Nearly Time

Why, look at that- we're nearly on tour! Woo! It's 2 1 day until we leave. Or technically, 1 day and some only 20 hours. But anyway. I'm crossing stuff out because I initially started writing this last night, but once last night was over that took us to the less-than-1-day mark. So.
Thursday night was the tour premier in the form of our send-off concert, and now we're free to pack and cram in homework so that it doesn't have to come with us.
But most of us are excited because we don't have to do a week of school! And we're going leaving the cold and wet for the warm/hot!
...and also wet. My hair's going to really poof up in the 100% humidity.
My room is in an interesting state:

Suitcase, bags, trumpet cases on the floor, clothes on the chair, etc etc.
Only 36 LESS THAN 24 hours.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

2 Weeks/Sickness/Blogging Hawaii/Packing Angst

Remember these?

Well, we recently passed the two-week mark (that was Sunday 11/20), and the one-week mark is approaching with extreme expedience. It's a busy week ahead. 
Thanksgiving dinner was great, and thankfully I was feeling well enough to enjoy it. I unfortunately picked up a rather virulent cold from my dad on Monday and have been in bed sleeping ever since (why I didn't post the 2-week mark earlier).
I promise you all that I will try my hardest to live-blog Hawaii, but I will tell you honestly that I don't think I'll have time to do anything more than take snapshots from my phone and then post them all when I get back. Whenever it happens, you'll get the whole story eventually. 
And also I find it amusing that I'm as packed as anyone can be at this point. All I have left is my uniform, which I can't pack until next Friday because we have a performance Thursday night. 
But yea. That's what's going on at the moment.

Why I *Can't* Wait To Do Drum Corps

First reason is made up of two words:
True dedication. It's more than just a high school band: if you don't show up, are late too much, or just aren't up to par, you will be cut and your tour tuition will have been wasted.
Then: you get to do crazy-fun things like jump off ramps or run up and down halfpipes.

And then: choreography. That makes the show interesting and fun for both performers and audience.

ddd000fff.blogspot.com

And also: you meet people who love band just as much as you do (otherwise why would you be paying money to be in a corps?)
Also things like this, that are just wonderfully wacky but fun anyway.

www.pinterest.com

I just realized all my examples are from the Bluecoats. Excuse me while I go join them.

... in a few years.

The Journey...

...that is finding and buying a new trumpet. This was Wednesday.
3:09 p.m. 
I finish the day's homework while my mom teaches a violin lesson after school.

3:59 p.m.
Starting out.

4:16 p.m.
We actually get to the sale; Kyle, the other trumpet from our school, gets there at the same time.
Henceforth:
I take no pictures for a long time because I'm busy trying 7 or 8 different trumpets.

~5:30 p.m.
2nd round of trying stuff out. We've gone from 7 to 3. Now to determine the best one.
~5:50 p.m.
We've narrowed it down to the Yamaha Bergeron silver.
6:03 p.m.
We FaceTime my dad, who's in Las Vegas, and decide to buy the Bergeron silver, as well as my rental student trumpet so that I have a marching horn.
6:30 p.m.
We're walking out of the sale, having purchase the Bergeron silver, when our assistant band director walks around the corner. He sees my new trumpet and says congrats. 
6:35 p.m. 
Heading home.
7:40 p.m. 
Upon arriving home I do an 'uncasing'- that's like an unboxing- and send pics to my dad.

8:00 p.m. 
We eat a late dinner.
8:45 p.m. 
I start practicing, and would have played all night if my mom hadn't told me to stop and go to bed.

What DCI Geeks Do for Halloween

When Halloween rolls around, we can all change who we are for a day, and unfortunately one day only.. honestly I'm going to miss walking around school like this:

Mine.

Yep, I dressed up as someone from the Santa Clara Vanguard today. For those of you that know me, did you honestly expect anything less? For those of you that don't... get used to things like this.

I painted the shirt and made the plume and the star for the hat. It all cost less than $100.
It all made my band director very happy this morning. We were all just sitting there, discussing our last concert, with me casually under my hat, when Mr. Taylor looks around and says, "You are wearing a Santa Clara Vanguard costume. You have no idea how happy that makes me!" I collapsed into a fit of laughter because that was exactly how I imagined the morning going. At the end of class he took a picture to add to the Wonderfulness of Band archives. (Actually I made that up. It's just the band archive. But whatever.)
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for buying the materials; everyone else for noticing (words of Sam: "ten out of ten"); and mostly the Vanguard themselves for always being their awesome selves out there! #SCV @scvanguard 
Thank you all.

Don't you be smiling in uniform! Oh wait... never mind.

It was great. The best Halloween I've had. 

