I don't have time to be ill... Where did this come from?

Every bone in my body aches and I switch between being hot and cold. My throat is really sore and swollen. I have every symptom of swine flu except for coughing, vomiting... and fever... But I'm going to check that again.

Somehow I've managed to get some form of flu. And it sucks.

I miss being home and having mom take care of me, but Rachel D. is doing a good job too. :-) *hugs*

I'm really glad this didn't happen during tour.

UPDATED: Something fun to take my mind off things...

A. Pick 20 of your favorite movies.
B. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
C. Post them here for everyone to guess.
D. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
E. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.

"Da Daaaa! Bat Dog!" -Homeward Bound ~Amanda M.

"You're not old enough to shave! What are you doing with a sword? I've been flying around - This is an insurance nightmare! What is this? Some sort of the 'Lord of the Flies' pre-school?" -Hook ~Mary

"I'd like to get in, get on with it, get it over with and get out. Get it?"
"Got it."
"Good." -The Court Jester ~Mom

"Reference department, Miss Blair. Oh, yes, we've looked that up for you, and there are certain poisons which leave no trace, but it's network policy not to mention them on our programs."

"Unfortunately, THIS guitar said, 'When I get back to Georgia, that woman gonna feel my pain.' THIS one said something along the lines of, 'Why yes, these pants ARE lycra.' THESE said, 'I'm very sensitive, very caring, and I have absolutely no idea how to play the guitar.'" -Stranger Than Fiction ~Rachel D.

"Off to Zanzibar, to meet the Zanzibarbarians! " -Muppet Treasure Island ~Amanda M.

"My name is Doctor Hugo Hollingshead. I have a manuscript that contains the most ingenious methods for the perpetration of homicide."
"I'm s-sor-ry D-d-doctor... *gulp* H-h-homicide... Mr. Pierce buys all the manuscripts..." -The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ~Mary

"There are many different kinds of bravery. There's the bravery of thinking of others before one's self. Now, your father has never brandished a sword nor fired a pistol, thank heavens. But he has made many sacrifices for his family, and put away many dreams."
"Where did he put them?"
"He put them in a drawer. And sometimes, late at night, we take them out and admire them. But it gets harder and harder to close the drawer... He does. And that is why he is brave."-Peter Pan ~Mary

"That was the speech?
"It was dumb."
"It was obvious."
"It was pointless."
"It was... short."
"I loved it!" -Muppet Christmas Carol ~Rachel V.

"Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense." -A Christmas Story ~Rachel D.

"Symmetrical book stacking. Just like the Philadelphia mass turbulence of 1947. "
"You're right, no human being would stack books like this!" -Ghostbusters! ~Matthew

"I'm hysterical! I'm having hysterics! I'm hysterical! I can't stop when I get like this. I can't stop! I'm hysterical. Oh my god. Ah-la-la-la! ... I'm wet! I'm wet! I'm hysterical and I'm wet!... I'm in pain! I'm in pain, and I'm wet!... And I'm still hysterical!" -The Producers ~Rachel D.

"That's not a king! It's only a queen with a mustache!"
"You'd be surprised at how many kings are only a queen with a mustache." -Hans Christian Anderson ~Mary

"Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?" Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl ~Laura

"Are you insane?! This is Hitler's car!" -Rat Race ~Rachel D.

"What are you doing two weeks on Saturday? "
"Probably killing myself."
"Excellent. What time does that finish? Do you like boats?" -Sliding Doors ~Rachel V.

"If you're a Scottish Lord, then I am Mickey Mouse."

"...I'm afraid I've been thinking..."
"A dangerous pastime..."
"I know." -Disney's Beauty and the Beast ~Rachel D.

"I want some peace and quiet!"
"I'll be quiet."
"And I'll be peace!"

"And so I grew from colt to stallion, as wild and as reckless as thunder over the land. Racing with the eagle, soaring with the wind. Flying? There were times I believed I could." -Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron ~Matthew

A quote from Firefly...

Kaylee: Wash, tell me I'm pretty...
Wash: Were I unwed, I would take you in a manly fashion.
Kaylee: 'Cause I'm pretty?
Wash: 'Cause you're pretty.

