Yeah. Lately I’ve been trying to consider the future a lot more seriously. I suddenly came to the realization that in less than a year I will have all my college apps done and I SHOULD be ready to audition. How scary is that? So, I’ve been doing my best to keep up a regular practice schedule, which I must say hasn’t been that hard. Needless to say, I haven’t really had much else to do so I guess I’ll see what happens once classes start again. But, practicing has felt fulfilling. Maybe I would get through stuff faster if I actually played it outside of practice room number 7. I’m sure I will. Yeah. That is my biggest goal for this year. If I achieve nothing else, that’s ok. I will be content in knowing that I made a huge change. I NEVER practice. To break that habit will be amazing. I really hope I can. Also, I’d like to grow out my hair. But that REALLY isn’t important in the grand scheme of things. I will cut it off someday. It just would look nice. Anyways. I just thought I’d rant about that. I feel motivated. Let’s see how many days I can keep this up!!

I swore not to do this, but after much thought I decided I should at least think about what needs to happen in 2009… so here goes:

1. Read more.
2. Do all my work on my desk, with laptop turned off to avoid distractions.
3. Ask this one person out.
4. Not rush on the college apps.
5. Give myself time to practice for auditions
6. Get myself more educated in classical music. Something I can always be doing.
7. Be prompt in responding to emails and phone calls.
8. Think about what I’m saying before I say it.
9. Practice more.
10. Succeed.

So, I hope you all have a really excellent New Year. I’ll see you in 2009!! Time to go party the night away.

marijke

So I’ve been trying new browsers lately since I keep encountering weird compatibility issues and/or slowness and/or annoyingness with add-ons. So, I think I finally found my match. I tried flock a while ago, with no luck but they put out flock 2.0 and I’m trying it and it’s quite nice. I’m using the blog editor to write this post and all the world stuff is awesome. Also, I can use all the firefox add-ons but they won’t fuck it up like firefox did. It was frustrating me. It is awesome. I know last time I wrote an article about a browser I stopped using it. Don’t get me wrong, Firefox can be awesome and Chrome has potential… but flock has the best of all the worlds. I loved Opera, but no add-ons that were convenient and I had compatibility issues with some school stuff. Who wants to load another browser just to check grades? Not me. Anyways. Just a short post, but I thought that you should try it out. Also, the feed reader is nice. And it checks email for me. Lots of nice stuff. Go try. ;D

Well, college hunting that is. Yesterday I went up to Northwestern with Akash and I really got a good feel for the University. The people were friendly, and I really could do what I want. I can either take a dual-degree or a double-major, which was totally new to me. However, I don’t think I’m academically rigorous enough. I guess I’ll apply anyways. I have a chance? And my audition can count towards it, and my essay and things. I mean, I generally get A’s, so it’s not bad. I loved the feel of the campus, the academic rigor. I mean, there is so much to choose from there. Let’s see what else I really discovered, because there was a Performing Arts college fair after at Bloomquist. So, that was a good opportunity to speak to some other colleges about their courses. I discovered some good and some not so good things. One, Peabody is looking farther down on my list. I was hoping I could easily do a double-major because that’s what JHU talks about and how it’s easy. But, Peabody seems to make it WAY more difficult. So, it’s a possibility, but it’s not looking too high up there. Also, CIM is lower on my list by a lot. It seems way too traditional for me. See, I was comparing their college catalogue to one that SFCM gave me. And it’s very different in a lot of ways. They just have set stuff you MUST take. There was no New Music Ensemble or anything of the like. So, on the other end of the spectrum: positives. Well, SFCM is looking high on my list. There were lots of opportunities and it just generally looked like a good place to expand my music horizons. Also, Berklee College of Music was a great place it seemed to do more alternative styles with my viola. So that’s a consideration. Also higher on my list was USC. I can do just about anything there. I didn’t have a chance to ask about a dual-degree or a double major, but I can email them. It seemed interesting. It’s a very high caliber string program. (I mean seriously, Midori teaches there) And Mannes was higher on my list too. I can do other things at one of the other colleges inside the University. NEC I can do a dual-degree with Harvard or Tufts as well. So, yeah. All this got me thinking. I certainly learned a lot. Now I have to compare all this to other things that I had been researching before. Yay college.

I knew I’d write about this some day.

Let me make myself clear, I got both types of sex ed. That is, abstience only and comprehensive. In 8th grade, we took time out of each day in our “team” to listen to a speaker talk about why sex is bad. Why they regretted it. Why, because they were uneducated, they got pregnant, got HIV/AIDS, the list goes on. So, instead of trying to possibly educate the kids who, at 13 or 14 were already having sex, they just said it was bad. That masturbation was bad because alleving sexual feelings is certainly not allowed. I mean, I certainly got here because a stork carried me from the hands of some higher, unknown being who had no reason for me to have sex. I knew this wasn’t the way to be, but what about the kids that did listen to the speaker who said that condoms didn’t work. Who told them that, no matter what, having sex is ALWAYS a negative thing.

I can’t deny that having sex at 13 can have some negative consequences. Regardless of some kids being physically mature enough to have sex, your emotions aren’t set. What about the fact that there is always the constant pressure to have sex through the media? None of the government-funded abstience-only sex ed covered any of this. What about the fact that in the end, we are all sexual beings? Nothing. After the end of this program, they all gave us these wristbands. Remember the liveSTRONG bands that everyone wore? They were like those. But they were white and they said “Wait 4 Your Mate”. Hold on, the government is using our tax money to tell kids that saying “4″ instead of “for” is alright??? I mean, besides everything else, that’s just… wrong. Oh. The best part? If I went to their office, I could get a free “keep ur pants up” t-shirt. Man, I really need one of those.

