Day 11: Five Favorite Foods

The title is an alliteration... Who else noticed? :)

In our society, food is often associated with fond memories, family, and important events. Food comforts most of us, so we have phrases like "comfort food" and "stress eating" and such. Whether this is a good or bad thing is debatable. It could be good because there are some days when things aren't going so well and that brownie or ice cream or giant piece of lasagna is just what we need to feel a bit better. However, this is partially where our problem with obesity stems from, which is not good.
Whether good or bad or whatever, I too have some foods that I identify as "comfort food." As dictated by the prompt for this post, I shall share them with you. Alas, I can't actually give you some, so words will have to suffice. These are in no particular order of importance.

1. Homemade macaroni and cheese with ham in it.
This recipe is a staple at my house. My mom uses store-bought elbow macaroni noodles, but she makes the sauce herself with flour, milk, and like 3 different kinds of cheese. The end result is a creamy, delicious pot of mac 'n cheese that's so much better than anything out of the box. Makes great leftovers, too.

2. Ribs.
My dad's favorite thing to make that isn't on the grill. I'm not sure what he puts in the seasoning and the marinade, but he always says he cooks them at 300 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 3 hours. And they're AWESOME. My little stepsister especially loves them.

3. Chocolate cake.
There are several kinds of this that I love. Mine (which we call the OMG cake), my mom's (Hershey's gluten free chocolate cake), and my grandma's. I ate a lot of this before Solo & Ensemble and drum major auditions this past year.

Introducing... Deep Space!

4. Ice cream.
I work in an ice cream shop, so eating it is really kind of unavoidable. And we almost always have some at home, too. My favorite flavors are Mint Chocolate Chip, Cookie Monster (cookies and cream with cookie dough), Deep Space (dark chocolate and blue moon ice cream with frosting and dark chocolate pieces), Zanzibar Chocolate (dark chocolate ice cream), Jumping Jersey Cow (peanut butter ice cream with a chocolate swirl and chocolate mini cows), Birthday Cake (pretty self-explanatory flavor), and Deep Dish Apple Pie. I've had most of those for lunch or dinner at one time or another.

Usually you put lingonberries on these,
but strawberries are good too.

5. Pancakes.
I absolutely love breakfast food, but pancakes are my favorite food in this category. When I was younger, my dad would make Swedish pancakes every Saturday morning, and even though he doesn't do that anymore, regular pancakes are awesome too. I put strawberries or chocolate chips in mine.

Day 10: Where I Want To Be Buried And What I Think Heaven Will Be Like

Half of the people reading this were probably like, "What? Huh?" when you read the title of this post. I admit, it may seem a little dark, but I believe that our society gives death too much of a negative connotation. Death is a natural part of life, and we should be more comfortable talking about it. Because, as negative as this is going to sound, we might die tomorrow. Maybe it's unlikely, but it's still a possibility that we have to accept.

When I die, hopefully a long time from now, I'd like to be buried with my flute and the ashes of my cat, Loki (who died in January of 2015). Both have been major parts of my life, Loki because he was my best friend since we were both babies, and my flute for obvious reasons. I want to be buried in my family's section of the cemetery where my great-grandma is buried, because it's in a very pretty spot by a lake in Minnesota.

But I won't really be there. That spot of ground will just be the place where my body is. My soul will be far away, up in Heaven, where I'll see all of the pets and people I've had to say goodbye to. Where there is always enough time to practice instruments, and there are many orchestras and bands and choirs and flute ensembles to be in. I'll meet all of my favorite composers and musicians, too. Well, those that went before me. And everything will be wonderful because Heaven is a place of unequaled happiness and contentment.

Day 9: Favorite Bands/Artists

Since I already kinda did a post that included my favorite composers (as in writers of concert band/orchestral music) so I'll try to stay with the actual prompt for this post and list actual artists (as in writers of the music you might hear on the radio). These are in no particular order of importance.

