all-state w00t w00t!!
wow last week was so incredibly awesome. somebody slap me cuz i'm still not over the fact that i'm back in houston. san antonio is so amazing. i had a blast.
we left last wednesday even though i went to school that morning. i showed up to orchestra and mrs. robicheaux wasn't there, so we just played poker. nothing beats equal packets. lol.
we went to langham creek to leave on the bus. i had a massive suitcase that i could not carry, so i needed a little help getting everything onto the bus. i sat with julia on the bus no shocker & we watched emperor's new groove and that thing you do on the bus to san antonio. i tried to sell some chocolate for spanish club & even got julia to advertise, but i guess all-staters just aren't big chocolate eaters.
we finally got to san antonio & got dropped off at the westin. our bus kept circling around the hotel though since the guy kept trying to mess things up thinking that it was so hilarious and all. the speakers were turned on so high that each time he tried to tell us something the whole bus yelled at him. and of course at the westin there is never a short supply of doormen. i don't think i ever touched the door more than twice. kathy & diana brought an insane amount of food & snacks. i took pics cuz it was so unbelievable. half of kathy's suitcase was filled with food. it all barely fit into a huge drawer. craziness... so then we went to get registered & attended the orientation. sooo many ppl there, but it was nice to see ppl from all over the state again. then we were off to rechair. mr. markuson was our monitor, which was kinda cool. i kinda screwed up on my audition, but i actually managed to get first, which was so unbelievable. so now my dad owes me a dog & a cellie. hahaha... he was so speechless when i told him.
the next day was rehearse like crazy: 9-12, lunch break, 2-5, dinner break, 7-9, go to bed. that's insane. but i went to doug's "surprise" b-day party at luciano's on the riverwalk w/the rest of the choir gang at nine. that was loads of fun. they sang happy birthday to doug, but come on, these are all-state choir members i'm talking about here. they're off singing in a-major or something & cody's giving mr. quaid a c# (sharp) & everyone's singing in five different harmonies, & i'm like, this is NOT a time for cathy to kill a beautiful moment, so at first i don't sing, i'm just so amazed. i have never heard happy birthday sung so wonderfully. then doug notices and demands that i sing, so i humor him and lip-sync my way through the rest of the song. seriously, i was completely amazed. it was one of those rare beautiful moments in my life. all for a birthday song. wow. then doug & phillip & i walked back to the westin, & they decide to be geniuses and take a shortcut through a back alleyway behind this restaurant. it was eleven at night, which by the way was our curfew, & i'm thinking, this looks just like a place where murder scenes in movies take place, & i start freaking out. but it was all good, cuz we ended up right in front of our hotel. now that i think about it, it was actually a pretty alleyway, with lit fountains and such. but it freaky enough for the rest of my trip.
on friday (the thirteenth) we went and saw fifty first dates at the rivercenter mall amc. it was a great movie & i recommend it to all, but seriously, they need to find a new translater. there was this one part where a chinese lady is describing her date on the phone in chinese, & the english subtitles are on the bottom. so at one part, she's babbling away & i'm not even paying attention to the subtitles & she's saying how she thinks she likes him, but she's not sure if the feeling is mutual, and blah blah blah in chinese, & the whole audience starts cracking up, & i'm like, what's so funny? i look at the subtitles, & they say:
"he pounded me like a mallard duck."
what the heck?! "he pounded me like a mallard duck?!?!" where on earth did they come up with that?!?! i should issue a formal complaint. me & julia looked at each other & we were soooo confused. whatever. it was a hilarious movie though. then diana & kathy cought up with jeff aka omar & daniel, & never mind about that...
saturday was all the concerts. our conductor actually wanted me to conduct the orchestra & play the violin at the same time. how insane is that??? it was sooo much fun though. i had a blast. then we went and watched the philharmonic, & i was sooo disappointed in myself that i hadn't made it this year. next year... it was soo sad b/c the conductor timothy russell was talking about how a student's parent was killed in a car crash coming to san antonio due to the icy roads and such. talk about heartbreaking!! they performed the pines of rome, & it was just AMAZING!! he had the trumpets and trombones out in the audience, & on the fourth movement, the trombones were right behind me, blasting away in my ear. i almost cried it was so beautiful. i have never gotten so excited during an orchestra performance. it was awesome.
the symphony performed later, & they were just incredible. forget the new york philharmonic. these students were just unbelievable. no words to describe how good they were. i'm speechless. man, the first chair cello player, she was sooooooooo amazing!! just watching her made me want to cry. it was so beautiful. oh yea, in the middle of the concert the e flat clarinet had instrument difficulties, so they were in need of an e flat clarinet. what do you know, someone in the audience did have one, & came to the rescue. it was soo hilarious. only at tmea. the conductor was just amazing also, he's some internationally acclaimed conductor, & he just conducted like he was written into the piece. unbelievable.
