gah

where are all the pianists of this world?
more specifically, where are all the ones i need?
for the purpose of this rant, i shall consider those who are pianists as those who:
* can play different styles (classical, contemporary). i don't mean to be highly skilled at them all. but at least to have the ability
* are able to sight-read to a fairly competant ability
* possess strong ensemble skills

and highly desirable, has some singing background too.
and would therefore be able to follow singers and understand their needs too.

yup.
zip.
well, the ones i may know won't be available.

and continuing on the rant...

everybody who intends to sing should play piano. because piano is probably the best extra skill (if it already isn't your primary capability) to have as a musician. particularly as a singer. singers can't do multiple notes. at all. and lots of singers i know are divas - get over it. you want to show the world your talent, the least you could do is help others out with what you've got. most people don't stand around you ooh-ing and aah-ing because you're usually not that good. get off your high horse and learn some piano so you could at least accompany to a competent level.

sorry, this is clearly an issue with so many musicians. and something i feel very strongly about.
if you want real work, work that will probably earn you the food on your table, you've got to be versatile. unfortunately, not every job will be enjoyable. that's life. deal with it. but if you can only do one thing, you had better be the best at it, or it will be a very tough road ahead of you.

so please, please, because i have firm ideas of what i expect, please do not tell me, "i am a pianist" when you do not fulfill the base level of my expectation. and please don't tell me you are a well-rounded musician if you do not at least dabble in the very least in 2 fields/instruments/musical activities outside your own. you would have very limited scope of what a musician does otherwise.

techniques

does everybody get asked as many questions about it as me?
because it feels like a lot of people ask me!

eg. when is it due?
what key is it in?
can the second episode be the same as the first episode?
why is there a middle entry?
how long is your episode?
what bar do we have to write up to?
what key is the second entry in?
can it just be free material?

et cetera.

now, my real wondering is:
1) does everybody get asked these questions?
2) if not, why does everybody ask me?

it's not that i don't appreciate them. it actually makes me learn a bit better.
but i'm just wondering why.

any comments/opinions/thoughts appreciated!

dreaming

the sky cloudless
the wind blowing my hair
on a beach that looked like home
the sea sparkling
the sand dazzling white

someone urged us to run along the beach
we ran along the broadwalk instead.
laughing
i feel the wooden planks underfoot
when our eyes meet
we throw our heads back in amusement
when we realise
how silly it must all look.
we're joined at the hand
in reassurance and gentleness

we meet a mutual friend
whom we have to pretend like
nothing's happening
it feels so secret
yet so big inside.

numbers

8.5: the number of hours of Urinetown auditions I sat through.
3: the number of hours we spent casting and trying to figure out roles for the auditionees.
75: the number of emails I have received from various people (mostly committee members) about MSS matters.
16: the number of days this new committee has been together. Yes, that's just over two weeks. An average of 4.6875 emails a day.
7: the number of hours I didn't check my email for on Thursday.
19: the number of emails I received in the aforementioned 7 hours.
5: the number of productive actions the MSS has taken so far. (I think.)
2: the number of meetings I had on Monday: Apollo and Melbourne Welcome.
4: the number of third year girls doing Melbourne Welcome. This is also equal to the number of second year boys doing Melbourne Welcome.
4: the number of Melbourne Welcome girls who are single and going to fight over English boys.
1: the number of Melbourne Welcome boys who are single and aren't going to be fighting over any of the girls.
3: the number of times I booked myself in for practice in the Basement.
9: the number of choristers who showed up to rehearsal on Tuesday.
2 3/4: the number of hours of the first read-through of Urinetown on Tuesday night.
1: the number of days before a concert I was asked to play for. (Don't worry, it went quite well :) )
1: the number of internationally-renowned economists I had formal dinner with at Fellow's Dinner. Who, I might add, we didn't have a great chance to talk to.
1: the number of internationally-renowned economists I now have to set up lunch with!
2: the number of QOTs I have administered in class this week.
13: the number of hours I was on-the-go on Thursday. It was a very long day...
2: the number of french horn boys I walked home with after the MUCO concert.
23987: the number of times I have checked Facebook in procrastination (of my essay).
5: the number of actual parts for the Urinetown orchestra.
1: the number of shocks about friends going to London I've had this week.
2: the number placing after playing the Strauss.
391757: the number of things I have to do this week!!!!

Things you may or may not know...

* I was going to skip a year in primary school. But my parents wanted me to remain in my year for my social development.
* My parents used to run a coffee shop.
* I went to Connecticut on exchange in 2002, skipping half of yr10.
* I really wanted to do gymnastics or ballet when I was a little girl. I did neither.
* I really wanted to own a horse at the age of seven. My mum asked where we'd put it.
* The only pets we've ever owned were goldfish. I was so jealous of my cousins - they had mice as well as a hermit crab.
* I used to take swimming lessons when I was in primary school. Like, pre-squad kinda thing. Working on technique. And diving! I was so proud when I learnt to dive over the kickboard that my teacher held out in front of the block.
* I don't enjoy some things such as basketball or gardening or monopoly (or even the subject field of Marketing) because family members of mine are fully into it. I just got turned off!
* I am a hopeless romantic. Flowers bowl me over. So do cards and messages. I just think it's nice. I'm also an idealist much of the time....
* I think I'm quite shy.
* I feel honoured when people ask me to do stuff.
* For high school, I really wanted to go to MLC, because my cousins went there. But I turned out ok from SMAGS...! I really appreciated my time there.
* I am now an incessant email and text message checker. I rely on communication to get me through the day, and I can't go anywhere without my mobile. Sad huh?
* My idea of a good night out is enjoying the company of my friends, possibly listening to some awesome music (of which 'awesome' encompasses a wide range) and generally having a good time of which I remember all of it!
* I'd like to think I am a popular kind of person. I know, big-headed. Anyway, I don't think I am....I think I'm pretty average in most respects.
* This may come as a shock, it may not. And this is really putting myself out there, and oh well....I've never been kissed. I've never been in a relationship. Go figure.
* I think I must have been an ugly/odd looking child, judging by how many specialists I've seen...apart from the doctor, dentist, I've been to the orthodontist, dermatologist, podiatrist and physiotherapist.
* Yep, I was a nerd at school :) I took yr 9 and 10 maths in grade 9, then the hardest yr 11 maths in grade 10, although I couldn't finish it due to going overseas.
* I have vivid recollections of pre-primary, which included bowls of fruit, 'Wombat Stew' as the end of year play, finger painting and Santa coming at Christmas (although I knew my present was from my mum. It was so distinctively her wrapping and the gift, I could just tell, was from her).
* My favourite presents as a kid were things like coloured pencils, textas and crayons. I loved to draw. I used to have a scrapbook when I was 3 and every day I drew a picture of a house in it. Needless to say, my book filled up very quickly while my brother's remained quite empty...

