Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Hello From the Festival!!!

I'm sorry, this isn't going to be a very insightful or eloquent post. Just warning.

It's been a very busy two days. I'm pretty worn out but loving every minute of it! Yesterday, we had 3 rehearsals. We got to work with Judith Herrington, who arranges choral music. Then we listened to an a capella group.

Today we rehearsed a ton and practiced the piece we did for the flash mob. Then we walked into the town. On the way we saw marmots and we fed them cheerios. Our flash mob was at a mall. It was very successful and we were apparently on the news!

After dinner, we got to meet David Brunner, a composer. I was able to ask him some questions about publishing work and stuff. I'll hopefully get to talk one-on-one with him if Kris can arrange it. We'll see. If I get to, I'll post a Q&A. Maybe even have an official interview. Now that would be neat!

Alrighty! Goodnight!

Monday, June 27, 2011

An Update and a Song

Howdy folks! It is likely that by the time you read this post I will either be at the airport or on an airplane.

I am attending a 5 day choir festival with 7 other girls from my out-of-school choir! We will be working with 2 composers while we're there as well as meeting other choristers, performing in 2 concerts, and even participating in a flash mob! I can't wait!

So anyway, I probably won't have any internet access while I'm there, so don't expect anything from me until Saturday.


But while I'm gone, please enjoy this! This is my latest brilliant composition. I apologize  for the dreadful, fake-sounding instruments... But you get the gist of it I'm sure.





Isn't it lovely!?What do you think? I'm thinking it would sound better with a live orchestra. I don't know, just a thought...


Anyway, have a fantastic week!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

All the Things We've Seen and It's Only 7:19 in the Morning!

This morning I...


  • Woke up at 6:07
  • Ran around like a maniac in search of my camera
  • Got dressed in record time
  • Hopped in the car
  • Took pictures of hot air balloons
  • Followed the hot air balloons
  • Helped take down a hot air balloon
  • Took more pictures
  • Went home for breakfast

 And it's only 7:19 in the morning!

I feel alive!

Pictures coming soon!

Soundtrack Saturday

You really can't beat this uplifting song by James Horner. The Legend Spreads, from Braveheart, is one of my very favorite songs of all time, and that's saying something. Only Horner can mesh outstanding drumming, awesome bagpiping (that's actually an uilleann pipe, I've been told), great use of dynamics, intense emotion, and 2 partner melodies in 70 seconds.

Really, the only downside is that it has to be so short...





Music review coming shortly!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Yesterday, My Year Was Made



Yesterday afternoon my mom and I went with our neighbors to see Mary Poppins at the Keller Auditorium. It was absolutely fantastic!

Actually, it was more than fantastic. It was...




We got shirts that say that. It certainly does sum it up.


This was the second Broadway play I've seen. I'm so glad we got to see it!


They did change the storyline quite a bit, but I think it worked better for the stage. Like instead of the creepy penguins in the "It's a jolly holiday" scene, they had dancing statues. I preferred the statues. And the Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious (wow... I typed all that!?) scene was very different, but tons of fun and full of energy.

One thing I found especially neat was the use of light. In one part, Mary released a bird. When she let it go, they used a light as the bird and made it look like the bird was flying off by moving the light. Hard to explain, but it was really neat. Another neat thing they used it for was rain. It looked incredibly real!

While I was watching, I found myself paying extra attention to things like how they moved and spoke. I noticed that their movements were often completely over the top, but to the audience they looked normal. Sometimes as a performer I'm scared to exaggerate my movements, but I know it's necessary. If you hardly move, the audience won't see it. I also noticed that I could easily hear most of the consonants when the actors spoke. I know that if they spoke like that in normal conversation it would sound strange, but on stage they have to or else it's hard for us to understand them. In some ways it was reassuring to me that even if I think I'm going over the top, it's to help the audience follow the story.


One thing that made me very, very excited was in the very beginning when all I could see was the conductor of the pit orchestra. He had a baton! And he was conducting! An orchestra! Just think... One day that could be me! Yes, that made me quite happy.


If any of you get a chance to see Mary Poppins on stage, definitely go see it! It was an incredible show and if I could, I would totally see it again.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Copy and Paste

I got this from Jamie. I thought it looked like fun.


-If you have ever tripped where there was a “Watch Your Step” sign, copy and paste this into your profile.

I read this and automatically thought of the Thompson twins in the Tintin comics... Okay so it wasn't a sign, but I was told to watch out and my brain didn't process it in time. There was also that time when we were eating spaghetti and my grandpa told us that the noodles would slide off the plate if we weren't careful and right after he said that my noodles slid right off the plate.


