The Bolivarian Revolution and the Chavez Code

The last couple days have been especially educational, despite my recovery process (Just a cough left, by the way). After a few glimpses, I finally have a fairly complete outline of recent Venezuelan history and society. First we watched a documentary about the Bolivarian Revolution, and later we listened to Eva Goliger, author of The Chavez Code, talk about the US attempts to destablize Venezuela that she uncovered using the Freedom Of Information Act. I'm not as certain as she is about all her findings, but Venezuela has definately been misrepresented in the US media.

Hey everybody,

I'm pretty much sick in bed today, but I decided to take some time to check e-mail and such. Yesterday a few of us went to one of the free clinics set up by the Chávez administration and were treated by a Cuban doctor. They took some blood to rule out the really nasty diseases and had the test results back in half an hour. We were told that it was just a flu, but we were all glad to hear that it wasn't something worse.

Anyway, for now we're mostly resting and waiting for our fevers to break.

Venezuela - End of Festival to Coroni

Well, it's been more than a few days since I've been able to blog, so I'll just post some of my memories: (Sorry, still no pics!)

At the final night of the Festival, SPC won an award for best song: "Si somos americanos," a song celebrating the shared heritage of all Americans, from the northernmost villiage in Canada to the southernmost tip of Tierra Del Fuego. Our director's own composition, "Let America be America Again" got only a lukewarm response, but it was cut down from 20 minutes of choir and brass ensemble to the last 6 minutes accompanied by keyboard, so I expect a better response when we sing it in its full form in Caracas.

Another of the groups that performed that night was Sies Seis, a Venezuelan vocal jazz group. I'm definately going to find a way to get one of their CDs, because it's exactly the type of music I listen to. I already know of a couple German a cappella groups, but this is the first time I've been able to find a South American group in this style. All their songs were in English or scat, but I hope they have some in Spanish too.

Yesterday we stopped in a small town to see the Festival of St. John the Baptist. Crowds of people in red were in the streets dancing and chanting "eh áh" (apparently an African word). At each intersection, four people carrying an alter with St. John as a boy made the sign of the cross, and people threw rice, lentils, and confetti.

After a couple of days on the road, we're relaxing for a few days in Coroni, a small beach town. I've got a bit of a cough, so I'm taking the day off to relax instead of going on one of the day trips. Last night there was another fantastic group of drummers. They were mostly just kids, but I couldn't manage to count most of the rhythms they played. We sang a few african songs and they played along lightly. Then we sang "Si Somos Americanos" and we had some problems. Some drunk guy misunderstood the point of the song and started chanting "Viva Venezuela." Doug tried to explain it too him, but he didn't want to hear it.

Usually Sergio explains our songs before we sing them with a particularly long speach before that one, and now I see why. Though many latin americans protest that they too are Americans, they've come to expect that estadounidenses use the word americanos solely to refer to themselves.

I'll try to get photos up later today using another computer, but that's it for now!

Venezuela - Days 1-3

This is the first time I´ve had access to a computer since I left, so I´ll try to catch everyone up on what´s been happening:

The Seattle Peace Chorus flew via Houston, so during our layover we gave a practice concert at a local church, which gave us a delicious dinner. Back at the airport, we passed the remaining time singing along to a guitar, violin, and flute that various members had brought along. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:59PM, but when we got there the sign informed us that our flight had been delayed until midnight.

When we arrived at the Caracas Airport we had another, shorter layover, and I had my first taste of la comida venezolano. I ordered una tortilla con jamón y queso and was surprised that the word "tortilla" in Venezuela does not mean a type of flat bread like it does in México, but an omelete, like in España. We also traded songs with a children's choir called "Sonata" that was going to the same choral festival.

We got on our final plane, which took us to Isla Margarita, and a bus took us from the airport to the hotel. After we had a bit of time for swimming and dinner, we performed at the first of several nights of concerts in the festival. There was some sort of audience-choice awards for the evening, and "Seattle Peace Chorus" won second place. "Sonata" won third, and an amazing women's choir from Cuba took first. They had an entire song about how they were not going to sing or dance the congo, but hidden underneath the the avant-garde choral sounds were recognisable conga rhythms and a bit of choreography.

