Finals week has been very unstressful.  All I have left is my singing test Friday morning.  I'm not worried about that.  Whoa!  I just found out my instrumentation and scoring grade.  97.85% baby!!!  I got a 104% on my band project.  Yesssssssssssss!  That means I'll probably pull a pretty good GPA this semester.  I'm looking at all A's and A-s (as long as the final project in theory went well and I do well on my singing test).  I just looked at my last dictation exam for sight singing and I somehow pulled a 96.  I got a D on the last one and a C on the one before that.  Huh.  I also got a 96 on my final project.  This brought my B that might've plummeted to a B- from that test up to an 89.27%.  Hum... according to my calculations, it's actually a little higher than that but still not quite at an 89.5.  I can hopefully bring it up over the 90 mark with the last singing test.

Annoyances:
the stupid people downstairs are playing their obnoxious music too loudly.  Again. Just 2 more days...
I walked in as Sammi and dipshit were walking out and I had to pee really badly but I had to unplug the toilet that somebody left.  Again.  Just 2 more days...

I really do want to kill my neighbors.  My desk is literally vibrating.  K I'm going to go do something else.  Bye.

Sooo... some of our idiot neighbors lit a fire in the parking lot last night and it looked like it was oil on fire and there was a chair in it and they tossed a trash can on top.  Jeez.  Justin called 911 and the cops and fire department came.  Slightly amusing.  They kept shining a light up at us in the window.  P-sh.  We can look if we want.  When I took Jon home it was really smelly outside.  The end.

I'm done with my scoring project!  Hooray!!!  Of course technology had to throw a few last minute dumb-ass obstacles at me.  The last page of my score decided to look giant and not the correct size (even when everything was set to the same settings) so my prof had to fiddle around with it and make it look at least mostly like the other pages.  Then I had to fix all of my titles and page numbers so they didn't look too small.  Grr.

I had to make a copy of my original music to hand in with the score so I asked to do it in class since I was done with everything.  I was told the copier in the music building wasn't working but I had to walk to the library for the ATM so I could pay for the copies anyways.  ATM was out.  (Der.  I almost typed ATM machine.)  Sooo... I had to walk to the UC to use that one.  This isn't really a problem since the UC is only a 5 minute walk from the music  building and the library is in between them.  I got a new 5 from the machine and it was sweet looking.  But, then the change machines in the library wouldn't take it!  UGH.  I definitely did not have time to walk back to the music building, get my purse, and go back to the bank in the UC.  A guy working at the library changed bills with me and after having to walk to a different floor because the machine didn't work on the floor I was on, I got to make the copies.  Sooo... what should have taken 10 minutes tops took like 20 because technology sucks.  The end.

I'm eating a tuna sammich and besides the stale bread, it is very yummy.

To do for the rest of the day: Move stuff around so that my parents can pick it up Wednesday and practice (I may wait until later because it's approximately 80 degrees in the music building at the moment.)  Maybe I'll start my theory paper too.  Hmm...  Bye for now.

Liz lost.

*mumblefroggincashheelgrump*

Assignment:  Score a piece for band.  Check--I chose Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies"!  Mostly.  I just about finished it Friday.  All I had to do was do a couple things like put in measure and page numbers, extract the parts, and check some cosmetic things.  This should not take very long.  I gave myself an hour and a half between a choir concert that I er... left early from and Kyle's recital.  ALL I GOT DONE WAS THE PICCOLO PART.  Friggin' computer.  Here's what went down:

I extracted the parts.  That went fine.  Then after doing 4 of them, I realized I had forgotten to create a tempo marking.  Crap.  The parts are supposedly linked to the score, but they're not really.  You kinda have to re-extract them.  I deleted the files I had assuming that I would just be able to create new ones which makes a lot of sense.  Buuut Finale decided to not be nice about it and it didn't work and I had to drag the old files from the trash back onto my flash drive.  But for some reason when I did this (this is the part where i get really pissed at Macs) even though I encircled all of my files with that neat little box to select all of them, that neatness did not transfer to my flashdrive like it would on a normal computer like say... mine.  Instead, the computer decided it was a good idea to widely and irrationally separate the files from each other and scatter them all over the window for the drive.  This wouldn't be so bad except it wasn't just a few inches between, it was more like a foot between each so I had to scroll, drag, scroll, drag, etc to get them to one location where I could see, organize, and open them.  There was only one left barely outside of my view so I scrolled over and dragged it over 2 inches.  The arrows and bar disappeared!  Hooray!  NOT.  When that happened, the view in the window didn't move over and I now had several files off the screen and no way to get to them.  Luckily it worked when I exited and re-entered.

