So. Our school is doing a musical. Actually, we're not just performing any musical, we're performing Miss Saigon. It is a good musical, a tragedy, but it's still good. However, for me, it's been ruined before I even started playing.
I play the alto clarinet in the pit band. You may be wondering what that is. It is actually just like a clarinet, but deeper (same shape and size as the alto sax, but looks more like a clarinet, more 'woody' sound). To begin with, I had never played the instrument before I started playing it in the pit band. There was only one clarinet part, and another grade 12 got that because she played in two musicals before and I had only played in one. So I got the crap part.
Well, it wouldn't have been that crap if there had actually been an alto clarinet part. But there wasn't. There was only a bassoon part. So I had to transpose the entire thing from bass clef and tenor clef into treble clef. That wouldn't be too hard if it was just one piece, but it is 35 numbers. THIRTY FIVE. Do you know how long that took me? A very long time. My clarinet teacher told me that the amount of work I had to do was ridiculous and if she had to do it she would at least get paid for it.
And what do I get for the enormous amount of work I have done? Rien. Nada. Nothing. A big fat, "Oh thanks Emma," for hours and hours of work and misery over this damn show. Not that I want to be paid or anything, I just think some kind of recognition would be nice. Some people (*cough*) clearly think that I am bad (which I am) but they don't understand how weird my music is, and that I never played the alto clarinet before this show.
My music teacher said that some of the music was actually written wrong, after I showed him a certain part that sounded really bad to me. So it wasn't even my fault. Just great.
The instrument that I'm playing is continually flat. There isn't anything I can do about it, since I don't know how to fix that, and based on how I fix my Bb clarinet's pitch, I don't think there IS any way to solve it.
And there are some parts that just sound wrong no matter what I do--blehh... I just want to hand my music over to my conductor and say, "I quit." However, that really isn't an option right now. I would love to have a huge actressy meltdown and threaten to do just that, but I'm not an actor and I don't do meltdowns. Haha.
I'm heartily sick of it, but I know that when I look back on it I'll be like, "Oh, it was so fun to play in the pit in high school." Ha. How great--rosy retrospection.
Well, I guess I'd better go, so have a great evening (it has to have been better than my musical-filled one).
E
P.S. Oh, did I mention? Got into my number one university today -- improved my night a little :D
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
♫ summer girl ♫
Hi.
So it's me again...procrastinating (unusual for me) but I've done all my homework. I know I should be studying --for that AP Psych test-- but instead, blogging my life away. I've recently been thinking about the summer a lot, I guess because I know I'll be free by then. Graduation seems so far away and exciting, but I know by the time I'm on my way to uni somewhere I'll be wishing I was back in high school. Mulling over my options: so many of them...
1. Go visit a very good friend of mine in Malaysia -- however, a 16-hour plane ride kinda puts me off because I tend to get very sick on planes (trust me) and it's not very pleasant. The thought of going to Malaysia is really exciting though and I would love to visit. Plus I would love to stay with her and her parents (all of whom I adore). And she and I get along quite well (I would say :) and she's stayed at my house for some long weekends so it's not like we would get sick of each other.
2. Go stay with my 40 year old cousin Ken, his wife Dawn, and their 3 year old son Ryan in Canmore, AB. They've already offered to let me live in their house, so that would be a definite plus. I would get a job there, which I hopefully would enjoy, and get some more good working experience. It would be really good and get me used to staying away from home. And I really love Ryan: he is the cutest! :)
3. Live with my cousins in Mission, BC: Christine & Greg, and their kids Lise (11) and Claire (9). I spent an absolutely idyllic week with them last summer which makes me want to go and stay with them this summer. I would work, and pay for my food etc. And I could make some friends and stuff which would be nice. Hopefully I'll have my N by then (if I EVER get it, ergh, wish I had gotten it earlier) and I can drive their car --if they let me! :D Plus it is closer and a climate which I am more used to, which are both definite advantages. I might want to go back to Vic if I need to do stuff, so then I just have to take the ferry. Easier than the plane.