I warmed up my Spanish ear on the flights by watching The Bridge to Terabithia and The Kid en español. I finally managed to work up the courage to speak some Spanish at dinner. I decided to sit with a choir from Marida that was about my age. I haven´t felt so tounge-tied in my life! It took me a good 15 seconds to remember "Tengo dieciocho años," and even longer just to say the number seven in Spanish rather than German. This morning Justin (the only member of our choir close to my age) and I tried again with better results.

Both the Houston concert and our first concert on Isla Margarita have been well recieved. Last night a guy named Andreas(?) told me that he especially enjoyed "Shenandoah," because it reminded him of a group he had sung the song with. I´m surprised that our hit song seems to be "This Little Light of Mine." In Houston four girls started dancing in the aisles, and we had the whole audience on their feet at our last concert.

I'll write again soon, and hopefully be able to post pictures!

Homesickness

I think I've finally figured out why I've been bored this weekend. There's plenty to do, but sometimes I just don't feel like doing it. Yesterday I tried calling some friends and realized that most of you are either in Germany or Spain.

Goin' is one syllable

Well, so much for daily updates! I had no idea how busy I'd be here. It really shouldn't have been a surprise, but I'm constantly doing something.

Monday, Wednesday:
Theory 4
Eurythmics 4
Solfege 4
Lunch
Acting
Voice Class
Recording Techniques
Voice Lesson/Coaching
Dance

Tuesday, Thursday
Choir
Lunch
Music History
Jazz Choir
Composer's Forum/Convocation
Musical Theatre
Recording Techniques

Friday is another Theory/Eurythmics/Solfege bloc, another Musical Theatre, and a Composition Lesson, then the rest of the weekend is free. However, four days a week I have classes almost continuously until 7 or 8 at night, not including homework and practicing.

The students here have bonded so quickly too. After the first day of classes I felt completely comfortable with my "group," which is mostly vocalists and a pianist from Milan, Italy. I'm also good freinds with about a half-dozen other people, and I'm still getting to know more people every day.

I think I'll start by describing a couple of my classes in each blog, so here's a couple that come to mind:

Jazz Choir is fairly self expanatory, but it's a lot of fun. There are four guys (two voice majors) and about twenty girls, jamming to "Everyday People," "Sir Duke," and a couple of others, including "Survivor," by Destiny's Child. Everyone thinks it's hillarious that the guys have to sing it too, but I'm more worried about the vocabulary. Every time I see goin', I end up pronouncing it "GO-in," when it should be something more like "gohn".

In recording techniques, we each brought in a sample of text to record. Most brought in poetry or song lyrics, though Johann read a Nazi-resistance speech. One of the Jazz Choir guys had forgotten, so he decided that he was going to read the lyrics to "Survivor" aloud. He didn't have the same problem I did, but he proved to me that no matter how hard we try, goin' isn't going to sound natural coming out of a white guy's mouth. I have to give him credit, he read it without cracking up and even added some emotion to his delivery. The rest of us were cracking up from the recording booth, but he couldn't see or hear us.

We also found out about some people's habits, as their whistling, tongue clicking, and murmuring were amplified into the control room before the recording began.

I'm having a lot of fun here, but I'm looking forward to the rest of a relaxing weekend before classes start again on Monday!

CMU: Days 0 and 1

This summer I am attending Carnegie Mellon University's Pre-College program, majoring in Vocal Music, with a Music Composition minor. I arrived on Friday the 10th, which I'll call Day 0, because today is the official start of the program.

All this week has been busy, with so much to do and so much to pack before I leave. I got on the plane yesterday at about 6 o'clock and was surprised to find myself in first class! It was the most comfortable flight I've had, except when the earphones the company provided gave me a shock. The in-flight movie was Failure to Launch, which I thought was appropriate, considering that I was leaving home early rather than late.

