Not Much Progress

I am terrible at clarinet. We started seating auditions today, and my audition was so terrible, I'm guaranteed last chair. And there is no up-side. I was supposed to get a school bass clarinet, but even that didn't happen. One bass we have is apparently so gross no one is allowed to even touch it, and half the body is missing on the other one. If I'm lucky, my parents will let me rent a bass clarinet.

[/rant]

News!

I finished the Transition Scarf (school spirit scarf from the last post), and hopefully it will receive at least 2nd place at the fair next year.

I'm not even halfway done with the afghan from Ravelympics. Looks like it will be an ongoing project throughout the year.

Trust me, the color looks way better in person.

Woven. :)

Gotta love the new liondesign.



Still working on Seeing Green.

The Final Word:
+ " 'Victime' is always feminine. What does that tell you." - Mme Smith, AP French teacher

Band, Football, and a String of Other Things

It's been a long time, I know. School has been overwhelming me. On the bright side, I went to our rival's home football game on Friday (they played another team; not us) and recorded videos. They're (almost) all posted here.

Homecoming drama and the works. I'll probably reuse the dress from last year (gasp!) because I spent some serious money on it and I'd rather not get a whole 'nother for only one night. Maybe I'll change my mind. Maybe. Maybe I won't even go at all. I'm considering it. Homecoming's only fun if you go with the right people, and I'm pretty sure that everyone else has made plans already and I'm not included. Oh well.

Highlights from the game?

The score never changed after this; the home team (Amador Valley High School) lost 28-3.

Band.

The only reason I'm actually looking forward to the coming weeks is band performing at football games and being able to record them.

I'm not in band this year either. My parents keep saying it'll take up too much time. But I was accidentally placed in Wind Orchestra instead of String Orchestra, so I'm in a really small band that's no fun because hardly any of my friends are there, and our String Orchestra has sixty members. Ah well.

I'm working on a school spirit scarf and that afghan I was supposed to make for the Ravelympics event Afghan Marathon (I ended up having too much summer homework that I didn't have enough time to finish it up, so it's an ongoing project). It's gorgeous, but I want to be able to use it soon. It's taking too long.

Freakish amounts of homework tonight. Better get working.

Back

I have missed you, dear blog, and very awesome blog readers.

Camp was very time-consuming, I must admit. Then I recovered from camp, then recorded our school marching band practice for the 2008 field show (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Phield Show). I'm still in the process of convincing my parents that I can handle band, as I have recently been invited to join our marching band even though most people have already learned the field show. Hopefully my dad will be convinced when I tell him that I got a 2300 on a practice SAT today (if you're out of the loop, a perfect would be 2400).

Gnarls Barkley's Crazy is pretty awesome. I'm currently listening to it.

Alright, now for some awesome camp pictures!

While I'm waiting for them to load, let me fill you in.

Saturday: Arrive & audition
Sunday: Dance
Monday: Indian Bowl (staff performances)
Tuesday: Dance
Wednesday: Skit Night
Thursday: Jazz Night! (4 hours of nonstop jazz)
Friday: Ensemble Night
Saturday: Special Dinner & Dance
Sunday: Final Concert.

Yay, pictures loaded!

We always stop at Memory Lane on the drive up to camp.

Two lovely girls from our "pentagon" groupie. They both go to the same school which happens to be our rival school. Our colors are blue and yellow, and theirs are purple and gold. :) I was thrilled to see them wearing our colors (though it was just the camp shirt), and they were, well, kind of awkward wearing our colors.

Pentagon! Front row: Kindle (braids + scarf) - violin & me - violin; Back row: Laura - clarinet, Suzy - trombone, & Maiya - clarinet (though she would make the perfect stereotypical flute)

The light shines out from Maiya's head.

We love this kid. To show our affection for him, me, Kindle, and Maiya decorated his hair with Fruity Cheerios. Doesn't it look so amazing?

