Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.  


-Alfred Lord Tennyson

The world is beautiful full of inspiration just waiting to be released... all you have to do is look! The value of the arts has never been higher. Believe!

Merry Christmas!!!

Mom: "Ash?"
Me: "What?"
Mom: (walking into my room holding a fruit): "Do you have any idea what kind of fruit this is?"
Me: "No..."
Mom: (examines the fruit): "I'm going to throw it out."

Life is good.

Let me just take a second to tell you a little about a company that I love: Southwest Airlines.

1) They consistently have competitively low prices on flights to MCO and PHX.
2) They do not charge for two check-in bags.
3) They have a great cancellation process--if you need to cancel or change a flight, you get a full refund to use towards another flight. (Trip insurance? What is that? I fly Southwest Airlines.)
4) The cancellation and the use of the refunded money is a very easy process.
5) I missed my flight yesterday. They got me standby on a flight that left an hour and a half later--at NO. CHARGE. I repeat. I missed my flight and was able to get on a different one AT NO CHARGE.

I almost want to say that I will never fly another airline, but that's probably not true. But if I had money to invest... I would probably buy stock in this company.

Pretty winter song, in celebration of my first Christmas party of the year.

I'm getting a new flute case for Christmas!

Also, I like frisbee!
(and girlfriends, and bakies, and Bailey's, and hot chocolate. and winning.)

Wellp, my semester has pretty much come to a close. I am happy with what I have accomplished in my first semester as a doctoral student--I really have learned a lot in my always-frenzied state, and I am ready for a short break.

However, I am SO EXCITED for next semester, specifically for my personal recital. It is Tuesday, March 6th at 5:00, and I am just bursting at the seams about being able to play a piece that I have wanted to play for AGES now--Vox Balaenae (The Voice of the Whale), by George Crumb. And get this--not only am I going to be able to play it, but I have tricked the principal cellist of the Phoenix Symphony to play with me!!! (He's a friend of mine, we happen to play ultimate together. Lucky chance! Don't tell me that ultimate never helped my music career).

I have planned the rest of my program around this as a theme, the theme of the relationship between humans and Earth/nature, and the mysterious quality of that relationship. The music will be calm, serene, and pondering sometimes, stormy, aggressive and angry at others, and at all times mysterious.

Delaney "...and the strange and unknown flowers..."
Hovhaness Garden of Adonis
Martin Ballade
Schwanter Black Anenomes
Clarke Touching the Ether
Crumb Vox Balaenae

So mark your calendars now, because this is going to be epic. Epic, I say!

I played my recital! I "pulled it off...but just barely" (in the words of a friend). Wait, are friends supposed to say things like that after recitals? No matter, I am very happy with how it went, considering how stressed out I was about it in the last 5 or so weeks. Actually, it's the best recital I've ever played before, which should seem obvious, because I am always improving, but if you only knew how unprepared I was a few short weeks ago....

I didn't invite many people, because I was so worried that I wouldn't provide an accurate representation of my best playing. The audience consisted of my ASU flute studio (about 15 college students), my teacher, my boyfriend, and my mom. Probably less than 20 people total. It's almost a shame that I put so much into the music today, to be enjoyed by so few people. I shouldn't be so scared of failure. In the end, it was fine, more than fine! And the only place to fall is into God's hands.

Anyhow, I am exhausted. It is time for big sleep. Good night, world.

My first doctoral recital is tomorrow. Faure, Saint-Saens, Reinecke, Halffter, Schulhoff, and Jolivet, oh my! Big money, big money, big money...