Or I guess I could just stay in Victoria and get a job. That would be fine but I'm thinking I want to "branch out" --haha. I'm kind of leaning towards options one and three. They are the ones I most want to do I guess. Plus I want to take my MFR course (medical first responder) and also spend time in Victoria before I fly out to wherever I'm going in the fall. Still not sure yet -- Dalhousie, Acadia, and U of A have accepted me but I'm not sure if I want to go to one, if I did it would be Dal most likely. Waiting to hear from Mount Allison~really want to go there, I think. & I'm applying for the Bell Scholarship, I could win up to 12 000 dollars in tuition which would be so AMAZING. Anyways, I'd better go and study so thanks for reading! :)
E
So it's me again...procrastinating (unusual for me) but I've done all my homework. I know I should be studying --for that AP Psych test-- but instead, blogging my life away. I've recently been thinking about the summer a lot, I guess because I know I'll be free by then. Graduation seems so far away and exciting, but I know by the time I'm on my way to uni somewhere I'll be wishing I was back in high school. Mulling over my options: so many of them...
1. Go visit a very good friend of mine in Malaysia -- however, a 16-hour plane ride kinda puts me off because I tend to get very sick on planes (trust me) and it's not very pleasant. The thought of going to Malaysia is really exciting though and I would love to visit. Plus I would love to stay with her and her parents (all of whom I adore). And she and I get along quite well (I would say :) and she's stayed at my house for some long weekends so it's not like we would get sick of each other.
2. Go stay with my 40 year old cousin Ken, his wife Dawn, and their 3 year old son Ryan in Canmore, AB. They've already offered to let me live in their house, so that would be a definite plus. I would get a job there, which I hopefully would enjoy, and get some more good working experience. It would be really good and get me used to staying away from home. And I really love Ryan: he is the cutest! :)
3. Live with my cousins in Mission, BC: Christine & Greg, and their kids Lise (11) and Claire (9). I spent an absolutely idyllic week with them last summer which makes me want to go and stay with them this summer. I would work, and pay for my food etc. And I could make some friends and stuff which would be nice. Hopefully I'll have my N by then (if I EVER get it, ergh, wish I had gotten it earlier) and I can drive their car --if they let me! :D Plus it is closer and a climate which I am more used to, which are both definite advantages. I might want to go back to Vic if I need to do stuff, so then I just have to take the ferry. Easier than the plane.
Or I guess I could just stay in Victoria and get a job. That would be fine but I'm thinking I want to "branch out" --haha. I'm kind of leaning towards options one and three. They are the ones I most want to do I guess. Plus I want to take my MFR course (medical first responder) and also spend time in Victoria before I fly out to wherever I'm going in the fall. Still not sure yet -- Dalhousie, Acadia, and U of A have accepted me but I'm not sure if I want to go to one, if I did it would be Dal most likely. Waiting to hear from Mount Allison~really want to go there, I think. & I'm applying for the Bell Scholarship, I could win up to 12 000 dollars in tuition which would be so AMAZING. Anyways, I'd better go and study so thanks for reading! :)
E
Monday, February 1, 2010
utopia
it makes me angry
this racial generalization, it makes me stare
and wonder why
why we are judged by the colour of our skin
black brown yellow white
does it really matter so much?
Utopia: a place where we could mix
like acrylics on a painter's palette
all together, mingled, as one
a place so perfect-- could it ever exist
different and yet the same
pencil crayons in a Crayola box
side by side, they don't seem to have much
trouble getting along
we may not be crayons
but we could still show a modicum
of respect: they say it's gone
but we all know better
does it really matter so much?
black brown yellow white
why we are judged by the colour of our skin
i wonder why
this racial generalization, it makes me stare
it makes me angry
this racial generalization, it makes me stare
and wonder why
why we are judged by the colour of our skin
black brown yellow white
does it really matter so much?
Utopia: a place where we could mix
like acrylics on a painter's palette
all together, mingled, as one
a place so perfect-- could it ever exist
different and yet the same
pencil crayons in a Crayola box
side by side, they don't seem to have much
trouble getting along
we may not be crayons
but we could still show a modicum
of respect: they say it's gone
but we all know better
does it really matter so much?
black brown yellow white
why we are judged by the colour of our skin
i wonder why
this racial generalization, it makes me stare
it makes me angry