So those are the highlights of camp. Oh yes, there's also Choptox. :)

It's kind of a long story, but here's the gist: Skit night rolls around (Wednesday) and we decide to do a reality TV show based upon our cabin. We have 27 girls in our cabin (we're the largest, but we're divided into 3 rooms). Since it's band camp, we have stereotypes of each instrument (i.e. strings are really brainy, flutes are preppy, trumpets think they're the best, etc.). As a commercial break, these two (HILARIOUS!) girls go on stage, one of whom has a trombone. She buzzes feebly and hardly makes a sound. The other girl says, "Lips too small to buzz that trombone? Then try Choptox!" And then we have another girl, dressed as the amazing Andy Martin goes on stage and endorses Choptox. Andy was actually there at the performance, and we were told later by one of the people with him that he was dying of laughter.

By the way, Andy Martin is seriously AMAZING. I feel so privileged to have met him and told him that I'm his biggest fan. I look terrible in this picture, but I'm overjoyed that I got it:


This man is seriously amazing. I'm so lucky to have met him. And I'm seriously practicing violin so I can be in his jazz band next year at camp (he instructs the top jazz band of the camp) and be one of those rare jazz violinists. Oh yes. His daughter looks just like him too. :) It's pretty awesome. His son doesn't look as much like him as his daughter does. And, get this, her name's Andreina. Her brother's name is Andres, so it's like a whole family of Andys!

One more quick thing: after the full orchestra performed Akademische Festoverture (Brahms), we got a standing ovation. We were the only group to get one. :) We've got skills.

The Final Word:
+ "You're too good not to be heard." -Vince Gomez

Currently: packing for my aunt's house. She's coming to our house on BART tomorrow, and then we're going to the county fair to see my items I entered. I dread having to stand near manure-filled pens of hogs while my mother oohs and ahs about how adorable the little piglets look. But hopefully it will end swiftly and I'll be on my way to my aunt's house.

The parents ultimately said no to marching band for next year. Crushed as I am, I guess I had it coming. I will have to learn not to love things so much, especially unattainable things. But hopefully I'll be able to sponsor the sweepstakes trophy.

I took a few random pictures yesterday. I'm putting them on flickr. They're loading... 25% complete now.
The pitcher in my bathroom. It's all slanty because I was leaning over to avoid my legs from getting in the reflection of the mirror.



Lights in my bathroom. They remind me of some backstage dressing room kind of thing.



I "created" these two Birthday Books. I just got two regular notebooks with the cool & fancy designs, then added stick-on tabs. Every single day of the year has its own special page, including leap day!

March first. And those are the two people whose birthdays are on that day.



Bath stuff from my neighbor. I took care of her animals for over two weeks, and I received these fancy bath items, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and $60. :) Not too shabby.

I GOT TO SEE WALL-E! It was amazingly adorable, and, according to a friend, apparently Yahoo! users gave it an A; one of the extremely rare A's in the history of Yahoo!.

One of my friends is coming back home tomorrow from his engineering camp thing at UC - Berkeley. I guess I'll just have to wait until after the weekend to "pimp him out" with another friend.

We didn't have class at the community college today. We had our midterm yesterday, and everyone received an e-mail saying that class was canceled for today. But we had tons of work to do, and I'm still not done with it.

Results

It's been ages. Eons even. I've been so preoccupied with school and finals and other commitments that I haven't even had time to blog. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten! I suppose this post will be all about results. So here goes:

Didn't make jazz; didn't make Chamber Choir. Pathetic. But I made Women's, so I guess I'm stuck there. However, one of my friends consoled me as I was looking at the list, saying, "It's all politics. Trust me. There are tons of girls in Chamber next year who don't deserve the spot. They're just placed there because their mom is best friends with the teacher or have some other political affiliation. Don't worry. I've heard you sing. You're actually pretty good." So yes, I was disappointed, but at least I didn't have to worry about other girls who made it directly into Chamber without stopping at Women's first. Ah well. Stuck in a class with all girls. Oh, the horrors. I've heard it's hellishly cliquey. Something that I hate. I guess I'll have to survive. I'll learn to deal.