1. Jack Johnson

Favorite songs by him include: "Better Together," "Banana Pancakes," "Good People," "No Other Way," "Staple It Together," "Breakdown," "Constellations," "Sleep Through the Static," "Hope," "Angel," and "Adrift."

2. Michael Bublé

Favorite songs by him include: "It Had Better Be Tonight," "Call Me Irresponsible," "Lost," "Everything," and "Wonderful Tonight."

3. Ed Sheeran
Favorite songs by him include: "I'm A Mess," "Sing," "Nina," "Tenerife Sea," "Runaway," "Thinking Out Loud," and "Afire Love."

4. Christina Perri

Favorite songs by her include: "Burning Gold," "One Night," "Sea of Lovers," "The Words," "Miles," "Sad Song," "The Lonely," "Arms," and "Jar of Hearts."

5. Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers

Favorite songs by them include: "Once I Was a Theif," "Sic Semper Tyrannis," "Stick It to the Man," "5x5," "Geronimo," "Marie," "All Over the Radio," "Heaven on a Paper Plate," "Go With the Flow," and "Right Where We Want 'Em."

6. Adele

Favorite songs by her include: "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)," "I Miss You," "Remedy," "When We Were Young," "Love In the Dark," "All I Ask," "Rumor Has It," "Turning Tables," "Someone Like You," "I Found a Boy," and "One and Only."

7. The Band Perry

Favorite Songs by them include: "Don't Let Me Be Lonely," "Pioneer," "Forever Mine Nevermind," "I Saw a Light," "Mother Like Mine," "I'm a Keeper," "Back to Me Without You," and "If I Die Young."

I encourage anyone who's reading this to listen to some of these songs. They're a fairly wide variety of musical styles, which is part of the reason why I like them. I pride myself on having a pretty varied taste in music, although it definitely could be much broader. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and I'd love it if you guys would comment some of your favorite songs!

Day 8: Last Day Of School

June 8, 2016, was the last day of school that I had. Here's a rundown of what happened that day:

6:00 am- I woke up and didn't really feel like going to school. However, because it was the last day and I couldn't miss graduation that night, I got up.
7:20 am- I got on the bus for the last time as a sophomore.
7:30 am- I arrived at school and made my way to the band room, as usual.
8:01 am- The two-minute bell rang, signaling that I should probably go to class. I went upstairs to my Geometry classroom.
8:03 am- Class began. We turned in our books and then played Kahoot for the rest of the hour.
9:25 am- Class ended, and we all rushed out the door. I went back to the band room.
9:31 am- I reluctantly left the band room for the history wing.
9:35 am- History class began. We presented our projects on events of the 1990s through the present. Mine was about when Barack Obama became president.
10:58 am- History ended and I rushed to the choir room, which is on the other end of the school.
11:03 am- Choir began, and all of the band kids who were in choir went to the band room to move the percussion equipment down to the football field for graduation. I almost died trying to roll an uncooperative timpani down the hill, and collapsed on the turf when I reached my destination and handed it off to the percussionists. The choir kids all sat in the bleachers while we figured out our seating chart and practiced our graduation music.
12:24 pm- Lunchtime. I ate in the cafeteria for once, with my choir friends and my boyfriend.
12:59 pm- Lunch is over, and we all go to resource. I go to the band room to help the band director organize her files for the summer.
1:41 pm- Resource is over.
1:44 pm- The two-minute bell rings, and I go to Spanish.
1:46 pm- Spanish begins. We watch a movie.
2:15 pm- I go back to the band room to keep sorting files (with permission from my Spanish teacher).
3:00 pm- I meet my Spanish class in another teacher's room to sing to her in Spanish.
3:08 pm- The final bell rings, signaling the end of my sophomore year of high school.

