A Weekend in St. George

This past weekend was the UMEA Conference. (Utah Music Education Association) It was fun! It did require me to miss work and classes on Friday, but that turned out just fine that I did. We didn't have a quiz in Calculus, and we didn't have homework due in my CS 124 class. It worked out quite nicely, actually. I also got someone to not only cover my work shifts, but to switch some times with me so I wouldn't lose the money I'd make at work on Friday. It did require me to skip Calculus to work... but that's okay. :) There was so much free food! I stayed at someone's house and their mom was so nice! I got up Friday morning and she had all this food set out for us to eat. Then we went back for lunch--same thing. Food everywhere. She offered dinner too, but we already had a free dinner at Chuck-A-Rama that night. It was pretty much insane. The conference itself was pretty fun. There were these different workshops you could go to about different things. I went to this one about sound recording and editing... oh man, it looked so cool. He had this midi-keyboard that he was using that was exactly like mine except small. Aww, man I really want to get some of that stuff. It'd be really expensive, though. It'd be so much fun, though. Oh boy. I also went to this one about how to avoid burnout as a teacher, which was really boring, actually. I was falling asleep... but I did manage to write down some good quotes he said. Then there was this Ukelele class, which was fun and a couple other things. Some good stuff. It was kind of weird. This was mostly for actual teachers, and the Collegiate members could come if they wanted. This is what the teachers go to! It's like I was a real teacher. It's like I'm growing up. Weird! Graduating seems so far away, but in reality I'm not really that far away from being in a classroom of my own. That is such a scary and exciting thought. Here we go!

So, funny story. I bought my book for CS 124 online at amazon.com on January 7th, and still haven't gotten it. So, I e-mailed the guy that I bought it from asking for a refund or something since I paid for nothing. No response after a couple of days, so I filed a thing on amazon.com for amazon to give me a refund. Then, I left for St. George. When I got back, I checked my e-mail and the guy I bought it from had e-mailed me back. He apologized profusely and felt really bad about it. He just didn't see that someone had bought the book until just then. I kind of felt bad that I made him feel so bad. I mean, I know it was really inconvenient to me and everything, he just felt really bad about the whole thing. He gave me a refund and everything. But this is the funny part. I got another e-mail from him that said this:

"I just checked your address and realize that you live just 2 blocks from my house.  If you want I can still give you that book.  Let me know what you would like to do.  Again I apologize for this horrible event.  If you would like to talk give me a call at -------. I am from chicago but going to school at BYU.  Sorry again."

WOW! LOL... that is absolutely hilarious to me. This whole time I've been wanting this book, and it's been 2 blocks away from me. I could've just walked and gotten it from him. So. Funny. It's totally fine, though. I'm just going to take the refund money and not have a book. I've survived so far and it's been fine. The online notes and wikipedia are working just fine. I'd rather just have the money back.

I think that's all I have right now. I should try to go to bed tonight so I won't be tired tomorrow. Until next week! :)

A New Start

So I kind of stopped posting in my blog for the past couple of weeks... I guess because I was home and in my head the people who would be reading this blog were with me or something. At any rate, here I am back at college and I figured I should finally update this thing. :)

So, Christmas was splendid. My big Christmas gift was a midi keyboard. It's so freakin' cool! I sent it to myself up here and just got it yesterday morning. It actually got here Friday night, but it was in the office, so I waited until Saturday morning to actually pick it up. Oh, I love it so much. I bought Finale Songwriter which lets me just play stuff with a metronome going with the keyboard hooked up to the computer via USB, and it actually transcribes what I play! It's so cool, man. I really like just sitting at the piano and playing stuff. Now I can actually play something and get it as music without having to write it out or remember what I put. I love it so much. That, and I just have a keyboard with me in my room. I don't have to go to another piano and play on it. Granted, I don't have a pedal thing and I have to either play it on the floor or in my lap, but it's awesome. It can play like 120 different sounds (piano, harpsichord, oboe, saxaphone, etc.) and is pressure sensative. So, it plays louder when I press harder on the keys. Man, I love it! :)

Along with the keyboard, I also got a new cell phone (which wasn't technically part of Christmas, but I got it on Christmas anyway). Along with that, I got a new number. E-mail me if you would like it. :) I purposely picked out a Samsung phone that slides. It's very very similar to the phones that they used in the Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. :P I always said that when I got a cell phone, I'd get one that was either Samsung or Nokia (what they used in the first Matrix) and that slides up like they do in the movies. I totally have! It's wonderful. It's got so many more ringtones, free weekends and after 7 pm, receive texts for free, and I can take pictures with it! So many more features and overall cheaper to use. It's great.

I also bought myself a new camera as kind of a gift to myself. I was already going to buy myself another one (that I plan on keeping/using for more than a couple months...) and I figured I might as well wait a little longer and get it at Christmas. So, I did just that. :) I also got Guitar Hero III (w00t!), Sing Star (another version), and some CDs. Oh man, I got this special edition CD of the soundtrack to the first Matrix movie and it's so awesome. I love it so much!! It's got this description inside about the composer, Don Davis, and what he was thinking when he wrote stuff and whatnot. It's awesome. :) I also got some oboe CDs, and a Weird Al Yankovic CD.

That basically sums up the big things for Christmas. Overall a good one. I officially left my job at the movie theater as well. (!!) I just worked for the two weeks I was there and told them that I'm never coming back. One, because I just don't really like working there and it doesn't really make that good of money in the first place, and two because I'm staying up here for the summer. I've got an awesome job up here as a TA that I enjoy more and that I get paid more for, so I'll just stick with that. Walking away from concession (which I had to work quite a bit of... ugh) for what I knew was the last time, was an incredible feeling. It was kind of funny because on my last day, they gave me a write up for being over on my till on the last day I worked in front stand. They felt kind of bad about it, and kept telling me it was just part of the paperwork and they needed me to sign it. I honestly could care less. The only danger about those is if you get too much, you could be fired... yeah, don't care. :P Too bad I don't get to see free movies anymore. I'll get over it. :)

So, being back at school is going nicely so far. Missing the first two days of school didn't really matter too much, but I don't want to do it again. I didn't like going to classes and not knowing what I had missed or anything. Ugh. This weekend I could care less about practicing (which I should probably really get back into doing...) and I went out Friday night with my roommate and her friends. (Who are now my friends. :))  We went to IHOP and then to a 12:15 AM showing of Ghost Town. I overall liked it. I probably would've enjoyed it a bit more if I wasn't falling asleep during the first hour or so. :P I still got most of it, but I definitely missed some parts at the beginning. It was fun! Then, I actually planned a party for Saturday night for Music 276 people. I had missed them over the break and really wanted to just talk and have fun with them! So, I called everyone and we all met at David's place and had soup and bread for a dinner type thing, and then watched a movie. We also played some games. Aww, it was so much fun. I really do love college. :)

Okay, well I think that'll cover things for now. I'll get back into the habit of updating this thing on Sundays again. Yay!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I've had that song stuck in my head for the past 2 or 3 weeks now. :P Every time I think about when I'm going to go home, I just launch off into singing it. Oh, it's so great. Things are really ending! At this point all I have left is my Music Ed final tomorrow morning at 8, Calculus at 2:30, and then my take home final for Music Theory. Right now I'm actually being pretty good and studying! I actually made a program where I put in the national standards for Music Education and type them all in order exactly as I listed them. When I finish I have a nice encouraging output of, "You'll ace the final tomorrow. :)" Oh man, I'm such a nerd. It's great, though! I've actually got them all down verbatim really well! I just keep doing the program and get it better and better ingrained. The exam is basically a bunch of short answers based off of pretty much everything we've covered. There's so much more to Music Education than you would think! So many things to think about when you're planning lessons and evaluating students and everything. It's pretty insane.