So I entered my stuff into the county fair. I did fairly well, and there was actually quite a bit of competition. The item that did the best at the fair was my Fabala afghan. I'll post a picture of it soon. I'm so proud of it; I was looking for it feverishly with my friends, and suddenly they just said, "Well, maybe it's over there, in the Winners' Circle". I looked, and there it was! It was displayed beautifully, and not only did it win First Place, it also received.. get ready for it.. Best of Class and Best of Show! :) Hooray! Other items did pretty well. I entered a scarf with colors of our rival high school (purposely) and my friend who attends that high school took a picture and displayed it on the internet. Here it is. :) I love how they displayed it. People have been saying they've "(seen my) scarf at the fair", but I never know which one because I entered four.

My dad's still really unwilling to let me participate in Marching Band in the coming year. He feels I'll fall behind in my studies and that I'll soon be flunking. I doubt it's going to happen, but he feels it's entirely possible. He made a deal with me: If I can get a score of 2200 on the SAT Reasoning, I can do Marching Band. The only problem is that I'm at 2000 right now, and I have about three days to get it up 200 points because if I let the counseling office know any later than that, I won't be enrolled in Marching Band and that would just be terrible. So I'm studying. Very hard.

I started a scarf with this stitch, and I also started an afghan in some old Caron Simply Soft (White) in this stitch. I'm almost halfway done with the afghan but I have a lot more to do on the scarf. I just bought the scarf yarn today. It's green in place of the cranberry on the stitch website, with the white squares. The scarf will be for a good friend of mine who is in colorguard. She's really sweet and I've been meaning to crochet her up another scarf. I gave her one several years ago, and in that time, I've seen her wear it twice. I suppose that's better than the never other people have worn the items I've made them. But hopefully this one will be more attractive for her and she will want to wear it more often.

I'm earning serious moolah from taking care of my neighbors' animals. I guess I shouldn't talk about my salary, but I frankly could care less. I got $40 + shower kit + chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for taking care of my neighbor's cat and taking in the newspaper and mail every day for about a week and a half. I worked for my dad the other night by entering contacts from a cell phone onto a spreadsheet because it's a company phone and he wants to return it. Extra $20, but I think I really deserved it. It took over two hours to enter them all because he has over 200 contacts. Ouch. So I have $60 floating around, and my parents owe me more for my grades (not all As, but really close, so I get some money), plus I went to the fair and Discovery Kingdom with my friend, and my expenses need to be reimbursed.

Ah yes, the fair. Basically all that happened was this: I hung out with my friend + her sister, spent serious money (ride wristbands alone were $25), went on rides, one ride in particular held us upside down for an agonizingly long time (I had a headache afterwards), and then went into some gallery place and relaxed in the air-conditioned building. It was over 100 degrees that day.

Then we decided it would be awesome if I could sleep over at her house. My mom agreed, and I did, which was amazingly fun. We played Rock Band for several hours, then we had to go to my friend's sister's dance recital. It was a dress-rehearsal at Ohlone Community College, and was amazing. It's traditional Chinese dancing, but it was actually really interesting to watch. It wasn't all that Oriental as I thought it was going to be; it had a lot of Western influence as well. Then the next day, we went to Discovery Kingdom (formerly known as Marine World); owned by Six Flags. Super fun. That night, we went to my friend's sister's dance recital (the actual thing), and it was more spectacular than the dress-rehearsal. I even saw one girl in Marching Band there (flautist). I didn't say hi, though, because she was too far away.

I'm taking History, now, at a community college (not Ohlone). Some people are even going as far as Laney Community College so they won't have to take History during the school year. For me, I'm clearing up my schedule so I can do Marching Band, but many other people are doing it so they can take more AP classes. I think they're just crazy.

