Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.
-Scott Adams

Slightly Awkward

There's nothing like seeing someone that you haven't seen since high school and you're in the process of eating ribs with dirty fingers and when you try to make conversation, you realize you have a bunch of shit stuck in your teeth...I gotta go vegetarian.

Life Day

I forgot to write about Life Day, the holiday I created! As some of you know, I had a car accident I think in 2000, so seven years ago where I drove off the road, went down a hill to be stopped at the bottom by a small creek where I flipped my car. My car was totaled but I was untouched. Nothing like that had ever happened to me so I was very impacted by the experience. It made me think about all the people and things I love, the beauty of life, how fragile it is, and to be grateful for all you have in your life. So, I started what people I love have come to know as Life Day, November 28th, the day I had my accident. It is a day designated to being grateful and reflecting on your life. This year I wasn't much in the spirit unfortunately. I just remember being really stressed, having a somewhat bad day at work, and wanting to be in too many places at once. I think I was mostly just frustrated because I felt like I didn't even have time to stop and spend time with my family or reflect on things or do what I wanted (even though most of the things I had to do were things I wanted to do). It was just work, Art Venture(the afterschool thing I did), a quick meal with the fam, then off to jazz band and practicing. When I got to jazz band, I felt so overwhelmed by numerous things that I was almost in tears. I was finally able to change my mood after talking to a friend before jazz. He told me that I need to live an example of how I want to be and the rest will fill into place. He also told me to go to jazz band and just have fun with it because it's something to be enjoyed. So I did just that, I went to jazz band and had a great time. I felt really lucky to be playing with such a talented group of musicians. Luckily, since Life Day was in the middle of the week, it got to be stretched out for a few days like all good holidays. :) I had a wonderful meal with my family at a local Italian restaurant. We even shared a bottle of wine which was very enjoyable! My sister even happened to be home, so I got to spend time with her too. So, it ended up to be a pretty great Life Day (week). Cheers to life and all you are grateful for! By the way, what are you grateful for?

Bringin' Home the Bacon! (and other family activities)

Well, it has been a while since my last blog. This is prime time crazy time right now(as I'm sure it is for a lot of people)! I will attempt to recap since the last time I wrote...
Thanksgiving
I had a great Thanksgiving! It involved a lot of family, a lot of food, and a lot of wine! I unfortunately didn't get to see any of my mom's side of the family this holiday since someone in my family drank too much wine and slept through Thanksgiving, but we had fun anyway. As many of you probably know(since the only people I know that read this are family members!), my dad's side have a somewhat unique Thanksgiving tradition. There's the big meal, the visiting...and then after dinner they butcher pigs. A little disturbing, but tradition nontheless! (Don't worry, they are dead when we get them.) I'm not a big meat eater, but if you're going to eat it, at least there's a comfort in knowing where it came from, that the animals were treated well and they weren't pumped full of a bunch of chemicals ya don't need. Another tradition is the taste-testing the sausage, bacon, etc.which is always fun. This holiday revolves around eating, maybe even more than Christmas...close anyway! It's hard to resist delicious home-cooked meals! It was great being in a five-bedroom house that was so packed that even the living room was completely covered with air mattresses and blankets for people to sleep. It was overwhelming in the best possible way. My heart was so happy being surrounded by so many people that I love! Eventually people started to trickle home, my three cousins and I the last to leave. It was hard to leave but I am grateful for the wonderful memories...and my full belly. :)
ArtVenture
ArtVenture is the after-school program I've been doing once a week for the past month or so. The kids have been really great, K-5th graders. They love drumming which is another thing that makes my heart happy! They learned a song that I wrote for them that's called "Everybody Is A Star" which we put some sign language to. I forget how smart kids are! They pick up things so fast (oh, to be young again!). They also love to draw! They are always so eager to get that color on paper. I love hearing the stories they come up with about their drawings too. :) We've also been doing some things with movement and theater, which is Karen's forte (the friend I'm working with to do this). It has been a great experience so far, I have definitely been learning a lot! Tomorrow is our last one at this school which will be concluded with a little performance for the parents-I hope it goes well!
Music
The semester at school is wrapping up too, this is the last week of normal classes and next week is finals week. I'm lucky, I don't have any finals! :) I am a little nervous about next semester though when I will be a full-time student! I feel like it has been a long time since I've been in school. Luckily, I have met some really great people so far and I'm sure I will meet more. I'm also a little nervous about how I am going to survive. School as a music major is going to be very demanding, not only with all the homework but also finding time to practice and observe other directors and concerts-ah! I'm not sure how or where I will be able to work, all I know is where there's a will, there's a way!

Trumpet On My Mind

Today, I had my third trumpet lesson this year with Dennis, my band director and the brass instructor. He's really helpful in making me feel good about the slow-but-sure progress I've been making. I don't know if I told you, but I have been playing with my mouthpiece too high for, what, the 12 or 13 years I've been playing trumpet?! It's physically just a slight slight adjustment to the eye, but everyone knows old habits die hard. So it has been a struggle but for a good cause (a rich, full sound!). He told me today that the worst is over though and that I have been improving a lot since I first started with him this year. I can't believe how much I learn within that one hour lesson (technically 50 minutes, the length of a normal class). I won't go into detail now, but it has been very beneficial to me. Music is in my head all the time now! Constantly living off this natural high from it. Yes, sometimes it's frustrating, but most things worth loving are sometimes, don't you think? Basically, my thought for the day is that good things are worth working for. Even if it takes breaking a habit that you've had over half your life, if you keep at it, someday you will get to where you want to be. :)

Frustration complication

I'm not really sure how to describe today. With me being the emotional person that I am, one could use the word "rollercoaster" for example. I don't know what my deal is but I feel like I will never live a stable life! Though I feel I am getting better in some ways, I still feel like there are too many things that I want to do and never enough time. Then I feel exhausted before I even do anything! Ahh! The only comfort I have is that maybe possibly I am not the only one in the world that feels this way...I need a bubble bath with candles.

From losing keys to finding keys

Today has been a little rough. Not only did I not get enough sleep (which is a common occurence for a night owl that is forced to wake anytime before 9am), I kicked off the morning with locking my keys in my car that was running! I was on my way to work and had to drop something off at a friend's house and wasn't planning to stay long, so I left my car on. Well, I normally don't do that, but what I do normally do by habit is lock my door when I get out of it. So, luckily my friend let me borrow her phone to call work to tell them I'd be late and gave me a ride to my parents' house, the only place I could get into without needing keys! We had a conversation about how it would be nice to not need keys and not have to lock doors (what a nice vision of a place). So yeah, late for work. Then, right after work, I had to get some supplies, quickly load up my car, and pick up Karen to go teach a group of K-6th graders for something we call ArtVenture. I don't know if it was the weather change or lack of adults in the room this week, but were they ever hyper! Needless to say, it wasn't the smoothest day. Then again, this is only the second one. From there, I dropped Karen off, took a quick nap, and off to jazz band! On my way into the building, I scraped my knuckle on something, so I had a bloody knuckle the whole rehearsal. I can't complain though because after all of this, I still get to sit down at a baby grand piano and play to my heart's desire. These keys are ones I would never want to live without. :)

"Be inspired by anything that makes you feel anything..."
-me