Getting better

Hello, Constant Reader. I am still reeling from Friday night. In case you don't know me and haven't heard yet, the band gave an AWESOME performance at Friday night's game. It was a complete 180 from the first game. They were worrying me REAL bad at the rehearsal the day before. We just learned new drill this week! I didn't know if it was going to come off or not. Well, it did. Even the guard did great! I was also worried because the other band came and they had 75 total. I didn't think our little 25 piece band would hold up. But they did! I don't like to get into competition at football games, but I honestly think we did a better job! I talked to the other band director during third quarter, and get this....he was telling his kids to watch our feet, because we marched so well. US! I couldn't believe it. Of course we have a long way to go. But, I made a statement to the band after we were finished. I said if we kept working hard that there was no reason we can't win our class at our first compeition. I guess we'll see.

Ta-ta. Have a meeting I must get to.

Driver's test...again

I think Dan Wiggins is the funniest guy on the face of this earth!
(And I hope you read this, because you are!!)

Anyways, I'm taking my driver's test tomorrow. This is so ridiculous! I've been driving since I was 16 and just because I move to a new state they make you take the whole test over again. I went the other day to take it and of course I didn't have all the right paperwork. I got back in the car, screaming obscenities, and then I had to wait 10 freaking minutes to get back out into traffic. Argh, what a day it was. I hope it's better tomorrow. I have all my papers in a nice little manila (aka vanilla) folder. Hopefully after this I can FINALLY buy a truck. All band directors need a truck.

Unsolved Mysteries

I am totally addicted to Unsolved Mysteries. The theme music still gives me chills up my spine, not so much that it's scary, but I'm like, "Oooh! It's coming on!" I have probably seen every episode ever made, thanks to Lifetime. Some people may think it's all stupid female stuff, but it gives me my daily dose of Mad About You, The Golden Girls, and Unsolved Mysteries. That's all I really care about. And, no, Bob and Tom, it is NOT the "All Men Are Bad" Network!

You know, some pieces of music should NEVER, I repeat NEVER, be arranged for marching band. Here are a few examples:
1) Beethoven's 5th Symphony - What the HELL???? I've heard some God-awful renditions of this on the field by some supposedly-good marching bands. Beethoven should NEVER be marched, PERIOD.
2) Anything Bach - again, What the HELL??? Organ fugues do not a marching arrangement make. It SUCKS!
3) Chopin....need I say more?? The guy wrote FREAKING PIANO MUSIC!!! It does not make a good impression for marching band!
4) John Cage....Okay, I admit it, I like the guy, but his innovations should not be brought to the marching band field. 4:33 will not entertain your audience.
5) Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings....There's actually a magazine ad for Finale that shows a neighborhood, points to houses, and says how the people are using Finale in their homes. One of them says, "Misguided student arranging Barber's Adagio for Strings for marching band. They ain't lyin'.

For-get ab-oout id

You know what? I'm so stupid. It's pointless to be depressed about things you can't change. The secret is distinguishing between those things you can change and those you can't. The things you can't, forget about them! ("For-get ab-ooout id," Mickey Blue Eyes). The things you can change, get up off your lazy butt and do it!!! I am just now coming to this conclusion. So the other day, after my last depressing post, I went to the band and said, "I'm not going to be Miss Nice Person anymore. I'm going to push you to the limit." And you know what? They responded. One of them actually mouthed, "Thank God!" I've been a wuss, a total wuss, all this time. I've been giving up. I'm not giving up anymore. I started pushing them harder and it felt wonderful. The things I said about changing? Sometimes that's hard to do, especially when you've got your mind made up. I had my mind made up that my band wouldn't do something as trivial as marching band during the school day. That was going to be a purely extracurricular activity, with symphonic band (REAL BAND) going on during Band class. Well, sometimes you can't have what you want. I wanted a top-notch marching band this first year with no sacrifices. So, we marched during band class yesterday. This solved the problem of not everyone being there to learn the new marching band drill. And you know? I hated admitting to myself that this was the answer. Hated it. I have said to myself for years that I would only do marching band after school. Not many people like to admit that sometimes you have to temporarily put your plans on hold in order to get to a higher place. We're going to get to that higher place. We WILL have a top-notch marching band. We WILL have a top-notch symphonic band. I WILL succeed. We WILL succeed. I just have to remember that for the next couple of years. It's not going to be easy. But I accept that. You never usually get the things you want out of life handed to you on a silver platter. Such is life.

Rock and Roll Heaven

Hello again, Constant Reader. (That's a line I stole from Stephen King). Speaking of SK, there's a story of his I read that still freaks me out called "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band." It's about this couple that goes on vacation and get lost driving on some backroads. They end up in a perfect little town called Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon. The couple soon realize that the town is run by dead rock stars and that once you find this place, there is no going back. They are forced to live there for the rest of their lives, working menial jobs and going to nightly rock concerts that really last for years. This story scared the hell out of me. To this day, when I'm on an unfamiliar road, I say to myself, "You're going to end up in Rock and Roll Heaven." Weird, huh? Over the years I've read quite a lot of old SK. That story and "Dolan's Cadillac" top my favorites in the short story department. As far as novels go, I'm partial to The Stand (complete and uncut). I also love his novella "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption," which, of course, was the basis for the movie Shawshank Redemption.

This is Labor Day and I have rested from my labors. Of course, almost every day is Labor Day for me. I'm the laziest.....well, I'm not going to get into that right now.

Inconsistent

Hello dear people. I doubt anyone is actually reading this besides me, but then again this is a good way for me to keep track of my thoughts. However, I must admit I am one of the most inconsistent people in the world. I start many things and don't keep up with them. In childhood I believe I owned about 10 or so diaries, and flipping through them now, only the first 20 or so pages are filled. I start exercise regimens and don't keep them up for more than a few weeks. Why am I like this? Sooner or later I fall back into what I will refer to as "regularity." Maybe I should call it "laziness." It's that place where you do only the absolute essentials that HAVE to be habitual (i.e. showering, going to work, etc). It's like my conciousness will not tolerate changes for very long. How do you make something a habit? A very good friend who is a musician once told me that if you do something for 15 days straight, it becomes habit. He was speaking in "practicing a musical skill" terms, but I digress. I challenge that. I think everyday you live is a constant struggle. Nothing is natural. Why do we have to fight so just to stay sane?