Sunday, December 31, 2006

Last Day of the Year

Tonight is a night of celebration.
Another year gone by.
In the new month, everyone in the provice of Manitoba will be heading to their local autopac retailer to renew their driver's license. It seems kind of ridiculous to have EVERYONE renew at the same time, seems like it would be a nightmare for the people doing the paperwork, but I guess that's their perogative. I think it's silly. I prefer to think that they think of me every year on my birthday and send me a birthday card in the form of a license renewal form.

I hope Binky's car will move today. When I parked it last night, it was not happy with the snow and it's a pretty pitiful car in the snow, so I gave up on parking properley. I should really move the car soon. I have to go to the pharmacy and get stuff for a potluck salad.

Looking back on this year, what do I see?
It's been a year of monumental changes in my plans for life and direction and whatnot. Sure, it could be a year of transition. Now I feel that I am firmly footed on the road to becoming a composer, whereas the year before, I was still under delusions of being a pianist by profession. Not to say that was wrong, as I will still most likely make my money at a piano...
In terms of physical things, I see all the changes happeneing around me, parents retiring, sister getting married, friends moving away... It's excitign and inspiring to play some part in those people's changes.

Mumbly Mumbly, Im gonna stop talking so I can do the things I need to do today.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Well, I'm lucky that things worked out as well as they did for this month. I have discovered and made use of the 3 specific places where I can sit in order to make use of the wireless network available from Jade's appartment. They fact that they are not the most comfortable of places encourages me to use the internet less often; which is a good thing!
If I wasn't able to get wireless here, I would be stuck with dialup for the entire time. The university is in lockdown for all of this break from before xmas until the 3rd or 4th of January. I can't even get into the music building to practice piano. Luckily, I've been hampster sitting for Chris, and he has a piano that I've used a few times to practice. Unfortunately this is not enough. I can't practice for long periods of time on his piano, and I haven't gotten done anywhere near the amount of productivity in practicing that I had intended on doing over the break. Argh! It's an odd feeling to have; to want to be productive, but not really have the tools necessary to be productive.
I called the security office to find out just how locked the music building is... She said that they haven't let anyone in the building over the break. Only key holders are able to get in. I don't know if it's been like this other years, as I've always practiced at home on xmas break.
Anyway, it's frustrating to not have unlimited access to a piano. BUT, I've been able to make good use of the time I've had. I have the exposition of the Beethoven final movement learned as well as other random parts of the movement. I have also learned a few more movements of the Bach-French Overture. Unfortunately, I've been ignoring the Liszt, and all the other movements I had learned early on... well those are not in such great shape... Once I have better access to practice space, I'll be able to get things underhand again... unfortunately, my lesson is on the first day back to classes, only a day after the school reopens. Nevertheless, I still have a bit of time before then, so I'll make sure I have enough stuff ready for a good first lesson back!
I tried to grocery shop today... I only needed a few things, but I ended up spending far more than I should have... oh well, it was my PCPoints money! And I still have 15$ worth! In the end, I have lots of deliciousness to show for my grocery experience... I really don't think I would have strayed from my original budget had it been actual money I was spending, but it's still a valuable learning lesson. Seeing how my finances probably won't be good next year, I need to start learning those lessons soon.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

I ended up going to my house to print out the recipe for chocolate chip cookies using my new flash card. Everything worked out for the best!
I spent most of the day working on the composition and I actually got a fair bit done. I had been trying to write out the structure of the piece on regular paper, but I wasn't able to imagine how it woul dbe in musical time. What I changed was that I started to write it out on manuscript paper. It's helped put things in perspective. It also forced me to make some decisions about specifics that I hadn't needed to specify when it was just in my head or on the regular paper.
It also points out some of the other questions that I will have to answer as I continue. I'm excited as it's starting to come together. I've been running some of the things through the choral synthesizer in my head, and they sound pretty cool.
Nevertheless, I haven't actually progressed further in the structure of the piece, but it's coming along, and I think now I will beable to be more productive when I sit down to work at it in the future... let's hope that I'm over that pesky writer's block thingy...

In other news, I just finished watching Rain Man in french. I have to say it is one of the finest movies ever made. Incredibly touching and fine acting! Funny and serious all at the same time, WUNDERBAR!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

I actually went out into the Boxing Day Blitz and bought myself a FlashDrive. It holds 2 gigglebytes and can plug into any USB device... or so I thought...
The computer needs to be relatively new to be used as a plug and play type device... as in Binky's ghetto Windows 98 desktop won't recognize it... and I can't connect my laptop to her printer... argh. Oh well, I have the file I want printed and I can now carry it around my pocket cause this thingy is so small. Like, the size of a key. I'll print it when I am next around a non-stone-aged computer... pachaw.

