Friday, April 30, 2010

high five.

I almost forgot about the wonderful sensation of rolling your windows down and putting your hand outside your car. I was driving tonight and remembered that it's a real thing. immediately after putting my hand out the window, the next 2 people that drove past me had their hands in the exact same position. it was like a connection. we all knew, "yeah, this is wonderful."

I then proceeded to think about high fiving people that passed that also had their hands out the window. I wondered how close you would need to be and how far you would have to reach your hand out the window for this to be possible. it has potential to be totally awesome. but then the farther I stuck my arm out the window, the more paranoid I got that my arm would get chopped off by a passing car.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

kanye

I've been on a Kanye kick lately, and just hip-hop in general. It brings me back to about a year ago when I was completely obsessed with Kanye, which is really weird and not of my character at all.


kind of a douche, but I love him.

I think there's this like hidden part of me that is totally street (is that even a real thing?) and I'm just starting to figure it out. I guess my odd desire to name all of my vehicles after hip-hop artists (Petey Pablo-the regal, Andre[3000]-the malibu, and now Lupe[Fiasco]-the schwinn) would've been a dead giveaway, but maybe I'm just totally kidding myself and I'm not that way at all.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I wish I was a fox.

new Maid Marian song up!
Treynor and I recorded last night and I think we are both happy with the outcome.

Gift for a Funeral

hopefully those cassette tapes will be coming in a couple of weeks!
thanks Treynor for recording and editing and being neat and things.

also, just spent the past several hours proofing 2 papers, and am finally done with them. I just did extra credit for music 120 too, so that's neat. all I have to do now is make a brass composition and write a 7 page music theory paper! oh and piano, music history, and art history tests. but I'm feeling good.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

like a bird from prison bars has flown.

tonight was possibly my last band concert I will be in for quite some time, if not ever. I feel satisfied, but also very sad about this. when I think about the lack of time I have spent practicing my saxophone or just playing it in general in the past month or so, it makes me sort of sad. granted, my time has generally been spent doing things that, to me, are more important... like hanging out with fraaands during lunch and things. but, it's just still weird to think that I won't be playing my saxophone near as much. I know that I could just easily change that and pick it up at any time, but the sad part is that I don't know that I will regain the motivation (if I ever once had it) to just pick up my saxophone and play it.
I'm sure that time will tell what happens with me and the saxophone. it would be kind of sweet if I could like teach saxophone lessons to little children or something. whatevs I guess.

I am scared that I am going to wake up tomorrow with an arm that needs to be amputated from all of the cat scratches that I have received tonight. apparently kitty claws can be pretty gross and all of the scratches (one really bad one from Marian and a few little guys from Raleigh) can get infected pretty easily. I'm nervous because they hurt, but it would be kinda wicked to wake up to a swollen, greenish-blue arm of some sort.

I am almost done with my art history paper, which I am feeling pretty satisfied with. I feel that all of the information is solid, I just need to figure out the right order/format for putting it all into context. that last page for it that I need to write will be nothing! I even have until Thursday to do it. while I did sort of procrastinate on that one because I missed the rough draft turn in date which would've probably been useful, I am still doing pretty good.
I need to make a brass composition, which shouldn't take more than an hour at some point.
I need to go to/write essays for 7(ish) more recitals by the end of the semester, one of which I can use for my music history assignment which I should have done by Monday... but it also has to be more legit than my usual recital attendance papers which I am pretty relaxed and goofy about because my saxophone professor is pretty awesome.
I need to start/finish a 7-10 page music theory paper over a Debussy piece. don't know how I'm going to pull that one off, but it's not due til finals week.
learn a bunch of stuff for piano class.
study for a couple of tests eventually.
oh and write a song by Monday/record it sometime this week...

I did learn "I'll Fly Away" on the uke today and I'm going to toss my own sweet version of it on the end of whatever song I write for this cassette deal. I don't know what I'm going to write yet, but I'm thinking about naming it "Gift for a Funeral". I was google searching 'gift for a funeral' and thought about how it was a cool name for a song, and might go really well with the "I'll Fly Away" theme.
I was searching this because Scott and I were brainstorming ideas for gifts to give to the Robilliards at the visitation of their newborn daughter. Maybe I can write the song about her...
we're driving 4(ish) hours to Northwest Iowa for the visitation of Aubrey Robilliard who had only a few days of life. it's probably one of the most tragic stories I've ever heard and makes my heart drop every time I think about it. we have been wanting to make a visit to Rock Valley to visit the Robilliards (my high school band director, his wife, and other daughter, Halle) ever since they changed schools and moved forever away, and I feel pretty crappy about the fact that it has taken this long and these specific circumstances to bring us up to visit them. even though I'm not looking forward to spending 8 hours in a car tomorrow, I am happy that we're going.

on a lighter note, Iowa City was a good time this weekend. I enjoyed getting to know some other people going, and God is definitely opening my heart up to new people and new things, which is always neat. Iowa City is just really rad and I'm excited to be there. also, getting a job shouldn't be a problem. ALSO, we signed our lease today! yay yay yay!!! so happy that is taken care of. also, found out my orientation is at the beginning of June, which is nice, so I can sign up for classes and junk and hopefully get the schedule I sort of have planned out!

falling asleeeeeeeep.... peace.

Monday, April 19, 2010

just spent the past hour or something changing the layout of my blog and listening to the entire Dark Was the Night compilation instead of writing an art history paper about chinese cricket fighting. sigh.

also, it's andrew's birthday now! happy birthday andrew!

naturally lighted rooms.