More to follow when they pop up...

ahhh!!!!!

now i get it!
why i'm so busy...!

because i'm overloading by 6.25pts this semester!

which is only 2hrs extra a week, but is an afternoon/evening that i don't have to myself.

ahhh! now i get it!!!

wow. i had totally forgotten about that.

stuff that's happened

today on the way to class i saw the IH girls soccer team walking back and saw ling. which was nice - i haven't seen her for ages.
after class i had to go to the shops, and cutting through uni, i ran into two girls i know, but can't remember where from! weird...i think one was from JCH and the other said hi, but i've totally forgotten and i feel terrible for not remembering!! :)
while walking down lygs there was dawn, sitting out on the pavement at a cafe. had a little chat to her! then walking out of lygon court, i ran into gene, whom i haven't talked to in a very long time.

so that was a very exciting morning all round because i bumped into people i don't normally do and had a chat with most of them! very nice. plus it's a nice day, so that made me feel a bit happier too!

we had our first MSS 2007-8 meeting yesterday during concert class. yes, that's right...i skipped class to go to a meeting! it's alright, i can make it up next week. probably only to propagate even further that i am in second year. get it right peoples, i am in third year...! haha.

rowing day was on sunday. queen's didn't win. oh well. trinity did. it was so funny, we had been saying that the trinity boys were all twice the size of ours! and then we were walking back, and i see angus, and he's there in a zootie, putting a boat away, and with a medal around his neck. and i put two and two together (and get four) and realise that angus is one of the trinity rowers who'd won! very cool, but very funny at the same time!

last night was the apollo concert, "recital by candlelight" at the trinity college chapel.
yes, in the week leading up to this (apart from being hideously busy with a lot of stuff on), i was kinda nervous about it. we had an extra rehearsal on monday and our normal reherasal on tuesday, but added the orchestra for the vivaldi. then we were out of a room so we had to rehearse in the corridor. not ideal,but it worked out.

then the concert...it was quite exciting! it was my first public concert at which i conducted, i believe....so my public conducting debut hehe! and i got to share it with apollo! i've really grown to nurture this choir as my own, i'm starting to re-consider the role of T in it all....i feel like it's my baby..! the people are totally awesome; they are hard-working, and they're lots of fun and even though there is a distinct role of a conductor, some of them are in my year at uni, and most of them have become friends which is nice!

anyway.....there has been a lot of stuff this week, but i really don't feel like telling it all now. perhaps you should just talk to me about it all. whatever.
it's just been really busy but quite happy all round!

little uni --> much other stuff

Case in point, as an example.
Tuesday 8 May

Wake up 6.27am
Shower
Breakfast
Morning: Piano practice
10am: Meet with Pete to prepare for Bible study
11.30am-1pm: Meet with Erica for mentoring
Lunch
2.15-3.15pm: Class
3.45pm: Mozart competition, me actually competing
4.15pm: accompany for Mozart competition
5pm: rehearsal to train my soloist to sing for a concert on Thursday night
5.30-7pm: Choir, make sure they sound at least decently ok for Thursday night
7.01-7.42pm: walk home, eat dinner
7.45-8.45pm: College tutorial
9.30pm: Bible study
10.30pm or so (whenever we're done): come back to my room and start homework.

I kid you not, there is actually only one hour of scheduled university class in that.
I'm sorry if I'm a really bad friend to you all in the next three weeks - there is much to be done.
And not enough time to do it.
Please don't ask me about "so-and-so night". I don't know what's going on. The most pressing matters are what is the big stuff. Usually a day in advance. There are no plans for the weekend yet because it will probably be filled with homework and study. And hopefully some recovery (well, that was the plan last weekend...didn't quite work out. Silly rowing day kinda gets in the way of life in general.)

So, if I'm snappy, you'll know why.
Try to be sympathetic; I'll try to minimise the amount of fatigue and stress shown and displayed by my character as much as possible. Please try to understand!

Why I took on this new role (and new roles in general this year...) has been totally beyond me.
This is what I do now:
Apollo Choir
MSS VP
Jude's SMC
co-MD-ing for QC musical 2007
[the above four are basically executive kind of roles]

Melbourne Welcome 2007
Connect
accompanying x a lot
trio

piano
work (attempt to...)
piano
commerce
piano
sinfonia
piano
maintain some sort of sane life
piano

no wonder i'm not succeeding...! i think i'm about to collapse and fall apart....

The review!

Okay, so I'm supposed to be doing assignments. But blogging is just so much more exciting.
Furthermore, I'm listening to The Idea of North at the present moment, and it makes me feel like talking all about it!
So here it is....

A little group of us met at Queen's...hehe. I didn't realise how varied my little sub-group was because I walked into the arch with Penny and was like, "Hi Min!", "Hi Emma!", "Hi Ed!", "Hi Anna!" in this amazing succession and also noticed that all the people who were supposed to meet were all there, but they weren't talking to each other because they didn't know each other - they're all from different walks of my life hehe!
Alas, we got to the tramstop, picked up a few extra people, and met Gina and part of her massive group.
We got to Flinders and I was a bit paranoid that the #72 wasn't going to come for a long time.
But alas, we did get it, and in good time too!
We got to the venue 20 mins before it started! This is an amazing achivement for us. Apart from the very first time when Sam and I went to the concert at Collins St Baptist Church, we have been cutting it very very fine at Chapel off Chapel twice already (due to mishaps with trams...)

Wow. We walked in and I must have recognised about half the people already there - this really is a testament to how big our group was! Haha. It was fantastic seeing so many people I knew there! We even spotted a few teachers from the con, including a lecturer (for the subject that Ed takes that he was writing an assignment on this concert for! Hehe..!), as well as two promiment figures in the Early Music Studio! (This is perhaps quite far from early music....oh well!)

[wow, this is totally following Gina's format exactly..I'm sorry girl, you've done yours so well! Haha...I'll persist...]

To tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive about Trish not being there! (Trish is on maternity leave! Which is totally exciting for her and all her family and friends! But kinda sad for us too...) So, filling in for Trish was Sally Cameron on soprano. She did a wonderful job - apparently she's learnt about 35 songs since December. This is a tough ask...! Considering how hard some of the songs are (I would particularly note 'Just Kidding' and the saxaphone song..!) Of course, she's not Trish - their voices are quite different, but she fitted in quite well!

The concert opened with Mas Que Nada. There have been lots of renditions of this hit song (Anna particularly likes The Black Eyed Peas version. I have to agree with her, it's so funky, it makes you feel like dancing!) This was so much fun :) Everytime I go to a TION concert and it starts out with something so cool, I just know that it will be a fantastic night!
Marie was next, where a dear old lady, Judy, was serenaded by Nick (awww..!) Haha. I love how this song becomes a running joke through the entire concert!
Sting's Fields of Gold was a new addition to the set - but totally a worthy addition. So too was the Aretha Franklin song. In this, plus Revelation I think Sally's voice suited very well. She has a different sort of power and tone to her voice that really does these songs justice.

To tell you the truth, I was a bit apprehensive about Trish not being there! (Trish is on maternity leave! Which is totally exciting for her and all her family and friends! But kinda sad for us too...) So, filling in for Trish was Sally Cameron on soprano. She did a wonderful job - apparently she's learnt about 35 songs since December. This is a tough ask...! Considering how hard some of the songs are (I would particularly note 'Just Kidding' and the saxaphone song..!) Of course, she's not Trish - their voices are quite different, but she fitted in quite well!
The concert opened with Mas Que Nada. There have been lots of renditions of this hit song (Anna particularly likes The Black Eyed Peas version. I have to agree with her, it's so funky, it makes you feel like dancing!) This was so much fun :) Everytime I go to a TION concert and it starts out with something so cool, I just know that it will be a fantastic night!
Marie was next, where a dear old lady, Judy, was serenaded by Nick (awww..!) Haha. I love how this song becomes a running joke through the entire concert!
Sting's Fields of Gold was a new addition to the set - but totally a worthy addition. So too was the Aretha Franklin song. In this, plus Revelation I think Sally's voice suited very well. She has a different sort of power and tone to her voice that really does these songs justice.