"I ate sausage yesterday... Do I have swine flu???"

This xkcd comic is an excellent example of twitter, and why I believe that it is full of too many stupid people. The *idea* of twitter isn't so bad in and of itself, but millions of stupid people use it for pointless things.

Also, this article from CNN.com points out that twitter is not helping the Swine Flu situation at all... Because we all know that bad news travels faster than good news, and how can you explain all the facts and symptoms and methods of treatment in 140 characters or less?

Also, the Wartburg May Term class that was scheduled to go to Mexico for a month has been canceled, which is probably way super good and on the safe side, is still sad for them, because I know a couple people were really excited to go.


In other news, I have 12% left of free space on my computer hard drive... Which is AFTER I uninstalled some programs. I did have 7%. I kind of think I need either A. An external hard drive or B. A new computer. I'm thinking I'll have to go with A.

1. Homestays of infinite awesome

So Rachel D. and I had a homestay almost each night of the trip, aside from our stay in St. Louis. We were very lucky and had homestays that were AWESOME and some that were simply nice. All around, it was very good. :-)

Friday: Our first homestay was in Vinton. The family lived out in the country and had their own indoor pool, including hot tub. We got to go swimming for an hour and a half. They had about 20 mini-inflatable beach balls and Rachel D. and I made up games with them, like obstacle courses. We also raced back and fourth across the pool on these floaty-things. After that we got to play Wii bowling, petted their cat and then we went to bed. We slept in their daughter's bedroom (since she was away at college in NYC) and discovered that she had autographs from a couple members of the Harry Potter cast and pictures with James and Oliver Phelps (the Weasley Twins) among others. It was a lot of fun and it was really nice to visit with them! Our host-family gave us each a plaque (left overs from his daughter's graduation party) that has the poem "To Risk" by William Arthur Ward.

Saturday: Our second homestay was in Ankeny. They were a quiet couple, all their kids had moved out. We politely visited while eating ice cream, then watched the end of the NASCAR race and played with their cat. Our host parents went to bed shortly after 11pm and Rachel and I watched the Doctor Who episode Blink and then went to bed. It was a nice, quiet homestay, since we were both tired and sore from swimming on Friday.

Sunday: We stayed in Indianola, and we got in late so we only really got to visit with our host mom, because our host brother went to bed after helping us carry up our luggage. This stay was the most interesting of all I think, because we made our own lunches and then took up our host-mom's offer to watch TV, but she controlled the remote, and always muted the commercials. We watched a really old episode of Law and Order: SVU. This family had a little Maltese dog named Rico, who we had to feed cheese, so that he wouldn't think we were "invading." Rico also barked for an hour and a half after we turned out our lights and tried to go to sleep in the beds that were too short for both Rachel and I.

Monday: This was our night in Kansas City, and I met our host mom still recovering from a rush of tears, since I conducted my senior farewell of Nearer My God To Thee. Our host mom gave a hug to both Rachel and I and said she was glad to get one of the "crying seniors." Our host mom was a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, but was on medical leave because she tore the ACL in her thumb while skiing in Colorado the week before. Her husband and 9-year-old daughter were so fun to visit with. :-) We all sat and ate brownies and talked about the weather, band traditions, the concert, and Susan Boyle. They also had two dogs, a 10 year-old chocolate Lab and a 3 year-old Schnoodle and they were super friendly and fun to play with. Our host-dad made us popcorn on the stove and Rachel and I sat by the fire and watched the History Channel. They had a big double bed for us to sleep in and it had a green shiny comforter. We had fun reenacting that scene from The Sound of Music where Maria checks her bed for spiders.
















(Yes we are nerds.)

That morning there was fresh fruit, croissants, bagels, toast and cereal for breakfast and our host-mom repacked our lunches, claiming we didn't take enough food. After they dropped us off Rachel was going through her newly packed lunch and discovered that our host-mom had included a $20 bill in each of our lunches! It was kind of awkward, but super awesome. She really didn't have to do that, but it was really nice to find.

