Fantabulous!

After that depressing outcome, I am happy to inform you that I had a WONDERFUL lesson.

RECAP - Ignore if you just want to read about everything but the cello right now... There will be some bits of news at the bottom, after this paragraph.

So anyway, I walked in, sat down, didn't say much... So Mrs. Lopez assumed that I was grouchy, when really, I was trying to be good. I was trying to be a good little doggy who was looking at her glass as half full for once. Of course, the first topic of the day was ASYO. Let me just give it to you in script form.

L: So did you try out for ASYO?
M: Yeah.
L: And.
M: And it was a learning experience.
L: (Is surprised by this answer) Well I see that you didn't quite make it, then. So tell me, what happened?
M: I panicked.
L: You panicked? Like how?
M: Well I walked into the orchestra room at the junior high, and I was fine. I sat down to warm up, and was fine, then I walked out onto the stage and those guys were sitting two feet away and I didn't have a strap and it was scary, but I was fine... I made it through the Swan ok, though the stupid rock stop slipped once and made my cello slide out like this. (Shows her what I mean) But it sounded decent. Then I started Rondo and was fine... It wasn't until I got to (Points to the place that Mrs. Lopez was expecting all along) here. (Pokes the measure with my bow)
L: Mmhm well, what caused the panic? Was it a sudden burst of self-consciousness, or what?
M: Hm I'm going to go with door number one.
L: Well that's just all in your head Maddie Brown, all in your head. That's why I am here. You have progressed pass being too afraid to even audition. Now you can go in and feel fine. It's when you sit down in front of them that you lose your courage. That's what I've got to work on now.

And we continued to chat a bit about that. Yes, I know, this post is boring so far. I promise, I won't bore you for much longer. So, we played through Rondo with the piano then she sat back down, turned on the metronome, and turned it up to 96... Though I was playing it at 78ish somewhat comfortably. It was quite a laugh the first time, so we did it twice then the turned it up again. 102. Apparently my fingers aren't staying close enough to the fingerboard, because they slipped and slid all over the place, but never seemed to make it to the note.

Now I must interrupt here to inform you that there is a fly buzzing around here and it is louder than most normal house flies. It's driving me crazy.

Anyway, we played it at 102 a few more times, then I looked in reflection of the window in the window of the door (Wow... what? Lol) and saw somebody coming. I didn't have any idea who it was and didn't take any time to really think about it because Mrs. Lopez was saying something about "120 before you leave. Ready GOGOGO!" so I had to play or die. Haha. I listened to the person come in as I flew through the beginning. It was flawless and that was at 108. YAY! Then she cranked it up to 120. From 108 to 120. That's when I turned to see that the person sitting on the couch waiting for me to finish was...


Gasp...


Noah. I was inspired. I played it at 120, almost flawlessly, with a huge grin on my face. He actually talked to me afterwards! Mrs. Lopez said something... One of her trademarked lines from one of her "lectures" and he said, "Well, Maddie, I don't refer to them as lectures exactly..." and Mrs. Lopez started listing the things that her students called the "psychological discussions" (< Noah) Then, I was sneaking out of the room whilst Mrs. L was talking to Noah's mom, and Noah said "Goodbye Maddie!" Yes, it was a tiny little thing, but I just about exploded. 1) I was pretty sure he wouldn't talk to me if his life depended on it, 2) Well I don't have a two, so I'm going to just emphasize 1 by saying it again. I was pretty sure he wouldn't EVER talk to me even if his life depended on it. I was sooo giddy. Hehehe...

Oh so, I have to reschedule my lessons so I can make it to the football games on Fridays (Since I'm playing the cymbal... ROFL!) so I'm rescheduling them for Thursdays... Since... Well... Guess.

I'll post my special post tomorrow... Don't let me forget. ;)
<3 you all!
Maddie

I'm on fire... *Rolls eyes*

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, bums and hobos, may I present to you... Miss... MADDIE THE FAILURE.

Guess...

Have you figured it out yet?




How about now?

No, well ok I'll tell you. First, the world's worst acronym. ASYO. Ok now then... Yes, I auditioned Monday. No, I did not make it. Here's the recap for those who are interested.

