A Week of Extremes

I missed Sunday's update... but oh well. This'll do. :)

This past week I felt somewhat bipolar. Maybe not in the precise definition of the condition, but just that one day I felt somewhat depressed and sad about certain things, and then the next day I was exuberantly happy. It was kind of weird. Since, though, I've mostly stayed with "exuberantly happy." Wednesday in general was a very stressful day. I wanted to get my CS 124 lab done so I wouldn't have to worry about finishing it on Thursday (since it was due on Thursday) and I had to perform the first movement of the Mozart Concerto in Master Classes that night only rehearsing with my pianist for the first time an hour before we performed (not to mention I was basically just learning the second half of it), and I had a couple other things that were due that day as well. I just wanted it to be over. I didn't seem to have much done with my lab by 8 o' clock that night, and after performing in Master Classes, I felt like I didn't do very well at all. Right after performing I was rather proud of myself for just making it through since I had only really rehearsed it once and was hoping to just get the notes and rhythms right with a couple other things. And I did just that! The 3 or 4 hours before I had spent at work listening to various recordings of people playing the first movement on youtube so I could just get it in my head. It probably would've helped to have the music in front of me, but I had that thing stuck in my head like nobody's business. I was feeling pretty good. Then came the comments. They weren't terrible, it was just nobody said anything good about it. It was all, "This should've been more exaggerated, the style needed to be more this and that..." Someone mentioned that I needed to just get a recording to know how certain things go. I knew there was one spot that many people played a certain way, but I just chose not to. I guess that made her think I didn't know how it was supposed to go. I did play one half note as one beat because I had gotten in the habit of doing that in my practicing just out of stupidity. Maybe that's what she was thinking of. After sitting down I just felt like I had completely insulted a standard in Oboe literature. Like I should've just nailed it and failed. All I wanted was one good thing said, and nobody said anything. If anything, it was like people were eager to tell me everything I did wrong. 

So, needless to say, I felt pretty down. I think in retrospect it's just that it is one of those pieces that everybody knows and so the whole time I was playing they had a certain recording in their head and all they could think of was how what I was doing didn't match what they had going in their mind. I'm not a terrible Oboist, I know that. It was fine. I'm just learning it, and it's a freakin' beast. It'll be alright. :)

I got home and was just thinking about how I really needed to finish my lab, and I just wasn't getting it. It's frustrating because with Computer Science stuff I normally get it. I've had so much experience with it, and I freakin' teach it to people every day. I feel like I should catch on quickly. But in CS 124, we are dealing with stuff that's completely knew. Gates, latches, MDR, Program Counter, etc. So much information to absorb. I've found that usually with this type of stuff, I feel slower than normal right at first. Like I just don't get it as fast as most people are getting it. Then, one moment, it just makes sense. It's like an exponential growth of knowledge as things click here and there. I'm finally hitting that point where things are making sense. But, Wednesday night, I was still at the beginning slow stage trying to figure things out. All I had to do was making a program that took single digit numbers until you pressed "=" and it would output the sum. Sounds simple. In Java I could code that up in about 2 minutes. But in this class, I had to do it in assembly. I was actually excited to learn how to program in assembly. It's like the base level of programming. You have to tell the computer how to do everything. Right at first, it's just giberish. It makes no sense. Well, needless to say, Wednesday night I finally got it to work! Things made sense! I went to bed happy.

Thursday morning came and life was grand! Except for the fact that I had an incoming Calculus test I didn't feel ready for, I loved it! I was at work and I was just giddy. I taught a help session for CS 142 and I think I was just a little too excited for the students to teach loops and conditional statements. It was so weird. I felt odd being so happy after feeling so depressed the day before.

Oh! I also had a Dictation Pace test on Thursday--I got a B+ or A- again! (I'm not completely sure, but right around there.) I keep feeling like I'm getting lucky. I might just be able to pull off a B+ in that class. That'd be so grand. It'd make up for whatever grade I'm going to get in Calc 2. Ugh, that class is the death of me. It just takes so long to do everything. I'm planning on taking the second midterm tomorrow night. It's going to be torture again, I just know it. I'm hoping to pass this one, but we'll see. I attempted to study today, and it took me two hours to do the first 3 problems on the review. Well, we looked at some other things. Oh boy. It'll be fun, I just know it.

