So it's Sunday night, everyone has superbowl fever. Except me. lol
I really don't appreciate sports that much, I'm to busy with being a musician. Needless to say, the reason that I'm not taking part in these festivities is partly for religious reasons also. As the main character (Tom Watson) from "Chariots of Fire" put it; "Sabbath's not a day for playing football." The word "Sabbath literally means "set apart" so I agree with Tom in this. Sunday is the day you have to rest from the work you do the rest of the week and especially to study God's word and have fellowship with God's covenant people. The rest of the week is for other stuff.
And since this all I can think to say on this sunday. I'm going to leave off for now. bleah.

Monday-

this semester I am taking 15.5 credits. lol
I feel like a senior. It's great! I feel like in some ways I have a chronic case of senioritis from high-school that gets inflamed periodically. Like right now, I just played in studio class and did a good job- I surprised myself! But I feel really unmotivated to practice now. In some ways I disappointed myself because I know the mental performance behind the music was not entirely collected. I have such a hard time focusing, it must be some sort of ADD. I remember closing my eyes and then opening them and not being able to find my place! I was lucky that my fingers remembered what to do, but it was only by the grace of God that the right notes came out! Then there was the nightmarish part where I inhaled so quickly that my hair flew in my mouth- without having time to move it, I had to keep going! Then when I inhaled again I got more hair in my mouth!! Moral of the story, use hairspray or tie it up! lol
ok, I need to get back to it.
but first! it's Mu Phi pledge season. haha
this means that all the pledgelings will have to do the embarrassing Mu Phi wave to me. hehehehehe
I think I'll have to think of more embarrassing things that they'll have to do for me... hmmmm
ideas?

So I feel like the only time I ever write on this blog anymore is when I'm bored and sitting in the airport.
In the infamous words of Brett Judson; "whatevs"

So I'm here in DC airport it's 6:33am. Back home in San Diego it would be 3:33am. My flight leaves 8:16 and then I'll be back in the freezing jaws of death called Rochester. I miss my friends.

If there weren't people in Rochester it would not in any shape, way or form be a good place to live. With people it's not a good place to live but without would be so utterly pointless.
you know how some people go purchase great expanses of land in CO or CA or even in some of the more deserty states, just because it's so beautiful and they live on their own because they are totally happy there? Rochester is not one of these places. but enough about negative subjects.

I've been going crazy this break. I applied to several summer music festivals which means lots of recording (thanks dad!). I've been trying to get signed up for classes (not as easy as it sounds). I've been preoccupied with emailing profs and arranging lessons. All in all, I've been extremely busy over break and only took off 4 days (not including sundays when I don't work anyways) It wasn't very break-like, but I'm sure good things will come from all this effort.

So I found it interesting observing an old lady reading her Bible. My first reaction was "oh no, a crazy old person with senile zeal" I actually felt embarrassed. Her public, unabashed reading of scripture I found awkward. I realized that my reaction to this sort of thing was almost akin to my reaction to PDAs- not while people can see you!

But then I realized that my reaction was very culturally based and not the appropriate response of a christian. I should have seen a faithful servant of God diligently and sobermindedly trying to faithfully honor God in all of her actions. I am ashamed of myself.

The flight out to DC was long- I slept through most of it and the result is a sore neck. For some reason I'm not at all tired. I'm doing what I usually do with long layovers. Sitting, blogging, drinking a "fruit" smoothie that I pretend is healthy.

It's snowing here. I'm sure it's just the californian in me- but I hate cold. and snow. This time however, I have a serious coat to battle it, and feel like I am blending in with the eastcoasters! hahahaha
I'm sitting here hoping that the el creepo dude who tried to take me to "dinner" at my hotel will not show up. It's unlikely, but I would not be glad to see him.
It's a funny story, but last time I got confused with "departing time" and "boarding time" and the consequence was me watching people board what I thought was a previous flight (which was actually my flight). I didn't hear any announcements, and when I asked the people behind the counter when we could board they said that boarding time was over and I would have to talk to customer services. ps. if you ever get sent to customer services be prepared to be very very very patient. And when you finally make it through the long line that doesn't move be prepared to be uncharacteristically pushy. They won't listen unless you push. fun stuff.

So the story is I was walking over to customer services, depressed that I had missed my flight over such a dumb mistake and scared because I didn't know what I was going to do, when this cute airlines worker (a dude) walked past and asked me what was wrong. I told him about missing my flight and he offered his sympathies and told me to talk to him if I needed any help with anything.
I just thought he was a really nice guy and so I later did ask him for help, but only after they put me on standby for a late late flight which I couldn't board. They gave a brochure with hotel info and I went and tried to figure it out. Never having booked a hotel before or using the phone service they gave me I just sat there stewing. I'm not stupid, but understanding, esp. taking the time to read even simple things like signs goes directly against my personality. I like to fix the dvd player without reading the instructions thank you. :p
So I'm sitting there and the same cute dude walks up and asks if he can help me. I said yes I was trying to figure out this elaborate system they had and he took my phone and started talking to the operator I had reached, started telling her stuff like "no don't send a van" "can I get the address?" I told him promptly that he was not driving me anywhere and to give the phone back. He called me "mean" and I told him "I'm not getting into a car with you"
but he wants to have dinner with me so I said fine, go in a separate car and I'll have dinner with you and his face dropped. I thought something fishy was up so I called my bible study boys in rochacha and they informed me that "dinner is not actually dinner..."
so long story short, I don't want to run into this guy.

I still have over an hour before my flight, and people are starting to show up in the airport. I'm hearing overhead stories of 15 cold related deaths this winter. Why did I leave SD???

Jubin is going to pick me up from the airport when I get there, and I can't wait to see him. He's an awesome dude.

