One of our assigned movies for the week is "The Adventures of Robin Hood."

Errol Flynn was a total hottie.

This becomes a real strain on your neck after a while. Just sayin'.

Yes. I was loud because neither of you bothered to go to the recital I have been working so hard for (and also because you didn't bother to empty the dishwasher. Really, you brought it upon yourselves.)

So about my ant problem. I sprayed a paper towel with Raid and then wiped my keys with it. I also sprayed Raid onto my desk. It got rid of the ants all right... every day when I come home, my desk looks like an ant field of battle. Dead ants everywhere. Why oh why did I spill juice?

I think that the times in my life when I am the most happy are always after I have practiced as much as I had planned for that day.

Today was a good day. Dress for the quartet went really well (music was fun to play and we were friends, which isn't always the case), got to hang out with Paul for a while and do a little throwing, and my evening practice session was just stellar. So productive. I found a sweet alternate fingering for this passage in Firebird that I have had a mind block on... for several years. Like 7 years.

I have been trying to play Firebird cleanly for 7 years. Finally, today is the day. I can do it!!!

Am I good enough? Is it just a joke that I want to do this? I have never played in any ensemble even remotely close to that level. Would I be in over my head? Am I already in over my head?

(Edit: the answers are yes, no, maybe, and no.)

comps. I DON'T WANNA.

ALSO. The other day I spilled an entire glass of juice on my desk. Luckily, not much got on my computer, just a few drops on the keyboard. Somehow these few drops made the entire keyboard mechanism sticky. Today I came home from my audition to find that there were ants crawling around my keys. Derp sauce.

Any ideas on what to do about this? I usually use a good dose of raid to get rid of pests, but I can't really spray raid onto my computer...

I am so proud of my car today! 6 hours and 300 miles with no problems. Nice work, Malibu! You deserve a nice car wash :)

I am unofficially accepted to both ASU and UofA.

I R flute playing good to get un doc-tore-ate. Yawl.
(.....or not.)

Thinking about this weekend really makes my head hurt. Concert tonight (30 min away). Call time 6:00, concert 7-8:30. Then get home around 9 or 9:30. U of A audition tomorrow morning at 10, so I have to leave at 7 in the morning at the latest. Uuuuuugh. Finish with my audition around 11, get home around 1. Have about a 4-hour break, then leave at 5:30 to drive up to Sun City for another concert at 7:30 (call time 6:30). Get home from that around 10, go to bed for another early morning. Get to school at 9 to warm up for guest artist masterclass 10-12 am. Have a 2-hour break, then recital 2:30-4. About a 3-hour break, then birthday party for a friend at 7:30.

I'm busy.

Got my Wall-E soundtrack today. How can you not love this little guy??

I don't know why I can't just like everyone. Am I jealous? Of what do I have to be jealous?

Yesterday I was driving on the highway at 70 mph.  There were four lanes, and they were all filled with cars traveling the same speed as me.  I carefully navigated the curves in the road with a car on either side, and the thought struck me: why am I not scared right now? One small mistake, and surely I will die, going 70 miles per hour. My seatbelt makes me feel a little safer, but at 70... that's very fast for anything to prevent death.  Why are we all not scared when we drive every day?

SLIGHTLY RELATED
I remember when I first moved here to AZ and started hiking a lot. Some of those hikes are what you could call "dangerous." A false step or a loose grip could have you tumbling down a steep slope, or even worse, off of a cliff.  I remember my mom was very worried when she saw some of my photos.  "Be very careful!" she always said. But I have never been scared when I hike these steep slopes. I trust myself.  My body will not let me slip.  Sure, the wind could blow, or I could hit a patch of soft sand... these things happen. But when it really matters, all you have to do is be smart and careful. You know inherently that you'll be fine.

SORT OF KIND OF RELATED
Riding my bike home from school today, I passed an intersection.  There was a crowd of cars at the intersection, including a flashing police car. There was also a crowd of people. I heard an ambulance in the distance racing to the scene.  And then I saw a mangled bike and a guy laying on the ground, people kneeling around him. It was sobering. That could very well have been me. "Oh, God..." I thought.

I'm certainly not scared when I ride my bike. But just like driving, just like hiking, one mistake, one bad decision. That's all it takes.

I'm doing my film music project on the music of Wall-E. I love that little guy a little more every time I watch the movie.