I walked out onto the stage, and realized OH NO! no cello strap. So I borrowed a rock stop from Bassman. I started with The Swan (Slower = Safer :P) which started out pretty good. Decent tone. Intonation rocked. The new strings helped out (Couldn't get Jargars... Not the season I suppose. Larsen A & D, Thomastik Spirocore G & C) but they didn't save me. My rock stop slipped out like... 6ish inches and WHOOSH! Out of tune, lost my place, bow SQUEEEEAKed, and the high D DIED.

Then I moved on to Rondo... The piece from hell. My thumb pos. was ok until about 6 or 7 lines into the piece. Then I screwed up, tried to go back to the beginning of the measure, screwed up again, tried to go back... Finally I kept going, slowly and shakily... I finished and refused to look up. Haha. I did two scales. They thought I sucked so he said C major and D... How insulting!!! I knew I was done then. I had no chance, but I went ahead and did the easier sight reading. It was in Bb M, or something like that. I knew that until two measures before the end and forgot so all of the b's and e's were natural. Smoooooth...

Jazz band?

Story time. A while back, we talked to the high school jazz band director. We asked if I could be in the jazz band (Since there is no orchestra program here...)and the director said "No, there is no place for a cello in a jazz band..." but yesterday, my band geek friend went in and asked again... Because he is a good guy and knows I want to play my cello with a group DESPERATELY. So, the director said "Oh you mean Maddie Brown? Yeah we could find a place for her... If that's what she wants..." So now I've got to decide if I think I can do it... What do you guys think? I'll put up a poll, but I want some comments too. Let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Oh, and I talked to Mrs. A about this... She says she was in a jazz orchestra and any chance I get to play, I should definitely take. I love her to death, and she knows what she's talking about, so I'll probably do it, but still, I like to know what you are thinking.

Eep! One more thing. Next weekend, I'll be posting a special post, so please keep an eye out for it!

Love ya!
M

The only muse that hasn't jumped off a cliff yet.

Most of my muses die a horrible death, such as my writing muse, my blogging muse, my deviantart muse, etc. But there is one that hasn't, and won't EVER do that. He's not the type.

Now, the ones mentioned above, writing/blogging/devA, are just figments of my imagination. The last one though... My music muse, is a person. A person I recently mentioned in another of my silly posts that I hypnotize you guys into reading (If you haven't read that, I'd appreciate it if you would.) This guy, Noah *Girly sigh* is sort of a crush, sort of just one of those people you admire for their skill.

I started playing when I was in fifth grade. The first time I heard Noah was in fifth grade at the Fall Cluster Concert. He was there with the advanced orchestra from the junior high I was considering going to. No, it wasn't a solo, but he was first chair, and my huge ego and I were only paying attention to the cellos. He looked like he didn't even have to think, it just came to him and he didn't have to watch what he was doing. Everything was just... Right. Well at the time, I just wanted to listen, not learn. I hated playing the cello and was ready to give it up, but I got into it by the end of the year and became a total stage whore. I looooved the applause and the emotions an orchestra could could bring out in people. It is here that I will admit, Faure's Elegie makes me cry... And the Elgar concerto... Makes me sob. Hehe... Anyway, at the end of fifth grade, I had decided I wanted to go to that school that he went to for two reasons: The science program, and the music program. The first day, I learned his name. Noah Littlejohn, a name that would make me giggle for various reasons for the rest of forever. Throughout 6th grade, we stalked him. Yes, full on stalked. We (A cellist friend and I) knew his schedule, his phone #, his address, his private teacher's name, and even his parents' license plates number. Crazy? Yes. Crossing the line? Oh yeah. A crime meant only to entertain us? In Taylors case, yes. In my case, no. I wanted to know everything so I could be what he was. What was he, you ask? First chair cellist of the advanced orchestra, UIL recognized soloist, GSW recognized soloist, he was even wanted by the local symphony later on.