I fed a hampster today, his name is Leroy.
I have permission from both the owner of the hampster as well as the cat to put the hampster in his ball so that the cat can chase him around because it would be funny...
I'm wrestling with whether or not it is morally wrong: I have concluded that it would be wrong to do it for solely my enjoyment... BUT if I could share that joy with someone else, it would be less wrong. If anyone out there can make videos on their phone or camera so that I can put it on my computer, let me know and we can have a fun time!

In other news, my gum surgery areas have healed very nicely; the second side nicer than the first. Nevertheless, there are still bastard stitches in the left side, making brushing and flossing a little uncomfortable... I have to wait til the 9th of Jan to see the surgeon for followup.. if they haven't dissolved/fallen out on their own by then, he will not have a happy camper on his hands.... most likely, I will be on his chair... HAHAHA!

Today on TVtropolis, it was the Married with Children Marathon! I can not express how much happiness this has brought me. Also, my mother bought me the first season of Arrested Development today. Likewise, happy.

BAH, still, little/minimal productivity has been achieved on the choral piece. I don't know what the problem is. I will continue to try. I hate stagnancy and procrastination... yet they come so naturally to me!
I think that is all for the moment.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas!

The weather is just beautiful out!
I stayed up til 4:45 am last night knitting thongs for fun friend Fi. And also one for her friend Erin who also made a special request yesterday. They turned out pretty damned good. I get better each time I make them... I now consider myself the world's best thong knitter.
Anyway, Tonight is dinner with momma and poppa.
Last night was the annual Christmas Eve get-together at Grandpa and Aunt Jean's. It was rather enjoyable to see the young generation running around and getting all the attention. I thought out loud that that used to be myself and Heather as the two youngest of the family.. then I realized that, while I was the youngest up until 5 years ago, it was over 19 years ago that Heather and I were that age... and then I felt old. But a good kind of old, mature and priveliged to have reversed roles.
Yes, I think after dinner we might be going to see a movie... it's always amazed me that the theatres remain open on xmas day.. so I like going to take advantage of that.
Happy Holidays to everyone!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Christmas is different this year. Not in a bad or good way, just different.
I remember years ago, my sister was wanting to move to England and I had been planning on going away for music school... i guess that would have been about 4 years ago.. My mom was very upset at the idea that it was going to be our last Christmas together.... well, since then we've been able to have another 3 together, and one this year, if you count it being a week and a day early...
Anyway, I guess you can never predict how things are going to change, you just have to wait and then embrace those changes as they come about.

Today I spent the afternoon with my (soon to be) Brother in law. He was on his way to Montreal, with a 6 hour layover in Winnipeg. We went out for lunch, found him some earphones for the flight and just hung out for a bit. He's such a good guy, a welcomed addition to our family.

Frustrating - I have some kind of mental block that is preventing me from being productive on this choral piece... I'm having issues even opening the book I have the ideas written in...
On another front, piano practicing has been making good progress... I have made a good chunk of development on the last movement of the Beethoven, and I have a complete pair of dances from the Bach - the Gavottes! with that and the openning... only about 8 more movements to go....
So ya, the choral piece... once I've written this post, I'm going to forcibly opent he book and try and do soem work.... but ya, I'm not sure if I'm having doubts about the piece or the idea behind it or if I'm just ;azy, or if it's writer's block.... Regardless of the cause of my stagnancy, I know I don't have the luxury of sitting back and watchign the rest of this month fly by - then I would be in another rush to get this piece done by the next due date... argh!
Im looking forward to my self-imposed non-conceptual music writing experience which will be the rest of this year. I definately need to focus more on the strictly musical elements of composition. Just pure music, simply aural exploration. With these 2 most recent pieces, I've spent considerable amounts of time thinking about structure and concept of the piece before I've even thought about the application or use of notes, rhythm, phrasing....
I think I'm going to do a piece for full orchestra as a piece of absolute music. Not to say that it is going to be dry, technical music; there will still be concepts to be explored, but the scope of those concepts will not venture into the extra-musical.

Bah, now it's time to write a piece for choir... of sorts...

Friday, December 22, 2006

Go Here to watch a Wierd Al video.
I used to be obsessed with him when I was growing up.
Now he has written a song called "I love my pancreas" in Beach Boys Style, ish.
It's a little random and not his finest work, but nevertheless, it is something with which I identify.

