Appreciation of Music

Hey anyone out there :)

So we had that concert tonight I wrote about in the last post. I thought we pulled it off rather successfully and had an exhilirating last piece (the Glass Timpani Concerto Fantasy), in my opinion. I know I was rushin' on adreniline from the time we commenced the third movement until I finished my food at Ikes.

I'm currently watching Beauty and the Beast with my friend and my roommate and I'm listening to the score and realize how much just this first semester and a half of my college education has affected my appreciation and understanding of music. When they strike up the band to play "Here Comes the Bride" and the first thing your mind goes to is hmmm that's a perfect fourth or ya listen to music in the background of a love scene or action scene and think wow nice oboe solo or nice harmonies down there in the horn section, it hits ya how much you've really learned and come to appreciate. My non-music major friends have come to hate me because I'll lean over during a show or movie and go psst...that's an oboe (if you haven't guessed by now, I'm an oboe player and I love the French horn haha). Thanks for reading this post, and if you're not a music person, that's ok, you don't have to be, I just ask for your support. See a show, donate ten bucks to the high school band boosters...help keep the arts in schools and keep music live...we're not called starving musicians for no reason....live music is dying out and arts are getting cut out of school programs everywhere. Music is such a wonderful thing, and helps kids (especially autistic) in school, helps healing and relieving pain (such as in cancer patients, I hear), and creates so many neural connections it's crazy! Sorry, haha, didn't mean to turn this into a PSA hehe.

So yeah. Concert was successful. Movie music scores are great. I'm still a child at heart and love Disney. French horn is amazing. So is oboe. I'm done now.

Until next time, something for you to ponder: WHY THE FREAK DON'T PEOPLE SHOWER OR DO LAUNDRY WHEN THEIR CLOTHES OR BODY SMELL/LOOK/ARE FUNKY AND THEY HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH THEIR TIME?!?!?!

Music and Movies

Howdy y'all, how ya doin' t'night?!

Short post coz I'm watching Rent with my old roommate who's visiting me this weekend!!! And being really awesome and coming to the Wind Symphony concert on tuesday! Yay!

Anywhooo, music and movies. This thought was spurred on by watching Rent, the movie version. I've seen the Broadway version twice and listen to the Original Broadway Cast on my iTunes and iPod. Not saying that I don't like the movie, I do (Adam Pascal, ZOMG), I just wish they hadn't cut some songs and rearranged some of the scenes/songs. Granted, I didn't expect them to throw the orgasm scene in there but "Goodbye Love" and "Halloween" are awesome! They would have been what, five minutes extra to the movie? I've noticed this with other movie versions of musicals. Like Hairspray. Who sings to a photo? She needs to be in jail and they need to sing together and whatnot. Wasn't happy with that order of things either.

Now, chronology of things is not only messed up in musicals but I also noticed many things I didn't like in Twilight. We saw this movie tonight on campus and I remembered how much I disagreed with several parts of the movie. But alas, I'm not a film major and have no desire to be a movie director or producer, so my thoughts shan't be heard or obeyed haha.

Music, however, I can control (mwahahaha sorry students of the future). I had one of the most amazing oboe lessons this morning! Sorry this post is sorta random haha. My professor was being super strict with me today but in a good way! She got me to produce the most amazing tone! Started working on double and triple tonguing today too, I think I can do it, now that I know what to actually do. :) I need to stop being lazy and practice, but now that I'm working on the Mozart Concerto in C for oboe, chances are, I'll practice haha. I LOVE this concerto. A lot. I also really really enjoy most of the pieces we're playing on tuesday's concert. (8 pm. Concert hall, GMU. Go. KTHNX) We're playing a couple of pieces. We're playing a piece called Cathedrals by Kathryn Salfelder, based off of Gabrieli’s Canzon Primi Toni. This is a pretty interesting piece, lots of cool brass choir. We're also playing a Prokofiev March, a piece called Festivo (Gesualdo), Morro Lasso (Gregson) (P.s. i may have reversed Gesualdo and Gregson), and a really cool piece that I really like called “Concerto Fantasy for Two Timpanists & Orchestra” by Philip Glass. We're having two guest artists -well technically one because one's a professor here, but alas, I digress- playing fourteen timpani drums upstage. It's a three movement piece and it's awesome! The guest artists are Jonathan Hass and our very own John Kilkenny. It's gonna be super cool and you should definately come see it.