-If you haven’t read any of the Twilight books and don’t feel incomplete in any way for not doing so, copy/paste this into your profile.
 
 And I don't plan on reading them either. I don't know... Something about vampires, werewolves and romance just doesn't sound that pleasant.

-If you think Twilight has more fame than it’s worth, copy this into your profile.

Waaaay too much! I didn't mind too much until I learned that there are life-sized cardboard characters being sold. That's going too far.

Which reminds me of the time when I was walking home from school and inside one of the classrooms was a life-sized cardboard Luke Skywalker. That is at least understandable as Luke is awesome! But I digress...


-99% of girls in the world would cry if they saw Edward Cullen in flames. If you’re one of the 1% that would be holding out a stick with a marshmallow on it, copy and paste this into your profile.

I don't like marshmallows. I'd be the one person with a hotdog, or popcorn, or something

-If you actually enjoy reading, copy this into your profile.
 People who say they don't like to read have never tried.
-If you don’t know why people can’t get it through their heads that members of the opposite gender can just be friends, copy and paste this into your profile

That's what I love about theater people. They actually understand that. Like in 5th grade when all the girls in my class became unreasonable and disrespectful, all the boys asked me to join their group!

-If you truly believe in God, copy and paste this into your profile. 

Amen!

-A large percent of writers don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re.” If you’re one of the ones who does know and wants to slug them, copy and paste this into your profile. 

That bugs me crazy!!! It also bugs me when people mix up "then" and "than". I really don't understand that one, but maybe if you speak with an accent or something you hear them differently. I'm not really sure. And the same with "there" "their" and "they're". Basically I'm just a stickler when it comes to grammar. I really dislike "text talk" as well. I don't understand it at all!

-If you’ve ever left one room to get something from another room, then once you were in the other room, forgot what you were trying to get, copy and paste this in your profile.

I'm rather ashamed to admit... This happens to me a bunch, though not as often as it used to.

-If you have embarrassing memories that make you want to smack yourself/ someone else, copy this into your profile.

I won't go into detail, but there are way too many of those.

-If you like to write, copy/paste this into your profile.

I'm a blogger. Of course I love to write! Bring it on! Stories, quotes, music...

-I don’t suffer from insanity… I enjoy every minute of it. If you are insane, enjoying every minute of it, and proud of it, copy this and paste it into your profile. 

Totally! Life would b boring if I were normal. Wait, what is normal?

-If you have forgotten what you were going to say, right before you say it, copy this into your profile. 

Yes. Class discussions. I've pretty much given up. I raise my hand to speak a lot, but for some reason people don't see my hand. In speech class this was a major problem and we all decided that I should wear a flashing light on my head that turns on whenever I wish to speak. I'm still considering that. But still... You can't expect me to remember what I was going to say for 10, 15, 20 minutes, can you? They've usually changed topics completely anyway.

-If you think that being unique is cooler than being cool, copy and paste this into your profile.

You know, I think that people who try to be "cool" aren't cool at all. You're "cool" if you do things that people consider "cool" but you're actually fun to be around if you do what you yourself thinks is cool because your individual thoughts are what make you unique. I didn't word that very well, but I got the point across. I think...

-If you love rain, copy and paste this into your profile.

I had to keep this one in because I don't love it, but I don't hate it. You see, when you live in the northwest, it's pretty hard to love the rain. however, I know that without the rain it wouldn't be so pretty and green. So while I certainly don't love it, I can't really hate it either.

-If when ever you hear the word Star Wars, you stop what you are doing, perk up, and eavesdrop, copy and paste this on your profile.


All the time at school. I'll be walking down the hall and I'll hear someone say something about Star Wars or something I enjoy and sometimes I will stop and try to hear what they're saying about it.

-Only crazy people can understand the brilliance of crazy things. If you are crazy and proud of it, copy and paste this into your profile!

This goes hand in hand with insanity.

-If you’ve ever wished you could go into a book and strangle some of the characters for being so incredibly dumb, copy and paste this into your profile.

Absolutely! Well, maybe not strangle per se, but I would definitely give them a nice, long lecture!


-If you haven’t died yet, copy and paste this onto your profile.

I have a confession to make, guys: I've been dead for 248 years.

Heh heh...

-If you have ever tripped over your own feet, copy and paste this into your profile.

This doesn't happen to me very often, but I'm pretty sure I have.

-If you have ever pushed on a door that says pull (or vice versa) copy and paste this into your profile. 


