I'm going to make this as not-whiny as possible, but colds SUCK when you're trying to be productive. Especially when you play a wind instrument. When I try and play my clarinet while sick, I feel like I'm risking an aneurysm. Not a risk I'm willing to take today. On the upside, I had a great excuse to stay in the most comfortable clothes that I could, was not obligated to help paint the house (though I kind of wanted to), and all-in-all vegged out for a day. I guess it was a somewhat needed break from... summer?
Anyway, I DID do a whole German lesson today which was sehr gut in that I was finally taught how to conjugate verbs, which I kind of intuited from my general understanding of foreign languages. I mean, heck, I'm already figuring out past tense. These online courses need to know how to keep up with ME.
I did get to play Settlers of Catan when my brother's friends came over for dinner, and I have to say, I'm already hooked. Too bad nobody's going to want to play when I'm back at school. If only the people of the Internet could be within traveling distance!
I also spent a good few hours video editing for this gosh darn YouTube Girls song, of which I did *not* get to re-record the vocals on account of my pre-pubescent crackly voice today. Hopefully I can finish that in the next hour or so... hopefully...
So I guess all in all I have a few clouds, but all of them have silver linings. And I swear I'm going to give my best shot at saying something of substance tomorrow, but I don't know--I kind of like just being personal. I've generally not done that much on my channel. Who knows?
Time to tally up:
Sleep: X
Clarinet: O
German: X
Blogging: X
Side note: I realized today while editing the video, the numbered calendars are conspicuously present in a few shots, and they are completely empty. I've only been keeping tallies here. I will proceed now to change that fact.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
What a day.
I woke up this morning with major allergy issues. Or a cold. I hope it's allergies. Anyway, the sad thing was that the first thing in my head (besides, of course, "Where the heck is that snooze button?") was "Gosh darnit, I have to sing today!"
However, I made myself some tea with honey, did some vocal warm-ups and got to it. I have to say, instrumentally, at least, I'm very happy with the recording I got out. I'm going to try at the vocals again tomorrow to see if I can get a better result out, though, and the video is going to be a chore to edit. I do, however, think I'm going to win myself some lady-hearts with it.
As for other news, I've slowly started defeating the demon that is Capriccio Espagnol which is also quite good. But the rest of the orchestra rep for the audition is looking equally daunting. This will be an interesting season, for sure.
And I recall saying that I was going to assess my progress on Tuesday and assign more projects. Well, I just realized that I'll want to START the new projects tomorrow, and I have to say, a new project or two should be *quite* doable. So I'm going to assign one tonight: actually doing those German lessons I said I would do way back in January. Perhaps I can incorporate German into my blog, seeing as the only way to get better is to practice and generally fail. So here goes try number 1: Ich spreche zu wenig Deutsch. Ich versuche es zu lernen.
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Bloging: X
However, I made myself some tea with honey, did some vocal warm-ups and got to it. I have to say, instrumentally, at least, I'm very happy with the recording I got out. I'm going to try at the vocals again tomorrow to see if I can get a better result out, though, and the video is going to be a chore to edit. I do, however, think I'm going to win myself some lady-hearts with it.
As for other news, I've slowly started defeating the demon that is Capriccio Espagnol which is also quite good. But the rest of the orchestra rep for the audition is looking equally daunting. This will be an interesting season, for sure.
And I recall saying that I was going to assess my progress on Tuesday and assign more projects. Well, I just realized that I'll want to START the new projects tomorrow, and I have to say, a new project or two should be *quite* doable. So I'm going to assign one tonight: actually doing those German lessons I said I would do way back in January. Perhaps I can incorporate German into my blog, seeing as the only way to get better is to practice and generally fail. So here goes try number 1: Ich spreche zu wenig Deutsch. Ich versuche es zu lernen.
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Bloging: X
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Doot-doot-doo, bloggeroo!
So today I just feel like reviewing what I've done so far. I have some ideas for "good" blogs in the future, but hopefully this will become a more regular part of my life and I can save them for later. Some of them I may even work on and edit in advance. Kind of like the videos I'm working on right now... wait, what?
