"study vacation"

After x number of weeks since year 12 began, there's only 6 weeks until exams and I am SO RUNNING OUT OF STEAM :( It's so hard to just keep pushing on, knowing that you've *cough* worked so hard all year and there's only that liiiiittle bit to go...but...still, I'm suffering from a massive case of I CANNOT BE BOTHERED!

Plan for the next few weeks is 3 practice exams per day - 1 methods a day, 1 chem a day and 1 psych/english a day.

AND SOMEWHERE IN THERE I AM EXPECTED TO MEMORISE MY ENTIRE DETAILED STUDY. IN TWO WEEKS! IS MY JAPANESE TEACHER INSANE OR DOES SHE SERIOUSLY HAVE THAT MUCH FAITH IN US?????

I'm literally not leaving the house for the next 2 weeks, unless it's to go for a run. Because I SWEAR I will get fit these holidays........oh sorry, I mean study vacation =_____=

Time to go, I'm already lagging behind schedule :( here's some from the Jazz Soiree on Thursday night!

xo

eighteen

feels no different from 17 :)

Had a good day, despite school...the year 12s learnt a good chunk of the year 12 song, which made me really happy :D Shelby got everyone to sing happy birthday to me, which is always awkward but very sweet anyway haha

SO Jazz Soiree auditions sucked crap! Here I was feeling fairly confident until SURPRISE, you have to audition with microphones.

...oh no.

so yeah I can't speak for Diana but I thought both of us did pretty badly, but our band was amazing as always. Lesson learnt - I'll stick to the piano and not sing solo ever again hahaha

Had some present deliveries after school from Susan and Lisa :) Got a mimco bag/clutch from Susan and a filofax from Lisa...both pretty sick presents woo! Mum and Dad went out at 5ish to buy a woodfire for Saturday night, and it's AMAZING. Except that my clothes and hair smell like I'm burning and I only stood near it for 5 minutes D: VERY excited to partaaay!

xo

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER 2010

xo

conferring of diplomas, and then some

...nice shot there gran :P

Pretty boring event...way wayy too formal to stay awake throughout with all the hat tipping and unnecessary addressing =__= The funner part was watching the performances (why are all the little people such MUSIC FREAKS! omg) and catching up with old friends! Really good to see Angelica again after so many years...8 years I think?

Again with the creepy factor - there were people there that I have seen in my lifetime/know their name but never actually spoken to =/ It's a small world when you do music...even more so for Angelica cos she's in all those music group things so she literally knew EVERY lmus pianist ahh what a freak ahaha

Also got a chance to talk to Michael there and ask him to come to formal with me, so I'm all ready to go...just gotta talk details on pres at my place and afters at (?)'s place. Looks like we're going with no limo cos there's just toooo freakin many people and not enough money :( My list of people for pres is sitting on a 15 (provided sam eventually talks to the hot guy and ian definately comes with panda...and claude doesnt invite himself wth). Mum's happy to do a bit of food/biscuits and Julia's happy to bring the drinks for the ladieeees so the guys are just gonna have to suck it.

xo

pianoooo!

Had a tiny little concert with Megan and David today :D It's a huge ego killer to hear David play....what a prooooo!! I guess that's the difference between being pretty good at piano and being professionally talented and studying at Julliard etc etc :) I have to trudge over to the piano every night, whereas David happily ditches dinner to go play...waahh

He played some Brahms, Chopin and Liszt...SUCH a diva, complaining about chair height and key slipperyness :P Dad had to get out a shorter chair, bring out a few pillows, get the Mr Sheen to fix the slipperyness...gosh darnnnn, when it was my turn to play 1) I felt really inadequate to go after him, 2) had to change the height of the seat and 3) the keys were REALLY nonslip o.o

but what was even cooler was when Megan had to play violin, but forgot to bring the accompaniment music...HE JUST MADE IT UP ON THE SPOT! WTHHH! (...ok for what it's worth it's a pretty popular concerto BUT STILL!)