I don't really remember what happened after school, only that I probably practiced the flute and my family and I went to get ice cream at the ice cream place where I would start work the next day. But anyway, that's what happened on the day the marked the halfway point in my high school career! Figures that the band/choir portion of the day is the only thing I remember in great detail. Hope you enjoyed!
Note: The "Pets of My Dreams" post was supposed to be done yesterday, but I was too tired to finish it. So that's why there's too post-a-day posts in one day:)

Day 7: The Pets Of My Dreams

Ooooh goody, I have to use my imagination... Yay... Just kidding, I can be creative when I really try:)

The prompt for this post says: Animals you wish you could own. Give them names, where they would live, would you train them? Etc. Note that it didn't say that said animals have to be real or imaginary. Please also note that I didn't draw or create any of the pictures used in this post.

Species: Pegasus

Name: Persephone

Gender: Female

Lives: In the woods by my house.

Description: Completely white with golden hooves, gold streaks in her mane and tail, and golden tips of her wings. Her eyes are dark purple.

Training: I would train her so that I could ride on her back, but no more than that. She would be more wild than a pet to me.

Species: Dragon

Name: Dorian

Gender: Male

Lives: Also in the woods by my house (it's a pretty big patch of woods).

Description: He's a smallish dragon (well, small as far as dragons go) and has scales that change different shades of red, orange, and yellow depending on the light. So it kinda looks like he's on fire, but he's not. He has wings, and his eyes are a striking emerald green.

Training: Same as Persephone, I'd train him so I could hitch a ride or he would be on my side in a fight, but no more.

Species: Snowy Owl

Name: Oslo

Gender: Male

Lives: Woods and my house.

Description: White feathers with black and grey spots, amber eyes.

Training: I'd train him to carry my mail, because even though it might not be faster than the US Postal Service, owls are definitely a cooler method of postage.

So there you have it-- the pets I would have if I could afford it/if they were real. I can totally imagine riding my unicorn or dragon to school, landing gracefully in the parking lot while everyone stares in disbelief, and sending letters with my owl, and what I'd give to see the look on my grandma's face when he shows up at her door with an envelope addressed to her clutched in his talons. But alas, that won't happen, unless I move to another dimension where mythical creatures exist. Hey, there's an idea... Who wants to come with me?

The Time We Stole Some Memes

Ok, so this one time, at band camp... OH MY GOSH I'M SO HAPPY I CAN ACTUALLY USE THAT PHRASE BECAUSE THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED AT BAND CAMP!!!! Anyway, in the dorms at the camp I was at this summer, the counselors put up printed-out memes on the walls, doors, and some of the windows. And for some reason, my friends decided to start stealing them and putting them on the back of the door to their dorm room.

This is what it ended up looking like. And the funny thing was, the counselors actually saw us stealing the memes on several occasions, but none of them cared at all. They just printed more and put those up. So it was like a constant battle between us and them, trying to take all the memes before they could get more and vice versa. It was great:).

And to all of my band camp friends, if you're reading this: You are some of the coolest people ever and I can't wait to steal more memes with you next year!

Dang, two posts in one day. I'm on a roll.

Day 6: Most Cherished Memory

There were many memories that competed in my mind to be featured in this post, and it was pretty hard to choose just one. A lot of them were snatches of memories from my childhood, but I couldn't really use one of those because they're mostly just a few seconds each. Some of them were times with the band, great performances, etc., and the rest were times in the band room, hanging with my peeps.
So, after much consideration, I have chosen not one, but three memories.

No. 1: The Large Group Concert (3/7/16)
This wasn't the first time I had shared a wonderful performance with my band, nor was it the first time that I had felt like I was part of something bigger as a result of said performance, but I chose it because it involved the bands from my school rather than a band made up of students from many schools (I'll explain in No. 3). Anyway, the Symphonic Band (the band I was in last year) played "Toccata" by Girolamo Frescobaldi, "His Honor" by Henry Fillmore, "Foundry" by John Mackey, and "Victory" by Noah Taylor. "Toccata" is an incredibly difficult piece, but it's so dramatic and beautiful in its own way that I loved it. "His Honor" was bright, happy, and fun, and "Foundry" is super cool and features a flute solo, but it was "Victory" that was my favorite. It's one of those pieces that tells a story through music, beginning with a gorgeous chorale and building up to an epic climax before closing with a quiet chord. Through playing all of those pieces, I experienced the wonderful feeling that making music with others brings, and it was glorious.

