12-10-2007

IT SNOWED!!! And snowed, and is snowing some more! Happy happy birthday present. :D


More coming soon!

Finals are Imminent

Sorry friends! This semester has eaten me up and I've not gotten around to posting. ...but the semester is almost over!! YAY! I've got plenty of finals, presentations, papers, concerts, pep band games, and rehearsals to keep me plenty busy the next couple weeks, but after that I get to have my wonderful Winter Break! I am excited.

I really don't have time to post much of anything at the moment (I should be finishing up a few papers and things), but I just wanted to make it known that I haven't quite fallen off the edge of the earth. I still have a few fingertips topside.

Summer Randoms

Hello and Summer's Greetings! I had written of a new post a little while ago, but it seems to have gotten eaten. So sad. I don't even remember what it was about either. Instead of backtracking to past weeks', I am just going to start with this week and will probably review past missed stories at a latter time.

So, things that have made me happy. In list format because I am feeling too lazy to connect everything all together in some sort of logical fashion.

-At the moment I am listening to some Eric Whitacre pieces I have played in band (one of my favorite composers, you should all definitely go to his site and take a few minutes to listen to the samples of his songs).

-I have been on a bit of a cleaning kick this week (kicks earn me title of "White Tornado" from my Mother) and have half cleaned the monstrosity that has been my room (sadly neglected during the school year), cleaned/organized random spots around the house, done many loads of laundry, helped to clean my church, and will mow our lawn as soon as we get more gasoline for it (hopefully later today). Cleaning...er, when things are clean I feel happy inside, and accomplished if I helped to do the cleaning.

-I got to go see my little brother's Jazz band concert (he is in my old, awesome high school band program now), and he did awesome! I need to join the Jazz band at my school, the music just makes me happy, like an adrenalin rush. I also got to see one of my best friends and talk with my Junior High German Teacher. I had decided in high school that was a requirement for all German teachers to simply just be awesome. All of mine have been teachers and amazing people.

-I went with some other best friends of mine (who I haven't been able to talk with much because of school) to a young people's activity and got to talk with them for a while and have all sorts of fun.

-I donated blood for the first time ever on Thursday, it was SO FUN, and SO COOL! I had a really good phlebotomist and got to talk with her about her job and other things. (such as how I don't mind blood too much and other things....like how the nurses/dermatologist all thought I was a little strange for being fascinated with watching my skin change colors as it froze and thawed (I had a wart frozen off)) She ended up telling me that I should become a doctor or something and that she had a doctor who was like me (fascinated by things others might see as morbid). I am thinking about doing Phlebotomy as a part time job.

-I was interviewed on Friday for a temporary summer-long job at my Mom's office and was told that they thought I sounded perfect for the job and want me to start next Tuesday. I am still deciding, but I will probably take the job. The Attorney who interviewed me also that I had "an impressive resume for being such a young lady." Wow! That would be a confidence booster.

-I also got to spend that day at work with my Mom (well, it was her half day...so not the whole day) where I went a little crazy and spent about a half an hour sitting under her desk...as her desk troll. I don't even think one of her co-workers, who walked around her desk to try to help with some thing, even noticed I was there. hehehe I should have made troll noises. Later we got to go to lunch with my sister and her fiance at a "hippy vegetarian/raw" place. It was really yummy. Mmmmm Curry. I love my family. I decided that we need to do more stuff as a family together.

-After we went to lunch my Mom and I went to my Jeanie's (we don't call her grandma, she is just Jeanie, because she just isn't a grandma) and helped her with a couple things and talked with her. I am so lucky to have a Jeanie. I love her so much. (don't worry Mom, I love you so much, too! I am excited to work at your office with you ever the summer!)

I think that is all for now. More to come soon!

-the BandNeeek

I'm a Chuggin Along...still

Still working on getting caught up with this...finals are next week (and this week) so after then I will really be able to sprint back up to gear.

Woah! Rewind!

I have not posted in ...a long while, but never fear! I haven't been eaten by the fathomless monster that is schoolwork or brainwashed by the lazy dust bunnies inside my pillow. Well, maybe just a little. A nibble here and a splosh there, nothing an extra Spring Break wouldn't fix (but seeing as extra breaks have been outlawed, I will just have to wait a few more weeks until after finals are done and over with). All is well that ends in Summer break!

So. Happy things. There are many. It has been sunny and warm, and now it is about to rain and snow and be cold for a few days. Both for me are happy.

I ate way too much Easter candy on Easter. I was bouncing off the walls so much I think my family wanted to disown me for a while. hehehe It doesn't help that I haven't been getting to bed as early as I should and missed hours of sleep pile on. And make me even more giddy. It has been fun on my side of things though. Most everything seems funny if you have sufficiently tilted your circadian cycle and added grotesque amounts of sugar to your diet. Not recommended for long term use.

Oh, yes. Easter. Easter was wonderful! My Mom taught my brother and I how to make deviled eggs, which is quite fun, and made us try one when we had finished. I don't think I have ever enjoyed eating hard-boiled eggs, but these weren't so bad. Nevertheless, one is enough for me. We got to spend much of the day with our family, eating, playing, talking, and generally enjoying the day (after church, of course, which was also wonderful). I ended up crashing early-ish in the evening because of all the sugar I ate and all the energy I expended because of it, but I thoroughly enjoyed my day.

This week has been good, too. We are playing a few fun songs in band and I am still getting used to the new mouthpieces that our band director bought the whole clarinet section (not ours to keep unless we buy them from him). We have had a couple fun sectionals, one in which I ended up being silly and bending notes. Another clarinet friend of mine wanted me to teach her how, so I tried my best (I am not terribly amazing at it myself, but I have fun). She thinks it sounds like a kitty mewing, which had us all giggling.

Speaking of kitties, we took my kitty to the vet on Saturday because he has been acting not so happy lately. He wasn't happy about going, but we wrapped him up in a towel and covered his head and he was just fine. The doctor said he looked great, besides needing to lose a couple few pounds (he weighed in at 15.9 pounds...eek), but took some blood tests to make sure everything was alright. We called back Monday for the results and they came back normal! I was so relieved. We have him on diet food so he should slim down a bit over the next while. I will have to update you on the weekends or something so you too can watch his dieting (I know, so exciting for you).

Alright. I think that is enough for today. I will post more soon! Stay Happy!

-the BandNeeek

P.S. I have a whole handful of posts that I haven't quite finished. I will finish them soon and post them up! Keep an eye out. :)

Happy March!

The first days of March are notorious for coming in as either a Lion or Lamb. While both are soft and furry their images carry significant discrepancies on first impressions. We are taught fear towards Lions because of their ruthless, violent, and bloodthirsty nature; whereas we are taught to love the Lamb because of its helplessness, soft and pure wool, and quiet dispositions. I can't help but smirk, perhaps because I am just a silly person who finds many things in life humorous, or perhaps because I have watched my share of "Nature" episodes.

Lions can be violent and ruthless when thoroughly provoked or starved, but isn't the same true with all creatures (including all of us, as humans, and our lovely friend the lamb)? Haven't we all poked at a sibling until they exploded back at you, or gone a too-busy day without time to eat and found yourself snapping at your peers for trivial matters? Put a mane, tail, sharp teeth, and claws on us and hear us roar! Have you ever watched a litter of puppies, or a couple baby lambs romp around on their awkward legs? They can have all the fun in the world, but if you try to take my food or pounce on me one too many times, you'd better watch out!

