Things are looking up!

It might be the effect of the chocolate I have been eating all day, but I am soo happy right now!

We'll see how things look tonight when I have to do all my homework...hehe.

I love this life I have been given!

All I really want to do right now is listen to my new Irish cds and dance around like a crazy woman. They're so goood!!

We support each other here in the FSU flute studio.

Okay. Man. Okay. Like, woah. Really. Woah.

This weekend was one big adventure!! I'll give you the shortened version.

It began on the way to Disney when Jacqui's tire decided to have a nail in it. We sat around for a half hour to get it fixed, and then we were on our way! The ride there was chock-full of fun. Mickey's party was fun, we all dressed up in our costumes (of course, my ninja costume was the awesomeist of all the awesomes). We made it onto 7 rides in 2 and a half hours, which, as you who have ever been to disney know, is pretty dang amazing.

The next adventure was when we were driving to britney's sister's house, and the flute van almost ran out of fuel. After a lot of stress, we found a fuel station (haha). And THEN when we got to the house, there were a lot of people drinking, which I was not expecting, and there was a pet bear (aka st. bernard) which none of us were expecting. Since one of the girls has a severe allergy to bears.....er, dogs, we drove down the highway to MY house, where it turned out there were two boys sleeping already (long story). Anyway, none of us got to sleep in a bed that night, and we all fell asleep around 4:30 at night, either on the floor or on couches.

SO that next day we decided to take it easy. We went to downtown disney, watched the nightmare before christmas in 3D, shopped a whole bunch, took pictures, and ate at the rainforest cafe and the ghiradelli (sp?) chocolate ice cream shop. I spent $60 worth of CDs in the virgin record megastore. That place is nothing short of amazing. They have a WHOLE WALL lined with celtic cds. I'm not kidding. I got some stuff I couldn't have found just anywhere: a natalie mcmaster cd (which is celtic to the MAX, just like I expected), a solas cd, and a celtic putumayo cd. AWESOME.

That night, we took a trek down to cocoa beach. We toured ron jons and then walked to the beach, which, in my opinion, was the most amazing part of the trip. We put our heads together and gazed at the stars, made a human pyramid, played 3-second games of tag every couple minutes, pretended to fight (or did we pretend? ::cue dramatic music::), danced to no music, and took A LOT of pictures. The sound of the ocean and the bright stars in the night sky just made everything perfect. Like Jacqui said, I could have stayed there all night. The day beach is pretty dang sweet, but the night beach is just...magical.

After that, we came back to my house again and floundered around trying to get everyone settled in places to sleep. With the help of the extra hour (thank you, extra hour!), we all got a good night's sleep. This morning, we got up and ate breakfast and headed out. The trip back to Tallahassee was pretty uneventful besides the fact that Tchaikovsky writes very large coda sections.

My parents were great throughout the weekend. On Friday night, I called them at 2:30 in the morning because we had a problem with the bear, and they just opened the house right up to all my friends. They made breakfast for 7 girls two days in a row, and they never complained that we were loud at night or that our stuff was everywhere.

I'm actually really glad we got to stay at my home. I got to show everyone my house, the famous city of Titusville that I'm always talking about, the beach that I grew up in. And I got to see ERIN!!! Basically, I got to share my home with people that I love, and it was a happy. Oh yeah, and I knew my way around, and that made me feel important. :)

Anyway, I just got home, and now I have many long hours of homework and practicing ahead of me, so I better hop to it. Thank you Jacqui, Jessica, Lauren, Bridget, Ashley, and Britney for making my weekend so completely awesome!!

Overture to Egmont, Egmont Overture, same thing!

Gosh, I wish I could use Dr. Marosi as a reference on this paper! I'm doing Overture to Egmont, and I learned a heck of a lot more about this piece from him than from any book or article I have read.

This weekend I'm going to party with Mickey Mouse and the fluties in Orlando.
Also, FREE CANDY!!! WOOO!!!!! Get ready for hyper ninja Ashley!
Yaaay!

No practicing, no homework, and no obligations! (That is, until I get back on Sunday.)

If FSU will not give us a fall break, we'll just have to make one ourselves.

And a one, and a two, and a one two three!









okay, paper time.

I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.
I am not getting sick.

So in meterology, we have 5 tests plus the final exam (that's 6 tests!!) My teacher counts the best 4 out of 5 plus the final exam into your grade. So far, we have taken 4 out of the 5 tests, and these are my grades in order:

28/30=93%
26/30=87%
25/30=83%
23/30=77%

Do you notice any kind of trend?? My grades are getting lower! I've studied the same amount for every single test (which is about 3 hours the night before).

