I can do it!

I woke up this morning with vestiges of the bad mood I had yesterday (completely unrelated to the Super Bowl).  I'm stressed.  I didn't get as much homework done as I should have.

Somehow, during breakfast, I heard the strains of "Don't Stop Believin'" in the dining hall.  It got stuck in my head.  I like that song's chorus.  It reminds me that there is hope.  God has a plan, and it involves this homework.  And I can do it.  And I can avoid the distractions; I can ignore those little online flash games calling for me to come play them if I really want to get this stuff done.  Because somehow, the ability to solve differential equations or take partial derivatives will be important someday.

I won't stop believing.

(Sorry if I got that stuck in your head, by the way.)

Wow, I actually did something Halloween related! And it was awesome. Thanks, D!

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I would say what I did on Saturday night.  So, here we go.

One of my best friends in high school, D, decided to go to UVA instead of Virginia Tech.  She really seems to love it there.  One thing I did not expect was that she would somehow get interested in swing dancing.  But she did.

Virginia Tech's Swing Dance club decided to hold a Halloween party the day after Halloween, and they invited the UVA Swing Dance club to come to it.  D decides to go and emails me about it.  We're both excited, but I don't dance, so we decide to hang out, and I thought I might just go sit and watch everyone dancing.

That worked for about half a song.

Anyway.  D and I meet up, and we are both ecstatic to see each other.  She and I get supper, as neither of us has eaten yet, and we sit and talk for a while, just catching up on everything that wouldn't fit in our emails.  Then we head to the dance, where she says no one will mind if I watch, or I could try dancing if I want.  She dances a bit, and I can tell she's enjoying it.  D really is a great dancer.

I'm sure you can see where this is going.  I ended up dancing.  Very badly, but several of the guys with whom I danced were very good dancers and did not mind giving on-the-spot lessons.  Most of them were pretty nice about me having no idea what I was doing, and I had a lot of fun.  And my calves were aching a bit afterward.  Yay exercise!

I had been kind of thinking about maybe getting involved in the Ballroom Dancing club here, and now I think I just might.  Swing dancing was a lot of fun.  (Yeah, they're pretty different.  But I feel more drawn to ballroom for some reason.  And there's no reason I can't learn both, either.  Except time constraints.)  Or maybe the Swing dancing club is more for me.  We'll see; I'm still planning to wait until next semester so I don't have to go to a lesson only to have to study for finals afterward.

Well, D, you might have gotten me hooked.  You are a fantastic dancer.  As always, it was great to see you and hang out!  And thank you for letting me crash the dance party.  I had a blast!

Week 1 = Over!

Hi!

I survived my first week of college! I did a bit of schedule shuffling this week, too, which was a bit confusing. I may have already mentioned that I used my AP Calculus credit to get out of Calc 1 and 2 and just do Linear Algebra and Vector Geometry at the same time. Neither are reported to be really hard, so I'm not worried. And since I was really bored in German 2105, I switched into German 3105, where they're analyzing films and stuff. I'm still a little nervous about it, since it's a class full of non-freshmen and you actually have to talk about stuff in German pretty much the entire time... even new words are usually defined in German, not English. But I'm excited; this looks like exactly what I needed. And the people in the class are genuinely interested in learning German. Which rocks. The only bad part: I had a week's worth of German 3105 work to make up (still not 100% done) since I missed the first two classes. Oh well.

Anyway, I have to admit I'm a bit freaked out about my meal plan. I have *finds receipt* exactly $390.69 with which to feed myself until December 18th. I guess it will help me not gain the Freshman 8 (The seniors in my church were told that "Freshman 15" is an exaggeration, and that usually freshmen gain only 8 pounds. But still.)(Man, I really should ban the parenthesis keys on my keyboard. I commentate parenthetically waaaay too much. Ending comment... now.) if I have to watch how much I'm eating, but still. I didn't realize how much food cost. And students even get half-price on nearly everything in the dining halls, unless the cashier forgets to press the "student with meal plan" button. Which has thankfully only happened to me once. Well, I guess I now know why college students can be won over by free food!

