New Blogs!

Pretty much yeah. I never write on this old blog anymore, but in case there’s someone out there who checks it just in case, I’ve moved.

http://iambeginnings.blogspot.com/ (Solo blog)

http://nerdleague.blogspot.com/ (Collab blog)

DFTBA!
(yeah, I’m a Nerdfighter now)

 

Challenge Post: Music, part 2

Alrighty, it’s time for music, part two: What do I play?

Short answer: piano and cello. And I sing (a little).

Long answer:

You probably read in my last post that I started piano lessons when I was six. I grew up on John Thompson, Dennis Alexander, and Piano Adventures. I’ve played at the Sonatina Festival (a sort of piano competition) for probably the last 7 or 8 years, and I generally prefer the more modern pieces (I’ve done Kevin Olson’s “Seasons” and “Colors”). I’ve played some Mozart, Burgmüller, Chopin, Beethoven, etc., but overall not a whole lot of classical stuff. I like lyrical, modern stuff –even some New Age, if it’s good– and things like new arrangements of old hymns. At Christmastime, I always try to pick the more haunting pieces to play at recitals– Carol of the Bells; We Three Kings; O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I don’t know why, I just like those best.

Of course, when it comes to the piano, my real love is in composing and improvising. When I’m alone in the house, I will always sit down at the piano and just play. I’ve written and “recorded” a few songs, which you can listen to on my Youtube channel (woodrowclock). I spend more time making stuff up than actually practicing…don’t tell my teachers.

I started playing cello when I was twelve. It was hugely frustrating at first, because it was strange to feel so clumsy at an instrument after playing piano for six years. Eventually though, I realized how much help that piano experience was for learning the cello. My teacher used to half-jokingly call me a “genius” because I picked things up so quickly (he doesn’t call me that anymore, though…). A year after I started I wrote a poem about how much I loved playing the cello. I love it. A lot.

The cool thing is that I had my first experience playing in an ensemble on the cello. Really early on, a violin teacher asked if I could play for her string quartet “camp” she did with her students. The first time we ran through the Mozart piece we were doing, I just sat there and grinned. The apathetic violin students probably thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t wipe that grin off my face.

My teacher hosted group lessons, where all his cello students come together and play things like Pachelbel’s Canon and the Mary-Zuki blues (both arranged by my teacher). Those were fun (and still are). I also joined a youth orchestra, which was a lot of fun. I’ve played in three such orchestras now, but I’m currently in a community orchestra conducted by my dad. I’ve been in a couple of chamber ensembles as well. Basically, I love making music with other people. It’s awesome.

As far as singing, it’s something I’ve done my whole life. (By the way, you notice how some singers say things like “I started singing when I was 9″? What does that mean? That they never sang a single song until then?) I sing mostly for fun, though keep in mind that I’ve grown up with a voice teacher for a mom– the stuff rubs off. I joined the choir at church a few years ago, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only did I get to hang out with the coolest older people (which would not have happened if I’d chosen instead to hang out with the youth group crowd) but I got to sing in a choir!

Sadly, the church choir has been sort of… killed, and no one knows if/when it’s coming back. There’s a small choir at my homeschool co-op, but it’s not quite the same. *sigh*

But I’ve decided I will always try to be in a choir. It’s so fun and rewarding. If you haven’t already, you should try it.

So there ya go, the instruments and music that I play. And sing. Haha. Tune in next time for… whatever it was that I said I’d write about next!

 

Challenge Post: Music, part 1

I have been challenged!

As you have noticed (or not, since you forgot I exist), I haven’t been writing. So, I asked my friend Bethany to challenge me to write about something. What did she tell me to write about? Precisely the thing that I will spend wayyyy too much time on: music.

So I’ve decided to accept her challenge and write about music. What it is to me, what I play, what I listen to, and where I want to go with it. Here’s the deal though: this is going to be way too long to put in one post. So, I’m going to split it up and answer one question from that list at a time. Brace yourselves, friends. This is going to be completely different from what I usually write.

See you on the other side. I hope.

* * *

So, what is music to me? Well, that’s a complicated question to answer. Growing up, music was my parents’ trade, so to speak. It was what they did when they went to work. When I was very young, I didn’t connect that to the wonderful sounds they made with their voices, at the piano, or in the office with that gentle beast of an instrument –the double bass– that my dad played. I didn’t understand that the abilities they used to entertain me were also what was putting food on the table. (I distinctly remember confusing the words “musician” and “magician” as a young child and asking my mom which one was she again?) Music was just an accepted part of life in my childhood, like the fact that we spoke English in our house, or walked on two feet.