That was problem one which really pissed me off.  Problem two was just the normal shitty school of music computer problem.  It was being ridiculously slow, the mouse only has one button, the keyboard doesn't work correctly with Finale, etc, etc.  UGH.  I wish I had Finale2008 on my compy here.  It'd be SO much easier.

Oh and I don't even think I told you about all the problems I had in class in the past week with a computer.  It decided to randomly transpose the flute parts down half a step but still have them written correctly.  The prof and I played with it for a while and almost got it right but then class was over.  The next class, it did it again and also all of the woodwinds.  I managed to fiddle and fix that.  Then, the glock was like a FOURTH off.  Jeez.  So I've given up listening to stuff and am happy I don't really need to anymore.

Anyhoo, I still have to print off 14 parts and a score.  The parts are due tomorrow at 1 and the only time the lab doesn't open until 9.  I have class from 9 until 12.  AWESOME.  I guess I should go to bed then because I get to fight this crap tomorrow instead of eating lunch.  :(



To ze roomies:  My parents are coming up Wednesday afternoon to get stuff, so that means no more crappy futon and no more bed for me.  :(  Sleeping on an air mattress with cramps=suck

Scenario: Yesterday I was doing my dishes so I could cook and eat dinner and get to a performance.  Dipshit's dishes were in one side of the sink and Sammi's were in the other.  Not a big deal.  I moved them all so I could use one side to wash dishes in and the other to rinse them.  So you see, I had to move Dipshit's because I wasn't about rub my clean dishes all over her disgusting ones that have been "soaking" forever while trying to rinse mine.  It's not like it was just silverware and a plate.  There was a big pot which meant there was no conceivable way I could have rinsed it without touching her dishes or the dishwater short of putting water in a cup and pouring it onto the pot.  I'm not going to do that.  That's ridiculous.  Like I said, not a big deal.  I was not moving them to be spiteful.  I was moving them so I could wash my dishes and avoid contributing to our ant problem.

So dipshit of course flies off the wall and puts a note above the sink saying something along the lines of "Reminder.  Don't touch my dishes."  So I put one that said "Reminder: If the sink is full of dishes, I have to move them dipshit."  The dipshit was probably unnecessary, but only slightly.  So she responds with another one saying something or other about how I don't have a right to move her dishes.  Jeez.  I don't even want to touch the damn things.  They're disgusting.  So I wrote her a long pissy note back and hung it on her door explaining (rather rudely, but without calling her things like cunt).  Of course there's one on my door when I got back.  Suddenly, she knows exactly how I think, apparently better than I do because I'm apparently doing all of this to cause problems.  Yea.  Right.  That's what I want to do, cause problems.  I'm a creative person.  If I'm going to move her dishes just because I don't like her, I have much more evil ways of doing it.

Sooo... I returned her note that said that it's not open to discussion and wrote on the back that I'm not doing just to spite her.  If I wanted to do that, I'd dump them water and all on her bed.  Then I told her to go ahead and put the last word in because God knows her ego needs to get bigger.

Jeez.

So either A:  she just likes to cause problems but is too much of a wimp to confront me directly or B: she really just is that stupid to think that nothing was going to come of it.

I don't know but I'm sick of all of it.

Oh well.  She can live by herself next year in a pigsty with lots of unwashed dishes and dirty toilets and not have to worry about somebody else wanting to clean.

I was in such a good mood all day until about 9:30 when stupid Ethan decided to not have his homework done, AGAIN so he came back here and did homework.  Fucker.  I'm so pissed.  Now I can't sleep because I'm pissed which makes me more pissed.  And there's a thunderstorm and I can't enjoy it because I'm pissed.  That's all.

Sooo...

Friday: Went out to dinner with Jon, Tracey, and Ethan.  Everywhere good was backed up so we went to China One then stayed there too long and didn't make it to the opera.  Worked on the 3D puzzle and played Cranium and Scattergories with Ethan, Jon, and Tiffini.  Ethan and I kept losing.  :(  Stayed up waaaaay too late until 4:30ish.