Also, I've never heard of Thomas Newman before... but I should have!!!!! Look at all he has scored:

2011 The Adjustment Bureau  

2010 La siesta de Jacinto (short)

2010/I The Debt

2009/I Brothers (music by)

2009 Autumn of Youth (short) (music by)

2008 Revolutionary Road

2008 WALL·E

2007 Towelhead

2006 The Good German

2006 Little Children

2005 Jarhead

2005 La femme dans la chambre (short)

2005 Cinderella Man

2004 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

2004 Hope Springs Eternal: A Look Back at 'The Shawshank Redemption' (video documentary short)

2004 Six Feet Under (TV series)

– Bomb Shelter (2004)

2004 A Terrible Tragedy: Alarming Evidence from the Making of the Film - A Woeful World (video documentary) (original score by)  

2004 A Terrible Tragedy: Alarming Evidence from the Making of the Film - Costumes and Other Suspicious Disguises (video documentary short) (original score by)

2003 Angels in America (TV mini-series)

– Perestroika: Chapter Five - Beyond Nelly (2003)

– Perestroika: Chapter Four - Stop Moving! (2003)

– Perestroika: Chapter Six - Heaven, I'm in Heaven (2003)

– Millennium Approaches: Chapter One - Bad News (2003)

– Millennium Approaches: Chapter Three - The Messenger (2003)

2003 Finding Nemo

2002 White Oleander

2002 Road to Perdition

2002 The Salton Sea

2002 The Execution of Wanda Jean (documentary)

2001 In the Bedroom

2000 Pay It Forward

2000 My Khmer Heart (documentary)

2000 Walking the Mile (video documentary short)

2000 Erin Brockovich

1999 The Green Mile

1999 American Beauty

1998 Meet Joe Black

1998 The Horse Whisperer

1997 Oscar and Lucinda

1997 Red Corner

1997 Mad City

1996 The People vs. Larry Flynt

1996 American Buffalo

1996 Phenomenon

1996 Up Close & Personal

1995 How to Make an American Quilt

1995 Unstrung Heroes

1994 Little Women

1994 The War

1994 The Shawshank Redemption

1994 The Favor

1994 Threesome

1993 Josh and S.A.M.

1993 Flesh and Bone

1992 Scent of a Woman

1992 Citizen Cohn (TV movie)

1992 Whispers in the Dark

1992 The Player (music by)

1992 Those Secrets (TV movie)

1991 Fried Green Tomatoes

1991 Deceived

1991 The Rapture

1991 The Linguini Incident

1991 Career Opportunities

1990 Naked Tango

1990 Against the Law (TV series)

1990 Heat Wave (TV movie)

1990 Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael

1990 Men Don't Leave

1990 Rhythm Nation 1814 (short)

1989 Cookie

1988 The Great Outdoors

1988 The Prince of Pennsylvania

1987 Less Than Zero

1987 The Lost Boys

1987 Light of Day

1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash

1985-1986 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series)

– The Creeper (1986)

– The Human Interest Story (1985)

1986 Gung Ho

1985 Amazing Stories (TV series)

– Santa '85 (1985)

1985 Summer's End (short)

1985 Real Genius

1985 The Man with One Red Shoe

1985 Girls Just Want to Have Fun

1985 Desperately Seeking Susan (music by)

1984 Grandview, U.S.A.

1984 Revenge of the Nerds

1984 Reckless

1984 The Seduction of Gina (TV movie)

1978 The Paper Chase (TV series)

I have seen TEN of his movies and I never knew who he was until now! For shame as a a musician to not know what I am listening to.

Quartet rehearsals are starting to make me very unhappy.

So much excitement! Surrounded by so little excitement! I don't know if I can take it!

You know, as crazy as it sounds, I think spraining my ankle was a good thing for me. I have been forced to set aside some time to rest and care of myself. Elevate and ice. I really cannot be terribly productive while icing and elevating. I cannot practice, or clean my room, or go grocery shopping. I CAN, however, watch movies, talk on the phone, play Donkey Kong 64, watch required films on my laptop.

I have been working very hard. Maybe this is God's way of saying "chill out, dude." Okay. I'll take a short break :)

ASU audition in one and a half hours. Let's kill it!

Humoresque quotes:

"You know, if you play violin, you'll have to carry a pianist around with you all the time."

"You thought we had a musician in the family because he followed the organ grinder... it was the MONKEY he wanted!"

"Hey, where's Paul?"
"He's practicing."
"Awww, does he have to?"
"He doesn't have to."
"You mean he WANTS to?"

"You might have it!"
"So you think I'm terrific."
"You took the words right out of your mouth."

"This is my friend Paul Boray, and I'm sure that any friend of mine is not welcome here."

"Take that glint out of your eye."
"Glint?"
"Mmmhmm, that gleam. I don't know how you men get that way, but every time you meet an attractive woman, you begin to plan on how and where you can club her wings down."


"The first few minutes I didn't have any control!"
"Forget it... it was only perceptible to the whole audience."