The Band Camp Survival Post

One more time, from the top! One more time, from set 5! 
One more time! 
One more time!
One more time!
'One more time!' say people at band camp. And since pretty much ALL the 'one more time's that you'll hear at band camp are LIES, here's how to get through.
Before camp starts:
If your school's marching season is anything like ours, you'll have done the longest parade of the summer season on July 24th and then had a 3 or 4 week break before band camp in August. This means that you likely won't march for 3 weeks before jumping right back in when camp rolls around. So stay in shape. I did strength training and I ran a few miles a week in those three gap weeks. The weight training really helped me hold up the 2 pound weight that is my trumpet for hours on end.
Also, remind yourself why you're doing this.

oregoncrusaders.org

Why do we go to band camp? CUZ THE VANGUARD. Actually, though, it's because you love the spirit of band and you're volunteering your time and energy to be a good marcher in your show. 
1. Be prepared. For everything. Be ready for sun and extreme heat, rain and cold, and music and marching in general. That means have a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, jacket, and gloves. Also always have your music, just in case and for reference, and stuff like valve oil and slide grease. These are good things to have: if you need them, then you'll have them, and everyone will love you for always having some on hand to lend.
2. Always have your drill charts and dot sheet. The number 2 time waster at our band camp was trying to figure out various sets because people didn't have their drill charts. If everybody has the charts then time won't be wasted borrowing charts. 
3. The number 1 time waster was lack of focus. I know: Band camp is hard and you'd likely rather be elsewhere the whole week, but please do focus. Guaranteed that you'll get nowhere if you let your mind wander during camp. It will also make your directors angry and that isn't fun. Just focus. It's only 3 days.
3b. Pay attention. It isn't fun to be that one person who's trying to fix a drill set and suddenly the band gets called to attention and you're still talking and moving. Don't be that guy. Also pay attention to directions. It also sucks to be that one person who starts on the wrong set and marches a completely different move from the one that everyone else is doing. Don't be that guy either. Focus and pay attention.
4. Do what your director tells you to- and when they tell you to do it. Moving slowly, not listening to directions, or violating the general band camp code of conduct will also make directors angry and leads to drums corps-style discipline, namely running laps and doing pushups.
5. Listen also to your section leader. Be quiet when they're talking. And then, the next time you do whatever they were talking about, improve. Make it better. 
6. You can always be better. Instead of focusing on how tired you are and what drudgery band camp is, choose something to work on on every set, every time you go through the show. Your good technique and focus will spread to your fellow band members and make the show better.
7. Lastly... always put your best foot forward (that would be your LEFT foot... lol marching jokes). The show won't be perfect the first time, but trying to get better leads to improvement. 
Good luck on your field shows. You'll survive.

*Quick Update*

I am very stressed à la moment. I have a lot to do in a short amount of time, and of course marching band and finals start next week. 
In English today we finished all of the blog assignments that will happen for the rest of eternity, and migrated our blogs to different email accounts so they wouldn't vanish after we finish high school.
So as you probably guessed, there won't be posts on here over the summer. Marching band + online classes + music camp + general craziness = no blog time.
Instead, I'll be back in August. I'll post the new marching band pictures, update you, etc. And to keep myself motivated, I decided to do this:

From this cool place

Now, there are waaaaay to many versions of this challenge out there- just Google it- but of course that means you can do a 30-day blog challenge over and over again, and it'll be a bit different every time. 
Yep. If I manage to take any selfies or anything next week @ marching band I might post those but other than that you can expect me back in mid-August. 
Bye for now, fellow band geeks, and may your marching season be prosperous. Work hard.
--Emay (Emma)

How To Deal When Your Friends Start Dating

In most everyone's life, there is or will be a time when your friend(s) is/are dating someone, and you're still single. 
It isn't fun. It won't feel good. You will be the third wheel. Which isn't cool.
I experienced this for the first time recently. It also, unfortunately, happened to complete a not-so-great day, so I went home and ranted to my parents about having friends dating when I'm single. Once I was done ranting, though, it came to me that by no means am I the only person going through this at the moment. So this is for all of you in the same situation as moi right now. Je ne suis pas contente. 

Me after the assembly today. My art.