When I was three, my dad tried to teach me violin. He got me one of those tiny little student instruments, and I spent half an hour or so in his office every day (or at least, that’s what it seemed like), scraping away at the thing while he told me what to do. I learned “Mississippi hot dog” and proudly showed anyone who would listen. The lessons didn’t last long though. I think I was kind of a difficult child, and my dad is not the most patient person in the world. The violin sat in the office for years, untouched. At that point, music was frustrating and mostly meaningless exercise, and I wasn’t ready to be a musician yet.

When I was six, I began piano lessons. My teacher was a family friend, a fabulous pianist with perfect pitch and a Tennessee accent. I remember my first lesson: she traced my hands onto a sheet of paper and numbered the fingers. (I still have that paper.) That was when music became exciting. I enjoyed sitting at the piano, and learning how to actually play the thing I’d been staring at for years. I even wrote a song a few months later. (And yeah, I’ll play it for you… if you ask nicely.) At that point, music was a newly discovered adventure…kind of like chapter books.

But the novelty wore off, and, for a while, music became a chore. I didn’t want to practice, I didn’t want to study theory, I didn’t want to hear about Zachary Zeal and his love for staying inside and practicing while his friends played soccer. (And that was a real story my parents made me listen to. Seriously.)

Long story short, somewhere between then and now, music came to life. Somewhere between mindlessly plunking John Thompson tunes and improvising my heart out on the piano, music became important. It might have been when my parents got me an electric keyboard for Christmas, which got me composing; it might have been when I started playing the cello, at the age of twelve; it might have been earlier, or later. I don’t know. And really, it doesn’t matter.

So here’s the short answer to the question of what music is to me: Music is the boy next door– we were friends for years but one day I fell in love.
* * *

So, bored yet? I don’t know if anything I just wrote is in the least bit interesting. You know, I feel like I’m writing this for myself than for anyone else, really. It’s all stuff I’ve thought about, but never articulated. …Wait a second! I know what this is! Ohh dear. I’m seventeen and I’m writing a memoir.

This is your fault, Bethany.

Well, anyway, this section is done. Obviously I have more to say, but that can be covered in the following posts. I’ll try not to be so nostalgic from now on, okay? Deal? Deal.

 

I have returned…

…to blogging!

Maybe. Probably. Hopefully. Possibly.

Who cares. Everyone who used to read this has forgotten about this blog anyway.

Gr, the thing I hate about coming back to writing after being away for a while is that I feel obligated to get everyone caught up on my whole entire life. But, as I mentioned above, no one’s reading so I don’t have to. I know. I’ll pick 5 of the most important things going on/that have gone on.

1. I’m a senior. Yessiree bob, this is my last year… well, at home.

2. I have a driver’s license. Clear the roads, children.

3. I have my own car. It’s a 1992 Honda Civic that I bought for $900 in cash. Now that Evan and Dad fixed it up, it’s worth a bit more.

4. Well, it’s been so long since I’ve written that this is news: Alex + Emily = <3. 'Nuff said.

5. College is rearing its intimidating head on my horizon. My chosen major: Music Education (instrumental emphasis). My short list: University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, Azusa Pacific University, and Westmont college. I’ll be visiting them all next month, as well as Embry-Riddle in Prescott. Because that’s where Alex is. <3 (Did I mention the "<3" part yet?)

Yep. That about sums up my life. Other than all my musical activities that are fun for me but boring to read about (so I'll spare you). I will now pick a random event that happened to me the other day and write about it. Because that's what my blogging is supposed to be about.

My dad recently discovered that two of the tires on my car were not safe to be driving around on. So, off I went to Ron's Tire Service to get my tires replaced. I brought Evan, to translate for me into man/mechanic language.

Oddly enough, Ron's Tire Service is run by a guy named Sam. Sam is a nice guy, and reminds me of an uncle of mine, if that uncle changed tires for a living and were more inclined to profanity. As soon as he recognized Evan and I from our previous visit, he told us to have a seat because it would be a while.

It was a while. A very long while. I read a couple of chapters of Ivanhoe before completely zoning out.

Then, a white Chevy HHR pulled up to the place, one of those mini/spare tires in place of the left front wheel. A minute or two later, a man resembling Jerry’s dad from Seinfeld, only fatter, came hobbling up to the door with a cane. Breathing heavily, he came in and sat down at the counter, directly behind the couch where Evan and I were sitting. He was there a few minutes before one of the employees came out of the garage and asked if he could be of assistance.