I've sort of been inserting diabetes info for a while now... apparently the UN has recognized Diabetes as as big a threat to world health as epidemics like AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis.
It's scary, but the good thing is that with this little bit of international recognition, more focus will go towards prevention and proper diabetes education in developing countries! (Yay, world!)
current mood: not angry, not sad; utterly dissapointed and bummed out

Nobody likes waking up to bad news; if you let it, it can ruin your day.
Today my dad called me and then the mail arrived so he asked if he should open and read a letter from U of M Grad studies. I said yes.

It turns out I didn't even make it past the first round for the SSHRC(17,500$ scholarship for grad studies). I'm not too surprised, while I was going through the process, the lady said she wouldn't accept it more than a few days late because she had far more applications than normal, and they always have more applications than they can put forward. As a result, mine was not one of the applications they decided to send forward to the National committee.
What the scholarship would have meant was that I would have the financial freedom to go to any university that would accept me, regardless of other scholarships.
Now it means that I will have to a) make a lot of money this summer and save it well and b) make my decision of a school to attend based a lot more on money. In the end, I might actually have to take out a loan in order to attend grad school.
Actually, I have been lucky to be finacially afloat nearing the end of my undergrad program, thanks to living at my parents and working hard during the summers.
I don't think this change will make any difference in my choice, but I'm disspointed that I won't be getting that free ride.
I now continue with the application process to the remaining schools and wait.
I'm waiting for 2 things:
1) that they think I'm even good enough to accept me into the program and
2) (doubtful) that I'm so awesome that they want to throw lots of money at me...
I'll stay realistic, this is Canada...even if they want to give me money, it will only be enough to cover tuition... I'll have to come up with my own money for living and whatnot.... geez it's almost like I'm going to have to enter the real world and be accountable for myself.... yuck!


Anyway, I'm still excited about grad school. I just wish that this was either good news, or that they waited til after the holidays to inform me.... It sucks that they make you wait for the good news, but they tell you the bad right away!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I practiced tonight... I have a feeling that the music building is actually going ot be off limits for the holiday.... so I might not get to practice much this next while.... uh oh...
David was there teaching some of his private students - I caught him before he left. I brought up the topic of needing a piece for my second half jury... while it's not a pressing concern at the moment, I need to have one picked so I won't be in a total panic when my recital is finishing up and I realize I have a whole 10 minutes of music to learn in a short while...
He suggested some things to look up and whatnot but before I left he gave me a score and a recording which he just happened to have in the office. I'm so happy he did.. I think this is the piece I want to play... it's three movements, but the first 2 comes out to exactly the amount of time I need -about 10 minutes.
The piece is minimalist-ish, but not as repetitive as a lot of minimalist music out there....I'm not even sure I would classify it as minimalism... but it has a very static quality to it even amongst a lot of notes. Repetitive hand positions mean that it is not going to be a killer to learn, which is always a plus. Most importantly, it is gorgeous and just a tad heartwrenching (in a good way). A lot of the motives are things that I have used in some of my compositions as well as improvisation. That's not a big deal or motivation in itself, BUT it means that it will lie comfortably in my hands, and it will be musically comfortable in my head as well.
The moral of the story is that I think I've fallen in love already!

In other news, the condo is cold... it had been really hot/warm every time I came home, so I turned the heat down a teensybit, but I couldn't tell a difference, so I put it down quite a bit. It was perfect earlier this evening, but now that it's later in the evening and night time is usually colder, I am feeling a bit chilly.

I have lots of bananas, and they're all ripe.. I have a feeling they will be overripe before I get them eaten... I might have to take them to mom for baking purposes... ooh that couldbe good for Christmas day!!! Maybe Oscar wants to make a trip to St James on Xmas day... that would save me having to drive back and forth an extra time...
anyway, back to the bananas, it was kinda awkward.. I was leaving a message for Chris and I saw a banana sitting in front of me on the piano tonight and my thought process was actually:
'I have lots of those bananas at Binky's... they're getting ripe'... 'Chris lives close'...maybe he would like to help eat bananas... I should make the offer'..
So, on his voice mail I rambled about having lots of bananas, so if he had a craving for banana, he should call me..... but I started to laugh at how phallic the invitation could seem.