So today I definitely played my clarinet. I played it in church this morning, which is always a mix of emotions. Seeing as I have to be there at 8 in the morning to do the pre-church rehearsal, I'm obviously tired (even though I also got my allotted sleep time) and the music is... well, let's just say "well within my playing abilities." So when I play in church, I get this warm fuzzy feeling that I'm adding to the service with my talents, but I also wish I got to actually use them. Except then I wonder whether doing so would actually detract from the service, kind of like saying "Step aside, Jesus, I got a mean lick to play here!" But in any case, I played then, and I also spent an extra hour whittling away at orchestral excerpts for my fall ensemble audition.
Which, of course, was the exact opposite end of the spectrum. I mean, what kind of a sadistic jerk came up with Cappriccio Espagnol? Oh right... Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the best known orchestrators of all time. I have to say, when it is played well on the clarinet, you can tell why it was written for the clarinet, but it's not exactly a walk in the park. It also doesn't help that it is echoed by the principal violin later, who literally just puts four fingers down on the strings and swings the bow between them. Probably still difficult for them, but it *looks* much easier. Anyway, I spent the full hour playing 8 measures at about 1/4 the tempo it's supposed to be. Yep, that's dedication.
Finally, I laid down a few tracks for my response to Paige's YouTube Boys Get Me Hot Video. It's going to be about 6 minutes long, which is sad, but I have a feeling that it will melt people's hearts. Not to toot my own horn or anything (toot-toot!) What I had the most fun with was making a drum track with zero percussion equipment. I just hit my chest like Tarzan for a bass drum part, snapped to resemble a rim shot, and sizzled the hi hat part with my tongue. Basically, it's going to be a fun song with only acoustic sounds, which is what I like.
Hope you all are well, and I'll try and get one of my "real" blog posts to you tomorrow!
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Blogging: X
So today I definitely played my clarinet. I played it in church this morning, which is always a mix of emotions. Seeing as I have to be there at 8 in the morning to do the pre-church rehearsal, I'm obviously tired (even though I also got my allotted sleep time) and the music is... well, let's just say "well within my playing abilities." So when I play in church, I get this warm fuzzy feeling that I'm adding to the service with my talents, but I also wish I got to actually use them. Except then I wonder whether doing so would actually detract from the service, kind of like saying "Step aside, Jesus, I got a mean lick to play here!" But in any case, I played then, and I also spent an extra hour whittling away at orchestral excerpts for my fall ensemble audition.
Which, of course, was the exact opposite end of the spectrum. I mean, what kind of a sadistic jerk came up with Cappriccio Espagnol? Oh right... Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the best known orchestrators of all time. I have to say, when it is played well on the clarinet, you can tell why it was written for the clarinet, but it's not exactly a walk in the park. It also doesn't help that it is echoed by the principal violin later, who literally just puts four fingers down on the strings and swings the bow between them. Probably still difficult for them, but it *looks* much easier. Anyway, I spent the full hour playing 8 measures at about 1/4 the tempo it's supposed to be. Yep, that's dedication.
Finally, I laid down a few tracks for my response to Paige's YouTube Boys Get Me Hot Video. It's going to be about 6 minutes long, which is sad, but I have a feeling that it will melt people's hearts. Not to toot my own horn or anything (toot-toot!) What I had the most fun with was making a drum track with zero percussion equipment. I just hit my chest like Tarzan for a bass drum part, snapped to resemble a rim shot, and sizzled the hi hat part with my tongue. Basically, it's going to be a fun song with only acoustic sounds, which is what I like.
Hope you all are well, and I'll try and get one of my "real" blog posts to you tomorrow!
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Blogging: X
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Re: What's your favorite _________?
So, this blog thing just doesn't have a good way to carry on a conversation. I guess the best way is for me to make a whole post because I got such wonderful feedback!
In general, I think we agree that there is a lot of value in not picking favorites for some things, but there are others about which we think we should remain ignorant. Ute (scratchingcat), for example, pointed out that we should hopefully have a favorite significant other. I wholeheartedly agree with that--but I'd also argue that, as I pointed out, this is out of a conscious choice not to try out others anymore and see if there are more suitable ones out there. In this case, the ignorance is honorable.