And then there's Calculus. I got an 84 on the last test. Not bad, definitely not bad at all. I feel like I should do well on the exam tomorrow. I just need to remember to look over everything. Umm... right. Everything. If I just do an example problem from every section we've ever covered I should be fine. Ugh. Okay, I'll try to get on that after this entry.

So the plan for this week is my two finals tomorrow and finish my Theory final either tonight or tomorrow night. Then I'm done! I'm freaking done! After that I plan on working as much as they allow me to on Tuesday and Wednesday to make some much needed money for the holidays. Then Thursday is off to Las Vegas for the bowl game! That should be fun... but I'm mostly looking forward to after the trip when I fly back home. Aww... home. Oh, speaking of home, I need to call the theater. Ugh. At least this'll be the last time I work there! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! That sounds so fantastic. Let's hope this time we have privileges so I can see movies for free.  Oh boy, fun times.

I had my jury on Friday, as well. I suppose that's something to note. I did well! I think it was probably my best jury so far. I had a good reed (well, it sounded good and was in tune, it just was closed and was killing me to play), and they stopped me before playing all of the hard runs. Yay! I played mostly slow stuff. The past two juries I've gotten an A-, this time I'm hoping for that A. I think I'll find out tomorrow how that went. Oh man, that's so awesome to be done with. It's funny because everyone else still has all these finals, but I'm so close to being done! That's the beauty of being a music major. Finals typically aren't too bad. Good times, indeed.

I guess I should go and attempt to study some more. A week from today I'll be home!! Excitement!

I Can Make It

I just finished my term project for Sc Ed 276 (my Music Education class). It was all about my reflections on the 4 lessons I had to teach to 6 students and how to be a good teacher and all that. It was concluded with a lovely paper about 5 pages long. It really wasn't too bad since I basically just rambled for 5 pages and then edited that. Thanks to my website I've gotten pretty good at just putting my crazy thoughts into words and sentences that go on too long. I was intimidated by the length, but to be honest 5 pages double spaced is just about a page more than my average Smallville Rambling. I just go!

There are 4 more days of classes left of this semester, and then it's just finals. Which, I only have 2 scheduled finals. The other ones are either take home or I don't have them. Oh, and then there's juries on Friday. Yuck. It should be alright... I just need to make sure I have a good reed. Ugh! I've been making so many reeds lately and I thought I had found one that was going to be good... and then it suddenly started sucking. I have my last lesson tomorrow and I'm just hoping my reed will be working then. I'm planning on getting to school early to work on some reeds/practice/do sight singing/do other homework. Like I always do on Mondays and Wednesdays. Fun times. The end is so near... I can make it. Then it's Christmas time! So close! I'm so excited to go back home.

I still don't know which Bowl game we're going to for Marching Band, which also means I don't know when I'll be coming home. I have a plane ticket for the 18th, but they'll be changing that ticket for me according to which bowl game we're going to. I should know by Tuesday what's going on... that'll be good times. The good news is that Christmas is on a Thursday, so if we go to the Las Vegas bowl (which it's looking like we will), then I'll probably come back home either Saturday night, or Sunday morning which is the 20th or 21st! Last year I didn't get back until Christmas Eve. Or was it the 23rd? Something crappy like that. This is earlier. I'm thinking I might just tell work that I can't work until the 26th. They already had my soul for the past 2 Christmases, I won't let them have it again! I'm not in that much need of money... I'd rather spend it with family. Awww... family. Fun times.

Let's see... all I have left now is my Calculus midterm (the 4th freakin' one!), which I have to take tomorrow for a 5 dollar late fee, Calculus final, Music Education final project (yeah... another one), Music Theory analysis paper, my jury, 5th dictation pace test and final, and the final concert for Wind Symphony on Wednesday. Oh boy, this week is going to be so much fun! Yay! Like the title says... I can make it! Wish me luck!

Two More Weeks!

There are only two more weeks of classes, finals, bowl game, and then I'm going home for Christmas! It's officially the Christmas season now that Thanksgiving is over and I'm definitely feeling it. I went to Don and Debra's place for Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving I help them decorate their house for Christmas. Now that I'm home, Ashley and I are playing Christmas music and slowly decorating the apartment. Ashley had some nice window Holiday stickers and she already put them up. Aww, I love Christmas so much. I'm so looking forward to going back home and being back with my family and seeing how much my nephews and neice have grown! Yay!

While I was at Don and Debra's house, I made some of Mom's delicious chocolate cream pie! Debra just asked what my favorite pie was, and I told her that chocolate cream pie was among my favorite. She immediately followed my answer with, "Do you want to make it?" Uhh, sure! Why not? So, I called my mom to get the exact recipe and ended up making it all from scratch Thanksgiving morning. Well, I didn't make the crust. Debra had some graham cracker crust she had bought and I just used that. I think it probably would've tasted much better with regular crust, but it was still delicious. I just ate the crust first and then would enjoy the wonderful taste of the chocolate cream. MMmm... so yummy. We had a total of 9 pies! It totally reminded me of home, and I even got to participate in the pie making! They had two pumpkin, two apple, two lemon meringue, my chocolate cream, and two pecan pies. Wow! It was great stuff. Thanksgiving is good times. :) It was even better that the food was free. :P

Right now it's just a survival game until the end of the semester. I had my 4th and hopefully final pace test for Sight Singing right before the break. Then there's one more dictation pace test (which I got an A- on the last one! Wow!) and then I have my Music Theory project/final to do. There's one more Calculus midterm and then the final, my jury, and then that's it! Well, I have a final project for my Music Education class, too, but I've basically finished that. I taught all of my lessons, and now it's just a matter of commenting on how I did and getting peer feedback. Which, I already gave my videos to two people to review. Speaking of which... I need to do that for someone else. Fun for me!

