Insanity Must Be Hereditary

So, my family is basically redesigning the entire house. We've repainted pretty much every wall we could and are going to get new carpet next week for the upstairs. When I was gone at BYU this last semester, they already took out the carpet in the living room and dining room and put in tile instead. Pretty crazy. So we are basically taking everything out of the rooms upstairs and either throwing it away or putting it downstairs so we can get the new carpet next week. It's tons of fun, I've got to say. Though, we do have a ton of junk, so we really needed to go through it and just throw it away or give it away. My room was already taken over by Mark and Flor, so my stuff was already in boxes and various piles. It's just a matter of going through it and deciding what to do with it. So far we've thrown away quite a bit, and I know we'll throw away even more as go finish going through everything when we move it all back upstairs. Hopefully the house will be much more clutter-free with no random boxes of stuff in the way. I'm looking forward to it, but also sad to think that the look of the house that I grew up in is slowly fading away. Though, if I really think about it, it's been like that for a while. That's what happens... things get old and need to be replaced. So, I'll get over it.

BUT, that isn't really the point of this post. My dad was painting the ceiling white to cover up the water damage we had there, and he had some extra white paint. He didn't want it to go to waste, so what did he do?
Why, he painted his face! It would be a waste otherwise, right? He asked if I wanted my face painted... well... it would be a waste if I didn't. So...

He just painted my face white... no way! Yes way.

So, especially after watching the Dark Knight and with all the hype surrounding it... there's only one thing that would come to mind when your face is painted white like that.
My mom found some old lipstick and mascara and this is what happened. I've got to say my dad looks like a much creepier joker than me. He smeared the lipstick better to make it look like he had the scars, and having the shirt with paint all over it helped too. :P Here's some more pictures just for you!

This is my Dad during the day... with his glasses no one can tell he's the Joker! Bwhahaha! Yeah... I thought it was pretty funny. Though, he did go on and continue painting and cleaning things up for the next couple of hours and ate lunch with the paint and make-up on. Kind of odd, but hilarious.

And why have an update without having some more of cute little Alex!
Awww!! He's so freakin' adorable. That picture was taken right after I took this video. I came downstairs and he was just giggling and smiling while his mom, Flora, was trying to feed him. He was too cute to not take a video of. Unfortunately, when he got sight of the camera, he got interested in that and stopped smiling, but you can still see his cuteness. :P

My New Toy!

As I said in the last update, someone stole the camera that I won at work this past Christmas. Sad day, indeed. So yesterday my mom was at Costco and said that she found a camera for $130 that was originally $160. She gave me the make of it, and I saw its specs and how it looked at Kodak.com to see if I liked it and if it was worth it. First of all, at Kodak.com it was priced at $180. My other camera was 5.1 megapixels with 3x optical zoom and no digital zoom. This camera was 8.1 megapixels with 3x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. It also has a zillion settings for different lighting situations and has a much bigger LCD screen on the back and many more little features. So... I went with it. :P My mom bought it and I'll pay her back. So now I have a new toy!! It takes videos just like my last camera, but they are higher quality. It can take panoramic pictures, which I have absolutely no experience with, but it looks really cool. Oh boy, it's awesome. Totally worth the $130. It also came with a nifty camera case thing and a 1GB SD card. It's not just silver like my last one, either. It's this icy blue color and silver. Basically it just rocks my socks off. Look forward to some more silly videos and pictures this next year. I'll try to not get this camera stolen. :P

So... I can update

I haven't been so good at the updating lately. Oh well. Here's a little filler on how my summer's been going lately.

I've mostly just been working at the theater and watching little Alex. I practice the piano on occasion, and haven't really been practicing oboe. Oh well, I will when school comes closer (probably in August) so I can look like I haven't been slacking off all summer. I did go to Fan Fair in Nashville! Sure, I'll post some pictures from that. :) I recently became one of the moderators at Billy Gilman Fans, and because of that I was special enough to help run his booth there.


There's me in the booth with Andrew -- one of the admins at Billy Gilman Fans. People were constantly asking him if he was Billy when Billy wasn't there. LOL... it was funny to me.

But, besides Billy I was also able to see a bunch of other big artists perform at LP Field! Some of the highlights included:

Faith Hill! :)

Keith Urban! He was a surprise appearance. I had heard of him, but didn't really know much about him. He did a great job and really got the crowd pumped up.

