I like pianists.
(In general.)
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Well, I'm back. It's 11:30 PM and I have been traveling since 9:30 in the morning. Fourteen hours of traveling. So tired...
If truth be told, I'm not that pleased to be back in Tally. I have decided that anywhere I decide to go for grad school will be an upgrade to this city. Every time I come back into Tallahassee, it's like an immediate shadow washes over me. It's like, really...do I have to come back here again? Really? And then I sigh and count how many days it is until I can live somewhere else. If you lived here, you'd know what I'm talking about.
Today, in the fifteen minutes of driving in Tallahassee after getting off of the highway, I got cut off twice, a homeless dude knocked on my window asking for money while I was waiting at a light, a police car was on my street arresting what appeared to be another homeless dude, and dozens of stupid drunk kids tried to kill themselves by crossing the street in front of my moving car. I mean, really, I don't know how much worse of a place Tallahassee can get. Maybe if it was really cold all the time...
Don't get me wrong, FSU is a wonderful school, especially the College of Music, and I have a lot of really great friends and teachers here--don't for a second think that I feel the same way about you guys as I do about the city, no way--but it's not going to be enough to make me regret having to leave this place. Four years is long enough. Get me out of here.
If truth be told, I'm not that pleased to be back in Tally. I have decided that anywhere I decide to go for grad school will be an upgrade to this city. Every time I come back into Tallahassee, it's like an immediate shadow washes over me. It's like, really...do I have to come back here again? Really? And then I sigh and count how many days it is until I can live somewhere else. If you lived here, you'd know what I'm talking about.
Today, in the fifteen minutes of driving in Tallahassee after getting off of the highway, I got cut off twice, a homeless dude knocked on my window asking for money while I was waiting at a light, a police car was on my street arresting what appeared to be another homeless dude, and dozens of stupid drunk kids tried to kill themselves by crossing the street in front of my moving car. I mean, really, I don't know how much worse of a place Tallahassee can get. Maybe if it was really cold all the time...
Don't get me wrong, FSU is a wonderful school, especially the College of Music, and I have a lot of really great friends and teachers here--don't for a second think that I feel the same way about you guys as I do about the city, no way--but it's not going to be enough to make me regret having to leave this place. Four years is long enough. Get me out of here.
I'm here in Evanston posting from the public hotel computer...eww, there are probably germs all over these keys...and the hotel is playing Rampal's recording of Bolling's second suite for flute and jazz trio over the speakers as background music. For some reason, that really amuses me...
Well, it's actully not that cold here. My first thought when stepping out of the airport wasn't "wow it's cold out" but instead it was "why is everything so wet?" Apparently when it is warmer, the snow melts and gets everything all wet. Imagine that...even so, it was like 40 or 45 degrees when I got in. That's about as cold as Tallahassee gets, right? I walked into a Subway that night, and the guy working there was like, "Nice weather, huh?" And I've been hearing people talk about how nice the weather has been all weekend. It's riduculous. This is the WORST weather you can get in Florida. Crazy.
I'm just going to come out and say it. My audition was bad. I've had a special visit cold sore friend, of course right where my flute lies on the lip. Every time I play, it is actually painful. And I get puss all over my lip plate, and I literally have to peel my flute off when I stop playing. I mean, I can still play, but it really affects a lot of things. It's like I have a busted lip, or have started to play with braces again, or something.
So yeah...if there are any full scholarships to be had here, I'm pretty sure they're not going to me. I told the flute professor what happened, and you can't do much about it really, but I still don't think he was really impressed with my audition at all. I mean, I was physically incapable of playing well today.
Other than that, it's been a pretty nice weekend so far. Northwestern has this very northern feel about it, just as Arizona had a very western "desert" feel about it. (I bet LSU has a southern feel). There were patches of snow all over the place, and I really didn't want to embarass myself by taking too many pictures, because only stupid tourists do that. Anyway, I guess I should let someone else use the computer, so bye for now...
Well, it's actully not that cold here. My first thought when stepping out of the airport wasn't "wow it's cold out" but instead it was "why is everything so wet?" Apparently when it is warmer, the snow melts and gets everything all wet. Imagine that...even so, it was like 40 or 45 degrees when I got in. That's about as cold as Tallahassee gets, right? I walked into a Subway that night, and the guy working there was like, "Nice weather, huh?" And I've been hearing people talk about how nice the weather has been all weekend. It's riduculous. This is the WORST weather you can get in Florida. Crazy.
I'm just going to come out and say it. My audition was bad. I've had a special visit cold sore friend, of course right where my flute lies on the lip. Every time I play, it is actually painful. And I get puss all over my lip plate, and I literally have to peel my flute off when I stop playing. I mean, I can still play, but it really affects a lot of things. It's like I have a busted lip, or have started to play with braces again, or something.
