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