“Yeah,” said Fat Mr. Seinfeld, “is Ron here?” He had a sort of high voice and spoke very rapidly.

“Ron? No…”

“He’s not here? Are you sure? When will he be here?”

“I don’t know, I could call him… but maybe you’re looking for Sam?”

“Oh yeah! Sam! Sam! That’s his name! Tell him Frank is here. Frank Pierce. We’re real good friends.”

“Oh. Okay,” said the guy. He disappeared back into the garage.

Sam came out a few minutes later; Frank greeted him loudly from across the room.

“Hey! Sam! How are ya? How’s it going? Remember me?”

“Yep. I remember you, Frank,” said Sam, coming around to the counter. “How’ve you been?”

“Good, good. How about you? How’ve you been? Good? Good? How’s the missus? Mean as ever?”

“Yep, yep,” said Sam with a false laugh.

Eventually, Sam got around to asking what the problem was, and Frank launched into the story of his tire woes. He had apparently gone elsewhere first to get a new set for the HHR, but the person selling wanted to charge him more than he wanted to pay.

“Can you believe that, Sam? Can you believe that? For a set of tires! That’s why I came to you. You always treat me right, dont’cha, Sam? Dont’cha? Dont’cha?”

“Yes I do,” said Sam.

They talked for several minutes and worked out a price for a brand new set of tires. The entire time, Frank spoke with a hilariously annoying rapidity, and Sam with remarkable patience. By the time they reached a deal, I was so close to laughing that I burst out the moment he stepped outside the door. Evan and I watched him waddle back across the parking lot, his crinkled wife beater slipping out of his equally wrinkly brown corduroy pants.

I had to go back to straight-face mode when he turned around.

“Hey Sam!” he said, standing halfway in the door.

“Yeah?”

“Those tires, are they snow tires? Mud tires?”

“They’re all-season. You don’t have to worry about ‘em going in snow,” said Sam.

“They’re snow tires?”

“Yeah. All-season.”

“They’re all-season?”

“Yeah.”

“They’ll go in snow?”

“Yep.”

“And mud?”

“Yep.”

“All seasons?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Because my wife always slides in snow and mud. I don’t, but my wife does. All the time. HEY MARIE! They’re all-season! Snow and mud!”

I have no idea how I managed to not be laughing at this point. Finally, he thanked Sam and left. About an hour later, my car got its new tires, plus an alignment, and I was on my way as well. But not without a funny story to tell.

Hopefully it’s as funny as I think it is. It could be boring. I don’t know.

Well, that’s all for today, folks! I’ll try to be writing more from now on (no promises though). Bye!

 

Many things

Okay. So there has been a huge gap between this post and the last. I’m not even going to bother apologizing because that will get tedious. I’ll just get on with it.

In order to write this post as efficiently as possible, I’ll outline what I’m going to write about. First I’ll write about the important things I need to catch up on, then move on to what’s new.

1. Credo

2. Pikes Peak Philharmonic

3. Credo Showcase

4. Recent things

5. Any other random thing I happen to think of.

1. Credo

Wow, I really haven’t written in ages, have I? I can’t believe I haven’t told you about any of this. Well, here goes. This year I am taking 3 classes at Credo: Chemistry, Choir, and Speech. And piano lessons, because we switched from my old teacher to the new one at Credo.

Chemistry is pretty cool. The work is harder than Biology, but the experiments are fun, and the class is larger. Choir is interesting. After a year in the choir at church (and having learned how to sight-sing), it turned out to be terribly easy. Speech is loads of fun, which is a little sad because I’m quitting now that the semester is over. I’ve  made a lot of friends in that class. I can name them all, even. The cool thing about it is that every other week, in addition to the High School students, we would get all the siblings and younger kids in the class as well, making 29 kids ages 7 through 17 all in the same room.

I guess I am pretty sad to be quitting that class. But it was a lot of work (which I often didn’t have time for) and it’s not like I won’t be seeing the people anymore.

2. Pikes Peak Philharmonic

You may not know this, but at the beginning of the semester, I missed the deadline to reapply for DYAO. So, instead, I auditioned for the Pikes Peak Philharmonic in CO Springs, the community orchestra that my dad conducts, and I got in! So now I’m driving down to the Springs every Tuesday for rehearsals (which, by the way, is a great way to get hours on my driver’s permit). For our most recent concert, we played music from Star Wars, as well as a bunch of Christmas music. It went very very well.