So yeah...if there are any full scholarships to be had here, I'm pretty sure they're not going to me. I told the flute professor what happened, and you can't do much about it really, but I still don't think he was really impressed with my audition at all. I mean, I was physically incapable of playing well today.
Other than that, it's been a pretty nice weekend so far. Northwestern has this very northern feel about it, just as Arizona had a very western "desert" feel about it. (I bet LSU has a southern feel). There were patches of snow all over the place, and I really didn't want to embarass myself by taking too many pictures, because only stupid tourists do that. Anyway, I guess I should let someone else use the computer, so bye for now...
Thursday, February 05, 2009
There's been a surge of notes on facebook lately. Is it that time of the year when everyone needs to procrastinate? It's like the Tuesday of the semester. Nobody likes Tuesday.
Tuesday: Heeeeeeeey
Audition no. 2 this weekend: Northwestern at Chicago (actually Evanston, but Chicago sounds so much cooler).
I don't know what to expect except that it will be cold.
Tuesday: Heeeeeeeey
Audition no. 2 this weekend: Northwestern at Chicago (actually Evanston, but Chicago sounds so much cooler).
I don't know what to expect except that it will be cold.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Coach: "I wrote 'Touchdown Machine' for you in the gradebook.'"
lol
Dave Glerum got fired from NPR. The economy won't let him keep his job. I simply cannot believe it.
He was the music announcer/anchor for WMFE Orlando on weekdays between the hours of 9 AM and 3:00 PM. I am so upset about this, you guys don't even know. I work at the Health Department every weekday over the summer from 9-2:30, and I listen to NPR the entire time I am there.
Dave was my best friend at work. I feel like I knew him. I remember one year when he played all of his mother's favorite pieces in an hour, in honor of mother's day. The next year around that time, he was gone for about a week, and we found out that it was because it was his mother had died. And after that, he played Brahms' German Requiem. And he has been playing
We went through so many fund drives together. We counted down the 100 favorite classical pieces together. I even voted for that. He was essentially the voice of the summer for me. And now he's going to be gone. What is NPR going to do now? Who will choose the music, who will talk about the relationship between Clara Schumann and Brahms, or about the premier of the Rite of Spring, or about why Mozart is so popular? Who will tell me how to pronounce Jean-Yves Thibaudet, or Essa-Pekka Salonen, or Bedřich Smetana? Who?
I'm so sorry, Dave. This is one listener who will really miss you.
lol
Dave Glerum got fired from NPR. The economy won't let him keep his job. I simply cannot believe it.
He was the music announcer/anchor for WMFE Orlando on weekdays between the hours of 9 AM and 3:00 PM. I am so upset about this, you guys don't even know. I work at the Health Department every weekday over the summer from 9-2:30, and I listen to NPR the entire time I am there.
Dave was my best friend at work. I feel like I knew him. I remember one year when he played all of his mother's favorite pieces in an hour, in honor of mother's day. The next year around that time, he was gone for about a week, and we found out that it was because it was his mother had died. And after that, he played Brahms' German Requiem. And he has been playing
We went through so many fund drives together. We counted down the 100 favorite classical pieces together. I even voted for that. He was essentially the voice of the summer for me. And now he's going to be gone. What is NPR going to do now? Who will choose the music, who will talk about the relationship between Clara Schumann and Brahms, or about the premier of the Rite of Spring, or about why Mozart is so popular? Who will tell me how to pronounce Jean-Yves Thibaudet, or Essa-Pekka Salonen, or Bedřich Smetana? Who?
I'm so sorry, Dave. This is one listener who will really miss you.
Monday, February 02, 2009
A few days ago, my camera broke. It was doing this strange thing with an "access" error message, the lens pulling in and out with strange whirring sounds, and finally a message to turn the camera off and back on again, which if I did, would cause the whole process to start over again.
I tried charging the battery, and then thought about replacing the battery, but I wanted to make sure that the battery was the problem before I bought it. So I looked online for some troubleshooting and found myself on this page:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t194522-access_probelm_dsc_w50_camera
which recommended a few good whacks to the camera to get it going.
Dubious, I hit my camera in my hand a few times. No dice, I was still having the same problem. So I tried hitting it on my desk--hard. And lo and behold, the problem was fixed. My camera is good as new again.
Moral of the story: never underestimate the power of hitting electronics until they work again.
-------------------------------------------------
I tried charging the battery, and then thought about replacing the battery, but I wanted to make sure that the battery was the problem before I bought it. So I looked online for some troubleshooting and found myself on this page:
http://www.fixya.com/support/t194522-access_probelm_dsc_w50_camera
which recommended a few good whacks to the camera to get it going.
Dubious, I hit my camera in my hand a few times. No dice, I was still having the same problem. So I tried hitting it on my desk--hard. And lo and behold, the problem was fixed. My camera is good as new again.
Moral of the story: never underestimate the power of hitting electronics until they work again.