So! You know your friend's dating someone, and it's been bothering you. Something has just happened that makes you madder than ever. It will probably reach a point where you just want to scream and yell at the sky, then fall to your knees and break down into sobs. This was how I felt this afternoon as I walked from the high school back to the junior high after an assembly. I was by myself. Maybe I should explain the rest of the day first...
So I wake up late (first irritating thing) and there's SNOW on the ground. It's nearly May, it most certainly shouldn't be snowing (second irritating thing). Then I have to go to French first period, which is the most disorganized, boring, and face-desk worthy class I've taken (third irritating thing). Then I have to sit next to the loudest, most obnoxious group of popular kids in Ceramics (fourth irritating thing), while I try to glaze the miniature milk jug I made on the potter's wheel last week. Somewhere in there I figure out that we're on an assembly schedule, and that we have to listen to a bunch of campaign speeches by people running for student council (fifth irritating thing). After lunch, we get to band and there's a substitute. Of course, then we have sectional time and get nothing done. We started the class with 10 trumpets and by the end there are only 4 of us still practicing (sixth irritating thing). Then, after the last class of the day, we head over to the high school again for the student council assembly. It turns out to be an hour and 15 minutes long, and all the information we freshmen needed was in the last 15 minutes (seventh irritating thing). By this time, as you may have guessed, I was pretty pissed off with how the day had been overall. Well, I reach the boiling point when my friend Ceci and her boyfriend and I get to the auditorium lobby (we all sat together at the assembly). I wanted to walk back to the junior high with Ceci, but she and Boyfriend were taking forever to say goodbye, and weren't planning on walking back to the junior high in the first place. 
That was the last straw. I said goodbye and just left by myself. 
The fact that they were dating had been bothering me for a while, but I hadn't realized how angry I was getting at it until now. So here's where my advice comes in, starting at the point equivalent to when I said goodbye and just left.
What you might be feeling:

• Angry. You might feel frustrated, irritated, or plain-out angry at your friend or the boy for spending all their time together, being general lovebirds, or talking to/about each other all the time. 
• Jealous. It's likely you'll have been jealous of your friend from the start of the relationship, especially if you've got a crush who won't look at you or that you've had for a long time. 
• Let down. If you would never have guessed your friend would date in high school, it can be quite a blow to your friendship. You probably thought your friend was better than that.
• Sad. This is another one that's likely if you aren't dating; you'll feel like your life is hopeless or like you'll never be loved at all/as much as your friend.
• Mutinous. This comes after you've felt angry, jealous, sad, and let down. You'll start scheming about ways to break up your friend and their S.O. Or you'll consider ending the friendship. 

What you want to do about all those feels:

• Sort them out. Be honest with yourself about how you feel, and try to identify why you feel that way. Why is the relationship bothering you? 
• Sort out your options. What can you do to keep the relationship from bothering you? Try not to go with the options that include things like breaking the couple up or hurting the relationship between you and your friend. Preserve the friendship if you can.
• Decide on an option. If you have to, talk with your friend about how you're feeling. If they're any kind of good friend, they'll understand how you feel. But it's your responsibility to be kind and respectful. Don't bombard your friend with reasons they should break up. Also don't villainize the boyfriend. Chances are, he's a perfectly nice guy, but you just don't really know/like him that much. 
• Take a break. Do something that makes you happy. Get your mind off of the love lives of both yourself and your friend. Then come back to the problem when you're not really angry or emotional. Chilling out for a while and then looking at things realistically will help solve the problem.
• Talk with some of your other friends. They'll listen, and hopefully don't have the same problems as the friend you're not too happy with.

What you DON'T want to do:

• Ghost your friend. She'll wonder what she did wrong, which is nothing. Keep in contact, but explain the problem. Be nice.
• Get super angry at the boyfriend. You can't get angry at him for liking your friend. Keep those feelings to yourself. 
• Spread the problem around. Don't gossip about what's happening between you and the friend. It's not nice to do that.
• Dwell on the problem for too long. It'll need fixing if you want things to go back to how they were before this whole problem came up.

So once you've sorted out your feelings, maybe taken a break for a while, and worked out the problem, things will either return to how they were before, or they'll change. Hopefully you'll have worked out a compromise with your friend so that you can both coexist with the little nuances of each other's lives. Good luck to you, and I'll give more advice as it comes!

Am Procrastinator

... like many of my fellow teenagers. On Tuesday I came home, looked at my to-do list, and wasted two hours doing not-homework. Mostly I'm a procrastinator about homework, which I get done eventually. I'll want to practice music but not do homework, so I try to do homework first and might get some busy work done, and then it's either dinner or time to practice, and then after dinner I'll get some more stuff done. That's at least how it usually goes.
But yesterday I felt like doing nothing that was assigned. I studied for my two tests I had today, but other than that I decided not to get a head start on any actual WORK for the week. I practiced nearly right after getting home, and read a book for English, and otherwise browsed through my files because I was bored. I was basically like:

From here

And then I went out to our music room to practice instead. 
Here's the rough process:

By me

The funny thing is, it isn't always like this. There are days where I get lots of stuff done. Take yesterday, for example. Yesterday I came home, walked up and down the hill up to our driveway three times, came in, did my math homework, cooked dinner because my mom told me to, practiced, and got to bed at 9:00, my goal time. I haven't had an efficient day like that in a while, but it was nice, so I'm trying to do it more consistently. 
Other than me trying to be proactive, there are only 25 days of school left! Mind you, I've got to pass finals and an AP test in those 25 days, but before those 25 days are past, marching band starts! At this point I think it's only about 3 weeks until it starts, so now I actually have some motivation. But look at the weather for the next week!