The German folksong unfortunately has never been one of my favourites on the CDs but seeing it live did it much more justice! I have greater appreciation for this song now! Hehe. It is so funny seeing it live; the stage presence and actions are just perfect! And who would have thought about replacing words with random noises..? Woof, hee-haw, others...hehe :P

The Chicken Song also featured. Hehe! This song is so fantastic live. I think Sally characterised the chicken very well in this. Trish's chicken is a more lovable fluffy thing while Sally's is a bit more blonde :) (I mean that in the nicest possible way!)

They did People Get Ready ('a classic Curtis Mayfield song')...I was wondering how they were going to do it considering that on The Gospel Project they do it with backing. But this was just beautiful :) Andrew doing his percussion thing...! Let It Ring, also from TGP was there...this is such a beautiful song; Nick really does Michael Leunig well! And they sang my SHOWER SONG! (But Not For Me, the Gershwin classic). I love this song! The reason it's my shower song is because I sing it in the shower and it fits into my vocal range that early in the morning.. :P Also because it's totally cool and Naomi gets the awesome solo (yay altos!)

The chaser for the end of the first set was hilarious. It has totally escaped me what the tune for this was, but it was familiar. Apart from you know, the change of words, imploring the audience to come back after interval :) Typical Idea of North... :P

Bach's Fugue in c minor from The WTC was performed on kazoos...just to prove that TION are not cover bands! In the middle of it, they launched into a jazz number, before the closing of the fugue! The subjects and entries were very clearly defined, the piano staff at the Con would be proud! Hehe. :P Nick made this awesome dig at cover bands (despite you know, respecting them and all...)....I mean, Melbourne has its fair share.....take the MSO for example.......HAHAHAH. [I had seriously just commented to Ed, "Well, we are all classical musicians, you know, we play in symphony orchestras...."!] This of course raises up interesting points and could launch into a full-scale debate about originality in (classical) music....oh well. This is not the time nor place......but I thought this was MOST ironic considering that Vivien and John (the two Early Music Studio people mentioned before) were in the audience!!! Hahaha.

Just Kidding was awesome too. That is so hard!!!! Chuck that in with No More Blues and I think you've got a beautiful little display of TION's virtuosity. But put Jackie in....! This song was originally a jazz piece, for solo saxaphone (and band behind it, I guess...) And then somebody went nuts and put words to the solo bits. It's absolutely crazy!!! ('I saw a mouse...' hehe!) The solos by all four of the singers were totally awesome. (One of those times Ed would have needed the "yeah" nodding look or the "no no no! You did not just do that!" shaking of the head...all in that jazz style..! Haha..)

Rachel, Trish's beautiful song was performed; so too was Fragile, much to the pleasure of Kenneth! That is a song that's beautiful live too. :) (Perhaps I'm just listening to some too often haha!) There was even the Ugly Woman song. I love this one. Haha. Don't worry Nick, I'm not sure if this has ever happened in real life, but none of us could ever imagine this! After one of Nick's solos, I commented to Ed, "And that's probably why every woman here would want to marry him (hehe!)" and Ed said, "Ooh, and me!" (don't worry, he has a girlfriend, but I think that just must be a testament to how awesome Nick is..!)

And they ended with Isn't She Lovely. Which was totally awesome. I know all the words don't really make sense...but this is a song I want at my wedding reception..! (Perhaps they could come do it for me....with some words altered..? Surely it's possible...! Hehe) And we all got to sing bits too :) We did sound pretty good, so much that Nick asked, "Are you guys are choir or something?" (somebody, Vivien, I read, said quite emphatically, "yes!"...haha). Well, considering that half of our massive group are musos.....

The encore was (read: WAS) a hymn (before Idea got to it..and did funny cool things!): Just a Closer Walk With Thee. I don't actually think I can remember how the original goes now! Haha. It was wonderful...Emma and I really wanted to sing along to it all..complete with harmonies! Hehe....(music nerrrrds..!)

It was a wonderful concert! Of course, things are a little different with Sally instead of Trish - there are only a few issues that you listen and think, "hmm.." but considering it's her fourth gig...it's pretty darn amazing! Again, it was filled with fun, humour, long rambling introductions by Nick, telling Nick off (hehe), cool solos (particularly percussion ones!), odd instruments and awesome awesome music!

We stayed around after to meet and greet them.....of course :P Sorry to my friends who wanted to go home earlier.....be warned: I do this! Haha. Unfortunately Sam went home early (of all people!! Haha) We got our obligatory photos....
We talked to Naomi and did confirm that her uncle is Jeffrey Crellin, oboist with MSO. Naomi was like, "He's freakishly musical, it's amazing." I so wanted to say, "Naomi, so are you!!" Haha. Having said that, I am in total respect of freakishly musical people, of which I know a few!
We had photos taken.
We talked to Nick, we told him the website is awesome (check it out at www.idea.com.au)
and generally had an amazing night.

(Hah. Nick, when we were talking to him made a reference to stumbling across Gina's blog which was pretty cool!)
Anyway, I have a few photos from the night that are currently posted on facebook
so look for them there. There are also two below......if you'd like the photos, please feel free to save them yourself. If you want me to send them to you, please ask too :)

Wow, that was my amazingly long review.
Which has gotten me out of doing my microeconomics assignment for about 45 mins. I wish my life was about singing! Or hey, perhaps playing piano...!




set lists - we had to take a photo because ed needs it for his Music In Australia assignment. We seriously contemplated taking them, but I pointed out they were doing another concert the following night. Imagine all the things that could have gone wrong...."What are we singing next..?!"

The Idea of North!

I know, I didn't even post up photos from my birthday, and that was last week!
But the reason is because there are about 170 photos from that, and I'm trying to sort through them all.
Alas, stuff is out of order! But here are pictures from tonight's concert by The Idea of North!
It was yet another great night out - and we weren't late this time (woohoo!)
They weren't launching a CD or anything, so there was a good mix of older and new-ish stuff.
The fill-in soprano is doing a great job - she fits in really well! And she's doing very well, 35 songs since December..? Very grand effort!
Her renditions in the Aretha Franklin song as well as 'Revelation' were particularly excellent.

Enough of pseudo-reviews....
Here are a couple of pictures!