"I fruffed that fast passage in the Brahms."
"Don't worry, you won't hear from Brahms in the morning."

"What are you afraid of, Helen?"
"I'm just careful."
"Of what?"
"The world in general."
"That's pretty vague."
"It's a woman's privilege to be vague."

"She's as complex as a Bach fugue."

"Did I ever tell you I was in love once? It took me two weeks to get over her. I played all the 32 Beethoven sonatas, it took exactly two weeks."

"A French philosopher once listed 300 ways of committing suicide. Well he left one out--falling in love with an artist."

Pretty sure I sprained my ankle last night. Pooh pooh.
Of course I am signed up to play a piece in studio class today which involves stomping on the ground.

Musicians are so negative. I can't stand it anymore. Yeah, you have a lot to do... but YOU'RE PLAYING MUSIC FOR A LIVING. COME ON PEOPLE. STOP WHINING.

50% off Valentine's candy at Safeway. Yup.

When I was single, I never thought of Valentine's Day as Singles' Awareness Day. I thought of it as 'buy yourself some chocolate' day.

A little misnomer that people say often.  Say there are two people named Alex in a room, and your name is Tom and you are sitting between the two Alexes. It would be a funny thing to say, "I'm in an Alex sandwich!" But really, if you are between the two Alexes, you are a Tom sandwich with Alex bread.  When you eat a sandwich, you call it by what is in the middle of sandwich, not what is on the outside. You don't say "I'm eating a sourdough sandwich!" when you're really having turkey and swiss.

So. I'm a Tom sandwich with Alex bread. NOT an Alex sandwich.

PONG's game last night was wicked. We scored the first point, then the other team scored SEVEN IN A ROW to make it 1-7.  We were looking pretty bad, so we called a timeout and regrouped, deciding to switch from to a vert stack.  It worked... we answered with five in a row to make the score 6-7.  SO exciting!!!

We then traded points to tie it at 10-10.  After some pretty intense D, me getting punched in the face and rolling on the ground, and excitement abound, the other team scored 3 more points to end the game on soft cap at 13-10. We lost, but I was still very, very proud of my team for pulling together like that. I love PONG!

In addition, we have been missing our top two guys these two weeks (and our top girl for this game). Nate Johnson, a total game changer, and Rob Norbeck, an all-around solid player... imagine if the whole team was there, what we could have accomplished...

Lulling the other teams into a false sense of security, quietly gaining strength every week... that's what we're all about.

PONG... my favorite league team so far!

Spring 2009 -- Fhloston Paradise (in Tallahassee)
Fall 2009 -- Cheaper than Gold (Tim Streit)
Spring 2010 -- 3BK (Nate Johnson + Lindsey Doedens)
Fall 2010 -- Fall Chickens (Paul + me)
Spring 2011 -- PONG (Paul + me)

Soon enough... I'll have a list of like 20 teams. Just wait.

It's scary to want something this much. To practice practically from the moment I wake up until my head hits the pillow at night, to invest so much effort and time into one goal, and still it's a long shot. Dream big, they say...

Clint Foreman of the New World Symphony won a job with the Boston Symphony. Wonderful, Clint!

Hey readers... do you know what this means for ME?

It means that there will definitely be an opening in the NWS...

None too many updates this month. It's been busy, a little stressful at times, and apparently not post-provoking.

Arizona State

Florida State

They're so similar!

I totally went skiing yesterday. In Arizona. And I didn't fall and I learned to turn and stop. And go really fast. And it was awesome.

I was just asked by an orchestra to sub for a concert, and now I am going to live my lifelong dream of playing John Williams music. Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, along with cool things like Dances with Wolves and Schindler's List... it's going to be a good one!

Hearing the word "excellent" in my lessons more these days. Yes! Yes! Yes!

$80 in my bank account right now. Cool.

Sigur Ros
is my friend.

My order of favorite albums:

1) Takk... (thank you)
The first album I bought, and it's still the best. So intimate at times, so celebratory at times. Truly it has brought me comfort in my darkest hours.  My life would not be the same if this did not exist.


2) Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (with a buzz in our ears, we play endlessly)
I may be biased for this album, because I listened to it--almost exclusively--in a very happy time of my life. Here is another masterpiece of Sigur Ros. There are definitely some songs on Takk... that are better than others, but every song on this album is awesome. So free... it's like a beautiful musical party.

3) Hvarf-Heim (roughly: haven/home)
Half of the album, "Hvarf," is new songs.  The other half, "Heim" is live acoustic versions of old songs. I will refer to the "Hvarf" half.  These songs are expansive, barren, hopeful.  There isn't too much popular music out there that can be called "beautiful," but this is, it really is. It is my Hvarf.