So one afternoon, after I was through stalking Noah, I went to talk to my orchestra director. I asked her casually for some contact information for "that first chair cellist guy's teacher" (Though I knew his name ;P) She gave it to me, doubting that I was good enough, so I called this lady, Eleonora Lopez, and asked for an "audition" time. She told me to stop by Friday, so I did. The first thing I said was something about how I came to her because of Noah, and wanted to be him basically. So, I played Minuet ummm #3 I think... She said I had tons of potential so we scheduled my lessons... And um yeah. I've still not defeated my mental problems that are stopping me from being Noah, but that's what Mrs. Lopez is for.

When I was in 7th grade, he was a freshman... Gone... My muse disappeared. I had to find another form of inspiration. I tried to channel competitive-ness into inspiration, but I am NOT agressively comeptitive like the first chair girl was, so I was third chair all year. At the end of the year, I decided to go to orchestra camp at a university not far from where I live. That's where I saw him again, and was inspired to continue on, whether he was around or not.

Eight grade was the year I lost orchestra completely, but seing Noah again at various music competitions 100 miles from here inspired me once again, but this time I felt a bit more than just inspiration. He was... My silly little crush for a while, but just recently, I decided that it is more than just a silly little crush. It is a full on, ALMOST head over heels crush. I knew that when I heard him practicing/ performing the Elgar cello concerto at camp. From the day I heard him practicing at camp, I spent every waking minute thinking 'How can I change my route so I run into him?' and 'What will it take for me to run into him whilst alone so we might carry on a converstion?' and 'I wonder how I am supposed to stop this stupid blushing and stupid stupid high sqeaky 'OMG IT'S NOAH' voice!!!'

So yes... Noah Littlejohn is my muse and my crush. Someone with that much talent is hard not to admire... So I don't try to hide my admiration anymore... Just ask him. I stutter every time he says hello.

Part III

Ok, so I walked outside. My mom was parked right in front of my dad, so I headed that way. My dad started to get out of his truck, but then stepdad got out so my dad got back in. It was quite funny. I could see my dad griping to his girlfriend as I handed my cello to my stepdad, but have no idea what exactly he was saying. So I finished talking to my parents and got into my dad's truck and he was SILENT all the way home. Super scary. Then he was a jerk for a week, yelling at me for every little thing, even if I had nothing to do with it. It was stupid!!! So yeah, that is the very anticlimactic end to my story. Now go read the post below this to meet my "hopeless-romantic" side. ROFL!

<3

Am I a piece of glass? Or perhaps some evanescent whisp of smoke?

((I'll finish my previous story tomorrow! I promise. Look here tomorrow for Part III))

Yes, yes I think I am. I swear to you, I am going crazy here.

He never notices me until I screw up...

GR!

Quick recap of lesson

-Walk in, sit, unpack
-Play some scales (For the first time ever... Lol)
-Learn that I must memorize every scale ever... um invented... And play two excerpts of two cello solos... And sightread... To get into the youth orchestra here... *Faints*
-Play through the first part of Rondo (Suzuki book 6)
-Start the Swan (For my other solo excerpt)

So I am playing through the Swan trying to refresh my memory, and I'm doing an ok job then... Noah Littlejohn walks in. NOAH LITTLEJOHN... NOAH LITTLEJOHN!!! So immediately I screw up... And no, not just a little bit... I crash... And burn. The whole time he is getting ready for his lesson, and I can see it on his face that he thinks I don't sound great. Now, if you know me, you know that I adore this guy. He is so talented! Mrs Lopez knows that too, and she rescheduled my lesson... And put it right before his, knowing that I would squirm with him around. She laughed at me through this whole little scene. It was soooooo embarrassing. He wouldn't even give me the time of day as it was, but now he thinks I'm a total idiot who he won't give the time of day to. *Heart breaks*

:'(

I'm too depressed to finish this post... I'll do it later. *Walks away, head and shoulders drooping, sniffling quietly and casually wiping away some pitiful li'l tears*

Lol.

You must read this whole post!!!!!

