Hooray!!! I have the internet!

Soo... we're back in Paris at a hotel with free Wi-Fi at last! I will be blogging faithfully for the next four days, therefore, and will hopefully have lots of cool stories to tell you. :) I will continue with Florence, then.

The next morning, we woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel. They had these awesome little containers of Nutella, packaged the way you'd see jam and butter in the U.S. I put one in my backpack to take home to you guys, but it sort of exploded in my backpack pocket on the train yesterday. After that, we took a cab the Uffizi gallery, where I was really afraid of getting pickpocketed, so I carried my backpack in front all goofily and stuff. Inside, we saw The Birth of Venus, which was really beautiful, and this other painting I really like (also a Botticelli) but I can't remember the name right now. After that, we walked around by Ponte Vecchio and bought a few presents. Then we got lunch and this amazing tall gelatos. They were delicious. After that, we got a cab to the Academia, where we saw the David. It was so huge and amazing and majestic. After that, we took another cab to our hotel, where we picked up our luggage and went ot the train station. We took the train to Venice, where we spent a while looking for some office. There, we checked in and then we had dinner at a restaurant. Next we rode a water bus to our apartment, where we went in, settled, and went to sleep.
The next day was our day in Venice, but I have to get off now to let Madelyn on! I will write more later. :)

Trip to Europe!

Due to popular demand that I write about my trip (Leslie) (haha) I am writing about my trip.
So far we have been to Paris, Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre, and now we are in Florence.
I will write about the best parts of every day, since I'm sure you don't want an account of my boring multitudinous train rides. :)
On our first day in Paris, which was Thursday, we took a bunch of trains and went to Versailles, which was very pretty. Of all the inside portion, the Hall of Mirrors was my favorite part. :) I can't post pictures yet, because I didn't bring a USB cord, but I will post an album when I get home. After we went through the palace, Madelyn and I explored the gardens there, which was the coolest part. We took lots of pictures. There was a part of the gardens where they played very loud classical music, which I liked, of course.
On Friday, we went to Caen, where the Normandy beaches are, and we had fun going on a tour for a long time and seeing all the cool war stuff there. It took a long time and it was fun going to a lot of different places. Also, on Friday night, something interesting happened. We went to eat dinner at a hamburger place, and when we sat down to eat, there was a guy sitting diagonally from us who stared at me the whole time. When we had finished eating, he waggled his hand in a "call me" signal. I looked away and laughed, sort of embarrassed, and he borrowed a pen from someone, wrote his number on a napkin, and held it up. When we were about to leave, I got up to tell him that I'm American and I wasn't going to be in Paris long. He introduced himself and he said he really wanted to contact me. He wouldn't take no for an answer, and he gave me his email and asked for mine. I thought, "What's the harm?" so I gave it to him. And now I have a friend in Paris.
Saturday was the best day by far. We went to Notre Dame first, which was just as majestic and beautiful as you'd expect it to be. And when we went to the Louvre, a miracle happened. During the morning, I tried to contact my friend Megan, who was with my school's tour group in Paris, but I couldn't reach her, so I gave up. Somehow, impossibly, they happened to go to the Louvre on the same day we did and we ran into members of the tour group. It was so exciting and amazing! We went to dinner with them that night before taking the night train on our voyage to Italy.
All day Sunday we traveled, and eventually we got to our town in Cinque Terre, which was Riomaggiore. Because we got there so late, we didn't get to spend a lot of time there, so Madelyn and I explored the city together for a few hours. At night we had a testimony meeting because we couldn't go to church (click for more information about my church), which was pretty cool.
Today we took a lot of trains and made it to Florence. Once we got here, we got a cab driver to take us to our hotel, the Hotel de Rose Palace, which is very pretty and well furnished. Shortly after we arrived, we went to lunch together and when we came back, we talked to my mom for a while on Skype and told her what's been going on. A while later, Madelyn and I went exploring around Florence, which, around here, is kind of dirty and not very pretty. Plus I was really scared a lot of the time because I have heard it's not the safest city in the world. When we came back, there was a very cute boy at the hotel desk. Later that night, we went to dinner at a pizza place, and I made up stories to myself about each table.
For instance, at the table across from us, a middle aged couple was out with their son and their daughter's fiancee, and he was trying to impress them because he wanted to marry their daughter. The son liked the fiancee, because he has a cool car and because he signed the son's cast really well. The mother also approves of him and thinks her daughter has chosen a handsome man. But the father is still trying to ascertain whether there is the potential for success behind the young man's scruffy beard.
Et cetera.
When we came back, we Skyped our family some more, and Madelyn and I went to the lobby to ask the guy if we could take a picture with him (and to ask for a wake-up call). He said no. It was really embarrassing and I felt pretty stupid and depressed. After that, we ran up the stairs and now we are back in our room.
Ah, well. At least one person in Europe liked me, right? I guess I'll post this now.
By the way, Leslie, you need to sign on to AIM or something so I can tell you more. And, which Euros do you have in your foreign currency collection? Do you want any more?
That's all for now, then! Bye!