4) Ágætis Byrjun (an alright start)
An alright start indeed! The album is pretty varied, with carefree songs like Olsen Olsen, mysterious mixes of music in Ný batterí, or cool grooves like Hjartað hamast.  Most people would agree that the best song on the album is Starálfur, which uses minimalistic techniques--I've been a longtime fan of minimalism :)

5) ( ) (untitled)
You can tell that these last two albums are a bit earlier in their career. They still have Sigur Ros magic, of course, but they are not as exciting. This album is calm, very calm, like still water. It's peaceful.

If you have never checked out Sigur Ros, please do yourself a favor and go listen. I promise you that if you have any appreciation for beauty, you will like this music. I am a musician myself, and never anywhere else have I heard music so heavenly, like it doesn't even belong in this world.

People are stupid. And cats poop where they're not supposed to.

So here's what I did. I put balloons in my roommates's backpack, lunchbox, bag of food on the counter, her food cabinet space, and the refrigerator.  I also filled her bathtub with balloons (as much as it could handle without them falling out), stuffed them into her vanity, put some in the bathroom trash can and sink, and scattered the remaining balloons over the bathroom floor.

I wasn't there to witness the reaction to this, but I did hear about it later. Apparently in the middle of the night, her boyfriend needed to use the bathroom very badly, and had to fight against the balloons on the ground to even open the door. Once her got the door open, it was a battle to get to the toilet, and then a battle to use the sink. After these efforts, he went to get a refreshing drink of water, and... there were balloons in the refrigerator. Hahaha! I got em' pretty good :)

The next morning I was wondering what I was in for. All they did was try to blockade my door with balloons by taping them to the floor... did they really think that would work? I am not very strong, but I am strong enough to pull some scotch tape off of the ground. I thought it was a weak attempt, but it still made me laugh. Last night we popped all of the balloons and there was a balloon graveyard. However, this did not stop me from finding a balloon in my toilet later that day. Yuck.

ANYWAY...

First day of New Year Fest tournament today. I had a lot of fun and now I am SO TIRED! I am going to bed at 9:00. Yup.

I am happy right now. I can sleep in tomorrow! The VOTS welcome clinic went exceptionally well--8 people from our new team were there, about 3 times as many as any other team.  And they played WELL. And I feel somehow that we bonded together.  It's like they're all friends already.  I feel so good about our team right now!

When I got home after the clinic, I went to use the bathroom, and found this little surprise:

Paul's birthday was last week, and my roommate and her boyfriend got some balloons (like 10 maybe) for the occasion. We didn't know what to do with the balloons after our little party, so naturally, the next time I went to use my bed, there were balloons hidden under the covers.

I laughed and fished them out and threw them into my roommate's closet. Later that day, I hear "Ashleeeeeeey!!"

haHA!

Remember that there are only about 10 balloons at this point. A few days pass and I see nothing of the balloons, and I start to think that the war is over. NOPE. I came home tonight and my bathroom door was closed. I knew something fishy was going on, because I never leave my bathroom door closed (I don't need to, as it's connected to my room). I open the door to 150 balloons filling up my tiny bathroom. THEY GOT ME AGAIN! It was hilarious and I laughed and laughed and even posted on facebook about it.

What am I supposed to do with these now? I ask my roommate.
"That's for you to decide."

Hmm. It IS for me to decide. I might have spent a good 40 minutes tonight transferring balloons, but it will be TOTALLY worth it. Stay tuned for an update on what happened next!

The results of the draft, Team PONG!:

Nate Johnson
Paul Otto
Jacob Walsh
Rob Norback
Alex Prescott
Jeff Shelton
Brent Armstrong
Dave Abdoo
Bryan Reyna
Sean Tierney
Ryan Niedzielko
Elan Krojanker

Melanie Busch
Ashley (me!)
Stephanie Duncan
Alex Nishi

I am excited!

Draft is stressful and exciting, and I don't want to admit it, but I am so worked up about it that it is messing with my ability to sleep. What up wid dat? Anyway--draft tonight will unveil our secret plan to dominate league (nope). We at least we know already that we get the best draftable girl.

All my troubles melt away with Donkey Kong 64... all except trying to get golden bananas.

Nobody wants to hear 20 minutes of songs about pigs on a beautiful Sunday afternoon! Stop wasting my time!!!

THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN THE HEAD AND THE HANDS MUST BE THE HEART!

So there's a notice on my mailroom door for a found doggie. It says, no joke, that the dog is a "whight femal."

Yup.

In other news, today is Paul's birthday. Happy birthday, Paul!