Now, let’s get back to my comprehensive sex ed experience. I admit, it was pretty good considering they had to cover a lot in a small amount of time. But there were some key parts that just… bother me. Let’s go into a hypothetical world. You are a gay teenage boy who is just starting to realize his feelings. You don’t understand what “safer sex practices” mean because school only teaches them under the basis of birth control. I read an article today talking about how gays and black people are still under a greater threat of getting infected with HIV/AIDS. We’re not teaching our kids that safer sex pertains to all manner of sexualities. That males who are having sex with males need to use a condom and lube. That females need to use a dental dam. I mean, how would you even know that unless you did research?? You wouldn’t. Or, maybe a girl thought saran wrap was fine because it “seemed” like the same material. But it’s not. Saran wrap is porous, which means that viruses and bacteria can get through it. Not good at all. But even for straight couples, they don’t emphasize that having a back up plan is good. Or that you should use 2 forms of birth control, like the pill and a condom. Using the pill isn’t good enough unless everyone is STI free! Oh the flaws.

Anyways. I’m done with my ranting. I’m starting to think maybe I should become a sex educator…. Apt career possibly? ¡¡En español!! Anyways, that’s it. But… comments?

I know it was just released today, but I just want to express to you how geeky I am. I LOVE GOOGLE CHROME. I love Firefox, don’t get me wrong, but it seems like a super new browser and it’s very clean and is fast. Oh, it’s so nice. ;D Hand it to Marijke to already download the new browser by Google. I still have to use Firefox for certain things, which is a downside. I have to use the IE Tab for certain things and FireFTP, but really I don’t use either THAT often, so I don’t think it will be bad. If you haven’t tried out Google Chrome yet, you should. http://google.com/chrome. Their little videos are quite informative as well, if you just want to see about it. I wanna try out the supposedly super-fast javascript loading in a bit. Talk about a couple of rounds of iSketch.

What else is new? Well. I’ve started a new book. Actually, I’m reading like 4 right now. But my MAIN book is this one on Shostakovich by Elizabeth Wilson. It’s fantastic. She gets right inside his life through the testimony of others who knew him, not just whatever was published. It’s all direct sources of friends, relatives, teachers, acquaintances. I know no one who reads this would find it interesting, but it really is a good book. I especially like that it’s all direct sources, so it’s all fact. Nothing with silly Solomon Volkov’s “Testimony” which is really just plagiarizing and… yeah. It’s bad.

As you probaby know, school has started. It’s pretty ok. My math teacher is super geeky, but a great teacher and gym class isn’t that bad. I’m taking Jazz/Tap, so… it’s a new dance style for me, but I used to dance ballet for a while so, it’s not new as far as moving is considered. Also, Dramatic Lit seems like a nice class. We have a nice teacher (the dept. chair) and she tries to make things more than just boring old reading books. I like that. French is a joke. Spanish is good. I have a teacher who is a native speaker, so he doesn’t screw things up like former teachers and he knows his stuff. It’s good. We’re playing Shosti 8 in orchestra (hell yes!) and it’s starting to sound hawt. Nothing much else. I’ve gotten some emails to teach kids, so I’ll see how many I actually get. One lady just emailed me today. And… I have lessons starting back up again next week, which should be fun. Other than that… not much. Hopefully everyone is coping with school.

Go try Chrome ;D
Marijke

I don’t know how much you all cook. But, in my house, we like cooking. Stir fry, pastas, you name it, we like it. As long as its vegetarian, in my case. But… I was just thinking today how much sauce I like. I know. How random, you’re thinking. But no! The sauce makes the food. Sometimes, I make my own sauces, like with European food. You know, basic cream sauces, alfredo, cheese sauce, the list goes on and on of lots of things you can make by starting with a good base. On the other end, we have things like stir fry. I can make stir fry, but making the right seasoning sauce to put in is something else. So I resort to my favorite company ever, SOY VAY! Yes. This is a rant on how much I like soy vay. Oh it is so delicious. I’m sitting here eating a vegetable spring roll, dipping it in their “Hoisin Garlic” sauce, that is ever so garlicky and delicious. Or for something more fruity, they have yummy Island Teriyaki. The pineapple juice they add makes it amazing. Or, for a traditional taste, Veri Veri Teriyaki is great too. The little sesame seeds add some nice texture. I have yet to try their Wasabiyaki, but I am sure that it is amazing as well. So, you should really try some soy vay sauce if you haven’t already. And it IS sold in places like Wal-Mart, so there is no need to find a Whole Foods (which we are lucky enough to have). Go try some. You won’t be unimpressed. Unless you don’t like asian flavors. But, I’m kind of addicted to asian food. Mmmm. Ok. That was a weird rant. But it is oh so good!

I know I’m not girly. Sorry. I don’t wear 5 pounds of make up and don’t take an hour to decide what I’m going to wear every day. I dress simply, but well enough so you don’t think I’m a bum. On the other hand, I don’t need long hair to make myself “sensual” or “attractive.” I keep myself looking simple so you’ll pay more attention to what I have to say, rather than how I look. Sorry that’s not female enough that you FORGET that I’m female. Last time I checked I had breasts that were larger than an A cup, and I also don’t have a penis. But… that was only a few hours ago, do you want me to check again that I didn’t grow one? I don’t have to shave my facial hair and I certainly don’t have horrible body odor from working out all day trying to impress the women. On the other hand, I don’t wear skirts all the time to show off my not-so-hot legs. And I don’t wear mascara to make my eyelashes look more volumous. Really, mascara just makes me look silly. And last time I checked, mascara means MASK in spanish. So… I’d rather not wear it. I want you to see who I am.

So. Sorry men if I’m not girly girl who you’re all into. But please stop treating me like a guy.

Sincerely,
Marijke