Tuesday: This was our night in St. Louis and we stayed in a hotel. It wasn't very eventful other than I accidentally kicked Rachel in my sleep and when we woke up, I had all the blankets and she had all the comforter.

Wednesday: We stayed in Ballwin, Missouri. Our host family ran their own private wine and spirits company. Our host-mom's husband was away giving a Bourbon-tasting conference. We got back to her house about 9:30 at night and she cooked us hotdogs, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese while Rachel and I played with her two little Shiitzus, who looked like Ewoks. It was really nice to visit with her, especially since I had just finished my Beer and Society class. She had a lot of interesting stories. (Including the fact that her husband sang barbershop.) :-) After dinner our host mom went to bed and we watched TV and then went to bed ourselves. For breakfast I finally got to have COFFEE! I had missed it! She also had yogurt and fruit, (which was delicious) cereal and coffee cake.

Thursday: We stayed with a family in Mt. Ayr that had never volunteered to host kids before. They were super nice! They lived in a 100+ year-old farm house and had a daughter in 5th grade, who played trumpet. They all really enjoyed the concert and we all had fun discussing different aspects of the WCCB. Rachel and I were pretty tired and we just watched some TV. Our host-mom asked us when we wanted breakfast in the morning, because she was going to make us a "real country breakfast." And boy, she did! There was homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, hash browns, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages and homemade blueberry muffins! I had at least one of everything... It was SO GOOD!!!!! We found out that our host-mom loved to cook and at one time, owned a local restaurant in town, so she was really excited to cook for us. :-) Rachel and I got to sleep in an old, metal farm bed that had the softest mattress... It was so nice! You just melted into it.

Friday: We made it home about 12:45 am and got to sleep in our own beds.


So yeah... Like I said, all of our homestays were good... Some just more awesome than others....

A post that was not pre-set!

Hello everyone! I am back from tour! I hope you had fun following the tour schedule. Tour was so much fun! Very exhausting, but so worth it. Really. More on that later.

For the record, this is my 750th blog post since I started this blog in 2005. That's crazy. I'm 250 away from making 1000!

Also, a month from YESTERDAY, I will officially be a college graduate. This is a weird thought.

Rachel D. and I are going to go finally watch Rain Man, so my mom will stop asking me if I've seen it yet, since she and dad gave it to me for my birthday. In September.

Things about tour that I will blog about:
-Homestays of infinite awesome
-How I fell out of an airplane
-Tour awards
-Sack lunches and the surprises found therein
-How many blog posts I actually had on Google reader
-The result of Cows and Dead People that Rachel D. and I played all week long
-Bus rides in general
-Various concert venues
-How much I cried
-Prophecies and wills
-Food, including how much I love fruit snacks
-Weather
-Anything else I happen to remember...

Tour Schedule: Concert 7 pm, Iowa City

6:30-7:30 AM Students dropped off at Mt. Ayr HS
8:00 AM Leave for Sigourney, IA
10:15 AM Set up, rehearse
11:15 AM CONCERT at Sigourney HS
1:15 PM Depart for Iowa City
3:00 PM Arrive at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 123 Market St., Iowa City, IA
3:15 PM Set up, rehearse
4:50 PM Dinner at church
6:00 PM Pre-concert gathering
7:00 PM CONCERT
8:45 PM Senior reception
11:00 PM (???) Depart for Waverly, IA
1:00 AM (???) Arrive in Waverly
__________________

I'll take guesses on how many blog updates I have to read on Google Reader when I get back.... My personal guess is 238....

Tour Schedule: Concert 7 pm, Mt. Ayr, IA

6:30-8:00 AM Students dropped off at Good Shepherd Church
8:00 AM Leave for Mt. Ayr
3:00 PM Arrive at Mt. Ayr High School, 1001 E. Columbus St., Mt. Ayr, IA
3:15 PM Set up, rehearse, dress
5:00 PM Dinner at school
6:00 PM Pre-concert gathering
7:00 PM CONCERT
8:45 PM Leave with Host Families
_________________________________

