In My Life

All these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
...In my life, I've loved you more -The Beatles

We're doing CST (California Standardized Testing) now, so we go to our third period class at the start of the day and have three other classes for the remainder (instead of the regular six). We had to do the World History part today, and the sample question had something to do with Russia; I can't remember what exactly. I chose C as my answer: Vladimir Lenin (instead of A: Some random Asian guy whose name I can't remember, B: Martin Luther, or D: Someone else whose name I can't recall). I was correct. Then our French teacher (third period is French, so we basically spend two hours with her every morning for this week) calls out that the correct answer is C. Then she asks us, "Did you know his first name was Vladimir? Who knew his first name was Vladimir? Raise your hands!" So about seven to eight people raised their hands, including myself. Then my friend (he's a strange boy) calls out, "Yeah, I thought it was John." The little group of my friends burst out in uncontrollable laughter, while the rest of the class stared at us. I don't think they put it together: John Lenin. :) Yeah, French is pretty great.


Ah yes, John Lenon reminds me of something else. On Friday, I hung out with my friend's youth group. That was the second time (first time was the Friday before), and this Friday will probably be the third. We watched Expelled, and I thought it was really good. They mentioned John Lenon's "Imagine" in it, and how he refers to "no religion, too".


Updated at 9:08 PM to include:

CHAMBER AUDITIONS ARE OFFICIALLY OVER. We just had Part 2 tonight. The first part was to check out your range and singing abilities; the second part was to see how well you could carry your part in a quintet. I'm not in choir, so I kind of stood near the side waiting for someone to need a second soprano. Finally someone yelled out "SECOND SOPRANO?" and I walked in that direction. I joined their group, and we performed pretty well. I was kind of shaky on my part (I forgot to mention - we sang the national anthem), but mostly, we were fine. I was with Abi ("it's short for Abigail"), Krystal (swimmer; I met her last year at a swim meet from my best friend on the swim team), Ali (I met her today) and Steven (knew him since he was in seventh grade, but he didn't remember me; he's one of my band geeks). So I basically met two new people (Abi & Ali), and got reaquainted with two others (Krystal & Steven). Honestly, at first, I judged Ali. I saw her in the room before we broke into quintets, and I.. judged her. I was so cruel. But when I finally got to know her, she became so sweet and I was so surprised. There I go again, judging someone and then soon finding out that they're probably the sweetest person present. Oh yes. I was in a completely junior group (asides from myself, of course), so it was nice to work with mature voices. When we went up to actually do the audition, we had to say if we were in band, orchestra, had any conflicts with fourth, fifth, or sixth period, or if we were taking private voice lessons. I said I was in orchestra, but would be in marching band next year and maybe jazz band too. Steven, who is currently in jazz band and plays trombone (and is AMAZING), turned to me and said, "Jazz band? ...What do you play?" I proudly replied, "I play the violin." He looked at me strangely for a second, then smiled broadly and answered, "Jazz violin, huh? That's really cool." Quite frankly, he made me feel really special. I think this gives me the grounds to scream and say "HI STEVEN!" from across campus, right? I do that to Trumpet Max. Yes, I do call him Trumpet Max because I don't know his last name and when I first found out his name was Max (I had seen him playing trumpet in Jazz Band performances before), I quickly said, "oh, Trumpet Max?" aloud. I guess it kind of stuck in my head. Trumpet Max is always really nice to me, and smiles and replies, "Hi!" to my "Hi Max!"

Band is amazing, isn't it? So many connections in more ways you thought possible. Alas alack. At least this past year.

Fruit calls. Strawberries, specifically.

Onward, Soldiers!

Someone's been getting ready for the fair. :)

[...Patiently waiting for Blogger to upload the photos from my camera...]

Okay.

I'm EXCITED. I can earn a maximum of $80 if I choose enter the Oro y Vino scarf I've been working on after all:

I've got about a foot and a half so far, and it is absolutely beautiful. I love the stitch so much.