In a nutshell, my summer (so far) has encompassed:
+ Karen's Birthday
+ Paul's Party
+ Cynthia's Birthday + Party @ Tara's
+ Fair
+ Discovery Kingdom
+ School

My summer is about to encompass:
+ Cheering on best friend for Swimming Olympic Trials :)
+ Watching Olympic Trials (Tomorrow - Friday)
+ Hanging out at my knitting aunt's house for the weekend (+ her local knitting store!)
+ Band camp
+ Watching the Olympics held in Beijing, mainly swimming + track
+ School band camp (possibly; only if I make Marching Band)
+ And hopefully movies


I want to see WALL-E so badly; it seems so cute! A few friends from class are going to see it too, so I'll just see it with them.

We're going to Cheesecake Factory tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a few pictures to spruce up this blog and keep it from getting excruciatingly boring.

The Final Word:
+ "Stop trying to make her white, Chris." "But I've already half-succeeded!" (reference to my being half white [Mom's white, Dad's not]; Chris was messing around with the white-out)

L'Amour

My band geek finally called! It was so good to hear from him. Band's coming home tonight anyway.

I picked a rose from our garden the other day.


Elle est tres belle, n'est-ce pas?

We're reading The Little Prince in French, so my rose reminds me of "la rose du petit prince". Supposedly the rose symbolizes the author's wife, Consuela, and their hardships. I can see how it fits together.

Earlier in the week, I made fudge for my friend's birthday. Finally, here are the pictures:

I made chocolate-covered strawberries with the leftover melted chocolate. I haven't had them for so long, that when I took the first bite, I was addicted. I melted chocolate the next day and made some more. I finished the last of them today. I'll probably be making some more tomorrow after school and I'll probably eat them around 5 PM. They're straight from the refrigerator when I eat them, so they're nice snacks after a hot day.

We started swimming in P.E. today. So many of my friends were sick or they got hurt (one of my friends messed up her knee or something and she could barely walk) that they couldn't jump in with me today. Most of them were overjoyed to get out of swimming, but one of my friends with allergies was really upset. Apparently she really loves swimming. I admire her so much.

In-class essay in English. We're supposed to be preparing for the SAT, so it was completed in 25 minutes. The prompt was difficult: What motivates people to change? I blanked, but after about three minutes, I started my introduction and realized that I could use the book I just finished reading: Ayn Rand's We the Living. It is a very loose example if you've read the book, but I used Kira Argounov's determination to go to the Institute of Technology, though it is unladylike in the Soviet Union of the 1930s. I basically said that she desired to be greater and build an aluminum bridge, despite the protests of her family. Then I connected that to how her motivation came from the inside and Kira's own desires, certainly not from outside sources. Tada! I'd say I got a 5. Certainly not a 6, but I doubt a 4.

I haven't been knitting for a while. It feels so strange. It's almost been a week now. I believe I'll start a yellow scarf from the Malabrigo I got at ImagiKnit during spring break. Plus, I want this really badly. So many cute sweater patterns!

How Upsetting

My band geek hasn't called me all day. I called him twenty times during lunch, but that's when band was supposed to be checking in for the cruise, so I figured he'd be busy. And yes, I did really count. It was an exact 20 times. He promised he would call me at least three times a day. But he didn't pinky promise. I had to rush to class, so we didn't have time. And now it's past seven pm and band is supposed to be enjoying the ship and entertainment.

Earlier today there was a car accident in front of the school. It wasn't much (well, the Volvo got maybe $10,000 in damages according to my mom, the insurance expert, but Volvos are expensive anyway), just a little fender bender. Well, somewhat. There was a reddish Volvo that didn't stop or something and plowed right into a BRAND NEW black Ford SUV that was waiting at the light. The Ford didn't even have a license plate yet, it was so new. And of course, because of that force, the black SUV was pushed into the back of a huge white pick-up truck. The pick-up truck didn't have any damages whatsoever, but the black Ford SUV had several white marks and a few dents, and the front of the red Volvo got all crunched up. The light on the right (facing the car) was completely damaged.