Graduation!!!!!

So... my graduation from Palm Desert High School was quite an historical occasion (hahaha! I just seized the opportunity to be a grammar stickler). Here are some pictures.

Birthday Presents

I am trying to pick a present for one of my really good guy friend's birthday. 

Soo... any suggestions??

And what would you rather:

This clock, designed after the Rubix cube?

This awesome Star Wars T-shirt?

This Star Wars trivia book?

A talking Japanese watch?

Or this Pop Art camera?

Please vote at the poll!!!

Today was my Young Womanhood Recognition, an evening in the Mormon Church in which girls are recognized for their accomplishments in the church. It's pretty cool. My mom wrote a really sweet blurb about me and it made me cry when they read it. :) Good night.

This morning I finished Cloud Atlas. It was like the end of any book. I got that sad "it's over" feeling," but multiplied six times over. :(

Today I am going to the temple, so I can't blog so much...

Good Day

Hi. Today I rehearsed a piece for a little group from choir that got together to learn Bohemian Rhapsody! IT SOUNDS AMAZING!

All human beings should be in a choir once in their life.

My Birthday!!!!!!!!

Today is my eighteenth birthday and a very good birthday at that! I got a Nikon camera this morning from my parents (like in "Kodachrome" by Paul Simon). This morning in the parking lot, my friends and I had a dance party and formed a party line when "We Like to Party" came on! It was so epic. The day was perfectly lovely; I got to practice music with people I love, which is really my favorite thing to do. Also, tonight I went to an academic awards ceremony, talked to that boy, all while reading the greatest book ever written and discussing it with him! It was absolutely a day well spent. :)

postttt

Welll... I got home really late last night with every intention of blogging, but all the computers were off, soooo I'm posting this today. Tada!

My Painting

I did a lot today! This morning, I finished the first chunk of my Integrity project by reading a bunch of talks and writing a bit about them. Then I started my painting, which is the main thing I'm doing. It's a picture of the Nauvoo temple with trees and foliage around. I'm doing this sort of Impressionist thing with it and it's actually going pretty well. :)
Okay... it could be better.
Today I also recorded a bunch of improvised a-capella stuff that should be up on my music page pretty soon. That was very fun.
I'm super behind on my journal, so I have to go write in it now. Bye!

Oh My Heavens.

I adore Cloud Atlas. It is probably the best book I have ever read and completely different from all of them. Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. I cannot get over how gorgeous the prose is, how, whether in a limited vocabulary or speaking through a verbose persona, David Mitchell makes every rudimentary thought pensive and beautiful. I'm not even through with it yet, but I just reached the part where the narrator sort of explains the title (you know that part; it's in so many books), and when I read it, I was completely shocked. 

I stopped.

I read the next paragraph, turned the page.

I turned back to read those two sentences over.

And again.

And I literally gasped.

Heavens, it was the most gorgeous thought. And the way he led up to it was... just completely perfect.

To complement the thought, here is a collection of art/photography by Hugo Hildebrand Hildebrandsson on a UCSD site. The site introduces the collection thus:

"In 1874, the year of the first International Meteorological Congress...important new efforts were initiated in the [field of cloud classification]. During the succeeding 20 years constructive proposals were advanced in many countries by a large number of workers whose combined efforts led in 1896 to publication of the International Cloud-Atlas". This atlas documents an early cooperative scientific investigation on an international level. U.S. observations were made at Blue Hill Observatory, south of Boston."

It's actually a legitimate cloud atlas. :) Crazy, huh?

Hi.

I don't really know what to post about... Today I didn't do much. I didn't even end up going to the One-Acts, since I was busy buying stuff for a quilt I'm making for a humanitarian project thing and such. 

I did clean my room today, which was a good thing. I got rid of a lot of stuff, since I need to get ready to go to school and I don't really want to take all these stupid things I don't need with me.I just got a lot done that really needed to be done. For instance, I paste things in my journal, and today, I found a bunch of tickets and papers I saved from my trip to China when I was fourteen, so I glued them in. Finally...

So. I'm getting stuff over with. For Personal Progress, I only have three projects to knock out, and they are all in the works. It should be interesting! :)

I'm supposed to go to Mikado's with Justin and Leslie on Monday. Might invite someone... :)

Cloud Atlas is really good. I think everyone in the world should read it.

Also, look up Design Milk. It is so interesting.

Not So Much Today...

Today was just my last assembly in high school, but it's not like I'm going to miss those. I didn't really do anything after school but work on composition and stuff, since I had to stay home with my little brother and sister. I'm going to more one-acts tomorrow, so that should be fun. I love watching plays and concerts and stuff. 

Leslie's boyfriend Justin is coming soon! I'm so excited to meet him! :)

Leslie, don't worry... I don't really know what's going on, but I'm vaguely depressed too.

This too shall pass.