And, I'll point out how ridiculous I am by wasting that much of my blog space on bananas...
I bought small to medium sized bananas.. why?! I had the chance to get big bananas... actually they didn't have big banans at the store, and all of the bananananananas were fairly ripe anyway.... I should have just bought fewer bananas...
oh well.
Open invitation to all who enjoy bananas.... come here and I shall share.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

All seems to be going well right now.
I did super well on my jury and I'm starting to make progress on the choral piece-ish.
I took my grandfather and great aunt for lunch today, it was nice to spend some time with them.
I got offered and accepted a TA-ing position for the second part of the 20'th Century Music course. That is wonderful A) it means a little extra money in the pocket and
2) I can now write that I will have some acdemic teaching/marking experience ... something that would have been better if I had it for grad school applications, but oh well.

Something I have been looking into lately is real-time or Continuous Glucose Monitoring. They have systems out that can test your blood for you over 200 hundred times a day and give you an amazing view of how your sugars react throughout the day. The problem is that this technology is extremely expensive. At present I am looking into seeing if I can get a trial use of the machine or something like that...
Gah, it's so frustrating for there to be technology available that I can't use, even though I know that it could greatly benefit my control.....
BUT, I bite my tongue... I have been doing a fair bit of reading lately on the state of diabetes globally. In developing countries, life expectancy with diabetes can be as little as 1 year, because the insulin and testing supplies are not even available in the most primative forms. This fills me with guilt for being in a have position in life, but in the positive, the most logical way of thinking of it is that, it is my duty and responsability to take the best care of mysef possible simply because great resources are available to me.
I need to head to my house tonight so that I can have a blank cheque ready to give to the school for this TA position. Who knows what trouble I will get into in St James...

Sunday, December 17, 2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Yay!
So, my sister won't be here for actual xmas, so we celebrated today.
We had brunch and stockings in the morning, then Heather and I went out so she could finish her xmas shopping... conveniently, I used this opportunity to both start and finish my shopping.
We were back by 6pm for dinner, and then we opened presents, which we weren't planning on actually doing today, but it seemed to make sense... that way we didn't have to really wrap everything... ok, I didn't wrap all my presents...
It was very nice. Theres still some stuff between my parents and me that we'll take care of on xmas day, but it was nice to celebrate some stuff together as a family today. I'm wearing one of the new sweaters I got today, very nice...
Anyway, Heather leaves tomorrow morning, so I'm going to hang out with her and Fi tonight. Tomorrow, I'll see if my Jury marks are ready, and I should also find out for sure if they are on break yet... other than that, I realized that the month is half over already... even more!! so I need to practice lots and get a healthy start on this choral piece due in January...
So ya, enough for tonight, later!

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Happy last Ballet Saturday of 2006!

YAY!
I'm sitting at the twist, trying to eat my veggie burger with only half a mouth, in a fair bit of discomfort... I had the good sense to actually bring some Advil with me this week, so the tenderness is not bothering me as much as last week. Anyway, in theory that should be the last time I have to get that damned gum graft procedure done, and I'm glad to say that.
Hopefully, in about a weeks time, I will be feeling AOK.
I actually practiced last night at the school for a few hours. I learned a few very small snippets more of the French Overture, which is great! There are parts of that and the fourth movement of the Beethoven sonata that I haven't even touched yet, so it's my goal to have those learned at a minimal speed by the end of the break. From there, it will be just a matter of speeding them up and making sure I have the right character. I just don't like the idea of going to a lesson in second term and still not having learned my recital rep, even if it is only to some slower-than-slow tempo.
I'll be honest, there's a lot of stuff I still have to get to that minimal tempo stage of the game. David wants me to have a written out plan of attack from my first lesson in Jan up to having the recital prepared in early March. But, I need a starting point to work from.... and thats the point I mentioned earlier. I have to be able to play through the pieces at some tempo with some semblance of knowing what I am doing.
The first three Beethoven movements are acceptable and need tidying and speeding up over the break, and the Liszt, well there's some areas that need more work than others... of course. It's not yet at the point where I could play through it and make it seem like a musical entity.
In January, my dancer and I are starting with rehearsals. I had wanted to start sooner, but scheduling didn't allow for it. Now, we have found a time that will work and we are going to take advantage of that and we are both very excited to work together.
So in a heartbeat, my recital is faint at the moment, but it will hopefully get stronger with every beat.
Soon, my parents will both have retired, my mom is joining my dad in retirement as of Jan 14th or something. I am excited for them, and curious as to what kind of things they will be doing to keep busy. I assume it will be more of what they normally do on the weekends... but I don't think they can afford to do that much shopping and/or driving.
This is such a year of change for my family: Retirement times 2, my sister's wedding and I soon will be graduating and moving out and onwards with my life. Very exciting.
I am very excited that Heather and my friend, Fiona, has finally decided that she is for sure coming to Vegas for the wedding. It will be a wonderful time for partying. A couple of Heather's friends and a few of Gareth's buddies are going to be there, as well as my cousin who is about my age. This means that it's going to be a very young and hip wedding and good for partying and celebrating.
Heather said that on the night of her wedding (afetr the ceremony) all are invited to join them in a 4am blackjack toury! Late night and blackjack = MICHAEL HAPPY!
I am totally going to make millions of dollars in Vegas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, December 15, 2006