Let's not forget that this was a three-day weekend! We had today off! I know it's somewhat rare to get President's Day off in college, but this will sadly be the last day we get off until the end of the semester. Which, in terms of working is good. In fact, I'm not too torn up about it because we get out so early. Oh wow... we are already in the middle of February. It's actually kind of worrisome that we are already so far into the semester when I feel like so many of my classes shouldn't be close to finishing. Like I haven't done enough to really sustain my grade where I want it to be. *cough* Calculus! *cough*

Oh boy, I'm typing quite a bit. Today there was a kind of Music 276 party again. It was fun as always! We watched "Much Ado About Nothing" and had pizza and cookies, as well as played Mad Gab. What a fun game. It was somewhat frustrating to hear everyone complain about Keanu Reeve's "terrible" acting everytime he'd come on screen since I was somewhat obsessed with him back in the day. I didn't say anything. I wouldn't say that the first thing I thought of when they suggested watching that movie was that it had Keanu Reeves' in it. In fact, when they first showed his face, someone said, "Oh, I forgot he was in this movie!" Then people went on to say how he was Neo, was a horrible actor, and his best movie was Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. They'd say that he probably didn't have any idea what he was saying and was just repeating lines he had memorized with certain feelings associated with it. If there's one thing I know, it's that Keanu Reeves is not dumb. He's actually very smart. I'm not gonna say he's the best actor I know, but I know that he's not as terrible as people make him out to be. Maybe I should've said something. It obviously kind of bothered me. Oh well! :)

Alright, I think I'll stop here and head off to bed. I've got to get up early tomorrow to do my sight singing homework. What a joy!

[Insightful Title]

Another week has gone by and I'm surviving. :) I had my first private lesson of the semester on Friday. Friday at 9:00... PM. Yeah, it was rather exciting. We don't have Geralyn this semester because she's busy recording a CD and doing a mini tour thing with her trio. So, we have Sarah Holden for the semester. She's really nice and really knows what she's talking about, I just can't help but miss Geralyn. Sarah got a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Oboe at Juilliard. So she definitely knows what she's talking about. :P The only problem is that she has to arrange her schedule to fit her husband working so that at least one of them is home with her kids. So, she could only have lessons on Monday and Friday evening, and Saturday morning. I ended up being stuck with the Friday time at 9, which I actually switched to be at 8 now. It went well, though. She had some good things to say.

Other than that, Ashley and I got pizza Friday night and rented House Bunny. I've recently discovered the amazingness that is RedBox. It's so convenient! There's one about half a block away and Ashley and I can just go and rent a movie for the night for a dollar. I'm getting caught up on movies I haven't seen that I wanted to.

I had my first Dictation pace test last Thursday as well... I think I got a B+! I'm not exactly sure yet, but I got between a B and an A-. I was so proud of myself. I didn't do that well on the mock pace test. This semester is so different... and it's so much harder than the other semesters. I was getting worried, but if I keep this up, I'll get the highest grade yet in the class! Yay for that!

So far in Calculus, things are going okay. Our first exam started on Friday and goes until tomorrow, Tuesday being the late day. If I study I should do alright... there were just a couple things I wasn't exactly sure about. This semester doesn't require me to do all of the written homework, and I'm totally not. So I'm not doing Calculus as much, and it's not sinking in as well. Oops. I should try to get in the habit of doing that so I actually learn better. This class is structured a lot differently than last semesters was, it's taking some adjusting. I'm just going to hope for at least an A-, like last semester. I've got to really learn this stuff as well, since I'm taking multi-variable Calculus this Spring. It'll move faster and it seems like it'd be harder. If I just apply myself I can do really well at it, I know I can. It's just a matter of applying myself. :) It should be fun. I really do like math.

I started taking these online classes this summer: Biology 100 and Doctrine and Covenants 1. I didn't really do much... I only have until mid-May to finish them without paying an extension fee. They cost a lot of money! I just need to remember when I finish them I'll get reimbursed 75% from my parents... which would certainly be nice. It's nice to have money. I'm happy that I have quite a bit more money than I did at this point last year. Not to mention I'm making $1.40 more an hour than I was last Winter, and the same number of hours. I should be making a lot of money this semester! Maybe eventually I'll buy something big... like a laptop or a car. I really like my desktop, and it was a lot cheaper than buying a laptop, but the mobility would certainly be nice. I wouldn't really need it with the classes I'm taking right now, but this summer and on I could use it in my computer science classes. I can't decide if I'd want a Mac, PC, or a Linux machine. I want to get used to Mac and Linux like I am with Windows. I'm not sure I'd want a PC if it had Vista on it... or maybe I should so I can get used to that. Blech, I should worry about that later. Yay for having money!

