Ice, Ice... Baby?

Friends, the Snowpocalypse has come for us.  Never before have I experienced sleet, or freezing rain to this degree.  Ice is some scary shite.  I am bracing for dear life.  As I write this.  Because obviously I have ice in my room.  At this very moment.

On another note, I have discovered that I really like turning pages.

This Semester...

Marks a change.

I hope.


I went out today and I bought about $75 worth of school supplies and general life-assisting equipment.  The most important on my list was a planner, which was written in all-caps and underlined on my shopping list.


Honestly, over the past two semesters I have been so disappointed with my performance (that's what she said) that I KNEW that I had to make a change.

I just hope that this won't be like a new year's resolution... One that you make in advance but don't keep, ever.


Also, sorry for the boring post.  I'll try to do better next time.

Ice Skating

Yesterday I went ice skating.  Like a boss.

It had been awhile since I had been skating, so I decided to take it slow.  And by "slow," I meant that I went from 0-20~ mp/h in about three seconds.  Everything was fine until I realized that it was not, in fact, a straight-shot rink, that I actually had to make a left turn.  Time kind of slowed down and I came up to the understanding that 1. The skates were not as sharp as I thought they were, 2. I was losing control, and 3. That I was about to look like something akin to a human NASCAR wreck.

As I started falling, I thought to myself "Ok, I just need to get all of my limbs out of the way.  Then I can land and I'll be fine."  Unfortunately, I did not have enough time between the thought and the actual falling to fully move everything, and I landed on my leg, my knee stretching something in the process.

The adrenaline and excitement of ice-skating lasted me thoughout most of the time, including the time that I decided to race Chris, and won, but in the process whamming straight into the opposite wall because I didn't have enough time to stop and flying backwards.  My glasses dislodged and soared through the air whilst I... bounced, is the only word that probably can give it justice... up like something out of a Looney Toons cartoon.  I landed on my ass, and just laughed.

I, quite literally, Rofled.

Now I write this to you, a day later, and a day more sore.  I can barely bend my knee, and I feel like an old man, hobbling around like I need a cane.

But yet, I still want to go back to that rink.  Is that masochistic of me?

Nah, probably just stupid.

I Hope...

I hope I'm not getting my hopes up for nothing.

I have been looking forward to starting this small ensemble for over half a semester.  Plans have been in the works for just as long, and I've even gone so far as to hand pick the members in them... I have crafted what I believe to be an extremely strong program, and have gone so far as to analyze (or at least highlight some notes) into each piece.

I hope it's not all for naught.

I hope that I can trust these people.

I hope that I won't not use too many double-negatives.

Wait...

Honestly though, there's so much excitement going into this next semester.  I am so pleased with this prospect, and yet... There are doubts.  I think that I've put more work into this ensemble in a few short weeks than I have with anything in my life, ever.  It's starting to become a sort of obsession.

Will I be able to craft this ensemble into what I want it to be?

Will I be able to count on the musicians?

Will I be a good enough teacher?

Will they listen to me, even though I'm their peer?

Will I lose my dignity...?  Will someone caaaaaaare?

Wait.

I suppose this counts as my first "selfish" use for my blog.  I'm just nervous as all get-out.  Nervous enough to use such an archaic term.

You understand.

Here's a picture of a bunny to offset the anxiety.

Music, the Mind, and Insanity

Well, it's 11:58 on a Tuesday night, and I have nothing to do but sit and kill myself over some music.

That's not really true, but I am analyzing it.

This semester, I am starting a small, eight-voiced SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) choral group, and I am extremely excited for it.  I have said before that it is my dream to one day be a choral director, and I am trying to take steps to ensure that it happens.

Is it sad that I am putting more thought into this than I am my solo music, the music that I am supposedly "here to study?"

I really wish I could think about my solo music as I do my choral music.  I have tried, and I am much more interested in it than I have been in the past, but it really just does not stir my passions (that's what she said).

To me, choral conducting is a very weird blend of artistry and science, a mix between musicality and kinesthetics.  There is so much that one can do in a gesture, and I find it so fascinating to see what conductor does what, or how one can make their choir sound good (or, by the flip side, really shitty).

I have also discovered how (NERD ALERT) fun score analysis can be!  I went out and bought some overly expensive multi-colored sharpie highlighters this afternoon, and have spent the better part of an hour highlighting different aspects of the score.  Pink is for tempo changes, red is for fortes and accents, orange is for crescendos and diminuendos,  green is for everything else, light blue is for boys, dark blue is for grown ups, and purple is for the homos.

