All States and Results

The All State festival was tons of fun! The conference took place in the World Trade Center in Boston, the back of which looks out over the Charles River. On Wednesday, we arrived at noon and got our stuff to our respective hotel rooms. The girls from Gordon got to stay in an amazing hotel, which had Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in a bowl at the front desk. There were puffy white down comforters, a nice view, and cool decorations in the room, and the hotel overall was pretty spectacular. Once we settled in with all our stuff, we left the hotel and went back to the World Trade Center, where we sat in some meetings that included a class-like lecture on professionalism, and a collegiate clinic with the Keynote speaker, Chris Azzara. He was phenomenal! He taught us all about the basics of improvisation and how it is a key element of music that is missing from almost every music curriculum. It was in this clinic that we were introduced to the song "Mama Nia," an improvised song by his five-year-old daughter that might one day become some sort of folk song. Little did we know that we would hear that song far more often than we could ever have conceived. Once our meetings were over for the day, we set up to prepare for the arrival of everyone else (almost all Massachusetts music teachers and about 600 students) the following morning. We moved risers for the chorus, and then two of us were assigned to the task of organizing ALL the student name tags alphabetically and then alphabetically by ensemble. That by itself took us three hours, with additional help when we realized it was going to take forever if more people weren't involved. Finally, before bed, five of us went out to the Cheesecake Factory, which, in retrospect, probably wasn't a good idea seeing as it limited the number of hours of sleep I got from six to four.

Thursday marked the beginning of the conference for real. Our alarms went off at five, and after that we did everything from helping at the registration table to moving equipment to making announcements in clinics to doing everything else. Friday was pretty similar, and then Saturday was concert day. We moved the equipment to Symphony Hall on Friday night. Side note: chorus risers are extraordinarily heavy, and they're somewhat awkward to carry. Moving them is not very fun. The concert in Symphony Hall lasted for ::gasp:: THREE HOURS, because all four groups performed full programs. Then we moved the equipment back on to trucks, and finally made it back to Gordon by seven that evening. It was a long three days, but it was lots of fun.

The highlight of the entire conference by far was the opportunity to see a good friend (and the chorus accompanist) conduct his own arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner with the chorus at Symphony Hall. The arrangement was absolutely fantastic, the students and the audience loved it, and the cheering squad of several Gordon students backstage was thrilled to be able to witness his accomplishment.

Overall, the conference was a great success, although it resulted in me catching a fairly nasty cold. And, according to the person I undoubtedly caught it from, it lasts longer than the average cold seeing as he is still sick, and has been for almost a week. Yay. So I think this picture pretty much sums up the All State conference for me...

Good Heavens!

It has been raining for three days straight. I'm not really a fan of cold rain, blustery winds, wet feet, and frizzy hair, but I guess it'll just make me appreciate the sun more when it's finally supposed to appear tomorrow. It's also supposed to get up to 52 degrees, which is pretty phenomenal. The rain made for a somewhat terrifying drive back from Vermont on Saturday. It wasn't raining until I passed the toll booth somewhere around Hooksett, NH, when it started downpouring. Then, to add to the already kind of sketchy driving conditions, it got dark, I got to 128, and I was in the left lane. Oddly enough, only in the left land of 128 does hydroplaning occur, and so once I was in a less populated area I merged back into the right lane again. That action also solved the problem of not being able to see any of the lines on the road, because they were more visible in the right lane somehow. In any case, I prayed my way back to school, and managed not to die en route. Always good, right?

On a completely different note, my roommate and I have the weirdest and yet funniest conversations, especially late at night. We've often discussed how we should record them, and see if they're still funny later, but at least while they happen, they are hilarious. For example, this evening we pondered what we would do if we could change little things in the world, and finally decided that the horns of a yak should grow suddenly, without warning, and come with sound effects. I think the sound effect we decided on was something like, "Mraaaaaah..." The topic of yaks came up because I passed a yak farm on my way back to school. Maybe they were long-horned cattle, but until someone informs me otherwise, I will continue to believe that they are yaks. Much, much more interesting.

And finally, a list of random things that might deserve attention, if only for a second:

-Awhile ago I got a package with 10 stamps, all unmarked. REUSABLE POSTAGE!

-It should be spring by now.

-Panera hot paninis are awesome.

-I need to redeem a whole bunch of frequent flyer miles before April 4th. Chicago, maybe?

-ACK, need to take a summer class!

-All-State is on Wednesday, yay!

-Don't get strep; it stinks. Drink a teaspoon of vinegar at every meal (mixed with juice).

