Hey, You Never Know

Around the beginning of June, I get a phone call from a conductor I knew for a couple of weeks... 5 years ago. She's organizing a summer orchestra festival at her university and is in need of bassists. Would I like to audition? Now, I haven't played in an orchestra since I transfered out of Ithaca College, 4 years ago. When I left the music school there, I resigned myself to basically ending my music career. I haven't continued my lessons or played in any orchestras since I left; there just wasn't time between my academic studies, work and a hefty commute. I barely had time to fool around for fun, let alone seriously practice. Suffice to say, I know my skill level couldn't possibly be anywhere near what it was.

And yet, listening to the conductor chatter on the phone, trying to get me to join, that little tingly feeling in my stomach starts acting up; this might be a second chance. I'm done with undergrad, and I'm taking the summer off from my grad program. There'll never be a better time (at least for the next few years). The only crux is that I have to take bits and pieces of days off work with only a month's notice (nowhere near enough time as far as my bosses are concerned - to many people with shared responsibilites and independent skills). Whatever, I make it happen.

Now I've got one week to beat myself back into shape for an audition that's more of a formality than anything else. And yet, coming in from the cold (4 YEARS!), I was afraid that I really didn't have any skill left. It certainly didn't sound like it the first day. I complained to some of my co-workers, "Ah! I'm finally getting old." But clearly I was exaggerating, as I pulled it off.

One month of cooling my heels later, and group rehersals start. The music was only released to the musicians two days before (not nearly enough time) and it was HARD. Most of the pieces are very fast and have a lot runs with plenty of accidentals. Needless to say, I was nervous going into this. I show up at orientation, and the first thing I think is, "Oh god, they're all kids." It wasn't true, but at some point I did grow up when no one was looking. Weird. Most of the orchestra is in high school, but since orientation I've found a few with wrinkles in the foreheads. I'm bracing myself for seating auditions, but when I come back from the bathroom (oh, the timing!) a sheet is already being passed around with placements. Thank god I didn't have to worry about that. Then I realize one of the other bassists has moved my bass (it is a little rude to touch another person's instrument without permission - they're very expensive and a livelihood for some) to the first stand. Ass to floor. Oh shit.

I take a little break and still come back section leader.

So now, not only do I have to play well, but I have to help other people play better. No pressure. (Although some guilty satisfaction, oh yes.) The other two bassists I'm playing with are actually quite good, and at first I can't believe the conductor put me ahead of one of them.

As rehersals get underway I eventually settle into my place. My hands are now callused again, my tendons and muscles no longer burn after a mere two hours, and the music is musical.

And so tonight's the big night, oh god. I still don't have every bit of music down yet, and I probably never will, but I think we still sound good. I hope all goes well. I'm going to miss playing again once this is over.



Tonight's program:
Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Mozart's Oboe Concerto
Dvorak's Czech Suite
Reinecke's Flute Concerto, Op. 283
Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 22
and god help me, Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony, Op. 90

There's enough music to warrant our own intermission, apparently. I think we have over 1.5 hours worth of playtime, let alone stop time for the audience to clap, the winds to clear the stage, soloists to have their grand entry, conductors to give speeches, etc... this will probably be a long night. But hey, tradition, Friendly's afterparty!

FanFiction is freaking killing me. I'm sitting at the Fiction desk in my library, trying my librarian best to recommend new books to insistent patrons, only to realize I haven't read any in months because I'm so tied up with SGA fanfic! Gah!

Must stop reading it... but it's so good!

I do miss reading actual paper though, as do my eyes. But the whump! So hard to find good whump in paperback.

and his name is . . .
ROCKNE ! ! !


Say hello to my little friend. Rockne is a four-month-old white bellied caique (kai-EEK). So far, so cute.

"Growth in wisdom can be measured precisely by decline in bile." -- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Hehehehe.

Title: Under the Mud
Rating: R
Warnings: Non-con (het), Occasional foul language
Word Count: apx. 2900
Notes: Sadly, this is still a wip I started posting on fanfiction.net. I've set a goal for myself that I will add one chapter a day to LiveJournal, and by the time I'm caught up I must have a new chapter. The gears are finally moving in my head, so I think I might just manage to make it happen! Woot woot! Back from vacation (I swear I'm never going to Disney World agan-- gah!). Schedule to resume as planned.

