Hey dudes. I'm going to Orlando for the Florida Flute Fair. Won't be back till Sunday.

I really like the Florida Flute Fair. It's like a family reunion for flute players. I get to see all my long lost flute aquaintances.

There's also something about the atmosphere of flute conventions that makes me really hyper. It's like, if I can't show off my playing, I have to show off my personality...or something. It's strange. Something in the air.

Anyway, I (along with three other FSU flutists) am playing in a competition there, so wish me luck! May the best musician win.

Every day I get a little more nervous. Seeing my colleagues play at wind seminar today really got the butterflies going. Not because of how they played, but because I know it will be me up there soon.

Still, it's a great piece, and I have a statement to make. That's really what it's all about. Whether I get first place or last place, it doesn't really matter. It's all about the music.

(P.S. I've worked really hard on this piece. I mean really hard.)

Happy 2000th post!

SAVANNAHS HATE
FIRE IN MY HEAD
TOWNHOME HATE
RENTTTT
AHHHHHHHH

I found this quote as I read during a practice break near midnight tonight:

"He who wishes to excel in music must feel himself a perpetual and untiring love for it, a willingness and eagerness to spare neither industry nor pains, and to bear steadfastly all the difficulties that present themselves in this mode of life."
-Quantz, 1752

Funny how this still applies amazingly well 256 years later.

P.S. This year's FFA young artist competition will be without a doubt the highest playing level the competition has ever experienced. I guarantee it.

Probably my favorite hymn:

Come, ye sinners poor and needy,
Weak and wounded,
sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love, and power.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.

Come. ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God's free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.

Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

Lo! th'incarnate God, ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood;
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.

Today was the most refreshing sermon I have heard in a while. We had a guest priest from Pensacola, and he opened with these words:

"My message tonight is simple: We are Christians."

It's gotta be a joke.
I can't believe it.

Write about Rodrigo in English, foo!

I have a couple topics that I am very excited about this semester. I am writing my history paper about Rodrigo, who is an often under-appreciated composer(ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD) and his Concierto de Aranjuez.

I am giving my informative speech about why people hate the Yankees!

Also, I agreed to be a student representative on the COM allocations committee. That means I decide where the money goes, or something...

"Congragulations"

Why do I keep this email in my inbox?

Because it says congragulations.
And that, my friends, is funny.

Piccolo in wind orchestra gives me headaches. I tried wearing an earplug today but then I couldn't tune or balance. I'm pretty sure I am going to have some kind of hearing damage soon, if I don't have it already.

There's a pair of brown women's flip flops in my apartment. They're not mine, and they're not Rebecca's, and we have no idea whose they are.

It's a strange predicament. Who would come to my apartment and leave with no shoes? I don't get it. They've been here for a couple months, and nobody has claimed them. If you are missing a pair of brown flip flops, maybe check if they are here?

I wrote a collection of limericks about some of the guys in my life. These aren't even neccessarily people that I know very well, just people who happen to make good limerick topics. I also wrote a couple who aren't about any in particular, they are just made to be funny. Here is one of them:

Persistence is the valuable key
To getting what you want, don’t you agree?
But it’d make him blue
If he ever knew
That I wish he wasn’t persistent with ME

Here's my political spiel for the year:

I don't think Hillary would make a good president, and I'll tell you why. It has nothing to do with her own capabilities. I think she is an extremely smart, capable woman. The problem lies with the men of the country. Men do not look at women the same way they look at each other. They would not respect Hillary. I'm old enough to have seen that in general, men just do not respect women. I know that's a judgement statement, and I have stopped thought, but I have seen it. Even the nice guys, the ones who seem to have a little respect--you get them when their guard is down, and they'll start talking about the women's role in the home and with the children, etc.

I meant to write more about this, but I just got bored with the topic, so I'll leave you with a little quote I heard long ago from my friend Will:

"A woman's place is in the house...of representatives."

I have a few confessions to make:

1. In general, I like listening to piano recitals more than flute recitals.
2. In general, I like listening to band concerts more than orchestra concerts.
3. I really like the sound of viola.

There ya have it. Ashley's deepest, darkest secrets, REVEALED.

BLEH

I'm excited about wind orchestra! It's gonna be fun!...and stressful. I haven't played piccolo regularly since high school (and I haven't played in a band since freshman year!), so it's about time I hone my skills. I love band music. It's always so interesting.

For one of the weirdest experiences of your life, go watch Sweeney Todd and then immediately listen to some Enya. CRAZY.