From Le Weather Channel 

This is alarming. It'll be May on Sunday, and if this carries on much longer we'll be wearing jeans and marching in the rain. This- please believe me- is miserable. It also spoils our plumes and makes them look like wet chickens (mind you, I haven't seen that happen, but Mr. Hughes claims it's true). Although, I have a suspicion that before the season starts, however, it will be warm and sunny again. Funny how quickly the weather can change from end-of-winter to super-dry summer. I suppose we shall see what we shall see.
In other news, my dad announced to me that he may like to buy the new iPhone when it comes out in November, so I'm trying to write up a case file to convince my mother to let me have the old iPhone. I asked for one before and been turned down; my dad claims that she doesn't want to just give me an iPhone. I took that to mean that I would have to earn money for it. And let's be honest: I'll probably procrastinate on that, too, and remember the day my dad goes to the store to get the new phone. Oh WELL. :)

The World Has Problems

But really, what's new. We all know the world has problems. Or, we certainly all SHOULD. For example, you know the world has problems when:

• People like Trump start running for President. What has our country come to?! RUBBISH, that's what! We've gotta save it, guys. Really.

I literally cannot believe this guy. Get real, Trump.
presidential-candidates.insidegov.com

• You have a ski season that lasts from late November to late February. Global warming is evil, and for more reasons than this. Plus people don't notice and/or care, so it keeps getting worse.

Ski runs in a warm April.
sputnik.by

• Your biggest problem right now is figuring out how to get that one special guy to like you, and meanwhile in Africa people can hardly get enough food. Or they're fighting civil wars. 

Consider your global community.
e-sushi.fr

• You start seeing an enormous Costco warehouse-store every 4 streets in cities.

EW. And that's all I gotta say 'bout that.
www.bizjournals.com

• People have the nerve to save Twinkies from disappearing.

What are you saying?! NOT a sweet comeback in the least! They're gross!
abcnews.go.com

• Once the Twinkies are saved, people also have the nerve to make them with edible Minion stickers for you to stick on the Twinkie and transform it into a Minion. WHAT AN ATROCITY.

Are you serious? What. Is. This.
www.businesswire.com

• Someone decides to make a motion picture version of Romeo and Juliet that's set in modern-day Las Vegas, but still uses Elizabethan language. What's happening to the world? How on Earth did they come up with that pairing- obnoxious Las Vegas and 'civilized' Old English? WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING. It really deserves the 3/10 it got in this review... maybe lower...

No. Just NO. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE. This play didn't have much to lose in the first place, but STILL.
http://community.sparknotes.com/2016/03/31/quiz-how-would-you-die-in-a-shakespeare-play

All in all, these and many other reasons will eventually bring about the apocalypse, but my friends and I will survive because we can play music. Or at least, I hope we do. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I suppose.
I suppose I should give you an explanation for all of these things, since this is my opinion we're talking about. 
For that first one, about Trump, we all know he's an idiot. The problem is that he's winning the uneducated people's vote, and we can't have the uneducated population representing our entire country. Also Trump is racist, rude, too rich for his own good, etc etc. If I really tried I could come up with another billion reasons he shouldn't be president. For now those three will do.
On to the second one: global warming is not only destroying the length of our ski seasons, it's ruining the environment. Everything from precipitation levels to ocean current patterns gets disturbed. It also disrupts nature and the environments that animals have depended on for millennia. This is actually very likely to cause the apocalypse; humans run out of water, raw materials, kill off all the world's animals, that sort of thing. That's why we've got to stop being wasteful NOW. This is important.
As far as the global community goes, we all know it's important to donate to charities and such (well, maybe Trump doesn't), so stop focusing so much on your own life and get out there to help. It'll make you a better person in the end, and it'll take your mind off of whatever's going on in your own life.
To many of you, I'm sure Costco is a beloved repository full of nearly anything and everything you could ever need. That's all very well- but the problem comes in when big companies like Costco start trying to take over the entire market and don't let people have a choice of where they shop. This is a hard concept to understand, but it's linked to consumerism and corruption of government. Sometime in my blogging career, I'll talk about this. 
Twinkies are gross by nature. I have a feeling they got their roots in sponge cake, but I have a recipe for that and it's nothing like what's in Twinkies. Honestly, regular sponge cake- minus the nasty white "cream" that they fill those with- is fine. Why do you have to make it all artificial and disgusting?
Minions are stupid. Twinkies are gross. Need I say more?
And as for that 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet, do you really need more of an explanation? I certainly don't, I just want to throw the DVD out the window already.
So those are some things that I rant seriously about. They're all problematic and make me lose faith in humanity. I might continue this post in the future, so watch for another edition coming soon!
Thanks, by the way, for listening to my opinions without too many interruptions. Leave those in the comments. ;)

Aftermath of a Band Trip

Yay music.