I deplaned at Dallas/Ft Worth Airport and got on their tram to get to terminal B. A few stops down, I realized that I had left my garment bag in the plane's coat closet! I got off and asked which gate I had arrived at (terminal D), then got back on a tram going the opposide direction. A couple of stops from terminal, a tram on that line broke down, so I got back on the other track and went all the way around in the opposite direction.

By this time,I was getting panicky, so I looked up the airport's number and was connected to the proper gate. They told me that if I didn't come for my suit, they would turn it in to lost and found, where I could reclaim it. I neeeded that suit for Carnegie Mellon, so I told them I'd try to make it. Intending to talk to the people at the departure gate desk, I got off at terminal B, but the desk was completely empty.

On my way there I had seen signs saying that I could walk to terminal D from there, but I had only 15 minutes before the plane would leave. I resolved to give myself 5 minutes to get there, leaving myself time to get back and some extra time just in case. I had to run both ways, but I made it back in time, though I was drenched in sweat.

It was a long and crowded bus ride from the Pittsburgh airport, but I met another early-arriving student, Ethan, and his cello. A couple of returning Pittsburghers gave us an overview of the city, and we checked into the residence hall.

There were about a dozen of us, and so far we've stuck together. Most of the other people came with their parents, so we've formed our our group for meetings and such. I expect that to change a bit when classes start, as we get to know the people in our groups.

Speaking of groups, the students break down into schools, and are further divided by major. People
are generally roomed with others from the same school, but floors have different groups.

• Music: voice and instrumental. Many people are taking minors in other instruments. I'm studying voice, with a composition major.
• Architecture: I've only met one of these, so I think the program is fairly small
• Art: Again, I've only met a couple
• Drama: of the 400+ people here, 120 are taking musical theater, while a few others are taking general drama
• Game Academy: a new program. I'm told it focuses on designing games more than making them
• AP/EA: This program allows students to take two college classes. At the end of the semester, they can choose whether to include it on their transcript. There are a lot of people here doing this too, including one of my roommates.

Today has been mostly about checking in and meetings, and tomorrow looks like it's more of the same. On Monday I take a music theory test, but after that it looks like the summer will really begin!

I hope to keep in touch over the summer, especially with my friends in Germany. Feel free to e-mail me, or just give me a call. I'm being especially careful about my phone's volume, so you won't be interrupting!

Finals

It's been a while since I've updated this. I don't feel any need to apologize for it, I just haven't felt the need. I'm still trying to figure out why Thursday worked so incredibly well despite being one of the busiest days I've had in months, so I figured I should start typing:

My finals on Thursday were in English, Chem, and Choir. Most people would be worried about Mrs. Colclough's Chem final, but not me. To me, there are two components to sciences and mathematics: the patterns that you learn throughout a semester, and the memorization (in this case, the history of chem and polyatomic ions). The patterns come naturally to me, and I only had to fill about half of one side of the gigantic note card provided.

English and Choir, on the other hand, were projects, and I was behind on both.

English involved reading a poem aloud in class (off a piece of paper) and telling a bit about about the author. I was supposed to have a written part turned in by last Friday, but instead I picked my poem the night before. Once I found the poem though, I know exactly how the perform it:

The Singers
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

God sent his Singers upon earth
With songs of sadness and of mirth,
That they might touch the hearts of men,
And bring them back to heaven again.

The first, a youth, with soul of fire,
Held in his hand a golden lyre;
Through groves he wandered, and by streams,
Playing the music of our dreams.

The second, with a bearded face,
Stood singing in the market-place,
And stirred with accents deep and loud
The hearts of all the listening crowd.

A gray old man, the third and last,
Sang in cathedrals dim and vast,
While the majestic organ rolled
Contrition from its mouths of gold.

And those who heard the Singers three
Disputed which the best might be;
For still their music seemed to start
Discordant echoes in each heart,

But the great Master said, "I see
No best in kind, but in degree;
I gave a various gift to each,
To charm, to strengthen, and to teach.

"These are the three great chords of might,
And he whose ear is tuned aright
Will hear no discord in the three,
But the most perfect harmony."