Emma, Min, Tim, Naomi, me, Lauren

Naomi, Sally, me, Andrew, Nick (they're not actually all my height ie. short..
they were very kind :) )

stuff i'm working on

bach prelude and fugue (f sharp minor, bk2)
chopin etude op. 25 no. 11 (winter wind)
moskowzski etude (a flat major)
mozart concerto in d minor, 1st movt
should be looking forward to 2nd semester, including bach prelude and fugue (d major, bk2)
i wanted to do the bach-busoni chaccone. it's insane. but totally cool.
rautuuvaara (can't spell his name...) fire sermon (piano sonata)
beethoven piano sonata op.110
three debussy preludes
debussy l'isle joyeaux (from images..? or something like that..)
ravel, something from miroirs

that's just my solo stuff

ensemble stuff includes
trio music, trio by bruch (three pieces, out of eight)
we should really look at some more too....

accompanying
did 2nd movt, haydn trumpet concerto
did the schumann adagio and allegro
did gordon jacob horn concerto 3rd movt
haydn horn concerto
strauss 2nd horn concerto (sooo hard..!)
saint-seans romance for piano and horn
mozart horn concerto, 1st movt
two song cycles (poulenc, gerald finzi)
some other songs
beethoven cello sonata op.102 no.2


no wonder i'm playing a lot.....!


the most recent one is the beethoven cello. this is the most exciting proposal in a long while....
my name and number got passed onto zoe, who teaches cello at the con.
she's running a beethoven project, involving the performance of all the beethoven cello sonatas.
well, i thought it was just for her students to play with piano students. pretty cool, huh, get hooked up with somebody to play some awesome music?
anyway, she called yesterday and asked me to play this specific sonata....
then proceded to give me a date (july 31) to play for a LIVE BROADCAST ON 3MBS
so, it's not just for kicks and to play with somebody. it's to play FOR PERFORMANCE.
pretty sweet, is what i think!
even my teacher didn't realise it was for broadcast....she thinks it's pretty cool too!

also, i've been roped in to help co-musical direct the queen's musical.
now tell me where i'm going to fit that in....

also, if you're free at 3.45pm on tuesday 8 may, please come to melba hall to hear me play in the mozart concerto competition!
all welcome, competition runs that day, the previous friday, some other days..(can't quite remember them all..but all up about 3-4 days with lots of piano, strings, winds/brass)
to make it more interesting for you, although a stack of people are playing the same concerto as me (the d minor), i have written my own cadenza! oooohhhh!!!! BE THERE! :) [i'd love to see your smiling, supporting, encouraging face!]

hmm...

if you didn't know, i guess you could think something was up.
we're oh-too-friendly hehe!
the leaning in
the whispering in the ear
the catch of the eye
the knowing smile
the plans, currently in the early stages

i wonder what they must have been thinking behind us...haha!

but not for me...

A link you should check out...

http://www.queens.unimelb.edu.au/qi_static/clickstreams/2007/teamhoyt.html

I hope this is the right link....it's supposed to be of 'The World's Strongest Father', and is the most amazing story.
Hopefully you get a screen that has a lot of text at the top, and a video at the bottom.
Read the text first, then you'll understand the video.
Watch the video (the song is AWESOME!)
The video is so moving - I bawled my eyes out.
Tell me what you think.

[if this link gives you something about a reporter and weed...let me know, because that's the wrong one....hmm..]

so why am i here..?

if these are the things i'm currently involved in, or things that take all my time, apart from homework:

apollo choir
unichurch committee
jude's carlton music team
accomopanying
piano practice (technically homework, but oh-so-much more...for what other subject could you possibly claim to do up to 3hrs work a day on..?!)
connect
mentoring
possibly MD for musical
library work

these are the things that are due:
micro assignment
techniques assignment
global essay
piano prac! (this is not technically 'due', but is constant, and needs work...you definitely can't cram this one!)

no wonder.....!!!

things from the past...

So, a few weeks ago, I listened to a programme on ABC radio about the wandering mendiant monks in Japan. Who wore baskets on their heads. Who were like exiled ex-samuri masters. Who played shakuhachi. And who developed the repertoire for this instrument.
It was wonderful to re-learn all this.

And I went to the NGV with my family last week, and although we didn't get to see the entire museum, we did go to the Studying collection. Or something like that.
And I saw a painting or something which depicted or was at least part of the Ramayana Hindu epic. The story was on the little plaque that tells the context of the 'artefact'. It was totally cool that I knew what this was about.

And I've also come to the realisation, although I think I knew this a while ago, that if I like somebody, I sometimes shy away from giving them attention (to their face). It even manifests itself in not looking into their eyes. Just in case, just somehow, they could possibly look into mine and see that I like them. Silly, but that's how it goes. On the other hand, not to their face, they often receive a lot of good words from me! But you'd have to go to my friends for those...

So, briefly, the family visiting was nice. Unfortunately, had an assigment due that week, and had lots of piano practice to do, so I was basically coming into uni/Queen's every day. But I still got to spend time with them, which was good. We ate out almost every day - wow! The apartment was a bit squishy, but oh well. It was nice to see them. They really enjoyed Melbourne, and by the sounds of it, it would seem that my dad would be all too enthusiastic about moving here!

aww..that's cute!

yesterday i received a gift!
it contained things that made me laugh.
i smiled a lot as i opened each component.
i was expecting to be given more scores (much as i love gifts, i also love scores hehe)
but i was pleasantly surprised!

thank you for your thoughtfulness! :)

Les Miserables

'to love another person is to see the face of God'

i've recently been listening to all the tracks that i have from this musical.
and i remember why i think this is such an awesome show!
and also because i've been trying to pick whether the horn plays a hideous wrong note/mistake of a semitone out...(thanks sam!)

quotes

(about doing tremolo on the violin): "it's like brushing your teeth!"

(about meeting a friend on the tram to the opera): "if i didn't know who he was, it would have looked like you'd just scored a date to the opera on the tram"

(about a friend with whom it just wouldn't happen, at least not in the current situation): "you two look so couply"

birthdays
assignments - argh!
photos
musicals
operas
dinners
parents
movies
rsvps
facebook updates
gender-politics-economics-eastern europe
concerts
con friends

coming soon

will be the full review of One Man Dies.
plus pictures! (sorry, i was one of the annoying people with a flash camera, and for the first half, a noisy camera! but i have some great pictures - if you would like any, please let me know!)
i went last night to closing night - again, another very enjoyable night!
I think it gets better every night, and it was definitely worth going the second time...although i think some of the cast and crew kinda looked at me thinking, "didn't you just see this last night?!" hehe :P
it was great though!

the good friday service was very good yesterday. it was just beautiful and so reflective.
i am totally excited about easter this year - in the weeks leading up to it i've just felt this incredible enthusiasm and excitement about telling everybody about how awesome easter is!
i guess working through luke's gospel at jude's and bible study has just been pretty amazing too.

on a slightly different, yet related note, i have totally been getting into christian music.
the words are just so encouraging.
thanks heaps to the people who have helped me expand this collection!



so, my family is coming today! if you're at jude's on sunday night, they will be there! i'm so excited that they're finally coming to see what i rave on about!

anyway, i think i should go practice/pack/do homework.....i don't anticipate there will be much time for it once they get here..!
xoxo

what a busy day!