Saturday: Went to Midland with Jon and Ethan.  Noticed my phone died on the way.  UGH!  It says something like "Service Required."  We went to the Verizon store where I was told that it pretty much just had a complete software failure and that I need a new phone.  I'll have to talk to my parents about that tonight.  Turns out Midland sucks a lot for not having any toy stores.  Anyhoo, Jon got a sweet wolf puzzle and I got Pictionary!  Ate at Ponderosa with Tracey and Jon.  Then went to the opera which was AMAZINGLY RIDICULOUS!  Worked on the puzzle and played Pictionary.  Finally I got to kick some ass.  (Ergh for some reason I'm missing the shift key just about every time as I'm typing and have to go fix things.)

Sunday:  Was yelled at by Jon and Tiff as soon as I walked out of  the bedroom "Liz you're up!  Let's do the puzzle!"  The puzzle was mostly put together so we did the 3D part in a bit over an hour.  Went to Pat's recital which was schweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!  I was so proud.  Wrote my paper.  Figured out that I'm probably going to go to school all summer (16 credits) but then all of my UPs will be done!!!

Today: Definitely only got 5 hours of sleep.  John and I were frustrated in our ed class this morning because an ostinato does NOT always add harmony.  Hello!  Bolero!  Orff!  Sheesh.  People.  Most of the class played boomwhackers and I played the piano and sang with two vocal majors and it was fun and we blended and our voices were all dark and pretty and cool.  I am sooooo freaking tired.  Sorry for the lame writing.  Hmm... gotta go to scoring class.  Laterz.

Today has been pretty good thus far except for the whole class getting high in sight singing.  I actually got enough sleep last night so hooray!  Too bad I'm feeling tired already :(  Yea about sight singing.  I was a few minutes late (I probably shouldn't take my phone back to bed with me after the first alarm goes off then turn the second one off and go back to sleep) and scared Harding when he looked up and I was suddenly sitting in front of him.  He thought he was losing it.  Ha!  The floors in that room had just been refinished or something and smelled DISGUSTING.  To quote Harding: "room of ass" or something to that effect.  I was getting really frustrated because I definitely heard part of the bassline to something in the wrong octave and the other part of it in the correct octave so I couldn't figure it out.  I have NEVER done that before.  I'm going to blame it on the fumes.

Nothing until 4 and I've already done my huge assignment that's due today in Orff!  Maybe I should like do my theory that's due tomorrow and pack and clean so I don't have to do it later tonight.  Hmm...

Jon, I already told you, but good job on Platti today!

Andrea informed us that there are a lot of cats in the graveyards in Paris and it's just about impossible not to step on a grave (she was at a sax thing in Paris last week).

Also, that when Londeix was speaking to them he said Marcel Mule was a Nazi sympathizer.  WHOA.  Probably nobody really gets that except Jon who was there and Justin who might know a bit about the French classical saxophone world so I'll explain.  Basically, Jean-Marie Londeix and Marcel Mule are two of the biggest names in classical saxophone.  Londeix studied with Mule but somehow a rift formed in that relationship.  Calling him a Nazi sympathizer is well, ballsy as it puts a huge dent in his reputation because siding with the Nazis in France was obviously NOT a good thing.  Supposedly, even though playing the saxophone was banned under Nazi rule in Germany, some German soldiers approached Mule asking for lessons which he gave.  Granted, I don't really think this necessarily means he sided with the Germans.  He may have just been teaching the saxophone.  Whew.

Other random finding in France: Drying out cane for reeds takes FOREVER.  The cane is grown in Southern France until fall where it is allowed to grow for another year to develop adequate thickness.  It's then hand cut and dried outside for several months (?), then dried inside for like 2 years or something.  Sheesh.

Okay yea I'm going to go do something else.  Toodles.

I never update anymore (as if you hadn't figured that out) so I decided that maybe I would.  Spring break was a lot of work and I didn't get much rest so I'm still exhausted.  Phooey.  I remembered late last night that I needed to do my TAI midterm and stayed up late doing that.  I have cramps which doesn't make any sense because I shouldn't start for a while.  I don't think my pills are right.  :(  I need to go to class, jazz, and q4 still then practice and do some homework in the MRC and I'm sooooooooooooo tired.

Other than that, I got some sweet pink shoes over break and gave Kimmie my old sweet pink shoes since I never really wore them because they're too small.  Ethan's fish are still in my room which I actually like because they're cool fish.  I just can't see them very well because they're on the floor.  Having Kimmie up here was AWESOME too.

I'm hanging out with/talking to female friends up here more which is cool.  Chelsea's awesome and I've been talking to Tracy a lot too.  We're going to go to the opera together and go to dinner.  Oh yea.  We're classy like that.

