The Sound of Music

Music has always made me smile. Right now, out my window, I'm suddenly hearing a harmonica played somewhere in the neighborhood. I am happily surprised when this happens, especially when my mom is playing the classical radio station and I suddenly hear a bassoon. Now that we have plans to move this summer, I am incredibly sad to leave the place where I learned to play the bassoon. My instructor and fellow musicians on Whidbey have been wonderful to learn from and play with. I thought about this as I rehearsed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in band today for the concert tomorrow night. I suppose it's time for another big change in my life, but I won't stop playing the bassoon if I can help it. I may have stopped my piano lessons, but I don't plan to stop learning about this most incredible wind instrument.

Photo: Can you see the bassoons in the middle, with the cute Japanese tourists behind the fence? Taken in London at Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard.

Lost In The City

I had a dream a few weeks ago that I was racing a horse at a fair, and at one point I couldn't get it to stop, so it went out of the fair and into a city. I eventually had to stop at an intersection on the sidewalk and ask for directions. I wonder if this predicted my feelings about Running Start and different community college possibilities. I am so confused as to where I should go: Bellevue or Edmonds Community College? There was nothing online to tell me which was better. Just today I decided on Edmonds, but they are so similar. I am thinking of a Computer Science major, but I don't know if that's the best choice for me yet. I'm realizing you really have to decide what you want to do and work really hard at getting what you want. It's a long process... a long, tedious, stressful process, especially if you don't trust that things will work out.

Photo: A bridge in San Francisco, taken when I was there last year. I love SF, I need to go back someday soon!

To Share Or Not To Share?

I enjoy writing stories, but I appreciate people reading my work even more. The other day I read an interview with Philip Pullman, author of the His Dark Materials series, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. They're quite intriguing if you've never read them. One of his comments struck me, about sharing his work. He never shows anyone what he's writing, until he's completely finished. He compared sharing his work with explaining a dream, saying, "You know what it's like when you try and tell someone what your dream is like? It's so boring because it evaporates in the telling somehow." I realized that this is true for me when I explain my writing, that the sense of awe, wonder, or terror I want to get across never comes out right. Perhaps I can stay with one writing project longer if I don't try to explain it.

Photo: Half of a crab shell that I found on Mukilteo Beach. I wonder how it stayed intact?

Comparing and Contrasting

Why is it so important to learn this type of essay in high school? It seems the teachers get together and plot when to hit their students, at the same time, with essays. I've discovered through the already prevailing stress at school, my essays don't seem to be getting better, especially when I'm under a time limit. After this week, I refuse to write any more of them.

Photo: For my first post, I decided to include an interesting picture from a tourist trap on my trip to California last summer: the Drive-Through Chandelier Tree in Leggett, CA. Height: 315 ft., Diameter: 21 ft., Maximum Age: 2400 years. [I will occasionally include random photos like this. :D]