I gave a talk today in church. I got a call Friday evening from the Bishop while I was at Don and Debra's place asking if I could speak in church. Something about the Spirit... so I ended up speaking on "listening to the Spirit." There were four speakers, and the other three talked about being "led by the Spirit", "following the Spirit", and "living by the Spirit." I think he did tell us all the same thing, but we all ended up remembering it differently. He told me Friday and I didn't end up preparing it until Saturday night. Don't call me on procrastinating that... I usually end up writing talks the morning of. :P It turned out alright, though. I ended up telling about 3 or 4 stories to apply the topic I was trying to talk about. They always tell us in our Music Education class that there should be little information and a lot of application. You actually remember more and learn from the application more than lecture. And it's just more fun to listen to stories in Sacrement meeting than someone reading a General Conference talk to you again. I got compliments from people about it, so I guess it turned out alright. :) I was surprisingly not that nervous. I think all these performances they make me do as a music major are helping me not be nervous when I perform or whenever I speak. It's nice.

I should really try to finish some of my homework so I can try to get some sleep tonight! Yay for sleep! :)

More ramblings!

Ashley pointed out to me the other day that this semester is actually very close to its end! There's this week, and then a 2-day week for Thanksgiving and then two weeks and then finals! The Friday of that second week being a "reading day" to prepare for finals. Which, for music majors is jury day. It's really so close! Then we'll have our bowl game and then it'll Christmas/home time. :) Yay!

This week I finished the 4 music lessons I was supposed to teach for my Music Education class, and I performed a little mini recital on Monday. It went pretty well, I guess. I got many complimentary things said to me about it. For me, though, it could have been much better. At least I had a pretty good reed I had just made that weekend. People were commenting on how good my tone was, so I guess that's good. :) There are just this high F that I've hit so consistently and it's like a climax, and I totally missed it. I was still getting used to the reed, and I was used to a reed that was dying that would hit those high notes too easily. Oh well... people didn't seem to care. At least it's overwith and now I just listen to everyone else in the class perform.

Trombone is a lot of fun! It's so much fun to actually use my air again. Though, the Trombone is much bigger than an oboe and has much less resistance. I have to take so many breaths... I run out of air so quickly! Now that I have some basic slide positions down, I can sound somewhat like a real Trombone player while I'm playing easy stuff. Aww, it's so much fun. I can't wait until I start my workshops and all that we focus on is playing the instruments. Well, I heard it's a lot about how to teach it, too. That's fine. :) In this class, though, we are literally just thrown into the group with the kids and just kind of learn as we go. It's great.

I'm trying to decide if I should take an Exercise Science class next semester. I'm thinking about beginning weight training. I was going to take that class last Winter, until I realized that it wasn't very convenient in my schedule at all. The only drawback this Winter is that I'm already taking 17.5 credit hours and this class would bring that to 18 hours. It would also take away two hours of time that I could work. That would add up to a lot of money by the end of the semester I'd miss out on. Not only that, but it'd be time at work when there would hardly be anyone in the lab: 9 AM. People are in class then. So it could basically be like a time to do my homework and get paid for it. I'd really love to be more in shape, though. It's be right after sight singing, too, so I'd have half an hour to get ready for it and leave early to take a shower or something. I can sign up for the class tonight... someone help me decide!

Okay, what else is new... I took yet another Calculus midterm. I felt pretty good about it, not as good as the last midterm, but pretty good. This one took me two and a half hours to take it! The other ones only took me about an hour and a half, probably less. This one I just kept checking things and reproving things I wasn't sure about. It took so long and made my brain so tired. Let's hope I did well on it! I should find out later this week. Either Tuesday or Thursday. I'm hoping Tuesday. :)

So I think it's decided that my camera is broken. Sad day! I went to the Kodak website and the fact that it broke after I dropped it makes the warranty invalid. Understandable. I got an estimate of what it would cost to repair it without the warranty... they estimated 70 dollars. Umm, I think not. They have refurbished cameras that are just about as good as the one I have that are like 75 dollars or so. I'm thinking I know something I'll get for Christmas. :) I'll try to be extra careful with this next one! What the heck is wrong with my luck and cameras! I need a camera, though. It's so nice to be able to take pictures and videos and share them with people. Not to mention I'm planning on going to Fan Fair again, and I'd really like to have a camera for that. It's just nice. If I could just stop breaking them then life would be grand. I even tried just fixing the camera myself... instead I just go some plastic pieces that apparently broke inside the camera to fall out. I don't get it. It's fallen down before, what the heck made it break so dumbly this time? The battery was dead at the time... so maybe I should try a new battery before completely junking the camera. I don't know.

Okay, I should really go and practice or something. I've got a lesson tomorrow and I've got some things to practice. Oh the joy of it all. :)

More than halfway!

As we get into November and closer to Thanksgiving... I'm realizing that the semester is really getting close to finishing! Which also reminds me that I have yet another Calculus midterm that I should take tomorrow or Wednesday. Fun stuff.

Tomorrow I have a mini-recital thing for my Music Education class. I just have to play something contrasting for about 8 minutes. I've got the song picked out and rehearsed with the accompanist I'll be playing with tomorrow. I had to get a different accompanist than my normal one since I'm playing for the class at 9:00 AM... which just so happens to be the time that everyone ever has class. Well, in the school of music at least. :P So, I've got someone whose in my class playing with me. He's a vocal major, but he's a really good pianist too! It seems like everyone in the school of music is already a very competant piano player except for me. Oh well! I'm not completely illerate on the piano, I'm just not amazing like lots of people. I'm looking forward to the piano class I'm going to take the Spring term next year. Though I hear that's really more of a class on playing cadences in different keys and whatnot rather than real piano technique. Whatever, it'll be fun either way. :)

My camera doesn't seem to be working anymore. I was using it to record myself playing while it was low on batteries. It was propped up so that it was angled so you could actually see me playing. I had it leaning on its lens... the one that comes in and out and it turns off and on. So, while I was playing it ran out of batteries and thus the nice lens thing went back in, which caused my camera to fall on the ground. I didn't notice it had turned off until it had already fallen on the ground. This isn't the first time that my camera has fallen on the ground and I've had to snap it back together again to get it to work. I wasn't too worried. Though, this time when I put it back together, it wouldn't turn on. Well, duh... the battery is dead, right? I tried charging it, nothing. And I know that in the past even when it turns itself off like that from running out of battery, I can normally still get it to turn on again for a moment before turning itself off again from lack of battery power. I think it just knocked just wire loose that connects the battery to the rest of the camera when it fell. I'm not sure how to fix it, though. I would probably end up breaking it more if I tried to hard. So, I need to find a way to get Kodak to fix it for me. I have a year warranty with them. I'm just hoping that they'll still fix it even thought it fell and that's what caused it break. Oh well. I'll try not to dwell on it. I just don't seem to have good luck with cameras. I really don't try to mean to them. Bad things just happen.