No. 2: My 16th Birthday (5/25/16)
That whole day was awesome. I hung out with my boyfriend before school, and then I had band, and my band director let me conduct "Song For Lyndsay" because we were practicing it for graduation. Even though I was noticeably shaking from nerves, it was still one of the best things in the entire world to conduct one of my favorite pieces with a real band playing instead of an imaginary one.
I got to try on my drum major uniform during resource period, and then the other drum majors and I had a leadership team meeting with the band director and a conducting practice session, both of which were totally fun. And then, after school, it was pouring down rain, so one of my friends had to give me a ride home in his truck, with my bike in the back. A tree had been cut down and was laying in the middle of my street, so he had to drop me off in an alley and I had to walk the rest of the way. I almost fell in the mud while crossing my street, and by the time I got home, I was soaked, but still, it was totally one of the best days ever.

No. 3: Concert Band Camp (7/10/16-7/15/16)
Band camp week was the best week of my entire life. About 90 some students from schools in the area came together and did music stuff for a whole week. Here's what my schedule was:

6:15- Get up, get dressed, etc.
7:00- Breakfast.
8:00- Flute Masterclass.
9:00- Theory 12 (the top theory class).
10:00- Full band rehearsal.
12:00- Lunch.
1:00- Small ensembles (I was in two flute choirs).
2:00- Electives (mine was Conducting).
2:45- Full band rehearsal.
3:45- Free time.
5:00- Dinner.
7:00- Concert or Game (Sunday was a mini faculty recital, Monday's concert featured a military band, Tuesday we played capture-the-flag, Wednesday was the official faculty recital, Thursday we performed our small ensembles, and Friday we performed the music we had been rehearsing as a band.)

In addition to living, breathing, and thinking music all week, I also met some really cool people and made lots of new friends. We would go and get ice cream during free time, we practiced together, and I had people to sit by at meals. We actually fit 11 people at one table one time (the tables are only like 5 feet in diameter, so that's kind of an accomplishment). All in all, I made tons of memories at that camp, both musically and socially. I can't wait to go back next year!

So that's that. Three of my most cherished memories, picked from a pool of many, many more. And there will be thousands more to be made in the future, I'm sure.

Day 5: Favorite Quotes

I included this quote in another post on my old blog called "Substantial Reasons Why Band Is Awesome." I decided to include it here again because I have recently revised my interpretation of it. Before, I took the quote literally and thought that it meant that a band performs well because it is proud of previous accomplishments. While this is partially true, I failed to take into account the first performance, before said band had really achieved anything significant. What made them perform well that time? I have since realized that great performances do not happen by accident. What makes them possible is belief in oneself, however small that belief may be. I know from experience that even the most negative, self-critical person whose self-doubts would normally be extremely detrimental can accomplish much if they choose to push aside those doubts and focus solely on what they're trying to achieve. So, in this quote, the band performs well because it believes in its own abilities and is confident in itself.

I love this quote simply because it's true. Music offers a much-needed escape from the rest of life's sorrows, or sometimes allows life's joys to be perfectly captured in a series of notes on a page, and I for one cannot live without it. I firmly believe that the world would be an even more messed up place than it already is if we didn't have music.

I used this quote in another post as well, the one called "Audition Tips." It means a lot to me because, as I mentioned in that post, it has applied to me in the past. At District Solo & Ensemble last April, I gave the best solo performance I had ever given in my life, because I believed in myself and kept the principle behind this quote in mind: It doesn't matter if you screw up a little, or even a lot. If you're passionate and play your heart out through that solo, that's what people are going to remember.

The last few years of my life have been, well, less than perfect, shall we say. There have been many tough circumstances and many times when I wondered if I would ever make it out alive (or sane, anyway). But throughout that entire ordeal, music was there for me. I would (and still do) play an instrument or listen to concert band, piano, or jazz music whenever I was feeling blue, and because I was in band, I had a huge family of people who were always there when I needed someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. Music is a wonderful way to express emotions, because it really does give me an escape from the rest of this life, and say everything that needs to be said without speaking a single word.