Similarly, when it comes to investments, or things about which you must only pick one if you are sane, you must intentionally remain ignorant. Will brought up the notion of purchasing a guitar for himself. Having bought myself clarinets, I know the feeling--you have to try out lots and lots of instruments and only pick ONE. In my experience, something that makes this process much easier is, much like with choosing life partners, choosing to remain ignorant after a certain point. Sure, you try out all the possible ones you see, and you find out what you like and don't like, but eventually you must come to a decision, and once you have, you stop trying out others to see if it was the right decision until you are back on the market.
I was also not arguing against having preferences. It is a sign of good taste to have preferences--it means you are paying attention to differences in things and assessing them, which implies you are milking the experience at hand of all its worth. Preferences also help make decisions so that we don't spend our whole lives wandering aimlessly, avoiding any direction at all.
Some of you also brought up the idea of "temporary favorites" or "flexible favorites." I suppose this is simply a difference in definition; I was using the term "favorite" to imply a conscious choice that is much more permanent. The fact that you get excited about one thing for an amount of time, however brief, does not mean that you have chosen a favorite in my opinion, but rather are savoring something preferable. In such a situation, in my experience at least, I readily admit to myself that I will not unendingly find such fascination in whatever this may be. This willingness to admit that it will not always be your favorite is exactly the kind of healthy habit I was encouraging.
Finally, there's what I like to call the "soul mate" favorite. This is where you happen across something that becomes a favorite, leave it--possibly even several times--but somehow always end up coming back to it and rediscovering why you loved it so much. I'd say this is a healthy kind of favorite to have, because you have clearly not stopped searching and somehow remain drawn to it. What's important to remember about this, at least in my eyes, is that you do not judge other choices in comparison to it. Comparing other things to your soul mate favorite is still a type of chosen ignorance.
All that being said, I did want to make it a point to say that I loved all of your responses and I think it's lovely that we can have this discussion! It seems so nice to be able to calmly discuss things without having to take the hours I normally spend on videos. This is also going up unedited... so I hope it made sense :D
DFTBA!
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Blogging: X
In general, I think we agree that there is a lot of value in not picking favorites for some things, but there are others about which we think we should remain ignorant. Ute (scratchingcat), for example, pointed out that we should hopefully have a favorite significant other. I wholeheartedly agree with that--but I'd also argue that, as I pointed out, this is out of a conscious choice not to try out others anymore and see if there are more suitable ones out there. In this case, the ignorance is honorable.
Similarly, when it comes to investments, or things about which you must only pick one if you are sane, you must intentionally remain ignorant. Will brought up the notion of purchasing a guitar for himself. Having bought myself clarinets, I know the feeling--you have to try out lots and lots of instruments and only pick ONE. In my experience, something that makes this process much easier is, much like with choosing life partners, choosing to remain ignorant after a certain point. Sure, you try out all the possible ones you see, and you find out what you like and don't like, but eventually you must come to a decision, and once you have, you stop trying out others to see if it was the right decision until you are back on the market.
I was also not arguing against having preferences. It is a sign of good taste to have preferences--it means you are paying attention to differences in things and assessing them, which implies you are milking the experience at hand of all its worth. Preferences also help make decisions so that we don't spend our whole lives wandering aimlessly, avoiding any direction at all.
Some of you also brought up the idea of "temporary favorites" or "flexible favorites." I suppose this is simply a difference in definition; I was using the term "favorite" to imply a conscious choice that is much more permanent. The fact that you get excited about one thing for an amount of time, however brief, does not mean that you have chosen a favorite in my opinion, but rather are savoring something preferable. In such a situation, in my experience at least, I readily admit to myself that I will not unendingly find such fascination in whatever this may be. This willingness to admit that it will not always be your favorite is exactly the kind of healthy habit I was encouraging.
Finally, there's what I like to call the "soul mate" favorite. This is where you happen across something that becomes a favorite, leave it--possibly even several times--but somehow always end up coming back to it and rediscovering why you loved it so much. I'd say this is a healthy kind of favorite to have, because you have clearly not stopped searching and somehow remain drawn to it. What's important to remember about this, at least in my eyes, is that you do not judge other choices in comparison to it. Comparing other things to your soul mate favorite is still a type of chosen ignorance.