I registered for my classes on Thursday night. That was a bundle of fun. :) I can't believe I'm going to be taking my fourth semester music core classes. I'll be in Sight Singing 4, Dictation 4, and Music Theory 4! Wow... I should know my stuff by then. Though, I heard that Theory 4 was just contemporary stuff and completely left any kind of rules or anything. I'm really excited for it, actually. I heard that the 3rd semester was the hardest... but I love it. I love it all! I love music so much, man. It's all so freakin' fascinating. Is it weird that I sit through Sacrement meeting analyzing the hymns? Some are much easier than others... and some are just awesome. I guess Music is a good major for me. If I could, I would try to major in every type of music major offered. I could do performance, education, composition, media music (recording studio type stuff), jazz (could be fun!), or whatever else there is. I'd love it all. I've vaguely considered doing composition, but then I remember how much I love Education and how I've already started the program and got into it and everything. Maybe I can do a masters in Composition or Theory or something. So much to study and learn about! Why can't I do it all?

I think this blog is turning into a "General Sarah Ramblings" place. It's my padded cell, man. It's where I can let my insane thoughts come out into words! Such a joy.

October is really coming to a close. It's almost November! Wow, I have to register for classes for next semester in like a week or two. Weird! Next semester should be fun. I should be able to be more consistent with my practicing and such, and I'll be able to work more hours without marching band. Which means more money! I don't really need more money, but it's nice to have it. I'll need it when I'm paying for Fan Fair, which I've basically decided I'm going again next year. The plan is that my mom will meet me in Nashville and we can go together again. Since I'm staying for Summer and Spring and not really coming home for the summer... it's time that we'll be able to spend together. It'll be fun. :) I'm just hoping it won't be too hard to miss that school. I'll know ahead of time so I should be able to plan ahead so it won't hurt me to miss school. I'll need a break, man. I'm going to lose my mind. I'll be taking American Heritage then too... ugh. That class just seems like so much freakin' fun...

This week I'll be starting to observe and participate in a middle school band class instead of an orchestra. I'm going from Viola to... *drumroll* ... Trombone! We'll see how it goes. It'll be interesting because it has such a big mouthpiece! I'm not used to buzzing my entire mouth when I play. I'm used to the little mouthpieces with French Horn and Trumpet. It should be fun. I'm excited to be able to use my air to play again! The whole bow thing was just not as comfortable to me. Though, it was just starting to feel better, and now we're switching. :P It's okay, I'll learn more when I'm taking a year of String workshop... next year? I don't remember. If not next year, the year after that. Man, I love my major. :)

I finally talked to a counselor and told her of my plan to double major, and surprisingly she didn't seem to care too much. I had everything I needed for Music Education and she already signed this paper giving me permission to double major. The only problem is I need like 3 other signatures to do it. I also need to meet with the Computer Science counselor to make sure I'm planning to have all the classes I need for the Computer Science major. That shouldn't be too big of a deal. I don't need to be accepted into the Computer Science major. It's the secondary major. :P Man, that's awesome. I'm insane. It's absolutely wonderful.

I finally got a calling, too. I'm the Music Director for Relief Society. Sounds pretty important and exciting, but it basically involves either leading the music or making sure it gets lead on Sunday, and picking which hymns we sing and making sure the pianist knows what they are. Not too hard, and I get to lead! Man, it's amazing how many people don't know how to lead. Not that I'm great, but I at least know where the downbeat is and what time signature to direct. I assume I'll get better when I'm going to take my conducting class. :P

Anyway... I need to go to bed. I'm planning on getting up early to finish the homework I neglected to do this weekend. I ended up spending a lot of today trying to figure out what was wrong with The Phantom Zoners... I kind of broke them for a while. But, now they are working again. Goodness, such a pain.

Off to bed I go! :)

Sarah had a date??

So, I had a date Saturday night. I know, weird! This guy randomly called me on Tuesday and he did just what you'd expect. "I was just wondering if you would like to go out with me this Friday night?" Whoa! Weird! "Well, I actually have a band social Friday night I was planning on going to..." "Saturday night?" So quick! So, I couldn't say no. "I'll pick you up at 6." Now, before everyone gets all excited and whatnot, this guy isn't someone I would really date seriously. He's a nice guy, but not someone I could really see as a boyfriend.

We ended up going to dinner at this El Salvadorian place and had some delicious food! I don't remember what it was called, but it was nice. And it made me think of Flora back at home. :) Our waitress didn't even speak English. Oh boy, it would've been nice if Flora were there to translate for me. Though, we were able to point and figure out what we wanted easily enough. After that, we went to this comedy show called "Divine Comedy." I'd heard a lot about it and how funny it was. It was great! I loved it. :) We got there about an hour early to wait in line, and it's a good thing we did. There were already 20 or so people there waiting in line for it. It was a packed show. They even handed out these little activity packets with a word search and crossword puzzle to keep people busy. So we ended up doing that while we waited. After the show, I thought it would be it, but then he offered ice cream. Nice! So we went to Baskin Robbins and he bought me a single scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream... yum. He was a real gentlemen and paid for everything. Free food! I always love free food. :) And there was no awkward moments when he wanted to hold my hand or anything. Man, that would've been really awkward. I hope he knows I wouldn't really want anything more than friends... man, I'm bad at this. I hate saying things I know disappoint people. Oh well, we'll see. :)

So, other than that I also had school and such this week. Thursday and Friday I normally go to schools to observe for my Music Ed class, but the Utah schools didn't have school! So I didn't have class!! It was wonderful. I got to sleep in and not have class until 10. Oh boy... it was so incredibly nice. Though, I realized about 10 minutes ago that I had a Sight Singing pace test planned Friday morning that I completely spaced about... I guess I'll have to make that up later. Yay!

In other news, there's another Calculus midterm that I'm planning on taking tomorrow. I feel like I should be able to do well, because I honestly understand all of the concepts and have most if not all of the things memorized that I should have memorized. If not... I should be able to at least figure them out from the other things I know. I'm hoping to pull off an A in that class. If I just keep up with the work and everything, I should be able to pull it off. Then it'll just be Calc 2 and all the other fun math classes I plan on taking after that. I really do enjoy math, though. It just takes up time. :)

Speaking of Calculus, I really should do my assigned reading and take the quiz that goes with it. Lucky me!

October is here!