Afterwards he gave me some ideas on my Debussy, but I seriously struggle with my small hands :( and I have new blisters from those glissandos grr

Anyways here's some pics because my parents are so asian =__= Last time I had a lesson with him was around 10 years ago, so mum and dad got all sentimental and had to take a photo and put it next to the old photo haaahaha

It's so much less intimidating to have lessons with a pro in their 20's, rather than having lessons with Stephen who's pretty old and kinda makes me shit my pants :)

DINNER!

hahaha it was fun...we gave Megan's mum some kinda asian alcohol that tastes disgusting but she was pretty high LOOL now I know why Megan's the way she is.....hahaha :P Dad got to release his exercise junkie on David because my cousin (apparently he has an English name that I am yet to discover) is one of those typical weak asians HAHA...last time he decided to go for a run and didn't even make it halfway around the park :P

Anyways that killed a whole night and now I am, as usual, falling behind on homework :(

xo

Jazz Soiree '09!

Why have I not been to one of these before???? BEST MUSICAL NIGHT EVER!

So yesterday was FULL ON PACKED - Wind Symphony in the morning, Explosive rehearsal during recess, International lunch, NO SPARES ALL DAY, Robyn's after school and then the Jazz Soiree

Except FOR SOME STUUUUPID REASON Wind Symphony was cancelled in the morning and replaced by Stage Band...CMON AT LEAST GIVE US SOME NOTICE? I ended up being at school at 7:30 for no reason at all (finished up on my chem titration booklet though, so it wasn't a total waste...if that counts as the 'positive' side of things =___=)

The recess rehearsal was just to check amps and stuff, I was totally irrelevant until MrStudentTeacher decided to improv with my flute part :D SOO awesome...I really don't understand how people can just listen to a piece and make stuff up o.o The rehearsal cut into my psych class though (yay), and I love that when you're REALLY late to a class then teachers don't care cos they assume you have a legit reason :P

International lunch was funnnnn! We got there a bit late, so basically we ate icing....hahaha, here's the cake we decorated with Tra and Irena :D

-blahblah-

After school I was in a serious stress, because we had no hot water from our wires shortcircuiting....the guy was fixing it AND I SERIOUSLY NEEDED TO SHOWER BEFORE I WENT TO ROBYN'S! I got there late, but not after a frenzy of hairdrying, FINDBLACKCLOTHES, makeupping and getting all my things I needed for the soireeeeee!

WHICH WAS AMAZING! OH MY GODDDDDDDDD

It was so good there are literally no highlights...who the hell can pick a favourite out of all the items!?!! TOO GOOD. I was barely in it, which was a plus because I got to listen to everybody :D The soloists were absolutely amazing...I wish SO BADLY that I could singggg! And even more, I wish I could make up crap on the spot :O I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW STEVE SEDERGREEN&CO CAN DO IT! *hail*

recordings!

Explosive :D Erika and Birooooo (+ teachers and me randomly tooting in the middle somewhere)

Falling Under composed/sung/piano by Annabelle, with Steph (violin), Liz (cello) and Liselle (trumpet)......pureeee awesome = this song

Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree - Swing Choir (so cute heh)

Makin' Whoopee, sung by Maddy :D (German exchange studenttt) + Steve Sedergreen Ensemble

I cbf uploading more...I could literally go on forever, but there's at least a mixture of instrumental/solo/choir/improv for you :D

xo

leadership

Nominations for leadership positions are pretty much sneaking up on us way quicker than I expected...

After a few speeches from various portfolio captains, we got our nomination forms today (after that 2 hours long seminar thingo...gah) and I'm starting to freak out a bit over who will get which captaincy

You know how there's those people that you expect/assume they'll be a captain in year 12? Those are the people that I sometimes think SHOULDN'T be a captain...don't get me wrong, they would do brilliantly, but some people don't realise there are others who are just as worthy =/ I have in my mind who I would vote for, and a few of them go against what the general vote would be. It pisses me off when some people whore themselves out over a position they want, which makes other candidates feel bad/upset

Having said that...I REALLY WANT TO BE MUSIC CAPTAIN! Which possibly goes against everything I just said ^ haha...it's just that I have so many ideas for 2010 and if you didn't know how much I love music then you're a hobo on the street :) Every music captain before me has made such an amazing impression on me, not just because they're some of the best musicians I'll ever know, but they've been such fantastic leaders...apart from my passion for music I don't have that extra bit of *something* that the previous leaders had. So I guess whether or not I get this position, I'll have to find my *something* either way...