I just barely came out of it. The aftermath, that is. The band trip itself was last Wednesday. I was extremely grateful that it wasn't quarterfinals week. But you're probably wondering what this band trip was about? Well, that's real important, that part is. It was region concert band!!!
To translate, region concert band means all the high school bands in the region (there are boundaries, I'm not sure where ours fall) come to a single school and play 3 pieces of music for a panel of 3 judges. Scores rank from 1 to 5, with 1's being the best and 5's being... well, I don't want to talk (or think) about that. But to qualify for state concert band, which is over a weekend in May, you have to get at least two straight 1's and the rest 1 minuses (or more ones). We weren't sure what our competition would be like, but we prepared zealously in the weeks beforehand. We had a well-recieved prep concert the week before April break, so confidence levels were running high. To add to that, Mr. Taylor confided in us that he thought we had an actual chance at beating the Wind Ensemble. Amazing! So of course we all expected great things- from ourselves and each other. 
Wednesday wasn't a particularly important day at school itself, aside from normal classes. It was boringly cloudy with random sunbreaks. It was a red day, so that meant that we did have band class the day of the competition- er, festival. Whatever. So I went to French, Ceramics, Band, and Geography. French was very normally boring, Ceramics relaxing (I was working on the potter's wheel), Band high-intensity, and Geography mildly stressful (it's an AP class). All through the morning and afternoon, I had my mind on my first traveling band trip. Yes, this was my first time spending a significant amount of time on the infamous band bus *dun dun duuuuun*. I have nothing much to say about the bus ride except that it was quite fun; but what happens on the band bus really does stay on the band bus. Believe me, this is for good reason. If you knew what happened on there, you'd be inclined to think that we band geeks are even weirder than you do now. So I won't say a word about it here.
When we got to the school we were playing at, we had spent about an hour and a half on the band bus and had about 2 hours until we were supposed to go on stage. So we went in to the auditorium and sat and watched 2 bands, I think. They were good; I was surprised at how much their numbers varied by section from ours. I suppose it really varies by school/region/whatever. 
The odd thing about this trip is that there was a track meet at the same school at the same time, so people kept running in and out to make it to their events (and some of them ended up coming on stage in their track uniforms and running shoes...). I didn't envy them; it was raining and at one point became a thunderstorm.
After watching the other bands for about 45 minutes, Mr. Taylor, our director, came and got us and said it was time to go get warmed up. So off we went, leaving the Wind Ensemble to watch, we went to get our instruments and filed into the choir room, which was our warm-up spot. We tuned, went through little bits of our music, and kept our instruments warm. Our entire time in there was about half an hour. We went on stage at approximately 5:35, like we were scheduled to. Our overall performance was quite good, with some little times where we slipped out of tune for a second but recovered well. We played March Juno, Lest We Forget, and Into the Storm. I don't remember any of the composers, but they were all fun to play. I'm not honestly sure whether or not we all expected to get to state or not after we played. I think subconsciously we all realized that though it was very good, it may not have been quite enough. So we played our music and then came off stage and put our stuff away, then went back to the auditorium to watch the Wind Ensemble. They were good as always, and of course because of that, we expected them, if not both of us, to get to state. They played an excellent march entitled The Mad Major, something by the famous American composer Copeland, and some sort of "Divertimento" by some composer I don't remember, that was, as said by one of the judges, "a nice diversion from the rest of your band's music, and from the festival in general". I can't tell if it was a good or bad thing, but I enjoyed listening. While we were waiting for them to get set up, for some reason I had an intense straight-face contest with  Danielle and Whitney. I conquered them both. After the Wind Ensemble was done, we all packed up and high tailed it back to our buses, leaving the track and field people in the rain to run the rest of their races. It was still raining on and off, but it was a fairly warm rain so none of us band kids cared much.
After this, it was about 7:00, and we had a long drive ahead of us. Despite that, we had been promised a stop for food. What none of us had counted on was stopping at a gas station. But that's where we stopped and so everyone got out, ran in and swamped the gas station's little store-thingy, buying loads of junk food. It was something of a frenzy that I watched (I refused to buy anything and had brought my own dinner) as my band-mates tore around the little store in an adrenaline-fueled search for sugar. My friends grabbed handfuls of candy and crackers and ice cream and junk while I tagged along and complained about being dragged out of the bus. Eventually they checked out and Ceci picked up the burger she ordered. We ran back to the bus through the misty drizzle, got on, running past Mr. Taylor (who was looking like he had watched this happen many times before) and returning to our original seats. Once there, Emily and Ceci immediately started on their vast quantities of gas station food. I started on my dinner from home. Group by group, people got back on the bus with their food, and started eating. In the first few minutes of waiting to leave, we were all tired and just stuffing our faces with food. As we later learned, we were sitting there for about 15 minutes, just waiting, because some people hadn't followed directions and had crossed the street to McDonald's. So we waited and ate while Chris the tenor sax counted us a bunch of times to make sure we were all accounted for (*Walks past for the first time* "How many times you gonna count now, Chris?" *As he walks past for about the third time* "Wait...how many times have you done it?!" *As he walks by again* "OK, WE'RE ALL HERE, STOP COUNTING!!"). Eventually we left, and by that time the sugar had gone to our heads. Yes. We were all very hyper. It was extremely entertaining and fun. It made the whole bus ride feel like it was really short, and it was punctuated with light from a glowing rock that Ceci brought along. 
The next thing I knew we were pulling up to the our own dear high school, ready to go home and get a few hours of sleep before school the next day. We cleaned out the busses, grabbed all our stuff we had left in the dressing rooms, said goodnight, and high-tailed it out of there, now all sugar-crashed from all that junk food. 
And so ended the great adventure that was region concert band, and my first traveling band trip.
I only feel bad for my friend Elaine, who got up at 4:00 a.m. the next morning so she could sit and listen to the zero-hour Varsity jazz practice. 
We've all recovered now though, so it's all good. :)