well, apparently my perceptions of my jury were not solely my own.
I just spoke withe my piano teacher, who had emailed me to congratulate me on an excellent jury. He said the other people on the panel were also impressed.
Yay me!

Dad's retirement was delightful. The food was good and the company was excellent.
It was great to hear so many people speak so highly of my father. As a family, we are all so proud of his many accomplishments. He holds the longest consecutive term on the exceutive of his union - 20-someodd years. And he also had a 29 year streak without taking a sick-day.
I got to see my great aunt Kay last night. She is 94 years old and was still walking on her own. When I told her I couldn't remember the last time I had seen her, she told me when it was, and what we did... It is always delightfully surprising to see her and how she still has all her wits about her. It was amazing to see her mingling with people and still able to recall details about everyone she talked with. Her secret... well not so much a secret, but she has a drink every night before bed.
My Grandfather won one of the silent auction prizes, of course.... as my mom says about people with good luck, which was appropriate at the race track where the dinner was held, he must have horse shoes up his butt!
The silent auction tickets were sold and all the profit went to Winnipeg Harvest, raising over $500 for my dad's favourite charity!

Anyway, it's almost time for me to take Binky's car to the autopac claim centre! then who knows what kind of fun I might have....

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wow, I was pissy last night.
It turned out my sister had gone home and passed out, thus pissing off more than just me.
This morning I got a phone call from the other friend who I had complained about last night. While I was initially pissy due to the morning thing, the sincerity of his apology was nice and I tried to convey to him that I was just in a very pissy mood the night before. I hope that came across clearly, but if not.. I really shouldn't have been such an ass on my blog.
I think I'm going to give up figuring out why I get pissy like that. I had gone out for a nice dinner with family that hadn't seen recently and it was a nice time.
Anyway, Jury went well. In fact I think it was some of the best playing I've ever done. I didn't say goodbye to the prof who is leaving, as it didn't seem appropriate within the context of the jury, although I did nearly wear a plastic tiara into the hall... She will be back to hear some of her student's recitals later this year. So hopefully I will see her then.
Lunch today with Aunt and Mom and Sister, it was nice. Tonight - Retirement Party!!!!!!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Looking at my list of recent calls on my cell phone, I realize that the overwhelming majority of incoming calls are from either work, my parents, or wrong numbers. A friend of mine did call tonight, but oh ya, they were looking to get ahold of my sister, not me.
This is not new news, nor it is surprising, I am well aware that I rarely get calls of a social nature.
Anyway, at what point are you supposed to stop calling people? With a couple friends lately,I've been making the attempt to get in touch, and it seems like I'm just wasting energy. I'm left with the feeling that I am putting to much effort into chasing after friends who probably don't actually want anything to do with me. The bad part is that I know I'm not ready to stop trying. It's quite possible that if I didn't make any more effort, I could make it this whole month without any contact outside of my parents.
I saw a tv show the other day and there was this character who was all excited for his second date with this chick and he's talking to everyone about it and then when he can't get ahold of the girl, he ends up going over to her place and having the landlord open her appartment because he's worried that somethings wrong.... when they open the door, she's there and replies to his concern with "I just thought you could take a hint".
how much longer am I going to be the pathetic guy who doesn't actually realize that noone wants to be his friend.

In conclusion, I was ditched thrice in one night - well, I had plans with one friend, who I can't get ahold of, and then both my sister and the other friend who was looking for her were supposed to call me when they had made plans.


