How To Entertain Yourself When You're Sick

Guess what: I caught another cold this past weekend. I think it was because of the finals I had to take last week (a test per day). I was up late studying and I've proven the fact that I get sick when I stay up too late multiple nights in a row. I stayed home on Monday and would have stayed yesterday, too, had I not had a band concert. It was fun as all concerts are, but the sickness tainted it a bit. Today I had to make up the 2 tests I missed on Monday. But the time on Monday was plentiful enough to make me long for things that were actually interesting to do while sick. I found some. 
1. Take note of the assignments you miss. At least write them down. Depending on how you feel, you might like to actually do some, but you don't have to. When you're sick, take it easy. (I guess this isn't fun, but it's something you should do nonetheless.)
2. Food for thought! Look at something and let your mind carry you through the thought process after that. Easy. Somehow, at some point, I wound up wondering the meaning of the word 'cosmopolitan' and learned something new. My other favorite food for thought is what the world's going to do when we run out of petroleum. That means no more plastic, peeps! More on this in a later post. 
3. Travel the world. You don't have to leave your house. Browse places you want to go in Google Maps. I looked all around the island of Oahu and through the Honolulu airport (for some reason), where I'll be in about 9 months. I also wanted to look up American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands too, but I fell asleep before I could get to those.
4. Remember happy times. I like to think about marching band, pep band, band practices, etc. Laughing at Romeo and Juliet in English class. Traveling I did with my family. Parties and end-of-year stuff long past. Conversations that have stuck with me. Things like that.

As in, I still remember all the memories. (Mine)

5. Coloring. It isn't just for little kids. Get one of those newfangled complex coloring books. All the time you have when you're sick might be the only time in your life that you have for coloring! I colored in a few sheets out of a travel-size Japan-themed book I got at Barnes and Noble a while ago.
6. Write lists. Do you assemble mental lists of things to do, things you want to buy, ideas you want to remember? Write them down. NOW. Otherwise, if you're at all like me, you're bound to forget.
7. Browse blogs. Search "(insert subject here) blogs" and find some new reading material. I read random blogs on anything I can find, pretty much. 
7.5. Window shop. Look at stuff you want to buy. Or, if you have money, buy it.
8. Stay away from binge-watching TV or movies. 1 or 2 is fine, but no more. Your eyes don't need any more strain than they usually get. That being said, don't spend the whole day traveling the world or reading blogs or shopping. Do something else away from the screen, too.
9. Write poetry or a book or a research paper. WRITE SOMETHING. I wrote a really downright long, horrible poem. It was called "Soliloquy for Brass" and I promptly shredded it to bits. But it took up time, and that was the point.
10. Sleep. Obviously, this is the best of all of these fun time-wasters.
If you're sick, get better. If you're just reading this, then... hey there. Whatever.

Quotes to Laugh At

There's a lot of stupid stuff in the world, but thankfully there's a lot of funny things too. Here are some I got from the world around ME. 
As I hear more funny things I'll update this post.

Things I said:

"Well, you don't have to worship the trumpet, especially since you're woodwinds."

*Another trumpet says something weird and my friends hear it* 
"It's a trumpet thing, you wouldn't understand."

*The older trumpets are being obnoxious* 
"See, this is what happens when you bunch together a big group of brass players in one spot."

"I think my feet and marching shoes melted together this morning, and now that whole thing is melting into the astro turf..."

"BANANA PRINT VANS!!!" (Yeah, they exist!)

http://www.vans.com/shop/womens-shoes/bananas-sk8-hi-slim-ballerina-true-white

"Ok, you cannot pack a suitcase just by upending a dresser drawer into it!" (in response to a how-to-pack book)

"Merci pour le chocolate-- WHAT ARE THOSE!?!?!?" (as I see banana-chocolate chip muffins on the countertop)

"No- do not break logic. NOTHING MATTERS BUT MARCHING BAND!!!"

(Typing something and being pestered to type faster)
"I'm a-tryin'! Be patient! We trumpets can't do everything as fast as you!"

