Happy Halloween! (aka Dress Up like an Idiot and Gorge on Candy Day)

I miss the Villains.

I feel a bit like I'm abusing the good fortune that I have been given.

I should stop that.

+Having recordings done
+Gaining another student
+League tonight (with costumes!)
+Looking forward to the World Series tomorrow

A good day!

Edit: I also beat Mitchell AND Taylor's score on Tetris Block Star. I knew I could do it.

A conversation I had the other day got me thinking. I thought of a pretty funny Halloween costume that I probably will not carry out (cause I'm lazy). I could be...(drumroll)...a 12-year old girl.

I could so pull it off. Everyone thinks I'm a lot younger than I am already, if I slapped on a Hannah Montana shirt, some jeans with butterflies on them, pigtails, and a lot of pink, I could de-age myself by several years. It'd be easy.

Awww, calls from friends. I love keeping in touch. Yay!

This has been a good weekend. I flaked out on a lot of things, including the Grand Canyon trip and the hatter on Saturday, but I think that ultimately I made the right choice. I needed a weekend to take it easy and get stuff done, and it turned out to be a productive and fun time. Also, I felt a little like death on Friday and Saturday, so I fought off whatever illness was trying to sneak in.

A little schoolwork, a little housework, a little practice, a little rest, and a little fun. That's what weekends should be.

MY BOYS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!! I watched the game today with a Red Sox fan. Hehe. That was a new experience. I didn't heckle him too much...(I think).

Second time this week I can't get to sleep. Is it physical or mental?

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

No matter how many times I wander away, He always calls me back.
(And to A.G.: you should know that the memories of your influence still bring me back. Thank you for that.)

We're serious here, allright?

Man, I really missed my dad today. I watched the Yankees game alone, eating popcorn. The whole time I was thinking about how if I was at home, I would be watching with my dad, calling all the players the little names that we made up for them, talking about all the crazy calls made, yelling for home runs, and driving my mom crazy with all of the cheers we've made up. He'd be able to answer every single question about baseball that I care to ask. Even eating the popcorn reminded me of my dad, and I had a sinking in my heart when I reminded myself that if dad were here, he would put some peanuts or chips in the mix to make it more interesting. There were no peanuts to be found in the apartment.

Dang man. There's no place like home.

regular candy > eye candy

If you know what you want, then you go and you find it and you get it.

I am the woman of steel and I know what I want.

"What kind of a bird are you, if you can't fly?" said [the bird], and to this, the duck replied, "What kind of a bird are you, if you can't swim?"

The hike was definitely harder than I expected. I guess I've never really gotten a chance to hike up a mountain, but let me tell you--it's not at all like hiking through the woods. This was intense. At some points it was so steep that there was a guardrail so you don't tumble down when climbing back down. I needed it.

For most of the hike there wasn't even a trail, but a bunch of boulders--some way bigger than me--to climb over. It was difficult and super fun, and it really felt like an accomplishment when we reached the top. At the top, you sit out on the rock island, gaze at the city below, and contemplate the meaning of life. And eat a sandwich.

So, a couple of exciting things lately. Tonight I saw Greg Patillo and PROJECT in concert. I have seen them before at a flute convention, so I knew that they were going to be awesome, and I was correct. I can't say enough about how entertaining they were. I marveled at each's ability to play the instrument with perfect technique, like a professional classical player--but to also have the exciting foot-tapping, jamming presentation of a rock band. Amazing. There aren't too many flute players out there like that. If you ever get a chance to see PROJECT in concert, do NOT miss the chance.

Tomorrow I'm going hiking! Up a mountain!!! Mountains are still an alien concept to me, so I can't help but be amazed every time I see one. And now I'll be CLIMBING one!! Camelback mountain, wooo! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

I'll be looking forward all week to next weekend, when I'll be camping out in the GRAND CANYON!!! WOOO!!!

Monday is the semifinals of the concerto competition, so I'm pretty pumped about that. I hope I can do Anthony Ritchie justice. He deserves to be heard, to be known.

Life is beautiful.

WHEEEEEOOOOWWOOWOWWOwohwoWowhowhwOohewowo

oh one is the lonielest number
yyeyeyeyeyeyiahauhiahia

I just can't make myself like Villa-Lobos' works. I expect to like it every time--I mean, he's Latin, and Latin music is usually really awesome--but every time I end up unmoved, wondering when the next piece will start. To me, the music wanders with no direction. What's the point in that?

I've been in Arizona for a few months now, and I think it's time to compare the two places. Which one WINS?

You guys know that I have all the love in the world for my beloved home state. But I have to say...Arizona wins. The weather here is very similar--both places are warm-weather zones. But the things that are annoying about Florida (e.g. rain almost every day, humidity, giant mutant mosquitoes and other assorted bugs, etc.) you just don't find here. It's like Florida except BETTER. You step outside...and you can breathe. You can walk at night and not worry about cockroaches scuttling under your shoes. You can ride your bike to school in full confidence that you won't get stranded there from rain.

There are a few catches. There's very little green here. It's a really beautiful place, to be sure, but it is the beauty of the desert. Real grass cannot be found (grass here is more like...fur. Or something. It's not the same.) And the main catch is that there's no beach here. I LOVE the beach, so that a big deal. Ah, just writing about it is making me homesick for those crashing waves, the sand under my feet, the glow of the moonlight on the ocean. Oh man. It doesn't get any better than that.

Unrelated (well maybe sort of related):
I'm going HIKING this weekend. Up a MOUNTAIN. It's going to be SO COOL. MOUNTAINS!

