Cymbal Catastrophe

On the night of January 18th, I performed in the Senior District Concert Band at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. It's taken three years for me to get in, and I am so happy that I have finally accomplished this. Also, I got a recommendation to audition for All-States! I will be up against the best people in the state, not just the district. The audition is this Saturday, the 25th. I'm nervous, but excited to be given this wonderful chance. Performing at Mechanics Hall was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done. It was so amazing to play with such talented musicians. The conductor, Mr. Glen Adsit, was a joy to work with and overall a very cheerful guy. Each one of our rehearsals just flew by, they were so much fun. Every single group -- the orchestra, the jazz band, and the choir -- did a beautiful job and the majority of it went off without a hitch!

I say "majority" because of what happened during the band's performance. Specifically in the percussion section. It may have been me. Okay, it was me. But it wasn't my fault, I swear. 

In total, we played three pieces. The first was Give Us This Day by David Maslanka, a man who composes music by first meditating for hours. Afterwards, he sits down to to notate everything he heard and visualized while he was meditating. Then he walks away; the piece is completed. And man, this piece was truly incredible. I got to roll the gong to fortissimo! How often does sheet music call for that? It took me a couple tries just to get the gong loud enough so the audience would be able to hear me. And let me tell you, it's a lot of fun being told you can let loose and just whack something with all your strength. Maybe that's why I was so drawn to being a percussionist. Our next piece was Rest by Frank Ticheli, who is apparently good friends with Mr. Adsit. This piece was all about the transition into death. It was very beautiful, putting the audience in a relaxed state of mind, and even me, since I didn't have a part to play and I could just sit back and listen. Our final song was Galop by Dmitri Shastokovic. To help ready the audience for the rest of the concert, this piece was fast and upbeat. As you can imagine, it was about the tempo of a horse galloping. The conductor didn't want to have a long wait to start the song, so his plan was to step off his podium to take a bow for the applause after Rest, and then he would walk back to his spot and immediately begin the piece. Knowing this, I picked up the crash cymbals that I would be playing and got into place. Unfortunately, as I did so, the left cymbal suddenly decided it was done having a handle and wanted to be an individual. Or maybe the cymbal and the handle had a spat. Because, for whatever reason, the knot holding the cymbal in place came undone, and the cymbal crashed to the floor. 

It was just about the loudest thing that could have happened. Of all the instruments, the loudest one just had to fall after the beautiful peaceful melody. It did get some laughter from the audience, and they were now definitely awake and ready for the next piece. I'm sure some people in the balcony could see what had happened, and that I did not actually drop the cymbal. It dropped itself; there was nothing I could do. I do apologize for my disruption, and perhaps I would even be embarrassed if it had been my fault. Actually, I find the whole thing really hilarious, and I've been enjoying telling people. It was a pretty perfect moment for it to fall. It wasn't in the middle of a piece and it gave me enough time to improvise and use the suspended cymbal with a drum stick instead. I'm sure that the director understood what had happened as soon as he collected the cymbals and saw a disconnected handle lying next to them. I certainly hope they let me back in next year. I really did have a lot of fun with everyone. 

It All Lines Up

These are the last 24 hours that I will spend as a 16 year old. Tomorrow I turn 17, which would have been unthinkable just a year ago. My experiences in this past year have taught me that in life, things don't have to happen until you're ready. Every year in school they tell you "you'll have to learn this method now, because you will have to do a lot more next year." And every year they make us nervous by saying that. Even guidance counselors call us into meetings to freak us out about college, telling us that if we don't do certain things we won't be accepted (Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I swear it's not that far off). But what I've come to realize is that, once we make it to that next year that is supposed to be harder, we have been prepped and taught how to handle the greater workload. Those methods that we were taught have become second nature, so that we are able to move forward in our abilities. One year ago during winter break, I was spending the days taking Driver's Ed. At that point in my life, driving was just something in my imagination. In any dreams that I found myself driving, it was really just me sitting in the car while it moved itself, because I didn't yet understand how to even operate a car. My entire awareness was so different from what it is today. When I was 15, I couldn't even handle the idea of turning 17. It felt like I was growing up too fast. But now, I feel perfectly ready for it.

This also works for anything in the future that I may be worrying about. I know now that I don't have to think about it now because by the time it actually comes, I will be ready for it. No matter what it is, the universe will allow it into my life experience at the precise moment that I will be able to get the most out of it. It's really fun to know that life is perfectly lined up for you as you allow it to be.

So Christmas went well. We visited my grandparents and my grandmother cooked a fantastic meal. We watched that movie 3 Idiots again, which we now own. I got Ina Garten's new cookbook Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof, which has a lot of recipes and tips so that each one can be made perfectly the first time, and will hopefully be delicious enough that I will want to make it many times after. My brothers are happy because there's a recipe for caramelized bacon. It looks easy to make and fun too. I hope I have a lot of fun with this cookbook.

The Book Thief

Today is my dad's birthday. Incidentally, it's also the day we got a half day in school, which really only lasts three hours. We are back home by 10:30, so to many it hardly seems worth it at all to even come to school. Especially when it snows a lot on the night before, making you think that possibly there will be a cancellation, or at the very least the day would be postponed. But alas, as every student awoke this morning, they found that they did indeed still have lessons to attend. But I digress.