Today I went to see the One-Act Plays put on at my school by our very own Compass Theatre Acting Company. They were very cute; the first one was The Importance of Being Earnest, which is one of my favorites. I went with my sister and my friend Christina. Our friend was in the play as Algy and he did a brilliant job. It was hilarious! I absolutely love Earnest; it's the only play I ever laughed aloud while reading.
Lately, I watched Citizen Kane for my English class and it's definitely made it to my top list of favorite movies. In fact, it my even usurp Breakfast at Tiffany's, which has been in first place for a while now. The cinematography in Citizen is just phenomenal, and the plot is so poignant. I loved it! Orson Welles was truly a genius.
And (need I remark) really hot.

Twin Day

Today at Palm Desert High School, we had, for the third day of Spirit Week, a Twin Day. Since my sister and I already look so much alike, and we could find clothes we have in common, we decided to dress up. This is what we looked like!

A really funny thing happened involving this after school ended today. Madelyn and I were walking out to the parking lot to go home when some boys from Madelyn's English class walking behind us said stuff like, "Awww; how cute; they dressed up together." I turned, and little did I know that Madelyn turned, too, and at the same time, we both kicked up our left legs and smiled in unison. I was on the outside, so I couldn't see what had happened, but the boys went, "Whoa!" and Madelyn said, "Yeah, we're that good." It was so funny. They wanted us to do it again. Ha ha ha. :)

Another thing: today was my last Chamber Singers concert ever. EVER. I've been in Chamber Singers for the past four years and that was my last official concert. Well... I guess there is graduation, but at least I'll never have to wear that dress again, right? The experience is still kind of surreal... we sang really well tonight. It was great! :)

And Now for a Proper Post about Prom...

Indeed. He was super handsome, I felt really pretty, and we had an amazing, wonderfully perfect night together.
Sometimes, in moments of brilliant color involving flashing lights and gorgeous clothes, high school can really be beautiful.
He picked me up around 4:30 and we went to a mutual guy friend's house, where we took a bunch of pictures together and with two other girls. Then we went to aforementioned boy's date's house, stopping on the way to see my date's mom at her work. She said how nice we looked and then sent us off. It was so nice talking to him in the car; we just talked about everything and he is such a gentleman. (so Darcy-esque) Eventually we all ended up going to dinner at Morton's, which is a really nice steakhouse here, and then we went to prom! We all danced all night and had a lovely time. Afterward, we went to a party briefly, but it was kind of boring, so my date and I went to a friend's house and hung out there for a while until he took me home. :)
It was very nice.

A Piano.

Piano

Perfect! I just had to do this the other day... :)
When I need to relax (i.e., because of Prom nerves, college freak-outs, etc.) I ride my bike somewhere, which lets me think more clearly. Sometimes I go to the library and I read or look for books of music or art to take home.
Primarily, I guess (I probably should have put this first), I play the piano and compose music. The wonderful thing about playing the piano is that pianos turn up all the time whenever you go somewhere. You sit down on the bench and see the keys, and whether you're in Shanghai or Visby, you're at home. Playing the piano gives me a sense of gravity when I feel like I'm not anchored to anything.

Technically,

I didn't post this the day of. I am a NaBloPoMo failure! At least it's not November!

Well, Prom was wonderful! Really really perfect and happy. I will post pictures soon, and if you want them sooner, they are already on facebook; my date posted them. :)

I have a permanent smile these days.

:)

Prom is Today!

Hooray hooray hooray!

Today I Met Pico Iyer!

Yep. Today I met the author of The Open Road, a great book about the mission and teachings of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. I went to the Rancho Las Palmas Hotel around eleven, where I met about seven other students from AP English who were selected to go talk to Mr. Iyer. We met in a conference room before the lunch and speech and Mr. Iyer talked to the high school students and we got to ask him questions. He told us a really interesting thing about the way he writes: When he decides to write on a particular subject, it is because he has a different perspective on that subject than he feels another writer would have. It's a really cool way to impart of culture he's learned. For instance, he wrote The Open Road because he personally knows the Dalai Lama and knew he could offer a different perspective on his character and philosophy than other scholars. At the end of the student meeting, I asked him to sign my copy of the book, and he did. It was extremely cool.

Sorry about that post last night; I didn't have the time or energy to write coherently, so that's just what happened. I guess I could edit it later and write something interesting about yesterday.

Today I took the AP Microeconomics Exam, which is not as bad as I thought it was. I felt all right about the multiple choice, and I know I did really well on the last question of the free response bit of the test. True, I am not positive I aced the thing, but I have a feeling I passed. I hope.

Anyway, I have been composing a very lovely piece that I am obsessed with playing very fast, and very often. In fact, all the time. It's not actually finished yet, but hopefully I will find some more inspiration and get it done. (Hmmm, Leslie; guess what it's about. :) Yay!)

(Augh. It's weird to do a smiley within parentheses.)

That's all for tonight, then!

Blah

Post for NaBloPoMo. Good night.

"Ulterior"

Emily Brown

Mrs. Blank

AP English Literature, Period 6

12 May 2009

Assignment

Please write five sentences using the following vocabulary word:

ulterior • \ul-TEER-ee-er\  • adjective

1 a : further, future

 

* b : more distant : remoter

 

c : situated on the farther side : thither

2 : going beyond what is openly said or shown and especially what is proper

(Ulterior, ulterior, ulterior, thinks Miss Brown. There are only so many ways I can go with this. Then again, what are the chances I can use this word properly without saying "motives?"