And I'm still surviving. :) I was starting to feel sick last Friday and Saturday, but am feeling much better. The cure? Walking in the rain for about 45 minutes to Smith's for some groceries on Saturday evening. So, it was only supposed to be about a 10-15 minute walk, but I guess I wasn't exactly sure where it was. I thought I did, but after turning into two or three roads and walking until I was sure it wasn't it, I ended up calling my mom and asking where the heck Smith's was. She led me to it, and I was able to buy some much needed milk for the cereal I was craving. I also bought some other things, such as a twelve pack of Slim Fast shakes (well, the Kroger brand), peanut butter, jelly, bread, apples, oranges, bananas, hot dogs, and bologna. I knew it would be kind of a pain to bring home, but if I wanted breakfast the following week, I need to those cans. It saves a lot of time. Let's just say it was kind of painful walking home. I can still feel bruises where the bags were on my arms. After I couldn't really feel my fingers anymore, I just had them hanging on my forearms while I held them at a 90 degree angle until I got home. I'm definitely sore. :P But at least I have some more food now! I should be set for at least 2 or 3 weeks now.

What else? Oh! I taught my first lesson to the middle school string players at Springville Junior High here! It was a lot of fun! I planned it out so extensively... in fact, I think it contributed to me feeling sick. I went to bed at about 1:45 AM Wednesday night, and I had run out of bananas, which I normally eat along with my shake for breakfast. So I had a smaller breakfast than normal, and I had woken up at about 5 that morning so I could get there early so practice the song I was supposed to be teaching. I had planned to demonstrate it to them, but I wanted to be sure that I knew what I was doing. So, little sleep, stress, and little food I guess made me feel a little sick. But I feel better now! I'll remember to try to take better care of myself in cases like that. :) Thus why I bought more food! I love food. :)

So I'm thinking about what I'll do with my life. I want to go on a mission sometime. I thought I would just go after I graduate, but thinking about it, I'd really want to just go right into teaching after graduating. So maybe I'd go in the middle of my major? The problem: I'm kind of young. When I turn 21, when I can actually go on a mission, I'll be starting my senior year. Granted, with the two majors I'll have two senior years... I don't know. I just wouldn't want to interrupt it. I can just see when I'm looking to get a teaching job when they see that I graduated in 2012, and it's 2013 or 14 and they see I have no teaching experience. "What'd you do?" "I went on an LDS mission." "So... you've forgotten everything you learned from your major?" Well, umm... no, not quite, but it is kind of rusty... uh... yeah. I don't know what's going on. But, besides the when I'll go on a mission thing, I was thinking about grad school. Which, I suppose could solve the mission problem. After I graduate, I could go on a mission, and then when I come back finish grad school, and then get a teaching job, or something. I was looking at the graduate music programs (well, and computer science, but I've basically decided I'd want it to be music), and the MA in Music Education looks interesting. There was one class: Psychology of Music. Oh wow... that just sounds utterly fascinating. It's honestly one of the most interesting things to think about. Why does music evoke certain feelings in people? Who decided that a minor chord makes people feel sad? Nobody! It just does! Nobody told you to feel that way--it just does! I really want to study how and why that is. Oh man... great stuff.

Oh, and Computer Science is pretty interesting as well. :P

Okay, as usual, I have homework I should be finishing. I'll get to that. :)

One month down

Okay, not quite a month, but almost. Wednesday is the first and that marks the one month of this semester. How is it going so far? I have my first midterm for Calculus that I need to take by Tuesday (Wednesday if I want to pay $5) that I intended to take yesterday. I should study for that so I can take it tomorrow. That'd be nice. My Music Education class is still a lot of fun and it's starting to get more intense. We are starting to prepare lessons that we are going to teach to a group of 6 or more. We have to teach four 15-minute lessons at different times on different days. Just to get a small taste of what it's like to be a music teacher. We turned in our initial plans on what we were going to teach, and basically everyone was too ambitious--including me. I wanted to try to teach rythms, time signatures, and subdivision all within that time. Yeah. Right. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm pretty sure the majority of the group has absolutely not musical experience whatsoever--besides whatever they've done in church. I still need to re-write that plan and make some objectives for tomorrow... how fun that'll be.

Then there's the Oboe world. I had a lesson last Thursday that went well. I even had a reed that I made myself that was pretty good! She looked at it and complimented me on it. It's amazing. I might actually know how to make good reeds. The priority right now is to shape the cane that I gouged the other day (which took like 2 hours--freakin' insane) so that I can make more good reeds. Oh how wonderful it is to have a good reed to play on. :) Bad news is that the Thursday lesson was made up from Monday that she couldn't do. So everything she told me to practice that would normally be a week of practice would have to be until tomorrow, Monday. So I had to practice today (which I normally don't) to make sure I knew it. It's not as fast as I'd like it, but it'll be fine. I'll just ignore the fact that the good reed I had is really sharp... I don't have perfect pitch. Doesn't bother me when I don't look at the tuner. :P

Today was the first fast Sunday we've really had as a ward. We had a "break the fast" together. We all were assigned to bring a type of dish so we could all eat together. It was great! It was like a real meal... insanity. I love having food to eat. :) I've yet to get a real calling, though. We'll see how long that lasts. Last year I was a Family Home Evening Group Leader, or as they used to be known as--a mom. That was alright, but I'm hoping for something different. Then I don't have to worry about getting people to come and having something that people will like. I like other people planning that sort of thing. :P I'd really like to get a calling as a teacher, actually. It would take more time Saturday night (probably early Sunday morning), but it'd give me more experience being a teacher. It seems like it'd be kind of fun. I guess we'll see!

So my Dictation pace test--I passed! I didn't pass by much... but I passed. Hopefully I can do better on future pace tests so I can maybe average another B. That'd be nice. I really am getting better at hearing certain things. It'd be nice if the grade reflected that. :)

Yesterday we had our first cleaning checks. We got up at about 8 (on a Saturday morning... what the heck) and cleaned for about 2 hours. We all had different jobs we were assigned to do. It wasn't that much fun while cleaning, but it's nice to have a clean apartment. The area around my bed was getting rather cluttered.

Oh boy, I really need to get to working on my homework. I've got to do Sight Singing (which will probably end up being done in the morning), redo my Music Ed thing, Music Theory, read/study Calculus, and finish my observation sheet from my observation on Friday. Fun! I so should have done some of this yesterday... that's what I get. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Procrastinating is Phun!

I should be reading my Calculus and taking a quiz saying that I read my Calculus, but I feel like procrastinating it a bit longer. Since I've written a blog the past two Sundays, I'll make it a goal to try and write a blog at least once a week--on Sunday. So here I am! Writing another blog. Good times indeed.

I took my first Dictation pace test last Thursday--not exactly sure how it went. This teacher, who is another grad student, grades them on his own. I guess to ensure that we don't cheat. But now I don't know what I got on it until Tuesday. A little nerve-wracking since I'm positive I messed up the last harmonic dictation part. I... had some weird stuff there. At least I'm pretty certain on the bass... and he grades nicely on the analysis. Even if the analysis is wrong, if we analyzed what we wrote as the chord correctly, we get points. I didn't do so well on the mock exam... I'm positive I did better on this one. Whatever. Passing the four semesters of dictation is my goal. I was able to pull off a B last semester--which was awesome. Having a B again would be cool. B+ to an A awesome--but highly unlikely. I guess we'll see!