Okay, I think that'll do for now. Maybe next week I'll have a new video to post since I do have a camera that can take videos now. Oh, that sounds like fun. Look forward to it! :)

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! :)

Here we go again

Another week is approaching. I'm definitely glad that this past week is over, though. It got kind of insane. I actually just remembered something else I was supposed to do last week. All of the Education majors taking some form of Sc Ed 276 have to take this Technology test to make sure we're somewhat literate in Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and possibly Outlook. I'm not sure, though. I was supposed to take that last week, but I can still take it this week and it'll be alright. I just need to remember to do that...

Luckily this week we don't have band rehearsal Thursday or Friday! YAY! Theoretically, I should actually have time to practice then, or maybe even go to reed class... finish shaping my cane. Oh boy, I should be able to be productive this week. Key word: should. This week is the first midterm for CS 142 which means I'll have more time to myself. Like tomorrow... people will just be picking up midterms. I won't be constantly helping people. I shouldn't have a problem finishing the quiz and maybe even working on some of the written homework.

So yesterday was the homecoming game against the University of New Mexico. We won... again. :P 21-3, I believe. It was rather worrisome at first when they were the first ones to score a field goal. Too bad those three points were the only time they scored. I love having a winning football team. It's nice to cheer for a winning team. :) Though it was so cold! I couldn't feel my feet when we were walking back. We have these nice parkas that they let us use for the semester, but they are surprisingly not that warm. They are when we are parade marching, though. I was sweating in that thing. In the stands when we were just sitting there, though. I was freezing. I wasn't as cold as I was last year when it actually snowed at the game... but I was still pretty cold. Couldn't really move my fingers very fast and was probably playing about 20 cents flat all around. Good times.

The month of October is basically half over now, which means it's pretty close to November. Which means it's close to Thanksgiving break. Which really means it's not that far from the end of the semester! Right? No... I definitely shouldn't be counting down yet. That should happen after Thanksgiving break when we are actually close to finals and everything. It's kind of sad. I'm planning on staying for Spring and Summer. That means this Christmas is going to be the last time I'll be home for a while. In fact, I'm even planning on staying for the Spring and Summer after this one and then the following Spring after that too. It may sound like I'm setting myself up to disaster some sanity loss... which is inevitable for me... but, I really don't mind too much. I've really found that I like going to school. Of course I'm not a big fan of the stress, but I've realized I've grown accustomed to it. It's like I feel lazy if I don't feel that stress every once in a while. And I love being here on my own. Not that I don't like home and my family, I love my family. :) I just like feeling like I'm doing something with my life. Being home and working at the theater... doesn't exactly scream progression in life. I'm pretty excited thinking that this Christmas will be the last time I'll work at the theater. I even played with the idea of not even working this Christmas, though that'd be kind of silly. I might as well. It'd give me like an extra 400 bucks or so. Maybe even more. That's some money that's always nice. 

Oh... speaking of money. I really need to pay my tithing. I definitely haven't paid anything yet this whole year, and I have made more money this past year than I ever have in a year. The good news: I have enough money to pay it. In fact, I have quite a bit of money. Especially compared to last Fall when I didn't have a job and was just spending money. It ran out fairly quickly. I like living at a cheaper place and actually earning money. It's nice. That and books weren't nearly as expensive as they were last Fall. Last Fall was absolutely ridiculous.

Okay, I think that may be enough rambling for now. Maybe I'll even go to bed on time today and won't be falling asleep during Calculus tomorow! Maybe! I could maybe even wake up early to practice tomorrow morning... it's an idea. We'll just see. :)

Until next week!

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!

Back at School

It's that time of year again -- school starting. Classes start on Tuesday and the week of marching band is now over. It was literally taking up all of my time. 8-12 morning marching rehearsal, then 1:30-5 more marching rehearsal, then 7-10 inside music rehearsal. Rinse and repeat. That was the schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday, anyway. Thursday we had a performance and they served us lunch and dinner (yay for free food!). Friday morning we had off so the freshman could go to part of orientation. (I'm so not a freshman anymore! Wow!) Then Saturday we had a game with a nice morning rehearsal before we had to meet at 2. We smeared the other team (North Iowa University) 41-17, I believe. So, that was fun. The shows seemed to be fine as well.