For choir I chose "King of the Road," but I couldn't keep the words in my head. It's not a problem I usually have, but I'd learned the melody three months ago from a version of the song sung in German. (I didn't know the German words either of course) I finally sat down and tried to learn the words on Monday, but by Wednesday evening I was only remembering the words half the time. On the other hand, I remembered every bit of the "broom-ography" (as Reuben called it) even though I had only thought of having a broom on Wednesday night!


But these were all challenges that I knew I was going to have when I woke up that morning. The real fun didn't begin until just before Chemistry, when I got ahold of Eric. Eric is the Lead in a Stadium Barbershop Quartet (Stephanie and Reuben are also in it, for those of you who didn't see us that night), and when I talked to him I realized that I hadn't made sure he knew what Shakabrah was and that we were performing there. When I explained it, he said that he was meeting a friend at the airport and would have to see if he could make it.

The guy carrying the melody would have to see if he could make it?!? I may hae overreacted, but I really wanted to put this group on stage. I was frantic, but I managed to put off thinking about it until I had finished the test. I ran through the list of all the people that were performing at Shakabrah, and anyone else that might be able to learn the piece quickly. I even considered calling a friend from PLU and seeing if he had any plans for the evening. In the end, I decided my best bet was Ricky. I knew he would be there, he had the vocal range and quality for it, and he could sightread.

I spent lunch working on a project for math, but afterwards I hung around the his next class until he got there. Stephanie had explained the situation to him already, so all I really had to do was hand him the music.

I think that it was at this point that things got even more complicated, though I didn't realize it yet. I had circled "Lead" on the sheet music, and Ricky asked me, "So you're singing lead?", to which I responded, "No, you're singing lead."

After choir (I got a perfect score, but it was an empty victory: twice I forgot the words and just froze onstage) I checked in with Ricky (yes, he had learned it) and headed for knowledge bowl. There were some transportation issues, which meant that Jenny was stressed, which did nothing for my own stress level. Between matches, I called Eric (he could come after all), my mother (to get transportation for Eric), and my grandmother (to confirm transportation for me and three other people). We won, (so what if it was just against Foss and Clover Park! It's been a while since my team has solidly won a game) and I arrived at Shakabrah five minutes before my sheet said to be there. (wow, that's a lot of parentheses)

Unfortunately, the time on the sheet was wrong, and everyone had been wondering where I was for at least the last ten minutes. Apearently, Ricky thought that I wasn't coming either, but once I arrived he was completely calm about it. Mrs. Wilhoft on the other hand, was in pre-show histarics, and I was very glad to be whisked away to practice.

The other three had made a couple of changes to the song while they were waiting. They made about four bars staccatto and added a ritardando to one of the phrases. It was an odd time to be making changes IMO, but I went along with it and we sang it once through before we were hurried to our seats for the start of the show.

Eric showed up a few minutes later. I checked my list and saw that there were two more acts before ours, so I grabbed the music and ran out between acts to show him the changes. I had just finished telling him about the staccatti when we were pulled back inside: the acts before ours had been canceled and an MC had started on the Drama Club announcements while someone when to fetch us.

I told the others on the way up that both Eric and Ricky had earned the right to sing with the group, Ricky had the presence of mind to correct the MC that we were now a "Barbershop Quintet," and off we went!

It had been a few months since I'd performed barbershop, so for me it was all new again: the pitch blown, the first chord hummed, the rush as you realize that the five of you have breathed together, come in together, and that the notes you've worked hard on have come together to make chord after chord in perfect harmony and synchronity.

The rush lasted the rest of the evening, and I wasn't the only one to feel it. Eric kept asking everyone if we sounded good. No matter how many other people had told him so, he had to hear it from everyone he knew there. What surprised me though was that Ricky asked if he could join us. I saw no reason why not, and the more I've thought about it the more I realize that we could do with one more person. I'll bring it up with everyone else on Monday, but I can't see it being a problem, aside from having to balance one more person's schedule.

I don't have the energy right now to describe all the wonderful acts, but I'd like to give a big bravissimo to everyone who participated and a puzzled look to my councelor.

