Northwestern

ZOMG, I LOVE NORTHWESTERN. Except the cold. And snow. But other than that...

The campus is really pretty. The people are really nice. The atmosphere is really great. Now I just hope I got in.

But anyways, we left bright and early Thursday morning and headed to el airporto. And my dad drove really slow. And then we waited in a long line to check our one stupid bag. And then we almost missed our plane. And then we didn't. And then we got to Chicago. And then we went to the baggage carousel. And then our stupid bag wasn't there. Yeah. American lost the bag. So we reported it, we were guaranteed that it was in Boston and that it would be delivered to the hotel, and we took a shuttle to our hotel.

JHU/Peabs

Oh man. I love Peabody. And JHU. I like much. Much much much. Gah. <3

ANYWAYS... time to be rational. So we flew down on Sunday morning, took the train into Baltimore, walked 3 blocks, and were at Peabody. So easy. So nice. So cheap ($1.60 for the train... :D). We got there, wandered around some, and they let us into the hotel around noonish (we weren't supposed to check in until about 2). It was cool because they have an "Elderhostel" program, where old people can stay for a week and take classes about music and stuff. So they reserve that space for a week for auditions. So it's on campus and centrally located and you get a key to get into campus and all. I found a practice room on campus and practiced and picked out a reed; such a good use of 2 hours. I then met up with Hillary and we (her, me, my mommy, her parents) met up and ate dinner. It was a good time. And then we went back to hotel. And then we sleep.
Monday: AUDITION DAY! So yes. It was audition day. I was scared. Yet not crazy scared. It was weird and hard to quantify. So we got up and checked in, which gave me official times and places for everything I needed. I couldn't start warming up until 10:55. My mom and I went to the dining hall and got way overpriced food (hey, it's college). And then she went to a parent's meeting and I went to the hotel and tried to stay calm. I got my warmup room. I warmed up. It felt good. I went up to my audition at 11:40 like I was supposed to. Hillary came out. I went in. It was really cool because he treated it like a lesson. He let me play a lot (I had about 20-25 minutes of music) but also offered good tips. In total I was there for 35 minutes. It was supposed to take 20. I hope that's a good sign. I then took my theory test and my ear training test. I think they both went well. I hope. :D.
So then we went back to the hotel (I know, we lived there...). I crashed for a bit and tried not to think about my audition. I didn't want to freak out too much. Anyways. My mom and I walked some more through Baltimore and ate and stuff. All very good.
So the next morning, my mom and I got up, ate breakfast at the "Maestro Cafe" (yay for music schools!), and got a Peabody t-shirt and packed up and checked out of the hotel. We left our stuff and took the bus over to JHU. I really liked JHU as well. It was almost weird how much I liked it. It was this really pretty campus right in the middle of the busy city. It was like its own little pretty paradise. I liked a lot. I did the typical info session and tour thing and I really solidly liked the campus. Way more than expected. Top choice now? I dunno, maybe.
So then we took the shuttle back to Peabody, picked up our stuff, walked to the light rail station, took the train into the airport and flew home. Great trip. Really solid.

100th post!!!

So I know I said I'd finish that last post. But it's been a week and I can't seem to remember what I was going to finish it with. So I'll start a new one instead. So let's see. What's happened in the last week? Umm, I took my last AMC 12 ever. I got a 109.5. I qualified for AIME and will not go to USAMO. I'm pretty happy. And I got question #20. :D
Also, I got a lovely facebook message today (or yesterday, not sure) telling me that I'm going to die when I see my all-state music. Well, or be happy. I'm not really sure. In music they're basically the same thing (aka, lots of work needed but big solo ftw). So I think I'm happy about that. Granted I'm not sure when I'm supposed to learn a big solo... I gots auditions a plenty in the next week. So I guess that's the big exciting thing...
AUDITIONS! AKA, spend lots of money trying to get to a school just to be rejected because you get nervous. Okay, so I hope it won't happen like that (though it probably will). But yes. I got my audition time and date for Northwestern and we booked it. So next week will probably be a crazy week (with little blogging... though when I do it should be good). I leave for Peabody (Baltimore) on Sunday, audition Monday, and come back Tuesday night. I am home Wednesday (yay for homework), leave Thursday for Northwestern (Chicago), audition Friday, come home Saturday morning. It should be a fun time. Well, except the auditioning. That should be thoroughly not fun. Gah. I don't want to die.
So I have an APES test tomorrow. I want to do well. I won't. Duh.
Well I need sleep. And practicing. And doing homework would probably be a good idea. Hmm. No motivation.
Oh and this is my hundredth post. woohoo!