Lions, like most other members of the feline family, spend most of their lives not roaring and tearing things to shreds, but sleeping. They sleep up to 20 hours per day and often only wake to quell their rumbling stomachs. Roaring might also be the human equivalent of screaming (in pain, frustration, fear, etc.), and in most cases one doesn't normally hear grown people scream all too often. There is not a need to, and if we did scream constantly we would end up in a "boy who cried wolf" predicament. Who would listen when we really needed help? Lions act much in the same way, only roaring in the most trying circumstances.

I am not an expert on infants whether they be human or animal, but I have been around a few in my life. The first thing that comes to mind when the thought of a "baby" pops up is the crying. It seems that for some babies they are either crying or sleeping (which is an obviously exaggerated comment to fit my purposes...I really do love babies!). They cry when they are hungry, tired, frustrated, scared, alone, with company, bored, or any other reason, it is one of the only things they know how to do instinctively to get what they want/need. I wouldn't think lambs are any different from kittens, puppies, chicks, or infants.

It is true that Lions can be fearsome if you ever catch on while it's awake, and Lambs can be quiet and docile if you can sneak up on it while it is sleeping, but then again maybe I just like to cheer for the underdog.

Either way, March came roaring in with a beautiful, fluffy snow storm!

Have a Fabulous day!

-The BandNeeek

Happy February! (for the last time this year)

I will fill this space with some of my humorous band moments/quotes I have collected.

Daily Practice Schedule written on the board...sometimes r's and n's look alike.
"12:00 Carmina Burana--shift seating (rotating pants)"

On Brass players:
"It's too early", "It's too late", "It's too cold", "It's too hot", "My lip is split", "My valve/slide is stuck/sticky", "I have to empty my spit valve", "Wrong Partial", "My mute slipped", "I don't have my mute", "Huh?"

On Wind players:
"It's the reed (new, old, hard, soft, etc.)", "My instrument has a leak", "My cork needs replacing", "Do you have any cork grease?", "My other (better) instrument is in the shop", "Don't look/laugh at the brass players, it only encourages them", "I can't play: I just ate", "Do you all keep your toothbrushes/toothpaste there (a cabinet in the band room...above the sink)?"

"The Clarinet section is the Heart of any band." -Current Band Director

"You have to play this like you are a mad lady in church!" -Former Band Director


...more to come soon!

-the BandNeeek

Asploxon!

Yup, a-s-p-l-o-x-o-n. I decided one day in my Chemistry class that I wanted to spell 'asplotion ("Your head asplode"-Strongbad...go to homestarrunner, it gives your laughing muscles a workout) with an "x." Asploxon (pronounced explosion, or asplosion, whichever you prefer) was the outcome in the side column next to my titration notes (or was it molality? I don't remember).

So, why the sudden asploxon? It started with my helping to make Sunday dinner, well, dessert anyway. My mission was to make a delicious poppy seed bundt cake (with my help from a lovely store-bought cake mix, a few eggs, a splash of vegetable oil, and some pudding mix). All I had to do was dump everything together, mix, grease, pour, and bake. Sometimes things are easier said than done. Especially when one has too much sugar in her system and has too much energy to simply stand still.

I learned a new lesson that Sunday: Always open cake mixes with scissors, even if you do think you are the incredible hulk (or that's who your Mother says you are impersonating). I ended up losing a bit of the mix all over me, the counter top, and the floor, but luckily not enough to ruin the cake. I made myself hungry every time I got a whiff of my yellow-cake perfume.

The cake turned out fine and quite yummy, but while I wasn't busy with said cake mix I decided I would help my Mother crack some nuts we had left over from Christmas (I wasn't eating them, but she had had one or two before I came to "help"). Needless to say I was in a bit of a bouncy mood that whole day, or maybe asploxon would be more accurate? With nutcracker and pecan, cashew, or almond in hand I shelled a few random nuts (which could have almost been categorized as artillery blasts; my sinister laughs followed by a crack and flying nutshells all through the kitchen). I picked up nut after nut, always asking "Do you want one of these Mom?" or "What's this one Mom?"

I picked up one, small, round, acorn-ish shaped nut and asked what kind of nut it was. "Um..." said my Mom as she looked up. "I think it is a ...? No, I am not sure..."
"Is it a hazelnut?"
"No, not a hazelnut."
"Macadamia, Macadamia!! Ooo! I know! It's a Heckleberry!" said I in my asploxon-mood voice with my giggles and laughs sure to follow.
"There's no such thing as a Heckleberry, BandNeeek." (no, my Mom doesn't really call me BandNeeek)
"Sure there is! That's a Heckleberry!"

I like to make up words if you haven't noticed. It could be considered a favorite past time of mine if you like. Anyway, I continued making a mess (in the just cleaned kitchen might I add) and my Mom kept trying to get me to stop (she didn't want to eat them anymore, and wanted my mess to stop growing...I was picking most of it up as I went...teehee). After a few more minutes I stopped my cracking rampage and we picked up the rest of the prodigal shells.
"Oh, I know what it is!" cried my wise Mother. "It's a Filbert!"
"I still think it's a Heckleberry," replied my goofy self.

Sunday night we got dumped on. By snow. And my brother, sister-in-law, and I all had to drive back up to their home that night in the middle of it. I loved it! We headed out around 10-10:30 , I loaded my stuff in my car, and they in theirs. I started sweeping the 4+ inches snow off my car and found as soon as I had gone all the way around I had to start over again as I found another thick layer of snow on all my windows. I went around 3 or 4 times before I gave up and hoped in. I was covered with snow just as my car was, especially my hair (I love having snow in my hair and eyelashes...it is one of the many things on my "what makes me happy" list).

The snowplows hadn't gotten anywhere in my city yet (there was close to 6 inches on the roads/freeway) and I was doing pretty well for not having much experience with such conditions. I made it up a nasty little hill, around a few turns, and down a couple not quite as nasty hills without sliding much at all.

Then there was the stoplight. I was far back enough that I had to stop, so I pressed the brakes gently, but I was also coming from the bottom of a hill. I slowed, but I slid a few feet to the side and stopped just before hitting the curb. Cool! My wheels spun a little as I got back into my lane (my brother and sister following behind) and I continued my cautious, crawling pace down the road even more cautiously. As we got closer to the freeway my brother called and we decided it would be best for my sister to drive my car the rest of the way. Fine by me! I like to drive in the snow, but only if there aren't many things close around that I could slide in to.

We didn't see the snowplows until we were through the next city on the freeway, by which time the snow wasn't falling as hard and the roads were merely wet and only a little slushy as opposed to buried in a half of a foot of snow. Silly plows. They stayed in front of us (all six of them) plowing the roads already in better condition, but I was grateful for them nonetheless. I am sure they kept the wet roads from turning to an ice sheet overnight.

We got another storm early this morning (Tuesday), but the roads weren't quite as bad. Still unplowed when I left for school, but not as bad. I saw a few Highway patrol/county sheriff/city police stopped with a few cars off the road and only one ambulance (I saw another and a fire engine on the way home though...every time I see an emergency vehicle I want to climb aboard, ride along, learn, and help people! But if I ever did I would probably be arrested and get a restraining order on all vehicles with flashing lights and sirens...Ack! There I go getting distracted again.) the whole drive. I am glad that there weren't any serious accidents, a happy surprise for me.