One more thing I would like to bring up is that in my euphoria I didn't hesitate at the unexpected opertunity to improv a sequel to Spencer's and my "Muh-nah-muh-nah" act from two years ago. We had only about five minutes to prepare seperately, but it came out as good (if not better) than the original. I'd forgotten that I really do enjoy improv, I'm just not very good at coming up with themes for improv games.

It's 2 AM and I'm tired. This is why I don't update more. G'night all. (or should that be good morning?)

-Chops

All-State Blues

Can't write long, but I just wanted to get this down.

I'm bummed. I had a big exciting day: skipped school (don't worry, it's a field trip), sang for rich and famous people, got a picture taken with a couple of the players from the NY Nicks, went to Gameworks, and picked up some books I've been waiting for. But all I can think of is the announcement.

At our pre-show Starbucks run, Laura mentioned that she found out she was going to All-State. Apparently it was going on the announcements today, but she had found out early because she had stopped by the choir room and seen the packets. The way she explained it made it sound like there were quite a few of them.

In the bustle of figuring out how I'm going to avoid a serious tongue-lashing for not having my tie, the replacement tie, black slacks, or black socks, I forgot to ask Mrs. Alatsis if my name was on one of those packets. Post-show, she decides to announce it (probably didn't want any extra pressure on people), and the lucky people are: Laura and Joey.

So I've been depressed. On the upside, Mrs. Alatsis didn't see my lack of proper attire, and her comments afterward were solely about my confidence in how well I'd learned the notes. (I used the folder to cover my shirt, and was so sure she noticed the lack of a tie that I looked into it to avoid her gaze)

But just about all I can think about is not having the chance to go to All-State. Despite my lack of contact with most of the people I met there, last year's All-State is still a defining moment in my life. The music, the director, and most of all the atmosphere that alternated between the complete focus and zany randomness that only happens in the performing arts.

I'm not mad at Joey or Laura: they completely deserve it. They weren't even competition with me, because they sing Tenor and Soprano. But whenever I explain that to myself, a part of me answers "don't you deserve it too?" And on a very minimal level, we were competing, because each school that auditions two people of different voice parts is guaranteed to have one admitted.

I tried to explain to Joey what All-State Choir is, though I suppose I was really trying to explain what it means to me. He didn't really seem to get it, though we were both tired. We slept most of the way home.

One last thing that's been racing through my head. Since the day All-State was over, I've been dreaming about the next step up: All-Northwest Choir. It runs every other year, and next year is the year. Now I'm worried; if getting into All-State is so hit-and-miss, what are my chances of making All-NW next year?

Fortunately I've got more shows and party-planning to keep me busy.

-Chops


P.S. Another reason why this is such a big letdown for me is that a lot of the people I'm still in contact with from last year are doing it again this year.

Birthday planning

What I might look like with pigtails

Well, once again I've neglected sending Birthday invites until after Thanksgiving weekend. Generally that means that no one can make it, since by the time Monday rolls around I'm asking people only a week in advance.

Most of the reason I didn't get it done is that I don't have a clue what to do. I'm going to delay it 'till the weekend of the 9th through the 11th, to give myself and my guests time, but I don't want to have people sitting around with nothing to do.

Going to see Narnia is one obvious choice, but I don't want to just sit in a dark room for my birthday. Also, I've been alowed to invite as many people as I want... so long as it's at the house.

So in desperation, I'm asking for your help. Parties are spontanious, but I like to go in with some idea what I'm going to be doing and I'm drawing a blank. If you are reading this, chances are I'm going to invite you, so what would you want to do with a group of freinds? Any particular games or movies?

Also, is there any day that weekend that you wouldn't be able to make it?


Edit: Just noticed that Tolo's on the 10th. That means that at least Saturday night is out. I could do a sort of lead-in to Tolo, but that might be too much for one night. So basically I'm looking at Friday night, though Saturday and Sunday are still possibilities.

Random Pic:

'03-'04 Concert Choir in Italy. I dont remember the name of this town or the church, but it was a nice place to sing.

Again, I'm going in reverse chronological order. I'll probably do that a lot beacause I want to get immediate thoughts down quickly.