we got home saturday night. i still haven't woken up from it all yet. this year's all-state was just an unforgettable experience. next year... cathy will be in a higher orchestra... hahaha, hopefully...
we left last wednesday even though i went to school that morning. i showed up to orchestra and mrs. robicheaux wasn't there, so we just played poker. nothing beats equal packets. lol.
we went to langham creek to leave on the bus. i had a massive suitcase that i could not carry, so i needed a little help getting everything onto the bus. i sat with julia on the bus no shocker & we watched emperor's new groove and that thing you do on the bus to san antonio. i tried to sell some chocolate for spanish club & even got julia to advertise, but i guess all-staters just aren't big chocolate eaters.
we finally got to san antonio & got dropped off at the westin. our bus kept circling around the hotel though since the guy kept trying to mess things up thinking that it was so hilarious and all. the speakers were turned on so high that each time he tried to tell us something the whole bus yelled at him. and of course at the westin there is never a short supply of doormen. i don't think i ever touched the door more than twice. kathy & diana brought an insane amount of food & snacks. i took pics cuz it was so unbelievable. half of kathy's suitcase was filled with food. it all barely fit into a huge drawer. craziness... so then we went to get registered & attended the orientation. sooo many ppl there, but it was nice to see ppl from all over the state again. then we were off to rechair. mr. markuson was our monitor, which was kinda cool. i kinda screwed up on my audition, but i actually managed to get first, which was so unbelievable. so now my dad owes me a dog & a cellie. hahaha... he was so speechless when i told him.
the next day was rehearse like crazy: 9-12, lunch break, 2-5, dinner break, 7-9, go to bed. that's insane. but i went to doug's "surprise" b-day party at luciano's on the riverwalk w/the rest of the choir gang at nine. that was loads of fun. they sang happy birthday to doug, but come on, these are all-state choir members i'm talking about here. they're off singing in a-major or something & cody's giving mr. quaid a c# (sharp) & everyone's singing in five different harmonies, & i'm like, this is NOT a time for cathy to kill a beautiful moment, so at first i don't sing, i'm just so amazed. i have never heard happy birthday sung so wonderfully. then doug notices and demands that i sing, so i humor him and lip-sync my way through the rest of the song. seriously, i was completely amazed. it was one of those rare beautiful moments in my life. all for a birthday song. wow. then doug & phillip & i walked back to the westin, & they decide to be geniuses and take a shortcut through a back alleyway behind this restaurant. it was eleven at night, which by the way was our curfew, & i'm thinking, this looks just like a place where murder scenes in movies take place, & i start freaking out. but it was all good, cuz we ended up right in front of our hotel. now that i think about it, it was actually a pretty alleyway, with lit fountains and such. but it freaky enough for the rest of my trip.
on friday (the thirteenth) we went and saw fifty first dates at the rivercenter mall amc. it was a great movie & i recommend it to all, but seriously, they need to find a new translater. there was this one part where a chinese lady is describing her date on the phone in chinese, & the english subtitles are on the bottom. so at one part, she's babbling away & i'm not even paying attention to the subtitles & she's saying how she thinks she likes him, but she's not sure if the feeling is mutual, and blah blah blah in chinese, & the whole audience starts cracking up, & i'm like, what's so funny? i look at the subtitles, & they say:
"he pounded me like a mallard duck."
what the heck?! "he pounded me like a mallard duck?!?!" where on earth did they come up with that?!?! i should issue a formal complaint. me & julia looked at each other & we were soooo confused. whatever. it was a hilarious movie though. then diana & kathy cought up with jeff aka omar & daniel, & never mind about that...
saturday was all the concerts. our conductor actually wanted me to conduct the orchestra & play the violin at the same time. how insane is that??? it was sooo much fun though. i had a blast. then we went and watched the philharmonic, & i was sooo disappointed in myself that i hadn't made it this year. next year... it was soo sad b/c the conductor timothy russell was talking about how a student's parent was killed in a car crash coming to san antonio due to the icy roads and such. talk about heartbreaking!! they performed the pines of rome, & it was just AMAZING!! he had the trumpets and trombones out in the audience, & on the fourth movement, the trombones were right behind me, blasting away in my ear. i almost cried it was so beautiful. i have never gotten so excited during an orchestra performance. it was awesome.
the symphony performed later, & they were just incredible. forget the new york philharmonic. these students were just unbelievable. no words to describe how good they were. i'm speechless. man, the first chair cello player, she was sooooooooo amazing!! just watching her made me want to cry. it was so beautiful. oh yea, in the middle of the concert the e flat clarinet had instrument difficulties, so they were in need of an e flat clarinet. what do you know, someone in the audience did have one, & came to the rescue. it was soo hilarious. only at tmea. the conductor was just amazing also, he's some internationally acclaimed conductor, & he just conducted like he was written into the piece. unbelievable.
we got home saturday night. i still haven't woken up from it all yet. this year's all-state was just an unforgettable experience. next year... cathy will be in a higher orchestra... hahaha, hopefully...