I'm starting to suspect that my ADD is aggravated by staying awake when I would otherwise be sleeping. I make it a general rule to not say things that I think past 1am since it tends to get me in trouble, and I usually don't blog exactly what I'm thinking as it comes, but this will be an experiment. I can always delete it later if I found I regret saying something later right? wrong. damage will be done. but I am so curious...

so I was watching that show about the 4 nerdy guys who live together and the sexy chick who lives across from them named Penny- it's so funny! I find myself strangely relating to the tall, excessively anal, nerdy guy who irritates everyone with his random and often overly convoluted statements. These statements I feel are intended to impress the intellect of the general public. People are too easily impressed, all he does is recite random facts at seemingly appropriate times (the time is in actuality rarely appropriate). Heck I do that all the time, and it is just as annoying and inappropriate. Though, I don't think I'm quite as anal or socially retarded. and no one thinks I'm a genius...

So what gets me is when they come over and say I'm going to tag your bassoon in case it doesn't fit on the plane. I inform them that there is no way this bassoon will be removed from my person and they always respond "just in case" and tag it anyway. They're wasting tags to put it simply. What about "this instrument is worth more than I am and will not be removed from my person" do they not understand? It's very simple. Maybe they don't take me seriously. I have no idea why. It's not like they know me or anything...

only 45 minutes till we gooo

people are running around with fresh food in their hands and it smells amazing. It is still wayyy to early for breakfast though.

ok. I'm done. before I get tendonitis or any such rubbish.

ciao.

So it's been forever since I wrote anything.

This first half of the semester has been really really interesting.

I have discovered that when you are not drowning up to your ears in credits, you suddenly have time for people and extra curricular activities.

New life experiences which were direct results of having time for life;

got a hair cut. it used to be over 3 feet long- now it's a scanty foot and a half! and it's layered!!

went to see a movie on a Monday night. totally irresponsible. btw, it was district 9- I love peter jackson.

fell in love. the real thing, not a crush. not infatuation. not physical attraction. the kind that comes from your soul that causes both joy and pain.

learning tango and it's awesome! I have private teacher who teaches for Free! complete with partners -courtesy of my bible study boys. :D

can now make small talk seem convincing and not so small.

Won an eastman bassoon audition- for Beethoven 4. :)

got hit on by cute random airlines worker...

learning Jazz bassoon. I can improv? no way!

I'm getting really invested in my own religion. before it was just sort of a thing my family did but now I'm coming to a better understanding of it and I am now embracing it practically, in my own life for the first time. baby steps...

gave a recital. yeah, about time. it was Mozart and Weber, with a 5 minute break in between.

bought my own plane tickets, to a destination other than home!
________________


so, that basically sums it up. the freshmen bassoonists are super cool and totally fun to hang out with. I'm making a lot of reeds these days and they're good! :D

I switched from lysol to clorox in preference for the fresh orange smell clorox has. teehee

ok, more later.

So it's midterms over here, and this is my first blog post since the summer? wow.

despite the fact that I'm only signed up for 14 credits, I've been remarkably busy. :/ Admittedly it's a different kind of busy, but that means I've been practicing and not studying theory. W00t. I cannot describe how much I hate music theory.

Valentin Martchev on Facebook

Hey Yo!

So I created a Fan Page on Facebook for Valentin- here it is. If you have Facebook you should become a fan. If you don't have Facebook you should join the 21st century already!!!

Peace!

So I just gained a much better appreciation for what my dad does all day. A friend of mine asked me a detailed religious question- actually he forwarded a link and said in essence "deal with this link, it says stuff that confuses me"so I responded to some of the ideas in the post-which turned out to be a 7 hour project. blahhhhh

My dad is amazing for doing this stuff, esp. since he's a pro and isn't being paid for it.

moving on;

So I ordered some bocals from midwest musical imports they arrived today I had a lesson and now I have a new bocal! It went so fast, i love it!

rewind and slow down;

sooo, I go to order bocals on thursday of last week and get expedited shipping ($30) so that they will arrive in time for my tuesday lesson. Well the shipping gets screwed up. Thanks UPS.

So it arrives today mid afternoon. I then run down to San Diego to see what Valentin thinks of them (i was rooting for the vcd #1 silver heckel)

Valentin eventually decided that he also liked my bocal- so much so that he wants to order them now! It must be the magical Z alloy that makes the bocals harder.

And that's it. I have a new bocal. AND IT'S FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ohhh. I look at my other bocal and I wonder how I did it.

This is probably way too soon to start talking about spending money again, but the next thing I have my hopes and dreams set on is a tuner that will clip onto my instrument. That would be cool, but even more importantly would be a tip profiler. That would be it.

I doubt it will happen anytime soon, but one can dream. :D

This summer has been amazing- I have made such leaps and jumps with the bassoon. They're not even going to recognize me at Eastman!

I'm looking forward to this next semester. My plan is to focus on bassoon and not so much academics, and with theory out of the way for a semester, I'll be able to do as much.

I'm so happy because now I have the tools that I need, I'm able to know what I need, get what i need, use what i need... it sounds so simple but it can be so much more complicated.

:D

I'm experimenting with different kinds of cane and different kinds of reeds also. It's awesome. My comprehension of music is much more mature and I am ridiculously happy with the direction I am now headed in.

So these past two weeks were full of International Youth Symphony stuff.

We played Beethoven 7, Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Gabriel Faure's Pavane, and Mozart's Overture Cossi fan Tutti. It was a good concert.

During intermission I went to the edge of the stage and met some old friends and made some new ones. A little kid asked me to play something for him- so I busted out the theme from Glenn Miller's "In the Mood"

It seems like just yesterday that I was that kid going up to the edge of the stage and asking the performers to play something for me.

