First TOB (Tournament of Bands)

Ugh...our band got third place out of three bands in our category...it was so depressing...

On a happier note, I was the first one to check off all of the songs in tier 2! It was quite neat...or did I tell y’all that already (hehe, y’all! Oh, I slay myself...)?

Anyway, back to the TOB...I’m so upset with my performance...my section leader said they would give me Smarties on Monday if I did well (oh, how I love Smarties...more then my mom by now, most likely)...and if we got third place when there were only three bands in our category, I obviously did something wrong...

Oh, well! I’ll just have to put ten times more effort in the upcoming practices, football game performance, and TOB!

Hunting Wabbits

Today we received some set changes. I mean, they're changing our performance and giving us the changes the week of our TOB (on the 24th)?! Oh, well...nothing else of interest to say...well, except that I'll be doing tier 2 for Hunting Wabbits tomorrow; my final tier...and for the first time, I hope I am the first to finish all the tiers. Strange, huh? And, it seems like for every practice since we finished learning all the sets I've been looking forward to band practice. Stranger, huh?

Oh! And the Tok'ra did the entire show today (not without mistakes, of course)! Aren't 'cha happy for her?

Hooray! Band!

Guess what? Today, I woke up, and suddenly, I thought the strangest thing. I mean, VERY strange. Yep, it has to do with band. Y’all know how it’s ruling my life...don’t ‘cha? Anyway, instead of thinking “oh...I have band practice today”, I thought “I can’t wait ‘til band practice”!!! I mean, wow! I have no idea why! It’s just so strange...!

Our drum major actually told the other low brass members that today's practice was the first practice he really didn’t want to be at because he had so much stuff to do. After I told them I had been looking forward to band since the morning, another member of the low brass asked me, “Do you have a life?”

Of course, my answer was “no” :-P. Anyway, before skull, I had a short sectional with the low brass section. At Saturday’s mini-band camp, I played by myself before the others because the Euphonium who had the same part I had was having trouble with it and needed to hear it. Today, before I played the same part as an example for the Euphonium again, the drum major (he’s low brass, just in case I didn’t tell y’all already. Hehe! “Y’all”...) suddenly moved to my side, as if he were blocking me from someone. Of course, I ask why. Apparently, he had gotten in trouble for making me play on Saturday by myself (although, he didn't force me to do it). It's the whole “freshman” thing, how we’ll get embarrassed because we won’t play it right, even though I did...but I thought it was funny, anyway. And after that, we practiced Hunting Wabbits (our last song for the performance), during which I learned I was the only one who “officially” memorized it out of the group. Or at least some of the upperclassmen said they didn’t have it totally memorized. It sounded like they did to me...but that’s just me.

...and nothing else interesting happened the rest of practice. I do hope that other people have done tier 2 for Joy...and maybe someone else for Morning’s First Light...I’m doing tier 2 for Morning’s First Light tomorrow, and I just hope that I’m not the first to do it...

Oh! And I found out what Granny Nox did! It’s quite funny...you’ll all laugh your Tau’ri butts off.

Update 9/14/05: Thanks, Doug the Una! I am honored to be your special guest! Great new picture, by the way...:-P!

Oh, and you can now have that coffee break you've been wanting...

Too Much Homework...

Friday was our first home game. We won 41 to 14! Or something like that...the other team didn’t score ‘til the last half of the game...it was pretty sad...but since it was a home game, it was a pre-game performance with the band. Oh, it was so much better than the half-time performance during the first football game! My brain doesn’t function under the bright lights, since during practice we only have lights at the back sideline, and since the pre-game is before it gets really dark, I don’t have to worry about it.

Also, earlier today, the Tok’ra and I preformed with the orchestra at my mom’s church. The choir sang while we played “Welcome, Welcome”, and we played “From Many Voices” without voices. I think we did well. The music, in my point of view, was much easier then the marching band music, but it was still fun to perform. I do wish we didn’t have to do it twice because it took away from homework time and I’ve got TONS of it this weekend. Also, yesterday we spend the morning taking band photos and most of the afternoon having a mini band camp. And today, with the orchestra performance and the long two-hour Girl Scout meeting (which takes an hour to drive to) I don’t have much time for homework, either…

Which reminds me...I’ll have to get back to that...

First Football Game with the Band

Today was my first football game with the band. It actually wasn’t too bad. Well, it was quite hot out, and the uniforms made it worse in that perspective, but I guess it could have been worse. In the stands, I had fun playing the music and such. However, I got so nervous during half time performance. My legs were shaking...and I know it wasn’t my best performance...or at least I don’t think it was...it went so fast...but I do know that it was just so bright and hard to see the hash marks...but afterwards it went back to being fun. I’m too tired to post anything else, so I might post more later, or the Nox might post some pictures, unfortunately.

Oh, yeah! And my school won 28 to 27. They were tied most of the time, until near the end. Anyway, I should go to sleep now...

First Week of School

Yep, today was the last day of the first week of school. We have tomorrow off (and Monday, too...but I guess you already figured that), and the football game is tomorrow, but that’s a whole different topic. I’ll post about it tomorrow. I’m quite nervous for it...okay, I’m very nervous.

--Anyway, back on topic. The first week was okay...however, I did not like today. It seemed like a lot of things went wrong. First off, I realized I didn’t have my biology textbook at home. Thus, I assumed it was in my locker...but it wasn’t. Also, the essay I wrote for Western Cultures...I really don’t think I did well on it, and I still think so. That class I still have mixed feelings for. I best just aim for a 95% and end up getting a 90%...oh, well...maybe I’ll do better on the tests…the whole morning I had trouble not thinking about anything else besides my missing textbook and the essay...but it turns out I left the textbook in the biology classroom, and it was sitting on the counter by the door, so I just picked it up as I walked in. Things seemed to get better...until the pep rally. When I picked my trombone off the shelf, I discovered two of the outer clasps were open. Strange...very strange...I thought I remembered closing them...I take my trombone out into the band room and open it...open the compartment for the mouth piece...and...what?! My mouthpiece isn’t there! I tell this to my band director, who seems to get annoyed, and tells me to ask if I could borrow one from the baritones. Luckily I was able to borrow one...then I found out we needed our lyres. Great. I forgot that at home. So, I learned how to hold the music and play on my own...and I was greatly relieved when school was over. Now, I thought, I can go home and find out where I left my mouthpiece. Problem: I can’t find it. Now, I had suspicions that someone might have stolen it sense I found the two clasps undone. Currently, I still think I did something with it and just can’t remember what, but I am starting to think it might have been stolen...but I’m not so sure...the trombonists I know in 8th grade seem trustworthy, and I’d assume that most of the trombonists should be trustworthy, or else I’d have thought they quit band a while ago. I’ll just have to keep looking...

Also, in the late afternoon, I met with my section leader to make up the drill I missed yesterday. Actually, that went well. Though, she made me yell at her. The low brass section thinks I’m too quiet...especially my section leader and the drum major (although both are woodwinds, they’re considered low brass)...which is true. So, my homework from her is to run amok. Hm.

Oh, and the picture above is one of two drawings I’ve done for art homework. We’re supposed to draw a corner of a room, self-portrait (just head), and a hand. All I have to do is a corner of a room...I’m just deciding which one I want to do. I’ve got quite a bit of homework in other subjects, but not an overwhelming amount, luckily.