Ok so I think I'll let you go about your ways and go annoy the crap out of my floor with singing :D I'm sure I'll ramble about music again some time in the near future! Nightnight!

Until next time, somthing for you to ponder: why the hell does college cost so much!?

So it's been a while and lots of stuff has happened!

Where to begin where to begin... I guess there's really just two things that have been going on recently...

For starters, we've been working on starting up a chapter of SAI here on GMU's campus :) That's Sigma Alpha Iota and its a womens music fraternity (argue with me and I will be forced to slap you)...and I'm really excited about this :D We're still in the works but I think we're making progress and getting somewhere :) More to come on updates with that...

The other thing that happened this past week was a good friend of mine and my older oboe sister in our studio (there's only three of us haha), lost her older sister in an accident in Orlando, Florida. The accident happened in the early morning and only two people died, one of them being Katie's sister, Shannon. If you care to read the article or know more, here's a link for you:
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090217/ARTICLES/902171003
The Kane family has been in my thoughts and heart (if I prayed, they'd be in my prayers as well). If I've taken anything away from this, I'm trying to learn to live my life to the fullest, and I've always kind of believed in this but hearing about such a tragedy that happened to someone who surely doesn't deserve it to a family who has raised such a wonderful person like Katie, I can only imagine how wonderful the family is, and I wouldn't wish this upon anyone, but especially them. It just goes to show you, death can affect anyone, young or old, randomly, whether they be sick or completly fully healthy. Don't take anything forgranted, and splurge a little sometimes. Sorry to end on such a somber note, but it's been playing on my mind a bit. On a happier note, congrats to Katie for being one of five winners in our schools concerto competition! She's a fine player and deserves that win very much :)

That's all for now, I'll try and remember to post more often haha.

Hope it gives you hell.

As you can probably tell from my post title, I am not very happy. This post is going to be about girls and how catty they can be.

Tonight, I was angrier than I ever had been, my hands were literally shaking and I had a pit in my stomach that made me want to cry, scream, and just go to sleep at the same time. This is due to rumors. Granted, the rumor was nothing horrible, not that I had been sleeping around or gave someone herpes or killed someone or anything (fyi, I've done none of the above), but it was just enough to potentially ruin a relationship between two people (for relationships see my first post). I am unaware as to the reasons for this persons speaking about me and am going to attempt to confront it tomorrow...errr today...but as for now, I just feel horrible and do not understand why I was targeted. Unfortunately, this put some things into perspective for me. It's amazing how something so trivial as a couple of words can have such an effect on things. On a more positive and random note, it's very easy to make me happy, it's the little things for me, like a simple compliment on my hair or noticing something I did. I just wanted to post on how rediculous it is to start rumors to hurt someone like this (for the record, I'm very near tears right now because I'm exhausted with friend drama...and the music I'm listening to isn't helping much either).

Another thing girls do that is exceedingly catty is act twofacedly. No I am unaware as to whether or not that is a word. This is probably one of the worst things someone can do to a person. When the person you're being two faced two finds out about it, it hurts even more than just telling them from the get-go that you're not interested in them. Granted, I'm awful at confronting people and this whole blog might wind up being hypocritical, but I'm often bad at practicing what I preach...unless it's recycling....but I digress.

I'm tired and don't know what else to say except for while boys can be all stength and fighting and confusing, girls are by far the worst to deal with because their random mood swings, twofacedness, rumor spreading, and drama are probably the worst thing to do. I really hate the bad girls out there who ruin things for good girls like me (that may sound conceited, but I strive to be and think I am most of the time a good person). Sadly, the people who should be reading this blog are probably not either. Another FYI, I don't care if you think this is a cry for attention, because it's not. It's just a way for me to get out how I'm feeling and you don't have to read it.

Until next time, something for you to ponder: Do we all see colors the same way?