So many years, I worry that my dad should do more things that he wants to do, instead of just spending them at home as he would pretty much any other day. The only thing so far that I have witnessed him do is stay home from work, and then there was the movie.

Around noon, my dad drove us to the movie theater to see the new film The Book Thief. I was interested to see it because I absolutely adore the book by Markus Zusak. What I love best about the book is its characters, and how the whole book is from the point of view of Death. It's cleverly written, an it took Markus three years to complete, which shows me how much he cared to make this book something special. No matter how many times I read it, the ending always makes me cry. Death even tells you the ending multiple times before it occurs, and yet it still gets me every time. That being said, the movie was pretty well done. It was very true to the book, obviously with a few short cuts to make the plot go faster than it did in the book, where the author could be more laborious with his descriptions and the thoughts of each character. This film was definitely cast brilliantly. Many of the characters appeared exactly as I had pictured them in my mind, and the same for the settings. I don't think I would see the movie again, only because there were too many differences from the book that I was scrutinizing it too much and it wasn't as good as it would have been otherwise. But still, I have to say they did a fantastic job. One thing I think everyone can pull out of the book and the movie is that it really accentuates the importance of books in our lives. Their popularity has not diminished over time, even with the advancements of cinema. You can get so wrapped up in a book that you're turning pages and you don't even realize it, and that's a wonderful thing.

3 Idiots

Bollywood movies are really nice. They're so colorful, and the random songs don't seem cheesy or out of place, for some reason. My brother just showed us the movie "3 Idiots," which he was shown in his Eastern Faiths class. It was a very fun movie. 

It seems like I'm mostly going to be posting when I see a good movie. I think that might be because after a movie, I feel good (if the movie was good with a happy ending, of course). When I see a happy movie, I feel peaceful and it's really nice. I think the same can go for a great book, though I usually just feel sad that it's over. It's nice to lose yourself in another world. It also helps boost my imagination and gives me new ideas. Having an active imagination is very handy in a boring class in school. 

Well I guess that's it. Until next time!

Cuisine de France

With my dad, I just watched the film Haute Cuisine. It was about the story of the personal chef for the president of France. It was lovely. The chef, Hortense, was very passionate about what she cooked and she did it beautifully. The only indication that she was an actor and not in fact a chef was when she was chopping a truffle, she was holding it incorrectly that left her in danger if cutting herself. I was so caught up in listening to it in French that I almost replied to a question my dad posed in French instead of English. I would really like to learn the language fluently. 

Food is something that is treated like a religion in Europe that is followed by everybody. Today, it is taken for granted. It's all about quantity, not quality. Still, within that food machine, it is still possible to cook with beautiful ingredients grown to perfection. The best part of that movie was the way Hortense and the president described the food. 

I don't want to be a chef for the food. Well, that's a lie. What I mean is I don't want to be a chef JUST for the food. I want the creativity. I think it will be fun. Très amusant. Parfait. 

Königslutter

For the past 10 days, my family has added a new addition to our household. A 16 year old guy from Germany. My school does a program where some students from Königslutter, Germany would come to Hudson and see the sights New England has to offer. In exchange, students that are in the music programs or have hosted a student previously will be able to visit the town of Helmstedt and Königslutter. 

My German exchange student is named Hauke. He's very nice, though shy at times (who wouldn't be in a new country). I decided to write about him because he left for home today after school and I miss him. I didn't think I would as much as I do, considering how awkward I always felt around him when we were left alone with nothing to talk about. All the same, I feel like those silences and the fact that I interacted with him more than my brothers or my dad gave us more of a bond. And having a fifth member in the house again just felt more... complete. 

Hauke has given me the courage to visit Germany myself this year. I could see a lot of similarities between us, so I see it that if he could visit a new place and enjoy himself, then so can I.  My only hesitation has been about being surrounded by so many strangers in a completely new place. After meeting Hauke, I don't feel so nervous about going. I'm actually pretty excited about it. Sure, I'll miss some school work that will take me ages to make up, but right now I don't care. 

Reaching Maturity

I really feel sixteen. I've always known that I am, but it was really more of a general fact. I don't feel old exactly, because I know that I have plenty of time before I feel THAT. I just feel more... mature. I mean, I'm entering my junior year at high school, which is scary enough. On top of that I am going to be spending these next two years looking for a college to attend for four years, maybe longer. 

And on top of THAT, I am going to be taking my license exam tomorrow morning. I went out driving with my dad tonight to practice. I know I have everything down, but I still feel really nervous. There's a tiny speck of doubt that says that maybe I won't pass this first time. Luckily there's a larger percentage of me that always says "when I get my license..." 

I must say, it's a pretty awesome feeling. I really feel like I'm in control of how I live, and once I get a job, I'll really feel that way. I have visions of driving down to visit friends and maybe going out to this local frozen yogurt shop because I've never actually had frozen yogurt before. I'm curious as to how it compares to ice cream. 

All right, I guess that's it.

Um, bye.