Anyway, on to better topics, I have a half-jury tomorrow and I'm pretty prepared for it. It will go fine, and more than anything, I'm excited because after it's done I will be able to start working on other repertoire again. This probably wont be such a good sounding thing as of tomorrow evening, because it's been a month since I've touched any of the other stuff, and longer since I've worked on some of it... .so it will be pretty shit-tacular, waiting for me to relearn it!!
Why did I say tomorrow night... I won't touch piano tomorrow after my jury, it's my dad's retirement tomorrow night, so that will be my evening... unless I go practice after dropping off my grand-dad and great aunt.
Hmmm, what else, oh, tonight was dinner with my family, including my sister and aunt from BC. They both flew in today for Dad's retirement. We went to one of our regular restaurants that we go to. It was nice, and entertaining as my sister had been drinking since 3 in the afternoon.. she was tanked!
I just realized that one of profs on my Jury tomorrow is not going to be back next term because she's going on sabatical, therefore I will probably not see her again before I leave... possibly ever. Not that we are particularly close, but I like to have closure with profs and whatnot... I will have to remember to say goodbye tomorrow.
but for now.. goodbye tonight!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Enjoying my new life

My cat friend, Oliver, and I are getting along well enough. I'm worried, he hasn't shat this afternoon. Normally, I'm not one to worry about my friend's bowel situations, but Oscar has a predisposition to shitting on beds and other areas when things are out of the normal. When Jade brought him to her Dad's in Saskatchewan for our road trip this summer, he made a sport of doing his business on his bed (only twice, but there was definate malicious intent). Anyway, I'm making sure he's kept out of the bedroom as 1) she has a beautiful bed and b) I'd say that Oscar being left in his home with some random guy is out of the normal for this kitty.
Aside from that, he is a very handsome cat and his antics keep me entertained from time to time.

I had a short lesson / run through of my Haydn today. The results are that the Sonata hasn't gone to complete shit since my lesson 2 weeks ago. He had some suggestions and he was happy to say that it was in good condition. I'll fix up some of the things, and it will be stellar on thursday. Distracting - the a and b keys (bottom of the bass clef) were sticking today, and it was driving me crazy. I think I held it together rather well, considering the severity of the sticking, but it definately screwed me up quite a bit. I know realize that it must have been the reason that the guy in the lesson before me had been sitting at the other piano...
Thursday is going to be a long yest wonderful day. I have Jury at noon, and then I will be completely done with Haydn!! That evening is my dad's retirement.
Bittersweet - I can drink on these antibiotics BUT I'm a DD, driving my grandfather and great aunt. Nevertheless, I will enjoy the evening and be sober to support my father on this momentous occasion.
Also, not drinking is wonderful on the pocketbook!
So, to correct something I had previously said... I do have wireless internet here.... although it is not technically jade's nor mine... I can only get it at the very edge of the bedroom here, so not the most convenient.. but beggar's can't be choosers. I can also hook up my computer or use Jade's for dial-up if I don't feel like struggling to find the sweet spot for this connection.
Anyway, now it's time to watch tv and knit!

Monday, December 11, 2006

moving day

for those who may not know, I'm housesitting for the next month, so I will be in south St.Vital til Jan 8'th.
Today I'm driving my firend to the airport and then taking over her life for a month.
due to dial-up internet, I will have limited resources, but I guaruntee that I will make the most of it with blogging and update you on christmas holiday adventures.
At this moment, I'm running around the house trying to find all the things that I know that I'm going to forget here, but at least it's only half an hour away, so i can easily come back for anythign I left behind. Diabetic supplies are all packed and as soon as I'm done this, the computer will be put away
anyway, enough rambling..
toodles for now!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

And they're off!!!

I just bound my scores for Auskultu Bonvolu and then took it and the other pieces and the audio cd and the coverpage and the Assistantship application and put them all in an expresspost envelope and sent it!!! it cost me 11$, but I think it was worth it, it will arrive at McGill before the deadline!!!
Now, I officially shift my focus to the Haydn for my half jury. It's been too long since I actually practiced it... I've played through it every couple of days to make sure it's still there.... and it's gone a bit downhill, BUT thats what the days between now and thursday are for. My mental and structural memory are secure, but my fingers sometime want to go to the wrong place ; easily fixed by repeating it properly... AKA PRACTICING!!!
All day tomorrow will be that! monday is going to be a little silly because I have to drive Binky o the airport so I can move into her place while she is in Germany for the month.. but then on, I'm super close to the university so I won't have a problem finding time to practice!

Friday, December 08, 2006

ooops, I published that a little ealry, anyway, I went to a social for dfun times tonight!
I danced a bit an d drank a bit and had a wonderful time!

we requested my theme song ; Private Dancer, by Tina Turner....
but then it was skipping so they stopped it, then I was anrgy, but then I wasn't so much angry anymore because I drank and then ate some coldcuts and bread and mustard (all combined into some kind of "sandwich form")

The moral of the story is that as the evening developed, I drank more and therefore danced more and had more good time. There were no strippers for me to dance with this time, so I had respectable dancing fun!unlike other socials at the same location...