All that being said, I did want to make it a point to say that I loved all of your responses and I think it's lovely that we can have this discussion! It seems so nice to be able to calmly discuss things without having to take the hours I normally spend on videos. This is also going up unedited... so I hope it made sense :D
DFTBA!
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Blogging: X
Friday, June 4, 2010
Bloggin' my words like yeah.
So today had one failure and two major successes, which I hate having to make excuses for. Alas, it is so. Today my brother graduated from high school, which, of course, necessitates a full day of family celebration and it would have been rude to leave the family to practice my silly little clarinet for such a monumental occasion. I also had to be up at a whopping seven in the morning, but I still had seven hours of sleep, so it's technically a success, though I still felt quite tired. I guess I'll give it a slash because it met the rule but not the spirit of the rule. And clearly I'm blogging, so you know, it's a win of sorts.
As for the ceremony, it was much easier than mine was from the same high school. It helped that his class was half the size of mine (the largest in my high school's history--856 students!) and it also helped that the valedictorian had an entertaining and BRIEF speech. Also the fact that their class song was Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus made for an entertaining graduation because I was sure half the class hated it or at least found it humorously ironic.
I'm not going to lie, when I saw my brother walk out toward the end of the first set of students, I was a bit seized by emotion. It was just strange to me to think that he's going off to college. Somehow, in my imagination, he has stayed a freshman in high school while I was off rising through the grades in college. On the contrary, he is going off to university in just over a month for summer classes. He's one of very few of my nearly 20 cousins not to major in the arts, which makes him a little... I don't know... untouchable. He and my Dad have spent the last few nights debating the physics of MythBusters or how to use the engineering of the refrigerator to get the perfectly soft ice cream. It's strange to me that now he knows lots of things I don't. I guess that's part of being an adult.
Well, that was a bit of a ramble. I guess I should wrap this thing up. My brother's a big boy and I'm proud of him, and realizing more and more that he's just as easy to envy as he claims I am. God, I love my family.
Clarinet: O
Sleep: /
Blogging: X
As for the ceremony, it was much easier than mine was from the same high school. It helped that his class was half the size of mine (the largest in my high school's history--856 students!) and it also helped that the valedictorian had an entertaining and BRIEF speech. Also the fact that their class song was Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus made for an entertaining graduation because I was sure half the class hated it or at least found it humorously ironic.
I'm not going to lie, when I saw my brother walk out toward the end of the first set of students, I was a bit seized by emotion. It was just strange to me to think that he's going off to college. Somehow, in my imagination, he has stayed a freshman in high school while I was off rising through the grades in college. On the contrary, he is going off to university in just over a month for summer classes. He's one of very few of my nearly 20 cousins not to major in the arts, which makes him a little... I don't know... untouchable. He and my Dad have spent the last few nights debating the physics of MythBusters or how to use the engineering of the refrigerator to get the perfectly soft ice cream. It's strange to me that now he knows lots of things I don't. I guess that's part of being an adult.
Well, that was a bit of a ramble. I guess I should wrap this thing up. My brother's a big boy and I'm proud of him, and realizing more and more that he's just as easy to envy as he claims I am. God, I love my family.
Clarinet: O
Sleep: /
Blogging: X
Thursday, June 3, 2010
What's Your Favorite _________?
Now, this is a question that bothers me on several levels. Many of you know from my videos that I have trouble picking favorites, and I have recently come to the conclusion as to why. Favorites are a sign of ignorance. I know this sounds harsh, so please allow me to explain.
People often ask me what my favorite song or composer is. This riles me up in several ways. First of all, there is an implication that they are actually looking for me to pass a judgement, based on my experience, of what is quality and what is not quality. I can understand this from one perspective, being that as somewhat of an expert I can offer some insight that they did not know about; I cannot understand, however, how they actually expect me to choose. When someone is as knowledgeable as I (and I am by no means the definitive scholar) in a field, they know a wide variety of examples of their art form in many different styles and can appreciate various aspects of them. It would be very easy for me, for example, to pick a favorite symphony if I only knew, say, Beethoven 9 and Schubert 1; Beethoven CLEARLY beats Schubert (in my opinion). When, however, I know dozens of symphonies by equally numerous composers, there are many more variables between which I cannot choose.