So, a happy summary: cake mixes, nutshells, and clouds (with added hyperness) make joyous asploxons and big messes. Stay safe and cautious! Catch a snowflake, raindrop, or a ray of sunlight on your tongue today. Savour it, you never know how long it might take to get another.

-The BandNeeek

Tie Thursday!

Shake up the hat...close eyes....pull out slip of paper....
"And the subject of this weeks' Tie Thursday is....silly T-shirts!"

In one of my classes today I was the first girl in the class with about 5 or so other boys until others showed up about 10 minutes later. The teacher (also male) asked me "Hey, BandNeeek, where is your posse today?"
I laughed as I am often one of the quietest students in all my classes, including this one and said "I don't have a posse..." then amended it. "I am my posse." We all laughed and my teacher said that "I am my Posse" would make a good T-shirt slogan. Our conversation continued to cover other silly T-shirt slogans we had seen before. Here follows a list (with occasional explanation) of those and some more of my own found slogans:

"I am my Posse"

"IYQ" (just say it a few times...you'll get it)

"Toast" (with a picture of toast of course! All of us Toast Brigader's have them.)

"The Beatings Will Continue Until Moral Improves" (originally bought in Disneyland with the toast brigaders for wear on AP testing days...commented on by new band director during marching band season...next year's marching band shirts? hahaha I kid!)

"I Love Stripling Warriors" (I stopped wearing this one due to the partial illiteracy of immature Jr. High/High Schoolers...heh heh)

"I am plan B"

"Happy Trees" (with a picture of Bob Ross painting. I used to watch him on the tele all the time!)

"I'm in Pep Band and I'm OK!" (one of my High School Pep Band shirts)

"I'm a fermata, hold me"

"I embarrass my family" (often worn by my brother, but I think our family embarrasses our extended family....teehee)

"Bandits" (Well actually, that is what it said before I amended it to say BandGeek, then BandNeeek. I got a kick out of it.)

"Player" (Yes. On the back of one of my band hoodies. I voted against it, but lost. All well.)

That is all that comes to mind at the moment. Anymore? Share, share!!


-The BandNeeek




P.S. As this is Tie Thursday, I would like to add something I missed for my last Tie Thursday on Stair Adventures.

I have worked as a waitress in a wholesome, family friendly live dinner theater. In said theater are tiered seating to make every seat in the house a "good seat." Oft times we, as servers, had to deliver food and/or drinks after the lights had gone out. Up stairs, down stairs, through doors, squish between crowded tables and customers, all while carrying a full and heavy tray on one arm and the extra condiment, side, or stack of napkins in the other. In the Dark.

Soon after I started working there I was on one such delivery. I headed over to "Box 1" with a tray full of drinks: up the steps into the theater, up three more steps, across the house, down three, up two into the Box, and up one to one table. Deliver four drinks. Up one more step, deliver four (or five?) more drinks, and turn to go.

"Whomp!" went my foot down six inches farther than it should have with the rest me stumbling behind, barely catching myself before face-planting into the wood floor...wait, there IS a stair there! Many customers gave me a worried hand and "Are you okay"'s as I looked gratefully at my barely emptied tray. I assured them I was fine and could barely stifle my giggles as the play started at what I must have looked like on the way back to the kitchen.

Spills were common at our Theater, but not a nightly occurrence (between 2 and 4 shows a night depending on the time of year...pretty good statistics I think). We always did our best to avoid such spills , but sometimes it just happens leaving us or a costumer covered in sticky soda, smoothie, or sauce of some sort. The customers were usually very kind and understanding with us, for which I am grateful (although I have only had a couple minor spills), some of which actually give you a better tip (or pity tip). Those tips almost brought us to tears some nights where others didn't leave any tip when we worked so hard, or customers would refuse to be pleased no matter what we tried to do for them. For all of you who are kind to your waitresses/waiters/busboys/doormen/baggers/mailmen/garbagemen/service people I thank you. You make the whole day worth the work, especially when we trip over hidden stairs and spill our whole tray of drinks.

Happy Wednesday!

Some days are just simply "good days" and some are "awesome days." Many times the difference is in the attitude I decide to have. Even if every little thing explodes, falls, squeaks, cracks, burns, or breaks doesn't mean I have to follow suit. A wise man once said, "They can take everything away from me, but they can't take away my attitude." This man was a Jewish man who had been held in a horrifying concentration camp during World War II. He made this comment after being held in said camp for a long time (months, or years I cannot remember).

The story of Job from the Bible explains the countless hardships and adversities a person can go through and yet still be an optimist in a field of pessimism. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord!"

I have avoided using steroetypifying "good" and "bad" because I am trying to mold my attitude and thinking into a more optimistic lifestyle. Some days are harder than others to accomplish such a task, but I can see the true joy that radiates from those who have that bubbly, bright, positive, and smiling personality. They are a beacon to me on those harder days and my motivation to keep smiling.

Some such band-siblings of mine (I tend to think of most of my fellow band members as my second or third families) act as those beacons. Whether it be sharing a good laugh over what might happen if we brought our kitties to school and kept them in our band lockers, rejoicing over a "good" reed (which in some boxes tends to be quite rare), or finding that sometimes it might just be easier to sleep overnight in a practice room due to late night/early morning band commitments (don't worry, only speculative) they can always lift my spirits and bring a needed smile, hug, or snack during the school day.

Other days I feel as if I can be my own radiator of cheer and try to spread it in my own little quiet way, but I still have miles to go before I master that skill. One of the biggest contributors to my happy furnace is music. My brother said one day that whatever song he might play, with time he can find aspects of that song that he likes; therefore leading him away from disliking songs. I have felt the same way since I started playing, at first I may be indifferent to some songs, but after rehearsing them for so long I can't help but find things I love about it. Other songs leave me thrilled after one hearing.

Most of my High School band years were spent in the later circumstance. Whether my band director shaped all of his students to be like him or whether he just brought out that part of us naturally I am not sure. Probably some of both happened, but either way I instantly, or close to it, fell in love with every piece we played (which I attribute to the awesomeness of my band director's taste). This year has been different; new director with new tastes, and new band siblings. I do still enjoy many of the pieces we play, but only one or two so far has caught my love like the pieces of past years. Every time I play any of those songs I can't help but look like a smiling fool for hours. They give me an Adrenalin rush that only they can and boost my spirits up with the clouds.

I see now that I have gone off on a tangent and not gotten to any of the list of happy things I had ready to post on for the day. I will leave the list as is for your imagination to run away with and to not make any longer this monster post.

-tuner-clock invention

-essay paper turned in (relief! Hooray!)

-good reed

-happy music

-WARM sun sitting and reading

-Prospective Kite flying field=no power lines/poles!! Rules against flying kites on campus?=cleared!


I love you all!! Be safe!

-The BandNeeek

Motivating Monday Montage (MMM)

-No school!

-Lots of new snow!

-Today is my Mom's birthday! Remember those free skiing passes I won from the Health Fair? Well, my Mom and I made use of them for her birthday (she loves to ski and I thought she would like to have a free ski-day...even though she spent the whole day teaching me on the super easy runs. I love my Mom!!)

-We rented skis and the rental guys were fantastic! They explained many technical things about our boots and skis to help us better understand and to help us get the best out of our ski-day. They even gave Mom an extra discount being her birthday. I love nice people!