Things my parents said:

(Dad) "Those mutes are definitely toilet plungers."
(Me) "No, Dad, they aren't. They're mutes and they were made to be mutes."
(Dad) "Yeah, but they had to have at least been made in a toilet plunger factory."
(Me) "NO, they're made as mutes in a mute factory! Never were they a part of toilet plungers!"
(Dad) *laughs*
(Me) "Dad...kindly don't say that in front of any upperclassmen..."
(Dad) *keeps laughing*

"Will you wipe the dirt off your running shoes please?"

*I'm eating something with my fingers* 
"You won't want to be doing that when you go over to someone's house for dinner- especially if they're a hot brass player!"
*Facedesk* 

"How is it again that you got interested in trumpet? Where'd you get that idea?"
(To be honest I don't know)

"Look at this, I got an Apple watch!" 
(I didn't even have the remotest idea my dad was going to buy one, he just showed up with it one day)

Things teachers said:

"You should be on a yard line or on a yard line or on a yard line or ON A YARD LINE!"

(Me) "I'm getting to the point where it's like, 'More band, more band, more band...'"
(Mr. Hase) "More cowbell."
(Me) "Yep."

*stops the band* "Where're my 3rd trumpets?"
*Has 3rds play their note*
"That was cute. That note needs more. PLAY LOUDER."

*Talking about dating*
(Teacher) "Where would you go, Emma?"
(Me, totally caught unawares) "What? On a date? Uh... I don't know. Marching band?!"
*Everyone laughs*

*Friend is eating applesauce*
(Mr. Hase) "Is that...corn soup? Corn? What..."
"...No! Applesauce!"
"Oh... it just smells kind of like corn in this corner over here."
"Well, the spoon is made of corn..."
"...Oh. Ok."
*Friend and I share a look*

(Mr. Tanner, orchestra teacher) "How do you prevent your flute from being stolen?"
(Us) "BACH!" (Mr. Tanner jokes that the answer to everything is Bach)
"For once, no- you put it in a clarinet case!"

(Mr. Taylor walks onto director's podium and starts a great split F chord)
"Wow...not many people can just walk up and start a great chord! It's like you're my minions! Well...maybe not. Whatever."

Things my friends said:

"I know everything about the alignment of the stars and you're a Gemini by the way." 

"My jacket smells like the barn..."

"I literally forgot everything over the weekend, so I don't know how to do math now."

(About Romeo and Juliet) "The first time I saw this movie I thought it was fabulous..."
(Me) "HOW COULD YOU."

"Emma, do we have a math final on Friday?!?"

"Ok, am I the only person at this table that thought the prequels to Star Wars were amazing?"
(the other 3 of us) "YES YOU ARE."
(Me) "But it's ok, once you've seen Episode 6 all of that opinion will go away."

*In a text conversation in which we were discussing what we were going to do at each other's weddings, whenever those may be* 
"Yeah, we'll be marching up the aisle and we'll be the wedding escort and everything and we'll play the music and WAIT YOU'RE GOING TO MARRY SAM?!?!?!?!?"
(Me) "... I never said that. I just said I was going to marry another trumpet player, which IS NOT limited to our school!"

(Holding up a dollar to donate, talking to the person holding the donation jar) 
"Hey person! Come hereeeeeee!!!"

"I have a stalker boyfriend!!! Yet he doesn't know I exist."

"This pencil makes weird noises!" (Wha...?)

Things other people in band said:

*After having water bottles thrown at him on the band bus* 
"DO YOU WANT TO FEEL MY FULL WRATH?!?!" 
(answer: no, you don't, it was another trumpet!)

*At pep band* "These shorts aren't even dress code but I'm getting twenty dollars for wearing them anyway!" 
*He says it about 40 more times to everyone in the room before FINALLY talking about something else*

*In a tuning circle at marching band* 
(Section leader Sam) "You guys have really bad contagious tuning..."

*Sectional time*
"Ok, we'll start with--"
*Someone starts laughing subtly because above-speaking person's trumpet had leaky spit valves and leaked spit all over his jeans*
"What?" *Starts looking at himself in the Green Room mirror*
(all of us are laughing now)
*Finally realizes his pants are soaked with spit*
"...Oh. Now, I was saying, let's start with 'Space'..."
*Everyone returns to normal*


Things I overheard:

"We were thinking about stealing Donald Trump's hair and selling it..."

(A right-handed person) "Stuff I write with my left hand is actually better than stuff I write normally..."

"Shaggy turtle? Where?!"

