Running from a Cat

Last weekend was the first time in almost two months that I have seen my brother. This is not to be confused with spending time with my brother because that would require being in the same general area as him for a decent length of time. Of the three days spent in Muncie, two of the days were my Ball State Freshman Orientation. This was a somewhat informative activity, but it is my belief that it could have been shortened into a one day event. For those who wish to know, I tested out of my first year of Japanese and will be taking Japanese 201 this fall.

Getting back on track, on the one day I had free while we were there, my brother was working from 8:00am until 3:00pm. At this point I was not worried because we had planned on staying for one additional day. Unfortunately, our stay was to be cut short by the announcement that the relatives were coming to visit (normally something I look forward to) and they were bringing a cat (the unfortunate part). Personally I could deal with being in the house as a cat as long as I had some allergy medicine, but my father would be miserable with or without medicine. So my father made the announcement that we would be leaving no later than 7:00pm. This was to ensure that there would be no contact with the cat. I would have stayed, but I didn't want to make my parents drive down to Muncie again later that week.

More happenings

 It has been a while since my last blog. I think I should fill you in on what's going on from a first hand perspective.

I had fun trying new bows for my viola. They were very expensive though. (nearly twice as expensive as I thought they would be) I knew which one sounded the best within minutes of playing the last one. The bow I chose is an unusual type of bow. Bows are normally made of pernambuco or carbon fiber. However, the bow I chose has a pernambuco shell and a carbon fiber core. I'm not going to say how much it cost, but for the record it was the most expensive of the bows I tried.

It is true I went to prom and had a good time. Unfortunately, I am not much of a dancer, and as such, I was on reserve for slow songs. I did try to dance to a few fast songs but I only managed to look foolish and feel more foolish. Over all prom was an excellent experience and I probably would have gone last year had I known how much fun it would be. If you are wondering about my date and who she was, the best I can do is post an older picture of her from the orchestra trip to florida

.

Keeping Score

Well, I went down to Muncie again this weekend for an information session. I got the feeling that the student was not really required to be there, but I was and I received a Ball State t-shirt. The important part of our trip was to find out from the viola professor a few things. The first question was whether it is possible to double major in performance AND Japanese in only four years. As it turns out, it is possible and was done by a student who graduated last year. Secondly, we asked if a better viola would be needed for college. This is the main concern in our family. It is all about score. For instance, the minimum amount you can pay for a good viola is around $5000 plus $300-500 for a good bow and another $200 for a good case with the proper features. If you include the high quality strings and shoulder rest the total comes out to almost $6000. As it may or may not be known, Karl and I have always kept score on how much was spent on each of us. If I receive a new viola, Karl will without a doubt want something expensive as well. The problem with this is the sheer amount of money that will be spent. Fortunately, I will not need the new instrument my freshman year, and hopefully during that time, I will be able to save some money to help with that purchase.

Well  it's getting late and I have school tomorrow not to mention Monday Night Rehearsals

Future

Hello

My first blog. It feels like such a momentous occasion. I'll celebrate with a smiley face.