My Reflection on my Israel Trip-written 1/18/09

So I wrote this on the plane on my trip back from Israel on January 18th, 2009 (I was there on a Taglit-Birthright trip from 1/7-1/18, GMU, Rutgers, and one Binghamton!). Hope you enjoy!


As I sit on this 11 hr. 56 minute airplane ride back to New York with a desire to kill the obnoxious, rude, and loud little orthodox girls who have prevented me from grabbing even a wink of sleep for the past hour and a half, I decided now would be a good time to write down my feelings about the past 10/12 days.

I can honestly say that these past days in Israel have truly been an eye-opening and thrilling experience. I'm exhausted, my lips are overly chapped from scaling Masada and the salt of the Dead Sea, and my legs probably look incredible from the hours of walking and hiking but I couldn't feel happier or luckier that I had the option to come on this journey.

For starters, my view of Israel before this trip has definitely changed. Before, I thought of Israel as a war-ridden country whose landscape probably reflected that. Well, over 1,000 pictures later, boy was I wrong. Israel's landscape is beautiful. Starting in Jerusalem, I got to see the beauty of the old Holy city. With it's stone streets, buildings -everything-, I cannot think of a prettier city I've ever seen. Then, the beauty of Rosh Hanikra with the beautiful grotto's etched into the mountains was breath-taking. Some of the sunsets we saw were so beautiful, but NOTHING compares to a sunrise atop Masada (despite Sarah's way to cheery wake up at 4:15 am and the 20 minute hike up in the cold). The views from up there were inspiring. This is also comparable to the jeep tour up a mountain whose name escapes me at the moment but had a view of like three different countries from its peak. The Dead Sea was also incredibly gorgeous with its salt crystal beach and awesome and clear bright blue-green water that twinkled in the sea (it was also cool to be at the lowest point on Earth!). We lucked out with the weather and were able to see Jordan clearly on the other bank. We really lucked out with the weather throughout the trip, truly enabling us to see many things Gilad was even surprised by. The En Gedi nature reserve was beautiful as well. I especially enjoyed the optical illusion created by looking at the waterfall for a few seconds then looking away. Gazing at the stars in the desert by the Bedouin tent was really, really something. i could have sat and gazed and enjoyed the silence forever.

Another aspect of the trip I was surprised I enjoyed was all of the history and stories we were told. I've never taken a more educationally stimulating trip. by the time we made it to the Roman-Byzantine ruins, I was already starting to put the ruins back together in my head and tried to imagine the people of the era doing what they did based on Gilad's stories. The legends and stories passed around generations are amazing! From the story of the bride who plunged into the waters at Rosh Hanikra to avoid an arranged marriage to the bloody tale of the end of the people who lived atop Masada, I was so enticed by everything Gilad had to tell us, even if I sometimes fell asleep during his lengthy and passionate speeches.

The people also make the experience. At first, I was really nervous because I only knew three other people on the bus, but now I can say my family has grown by 45 new members. I say family because Avrahm Infeld was a truly inspiring speaker who I'll take many things from, the first being that JUDAISM IS NOT A RELIGION, it's a way of life and we're all a giant family. And you can never leave the family once you're a part of it (no matter who you convert to or what you think...there is no such thing as a Jewish refugee anymore.) My family now has 32 Rutgers students/staff, 1 Binghamton student, 3 GMU students, 5 Israeli soldiers, 1 Israeli tour guide, 2 Israeli guards, and 1 very nice lady who's daughter made Aliyah and sat next to me on the plane ride to Israel. I've got to say I don't think we could have had a better group of people. There was no huge drama and we could all hang out together, as a bus. Sure, we all had people we preferred to be around but we all loved each other. I'm really glad, in retrospect, that it was not all GMU students because now I have so many more new friends. I've got to say, having our 5 very different soldiers aboard for 5 short days was truly the biggest revelation for me. From late nights with No'a and Ariel at the Kibbutz Gonan, I learned that a girl is a girl no matter where she is from, soldier or not. She was nervous about her English and the way she looked and boys and had experienced heart break, just like the rest of us. Watching her videos on her phone with her friends also helped me realize this. Talking to Israelis and listening to them speak also made me realize how much more knowledgeable Israelis are, especially listening to Gilad. they know so much about their country and I probably couldn't tell you very much about America, let alone be able to fluently speak another language to communicate with some tourists. Seeing and experiencing the different cultures of such a small country was very interesting. I greatly enjoyed a small market we went to the afternoon before our first Shabbat (in Jerusalem). It was fun seeing the hustle and bustle as everyone gathered dried fruit and nuts and meat and all sorts of things for Shabbat. It was nice to be in a country where you're surrounded by Judaism, it truly helps one get in touch, no matter how religious you are, because it's normal there. The country literally stops on Shabbos. Walking through the town Shabbat morning was also cool because we got to see different levels of Judaism. Staying in the Bedouin tent and experiencing their music, dining, and hospitality was really cool (and the tea was delish!).