Also, I watched probably my favorite episode of 30 Rock (so far) today.  I'm working my way through the series and just got to episode 3 in season 4--where Liz and Jack go to Stone Mountain to try to find a new cast member for the show. It wasn't the funniest episode I've seen, but it sure did make some good social commentary.

Liz and Jack go to Georgia with different expectations. Jack thinks that the country people he will meet are simple and therefore more pure and good. Liz believes that no matter where you go, you will find both kindness and evil. Turns out Liz was right. Best quote of the episode:

Jack: "Why are you people laughing at this? You are supposed to be better, nicer... but you're terrible! You're all terrible, just like the people in New York!"
Liz: "All God's children are terrible."

It's true, isn't it? You think that there is one person out there who isn't terrible--well you're wrong. We all act in selfish, evil, ways. Remember that. We are all terrible.

I'm taking a class this semester entitled "film music," and for the class we have to watch two entire movies per week. Not too shabby, not too shabby at all...

So I had an adventure at airport security yesterday. I was running late. As I entered the long lines of security at MCO, I had 45 minutes left before my flight took off. I though I'd be fine, that I'd be sure to get to my gate on time. And I was ...until I got to the x-ray checkpoint.

I am taking Craig's N64 to Tempe because, well, why not? Anyway, it turned up as a "suspicious item" at the checkpoint.  So the suitcase had to be pulled aside and checked.  A security dude opened my bag, found the system, and did some test on it where he wipes it with a little tab and puts the tab into a machine. All at the breakneck speed of a turtle.  While doing this, he kept teasing me about having an N64. "What, you don't have a Playstation or Xbox?"
"No," was my curt response.

The machine beeped, which I guess was bad, because they he had to summon a supervisor. Then they asked me to put all of my other items on the table to be checked. This included my flute. I waited and waited as the time ticked by. I looked at my cellphone. I had TEN minutes before my flight took off. WHAT? I needed to get out of there!

Finally a supervisor came to check my stuff, but I had to wait a little bit longer for a female security person to give me a pat-down. After being thoroughly violated, I look over to my stuff and see someone unzipping my flute case. OH NO HE DI-INT.

I began to panic and completely lose control. Stories of ruined instruments run through my head. "Please be very, very, very careful with that," I say as urgently as possible.

This is not a good time for me. I am sick. Snot is running down my nose. My flight leaves in 7 minutes. And someone who has no idea of the value of my flute (both monetarily and to my life) is handling it. I am pretty sure that I started crying at this point.

Finally, someone told me that I could go. Knowing that I would be unable to easily zip my suitcase back up with everything inside (it was pretty tightly packed), I pile my arms high with sweaters that were inside, and RUN to the tram.

I made it to my gate literally 4 minutes before the flight was scheduled to take off. There was a seat left for me. Believe me when I say that I was thanking God at the moment.

On the plane and in the air, I gradually calmed down (my heart rate was alarmingly high). I went over the scenario in my head and realized what I had done. I had lost control.  I had let my emotions control me. I was rude to the security workers, I am sure of it. I was short in my responses to questions, I had a very condescending tone to my voice, and I didn't treat them as they ought to be treated as respectable human beings. It wasn't their fault I was running late for my flight. They were just doing their job.

I felt bad for my actions. I could not tell the employees that I was sorry, but I could ask for God's forgiveness, for whenever you sin against a human, you sin against your Creator as well. I do regret being rude and if I went back in time, I would have handled the situation much differently. I wish that someone could have been there with me, someone more logical in dealing with their emotions, who could have told me to calm down. We keep each other honest, you know, and two decent humans are often better people together than apart. Maybe this is one of the reasons we get married--to keep each other honest.

(Unless you're Bonnie and Clyde.)

Honestly, I had no idea that a person could have so much snot.

Alas, my last night in Florida has come. :(

Soon it will be back to the ol' grindstone. This is a big semester for me. My success now not only affects my resume, it affects the entire direction of my life. I am going to have to be militaristic in my practicing. No excuses anymore. This is where we separate the men from the boys.

I know that people don't know this, and it's not a crime because I frequently ask others the same question, but I've really grown to dislike the question, "so what are you going to do after you graduate?" I boil up inside every time someone asks me.

The short answer is "I don't know." To answer this query I usually shrug my shoulders and smile as if I am joking. But I'm not.  I don't know what I am going to do after I graduate. I know what I WANT to do, but as for what is actually going to happen--I have no clue.

If you are reading this, please do not ask me what I am going to do after I graduate. Don't ask me until I've graduated. I might have an answer then.

ANYWAY
My time in Florida was good and restful as always, good for the soul. Every time I leave (and the times have been many), I am sad to say goodbye such good people and true friends, and the love of my parents and relatives, and the place where I lived for most of my life. The good news is, it will not be long before I come back.