Yep... but I've come up with a solution. If I'm not sure whether I need to push or pull and it's a door with a handle or knob, I'll quickly pull it and if it doesn't go then I push, all in one fluid motion so that it's hard for others to tell that I got it wrong. But if I get it right on the first try, then I have to be careful or else I go flying forward!

-Did you know that both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were homeschooled? If you support homeschooling, copy and paste this onto your profile. 

I'm not homeschooled, but I definitely support it.

-If you think you have too many of these “copy and paste this into your profile” things, but have no intention of stopping now, copy and paste this into your profile.

Well, I'd keep going if there were more, but seeing as there aren't, I guess I'll leave you with this quote. I thought it was funny and quite accurate.


One day your prince will come. Mine? Oh, he just took a wrong turn, got lost, and is too stubborn to ask directions.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

What's In My Head Wednesday

I have a great celtic song stuck in my head. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it on youtube. So I'll just put the other song that's been stuck in my head.

CAUTION! This is a very catchy song!



Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My New Obsession:





Self-serve frozen yogurt. Enough said.

It May Not Be Hot Enough to Fry An Egg...

But it is hot enough to shatter a tabletop!


 So my mom just went outside a bit ago and all of a sudden she heard a shattering sound. She looked over and saw this. At first, she thought that us kids had thrown something over the garage and it had landed on the table, but that was not the case. The best we can guess is that it was the heat.

This day just keeps getting stranger!


Just Another Day In the Neighborhood


It's Here!!! It's Finally Here!!!


As of now, it is officially summer! Here in my corner of the world, the weather has been a bit unpredictable; perfectly beautiful one minute, raining the next. I was overjoyed upon opening my eyes this morning to find the sky clear and the sun shining! It's already in the mid 70's, unlike the past few days where it hasn't gotten above 70 at all! We're expecting a clear, warm first day of summer.




Sunday, June 19, 2011

Dusting Off the Old Blog

I realize that I've neglected my dear blog lately as things have been busy. My last day of school was Thursday and I'd been hard at work doing final projects and studying for tests. But all of that is finished and the summer is mine! At least, it would be if this weather would cooperate...

Well, it looks like this post may end up being a bit on the lengthy side. My apologies.

Feel free to not read it all. I don't mind. Really.

Aside from studying, I went to the Rose Festival, an event held every year around here. It includes 2 weeks of carnival rides, grossly unhealthy food, noisy games, parades, and, of course, roses.

I went 2 weekends ago with my dad, and the weekend before with my mom. And I took some great pictures!


I took this one while waiting in line to go on the ferris wheel. This one I thought was just begging to go black and white. It gives it a somewhat foreboding appearance, don't you think?



This is a tortoise. I don't remember what type. He seemed perfectly content with the idea of me taking his picture and posed oh so nicely.


This is the view from the ferris wheel. I'll admit it. I'm sort of scared of ferris wheels. The only decent way to keep my mind off of the fact that I'm swinging in the air a hundred feet or so off of the ground is to take pictures.


 (Another anti-scare photograph from the air)


I really like this one! It just looks cool.


While we were on the ferris wheel, the bridge was raising to let a boat underneath. Yep, the river is abnormally high right now. It was really neat to watch.

Alright. I won't overload you all with festival pictures.


Aside from that, we also wandered in the Saturday Market and I added another exotic instrument to my collection! It's made out of bamboo and the designs were burnt into it with a torch. It is played like a flute, but the fingerings are the same as a tin whistle. I'll try to get a picture of it soon.


Thursday was my last day of school. As usual, I planned an end of the year party. However, my kind and wonderful neighbors decided to have their own. And everyone went to theirs. And I wasn't even invited! So there were only 4 of us, and a ton of leftover pizza and cookies.

At least it wasn't raining.

I had a friend spend the night, and my day wasn't so bad after all.

This summer, I've made a goal: I'm going to keep my eyes peeled every day to find something that undeniably points to God. Or something that reminds me how awesome He is. Or is just really cool. Basically, something that makes me go "wow!" I'll try to post each day or so what I find.

Today's was a woman at my church. She recently underwent extreme surgery and has a large, painful contraption on her leg. But despite the pain she has gone through, she's always so cheerful and encouraging. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her.

Anyway, that's what's been up with me! Thanks for putting up with my insanity. It means a lot. I hope to blog more often during the summer!

And to my giveaway winners: I haven't forgotten about you! I've been working hard on your lovely crocheted goods and hope to have them all finished and sent out by the end of the month. I thank you for your patience.