OH MY GODDDD I REALLY WANT THIS! I may actually cry if I don't get it T___T

xo

BUSY

SUP FOLKS!

I haven't had a minute to breathe for 10 days straight...I'm SO glad it's the weekend and one battle is over :D and by battle I mean the Annual Concert, haha

Had an all day rehearsal yesterday, brought my Chem books to get some study done, but needless to say I was in so many things I didn't get any studying crammed :( The Yamaha at Robert Blackwood SUCKS, which caused me to shat my pants cos my Unit 4 Music SAC would be recorded in the evening performance...

Thought I could get a break before the actual concert, but I had English tutoring, in which I had to leave early to get to the vocal warm up at 6:30

And you know what's stressful? Being so far away from Monash Uni, in a traffic jam on the FREEWAY. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Dad ditched the freeway and went on the regular roads, which caused me more stress because it would take longer...but I got there on time, did a warm up and got a flower as a thankyou for doing stacks of accompaniment :D and for some reason, I love getting thankyou flowers...it kinda makes up for the pressure to NOT SCREW UP ON A VERY LOUD KEYBOARD T__T

The night went well, everything got recorded and BIRO WAS AMAZINGGGGG! Her concerto SO should've been the finale :( But I feel so sorry for her cos the year 12 formal is tonight...2 late nights in a row LOL

Went to bed on a highhh, didn't sleep very well and I felt stoned all morning...considering the lack of study I did, I think my chem test wasn't so bad :D definately passed, definately not a good mark though...yay? haha

Can't WAIT to sleep in...Belle's coming over tomorrow & piano lesson (FINALLY!!!) on Sunday. Plus, I need to buy a few decks of jumbo playing cards & fake poker chips from somewhere..formal preparation is SOO on its way :D Gotta get everything done before camp (got assigned to go to Phillip Island YESS), then it's my birthday HOLY HELL I'M GONNA BE 17!

xo

ps. Leah if you're gonna accuse me of disease, at least SPELL IT CORRECTLY...Wernicke Aphasia you psychologicaly damaged woman! ahhahaha COME TO THE FORMAL

pps. Amanda and Lisa, good luck for district interviews!!

hi leah's dad

Apparently you read my blog :D please don't be angry at Leah, I love her :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIN FOR YESTERDAY, I LOVE YOU ALSO :)

dead beat from music "camp"...if I ever have to hear anything from Gloria after Thursday, SOMEONE SHOOT ME (with a cap gun that Mr Claire can't find in any store - anyone know where to get one?)

xo

SCHVEEEEET

55/55 and 20/20 for my music SACs

...that goal of a perfect score is still reachable!

xo

music'd out

Got up seriously early (okay, 8am) to watch the Piano Landmarks at Melba Hall :) 2 performers pulled out cos of sickness/injury, which was a shame because they had to change the programme :( I wanted to hear Bach's Goldberg Variations but the pianist was really sick...so I heard something random instead (Fantasie and Fugue I think)

But anyways, it was a major struggle to stay awake...not because it was boring, but because it was fricken early and I can't sit still for an hour and a half without moving =__=

Got a lift home with Megan, dropped her off at State and then listened to her mum bitch about her all the way home HAHA

Crammed in some lunch and went straight to Mrgeneralknowledgeman for some AHH SAVE MY LMUS ASS!!

He was exactly as he was on the phone - proud and extremeeeellly knowledgeable D: It was so hard keeping up!!