There's no sadness in leaving
If you leave for a reason
The best of all reasons
Is to come back again

(Oh, and having a t.v. in my room--with cable!--is pretty cool too.)

For now, I get to look forward to seeing my wonderful boyfriend again! See you guys on the other side of the Mississippi!

Wish I didn't have to work today. 3 days is too long for a cold.

I've got a cold again :(
Just can't stop these Florida viruses like I used to.

On a different note... there's an artist out there named Ke$ha? Kedollar, ha!

Neglecting my flute like woah lately.

My grandpa came over to visit tonight and would not stop talking about how I should give Bristol Palin flute lessons (since apparently she is going to the same school as me). Thanks for the advice, Grandpa. He really does make the best blog posts, doesn't he?

These past few days have been just awesome. I am so happy. I feel safe and loved and comfortable. I can be myself and not be judged for it.

I have friends in Arizona, but not people I have known all my life (like my parents) or since high school (like my friends). It takes time to build up trust and love in relationships.

I suppose though that I should be thankful for not being here all the time. As the saying goes, absence does make the heart grow fonder. I have experienced loneliness in Tallahassee and Tempe. And now I am qualified to appreciate true friendship.

Pure friendship--it's what I find when I come back home.

I signed up for VOTS! How about you?

1-7-2011

My lucky day.

HEY. I'm good at poker.
MONEYBAGS MCGEE.

I GOT AN AUDITION AT NEW WORLD SYMPHONY.

!!!!!!!!

Black Swan tonight in a girls night out. It's great to just hang with the girls every once in a while.

PSA: Kids, don't become ballerinas.

My blog is dumb.
I don't say anything worth reading anymore.
Maybe I've run out of things to say. I apologize.

HEY. PEOPLE.
I'M A FLUTIST.
I PLAY THE FLUTE.
NOT THE FLAUT.

A cold on the first day of work... boo.  Didn't get much done today. But now that I've started, I'm determined to finish before I leave for school.

Also, I went to the back doctor today. Apparently, one of the discs in my back (one that he did surgery on back in the day) is rapidly aging and that is why I get back pain when I play a lot of ultimate. However, he did not recommend that I stop playing or change anything at all. He said, be young, do the things you want to do, and if it gets worse and there is pain all of the time, we can fix it. So... that was good news.

(For those of you who don't know, I had major back surgery in the summer of 2000, so I have a history of back problems).

Also, got to see my high school flute teacher today. It was great. She told me that someone had shown her the "Clew Crew" on facebook, lol. I guess she was going to find out at some point.

I'm short.

Titusvillians are full of fun and win.

January
Arledon's wedding. Sent flute away. Blue Man Group. Medieval Times. Food poisoning in Tallahassee. Titusville scrimmage. Started getting involved with PHX-ation (now Spitfire). New Year Fest, played with a women's team for the first time. Phone call from a mean mother made me upset.

February
Played on league with 3BK. Climbed Flatiron. Celebrated Valentine's Day with a boyfriend for only the second time ever. Car got broken into. Learned a lot about Russian music. Winter Olympics in Canada. Struggled with an ongoing issue.

March
Keeping busy all the time. Prof. Amsler was a guest artist at ASU. Hiked South Mountain together and loved it!  Some very painful scrapes from league. Spring break at the beach in Florida. Had a good, controlled 23rd birthday with friends and boyfriend. 83 birthday wishes on facebook.

April
The Easter earthquake. Fire alarm during an exam.  Beach tournament in San Diego, did not have too much fun. Practiced a ton for my recital. Gave my first master's recital! Hung out with my parents in AZ, discovered that I'm pretty terrible at volleyball. Wrote a cool paper about Stravinsky's death. My first VOTS finals.

May
School ended. Two ulti leagues, was on the best team for both. Flew home to surprise mom for Mother's Day.  Struggled to practice at all. Made a few good friends and started to play Settlers nonstop.


June
Trip to Chiricahua with Paul. So much fun! A health condition that scared me for a while. Attempted to wakeboard for the first time. Beat a Zelda game for the first time. Played Risk for the first time. Basically did nothing productive all month.  Mohini tournament in Flagstaff. Yankees vs. D'Backs.  Craig's 25th at Howl at the Moon. Found out that Tville ulti isn't all I thought. Made a friend at the Health Dept.

July
Spent in Florida. Worked at Health Dept. Began to be very, very confused about my future. Consulted some very nice people and have not come to any conclusion. Played a tourney with Poached and Fried, where I literally ran a girl to the ground.  Had a very important ground-breaking conversation. Confusion ensued. Harry Potter World!