They are not great.)

(Well, am going to Paris soon)

• She couldn't tell if he had an ulterior meaning when he told her he was also going to Paris in the summer.
• Then again, boys that nice just don't have ulterior motives.

(Could make classical Literature reference. Have been reading Pride and Prejudice and Cloud Atlas of late and old words seeping into speech. Merriam Webster says it was used thus:)

• Jane Eyre roomed in an ulterior end of Thornfield.
• She went to an ulterior area of England when she found out Mr. Rochester was married to that madwoman, Bertha.

(What else? What else? Aha! Other reference to play:)

• Algernon, in The Importance of Being Earnest, nearly always had an ulterior meaning, which contributed invaluably to the satire of the play.

(Bam. That's done.)

Word of the Day

A desperate need calls for desperate measures, and since I am in desperate need of something to write about, I have decided on a rather clever thing, I think. I looked up the word of the day on Merriam-Webster, and I am going to talk about whatever it makes me think of. 

This should be interesting.

And the word is.............................................

"whinge • \WINJ\  • verb

: to complain fretfully : whine"

The interesting thing about this word is that neither it nor "whine" were actually derived from one another; they have completely separate roots. I just had to say that because the page devoted an entire cute digression about it on the bottom of the screen.

Whinging, whinging, whinging...

What can I write about whinging?

I don't have a lot to whinge about, currently. The only thing I can think of in particular is that the AP Environmental Science test is tomorrow. Other than the fact that I have to go study for it, I am perfectly content.

Someone remind me to order a boutonierre for Saturday.

Good night, then.

Mother's Day!!!

Today was quite a lovely Mother's Day; I think my mom had a really great time and I saw my grandmother later today, which was very cool. :) I may have had a better time than both of them, however. Today in church I sang in a quartet with my sister and two other girls; we've been practicing the song for a while.

After church, our whole family sat around playing Apples to Apples together for an hour, waiting and waiting for Collin to call. Missionaries from the Mormon church only get 2 phone calls per year, one on Christmas and the other on Mother's Day. So today he called; we each talked to him and asked questions (with everyone there, of course) and we recorded the whole hour and seventeen minutes with GarageBand. :)

For another thing... we went to our grandparents' house later that day and had dinner together and stuff. Later that night, I was exploring the bookshelves and stuff, which I tend to do when I am there, and I found a binder of letters Grandma wrote to her parents while she was at college and dating Grandpa. It was so cool! I read a bunch of them aloud to everyone; it was so interesting to see how she wrote and behaved so close to my age. I loved it. Later in the binder, there was a journal Grandma's mom kept about her when she was little. It was extremely interesting, especially when I noticed similarities between her and myself. Dad wasn't surprised, however, since those come up all the time. :) I love her.

Shmurf.

NaBloPoMo. Oh no. It's so late. Early.

I don't really know what to post about, but today my date brought me my ticket for prom along with this book he is lending me, both of which I am quite excited about. The book is called Cloud Atlas and is by David Mitchell. I am only a few pages into it now, but it is really good. My date tells me it's about the deterioration of the English language. So far, the beginning has a lot of really weird words I've never heard before. I haven't looked them up, though. :/ That's what our English teacher says we should do, but it does sort of ruin the fluidity of reading to be looking at the dictionary every few minutes. Oh well.
Anyway, I'm really excited about it, so I'll post more when I am done. :)

Hooray!

The AP English test went really well! I may have even got a five! The multiple choice was definitely the easiest, but I felt really good about my essays, too! We'll see about it! :)
Leslie, you need to come over!

Welll...

Tomorrow is the AP English Literature test and I feel very prepared for it. Today I went to my friend Christina's house and we reviewed Hamlet together because it's one of those plays we can never remember. :) After the test, my entire class is going to Chipotle, which should be fun!
What else? Lately I have been rereading Pride and Prejudice, which only gets better every time. Mr. Darcy is probably every woman's default boyfriend. Har har har. I am working on writing new music, which is fun, but going slightly slow.
Also, subconsciously and sometimes with definite thought, I am thinking and planning for prom! :)

Take Two: Donating Blood

Today I donated blood for the SECOND time ever! It was fairly scary because the lady was kind of new (you can just tell) and she couldn't find my vein. It was somewhat painful and made me very dizzy. I blacked out a little on the way out, so when I got home, I laid down on the floor in the living room and put my feet on the couch.
Donating blood is important, so even if this experience wasn't quite as idyllic as the last, I still did SOMETHING good today. I am happy. :)

More News About BYU!!

I know where I'm going to live next year! Last week I got my housing all ready and such and I also found out who my roommates are and added them on facebook! They seem really cool! One is from South Africa.
I am so psyched about being able to study what I want to study at college! I am going to be double majoring in English and Music Composition! It's going to be amazing!!!
Plus, I have all these cousins who will be there and we are going to rule the campus!
In unrelated news, I took the AP Government Test today and it wasn't half bad. :)

Hmmmm....