I miss band so much. This entire day has been somewhat difficult for me. AHH and tomorrow's my friend's birthday! I have to make her strawberry fudge!


Updated at 10:05 PM to include:

So I made the strawberry fudge. It did NOT turn out how I had expected it. The recipe called for unsalted butter; I used salted. Other than the butter-heavyness, it tastes pretty good. I'll post the pictures later. I have to go to bed.

Found a Friend in the Business

I left my backpack in Mom's car and she's on an inspection. So I can't do homework until she comes home.

I'm obsessed with Chris Brown's "Kiss Kiss" and "With You". Mostly "With You".

Today was band's last day for a week. A whole week. They're heading up to Canada tomorrow morning. Since I have nothing better to do and since I adore band, here's the itinerary my friend dropped off for me [my notes are in brackets]:

Wednesday, May 14, 2008
4:45 AM: Arrive at school
5:00 AM: Buses depart for Los Angeles [the port is in Los Angeles]
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Arrive San Pedro, check in for cuise, board Sapphire Princess
2:00 PM: Welcome aboard meeting in Club Fusion for all students and parents
3:00 PM: Compulsory guest muster drill [I've tried, but I can't understand this]
4:00 PM: Sapphire Princess sails for Vancouver, Canada
5:45 PM: Dinner in Vivaldi Dining Room - casual dress, no shorts, blue jeans, or T-shirts
7:00 PM: Dinner ends, enjoy the ship and entertainment
11:00 PM: Lights out

Thursday, May 15, 2008
Please refer to the daily Princess Patter for information on ship activities, food service, and entertainment options.
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Performance/clinic in Princess Theater - Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble Perform
3:30 PM - 5:30 PM: Band Awards (Senior Banquet) in Club Fusion - formal attire, drinks and hors d'oeuvres served
5:45 PM - 7:00 PM: Formal dinner in Vivaldi Dining Room
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Student only dance party in Skywalkers - please stay in formal attire for the entire evening!
11:00 PM: Lights out

Friday, May 16, 2008
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM: Jazz Band performance in Princess Theater Mike Vax and Bill Hill - clinicians
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM: CLINIC OF ALL BANDS & SEMINAR - HISTORY OF MUSIC - JAZZ APPRECIATION - MIKE VAX AND BILL HILL - Princess Theater
4:00 PM - 5:15 PM: Student only karoke party in Skywalkers
5:30 PM: Group photo - open deck area by pool
5:45 PM - 7:00 PM: Dinner in Vivaldi Dining Room - casual dress, no shorts, blud jeans, or T-shirts

Saturday, May 17, 2008
7:00 AM: Breakfast
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM: Disembark the Sapphire Princess in Vancouver, Canada
10:30 AM: Vancouver City sightseeing tour
1:30 PM: Check in for ferry
2:00 PM: BC ferry to Schwartz Bay
3:15 PM: Arrive Schwartz Bay, transfer by bus to hotel
4:00 PM: Check into Victoria Marriott Hotel
5:00 PM: Jazz Band performs at Causeway near Milestone's Restaurant
6:00 PM: Concert ends with dinner on your own
10:00 PM: All students in their own hotel rooms
10:30 PM: Lights out

Sunday, May 18, 2008
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM: Breakfast at hotel
8:00 AM: Depart hotel for tour of Butchart Gardens
11:15 AM: Boxed lunch provided, board buses for return to hotel
12:15 PM: Return to rooms, prepare for performance
2:00 PM: All American Band Show and Contest - FULL UNIFORM [field show]
4:00 PM: Show ends at Parliament Building
5:00 PM: Dinner on your own in Victoria
10:00 PM: All students in their own hotel rooms
10:30 PM: Lights out

