First Day of Orchestra

Today was the first rehearsal for orchestra this year. We're doing Carmina burana by Carl Orff with the voice program. It's going to be quite the spectacle.

I'm playing the Eb clarinet part, and oh goodness is that thing hard to tune. It's itty bitty, and hard to control, and really really out of tune. But it's going to be fun. I enjoy playing with the orchestra more than most other things in my life. It's definitely one of my favorite things ever. It's pizza night! Mmmmmmm Pizza....

Flower!

I woke up this morning and leisurely made breakfast, fed the fish, took a shower, and watered the... WHAT?!?! What is that? Oh my goodness, there is a bright orange flower in my planter! Someone left me a flower! How cool is that? Completely made my morning. That is all.

Five minutes to chocolate cake?!?

OMG... I saw this and tried it, and although the cake isn't what you'd call gormet it is acceptable chocolate cake and even very good with a glass of milk. The best part is it took all of five minutes! In the microwave! You can too!

Adventures

Today was full of adventure! Lucy, Robert and I packed a picnic lunch (baguette, artichoke dip, dried mango, and sparkling pomegranate juice served in champagne flutes) and walked over to Natural Bridges State Park. Instead of walking the usual way we shortcut through a school. It made me a little nervous. How did we know it would actually get us where we were going? We didn't. This is the kind of thing I need more of in my life. Trying new things, even if it's just a new route or sitting in a different part of the lecture hall. I tend to settle into my routines and habits and not change. I was thinking it would be neat to try to have a mini adventure every day for a year... but maybe when I'm done with school. School takes over my life and won't let go. As it should.

By the way, there were monarch butterflies in the park! Not as many as there will be come November, but a reasonable amount. They were fun to watch.

Then this evening we headed over to Fins Coffee House to try chai for the first time, (delicious!) and hear my friend Max on the saxophone! It was a lot of fun, and I was amused that my favorite piece of music was the one he said was the hardest. No accounting for taste I suppose.

School has Begun!

I went to all my classes and they are... ho hum. But let me take a moment to extol the virtues of the bike shuttle. I finally moved off campus this year, and decided that I wanted to bike. Biking has several advantages.

-It's better for the environment than driving
-It's better for me than driving
-I can take the short cuts across
-It's faster than walking

There is one big disadvantage though.

-There is a very large hill between me and campus.

A hill that by the end of the quarter I hope to be able to ride up, but at the moment I lack the strength and stamina. Thus the virtues of the bike shuttle. I ride two or three minutes to a side street near my apartment, and a friendly university employee drives up every fifteen minutes in a van pulling a trailer. I load my bike onto the trailer with little difficulty and hop into the van. Up the hill to campus we drive everyone chatting along the way. We stop at the very top of campus uphill of everything and unload. Then it's downhill to class and an exhilarating ride down the hill home in the afternoon. I don't have to wait for a bus to get home, I just hop on my bike and fly down a bike path that was recently paved through the middle of the on-campus farm. I fully intend on biking every day now that I know I can. Hopefully I'll be in good enough shape by the end of the year to go on a bike adventure! Now if only there were more bike lanes...

Audition

This morning I auditioned for orchestra. I think it went well. The director complimented me on my improvement, which I took as a good sign. I might even get to play the Eb clarinet! Wouldn't that be fun?

I also found this... http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/adca/?cpg=78H

I had seen the videos of fish doing these things... but I didn't know you could buy the kit. I think it would be hilarious to have guppies that could do tricks, but I don't think my tank is big enough to implement this system. Also, I'm out of spending money. Oh well.

A Rollercoaster of a Day

Today began very badly. How can a day start with a dentist appointment and go well? Turns out I have two cavities developing in the back of my mouth. I've never had a cavity before. It makes me sad. It also means that I have to come back home next Tuesday to get them filled, so I'm missing pizza night twice in a row. Ugh.

Things did get better. I found a free side table on the side of the road that will be very useful in my apartment. That was nice. I went for a bike ride around the neighborhood. I am woefully out of shape. I am going to have to work really hard to be able to ride around Santa Cruz.

I worked on the memory quilt a little. I didn't have enough fabric to cover the back, so I gave up. I'll find a better solution some other day when I'm feeling more inspired and not so trapped. I did finish my silk blouse, and it is fabulous! So pretty!

Tomorrow I take my last load to Santa Cruz and stay. Just 18 1/2 more hours!