Not much to post about tonight, so this is mostly just so I can keep doing NaBloPoMo.
Today, my grandmother came over and we planned some more of our Paris trip this summer. We're also thinking of stopping in Copenhagen to see the Christus and stuff, and because we have ancestors there. I am so psyched!!!

If the Pizza Girl met the Latte Boy...

As some of you may know, the Jonas Brothers (popular fraternal teen boy band) recently came out with a song called "Pizza Girl." Likewise, Kirsten Chenoweth sang a cute song a little while back called "Taylor the Latte Boy."

The question is, then, since both food-associated persons are so apparently entrancing, why don't Pizza Girl and Latte Boy get together???

Just a random thought. Someone should set them up.

LESLIE, YOU NEED TO READ THIS.

This is NaBloPoMo Post number one, guys! The theme for May is sweet, apparently, and in that vein, I'm sure I will think of a lot to write about.

For instance, there is the matter of food.
Family can occasionally be sweet.
Movies, chick flicks specifically, can be sweet.

But, more specifically, this post is about something rather romantic/sweet that happened to me yesterday.

Yes, friends, relatives, blogstalkers.

I got asked to prom by an awesome guy.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(jumps up and down in a happy dance, my sister adds)

I am terribly, explosively, and incandescently happy.

Pluse, I just went to Mormon Prom last weekend, so I have already had a practice version. So I pretty much know exactly what I'm going to look like, only this time I can do it better. Bwahaha.

YES!

Take the Quiz here!

Just a quick post!

I'm home this morning because, due to Standardized testing, seniors don't have to go to school until 10:50! It's really nice and I don't have to get up quite so early. 

Anyway, I just wanted to post about this: 

My friend and I wrote a song for graduation which we've been working on all year. Recently, we invited our other guy friend to play the guitar with us. We rehearsed the song a few times and it sounded really good. We all sing, so I was on the piano, this guy on guitar, and all of us harmonizing. We tried out last Friday to sing at graduation and we won! I am really happy about it. :))))

Also, I am working on a new classical song! We'll see how it turns out! :)

"Wake up and find themselves here..."

I didn't realize how much I related to the author of this book until I got near the end. Dillard plummeted from childhood into adulthood, banging away on the piano, writing poetry in the style of classics and in foreign languages, reading books endlessly, and falling in love (all while disappointing everyone and not caring). I read this book just when I felt like my childhood was going. My brother had left for college, I couldn't stop thinking about everything, and I felt trapped inside my skull. When I read An American Childhood, I realized that other people had felt the way I did. To an extent, I felt as if the book were a little about me.

Look at this Book!

I just had to post on this, since I found this book on the internet a long time ago and then discovered a file with this picture on the computer. I love how they write my name!It looks like such a cute book. Maybe someone who reads this will know what it's about. Haha.

Senioritis

So.... I go to school every day, get to Economics first period, and then I wish I was at home. This happens in 2nd period, 3rd, and so on. Except maybe not 4th because the guy I like is in that class. Ha.

It seems like during second semester- no, way before second semester- all my classes seem useless and pointless. That is, going to my classes doesn't really help me learn or pass whatever AP test I am working toward. Come on! I've already been accepted into college! Can I just go now?
This particular instance had more to back it up, however. On Thursday I got really sick and my Mom let me come home, so I slept forever and took painkillers, etc.
I guess I'm not necessarily homesick, then. More like anywhere-but-PDHS-sick.

Dresses

Okay.  In the event that I do get in to Open Call (which I find out about tonight) I will need a dress. Also, when I go to Mormon Prom (and normal prom) this year, I will need a dress. These will, in all probability, be the same dress. And I am already scouring the internet for the right one. So what about these?

$235

$115

$385

The site says the purple one and the red one are in good condition. Not so much for the green, but I really like the color. :/ What do you think, reader(s)?

The World is Really An Awesome Place

I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BEE WHY YOU

OHMYGOSH. Applications are all in, first semester is over, and everyone in high school has senioritis and is SO READY for college. NOW! I've already been accepted to Idaho and Hawaii, but, of course, BYU's admission decision is the last to come. They started sending letters beginning this Monday, and the last day to find out is February 27th. I want to go there so much. They have the most amazing English and Music programs ever, which is what I'm double majoring in. Plus their Honors program is super awesome and makes me ecstatic just thinking about it.

Well, I have to go start learning my music for All-State in March. Hooray music!

My Audition

I know the suspense has been killing you, reader, so here is what transpired at my Open Call audition last night.

Mom drove me to the McCallum around 8:30, since the email I got from them said to be there fifteen minutes early. My audition was at nine. I was wearing a white scoopneck blouse, a navy pencil skirt, and these new heels I got a few weeks ago. (I'm just saying... I put thought into this. I had to look like a gorgeous prodigy composer, whether I really am or not.)