I always have Calculus homework to do. Luckily, I mostly enjoy what I'm doing so it's not that big of a deal. It's just every night when I'm thinking of what I need to do for the next day, there's always Calculus on the list. I either have to read the chapter and take a quiz about it, or do written homework. There are also quizzes due on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I luckily work on all three of those days and I usually just finish the quizzes then. I should try to get out of that habit though. There are going to be days that I'll be actually working the whole time and I won't have time to finish the quizzes. Not to mention the material is going to be getting harder and the quizzes will take longer. Calculus 2 should just be a load of fun. :) It is nice having a math class. I like math. In fact, I think I decided I wanted to minor in Math. Yup, a double major in Music Education and Computer Science with a Math minor. Three of the classes I have to take for the minor are already required for the Computer Science major, and one class can replace a class that's required for the Computer Science major. So really it's just a matter of taking 2 or 3 more classes. Not a big deal. I might as well, right? :) Somewhere down the road if I really wanted, I could probably get a job teaching Math. I hear those people are in short supply. That'd be fun.

I'm slowly getting better and better at the Viola. I got another oboist who also played Violin/Viola in high school to show me how to bow correctly. Now I actually play the instrument better! Now I just need to try and train my fingers to find the spots on the Viola for the notes so I can be in tune. Supposedly lots of string players are out of tune, even some string performance majors. At least that's what some people tell me. I'm not going to be one of them. :P I can try at least. I figure this is the time to try and get my fingers in the right places and train my ear to be in tune. I'm probably dreaming. Oh well!

My lesson last week went fine. Besides the fact that she asked me to play my E scale stuff. Which that just happened to be the one scale that I hoped she wouldn't pick. Literally, every other scale I worked on until it was back to where it was last semester. But 30-45 minutes later when I finally got to E, my mouth was getting pretty tired. I just ran through it until I played it right once. I didn't really get my fingers to remember sufficiently. It kind of came out with my fingers got confused up high. But, it's all good. I did practice it again so my fingers remember now. She'll probably pick another scale tomorrow--or forget. That'd be nice. :P I can play my freakin' scales. I practiced them to death my first semester. Literally, I played them an hour a day. For the first 20 or 30 minutes each hour that I practiced I would run through all my scales. I remember once spending an entire hour on just scales. It was rather boring and monotonous. Thus why I kind of am losing the will to practice them as much. I should try and be better about practicing. I scheduled practice rooms--but lots of them are in the evenings. Which means after I've already gone home and eaten and settled back in, I have to walk back to the HFAC and practice for an hour. It's not that big of a deal--it's just a matter of getting myself up and doing it. I need to get in the habit... habit... I just have so many classes this semester. Well, not really classes, just lots of classes that take up a lot of time. Then if there's anytime before 6, I'm working or practicing or something. I'm not like really stressed out, just have a lot to take my time. In fact, I'd say I'm pretty happy right now. I enjoy my classes for the most part, and I know how everything goes. Regardless, I'll be happy when this school year is over. :P I'll be done with the silly music core! (Music Theory, Sight Singing, and Dictation) I really like Music Theory, but I could definitely do without Sight Singing and Dictation. Oh... I just remembered. I have Sight Singing homework to do tonight. Blech... that'll be fun.

What else? Oh, I finally did my wash. Good for me. It costs so freakin' much here! I wonder if the prices went up at Helaman Halls, too. It cost $1.25 per wash, and $1.00 to dry each wash. I had three loads--it cost me a freakin' $6.75 to do my laundry! Insanity. Especially when you're used to umm... free. Oh well. I'll just remember to have more naked days. Anything to save money. Ooorr... I could just never do my wash. Be smelly! Totally worth the money.

I hope you all know I'm kidding.

I suppose I should end this post and do my homework. Fun!

A New Week!

A new week is about to start. I have a private lesson tomorrow, and I'm not sure what to think. I always get nervous about them, and it always turns out just fine. I did practice what she wanted me to, and I have a fairly good reed. It just takes a bit to break in... so if I just warm up on it before the lesson or something, it should be okay. Right? I don't know. We'll see! :)

Calculus is turning out to be fun! I missed having a math class, and it's really not too hard of stuff. We just started limits, and it's making perfect sense. A nice review of what I once knew. I just need to make sure I have all this trig stuff down that I never truly had down in the first place. Let's hope I can pull off an A! That'd be awesome. Then there's just Calc 2 to worry about... but I'll worry about that next semester. Double majors are fun! :P

I taught my first help session for CS 142 last Friday as well. It was fun! I hope I didn't confuse people too much and that I actually helped. I'm pretty sure I did. They were all so quiet and attentive! Listening to every word I said and writing stuff down I said/wrote. It was crazy! I know when I actually get a teaching job (wow... that's so cool to think about :)) it definitely won't be that easy to have them listening. The help session is a special group of people. They aren't coming because they have to, they are coming to listen to get some help on the lab. So of course they are going to listen attentively and be quiet. It's nice.

Speaking of teaching, we've been going to schools and observing and I've officially learned the D major scale on Viola! They just taught us how to use the bow. Man, it's so many things to think about at once. Though, I don't think it'll be hard to get the hang of it. Just at first there's how to hold the bow, how to move my arm, where exactly to put my fingers/be in tune, what note is what fingering, and the freakin' clef! That took me by surprise. We first walked in and joined them and they were reading through this song. I look at the music... "What is an E# doing in here??" Oh! It's the freaking alto clef! Surprise! Okay, so a C is really a D... it's different. That's for sure. But it's oh so fun! :) If I could just get GOOD at it, that'd be even better. But I have a feeling it'd take a while to get good at it. I could just get proficient at it by the end of the semester. At least I have String Workshop to look forward to so they'll go over in more detail how to play a string. It seems like fun. You can eat while you play! Insanity! And there's to stinkin' reed to worry about!

Yesterday (Saturday) BYU had a football against UCLA. Which, I'm pretty sure is the team that we barely beat last year at the Las Vegas bowl. Yesterday, we smeared them 59-0. At the half we were ahead 42-0!! Insane! They just were fumbling and throwing interceptions everywhere! We just couldn't be stopped. It would have been more, but I heard we were playing all of our second and third string players during the last two quarters or so. Had to give our offense a break since they were playing basically the entire first half. We played the freaking "Cougar Cub" song that we always play during a first down so many times! That and the fight song for each touchdown and field goal. It was exciting. We have such a good football team this year. Yay!

Oh yeah, last Wednesday I had Master Classes and I performed my song for everyone. It went pretty well! Everyone seemed to like the song and Jesse played the piano part very well for not having it for very long. It had the tendency to go too slow (as opposed to too fast like in Sacrement meeting), but it was still good. Geralyn seemed to like it too and had some suggestions for me. But that's all they were, suggestions. She was encouraging me to keep adding to it and write some more pieces to perform in class. Yikes! We'll see how far that goes. :) Either way, I'm glad it's over and went well. Yay!