Summary: A visit to a village covered in mud leads to a captured Colonel, and an unexpected alliance with an old enemy. Shep whump.

( Chapter Eight: Just Like Ford )

Title: Under the Mud
Rating: R
Warnings: Non-con (het), Occasional foul language
Word Count: apx. 2900
Notes: Sadly, this is still a wip I started posting on fanfiction.net. I've set a goal for myself that I will add one chapter a day to LiveJournal, and by the time I'm caught up I must have a new chapter. The gears are finally moving in my head, so I think I might just manage to make it happen!

Summary: A visit to a village covered in mud leads to a captured Colonel, and an unexpected alliance with an old enemy. Shep whump.

( Chapter Six: No Means No! )

Title: Under the Mud
Rating: R
Warnings: Eventual non-con (het), Occasional foul language
Word Count: apx. 2600
Notes: Sadly, this is still a wip I started posting on fanfiction.net. I've set a goal for myself that I will add one chapter a day to LiveJournal, and by the time I'm caught up I must have a new chapter. The gears are finally moving in my head, so I think I might just manage to make it happen!

Summary: A visit to a village covered in mud leads to a captured Colonel, and an unexpected alliance with an old enemy. Shep whump.

( Chapter Four: Rain and Shine )

Title: Under the Mud
Rating: R
Warnings: Eventual non-con (het), Occasional foul language
Word Count: apx. 2500
Notes: Sadly, this is still a wip I started posting on fanfiction.net. I've set a goal for myself that I will add one chapter a day to LiveJournal, and by the time I'm caught up I must have a new chapter. The gears are finally moving in my head, so I think I might just manage to make it happen!

Summary: A visit to a village covered in mud leads to a captured Colonel, and an unexpected alliance with an old enemy. Shep whump.

( Chapter Two: Where's Sheppard? )

Coolness. I found this site from Nel-Ani's journal. You get to make cool things like this:



:D

I've had virtually no time to post anything this semester............. so there's a lot of them!


The Santa Society's Rude Awakening Prize

When Shirley Temple was a child movie star, she was the most adored kid in America. Years later, she explained how a star can be too admired for their own good. "I stopped believing in Santa Claus at an early age," she said. "Mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked me for my autograph."


No-Brainer

It was a long flight on an economy airline, so the businessman was happy when the flight attendant asked if he'd like dinner. "Great," he said, "what are my choices?" "Yes or no," she replied.


They Never Saw It Coming

There are floods and there are suds, but very few floods of suds. Then in 1814, nine people in London drowned in beer when a brewery spilled 3500 barrels, flooding nearby houses with suds.


Ask a Dumb Question

When is a queen a king? You'd be surprised. After King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden died in 1632, his daughter Christina took the throne. But she was not crowned queen. According to Swedish custom, only a king's wife was called a queen. So Christina was crowned King Christina.


Original Thinking

Writer A. Whitney Brown: "I became a vegetarian not so much because I love animals but because I hate plants."


Popped Culture

Three non-political candidates who couldn't have been any worse than the politicians they ran against:
1) Comedian Gracie Allen, of Burns and Allen fame, ran for president in 1940 as the candidate from the Surprise Party.
2) Folksinger U. Utah Phillips ran for president on the Sloth and Indolence ticket.
3) TV comic Pat Paulsen ran for president in 1968 from the Straight Talking American Government Party. His campaign promise: "I know what the average American wants. In fact, I'd like to get a little of it myself."


Ask a Dumb Question

If you're worried about the negative effects of pollution on out environmnet, look at it with a clear eye- like the California resident who was asked by a reporter whether Lake Tahoe was still polluted. "No pollution," the proud resident said. "It's so clear you can see a beer can forty feet down."


Words of Wisdumb

You know that famous saying: people who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it? It's even worse for people who *do* learn from the past. They're condemned to be driven nuts by having to live in the same world with the idiots who refuse to learn from the past.

( Cut here to spare the few people on my friends list. Plenty more snippets within. )