When we arrived, I went in the back door of the theatre, signed in, and went to the green room. (Luckily, I had a performance there in December with my choir, so I was already familiar) The Varsity Dance Team from my high school was there, and had just tried out, and so I said hi to the girls I knew. Also, the kid who won last year (who's about a year younger than me, I think) and his two sisters were all there. 

I felt kind of embarrassed that I didn' t know anyone really well. Plus, all these people had at least some experience with Open Call, so I was a bit inept in comparison. The audition before mine was the guy and his sisters; they played a very cool trio all together on the piano, even though I only heard a little of it when someone opened the door. I stayed in the green room and talked to one of the girls from the dance team and pretty soon, I was alone in the Green Room. I was the last one to audition.

When a lady came in and told me I was next, I walked through the stage door and out to center stage, trying to keep good posture and look confident, and said,

"Good evening; my name is Emily Brown. I am seventeen years old; I'm from Rancho Mirage, and I will be performing a piece I composed called, 'June Impression.'"

Then I walked over to the piano, sat down and took a deep breath, placing my fingers on the keys.

Then I took another breath, and began to play.

The first thought I had was how beautiful the tone of the piano was. It was a Steinway, and while the keys appeared somewhat worn, the piano was spectacularly in tune, with a clear, smooth tone unlike any piano I have ever played before. I kept my shoulders back and concentrated on dynamics, remembering to keep certain bits stacatto.

Somewhere near the middle, and slowest part of the piece I felt somewhat nervous and started shaking a little. The muscles of my calf were spastically quivering while I held down the sustain pedal. I plunged myself in the music, and finished the piece with some small mistakes.

When I was done, I lifted my fingers from the keys gently, (which my piano teachers have been trying to teach me to do as long as I can remember) and stood up. The judges applauded politely. I said, "Thank you," though maybe not audibly enough, bowed, and began to walk off stage.

"Emily," said one of twenty or thirty judges. This one was a guy, about fifty, to my right.

I stopped.

"Are you classically trained?"

"Yes, I am," I replied.

"Who are some of your favorite composers?"

"Mmm...Chopin, Debussy...I have a favorite piece by Grieg," I trailed.

"Yes," he said. "That piece reminded me so much of Debussy."

I smiled again, said "Thank you," bowed, while they applauded again, and walked off stage.

On the way out, the guy in charge of sound said goodbye to me; so did some other people. I went back to the Green Room and got my bag. Another guy said goodbye and asked if I got my tape and then laughed when he realized I obviously didn't have a tape. Coming to the back door, I said goodbye to the guy at the front desk, and then pushed my way into the cold air outside.

And then- it was as if there was not enough air in the world. I literally started gasping for breath, shaking all over and crying. All I could think about was how much I wanted this, to get in to the show and perform my piece for everyone who would listen. I kept this up, until I got to the car. Then I took another breath, smiled, and got in to tell Mom how it went.

Hopefully I made it, guys. Everyone cross your fingers!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!

By the way, I want a piano just like this one:

It's got an interesting story behind it, too. Click on the picture for a link! :)

Rhymes with Coeppen (a rare surname in the U.S.) Thrall

Unscramble the letters to figure out this phrase!

celp anlo

Can you decode this clever anagram?

CLAP NOEL

27. Of the following responses, choose the best answer:

What is the name of the Coachella Valley wide talent show, hosted by the McCallum Theatre?

a. Free For All, a title which makes clear the fact that all amateur performers are invited to participate.

b. Big and Small, which means people of all sizes are free to join in the show.

c. Open Call, a name which basically sucks but reflects the idea nonetheless.

If you chose answer "A," you are for human rights! Congratulations! You should be a Libertarian, since Libertarians are awesome and they wish the government would leave everyone's rights alone.

If you chose answer "B," you are probably short or tall and wish more talent shows would accomodate your size.

If you chose answer "C," you have something in common with the staff of the McCallum Theatre, since they chose that name over the vastly superior "Free for All." (Plus, also, wouldn't it be cool if the show was at the Civic Center Park and it was actually free?)

Yes, reader. The correct answer to all three questions and the title is...

Open Call.

This year, it is vaguely important to me that I get into Open Call. I've never tried out before, and since I'm off to college next year, this is sort of my last chance. I sent in an audio recording of "June Impression," one of my compositions, and as of Thursday night, I have made it to the next level: Live Auditions. So now I've been practicing my song over and over, trying to act like I have some level of stage presence. I just want them to know that this is really important. This is my composition. My baby! If they don't pick me, it's like a diss to my life's work!

Which brings me to the fact that when I finally grow up, I want to write scores for movies. To practice, I am going to buy movies, strip the sound from them, and then write new soundtracks. I think that will be really fun. :)

In entirely unrelated news, I have basically memorized Dylan Thomas's "Fern Hill," my new favorite poem, with less than seventeen mess-up points. Thus:

"Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs,

About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green...

Umm. As the grass was green...

Argh."

I actually do know the next line. That's just a scenario of what it's like at different points in the poem. Very scary.

Anyway, everyone please cross your fingers that I make it into Open Call!