-It was a wonderful day to go skiing! (My second time skiing, I have snowboarded only a couple times more, so I am pretty beginner) The snow was falling off and on in the canyons and it was beautiful and sunny in the valley when we headed home. Every time we came down a run there would be a layer of new snow, the snowcats couldn't keep up! It was a little bumpy, and when I got up the courage to go fast enough I was catching a little air off of said bumps. So fun, and I didn't fall (although I had a few close calls)!

-We decided to go up one of the smaller chairlifts (a two-seater with a pole in the middle to separate the two seats) and as I had gotten a hang of getting on and off of the other lifts I thought I was safe. I stumbled up to the "wait here to be seated" line (I am not so graceful when it comes to walking on skis) and tried to keep from sliding away. "Look to the middle!" Mom warned me. I obediently turned my head and "BONG" went the pole on the incoming chair as it collided mercilessly with the side of my face. In a daze I managed to board the lift. I later learned that my Mom had heard my "Bong" encounter, but didn't know it was my head. The lift operator must have held in his laughter until we were out of earshot, and just imagining the scene over makes me giggle. (but then whenever I imagine myself the scenes are always cartoonistic in action which makes me giggle in and of itself)

-Another time on the nicer chairlift we met an extremely nice lift-buddy (this lift was a three-seater) who rode up with us. He told us of how he comes here to ski in the winters from practically across the country and how he had skied almost every day of the skiing season . He had a really genteel and kind spirit about him and I was glad to have shared our seat with him. My day was happier because of his unrestrained and open friendliness.

-I got to spend the whole day with my Mom! We had so much fun together and I look up to her so much. I am lucky to have her. I wish everyone could have a mother like mine. :)

-The BandNeeek

Tie Thursday!

On Friday? Well, yes. I am late, but that is alright. Allow me to explain.

In High School my friends instituted "Tie Thursday" where our little Brigade of friends (Formally known as the Toast Brigade) would wear ties on Thursdays (all of us being female). Random? Yes. Strange looks? Very yes, that's the funnest part! Some of our ties were plain church ties (borrowed from brothers/fathers), others had themes (one of my favorites was my friend's Star Wars tie with a Han Solo T-shirt), but all were ties.

I never did end up making it to Thursday days with a tie and so I am hoping to make up for it by introducing a Tie Thursday post. Tie Thursday is, by nature (coming from the Toast Brigade), utterly random; therefore, all of my Tie Thursday posts will be likewise, making it perfectly acceptable that this Tie Thursday is in fact on a Friday. And thus the space-time continuum collapses and chaos ensues. Enjoy!


STAIR ADVENTURES!

Wide ones, skinny ones, long ones, short ones, tall ones, squatty ones, worn ones, cracked ones, slippery ones, steep ones, never-ending ones, spiraling ones, ... There are all kinds of stairs I come across in my day-to-day life, but some of the most interesting stairs I have come across are those that have a grotesque sense of humor (which, I would hazard to say, includes all stairs). Stairs, whether 2-step or 572-step, enjoy tweaking their position ever so slightly when their climbers least expect it and laugh their gravely laugh as their victims tumble. (Those equipped with railings often accent the laugh with "bonging" guffaws.)

Such stairs use every insidious fiber within their stony steps in attempts to trick their patrons, whether they be old, young, empty-handed, or shouldering the world Atlas-style. Some of their favorite pranks involve: adding an extra stair where there previously wasn't thought to be one; sneaking up on unsuspecting bystanders (or bywalkers to be more accurate) before said person has time to prepare to step up/down; looking innocently wet, but turning out to be dangerously slippery; adjusting the height/width of certain steps 'just so' so that climbers mis-step enough to tumble; or just up and snapping at those who attempt to take the stairs at to fast a pace. All of this tomfoolery can cause embarrassment, bruises, and scattered belongings at the least (many of which give one a therapeutic opportunity to laugh at oneself).

That being said, I have had ample opportunity to laugh at myself. (If I were in Mary Poppin's "I Love to Laugh" scene I would probably have burst into the attic on some occasions) I have had my share of bruised shins and knees from falling up the stairs at school (which I often show off to my brothers), my books/papers/music/clarinet causing a mess and noisy racket. If someone is around (usually some handsome boy) I laugh an "oops" to myself. If no one is around I still laugh an "oops" to myself. Oft times the silly grin sticks through to my next classes and refuses to leave (which tends to be awkward when the lecture subjects gravitate towards stoichiometry, gravitational constants, King Leer, or Sigmund Freud...but then the fact that I can't wipe the silly grin off my face makes me giggle, and I am sure my teachers/classmates are convinced I am a nut when they see my straining face and tears (from laughter) streaming down my cheeks. Looking at their concerned faces just makes me laugh even more. Such a predicament.)

Stairs not only can be tears of silly giddiness, but sometimes tears of ouchiness. When I was just a mite of a girl (a tall mite for my age) I learned from my older siblings and cousins the joys of stair jumping, like base-jumping, but without the parachute and with a much lower threat to life. My grandmother has a staircase to her basement which has a wall on one side and a railing on the other side through which small bodies can squeeze and jump the <6-7 feet to the floor below. During extended family parties many of the younger kids would swarm the stairs and play our jumping sport. The smaller kids jumped the lower stairs and the older jumped the higher and all was fine and dandy.

Well, all was fine and dandy until I decided I wanted to jump the highest stair. Being only about 5 years old at the time, I should have stuck to the "medium" stairs and not the tall ones. I climbed back up after a few test jumps on a lower, medium, and medium-high stairs and slipped through the bars and perched on the edge of the stair, contemplating whether I was "ready" for such a high jump. In a moment of blurred reality the stair slipped away (silly, mischievous, disappearing stairs...) and I was floating like an astronaut, slow motion, and carefree. I could fly!

But, alas! Slow motion never is slow enough. I crashed, I crunched, I crumpled, I snapped, I did what most kids would do: I cried. At the doctor's office the next day I remember the horror on my mother's face when I smiled, flopped my broken wrist around, and said, "Look Mommy! It doesn't hurt anymore, I don't need to go to the doctor." I don't remember the pain, nor do I know where all the other kids disappeared to. I think the number of children present is inversely related to the inconvenient accidents that happen. (a lamp breaks? a bowl is dropped? Where's the kids?...must have been sucked into a black hole) I hold no grudge towards the stairs, but I did notice a significant lack of stair jumping events at family parties.

I enjoyed my bright pink cast with its surface smothered in autographs (the purpose of such a tradition evades me, but the fun of it doesn't), even though I couldn't open a door, ride my bike with both hands, or bathe properly for 6 weeks.

Stairs give us convenience (escalators get a +10 in convenience points) and help us get from lower place to upper place and made possible multiple story buildings, and excitingly spooky stairwells. Thank you to the inventor of the staircase, but don't forget that to every bright, sunlit stair there is a dark side, full of pranks and sadistic humor.

Be grateful, but also Be Wary of the Stair.

-BandNeeek

Kite Flying and Blood Donating

Concert day today! That means band class was cancelled in order to "save our chops" for the performance (although what do many band people do with their new-found time? Practice. We are a silly bunch of cookies). During what would have been band many of us sat outside the band room in the "band hall," a popular gathering place for all people instrumental (with the occasional vocalist), and talked of pressing matters, such as: our lunches, the silliness of Valentines day, cheered on a crutch-bound cellist who decided to pick up all the garbage (three wrappers) in the hall...with his crutches, what kinds of limitations there are on giving blood, flying kites, and so forth.

