the road. 20 more minutes and we're home... And then only 45 more minutes of weekend. So not ready to go back to school tomorrow.

Carlisle: first and last day

If today had a theme song, it'd be "One Short Day" from Wicked. Everything today was just bang-bang-bang, because one can only fit so much stuff (and so much food!) in one thirteen-hour period.

The day started out with breakfast at this really cute diner that Dad and I actually had breakfast at when I came up. It was a tough call, but I chose blueberry over chocolate chip pancakes at the last minute simply because B comes before C in the alphabet. When all else fails, go to the tried-and-true alpha-beta.

We met some of our "invisible friends" for coffee (actually hot chocolate and a couple sodas) this afternoon, so I got to chat up with my friend Julianna for the first time in about two years. Naturally, we discussed everything that nobody else at the table would understand, so we got ourselves our own small island so as not to confuse everybody. (We also met for ice cream, which was delish as well).

After watching the Derby (which started at 6:30 rather that 6:05) it was back to the feedbag for meeting some of Mom's college friends for dinner. Again, more great food that I probably should have restrained myself on. Then again, why not go a little all-out? It's the weekend.

All in all, a really good day. Too bad tomorrow is going to be 10 hours of driving.

Surprise!

We aren't in Alabama. We just had to write that so as not to reveal to Dad that, actually, we were going to Pennsylvania to surprise him for his birthday. Aren't we good at lying? (Even though we were all close to bursting by the end?)

Oh, and Mike, some of the kids at the party, and I all went to see Wolverine at 9:30 this night. It wasn't quite as epic as the trailers made it seem, but a night out with friends to see an overrated movie later that we should is good for you every so often.

Happy Birthday, Dad! (Even though your birthday is tomorrow.)

Sweet home Alabama

We're finishing packing and will (hopefully) soon hit the road! Next time you hear from me will either be from my phone or from the infamous Dark Office.

When you think 8 measures is hard

Apparently, there are no places to breath towards the end of "Sorcerer's Apprentice". This means that, in that 24-measure sequence, I have to do it all in one breath. Granted, it's 3/8 and piano, but the jumps from note to note are absolutely insane.

I think this piece is going to kill me before the end.

Cell phone blogging

Today was adorable until I started my algebra homework...and now I mostly feel like a numerical idiot. I'm so OVER this algebra crap. It's supposed to be easy but it doesn't make any sense. And I still have to bassoon after this.

So today wasn't adorable

At least I got some stuff accomplished.

"Listen, my adorable friends...!"

A*dor*a*ble:
adj.
Inspiring great affection; delightful; charming

That was the word for today. Everything was, in one was or another, adorable. It was slightly unsettling.

That's okay, though! Cause next week will not be adorable (tomorrow will be filled with homework due Tuesday that should have been done over the weekend) and last week was not. A chill, adorable weekend isn't too bad.

Much improved

Mom told me to "make today yours" since it started out kind of on the low side (Still post-audition pessimism)

So today I did absolutely nothing. I took a nap this afternoon, called Maya for two hours, updated a couple things online, etc.

I'm in a much better mood. Sadly, tomorrow is going to be my Get Stuff Accomplished Day, but it's been a while since I've had a weekend where I didn't have to go ANYWHERE.

Auditions

I'm in my typical post-audition pessimistic mood. For anything serious, best wait until tomorrow.

One of those I-wish-I-had-a-dance-company moments

Every so often I'll get hooked on a certain song and try and choreograph something from it (For example, last summer it was "Maison de Lunes" from Beauty and the Beast). Granted, I've tried to figure out a couple things for "Jitterbug" (Wizard of Oz) but recently I found this little wonder on my iPod:



So I have this piece on my head that's fully done, and I think it's pretty good (yet fairly complex, involving ropes and a lot of stage combat).

Since it's like that, I can't exactly find anyone to perform it...very sad, really.

My type of procrastination

Isn't completely useless...I think. Instead of practicing "Sorcerer's Apprentice" like I should be doing, I'm listening to classical and ragtime on YouTube. Is that considered time wasted?

I promised myself to get off at 8:30. That's in three minutes. Time for one more song!