The material is getting harder, no doubt--there are low and high pressures flying around everywhere, vapor pressure and saturation vapor pressure, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. I don't care, this doesn't have anything to do with my major. WHY DOES FSU MAKE ME TAKE SCIENCE. I hate science. I thought I took enough of it in high school.

/rant

To anyone out there, don't take meterology as a science. It may not sound boring (and hard) but it is. Instead, take nutrition! Now there's a practical science right there.

One more thing, this is just too funny to not write about. I'm studying for stupidmeterology right now, and there is a chapter in my book about wind. Within the chapter, there is a section about measuring wind, and the tools that people use to determine wind speed and direction, and the heading it is given is
WIND INSTRUMENTS

Hahahahaha!!!!

One of my pet peeves is when I am reading, and something has an asterik* by it, and there is nothing to tell you what the asterik means.

Also, Dvorak 9 is the bomb (which, by the way, is a "perfectly acceptable slang term" according to a friend of mine).

8)

I drank 4 bottles of water today.



NOOOO. I don't wanna study meterology. ANYTHING BUT THAT.

I was really good at studying in high school. I think I forgot how to do it.


--------------------------------


Ya know, for the first time since I've had this blog, I'm having thoughts about discontinuing its use (don't worry, it's still a long way from happening). I really never have anything useful or interesting to say anymore. Or, at least, I never have anything useful or interesting to say that I am willing to share. I don't need it for an emotional outlet like I once did (like I ever used blogger to express emotions--psh). I've found that college presents very few difficult and/or awkward moments. Or rather, these moments are easier to avoid. Things are different now--I am different now--my thoughts are are more inside, more personal, more stable. I no longer need to share everything that I feel and think about.

This doesn't mean that I'll stop writing or even that I'll write less. I still like blogger, I like to write, and I know that a lot of my friends (that's you!) like reading. Plus there's the whole connection factor. It's a way to keep in touch...er...sort of.

I guess all I'm saying is that I'm sorry about what my blog has turned into. I didn't mean for it to be this way, but I'm not one to fight the natural forces of nature, and this is where the natural forces of nature have lead me. (led me?)



Life is good.



I don't think I've ever said this before, so I'll say it now: thanks for reading.

manohman

What a life I have been given!

Time to be overwhelmed with schoolwork!

This year is much different from last year. For better or for worse.

((mostly for better))

:)

The Naxos Music Library and I are becoming good friends...

This is what I have done today:

Listen to recordings.
Practice. A lot.
Rehearse.
Go to a recital.

If only every day was like today...

Everybody: log onto Naxos Music Library, and listen to the second movement of Kalinnikov's first symphony. DO IT.

Douglas, stop being stubborn and get on facebook already. You too, Nik.

I FOUND ANOTHER TOUCH AND ROLL PLAYER.

Michel Debost is a touch and roll player. Meaning, he places the hole in his flute to his lips and rolls it down to get his flute in playing position (it sounds confusing, but if you've ever seen me play, this is what I do to get my flute up). Every teacher I have taken from recently has told me that I need to stop doing this, that it's babyish, that it takes too much time. But ya know what? Michel Debost is the flute professor at the Oberlin Conservatory. He regularly writes articles for Flute Talk. He is respected all around the world (literally) for his playing and for his teaching. And he is a touch and roll player.

So no, I don't need to stop touch and roll. I can do it if I want to. And I want to.

So there.

I really don't have much to say. Flute summit still rules my life. The end.

In Memoriam A.H.H.
By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

STRONG Son of God, immortal Love,
Whom we, that have not seen thy face,
By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove;

Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
Thou madest Life in man and brute;
Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot
Is on the skull which thou hast made.

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just.

Thou seemest human and divine,
The highest, holiest manhood, thou:
Our wills are ours, we know not how;
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.

Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of thee,
And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

We have but faith: we cannot know;
For knowledge is of things we see;
And yet we trust it comes from thee,
A beam in darkness: let it grow.

Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,

But vaster. We are fools and slight;
We mock thee when we do not fear:
But help thy foolish ones to bear;
Help thy vain worlds to bear thy light.

Forgive what seem’d my sin in me;
What seem’d my worth since I began;
For merit lives from man to man,
And not from man, O Lord, to thee.

Forgive my grief for one removed,
Thy creature, whom I found so fair.
I trust he lives in thee, and there
I find him worthier to be loved.

Forgive these wild and wandering cries,
Confusions of a wasted youth;
Forgive them where they fail in truth,
And in thy wisdom make me wise.

It's been a great day. Full of flute, fun, and friends. (How's that for alliteration? (I probably spelled that wrong)). And learning! I really love learning. Sometimes, things are just so darn interesting.