That is why I say favorites are a sign of ignorance. You can easily pick a preference between a handful of options, but when the options grow more numerous, it becomes more and more difficult to make a choice. I used to be able to pick a favorite food. I used to be able to give a favorite color. I used to be able to pick a favorite car. I no longer can because I know so many of each.
What also strikes me about picking a favorite is that it almost always prevents further research. If you have an old standby, why try something new? Humans are creatures of habit, and it is easy to fall into a rut doing the same things over and over again. It's comfortable, it's easy, and you only get more efficient at it. But I personally believe the old adage that variety is the spice of life.
That is why, from now on, if I find myself picking favorites, I will force myself to research more until I can no longer pick one. If I get a favorite tool, I will try others to see advantages and disadvantages. If I become complacent with my entertainment, whatever it may be, I will try and find something new. If I, heaven forbid, have a favorite child, I will do everything in my power to connect with and learn about the others so that I appreciate them equally.
So this is my plea to you, dearest reader: DO NOT allow yourself to pick favorites. Not having a favorite will make life much more fun.
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Blogging: X
People often ask me what my favorite song or composer is. This riles me up in several ways. First of all, there is an implication that they are actually looking for me to pass a judgement, based on my experience, of what is quality and what is not quality. I can understand this from one perspective, being that as somewhat of an expert I can offer some insight that they did not know about; I cannot understand, however, how they actually expect me to choose. When someone is as knowledgeable as I (and I am by no means the definitive scholar) in a field, they know a wide variety of examples of their art form in many different styles and can appreciate various aspects of them. It would be very easy for me, for example, to pick a favorite symphony if I only knew, say, Beethoven 9 and Schubert 1; Beethoven CLEARLY beats Schubert (in my opinion). When, however, I know dozens of symphonies by equally numerous composers, there are many more variables between which I cannot choose.
That is why I say favorites are a sign of ignorance. You can easily pick a preference between a handful of options, but when the options grow more numerous, it becomes more and more difficult to make a choice. I used to be able to pick a favorite food. I used to be able to give a favorite color. I used to be able to pick a favorite car. I no longer can because I know so many of each.
What also strikes me about picking a favorite is that it almost always prevents further research. If you have an old standby, why try something new? Humans are creatures of habit, and it is easy to fall into a rut doing the same things over and over again. It's comfortable, it's easy, and you only get more efficient at it. But I personally believe the old adage that variety is the spice of life.
That is why, from now on, if I find myself picking favorites, I will force myself to research more until I can no longer pick one. If I get a favorite tool, I will try others to see advantages and disadvantages. If I become complacent with my entertainment, whatever it may be, I will try and find something new. If I, heaven forbid, have a favorite child, I will do everything in my power to connect with and learn about the others so that I appreciate them equally.
So this is my plea to you, dearest reader: DO NOT allow yourself to pick favorites. Not having a favorite will make life much more fun.
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
Blogging: X
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
30 Days of Summer
So... I've done it again. I'm a very driven and creative person, but I usually need reasons to do things, and during summer, they all go away and I only want to do the things that are most passively entertaining. Well, not entirely passive--I have yet to plant myself in front of the TV for more than an hour at a time, and never more than two hours a day. I have, however, been passive in comparison to what I usually am.
I started off the summer pretty excited for projects, and for a few weeks, I was even successful. I had successful creative ventures (of which my channel will be bearing fruit quite shortly) and was for the most part responsible. But I have recently fallen into the summer doldrums and choose now to pull myself out before it gets worse.
For this reason, I have decided to re-start my "30 days of" projects on which I fell behind, but this time, I will be held responsible by the internet (i.e. you) by having one of my numberless calendars be "30 days of blogging." Now I know that internet friends are notoriously bad at holding each other accountable for promises and, as a result, we're notoriously bad at keeping promises. This is one case in which I ask that you bother me if I am not up to snuff. It does kind of make me feel like I'm using you, but, you know, I'd return the favor any time. So please, please, bug me if I do not meet the goals I set forth.