Tonight was the first concert of the year at Stadium. I was surprisingly calm about performing, and I'm told the choreography was leaps and bounds above Homecoming Assembly. There was however a minor crisis backstage on my part. See, I'm the pitch-blower for Concert Choir, but I forgot the pitch pipe. Not only did I forget my own, but Mrs. Alatsis' pipe too. After tonight, I owe John a BIG favor. He lent me his so the show could go on without any changes.

My uncle came to watch the show, and I hear my dad did too, as well as Mom and Dave. It was a pretty typical fall concert: all the choirs sounded one-tenth as good as they did at the end of last year. I have a lot of freinds in Mixed Choir this year, (Henry, Bryce, James) so it'll be good to watch their progress.

Speaking of a lot of freinds, I found out yesterday that my freshman fans are more extensive than I thought. I was hanging out with Saylor yesterday when we ran into a freind of hers. (Hmm, name starts with an L) After a moment she introduced me as "Chops" and Miss L got really excited. I think the only things she said for the next minute was "you're Chops?!?" and something about taking a picture.

Lemme back up a bit here to explain how this following of mine started: Ars Nova was booked to perform at the Howdy Assembly this year. The performance was a fiasco, but before we started we introduced ourselves. Every since then there's been about half a dozen freshmen who will randomly shout "Hey, Chops!" when they see me in the halls. I've been meaning to learn their names and get to know them, but it was quite a shock to find out it had spread farther than that. I've never been "popular" in any group, so I'm not really sure why people who don't know me are spreading my name around as a sign of coolness. The phrase "That's my name, don't wear it out" springs to mind.

I can't write anymore tonight, so g'nite all. I'll see most of you before you even read this post. 

My battle scars =P

There's the pic of me on Friday with "wounds and leisions," as Mr. Pierson called them.

Today I went back to the orthodontist. Again. One of the spacers fell out, so they had to put it back in. I'm getting sick of that office.

I decided to try out Google's Picassa today. I even got the file-sharing extension called Hello. Expect to see more pictures, because now I can upload them into a new entry in one click! Anybody else use Hello?

I also discovered Wikimedia Commons. There's a ton of cool pictures in there, all categorized and many already formatted to be a desktop. This is my new desktop.

Gotta get to bed now. -Chops

Of Moles and Molars

I spent more time at the orthodontist's today than I have since I originally got my braces! =(

I missed third period completely to go have my first appointment with my new orthodontist, Dr. Adab. I had already postponed my normal appointment for Homecoming Assembly, and besides that, a wire had broken loose, ripping one of the things that holds it in place right off. That meant they had to replace it and put in new wires, top and bottom. (BTW, call me wierd, but I like the feeling of my braces being tightened. Not so much the dull toothache afterward, just the feeling that they're actually moving into a normal position.) When it come to the top row, the assistant kept cutting the wire too short, so she decided to put it in, then cut it. Yeah. Let's just say my mouth may never be the same size it once was.

I got back to school in time for most of "Mole Day" in Chemistry. For those of you who haven't heard about Mole Day, it's named after Avogadro's number (6.022 * 10²³), the number of atoms in 12 g of Carbon-12. I think it sould be on June 22, but that would be during vacation, so it's good that it's not. Mrs. Colclaugh has people bring in puns on "mole," and we all watch a student-made Mole-cumentery. Steph, Sarah, Erik, and Bronson did this years, which was a spoof on safety videos. I brought Mole-chi and attempted to prepare it in the microwave, but it fell flat. Oh well.

At lunch I went over to eat with Saylor and... umm... I guess I'll just have to ask her name again tomorrow. Anyway, not my normal bunch, but sometimes I need a change of pace. I wasn't much company though, because the new wire on my braces had slipped out a bit and was latching onto the inside of my mouth every few chews or words. By the end of choir I had a sore spot the size of a dime.