But it was 4 stinking hour rehearsals at 8:45 every morning for two weeks. We had a lot of repertoire, but not enough for the gross amount of time we had to rehearse. goodness gracious.

I made several friends there, and one of the things I love about these international events is all the language stuff you can pick up. Being in America isolates most of us from experiencing any other cultures or languages and so being surrounded by these things is one of the most amazing experiences ever. And you pick things up. WooT!!! I learned some some spanish from principal clarinet (Ester) , second bassoon (Marcella), and second clarinet (Solenesky) who were all fluent. Some dutch that I can't remember from dear Kimberley (flute), turkish from Beyhan (violin), and made an ass of myself trying to speak German with one of our viola players, Paula. :D She was really nice about it though, and it got better!

well, it was fun. I'll put fun pictures up when my peeps post them on facebook.

Until then, ciao!

this is me and Ester, from Venezuela. She's an awesome person and clarinetist. <3

away from school

So I'm on summer break and it's great. I'm back home now and have one student.

I am taking a lesson with Benjamin Kamins this Monday- it should be interesting.

For this past month while Valentin was in Bulgaria, I've been studying with Ryan Simmons, Curtis graduate and the Second Bassoonist of the San Diego Symphony. He's a really great teacher. He had me working on the Bach Suites. We didn't make it past the first one before he stopped me at Minnuetto II and asked me to play it more sadly. I tried to concentrate the way he was telling me and focus all of my sadness into the instrument... but alas I had no idea what to do- esp. on the spot and burst out laughing. 

yes there I was trying to play this beautiful sad song and all I could do was cackle. It was appalling. 

On the flip side, I have been fortunate enough to have experienced very little sadness in my life, and what little I have experienced did not want to come out as music... more like sniffling sobbing. Not something you pay to hear (unless you're very sick...)

So Ryan set me on slow 'sad' etudes. Back breakingly slow. 

The etude I'm working on for Ben Kamins is #20 Milde Concert Studies. It starts off slow, but it's enough of a technical etude to tax me in that direction too.

Just when I thought I had gotten everything to work just fine for this etude, Valentin comes back from Bulgaria and I go to the lesson. He makes me think about this etude very differently and I suddenly couldn't play it. It was totally weird. He gave me some musical pointers, and made sense of the etude's structure.. ideas which I might be able to back with my Eastman theory... but am not going to.

So my goal is to come back with this etude and be able to play it cold. Under any circumstances. Even if it turns out that the cat has rabies and is chewing my toes off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUGIDZfCNX4&NR=1

I am positively addicted to Phillipe Jaroussky- he has the most amazing voice.

--ahh back tracking-- 

ok this is random but I bring it up because of my previous comment about the cat having rabies (and it's late...)

My sister saw this little ditty online posted on facebook by a friend and we both love it sooo much! It comes from our cold heartless british background. haha

Hushabye baby,

hush quite a lot,

bad babies get rabies

and have to be shot.

:D 

Anyone who shares in my distaste for noisy children will appreciate this bit of frigid nonsensicality. 

So the parents were in Switzerland for the last week and have returned. It's nice they're here, but I wish they would stop being sooo... how do 

we say... parenty? 

They're here to offer guidance over every single little thing that you've done a thousand times without them knowing, but since they're there they might as well interject some helpful advice just in case you could figure it out for yourself.

yes sarcasm is the refuge of losers... and I'm happy to be hiding there. Because when I do something stupid and immature it's usually delibe

rate and there's no use in hiding it. Making it painfully obvious... it adds flavor.

Lesson tomorrow. Yay. Valio is going tell me what I'm doing wrong with my reeds and help me not to be so "sloppy" I hope. Though that reference was to their basic construction last time.. so hopefully these blanks won't be so bad. ahhh :/

I'm going to put a new poll on the bottom of this blog... this one shall read;

Is it lame to keep a blog you started in highschool through college, and beyond?

Yes/No

 

 

Don't forget to check the bottom of this blog to poll Your answer!!!

ok. now it's really late. 

A quick shout out to Andre, Tabs, Daniel, Lynnann, Carl, Seth Man, Hillary, Brettt, and Lukeyloo. I miss you.

(ps. Congrats to Hills on the competition :D)

I like this photo emmy took at mission bay... I look super emo but it's also kinda artsy. :D

summer break

Well I'm back for the summer, and loving being home. The lack of stress here is very refreshing.

I'm hoping I can start teaching again, and spend this time really focusing on playing my instrument. 

Goals for summer;

practice

get job

study german

study piano

eat right

figure out reeds

get fit (a six-pack would be nice too)

We'll see how much I get done. Every new experience is a chance to learn and grow. Hopefully that's what this summer will be.

time to practice! :D

jury week

Eastman

Wind

Orchestra

pre-rehearsal goofiness. ;)

so, it's this was jury week.. which means No Classes!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!

This week was fantastic. I feel so much better having been active and interested in life again. lol but seriously, I think the strain of all the work we have

to do was slowly eating me. So much so that I feel like a different person now. I'm visibly healthier, mentally happier, and the weather is fantastic. I've been using that word a lot recently, fantastic that is, because everything has just been fantastic. FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it's all because of the way we kicked off jury week, (we being my small bible study and I) which was to go watch movies at Luke's Apt. till all hours, and then dance to loud stereo music. haha The neighbors probably hate us!

So we did that again the next night, minus the dancing but we stayed up talking till all hours.

The next day I went over to Luke's apt. whilst he cleaned and vacuumed and I half-heartedly did german homework.... always german homework. He mentioned that he was subletting the apartment for the summer and I made a poster for him with the pages program on my mac. That was exciting.

That evening, Tabitha, Seth, Luke and myself went to an awesome Mediterranean restaurant called Sinbad's. It was good. yum yum. Then we got a movie from Block Buster and watched that in Luke's Apt.