This applies to all of my wonderful band peeps. I know that there have been times, especially in the past year, when I definitely haven't been very lovable. And yet all of you were still there for me anyway. I know now that it isn't anyone's job but mine to boost my self-esteem and handle my problems, but everybody needs a little help sometimes. All of you amazing people (I think you know who you are, if you're reading this) have taught me so many valuable lessons, and now that I've stopped being stupid and taken to learning them, I realize that I'll never be able to repay you. So I want you all to know that you mean the world to me. I would not be the person I am, and the person I'm going to become wouldn't even be a possibility, without you all. So thank you, so very, very much.

How To Get Motivated To Practice

We've all had those days when we just don't feel like doing much of anything, let alone practicing. We know we should, but we just can't bring ourselves to get up off the couch and actually take out our instrument. Since yesterday was one of those days for me, I've compiled a list of tips that help me get motivated to practice (or do anything, really).

#1: Make a list of everything you have to do that day. If you don't have to do anything, then include everything you want to get done, such as practicing, walking the dog, writing a blog post, etc. For example, my list for today includes:

-practice flute
-practice piano
-practice saxophone
-practice conducting
-color
-play with dog

This way, you'll be more motivated to get everything done because you can scribble things out after you do them:)

#2: Listen to some awesome music. This is one of the best ways to get motivated to practice for me, because it inspires me to rise to the level of performance I just heard. I would recommend listening to solo repertoire for your instrument, concert band/orchestral pieces with a really cool part for your instrument, or really good recordings of the music your band is playing for your next concert (field show/parade, since we're still in marching season).
Example: I play flute (obviously) so I'm currently motivating myself to go practice after I finish this post by listening to "Prairiesong" (it features an awesome flute solo), "Gabriel's Oboe" (solo part is written for oboe, but my band director played it on flute when the Communiversity Band performed this piece), and "Toccata" (one of my favorite pieces from last year's concert band season).

#3: Promise yourself a reward for practicing. This is more for those who don't really like to practice, or as a last resort, because most of us know that the reward for practicing is getting better at one's instrument, but anyway. Possible rewards could include:

-chocolate
-whatever baked goods are downstairs in the kitchen
-ice cream
-getting to use your computer/phone/other electronic device again
-a nap

#4: Set a time goal for your practicing. I know, I know, this isn't necessarily the best idea, since we don't want to become "clockwatchers," as my band director says, but it sometimes helps motivation if you know when you're going to stop. You can also use the list method from #1 to

#5: Just do it. Get up off your bum and go make some music. Usually once you start practicing, it's hard to stop (at least for me anyway), so just go do it. You won't regret it, I promise:)

I hope you all found this helpful! Please comment any practice motivation strategies you use, or if you use any of these that I mentioned!

Day 4: Favorite Outfit

I have a lot of favorite outfits. As much as I hate to admit it, I totally fit my gender's stereotype in that respect. So there's lots of things I could have written this post about. I could have described my band uniform, my favorite concert outfit, my Solo & Ensemble ensemble, or what I wear when I want to look classy because I have to teach band that day. Instead, I chose an outfit that covers most of those areas in one.

It's my T-shirt from honors choir, a black skirt, and knee length black socks with silver, gold, and white musical notes on them. Typically I'd wear my black flats with it, too.

I like this outfit because it's very versatile. I can wear it to school, band practice (though I'd wear my Converse instead of the flats in that case), or even a concert if I wore a dressier shirt. I guess the main reason it's my favorite outfit, though, is because it totally shows off my nerdiness. I mean, who else has knee length music-themed socks? Not anybody I know... And I have five different music-related T-shirts I could wear with it. So if I really wanted to, I could wear this same outfit with a different shirt every day of the school week (but I wouldn't because it's kinda gross to wear the same socks for five days unless you don't have any other choice).

Anyway, so ends my random post. Thanks for reading, and as always, comments are greatly appreciated!