Don't fight the river

I think I found that out today, with the river being everyday hassles (Middle School being a perfect example). This morning things seemed to be going downhill, but they magically seemed to pick up as I let go of some long-time grudges. Okay, so maybe they're not complete grudges. And maybe I'm not completely over them. But it's a start, and it felt good.

It also feels good knowing that I'm on the right track to becoming a complete beast on "Sorcerer's Apprentice" for bassoon. It's like living out my 5th grade dream.

Since Mom brought out things from the files, I'm going to send you off to some "blodder" with a link. Enjoy my DeviantArt with some photography from various colleges.

Passing it along

I got two videos today that demanded to be passed along.

Well...I grant them their wishes.





And I finally posted the video of Karen and Alicebelle Show: Episode II.

Testing this...

I just registered for this Blogger Mobile that will, apparently, let me post via text. Lets see how it turns out!

EDITED TO ADD (from computer): It worked!

Quite a loverly day

That's quite a change in the weather based on how school is in session, eh? To be honest, today was actually incredibly nice. I hope that some of that will fester off into the next five weeks (along with things like the band trip and auditions) to make the year more bearable.

Mom and I went to Louisville to get some new tights and possibly something to wear to YTHC auditions (after receiving tips to look nice versus the jeans that I likely wore last year). At the dance store, we found the tights and a new pair of character shoes that fit much better than my old ones---a size larger and only a 1 1/2 inch heel. Shorter heels are my friends.

After some Indian food that we missed on Wednesday due to rather nasty traffic, we headed over to Macy's, as they apparently had a sale going on for certain skirts or other dress items. I scored an amazing dress that is fairly easy on, easy off for the audition (and something nice to wear for formal-er dinners in Jamaica) and a totally hot pair of fitted-but-not-agonizing purple shorts. Yes. PURPLE. They look amazing with my Bats With Bows hoodie that I wear obsessively during the summer.

I got some work done on my prologue, though not as much as I would have liked. I did manage to get over to my neighbor's house to mess around on their piano (They have an amazing grand piano) for a couple hours this afternoon as well.

Tonight was Prom for the upperclassmen, but parents were invited to come for the crowning ceremony. Mike was up for Prom Prince (I suppose the junior version of King and Queen), so Mom and I walked down because Mike had the car and the weather was lovely either way.

At the end of the ceremony---which was actually very short---they had the tradition Parent Dance where, if your parent(s) were in the crowd, you could drag them onto the dance floor and slow dance.

Mom didn't dance, but I can safely say that I am the first person at school to have danced at Prom (I hate my expression in this picture, but it was hard to tell when Mom was taking pictures since EVERYTHING was flashing):



...granted, that dance was with my brother, and I didn't really know what to do (Seems I'm not the naturally graceful slow dancer I imagined myself being). I still like to think it counts for something, though.

Mike was still out, so Mom and I finished the evening with cinnamon ice cream and Little Miss Sunshine. I can also safely say that this is my new favorite movie and that Paul Dano is my new favorite actor. This is now my desktop background:

Still no progress

I promised Aubrey that tonight I would re-write the prologue to this thing I'm working on. Well, so far I've spent 45 minutes editing my MySpace photos and another hour editing my profile. No progress on the prologue, and I think that I'm going to have to start it over (AGAIN) because it isn't sounding quite right. I need to stop procrastinating on this, because despite what John Lennon says ("Time you enjoyed wasting is not time wasted") sometimes you need to waste your time with something productive.

Unlikely events

Today I:

- Watched Sound of Music in German class (but the English version, so I was humming the lyrics in the back of the room)
- Had a very strange grade in English for all of 20 minutes
- Practiced "Sorcerer's Apprentice" for about an hour
- Helped someone at Youth Orchestra figure out a measure in "Superman" that I had always had trouble with.

And as it's only nine, you know what other unlikely thing I'm going to do?

- Go to bed EARLY (Hoozai!)

For sanity's sake

Today was a "mental health day" (As in going down to Pilates---the most AMAZING workout I think I've ever done). I wore my candy skull pajama pants after hearing that fleece/sweatpants will make you roast, and brought a pair of FKHS sweats to change into for lunch.

Well, Mom and I got into discussion, and we were seated in California Pizza Kitchen before I realized that I was still wearing my pajamas. I suppose that's Karma for me snickering when people go into Wal*Mart wearing fuzzy slippers and Spongebob pajamas. Naturally, Mom gave me some grief about it (lovingly, as she was complaining that her sweater didn't match her pants) and I brushed it off.