I did cheat today....even though i said id be at uni all day, i actually came home for a little while!
and listened to my lecture (was planning to do that at uni though) and also managed to have a little nap! (could not have done that at uni).
but it was a busy day.....today was the first day i'd been into the giblin library! and managed to find some books that were relevant to my proposed essay topic. there are HEAPS of books in there!!! wow!!!
we got to play more tchaikovsky in sinfonia today - it was cool :)

then (the real reason for this post!), we went to see the Jude's musical One Man Dies.
It was sooo good! Wow, it was done soooo well!

if you do read this, do see if you can get along tomorrow night - it's the last night that it's on!

sam was awesome in his portrayal of jesus, the characters of matthew, sarah and lazarus i thought were highlights. but no doubt, they were all totally awesome!!!!
WOW WOW WOW!
i think i should go tomorrow night as well. i really don't mind paying another $12 to see my friends perform and be reminded again of the easter story.

so, while i didn't get almost any work done today, i felt in other ways, it was productive.
i guess it's a pity that i often equate productivity with work. ergh!

wow wow wow. i am so impressed with it!
kudos particularly to ben and sam, who get my votes as heroes for today!
xoxo

commentary

inverted 5th and the root and its effect on global warming

hehe!

i kid you not, about seven different people commented about my hair today.
maybe because:
1) it's getting long!
2) it was out (rather than up)
3) it's CLEAN! :) (not that it isn't usually, but i guess more evident than up and clean..)

and people said that it looks nice! Hehe :P
that was nice.

random, i know. but i thought it was amusing.

even a good friend couldn't recognise me from the back! haha

as to its length, let me expain. when i was younger, i usually had fairly short hair (until i convinced my mum that i needed longer hair to do up for school, particularly at smags)
however, it was still fairly short.
but the latest time i went for a haircut (just the summer gone) i decided i wanted to finally keep my hair long. so all i asked was for a trim and a re-layering, so that most of the length was kept (i liked my length!). so here it is, growing itself out!

sorry, am really done with random stories now...!

so thanks for all the comments today :)

weird....

In the past week and a bit, these are the comments that have struck me the most, because different people have asked me these, several times:

1) Are you ok?
Like I'm not. Well, maybe I showed signs of not being ok. I dunno.
Either way, sounds like everybody is just that bit concerned.
Thanks for it guys :)
But really, I'm ok!

2) Are you THE Gladys from facebook?
HAHAHAHA.
People are stalking me!
Well, not really. There are just connections between friends, I guess.
It's actually more amusing than anything.
Because it proves that I'm not the only one clicking on other people's profiles... :P
And knowing stuff about other people...!
Don't worry, I don't have stalkerish tendencies!

waiting

every email i hoped it was from you
every message i hoped you had replied
all i'd heard were the down days we'd all had
we clouded our own concerns
with those of others around us
and i don't know you well enough
to know whether it was ok or not

perhaps i care too much
will it hurt
or will i let go?

mopey

today was just the day that people felt kinda down....
i'm glad people were worried for me; it means they're looking out for me.
and i'm glad that people took the time to thank me for my concern.
it means a lot to me that friendship is valued.
i think i sometimes spend my time being concerned for other people that i forget about myself sometimes. although it's good to be selfless.

thanks for all your nice comments and care today, my friends :)

i say it every so often, but i love my friends to bits.
i really mean it, i love you all so much. you make me smile that bit more everyday.

hmmm.....

'you guys are practically dating'

'are you sure there's nothing going on? i worry when people say that they're doing lots of stuff....i start to wonder....'

tongues are a-waggin'?!

more photos

Julie & BJ's housewarming


me & Kristen

Kristen's ugly face :P

Andrew, me, Alistair

my arm (and Gawain's finger...)

The introduction to Kristen....

Jac & all her writing!

top-bottom: Julie, Jac, Kristen

The amazing Jac and Julie balancing act :P

(sorry there aren't that many...!)

sleep-deprived

Concious effort:
get to sleep earlier if i'm going to be waking up so early to practice!
yup, this might mean prioritising ie. no bar shuffle, even perhaps no corridor crawl.
meh, i have an assignment due on friday that i get on wednesday morning; i have a full day of uni (read: 10-6.30 yep, all day...) on thursday. so it really isn't that ridiculous that i have to prioritise.
some things just don't mean that much to me anymore. meh smeh.
as below....i am really enjoying the con. am i not allowed to enjoy that more?

revelations

1. I really enjoy playing the piano!
I know this sounds stupid, but every so often (perhaps every three to six weeks) as I reflect on my practice (which may or may not be while I'm practicing), I suddenly realise that I enjoy playing so much.
The worst part is getting up early. But once I start, the physical need to play is amazing.


2. I really enjoy the company of my Con friends.
Funnily, and amzingly, I have lots of them! Particularly in 2nd year, but this is not to exclude anybody!
Going to the Glenferrie last night and hanging with Con people was amazing. And Julie/BJ's housewarming had heaps of Con people - how cool was that? (And I was worried I would know three people: the two hosts and Jac hehe!)

3. Despite seriously really not wanting to, I unfortunately hold on to feelings from the past.
No matter how much circumstances change, a little part of me will always feel the same way from the past.

4. Okay, I've been denying it......there may or may not be a few people who have caught my eye.....but it just seems a) out of bounds b) strange. Go figure.....am I going to act? Probably not - I'm not that sort of person...so will anything happen? Probably not. I wondered for the past week whether I was destined to be alone for the rest of my life....how despressing!

Very long overdue photos!

GINA'S 21st

Gina, the birthday girl! & me!

Nick & Loz

Nick & Sam (well, actually, their butts...) at the window

Nick & me

Gowri & me (don't mind how retarded I look...!)

Sam, me, Phoebe (taken by Nick!)

Gina, Sam & me

Con musos: Nick Gowri, (someone), Alex, Lauren,
Phoebe, Sam, Gina, Aaron, me, Tim

Mags, cake, Gina & Gowri

Gina & Gowri

Gina being cleaned up after cake on her face...

Z TURN!


Zulu tribe!!!

Zulu tribe 2

Zulu me & Zombie Bride Renee (we are so scary looking...eek!)

Ace, 'Zuperman' Tim, me

Pete & me

Steph & me

Alex & me

Zulus Heardy & me

'Zero' O-Lo

Ace, Jenny & me

JUDY'S BIRTHDAY!


Tom, Wen, Kenneth, Xing, SpecK

me & Judy

Min, me & Judy (Korean style!)

me, Judy and Sze with paella!

Kenneth & Spanish donuts (with chocolate dipping sauce!)

Birthday girl with cake :)

consequences

resulting from Andrew's lesson with Geoff:

1. Geoff definitely now knows my name actually is Gladys. As opposed to Grace or any other variation.
2. He asked whether Zoe had asked me about a cello student of hers to play a Beethoven sonata. Maybe she asked Caroline. I probably don't have time for it (unfortunately, because it'd be wonderful to play Beethoven, and with a cellist!)...we'll see if Caroline mentions anything. But either way, it's quite flattering to have been passed onto somebody else, between teachers for their students :)
3. We're playing the Schumann in Concert Class (all years eek!) on Thursday because Geoff thinks it'd be really good.
4. Geoff is trying to arrange a masterclass (on the Schumann?) for Andrew (and me!) with BARRY TUCKWELL. That is totally insane. And totally cool. And quite nerve-wracking too. But OMG!!!!!!!! (If you don't know who Barry Tuckwell is, then look it up. You will understand why my reaction is as such).

What's your score? Mine's 58...

Do this and repost it with the title:
I've done 58 out of the 132 stupid things.
Mmm...that's all?!

Level 1
() Smoked A Cigarette
() Smoked A Cigar
() Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(x) Drank Alcohol (it was a teensy teensy bit..!)

SO FAR: 1

Level 2
(x) Are / Been In Love
() Been Dumped
() Shoplifted
() Been Fired
(x) Been In A Fist Fight (does with my brother count?)