Ooh, I should mention my favorite food place. First of all, I like coffee and baked goods. It turns out that there is a coffee shop, similar to Starbucks (but it serves ice cream as well) that uses Dining Dollars. And the prices are *gasp* reasonable! It's also a great atmosphere; I did much of my Deutsch homework there this afternoon, and while I was there, there were people playing chess, having what looked like a first meeting for a small club that was just starting up, having coffee with a professor, and some people I'm pretty sure I saw at nlcf this morning discussing the Bible. It's great. <3

And I'm not just doing academics either. I'm already in InterVarsity and Cru small groups (I'll try both organizations this semester, and if I feel like God wants me to drop one, I will) that have their first meetings this week, and I can actually remember the names of the leaders! They have had a lot of mixers, and I've tried to go to pretty much everything. ("Tried" meaning that when I got lost going to the large IV group meeting on Friday because I accidentally ended up on the exact opposite side of campus, I actually tried to find the building for about an hour before giving up. And yes, it was an accident. I keep accidentally mixing up the academic and residential sides of campus on the map...) And I'm probably going to try to get involved in the Society of Women Engineers and maybe even the Society of Women in Computing. And hopefully a design team of some sort. Ooh, and there's a group that meets at a certain restaurant on Thursday nights and has dinner conversations in German. =) There's so much here.

Not everything is amazing, sadly. It doesn't look good for me getting private violin lessons right now, since people who are either music majors or in the symphony get top priority (and I am neither) and there are a lot of those people. But that's okay. I can always just work at my own pace. I still think the director was a bit miffed that I didn't bring my "good" instrument (I really don't think dorm rooms are secure enough to keep one's expensive instrument from being stolen. And bothering insurance companies isn't my idea of fun.) Oh well. Oh, and I heard that the internet security software everyone is supposed to install messes up the brand of computer I got, and mine has seemed a bit slower and more temperamental than it was before I installed the software. Maybe I'll take it to SWAT soon to see what suggestions they have. But it's usable. And it is pretty fun having a tablet. Even a Windows one. (Yeah, I still use my Powerbook for stuff too. Sometimes I'll have both computers up and running for some reason, and I think of this:



EDIT: Oops! At least on my monitor, the last panel is cut off. If you click the comic, you can see all of it on the Dilbert website.

EDIT: My spontaneous change of layout fixed the problem. w00t.)

=)

But I did get a ticket to the first home football game! I'm excited about that. The one we watched on TV yesterday (and by "we" I mean I watched it with Intervarsity) looked like a lot of fun, even though we (narrowly) lost.

Now, to finish the rest of the homework.

18!

I am 18 today!  Thank you to all who have emailed me; I appreciate it!  

I don't feel very different being a legal adult, but that's probably a good thing.  The only real difference I have noticed is that I am now allowed to drive as many people as the car I am driving can hold, not just two people who aren't related to me.  It almost makes me want to drag four of my friends off to dinner, but I'm too busy.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll get my chance to peruse my latest legal privilege soon.  

Ooh!  And a lady came to my Government class yesterday to register people to vote.  I should be getting my voter card soon, which is cool.  Although I guess that means I should actually research the candidates sometime between now and next November.  Teacher work days, anyone?

Anyway, on my last day of being 17, one of my favorite school Christmas—er, Holiday Season— traditions was carried out again.  Every year a few days before break, my school's Madigrals walk around during the lunch period in full Medieval/Rennaissance/Old Timey regalia singing classic Christmas carols.  I'm not exactly the biggest fan of my school's chorus (Orchestra, Guitar, Chorus, and Band all seem to have a bit of an ongoing rivalry), but these guys are the cream of the crop and sound amazing.  Entire classes will stop as the Mads drift from one hallway to another, singing.  People crowd the doors to watch and listen.  It's awesome.  

One of my friends and I left a few minutes early from lunch yesterday, but neither of us knew the Mads would be caroling.  The hallways were nearly empty.  We both walked upstairs to go to our respective classrooms when we heard the singing.  Other than the chorus and the chorus teacher, we were the only people in that particular hallway.  Since the Mads were blocking the way to my classroom (I still had several minutes anyway), my friend and I stopped to listen. We were unsure at first whether we should run off to class or stay and listen—it's really weird to have over twenty people singing really well to you and one other person—but we stayed for a little while and even followed them until it was time to go to class.  That made my day.  

