praying for sunny days

i decided that i didn’t want to continue to pay a whole lot for my website.  so i switched from paying $10/mo to paying $5/mo.  in the craziness of the switch, i thought i might have lost my entire blog (cause i couldn’t for the life of me get it to work).  but thanks to the hard work of my friend geof, all has been restored (save a few images, but i can get over that – it was my fault those didn’t transfer).  so welcome to my new, cheaper blog.  lol.  maybe my new year’s resolution will be to update this more often.  ha.

right now they’re saying it’s a 1.1 mile visibility outside.that is most definitely NOT true. theresa (my roommate, for those who don’t know) ran out of gas at midnight. in the middle of nowhere (practically…on my way out to find her, i passed a “cow crossing” sign). in the middle of a “dense fog advisory” warning. i stopped at a gas station and bought a gas can and filled it with gas, then made my way through unlit streets that i’d never driven on before in an area of town that would be freaky without the fog and the “12:30″ on my clock. i finally found her and thankfully there was a nice guy who pulled over to help cause we could for the life of us figure out how to get the gas OUT of the can. probably could have had it not been in the middle of the night and in scary fog on an unlit street.our drive back along beltway 8 (the only familiar road i saw) was filled with visibility of maybe…MAYBE…15 feet. there was a car in front of us that stopped at a green light (maybe he was dyslexic?), and then a few miles down the road, i saw what i thought was a stop light, except it never got closer, and i realized it was a car, so i just passed it. and i figured out that street lights make fog worse…you usually seem to have a sort of bubble of “clear” around your car, but when there’s a street light, it illuminates the fog that is on top of you and makes it even harder to see. blah.so we got home safely, and theresa needs to go straight to a gas station when she leaves in the morning. that sure was an adventure…

ok. so i know i’m a slacker. you don’t have to remind me. but in reality, i haven’t been slacking. i’ve been practicing, studying (or pretending to study), and just being really busy in general. so since i just got a recording of the first orchestra concert of the season (from a month ago, but it took that long to get my hands on a CD of it), i thought i’d post a little bit for you to get a listen for what i’ve been up to.

we played Scheherazade, by Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov. it has a ton of woodwind solos, especially in the 2nd movement (it’s a 4-movement symphony, basically). so here you go. this is what i’ve been doing since leaving las vegas…practicing – some days 4 hours – and, during the first month of school, perfecting these 2 solos. and for your reference, if you don’t know what the bassoon sounds like, the first solo is about 40-ish seconds in, and the 2nd is about 7 minutes in (it’s an 11-minute-long movement, just so you know). enjoy!

oh, and before i get to it, you’ll have to turn your speakers up ’cause the recording’s kinda quiet…either that or you’ll have to get real comfortable with your computer. your choice.

i’m almost done packing my bags to leave in the morning…the only thing left to do is take out the trash (where to, i don’t know…i might just leave it here) and pack my bed. this past week and a half has been interesting…and very productive.

amanda (the clarinet player) and i went to the strip a few times the first few days we were here (cause we knew that once things got started we’d be too busy/too tired to go/want to go). i rode the manhattan express @ the new york new york hotel & casino, which was really fun (though really pricey), and that’s really the only thing i REALLY wanted to do on the strip while i was here.

on tuesday my foot started killing me (it had been bugging me a bit prior to that day, but it got REALLY bad that night). i was still in a great deal of pain wednesday morning, and so i ended up going to the ER to get it checked out. my teacher, cheryl (who is going to be my teacher at UH this year, as well), let amanda and i take her rental to the hospital. while there, they told me they couldn’t do anything and said i had to go to a specialist (then proceeded to take $100 of my parents’ money for the hassle). i went to a specialist the next day (again, using cheryl’s car) and was told it wasn’t broken, but had all the signs of an over-worked stress fracture, and to stay off of it using the seemingly $100 crutches that i got at the ER.

so from then on (okay…from wednesday afternoon on), cheryl worked her schedule around mine so she could pick me up from the dorms and take me back at night, and let me use it if i needed to go somewhere (dinner, walgreens, etc.), which was totally unnecessary of her. but i (and my foot…and my “sherpas” who helped carry my instrument all week) am very grateful for her kindness.

there was the usual drama, with a guy pretty much getting kicked out of the festival 2 days before the concert. first he was in a septet that ended up getting cancelled, partially because it wasn’t coming together, and partially because nobody wanted to do it in the first place. then he didn’t learn his part in orchestra beforehand and kept messing up stuff repeatedly. and he didn’t really want to be here. so i guess that all worked out for the better for all of us (cause the gal who took over his orchestra part rocked it and learned the whole thing in 2 days).