Tour Schedule: Concert 7:00 pm, Ballwin, MO

Free morning (noon visit to Gateway Arch as group)
2:00 PM Depart for Ballwin, MO
3:00 PM Arrive at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 327 Woods Mill Rd, Ballwin, MO
3:15 PM Set up, rehearse, dress
5:00 PM Dinner
7:00 Pm CONCERT
8:45 PM Leave with Host Families
_____________________________

St. Louis Zoo! Hooray! :-D

Tour Schedule: FREE DAY, St. Louis, MO

6:30-7:40 AM Students dropped off at Faith Lutheran Church
8:40 AM CONCERT for Lutheran HS
10:00 AM Depart for St. Louis, MO
2:30 PM Arrive in St. Louis- Stay at hotel
Free Afternoon/Evening
_______________

Plans for the day......

Visit the City Museum

Eat at Fitz's

Sleep.

Tour Schedule: Concert 7 pm, Kansas City, MO

6:10-6:30 AM Students dropped off at Faith Lutheran
6:35 AM Depart Faith Lutheran
7:20 AM Arrive at Indianola High School
7:55 AM CONCERT at Indianola High School, 1304 E 1st Ave., Indianola, IA
10:00 AM Depart Indianola HS
3:00 PM Arrive at Lutheran High of Kansas City, 12411 Wornall Rd., Kansas City, MO
3:15 PM Set-up, rehearse, dress
4:50 PM Dinner at church
6:00 PM Pre-concert gathering
7:00 PM CONCERT
8:45 PM Leave with Host Families
_______________________

"Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men." -Goethe

"Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." -G.K. Chesterton

"Everyone wants to save the world. No one wants to help mom do the dishes." -P.J. O'Rourke

Tour Schedule: Concert 7 pm, West Des Moines

8:00 AM/9:30 AM Church services
12:45 PM Students spending the night in Indianola need to get to West Des Moines
1:30 PM Arrive at Lutheran Church of Hope, 925 Jordan Creek Parkway, West Des Moines, IA
1:45 PM Set up, rehearse, dress
5:00 PM Church service, Wind Ensemble plays one piece
5:20 PM Dinner at Church
6:00 PM Pre-concert gathering
7:00 PM CONCERT
8:45 PM Leave with Host Families
__________________________

I give you....

ZOMBIE FLOWER!






















Seriously... Kristine gave me a bouquet of daisies for my recital, on Friday, March 27th and this one is still alive........ The other two daisies DIED... Because this one SUCKED the LIFE OUT OF THEM.

That is why it is a zombie......

















Yes... Be afraid of the Zombie Flower...

Tour Schedule: Concert 7:30 pm, Ankeny

9:00 AM Leave for Ankeny
10:00 AM Arrive in Amana (FREE TIME)
12:30 PM Depart
2:30 PM Arrive at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 517 SW Des Moines St., Ankeny, IA
2:40 PM Set-up and rehearse
5:00 PM Church service
5:00 PM Dinner
6:20 PM QUICK set back up after church service
6:30 PM Pre-concert gathering
7:30 PM CONCERT
9:15 PM Leave with Host Families
____________________________

Happy First Holy Communion Stephen! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I love you!


I also wish I was there so I could eat all the Avocado Feta Salsa... I haven't had ANY since New Years when I made it for Luke and his family!



Mmmmmmmm....... Avocado Feta Salsa.......................... I waaaaaaant it.......

Tour Schedule: Concert 7 pm, Vinton

2:30 pm Load Buses South of FAC
3:00 pm Leave Waverly
4:15 pm Arrive at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1206 C. Ave, Vinton, IA.
4:20 pm Set-up and rehearse
5:00 pm Dinner at church
5:45 pm Dress
6:00 pm Pre-concert gathering
7:00 pm CONCERT
8:45 pm Leave with Host Families
___________

My blog will update with my schedule each day. Have fun following along with what I'm doing! :-)

"Play for someone you love..." -Every member of the WCCB

Cribbage is awesome!

Tomorrow we leave for tour... Overall it should be fun... Our first stop is in Vinton, Iowa and our host family has an indoor pool.... :-)

Rachel D. and I have coloring books, and cards and are creating games to play on the bus. We will also have Gin marathons.