Looking around Youtube, I stumbled upon this guy:

Isn't he incredibly awesome?

Alameda County Fair

The fair is coming up! This will be my first time entering any of my projects into any kind of competition. I looked at the items at the fair last year, which sparked my interest and fueled my crochet passion throughout the rest of the summer.

These are the projects I have chosen to enter, plus a green afghan I've labeled "Fabala".

From left to right: Snow White, Fancy Fans Stole (blue, in the bag), Forrest Wrist Warmers, AVocation Scarf, Flammable, and Percy Plaid.

I really wanted to enter the Foothill Scarf, but realized that I had worn it too much (visibly worn projects will be disqualified). I've never worn the AV scarf, so I figured that it would be the better bet. Plus, more people attended Amador, so it might look favorably upon the judges. I would have entered both, but I have already entered the crochet Percy Plaid scarf, and there is a limit of only two entries per class.

I probably should have mentioned this earlier: I'm entering everything under the Adult section. I could have gone under Youth, as I am not yet eighteen, but I have been crocheting as long as I can remember (and frankly, I think I'm pretty good), so it's not really fair that I join Youth. Plus, there is only one division for Needlework and one class for all knit and crochet items for Youth, whereas in Adult, there is a different division for all the types of crocheted garments and items, and separate ones for knitted garments and items. There are six to eight classes within those divisions, so it's way broader. And not to mention the prize incentives. For Youth, one pays $1 per item submitted. First place is $1.50. Yes, one dollar and fifty cents. So if I won first place for everything I entered, I would gain $3.50 (I would really get $10.50, but $7 pays for the cost of submission). For Adult, on the other hand, one pays $1.50 per item submitted. First place is (usually around) $10. Second is $7 and third is $5. Not too shabby. Granted, I will be competing against people at least double my age, maybe even triple. But as I scoped out the competition last year, I didn't think there was much to worry about.

Updated to include:

So I was looking through Michaela's former posts at Dollar Knits, and found this thing that tests the reading level of your blog. Check this out:

Isn't that awesome? I feel so smart because Junior High was around two years ago or so.

I want to make Saartje's Bootees so badly! They're absolutely adorable, and they would be perfect for the fair. Not to mention that some of our friends at church have a recent addition to their family (a baby girl!), and I would love to make Jannell some booties.

I'm in the middle of uploading the Snow White pattern to Ravelry. I'll publish a link to it later.

Les Auditions de Chambre Sont Finis!

I auditioned for Chamber today! Apparently, I have an incredibly unique voice that's nice to have in a choir because it just carries the choir. That was a surprise.

Jazz auditions are in two weeks. I've chosen "Autumn Leaves".

Chamber Auditions A Demain

Chamber auditions are tomorrow! ...And I know I will completely bomb them. I'm not so concerned; I was planning on cancelling them anyways.

Yesterday, I stopped by the counselor's office for a quick chat. My counselor told me that the master schedule of classes isn't out yet, so there is no way of telling (at this point) if Chamber and Orchestra will conflict. So I'm auditioning for both Chamber Choir and Jazz Band just like I had originally planned. But I still have to choose a piece for Chamber! I'm leaning toward "You Raise Me Up", as I have performed the solo before (I bombed it then, and will bomb it again; history repeats itself). I plan on doing either the first or second verse with the chorus. I don't like long auditions.

I accompanied Chamber Choir last year for their Spring Concert with violin. It was a huge honor then, and I'm still really proud of myself. I don't think the choir teacher remembers me though. Oh well.

Stashbusting!

