Today is my grandmother's birthday. She's 80 years old. She still does water aerobics. She reminds me of Phyllis on The Office. I love her.

I cannot express how much better cats are than dogs. Words cannot express...

Well, they say that Sibelius is an acquired taste. If so, I think I have acquired it. I've played a good bit of his music in my time, and I heard the third symphony on the radio today. It was anything but what I have heard people say about it. It was glorious.

at dinner:

Mom: My brain is fried.
Me: You need a prosthetic brain. Like running backwards through the rain, like a train.
Mom: (to my dad) So did you hear about the Melbourne health department?

So the facebook audio feature is pretty much the best thing ever. It's like the naxos music library of pop.

You guys wouldn't believe what goes through my head during the day. I spend so much time with myself at work. Sometimes the first time I speak in a day is when my dad comes home from work at 4:00.

It's like being an only child. I have to entertain myself, so I've grown a huge imagination. I come hom every day and I ask myself, what in the world made me think of that? Then I'll be home and around people and everything will be normal again.

For example, today I was listening to music while driving home from work. I heard a really simple but lovely song on the radio. My thoughts went something like this:

I can sing, I could do that. I wonder what it would be like to be a pop star, with my songs playing on the radio. I don't play guitar or piano, but I can play flute. People like the sound of the flute. People would like me. But wait, hmmm, you can't sing and play flute at the same time, that means that I'd need to team up with another flute player to make it work. Who could I do it with....Alyssa! Perfect, she even sings lower than me. We'd have to find some other player to make a band, but I'm sure that wouldn't be too difficult. But who would write the music...well, I guess we could write it together. I'm no songwriter, but I bet I could be if I really tried. Man, that would be so cool. A new sound--a flute duet gone pop. It'd be another classical crossover type of band. I could really change the face of the music industry. I could really do it.

(short pause while I listen to the song some more)

But eh, that all sounds too hard.

This is what my mind does ALL DAY.

I know that this blog has a lot of readers. It's about time I do something about that.

I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ, and I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus is God's son, sent down from heaven to die for our sins. And you should believe all of this too, because this is your eternal soul we're talking about here.
"The time has already come when you ought to be awake from your sleep."

I know I joke a lot in this blog. Not today. Today, I am serious. You need to start thinking about what you believe. I know what I believe, I know what side I am on, and I know what is going to happen when the end finally comes. How glorious it will be on that day, to be on the winning side.
And yes, I do believe the end is near. Possibly in my lifetime.

I am a normal, sane human being, and I believe in Jesus Christ. I'm not crazy. That means that you, also, can believe and be saved.

Pray. Read the Bible. I did these things, and they opened up worlds to me. And now, nothing will stop me from believing. You can see it too. You can. You can be saved. Do it! THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT! Don't be apathetic! If you are apathetic about anything, don't let it be where you will be for eternity! Please!

Please, consider what I am saying. Church isn't just some boring thing that you used to do when you were younger. There's a reason, a big reason, the most important reason to go. Worship the God who created you. You owe Him. And believe. If you try, you can believe. You can do it. Please, if you read this, do something about it. You too can be saved.

Had one of the most fun days at the beach ever yesterday, even though I'm pretty sure we all got burnt to a crisp.

Audition today, actually in about 3 hours. Maybe I'll come back a happier person, you never know.

Yankees should have won yesterday, but they didn't. Lost in the 13th inning. Good game. They had a total of 17 hits, but only 5 runs. Left like 15 men on base or something like that. STUPID.

Ana, nab a banana.

Looks like my recital's gonna be on July 25, 7:00 at IRC.

Uuuuuuuugggghhhh
Stupid Yankees are so stupid.
Win freakin games.

I am now a member of NRP. You should be a member, too, so that they stop this STOOOOOPID membership drive and start playing music again.

Audition 3 days away.

Brain: You know, Ashley, you have had a real shortage of hugs lately.

I was listening to Copland today, and I couldn't help but be moved by the music. A recording gave me goosebumps (goodbumpers). That doesn't happen very often. Aaron Copland, man...give him a chance. That's all I'm saying.

Yeah, I know he appeals to the masses. But not everything that appeals to the masses is BAD...take Star Wars for instance. The Beatles. Chocolate chip cookies. And Aaron Copland.

I watched a documentary on Star Wars today. It was really good. It made me realize the depth of the series and how much of a genius George Lucas is. That guy really knew what he was doing. By the end, I was convinced that Lucas is as much of an artist as Homer.

I'm still convinced.

Now I know why the same people who like Star Wars also like The Lord of the Rings, Greek mythology, the King Arthur legend, and the like. It's because they all draw from each other. They're all the same thing. Sort of.

I also appreciate the story more now because I realized that even though there are really only two women in the movies, they are two really cool women (who can shoot blasters better than the men).

I need to pray more.

Gosh..Solas really knows how to do music. They know how to touch a heart.

Tina: Were you practicing before we got there?
Me: Yeah! What else would I be doing?
Tina: Oh, I don't know...being a normal person?

Oh, and I am going to Las Vegas for three weeks, and that is just way too cool for school. My coolness meter just went sky high. Seriously.

Driving down 50 coming back home from Orlando always reminds me of the Beatles' "Two of Us." This one:

Two of us riding nowhere
Spending someone's
Hard earned pay

You and me Sunday driving
Not arriving
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

Two of us sending postcards
Writing letters
On my wall
You and me burning matches
Lifting latches
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

You and I have memories
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead

Two of us wearing raincoats
Standing so low
In the sun
You and me chasing paper
Getting nowhere
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

I play it every once in a while, just to remind myself of what things were once like. There are definitely some aspects of high school that I miss. It's hard to think about. Just writing this makes me a little sad.

Just got back home to Florida. There's no place like home, especially when you're coming from Kanas. I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure. It's a little before midnight, and I gotta work tomorrow, so bleh. Sunflower was cool, I'll go into detail later if I feel like it, very improbable.

I did a lot of traveling today, I'm very tired, but I was thinking about what a genuis invention the airplane is. I mean, really. A machine that can fly. It revolutionized the way we think about travel. You can get across the country in 4 hours. It's like, nothing! Hey, I need to go to San Diego to see my sick aunt. Boom, you're there!

Also, I forgot how sweet the world looks from above late at night. It's seriously a rocking light parade.

Okay, bye.

I can't use this computer for very long. I'm still in Kansas with no computer access. I just found out that I've been accepted to the Las Vegas music festival. I am going to be spending three weeks in Las Vegas. I can't believe it. I am going to be one of four flutists studying with Renee Siebert, second flutists of the NY Phil.

Plus, the Yankees are doing well.

Life is good.

I'm going to Disney today and tomorrow, and then I'm going to Kansas for a week and a half. Don't try to stop me!

Yanks beat Boston 9-5.