What Goes On Here?

I AM ALIVE!!! It's true. I know my life isn't as "busy" as all of your with kids and jobs and everything, but I think blogging is therapeutic in it's own right. So Emotionally, I have a therapist for that. Mentally, I have a Psychiatrist for that. So I'll tell you about other things!

Music: As some of you know I have 4 classes this semester, 3 of which are music classes: piano lessons, orchestra, and private composition lessons. All these are great.

Piano lessons: I'm focusing on 3 pieces that I love but that are highly difficult: Chopin's Waltz in C# Minor, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXTEkvUQfrQ&feature=related) Rachmaninoff's Prelude (which is minor and starts with the 3 really heavy octaves and then goes into those interesting chords, you'd know it if you heard it: here is the comedic version: I think it's hilarious (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKKlhYF53w), and Louis Gottschalk's The Banjo, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3rL23IdbyI&feature=related)(That guy plays it slower than most, but I like him, and that performance was the one I like the most). These three pieces are all very different but they are all extremely challenging.

Orchestra:
Is so fun! I'm stand partners with one of my very good friends, Anna Jeffries. She is so great. She loves MST3K and has a goofy sense of humor like me. So we are required to do 2 hours of practicing a week. One hour with our stand partner. So it's always really fun to get together with Anna and play and talk. The music we are learning this semester is really interesting. My favorite is a piece by Ralph (pronounced Rayf) Vaughn Williams. I have never heard it before but it's really cool. We are also going to be combining with the university band for our final piece to play parts of the Carmen Suite (Bizet). It's from an opera. It's really awesome as well. side note: as a result of this I discovered an amazing arrangement and recording of some Carmen melodies for Violin and orchestra as played by Itzhak Perlman and the New York Philharmonic. Amazing.

Composition Lessons: WOW! I love Brother Kerr. He is so positive and encouraging. I have taken 2 finished pieces into him and he critiqued both of them. The first he had no suggestions for--he really liked it and was positive about me performing it somewhere. The second he made some really good suggestions and as a result I've come up with some interesting things. I've also re-started a piece that has been in my head for years. (one of) My favorite poem(s) is "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot. (http://www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/9824/hollow.html) And I want to write a Men's Choir piece with its words. So I brought the first part of what I have and he gave me some much needed feedback and encouragement. He's just the perfect teacher for this subject for me. It's great.

English 314: yikes... even though dad is the teacher this is a really hard class for me. It's not exactly the writing or the assignments... I'm not sure what about it stresses me. But I turned in a really good paper that I'm proud of. So that's good.

Other Notes: There is a cute cellist in my orchestra that walks my way after orchestra for a ways and we talk and he seems really fun and nice. I don't think he's gone on a mission yet so there is little hope of a future RELATIONSHIP there, but he is really nice and sweet. So a good friend. I think it's important for me to learn how to make friends instead of looking for more.
I'm walking Melissa and Doug Ricks' dog, Max occasionally. He is a big yellow lab and he is so fun! He loves me to death and just barks and jumps when he sees me coming to take him for a walk. I clean up after him, which I hope the people of Rexburg appreciate! :) He's really sweet and BIG! I just want to spend all day hugging him and walking him and scratching him and lying down with him. He's so comforting and accepting and loving. It's great. (Not Actually Max):

Well, there is an update. I was going to call it brief, but it's really not that brief. Sorry. :) Love you!