I've been doing some serious stashbusting as of late. I finally finished Snow White! Here are the pictures:

Soon, I hope to be working on crochet juggling balls for some rowdy boys at school who enjoy crumpling up brand new sheets of paper and seeing from how far away they can shoot the paper into the trashcan when we have a substitute teacher. I'm not a hippie, but it kind of disturbes me that they enjoy wasting paper. I have TONS of excess mustard-yellow Lion Brand Wool (at least four skeins - that's a lot to me; two boxes = my entire stash), so I'll be using that. I was thinking of filling the juggling balls with rice or beans, but decided against it because they are boys after all, and if the juggling balls contact water, the rice or beans inside will get gross and could get moldy. Then I thought about filling them with plastic beads typical hackey sacs have. But then I realized that I needed the foot of a pantyhose or else they would slip out. I don't have access to extra pantyhose. I've finally come up with filling them with... yarn! I have way too much of it anyways, and it's not exactly being wasted. Yes, they will not fly as well, but hopefully it will become more of a healthy challenge than an annoying obstacle.

We're going to Olive Garden today! We usually go out to eat once every two to three weeks or so on Sundays (eating out isn't too healthy). It's a nice treat for after chuch, too.

Help!

I need somebody.

I'm having serious second thoughts about auditioning for Chamber Choir. My audition is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23. Four days from today, and I still don't know what I'm going to sing. Not only is the first time I've auditioned my voice before, I'm worried that Chamber Choir will conflict with Orchestra. This year, they have been during the same period, so my friend (who is an AMAZING singer) really wanted to sing and still play violin in Orchestra, but was forced to choose. You can't have two classes for one period. He was disappointed, but I'm sure he is now happy with his choice. If that same thing happens next year, I'll be in trouble. If I just happen to do an amazing audition and make Chamber, I may have to refuse the spot and take Orchestra that period instead (I have more of an allegiance to violin than to singing). And that wouldn't be nice. I figure that I'll have to schedule an emergency meeting with my counselor to find out what periods Orchestra and Chamber will be next year.

So if I don't audition for Chamber, I still have an open class (and I'm NOT taking something pointless like Comp Sci [Computer Science]). I'm taking History over the summer, plus I'm taking A period for a 7-period-long day with 4 major classes (Physics, English, Math, and AP French). Two of those "extra" periods are filled with Marching Band and Orchestra, but there's still another extra period for... JAZZ BAND! I spoke with the band director yesterday at lunch about if he wanted a violin in Jazz Band. He was kind of surprised, but said he would like to have one. (I brought first chair clarinet with me, and he just kind of stood there.) I told him that I would be in Marching Band as well, and he asked me if I played an instrument. I said clarinet, and also said that first chair clarinet (who was standing right next to me) was tutoring me. I think he liked the idea. I asked when he would like me to audition, and he said that auditions were being held during the first week of May, and that I could come in either Tuesday or Wednesday (of that first week of May) after 3:30. Pretty much everything is riding on this audition.

I don't think I'll be auditioning for Chamber after(especially if it is during Orchestra's period), so Jazz Band is my only hope to fill that extra class. If I don't make Jazz Band, I'm finished. My dad will force me to take comp sci and I'll be stuck in a class I totally hate. ...No pressure.

Busy Busy Busy

It was cold today. It was supposed to be 85 degrees, but it only got to 79. 79! I can't wait until it really starts heating up. And I don't mean 80-degree-weather. I mean the super hot 105.

I really want to make this bag, but I don't have any yarn in that color and my parents won't buy me more until I've used up the stuff from ImagiKnit. The bag is so adorable, that whenever I have to bring my lunch to schools in emergencies (such as having to talk to a teacher during lunch and not being able to get lunch in time to eat, or maybe having to PERFORM, LIKE TOMORROW, during lunch and not getting a chance to buy lunch), I just dream of having a cute little bag like that I get to carry around to my classes. My friends know I have a strange (to them) obsession with band and knitting, so whenever I have some kind of scarf, hat, or other cool accessory, at least one of them always says, "Let me guess. You made that, right?" They're pretty much the greatest.

Speaking of the performance, we were notified today in class that small ensembles have to perform tomorrow. We're sort of a "warm-up" to choir. An opening group, I suppose, although not exactly. Three groups are all that are going to perform. We just play as people attening the choir thing walk through the hallway. We are stationed in the hallway. And that's about it. It's weird; the choir concert is in the middle of the day (during school). Oh well.