Well friends, my summer has come to an end. I hope I have entertained you slightly with my frequent posts. They will become less frequent now, and I'll tell you why later. Guanaco, if you are reading this, I'll only be able to help with CelloHeaven every other weekend, though I would still love to help in anyway I can as often as possible! I adore that website and every person on it... Except Allthingspink. I mean, come on! What kind of name is that? Allthingspink! *Scoffs* HA! Why not Allthingsgreen, or Allthingsblue? Sheesh.

Hehe...

Now I have a story to tell. Gather 'round the circle children so you can all here me. Keith! Stop pulling Donna's hair! Sarah! Get your finger out of your nose!

Part I
Ok, so about a two weeks ago I went to my friend Holy's house right after my private lesson. My granddad pulled up and I immediately said "I need to get my bag and cello so will you unlock the back, please?" So he did. Well it was a pretty big bag, so I got it and took it up to the door then turned around and the back of the truck was closed and locked and my granddad was behind me holding my rabid sister away from Holy. So at first... For a millisecond I thought he had made an honest mistake and forgotten, but then I remembered, he is part of the side of my family that I don't like, so this wasn't an innocent mistake. He had done it on purpose because he wanted to be in control just like every other loon on that side of the family. So here is the brief conversation we had... His words will be in italics.

"Hey I need to get my cello..."
"Nah, it will be ok. I'll be nice to Winston..."
(Now let me cut in right here and tell you that I don't want him calling my cello by his name like he is some part of this musician insanity. It irritates me to no end. Anyway, back to what was said.)
"No, I need my cello. I don't want to leave it with you. It's my cello, so you need to go unlock the truck and let me get my cello out before you leave."
*He begins walking towards the truck, laughing the whole way there* "Nono, he will be fine. He will be ok. I'll be good to him. Don't worry."
"I want my cello! Open the back!"
*He is about to duck down and get into his truck*"I'll see you later Maddie, you two have fun." *He drives away with Winston still IN THE BACK OF HIS WORK TRUCK!*

So tons of things start running through my head. 1) He isn't going to take Winston out of the truck! He will be there until Friday when he comes back to take me to my lesson! 2) The heat and humidity are going to make him swell up and it's going to mess with the crack in the bottom of him! 3) Winnie is going to go out to the country with him and bump around and stuff is going to fall on his case and and... 4) I WANT MY WINNIE!!!

That jerk is driving away with my cello, and I am wishing I would have done things differently...

---

Part II

Ok so it has been a week since then, and I've spent some time with Holy, and my grandmother, and my GREAT grandmother, and I've read the Harry Potter book, but though I've had all of these things to distract me, my mind hasn't left the thought that Winston is in the back of a truck somewhere with his sound post rolling around inside him and he is cracked all the way around so he is in two pieces. So I worry and wait and wait and wait for Friday, and it finally comes...

My dad showed up at my grandmothers where I had been staying, and rang the doorbell... I went and got in the truck and immediately turned around to look at Winston, though I couldn't touch quite yet. His case was fine. Then we took FOREVER getting to Mrs. Lopez's house, I guess since I was nervous. When we got there, I dragged my cello inside, put it by the couch and walked away from it. Mrs. Lopez laughed and asked what was going on. I told her that I needed her to open the case because I was too afraid to. She agreed to, so I told her the story as she opened it up and took Winnie out. She sat down and inspected him as I continued to call my granddad a slur of many different things (All in Maddie language... So it wasn't any thing worse that "Stupidheadedtennisshoe!!!) Winnie was ok... When she told me that, I started crying and I grabbed Winston and hugged him and shook throughout my whole lesson. Lol! So yeah... Now then... Another story before we continue.

---

Part II 1/2

My mom and I had decided before that lesson that she would show up (Though my dad was supposed to pick me up) and pick up my cello, so I saw her pull up, and immediately my performance began to suffer, because I knew my dad would freak when I handed my cello over to her (I don't know why, but it's true)... Mrs. Lopez noticed, so I explained the situation and referred to it as a "scene from Jerry Springer" multiple times. So we finished up my lesson by talking about how I need to be less my dadish and more my momish, because it will make my playing better. Then, as I left, I was freaking out because my dad was going to yell at me for it, or I was pretty sure he was going to. Mrs. Lopez hummed the death march as I walked outside... It was not nice. Lol but I cracked up.

