"What can you do that's fantastic?" --Frank Zappa
Wow. The Season has come to its final close. (In both respects, for those of you who know what I'm actually talking about.) Dean's mantra for his seniors finally hit home really, really hard once I walked off that stage: "Everything you do this year is the last one of whatever it is." Four years … damn. All State gave me my first real encounter with chauvinism, an idea of how bad pulling an all-nighter really is for you, a free male stripper (don't ask if you don't already know), ways to maximize fun in the dressing rooms, and an endless source of inside jokes.
I confess, I went into it this year feeling rather, well, shafted. But all of the resentment was gone once the weekend came. It just isn't worth being bitter over something ridiculous like that, especially when I'm convinced that I couldn't have played better in the audition room, in rehearsal, or in concert. There's something about being surrounded by over a hundred wonderful, talented people that can make you swell with pride for what you're doing. I went on stage feeling just like Dean: The World's Greatest Third Trumpet Player. And that, my friends, is an awesome feeling.
I've left All State with amazing memories and even more amazing friends. Plans to play strip poker (naked poker? just naked?). Donna, Mark, and Jules-much love. Setting up chairs in the elevator just because we could. Getting decent at rat screw. Locking Chris in the bathroom. Walking five miles up and down the Atlantic City Boardwalk for fudge and a pair of toy handcuffs. Dropping it like it's Scott. The Best Wake Up Call Ever. CHIEF. South Jersey making weird noises before every picture. South Jersey annoying the hell out of everyone with the damn water glasses. Big Blue/Big Red. Finally learning that it's best to move your stuff while wearing sneakers, THEN changing into the ridiculous shoes at the concert. The art of dealing with insomniac roommates. Whoa, the carpet really DOES absorb soda like magic.
I hope that everybody else has gotten as much as I have out of it. Even though this chapter is over, I know it's only the beginning of so much more. And I can't wait.
I confess, I went into it this year feeling rather, well, shafted. But all of the resentment was gone once the weekend came. It just isn't worth being bitter over something ridiculous like that, especially when I'm convinced that I couldn't have played better in the audition room, in rehearsal, or in concert. There's something about being surrounded by over a hundred wonderful, talented people that can make you swell with pride for what you're doing. I went on stage feeling just like Dean: The World's Greatest Third Trumpet Player. And that, my friends, is an awesome feeling.
I've left All State with amazing memories and even more amazing friends. Plans to play strip poker (naked poker? just naked?). Donna, Mark, and Jules-much love. Setting up chairs in the elevator just because we could. Getting decent at rat screw. Locking Chris in the bathroom. Walking five miles up and down the Atlantic City Boardwalk for fudge and a pair of toy handcuffs. Dropping it like it's Scott. The Best Wake Up Call Ever. CHIEF. South Jersey making weird noises before every picture. South Jersey annoying the hell out of everyone with the damn water glasses. Big Blue/Big Red. Finally learning that it's best to move your stuff while wearing sneakers, THEN changing into the ridiculous shoes at the concert. The art of dealing with insomniac roommates. Whoa, the carpet really DOES absorb soda like magic.
I hope that everybody else has gotten as much as I have out of it. Even though this chapter is over, I know it's only the beginning of so much more. And I can't wait.