Rascal Flatts!! They weren't listed to appear, and I really wanted them to, but I had conceded to just try to make it to one of their concerts eventually... and then they just popped on stage with "Me and My Gang" as a surprise! I was so happy! They did, "Me and My Gang," "Every Day," "Bob That Head," a part of "I Melt," "Take Me There"... and I think that might have been it. Oh my goodness it made my summer to see them. So awesome...

Taylor Swift! I was really excited to see her perform, and despite what some people say about her live performances, she sounded great. She did "Picture to Burn," "Should've Said No" (with an awesome drum thing she did...), and "Our Song." (I'm pretty sure... maybe one other) It was funny before she sang "Should've Said No" she introduced it with, "You know, I try to be a nice person. I really do. But if you break my heart, I'm just gonna have to write a song about you!" Or maybe that was to "Picture to Burn." Hmm... I remember her saying, "This next song is about choices..." So, I guess I don't really remember. :p But, of course... it was awesome! :)

Sugarland came on to the stage in these balls. They rolled back through the crowd and then back to the stage. It was weird. LOL... but they did pretty well. I wasn't too familiar with them, but I know I had heard at least one of their songs.

And Carrie Underwood! She did "Last Name," "Wasted," "Jesus Take the Wheel," and of course "Before He Cheats." I'm pretty sure she sang at least one other song, maybe two... but I don't remember. :P She was awesome. :) (Maybe I should try to find another adjective other than awesome)

Of course, from running Billy's booth I was able to meet him for the first time.

Little does he know he was pretty much the only music that I listened to throughout middle school and the beginning of high school. I got his CD (Dare to Dream first) and then my sister got me the Dixie Chicks first CD (Wide Open Spaces) and it was pretty much just Dixie Chicks and Billy Gilman. I was the typical 11 and 12 year old that was crazy about him. I thought I was going to marry him one day. Don't worry, I've definitely grown out of that phase, but I still like him as an artist. (and still have all of the lyrics to all of his songs memorized...) I'm especially excited that he's started to write his own music and seems to be getting close to getting signed to a major label again. His new songs really sound great. The one that seems to be the most "controversial" is the song called "Damn." I know! Billy Gilman saying the word "damn!" It's atrocious! *cough* It's actually a really rockin' song. I really like it. ;) Some other songs he sang include "It's My Life," "I've Changed," and "This Time." I'm pretty sure there was at least one other song he sang that he said was literally just a couple days old, but I don't remember the name of it. All of them are awesome. Much better than the popish sounding stuff he did at first.

Anyway, at the booth when he was there to sign, I was the person to take pictures of people. They would come through the line, give their camera to Andrew, who would then give it to me, and then when they had gotten Billy to sign whatever for them, I would take the picture for them. Andrew purposely gave me this job so that he would definitely notice me... since he had to look at me for the 3 or 4 hours that he was there signing. It worked. :P He was making fun of me for being the "sloppy camera woman." (Just from maybe two or three times that I was distracted and wasn't ready right when they needed me to be to take the picture.) Once he actually said, "Sarah! You know I'm joking, right?" "Yeah." He actually knew my name! I didn't know that he did. So, that's like... unbelievably awesome actually. The 12-year-old inside of me is kind of spazzing out at the thought of it. What really struck me about him is how incredibly nice and outgoing he was! He always seemed to have all this energy and made an effort to be as nice as possible to every person that came to the booth. It's not something that can really come across in interviews or performances. He's a genuinely nice guy. He made an effort for everyone to thank us (the BGF staff) for putting together the booth and getting everything together. And he had a firm handshake. I was very proud of him for that.

Oh yeah, and at Fan Fair someone stole my camera. Good thing my mom was the one taking most of the pictures. The exhibition hall (where the booths were) had already closed and people were just leaving (there weren't many people left), and my mom had just handed me my camera. I put it on the table, and then the next thing I knew it wasn't there. We looked everywhere and couldn't find it. We contacted security about it... nothing. So I guess one of the few people left decided to get a free camera. Granted, I got it for free... but now I'm cameraless again. I really just liked the video option on it. Hopefully I'll win another free camera sometime in the future... *cough*

Okay... enough about that. What else happened?

