Just a Day, Just a Day, Just an Ordinary Day

All of my classes went well. Government was boring as always. During Journalism I played EDH with Michael and Henry, which brought back many memories of German tour, and the Libby’s Potted Meat Food Product, and the Toilet malfunctions, but it was fun anyway. They got in trouble though because they did not have their articles finished (I thought they did or I would not have played with them. Just sayin’.) During seminary today we had talent day, where we all played music or sang or did stuff like that. I played my marimba solo on a xylophone, which made it sound pretty terrible, but the people liked it anyway. After that Kat and Kate and I went to Kat’s house and made scones (well actually Kat made them while Kate read children’s books to us and I drank all of Kat’s chocolate milk [actually I really did help a little bit by cleaning of the counter and holding the cookbook.])

 After that fun we took scones to the Woodruffs and saw them for the last time before their mission. I’m not going to see them for almost four years, which is extremely disheartening. I am extremely excited for them and for the people that they get to serve though. I really can’t wait for my mission, and I just know that it will be a truly wonderful experience. Those two, I will definitely be writing to. They have been such a great and wonderful example to me, and I can remember distinctly the occasions on which I met each of them. I met Matt when he switched into percussion from beginning percussion, and I was really impressed with how hard he worked and with how much he loved not only percussion, but also all of the people in percussion. After that I had many marvelous frontline experiences with Matthew, and it was great to work with him. I remember how Ameri thought that he was a freshman for the entire Fall Marching Band season. I think that if Matt had started percussion as a freshman, he’d be better than all of us.

                I remember when Matthew introduced me to Andrew. I didn’t know Andrew very well for quite a while, but then I started running into him more and more often (mostly after he graduated, actually.) I grew to love Andrew’s eloquent way of speaking and grand natural tendency to include everybody just as much as I love Matthew’s huge personality in a short body. I’m not sure how I got lucky enough to land in the group that was regularly invited to attend events with the Woodruffs, but I sure am glad that it happened. Both of them have really been such role models, and I’d even say heroes in my life, and I really will never forget the kindness they have showed me and the lessons they have taught me. Brazil is a lucky country indeed to be receiving these two good men. 

So... It Has Come To This

The End.

For truly. I just performed in my very last Percussion concert ever. With Timpview, anyway.
And it was fun, because I somehow managed to weasel my way into playing in nearly every song!

First I played in Bien Sobroso, which was a party, and then I played a happy little solo (I wasn't aware that I was supposed to play a solo until today, so I hadn't practiced it in quite a while, and didn't really do very well, but that's okay. I had fun.) After that I played in Slavonic Dance, which I got the music for 2 days ago, and I still managed to play pretty well. I'm proud of myself. Then I played in the Bells, and then Why Not, which I've had the music for for four forevers, so they were easy, but still really fun. Then everybody got to play in Mo Java, which basically means we had a grand old time.

Oh, life is grand when all you have to do is wander around and hit stuff.

Fiesta on Cinco de Mayo

I just thought it was funny that for state band we played Fiesta, and it's Cinco de Mayo today. What a fun thing.

Anyway, my life just basically ended, but not in a bad way. We just had our very last ever Symphonic Band performance at state band today, and it was a beautiful performance indeed. I really can't say how much I love band, or how much it's changes my life, or how much I love all of the people in band, who have helped me to learn and grow so much that I feel like a completely different person than I was four years ago.

Sigh. And now it's over. But everything I learned will live on inside me forever, there's no way that I'm done improving. More importantly than helping me to get better, band has taught me how to get better, so I can continue doing it my whole life, and then help others to do it as well. One of the major reasons why I love people so much is because of band, and the love that people have shown me there.

Plus we did the name game in 1 minute and 22 seconds, which is the all time record.

My joy is full.

Symphonic Tour Number the Last

The itinerary:


Monday, April 2 

7:30am  Everyone please help load the trailer (chairs, stands, percussion, heavy metal)

8:05am  GO TO CLASS!!!
Yeah, right........

12:20pm  Load buses

12:40pm  Meeting in bandroom (have your  itinerary on you and be ready to name everyone in SB)

12:50pm  Leave Timpview, sack lunch from home

2:30pm  Arrive Wellington; rest stop at park (snacks?)

3:00pm  Leave Wellington

5:00pm  Arrive Moab; dinner ($)

5:45pm  Arrive Grand CountyHigh School; section rehearsals

7:00pm  Full rehearsal

8:30pm  Meeting (snacks?)