Only one of us hadn't really flown a kite before, but there were a few of us (myself included) who had never given blood before. I promised the one that we would have to go fly a kite, and suggested we all have a blood donating party at the next school-wide drive and we could fly kites immediately afterwords. That got some laughs and looks, but my friend and I are still planning on it.

We talked about our blood drive (non) experiences: some weighed too little, others had been out of the country, one had her ears pierced, one had had surgery, another had recent tattoos, or some just general fear. All things preventing the donation of blood during blood drives (one such drive was going on today....Valentines day. Valentines--Vampires... I laugh at the silly irony, but also digress). When another band friend came we asked her if she had ever donated.
"Yup."
"Whaaa?? You have?! Tell us all about it!"

We were educated on "the strange-ness" of it all, and given advice about eating and drinking plenty before/after, not exercising hard for a day or so, the free treats afterwards, and how she hadn't felt well the next day. I told her about our plans of flying kites right after donating and she laughed and said, "okaaay..." and gave us a silly look.

We just smiled and said, "It'll be exciting!"

Reminds me of when we learned about cultural norms in my Sociology class and how people react when someone breaks them. Our book recommended a few to use for experimental purposes (such as facing the other people in an elevator, insisting to pay more than the listed price for something at the store, over-dressing for regular everyday activities, etc.). I could hardly keep back my giggles as the possible reactions of people ran through my mind. The rest of the class was having giggling problems, too.

We got the same norm-breaking looks from our plans. Harmless, legal norm-breaking is fun!

Have some fun today and break a cultural norm (as long as you are not breaking the law or causing harm/hurt to yourself or anyone else). Stay safe and laugh lots!

-The BandNeeek

Little Lessons

Happy Tuesday to ya! Today I would like to present a few small points of advice I have newly ( and not so newly) acquired (mostly so I don't forget them).

1- Don't eat grapefruit in the car. Especially if you don't have anyway to wash your hands afterwords.

2- When your reeds die get new ones, otherwise you can play your guts out (feeling like you are trying to blow over a brick wall with a straw), and only end up stopping to catch your breath after two bars, feeling lightheaded, and raw-ify the inside of your lip. (doesn't work so well during 4+ hours of playing) (By the way, my sister-in-law gave me some new reeds!! It is like Christmas, so happy!)

3- If you are a major soloist in a band (not me :) ) don't miss a dress rehearsal unless pre-approving it with your director, otherwise everyone will have to have an extra dress rehearsal immediately before the concert (which is tomorrow for me...YAY!)

4- Film canisters filled with reed-soaking water are life savers (or spit savers) when you are breaking in a new box of reeds. (I changed my reed 12-13 times during a rehearsal today...teehee)

5- Take advantage of "Free," especially when you don't have an income. (Free food, free shirts, free kittens...happy times!)

6- Rejoice over little things (like finding a parking spot, not falling up the stairs (more on stairs soon!!), new reeds, running (clean) water, food, ...). Things will look brighter and happier.

7- Don't forget to laugh at yourself.

8- If you want to become a teacher stock up on the Vitamin C, airborne, orange juice, and chicken noodle soup. The kiddies are always being so thoughtful and sharing their sicknesses with you. :) Especially your first year teaching them.

9- Just because it looks warm outside and feels warm from the sun shining through the windows doesn't mean it is warm outside.

10- Keep an emergency stash of chocolate in your car.

11- Don't leave said emergency chocolate in the sun in your car.

12- Don't eat all of your emergency chocolate as soon as you put it in your car.

13- Grapefruit/other citrus fruit peels make the car smell good, but don't leave them there for too long...things could get ugly.

14- Check your shoelaces often.

15- Check the toilet paper levels before you choose a stall.

16- Don't drink reed-soaking water.

17- "Smile, it confuses people" (or might just make their day)

18- Decide to be happy. Your attitude is one of the only things that cannot be taken from you.

...And I think I will be done for now. I have eaten muches of pizza...can pizza give you a sugar high? I think it can, because I can't focus very well anymore (if you couldn't tell from my jumbled/half hazard list...).

This is the BandNeeek signing off for now! I loves you all and wish you the happiest!

-BandNeeek

Motivating Monday Montage

This is a new category of posts where I will list things that happened throughout the day that made me smile. I find so many Monday Blues that I decided it needed to be done away with or at least alleviated a little. I hope my silliness will help someone smile through their slow Monday!

-While walking to the Math building I saw a boy who held the door open for not just one person behind him, but the whole gaggle of bumbling math students before he finally left his doorpost.

-The sun came out and was warm on my face when the breeze didn't blow (it is a balmy 43 or so degrees today!).

-I walked with one of my fellow Clarineters to Band (I don't often walk with people between classes...just me and my silly, tangential thoughts, legs walking on autopilot) and talked about our good weekends, our concert on Wednesday, and Clarineter-ish stuff.

-A few of us Clarineters came to a consensus that whenever randomly asked to play (the clarinet) alone during (band) class it is inevitable that your reed will revolt against you, or your clarinet simply decide to be out of tune, but as soon as you go back to playing as an ensemble it goes right back to being in tune and sounding pretty (as opposed to gurgly, airy, sharp, congested, or painful). We laughed about it all.

-Even though my reed sounded not so happy at me when asked to play in aforesaid circumstances both my section leader and band director told me it sounded good. (Although I secretly giggle and think they took my wobbly sounding reed for nervousness)

-I turned in some of my "Band Tour" release forms. (even though I got the strange feeling I was signing away my life's fortune, or first born (kitty/clarinet/saxophone) after reading through them)

-I tripped over my feet when attempting to approach the stairs in the stairwell. A girl behind me and I laughed about how when such things happen when we are alone we don't mind because we already know we are idiots, but that trippings, slippings, and dramatic headlong tumbles often happen while other are watching (in which case I laugh harder)...more on adventures on stairs to come soon, I will devote I whole post to it. :)

-Upon returning to my car this afternoon I found a lovely little coupon for a free medium pizza at Local Pizza Place! Yay free dinner for the BandNeeek at her long-ish dress rehearsal tomorrow night!

-I kidnapped an apple and a grapefruit from my home-home yesterday for my lunchtime munchies this week. Today? Apple+Peanut Butter = So yummy for my tummy!

I hope you have all had a happy Monday! Leave some comments about some of your motivating (or not so much) Monday scenes, I would love to hear from you!

--The BandNeeek

Week's Worth

So. This week had been a happy week. That is what I have decided. Let's start from where I left you...Monday? Yes, that'll work. Monday it is! (Warning: This is a rambling and non-centralized post! Read at your own risk of becoming bored and/or lost in silly little stories)

MONDAY

Sunny weather and unseasonably warm. Learned about the geography of Germany in my German class, and how cows live in the fields/pastures in the agricultural areas of Germany. I remember the silly things my friends and I would come up with in our Jr.High and High school german classes, most of which included a dead cow head (hurray for making use of our very limited vocabulary!). Fun times.

In my Calculus class we took notes on calculus concepts (all of which are still review for me, as I took the class in high school, but review is good). Oft times my mind wanders when taking notes on things that I already understand confidently. It started when we began "Decomposing Functions" at the beginning of class. My imagination immediately bounded off in tangential angles, leaving my eyes and hand to finish taking notes from the board. I will let your imagination roam from there as I have just deleted my sorry attempt at explaining my own random thought processes...I am sure you would have been quite lost.