FI and I predrank tonight and I knit whilst we did that.

Also, I got a bandaid for my cheek (it's winny the poo) so I have pooh on my face. My mouth is tender, so ouchy, but ya, the good thing is that liquor + this antibiotic = not a bad time! yaya!

i'm excited for monday, I move to my December home - housesitting for Binky, although it means less interent access, it will be fun, .. time with kitty.

OK, update on progress, I finished printing out my ensemble piece tonight, binding tomorrow and posting it in the mail tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's going to be complete as of tomorrow afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't even explain the excitment I have for this to be in the mail!
holy schmoley, it's been too long since I had been drunk, and tonights the night to recitfy that litte porblem!

What an upsy-downy day!

I had my gum surgery today! Well, part of it... I had the worst area taken care of today and next week I will have the 2'nd worse area. The best part was that we found out the other day that the procedure was covered 90% by my dad's Blue Cross, if only we had more time... oh well. In other words, the finances of this are AOK!
The freezing itself was a little painful on the inside of the gum, but oh well. It was an awesome sound to hear him slicing open my gum... although it took much longer than I thought... The sewing up of sutures took the longest of anything. The freezing was wearing off while he was suturing up the actual graft, and I began feeling sore while I was still there.
So, he gave me T3's which I won't need to use as the bad pain and soreness is already faded. I also got an Rx for antibiotic... but it doesn't say anything about avoiding alcohol while on them... so yay! ALthough I will stay away from excess.
I TOTALLY handed in my orchestration final assignment this morning, well before the due time (almost an hour before...) that means, I'm officially done all academics for the term!!!
AND considering that Piano Ped is barely an academic course, I'm done academics for my undergrad!!! I thought about it and the only classes I have next term are Ped and Cantata on Thursdays. I have Comp seminar on Mon and Wed, but I don't get a mark for that..... Fridays I have New Music Ensemble, but that's totally not academic. It'll be great, I'll actually have the time to learn my piano music and even do some composing at the same time!
Last night I started to print out the scores for the ensemble piece, but I ran out of paper...so I bought some on my way home today and this afternoon I will finish them...
Speaking of... I HAVE A TITLE!!!!!!!!!!

"Aŭskultu, Bonvolu"

It is Esperanto for "Listen, Please". I was going to call it "Ecoutez, s'il vous plaît", but now looking back, the french is too polite, in a way. s'il vous plaît means 'if it pleases you' which lacks the directness of the Esperanto version. Both of the words in the esperanto one are in the commanding declension, which gets the idea across better! Also, Tiffy pointed out that the idea of the international language of peace matches better with individual lines which are reinterpreted by instuments who are not natural speakers of that type of line.... Amazing how adding a title to something can add a layer of depth... eh!?
All is well at the moment!
I also remembered to call and book off the evening of my dad's retirement from contemp, so I can actually attend (a minor oversight in the grand scheme of things).

ANd now to be productive!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

So, I'm pretty sure I have the best piano student in the world!
Not because she practices every day for hours and then remembers everything that I tell her in lessons.... rather, she bought me liquor! Bailey's and Kahlua and Wine!! Oh what a wonderful day!

In other news, today was the last day of classes! yay! Only assignments to do now.. but I don't have to be bothered to actually go to the school for daily events! yippee!

I took my ensemble piece and the performance notes to the head of the composition department today. He looked at my piece and helped me do some editing to make the instructions clear as a bell(I hope). It was super duper! great suggestions and ya! Just some rewordings to do and then I can print it out and it will be ready!

Phew!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

So, I haven't recieved any title suggestions for my ensemble piece, so I'll have make something up before i print it out and bind it....
I bound the other two pieces tonight at the ballet, so they are officially ready to go with program notes and everything. Now, all that is awaiting the submissions package is the third piece.
I took it to my composition teacher on monday. He had some really good things to say and also some helpful commentary... albeit the kind that creates more work for me. In the second movement, there was some precedent that when a figure is supposed to be repeated, you need the repeat sign before and after the little snipett... it makes sense, but I was going by the idea that you don't use it at the beginning of the piece, so I woulndt need to if there was no music directly preceding it... oh well. That took 10 minutes in photoshop, now it's done.
He suggested/demanded that I am consistent in my graphic notation.. This means that I have to devise a system that I can apply with as few changes to the score as possible... It also means figuring out how to do something new in photoshop.... uh oh.
So ya, I'm still in the same spot with this piece - trying to finish up the notation notes and program and performance notes so that everything makes sense to the performer without me being there to try and explain things.... gah!
BUT, if I make the notation on the page clearer, it simplifies what I have to write in words to explain the piece in the performance notes.
I finished my small orchestration assignment that is due tomorrow, so that means all I have left to do for school is my Final assignment and my half Jury.