August
Started seriously training with Spitfire.  A derpcanyon trip and a Grand Canyon trip. National Flute Convention, where I caught up with some old friends. School started. Decided to captain for fall league.

September
The heat lingered on. Epic road trip is epic. Quartet. Did a clinic at a high school.  Sectionals. Got a little sick.  School and Fall Chickens. 

October
Wrote an 18-page paper. Regionals.  Climbed Brown's Peak and took some pretty cool pictures at the top.  Second round of the concerto competition. Breast Cancer awareness hatter.  Halloween... what did I do? Sit at Paul's house and give out candy.

November 
Rubik's Cube. A fight. Hit in the throat with a disc. Won the AFS flute competition! League finals was a blast and I won a raffle. Thanksgiving at home.

December
Beth's wedding. Wrote a 35-page paper. Mark's visit. School ended with no finals! Visited Craig in LA. Christmas with the family and midnight mass.  Straight A's once again.

Currently 30 degrees warmer here than in Phoenix. I'm in the right place!

A little job opened up at the Health Dept, so I'll be working 9-1 for the next two weeks, starting on Monday.

Derpistan.

8 Etudes and a Fantasy by Elliot Carter... what a ride we are going to take this semester. I honestly don't know if I have played a piece able to rival this one in difficulty. And we haven't even started rehearsing yet!

My grandpa is going ga-ga over this 10-year-old opera singer. I heard her sing and said, "yeah... she's good." He almost started yelling at me. "Good is not the word for her! She's fantastic!"

The truth is, I was upset by his eager praise. Adult musicians do not want to hear about 10-year-old opera singers. I know opera singers who have trained their whole lives, who are by all accounts more deserving of praise than little Jackie and her two years of training, and who cannot find work, let alone fame, for the life of them. Yes, Jackie is a wonderful singer. Yes, she's 10 years old. But is she really better than the professionals? I think not. But maybe all this attention can help everyone; maybe the opera genre will tag along with her arrival into fame.

Firebird... you are hard.

HEY! Christmas 2010. YESSSSS.

Jesus our savior was born. Let's celebrate!

Highlights of my haul this year:

GPS from Paul
Settlers of Catan and a sweet ocarina from Craig
a crap ton of clothes (including the hot red dress I've always wanted), a Yankees visor, a watch, and other items from my parents

YAY PRESENTS

Funniest moment of the day: when the entire Stahl family began clapping and chanting in full protest fashion, "WE WANT PRESENTS! WE WANT PRESENTS! WE WANTS PRESENTS!"

We missed Craig's playing, which usually transforms our dull family gathering into a genuine family piano bar. Next year he'll play for us as a professional.  And, in my wildest dreams, I'll be coming home from Miami...
(what's in Miami, you ask? If things go my way, maybe you'll find out in a few months).

I'm playing flute in my former roommate's wedding, and this is what she told the singers:
"My awesome roomie Ashley Stahl is going to play flute with us, and people's heads will probably explode with awe."

lol

Sigh. It's only a matter of time before the outburst begins for something I didn't do, something I tried to prevent. Life really isn't fair sometimes, you know that?

Everything sounds so much more enjoyable than practice right now, but once I do put the instrument to my lips, what a great feeling it is...

Best running charades category of the night:
Titusvillians inside jokes, including "Steven's talking," "derpistan," "hey, it's me, nick!," "you gotta want it," "gay day tuesday," jarvises are +1 +1," "nao!," and so many others. Gotta love it, guys. Gotta love it.

Thanks for another good one :) You guys are the best.

My favorite Care Bear when I was very young was Funshine Bear. When I got a few years older, my favorite switched to Cheer Bear. Sometimes I still wonder how Funshine Bear is taking it.

Ah, the more I think about it, the more I want it. 'Tis a dangerous thing to have hope.

One of my pet peeves--one of the things that people say which annoys me the most--is when people say things like "welcome to the real world," referencing the difficulties of "real world" compared to the life I am currently living.

Okay, so I don't have a full time job yet--that means I'm not part of the real world? I acknowledge that your life may have its share of difficulties, but does that really mean that my own are any less severe? Remember high school--remember how we were all emotional train wrecks, how we always had school breathing down our backs, how our social lives were of utmost importance? The troubles of a high schooler are not the same as that of an adult, to be sure. But are they any less difficult?

Hurp de derp.


I'm in Florida.

I saw CRAIGGY today!

Sigur Ros makes my life better. Probably more than 3%.

4.0 throughout grad school so far. Can I do it for one more semester for a perfect record? I think I can.