In the evening I found out that my Seester (sister) is getting married! My Seester!! I am so excited and happy for her!! (as well as still in denial, I can't believe it! It is so cool!!)

TUESDAY

Today was also quite warmer than February is supposed to be (around 50 degrees), in fact I think it is the warmest it has been all year! Cool! I rolled down my windows on the way home and thought about marching band practice when I passed our practice field (the girl's soccer team was out practicing on the 'plowed' (?) field...I didn't know they plowed astro-real turf...).

Switched some seating placements in band. Now the first players are on the inside/in the middle while the thirds are on the outside (for flutes and clarinets anyway). Wonder if/how long that will last, but it is very interesting to hear the band from a different place. Neat stuff, acoustics.

I have been having to park in farther-away-parking-lot, which involves crossing one of the busier roads on campus instead of my happy parking lot which is right close to the "Band" building. I don't mind walking the extra bit, but sometimes it takes a little while to be able to cross the road when there are alot of cars going by. I wait patiently, a couple minutes won't kill me. Car, car, car, GAP!!...oh wait, car from the other way (should I call it "rac" if it is coming from the "other way?" -teehee-). Car, car, rac, rac, rac...Gap...wait, make sure it is a real gap...nope another rac was hiding...car car...Gap....still gap... speed walk across the street, head bouncing left, right, left, right with every step. (I don't want to end up as a smear in the asphalt)

Today, on my way back to my car after all of my classes, I stood and waited. Only a couple seconds passed and the cars that were coming (one in each direction of the three way intersection) slowed and stopped. I must've looked confusedly at the nearest car who waved me across the street. I smiled and I think (I hope) I waved back and said (or mouthed) thank you. I love when people are so kind and unselfish! It makes me happy.

WEDNESDAY

I saw and gave a happy "Hi" to a fellow marching band-er that I haven't seen since around marching band times last semester (said person isn't in Band-band), and received a happy "Hi" back. Ah, the joys of being easily made happy.

After school I got my oil changed (finally!) and felt so silly at my not knowing that you are supposed to drive your car up to the garage and wait there for an attendant rather than park and wander up looking for an attendant. All well. I am sure they will have a good giggle about my ignorance of "the system" of such places/things as I am. I like being able to laugh at myself, I get entertainment wherever I go!

REST OF THE WEEK

It was my brother's birthday on Thursday (I wished him a happy birthday in which he replied that I was his favorite BandNeeek, and I in return replied I was the only BandNeeek he knew...I love having a unique name : D), and on Friday we had sort of a family birthday party for him. I love my family functions. We have lots of fun together, plus I got to see my Seester (the one who is now engaged!!! I am still so happy and excited for her!).

I also got to play at a couple girls basketball games (Pep Band) and found out that the girls, even though they are doing just about as well as their male counterparts in basketball land, their games are vastly less attended. I am glad we were there to play, it was fun and I love to play.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!! Stay safe and smile your face off!

--The BandNeeek

Cleaning Frenzy and Pump Rage

Have you ever gotten in a mood where you just feel like cleaning something and when you finish said task you find your cleaning craving not satisfied and before you know it you have accomplished many extra cleaning tasks. Such carrying away in cleaning may lead one to lose track of time thus causing one to miss the magical pre-rush hour happy traffic time, but then, no longer in a hurry to 'beat the rush,' you find you have time to leisurely fill up one's car with much needed gas and wash some of the built up guck on one's car windows (but only the driver's side of the car before another car pulls up behind and the pump goes schunk as it tops off the tank). One may then smile at the nice man waiting behind you, hop into the driver's seat, turn the key, click. Turn the key, click. Turn the key, click.

By this time a smidgeon of worry might creep into the back of one's mind as you open your door to express a hopeless and sincere apology to the nice man behind you, who is now looking quite angry and the nice young man at the next-door pump gives you an apologetic look. One wishes the nice young man was waiting behind you instead of the nice unhappy man who presently occupies his spot, or that by some luck the unhappy man will just keep his unhappy expression inside his car. One fears those infected with road rage, or those infected with the similar gas pump impatientness.

One hurriedly hops back in the driver's seat. "Please, please, please start so that the nice man behind me won't get any more angry with me..." Turn key, click. Turn key, click. Turn key, click. Take out key. Put in key. Turn key, chkchkchkchkpraaaawwWWWW! Ah, the happiness of one's car purring to life. One is saved from gas pump rage man (I am sure he must've just been in a real hurry to somewhere, I hope he made it alright.) and eventually makes it back home (an hour late due to opening up the hood and messing with things and asking a friend about the workings of car batteries before driving the hour home) to later find that the battery connections were just loose. YAY for simple solutions and simple problems!

I got to play at a Pep Band game...erm "Basketball" game (tee hee) last night and found out that we get to play at a few extra games the next couple weeks. I love to play, and pep band is always fun. Especially when we win silly little things. Fun times.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Keep up the smiles, someone could be watching you! Stay safe, and don't get too angry with other drivers on the road or at the pump. : )

-The Band Neeek

Happy Snow!

The weather has finally brought me snow again and with it, however scanty it may be, fresh clean air, blue skies, and a little warmth. Most of it ends up melting by the later afternoon (well, at least that has been the case for the not quite 1-2 inches we have received the past couple days), but I am so glad it is back! I was starting to think that my reeds (especially my 'best' reed, which has a sad little notch out of the tip) were just starting to go the way of old reeds; they weren't playing, or "speaking," as reliably, and they were very resistant to producing the nice warm tone that they had been doing. I thought it was long past time to replace them, but hadn't (still haven't) done it yet.

Yesterday I had another surprise with the snow and clear air, I could breathe again! I didn't quite realize it until I played on my same silly, chipped reed in band. It sounded warm, woody, and just as pretty as it had before! I am so happy that my reeds haven't quite kicked the bucket yet! They can be on the expensive side of things when one is a (presently) job-less student.

Since my last post I have been paying more attention to when and why I get out of breath during the day. I know I am just being obsessive, I think its a phase that I will grow out of in a couple/few weeks, but for now I will just continue my silly unwritten records and telling you all about them. I am sure you find them all sorts of interesting. I sure find it interesting when I find I only have to walk the length of a building, or 2-3 flights of stairs before I can no longer get enough air by just breathing through my nose.

I hope you are all having a wonderful February so far! Don't forget to smile at strangers as you pass by, you may not only get a silly look full of confusion back, but you may brighten someone's day for a moment. Best Wishes!

-The Band Neeek

Normalcy?

This week has been a standard week: go to class, take notes, take notes, take notes, play clarinet, go home, eat, read/laze about/homework/play with the puppy, sleep, wake up and do it all over again. I am so glad I have my car back! I love to drive, leave when I want, go as slow as I want, go the way I want, and follow other cars as far back as I want (sometimes buses scare me...they drive so close to the other cars on the road, I think it's a miracle that they aren't in more crashes!).

