Day 130

Last night was the symphony band/jazz band concert. This was the view from offstage right, where most of the percussionists hang out during our performances. The entrance from the dressing rooms is offstage left, so we stay on the other side away from traffic. The stage was set a tiny bit differently this time and for the first time, no part of our set up was off stage. Cool, but a little intimidating. Thankfully, once the stage lights are on and the house lights are up, you can't really see the audience at all. We were all a little shocked at intermission when they brought the house lights back up and we saw one of the fullest audiences we've had since they reopened fisher. I wish we'd stop doing Sunday afternoon concerts. No one goes and afternoon concerts feel like dress rehearsals. It's nice performing at night. It's just a different feel.

Dr. Stamp arranged a piece in honor of the birth of Dr. Worzbyt's son and we premiered it at the concert. He came into symphony band one day with the score and talked for a little bit, then explained the significance of the piece and that he arranged it for Dr. Worzbyt and his wife "in honor of the birth of their son Christian James" then handed over the score. So sweet. I teared up at that rehearsal. It wasn't exactly meaningful for me, but seeing other people show real, genuine emotions makes me emotional.

Mrs. Dr. Worzbyt was in the audience with their son, who Megan Hall and I creeped on through the whole second half. We tried to sneak down from the balcony to the floor during the final piece so we could see baby worzbyt. The antics that ensued were right out of I Love Lucy. We got downstairs and decided to wait in the hallway that used to be the outside of fisher. We walked through a door into the unlit hallway and the motion sensor lights came on. I was afraid the lights could be seen from inside the house so I frantically flipped light switches until the lights went off again. Then proceeded to walk into the line of fire of a second motion detector and did the exact same thing. We got the lights off and went to the door closest to the stage and found out it was locked. So we went to the door that led backstage. Locked. So we decided to leave and go back the way we came. Surprise! That door locked from the side we entered from. We were trapped!

Not really. We left through a door that led outside then came in the back door. We were watching the last piece from backstage near the dressing rooms surprise! Dr. Worzbyt came walking up with baby in tow! So cute. We gushed over him for as long as he sat still. It was nice seeing such a sweet person so happy. I'm sure he's spent most of this semester running on about 25 minutes of sleep per night but you'd never know it. I admire him for his perpetual good attitude and enthusiasm.

Day 129

Saw this as I was walking home from class yesterday. If you can't tell, it's a wig on a stick with someone's ugly flats. Who knows. Left overs from a crazy Halloween? Not sure. But I laughed.

Day 128

My phone is trying its best to annoy me all the way to the end. For some reason now, mere weeks before my contract is up and I can get a new phone, all my pictures have a pink hugh. God, wait, I feel dumb. Is that the right spelling? Or is that specific to the man's name? Crap, I don't know. You understand what I'm saying though.

Tonight was excerpt night. If you can see me up there (I went LAST!), I played the bell excerpt from sorcerer's apprentice and the timpani excerpt from the bartok concerto. I would have been happier playing the bartok a few more times before I had to perform it but over all I was happy with it. I've stopped hating myself for not having perfect accuracy. I can bomb in front of every because I got too nervous but knowing for myself that I learned some hard shit and, in the privacy of my lessons with dr kingan, can play them well enough to warrant a head nod and a "Yeah! Alright!" then that's good enough for me.

I feel like excerpts were a last minute realization this year. It was crammed awkwardly into a pretty busy two weeks. I wish we'd do excerpts a little closer to the beginning of the year. Give the newer people a chance to apply what they learned from the excerpt to their ensemble playing. Ah well, I don't question the king.

Phillies won last night. Series is at 3-2 now, yankees. I'm not so confident about my fair city, but I still love it. I especially love having some eastern pennsylvania allies to watch the games with.

Wengert's out on tour rocking Canada. I saw some pictures of him online today doing his thing. What an odd rush of emotions. I was so happy to see him. To know he still exists outside of a voice on my phone. But sad that I can't see this huge thing in his life happening. I wish I could stop by one of the performances and watch him. Go see his tour bus and steal some of his Coke merchandise. haha. The time difference paired with our schedules really blows. I miss him so much. But I'm so proud of him. Some clips are going up soon on the coke website. Can't wait to see him :)

Day 127

We don't need a crowded ballroom <3

I'd say we take about one good picture per year. This was one of the very first. Three years ago, today, after weeks and hours of hemming and hawing, Wengert kissed me for the first time, and so began the insane journey of the GA and the DA. In the castle. So here's a picture of us from that year. In the castle. And because he makes me so happy, I'm tempted to write "with my prince" but that's a bit much. But I do love him. And this picture is as awesome as his frosted tips ;)

Day 126

oooooo new toy :) IUP now owns v-drums.

True to form, the box is always more fun than the toy itself. Meet Craig, the pPprotector. Nate's Frankenstein. He's lonely though. He's looking for a girlfriend... is she coming?

Day 125

Today was RAINN day. Ironically, tonight it's raining. RAINN stands for Rape Abuse Incest National Network. I found out about this event from Stacie Mann. Last night was when all the volunteers got together in the oak grove to set up. We wrote a bunch of statistics and information (where to get help if you need it, etc) on sidewalks, umbrellas, ponchos, etc. This is some of the stuff I chalked. I'm standing on the rest of what I wrote. It was cool to do something outside of the music department. I got to meet stacie's fiancee for about 3 seconds (she was doing a bunch of running around) and she seems really sweet. Good for stacie.

Hopefully, no one reading needs or will ever need this information, but if you've been a victim of abuse, rainn.org is a great place to go for support, help, or guidance.

Day 124

This is from a week or two ago but deserves a spot in the "my time at IUP" history. Bean is a master of entertainment. Props to Doug for quick thinking and grabbing a xylophone. I love our studio. :)