Well, I should try to finish up my Sight Singing homework before I head off to bed. Though before I do, I'll go ahead and post another video of a little snippet of something I wrote a week or so ago. On a whim I named it "Mixed Feelings." Just because of the switch from major to minor. Like I couldn't decide what it was supposed to mean. I don't know. Go ahead and listen or something. :P

P.S. I love getting comments. :) If you read this blog, please comment and let me know! It makes me feel like I'm not writing to a wall/myself.

So... school

I've finished my first week of my sophomore year in college. Yup, sure have. I did my audition on Tuesday, which went just fine. I ended up making Wind Symphony playing English Horn! I'm so excited. I know that Wind Symphony is also going on tour to Japan after next semester... but I don't know I get to go on that. But, you know what, it's all good. It'd cost like 600 or 700 dollars to go (for a foreign trip... holy cheapness) and it would cut into the Spring term that I want to stay for. I'm just excited to be in a band that meets on Tuesday and Thursdays because it works out much better for my schedule. Oh, and being able to be in the same ensemble as Natasha... again! I can't believe it! We'll have a blast. :)

My Music Education class seems like it's going to be pretty fun. We get to go to middle schools and observe the teachers and take notes and such. Oh, and we get to learn two instruments: one string and one wind. We've basically split into two groups for the two middle schools, and one starts with the orchestra and the other with the band. I'm in the orchestra group first and I just found out that I'll be learning the Viola! So, that'll be fun. It doesn't seem like it'll be too terrible. Just takes up a lot of time since it's every morning for two hours, and for when we go to the middle schools we have to be there by 7:20 or so. But, it's fun. Great fun.

Calculus so far isn't bad. Just a review of trig and algebra, really. We'll be getting into the good stuff soon, which should be a review of the Calculus class I took in high school. So far I have an A in the class. The whole two online quizzes that I took that you can answer until you get it right. Yeah... we'll see how long that A will last. :P I shouldn't be too hard on myself yet. I could pull it off if I work hard enough.

So my song that I wrote this summer for sacrement meeting... I brought it up to my Oboe professor during my audition as a way to not talk about the fact that I didn't really practice that much this summer. She asked if I would play it at Master Classes this Wednesday. In front of all of the other oboe players and herself. So, I am. I just finished adding in all the dynamic markings I should have added in the first place, and I re-wrote a couple other parts. There were some parts that could sound basically the same (if not better) and be easier for the piano, so I changed them. And the end. I changed the end a bit. I'm probably going to end up showing the music to my professor tomorrow in my lesson. Nervous? Yes. She only has a doctorate in music and has analyzed a bunch of music written by real composers. We'll see what she thinks. I don't think she'll be too hard. It'll be interesting to see what she has to say. I'll guess I'll just wait and see!

So right now I'm in my room writing this blog while Ashley is off with her brothers and such visiting their grandparents and having dinner with them. My roommates and some of their friends are over talking and having a great time in the living room type-room. This is fairly typical. I tend to just kind of be in my room doing whatever on the computer or working on homework while they are out socializing. Interesting. I swear I'm not that anti-social. Every once in a while I semi-awkwardly walk out and just say hi or try to be part of the conversation somewhat. I just don't really know them very much. I guess if I just interjected myself into the group I would get to know them. Whatever. I like having the time to myself. My introverted self likes having that alone time to not have to talk to people.

Speaking of being social, Anthony and Curtis have come over every day for the past couple of days to play games and just hang out. It's been great fun! Too bad it prevents me from getting things done such as homework, practicing, or sleeping. But it's still a lot of fun. 

I have little songs for each of my two nephews and now my neice! I'll go ahead and make little videos of them and let you all listen to them! Awww... they are all so freakin' cute. :)

A Little Rant

Yeah, this could be a Random Rant on my website... but whatever. Maybe I'll move it there later.

Okay, so like I said before I really like Josiah Leming. He's incredibly talented and can compose some great songs with great lyrics. Though, I read a couple weeks ago that he doesn't really actually write out music or read it. If he had a week or so he could figure it out, but he doesn't really read it. Quote...

"well, i picked up piano REALLY easily, it was second nature to me, almost like breathing and walking. after i started playing, my parents hooked me up with a year of fundamental lessons, with a local elderly lady, who hated the way i didn't practice the songs she gave me lol. i was always all about writing my own stuff on piano, and had no desire to learn songs that were already written. i play by ear, but i can read notes very poorly. put a piece of sheet music in front of me and it may take a few days, but let me listen to it, and i can usually play it note for note in a few minutes. if i'm feeling lazy i get the guitar chord tablature, bc i know all the chords and that jazz."

Well, that's great and fantastic. It's an awesome gift to be able to play by ear, but that's no excuse to not practice the stuff that's already written. By learning to play music that's already been done you learn more about music in general which could help you compose better. But he does play other music... just by ear. That is very true, and I'm sure that's how he's picked up various techniques and sounds, but it leaves out the possibility of other people playing his music (unless they can also play by ear) and being able to read and write music is a vital part to the whole music world! Why did people come up with a way to write music in the first place back in the days of Gregorian Chant... oh, so it could be done the same way without people forgetting how it went. It's a way to record the music that people make, and to keep it going throughout time. It's skipping a vital part to music. Part of being better as a musician is practicing the "boring" stuff and getting through exercises. It may seem pointless at first, but it really does help you play better. I've had to drill scales my entire musical life, and it honestly helps. Especially in music where they have runs that are really quick. I've practiced the scales so many times I see it and think, "Oh, that's a Bb ascending scale from F to C." So my fingers just do it.

You've got to be able to play Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Haydn, Liszt and all the other great composers. (even the not so great ones) The great composers of our time wrote down their music to be heard and played. You don't want to spend your time to learn to play it because you want to work on your own stuff? His compositions, as great as they are, could still and always get better. Rather than having a part of your music be there because you know that it sounds cool that way, you can think, "I want the listener to have a feeling of longing for the chord to resolve... how about a deceptive resolution, or modulate to a minor key." Rather than... "How about this chord? Yeah, that sounds cool. I'll go with it." You might have chosen a deceptive resolution, but you weren't thinking it. What if you wanted the same sound, but didn't know how to get it in the different key? It might take longer to figure it out, but if you knew the theory behind it, you could do it quickly and know exactly what you're doing.

It seems like Josiah is an inspiration for other people, too... (another quote from someone on youtube)

"I just love how you can play by ear. I've been playing piano for quite a while, but I just sorta lost interest in it because all my teacher makes me play are songs from books. Hah." (not talking about Josiah, but someone who made a "tutorial" of Josiah's music also by ear)

Yeah, those dumb teachers making their students play songs from books. Ha! They are so silly and don't know what they're doing! Why don't all people just make up their own music all the time, blah blah blah... silly theory and scales and simple songs that will do me nothing...