What's Up With Society?! (1st Edition)

Like it or not, there are LOTS of things wrong with our American society. Someone- likely my generation- is going to have to deal with the whole mess sooner or later. Over the rest of the year I'll blog about the big problems. But at the moment I feel like talking about a milder problem: guys. 
No, boys themselves are not society's problem, despite their occasional stupid actions. The problem is that the general dating age creeps closer and closer to the younger end of the teenage years. It causes problems. 
One: it takes you away from schoolwork. For example, I could be out on a date right now if I was going out with a boy, but I'm not, and therefore I can write this and study for my math quiz and go to bed on time. This is why I have a 4.0 GPA. You can handle both dating and school at once, but it's not easy and furthermore not recommended by me.
Two: we don't really need to be dating at our age (14 and 15). At this point we hardly understand love yet. You have your whole life in front of you. There isn't a rush. The one reason I could find to break this is if you sort of start dating a good friend and end up in a nice, relaxed relationship that's fairly genuine and lasts more than 3 weeks. That's fine. But since I am not blessed with such a good friend, I'm content with not dating for the moment.

By me.
Note: Don't take these examples seriously, they're just examples. (Meaning, they're not from my real life.)

I'm unsure of why girls my age get to be so obsessed with guys. What's the big deal? To be completely honest, guys get to be completely obnoxious at this age (with only a tiny few exceptions). I wouldn't ever date most of them. And yet the popular girls worry about how they look and everything ALL THE TIME, so everyone around them gets dragged into it. I have to listen to it and be annoyed. That's not cool, and that brings about the whole popularity topic. That problem with dating at this young age is that a lot of the popular guys that the popular girls go after are not cool. They say stupid things or try to impress everyone and end up looking unbelievably stupid or are just all-around nasty. I find that when 2 of these popular people "pair off" it lasts about 3 weeks- that's being generous- and it's only done to impress. Always to impress. It's an enormous popularity contest. Yeah, they may like each other slightly, but the relationship just dissolves. Sometimes it's off looks. The "handsomest" popular guy dates the most "beautiful" popular girl. Yeah, right. I hate makeup and I don't care about reaping the benefits of it. I look fine as I am. This is a life lesson I learned from Romeo and Juliet: do not date someone solely off their looks. Also, people make a big deal out of things like homecoming and prom. Although there are benefits to going and not going: why? It's just a dance. 
Find someone whose personality compliments yours. If you're lucky, though, sometimes that comes with good looks, which is nice. Thank you kindly for that. But back to the point at hand.
WHAT is so wrong with dating someone you actually enjoy being around that maybe isn't as popular as you?! WHAT is so wrong with being single?! WHAT is up with society? WHEN did someone decide it would be a good idea to start dating for popularity?! WHY did someone ever say, "I'm dating this guy and I'm only 14!" 
WHY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
Nice guys are nice guys. They don't have to be popular. They like you and your personality. Everything about you. You like everything about them. YOU LIKE BEING AROUND EACH OTHER. YOUR FRIENDS DIDN'T TELL YOU TO DO IT. IT WAS YOUR CHOICE, AS IT SHOULD BE. YOU DIDN'T RUSH INTO IT. (ALL THESE REASONS ARE WHY ROMEO AND JULIET IS SOOO INFURIATING!!!!! IT MAKES ME ANGRY!!!)

Also by me. Also not an example from my life.

I'm not saying I don't have crushes. I've crushed on a lot of guys since I turned about 11- all types from actors in my old high school's musicals to major motion picture actors (not Leo DiCaprio! What was the big deal with him?!?) to loud guys with electric guitars to other guys in the marching band trumpet line (NO, of course I won't tell you who they are- eh, were!!). Crushes are fine. I have good reason to crush on the guys I do, although I hardly ever get to know them. Maybe that'll change. Maybe. Likely not.
Next complaint: there are lots of male-dominated things! Sports, music, businesses, LOTS of things. One of these is trumpet. In marching band, the only girls in the trumpets were me and my friend Elaine. All the other trumpets were guys. It REALLY bothers me that there aren't more girls in the brass section! We trumpets sit in the back row of the band, and the vast majority of the girls in band are up in the front in the clarinets and flutes. Girls, what's wrong with brass? Too intense?! Nah. It's nice and loud. :) It's okay that there aren't more girls that play brass instruments if they really don't like the sound, but traditionally it seems that the girls were in the high woodwinds and guys played everything else. Actually, even more girls played violin traditionally. I don't like that. Whatever. It just bothers me.