So of course I had to go back. After the assistant sniped it shorter, Dr. Adab looked into my mouth and discovered that Dr. Parrott (the previous orthodontist, and yes, his name is pronounced that way) had decided not to put a brace on some of my molars. That, she explained, is why the wire keeps slipping out: it doesn't take a lot to put pressure on an inch-long piece of wire to get pulled out by chewing. She told the assistant to put spaces between my teeth so I can come back in a week to put the rest of the equipment in.

Easier said than done. A spacer is a ring that, although it's small, is five or ten times thicker than floss. The assistant attaches two pieces of floss to the spacer, then wraps them around her fingers and tries to force the spacer into the gap between my molars. The floss breaks. She tries again. The spacer goes in, but pops right back out. After the third try, she calls over another assistant, saying that her fingers have lost circulation from the floss tied around them. Finally, the last spacer goes in, and my dad and Lori take me back to my mom's house.

I decided a while ago that I would start taking walks around the neighborhood, (Tuscany neighborhood, btw) but so far have come up with excuses. I finally got around to it today, so there's something for me to be happy about.

Hmm, what else... My eye has been twitching for the last hour. I still need to do homework, so See you all later!

Fool Dancin'

Obviously this hasn't become habitual yet. Oh well, give it time. Rather than try and catch up for nearly a week, I'll just start with Friday and go back if it seems important.

The highlight of Friday was losing a fight with a makeup kit. All right, let me back up a bit. The library ran a raffle this week. You could "buy" tickets by bringing in books that you were reading outside of school. I brought in A Time to Hate, which I had just finished, Wicked, which I'm half-way through, and Star Trek: IKS Gorkon: Honor Bound, which I had just started. I got an additional ticket for attending the new Tiger Book Club, so my chances were pretty good that I would get something (a book of sudoku, btw). Also, there was a drawing to get facepainting done by Mr. Pierson. The winner didn't show, so I got to go in her place. Unfortunately only a few people saw it, but I hope to have pictures up for all by tomorrow.

The other big thing that happened was a meeting of Please, Don't Squeeze the Midget (a barbershop quartet I'm in). We settled on auditions next week to replace our Lead (2nd tenor) or Baritone, and the next set of songs we would learn. If I remember correctly, they include Ja-Da, and O Come O Come Emanuel.

Most of yesterday I helped move dirt from my grandma's house to my mom's. 'nuff said.

Last night though, I attended my first Stadium dance. I spent a large part of the day looking for my wallet, but it wasn't necessary anyway. Mz. Dennet knew I had an ASB card, so I didn't even have to pull out the expired driver's permit and last year's ID card, which I had found.

Pretty much everything I expected was true: loud music I haven't heard before, a lot of people I don't usually hang out with, heat, and more dry air than I would have thought. Since I hadn't been to one before, I wasn't much of a dancer, but I bobbed my head. Surprisingly though, I had fun! I knew that most of my neighbors weren't going, so I was expecting to hang out with choir people or the exchange students. When I got there I felt a bit like the odd man out: the first people I talked to were Mz. Dennet and my new counselor. Pretty soon though I found my group: Knowledge Bowl geeks! I got there about an hour into it, but when the lights started to come up I couldn't believe that two hours had passed.

Funny how life throws you a curve ball sometimes. Last year I was in Knowledge Bowl, it was part out of curiosity, part because of Ms. Lofton, part because I wanted to see how much I really knew. The people I hung out with there were the ones I already knew, so I wasn't looking for a new social group. It seems that I've found it though: the dance would've been a long, embarassing experience without those people that either I haven't talked to in a while (Bill, Jordan, Kim) or I am just getting to know (Saylor, Nikita).

And what about today? Well, I watched a quarter of the first season of Babylon 5. It's kinda cheezy, but it's got some great stories. Anyway, it's time for me to get homework done, so I'll see you all later.

Dancin' fool

Today way homecoming assembly, which means that Ars Nova did our Jazz Suite. We practiced for half an hour last night, leaving me completely demoralized. I just could not get the box steps right, and the final Lindy steps always catch me by surprise. We only stayed for an hour and a half out of the three hours we had allotted, but I was completely wiped out. I essentially babbled to Mandi all the way home, feeling sorry for myself in just about every way possible. I do that sometimes when I get tired.