while the conductor was dealing with the guy, we were supposed to be starting rehearsal on one of the pieces i played on. since he was running late, we decided to just play it by ourselves. he walked in, let us play the whole symphony without him, and said “i’ll take your rehearsal and raise you a concert”. so we ended up playing prokofiev’s “classical” symphony Orpheus-style…a rendition that received a standing ovation from the faculty. the concert was the best we played it (which is saying a LOT, since the last rehearsal we weren’t getting the beginnings PERFECTLY…just close). afterwards, cheryl was very complementary of how “with it” i was, and how reliable i had been during the concert…and she told me that she was really glad i came and how in just a week i got even more prepared for school than i was before. always good to hear when auditions are next week…

i learned a lot while i was here…like how much better i practice knowing my teacher is right next door and can hear every note that comes out of my instrument (talk about nerve-wracking! but i got more done in that hour than i probably would have if she hadn’t been smiling at me through the window in the door before moving next door). and i learned that i have to play the weber concerto at seemingly lightning-fast speed cause one of the freshman is supposed to be a monster player…and i don’t want to get beat out by a freshman (who does?!). and i may or may not have learned more about making reeds…but i did get a few nice ones from our bassoon bonding reed-making times at midnight (since one of the girls who was here was teaching us and using our blanks to demonstrate!).

ok. it’s 3 AM now. and i’m tired. we had a sort-of “final hoop-lah” at the house of one of the clarinet teachers of the festival, and i was falling asleep there, but got a kind of second wind from packing. but other than the bed, it’s done, so i’m going to get only 4 hours of shut-eye…hopefully i’ll be able to sleep on the plane.

yes, i am in sin city right now. got here yesterday; won’t get back to houston until the 13th.

i’m here for the las vegas music festival. i’d link you to there if the website was working, but it’s been down since a few days before applications were due in march. we’re staying on the campus of UNLV, in less-than-stellar dorms (though if you compare them to the kirwan/blanding complex at UK, they’re pretty heavenly…but that doesn’t say much). so far today, 3 fire alarms have gone off (my next-door neighbor’s is going off as i type this), we found out they start construction right outside the dorms at 5 AM every day, and i’ve put in over 3 hours of practice time.

one of the clarinet players is going to be starting her masters at UH this fall, and in some random way, mom and i met her before we came up here. she and i have been hanging out a lot – going to get meals together, walking to our meetings/masterclasses together, etc. – and we’re going to play a duet on one of the chamber concerts, as well. i’ve also developed some nice blisters on my feet from walking so much (which makes me NOT look forward to the coming week and a half…if i got blisters in 1 day here, how bad are they going to get the longer i’m here?!).

anywho…i have a lesson and a masterclass tomorrow, and then saturday i’m going to rest, and then probably go to the strip with amanda (the aforementioned clarinet player) – i really want to ride the new york, new york roller coaster. my schedule doesn’t start getting busy really until tuesday when orchestra rehearsals start.

should be interesting. i’m just glad that i thought to bring my air bed, since the mattresses they have here are horrible…

mom complains too much. seriously. but since all my work last night was apparently a waste of time, i’ll let you know the fun things that have gone on in the last few weeks…

july started off with me sending my bassoon off for a vacation in nebraska. the day after we mailed it, i hopped on a plane to nashville. keep in mind that i was going to drive until about 2:00 the day before i left (i left on july 3). strangely enough, continental had round-trip tickets for $10,000 frequent flyer miles each way, so i flew instead and rented a car.

i stayed with carissa, sharon, and jessica (and roadie and nicky). we went downtown for the fireworks on the 4th and had a good time just hanging out together (which is quite the rare occurrence with those girls).

on thursday i drove over to crestridge to surprise a bunch of girls who i had been telling all year that i wouldn’t be able to come. it was really fun to do that, as i snuck up behind a few of them, and while i was talking to those girls, another walked out with what turned out to be a rotten banana in her hand, and freaked out when she saw me and forgot about that banana (which was halfway in her mouth when she saw me). lol. i saw a couple of the girls who had been in chick 4 when i was counselor there, which was great. one of the girls who i specifically went to see was my chippewa little sister like 7 years ago when i was a cherokee. she was a cherokee this year, made Belle, and was Queen Crester.

i stayed at the conference center for the whole weekend, and helped out in the infirmary on opening day, which was greatly needed, as only one nurse was there on opening day. i went to nibblenook and got to spend some more time with the girls who had just come in – most of whom were in my chick 6 cabin.

i went back to nashville on monday to spend the afternoon with one of the little boys who was in my sunday school class for the 3-1/2 years i was in nashville. i loved playing hide-n-seek with him for 2 hours, and reading to him on the swingset in the beginnings of a rain shower, and just seeing him again. i know i’m not really supposed to have favorites, but he was mine. mostly because he was the first one of the whole group (i moved up with the same kids as they got older) who called me by my name (most of them just said “TEACHER!” if they said anything at all).

to see all my pictures from my trip, click here.