Well, my grandfather turned 90 years old. We kind of had a family reunion type thing in Utah a weekend or two ago for it. My entire family was able to make it! Kathy and Craig with little Mark, Lisa and Byron with little Kayla, Mark and Flora with little Alex, Paul and Brittany, and then me and my parents! And of course many other cousins, Aunts and Uncles, and some other people that I don't really know very well. :P It was so much fun to see little Mark again! I hadn't seen him in a while, and he's gotten so big! He'll turn 2 in August and he's just learning to talk and do things independently. He knows what his sippy cup is and calls it "cupa." (cup-uh) So adorable! Kathy thinks it's because she would say, "Do you want a cup of juice?" Or something to that effect, and he interpreted that to be "cupa." He knows his eyes, nose, juice, cup, door, water, avocado (that's cute to hear), banana, "what's that?", "yay!", flower, shoes, and some other words. Of course, most of these words are kind of various versions of the word. Like banana is "nana," and water is more like "waer." It's so adorable to see him say "yay!" He does that a lot. Like in the car I was with him in the back, and Kathy and Craig were in the front. They put on some karaoke song and sang a duet, and at the end he would always say, "Yay!!" They said they knew they had done badly if after they finished he just looked at them and didn't say anything. LOL

I could probably go on forever about all the cute things he did, but I'll stop. :P This Saturday I'm going up to Kathy and Craig's house for the fourth of the July and I'll get to see him again! I spent a lot of time with him before, I'm hoping to just hear him call out my name to know that he really knows who I am. His cool Aunt Sarah. :) Awww!!

Okay, this entry has been ridiculously long enough. It kind of makes up for the lack of updates...

Alex is freaking adorable

Life has gone on. I work at the theater (which is, of course, an absolute pleasure) and I just do whatever at home. I should sign up for those online courses I keep saying I'm going to take. Yes, I will do that sometime... perhaps this week. We'll see.

But for now, I shall show you some adorable videos of little Alex. He's actually here at home now! Well, Mark and Flora go back and forth between here and her parent's place, but at least half the time he's here! So I get to help in taking care of him. :)

My new nephew!!

So, I got home last Wednesday! w00t for that! I've survived finals (and did pretty well) and survived my first entire year at BYU. Go me! So far from being home I've had the privilege of painting our entire living room. Both coats. That pretty much consumed yesterday and today. It was tiring, holy cravitz, but it was nice to get done. My parents are kind of redoing a bunch of stuff in the house. Replacing lots of carpet with tile, and apparently they are going to replace the carpet that's left with some new carpet. We need it, too. It's old and kind of falling apart in some places.

Oh, and before I get to the incredible cuteness that is my new nephew Alex, I've got to mention the fact that I'm going to a Josiah Leming concert tomorrow night. He just happens to be coming to Dallas! Holy cravitz! Yay! Despite my whining about him in my last entry, he still rocks my socks off. The ticket was a whole 10 dollars... I can deal. :) I'll post pictures and videos for sure after tomorrow night.

But, for now we get to see little Alex! He was born today at 5:38 PM and weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces, and was 20 inches long.

Holy cuteness! His little face... you can definitely see both his mom and his dad in him. My camera was running out of batteries, but I was still able to get a little video of him. He's just sleeping... but, holy cravitz. He's so adorable.

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

One More Week!

So now that it is the end of Wednesday life is pretty good. :) My jury is now over, and it seemed to go pretty well. I didn't really mess up anything. A couple little things, but they're forgivable. :p So now I just have to do my other finals, which are significantly less worrisome. I've basically taken it easy the rest of today, though. Tomorrow I'll try to actually study and finish some finals and whatnot. I'll try to be done with my finals by Monday. Yay! :)

So a week from today right now I'll be back home with my family. I'm so excited! I was planning on driving back with Ashley, but suddenly her brother changed his mind and is not going to stay Spring term. That means I'm no longer required to driver back with her because her brother will be there. That means it's cheaper (with my Dad's flying benefits), faster, and easier for me. I'll be home on Wednesday rather than Sunday. Wow. I'm unbelievably excited to be back home for the summer. It's so close! SO close...

Okay, so right now it's about 11:38 PM and I have no idea what time I'm planning on going to bed. Though, I do know that I'll be sleeping in tomorrow... yay for sleeping in! I love getting sleep. Though, it's nicer when I have cool dreams. Last night I had dreams about Computer Science. Not really exciting at all. I guess that's what happens when I help people with their programs for CS 142 for about 9 hours in one day. Yeah, I stayed until a little after midnight Tuesday night helping people since it was the last day to pass off labs and such. It was good times. That'll somewhat make up for the hours I'll miss on Thursday since it's a reading day and I normally work for 5 hours on Thursday. Yay for getting money! :)

Alright, well I guess this is it for now. I can't think of anything else significant to say... so until next time! :)