SO FAR: 3

Level 3
(x) Had A Crush On An Older Person
() Skipped School
() Slept With A Co-worker
() Seen Someone / Something Die

SO FAR: 4

Level 5
() Had / Have A Crush On One Of Your Facebook Friends
() Been To Paris
() Been To Spain
(x) Been On A Plane
() Thrown Up From Drinking

SO FAR: 6

Level 6
(x) Eaten Sushi
() Been Snowboarding
() Met Someone BECAUSE Of Facebook
() Been in a Mosh Pit

SO FAR: 7

Level 7
() Been In An Abusive Relationship
(x) Taken Pain Killers
() Love/loved Someone Who You Cant Have
(x) Laid On Your Back And Watched Cloud Shapes Go By
(x) Made A Snow Angel

SO FAR: 10

Level 8
() Had A Tea Party
(x) Flown A Kite
(x) Built A Sand Castle
() Gone mudding (offroading)
(x) Played Dress Up

SO FAR: 13

Level 9
(x) Jumped Into A Pile Of Leaves
() Gone Sledging
(x) Cheated While Playing A Game
(x) Been Lonely
(x) Fallen Asleep At Work / School

SO FAR: 17

Level 10
(x) Watched The Sun Set
() Felt An Earthquake
() Killed A Snake

SO FAR: 18

Level 11
(x) Been Tickled
() Been Robbed / Vandalized
() Been cheated on
(x) Been Misunderstood

SO FAR: 20

Level 12
(x) Won A Contest
() Been Suspended From School
() Had Detention
(x) Been In A Car / Motorcycle Accident

SO FAR: 22

Level 13
(x) Had / Have Braces
(x) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
() Danced in the moonlight

SO FAR: 24

Level 14
(x) Hated The Way You Look
() Witnessed A Crime
() Pole Danced
(x) Questioned Your Heart
(x) Been obsessed with post-it-notes

SO FAR: 27

Level 15
() Squished Barefoot Through The Mud
(x) Been Lost
(x) Been To The Opposite Side Of The World
(x) Swam In The Ocean
() Felt Like You Were Dying

SO FAR: 30

Level 16
(x) Cried Yourself To Sleep
() Played Cops And Robbers
(x) Recently Colored With Crayons / Colored Pencils / Markers
(x) Sang Karaoke
() Paid For A Meal With Only Coins

SO FAR: 33

Level 17
(x) Done Something You Told Yourself You Wouldn't
(x) Made Prank Phone Calls
(x) Laughed Until Some Kind Of Beverage Came Out Of Your Nose
() Kissed In The Rain

SO FAR: 36

Level 18
(x) Written A Letter To Santa Claus
() Watched The Sun Set/ sun rise With Someone You Care/Cared About
(x) Blown Bubbles
() Made A Bonfire On The Beach or anywhere

SO FAR: 38

Level 19
() Crashed A Party
() Have Traveled More Than 5 Days With A Car Full Of People
() Gone Rollerskating / Blading
() Had A Wish Come True
() Been Humped By A Monkey ...wtf mate??
SO FAR: 38

Level 20
() Worn Pearls
() Jumped Off A Bridge
() Screamed "Penis" or "Vagina"
() Swam With Dolphins/sharks

SO FAR: 38

Level 22
() Got Your Tongue Stuck To A Pole/Freezer/ice Cube
() Kissed A Fish
(x) Worn The Opposite Sex's Clothes (yay Tranny turn!)
() Sat On A Roof Top

SO FAR: 39

Level 23
(x) Screamed At The Top Of Your Lungs
(x) Done / Attempted A One-Handed Cartwheel
() Talked On The Phone For More Than 6 Hours
() Recently stayed Up for a while talking to someone you care about

SO FAR: 41

Level 24
() Picked And Ate An Apple Right Off The Tree
(x) Climbed A Tree
(x) Had/Been In A Tree House
(x) Been scared To Watch Scary Movies Alone

SO FAR: 44

Level 25
(x) Believed In Ghosts
() Have had More Then 30 Pairs Of Shoes
() Gone Streaking
() Visited Jail

SO FAR: 46

Level 26
(x) Played Chicken
() Been Pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
() Been Told You're Hot By A Complete Stranger
() Broken A Bone
(x) Been Easily Amused

SO FAR: 48

Level 27
()Caught A Fish Then Ate It Later
() Made A Porn Video/got asked to make one
() Caught A Butterfly
(x) Laughed So Hard You Cried
(x) Cried So Hard You Laughed

SO FAR: 50

Level 28
() Mooned/Flashed Someone
() Had Someone Moon/Flash You
() Cheated On A Test
(x) Forgotten Someone's Name
(x) French Braided Someones Hair
() Gone Skinny Dipping
() Been Kicked Out Of Your House
() Tried to hurt yourself

SO FAR: 52

Level 29
() Rode A Roller Coaster
(x) Went Scuba-Diving/Snorkeling
(x)Had A Cavity
() Black-Mailed Someone
() Been Black Mailed

SO FAR: 54

Level 31
(x) Been Used
(x) Fell Going Up The Stairs
() Licked A Cat
(x) Bitten Someone
(x) Licked Someone

SO FAR: 58

Level 32
() Been shot at/or at gunpoint
() Had sex in the rain
() Flattened someones tires
() Rode your car/truck until the gas light came on
() Got five dollars or less worth of gas

YOUR SCORE: 58

another pic

Another pic from the Commencement Dinner turn...courtesy of Steph :)
me, (tim), pete, ben & casey

more photos to come soon, hopefully...!

Don Giovanni

And I listened to the entire first act of this opera today.
It's on our Techniques Listening List.
It's amazing :)
I'm so looking forward to seeing it at the end of the year....being presented by Opera Australia, with Teddy Tahu Rhodes playing the role of the Don.
Should be fantastic!

Am getting replies and RSVPs for my birthday yay!

And we booked Idea of North tickets today! Yay!

And had a really good piano practice session today! Yay!

And the Schumann is really wonderful yay!

Lots of happy things today!

Rehearsals, assignments, things to do

Yup, it's busy.
And I'm not sleeping that well. Unfortunately. I also sometimes don't know what I do with my time, to tell you the truth..!
I've been doing that get-up-early-to-practice thing, usually starting somewhere between 7 and 7.30am. Till about 9am. Because most days, my first class is at 10am.
At least it's been a good way to get my practice done. I'm really trying to get about 3hrs a day. And having piano lessons is good, they give me focus.

So, it's been a busy week.

At Piano Class, I kinda wanted to volunteer to play. For several reasons. It'd be good to 'air' my pieces, to try them out and see how they were progressing. And to get to play the nice piano! They're very nice to play on, and we are very priveliged, having three Steinway concert grands! And just to prove that I could play Bach too!
But a friend of mine played my P&F, so I thought, "Well, can't play that now..!" and the next person played my other idea, the Toccata (from 1st yr) and so that idea went down the drain...my hand stayed firmly down after that! Pity....
And I'm unfortunately not very confident with Mozart....mmm....we'll see.