I have gone running a few times this week (indoors, on a treadmill. Outside the air is so full of guck that one almost has to trudge along the sidewalk, like through mud. Yucky). It always feels nice to run, well most of the time. The beginning is nice, finishing is nice, and the way you feel after is nice. The middle is just meh. I ran track and a little cross country in high school (never competed or anything, just worked out) with one of my best friends. Ah, we had some good times. We would sing our favorite band song of the day during workouts, frolic about the empty after-school halls, and have all sorts of fun while torturing our bodies with some of those evil workouts in 90-100's degree temperatures. -shiver-

When we would run to warm-up, stretch, and run to warm-up again I liked to run around those who carried on conversations with other people. I couldn't carry on a conversation for long, but it helped me to be able to listen to someone else's' instead of concentrating on simply running. I thought that I was just less "in shape" than those others because of lacking the ability to talk and jog at the same time. I was taking a P.E. class during that spring and consequently was running/working out the hour and a half during class in the mornings, and then the hour and a half of track workouts after school throughout the semester. This might make me sound super athletic, I do not think I deserve the title. Jogging wasn't, and still isn't, the easiest thing for me; my muscles fatigue, my lungs/chest feel tight or ache, I can't breathe adequately through my nose like I have always been advised to do (in through the nose, out through the mouth), and I often get a cough that lasts from a few hours to a couple days depending on how much I run and how cold the air is that I run in. Even by the end of the semester I couldn't hold a conversation whilst jogging. I thought that those who could were just that much more in shape than I was, and I thought that all of the aforementioned effects of running were normal, that everyone felt them like I did.

I have learned that one of my siblings has a mild asthma and it occurred to me that I might have the same thing. I read about asthma, but mostly read about severe asthma. Mild asthma has become a sort of side, short-term research project, but less formal. More like "Hey! That looks interesting, let's read it."

I was talking about it with some of my family and was told I should probably go see a doctor to see if I do have a mild form of asthma, but I am reluctant. I don't want to bother with a silly little thing when I am not suffering unduly from my symptoms and they don't really get in the way of my everyday life. I don't want to take up a doctor's time with such a little thing when they could be helping someone who needs it more than I do. I don't want to be a bother. I don't want to be a whiner. I don't want to be burdensome. For now I think I will keep running and listening while others do the conversing, and my favorite band song of the day plays in the back of my mind in time with my shoes.

My Car--She Lives!

Fantastic News!!! ....wait, let me start from the begining first. 'Tis a good place to start.

Alright, so I left you Tuesday (not yesterday, Thursday, or Wednesday...especially not Friday...yes I tried to type those in. My poor brain is stuck on today (meaning everyday this week) being Friday, silly brain) afternoon with my missing school due to my car refusing to start. Kept trying to fix it, etc.etc. (meaning I'd rather not talk about the rest of the evening...I was less than perky and bubbly)

Next morning (Wednesday) found me waking up and my wonderful mother and awesome neighbor coming to save the day! Awesome neighbor hooks up the jumper cable (my poor battery had apparently died overnight, probably due to my trying ALL day long the day before to get it to start) to my car and we try to jump start it. Nada. We are all frozen, but my awesome neighbor gets his tools out, removes the battery (so we can get a new one), and rushes off to work (he was probably late, he's awesome!). We get a new battery (after waiting for the local auto parts store to open) and another neighbor helps us put it into my car (it is quite a strange battery setup, but what do I know about cars? Not much.).

In the middle of all this it is still very cold (being just before the sunrise into soon after sunrise) and I would like to offer some advice. When it is quite chilly outside and your extremities are already numb, even if you are wearing a magical scarf (all scarves are magical in that they make you oh-so-much warmer!), don't hold your keys (or anything else metallic in nature) in your bare hands. It burns (or freezes, whichever you prefer, the line between is waifly thin). Ouch.

Back to new battery, one that is better for starting in cold weather. We stick her in and turn the key. "Grumblegrumblegrumblegrumble." Back to the sounds of yestermorning. Ah, but I much prefer the "grumblegrumble" to the "click." Much happier. My other awesome neighbor offers a suggestion, a god mechanic he knows. We call round, decide that the car will have to go in the next day due to lack of towing vehicles. Mom decides to drive me up to school so I won't have to miss another day, even though I had been acting not so perky and bubbly, even though my school is an hours drive away, even though Mom will end up missing a half day at work (and I half of my classes). Did I mention that my mom is wonderfully amazing and fantastic? Well, remind me to mention it for every second of the rest of my life.

I get to school drop off my instrument/music, and Mom drives me to the other side of campus to my class of the hour (only ten minutes late, too). I love my Mom. I go to my last two classes (of my four that day) and get a call from my brother asking if I need a ride home then he or my sister-in-law could pick me up after they get off work. I love my family. I end up getting my free bus pass (YAY for free things...well paid for in my tuition anyway) and riding the bus with a friend (who drives me the rest of the way home). I love my friends. (Another one of my friends had offered to pick me up in the morning if I needed a ride, too. I feel so loved.)

The next morning (Thursday...Hey! That's today!) my brother drives me to the bus stop on the way to work. Yay for bus stops! It was a bit chilly again, but I didn't have to wait long. On the bus I ended up sitting next to a really nice girl who answered all my silly questions about where the bus stopped and things. I love nice people. I got to school a few hours early so I sat by the band room (my third home) and read a book (and almost finished it), got flirted with by a cute little baby, got to sample a hand softener system, and generally lazed about until my classes. I got to my first class and was greeted and talked to by another classmate (yay for sneaking around the edges of my comforting shy bubble) who I happened to find out was in another of my classes, then who walks in but the sweet girl from the bus! Wow! Happy times and coincidences that don't happen by coincidence.

I finished up the rest of my classes and headed back to the bus stop to catch a bus home. A handful of people there turned into a crowd, then turned into just a couple of us as a few buses stopped before my bus came. One other girl was waiting for my same bus, we were silent most of the time as other buses came and took away the crowds that had gathered. She asked me if I knew where the gym on campus was. I told her as best I knew (I am not yet an expert on my campus). We made a little small talk, she told me about her having a hard time recently in life and explained to me some of her frustrations, discouragements, and heartache, and I asked questions and tried to give the best advice I could. She told me about how she wanted to just work off all her steam at the gym and how she didn't tell her roommates or even her boyfriend where she was, or where she was going. I worry for her.

Mostly I was just trying to be someone to listen. People need to have others who they can just pour out everything on, sometimes it works best if you know your listener well, other times it is best to have strangers as listeners. I tried my best to become a dry sponge for her to throw out her ill feelings and I can only hope that I took some of her hurt away. Her stop came, she got up. She said "Thanks for letting me vent to you." I said, "Anytime, I hope everything turns out okay for you." She got off, I don't think I will see her again, but I do truly hope everything works out for her. I hope I was enough to help her not be so depressed or discouraged, but I may never know. Maybe I was nothing to her, did nothing for her, wasn't empathetic enough for her, but I hope I was. I may never know, I can only hope.






***Back from the beginning!***


Fantastic news!! My mother phoned me last night to tell me that my car is working again! Her friend came over and tried, tried, and tried again to get it to start...Persistance wins! My car--she purred to life and runs beautifully again! Ah, my car. I am again so grateful for frozen automobie fluids (as opposed to something more serious and costly which I would have no chance of affording), my Mom, her friends, my neighbors, and my family for helping me to get along without and trying to help fix my car! I am so excited to be able to get it back (it is still at my home-home) over this weekend. I love the bus and public transportation, but sometimes I want to get home in the 20 minutes it takes to drive and not the hour and a half it takes to ride/walk, but only when I am really hungry. :) I need the exercise anyway, makes me feel good and not so lazy.