NO.

Those exercises from "books" are there to build various skills and make you a better pianist. It may seem boring, but it honestly does help. Then you'll be able to play harder stuff and move on as a musician. People didn't make these books to make students suffer. They made them to make students advance and become better. By not doing them and just doing your own thing, it's like you're telling them that they are useless and you are better without them.

A response to Josiah's comment I quoted above, "Be glad you don't require formal lessons as they can sometimes be a royal pain in the [butt]."

Yeah. He doesn't "require" them. *rolls eyes* Everyone could do better with lessons. This is a case when Gavin Mikhail wins over Josiah. Check out an answer on his FAQ...

"I started classical piano and pipe organ when I was 7 and played/competed until I was 19. Started singing when I was about 9 or 10. And yeah, lessons were part of the deal. My Mom was MILITANT about me practicing (think 5am wakeup call to practice before school :), but honestly, even though I hated it at the time, I really wouldn't trade it now. That training has become much of who I am as a writer and musician, so I definitely recommend taking lessons if you can. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing self-taught artists/writers in the world (and you may be one of them), but I think even if you're self-taught, having a few lessons under your belt can only add to what you already do..."

There is the point I'm trying to make right now. "Even if you're self-taught, having a few lessons under your belt can only add to what you already do." Holy cravitz Gavin! He's obviously a very talented musician, but even he had strenuous lessons that he wouldn't give up for anything. It only added to what he could already do. Yes, you can do fine without it... but in my opinion, it's kind of arrogant and shows that you aren't willing to expand your horizons.

...that's my two cents for the day. :p

Survival

So, I got through today. I swear today has felt like a week. It just wouldn't end. In fact, it still hasn't quite ended. There's still a whole 4 more minutes of Monday. Though, by the time I finish this entry, it will be Tuesday. Good times.

So, I was able to start and finish my theory homework in Music Civ without too much sweat, and I finished my silent dictation in the 20 minutes I had between Orchestra and CS 235. Luckily we got out a little early today. Then, I started to get nervous about teaching a musical concept tonight. I had a plan of teaching different rhythms, or just different subdivisions of the beat using different fruit names. It sounded like it could be fun. Though, I was terrified that these college students that I would be teaching would think that it's really childish and not want to go along with it. But, it was actually the opposite! They got so into it! They loved it! We had all 8 of them saying different fruits with different rhythms... oh, it was great. I hope it was what they were looking for in teaching a musical concept. Either way, I had a blast doing it. :) Maybe Music Education is a good major for me. :p Now all that's left in the application is writing two papers, making a portfolio type thing, and record myself (ideally accompanied) playing the oboe. All by Friday. It can and will be done. I'm looking forward to Friday being over.

Tomorrow I have my second Dictation pace test. I'm hoping to get some sort of B on it. In fact, I'm hoping to get some sort of B in the class. That would be much better than a C-. It would be unrealistic to hope for an A, so I won't set myself up for disappointment. :p We'll just see. I seem to be on or off with Dictation. I just question myself so much during the pace tests. Whatever. I guess we'll just have to wait and see! :)

It turns out the program that I thought was finished wasn't quite finished. I fixed it (at least I'm almost positive that I did), but the TAs were already gone. So, I guess I'll just have to turn it in tomorrow for 2 points extra credit. I'll deal with it.

I'm going to be really tired this weekend. Though, at least the first night shouldn't be too bad. In fact, it'll be fun! :) I've done my share of all-nighters that it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal anymore. It's the second night that I've never completely gotten through... I don't want to imagine what the third night is going to be like. Blech. Whatever. It'll be fun when it's over and I'm sleeping... mmm... sleep...

Okay, this closes this entry. I'll not post a video this time, just to make it that much more exciting the next time that I post a video. ;)

Creepy Phone Calls

Today was a good day. All last month Wednesdays sucked because I was basically swamped with stuff to do and things to go to all day long. I had a class from 7:30 to 9:00 PM that only met four times, and now it's over! Well, we aren't meeting anymore, anyway. We have a final project due by the 15th, which is basically just our application to get into the Music Education program. I'm hoping to make it in... it doesn't seem like I should have too much trouble, but you never know. But, even if I don't it's not like I don't have enough classes to take to fill the void. It'd just throw off my schedule a bit.

Anyhow, about today. I didn't have Music Theory! I just went to Music Civ, and then finished my Theory homework, turned it in at my Professor's door and took a nice 20 minute nap on a bench. I met Ashley and we went to Book of Mormon. It was a fun class, too. Today our personal application papers were due, so it was nice to know that it's done with. Not that it was very hard, at all, but it's nice to be done with it all the same. After that Ashley went to class and I had lunch. Mmmm... they had such delicious choices for lunch. Chicken Fajitas Wraps and Navajo Tacos. Those are two of my favorite lunches ever.

Orchestra was pretty much the same as always, and CS 235 was thrilling as ever. Actually, it was interesting. I normally find that class interesting... I guess that's why it's one of my majors. :p Anyhow, we talked about "Big Oh." It's basically estimating how fast an algorithm runs. It reminded me a lot of limits. It was like being back in a math class. Aww... math, how I miss thee. No worries, I won't miss it much next semester and the semester after that when I'm taking Calculus 1 and 2. It'll be hard, that's for sure, but I'll be glad that I took them in the long run. I like knowing Calculus. It's actually a lot of fun once I get it. If I don't understand the concept... then it's just confusion to the max.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. There's a new Smallville, there'll most likely be Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner, and I don't have a TA meeting at 6:30! We usually have TA meetings from 6:30 to 7:30 on Thursdays... which very inconveniently conflicts with Smallville. Though, I've just been finding streaming links and watching them online. Though, it's just that much more fun to watch it on a TV right when it first airs. It's just cool to know that you're watching it for the first time with so many other people. So, yeah. Tomorrow = good times.

In other news, I've been getting creepy phone calls. The caller ID just says "Unknown Number" and they just call and leave a silent message. They called on Monday at about 11:00 (I believe), and then twice on Tuesday at 11:00 and 3:33, and then three times today at 11:00, 3:41, and 5:48. All at times that I'm not at the dorm. A couple times I can hear something in the background, like faint voices, but it's so quiet I can't make it out. So, I'm suspecting they'll call again tomorrow at 11:00, and I'll be there this time. I'm going to answer it this time and figure out who it freakin' is. I was asking some other oboists at master classes tonight about it, and one figured that it was just telemarketers. Which, that makes a lot of sense... but why not leave a message? That'd be very disappointing if that was it. Though, I'm not sure what to expect otherwise. What if it was something "exciting?" What if it was some creepy stalker guy? Yeah, right. It's probably something dumb. I guess I'll just have to find out! :)