Tomorrow, I get to see my orchestra buddy from camp! She goes to another high school we're competing against in the track meet. I have yet to race her, and as we run the same events, that's pretty pathetic. She was in Mexico last year, and this year, I'm not in track.

Today, my band geeks (yes, my; I do own them) called me an idiosyncrasy. Well, mainly one in particular. I got mad at him because not only was he using a big word, it was a vocabulary word from last week that I will probably be tested on on Friday. I looked at him, dropped my stuff right there, and rummaged through my backpack, searching for my vocabulary packet. I found out that it means a characteristic habit or mannerism, but it my case, apparently it's more "peculiar" than "characteristic". (He thinks I have issues because I love band so much. Silly boy.)

If I ever start seriously selling what I knit, I think I'll start donating 5% or so to the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra. They're amazing, and I think it's really cool that they try to support kids that live in slums by putting a trumpet or a cello in their hands instead of a gun or a knife, as would normally occur.

Lots of homework tonight. Better get to it.

Can't Stop the Rain From Falling; Can't Stop My Heart From Calling You

I feel like a failure. I shouldn't really be posting today since I don't have much to say, but whatever. I've been kind of down all day.

My friend and I didn't feel like doing our homework at the library today, since we had finished much of it in class. So in those 50 minutes or so before driving school, we just sat outside the office on a bench in the wondrous sunlight and talked about everything and nothing. The orchestra conductor walked into the office, stayed a while, and on the way out, asked me if my brother was taking band next year. Um.. no. First of all, I don't have a brother. Second, I don't have a sister either. Third, I LOVE BAND. Why wouldn't I sign up? So then he understood and said, "Oh, so he spelled your name wrong." He was really nice about it. I've found him to actually be a really cool guy. Hooray for that.

In driving school, we watched this Ultimate Driving Challenge movie. The hosts were Chris T. Adkins/Atkins (didn't catch it completely) and Paula Zahn! Paula Zahn looked so much younger and she had somewhat longer hair. She was dressed totally nineties.

So I'm officially NOT going to junior prom. Notwithstanding the fact that I'm a sophomore, I'm pretty confident that I won't get asked. Oh well. Maybe next year. That's a big maybe.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

So I just did me some talkin' to the sun.

I never knew golf could use up so much energy. I have A period P.E. (the period before school starts, taken by students who have a larger course load than most), so it's freezing cold. Apparently we're in our golf unit, so we set up a driving range on the JV soccer field using carpet samples (a good 11 x 14" each, I'd say). There, we set up the cheap plastic ball and hit it with a somewhat authentic-looking golf club. After everyone has hit their four balls, our teacher calls for everyone to run out and get the four balls they threw. My friends and I always run as fast as we can to get the ones closest hit by people who have no idea how to hit a ball (that definitely includes me). Basically, the idea is to run the least, and I suppose it's our little game to see who gets back first. Most of the class thinks we're weird, but it doesn't really matter to us. My legs are sore from this morning. But it feels good. Since I'm not in track this year, I haven't felt it since last year.

It turns out that the scrapbook is actually due next Monday. So I'm the only overachiever in the class that finished it early. But that means that I'll have four extra hours free next weekend! Knowing me, I'll probably knit or something.

Anderson Cooper 360's on. I can hear it reverberating from downstairs. Apparently some polygamist woman from the Texas compound is speaking to him, and he's getting all excited for not having access to them before, and this being the first of its kind. She doesn't want to say how many wives her husband had, but earlier, there was some woman saying that he had around 15. Frightful.

I haven't knit for a while. I wasn't able to knit yesterday because I had more English homework after the scrapbook. I hope I'll be able to tonight.


Updated at 8:11 PM to include:

The polygamist woman is being (excuse my language) a total bitch. Apparently she feels like she's being persecuted just as the Jews were by the Nazis during WWII.