There is also going to be some cribbage tournaments going on. That will be fun! :-D I love cribbage! I just have to pay attention and count. I am really excited about cribbage though... Heeeeeeeee. :-)

Today I spent putting together my credential packet for a job application. Tomorrow I am going to mail it. Wish me luck!

Tonight on Facebook I did the "Pick Your Top 5 Celebrity Crushes" and it was REALLY HARD! I finally settled on David Tennant, Raul Esparza, Orlando Bloom, Aaron Eckhart and Hugh Jackman. I spent about 45 minutes searching for the names of the two actors who played Demitrius and Lysander in Midsummer Night's Dream when I saw it at the Globe in London. For the record, their names are Oliver Boot and Christopher Brandon. Alas... No good pictures of them could be found, AFTER I figured out what their names were... (My program is all packed away at home.) *sigh* Christopher Brandon is gorgeous.

Okay, I'm really sleepy, so I should get to bed... So I can get up and pack and do important stuff before I leave...

Puns can be beautiful things...

Heeeee... Those of you who are familiar with the song "Melisande" from 110 in the Shade, this comic is doubly funny. :-) And it's true. I am done with finals. AT LAST!

I am off to take a bit of a nap... :-) Soooo nice....

But first, as promised:


















Haircut picture of AWESOME! :-) I really like it... I just need to invest in the right hair products now so that it will curl.

A list...

Things that are awesome:
-My new haircut
-Sleep
-The warm sunny weather
-Coffee
-Mt. Dew
-French fries (I gave then up for Lent and now I can eat them.)
-Grapes
-Being done with 2 of my 3 finals

Things that suck:
-FINALS
-The music formatting on the Finale computer program
-Being far away from important people
-Headaches
-Not getting enough sleep
-Turning in a final 5 minutes late
-Accidentally scanning two of the same thing into one document
-Not being able to enjoy the nice weather
-Sour under-ripe strawberries
-Car payments
-Not having a job

Something slightly disgusting...

I would like to state for the record that burping the flavor of the banana I had for breakfast laced with the flavor of the super-garlic mashed potatoes I had with lunch is quite possibly the weirdest combination of tastes I have ever experienced. If ANYONE ever gets the urge to put garlic on bananas I must say, DON'T DO IT!
__________________

On an entirely different note:

Yesterday I watched the movie "Going My Way" starring Bing Crosby... I love that movie... I haven't seen it for years and years... Like.... Since I was 12... I definitely teared up at the end... :-) I caught a lot more of the jokes this time 'round. You know, now being 22 and all... This is my favorite quote. It's from the beginning of the movie when the elderly Irish priest, Father Fitzgibbon is talking with the man who holds the mortgage, who is trying to explain that if the church doesn't make good on their 6 overdue payments he'll have to foreclose the church.

Mr. Haines: Oh, surely Father! People can be generous, if you ask them!
Fr. Fitzgibbon: Oh, sure, sure, and they have!
Mr: Haines: Well, maybe they need a reminder! Why don't you just make it the topic of your next sermon?
Fr. Fitzgibbon: Oh and a fine topic tha- t'would be.... "The topic of today's sermon is taken from..... The mortgage."


That makes me smile. :-)

Also, I have a cute new haircut. :-) Pictures soon.

A song from my favorite movie...

I'll take you dreaming,
Through the rainy night,
To a place behind the raindrops,
Where the stars are bright.
You may not find gold or silver,
But a richer prize,
Waits for you behind the raindrops,
If you close your eyes.
Tonight, tonight,
When all the world's asleep,
We will tiptoe home with a wondrous star,
A star you can always keep!
And years from now when you go dreaming,
When you're very old,
Though your crown be rich with rubies,
Diamonds set in gold,
None will shine as bright,
As the star we'll find
Tonight.
Tonight, tonight,
When all the world's asleep,
We will find a star,
That you can always keep...

You can listen to it by clicking here.

Happy Easter!

This always makes me laugh... :-) (PG-13 for language....)

"Don't give up princess, you're only on chapter 3..."