when i got home, my internet was out, so i spent practically a whole week at my parents’ house. the saturday after i got home, the college group from church had a softball/kickball extravaganza. my left foot started hurting pretty much the exact moment that i started running after a ball hit into the outfield. so the rest of the afternoon i just kept my running to a minimum.

the whole past week my foot has continued to hurt, so i tried to get an appointment with the podiatrist i saw 2 years ago when my mom acknowledged that i had something wrong with my foot (either that or she just said okay to sending me to the doctor so i’d shut up about hurting). they said they could get me in on august 21. i called, told them i was in severe pain, and to please try to work me in before i leave for las vegas on the 1st.

wednesday, mom and i were out shopping and got back at 5 past 5, only to find a message on the machine saying there was an opening with the doc thursday morning at 8:30. it was too late to call back, so i just got up early and went his office hoping they hadn’t filled that appointment. i got in, got x-rays, and found out that i have a stress fracture on my “pointer” toe and have to wear my boot cast for at least 2 weeks, if not more (he told me to take it with me to vegas in case i needed it).

so yea. at least i have some validation that the pain i’m feeling is not just in my head or something.

that my blog looks different. and not only that, but i have categorized all the posts. snaps for robyn!

so mom…tag, you’re it. update.

so i don’t have much i can complain about in my new apartment. it’s huge, it’s fairly new (just a little over 3 years old), it’s huge, i’ve got a great TV/cable plan, oh, and did i mention it’s huge?

well, problem is, i’m pretty sure i have the NOISIEST neighbors EVER. not just below me, not just above me, but BOTH. my downstairs neighbor has her stereo (complete with subwoofer) in the bedroom. she would listen to music at top volume as late as 2 AM. until one evening i went downstairs and told her it bugged me, and i’ve only heard it once since.

my upstairs neighbor, on the other hand, apparently doesn’t understand the fact that there’s someone under him who has been pounding on the ceiling, and who has also talked to him personally telling him that the floors are thin and his pounding at 2 AM bothers me. i have NO CLUE what he’s doing in the dining room, but it involves what sounds like dragging things across the tile floor, which is VERY NOISY down here…and i can hear it in my bedroom, which disrupts my sleep. it’s almost as if he thinks its 2 in the afternoon (which is an okay time to make so much noise).

i’ve pounded on the ceiling with my swiffer already tonight. if he makes another noise, i’m going to go up there and tell him to shut up (nicely, of course), and if i hear it again, i think i’m going to have to call the courtesy officer (though the last time i called the courtesy officer on my downstairs neighbor, i ended up having to go down and ask her to be quiet since they hadn’t come within 2 hours of my calling).

and yes, i want some cheese with my whine. just saving you the trouble of asking.

apparently, no matter what i do, i’m going to end up getting hurt.

i was shaping reeds (taking a piece of gouged cane, like this:

and cutting off the excess cane so it looks something like this:
)

in order to do this, you have to use an x-acto knife (i tried a cheap-o knock-off version and it didn’t do crap). well, i was almost done with my last piece and i sliced my thumb. i didn’t slice it off, but i got a nice, long, bleeding cut on my thumb that hurts when i move it (not to mention the soreness that my knuckles felt from all the shaping and profiling work…).

then, i was profiling cane (making it look like this (the middle one):
)

i got to rehearsal and my right hand ring finger (where i ALWAYS have my class ring…i don’t take it off) was hurting. i looked at it and saw this HUGE blister on it. it was above my ring, with a large callous (that i’ve had for a while and it doesn’t ever really bother me) below my ring. not comfortable. and because of the muscle that profiling needs, my double-jointedness in my knuckles was accentuated, my entire hands pretty much hurt, my wrists were sore…and i was VERY glad when we got out of rehearsal an hour early.

about 2 weeks ago, i was tying some reeds (to form the tube…this whole reed making thing is a long and drawn-out process) and stabbed myself with a wire and still have a scab on my thumb from doing it.

and at amy’s wedding (well…not at it, but at the bed & breakfast we were staying at), i was taking a shower and trying to open my shower gel. it took a while for me to get it open, and when i finally DID get it open, i did something to my left thumb (the same one that i had previously stabbed with a wire, and that i just cut today) that the only way i can really describe is to say that the skin separated from the nail close to the tip (painful, and it caused some bleeding under the nail, but not life-threatening or anything like that).

so yeah…i seem to get hurt wherever i go and whatever i do. i just can’t seem to avoid it.

i got to see almost all of my immediate family on my mom’s side this past weekend for amy’s wedding. unfortunately, brooke wouldn’t sit still at any moment that i had a camera on me, so i personally didn’t get any good pictures of her, but i did get this adorable one of elizabeth when we were visiting the big cats:

and since i did title this post “cute cousinS”, i’m going to post a picture of brooke that my mom took and i think it’s pretty darn precious (well, i think the girl in the picture is pretty darn precious…the picture just shows how precious she actually is…or something like that):