keeping tabs on ya

Go over to my new Frappr Map and let me know where you are. And make your own. It's ridiculously easy!

Stolen from Feministe.

busy busy busy

Performances:
1. Playing in the community theatre's production of Seussical, the Musical! We had three shows last weekend but you can catch the remaining three- Oct 28 and 29 at 7:30 pm and Sunday Oct 30 at 1:30 pm.

2. Opera rehearsals have started- Verdi's Falstaff. Nov 11, 13, 18 and 20 at 8 pm in UNT's Lyric Theatre. Be there! (Not for all of them, obviously, although if you're totally nuts for Verdian interpretations of Shakespeare, well then, it's all you)

3. The 8 O'Clock Lab band is playing tomorrow at noon in the 1 O'Clock Lounge (possibly my favorite sentence EVER).

4. November 9th I am performing Frank Martin's Ballade in trombone departmental. 12 noon, UNT Concert Hall!

Things that are stressing me out BIG TIME:
1. Recording/Resume project due to Jan November 11th. Have to have 20 minutes of recorded material. Should be sending Jan copies of my resume soon to get revisions for the final turn-in, but have not as of yet done so.

2. Aforementioned departmental performance. My first time playing for the whole studio, and on an ass-hard piece. No pressure!

3. Barrier jury: To be officially "accepted" into UNT as a masters candidate in music performance, I have to rock out (with my proverbial cock out) on my juries. One jury is the Martin plus six excerpts (Bolero, Mahler 3, Hungarian March, Mozart Requiem, Tannhauser, and Ride of the Valkyries), and the other jury is for tunes. I have to know 12 tunes in 12 keys. No sweat, actually, although that not too long ago would have me shitting bricks. Huzzah for improvement!

Things that are of miscellaenous interest:
1. Possible Halloween costume? Only if I work up the gonads to dye my hair. No cheap wigs for that costume. I've wanted to do it for too long to skimp.

2. Possible H'ween costume #2?

3. #3 and #4.

4. Completely AWFUL Halloween costumes. With commentary!

Shameless plug:
1. H'ween party (costume required- or you'll get a loaner and you won't like it!) Saturday Oct 29 at 9:30 pm. Fun activities include: Trick or Treating, Pin Yourself on the Kinsey Scale, and Parades (with cats!)!

spanked!

Just took a music theory test that draped me over its knee and taught me a lesson the old-fashioned way.

Growing progressively more and more annoyed with the state of my education. I mean, I had shitty theory instruction at UW, and UNT is supposed to be much better about it. But even with an extremely knowledgable and entertaining professor, things are still vague. I don't understand what the big deal with a little basic instruction would be, instead of all this ambiguity. Form analysis is the same way. What am I paying for at school? Am I COMPLETELY responsible for making myself a more competent musician or can I expect some sort of guidance along the way?

i remember timmy

Who else does? He made an appearance today in the awesomeness of Dinosaur Comics.

[In middle school, for the amusement of my friends, I made up an invisible friend named Timmy to help with science. He proved gravity existed on numerous occasions and went on to be a long standing private joke. And now here he is fraternizing with T-Rex! I knew him when!]

more adventures in form analysis

Just a quick recap, because I've got to go warm up/cram for a lesson at 11 (get it? Recap? Form Analysis? aHAHAHAHA oh nevermind).

We're working on Mozart's Piano Sonata in Bb major. Mvts 1 and 2 were to have been studied and graphed for today in class, and of course I had done almost none of that because < insert excuses about musical involvement, lack of interest, bullshit etc >. Anyway. Brief discussion on the finer points of analyzing sonata form in general, which was pretty exciting since that's the first time we've had any sort of tip or trick, much less total outline, given to us for such a thing. I almost didn't fall asleep in class for it, too!

Somewhere inbetween this point and about twenty minutes later, probably right after he gave us the tips on analysis, he made note that we would be working on the second movement in class today. I completely missed this fact.

This all went fairly well (in so much as it usually does) for about ten minutes, because I was getting some of the same measure numbers and ideas as the rest of the class, and keep in mind that no mention of key was given. So up until he was playing excerpts from it on the piano (please see below post) I was in my normal state of semi-enlightened fog.

And then he starts playing bits of it. First of all, wrong key. Second of all, Alberti bass? Where the fuck is he getting alberti bass from? And what's that dude talking about, the development starts in 32? The repeat sign's at 54! What the hell is he playing?!?!

So about this point I'm thinking I might be on the wrong piece, but every time I look over to double check my neighbor's score, it's the same title. Mozart Piano Sonata in Bb Major K. 333 etc etc. The music looks totally different. I'm starting to get paranoid. I look through the book for another Bb sonata. No luck. I consider the possibility of my edition, being older and less wise than the one required for our class, also being completely fucked up.

So finally I lean over and ask.

And spend the rest of the class head down, buried in my notes, sobbing uncontrollably at the unjustices of the world. For example, how sweet a world this would be without war, poverty, racism, and form analysis.

scenes from north texas

two things

Today is National Coming Out Day. Link to follow soon.

