If you have no voice, scream

Wow, it's been a trip reading through all these journal entries again years and years later. I started this blog on LiveJournal when I was in college and kept up with it a few years after I graduated, and I'm glad I have those years in college written down somewhere.

It looks like a lot of the entries double-posted when I imported from LJ...how many years ago was that, five? Four? So I guess I'll clean it up some and maybe start using this thing again.

My grandmother was a school librarian for thirty years or something incredible like that. When she retired, the school where she had been working gave her an amazing gift: a complete works of Shakespeare - apparently one of the very best in the world, worth upwards of $500 or some such.

Well for my birthday, my grandmother has decided to give the set to me. (I'm not supposed to know this, but my mom told me since she knew I was about to buy myself the Penguin edition.) I am so excited about this gift! As much as I love Shakespeare, I do not have a complete set with proper annotations and room for my own notes. I can't wait to have access to every play right at my fingertips, even those like Pericles and ones that people don't publish anymore from lack of popularity. And in a gorgeous three-book set passed down from my grandmother, even!



And because I just woke up and still remember this, my first conscious train of thought this morning went something like this:

There are a lot of similarities between As You Like It and Merchant of Venice, aren't there? They're, like, the same play. I could write a paper on that if I wanted. But I don't have Merchant of Venice. That's sad. Oh! But I will! Oh my goodness, I can't wait to get those books!


I freaking love Shakespeare, you guys. I miss talking with Dr. Artese about all his awesomeness. Actually, I miss talking to anyone about him. The lack of intellectual stimulation out here is killing me slowly.

Look at what I found!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3777882135880518124&hl=en

It's my marching band. This particular performance was actually my very last performance with Kennesaw Mountain. It's from the BOA Grand Nationals Finals my junior year. The recording is shitty, but the show itself is the very best we put on that whole season.

Seriously, this was one of my favorite shows. It almost killed me (and it did burn me out, which is why I didn't join for my senior year), but it is such an amazing and emotional work. It pretty much is a physical (musical?) embodiment of everything the band program at my high school stood for: love for what we do. See, KMHS's marching band came out of nowhere and rose to the top of the band network less than two years after its creation. We've even beaten Lassiter. (Yes, we really did beat them in music and general effect scores...with this show, actually.)

Anyhow, this show is titled Evolution, since it's about marching band - from band camp all the way to the biggest performance of the year; the last movement is actually a compilation of the biggest hits from our previous four shows. If you've never really experienced something like this, you may not get all the jokes...but it's still amazing. We were the only band to get a full standing ovation before we had even finished; the entire stadium was on its feet for us. We placed second in the nation that year (also placing as the AAA Class Champion and winning Overall General Affect).

Some of you have art. Some of you have dance. I have music. This band program was my life for three years and I gave it everything I had, including my soul.


...If you really did watch this video, I'm sorry it's such a bad quality. The stadium echoes a lot, so you hear a lot of reverberation and stuff. If you want to see a good recording, please ask. I have the professional video and will be happy to share it. =)

Okay, I'm done being a nerd now.

Since I now have (oh my gosh!) three friends, I guess I should make my first actual post to this journal..

I got back from visiting my dad's side of the family in Florida on Sunday.  The trip itself was well worth the skymiles, and I was very happy to see everyone.  As happy as I was, though...a big Jewish family can get to be a little frustrating after a few days.  All the loud talking, interrupting, endless questions, endless food and alcohol, and nagging can really get to you.  I love my family, but it really made me miss my dad.

Now, has anyone else noticed how rude facilities is?  I'm in the library right now, and some guy came in to fix something.  He was standing right in the middle of the lobby when his phone rang.  So what did he do?  Stay right there and answer it.  Loudly.  He then continued his (loud) conversation inside without caring that he's disrupting everyone trying to use the computers and study.  Bastard.  Oh, and now he's back on the phone.  Whatever.

So I saw a preview for the new X-Files movie on tv yesterday.  And the commercial said, "In theaters this Friday."  It made me so happy that I wanted to explode.  Come Friday, I will be in Tennessee to see this wonderful movie.  I'm not sure what to do with myself.