Ran into Andrew and Sam afterwards, as they headed to horn class (also love how Geoff just walks over from Royal Pde with his horn under his arm! Hehe..!). Andrew caught me and asked if I could play for him on Friday in performance class; at least it was just the slow part (the first adagio bit) of the Schumann. And then we tried to schedule a rehearsal. Oooh...this took about five minutes, as I stood there umming and ahhing thinking and asking "Can you do....no, that doesn't work for me......erm what about....no........." till we finally decided on a time!

The soiree was on Monday night - I attempted to play my Ravel from last year; I thought it went quite horribly, due to my nervousness of having a memory slip, which has never happened before, but because I thought it...it happened! How terrible. Oh well, I made it through to the end!

Met up with Erica on Tuesday morning - the session went really well. :) Then went to CU, met a few new people, which was totally cool. Then I met my Con mentees in the afternoon. Unfortunately, only two came. But alas, they were cool.....they're both at college, and both international. And they're both really nice and were really enthusiastic! Mmmm...hot chocolate! Had a rehearsal with Julie that night, which went well. Had an awesome Bible Study that night, ably led by Ace and Tim. There were nine of us, which ISN'T all of us, so how awesome is that?! And we were in Ben's flat, so it felt much more home-y and very comfortable; everybody was talking so that was really great!

I met up with Steph for lunch on Wednesday, which was awesome. She even came to Queen's and all! Had a lesson, which was good...gave me lots to work on! Eeek....! I am really trying to increase the speed at which I learn stuff, not that I was terribly slow before, but I really think I could do with some more pushing and learning lots of stuff to get it under my fingers. Then had a rehearsal with Andrew, which went really well! I really enjoy playing with him, because he gives me heaps of feedback, and we both know when something goes wrong and try to fix it together. And he's incredibly patient and encouraging, so that's really good!

I didn't go to the ICC Ball that night, which was probably good, because it was very messy and there were lots of dramatic events. However, a bunch of us who didn't go to the ball went to get gelate on Lygon St that night. It was very nice and lots of fun! We went to Freddo's, and we were all overwhelmed by the choices! Even though I've been there before, I never cease to be amazed by the choices hehe :P We all got gelate, and wandered over to the park at Argyle Square and sat along a wall, all eleven of us, looking at the Ferrari display! It was fun! We played Chinese Whispers - with hilarious consequences! We talked about random things. We tried to do a Mexican Wave (which didn't quite work out). We posed for a camera (on a phone, I really should have brought my camera; it crossed my mind, but I thought "nah...!" pity! all 11 of us on a wall!) and watched a couple make out for the longest time... :S And we played that green man/red man game across the road, where we have to cross the road in the action of the light that is flashing. So, if it's a green man you have to jump along , impersonating the green man; yes, that means sideways, arms out. If it's red man, it's front on, jumping along..! Must have been a sight..! We even had two 'teams' with captains! (Malcolm reckons his green man impersonation was fantastic. Raj vowed never to do it again...) I tried to demonstrate to Nick the next day....he probably thought I was retarded...!

Anyway.......
So, Thursday was a fairly big day (as Thursdays, particularly at the Con!) are.
Had a rehearsal with Julie in Melba that morning, feeling pretty good about it all. Then played in Concert Class, which went pretty well - I was really proud of her! (Especially because it was her Concert Class debut). I talked to Tom backstage during the class - I haven't caught up with him for a very long time! It's always nice talking to him - he's so happy and encouraging a lot of the time! I've noticed that a lot of people are very surprised that I'm not in Performance this year! Oh well....I've gotten over it, and I'm doing lots of stuff anyway without the Performance bit to it! Sinfonia was fun too - playing Sibelius for two weeks, including one of his symphonies (I've totally forgotten which one though...), Spring Song, and Finlandia (hehe.....I 'cheated', I've played this before...!). But it was lots of fun to play such awesome music! And no doubt, Edwina Hookey was leading that day....and Michael D was leading the cellos...talk about fairly star-studded kind of orchestra for that week...! This is quite unusual, but it was definitely very good!

Also, this week was Assassins week at college. I clearly had no time to go 'assassinate' my victim, but unfortunately, I was entering South on Thursday evening, backpack loaded, violin on my shoulder, balancing my dinner on a plastic plate, when I was assassinated by Kev! And I thought it was already too late! Oh well, I would have been eliminated anyway, but...! I talked to him afterwards, and apparently he hadn't done any work all week because he'd been trying all the time to get me! On Monday night, he waited on the East stairs (right next to my room) till 1am! And that he'd had an elaborate plan with Alex to get me but that fell through. And on Thursday, he'd gotten Raj and Ace to call me to lure me to 2nd north....! And on Wednesday night he'd even tried to get me before he went to the ball and Helen had rushed to him to tell him that I'd just gone up the stairs! In the end, he didn't even need anybody's help to get me... :P All worth the laughs though...hopefully he's caught up on some work! Dedication...!
Mind you, I would have probably killed him if I'd dropped my dinner.....I did tell him that, but I think I would have scaled it back to yelling (although Raj reckons I'm too nice to do anything like that....!). At the very least, I would have demanded he get me a new dinner, to which he replied something along the lines of 'You wouldn't have had to ask...!' Considerate!

Had an assignment/test due on Friday, which I submitted on Thursday night, so I felt quite proud of myself! Played for Andrew in Performance Class. I sat there for a little while feeling like quite a 'fake' because I was sitting in this class when I'm not a performance student! Haha. That's all good...some people think I should be there anyway..? Oh well! I told Andrew this and he was like, "We are insanely awesome". Which felt totally good! Hehe. Claire Cooper was doing accpt for the class (she'd prepared with a few people, not for some and that went amazingly! She is a 'mofo' of an accompanist - Amy's words, not mine! But my thoughts exactly. She'll just get up and play like she's known it all her life! She's totally amazing!) So, I kinda felt like I'd be compared to her! But there wasn't much time for talk, but all good. Andrew stuck his hand up very fast, very high, when Mardi asked if there was anybody else who had an accompanied piece and another accompanist (apart from Claire). Andrew's words: "I have little Gladys here!" Hahahahahahaha.
Anyway, so we played the Adagio from the Schumann. It went pretty well! I wasn't too nervous, which I normally am when I do get up on Melba Hall stage and start imagining playing one of the Steinways! I have to say, working with Andrew this year has been totally amazing. This is just the start of it all, but so far it has been really good. I've found that I've had to learn stuff very quickly and to learn to play even more together very quickly. Okay, I'll shut up about Andrew now (if you are reading this, sorry I've blabbed on...! I totally mean everything that I've said so far! And it has been totally awesome so far to play with you! To everybody else reading this: Andrew is totally awesome at horn! And totally cool. And we are insanely awesome! Hehe :P )

So, I finally made birthday invites. I know, it's like a month away, but there are lots of people having 21sts this year, and weekends get booked up very quickly, so I have to get in first!
And I've already shared my thoughts about my rationale about why I get so excited about my own party...!

Speaking of parties, next weekend is going to be pretty crazy.....
Friday night: Gina's 21st. (What do I wear??!?!?!?!?!)
Saturday night: Invited to Belle's 21st in Geelong. Told her I could go because Gina's was going to be on the same night (turns out otherwise) so then I said I could go. But then, Julie and BJ's housewarming is the same night. Either way, Belle hasn't gotten back to me.....hmmm.....
Sunday: invited to Lauren's baptism in the morning, at her home church in Ballarat. At any rate, I don't think I'm travelling across Victoria in one weekend.....Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, back to Melbourne. Could be very difficult...