Monday, May 19, 2008
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM: Breakfast at hotel
7:15 AM: Depart for parade line up
8:00 AM: All bands in formation - we are #3 in parade
9:30 AM: Victoria Day Parade steps off
10:30 AM: Load trucks and buses for return to Vancouver
11:30 AM: Depart Victoria for ferry to Vancouver from Schwartz Bay
12:30 PM: Check-in for BC ferry
1:00 PM: BC ferry departs for Vancouver
3:30 PM: Arrive at Vancouver airport and begin checking in for flights to San Francisco.
6:40 PM: United #564 scheduled to depart - arrival SFO is 8:51 PM
7:45 PM: Alaska #714 scheduled to depart - arrival SFO is 10:14 PM
8:00 PM: Air Canada #534 scheduled to depart - arrival SFO is 10:15

In a nutshell, we bus down, cruise up, and fly back down. One of my friends in band is really consciencious about her grades and knows that she will have a ton of work to do when she returns. Her solution? Don't bus down or cruise up. She will just fly up on either Friday night or Saturday morning and meet band there. She flies back with band on Monday night. Though she will miss the entire cruise, I really admire her for making the sacriffice for her grades. AP testing is on Thursday for World History, and she does not want to make it up on the Wednesday after she returns. She has to take major tests on Tuesday and then she has an in-class essay on Friday, so she will be bombarded already. So she'll stay here with me and just miss school on Monday. My band geeks are going to call me at least three times a day. :) It's wonderful!

Today in orchestra, the conductor said something about how we were progressing on a certain song. He said we sounded better than his band. Because he is not the official band director (he's just the assistant band director), all the good bands (like Jazz Band and Wind Ensemble) don't go to him. He gets the... kind of reject bands (Concert Band (aka Symphonic Band) and Jazz B; Jazz A is the official Jazz Band and Jazz B is the other one for people who didn't make Jazz A). So when he made this comment, my friend whipped around to me, and yelled, "HAH! WE SOUND BETTER!" fully knowing my love for band. And of course, I shouted back at her, "YEAH, WELL IT'S CONCERT BAND! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?" Then I turned to face the conductor and he was looking at me a bit suspiciously. Oops. I totally dissed his band right there. Oh well. He'll be gone until Tuesday with band, so I guess it's okay.

There was a sign in the quad last week that said "LEI'S 4 GRADUATION". I wanted so badly to take a picture of it and upload it to the English Fail blog, but I never got around to bringing my camera to school. I'm sure there will be other signs with apostrophe misuse anyway.

Ah yes. I found a friend today. This is what this post is supposed to be about, but I digressed. She's at What She Said. I know her from camp. Band camp, of course! She's a flautist.

The backpack has returned. Time for math homework.

Peace Treaty Scarf Update

I saw band this morning! I asked my P.E. teacher if he would let me go early (half an hour early; I have P.E. during A period and marching band is also during A period), and he finally relented. He's a cool guy.

I've decided to change the Peace Treaty Scarf. I have this nifty olive green yarn (Red Heart's Super Soft or something like that; it was for birthday gifts) I got for $2.49. Though it may not last very long, it's really soft and it looks more manly than the ivory I was using before. Our orchestra conductor might like that better. Ah yes - it will also be knit instead of crochet. I'm using the "Men's Cashmere Scarf" pattern from this book. I really like the pattern.

We had to do an in-class essay on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and finishd it today. I ended up getting so involved in the essay that I wrote over five pages (double-spaced). We wrote about a theme in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and I chose something about stereotypes. I think I did well; probably an A. It's Regular English (as opposed to Honors) and I was in Honors last year, plus the fact that I've never gotten lower than an A- on any essay this year, so I think I'm a pretty fair judge.

We had a math test today on probability. Hopefully an A. I don't think it will be lower than a B. I studied pretty hard and knew pretty much everything that was on the test.

I've been making an off-white little clutch for my mom for this Sunday. I don't think it will be ready in time. Maybe next week or the week afterwards. The body is finished, but I have to felt it and sew it together. Belated Mother's Day gift, it looks like.

Friend's youth group is tonight. Fun fun fun.

