JMU SBC 2014

Hey guys! I've had a pretty crazy couple of weeks, and today's post is going to be about the most interesting part of that-band camp! I just got back (on Saturday) from JMU's Summer Band Camp, and it was amazing. It honestly was one of the best experiences of my life so far, and I can't wait to go back next year (hopefully).

One of the best parts for me was being around so many great musicians. I play tuba (and march sousaphone), so I'm used to being in the smallest section, and not having much of an example to follow, so having fifteen other tuba players plus our section leader (a JMU student) was incredible. It was just a few days (Tuesday to Saturday) but I really feel like my sound has improved just from playing with such talented people.

Speaking of people, I made several new friends while I was there. Two of my friends from winter guard who go to a different high school

Another thing I really loved was one of the main focuses of the camp, which was on the process. They gave us a lot of ideas and teaching techniques to bring back to our programs, and I'm really excited to share what I learned with my school's band.

And of course, the most exciting part of camp-our show! We learned and memorized the music and drill for this in just three days, because we are all marching ninjas. But seriously, I love our show, and I'm lucky enough that people have already put videos of it online. So, here is my favorite (it has the best angle):



Isn't it awesome?! We all completely freaked out when we got our music! And I can't tell you how many times we listened to Bohemian Rhapsody last week-the trumpets even wrote a parody for karaoke night.

Something that I think is really amazing is that there were three separate torrential downpours, the showers were kind of disgusting, and I'm still so sore I can barely walk, but I can't imagine not going back. It was seriously that much fun. Also I can't wait for my school's marching band to start (23 days)!

I once again have no idea what my next post will be about, but it should be coming at you soon!

Your question for the comments: What have you been doing so far this summer?

What is My Life?

Hello! Today's post is just going to be me filling you in a little on my life, so you can have some context for all this crazy. (I thought the title was appropriate, because I've been saying that a lot recently.)

First, and most excitingly, school ended on June 13th. Lucky me, the math and science program I'm in only gives one exam a day during exam week, so we all got to go home earlier than everyone else. Including picking up my sousaphone from my base school, I was home over an hour earlier than my brother (and you can bet I lorded that over him, because maturity). Although I've spent a lot of time just relaxing, I've also been pretty productive (mostly on the stuff from yesterday's post), and I'm planning on keeping it that way. Since I'm apparently incapable of having fun. It's fine.

Speaking of sousaphones... marching band! I mentioned that our show is Latin, but I thought I'd give you a little more detail. (Yay, details! Come on, at least pretend you're excited!) Our show doesn't have its performance title yet, but right now we're just calling it A Celebration of Mangione. Chuck Mangione is a composer who was apparently big in the '70s. None of us had ever heard of him, but he composed the music for the movie Children of Sanchez. For those of you (like me) who haven't seen it, let me tell you, the music is fabulous. Or we got a really amazing arrangement. Probably both. Both is good. There are way too many sixteenth notes, but I really like the music, and I'm really excited about our upcoming season!

A lot of my time this summer is going to be spent on band and crafts and other fun things, but I also have a decent reading list. My priority is something that was assigned to me for school, called Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History. Something I want to read for myself is The Count of Monte Cristo. Because of the weird way we did our foreign language exams this year, my French class finished about three weeks before the school year did. My teacher decided to use all the extra time to show us the seven hour movie version, starring Gerard Depardieu. Then she challenged me to read it, so I'm going to do that. It's apparently over a thousand pages, but I've read Lord of the Rings, so how bad can it be? I really enjoyed the story, so hopefully I'll feel the same about the book. I also have a few smaller things I'd like to read, which aren't really as interesting. And finally, my dad is continuing his quest to get me to read the Bible and the Koran. Neither of us are religious, but he thinks it's important to be well educated in other people's beliefs. He has a point, so if I get around to it, I'll probably do that.... I don't really know.

I think that's enough of a look into my boring life. At least now you'll have a vague recollection of what I'm talking about in future posts! Speaking of which, I'm going out of town for the next couple of days, so I don't really know when the next post will be, or what it's going to be on. Yay, surprises, right? Right? Well, in any case, I'll talk to you soon!

And now, your question for today: What are you doing this summer/over the next few months? I'd especially love to hear about books you're reading or have read recently, since I'm always looking for new stuff to try. Let me know in the comments!

A Saturday Thing?

Hmm, maybe I'll just try to post every Saturday, as that seems to be working out right now! :)

My week was...... kind of weird. I don't actually remember most of the stuff that happened, which probably has something to do with, oh right, I'm going to States today! Ahh!!! It's sort of totally consuming me...


Ok, so I started writing that before I left, but then project and other craziness, so I'm finishing it now. (First I just want to say that I'm in my school's marching band, and we had our biggest competition of the season today. This should make more sense now.) I just got back from IHOP, which is a thing our band does after each competition. Since it was our last competition today, more people were there than have ever been, and we were all in very good moods. Why, you ask? Because at States today, we got..... straight 1s!! (For those of you that aren't music geeks, that means we got the highest score in every category: music, visuals, and overall effect.) That's right, seven different judges thought we were superior (the official name for a 1)! I am so excited, I don't even know how to put it into words, but believe me, it's an amazing feeling!

As I mentioned above, I had a little project craziness this morning, but now it's turned in (my science class does everything online, so we can have weird due dates and times) and I am free! Well, not quite, since our second quarter project is to get it ready to enter into the contest we're doing them for, but I am free for now! Since it's a four day weekend (remember to vote if you're eligible!) I am looking forward to sleeping a ton, catching up on Doctor Who, and reading Allegiant, which my best friend was kind enough to let me borrow. (She's just a little totally and completely obsessed with the Divergent series, and although she did say Allegiant was a bit of a disappointment, I am really enjoying it so far.)

Enjoy your long weekend if you have one, and I will talk to you soon!

This is Awkward

Hi everyone! So, this is a little awkward. You remember that time, over a month ago, when I thought I was going to have time to post here regularly? That was so adorable. As it turns out, high school is crazy, and busy, and a little hard, especially if you're in an advanced math and science program and you have five times as much homework as all of the other freshmen. And I am, and I do. Possibly even more, I'm not really sure.

Right now, my main source of freaking out is marching band. (That's mostly because we have our last normal competition today, before we go to States. Once that's over, it'll go back to science.) I sort of have a lot do before I leave, which is why I'm spending time on the Internet. That's just my kind of logic! We should do really well, but I'm a little worried that I'm going to mess up the visuals, and I still need to get my Spirit Buddy stuff ready, and I think he doesn't even like the stuff he's been giving me, and yeah. I'm a little stressed. But I've been coming up with reasons that none of that matters.... so I should be fine.

The other thing that is occupying my mind is this haunted house thing I did last night. You should know I do not like scary things, but one of my friends invited me, and I have no life outside band, so I said yes. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life! I was with four other people (plus D's mom and little brothers), and I literally spent the entire time clutching R, which was okay, because she was clutching me back. It was terrifying, but a ton of fun!

I really do need to go get ready now, but fair warning, this may be the only post for a while. Again. Stay neeky!