3 Malls, 1 Day

Mallscape- by me

Lots of shopping took place during the break. I ordered a new suitcase for the Hawaii trip, which is expected to arrive on Monday or so. Then, Wednesday was the shopping day we take every week-long break from school. It was mainly to stock up on new summer clothes for marching band, although I did drag my parents through the Lego store as well. Every time we visit that particular mall, I make sure we spend at least 10 minutes in there. It's traditional. 
Anyway, you're probably wondering why I titled this '3 Malls, 1 Day'. I called it that because it's true. The items on my list were t-shirts and shorts, sunglasses, and shoes. All of this is spread between JC Penney, Dillard's and Charming Charlie (where I like to get my sunglasses). In the nearest large city, there are 3 major malls; one has JC Penney while the other 2 don't, one has Dillard's and Vans, and the last one has Charming Charlie. So what could we do but visit all three? 
My dad had work, so he took off around 8 in the morning. My mom and I enjoyed a more leisurely breakfast (you got to stock up on energy before you shop), then left for JC Penney. They did indeed have their summer juniors collection in, although I couldn't find a certain style of shorts that I wanted! They're the right length (not too short or long) but they weren't there, so I settled for a pair of Bermuda-style shorts instead. I got t-shirts, too, like I had wanted. That was all we needed at that particular mall, so we went to Charming Charlie next, where they sell everything you could want in jewelry and such. Most of it's real gaudy and silly and impractical, but it's fun to look at and I do like their sunglasses. My old pair of leopard-print aviators from them survived an entire marching season, so that's saying something. I got a new pair of aviators- white this time- and then was dragged into Sur La Table by my mom to look at kitchen stuff. This didn't bother me really, but I was distracted by the distracting thing that is Vans, waiting for me at yet another mall. I was patient.
Après (after) our visit to the kitchen store, we embarked on our journey to the 3rd and final mall of the day, which housed many things that were of use: Vans, Dillard's, Apple, Cheesecake Factory, Lego, etc. This was where my dad was meeting us at 3 o'clock so we could all look at Vans, because that's fun. But first my mom and I went up to Dillard's to see if we could seek redemption in the form of shorts. With luck, we found a pair (NOT for $98) and got out of that department store just in time to meet my dad, who was waiting for us outside the Container Store. We all went around the corner to Vans and perused their rows of shoe shelves; we had fun picking out the wackiest pair (the chicken-and-waffles print ones won). But there was also the important business of looking for the pair I wanted! Yes, they were there. AND THEY WERE ON SALE!!! What luck! We did get them, but much to my chagrin they're a birthday present so I can't wear them- or see them again- until June. Oh well. I can wait (there's only 8 weeks of school left, by the way). After Vans, we went to the Lego store where they finally had the new Star Wars sets in stock, which I also want for my birthday. Then, since my dad also wanted shoes but didn't fit into Vans, we drove to DSW to look at running shoes for him. I kept trying to get him to buy a pair of Converse low-tops, but he wasn't into those, really. Instead he ordered a pair of Nikes while we were waiting for our food back at The Cheesecake Factory. After eating our dinner there and going to get ice cream for desert, we drove back home. And such ended our day in which I visited- and bought stuff from- three different malls. It was quite an interesting experience. 