If anybody has thoughts/opinions/solutions, I would llike to hear them! Please post comments with these! :)

Overflow - Cry on My Shoulder

You say your falling apart
Reached the end of the line
Just looking for your place in an ordinary life
No one calls you friend
No one even knows your name
You just want to feel loved instead of all the pain

You no longer have to say
No one’s listening anyway

Come here and cry on my shoulder
I’ll hold you ‘till it’s over
I’ll rescue you tonight
Let my arms be your shelter
Your hiding place forever
I’ll love you more than life

You’re wearing a frown
Given up on hope
My heart is reaching out
More than you will ever know
Is your burden too much?
Is it more than you can bear?
I’ll help carry the load if you’re willing to share

You no longer have to say
No one’s listening anyway

Come here and cry on my shoulder
I’ll hold you ‘till it’s over
I’ll rescue you tonight
Let my arms be your shelter
Your hiding place forever
I’ll love you more than life

You have had some hard times
Had thorns placed in your side
I know about what you’ve been going through
Tears of pain are falling down
It hurts so bad you’re crying out
You’re problems won’t last forever
Let me put you back together

Come here and cry on my shoulder
I’ll hold you ‘till it’s over
I’ll rescue you tonight
Let my arms be your shelter
Your hiding place forever
I’ll love you more than life

Week 2

So, on Saturday night we celebrated Judy's birthday by going to a Spanish restaurant on Johnson St. It was like a reunion of the 1J souls. It was amazing. It was so good to catch up with these guys again!
Plus, it was my first Spanish food experience, and I have to say, I enjoyed it! I also have to admit, I'm really not very familiar with it at all, but that was ok! It was heaps of fun! Pictures to come soon (hopefully!)

I bought my textbook on Saturday; seriously, for no queues at the bookshop, go on the weekend, when most people just can't be bothered to travel in for that..! Empty shops, yay :) It meant that I could stand there testing all the rings for openability while almost nobody stood behind me waiting and sighing very loudly!

Had dinner with Erica on Sunday evening, which was very enjoyable :) I also had almost forgetten what it was like to have a meal while sitting out on the pavement down Lygs. :)

So, what a busy week it has been!

Monday: 10am tute! Gave Dave back his pens. He asked what his heading for his notes should be. I suggested the date, to which he agreed. I sat in the tute writing lots of notes and example, he sat there understanding it without writing anything. So, near the end of the tute, I looked over, and motioned the comparison between my very full page and his very empty page. Then he had a great idea, his one line of notes comprised of this sentence:

Gladys has extensive notes if necessary

so maybe I should be expecting him to come asking in about week twelve. Hehe.
Anyway, I daresay that Monday 11am rivals 10am....there are awesome people in that tute, including a whole heap of college bods from JCH, also Newman and Queen's (specific names not mentioned though!)
Went to the lunchtime concert...Bec P played cello (a Chopin sonata, which might as well be a piano sonata hehe!). She played very well! Dan Y also played, some Rachmaninoff and Keiren Harvey. Totally cool.
Piano class was quite jolting but incredibly realising. We were told we should aim for three hours a day of practice; not necessarily in one block. But in an average day, three hours. So, since then, I've been trying to do my three hours. Although it has been quite hard. I have gotten up early every morning since Monday (and except for this morning, I needed the sleep!) to practice. However, before a lesson, I was feeling unmotivated because I didn't really have direction. Report of lesson to come later...

Then I had Apollo Choir, which was great! They have a good sound, it's getting there! They're quite unresponsive in terms of feedback, but hopefully that will change as they get to know me!

Tuesday mornings I have off, so I practiced for a while, did homework and the like. Sam came over to talk about Idea of North tickets (they're coming back for shows on 27th/28th April in Melbourne!). Had a class to go to - Inter Micro tute. Unfortunately there is a guy I quite dislike in it. In trying to explain something, his answer was "it's just illogical!". Stuipd answer. And he kinda does this sigh thing whenever somebody asks a question to clarify something. And sits there looking bored for the rest of the time, except for when he is asked a question. Blergh....I don't really like students like that!

Anyway....so then I met Julie to get music from her (she called that morning to ask whether I could accompany her next week in concert class!), as well as Andrew, to collect music from him (more long term stuff....his repertoire from Geoff!), then ran into Jenny (couldn't go with her to the library to sort out some repertoire for doing gigs), ran into Trev to ask about Thursday, and to briefly talk about choir, then Matt, to ask about rehearsals! Ooh, the people you run into in the Con! Hehe, I love it!

Then came home, played with Sam for a long while; mostly flute repertoire! :) Okay, so we talked for about half of it...anyway.....
Had dinner at Martin's (an easy 'chuck-whatever's-in-the-fridge-in style pasta yum!) then he drove to Camberwell for G&S Mikado auditions, for which I was playing.
I unfortunately played horribly, I thought. Additionally, many of the singers had little sense of rhythm. Hmmm.......
I did get some homework done in-between though! However, came back very late (about 10.45) but did get paid for doing that night's work...! The trade-off....wonder if it is worth my time/effort/money etc! As an economics student....

Had my piano lesson on Wednesday morning. Elise (Caroline's daughter) has grown so much! And she has such beautiful blue eyes....so cute! Anyway, the lesson was great. I was given lots more repertoire to work on (eek...gotta get on top of that, with that about three hours a day!), and lots of things to work on for my current pieces (Mozart and Bach). I'm fully getting excited about working quite hard on piano this year! So as to learn more pieces, and to hopefully increase the speed at which I learn things. I think that's my aim for this year!
So, because I'd been so busy on Monday and Tuesday, I thought I should do some homework and thus, missed the GM. I did have some productive time though!

Thursday was an incredibly packed day at uni, 10am-6.30pm! Unfortunately didn't get to meet up with Loz, nor did I make it to CU, but did have a rehearsal with Julie (for next week) and got some practice done in Berkeley. Unfortunately, my card doesn't quite work yet (technical issues) but hopefully that will be resolved soon.. :S
It was a great concert class, actually. And yesterday was one of those times I wrote long crits. Yes, so much so that Michael said, "You don't have to write a thesis, Gladys...!" Hehe. Tristan did play five pieces, however......one of which I have played..! Thus, the reason and need for a thesis :P

So, had a great trio rehearsal today. Trio as in Jac, Matt and me. We played through Bruch. Gosh, that piece is totally awesome! It's very interesting...8 pieces of clarinet, viola and piano.
Interesting for several reasons:
1) this is an odd combination. But it works!!! I find that Matt's viola blends in very well...adds a beautiful depth of tone to the ensemble.
2) of the eight pieces, only one is in a major key, the 7th in B Major.
3) Number 8 is supposedly the most romantic. It is a very beautiful piece. We all enjoy playing that one :)
4) Half of these might as well be piano sonatas hehe!
5) The sequence of keys of the eight pieces if very odd. It's almost as if there is no logical progression! Even the first and last seem to have no connection, the first being in A minor (ending in A Major, if I'm not mistaken) and the last in E flat minor. That is a tritone. Weird....
6) Bruch uses these triplet figures a lot.
7) As well as this interesting haunting figure present in a few of the pieces. Specific intervals.

Very interseting.....