The only problem: I also play the oboe. In fact, that's the instrument that I have to play one on one with a professor every week for an hour and have an ensemble in. Have I played it at all this week or much over the summer? Not really. I did play it some over the summer, and I wrote a song that I played in church. I figure that writing a song kind of makes up for the lack of practicing. I also performed a couple pieces at our family reunion. So tonight I'm meeting with another fellow oboist, Jessie, to make reeds and hopefully practice some. Oh yeah... I have an audition on Tuesday for which ensemble I'll be in this year. Though, it's not as intimidating as it sounds. She already has in mind who she wants where, it's mostly just a check to make sure we suddenly didn't suck or get some bad habit. So, I'm thinking if I just pick two contrasting songs (like I'm supposed to) and play through them, it'll be okay. She had me play the first line or so of each piece last year. Not much at all. We'll just see how it goes.

Oh, and I need to sign up for practice rooms. I don't have the luxury of having practice rooms in the basement of my dorm rooms. I actually have to go to the HFAC and use a practice room like most other music majors. And they are almost always full. Let's just hope I can sign up for them. But at least if I only practice at the HFAC it means I can leave my oboe there in a locker I'll rent out and not have to carry it around back and forth like I did last year. That would be absolutely wonderful.

I've met my other two roommates and they seem really nice and fun people! One of them brought a bunch of stuff I forgot to buy and didn't expect to have. For instance, she has a blender, a bunch of pots and pans, a silverware holder thing, oven mitts, pillows for the couch, paper towels, and (this is my favorite)... an ice cream maker! Yeah! Who would have thought I'd have an ice cream maker in my apartment my sophomore year in college? It's pretty awesome. I'm thinking we'll be having some parties. :P

I am now officially in the cell phone world, as well. I've got a go phone! It charges me a dollar a day for each day I use it and 10 cents a minute for each minute I call someone who isn't with AT&T. I can also text, but it's 15 cents a text either sent or received. If I really wanted, I could use the internet as well, but for the 30 seconds I used it last Sunday, it cost something like 61 cents. So... I'll try to avoid that. :P

Right now my room is a total wreck. You want to see how it looked yesterday at the peek of messiness?


It does look slightly better now. It's just a matter of lifting my bed up on cinder blocks so I can put stuff underneath it and moving those boxes and suitcases to the convenient basement they have here. That's what's taking up the most room right now.

Oh, guess what? Yesterday was my 19th birthday! Good times. :) A person in the horn section in marching band made me a cake and they all sang to me at the end of the morning rehearsal on Saturday. Aww, it was so sweet! Not only that, but when I got home from the football game my roommates had made me a cake with candles and they all sang to me! They even had some trick candles! Ha! Just like home! :) I definitely felt loved. I also got many many comments on facebook wishing me a happy birthday as well. Pretty awesome.

I'll try to get back into the habit of updating this thing during school. It's nice to have a place to record my thoughts and happenings of my life for all to see. :)

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

Life is almost awesome

After Wednesday I shouldn't have too much to worry about. You know... just the rest of my finals. That will include Music Civ 202 (which is online), Book of Mormon (as long as I do the review... I should be good), CS 235 (which shouldn't be too bad), Music Theory (which is take home... shouldn't be too bad), and Dictation. As long as it's a good day for Dictation, it should be alright. If I get an 85 or so, I'll get a B in the class. Let's hope for that. It's much better than a C-, that's for sure. :) Last semester I was hoping to pass, this semester my goals are a little higher. Yay! :) So, those other finals shouldn't be too bad. It's just that and working. Just grading CS 142 finals. I'm all for getting more money. I wasn't counting on getting money for working during the finals week. So, yay for more money! I suddenly have realized that I have a good amount of money. Well, a good amount considering I was basically out at the beginning of the semester. Good thing I got that job. :) I think this'll be the only semester that I'll be able to pull off working 17 hours a week, though. I just don't think I'll have the time otherwise. Either way, I should be able to make enough money to go through college without debt. That's my goal. I think we'll get there. w00tness!

What else? Oh, so I am capable of making good reeds. I ended up making a pretty good reed on Tuesday, that worked okay at Master Classes. It just wasn't quite broken in enough. Geralyn did make a comment after I played about how the reed wasn't good enough for me. Eh, it's a lot better now. It's not perfect (I don't think the perfect reed actually exists) but I think it's pretty good. I'm trying to make some other good reeds... but so far it's not working too well. We'll see where that goes. Oh, I need to call my accompanist and run through my jury again with her. We really need to work out a couple parts in the Hummel. I thought we got it worked out before Master Class on Wednesday, but then at the performance, it wasn't together. Ugh. Hopefully that doesn't happen this Wednesday. I guess we'll see. Even if it does... whatever. I'm not going to fail my jury. I'm just hoping to end up with an overall A.