I didn't get much time to practice, but ya know, it's only one day, and as much as I didn't realize it last year, one day really is only one day, unless one day is every day and then it becomes many days. But right now, one day is only one day, and that is not very many days.

I haven't thought about things that I'm not supposed to think about until right now, because I am thinking that I am not supposed to think about them, so that is good.

Notes to self:
Hoop dance. We are all on the same hill, mounting different sides, but we will all reach the summit. Be at the summit together.

Fist=rock

Judge you own playing by the result of your effort, not the effort itself.

Universal music:
In duple meter: three sixteenth, two eighth, repeated
In compound meter: Quarter note, eighth note, repeated (heartbeat)
Perfect octave
Perfect fifth

--------------------------------------------------

My right eye has been twitching all week. It has been a very stressful week, at least as stressful as college gets. This has only happened one other period in my life, and that was in the second half of my senior year of high school, with an audition at x-conservatory at x-faraway city with x-crazy audition material and x-famous teacher every single weekend for about a month.

Yesterday it was at its worst, and today it was at its best. Tomorrow, it should be gone.

I just saw my eye twitch in the mirror. It's not pretty.


By the way,

YOU'RE PRETTY, SO YOU SHOULD PLAY PRETTY

is not a compliment.

Okay, time to collapse into the world of dream.

FLUTE SUMMIT RULES MY LIFE

I seriously think my head is going to explode, guys.

Unfortunately, medieval organum does not equal Aerosmith.

There ain't nothin like Aerosmith when you feel like ROCKIN OUT!

Conflict is actually kind of good for a musician. It provides inspiration. I love playing Martin's Ballade because it has so much depth, so much of the emotion that I have felt in my life. I was able to play that piece well, to win a competition with it, not because I am a good flute player, but because I know what Frank Martin is talking about. To be able to express the feelings that you have in life, especially the joy on the pain--that is why I play music, that is why I love music. And that is why we need difficult times.

I wrote that last post when I was REALLY REALLY tired. Like, a serious all-time low. I glad that's over with! Things weren't looking very good for a while there!

You're not the one for me.

There are so many songs about desire, emo love, unrequited love, how I would do anything for you because I love you soooooo much, how I am sad because I can't be with who I want, blah blah blah. But there are hardly any songs that say no, you're not the one for me. You are not the one for me. I find this song much more relevant to my life. You are not the one for me--this is the case the majority of the time.

And I'm sorry about that.

So I was thinking today (oh no!), and I have decided that

Why did I wake up an hour early when all I was going to do with that time was to sit around and check facebook?

8 hours of class + 3 hours of practice + hauling books for those classes up and down the hills of Tallahassee + no sleep last night = one tired Ashley

Double major?

Wake up! It's time for a new day.

independent
happy

inquisitive
quirky
determined

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Jorge Posada, you are my hero.

He's like that one electoral voter woman who didn't vote for her promised candidate in 2004 because she was protesting against Florida being stupid. It didn't do anything, but gosh darn it, she wasn't going to just take it.

This game is making me sad.

The UPO concert was one of the funnest (is that even a word?) concerts I have ever played in.

None of my stupid problems matter when I'm playing in a great concert (just to clarify, I don't really have many stupid problems). It makes me realize that as long as there is good music out there, I have nothing to worry about. Especially Mozart's good music. There's just something about his music...it says, "everything is okay." Nothing can be wrong in the world as long as Mozart is there. Somebody once told me that Mozart grows on you, that the older you get, the more you will like his work. I believe it.

I am very satisfied with the way my life is going.

Many times, I am happy that people cannot read minds.

I just realized that I am wearing a shirt with a picture of a tiger on it. Oops...

:)

Everybody needs a little Rainbow Body once in a while.

Haha!:
-I walked into studio class 20 minutes late, and nobody said anything.
-I got extra credit for finding errors in the USO program notes. I only did it because he gave me an 80 on a paper that didn't deserve an 80.

Today has potential! I have a quiz, a lesson, a dress rehearsal, a recital, a new campus ministry to check out, and, of course, playoff game one: Yanks vs. Tigers!

Edit:
Quiz-100!

Today was a day, and that day was a day of day. The end.

Gosh, that livejournal post thing is really getting to me. We could all say, we are not the ones who are posting the evil, we are the ones trying to fight it. Well, in this case, it is true, but as a whole, we are included in that group. That livejournal post is me, and it is you. We are not any better than them. It is us as a human race, and I hate seeing just how evil we all really are. It makes me so incredibly sad.

Jesus help us all.

I've seen a lot of people in my life with no sense of perspective, but this is probably the ultimate.

It makes me really sad, and I'm not just saying that.
Use this as an example, readers, and I will too. Don't be mean. Please.

Umm....
yeah.