-Zinc also helps sickness, but tastes kinda nasty.

-Why the heck is my car making funny noises right after it got fixed?!?

-Stir fry for lunch tomorrow...SO GOOD!

-Overheard in the school cafeteria: "Requirement for THAT class? Castration." Ummm...?

-No classes on Tuesday/Thursday; hooray!

-I left my echinacea at home.

-Judges, story of Ehud. Crazy, kinda gross, somewhat humorous, epic.

-This is too long already, so I think it's time to stop.

Hello, Quad 4

Well, spring break - as of tomorrow at around 2:30 - is coming to a close, and I'm heading back to school. I'm really looking forward to this last quad of the year. Everything outside is going to be bursting into bloom and the beach will have more of an appeal than it ever did. I still plan on going to class, however. Beaches are nice for the weekends and after classes are done. Nevertheless, while the weather and spring sound all fine and dandy, I still have to get a lot of work done. A LOT of work done. Here's my list: Elementary Methods epic folk song project; regular homework for all classes; practicing; starting to think about a senior recital; finding a summer job; filling out multiple housing applications for the summer and for next year; arranging a piece of music for a full band; All-State; rehearsals; figuring out how to take a summer class; the MTEL; and maybe I'll try to fit a social life in on top of that. Maybe. Actually, looking back on that list, it doesn't really sound like too much, does it? I mean, if I managed my time really well, I could maybe do all those things in two weeks. Except for the things that happen routinely, like rehearsals and practicing. Basically, I just need amazing time management skills. That and a practice room with a piano, so that when everything gets a little more hectic than usual, I can stop and play hymns for awhile. It's really quite a relaxing thing to do, and I get to practice sight reading. Suzuki piano kinda messed me up in that respect, and so now I have an easier time sight reading a Mozart piano sonata than I do four-part hymns, especially if I've heard the sonata before. That just seems backwards to me, somehow.

I wanted to bake cookies before I left so that I would have some homemade things to eat while at school, but I think now it's a little too late to start a project like that. Also, I'm out of chocolate chips, and I don't like white chocolate at all, which happens to be all I have. So I guess that plan is completely impossible at this point. I'll probably be healthier without them anyway. I realized right before spring break that I have a whole entire multi-pound bag of pancake mix in my closet, so I'm thinking that several pancake breakfasts are a must for the rest of the semester. I think the entire bag makes around 240 pancakes, so if we have six people and make pancakes every weekend, and each person eats 3 pancakes, the bag should be gone sometime mid-June. Clearly, everyone needs to eat more pancakes, or we need to invite more people. Weekly pancake breakfasts, anyone?

Narnia! And normal things.

Because spring break entails some amount of free time, I have been filling mine with rereading some of the Narnia books. I didn't read them all until the later end of high school, and I can't believe that I didn't read them sooner. They are absolutely phenomenal. They are full of good things - quality literature, brilliantly portrayed characters, creative plots, fantasy, reality, and good messages - that everyone should encounter. If they were arranged chronologically, they would look like this: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and his Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle. I plan on bringing them back to school with me so that there will be more frequent (?) opportunities to read sections from them on a regular basis.

Also, today I went to the eye doctor. As it turns out, the astigmatism correction on my contacts was all wrong and has been since January 22nd, 2008, which totally explains the weird eye problems that I had at the end of last semester. Who knew. In any case, now I have a much more accurate prescription for contacts as well as glasses, so hopefully I will be able to see better all the time.

I am going to back to school on Saturday rather than on Sunday, which means that I get to go to church back at school! This is most exciting! After missing a week in MA because of spring break, I am very much looking forward to going back to a church with splendid hymns, an organ, short-yet-good sermons, and fantastic people. That's not to say that church at home is bad...it's just not the homey place that church is back at school.

Finally, the Massachusetts All-State Festival is happening the week we get back from break, and I'm SO EXCITED! I am prepared to get very little sleep for the last four days of the week, but I think it's going to be an amazing opportunity to see how the inner workings of this type of thing fit together. Also, I get to dress up and pretend to be a professional for a little while. Score.

WHOA.

People my age are getting married. I realize this every once in a while, but it has never really had any effect on me. But this evening, I went to the bridal shower of a girl that graduated from high school one year before I did. It feels so incredibly surreal to have reached an age where getting married does not seem as unrealistic as a fairy tale. Really, I have no brilliant realizations stretching beyond this somewhat obvious one - I mean, we all have to reach that age at some point, right? - but that feels like enough to keep me thinking for a good long time.