I can't remember whether I wrote about this fountain when I was in Visby, but as you can see, it is a girl holding a seashell, which is spurting water. As we walked past this fountain one of the first few times, I imagined her saying, "I can hear the ocean... Hey- I can feel the ocean!"

Anyway, I just found these pictures on my computer and I thought I would tell that little story. 

In recent news, I have been riding the bike I got for Christmas everywhere and will post pictures of it soon. I rode it to church yesterday, which was an adventure. My skirt kept scooting up my legs. Mom thinks maybe I could get weights for my skirt, like the ones you put on a tablecloth. Also, as I was crossing Monterey, my shoe fell off, so I had to pick it up, turn around, and start across the intersection all over again. Phew!

I have to go clean so I can go to the movies with Madelyn, but I will write a new post as soon as I think of something interesting to write about!

Otras cosas...

So... a couple weeks ago, I was at a choir performance in Palm Springs when my friend "Joe" came up to me and said, "Okay, Emily, brace yourself."
"Okay..." I said obliviously.

"We all got into All-State!" said Joe. (Meaning himself, the other guy who was in regional, and I)

Upon which, I literally squealed. A lady who  had been talking to us about our performance said something about insurance. :)

Anyway, it will be in March and I am very excited, of course! You are all invited to come and see me in the choir. I am sure it will be sensational!

I have more to tell, but I will do it when I have pictures to illustrate.

It is SO the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

And I would just add- FINALLY. I think I have been anticipating this season since about July. Thank goodness it's here. I'm already doing my best to be nicer to everyone and make changes for the better in my life. Forget the election (I couldn't vote in it anyway); Christmas is officially a time for change. I challenge everyone who actually reads this blog to find one way to make the world a little better, no matter what you're celebrating. Visit relatives you haven't seen in a while, volunteer at a soup kitchen, and if you can handle it, begin the process of mending severed ties with someone you used to be friends with. After all, how can we have peace on earth without peace in high school?

Or whatever microcosm of the world you're part of. High school is just my case.

Anyway, this Christmas is going to be amazingly joyful. It's my last one living at home (hopefully, Mom generally adds here) since I'll be off to college next year. It should be full of school choir performances, church choir practices and concert, gift giving, charity, and a lot of new realizations about Christmas for me. I'm reading the New Testament right now, so I'm looking out for epiphanies.

You have a Merry Christmas too! This season (and anything, really) will be what you make it- what you want it to be! I'm sure it will be wonderful. :)

Letters That Are Not for Me

Some of you may know that when I was in eighth grade, I had a huge Billy Joel fetish. It was pretty serious. :)  I still love Mr. Joel's music, voice, and sincerity, but it now appears that my love of them has gone too far.

You will understand momentarily.

They ask you if you want letters from the Army and Navy and such, remember? Since I'm not interested in the military or any of that, I tried to thwart those questions in any way possible. And even though I'm pretty positive I checked "No" whenever they asked me, apparently, on one fateful instance, I enscribed Billy Joel's name onto a line meant for me. I don't remember it, but it must have happened because of what has ensued since.

Ha ha ha. Truth is stranger than fiction, huh? :)

You Will Never Believe How Amazing of a Day this has Been

So. All in ONE WONDERFULLY WONDERFUL DAY:

I notated a song I wrote yesterday.

I talked to my crush for a while today at lunch. 

As a side note, My sister thinks he likes me. :)))))))

I took pictures at a photo shoot for the high school yearbook for Senior Mosts; I won iTunes Featured Artist, which is basically most musical. :)

I went and saw Ray Bradbury at the Rancho Mirage Public Library!! It was basically the most enlightening experience of my whole entire freaking life! Har har har.

Really, though, he was a very nice, wise old man who was all too willing to impart of his knowledge to a grateful audience. At least, grateful on my part. I can't vouch for everyone else.

I even got a picture with him. I just have to put it up here because it makes me so happy!!!

Miss Brown Conquers Her Infirmities and Gets a Giant Needle Stuck in her Arm

Yes, you have read that mouthful of a title correctly.  Ladies and Gents, for the first time in my seventeen years, yesterday, I donated blood.

It was scary. It was nerve-wracking. But at the end of it, it was a self-fulfilling experience. All the way. :)

They even gave me a shirt:

I will now give you, readers, a play-by-play account of what it was like.

It starts like this:

We have known about the blood drive for a few weeks now. I am seventeen, so I can legally donate whenever I feel like it, apparently. But I am, as those of you who know me can attest, a bit of a wimp. I've heard many terrifying horror stories where the nurse didn't know what she was doing and dug around in someone's arm looking for a vein. People pass out if they haven't eaten enough. Even my Dad, who is a giant at 6'4" and the last person you'd expect to freak out, faints when he gives blood. 

So I have my reasons, right?

But then there are those reasons why we should. Donating blood does amazing things like saving people who are dying from blood loss. When you donate, you're basically doing your part to help save the world. Not to mention that I have O Negative blood, which I kind of consider my personal mandate from the universe to donate blood as much as possible. (O Negative can donate to all blood types)

But anyway, all day I was asking people whether they were going to donate. I decided that I would go fifth period, since I could eat and stuff at lunch and I would be less likely to have a bad experience. So, at lunch, I ate some chips, which was really not enough, and then when it was over, a bunch of friends and I went to the Mini-Gym at school and began the process.