The next morning I was actually more productive than the rest of my week combined (except today) because I organized my week, cleaned my desk (mostly), fixed my printer, printed luke's apt. advertisement, made copies of it and posted them in the dorms and school, finished the german homework that I half-heartedly done the previous day, showered, napped (because 7:30 is just too darned early and 2:30 am is way too late) had an aural skills coaching, and ran to the beach with Tabs (Tabitha), Luke and Lynnann. We ate Chinese food, took lots of silly pictures, declared vehemently how cold the water was on such a warm day! (82 deezgreez) I hit the swings with luke while the girls chatted (they're so grown up...) then we hit the pier, which is where the real excitement happened.

So we're walking down the pier which is about a half mile long and on the way we meet this fisherman who had some serious attitude. The reason we met him is because we saw a fish on the pier that we assumed had jumped up by mistake and couldn't get back into the water. We were wrong. The fisherman yelled at us to leave it alone and just let it die because it was not an indigenous species to the area. It was some type of goby from the Mediterranean, and it's because of some Russian ship that accidently picked up these fish in some part of it's hold that these fish even exist in Lake Ontario. They're breeding faster than rabbits and eating all the microbey thingys in the water (not sure if it's plankton or algae), which is causing the rest of the fish to die off.

So I confront the fisherman and ask him if we can put the poor dying fish out of it's misery instead of just letting it drown in the air, since he wouldn't let us throw it back in. He asked why I cared and I told him it had to do with my philosophy behind being a vegetarian (and bizarrely humane...) and that it bothered me to see it just dying like that. Instead of doing something about the fish he avoids it and asks if I smoked. I told him no and he then informed me that they make a part of cigarettes out of animal fat. I asked him again whether or not he could do something about the fish... well no he'd rather just try to make a hypocrite of me instead of doing something about the situation at hand. Oh people.

So we're still on the pier, we walk to the end of it and it starts to rain. So we head back. In passing the crazy fisherman we hear him yelling violently at everyone to "GET DOWN!!! THERE'S A STORM COMING!!! THERE'S LIGHTING AND IT'S GOING TO STRIKE!!! GET DOWN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!" And that is when I noticed peoples' hairs standing strait up in the air (or maybe luke noticed first- our stories differ on that point)... my hair is about 3 feet long and there were strands standing strait up, just because of all the electricity in the air... wow. So we're laying on the ground, just chillin waiting for the fisherman to stop yelling and to give us the all clear. The guy himself was scarier than the prospect of being struck by lightning... yeah...

AND then it rains. Not little cute droplets like in CA, but really rains. Huge massive droplets which were surprisingly warm. That's when we all made that half mile dash for the shoreline. Obviously we survived, but the fun thing was the fact that our hairs were still sticking up even though it was raining! lol

Then we had dinner at Lynnann's watched The Soloist in theaters and went to bed.

Today I got up called my parents, did some other things I don't remember doing, and hit the practice rooms. I was there for many many hours, not practicing (tho that did happen) but practicing aural skill material for the upcoming final. Aggghhh!!! So that evening I make plans to take Tab's car with Luke to Wegmans and get a money order for the insurance policy on my broken blender (the same one from Thanksgiving- procrastination is my middle name..) but that snowballed into dinner at a couple's apartment with some other friends from church and then a game of some sort. Wegmans had actually closed their money order section of the store six minutes before I got there so I ended up not getting that done. Came back and studied aural skillz, contemplated my crazy crazy week and then admired the wet though perfumed air of the outdoors as I also admired the source of the perfume, which was a great tree covered with thousands of beautiful white blossoms. The weather is absolutely awesome and peachy right now. I don't want it to ever end. I want to be perpetually stuck in my 19th year with Luke and Tabs and Lynnann and Seth and Hillary with this wonderful weather and the flowers, studying music and having the most ridiculous amounts of fun during our free time.

Tomorrow is church. Reality check. lol

This was an awesome break. Now time to rock the 5 formidable tests I have this week. Esp. the aural finals. But hopefully also the piano ones and the german one.

I'm not taking german next year. It is really really Really time consuming and I already have 23 hours of french I've taken extra curricularly at Palomar College. Those credits better transfer. lol But this year of german has been really good for me. Now I can actually understand most of what my Austrian friend Lorenz (from SDYS Musicamp) writes to me on skype. :)

Ok, I just got texted by Luke to go to bed.. I don't know how he knew I was still up. lol

I must obey- I'll be back after hell week has come and gone. :)

peace out.

this is Tabs, me and Lynnann from left to right- Luke is taking the pic

So it's Saturday night and I should go to bed, but I delved into the Nutella- since I don't have any actual food in my room. Eating chocolate before bed is a bad idea. I'm wide awake, and exhausted. My parents are probably groaning as they read this. Let's not talk about that... lol

So finals are coming up. Again. More importantly however is jury week. This Tuesday I will have to perform for a group of judges who will decide weather or not I have a future at this school. 

I'll be fine if I don't freak out the way I did at studio class today. That was scary... 

That incident was a combination of pent up everything, stress, fatigue, poor diet, poorer exercising, in-practice, the reed (which was awesome just a few days ago), lack of electrolytes and this wicked adrenaline rush that left me shaking beyond control. It was so intense.

But after I calmed down again it was better. I need to play for more people.

So, I spent about 12 hours on this thing here at Eastman we call a Listening Module.