So I went to Musical Theatre, and Mom was in the car, using someone's WiFi and blogging about Ginger's birthday. She couldn't remember whether Ginger was turning three or four, so she signed onto AIM to ask me. It confused her that I wasn't logged on.

Until I got out of the studio and into the car, she was still confused about it. So maybe today was a good day for a mental health day---otherwise we might lose our heads altogether ("And then a horse will kick it to the side and Goodbye Yente!")

New Blogger?

I logged into Blogger this evening and noticed that the Dashboard is slightly different. Apparently I now have the option to "Monetize this Blog", whatever that means, as well as set up Email or Mobile posting. Considering our Internet will cut out at random times, those might not be bad ideas to check out...

A Day with the Presidents

Apparently I had all sorts of projects due tomorrow (or Wednesday, but more or less tomorrow), so that's how I spent my afternoon.

Until about 8:30, I was in Photoshop making an ad for a German clothing store (Kleine Kleider---immer für die Kinder!). Then it was a PowerPoint on Marbury vs. Madison with stick figures in the sense of "Life is Good". Eventually, I'll blog the text and pictures. They're quite cute, I think.

So I didn't get to bed by 10:30, as it's 10 minutes until then. However, tomorrow I'm pretty much guaranteed to, as I won't have any projects, I can spend social studies doing any homework I have, etc.

Time to send in my social studies and pack up my german!

Update: feeling the love

Thank you all for at last revealing yourselves! :-) To sum things up in theatre-geek terms, here's a line from "Do You Love Me?" (Fiddler on the Roof)

"It doesn't change a thing,
But even so:
After twenty-five years (Or seven days),
It's nice to know."

Happy Easter, everybody, and hope you have a lovely week. Yes, I am in a very good mood, as you can see.

"Daniel Plainview, the house is on FIRE!"

With apologies to Paul Dano/Eli Sunday, but I'm glad I caught your attention.

I typically hate throwing out that I like getting comments on my posts. In fact, I frown upon it. However, times come around where special circumstances could be taken.

So far on my Hit Counter, I have 24 views for today, and one of them is from a recognizable IP/city. All the others are from places like Canada, Bosnia (and Herzegovina!), Germany, Hong Kong, and Russia. There hasn't been any action on my blog in over a week, save a comment on Spring Break.

Apparently, you all aren't dead, since Mom's blog has been bustling with activity, racking up 11 comments on things like vintage ties and birds above the oven.

It's quite boring and not terribly rewarding writing a dead blog. So like I said, I really hate saying "Comments please!!" cause I think that's stupid, but it'd be nice to know that my readers...read on occasion.

There was blood...

...and tomorrow morning, there will be more blood. We all started watching There Will Be Blood at about 9:30 and decided to save the final hour for tomorrow morning when Dad started to fall asleep.

Lazy Friday

The Internet went out today, but nothing else exciting or note-worthy happened. Oh, and earlier tonight I was singing at the piano and getting out of my comfort zone note-wise (AKA singing Christine's parts in Phantom). I couldn't go back to being an alto right away and was freaked out that I had ruined my voice for forever. Apparently not.

Today

I'm not particularly sure if I'm technically allowed to Blog what today was like. Like, besides that I had orchestra rehearsal and my algebra project was due. The rest I suppose would take awhile, none of you would get it unless you follow me around all day every day.

Let's just say that six weeks can't come soon enough.

Too much to do

It's almost 10 and this is the current state of affairs:

- I just practiced bassoon (Have yet to touch the high school music. Will do that over the weekend)
- The bassoon is still out
- My room is a mess
- The bassoon water spilled and although everything's fine, the rug is still damp
- I have an algebra project due tomorrow that's MOSTLY done
- I have German homework due Friday that I'm going to wind up doing tomorrow as well
- Dad came home and I recorded Ginger flipping out. I'll probably cut the best and upload it sometime.
- I really wanted to shower and get to bed earlier than 10:30
- I also wanted to post on three various roleplays
- And that looks like it's not happening

At least tomorrow's Wednesday

Because I'm getting sick of long days at school. Seven weeks seems a lot longer on the post-side of spring break than on the pre-side of it. I'm also ready for those seven weeks to be over.