If there were a movie made about me, I'd want Ellen Page to play me.

At one of the tournaments last year, I was traveling with a car full of guys. I was telling them about how I like this guy, and they asked me why I didn't do something about it. Slightly disgruntled, I answered "Guys don't like it when girls make the first move..." All five of them immediately disagreed with me and busted that myth. Of course guys like when girls make the first move.

I've since observed my behavior around the guys that I like. And it's peculiar. I can't bring myself to make it known that I have an interest, to make the first move. If I like a guy, I'm probably not going to treat him any differently than anyone else. In fact, sometimes I pay LESS attention to the guys that I like, just to hide the fact that I'm interested (at least until I'm sure that he likes me). Why do I want to hide my interest? I've been thinking about that.

The answer is vulnerability. If you make it known that you like a guy, he can make it known that he's NOT interested in you. If this is public information, it's embarrassing--you just got rejected, and everyone knows it. If it's just between the two of you, it's still a burn. Either way, making your interests known gives him the ability to hurt you.

I realize that this can be very frustrating for the guys. How will they ever know if I like them? Sorry dudes. That's up to you to figure out. If you ask me directly, you'll probably get a direct answer. But if you're not that gutsy, you'll just have to guess...kinda like us girls have to guess our entire lives.

One more tally for Cheaper Than Gold in the win column! yEuh. We're now 4-2 and haven't lost a game since the third week. The two losses were both really close game; one was by universe point and the other was a loss by two points. I think we're takin' the title. Yeah, I'm callin' it already. WHAT.

I'm really learning a lot (I've never played primarily using a vertical stack, so lots of good experience there) and my team has great spirit, I'm lovin' it! How many people can say that Tuesday is their favorite day of the week?
(To be fair, it's also because I have my lesson on Tuesday, it's etude turnover day, I have a lot of practice time, etc..but still. I'm always ridiculously excited for league from the moment I wake up. Can't argue against that.)

Yayzors!

Today at pickup I must have been looking very lovingly at a cutie-pie two-year old boy walking around, because someone asked me if he was mine (!). I was like, nooooo....

Tomorrow: Anthony Ritchie strikes again!

FYI, I changed my timestamp to Arizona mountain time, so from now on, all of the times listed will be correct for me, but probably incorrect for you, if you live in Florida (which I think most of you do). Florida is three hours after Arizona right now, so now it's 5:18 AZ and 8:18 FL. When daylight savings time kicks in, we will be two hours apart. Arizona has boycotted daylight savings time.

Arizona talking to DST:
"I do what I want! You don't KNOW me!"

Lame attempt at humor, I apologize.

My duckie has started quacking again. I think it's a message from God to get out of my room and go do something productive. It did get me out of bed today...at 12:30.

I came home tonight at midnight and my roommate goes, "Where were you, young lady? It is WAY past your curfew. I have been up all night worrying about you...I have things to do you know..." etc etc.

Too funny.

I want to hike a mountain tomorrow with someone but everyone is busy. And I would never come home at midnight on a Friday in T-ville. I want a reason to stay up late.

The Arizona blues are creepin' in again.

(I secretly really really hope that you end up moving here. I'd love it so much to have you around again.)

That post was dumb. Just sayin'.

Another love post. This isn't coming from recent experience, it's just something I've been thinking about. Most heartache in relationships stem from the fact that someone can love another person without this love being reciprocated. And it's frustrating because you can't really do anything about it. You can't MAKE people love you. And you can't change who you are, what you believe. Even your appearance can only change slightly.

You can't increase your odds of winning a heart. It's not like winning an audition or a baseball game. You work hard for those things; you improve, you prepare. But winning a heart is more like winning the lottery. You can't really do much to change your odds. You send in your numbers and hope for the best.

Sometimes I really can't determine my self-image.

Here, I'm going to test out a poll thing. MY FIRST EVER POLL!

So, first day of teaching today. My first student didn't show up, the next two went well, and the last lesson felt a little odd (probably because the student is 4 years older than me). Eh.

Oh, and the Yankees won. WHAT WHAT.

WEEEEE!!! WEEHOOOO!!! YEAH!!!!

God is being especially good right now. A great lesson, league tonight, unbelievably great weather, and WOOOOO! life is beautiful.

The weather today was AMAZING!!! Keep it up, Tempe!

I was hoping that I would like it here, but I didn't expect to find such happiness so soon. Today has been another incredible day in Arizona. It's almost like my life is enchanted right now, like nothing can go wrong. I feel incredibly lucky, incredibly blessed.

I'm not stupid enough to expect it to last for any length of time...but I am smart enough to enjoy it while it lasts. You know the saying, you don't know what you have until it's gone? I usually know what I have. And right now, it's happiness.

I had an incredible time at ultimate regionals today.

Full moon: Oct. 4
Erin thinks that strange things can happen the night of a full moon. After tonight, I might have to agree.

(It was so bright and beautiful rising out of the mountains, heralding the dawning of a new era in this strange foreign land. I can't describe it. It's beautiful.)

T'was a long day. I'm exhausted, and it's unbelievably nice to come home to the open windows and fall scent. Thank you, God, for the seasons.

I think I'll do a little bit of nothing tonight.

Happy October everybody! This is my favorite month of the year, and I have a feeling that this time around is to be especially wonderful.

My head is constantly up the clouds nowadays. It's not very often that so much of your life is filled with newness and excitement. I know that I will eventually settle in, forget the fact that I live in Paradise, and then when will this newness happen again? Who knows, maybe never.

(I'm allowed to dream, right? Ever the dreamer...)