You listen so some pieces and write in prose a series of theoretical observations and then elaborate on them and how they affect the piece as a whole. You also try to give your ideas on the what music means and how it effected you.  (yes affect and effect- am I using them correctly?) So I spend every available free minute on this listening module, and complete it the day before it's due. Wow how diligent am I? It only made me sacrifice much valuable practice time, added much undue stress, and prevented me from thinking about anything else. Well at least it was done on time right? Wrong. The day it's due we all hear from the head honcho of the theory dept. that there has been an extension on the due date of this listening module because it is unreasonable to ask for this assignment right before juries. Un huh. Too bad I already spent my jury practicing time on this bleeping module. 12 hours? What could you do with that time? Yet another example of the smooth function of the great cogs running this well oiled clock that we benefit from. No no, I'm not complaining. How could I possibly hold faculty up to the demands that they place on us, the underling students? 

German is tough, but you know what's tougher? MUSIC THEORY!!! oh wait.. I meant to say English... lol... whoops....

I feel really bad for those who didn't grow up with English as a native language, because it is a series of broken rules, exceptions, irregular verbs and run-on clauses. (oh wait, that's my blog... lolz)

I heard our native german teacher say an english phrase in which she made what should have been an adjective, an adverb. And why not? It was seemingly modifying the verb... except it wasn't really. It was the weirdest thing, because when you try to figure out why it's wrong, it's hard to explain. 

It appears to be modifying the verb. So if I said; "That sweater goes nicely with those pants." That would be a grammatically correct statement. However, if I said "That sweater looks nicely with those pants." That would be wrong... how 

do you explain to someone on the spot why that was wrong?  :D

It boils down to how the verb functions in the sentence. 

I think we can say without a shadow of a doubt that "goes nicely" is correct. The adverb modifies the verb (in this case) and the knee joint connects to the hip joint and so on.

However, does the adverb "nicely" really want to modify the verb "looks?" 

Well let's see, if your sweater had eyes and was in the habit of looking at things, it would be ok to say that it "looks nicely " however if you want to say that the sweater itself is nice in appearance, then you would say "That sweater looks nice with those pants." 

The word "looks" is not what you are trying to modify, you are in fact trying to modify "sweater." This is why you need an adjective (which modifies nouns or pronouns) instead an adverb (which modifies verbs, adjectives or other adverbs)

These two sentences "goes nicely" and "looks nice" both mean (virtually) the same thing. 

Grammar grammar... tisk tisk

You'd think I'd have more to say about the bassoon at this point... 

I hate reeds.

Beyond that, just pray that I totally trash (in an awesome way) my jury and kick butt on these finals. 

The Nutella is slowly wearing off and there are an increasing amount of typos in my writing...

Church is tomorrow and every new day brings a new adventure. 

Getting up and being on time are adventure enough for me. One day I'll figure out how to do it. :p 

Can't wait to see CA again and my fabulously family. 

yes. just to bug you.

This is my Quintet at Eastman which never actually got a name, thought I pushed for Quordal 5th, it never stuck. This is our end of the year concert, we played the Nielson Quintet- huge bassoon solo. :D

ok, the weather here is absolutely out of control here! We go from strong (and I mean very strong) winds to cool, sunny, calm weather almost over night. Yesterday it was sunny and windy, today it is really really windy overcast and raining. Tomorrow it will snow. Oh yes. The the blizzard conditions will return.Life is so crazy here. I am getting what is known as the Eastman plague. It's an actual bacteria/virus that makes people really sick here, but not enough to keep them from infecting those who don't have it. (STAY HOME YOU SICK PEOPLE AND STOP BREATHING ON ME!!!!!)

Now it's audition season, and all the little auditionees are here... it was cute at first but now it bugs me. (ps. I'm in a very foul mood right now) 

I just got out of the most harrowing german exam ever. EVER.

But back to auditionees, it's sort of a joke amongst those of us who have actually made it to the other side of the audition process, and we like to freak out the visitors. hehehehe }:D

There was one story of an upperclassmen who was literally pointing to certain auditionees and saying very loudly "NOPE.... well MAYBE"  "Definitely NO" "YES, YES OH OH YES!!!" 

lolz I love it.

I just got out of a really depressing orchestra rehearsal, and as I was walking back to the dorms there were a group of auditionees standing in a circle around some tour guide asking questions. Just as I was just shuffling past them in my moody glory, some girl asked "What's the food like here?" 

I couldn't help myself- I laughed very loudly and sardonically. I was greeted by the sound of uncomfortable silence behind me as people processed the connection between the laugh and the question. 

It was pure gold.

quick disclaimer; the food can be really good here. it really depends on who's cooking (and when it's time to renew a contract... yes again being a rain cloud)

Good news is that now I can go to my bible study since classes are over for the week, I'll make dinner with Ms. Judd and it will be awesome. The next day I'll have another very depressing rehearsal, go to the pastors bday party, and then the Winter Dance. In fact I need to go get the appropriate clothes from my very awesome Bible Study friend Tabitha, so gotta run.  

love and peace (which admittedly have no part in this particular post)

Here at Pastor's house we're having Bible study. Present is the good Darcy, Seth, Mary queen of food on face, Tabs and my knees under the grey blanket. It is Cold at pastor's house!

Well it's been a fabulous Christmas break- I missed my friends at Eastman terribly but I'm going to be missing San Diego even more when I get there.

I'm waiting for my flight in the SD airport (got about a half hour)

Just so you know, the weather is incredible. It just took a turn for the better. It is completely sunny and the Santa Anna winds (local term for desert breezes) are making it warm, dry but totally comfortable. The sun is just awesome. haha

I am not looking forward to leaving. I would like to spend my whole life in this place. 

Over break I got to go to the beach twice, Coronado island and Carlsbad right off the Pacific Coast Highway. I actually tanned and feel so much healthier than when I was scraping by in Rochester on 6 or fewer hours of sleep.

ok, well peeps are boarding...

I'm home! YaY!!!

You have no idea how good you have it until you leave.

On the other hand- I'm going crazy here. 