Okay time for class.

My day thus far:

2 mins late for class.  Oh well.  It's not like it's a habit.  People presented their lesson plans and we moved around and danced and tried to act like little kids.
In theory, Kathy was telling me about her roommate that has tonsillitis and pinkeye but is still going to class.  Wait... who's her roommate?  THE FUCKING PERSON WHO I WAS PARTNERS WITH IN THE PREVIOUS CLASS AND HAD TOUCHED HANDS WITH.

Who in the hell goes to class with pinkeye then thinks it's okay to touch other people?  ARGH

Yea it's not like I caught up on sleep or anything over spring break having put in about 45 hours at the schools, saw Mr. Ethan every day, hung out with Kimmie and Justin, hung out with my mommy, and a load of other stuff.  Now my fucking neighbor below me has some sissy ass music cranked up and I CAN'T SLEEP SO I'M PISSED.  I walked downstairs and knocked on the door to politely ask whoever the hell it is to turn it down and after repeated knockings, the door wasn't answered.  I'm going to kill something.  I'm so tired I'm about ready to cry and have a splitting headache but can't sleep with my floor and bed vibrating.  URGH.

Spring break was busy.  Big surprise.  I'm pissy though right now so maybe I'll update again later.  Bye.

So it's looking like I may be able to do all of my remaining UPs over the summer either at Mott or online.  That would be awesome because then I would only have to take only 15 or 16 credits per semester until I student teach.

Tentative schedule for next fall:

Monday:
10: Intro to Conducting (2)
11: Jazz Central (1)
1: Percussion Techniques (2)
2: Concert Choir (1)
4-7: SPE 504-some special ed class for teaching (3)

Tuesday:
10: Intro to Conducting
11: Studio
1: Perc Tech
2: Concert Choir
4-5:15: Band (1)
6-9: Kodaly Techniques (2)

Wednesday:
Same as Monday minus SPE

Thursday:
Same as Tuesday minus Kodaly and sometimes band

Friday:
11: Jazz Central

Plus 4-5 hours of quartet and an hour lesson.  Sooo that means 15 credits hours, 4 of which are ensembles.  Guess how many hours I'll be in class or rehearsal.  Up to 32 hours a week.  Jeez.
 

There I finally switched from that god-awful picture of me.  That shows at least a little unlaziness, right?

Tonight's gonna suck and I'm not just saying that.  Jon has confirmed it.

5:00: quartet rehearsal
6:00: practice
8:30: symphony band ensemble rehearsal
9:00: MENC meeting


Last night was a ton of fun!  Andrea came over and the two of us, Ethan, and Sammi ate lots of spaghetti and whatnot.  Later, Chelsea and her friend Shani came over after we had eaten too much brownie and ice cream and they did the same.  We watched the Pixar shorts and Andrea had to leave.  :(  Then of course youtube is always a good idea.  Oh and I also put my smallest bra on Chelsea and she was entertained for 10 minutes.

Okay, there's nothing that much more exciting except you should go to youtube and search for "what what (in the butt)."  It will destroy your intelligence.

6:30 am:  Alarm rings.  Sit up and stomach acid gushes into mouth that had been presumably sitting in my throat.  Disgusting.  Was not from a burp or a half-throw-up or anything.  Gross.  Stomach's been turning the past couple weeks.  Acid reflux from stress?  Quite possible.

6:32 am: Go back to bed and repeatedly reset my alarm.

8:00 am: Drag sorry ass out of bed, get dressed quickly, skip breakfast because tummy hurts, and head over to the building of music.

9:00 am: GREAT LESSON!  Wo0t!!!

10:00 am: Ask Harding if his singing is better before or after the green beer on St. Paddy's Day during class.  He denies drinking.  *skeptical*

11:00 am: Back to ze apartment.  Dishes.  Eat.  Tummy still hurts.  Clean room a teensy bit.  Make brownies.  Hang with Mr. Justin.  Do homework.

4:00 pm: Be creepy with Chelsea in band.  Play blatantly incorrect f natural which causes Doug to stop the band and chide us for playing wrong notes.  *embarrassing*  Chelsea dares me to yell "penis" when it gets quiet in band.  There is no yelling of "penis."

5:30 pm: Good Q4 rehearsal.  Fischoff's just around the corner.  Find out the second round requires an hour of music and it is in South Bend.  Ouch.