Feeling artistic

As today was rather dull, cold, and rainy, I decided to get Mike's MIDI keyboard and hook it up to GarageBand. I got fairly well into two projects: a cover of "Sally's Song" from Nightmare Before Christmas:



And "Falling Slowly" from Once:



No vocals yet, but I'm about halfway through everything else on "Falling Slowly". "Sally's Song" is going to be a lot more difficult, since it's a lot of arranging. Luckily, I have the sheet music.

Back from vacation

Tomorrow Mike and I go back to school, and I should probably be looking at my science notes and getting my lunch money. However, Aubrey is on, so that'll have to wait.

Out of FL and into AL

After eight or nine hours of driving, we made it to Alabama. We did actually consider spending an extra night in DeLand, but decided that a 14 hour drive would just be too hard.

Tomorrow we're driving back to Kentucky and getting back into the swing of things before school Monday. Spring Break went too quickly!

End of Florida Adventures

Though they technically end tomorrow afternoon.

Tonight I managed to upload about 40 songs to my iPod that I had bought forever ago but was never able to download because of Internet problems. They're all there, though, and now I need to sync them. I also need to charge my cell phone and put away my bassoon, now that I think of it.

T'was fun!

My favorite college picture

For those of you who know Avenue Q, you know that Princeton was looking to find his purpose after college. Look what I found at Rollins:

This blog will end tomorrow

...but not really. Happy April 1st.

To commence the see-all-the-best-picture-winning-movies-extravaganza and Mike, Mom, and I are planning on doing this year, we all watched Slumdog Millionaire. I liked it better in theatres, mostly because you could read the subtitles in the beginning for when they're all speaking Hindi. "Jai Ho" is still the most epic Bollywood dance, and I think that we should all learn it and dance that rather than "Soulja Boy".

On the way to Orlando

Today's college trip is Rollins in Orlando, and it sounds like we're having lunch at Blackbean Deli beforehand. Might be afterward, but it'll be 11 or so once we're in Orlando, and I didn't eat much for breakfast. Knowing that we spent all day at FSU, it'd be nice if it wasn't afterward. Lunch might be at 8 PM then.

Back from Karen Kastle

The high school shot down the idea of letting me shadow Karen at school tomorrow, and so today was the final day. We slept in until about nine and delayed really getting ready until about ten thirty or so. To sink into the day, we watched an episode of NCIS---Karen tried to turn me onto it, but it's not my thing.

We also failed at Guitar Hero. I played drums and could not believe that I was that pathetic after being in band. It looked like I had no internal sense of rhythm.

I still have to upload the latest Karen and Alicebelle Show, which I still have to put in its final format. T'was fun seeing you, Karen!

Karen Kastle: Day II

Today went just swimmingly! It started at about ten thirty or so, as Karen is a late sleeper and I myself am always happy to spend an extra hour lying in bed, wondering what to do next with my book/fanfiction/rough draft. We did manage to pull ourselves out of the vacuum that is sleep, and roughly an hour later we were ready to start the day's activites: shopping for Karen's trip to Disney.

I did wind up buying a couple things for myself, though. At Ross's I bought this amazing sleeveless white hoodie with various blue-and-pink splotches on it. It was a complete score---I saw one just like it at Kohl's (our second stop) for about $40. I managed to get mine for about $7. Score!

Much in the idea of getting a new swimsuit that really fits (Read: without WHALES on it) I looked around the selection at Kohl's and decided to try on a tankini and a bikini that were both the same style, the bikini just for laughs.

Oddly enough, I liked it a lot better than the tankini. The tankini "fit" in the way that it wasn't choking me or just hanging on my shoulders, but just stood there draped like a ghost costume. It had no form, and, to be blunt, was rather frumpy. Not quite as ugly as the infamous Whale Suit, but still not my cup of tea.

The bikini was actually amazing. It felt comfortable, much to my surprise. I thought it would be like swimming in my underwear or something like that. Actually, it really fit, and looked really good. Even though I had a nagging thought that I should check in with Mom (Who bought the Whale Suit back in October) I put it in my shopping cart and paid for it. If I come across a pool in the near future, I am so jumping into it to finalize the purchase.

