randoms

I haven't posted in a while because I feel like all I'm doing is complaining. I know that's pretty much what blogs are for, but I wish I had more positive things to write about.

Okay, here are some positive things: I'm still working with Menomonie's winter drumline, and it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately we had to miss out on our first two competitions, but more about that later. Other than that, I enjoy working with the students, and our show is really cool (Prokofiev's "Scythian Suite", arranged by Dr. C.)

Another positive: Sazama and I are getting everything lined up for our joint recital in April. I know recitals are usually supposed to be really stressful (and trust me, preparing for this one has its moments), but overall I'm really excited for it. We're playing some pretty cool music. Neither of us has to do this recital for our degrees, so we're just doing fun music. We don't have everything on the program figured out for sure yet, but I'm arranging an Allman Bros. tune and he's arranging a John Mayer one. I think we're also each going to do a marimba solo. And other stuff... it'll be cool. Shameless plug: April 12th, 7:30? PM, Gantner Hall.

On top of that fun-but-time-consuming stuff, I also have some not-fun stuff going on, like physical therapy. My IT band in my knee is still swollen and really irritated. But I think we figured out that my knee brace is mostly to blame. My physical therapist told me to go without it a bit over the past week to see if my knee would calm down a little. It did, but then I had to start wearing the brace again because it's been wet/snowy/slippery outside. My athletic trainer ordered a different brace for me to try, so I got that on Wednesday. It still puts pressure on the sore area, but so far it doesn't seem as bad as the other brace. Other perks: it's lighter and a little smaller. Also, it came with flower decals, which I promptly put on the brace.

In other news, the trial is starting in a month and a half, so everyone is getting ready for that. I'm starting to get really stressed out about all this, but it's nothing that I want to air out here for everyone in the world to read. Just know that this stuff is going on, and it's really stressful for me and a lot of other people.

Speaking of stress, I'm getting a little sick of snow. Tomorrow I'm going with the winter drumline to a competition in the cities. Of course, we're traveling by bus. And of course, the roads are crappy. Last weekend we had a storm and were scheduled to have competitions on Saturday and Sunday. The administration at Menomonie's schools decided we should cancel those trips. As much as I wanted to go to the competitions, I thought it was a wise decision. It's not worth putting everyone in harm's way just so we can go to a competition. I was really freaked out on Friday night at the thought of having to travel on a bus in shitty conditions. I had a vivid flashback that night while trying to fall asleep. I was glad to get a call from the principal the next morning about the trip being cancelled.

When the weather gets like this, everyone always asks me if I feel more sore than usual. I definitely do, especially when we get storms like this. My femur has been aching off and on over the past week or so. That's the worst because there's nothing I can do about it. Heat, ice, and massage don't help because the pain is too deep, and Tylenol is kind of a joke. In addition to that, my knee and ankle are also really sore.

What's up with the new Culver's ad? The music is a blatant rip-off of Copland. The ad is about hamburgers, and the music is supposed to sound like "Hoe-Down" (the "beef song"). There are some flavors of "Buckaroo Holiday" thrown in there too. WTF? Pay the royalties and get the actual music - it can't cost that much more than hiring someone to compose a rip-off, and it would make everyone involved sleep better at night. Or at least it would make me less annoyed.