The upside to all of this is that I got home in time for the second half of The West Wing. Cool episode, between the leak plotline that finally shows some signs of resolution, the assassination plotline that was slightly predictable, and the Intelligent Design vs. Evolution that managed to do a much better job than I could of explaining why ID isn't taught in public schools. After a phone call from Spencer that I should have cut shorter for my own sleep-deprived sake, I dropped right off to sleep.

I carpool with Mandi, so we both had to leave twenty minutes early for the girls' call time. We practiced straight through first and second periods. I was a bit better, but still suffering. My misteps were constantly pulling me out of character, which just made it harder to remember the next step. To add to it, my eczema was flaring up because of the sweat and tight collar.

I always forget how much better I do in front of an audience.I do get nervous beforehand, but once I'm onstage, nothing matters but my partner and the audience. In this case, Javo was sitting dead-center in the second row, her face lit up like a candle. For those of you who don't know her, Javo is one of those people that can look purely happy. I heard afterwards that Annelise and at least one other person were looking at Javo too.

Anyway, my dancing, while not flawless (Kaci and I need to work on our foxtrot, for one thing), was better than any other time. More importantly, I managed to get completely into my character (not too much of a streach, since my character is an exageration of myself a few months ago) and stay there for the entirity of the show. I was complemented a couple of times afterwards on my facial expressions, which came as a complete shock to me.

The first assembly got to see the whole thing, but we had to cut the first two numbers for time in the second assembly. If you were in that one, come and see us on the 27th at 7:30.

So long as I'm plugging the chior: is anyone's car looking, um, dusty? Choir is selling coupons for two and a half bucks off a carwash. Talk/IM to me if you're interested.

When I got home, I collapsed into bed again. Slept 'till 7, did homework, and watched a terrifically corny episode of The Prisoner, the sixties equivalent of Lost. I'm still drowzey, so I'm going to sign off now. See you all tomorrow for "unique fashion day!"

(Which reminds me, I didn't talk about spirit day, or post a photo. Oh well, I'll catch up tomorrow.)

Inaugural Post

I decided to finally try this blogging thing. I've previously signed up for myspace and xanga, but blogger seems to be the best to me. There's a number of reasons, but I won't get into that now. From your point of view, the big difference is that you don't have to be a member to leave comments! Also, it's fairly simple for you to use an ATOM feed to "subscribe" to the blog, even if you don't have a Blogger account. (I can even help setit up if you like)

The reason I'm starting this blog is that I feel like I've forgotten so many exciting experiences by trusting my brain cells to keep everything straight. The middle part of 2006 will have three of those events: my second All-State experience, the Ars Nova trip to California, and my summer trip to Chile. Of course, none of those are set in stone, but if even one of them happens, I want to be in the habit of writing things down and taking pictures. This blog will be the public form of that goal.

Finally, I'm hoping to use this to sort through some old pictures from previous trips. This one is from Hawai'i by a sea wall. We had to take this photo so many times, it might as well be first.

---

Yesterday was mostly uneventful. Watched way too much TV. Drove with my dad over to his house for the weekend.

That evening though, I went to PLU's fall choral concert. I was really surprised to see how many people I recognized, on- and off-stage. I was already expecting to hear Marty Peterson, but it hadn't occurred to me that Sarah Voelpel would also be performing. There was also another girl from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers that I hadn't seen in a couple of years.

In the audience was the third member of "Please Don't Squeeze the Midget," a barbershop quartet that I'm in, (BTW, are there any guy singers interested in joining us? We need a Baritone or Tenor II) Alex Barnes(?) from All-State, and Sarah's younger brother, Jake.

---

This morning was the PSAT. I think I did well, though there were two I didn't quite have time to go back to. There were a surprizing number of Juniors there, so I guess I'm not the only one who didn't get to it last year. (Though in my case it's quite literal: last year no-one remembered about the PSAT until 15 minutes before it started)

Alright, I'm gonna go watch some shows I recorded last night, (Firefly, Threshold, Numb3rs) so I'll see ya' around.