And I miss my orchestra buddy. She's been gone for too long.

Here Comes the Sun

It seems like years since it's been here.


It's 92 degrees outside. About an hour ago, it was 96.


I made a crochet juggling ball yesterday. It's so lopsided that I'm too embarassed to take a picture of it. But I did have to make a scrapbook for history on WWII today. Here it is, in all its glory:

So there you go. I just didn't take a picture of the works cited page because it looks somewhat pathetic to me.

Now I believe I will get away from the hot computer and chill out and knit while listening to To Kill a Mockingbird on tape. I've found that books on tape / CD are actually great to knit to. I listened to Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors about a week ago, and though I had to read a bit of the liner notes to understand what was going on, it was pretty awesome. They're not too hard to follow, especially when it's just a book instead of a play. Off I go.

Updated to include:

The second page is my favorite - the third picture. It's the one with the knitting stuff. I even found two patterns from WWII, which I glued in there.

Not Much of an Update

So MonsterCrochet is my new hero. Not only does she own the same book as I do (this one), she can crochet and knit as well! And not only that, but she's amazing at both of them too!

Driving school is the worst. Ever.

And now I have tons of homework so I'd better get to it.

Chamber and Jazz Band Auditions, Oh My!

Alrighty. After school today, my friend and I started driving school. Eight students plus the instructor. If you ask me, it was two and a half hours of a waste of my life. Basically we just read the handbook, and when we finally took a quiz on what we had just read, these two girls spent 45 minutes, totally analyzing each question. And they were matching! Quite frankly, they drove me crazy. The instructor's pretty cool though.

To Kill a Mockingbird is going well. I'm in love with that book, but have to restrain myself from reading the entire book in one night. If I do that, I'll just get ahead and then it will be hard to pull myself back to the speed of the class. I do regret not taking Honors again this year. Last year was really hard, but this year wasn't supposed to be as difficult if I continued with Honors. To the incessant nagging of my parents, I finally succumbed, and took Regulars for an easy A. I have the easy A alright, but it's painful to move so slowly. I'm fairly proficient at English. >=[ Grr. Most likely, I'll be taking Honors English and Honors Pre-Calculus next year anyways, plus AP French, so I think that'll be decent. The only downside is that I have to take US History over the summer in order to fit Orchestra, Marching Band, and Chamber Choir into my schedule with just one extra class to be taken at 7 AM (Marching Band!) every morning except for Wednesdays. Besides, I'll have plenty of Marching Band trips to keep me occupied along with my knitting. As rumor has it, our Marching Band has been invited to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (and we haven't declined), and possibly the Rose Bowl within the next two years. Yay!

To clear this up: I'm not currently in band. I just really like band. They're amazing. You know? And if I don't make Chamber Choir, I'll audition for Jazz Band - jazz violinist! Yeah! My chamber audition's on Wednesday, April 21 after school. The first Wednesday without the acursed driving school. Jazz Band / Wind Ensemble auditions are in early May. I'm nervous for Chamber because I will be competing against singers who have had years of personal training but can't read music. Reading music is really the only advantage I have, besides having an above average voice I suppose. But it's a good thing that I'm not totally depending on choir to make it through life. Band, yes. Orchestra, same deal. Choir, not so important to me. I will be thrilled if I make it, but if not, I don't want to be in Women's Ensemble. First: I like guys. Tenors and basses sound amazing. Second: I want to be in a group consisting of absolutely excellent musicians. The cream of the crop. And I guess third: Women's Ensemble dresses are hideously ugly. But I will be crushed if I don't make Chamber Choir and then don't make Jazz Band. That would just be... pathetic.

Sweepstakes Trophy

So far, I've got $4.35 in my Trophy Fund. The $4 was from the most recent hat sale and the $.35 was from the quarter and dime I found at the bottom of my backpack.

Well. That's about it.