First, you sign in. This is so that they can attest that you missed class for legitimate reason. They ask you a bunch of questions about whether you have donated before and stuff. Then, you fill out this little form, and if you forgot your ID like I did, you get a temporary one printed out in the counseling office. Then you go back. They made me eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and drink water since I hadn't eaten enough. Then I waited in a line of chairs, after which they enter you into their program. Then you wait in another line of chairs. All the while I am talking to my friend Courtney and my other friend Caitlin and saying positive things like "I am not scared. At all." 

When I was next, this lady called me into this little booth and asked me all sorts of questions about my health and weird things about who you've had sex with. I should have just said I was a virgin right off. I could have skipped so many of those. :) The only question I answered yes was whether I have been out of the country in the last 3 years. You know all about that. Then she took my blood pressure and stuck my finger to see if I'm anemic. I'm not. Then I went and sat in a chair and waited.

Eventually it was my turn and the nurse who was with me took my blood pressure again and put this tourniquet thing on my arm. You know what I mean, probably. Then she rubbed my arm with iodine on this giant q-tip, which tickled a lot. Then again, I'm ticklish pretty much everywhere. Sometime in there, she had me squeeze that little stress ball so she could find my vein. My veins aren't really visible from the surface, but she found them okay. Phew. :)

And then I looked away and she stuck the needle in.

It didn't hardly even hurt! At first, when I was squeezing the ball, I flexed my wrist upward, which hurt because I could feel the needle, but if you bend your wrist back, the needle stays straight and it's okay. :) Then the lady noticed my trip on the question paper, so I told her about it and she talked about how her grandma went to Vienna. And pretty soon it was over and she took the thing out and wrapped blue gauze stuff on my arm and then I was drinking water and eating cookies. You have to stay in the waiting area for about fifteen minutes and drink juice or whatever. I went to the bathroom and then I came back and hung out with my friends. 

We got T-shirts, even though they only had large and extra large left, and we stuck stickers on ourselves. They said things like "I survived the blood drive," "Done Sangre," which is Italian, and "Kiss me; I gave blood today." Courtney and I went back to English together, eventually. In English we talked about a poem. After class, my friend Scott was so proud of me for donating blood that he gave me a giant hug. :) And then I got my Passive Voice quiz back and I got 100%! Mrs. Marshall even put a sticker on it! :) Ha ha ha.

So that's the end of donating blood. Everyone should do it. Especially me. I live right near the hospital here, so I will be. I might have just been really happy because it wasn't a catastrophe, but I really felt like some kind of superhero. I kind of didn't want to take the gauze stuff off, except that it was bugging my arm.

Hmmmm. The End. :)

This will be short-

Okay, here's what's been going on, briefly:

-I made SVCA Honor Choir! We will be performing in November. :)

-I went to the dance on Saturday and it was very fun.

- I got a senior most for the yearbook! It's called iTunes Featured Artist and it's for the most musical senior girl and boy! Yessssssssss...

-I am still alive after the Death of a Salesman test!

Anyway, I am pretty happy and I will post something interesting as soon as I have more time. 

Last Night

This is just a poem that entered my head last night after I sang at the Homecoming Game, so I thought I'd get it down here, broken and incomplete though it may be.

We, together,

Were singing. But I was singing aloud

And like a Greek play, we all knew the story

And its ending note. I was the choragos

But we were the chorus

Okay... not that one. That just spewed out out of my fingers randomly. This is actually what I was thinking.

All the world looked goodness

And the stars were surely closer

While I existed smiling

Sipping sweet effervescence

And drinking deep from the yellow cup of happiness

Dear Leslie,

I guess I just wanted to write this post because it sounded like a cool, best-friend like thing to do. And since it sounds like things are pretty hard.

Which is why I will be calling you in about five seconds.

So let me just say (and look out, everyone who is allergic to corniness)... well, let me just say a lot of things.

 I am so amazingly glad that I met you at that random scripture mastery event when we were both hanging out with David.

I am just as ecstatic that we became better friends at Girls' Camp that one year when I played piano for you and we talked about Pride and Prejudice.

 I am thrilled and overjoyed that we hung out at every stake dance after that and floated your rubber duck in the sink that one time.

I am amazed that we became the best of friends just as I was going through a turbulent time in my life with other, less wonderful friends.

I am so blessed to be able to look back on all the awesome times and Wednesdays we have had together, the British Movie Marathons, the cookies on your birthday, going to plays, and everything in between. :)

And I am crazily happy that you are still the most awesome, strong, righteous, artistic, coherent, educated, wonderful friend that you have always been to me.

So, thank you.

It's looking like it's time for a Leslie and Emily British Marathon Day... which is probably why I felt so weird and discouraged about going to Homecoming on Saturday. :)

And if I ever do get a record deal, I am so paying for all the college you could ask for.

Love, your friend,

Emily