You know what they say about flutists being visciously competitive and backstabbing girls? Well, I don't think it's true. In my ten years of flute playing, I have met very few backstabbing flutists. It's true that there is a lot of competition, but only because there are a lot of people who all want the same thing and work very hard for it. But that doesn't make people mean. In all the auditions I have taken, the people I meet are friendly, helpful, and supportive, even though I am their very competition! In addition, the few backstabbing flutists I HAVE met in my life, well, I hate to say, but they tend to be DUDES. The girls are always friendly!

So just to let you know. I have a high opinion of the flute spirit.

Well, I'm back from the OPO audition (though I haven't unpacked yet, because I am lazy. Also because after driving for four hours you just don't feel like unpacking).

You know already that I sent in a tape and got into the semifinal round, which I consider a really really huge acccomplishment in itself. The competition was stiff when I got there. There were 12 people altogether in the semifinal round, most of whom had played in the prelims in the morning. From what I could gather, most of these girls (and one guy) were grad students from conservatories around the US: Carnegie Mellon, Boston, Juilliard, etc. I also met someone from Miami. I'm pretty sure that at 20 years old I was the youngest person there. By a lot.

I knew as soon as I heard some of the others warming up that I didn't have much of a chance of even advancing. These people were GOOD. I'm not so sure I deserved to be there, and if I did, then just barely. I did my best and kept my cool throughout the audition, but as I anticipated I did not advance to the finals.

Again, though, I am doing these auditions for experience, and that is exactly what I got out of it. I feel really great about getting into the semifinals. The others need and deserve the job more than me right now anyway. I pray for a few things before every audition, no matter how large or small: for the audition to be fair, for everyone to do their best, and for the most deserving to win. I think that's what happened here, and I'm satisfied. It was good to spend a little time at home again, too, though I really only was there overnight.

Also, I got a speeding ticket.

Dad: "So all the women are going to vote for Hillary, and all the black people are going to vote for Obama?"
Mom: "Yeah"
Dad: "Who are the black women going to vote for?"

I'm home.

We have really nice silverware.

It was night. I was with my extended family, roasting marshmellows at a campfire at Letchworth. I loved that place. I loved the crackle, the smell and warmth of the fire. I loved being with my family, playing games, feeling included. I loved being outdoors, sitting on plastic lawn chairs, eating marshmellows. I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old. Maybe a lot younger. We were playing 20 questions, and I had a good idea for an item.

"A box," I whispered to my dad.
"That's a good one!" my dad said.

"Is it...a box?" my uncle asked. He was chastised by the rest of the family. It was then that I realized that I had probably whispered a little too loudly. Either that or my family can read lips.

Distance is so maddening sometimes.
We make all these friends in high school. Create solid bonds of friendship. And then suddenly one day it's all over: we all split up and go to different schools, sometimes hours apart, sometimes days apart, and almost always a long-distance phone call away, only to see each other when our breaks happen to coincide....when we aren't off visiting aunts and grandparents in other states...

Unless you live in the same town your college is located, college life is a split life, and in my case, two very very different lives. It's just hard sometimes, constantly saying "goodbye, I love you, and I hope I will see you again." I know God has a plan, and in this case it's not so hard to see the outlines: as the saying goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder, or something of the sort.

Someone older and wiser than I once told me that gradually my high school friends will drift away to their different paths. That someday my home life will be unrecognizable from what it once was. Maybe this will still happen, but I'm not seeing it right now.

I'm grateful that I have such good friends in both of my lives. You know who you are. I'm just sad that we have to part so many times. My heart breaks a little bit every time.

Especially this time.

Norah Jones' newest album is her best so far.

One more and she could make a best of album!

I love life so much.

I know that life is not always movies, beach, free donuts and the Panga Gang, so when it is all of that and more....you gotta feel good about it.

Makin' my last night count.
Goodbye, dear home.
Goodbye, dear friends.
I sure hope I will see you again.

I love you guys. I mean it. Be safe.

Enya teaches me what music therapy is.
Now I understand.

Happy happy new year
From all of us to yoou
We wish it was our new year
So we could party too
hey!

You'll pay for satisfaction somewhere along the line

I had a dream that a friend of mine said to me, "You can choose the next one." He whispered it, like it like it was a secret. I don't know what "next one" he is talking about....but I have an idea. And choice it always good.

Of course, dreams don't really mean much when you come back to reality. But sometimes I like to pretend that they do.

I need to practice.

I don't want to go back to school. Stress...boo! Who needs it?

I am amazed more and more as the years go by at the welcoming nature of the Jarvis home. Really, I can't believe that such a great family exists. Thank you, Jarvises, if you ever read this!

(I need sleep, you might be able to tell. I stayed up far later than ever before. This is the one day of the year when I allow myself that luxury...if you can call it a luxury.)