Wow. One more semester of my master's degree left. It seems like just yesterday that I was graduating high school. I look at high school seniors and they seem so young now! Now all my friends are getting married, finding careers, moving away from home... where did all the time go?

I look back and see how much I have grown since I have been here, how much I have learned about myself, about the world, about flute and music and teaching, about ultimate and so much more. Striving to fulfill my highest potential in every area of life.

And it really is amazing, the life I have made for myself in only one and a half years. I don't get homesick anymore. This has become another home to me. Should I be afraid to get too comfortable?

I got a "Best of VOTS" award! Best speed, look here

I think my head almost exploded today when one of my students told me that an old teacher taught her that you need to tighten your embouchure for high notes.

Baha, everyone in FL is complaining about the cold right now and the low of 17 tonight. Here in Tempe, it is a beautiful 77 degrees right now with a low tonight of 50. Suckas!

Sorry to m'peeps, but I've had to make practice a priority lately. I have a two recording sessions for some pretty major things coming up, and practicing is my full-time job right now. It's time to prove to the world that I'm a professional musician.

It's weird skipping parties and saying no to fun things so I can practice. It's like... can't you practice some other time? But the answer is no. If I have planned to go to a party at night and I haven't practiced enough by the time that party rolls around, I cannot go. If I know that I am only going to have a few free hours in a day, I cannot plan to do things in those hours because I know that I need to practice.

This has actually been a pretty busy semester for me, and it really hasn't ended yet. I finished the last of my coursework today--yay!--but the practicing does not end. At least, not until Thursday, when the recordings have been made. Till then... I have to practice. Sorry friends.

I hate the ghost the most when I am writing papers.

Piston flute sonata. I dig it.

Allright guys. This may come as a surprise, but I don't really care who you are, I am not going to travel to Europe or to Canada or even cross-country to go see your flute recital. This especially applies if I have never met you before. So please, just stop inviting me via facebook to your recitals unless they are in places where I live (ie Arizona or Florida). Thank you.

Highs in the 70's and 80's till the day I leave. Acht Stuecke, I am going to miss this weather.

I'm applying to something that requires a resume in PDF format. This makes me wonder if they're making the applicants jump through hoops to see who will actually do it...

Our fears are only what we tell them to be.

(I'm actually not really a fan of the video... I think it draws too much attention away from the music. Just listen.)

Wow. A good day. Watched some t.v., but also got some emailing and cleaning done. Not too much. Then some quality girl time, meeting some cute little ones, a few games of Settlers including an out-of-town friend, and the promise that tomorrow is not going to bring any more stress. Sigh of relief. Break is here!

Christmas playlist on iTunes... GO!
Christmas music makes me happy :)

I'm not going to apologize for doing nothing today. In the past week, I've written 35 pages, gotten up at 5:30, 4:30, and 3:30, recorded a memory project... I could go on but I don't want to bore you. Bottom line, I deserve a day to do nothing. So there.

Last day of school ogh eyeeeeeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Phoenix--and CAMELBACK!--made an appearance on the Biggest Loser this past week! Phoenix represent!

Just stapled my entire packet together. I am finished! Not my best work by any means, but it sure will get the job done. Wanna know how many pages I am turning in? It's a disgusting amount. 35 pages. I am turning in 35 pieces of paper for this final.

Yup.

Recorded memorization project...check.

Finished writing the content of my paper. 16 pages of pretty shoddy work, but it'll have to do. Time for an ice cream break, and then it's on to working the citations, the score, and the bibliography. And printing all this crap out.

Then rep project. It's 10:46 PM. Oh graduate school.

Marge: "Bart, don't make fun of grad students. They've just made a terrible life choice"

Don't read this post. It is me venting and it will be boring. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm working at a good pace. Got 6 pages done in only about 5 hours of work. Talked about style, background, and form.  Still to tackle: theme/motives, harmonies (not much material there), flute solos, and orchestration. 

Maybe tomorrow won't be so bad. Just don't remind me about the musical examples, which I have to write in STUPID finale notepad, or the citations, or the bibliography page, or the annotated score...or my memorization project tomorrow...or my repertoire assignment, which I probably will not do until an hour before it's due...

Tomorrow won't be so bad. God will provide.

Total exhaustion and 20 pages in 1 and a half day. And a memory project when I haven't been able to practice. Oh, and a rep project. By. Monday.

No. It's not possible. I need clones. CLONES I TELL YOU.

I hate Macs.

Homegirl Beth is getting herself married in two days! I will be in South Carolina for a couple days to be in her wedding. I am SO EXCITED!!! This is one of the best, if not THE best person I know. Other people I know (including you, reader) aren't offended by this statement because they know it's true. She's been a friend to me for years. 12 years, to be exact. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's Beth Kern.