It's Spring!

Hello again! As it's a blog day in English, I'm posting for the second time this week. And since yesterday was the last day until our week-long spring break, I thought I'd do a winter-to-spring transition post! 
First: it looks and feels like spring! For the first time in 3 snowy/rainy days, the sun is shining and it's fairly warm! This makes for an epic break- good weather is always a plus. I imagine that with all of this wonderful sunniness, people will be getting out their campers and boats that have been put away for the past cold months. Plus, tonight, I might be able to finally see the stars. Since my bed is right next to the window, I can open the curtains at night and look at the stars. It's cool. (Yes, they're out. I can see them right now.)

My room right now. By me.

Speaking of my room, I'm going to start designing my next room arrangement over the break! I redo it every summer and this time I'm going to try and unify the theme a bit more. This is a good way to change stuff up after winter- try rearranging your room to make it less cozy and more open. This'll feel better when the temperatures soar in the summer. I also need to clean my room out. I have this problem where I clean the stuff I use all the time, but not all the stuff I've archived. It piles up more and more until it takes up a bunch of room and then I can't put any new stuff in my room. This is problematic, but it's something I can solve.
I'm also updating my wardrobe to point more towards summer! This, of course, includes Vans in hibiscus print and more bright-colored things. White is nice, but marching band doesn't tolerate it, so I'm aiming more towards pink, orange, lime green, light-wash denim, etc. 

http://www.vans.com/shop/womens-shoes-classics/hawaiian-floral-sk8-hi-slim-black
Awesome shoes... though not for marching.

The other day (Monday, when I was home sick) I was putting some stuff away in my closet and I pulled out some old bracelets I made that I had forgotten about! These have an obvious summer vibe, so I put them on top of one of my bookcases where they're easily accessible. The moment it's warm enough to wear elbow-length sleeves, I'll be wearing them every day. And making more of them. I have a kit to do this.

And then it's going to be my birthday!! It's on a Wednesday this year in June, so everyone in marching band will know. Like I care, really. It'll be fun, I want Legos and a new suitcase for Hawaii. Fun stuff. 

I also need to stock up on music- especially U2 and Coldplay. We have most of the albums from both bands that I really need, but I'm giving my dad iTunes gift cards for his birthday to make sure we can get the others in time (Viva la Vida!). Good stuff, music. Something I obviously can't live without long-term.Good luck transitioning into spring/summer and surviving the rest of school! Yeah, forget it, winter- I'm moving on to SPRING.
--Emma

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. :)

After the Break Time

Today is the last official day of February break, however, since it's Friday we're being led right into a weekend and so I have 2 more school-free days.
The break itself has been good. It went way too fast for me. Last Friday was the band fundraiser. The total number of $$$ we earned hasn't been released yet, but I'm sure it was a good amount. Unfortunately I was stupid enough to NOT sign up to be there the night of, so I looked through the photos my dad took the night after. I wish I had been there! It looked great. We had this thing called the "Giving Tree", which was actually a white Christmas tree with a marching hat on top. Guests would choose a paper tag off the tree and buy/donate whatever it said on the tag to and/or for the band. I didn't see it in person but it looked great. From now on, I think I will always have a white Christmas tree with a marching hat on top at Christmas time.

the "Giving Tree"
(as seen by me)

Saturday and Sunday were normal. Nothing much to say there. I don't find much value in that thing they call 'Valentine's Day' other than giving and eating chocolate and giving valentines to close family members. But that's just me.
My dad had Monday off from work, so we all went shopping together. We went to the mall but didn't buy anything except stuff from The Container Store for our kitchen. I tried on a bunch of clothes but I elected not to buy them. I did end up buying that quality book I mentioned in my previous post- and I also got a coloring book (the complex, detailed kind). These two things have kept me occupied for the past few days. Also that day we went to a shoe store and I decided that my next pair of shoes will be a pair of Vans high-tops, either in entirely white or black Hawaiian print. Or something like that.
Tuesday I stayed at home. I practiced trumpet and wished for more snow, as it was all melting.
Wednesday I had to go to the dentist. I helped my mom with grocery shopping and we went clothes shopping again- this time at a different mall, and I came home with several new outfits. This time, though, my dad was at work so I couldn't drag him off to the Vans store to look at their shoes. I want to get him a pair with hibiscus flowers on 'em. But he says that people won't take him seriously then. I don't understand that, but ok.
Thursday (yesterday) was another stay-at-home day, and it's good we did because we had kind of a mini-blizzard (not the Dairy Queen kind) thing most of the day. And the power was out. I couldn't cook anything for lunch because the stove wouldn't work, obviously. It came on just in time for us to cook dinner, though. 
Today my mom and I went over to my grandparent's house for lunch. My mom and grandma and I played a three-hour game of Earthopoly, a form of that old classic game Monopoly, and it couldn't really end since all the properties were evenly distributed between the three of us. Now I am home and my dad is editing the photos from the band fundraiser and my mom is playing her violin. Bedtime soon. Goodnight!