"That's the inversion of the 2nd chord of the relative major of the dominant"

O_________O!! REPEAT THAT SLOWLY!!

Fark. hahahaha...he's friends with my music teacher & knows my examiners...AND he's a VCE piano examiner so he had to get my student number D: he can't examine me cos he's taught me blahblah...

Also gave me a whole folder of notes...gotta do a lot of bedtime reading :(

He charges $70 an hour, went an hour overtime but said $70 was fine :D awesomeeee...the cheapass asian in my appreciates this very much!!!! + the notes...wooooh!

xo

word of the day

eminently - in a prominent manner

red hot needles :D

Messed around with needles in chem today

One was cooled at room temp, one was cooled by shoving it in cold water asap :) The room temp one was meant to be bendy, and the cold water'd one was meant to snap...Amanda and I failed, but it was fun watching them turn red :D

AND WE HAD ORCHESTRA TODAY! I have no idea why I was so excited for it - I guess orchestra's the only reason why I touch the flute these days :) New people in the flute section woo! I'm a 1st this year and the pieces just happen to be really high =__= way to make my sinus feel like it's gonna faint

xo

top class 08

On the way to Top Class, I called Erika 10-20 times and she never picked up - I was panicking because she was meant to be with me and she missed the train and I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO GET TO IWAKI AUDITORIUM LOL

Thank shishkebabs my phone had GPS haha...I found my way there, sat like a loner for ages and attempted to find Biro, but when I got out of my chair, Erika FINALLY rocked up

Top Class is the concert for all the top VCE music performers from 2008, and it was SO cool! It started with a percussionist, which I hadn't really heard as a solo before...then there were violins, classical voices, cellos, saxophones, pianos and finally a harp. There was one singer who sang the FUNNIEST song ever...

"And lovely Lisa, where are you Lisa?

You gave a new meaning to the Leaning Tower of Pisa"

COMPLETE WITH ACTIONS HAHAHAHA! (song is titled Where Is the Life That Late I Led)

I also had my last theory class ever (yayayay...I think) so my money is stocked up for now, and my Saturday evenings are free! The kids were all "byebye table....byebye fish..." at the end of the class, which was cute haha

and now, to tackle the homework!

xo

TOMORROW

HOLY COW

HOUSE CHORALS IS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Set song (Feed the Birds) - fine. not better than the other houses, but it's good enough

Original song (The Gods of Funk) - ............................will work on that tomorrow

Dance - haven't seen any of the dances?

Instrumental - should be fine. We don't have a full orchestra, but at least we have creativity and it counts as entertainment

Special (Hercules)

The Gospel Truth - 2nd best one we have. My accompaniment is dodgy but it'll do

Zero to Hero - our best song, hopefully the ending and my conducting doesn't fck up

Go the Distance - WE DON'T KNOW THE WORDS!! AND THE ENDING SUCKS!!

A Star is Born - needs energy. We sound like zombies, and my accompaniment sounds like puke, but if people get into it (including the audience) we should fudge over it with no problems

George Torbay from Battle of the Choirs is the adjudicator; Mell is considering baking him a basket of muffins to bribe him. GOOD IDEA!!

xo

FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY

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I have never welcomed the weekend so happily.

Chorals instrumental is sounding pretty awesome now, just imagine a peaceful classical piece with pot hitting, bin bashing, triangle dinging, rice shakers and basketball sounds happening over the top of it :)

Tomorrow is the whole day rehearsal for the bell ringing at the memorial service - we had a brief rehearsal and it sounds BEAUTIFUL, I can't wait until we get to perform it with MSO! I've also gotta rush to a Victorian Opera performance of Carmina Burana and Bluebeard straight after, so I have no idea how I'll fit weekend homework into the space of 2 hours

xo

exhausted

I was actually up at an obscure enough hour to see the sunrise - which, due to the fire/smoke, also glows a weird colour

House chorals instrumental rehearsal this morning, which turned into a planning session since we decided to scrap "Under the Sea" and do a Stomp sorta thing, twisted with classical music somehow :D We also started (yes, we're still starting to learn songs and chorals is 8 days away) "I Can Go the Distance" and I attempted conducting, which is so intimidating for some reason...