Oh ya, so the plan is to have the ensembl piece COMPLETELY finished and printed by Friday/Saturday so that I can bind it myself (for free) at the ballet and then I can mail it with the other pieces on the same day after work! You have no idea how wonderful I will feel once that is out of the way!
Then I can spend the rest of the time before the 14th practicing for my Jury. THEN, the rest of xmas break will be learning recital rep and writing a choral piece for my UBC submissions!

For those who haven't noticed, this is probably the most hectic and stressful time of my university life thus far... well maybe not as bad as last year during the Music Festival/Recital week... but ya, you know what I'm getting at!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

well, I was informed that I hadn't update my blog yet today, so I feel it is my responsibility to do so-such that my faithful readers will have something to read.
1) I finished my ensemble piece.... now I need to name it...something I hadn't thought about... but yes, suggestions are open. The over/underlying concept of the piece is that the most important part of performing this piece is listening to the ensemble around you. It is through this listening that decisions are made in terms of what, how and when to play the excerpts which are written on the part. One of the things that I'm excited to learn about the piece(which will only be revealed upon an ensemble's first performance of the piece) is whether the listening aspect will have an effect on how the instruments play their solo excerpt at the end of the piece. The solo excerpts are written idiomatically for each instrument, but they will have heard it many times played in different ways, it will be interesting to see if the soloists will play according to what is idiomatic to their instrument, or according to what they have heard..
Suggestions for a clever title are welcomed!
I will be working on the Performance/Notation notes to make sure that everything about the form and performance of the piece are explained clearly and concisely.

2) I went to the modern dance show last night put on by the Young Lungs Dance Exchange. It was a choreographic showcase for young choreographers in the city. It was wonderful to see such a variety of performances and presentations. It was also wonderful to see the dance/movement/choreographic styles of some of the dancers I work with or that I have jammed with. One of the things I was most excited about was seeing the dancer I will be working with for my recital doing the thing that we will be doing: musician/dancer improvisation.
I thought it was extrmely effective. I saw and felt the communication between the two of them,and I found that the simplicity of using one prop and a clever title was perfect. They called it "Selective Hearing" and the prop was an old-style telephone with an extremely long phone chord.
What I found to be very reassuring was the strong musicality of this particular dancer! There are so many aspects of that piece that I could go on for a while talking about, but I won't overdo it... Basically, they used some additive structures that I had been thinking of using as a good starting place for improv communication - this is basically when both participants are doing a repeated motive together and as time progresses, one or the other adds something to the motive and that is picked up and responded to by the other. It allows the participants as well as the audience cause-and-effect perspective of what is going on.
As with any show, there were parts that I really really liked and other parts that I liked less-so, but I was impressed overall with the effectiveness of the performances.
I encourage all of you to check out their website and keep track of what they have going on, lots of wonderful talent there!

Friday, December 01, 2006

So, I've been making silly decisions lately, or plans without consulting my full schedule... unfortunately my schedule exists in several places and none of them are comprehensive. examples are:
-making sure to book a lesson during rehearsal time for Cantata concert (problem solved)
-booking recording time at the univ. on the only night I wont have a car....

ok, those are the only 2 coming to mind.. but thats the problem, I'm not good at keeping track of resources. Tonight, I didn't have use of the car, so I had to bus. I love the bus and i don;t mind taking it to school, but I'm a little less excited about taking the bus with dirty smelly people when I'm wearing a suit to the Opera. People are also dirtier and smellier at night time. For those who take the bus, you know it's a completely different crowd of people that take the bus at night.

ANyway Opera was amusing, I thought it was a little too low-brow humour for my taste in some instances... The irony is that tonight's production was probably very accurate to the style it would have been presented in in Strauss's time (in terms of comparative historical placement).
After the Opera was over, apparently no one wanted to go out for drinks or whatnot, so I was just going to take the bus home... BUT whooosh!
I was saved by 2 of the awesomest people in the whole wide world - Jenn and Sean who graciously drove me home!
THANK YOU FRIENDS!
So, I didn't have a composition lesson today cause that time didn't work out, but having the lesson on monday means that I will have time to completely finish this ensemble piece in time to show my teacher. Then he can give me suggestions on how to make it even better!!