Sonnet 47

Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,
And each doth good turns now unto the other:
When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,
Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,
With my love's picture then my eye doth feast
And to the painted banquet bids my heart;
Another time mine eye is my heart's guest
And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:
So, either by thy picture or my love,
Thyself away art resent still with me;
For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,
And I am still with them and they with thee;
Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight
Awakes my heart to heart's and eye's delight.

______

My heart knows a lovely song
It whistles it all day long
If you know the melody
Please whistle it back to me…

Finals are coming....

I need to:

Finish my Beer and Society journal
Make an appointment to get my hair cut
See if Glens has an opening so I can get the oil changed in my car
Study for Philosophy
Look for teaching jobs--Ongoing....
Go shopping for some things I need for tour/May Term class
Make an appointment to get the recall checked on on my car
Figure out what hours I'm going to work during May Term
Finish my arranging final of DOOM
See Luke?

Amused....

Okay, as much as I enjoy the Twilight books, I found these and thought they were pretty funny....






















Oh noes!

I would rather have the moon...

Jason Robert Brown, where have you been all my life???? How have I now just discovered the magic that is your music???

A brief encounter with my 8-year-old brother...

Stephen: Sarah, Luke is your boyfriend....
Me: Yes Stephen, I know.
Stephen: HA! SO YOU ADMIT IT! *runs away laughing*

Break = Actual Sleep

I am so ridiculously tired.... It's really hard to keep my eyes open, but I must get my interwebz fix before I crash.

Today I spent approx. 6.5 hours in the Midi lab working on the ridiculousness that is my arranging final. And no, it's not done. My brain is so fried from working on that assignment all day... Ug.

We got our detailed schedules for band tour today... More on that later.

Tonight Rachel D. and I went to Knights on Broadway, directed in part by Rachel V. Emily was in it as well as a bunch of other people that I know. It was so spectacular! I was very entertained and I really think this is the best one so far. Next year is definitely going to have a lot to live up to!

Drat. I forgot my hobo gloves at school. My hands are going to be cold when I go to sleep....



Well, that's all for now... My eyes hurt.

<3 JRB

Kiss me and say,
You'll give me stars and the moon and a soul to guide me
And promise you'll never go
You'll give me hope to bring out all the life inside me
And the strength that will help me grow...
_________________

I'm not afraid of anything
Be it mountains, water, dragons, dark or sky
I'm not afraid of anything
Tell me where's the challenge if you never try
So watch me fly
I'm not afraid...
__________________

Hear my song
It'll help you believe in tomorrow
Hear my song
It'll show you the way you can shine
Hear my song
It was made for the times
When you don't know where to go
Listen to the song that I sing
You'll be fine

‘Cause I'll be singing —
Hold on
Hold tight
I know it's dark right now
But just believe somehow
That soon there will be light...

The snow has pretty much melted...

Sometimes I wish I had the courage to post some of my saved drafts on blogger. Some of them are just unfinished blog posts, while others are snippets of poetry, song lyrics, rants, lonely cries, or stuff of super randomness.

Yesterday, the concert went really well... All year, I've never fell the entire band play so well, and locked in... :-) It was great.... Doc did the whole, "have all the seniors stand up and be recognized" thing. I forgot about that part. There's about 26 people graduating this year, which is almost half of Wind Ensemble. It'll be interesting to find out who makes it in next year.

Band Banquet went really well. Especially compared to last year. Nothing crazy or upsetting. It wasn't as nostalgic as I thought it was going to be...

I definitely didn't cry.... I just don't think I was in a crying mood. I'll probably cry sometime on tour.

I spent all morning researching alcohol policies of most of Iowa's private colleges. I have 12 pages of shtuff. I'm meeting with part of my group tomorrow to start typing up our paper. We also need to plan out the presentation part of our final. That bit shouldn't be too bad.

Last night Rachel D. accidentally squirted her inhaler up her nose. Which, I'll be the first to admit, was probably not very good... It certainly was not where the medicine was SUPPOSED to go.... But gosh, darnit, it was hilarious.... I mean... What's not to laugh at, when someone is yelling that their nasal passages are expanding....? *hugs* I love you Rachel!