I hope you have had a wonderful day! Be safe and eat your toast! Thank someone for something and tell them you love them, for no reason. Smile at someone, at everyone--it makes the world, and you, happier. Especially since tomorrow is the REAL Friday of the week! (I will probably second guess myself all day since I have already had so many "Friday"s this week already) I am so excited! I loves you all!

-The Band Neeek

Frozen Cars

So, as you might have noticed much of the U.S. has had an ice cube put down it's back, and in it's gloves, and shoes...almost like an ice bath, or in some places an ice shower. It is cold outside, quite cold. And sunny. Ah, if only it would snow again, but alas the weather man tells me that a High Pressure is parked above us and is planning on staying a while. Now, this is all well and good seeing as I don't mind the cold too much, but my car seems to disagree.

This morning found me getting ready to head back up to school after a glorious long weekend; getting school books/notebooks/instruments gathered, getting dressed, re-curling a few pieces of hair (I hardly ever do anything more with my hair than wash it, let it dry, and ponytail/bun it...unless I get bored or "just feel like it"--the latter applied last night), feeding the animals, turning the ignition to my car... "grumblegrumblegrumble," says my car. "Uh-oh," says my me. I scrape off my frosty windows and try again. "grumblegrumbleGRUM-blegrumble," says my car. I head back inside and thaw my fingers (I am so grateful I have a warm house to come back inside to with warm running water!!).

I try again in a half hour, "GRUmblegrumblegrumble." Another half hour, "grumblegrumble." I look at the sun, now risen and spreading its mocking "warmth" and then to my car. Poor car. I eat some toast (doubles as comfort food and breakfast!). I have now missed my first two classes, but those I can be forgiven for missing. My last class is not so kind about absences, band. I am not worried though. I know that my car will warm up soon and try again, "grumbleGRumBLEgrumblegrumblegrumble." Always turning, almost catching, always missing. Each time my classical radio station chimes in its cello concerto, flute descant, or violin discussion as if to comfort the strains of my car and to pat it on the hood. I listen for a minute, watch my frozen breath fog up the windshield and turn the key again, "grumblegrumblegrumblegrumble."

I come back inside and write my band professor an e-mail, "Car is frozen, might not make it to class..."

The cats are happy that I haven't left them yet as they have all managed to sneak back inside. I am starting to think that my car would have liked to do the same, and feel sorry for it, the cold sun its only defroster. No drip-dripping from the icicles hanging off the house even though the sun is now directly overhead, perhaps the warmest part of the day and now missing half of band.

I pass the bathroom and spot the curling iron that I left out to cool and decide to put it away only to find that when I had switched it "off" I had actually only switched it to "low." I switch it off, really off this time, and pause a moment and wonder what might have happened if my car had started the first time and I had left with the iron still on and hot. I say a silent prayer of gratitude and know that there are guardian angels watching over me and my family. A day of missed classes can be made up so much easier than what might have been had I not missed them. I am grateful for slushy automobile fluids!

Happy First Week of the New Semester!

I made it through the first week of the new semester, YAY! Really, it wasn't too bad, in fact it was pretty stinkin' good! And now, whether you want it or not, I will proceed to tell you about it, because it makes me happy. Of the two threatened auditions (each for placement in different bands I am in) only one of them ended up being required, which is awesome seeing as auditions are far from my favorite thing in the world. Ironic seeing as band is up at the top of my favorite things list. Surely a band-hater wouldn't have soundtracks to their dreams, especially if said soundtrack included in-dream compositions, various band songs, and any other random song. I love it.

I got a reply from one of my local fire departments about possibly participating in a ride-along (which I have been wanting to do for some time to see whether wanting to be a Paramedic/Fire(wo)man is just a stage or something that I really want to do). That e-mail made my day, I am so excited! All I have to do now is call them back...I hate the phone. I love the freedom of time and editing abilities that writing allow. My thinking is slower on my feet and I often reflect to previous conversations I've had and fuss about things I should have rephrased or things I should/shouldn't have added. Perhaps I just need more practice getting out of my shy comfort-bubble and talking with people.

I attended a Health Fair over the past weekend with one of my best friends and, naturally, we had a blast! We got tons of anti-oxidant/energizing/health drink samples, lots of interesting information, a free (albeit short) massage, and entered into many drawings for fun prizes. By the end of the day we were on a healthy buzz of sorts and bouncing off the walls. I got a call earlier this week informing me that I had won one such drawing for two ski/snowboard passes. Awesome! Now I just need to get over my fear of going off the bunny hills... I have been on "real" runs, I just have a thing for the bunny hill. : ) Maybe some day I will grow out of it.

I have played in three Pep Band games, Basketball games for those of you more sport-watching oriented, in the past week. Pep Band is fun (although I have to admit Marching Band is more fun. Can't wait for Marching Band season!!). I get to play, I get to feel special by getting into sports functions with my instrument as a ticket, I get more band T-shirts, I get to play, I get to hang out with my band family, occasionally (like last weekend) I get really good half-off-of-real-tasty-Italian-fast-food coupons, and I get to play!

I have successfully avoided the on campus bookstore and only have one more book to track down and buy. Yay for finding cheaper used textbooks!

It snowed about six inches this past week! I love the snow. There is something about the way it makes everything so white, pure, and softens otherwise harsh edges. I love the way snowflakes fall so softly and gently. I love the taste. I love to be out shoveling the walks. I love having snowflakes stick to my hair and eyelashes. I love to be the first to walk/drive outside and see the flawless blanket of white over the world. I love the way the snow sets on the trees around walkways and roads weighing down overhanging branches. The snow just makes me happy.

Well, I think I have done enough rambling for now. (and I can't think of anything else of interest that I have done this week) Stay safe and have a happy day!

Welcome to My Cozy Little Niche

Hello there! You might be asking yourself who, where, or what I am, which is reasonable amount of curiosity, but due to my becoming increasingly wary of...well, many things, my secret identity will remain just that. Secret. Top Secret. If it makes you feel better you may think of me as a Super Hero whose anonymity is key to their survival as such. Or you may not. Either way is fine by me.

So, now you have been cold-heartedly rejected of all your previous queries you might be asking yourself why I am here, or how I got to be here. Or maybe you are asking yourself why and how you even got here in the first place. The former I could give some insight to, but, alas, the latter is left for you to explain to me. I am curious about you as well you know, so go ahead and leave a comment if you wish. As to why I might have spontaneously appeared out of thin net-space air, well, to be honest I was truly hoping in my sneaky appearance to, in a thin net-space air sort of way, jump out and scare the socks off of some unsuspecting person. But such things can be quite difficult in such a place. All well, I tried.

Now you are probably more lost than you had been before you even glanced towards my little space (whatever it might have been that urged you to glance my way), or perhaps you have already gotten sick of me and have left. That leaves me and...me. Hooray! A party! All "me's" invited! "Me"ercats, "Me"rcedes, "Me" kitties, "Me"...ahem. Back to "why am I here." I have decided to have this as an online (public) journal of sorts...where I ramble about school, work, play, random thoughts, and whatever else fits my whim at the time (whilst changing all names, places, and other identifying information so as to keep my Super Hero Mask intact.

Thank you for visiting. Please keep track of your outer appendages and loose change, children, minds, cheese, hair-pieces, and toasters. Enjoy your questings!