SCRABBLE

Every once in a while...Dad and I play Scrabble. 

Needless to say I think I've won a total of 1.5 times. 

But it's tough to win when Dad uses words like:

brogue

midi

jamb

brazen

wrest 

ALL on ridiculous triple/double word/letter scores.

I guess it's always a good time though...

Harry Potter and brooooomsticks.

I just got back from watching the sixth Harry Potter movie, the Half Blood Prince with Madison and Andrew (fun times). I was definitely expecting the movie to be awesome (it's hard not to have high expectations when some of your friends spent nights, yes plural "nightS," in front of the movie theater just to be first in line for the midnight showing). Now don't get me wrong, it was a great movie that had me occupied and quite frankly nervous for what would happen next, but this whole "fantasy thing..." I'm not so sure. I guess all I'm trying to say is that it's tough for me to understand magic (like "how come Snape can cure certain dastardly spells, but Harry can't just whip out some magic to save Dumbledore from death"-sorry about the spoiler, but I'm pretty sure that if you haven't been in a coma for the past few years, you'd know by now). But then again, I'm just skeptical (and haven't read past the first three books) and what do I know? I'm just not a fantasy type of girl. Don't worry though, the movie was incredible and the acting has gotten a little better. If anyone knows the answer to magic and its limits or how it works, please feel free to contact me. 

communication

So about once a week, I go to an Alzheimer's/Dementia care home about 6 ish blocks from my house to volunteer. [I'm not going to lie...I almost never want to go, but when I do, I realize why I keep coming back] Spending time with the residents at Clare Bridge has made a huge impact on my life. Lying to someone who claims that their loved one is waiting for them in the parking lot, knowing that they'll forget has been so difficult for me. Agreeing with the regular-manicure-customer women that their old manicures (that I did last week) are terrible has become a regular occurrence (I have no shame). Though working/volunteering in this type of environment is often depressing and difficult, I continue to go back because every time I do, someone's eyes light up when I talk with them, and someone sings extra loud with me during music time, and someone gives me a hug, and someone tells me parts of their story. 

Today, a curly-haired, curious-looking old woman confined to a wheel chair said something to me without words. She has lost the ability to say words and communicate with the outside world, the ability to do anything on her own, but today as I bent over to help her adjust back into her wheel chair, she said something to me. She grabbed both of my wrists and pulled them close to her as she attempted to make noises and looked into my eyes. At first I felt strange and uncomfortable, but I realized that she was talking to me. She continued to look at me and hold my hands as she began to pet my arm. To the outside world, this could have probably been the strangest thing, but I was communicating with her. The human mind is so complex and intricate. I guess it's times like these when I get pulled out of my own little life and realize the greatness of God and that I want to spend the rest of my life dedicated to service and communicating with those who may not seem capable. 

Thoughts

So I've been thinking/wanting to invest in a new violin for a while, but I always strayed from the idea because I knew that I wouldn't major in music. Then, after YMA, thoughts of buying a new violin became even more real and pressing. I decided that, even though I won't be majoring in music, playing the violin is something that I really enjoy; and it would be terribly sad to quit altogether after highschool. I keep entertaining the thought of even minoring in music (if only I wasn't "music-theory-challenged"); and attending a school with a fairly good music program has moved to my priority list. Anyways, enough rambling. I guess I've come to the conclusion that: I really love and enjoy the violin enough to invest in one that will truly make me happy (erasing any worries of "overplaying" or skepticism of "maybe it'll just sound better in first position). Now that I think of it, I think I'd appreciate a really nice violin over a car. It's been decided. In this blog. Thank you blog.

Meanwhile I've been filling my relaxing (aka ridiculously boring days) days with practice and am utterly confused and disappointed at everything that I had been missing out on during my junior year (I probably actually practiced a net like 2-3 hours a week...shhhh dont tell anyone).

Also. I got tired of having 3-4 people, daily (DAILY), ask me where I'm going to apply to freaking college, so I finally took more time to research some colleges that satisfy my priorities. As of right now (this could change in the next week, day, or hour), the college that I would like to apply to (early decision? maybe? yes?) is Rice University in Houston, Texas. Rice has an amazing biology major, good premed advising, close proximity to the largest medical center in the US, amazing music school (and campus orchestra), big city (Houston Rockets vs. Lakers anyone?), residential college system, small classes, lots of research/internship opportunities, etc. The best part, and probably deciding factor (especially my decision to apply early), is that Rice will pay 100% for all 4 years (for our family) in only grants and scholarships. It'd be really nice to graduate without loans... mmmmmm. So I'm currently trying to step up my game (studying for my SAT IIs...atleast I'm done with freaking critical reading and the SAT I).

Welp. Toodles for now. I"m leaving in 12 days for LA to see Tom and leave on our roadtrip! I'm super excited!

YMA 2009

Happy Summer (finally)!

I actually just got back from a 2 ish week camp called YMA (Young Musicians and Artists), held on the Willamette campus (I've officially decided not to apply to Willamette...I need change). Anyways...I roomed with Jenny and Julia, which was often. I'm pretty sure we had more food than clothes (which is saying something) and we only got 4 clean room tickets out of the 12 possible (Jenny got 3...haha). Another sad story, this was the first time I've ever auditioned for anything (it's true, but it went pretty well I guess). My favorite thing about YMA was being in a symphony where everyone can actually play their instrument and has personally chosen to come and join. I really loved the choice of music too. In the symphony we played Rossini's Overture to the Barber of Seville, Prelude and Mazurka from Coppelia, and the fourth movement of the Brahms Symphony No. 1. Although I wished we would have had more time to put everything together, it was an amazing experience. Then in the advanced, but smaller symphonic group, the Connoisseur's Orchestra I was concertmistress (probably because my amazing stand partner, concertmaster in symphony, was playing the Lalo concerto with the group). Nevertheless it was a really exciting experience to play under the direction of Huw Edwards (basically the coolest british man you will ever meet). My favorite piece we played in Connoisseur's was Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture. We also played Copland's Down a Country Lane and accompanied the Lalo Symphonie Espagnole, Elgar Cello Concerto, a J. C. Bach Viola Concerto, and the Stamitz Viola Concerto (I also decided that violists shouldn't have concertos...). So the music was a lot of fun, but so was the free time, group bonding, and just meeting a bunch of new people. It was exactly the summer experience I was looking for, and I'm so glad I went to YMA. Not to mention that I felt super inspired to come home and practice a lot (until I tried to play the Rode Caprice I so happily left for 2 weeks). 

It finally actually feels like summer now which means that:

I wake up in the afternoon.

I do nothing.

and I eat (i guess this is constant year round).

and Junior year seems to have finally come to an end:

my grades came (partyyyy).

and my APUSH score came (partyyyyy).

and my SAT scores came (partyyyyy).

Last update:

The Lakers signed Ron Artest and traded Trevor Ariza to the Rockets: I don't know how I feel about this...Ariza was one of my favorite players and Artest is such a jerk. We'll see I guess...