I attempted the impossible today- aka cleaning the house. I didn't even vacuum the floor I just did the heavy lifting stuff. Lysol will have to wait till later today- if I can find any here. haha

But it's the messes that you don't notice until you leave that I'm talking about. Now I'm back and I notice. That added onto the fact that I have become the most incredible neat freak. Everything in my dorm is kept clean. Or will be cleaned as soon as I get the chance to clean it. I have a lysol canister the size of a bread box sitting on the shelf that I offer morning and evening sacrifices to...

So I'll be making recordings and getting a drivers license with photo ID instead of the piece of paper with scrawl on it. Yes, loosing a wallet (or having it stolen) is not cool. 

The recordings are for summer festivals. It will be fun. I have the tools to do them all by myself now- which is so exciting. I also have time to practice! It's a miracle. 

Having time to myself means that I can teach myself how to sing parts, sleep, learn about Organ stuff, see people I never see anymore, and eat rea

l food. Yum!

SD is amazing. Can't wait for the rain to stop so we can go dooooo things!

Mom and I put up the Xmas lights! :D

Sooo, I'm in the airport. On hold for the 44th minute. Trying to track my baggage. 

The airport has been really trying today. I started this day at 11:30pm eastern time and should (if all goes well from here) at 9pm something pacific time.  And I'm doing this amazing 25 hour day on 4 hours sleep. Yes I am amazing.

First, on the flight from Rochester, NY they put too much fuel in the jet- so that it was too heavy and 9 people had to exit the plane. =Delay

Then the flight to Detroit the pilot was late. No biggie, they found a new crew. But a new problem arises- something again with the weight of the plane and people who didn't board the plane right away had to find a different flight. Tant pis pour ils. Except I was one of ils. lol

Ok so now I go to Pheonix. But that somehow gets delayed for 2 hours as we wait forever to board and then drive in circles for an hour. Long story short, I miss my connection to San Diego. 

So here I am waiting for my 9pm flight in Arizona and they decide that I look like I should be searched. You know those bassoonists with their suspicious back backs that make menacing ticking noises as their uber sensitive dr. beat buttons get pushed.

ok, so now I'm sitting here waiting for my flight and trying to trace my baggage. 58 minutes on the phone has revealed that i must fill a baggage claim to find my bag which I must do pronto. So that is my day of not-heavenliness. lol

ok- time to fill a claim.

college

this place is crazy.

I feel like I've been dumped into a blender with everyone else for some sort of experimental blended drink.

People are strange here too. I usually don't have a problem with other people- it's they that have a problem with me. So either it means I'm weird or they are. -I'm going to err on the safe side and say they are... ;P lol

There's been no blogging for a long time because life is so busy here. Have I complained about my 21 credits yet? hehe 

I've never gotten so little sleep in my life. My joints sound like cement mixers and still the homework does not always get completed! I'm supposed to be resting before my concert tonight, but instead I'm blogging. Bad life decision #1.

Not getting enough sleep really impairs your concentration as well. I have a hard time remembering things, but that might have less to do with lack of sleep than I would like to admit. 

We have to enroll for classes this week, and I'

m debating Organ and/or French.

I've already taken so much French, this would be to keep from losing it. However Organ would be really cool. On the other hand I cannot coordinate two hands in different clefs to save my life- let alone two hands and two feet. However- I've been told that people worse off than myself can do it, so I might just give it a try.

Anyways, I miss home and feel almost like a completely different person here.

Lastly, I just heard about Mr. J. back home- we'll be praying for you man. We love you.

gotta sleep before the concert, so peace out.

Eastman Lower Rotation Orchestra. I'm sitting Second Bassoon- between 1st and contra. :)

My first Music Theory teacher, Dr. Weller, told me once that "most of the stuff you learn at college does not happen in the class room." lol It's so true. It's like an intensive "how to grow up" experience that just costs way too much. ;) 

But yeah, the thing about work, esp. entering a professional field, is not about how perfect you are, but how hard you try and the attitude you bring to it. The truth is; however hard you try, you're going to mess up. That's the most important thing to keep in mind. How much you mess up however should change as you continue to work in your field. And as you keep in mind that you will always mess up, that should motiva

te you to practice so as to minimize your number and severity of mistakes. You can never be perfect.

That's just how life is, with time constantly marching on. It's completely up to you how you deal with every new situation. All you know is that you need enough money to survive and to be happy. To have money, you must work. To have work, you must be kept employed. To be kept employed you must constantly (as an entertainer) satisfy your employer. To satisfy your employer you must give 100%.

On the other side, to be happy you must enjoy your work. To enjoy your work you must love it and have a positive attitude. Because, if you do it without caring, it won't make you happy and chances are it won't be so good. Doing a poor job is never satisfying and doesn't make you happy. If you do it because you want to do we

ll (keep your job, and be happy with your work), you will learn to love it, and in loving it you will give 100%. 

So that's why it's ok to make mistakes, because they will never disappear but as long as you give 100% those mistakes will slowly be les

s obvious. 

I know I'm not being as clear as I need to be, but I'll come back someday and edit this page so that I can be happy. ;)

This is my bible study on our camping trip over fall break. It was so much fun! -the bugs and germs.

from left to right

Seth, me, Brett, Andre, Luke, and Tabitha- all sitting on a log next to the play ground

Well life has been really busy here in Rochester, NY.

I finally have a little time to myself because I am quite sick with a cold and fever. I'm going to the nurse tomorrow to see if I have strep- and get proper documentation that I am indeed sick so that I don't get marked down in classes for not showing up without a reason. It's a pain, but it's just one more of the many circus hoops to jump through before anything can happen. 