Oh! For all those parties concerned... If there ever was anyone concerned... I found more socks! So I'm good for another day... Maybe even until I go home on Wednesday!

Tomorrow is my last official class of arranging. I wish I knew if I was passing or not. No one has gotten any homework back at all....

I can haz job pleaze? I iz gud wurker. I makes musics.


Mmmm... :-) So I just re-discovered the wonders of Pandora Online Radio... I have a Jason Robert Brown station, a Cantus station and right now I'm listening to my Alan Menken station.... L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole just came up.... It makes me feel all warm and happy.... And like I want to dance.... *sigh*

Seriously... It's April...

I woke up this morning and this is what I saw:

















This was taken at about 11:15 am. I don't know if you can tell, but it's still snowing in this picture. It's still snowing now.

Epic FAIL nature! NO MORE SNOW!

It's almost the end of the semestesr... What?

So it's supposed to snow this weekend, which is annoying. Because it means that I will have to either buy more socks or do laundry. I just bought flip-flops today, and I was hoping I could get by wearing those until I went home on Wednesday... But yeah. It had to get cold and snowy and all that. Maybe I'll just wear those thermal socks that Dad gave me for Christmas last year. :-)

It's actually not snowing yet. Just raining. But I looked at the radar and it's coming. I'm really glad that I didn't have my recital this weekend. That would have been totally crazy and busy and all that.... Tomorrow is the Wind Ensemble Concert where we play a large amount of the music we will be playing on tour. It starts at 2pm in Neumann. It looks like the weather is probably going to take a hit on our attendance. We are playing a lot of fun stuff, like Danse Folatre, Italian Rhapsody, Limerick Daydreams (except we're doing the arrangement for the full band) and a couple famous marches, like Rough Riders and Manhattan Beach. Danse Folatre is wicked hard. I looked it up and it's rated 6+ with (1 being super-easy beginning level music). It's also, like 12 minutes long and is full of major cadenzas and weird counting.

.... I can't believe this is technically my last concert ever with the WCCB.... I..... will probably cry tomorrow after the concert is done.... Because I'm a sap like that.... Wow...

Tomorrow night is also Band Banquet. No one really knows what to expect. The first time the words "Band Banquet" were mentioned in rehearsal a couple weeks ago a noticeable shiver went through the returning students. No one wants to go through this again. I guess we'll see.

This coming week is the last week of classes. I go home Wednesday night for Easter break and then Finals start on Tuesday the 14th. This semester is practically over! How crazy is that??? It's so weird... I mean, I got through all my crazy stuff, like my 1st seven week classes and my recital and now it's like.... I feel like I have hardly anything to do.

No word on the job front... So far most of the the music teacher postings have been for vocal music. Laaaaame.

Last night I had the craziest dream that I was being held captive in a giant theatre packed with other people... And we were being held captive by Daleks... And the only way that they weren't going to destroy us all was if we sang along with Bernadette Peters who was at the theatre giving a performance. I'm not making this up, I swear. It was really hard to sing along because Bernadette Peters kept singing songs that where either a.) too complex to actually sing along with, or b.) not very many people knew them. It was very bizarre.

This afternoon Rachel D. and I went to Old Navy and I bought a skirt and a couple tops. That's also where I got the flip-flops. We also went to Famous Footwear and Payless, but I didn't find anything. (Rachel did, but she resisted.... Barely.) We then went to Margie's senior recital which was LOVELY (seriously, she was fabulous...) and then rented Be Kind, Rewind and got Chinese for dinner. :-) I love Chinese! While we ate dinner we watched The Office (we're on season two, episode 14 "The Carpet.") After dinner we went to Wartburg's production of The Taming of the Shrew, which was pretty good... Considering they condensed it down to an hour. I enjoyed it a lot, but I could tell it was pretty bare bones. ("Wham-bam-thank-you-Shakespeare." is what I said, actually...) I really want to read the play now. After the show, we watched Be Kind, Rewind. :-)

Before the play, the different actors did some tumbling/juggling and reciting to get the audience interested and involved. (The actors did this at the Globe theatre in London as well... When I was there last May.) During Shakespeare's era acting troupes had to stir up interest using their own talents and abilities throughout the towns where they performed, since it was very difficult to advertise via posters etc.... Most of their target audience was illiterate.