New violin!

This happened last Saturday. Since I'm kind of short on time (I've been working nearly full time and still have summer homework to finish), I'll just post what I emailed to my private violin teacher and my orchestra director.

We went to Potters, a violin shop in the area. My parents had told the guy that we wanted to move up one price bracket, so that put us in the "Old French/Old German" category. I tried the instruments they set out, and a couple sounded a little nicer than my Doetsch, but I don't think they were buy-worthy. After I was narrowing my choices down to the three I sort-of liked just to see if I would suddenly fall in love with one, a Potters guy came in and, after my parents and I talked with him, that
the French violinmakers (most of the violins on my table were French, and the one German one was one of the first to go) liked making brassy-sounding instruments. When I told him I wanted "sweet and not fuzzy," he told us that Italian violins would be better. Like the one in the display cabinet in my room. When he left and I wasdouble-checking that none of the instruments were perfect, my parents pulled a more expensive instrument off the wall and had me try it. It cost $6500. I liked that instrument's tone better, and the next time the Potters guy came in, we told him about what I had just tried. He
pulled the Italian instrument out of the display case. It was priced at $7000. I liked that one even more, especially when he got me one of the really nice bows to try with it. (That bow was almost a little too ornate for my taste. It had a lot of "bling": a silvery-leaf fleur-de-lis instead of a normal eye on the frog, a non-ebony frog (must have been some kind of bone, but I don't know), etc.) While I tried that out, the Potters guys brought out the next price bracket. The good ones.

I finally narrowed down the more expensive instruments to the Italian one from the display cabinet and a French (! it sounded good!) instrument costing $6200. After listening to S, another Potters guy, play the instruments, I decided that the French violin had less of a brassy tone than the Italian one. Weird. Since I now had about fifteen bows (two price brackets) sitting on the table to choose between, we asked Simon which ones he would suggest I try. He picked out three (of the higher priced ones, of course) and played them each for me, explaining their strengths and tone qualities. I tried them all myself and fell in love with the bow he said was best for spiccatto. I, of course, am a girl—not as strong as a man. I like light bows, even though he said he liked a different bow for overall playing. The spiccatto bow has a beautiful tone. I love it. And it's all personal preference anyway.

Before we left the room to check out, we asked Simon if we would get any credit for turning in my Doetsch instrument and bow. We got $1500 for the Doetsch, but he said that they don't give credit for "nickel bows" and
that the bow I had used with my Doetsch was now my "outdoor bow." He said it with all seriousness, and the new one sounds several gillion times better, especially on my new instrument. But my parents and I still laugh about it. (We didn't laugh to his face, though. And it makes sense; it's just so different than what we all thought before.)

I'm still getting used to the instrument. I kept the same case but get a pleasant surprise each time I open it. I love it. The tone is so much cleaner than my old instrument. I love it, I love it, I love it. That's about all I can think about my violin right now.

MUZAK!!!

Well, I've been busy this week. With an orchestra camp.
I don't remember if I posted anything for when I did District orchestra, but this camp is like that, but for six days instead of two. We have nearly four hours of playing each day, not to mention classes in music appreciation, wellness while practicing (stretch and take breaks), and even jazz improv (which, on the schedule, was written as Jazz Improve, because they used one o' them Microsoft programs with autocorrect. I heard one guy talking about how one of his friends set a school computer's autocorrect so that it would replace the word "the" with "taco." I wonder how long before someone noticed something was wrong.) Anyway, my back is sore, but it's been fun.

After the camp on Monday, a master class was held. A master class, for those who don't know, is where someone really really good at a particular instrument (the "master") teaches either a group of people or one person in particular. This was one of the ones with one person at a time. The master lets the student play his or her songs, and then he makes suggestions on technique and style. Three people took turns with this master class. They were all amazing. I want to go to more of these things.

Anyway, last night was the final orchestra concert. Everything was great, even though our conductor accidentally knocked over a couple of music stands during the first song, but things got sorted out quickly. We didn't even have to stop; we just kept going. At the end of the last song, I realized why I play violin. It's fun. And this is a group that actually wants to play, instead of just playing because our mommies or daddies told us to.

