Sunday, May 20, 2012

Summer Of The Minor Third

Specifically, I'm hoping my middle third shrinks in size to become a minor third, as I continue in my quest to become more fit! This could also be deemed a reference to Captain Broccoli Explains Triad Positions :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNp6eZQSV60

Btw, I'm blogging again. Heeeey. I think this is the longest I've gone without writing a post. Whatevs, it is what it is.

Cool things that have happened since X number of months ago:
~I finished my 2nd year of my undergrad at UNI!
~Italy was awesome. More about that later maybe.
~Moved into my house up here in Cedar Falls. Sure, it's weird to not be living at home anymore, but it's totes worth it because my roommates are awesome!
~Recorded my first album with Jazz Band One - pretty surreal to think about the fact that I'll be on a professionally recorded album with some of the best people I've gotten to play jazz with. Word :)
~Had my first clarinet arrangement performed! It was an octet version of the Trololo song, but luckily I got a group of true champs to play it with me, so it went well!
~I PASSED MUSIC HISTORY II. Sure, I got a C+, but considering how hard that class was, I'm pretty ok with that.
~Went to my first SAI province day in Iowa City in April. It re-enstilled some pretty awesome SAI values within me, and made me even more proud to be a sister :)
~Found out I got a full-time clarinet spot in the CR Municipal Band, which was a goal 3 years in the making.
~Dropped my phone face down in a parking lot, cracking the screen and ruining the LCD. Good thing I've got the best dad ever, and he's fixing it for me!
~Last but not least, I'm watching Transformers 2 right now. Just realized that the physics professor towards the beginning of the movie is none other than Dwight Schrute.

So to further clarify the meaning of this post title, I'm going on a crazy diet right now, in an effort to both be healthier and lose weight. I've been on it for a week and, with the help of exercise and drinking a crap ton of water, have dropped 6 pounds. I've also been laying out for about 45 minutes every day, and have a pretty decent tan for once in my life!
This week, I'll be starting a daily ab workout, which I will probably hate, but am determined to keep doing.

Still looking for a job in CF, and let me tell you, it sucks not having one. I sit around here all day and either fill out applications, cook, sort through my desk drawers, draw, practice, arrange, or miss people. It gets old after a while, and I really wish I could be doing something else with my days.

Speaking of practicing, I've started working on listening to and memorizing my piece for the concerto competition in the fall, the 5 Dance Preludes by Witold Lutoslawski! Studio kids, if you're reading this, you'll remember that Steph did it last year around the time of the symposium, and totally nailed it. Needless to say, here we go!!
I think it's pretty neat, and can safely say I won't get sick of it. These are good things.

Just got to the part in the movie where they send a Decepticon probe into Sam's body, that little robot creature that goes into his mouth and picks at his brain. Sick. And here comes Optimus Prime...

Oh yeah, I did say I would talk about some stuff from Italy! Here are the biggest highlights of my trip:
~Getting lost in Bergamo the third night. I've got to say, it was one of the most thrilling times I've ever had. I spent most of the afternoon with Abbey, the Brians, and Antonio. We tried to buy tickets for the funnicular, to go down from the Citta Alta to the lower city, but we took too long with the machine so it spat out a receipt for our money. We then had to ride down with an escort and try to find the bus station, all using what little language we could all grasp. After getting our money back and being creeped on by a stranger I met on the corner, Brian Martin proceeded to shove me at people and ask them (a total of 20 people) where this Trattoria (restaurant) was that we were trying to find. We eventually found it, and Jill Whitaker, who stayed with us the rest of the night. After having the best meal of our lives at the Trattoria Guiliana, we proceeded to stumble our way back to the bus stop based on street corners and buildings that looked vaguely familiar, only to find that there was only 1 bus stop running that late. We waited for what felt like forever, and when the bus finally came, we thought we were on our way back to the hostel. Needless to say, it came as an awful surprise to us when the driver told us there were no more stops at the hostel that night, and dropped us off at a random cul-de-sac outside the city limits. Thankfully, he came back and took us to the train station, where from we took a taxi back to the hostel. Thank God Jill and I went into super defensive mode, or it would have been the most frightening night ever. Instead, it was an adventure I'll never forget.
~Staying with our hosts. Julie and I were designated roomies the whole trip, and we got to stay with some pretty nice people in Pontevico and Brescia! The first family, the Fontanas, were super nice, and even though they spoke no English, we had a fun time figuring out the Italian phrase book Julie brought. I admit, I was not as successful as she was. But the second guy we stayed with spoke a lot of English, and his mom (with whom Abbey and Stacia stayed) spoke a good amount of German, so I got to speak it with her for a while! So much fun.
~Playing amazing concerts every night. As if it hasn't been said enough, I feel so provileged to have been able to play with such a great group of people. We went through a lot during the day, barely getting any sleep at night, a lot of us getting sick; and yet, at the end of the day, we all played beautifully together. Everyone had their own problems on the trip, but we all stuck by eachother and helped eachother get through it. I love that group of people, and I'll miss that ensemble a whole lot.
~The Milan incident. No need to blog about what happened to me on stage before we played in Milan, most everyone in the entire Wind Symphony knows about it by now. Nonetheless, it was a highlight.

So that was that. I got to see some pretty cool things, got to know some pretty great people (including JBT!), and grew even closer to some friends I already had. I'll never forget it.

Anyway, this post is getting a little long, so I'll be done. Kthxbye :)

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