Shiver ye birthday timbers.

Happy birthday.

Oh dear.

I found my old internet blog from ninth grade. Only two posts but still enough to make me turn an odd colour. Why did I ever neglect capitalization? Speak so oddly? Try to write poetry?

Deleted!

Makes me wonder if I'll read this blog when I'm older and want to go on a deleting spree because I sound like such a moron.

Anyways - so piano lessons this morning were good. Craig found that piece Anna Larsen composed and played through it and I decided to visit her Youtube channel again - LarsenPiano. To my delight, I found a video of her singing On My Own! Delight quickly led to dismay. She's getting there though. (;

Can people be great at two different things? She's already a great pianist and I think she's ten now. But people can only devote so much time to two things at once and to be great at something requires a lot of time that might be sucked up by another hobby.

I want to learn cello and violin... and vocal lessons! Everyone can blast their favorite T.I. song in the car and sing obnoxiously along. I can blast Puccini but there is no grooving along for me.

I wish I stuck to ballet when I was little too.

I was going to practice loads tonight but then Alan and Alex swung by my house. Watching of the Bourne Ultimatum commenced and we ooh-ed and aah-ed over Matt Damon's fine features and his badassery and total domination.

I will make up for this tomorrow. I saw a documentary on Youtube about piano virtuosos and one lady reccomended that you don't practice more than eight hours a day while her students all sheepishly balked behind her and exchanged guilty glances. It makes me sad that I'll never be at that level but I have other things to do and a considerably shorter attention span. The longest I've ever clocked was four hours and I was considerably mentally and physically exhausted afterwards.

Speaking of exercise, would you like to go hiking with me sometime? I haven't gone in a long time and I miss it. Castle Rock! Let me know.

If you're going...to San Francisco.

Be sure to wear......some flowers in your hair.....

Going up to Oakland for Jinny's doctor appointment today, so we're going to San Fran beforehand.

Summer! Piano! Exercise.

Yesterday morning at 6, Claire and I (teehee, I spelled her name as Clair initially because of Debussy) ran two miles. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, yessir. Five years of promises broken, but this summer! Yes! We will be hot seniors.

Now we have time to practice.

Speaking of which, we ought to practice the page turning.

BAAAAAAAAAACK!

Yes! Summer is here! This means hours and hours of practice, random naps at my leisure, and beach!

I had a crummy night tonight though. Not in the mood to practice piano grumble grumble grumble.

I played a little bit of Chopin's Funebre Marche. It fit the mood. Hmm... maybe I will play it after my recital? We shall see!

Saline production.

Never stops.

Meh.

I don't want junior year to be over yet.

Testing? Yes. Homework? Yes. Finals? Yes.

And yes, I did know. I interviewed her. I published that quote.

I can't wait...

In one week, I will be done with AP exams.
In three weeks, I will be done with my finals for Calculus and Chemistry...
And in five weeks, I will be done with junior year.


I am so insanely excited! I've also been slacking off like crazy though. I am incredibly burnt out and I have no idea how I'm going to make it through the rest of my AP exams.

I'm worried about my thumb. It feels better, but regardless. I wonder how I hurt it?

Liebestraume is REALLY frustrating me right now. I can't seem to play the middle section cleanly at ALL if I play forcefully and quickly. So I play it softly and slowly and increase intensity slowly... and then BOOM. I cross a threshold and errors galore! BAH!

My parent's Asian friends are coming over tonight and spending the night. Do you know what this means?! AUGH. IT PAINS ME TO THINK OF IT. This means I will be confined to my room for the entire night, unable to practice tonight, and unable to wake up early tomorrow morning and practice! No me gusta los getogethers. Shudder, shudder, shudder.

Did you know my Calculus teacher almost became an opera singer?

Smargasflargh.

You have killed one AP exam now. You rocked it. You know you got a 5. At least a 4, but most likely a 5. You know that. You know you feel like you died, or you know you died, but you still got a 4 or 5.

And your "bad playing" > others' good playing. No worries. But my sympathies, regardless, for the poor state of your thumb. =(

Let us now go forth and rock, sock, and take around the block our next two AP exams!

CHARGE!

Sigh

One AP test down, two more to go.

Did really badly at my Wind Ensemble audition today.

My thumb has lost all sensation in it for 24 hours now.

BEHOLD.

The dawning of the first day in which these fingers of mine touch the keys.

Rusting over these many moons of no piano time may have rendered what used to sound melodious and rather like music into raucous cacophony.

But lo.

The first day of practice in....ages.

Soplame, S.A.T. tests.

OH GOD.

HURRY UP, MAY 12TH, 2010! FOR 'TIS WHEN I SHALL BREATHE A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF.

AP season. I must resist the urge to spew profanities and persevere.

Tomorrow -

Tomorrow's schedule!

-Wake up at 6:20, make breakfast, get ready, etc.
-Leave at 6:45
-7:00AM - 2:05PM, school
(skip lunch, practice piano.)
-2:05 - 3:15 - Tutor
-3:15 - 3:45 - eat/crash/relax/downtime/brief nap(?)/piano practice(?)
-3:45 - 7:15 - SAT practice test
-7:15 - 8:45 - AP Calculus Multiple Choice practice test
-8:45- 10:00 - AP Calculus BC homework
-10:00 - 10:30 - Break/piano time.
-10:30 - 11:00 - review SAT vocab! Make flashcards
-11:00 - 11:15 - Shower/brush teeth
-11:15 - 12:00 - History review assignment
-12:00 - 12:15 - Complete Spanish homework
-12:15 - 1:00 - Review for AP Chemistry

Take my laptop and iPhone away from me. Too distracting.