I'm sure there are many things I'm forgetting or had a lack of place to put, like Ben Yehuda Market, Akko, and camel riding, but I've got tons of pictures and souvenirs to remind me of this trip. But, the physical things are just a reminder of all of the memories and inspirations and friendships I've gained from this trip to Israel. And I think, sitting around our bonfire last night in the middle of the desert, isolated from any distractions, laughing over superlatives, sharing our favorite parts of the trip and roasting potatoes (yes, Israeli s'mores ;]), I realized how much I was going to miss this trip <3

First Post/Friendship

Soooooo this is my first post....
So I was in the bathroom (where all good ideas occur) when I decided I should start keeping a diary, then I figured the likelyness of this happening was slim to none, but if I made it electronic I would be more likely to do so! Soooo here it is! (I just realized I say so a lot)

I guess my first post should be about how I've been feeling for the past couple of days.
Today, I took a walk down to the lake outside the Concert Hall to just think about things, and after a conversation with my mom for a while, I sat for like five-ten minutes just thinking about everything. There's one thing that's been perpetually on my mind, and thats friendship. What is friendship? I would define it as the relationship between two people who enjoy each others company, are there for each other, and share a level of trust. There's a couple of people in my life that I've recently become distant with or have completely lost contact with and that makes me really upset. I've pondered what good friends these people were to me in the past and how these reactions represent our relationship. For example, one person was upset with something I had done, but this action shouldn't have been a surprise. Now, I haven't spoken with this person in over two months (I believe) and didn't see them during this time either, whether it be alone or in a group. This feels like forever because this person was a good friend and a close confidant. It amazes me how such a trivial thing that shouldn't come as a surprise could ruin such a long lasted (since fourth grade) and great friendship. Especially since this person told me that they weren't mad. Another example is a close friend I've become distant with over the course of many months. There's a number of reasons I think this is occuring, reasons of which I don't feel like getting into but are along the nature of rediculousness. These are two friends I miss very dearly and just an example of what not to do as a friend.

Another problem on the friend front is the feeling of people getting bored with me. I find that this happens to me more often than I believe it should, and this bothers me. What happens is I'll meet someone new and talk to them all the time for a long time and then they'll just stop talking to me. I don't understand why this happens and it hurts me a lot. It's pretty easy to gain my trust and I fall very easily, so when this happens I get frustrated and confused and I start to feel less worthy and down on myself. I often find myself wondering why this has happened or what I did that could have driven the person away. I usually find out it wasn't me but find it hard to believe, regardless. I've been hurt many times and very badly because of this happening and I'm sick and tired of it.

One thing I value very much is the being of my best friend/brain buddy/ Wondertwin #2, Stephanie. You'll probably hear about her a lot. She's helped me through many things and we're always there for each other. This is a friendship that I know I will have forever and if I ever have 0 friends, I'll always have her to talk to and hang out with. This is the best kind of friendship there is. :)

I'd love to keep talking about my feelings but these are the biggies on my mind right now and I've got to go watch the Mason vs. ODU game on Comcast with my friends and hum pep band tunes because we're not there right now as a pep band and that makes us sad :(

Until next time, here's a random thing for you to ponder: ‽ INTERROBANG!