Before that I managed to lose my wallet..  I will be sticking to the campus since I am broke without plastic. lol

Blah, away from the humdrum and awful

I am really excited about the German class I am taking right now- which I believe bumps me up to 21 credits this semester. haha 

Why is she taking German? -you ask

To go to Freiburg. -she responds

What's so hot about Freiburg? -you ask

The conservatory. -she responds

Yes, in two years I hope to be a student at the Freiburg Conservatory in Germany. I know I've talked about going to France to get a better understanding of the language and study at their conservatories, but it just isn't the best place for studying bassoon- unless I want to switch to French basson (yes basson) instead of staying with the German model, which is what pretty much everyone uses outside of France. 

But here at Eastman, though it feels like there is never time to practice- they do manage to keep you inspired. Here's a clip that I find incredibly impressive and was shown to us at Eastman Colloquium (yet another class)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7PTeoDDZNA&feature=related

In Aural Skill class I have discovered that I have a pretty low voice- like I can sing lower than an alto... ha ha? Whatever- I think Philippe here be smokin'!

I miss San Diego just a bit, and can't wait to go back. The weather here hasn't been too bad, but SD weather always always kicks butt. It just doesn't get much better.

The lessons with Mr. Hunt are very interesting- we go kinda nerdy about the bassoon at lessons. He is very good about finding my problems, pointing them out, and then telling me what I need to do to fix them. The scale study he makes us do is brutal. If there are any problems with your playing, this scale study will make them obvious. I really need to work on two things, pitch and rhythm. lol, rhythm esp.

The last lesson his comments on the etude were more stylistic than anything else so I think maybe that is a good thing. But he is a strong advocate of long tones, and I hate long tones. So I will be doing long tones. They're just really tough. You have to keep the air consistent and really pay attention to how the reed, embouchure, support, and throat combine to make sound with good tone and intonation. 

I never realized how important it is for college students to talk with their friends and family still living at home- you can go a little crazy at college and forget about really basic stuff like eating properly and sleeping properly and a hundred other little things that just add up. The problem is just that there is never enough time to do everything. So the things that go usually have something to do with personal comfort. Do not worry! I shower everyday and that will not change. But also you can pick up some pretty unhealthy mentalities when you're under so much stress- so that's why it's really important to talk to peeps who still have their head screwed on properly. lol

Another thing about Eastman is that there isn't much hand holding that happens here. They just expect you to know it and do it. bang. You're at Eastman, so be perfect. Nnnnow! LOL but soo true. So far I haven't fallen into any of the normal holes students fall into, but I did miss a lesson because I scheduled it for the same time as the German class I was taking. Yeah I know, smooth move. Then I slept through reed class and yesterday I couldn't make it to Master Class because I am sick. Or any of my other classes for that matter. I still don't think I will go to classes today, because even though I am not currently running a fever, my tonsils are pretty bad. I don't want to share this newfound joy with anyone else. Also, I'm pretty sure that I got this cold from a moron who went to class when they shouldn't have and was coughing their head off behind me. I'm sorry, I tried not to breathe but that just did last for very long... 

If you're going to class sick (with a cough like that) please turn to a direction where no one is sitting before you cough and if you could, cough into a jacket or your shirt, that would be terrific. 

Well, can't say when my next post will be- but it will be. So there. :D

Guten Nacht!

Katarina

Eastman Quintet!

# 41 -Musicamp, leaving, Eastman

     SDYS Rotary International Musicamp at our first concert

       At the Farewell Party

                          Those crazy Austrian boys... LOL just kidding Lorenz!

                     Roberto and I

             

 Don't ask me! Que pasa?!

   Wilfredo, me, Roberto

          Hola...?

Well, it's been a fun few weeks with the International Youth Symphony. The people you meet there are some of the best people ever. Mr. Edmons is always making speeches about how the musicamp is wonderful/life-changing experience/fantastic/etc. and though you haven't the patience to listen then, you realize later that what he was saying was so true. This group of students has become like family to me. We're all going to stay in contact and are even planning a new performing escapade. :D (shhhh, it's under wraps. ;) But the great thing about being international is that we all come from so many different cultures that we end up creating our own unique culture in which we all fit perfectly. We're also a really tight orchestra and though we had to spend 2 weeks to play Beethoven and Mozart -it was after the first week and a half that we really started to gel -and I think we could have played anything after that point. :) just my opinion. 

But yeah, these peeps are awesome and I will miss them like crazy. 

           1st Clarinet Martin and I

Both Martin and I agree that we make a good team :) btw, Martin is awesome to work with.

The Venezuelan String Quartet

from left to right;

Wilfredo (violin), Roberto (cello), Omar (viola), Jairo (violin)

Wilfredo looks like Jim Carry *haha*

Looking a little more formal... ;p

Wilfredo, Jairo, Omar, and Roberto

On break

Christoph, Lorenz, Magdalena, Marjan, Kimberley, Marie-Luise, Nicole

Warming up before the concert

yes that's me on the ledge- practicing that devilish solo from beethoven 4. haha

red hair on left is Andrea, the Bassist is Henry, and the crazy Frenchman Gaeton is on the right. ;)

It's kinda sad, these people mean so much to me and now we must leave. Thank goodness for the internet! Otherwise I don't know how I would cope! 

 And of course the reason I'm still doing orchestra;

Valentin Martchev, my awesome teacher, who is constantly an inspiration and the person I want to be just like when I grow up. Outside of my parents, he is the one person who has had more influence on my life than any other. I can't thank him for all the lessons he has taught me over the past 5 1/2 years, not just in music, but life lessons and how he always made an example that I wanted to emulate. He is my hero, the best musician ever, and the best person in the world. 

Away from my bassooning life, my best friends Stephy and Leah are heading off to college this week too. It's not quite as sad because we will see each other for sure many times yet to come but still a little sad. 

When we were little we all swore to go to college together, which we kept since we all attended the community college together during highschool -but real college has finally come and hilariously enough we are all moving to the four corners of the USA; WA, NY, GA, and CA.