Break Time FINALLY

Today is/was the last day of school for a week. Next week there's no school and then we go straight through March with no breaks. 
So this is time to recharge. 
Tonight is the big band fundraiser complete with big band music from Varsity Jazz. Stupidly, I signed up to do set up yesterday instead of something today. Next year, I'll do set up again, but I won't be stupid enough to pass up a chance to be there the night of. It's also kind of weird that I helped out yesterday instead of today because both of my parents will be there helping tonight. Oh well. 3 more years to do it. 
Now, on to what I will be doing over break. 
Over the break I am staying here at home unlike a lot of my acquaintances at school. People are going to Hawaii and New York and Sun Valley, for family vacations and ski races and the like. While here at home, I have some organizing to do in terms of my house (I’ve let stuff build up over the past few weeks), a minuscule and insignificant amount of homework, and I know we're going shopping and stuff one day this week. On Wednesday I have to go to the dentist. Other than that, I'm hoping to watch Star Wars or some other movie and continue reading the would-you-rather series from SparkLife. This week's was very perplexing and related to Valentine's Day. See it here. I ended up not deciding what thing I would go with in the end.  

I decided just a minute ago when I paused to think that I would write about why Ireland is a great thing and why I want to go there. First, it’s naturally green! All the green is real pretty especially during the few times when it’s sunny. Then there’s Dublin, the capital, where everything that you could want in a city convenes. And then, of course, there’s all the people! You know there are more famous bands and actors and stuff from Dublin than you might expect? Examples U2 (old but good) and Domhnall Gleeson (most people know who he is, right?). 

Ever since I posted my “Assigned Thing” post I’ve kind of wanted to write to the other actors from Star Wars. Kind of…

Dear Domhnall Gleeson:

…

Who are you?

…

…

I don’t know since I’m not the type to stalk celebrities and also my phone doesn’t have Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/etc. 

…

I like Star Wars. (That’s the only one of the movies you were in that I’ve seen)

…

What’s Ireland like?

…

Um, what else… (Meanwhile in my brain: disrupted binary brain code: 00110a;lsk011dj?*ERROR*wha?t to say… a;lks00111010100dfj?huh what’s happening 01110101010s;l?;aks0101000101ejawkn/;? GET ORGANIZED! 00101111010010end it now10111010001010111010 < organized binary brain code)

…

Yeah.

(end of letter thing)

…but not really. *Sigh* I fail at writing letters and I especially lose my mind around celebrities.

I want to go to Ireland for the abundance of green, Dublin, and the Irish dance (which I used to do competitively).

And while I’m there, I do not wish to run into any famous people if I can avoid it, thanks! 

(For any of you that actually took the time to read the Would-You-Rather above, I REALLY don't want to EVER FIND MYSELF STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR WITH ANY ACTOR OR ACTRESS ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM STAR WARS. I WOULD PROBABLY JUST FLOP TO THE FLOOR AND NOT BE ABLE TO SAY A WORD. FOR THAT REASON I'M NOT RIDING ELEVATORS pretty much ever again. JUST IN CASE. [yeah, just me being paranoid] But I don't want a list of everyone who's ever liked me, either...)

Moving on. 

On Monday, my friend Syscilia shows up next to my locker after lunch and has a huge smile on her face. I ask her what she’s so happy about. She tells me to ask our friend Emily. So I finish packing my bag and then go to find Emily. She’s at her locker. I ask her what Syscilia is so happy about. 

It turns out that she’s dating this Mongolian kid that goes to our school. I don’t have a problem with this except that she keeps bothering me to tell her who I like (which is no one). I have explained to many different people and parties of people over the years since about 5th grade that I don’t yet have a love life, but all of them seem to say that’s not possible. It’s not true that I haven’t ever liked someone, but, especially now, I just don’t give it hardly any thought. That’s why I say I don’t have a love life. For all of you who have been pestering me about it, there’s your answer. Pester no longer.

Excuse me a minute, Seabiscuit demands some hay and an apple.

This is what I spend my time on...
(my pic)

Seabiscuit was made in 2003 by Breyer to accompany the release of the film Seabiscuit, which in turn was the movie adaptation of Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. Maybe I will watch that or Secretariat in the next week.

Most everyone in the band program is currently at the Sweetheart Gala helping with something or else playing big band and jazz music. I wish I was there too. Next year. 

Also during the book I'm going to buy a quality book from Barnes and Noble. Maybe a fancy coloring book too.

And now I need to go to bed. Bye. Goodnight.