9:30pm  Leave Moab

10:30pm  Arrive in Monticello; Check in at Inn at the Canyons 435.487.2458

11:30pm  Lights Out    

Tuesday, March 29 

7:00am  UP!

7:45am  Leave the motel; walk to the temple
It was soooo windy and freezing cold, so a very nice man let us into the church next to the temple and we ate in there.

8:00am  Arrive Monticello Temple; Breakfast (P)

8:30am  Leave the Temple, walk to MHS

8:45am  Meet the equipment truck at Monticello HS

9:00am  Clinic with Mr. Erickson

10:30am  Combined rehearsal with Monticello HS

11:15am  Leave Monticello; sack lunch (P)

11:45noon Arrive Blanding; Tour Edge of the Cedars State Park
Fun stuff

1:00pm  Leave Blanding

2:00pm  Arrive Goosenecks State Park
Wonderful place.

2:15pm  Leave Goosenecks

3:00pm  Arrive Montezuma Creek; rehearsal at Whitehorse HS

4:00pm  Combined rehearsal with Whitehorse Band
They were so very cool. I miss them.

5:30pm  Dinner (P) with Whitehorse students 

7:00pm  Leave Montezuma Creek

8:30pm  Arrive Monticello; attend "Wassermusik" recital
We went swimming.

10:30pm  In rooms

11:30pm  Lights Out

Wednesday, March 30

6:30am  Augen aufmachen!

7:15am  Leave Monticello

7:45am  Breakfast at Wilson Arch (P)
We didn't eat there, but it was a wonderful arch.

8:30am  Arrive Hole in the Rock House

9:00am  Leave Hole in the Rock

10:15pm  Arrive Green River; rest stop

10:45pm  Leave Green River

11:45noon Arrive Price; Lunch ($)

12:30pm  Leave Price

1:45pm  Arrive Maple Mountain HS; change into black

2:30pm  Symphonic Band warm up

3:00pm  Symphonic Band performance; Concert Band listens
I think we did well. :)

3:30pm  Both bands listen to Provo

4:00pm  Concert Band warm up; Symphonic Band listens to Orem

4:30pm  Concert Band performance; Symphonic Band listens

5:00pm  both bands load buses; both bands leave Maple Mountain HS

6:00pm  both bands arrive Timpview HS














I am going to miss band a ridiculous amount. This tour was so fun! And basically it just made me amazingly happy to be with my awesome and wonderful band friends. Especially Asher, Nate, Kate, Cami, Wendy, Mary, Allison, Macy, Ree, Nick, Christian, Kent, Bao, Etc... 


And playing frisbee with Joseph and Josh and people was awesome. And me and Ree chilling whilst the band rehearsed Elsa's, exactly like last year (we even talked about the same exact things.) And I enjoyed the bus rides, where we listened to Mr. Tippetts tell us stories for hours, and I told riddles to Cami and Nate and laughed to myself as they figured them out. And the good weather (well, mostly good weather) and just the wonderful happiness that band brings. 


And of course game night was glorious. Playing Indian Attack was absolutely classic. Oh band, how I shall miss thee. What a wonderful thing. 


There's really nothing like band tour at all. Nothing out in the whole wide world. 


I love adventuring, and I love people. 

3rd

Today in 3rd period independent music study, Macy, Caleb and I spend the entire period improvising mallet stuff together, and we actually made some really cool stuff. At the end we made a sweet song based off of a clock chime. We're really cool. And now we're good at improvising.

Some More Musics

Here's to Concert Percussion:

Anyway, the point is that I played at BYU today with the Symponic Band. It was actually pretty awesome, although my music is just a little bit on the boring side. But hey, that's life, right? Anyway, I love the symphonic band; we sound amazing. That's basically all.

Progress

Today at the Timpview basketball game, for which I was playing in the pep band, I managed to break my 6th bass mallet. Breaking even one is impressive, so I think I may have some kind of a school record. I like bass drum.

This Semester's Gonna be Good

Today I went to school, and then chilled in the band room all day. It was absolutely amazing, and I am very excited to repeat this every day of my life. I accomplished such tasks as polishing my solo, learning a four mallet vibraphone level, helping Wendy Nelson (who's amazing, by the way) fix the snare drum stand and the suspended symbol stand, getting another solo to play for solo and ensemble, discovering that the Burton grip is just as useful as the Stephen's grip, and growing in happiness by 5067 percent.