---

Part III

I'll get to that later... I'm getting carpal tunnel.

My First Lesson!!!

I FIXED MY TITLES! YAY!

Ok, anyway... I have to tell you this story first. It's from orch-dork camp. :)

The first full day at camp we spent all day trying to get each other's names right. In our sectional, we went around saying our first and last name, and Mrs. A-dog fell in love with Erin Milke's (Like Milky) last name. So every time someone would say "My name is Bob Barker and this is Erin" Mrs. A. would always add Milke, because she loved that name so much. So then, she started cracking bad jokes about Erin Milke's name... Like we were really scrunched close together, but Erin had room to move, so Mrs. Allison said "Erin can move because she's low-fat Milke!" There were a few more too. Oh she said "Awww Erin is so sweet! She's chocolate Milke!" and "No need to be sour Milke!" I still laugh when I think of that. It was hilarious, though Erin didn't seem to think so at the time. I guess it's because they were such corny jokes.

Oh so yeah, about my lesson! Today, I start the all-region audition music. The cool thing about that is that the all-region tryouts are excerpts from the all-state audition music. It's exciting. If you get into all-state, you are pretty much guaranteed acceptance into any of the universities here with a music program. I won't make it this year, because I am still struggling with thumb position, but it will be good to work on it anyway. I'm soooo excited! Mrs. Lopez is excited to be getting me back too because I have grown a bit from being on my own for so long. I have a better tone and a better attitude. :) I'll blog about the lesson this evening or tomorrow depending on our internet. It hasn't been working lately. Gr.

<3

EDIT: Ha! Score! I got my music all fixed up and ready! Thanks to cellobloggers. Hahahahahahahahahaaaaa... That rocks. Listen and enjoy. Jubilee sucks by the way. Hehe! :)

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig

Look! It's the three coolest people on earth. Left to right: Allthingspink from Celloheaven, Mrs. A (Our Sectional leader and coolest cello teacher EVER) and me.

I am home from camp. It was sooooooo fun! Well, I didn't do any of the social stuff (Dances, parties, etc.) because by the end of the day, which was like 4:45ish for me, I was exhausted. I would seriously walk back to the dorm and pass out, only to be rudely awaken by people who obviously didn't value their lives. I learned a ton, and our concert was... Interesting. I'll post the MP3s here soon if I can. I'd tell you what we did wrong, but then that would ruin the pieces for you, so I'm going to let your discover/ not discover what I know is wrong and found later on that was wrong or turned out to be right.

Here is what we played (Remember... MP3s are on their way!!!):

The Light Cavalry Overture by Franz von Suppe
Selections from Mamma Mia arr. by Ted Ricke HS
"Presto" from Three Divertimento Mvmts. by W. A. Motzart
Jubilee by Ron Nelson

It was a fun concert. I'd like for everyone to keep in mind that no matter how ABSOLUTELY STUPID YOU LOOK, you must do as your concert master (Or mistress in my case) chooses to do. During our concert, Dr. W. stood us up, then left the stage. Our lovely first chair first violin didn't seat the orchestra because she either didn't know that she was supposed to lead that or forgot out of post-performance jitters, so we just stood with her. We were all mouthing things like "sit down!" and "seat the orchestra!" but she didn't catch on. We heard our other conductor Mrs. Mac whispering back stage, and turned to look at her. She was standing there waving her arms at us and making the "SIT DOWN!" motion. Finally, after about 60 seconds of humiliation, we sat down and she came out to conduct the next piece. I could hear our sectional leader cracking up in the audience... It was pretty funny at the time.

Also, our big joke in cello sectionals this year was about the word anticipate. Mrs. A kept reminding us to anticipate this shifts. It eventually turned into the "Word of the Day" (Every day... Lol) that was "Brought to you by the letter A!!!" Like Seseme Street! Remember that? They would have a number and a letter everyday.

I'm too tired to continue to tell my orch-dork camp stories, but I fully intend to continue tomorrow! Stay tuned, and we will be right back with "STORIES FROM ORCH DORK CAMP".

Heh heh