I'm Back

ok, yes, i'm falling down on the job. i haven't blogged in about 5 days. that's bad. but here i am again! aren't you happy?!?

if you're keeping up with the violin saga, there's good news and bad news. the bad news is, the small strap (white electrical wire in this case, ahem) that attaches to the end button snapped. i guess with working on the bridge and what-not i managed to stretch it all out. that's actually really bad since there is now no pressure on the instrument (since obviously the strings have nothing to attach to). if the sound post falls over i am so going to cry. the good news is that dr dalmus is lending me a student violin that i can practice on while i get my instrument fixed. the other good news is that the bridge is finished! party! so once i get that other part fixed i'll be good to go. except for some other bad news i didn't mention. my good bow that i was getting rehaired apparently had a bunch of problems that were going to be so expensive to repair that it would be more than the value of the bow. so i'm going to have to get a new bow. *tear* but, after shelling out the dough, i will end up with a better sound, therefore it's not that bad. is that all?? well, i could use a better set of strings. like, orchestra grade instead of wimpy medium grade. we'll have to see about that.

had a singing test today. it went so-so. i'm not sure how it's going to be graded. i think on this one he may just make it a freebie. in other words, if you did ok on it, dr dean will give you an A and substitute it for your lowest grade. we all noticed that he was just putting check marks next to our names, not grades. i did study for it by going around singing and practicing my solfeg. ever and i stayed up last night in the study room (conveniently located directly across the hall from our rooms) and sang with the keyboard. not sure how much time was spent studying and how much was...mm...uh, anyway. we had a pretty fun time. goofing off. is that the word? have you ever tried to sing a scale while saying the solfeg syllables backward?? AHA! you should try it some time. just don't practice it too much right before a test.

so what else has happened since i last blogged? on friday we watched ladder 49. pretty good movie i thought. very sad. let's just say i'm not typically the type to cry in a movie, but i got pretty watery eyed. there were all these guys walking out who were like, "wh-what is this?? wha's dis in ma eye? dude! i think i had, like a tear er sumfin, i mean, WHOA...! what the...?" that was pretty funny.

i've already told you that i finished the bridge, but i did spend a portion of the weekend working on that. did some practicing and stuff. went to a party at the tousha's. that was pretty fun, but i had to leave early. micah told me i missed out big time. :.-( the reason i left was i had a concert to go to. andrea anderson came as a guest artist at dr parr's invitation. she brought a clavichord, harpsichord and forte piano. she played all of them, as well as our harpsichord and "modern" piano (steinway of course). i still insist that the modern piano is the one i like best (like most people) but i was highly fascinated by the clavichord. it had little tiny hammers with brass tips. the hammer action was such that the hammer stayed in contact with the string as long as you held down the key. but since it was brass, the tone kept ringing. so you could actually strike the key and then get some vibrato going by wiggling the key with your finger! awsome! vibrato on a keyboard is something new to me. unfortunately the instrument is so small and the strings so short that it could never be used as a concert instrument. too quiet. the harpsichord had an awsome painting on the inside done by the builder's wife. and the builder himself was there to talk about the instruments. pretty sweet.

man, i've gotta get some grub...