Upon arriving home, Karen and I spent most of the afternoon editing the second installment of the Karen and Alicebelle Show, which we filmed TWICE last night after stupid iMovie deleted the original film before putting it into an event. We widdled down 34 minutes of footage into about nine minutes (Actually twelve and then we widdled some more) and I'll be posting that the next time I get Internet that might support a large video upload (I'm on Mimi's computer right now---with permission, of course.)

Tomorrow, Karen doesn't have school, so we're going to be alone in the house. We have plans of Guitar Hero, and Karen wants me to show her some of the makeup that I use, as we weren't able to get to that today. If all goes well, I'll be going to school with her tomorrow. If not, we're going to pull a Wicked and have our One Short Day in the "Emerald City" (DeLand) and pack as much best friendliness into a day as humanly possible.

Any pictures that we take will be coming with the video---once I have faster Internet on my computer!

Arrival at Karen Kastle

We are expecting several days of fun and mischief in our once-every-blue-moon-get-together! :-D

Movie marathon

Today started a good two hours later than yesterday, as we didn't have a college tour to go on (Our feet still hurt). The drive from Tallahassee to DeLand was a lot better than expected, especially since we were running away from bad weather. We got to DeLand at about 1:30---much better than 3, which we had originally intended.

I watched most of Phantom in the car today, after not seeing it for about two years. I was slightly disappointed that I didn't react to it the way I thought I would. By the final scene I was trying not to laugh, I have to admit. For one I was also half-listening to Little Shop of Horrors while Madame Giry lead Raoul to the catacombs. Then I noticed when he fell into the Watery Pit of Doom, it reminded me of King Aurthur in Holy Grail. Just gallop gallop gallop WHOOPS!

Oh, and the facial expressions and some of his Captain-Obvious lines cracked me up. The finale used to be my favorite scene and if Emmy wasn't singing a reprise of "Angel of Music" I think I would have broken the silence.

In DeLand we had dinner at Bellini's as the usual Welcome-To-Florida dinner. Much to everyone's suggestion, I watched Red Eye, which was claimed to be a sort of Wait Until Dark. I think I like Wait Until Dark better, but Red Eye was pretty amazing. It was oddly connected to my misadventure in Chicago, right down to the fact that Jackson Rippner kind of looked like the person I sat next to on the way from Chicago to Louisville. I never want to fly again, I think.

But now the final movie for the night is Drop Dead Gorgeous, which is lightning the mood a fair bit. I think it might be one of the funniest movies I've seen in awhile---aside from Phantom, that is.

DISCLAIMER: I still love the show Phantom and the movie is great too.

Spring Break: Day 3

I think I want to start renting this hotel room and just live in Tallahassee. I've never met so many freakishly nice people in one place, and I absolutely loved FSU. Mike took a lot of pictures, and I took a few that I have yet to upload and go through. I'll probably edit them in the car tomorrow so as to have something else to blog: tomorrow will be mostly "Drove 5 hours. Got to DeLand. Bellini's is good."

Spring Break: Day 2

Greetings from Tallahassee! The university is beastly (touring tomorrow) and the people at the front desk are awfully friendly. They gave us a choice of 2nd or 3rd floor, and when stated that there was no real opinion, decided to give us 3rd so we wouldn't be disturbed by "noisy people above". And the waitress at Outback returned the credit card that Mom accidentally forgot. I have a feeling my social studies teacher would approve of Tallahassee for said reasons.

Spring Break: Day 1

After a somewhat-better day at school, we finished packing up our various belongings and hit the road at about 4:40. Closer to 8 eastern time (7 central time) we got to the hotel after a lovely drive of sunflower seeds and Avenue Q.

Getting ready for Florida

I just finished my clothes and putting together my bundle of DVD's. I need to finish my book at school tomorrow, and in the morning I'll sync my I-pod. After school I'll throw together the bassoon, my makeup, and my bag-o-surprises, and then we'll hopefully be on the road.

I can't wait to see you all, Florida peeps! And uber-excited to make Episode II of the infamous Karen & Alicebelle show. I'm looking at you, Karen! ;-)

About a blog

This is my 500th post! I remember being so excited when I reached my first hundred, and since then I haven't payed much attention. A couple days back, though, I noticed the post count at a ridiculous 496 and it struck me: apparently, I'm persistent. At least persistent in the way that I can blog for over a year straight without having a midlife crisis before I'm out of middle school.