-------------------------------------------------
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Haha, I just noticed that I forgot to write the word "day" in my last post. Talk about absentmindedness...
This is the first year I have ever watched the Super Bowl, and I really enjoyed it. (I rooted for Arizona because I might live there next year.) It came down to the last 30 seconds. So exciting.
HEY YOU
YEAH, YOU
This is the first year I have ever watched the Super Bowl, and I really enjoyed it. (I rooted for Arizona because I might live there next year.) It came down to the last 30 seconds. So exciting.
HEY YOU
YEAH, YOU
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Acht stuecke. I'm back. I had an adventure-filled day in Arizona. In as few words as I can manage:
-I was interviewed to appear on the Phoenix local news
-I witnessed a fight over an attempted bike robbery
-I bought an ipod for five bucks...wait, no, it's just an ipod case. oops.
-I saw some mad improvisation outside of the art museum
-Some of the girls in the ASU flute studio invited me out to eat after the recital. They are SO nice!!
-I slept the entire day yesterday
Oh, and for once in my life, I did sit next to a guy around my age on one of the long flights. I don't know if I would call him cute per se (he was married anyway), but we did have a lot of fun playing the Delta trivia game together for three hours.
I'm starting to realize that our generation has so many inside jokes, it's unbelievable.
-I was interviewed to appear on the Phoenix local news
-I witnessed a fight over an attempted bike robbery
-I bought an ipod for five bucks...wait, no, it's just an ipod case. oops.
-I saw some mad improvisation outside of the art museum
-Some of the girls in the ASU flute studio invited me out to eat after the recital. They are SO nice!!
-I slept the entire day yesterday
Oh, and for once in my life, I did sit next to a guy around my age on one of the long flights. I don't know if I would call him cute per se (he was married anyway), but we did have a lot of fun playing the Delta trivia game together for three hours.
I'm starting to realize that our generation has so many inside jokes, it's unbelievable.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Hey guys. I'm posting from the music library at ASU. I managed to find a computer that was logged in already. I have a lot to tell but not much time. Phoenix--this place is AWESOME. I could definitely see myself living here. The music school is freakin' amazing. I will post pics when I get back. The architechture is what makes it.
The weather is very nice--like I said about Cali, it's like Florida, except you are actually able to BREATHE. Someone here said "it's like you're in an oven instead of in a sauna." Much better...
My audition was pretty good. I think Dr. Buck liked it. I got the feeling that I might be in consideration for a scholarship, depending on other peoples auditions, of course.
All in all, I really like it here. Right now, it's my first choice.
The weather is very nice--like I said about Cali, it's like Florida, except you are actually able to BREATHE. Someone here said "it's like you're in an oven instead of in a sauna." Much better...
My audition was pretty good. I think Dr. Buck liked it. I got the feeling that I might be in consideration for a scholarship, depending on other peoples auditions, of course.
All in all, I really like it here. Right now, it's my first choice.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tomorrow is my first grad school audition, Arizona State University in Phoenix. I'm pretty excited. I've never been to Arizona before. It's supposed to be a lot warmer than it is here (they aren't the Sun Devils for nothing). I'm a little nervous about traveling alone, only because I'm cutting it a little close time-wise (I wanted to go to my class today) and I've never used the Jacksonville Airport before. But I've traveled alone many times in the past, so I'm sure I'll be allright. Maybe this time I'll get a seat next to a cute guy. Sigh. It never happens that way.
I'm gonna knock em' dead 'cause I'm not sick. I've got a good feeling about this one...
I'm gonna knock em' dead 'cause I'm not sick. I've got a good feeling about this one...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
1) I've become a t.v. addict
2) I had a really great lesson today. REALLY GREAT.
3) I went to court today. It was scary. I set up my hearing date. That is all.
4) Phoenix in two days!
5) My red coat is cooler than all other coats combined.
6) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
P.S. This is my impression of me at ultimate class:
"HELLO MY NAME IS ASHLEY AND I SAY THINGS VERY LOUDLY AND OBNOXIOUSLY AND I WILL NOT STOP SAYING THINGS LOUDLY AND OBNOXIOUSLY AND I CANNOT STOP TALKING FRISBEE FRISBEE FRISBEE OH MAN I AM SO COOL."
2) I had a really great lesson today. REALLY GREAT.
3) I went to court today. It was scary. I set up my hearing date. That is all.
4) Phoenix in two days!
5) My red coat is cooler than all other coats combined.
6) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
P.S. This is my impression of me at ultimate class:
"HELLO MY NAME IS ASHLEY AND I SAY THINGS VERY LOUDLY AND OBNOXIOUSLY AND I WILL NOT STOP SAYING THINGS LOUDLY AND OBNOXIOUSLY AND I CANNOT STOP TALKING FRISBEE FRISBEE FRISBEE OH MAN I AM SO COOL."