I just seem to get lost in the music, and when I listen to it, I can't help but get sucked into it (I'm listening to music right now, which explains why that last sentence made absolutely NO sense whatsoever).

More and more, I'm looking forward to the start of the semester and the prospects that this project will bring.  However, I just KNOW that in my mind, I will make this a top priority and eschew things like schoolwork and actual PRACTICING (who needs that, right?)... But we will see where this semester takes us.  I am actually very very excited for it!

Cheers.

Have a picture of a puppy.

I am an Apple-whore

I have officially gone mad.

I was lucky enough to receive a 13" Macbook Pro for Christmas, and I think I love this more than I have anything in my entire life ever.

As soon as I got it, I started thinking of ways to protect it.  I started with a hard-case, but I didn't want just any case - It had to be FASHIONABLE.

I then got to thinking, "hey, what about when my grubby, oily fingers start hitting the keypad?  It'll get the keys all shiny and then no one will ever want to touch my computer because they'll think I have really really gross fingers and maybe they won't want to like, get to know me or date me.  They'll only think of me as the guy with really oily fingers."

So I got a keyboard cover, or "keyboard condom" as my friends have so affectionately called it.  It's really nice and is something like .01 mm so as to interfere as little as possible with your typing.

I also go to thinking "hey, what happens when I rest my wrist on the sides by the trackpad?  And what about when I get my oily fingers on the trackpad?  It'll get all shiny..."

So I got a trackpad cover and wrist covers.

and here's the finished product:

The covers are actually really cool - I got them from a website called SkinStyler (.com) and they're pretty cheap.  Believe it or not, the trackpad cover is actually supposed to enhance the experience of trackpadding (technical term), and they have an area where they will accept your own designs for covers - so if you are particularly artistic or you just find a cool design on the internet, you can upload that jpg or whatever and they'll make it for you at no additional charge.

The keyboard condom is a product of moshi (.com).  It's also really cool.

Ok, I think my geek-out moment is over.  I was just really excited because I received the wrist and trackpad covers today.

Hooray!

Peace out.

Winter Term

Winter Term for my college is supposed to be a time where one has the ability to either take a class (note the singular.  One class...) outside of their major in an attempt to "broaden their horizons."  They also have the option to take an internship or (monies permitting) go on one of the off-campus experiences.  I have a bunch of friends going to China, some to South Africa, etc.  Generally though, winter term is looked upon as a joke, and a drunken (or just really chill) time is had by all.

Or most.

I started off my winter term with food poisoning.  Never again will I be getting a cheeseburger animal-style from Inn-N-Out (fitting name for getting sick with, don't ya think?)...

That passed within a few days, but I am still not well... I went from a prone, nauseous mess to a prone, sniffly mess.  Apparently all that time I spent sleeping was not good for me (go figure?).

There really isn't a point to this post, either, and I don't know why I'm doing it since there really is only one person that follows this (hi Lauren), but I feel I need to express my frustration at this situation, so here it goes.

Gr.

First Post Shenanigans

One day, while experiencing a particularly ethereal state of sleep-deprivation and delirium, a boy started a blog.

Ok, that's a lie.  I think the literal thought that popped up in my head was "Eh, can't sleep.  Why not write about it?"

I suppose I should include a bit about me.  I am a junior in a small college in Indiana.  I am studying music in an attempt to become a choral conductor, something a great many of my peers are NOT want to do.  While they are talking about the latest opera singer gossip, and lamenting (or jubilating) about their voice-types, I am looking for people to talk about what the newest conducting gesture is supposed to mean, what to do in front of a choir and oh my lord, did you see what Prof. So-and-so did in rehearsal yesterday?  Soooo not kosher.

I'm 20 years old, my birthday falling coincidentally on a day where most kids dress up as their favorite transformer and most adult females dress up in an attempt to get laid.

I am also an Asian-American, hailing from Honolulu, Hawaii.

I suppose the point of this blog is going to be an amalgamation of all of the topics mentioned here.  Insomnia, music, conducting, Asian-ness, dressing up to get laid, etc.  In it, I will try to be witty, to be straight and to the point, and not go too much into the inner-turmoil that is my life, but we'll see what happens.  Like any blog, I intend to use this for somewhat selfish reasons, so, yeah.  There's that.

Here's a picture of a kitty:

Enjoy.