Wow, this semester is actually ending. I've pretty much survived one whole year at BYU. I had a really hard time seeing this in August last year. I was so intimidated by college. I didn't know if I could handle it and be able to practice and whatever. It's been fun! Yeah, I get busy at times, but it's mostly fun. I enjoy pretty much all of my classes, I have my own computer, and I get to completely manage my own time and schedule. It's lovely to have freedom like this. Though, of course, as much as I love it, I'm excited to go back home for this summer. Just to be back with my family and not stress about school. I think overall I'm less stressed here at college than I was in high school. Eh... that might be a lie. I think I'm just overall happier here. Yes, I think that's it. There isn't the politics in band like there was in high school, and I just love the fact that the church is mixed in with learning. Almost everyone is Mormon! It's crazy!

Okay, well I still need to read about 60 pages of the Book of Mormon in about 2 days, so I'll get on that. :) I love it, it's just time consuming.

End of semester, here I come!

One week left...

A week from today is the last day of classes. Then we have "reading days" which are supposed to be days for studying for our finals. For music majors, though, it means jury time. A week from tomorrow is my jury... and I'm in need of a good reed. I made a good reed about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but guess what? Yeah, it's dying. That's what happens to reeds. I'm surprised how long it lasted, actually. It still plays... okay... I guess, but I really need another one. Just now in the past hour I attempted three. They all have the same problem: FLAT. I would love them if they weren't 50 cents flat on every note. There's something that I'm doing wrong... consistently. I thought I had it figured out with the last good reed I made, but I keep doing something wrong. I don't get it. I'll probably just come begging to our grad student for help and get something good for Master Class tomorrow. Yeah, I'm playing AGAIN. I played the past two weeks, and I get to play again. And guess what I'm playing? My jury. I'm playing two movements from Telemann and the Hummel. Not only need I need to practice them to make sure I still know them (which, I do, but... whatever) but I need to have a good reed. My good reed that was working so well, suddenly didn't work well last week when I played. I definitely can't use it again. And I need to rehearse with my accompanist and make sure we have some parts that are hard to get together...

Basically, it's be nice for it to be a week from Thursday. :)

Anyway, in other news I finished sight singing today. I turned in my last two assignments, had my last pace test, and was told I had an A for the semester. So the optional last pace test that could replace the lowest score... I'm definitely not taking. So, that's one class down. Well, actually two classes down. My Music 176 class ended back in February. Anyway, I just have the rest to worry about. :P If I just get an A on my final in cs 235, I'll have an A in the class. I turned in my last lab on Monday. I just have one more homework assignment due on Friday (which I'll try to actually turn in on Friday this time) and then the final. So... hopefully I can pull that off. I deserve an A in that class. I understand everything, go to lecture, and turn in my labs on time. It's just my homework I kind of slack off on. But, I slack off in a way that still gives me credit for it. :p

What else? Oh, I made a video of Allison Mack's challenge on allisonmack.com. She challenged her fans to make videos of their favorite scene from a TV show, movie, book, or whatever, and recreate it! So, I did. :) I remade the scene from the episode "Justice" from Smallville. The scene between Bart and Lex. Ashley was gone at work, and I didn't feel like working on homework or reeds or practicing (which I should have done... but whatever) so I used my lovely camera and filmed myself playing both Lex and Bart. Then I just quickly edited it using Windows Movie Maker and picked a song. Voila! I have a nice scene of me playing Bart and Lex from "Justice." I'll go ahead and post it here for your viewing pleasure. :) Yay!



It was a lot of fun to make. :)

Suddenly today became awesome

So, I woke up this morning at about 7:00, like always, and Ashley needed to print something real quick from my computer. So, she got on my computer and just checked her e-mail out of habit and saw that she had gotten an e-mail from our Music Civ professor -- we had no class today! Apparently he got sick, and couldn't make it. *snap* Too bad. And, I got an e-mail yesterday from my Music Theory professor, and apparently he was sick too! So, I had no 8:00 or 9:00 class today. The only class I had was CS 235 at 3:00, and I worked from 12 to 6 with my 3:00 class in between. So, it was good times. Ashley and I got up and ate breakfast since we were already up, and then came back and took a two-hour nap during the time that I would normally be at class. Mwahaha! It was awesome! I love naps... they're so refreshing.