...
recently decided they're one of my favorite things in this world. especially bathrooms.
I haven't found all of the naturally lighted bathrooms on campus yet, but I am a big fan of sweeney and curtiss for that very reason.
that's really all I have to say on the matter.

got a new suitcase and purse today from salvo, pretty excited about that.

Marian is being completely ridiculous and paranoid as usual. makes me happy.

I am really in love with the song "mimizan" by Beirut from the Dark Was the Night compilation, which is just a really great compilation. it's like really great songs from all of these bands that I kind of, if not really like.

also, I kept hearing that one Yeasayer song, "ambling alp" at various places and finally downloaded it and listen to it like 5+ times a day now. it's just... so catchy.
but then it always goes into Yellowcard after it's done and sometimes I don't get to my itunes quick enough to change it. barf.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

whatever the eff we want.

veishea = success, I would say.

I had a lot of fun and generally participated in veishea activities/really just actually went to the bands more than last year. everyone sounded pretty good and though it was cold, it was fun.
however, my sleeping habits = definitely deprived.

Saturday night, there was a show of some Iowan bands at the progressive. Trey played (Tall Too, now) and it was really nice and everyone hoola-hooped with this stash of hoola-hoops that were at the progressive. decided that I am going to start hoola-hooping because it is a good ab workout. woot! These Stains is Us played, and they had a very obnoxious crowd though it was generally still pretty fun. and Utopia Park played last. they are always a blast to watch, and though there weren't a hefty amount of people there, it was a total ball. I love Phil and Dom and I really look forward to seeing them more often/doing music stuff with them more often when I am in Iowa City. we hoola-hooped to their epic dance music and looked like fools dancin' the night away. I don't know at what point it was exactly, but I sort of zoned out and realized that everyone was just doing whatever the eff they wanted, and it was really awesome. we were dancing however we wanted, running around, jumping, sitting, whatever! we were just this small room of people in the middle of one giant party.

we rode bikes around after the show which I was pretty stoked about because of my new bike. I felt much more safe riding on a bike with the company of Trey than I did when I was walking around by myself on Friday night. I could ride right by intoxicated people and say whatever goofy thing I wanted in response to the ridiculous comments that never failed to come out of their mouths.

Porter and I didn't get a chance to hang out with some other people as much as we would have liked. and frankly, I felt like I didn't see as much of Porter and Marian as I would've liked to this weekend either.


BUT! Marian is here to stay for at least a couple weeks, until Porter comes back. I just didn't want to make her leave when she is so much more happy here. it's too stressful for her to have to ride in a car 3 hours here, only to stay for a couple of days, and then ride in a car 3 hours back. she is paranoid all weekend, thinking that any given moment we might pick her up and throw her in Porter's jimmy. also, I have missed her and am pretty excited for her to be here to cuddle with me at night.

also, hanging out with the family in O-town was pretty rad today. we smoked delicious cigars with pops and drank coffee and generally just enjoyed being outside.

double also, utilities are only like $15 this month, which is crazy! I don't know how that happened, but I am pretty pumped about it. at least enough to post it on my blog.

I need to make a new song/record it very soon.
and write 2 papers, probably this week.
I HAVE to make this week productive, which is going to be ridiculous considering I have my last 3 band concerts (maybe ever?!) all this week AND the IC retreat on Friday night/Saturday morning. looking forward to checking out the new apartment on Saturday too though! woooooooooot.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

veishea

it's been said before and I'm just going to say it again:

veishea is a poor excuse for people to get intoxicated every night of the week instead of only half of the nights of the week. some people like it for this very reason, others (myself included) think it is absolutely ridiculous.


veishea is however, a great excuse for skipping class to enjoy the nice weather on central campus.

free food, free entertainment, a parade, and cheap shows are also good things about veishea.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

stormy weather

recent realizations:

I should take advantage of cheap haircuts at the salon school. I forgot how wonderful it feels to actually get my hair cut.

I don't like rainy weather very much because wet feet are awful.

I am going to miss Iowa State's campus.

Monday, April 5, 2010

organ fever


I have continually been inspired by musical groups recently, especially Bachelorette (the New Zealander that opened for Beach House) and Beach House.

first, with Bachelorette, I decided that I would finally just pick up an electric guitar so that I could use for practical reasons as a solo artist.
then, with Beach House, I decided that I need just a straight up organ.
and so now I am stuck wanting to spend lots of money to get a guitar, amp, and new organ. wanting to sell my keyboard because it it so massive and inconvenient to carry around.
deciding also to keep my hair longish so that I can tousel it around as much as Victoria Legrand.
and I am also stuck wishing I had more time in the weeks to make some music so I can get started on my next (giant) musical project: a compilation of program music... that is... music that basically tells a story and serves a purpose other than music for music's sake.

so here I am, 1:37am Tuesday morning, on craigslist, trying to find the perfect organ.
I want a simple, very portable organ. I blame Beach House for being so awesome last night and inspiring me to simplify my giant keyboard into a very simple organ sound.

in other news, I have a test tomorrow, quiz on Wednesday, a composition assignment that was due last Friday, program notes due Friday, a recital attendance essay due Friday, a leadership application due Friday, a new song to record before sometime in April, 10 more recitals to attend/recital attendance essays to write before the end of the semester, 2 large research papers due by the end of the semester, a handfull of finals, several piano quizes, several pointless music theory assignments, and too many more 8 o'clocks that I will probably continually sleep through before this spring semester is finished.