Anyway, I want to leave you with one of the sonnets that Tim recited.... It took a bit for me to find, but I really like it.... :-)



Sonnet 47

Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,
And each doth good turns now unto the other:
When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,
Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,
With my love's picture then my eye doth feast
And to the painted banquet bids my heart;
Another time mine eye is my heart's guest
And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:
So, either by thy picture or my love,
Thyself away art resent still with me;
For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,
And I am still with them and they with thee;
Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight
Awakes my heart to heart's and eye's delight.

Random thought of the morning...

Making gingerbread houses would be so much easier if you had telekinesis. That way, you could hold it together with your mind while you reached for more icing glue.

Playing the piano would be easier too. You could turn the pages yourself.

BEDA (Blog Every Day in April)

Okay, so finally an update... Finals are in two weeks, so things are starting to get a little crazy around here.

My senior recital was last week and it went really well! Luke, Jessica, Ali, Amanda, my family and my Grandparents on my dad's side all came to see me. My cooperating teacher from student teaching also came. It was really nice to play for all of them. :-) And it really meant a lot for them all to come visit. :-) Rachel D. helped me do my hair (it took 2 1/2 hours to curl... It was intense) and I wore the bridesmaid dress from Leah's wedding.

I know I'm my own worst critic, and I do feel that I played really well. (Especially since I couldn't play through anything without having to stop and cough that past Monday.) But for Pete's sakes, I can't believe I skipped an entire repeat in my first piece. Bleh. Where was my brain? :-P Silly nerves. I'm really glad to be done.

Stephanie, a friend of mine who I paired with for this recital, was surprised after we finished our recital by her boyfriend who proposed to her. That was sweet and she was surprised. :-)

That night, after my family had left, we all went out for Chinese and then played some Taboo and watched The Mummy. It was really fun. Julia showed up right at the end of the recital and that was a total surprise, but very awesome. :-) I had a lot of fun!

Sunday morning we made smiley pancakes and cooked bacon and it was all very delicious. After that we sat around and talked for a good while... Just about random things. Then we played Bananagrams which is kind of like Scrabble.

Luke, Ali and Amanda left later Sunday afternoon, and Jessica too. Which was sad... Because we all had to go back to doing "school stuff."

.... It was really, really good to see everyone this past weekend... Especially Luke. :-)

-Mary, you should keep playing your flute. And every time I see your artwork, you make me miss drawing and taking art classes. I'm so ridiculously out of practice.

This week has been pretty standard and uninteresting, although my Arranging class has been kind of frustrating. Which is all I'm going to say about THAT.

My cough is doing better, which is NICE!

Last night Rachel D. and I went to the theatre to see Knowing for $1, but it was sold out. So we saw Escape from Witch Mountain instead. We figured, for $1? Sure, we'll suffer. It wasn't that bad. I mean, I was entertained, but I wouldn't pay full price for it... It's a "I'd rent it for free from the library for my younger siblings and watch it with them because I had nothing better to do" -type movie.

This morning I went to a discussion panel regarding Project Orange, which was meant to supposedly discuss some of the "issues." Lots of faculty where there as well as President Hamm and the Dean of Students. I don't feel the panel was very helpful or really talked about the issues. I do understand that 45 minutes is not enough time to fully cover everything but all they talked about was students being on committees, college administration/student communication, and tuition/financial aid.

Tomorrow is Friday already.... I keep forgetting that Flute Choir is performing with the Jazz Band tomorrow...

Whoa... I just read on Cnn.com that an early version of the Wolverine movie has been leaked on the internet... 

Also, my Thursday class is cancelled for next week, which means I can come home on Wednesday night, after band! AND if I get my final completed for that class, I don't have to return to campus until my final at 6:30 pm that following Tuesday. *crosses fingers*

I should post a tour schedule soon....  But right now I need to head to band.

I should be going to bed.

But I can't resist quickly posting these two videos.

I will post about my recital, I promise.

The original:


The Awesome Parody:


I love Chad Vader. :-)