3. Credo Showcase

You’re probably thinking, why didn’t I write about this under “Credo”? Well it feels like a very separate thing to me, so I decided to write about it separately. It just happened on Thursday. (Showcase, by the way, is what we at the Homeschool co-op Credo do at the end of the year to prove to our parents that we really are learning something.)

For Chemistry, we did no presentation of any sort.

For Choir, we sang three songs. I had a solo in one of them, the only solo available. Hooray for me. It didn’t sound that great.

For Speech, each student did a 1-minute interp (skit adapted from literature). Bethany and I collaborated and did a duo of the scene from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

For piano, I played a Christmas song.

4. Recent Things

Well, for one, there was a Kantorei concert yesterday, and I got to turn pages for the pianist. It was in St. John’s cathedral in Denver, a huge, beautiful cathedral built in the 1860′s. If you ever get the chance to hear Kantorei in that church, DO IT. It was really cool for me to be so close to the music. One of the pieces had a hammered dulcimer; another had the choir split in half and stand at opposite ends of the cavernous room. From where I was, it seemed like some strange disembodied voices were echoing the visible choir right beside me.

After the concert, my dad asked me to give him some of my poetry so he can set it to music and Kantorei can sing it. I did that today, and he chose one he liked. I hope he actually does it. It’d be cool.

Okay, that’s a good recent thing. I shall move on now.

5. Random Whateverness

Sad face: Alex is going to college in Arizona next year.

Happy face: I’m going to start jazz piano lessons Tuesday.

I am currently sitting on the couch with Joe and Evan. We are watching Time Bandits.

So there ya go. I know this post is really choppy and weird, but I hope to be back to regular posting soon. Then it will all be back to the good old times. Huzzah.

Oh, one more thing; I wrote a new song. Here’s the link to it on YouTube. Enjoy.

 

Okay, okay!

I’m writing! Life is insanely crazy now that school has started. I just realized that I haven’t written a thing since July. Shame on me. Oh well.

What to say.

Well, something I should mention: I miss my cousins! I find it quite tragic that I finally get to meet an entire branch of my family and now I have to leave them again for who knows how many more years.

I miss Auntie Dinah’s family especially. I have so many great memories from the previous visits we’ve had with them over the course of my childhood; they are a very big part of the accumulation of experiences that is me. (If that makes sense. I hope it does.) At the risk of sounding overly-sentimental, I prepared myself to savor every moment of our time together before we left for the trip. And I did. And it made parting hurt all the more.

I am being too dramatic, aren’t I? Well, you wanted me to write. This is what you get.

The day we had to say goodbye was one of the most painful days of my life. How can you enjoy your time with someone when you know every second that passes is a second closer to parting? I’ll never forget standing with Alyssa on that little hill at the park, breathing the surprisingly cool air and watching a desert storm gather, with alternating darkness and brilliant light, in the distance.

I had a lump in my throat as I hugged each of them for the last time. After they left, and the door was closed behind them, I ran to the bathroom.

And no one in my family knows this (and probably never will, since they don’t read my blog) but I cried. I cried for a long time.

You would, too. I have no idea when I’ll see them again.

Dangit. I don’t want to write anymore today.

 

Back

I got back from Vegas and California and everywhere else a week ago. Sorry I didn’t write. I’m busy right now, so I guess I’ll write sometime later. Bye.

 

In Vegas

I’m in Las Vegas having a sleepover with all my cousins. My very special cousin Tyler is looking over my shoulder as I read this!!! Yay! I love him. If you’re my Facebook friend you will see pictures. Later.

Lots of stuff going on. I’ll make sure to write about the best parts when I get back. Tah for now!

Cousins of all different ages

Getting together here in Las Vegas

And that was an terrible rhyme but whatever. See you all soon!

 

Vacation (hurrah)

Tomorrow we leave for Las Vegas. Whoohoo! Can’t wait to see my cousins! The past few days we’ve been doing a lot of cleaning and packing and generally getting ready. I will be glad to finally be on the road.

Also, I should mention that I have my Driver’s permit now. And yes, I’ve driven on the roads, and no, no one was killed. Or injured. Or even startled. So stop with the jokes, everyone.

Today’s sign-off:

Tomatoes and tater tots,

I sure love my friends a lot. Tah!

 

A Haiku For a Friend

Please know I love you.

And maybe someday finds us

Alone together.