Again by me. But this one's a good example of lots of lives, including mine.

What? You want an explanation for all of this? ... Do you really need one? ...Yeah. I thought so.

Reasons Why Shakespeare Isn't Worth Your Time

Every 9th grader in the U.S. of A. reads Shakespeare. Most commonly Romeo and Juliet, the stupidest love story in the known universe. My parents read it. My grandparents read it. 
And now it's my turn.
I...highly dislike it. Why would anyone like to read Shakespeare, who manages to create the worst tragedies out of otherwise fine things? I have other reasons why Shakespeare isn't worth reading, too:
1. Over-dramatization. Apparently, hidden deep within the Old English, there's humor, but Shakespeare also over-dramatized. Mostly, he killed off characters mercilessly. On the wall of our English room there's a Shakespeare's death count poster. I think the worst is King Lear or Hamlet, with around 14 dead people by the end. In good stories, people (or other organisms) don't die.
2. Old English. Like, gross. You can't even tell what they mean unless you take the effort to go read on No Fear Shakespeare; and sometimes that's forbidden when we read as a class. Even then it's not an easy read. Well, how are we supposed to write an analytical compare-contrast essay if we can't discuss the meaning and comprehend the story in class?
3. Why on EARTH do connoisseurs of fine English call Shakespeare the 'Noble Bard'? Shakespeare is in NO WAY noble! One is not noble if you make people listen to lute music instead of actual, good music like U2. Also, the plots of his plays certainly aren't noble, they're sad or stupid or just plain out, "Why would anyone want to write or read this junk?!?"

TRUTH, drawn by me.

4. People always quote Shakespeare! There's a whole arsenal of other really great quotes out there that were NOT said by Shakespeare, get some out of there instead of reverting to Old [VERY OUTDATED] English. STOP SAYING THINGS SHAKESPEARE SAID BECAUSE HE WAS NOT COOL.
5. Shakespeare made up a way to TERRIBLY insult people with his Old English. Now, we are forced to insult each other in this way at the start of every English class while we read Romeo and Juliet. It's not fun and I think we shouldn't do it because the world could do to just chill out for a while. Even though our insults aren't meaningful, it's stressful. I always think, "Why are we faking insulting each other? Why even do that?" It's not funny. It's not cool. That part of class should seriously be discontinued, because it's just pointless and it's a waste of time.
That kind of turned into a rant, but Shakespeare is literally and truly stupid! Why even bother! If I'm ever an English teacher (which is highly unlikely), I WILL NOT force my students to read Shakespeare. I don't believe he has anything worthwhile to say to us. 
Now, on to the rant on Romeo and Juliet. This is literally the worst love story I know about. First, I get that in those times, girls were... married off... to rich guys when they were even younger than me (14). Still, that's rude and weird and not cool. Then, Romeo seems to be this really emotional, depressed guy who's really lovesick and just rushes between one intense crush and another. NOT GOOD. Chill, Romeo. Chill. You don't always have to be in love with someone (although maybe that's easy for me to say? I've been single my whole teenage life...I don't know). I don't like how quickly Romeo and Juliet fall for each other. And they get married just about the next day after they meet each other. What's with that?!? Weird, that's what, and a large reason Shakespeare isn't a good thing. It's also just not really possible. Yeah, there's love at first sight but even then... get to know someone before you marry them... I think they should have slowed down and done some compatibility checks with their personalities first. Because right after they get married Romeo gets in a fight and is exiled and then Juliet gets sad and drinks the potion-thingy and then Romeo comes back and thinks she's dead and then he kills himself and then Juliet wakes up and Romeo's dead and then she stabs herself and it ends in a big, sad, stupid, why-did-I-waste-my-time-with-that MESS. That's not how the vast majority of love stories end. It's certainly not how they SHOULD or are SUPPOSED to end. 
If I'm wrong, correct me. But still. Even someone like me, who would find things like pep band romantic, wouldn't want a relationship to end like that. 
So basically, Shakespeare is just like, NOPE. I've given you ample reason.
(THIS IS TO YOU TOO, MR. PARKER. SORRY. SHAKESPEARE IS JUST NOT COOL.)