Stephy and I (at my grad party)

Emmy and Leah (Coronado)

I am leaving for Eastman and NY soon, but until then I intend to enjoy the SoCal weather if possible. It's all packing and cleaning over here so I won't get out of the house much. :( 

I'll probably be the most ridiculously prepared person in the world by the time I finally leave. ;p

peace!

Universal Studios (splash zone!)

#40

Sooo, it's been an incredible summer so far- I'm always learning new things and learning how to act when in new situations. I'm kind of a nerd, so social interaction is still something I have to work at, but it is getting better. I'm seeing people outside of the work environment and learning how to fit in with this crowd (I know, it's hard to believe!)

I've already been to 5 parties this

summer! 2 grad parties, 2 birthdays, and 1 orchestra party.

(picture stolen from Nicole's blog, thanks Nicole!)

SDYS International Musicamp - Pool Party

Currently I'm doing the SDYS International Musicamp which is awesome. I'm sitting with one of my bassoon friends of two years ago (Banri) and a Clarinet (Martin) from Bulgaria, the same country that my teacher comes from. I'm learning bits and pieces of Bulgarian, and it's a fun language! Very challenging, especially since it requires you to make noises not found in English. :p

Zdravei! Means hello in Bulgarian, better yet there is "Costa!" Means "Wassup?" in Bulgarian :D

It's very fun hanging with all the international students, we come from so many different cultures that when we hang together, the common language is laughter and music. You can't tell what he's saying, but between the hand gestures and the facial expression/pigeon english (not always) we can usually understand each other. Musical ideas are another thing entirely. You don't need to speak any language to express those ideas. Everyone gets it. It's great how we try to verbalize our musical ideas and everyone is mystified, until you pick up the instrument and demonstrate- the comprehension is instantaneous and ridiculously gratifying! haha

We have a Venezuelan group of boys who play in the orchestra and in their own string quartet- they are very young, talented, and romantic. That's mostly because they are Venezuelan and hugging/kissing is totally a cultural norm. I was even told by one that he loved me. Too bad he's only 15. ;p LOL

They are going to teach us to Salsa before they leave, which is very exciting for me since I recently became infatuated with the idea of dance! It's so exciting and passionate yet controlled that you can get goose bumps just from watching it! :D

As for the music, we are performing, it is Beethoven 4th Symphony and Mozart 35th Symphony- both are big pieces for double tonguing.

Double tonguing is a special technique where the wind player has to tongue the reed/mouthpiece with the tip of the tongue and then quickly chop the air flow with the mid section of the tongue to give the illusion of tonguing. It works and is the only way to play Beethoven 4 which has a crazy hard/fast solo for bassoon- the strings disappear and suddenly the Bassoon is busting mad double tonguing with the spotlight fixed upon them! It's that bad. Everyone pray for me. I need it!

That's the hard technical part, the other hardest part is the intro to Beethoven 4, it's deathly quiet while the woodwinds play a series of chords where intonation is perilous.

It's laaate, so until next time! Caio!

(here's a picture of us right after rehearsal is finished. As you can see the bassoons are always the last to leave because it takes 7 minutes to properly clean the instrument. I'm the one with brown hair half covering my face, and Banri, bassoon is on the right. I'm talking with Martin at the moment. That dude is hilarious!)

(Omar is the Venezuelan guy putting his viola away, and the bassist on the right in Henry) For those of you still interested in the musicamp and it's happening- please visit Nicole's blog you can find it by going to the comments section and clicking on the blue stuff by her picture, it will take you to her blogger profile, then scroll down and it will have another link blue that says something like "the Turners" and that will take you her blog which features even more pix and a video in which Wilfredo stars on cello (he plays violin) and features his brother Omar on the left. I show up in as much as I appear on the right and so does Andy.

#39 la nature est belle

I know this is a lame topic to blog over, but the realization of the biggest difference between SoCal and the Midwest just hit me!

When I first moved to SoCal about 11 years ago, I used to get up early in the mornings because it was cool and I could play outside before starting school. (Also there was this really cool palm tree that had hundreds of those little round seed pods that were so much fun to play with! - haha, they make great ammunition! lol)

 But whenever I got up in the morning, especially my first few weeks of living in SoCal, there was a particular smell that I had never noticed before in any of the other places I had lived before, and that was always the air. Anymore I take it for granted, but after having gone to the east coast for auditions just recently, I found that I really missed the SoCal smell. The smell isn't just the air, it's really the smell of plants and flowers- mostly because there is so much plant life here in comparison to similar suburban settings in the midwest or east coast.

I think I'm going to turn my dorm room into a hothouse and bring a few lizards. jk 

Yes the difference is not only the weather, but the plants. Especially the plants. 

I am totally into plants and nature, I can see a spider 1 mm in size from 5 feet away and can usually identify them as toxic vs. nontoxic, 

our hibiscus is so awesome,

 I love our lizards (wild), 

our bird nests with their chicks (wild), 

our apricot tree which has the best apricots, 

our cute rabid rat (wild), 

our snails (wild, which we paint neon colors with nail polish), 

our fuzzy caterpillars, 

our bumble bees, 

dragon flies, 

heavily scented jasmine bush, 

butterflies, 

not so keen on the ravens but whatever. 

The smell of plants and flowers is definitely opium of sorts as far as I am concerned. I am an addict. 

This is the view from my house, just this afternoon. Actually, though the palm trees give an incredibly tropical feel, they are not indigenous to SoCal, or so I've heard. People have said that SoCal is more of a dessert than anything else, tropical plants just do really well here.

What about the bassoon? Hmm, well since we're on the topic of air, the air is usually just perfect here for reeds. I love to practice with the window open- and it keeps the neighbors' dog from yapping too much- for whatever reason. :D

Catch ya next time!

kt