That being said, these goals need to be fluid, not entirely strict, and this is where problems can arise. I do promise that I will admit when I have failed and will not change the rules to avoid having to admit it, but I must also say that if I find a goal unreasonable, I will change it.
So, you might be wondering: what are my other goals? I do not want to overload myself, and I am also aware of which ones I will do for fun and which I will need to set a goal to complete. As a result, I will only run three calendars this week and will reassess next Tuesday whether I may add more. The first, as previously stated, will be "30 days of blogging." The second will be "30 days of clarinet practice." I've had my clarinet break and I must now pick it back up. The third will be "30 days of proper sleep." This one was only defined as such because the true measurement would be too many words for that line, but I will define it clearly here: proper sleep, in my knowledge of my own habits, entails 7-8 hours of sleep and must include waking up between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. I know it sounds strange to many of you that someone would WANT to be awake that early, but I know myself well enough to realize that this is the only way I can make it through a day and accomplish things; sleeping in always makes me groggy and lazy.
Finally, as for the set-up of the blogs for thirty days, you can expect that I'll blog about everything from nothing to something (much like my videos) and they will vary in length from not much to long (but not too long). I will always end with my 30 day accomplishments, if they have been accomplished, and if they have not by the time I post, I will write when I plan to accomplish them. If it is something, like sleep, which cannot be accomplished if it has not already been accomplished, I will simply mark an "O" and cry a little inside. Similarly, if they have been accomplished, I'll mark an "X" and cheer a little inside. So! For the first day we have:
Blogging: X
Proper sleep: X
Clarinet: X
See you tomorrow!
I started off the summer pretty excited for projects, and for a few weeks, I was even successful. I had successful creative ventures (of which my channel will be bearing fruit quite shortly) and was for the most part responsible. But I have recently fallen into the summer doldrums and choose now to pull myself out before it gets worse.
For this reason, I have decided to re-start my "30 days of" projects on which I fell behind, but this time, I will be held responsible by the internet (i.e. you) by having one of my numberless calendars be "30 days of blogging." Now I know that internet friends are notoriously bad at holding each other accountable for promises and, as a result, we're notoriously bad at keeping promises. This is one case in which I ask that you bother me if I am not up to snuff. It does kind of make me feel like I'm using you, but, you know, I'd return the favor any time. So please, please, bug me if I do not meet the goals I set forth.
That being said, these goals need to be fluid, not entirely strict, and this is where problems can arise. I do promise that I will admit when I have failed and will not change the rules to avoid having to admit it, but I must also say that if I find a goal unreasonable, I will change it.
So, you might be wondering: what are my other goals? I do not want to overload myself, and I am also aware of which ones I will do for fun and which I will need to set a goal to complete. As a result, I will only run three calendars this week and will reassess next Tuesday whether I may add more. The first, as previously stated, will be "30 days of blogging." The second will be "30 days of clarinet practice." I've had my clarinet break and I must now pick it back up. The third will be "30 days of proper sleep." This one was only defined as such because the true measurement would be too many words for that line, but I will define it clearly here: proper sleep, in my knowledge of my own habits, entails 7-8 hours of sleep and must include waking up between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. I know it sounds strange to many of you that someone would WANT to be awake that early, but I know myself well enough to realize that this is the only way I can make it through a day and accomplish things; sleeping in always makes me groggy and lazy.
Finally, as for the set-up of the blogs for thirty days, you can expect that I'll blog about everything from nothing to something (much like my videos) and they will vary in length from not much to long (but not too long). I will always end with my 30 day accomplishments, if they have been accomplished, and if they have not by the time I post, I will write when I plan to accomplish them. If it is something, like sleep, which cannot be accomplished if it has not already been accomplished, I will simply mark an "O" and cry a little inside. Similarly, if they have been accomplished, I'll mark an "X" and cheer a little inside. So! For the first day we have:
Blogging: X
Proper sleep: X
Clarinet: X
See you tomorrow!
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