Bandapalooza! (and some random photos of cars)

Last Thursday was the band program's biggest concert of the year: by the end, we had 266 wind players plus the percussionists; around 320 of us total. It was certainly fun and interesting, so I think I should tell you about it. 
Our call time was 4:30 after school, although the actual concert started at 6:30. This was due to the fact that we had to rehearse with every ensemble. This made for pretty much a mock concert. Though it was crowded and there was hardly any room on the stage, and I had to sit right next to the percussion's gong, and by the end of everything we were swamped by tiny little sixth graders, and the hallways were crammed full of cases, everything turned out well. 
We played Esprit de Corps with the Wind Ensemble, but before that they played the Imperial March from the original Star Wars movies (I liked that!). Then we played a bunch of easier stuff with the younger kids. It was fun to have such a large band, which is something you don't get every day.
Well, that whole fun fiasco was last Thursday. It was a white day, so we didn't have band at school that day. That made the next school day a red day, so there was band. 
And there were tryouts for Wind Ensemble. Live ones. During class.
I had only found out that they would be on Friday on that Wednesday. I hadn't really done any homework for the second half of the week because I spent nearly all the time I had at home practicing a few measures of Esprit de Corps to play at the audition on Friday. I even practiced after Bandapalooza on Thursday, which I believe might be part of the reason I am currently sick. More on that later, though.
I woke up on Friday in kind of a oh-yea-I-have-an-audition-today haze. It stuck with me right through the first half of the school day, until I left lunch early to walk to the high school for band. I was nervous and jumpy, as I've only been playing trumpet for about 10 months compared to 3+ years for all my other friends. I'm honestly not sure whether or not I expected to get in or not; while I'm very good for how long I've been playing (excuse me for bragging), I just don't really have all the skills I need. I know this because I spent my whole summer in a section full of real strong trumpets. I'll get there. But anyway, I auditioned despite my doubts. I played pretty well but the start was weak and I didn't articulate anything very well and- actually, I could go on about mistakes all day. But Mr. Taylor was impressed with where I was. That is a good thing. 
So next year I will not be taking Wind Ensemble, but instead playing first or second in Symphonic band rather than the 3rd part I play now. And there's a great new class called Jazz Techniques that's for everyone who's not in JV or Varsity Jazz. Mr. Taylor said that if I take to the style, he'd put me in JV Jazz by the end of next year. So... cool! 
All that ended last week. Over the weekend, I went to my private trumpet lesson, like I do every Saturday, and walked dogs for a local shelter (that's for a school project). 
On Monday, I woke up and felt sick. But I couldn't stay home, really, because after school there was a big placement test for Honors Chemistry next year. So I went to school and half-struggled through the day, then took the test. It actually surprised me that I understood it quite well. I also found it interesting and therefore am looking forward to taking it next year. 
After the test I promptly went home, announced that I had a cold, and flopped onto my bed. That's where I've been for the past 3 days. Now I'm back at school, which is convenient because the weekend starts tomorrow. Oh well. I’m still a bit sick anyway, so it’ll be good to have some more time at home. 

Now to the more important matters- summer!!! It’s only 3 months away plus we have a week-long break in there! That means marching band, some online sophomore classes, and, much to my chagrin, driver’s ed. I don’t really want to learn to drive- or, I do, but not already! Where has my childhood gone?!? The thing is I wouldn’t at all mind driving a Range Rover or Subaru BRZ, but neither of these are in my budget, nor are they very practical, so… no. Also, neither of these are super good in winter weather, which we have an abundance of. Besides, I probably won't drive myself to school until college- or maybe ever. My parents say cars are highly impractical to have in college. I don't understand this yet but I probably will eventually, so I'm good with it.

Dream car 1
http://www.subaru.com/vehicles/brz/index.html

Dream car 2
www.lexani.com

Cars are really- REALLY- unimportant now, though. I don't know why I'm even worrying about it right at the moment, as I have to first sign up for and then complete 2 sophomore credits during the summer, learn to drive, and handle marching band in there too.

I'll survive. The past week was fun, despite this sickness. But that's a small issue and it's ending. So. I'm good.

'Bye. :)