I'm actually gunna go to bed now - I'm totally drained from playing piano. I have lessons on Monday, which means when the lesson is over I can go home, relax and watch Desperate Housewives. I REALLY needed that break today, especially after the spesh test (NO MATHS TODAY :D) but Jacky used her guilt-tripping tone and made me go through one of my pieces until I got it once right with no mistakes =__= With the first recital happening on Sunday, my practice schedule this week looks like this

Run through 4 pieces (takes 40 mins)

Play one of the pieces 3 times without any mistakes

Run through 4 pieces again

x 6 days

YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TIME AND ENERGY THAT TAKES?? 2 run throughs would take almost an hour and a half, plus actual PRACTICING would take an hour or more - I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH TIME IN A DAY!!!!!!!!! + SCHOOL, HOMEWORK AND CHORALS MEANS I'M ON THE GO ALL THE TIME

I'm gonna hate this week :(

xo

and ready to abaaaaaaaaaaate and ready to abaaaaaate etc etc

Omfg auditions.

Em & I practiced just before going in, Viv had to run from her lesson and was therefore out of breath...you poor thing haha

OK SO WE FOUND OUT ON THE SPOT THAT WE DON'T SING IN GROUPS - IT WAS SOLO WITH ACCOMPANIMENT X____X and my singing skills are equivalent to that of a giraffes, so not cool for me

Emma was a bit out of time, Viv hit her first note amazingly wrong, and I couldn't even hear myself sing the high bit

However I think we all got in the chorus :D Viv will probs get a part...

I SHOULD HAVE GONE AFTER VIV. SHE WAS AWESOME x___x BOTH THE SINGING AND THE ACTING

I think I misinterpreted the script and made the woman sound like she was being sarcastic...she was meant to be really pissed off I think LOL, Viv aced it...girl, you are LOUD (Y)

xo

(...I also got myself into conducting the special item for house chorals. I've never conducted in my life D:)

first day back, again.

The heat is absolutely AWFUL

45.1 degrees

WTF!!!!

And you'd think our school would have AIR CONDITIONING!!

We pay $20,000 a year for our damn school and all we get are crappy fans...

The VCE centre is a huge bonus, there's aircon in the theatrette but that's about it. We let the theatrette door open and cool down the hall but some idiot shut the door and opened the door to the lockeroom and let the hot air flood back in

Psych is pretty good, I have a feeling it's gonna be my favourite subject this year :)

Chem is boring - not good, not bad...bearable I guess :/

English is STUPID, the teacher just talks and talks :( she's an awesome person but a terrible teacher...and she totally spoiled The Crucible for the entire class, ha

Music is the same as always, gossip etc - we're gonna go watch Mr Hall perform Carmina Burana (our set piece) with Victorian Opera which is exciting :D I hope it's an excursion, we never get one of those...haha

xo

summertime

Both the song and the season can go die

I've had 2 blood noses and my rash from sunscreen/aftersun/heat/combo of all 3 isn't getting better

I have an icepack on my neck, my room is the hottest but has the crappest aircon

The song?

RAH

Why can't we analyse Leona Lewis' version :( why does it have to be some extreme operatic one by Leontyne Price?!

...and my nose continues to bleed.

xo

major procrastination

Holidays end in 2 days and I'm still sitting here playing games all day and not touching the remains of homework...

I need to find some good analysis material for Summertime by Leontyne Price and Billie Holiday, and Carmina Burana (O Fortuna). I can't be bothered thinking up my own descriptions of the melody, rhythms, articulation, texture etc etc :(

I stained my purple dress while I was eating dinner...stupid salad oils :( :( I tried to blot it up with tissue but it made it worse, so mum told me to soak the whole thing in cold water. The colour started to come out of it so mum rushed it out of the cold water and hung it out to dry just then

It's times like just then where I thank the weather for being 41 degrees :)

xo