Snow Day!

Remember when you were little and it snowed a lot and they cancelled school? We used to get up super early and watch the news, praying that we wouldn't be able to get to class. Then, when it was cancelled, we stayed inside sipping hot cocoa, then played in the yard, digging out snow caves, building snowmen, then going inside to watch movies and play games.

Best days ever.

So, it turns out that nothing much has changed for me. I got up this morning, sorely disappointed that school wasn't cancelled. I went to quartet rehearsal and then suddenly, we got the call. Campus closed at 2:00! I promptly went home, put on pajamas, turned on my lovely fireplace, watched Gilmore Girls and ate all sorts of junk food. It was delightful. I'm such a fan of snow days.

I Try So Hard...

...to stay on the straight and narrow. Tonight= utter failure. It all started when we set up a small house concert for some friends of our teachers. When we showed up at 5:30, my 2nd violinist and I immediately groaned... drat! A cat. We are both super allergic, and so our 1st violinist gave us both an Allegra, which he takes for his allergies. About 20 minutes later, my heart started racing and things got blurry. Then I started giggling uncontrollably. Then I started crying, then giggling again. My quartet-mates began to be concerned when I stopped being able to stand up straight without swaying, and my eyes got really bloodshot. And then we played a concert. For total strangers. And my teacher who I hadn't seen in a month. Who were sitting three feet away. Wow. Then we mingled and I had to answer questions that were barely making sense to me. I really hope I didn't say anything too weird, but I have no idea. As we were deciding whether or not I was safe to drive home, I sobered up a bit and just got really tired. Don't worry, this blog post is proof I made it home. However, everyone in my quartet, as well as my viola teacher and academic advisor, have decided it's rather hilarious that I played a concert high as a kite tonight, so I don't think this will die down anytime soon. Well, at least I stayed away from the champagne!

Inspiration Hits

From now on, I'm doing things the John Cage way. Who is John Cage, you ask? Well, he was a 20th C composer who is famous for such works as 4' 33", where the performer comes out, sits down, and proceeds to sit in silence for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. Cage also pioneered the experimental composition techniques of flipping coins and drawing things out of hats to see what happens next in the piece. One of his pieces is a continual organ piece written for a small church in Germany. The piece is to last for 100 years, and it consists of someone coming in and pressing a key on the organ every few days. The organ keeps playing that until the next switch.

So basically, John Cage is the Andy Warhol of music, and I am not a fan. At all, really. I have, however, recently decided he was on to something. There are just too many decisions to make each day, and my brain is tired. Thus, I hereby relinquish any responsibility my brain has to make said decisions. From here on out, it's John Cage, baby. Really, I think this could work. For instance, I wake up in the morning: what do I eat? Answer: Open the cupboard, close my eyes, and eat whatever my hands touch first. Another-- where do I go on vacation? Answer: Write "left," "right," and "straight" on 3 pieces of paper. Draw at each intersection and go wherever the fates take you. I've already tested this method several times, mostly with good results. Also, I'm thinking the 4' 33" principle could be applied to many situations: bad dates, boring classes, lessons where I want to appear intimidating.

Yep, it's going to be a whole new world.

Lately

1. My gmail theme is ninjas. They are awesome.
2. Today I saw a man dressed as a chicken, skateboarding across the street while wildly waving a sign saying "Halloween Megastore."
3. The movie "Babe" came up in two completely different conversations with two completely different sets of people in one day the other day.

20 Years of Musical Training

Today I spent three hours playing random noises into a microphone while a computer guy manipulated my viola's random sounds on his laptop to sound like other random sounds. I'm so glad I'm doing something good with my life.

Riting Skillz

So, a few years ago, at the instigation of my good friend Lady L, (you know who you are!) I began writing a musical called "How to be a Villain," based off Neil Zawaki's book of the same name. In it, each character parodies a well-known character from existing musicals, and they sing and dance about to song. Because that's what they do in musicals. (10 points if you can tell me the reference for the last two sentences!) Anyway, my parodies have gained in popularity, as in, now a whole 10 people know and like them, and they've found a proponent in the form of J.A. This summer I received an email from a middle school music teacher, friend to said J.A., asking if she could use my words in her upcoming school concert... in Colorado! Crazy. We struck a deal, and she's going to have her kids sing them sometime this year. I'm even getting paid a little bit for it! That's awesome, because I couldn't actually publish anything without getting sued, probably. So I guess the moral of this particular story is that obnoxious round objects get the attention.

Back By Popular Demand...

Remember many months ago when I had a series running through the blog of "How to's"? Well, in light of recent events I feel compelled to bring back this series, starting with...

How to craft a disscompliment:

What is a disscompliment, you say? It is the ever-useful, very special art of forming your words in just such a way as to make someone feel complimented and completely eviscerated at the same time. You all have met, I am sure, some staunch supporters of this type of wordcraft. They can be found in every classroom, workplace, and grocery store. Real connosseurs of this type of wordsmithing can carry on the process undetected until later, when the receivers have a strange mix of conflicting emotions to carry through the day.

So here are some prime examples of this subtle syntax:

1. "Wow, you are much better than I thought you were! I wasn't sure how you played when I heard you before, but I'm so pleased! You are so much better than I thought!"
2. "You look so put together today! What is the special occasion?"
3. "You know what I like about you? How comfortable you are with just being yourself. You really don't care what others think, do you? It's great to see someone who can just be weird without caring."

etc.
Any questions? It's now your turn...