Jazz Auditions are Over

And I know I didn't make it. What's frustrating is not the fact that I didn't do well on my audtion, but that I have no way of knowing if I have a back-up (Chamber). The list wasn't posted today either because the teacher wasn't there. AHH! So tomorrow, I will be really anxious to find out if I made it. I don't know when Jazz members will be posted, but I don't think I made it, so I guess it shouldn't really matter. The audition went something like this:

"Play the piece you prepared"
Played.
"Play a G Major scale."
Played two octaves.
"Now, play a g harmonic minor scale."
"...Well, I don't know my minor scales.
"You don't know your minor scales? How about melodic minor?
"Um... not those either."
"Play a g melodic minor scale. Lower the 3rd, raise the 6th and 7th."
Had some difficulty, but finally got it.
"Alright. Do you know any blues scales?"
"Um... no."
"Hmmm. Okay. Well, play for me an F Major scale."
Played without a problem.
"Now Ab (A flat) Major"
Played.
"Perfect. Okay then, that's it."

And that was all. I'm so ashamed of myself. I call myself a musician yet I can't really play my minor scales. How pathetic. He didn't tell me that I hadn't made it, but I'm sure that I won't be enrolled in Jazz Band next year. If no Chamber either, it looks like dreadful Computer Science for the next two years.

Peace Treaty Scarf for the orchestra conductor (not the same as the band director; the band director auditioned me today):

It's a Woven Stitch from Betty Barnden's Crochet Stitch Bible. I think it will work.

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.

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.

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.

Monterey Jazz Festival Jitters

Last night was AMAZING! After the performances, I gave Max Loh a bouquet of white roses with a light blue ribbon. When I got home, I IMed his sister, and she said that he thought they were really pretty. Yay!

I didn't get to knit almost at all yesterday. Spring break is almost over, and I have just a tiny bit more homework to finish up. After that, I'll probably make use of the books on cassette I checked out from the library and knit a little bit more to relax before school starts.

AHHHHH AUDITIONS ARE TOMORROW!! I need to practice more! I'm not ready! Well, actually I do feel pretty prepared. And it's not too bad knowing that I'm one of the only violins auditioning for the second part. So most likely, in less than a week, on Saturday, April 5th, 2008, I'll be in the Monterey Jazz Festival! WOW. That will be a fun but very nerve-racking day. In preparation for Satuday, I looked around for black yarn that could make me a hat similar to Little Mermaid and Flammable. Concert dress for jazz band girls is a black dress. It's supposed to be full-length, but most full-length black dresses are terribly ugly, and the only one I have falls just above my knees anyway. (For guys, it's a tux. I love men in tuxes too, and the entire jazz band consists of guys except for this one trumpet girl. Woohoo that'll be fun.) It looks to me like we'll have both female violinists (no guys are auditioning for the first part, and I don't think anyone else is auditioning for the second part besides myself), a female violist (she's the only one auditioning) and a male cellist (three or four males are auditioning, one female; I love her, but the odds are a bit against her, as first chair is a male and I'm pretty sure he is auditioning). So back to what I was saying... I get cold easily. And in Monterey, it's extra cold. I'll be wearing the black dress, black ballet flats, and a huge warm coat, but 60% of heat escapes from the head. Therefore, I need a hat. Not to perform in, but just to wear going into the place. I'll do my hair once we're inside.

So to get that yarn that I was referring to, the black yarn for the hat, I went online because I can't get to our local yarn store now. So I turned to WEBS. I can't spend $20 on yarn anymore, so I went right to their sale section. And guess what the second yarn was... Araucania LIMARI!! For $8.00, I could get the same stuff I bought for $16. Shipping has to be added, but even with shipping, it's still cheaper! So I bought color 555 I think. And then I looked a bit further down the list and decided on the bulky-weight Mondial Splendid, color 200. Hooray for the internet. I ordered both yesterday, and they should arrive Friday. I really hope they could arrive before then, but I'm good at whipping up a hat in two hours.

We're going out to lunch now I think. Yummy food.