Amuse yourself: Job Predictor. As various incarnations of my name I am a circus freak, church minister, animal therapist, in a land far far away, and my personal favorite, a puppeteer. Try on a new job today! (link from Feministe.

fair warning

Immensely huge photo dump coming soon. Although I haven't been posting them, I certainly have been taking them. Damn dial-up is a pain in the ass for uploading, though. Maybe some later today uploaded from a school computer.

Also, October! Texas is playing at fall and I am quite enamored of the results. Yesterday's forty minute bike ride has left me feeling like less of a lazy fatass and more of a real human being.

meme-age

Swiped from Erica.

Give a shout in the comments and...

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in.
4. I'll try to say something that only makes sense to you and me.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something that I've always wondered about you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on your journal. You MUST.

You don't really. But it'd be nice.

Answers either in the comments or a followup post. Haven't decided yet. Go!

professor steals time, adds it to already lengthy class period

Form analysis 3510 is killing me, slowly. In hour and twenty minute increments every Tuesday and Thursday, I subject myself to the tortuous discussion of various pieces of otherwise nice music in the most vague and frustrating fashion imaginable.

Our professor is a stuttery German man with a somewhat charming way of pronouncing words like 'scaffolding', 'reminiscence', and 'interval' with the emphasis on the wrong syllable. As if using words like 'scaffolding' to describe music weren't enough, the class has the sort of unclear touchy-feely quality about it that gives me flashbacks to Hyer's freshman year theory course.

It's not a bad subject, really. Form analysis is important. I think. Oh, wait- I definitely enjoyed Brahms a lot more before I had to slog through interpreting his developing variations. Hm.

Here's a timeline of events for our regular class session:
8:02 am- Professor enters classroom, offers up some awkward statements on our homework assignment, hands it back.
8:07 - Anthologies are opened to the piece under discussion, oddly phrased and intentionally confusing question is asked of class regarding the general form/location of main themes/importance of c# to romantic endeavors/best way to pick nose.
8:08 - I retrieve my planner from my backpack and beginning entering in useless information in order to keep myself awake.
8:10- Boredom continues unabated. Same two people attempt to answer vague questions and are repeatedly shot down with polite (yet somehow strangely harsh) German manner.
8:13- I begin to compose a rough draft of an analysis graph only to realize I have no idea what is going on because we've never heard the piece of music in question.
8:15- Back to planner. Draw amusing picture of ghost holding a mug of beer on the date of our proposed Halloween party.
8:20- Watch surreptitiously glanced at.
8:21- Contemplate death and the sharpness of pencil lead.
8:24- After realizing that the class is completely clueless, Professor attempts to further engage our attention by scribbling something illegible on the chalkboard.
8:25- I fall asleep for 30 seconds only to be awakened by an explosive "JAH! And vat do you think about the in-tervel in messure nigh-n?"
8:30- Draw amusing picture of pumpkin imbibing in mixed drink.
8:31- Mentally compose blog entry.
8:35- Begin to be slightly nervous about impending trombone lesson with Jan.
8:36- Mentally practice Martin Ballade, get distracted by poor piano playing emanating from professor's attempt to give us a real aural idea of what the hell Haydn was thinking.
8:40- Time stops.




And so on.

Nine weeks left. 18 classes remaining. Only so many amusing pictures of holiday symbols binge drinking left to draw.

Hilf!

resolution

I'm going to step up on my high horse here and make what might, to some people, sound like a pretty snotty statement.

I hereby resolve to avoid/disencourage/outright ignore contacts with people who are emotionally, mentally, and responsibly less mature than I outside of teacher/student relations. This includes people who may approach my age and/or status. This means I will discourage making colleagues of people who still have room to grow. I will not be mean or indifferent, I will mentor, but I will not befriend.

In my opinion, I have worked far too hard for people to drag me back down.

Case in point, this weekend I have dealt with an irresponisible freshman, someone who acts like a freshman, and a freshman who can socially keep up with graduate students. Who comes off in the best light?

1. Don't agree to be in a group, ditch, and then refuse to take action to find your replacement. Don't act like a baby about what you think you are and are not responsible for doing. I will contact the proper parties needed to kick your ass if you won't respect mine.

2. When you come to my house, behave. Behavior at my house has very few stipulations (meaning, you can do pretty much whatever you want as long as there is respect there), but one of them is not yelling at other party guests or sullenly and rudely protesting things everyone else wants to do. "Life does not start and stop at your convenience, Donny." Follow the ground rules, and you will be accepted with open arms.

3. Keep visiting, but don't get quite so drunk in front of your girl. I think maybe you're thinking too hard about it. Thanks for being open-minded and respectful of our politics, as we will continue to be of yours.

[There ends my somewhat harsh, perhaps too self-congratulatory rant, which is not something I'm sure I'm good at or even justified in doing. Sweet.]