More than a basketball game

Having gone to yet another basketball game this evening - I don't really know why I keep doing this to myself, knowing full well that I do not enjoy watching basketball - my impression of team fans has not grown any more positive. In fact, I think it has gotten worse. Except this time, the fans whose behavior shocked me the most were from my own school. Curses.

I'll start from the beginning. Upon arriving at Middlebury College, where the game took place, we bought our tickets and sat down on the bleachers near center court. The Middlebury fans were loud and rowdy, which just got our fans riled up as well. I think there were really two games going on: the actual basketball game along with the Battle of the Team Supporters/Other Team Bashers. Insults were being flung across the court liberally, more directed at the other fans than at the teams themselves. For the first half of the game, all the fan competition was limited to that. However, after the break at half time, our school's fans, commonly known as the "Pit," decided to stand up. As previously stated, we and the Pit were sitting front and center, and standing up fully blocked the view of anyone sitting two to five rows behind. Needless to say, this event did not please most of the people sitting in those rows. They started talking, saying things to the effect of, "Hello!! You're blocking our view! SIT DOWN!" They were completely ignored by the Pit, until one or two of them got so annoyed that they went down front to speak to them all as a group. I figured that they would apologize and, if not sit down, at least move somewhere where they weren't directly in the way of anyone else. I was utterly wrong; they grimaced, rolled their eyes, laughed before absolutely refusing, and rudely told her to bug off. She was clearly insulted, and after she returned to her seat, it wasn't long until I heard the following conversation: "I can't believe their behavior! Maybe we should just leave! I'm fully intending to write a letter to their athletic director as soon as I get home! We paid to watch this game...we should be allowed to see it!" But the worst of it was this: "They are supposed to be representing their school! And they call it a CHRISTIAN college?!?!"

I think it's so easy to forget that we do attend a Christian college, but I also think that it's one of the most important things that we need to remember. Whether at a sports game, a concert, or just hanging around in our local Starbucks, we need to recall that we are representing more than just a college; we are representing our school's reputation, our faith, and ultimately, our Savior. It could be argued that the angry people behind us were out of line, asking a teams fans to sit during a game. But I think that the moral implications of the dilemma stretch further than whether it was right or not. Our responses to a request, reasonable or otherwise, speak more 0f our character than the original motivation. Or at least, they do in the case of this particular basketball game.

I'm over 21, I promise...

This afternoon marked my first experience purchasing a bottle of wine. I spent almost 45 minutes in the grocery store, slowly accumulating all the materials I needed to make dinner, wine included. The process of finding the wine in and of itself was a bit of an adventure. I had (and still have) absolutely no idea of what makes a wine good or not; I just knew that I needed a "young, full-bodied red wine such as a Beaujolais or a Burgundy." Right. Eventually, after staring at the astonishingly wide array of options for a significant amount of time, I decided to save money and buy the least expensive Beaujolais I could find. That probably means that it tasted bad...but I can't tell, and I was only using it to cook anyway. Finally, after I'd perused the rest of the store, picking up things like three pounds (!) of lean stewing beef, tomato paste, and parsley, I headed up to the check out. The lady working scanned everything, saving the bottle of wine until nothing else was left. She asked for my ID, and after struggling to get my license out of my wallet, she took it. Now, I haven't gotten my license updated yet, so the format is that of the under-21 license, complete with a picture of me at age 16. Nonetheless, it very clearly reads that I will be 21 years of age after 2-22-2010. Today is 3-4-10. I think she thought it was fake. She looked at it for what felt like a full three minutes before she finally decided that I wasn't trying to be illegal. Finally, after typing several numbers into the computer (maybe she was trying to calculate my age), she asked, "Does that say...19...80...9?" I assured her that it did, she let me buy the wine, and I went on my merry way. Ironically, I didn't even drink a sip, because I'd bought cider as well and I was more excited to drink that.

Julia Child!

I've often discussed cooking, Julie and Julia, and culinary experiments here, but I feel that at least one more discussion is utterly necessary. I got Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my 21st birthday. I plan to experiment with it all through our upcoming spring break, including recipes that involve red wine, because we're not allowed to have that in our possession on campus. Of course, boeuf bourguignon calls for a full three cups of it, which means that I can only cook it off campus. Maybe that makes me a rebel or something. I also want to try making a real omelette, because the only omelette I've ever had was made by the cafeteria people here at school. I'm not sure that I'm coordinated enough to create one, because you need to move the frying pan rapidly back and forth with one hand while stirring the egg in the pan with a fork using the other hand. It sounds complicated, but I think it will probably end up being like rubbing your head while patting your stomach. Once I get the hang of it, maybe it will be easy...?