In other news, my video Schwimmen! has been selected to compete at the state level of Foreign Language Festival in the German category! Mike snagged 1st in the regions competition and I got 2nd, which I thought booted me out of State...until my German teacher told me while she checked my homework (Kapitel Sieben vocabulary cards).

What I actually did last night

- Watch Tarzan on YouTube

Possibly one of the greatest animated movies ever---with music by "Rockstar Phil Collins", as they would say on Disney Channel back when it came out ten years ago (Was it really that long ago? I remember getting it on VHS in my parent's room back in Hawaii.)

I'm going to make it very clear, like I did to Aubrey, that despite how much I obsess about how amazing Kerchak was, I most certainly do NOT have a crush on an animated gorilla. And I'm like, being serious. My friends and I would know all about animated crushes, and I do not have one. Right now, at least.

Bad news? I stayed up until three watching it, as I found the first part on YouTube at about one and only planned on watching the first sequence. Don't ask why I didn't just search "Two Worlds".

Plans for tonight

Things of note that have already occurred:

- Played piano for about an hour, figuring out a lot more of Sun & Moon
- Watched Kramer vs. Kramer with Mom

Things I'll be doing until bed:

- Reading the synopsis of Carmen
- Catching up on AOL news
- HOPEFULLY writing a chapter or so in my fanfiction

Oh, and today will be my final winter post. Tomorrow will legally start "spring"!

A night on the town

Typically, it doesn't involve orthodontist appointments, picking up dog food from the vet, getting your order wrong at Panera (but only slightly wrong) and going to Youth Orchestra.

Rehearsal tonight went by oddly quickly, and most of the pieces seem to be pulling together really well. About five minutes before the actual rehearsal began, a few of my friends and I decided to have a mini-rehearsal, where we played random bits of songs we liked and did one of our favorites that we rarely get to go over---the medley for "Pirates of the Caribbean" (To include the songs "Singapore", "Hoist the Colours", and "Drink Up Me Hearties"). It was only the second time of me playing it with a group, but it went a lot better than it did the first time! I do admit to playing "Singapore" in band when there's nothing better to be done.

Tomorrow is the Recruit the 6th Graders concert with the high school. I represent the one-chair bassoon section to convince people to play the bassoon (even though I doubt they will, and either way I'd want to be able to keep the middle school bassoon next year). For my instrument demo, I'm playing a section from the Davy Jones theme. The music we're playing is stuff that I actually had to work a little bit on, which is a welcome change from the Christmas concert, where we had no percussion and thus had...limited choices, one might say.

Splash of today's roleplaying

Presenting my character Eli from Aubrey's Swords and Shields:

"Thank ya, ma’am,” Eli said, nodding and taking the seat. True, he could have just sat down there anyway—he had enough power over enough of the slums to which he could likely find and claim a chair…

His eyes surveyed the hideaway with a quick left-to-right before settling on Triston. “So,” he pondered, “I know you well enough to know you didn’t just call me up for a visit.”

Sleep: what keeps me awake

Today was the Foreign Language Fest, which was actually a lot of fun! My two events (Writing and Oral Proficiency) were right next to each other, so I was able to enjoy myself for most of the day. I met up with several of my YTHC friends at the student center for lunch (Chick-fil-A) and it was nice catching up with them. Then, I waited outside for about an hour with about eight of the other Fort Knox-ers.

My results were okay, I think. I got 2nd place in Level I Writing and 2nd place in German Videos: All Levels. Mike snagged first, but I personally liked his video better than mine so I'm not too upset. And he pointed out that maybe we should make movies together as we're (apparently) the "best" German filmmakers in the region. I do wonder if anyone else even made a video though.

We all got back to school for the final ten minutes or so, and then it was the school dance. To put it bluntly, I could have done without going to the dance. It was two and a half hours out of my afternoon (and I have three tests tomorrow!), and I spent two hours of that against a wall, being anti-social.

I understand most of the German for the chapter six test, though. There's one thing I need to look over for social studies tomorrow, and we get 15 minutes to study in science. I think I'll be good.

And now to go to bed. Sorry for not posting as Eli or Jack today, Aubrey and Maya, but maybe tomorrow.