6:30 pm: Homework

9:15 pm: Travel to Ethan's.  Discover that he hasn't started homework yet because of messing with computer-ness.

11:30 pm: Uh oh.  John hasn't finished his homework yet and calls for assistance.

11:40 pm: A Taco Bell run is pondered and turned down because of fatness.

11:50 pm: Dismissed by Ethan.  He is going to bed because he stayed up too late last night messing with the computer and not doing homework.

11:51 pm: Become very irritated with Ethan but hide it.  Say "Call me tomorrow when you've finished your homework."

12:44 am: Justin roars halfheartedly and then is removed from the room because angry-feeling stomach-achy female needs sleep.

I'm making brownies




Special brownies




Full of looooooooooooove

Sooo there are definitely not enough practice rooms in the SOM.  I wanted to practice since we didn't have jazz today, but nooo.  Mark and I wandered around forever and only found one.  I told him to take it since he has a lesson today.  So that means I get to come back later tonight probably and practice.  LAME.  You know what else is lame? *segue* The keyboards on the Macs at the SOM.  They're all like "I'm too cool for working properly so I'm just going to not press down when touched."  This really interferes with typing quickly.  Yea, thanks a lot keyboards of SUCK.

The next two weeks are going to take on several characteristics of hell.  Stuffs to do:
Give 2 lessons in 2 different classes, 2 days in a row; record for Fischoff, try to not suck on saxophone, breathe, do research for my midterm exam for Orff tech, study for and pass my first theory test of the semester, quit having hot flashes, do all of my laundry, call Mary to get observations for spring break set up, waterproof every single pair of my shoes, convince the heat duct in my room to close (unlikely), clean my room, clean up ze apartment before spring break, take Ethan to Headfish so he can purchase an algae eater so his tank doesn't turn green and a plant so his fish don't starve over spring break, get my tummy to quit being a jerk to me, work out because I'm fat and want to be less fat by summer, etc, etc...

Good job if you read that.

Well, I haven't wasted enough time yet.  Quartet's at 3ish and I doubt the clarinetists will be out early.  :(  *goes to find something else to do that is maybe productive*

To the hippie who kept trying to wave me through while I was waving him through because he was where I needed to be in the parking lot, learn how to pay attention.

To the old lady who pulled out in front of me without looking and then took 30 hours to do it, don't drive if you're that senile.

To the ass who hit my car while I was in it then drove away upon me getting out of it, I HOPE YOU GO TO HELL AND ARE WHIPPED  WHILE YOU GO THROUGH SOME SORT OF SATANIC DRIVERS ED COURSE.

To the man who almost ran into me in a different parking lot, just because you want to turn doesn't mean that you automatically get the right of way.

To the roommate who decided to be a bitch and put my dirty dishes in my cupboard, you're screwed now.  I did all of the dishes I knew about last night and am not doing them right now because I need to be at a performance in less than half an hour.  Wtf.  I don't do that.  That's jerk-ish.

I wanna go to bed but I need a shower but I can't get in there because somebody's been in the bathroom for over half an hour and is still in the shower.  So I get to take a cold shower.  Fanfuckingtastic.  At least my window's unfrozen now so I have some chance of not being sweaty in the morning.  Oh and what's that sign on the door about notifying people about taking a shower?  Bullshit.  That's what it is.  I'm never asked if I need to use the potty before somebody takes a shower.  But yet when I go in there I get a knock on my door because somebody urgently needs to use it and apparently can't hold it 10 minutes.

No theory Friday!  And you should all come from wherever the heck you're living to listen to me play.  Yay jazz.

So Rob Paravonian of Pachelbel's Rant fame is coming to C-Moo February 19th at 9 in the Down Under.  The same day at 7:30 there is a presentation on translating comic operas to singable English by a member of the (not music) CMU faculty.  The music nerd in me wants to go to both.

So it's totally Free Pancake Day at ihop!  Wo0tTt!!!  I'm supposed to go there with Chelsea for dinner tonight.

Further events:
Thursday night: kick-off concert to the Phi Mu Alpha Jazz Weekend!!!
Friday at 3: I play in Jazz Central in Plachta!!!
Friday at 8: guests artists for jazz Terri Lynn Carrington (drums) and Bill Carrothers (piano) as the jazz
Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 2 in Plachta: Vagina Monologues!  Yay!!!
Sunday at 3: Matt T's recital in Chamichian and the orchestra concert in Staples (dammit Matt!)

bizzy