No Monterey Jazz Festival

So I'm not at the Monterey Jazz Festival today. But my parents have made it up to me: I'm the new sweepstakes trophy sponsor for the Foothill High School Band Review in October! I thought it would be $600-700 at first, so I didn't even bother looking because that's totally impossible; we're not going to pay that. But when I finally got curious enough to look, I saw that it's only $150!! ...For a huge freaking six-foot trophy! Obviously, I'm going to see if I can contribute a bit of that from the sales of my knitted goods to make sure that my parents don't have to pay all of it (that's just mean) and so my name on the trophy is deserved. My goal is to raise at least $75, but ideally, I'd like to pay the full $150 myself. So it looks like I'll be knitting up a storm in the coming months and throughout the summer.

Second of April Two Thousand Eight

No auditions today. What a let-down. Maybe they just won't take place at all. Monterey is completely out of the picture now. And maybe even the next jazz festival. Oh well. So much for that.

Super-huge district concert is tonight. Every orchestra in the district will be present. Great. Another chance to show how ridiculous we sound. Most middle schools are better than us. Oh well. I might get to knit a bit, so it's not a total waste I suppose. But I told my mom not to come; it's a waste of her life. She promptly acknowledged it and we didn't speak further about it. I guess one plus is that I get to wear the same black dress I wore to Max Loh's thing at the theatre. YAY and he hugged me that night too! Did I mention that before? Well, if I've mentioned it or not, he did. And I was super happy. And I still am, knowing that he was the last one to hug me. Oh yes. How embarassing: I'm situated at the back of the orchestra. Normally I'm around fourth chair, but now I'm around thirtieth. During auditions at the beginning of the schoolyear, I was the only one who memorized the circle of fifths and did arpeggios for all major scales. But according to the conductor, I "sounded scratchy". Okay, so I didn't have enough rosin on my bow because I had forgotten mine at home. Yeah big deal. Seriously, I thought placing was in terms of skill-level. And he said he'd do another seating test for second semester. There hasn't been one. It doesn't help that he's a horn guy too (never been in a string orchestra, can't play a string instrument, but can play almost every brass instrument). He's made for band, not for orchestra. It's his first year here. Oh well.

Back to homework.

April

No violins or any string instruments (besides the usual jazz instruments; piano, guitars, and electric bass) are going to the Monterey Jazz Festival. How depressing. I've been looking forward to this for over three years! I spoke with the band director today, and he said that he would hold auditions tomorrow, hopefully for the next jazz festival (which is supposedly in five to six weeks, according to one band geek in jazz). Apparently "we can't do it this weekend, obviously". I thought we could pull it together! Hmph

So my day has been pretty depressing. My friend saw Run Fatboy Run without me over break because he thought I had already seen it (we were originally supposed to go together with a bunch of other people). So now he doesn't want to see it anymore because he said it's not as good as Shaun of the Dead. But Shaun of the Dead isn't in theatres! Bleh. I just want to see a hilarious Simon Pegg movie with my friends and tons of fake-buttered popcorn, okay?

I'm moody. And I'm upset. And we have a concert tomorrow that no one in the orchestra is looking forward to because we get owned every year by our rivals (it's a district-wide concert; the other school is better beyond any means of comparison). Our marching band is way better, but their orchestra far exceeds ours. It's so humiliating. We play pieces a middle school orchestra should have surpassed. They play pieces a decent high school orchestra should play. Ugh. There's a district-wide band concert on April 9th that I'm kind of looking forward to because it's time for me to become, once again, a cameraman. Jazz band, wind ensemble, and another band (can't remember now) is supposed to be there, and same from our rival school. In that case, our school is so much better. =]

Chemistry and algebra homework left. I should be done in an hour. Then maybe I can rip out the scarf I've been working on with the pattern from ImagiKnit & the Oro y Vino yarn. I also should rip out the Valentine's Day Scarf that I've made with the Manos de Uraguay instead of a Prismsatic Scarf. I'd rather do a seed stitch border instead of garter. Honestly, garter's pretty ugly. In my opinion, that is. So back to homework.