Rarrrr

So yesterday was weird. Sort of like it didn't happen. It all felt like one big blur. But whatever. I was tired from doing something overly late (ahh the APES poster, of course) and just wanted to crash. And I had easy classes. Yet I wasn't allowed to sleep. A really frustrating combination. Doing nothing is bad enough. Doing nothing and being forced to do nothing is just awful. So whatever. I'm going braindead. It's okay.
And then I had a math meet. It was a home meet, which is always rather weird. But Bedford did really well. I had an absolutely atrocious meet. It was sad. I got a zero on a round. And it was an easy round. It was so sad. To be continued...

Success

So as much as I whine about my own procrastination, it does allow me to do some good work. Like apparently my humanities project was good. Sheinfeld and O'Toole both want me to record for next years classes. And Ms. O'Toole really wants me to try to get my piece published. I... don't really understand it. I thought it was okay, but apparently it was better than okay. Well, it's a big portion of our third quarter grade, and I need like a 57 for the term not to take a final, so hopefully that sets me up well. And I need to average a 24 over third and fourth quarter and the final in order to graduate. I think I can handle that. YAY for graduating.
Other than that, I am just living today exhausted. I was up until 4 AM yesterday and napped today from 1 to 5. Very helpful. Especially given I still have a significant amount of APES homework left. Poo.
And other than that, life continues. Senioritis is strong. Desire to get into college again is strong. Exhaustion is strong. Confusion is very strong.

Homework

So I have been effectively buried in homework for the past two nights. I'm already exhausted. I still have a sr. project log to write. I'm going to die. Okay, no. But procrastination is taking a tighter grip than it has in the past. And senioritis isn't helping. And it's so hard to work when you know the highest grade you need this term is a 73. Yeah. No motivation. Well, pride. But AP Bio kicked that out of me thoroughly.
And Griff has been killing us in homework. And it's all busy work. And I know what an arithmetic graph is; and I have for a while. And I can color... I learned that in AP Bio. So I have all the skills necessary. So why do you keep giving us worksheets? Gah.
Humanities project is done. And surprisingly, I think I'm actually happy with what I did. I know. Insane. We'll see how it goes over in class tomorrow. *crossing fingers*.
So I must go back to work. I need to stop the procrastination. But I don't wanna...

"Mahler Wrote for Big Boys"-Mark Miller

So today was an excellent day along the GBYSO front. My parents woke me up far too early with the misconception that it would cause me to be productive. I guess I was somewhat, but not terribly. I got more of the obnoxious amount of APES homework done. I don't know what Griff was thinking this weekend. He piled it all on. Just an absolute killer. Especially for a second semester senior. Well, at least they should help grades, right?
So then it was gbyso time. It was really hectic because of various chamber concerts and a weird selection of people were there. I hung with Avery and he made fun of my wave. Is it really that weird? Alas, c'est la vie. Rehearsals were good. Fed wasn't there which was sad, but we had Mark all day, which is fun when we're at the beginning of a concert set and you don't think he's going to kill you. So many sarcastic remarks were said and all was well. I need a reed with a bigger dynamic range for Mahler. Much bigger.
And I came home and just finished homeworking. And I should be off to bed.