insert fitting title here

insert fitting title here

Well, today wasn't so great, but it's getting better. I woke up to throbbing pain in my ankle and thigh, and my knee was bleeding all over. I don't know if that's because I unconsciously itched it or if it's just because my stitches are dissolving. Mornings are the worst for the pain & for my morale. Then I was fine for a while until I started feeling really nauseated (from the drugs), and I ended up sleeping most of the day as a result. So much for getting a lot of school work done today.

I learned on the news today that the city is creating a park downtown in honor of the crash victims. It's going to be called Harmony Park. I think it will be a nice tribute. So... I still don't think all this has really hit me. After my friend Paul died a few years ago, I remember waking up every morning wondering when it wouldn't hurt anymore. In this case, I haven't really felt like that yet.

I never got to know Branden very well. Or I should say that Raji and I were just getting to know him better. We had a really great time with him on the trips. All the staff teased him and called him "lowercase C" (I think I coined that one) because of his loyalty to Collicott (better known as "C"). Wherever C went, Branden followed. We told Branden that when he graduated college and started his own band, he would graduate to being called "A". My last memories of Branden are of playing Super Mario Bros. 3 with him on Raji's laptop. We laughed at how the dinosaur monster things from the castles move their arms, and for the whole weekend we greeted eachother in "attack mode", waving our arms like the dinosaurs. I'll always remember how much the kids at Chi-Hi loved having Branden around.

It's going to take me a long time to understand that G is gone. I don't even really know what to say about him. I'm supposed to play at a church with a brass choir for a few Sundays this year, but I missed the first one because of the accident. Dr. Schwartzhoff sent an email to Dr. Crowell to see if I'd be able to play at the next one, which I'm probably going to miss too. Good thing, because the brass choir will be playing John Rutter's "Magnificat". G arranged that piece for my sophomore year marching band show. He adored Rutter's music. That's the year I met G and the year I started playing percussion. I think I would be okay playing the piece with the brass choir, but I guess I'd rather just not deal with it. My foot won't be ready to use tympani pedals anyway.

I've been trying to think of my favorite memories of G, and I'll probably supplement a few posts with them. Here's one: My senior year, Jazz 1 played for a Honda Goldwing Riders convention. I don't know what the actual name of the society is, but G was the Wisconsin Chapter President. It was close to Halloween, and as a joke, G told us all to dress like stereotypical bikers - or "Harley riders" (there seems to be some competition between Goldwing and Harley riders). G had so much fun with it. Does anyone who was there have photos? If so, send them my way.

Another memory: G at my senior recital last semester. It was so important to me that he come. He promised me he wouldn't miss it for the world, and sure enough when I looked out at the audience, there he was in one of the front rows, sitting with Sazama and cheering me on. It felt so great to play in front of the man who taught me how to play percussion. Afterwards he told me that Sejourne's "Katamiya" (a marimba piece) was his favorite from my program. It's a really pretty piece with a little bit of a groove to it. A few months before the recital, I told Dr. Crowell I was looking for something pretty and catchy but with a groove, and he produced "Katamiya", which was exactly what I was looking for. G told me after my recital that he wanted a copy of the sheet music because he wanted to arrange it as a drum solo for a marching show. It would have been an unconventional drum solo, but with the way G wrote, it would have been really cool. I can't wait until I can play marimba again so that I can relearn "Katamiya" - what a fitting tribute.