I just got back from the chamber ensemble concert. It all went really well. I was a bit nervous (I am the first violin for my group, and a lot of my part is very exposed), but I just trusted God to bring us to the end of each movement at the same time. About halfway through the last movement, I got a big smile on my face. God helps when you need him most, if you trust Him. It is amazing how long it takes to learn these simple lessons, but when you learn them, it is life changing. Thank you, God!

Recital

Well, I had my recital earlier today. It went pretty well. All of the students made mistakes, including me, and I am pretty sure all of us were nervous, but it turned out well. I was the second-to-last person to play, which means that I was one of the most advanced players there (when making the song order for a program, directors usually put the most spectacular or well-done pieces at the end). So that was good, and now it's over. And later, I get my first archery lesson in……several months. I hope I haven't forgotten too much (thank you, new National Archery Association president, for changing to Korean-style archery form, so that I can blame my mistakes on being confused with the new methodology!)(for those of you who are clueless about archery, the Koreans are probably the best archers in the world. A switch to their archery form does usually improve one's shooting because the Koreans knew what they were doing when they developed their form.)

Anyway, yesterday, someone thought it would be funny to dump 2000 bouncy balls down the main stairwell at my school. All throughout the day, people would be bouncing bouncy balls in the hallways and classrooms that they found on the floor earlier. One of my friends kept raving about how it was the perfect senior prank, because no one gets hurt (unless they slip!), the prank cleans itself up (people walk off with the bouncy balls), and no property is damaged. And it's hilarious. Oh, if I had only taken the other stairwell on the way to Gym, I could have been hit in the head with bouncy balls!

Also yesterday, two of my classes ended up with the TV's tuned to ESPN2 for the first World Cup game. Germany won! Ja, Deutschland! Ja wohl!

Okay, one more thing. Check this out.

One more post. I keep forgetting to mention this.

Have you heard of Tom Lehrer? He used to write satirical songs and parodies, and sometimes he performed them. The link at the top of this post goes to a flash animation of my favorite song of his (the only one I have heard, I think). It is called "The Elements" and is to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Modern Major General." It doesn't have any bad words, because most of the words are elements from the periodic table. Below the flash window are some links; one leads to a PDF file that has the lyrics.

Try to sing along. Not easy, but so much fun.

Festival, etc

Well, I went to that vendor's stand. Last year, he had so many pretty oil lamps, and there were a few that were not terribly expensive (I think one was $20 or so). This year, he had one dragon oil lamp that was $45, along with other things. Not what I wanted. I don't think so.

So I went to the vendor next door and got a pair of earrings and a necklace. The earrings each have a little violin and a bow hanging from them, and the necklace has the same charm, along with a couple of very pretty red stones and two pearls. Definitely makes up for the overpriced oil lamp. (not that the jewelry was cheap itself, but at least I won't have to worry about it burning down the house…). I plan to wear it to my private teacher's student recital. I will be playing the third movement from Mozart's "Violin Concerto #5" (not the fourth movement, unfortunately. I didn't have enough time to work that up as well) and Massanet's "Meditation de Thaïs." Both very fun pieces.


Why does the spell checker keep breaking? Oh well, I guess it's for the best. I would hate to see its spelling suggestions for "Thaïs".

By the way...

The show went well, and we sounded very good, according to various friends I had in the audience. I'll write up stories later... there are always some.




Les Mis was WAAAAAY more fun, though. What can I say? Baseball, or awesome story about the craziness of the French Revolution?

Yeah, yeah, I haven't written in a while.

Okay, the past two weeks have been total chaos. DY performance week: I had a ton of history homework, was able to get out of a couple of six-hour rehearsals, and started Behind the Wheel driving classes on Thursday. Show ends, and we are housing an exhange student. On Saturday, my audition went really well. I was taking a breath to go into my first cadenza when she stopped and handed me my music, smiling. Great.
Next week: Exchange student is bored at school and stays at my house during Behind the Wheel (BtW). She had to switch her host family yesterday for reasons which I do not care to disclose. I pass BtW after being CERTAIN that I would fail the final test after failing the pretest (only got 1 mistake on actual test, when the limit is 5!) I am a decent driver! And now I am studying for the AP World History exam on Wednesday using the Princeton Review book. But now I gotta go. More later, if I have time/feel like it.