So, I went to work and then came back. I practiced for 2 hours (which went by unusually fast) and now here I am. Posting on my blog at 1:24 AM. I'm still not doing so well with the sleeping thing. Though, Ashley and I are planning on staying up for 72 hours next weekend on Kokiri Kids, so I guess this no sleeping thing is kind of in preparation for that. I figure I'll already be used to getting not very much sleep, so my body will be more accustomed to little sleep. Granted, it'll still be hard and suck when I'm sooo tired and just want to go to sleep. But, it'll be fun to look back on, and it'll be an awesome record to be able to tell people. Right now my record is something like 42 or 43 hours of no sleep. That was hard, especially since I was doing it by myself. I would have stayed up longer, but there was something else I had to go to the next day that I figured I should be awake for. Oh, and I was really freakin' tired. But, this should be fun since I'll have Ashley with my to keep me awake. We'll keep each other awake. We were considering making another blog just devoted to that. We'll have like hourly updates or something, and possibly post videos of how insane we'll be from lack of sleep. It should be fun. Yay!

The creepy caller didn't call again, either. I almost miss him/her. Why did they stop calling? Why were they calling in the first place? I just want answers...

So, to close this amazingly awesome blog entry, I'll post another video from last night's insanity.



I meant to just rock forward slowly, but I ended up falling instead.

First Entry

So, I've conceded and decided to make a blog. I've already got a livejournal, and about 4 other websites, but no blog. I guess the livejournal will have to be left behind. I hardly every used it anyhow, and I like this blog idea. It sounds more "adult" than having a livejournal, even though it's basically the same thing. Whatever, here is me. In a blog.

It took forever for me to decide on a title for this dumb thing. It was driving me insane, actually. Which probably led to the title that I finally decided upon: Insanity Lane. I like it enough. People have called me insane numerous times, so it seems to make sense that my blog would be Insanity Lane. *shrug* Whatever...

Tuesdays and Thursdays basically rock. I have two classes, Music Dictation and Sight Singing and then I work for 5 hours. Now, this isn't working at the theater, this is being a TA for CS 142 which is the Intro to Computer Science class that I took last semester. Actually, I'm working right now. But since there isn't a lab due this week, we've been dead the entire time I've been here. I haven't helped a single person. And I get paid $9.60 an hour for it. Yeah... it's pretty awesome. Though, on days when we are swamped, it's not as awesome. I'm just constantly getting people off of the help/passoff list and talking all the time. I start to go hoarse from talking so much. It's fun when the people catch on quickly and actually learn concepts. It's not fun when they don't care about learning at all and only want to get the answers to the lab. They don't listen to me, at least I feel like they aren't listening to me, and don't catch on to anything I say. I try to explain one concept about 3 different ways and they still don't get it. Eventually after working with them enough we stumble on the right answer, but I can tell they don't entirely get it. *rolls eyes* Whatever... maybe it'll make sense eventually. But, overall I love it. I love programming, and I love helping people out and I'm aspiring to be a teacher. This combines all of those. And if we aren't busy, it gives me time to work on programs for the CS class I'm taking right now: CS 235. Which, doesn't seem to be too bad. Though, the last lab took me a bit to wrap my head around. But, once I got it I was able to finish it. That was a joyous occasion. A victory dance most definitely occurred.

What else? What else? I haven't been as good at practicing for 2 hours every day. I practice enough to know everything I need for lessons and everything, but not quite 2 hours every day. Like, I usually end up practicing for only an hour on Saturdays, if at all. If I have something else that's urgent to do, then I drop an hour of practice off that day. Granted, I still get enough in, it's just not quite up to par. I'm hoping to get better enough by the end of the semester so I can put 12 hours of practice a week on average at my jury with good conscience. Did that sentence make sense? If you read it enough, you'll probably get what I was trying to say. Anyhow, it'll be okay.

Though, I'm also not doing so well with getting sleep. I keep going to bed at like 2 or 3 AM and getting up at about 7. Yeah, it's about 4 or 5 hours of sleep. It's not too bad, but I'm not even being productive. In fact, all that I'm usually doing is talking to Andrew. It doesn't help that he lives in Washington and so he's an hour behind me. So, my 2 AM is his 1 AM. And he usually skips his 8:00 class and sleeps in. But... whatever. I wake up the next morning and go to class, and then if I start to get really tired, I promise myself that I'll go to bed earlier the next night so I won't be tired... but then I don't. I don't feel tired at night. Oh well. It's not really affecting me that much. I went through high school with 5 hours of sleep on average. :p

Anyhow, I think that's enough for now. I'm planning on writing in here fairly regularly. We'll see how long that lasts.