Distressed

I have piano lessons tomorrow!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I'm not ready!

I've been practicing like mad today... but I'm afraid that doesn't quite cut it. A whole freaking week without practicing...

I'm really hating school right now! In three weeks... all this nonsense will be over... and then I get to freak out about more SATs. Yay.

This week is CRAZY. Next will be crazier. And then the two weeks after that will be MADNESS.

To do -

-Complete 9 sections of self-study BC homework
-Read the Old Man and the Sea and complete 10 quotes and notes
-Write the first draft of my Mark Twain paper (#*@$@(*#&$@(*#&$@(*#&(!@*#$&!*&(
-Finish history review assignment *(@#&$(*@#&$(*@#$&@(*#
-Review for AP Chemistry
-Spanish homework
-Take a practice SAT test tomorrow FULLY RESTED THIS TIME. Let's go!
-Make you tell me your secrets for writing the SAT essay. That's the part I'm the most freaked out about.

I'm pretty swamped right now. :|

I didn't even realize I'd be taking my Chemistry STAR test on Thursday. That sucked! At least it was easy. We opened up the first page to go over the sample question and chortled and sniggered.

"Which one of these isotopes is not naturally occurring?"
-surpressed laughter-
"I'll give you a few more seconds to figure out the answer."
-everyone looks at each other and smirks-
"The answer is D."
(Aaron, sarcastically) "WHAT?! Why is it D?!?!"

Must... practice......
must... complete... huge loads of course work...
must not... disappoint Craig... and myself...

I spend at least ten minutes a day reading the forums on PianoWorld and I usually take a peek at the Piano Teachers subforum once in awhile... and I see all these teachers talking about how they're going to drop their students that don't practice and how much they hate the students that don't practice.

And I was like...

That's me!!! ):

And it's not just like they were talking about kids that don't have interest in playing... one person was specifically ranting about a student who has too many extracurriculars and whatnot and couldn't find the time to devote to piano.

AHH.

):

THAT'S ME!!!

And you.

What would you do if your piano teacher dropped you as a student because you weren't practicing enough each today?

I think I'd be heartbroken.

Wonderful Tonight.

-sighs-

-floats-

It was wonderful tonight.

Check thy e-mail.

Hmm...

I have piano lessons Sunday morning. You're welcome to come and take Craig up on that free consultation he offered.

I am taking a brief hiatus from piano... I've been taking this hiatus for awhile actually. Will devote hours tomorrow. Will go to bed early tonight... if only... my parents... did not watch TV at alarming decibels this late... if only....

I had a nice date with Alex tonight. I took one of the rouses from the bouquet he gave me and hung it upside down on my wall to dry so I may keep forever! Hurrah for sentimental objects!

Goodnight.

Agreed.

I won't even get into the conversations I have my dad, which are like....three times a year? Maybe four. And by conversation I mean an exchange of more than two brief (3-6 words) sentences each.

Talking about Asian parents wastes too much time and energy that you and I don't have. And it riles you up or upsets you.

Saturday night I will be losing my Chipotle virginity with Tommy and Sanaz. Maybe Alan. And Viv, too.

I wonder if I could come over afterward for an all-nighter? And then some sleep, and study Sunday morning, too?

-suddenly perks up-

That video of Lang Lang was highly amusing! I chortled. I would like to try playing on an iPad. We should attempt to do a duet!

As you know... + annoying conversations

As you know, I'm not a Lang Lang fan. But I found this pretty amusing, especially since Alex and I just hijacked Alex's iPad for half an hour to play Chopsticks and Colourblind on it yesterday.



My dad just came into the room as I'm studying at my desk and the following conversation took place.

"You're still awake?"
"...yes."
"Do you have class tomorrow at 7 AM?"
"Yes."
"Go to bed. It's midnight."

OH. MY. GOD. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal to you but one of the main reasons why I never talk to my dad is because of stuff like this. Yes, obviously, I'm still awake. I'm sitting up straight at my desk and writing and shuffling papers around. Yes, I do have class at 7 AM, like I do every freaking morning. And yes, I would love to go to bed, but unlike you, I don't have that luxury.

My parents seriously think that I stay up for fun or something and the piles of Calculus homework and AP Chemistry problem sets just solve themselves on their own.

They do a lot of ridiculous things.

Like buy a $1600 dishwasher and never use it. Instead, they'll use a freaking tub that sits in my sink all day, an old disgusting sponge, and then leave it in another sink to dry.

There are so many things wrong with that! We have no functional sink, a bacteria infested sponge, and dishes being left out to collect bacteria and what not. Sinks are the dirtiest area of the house! At least dry them and put them away. AHH! I don't understand them. It's like they don't understand that they left Vietnam over twenty years ago.

Dude. Technology. Use it, especially if you're going to spend so much money on it. The money was either going to go to a really nice refrigerator or a nice dishwater. We use our refrigerator 24/7. We use our dishwasher twice a year.

I don't think it's really so much the whole dishwasher and obvious questions that bothers me so much... what disturbs me is that this reflects their ability to think and reason.

Also - I smell tomato soup in my room. This is curious, seeing as how I haven't eaten tomato soup in over a year and I rarely eat in my room anyways.

Hmm...

LAKJSDFLKAJSDFLKA

I may possibly fall over at any second now.

All of my practice I got in over Spring Break has just been negated by how busy this week was.

I didn't even realize I was taking an additional exam today! The Chemistry STAR. Thank GOD it was ridiculously easy haha. We all sniggered at the sample question.

"Which of the following isotopes is not naturally occuring?"
-surpressed laughter-
-everyone bubbles in the correct answer-
Aaron (sarcastically)- "What?! WHY IS IT D!??! THIS BOGGLES THE MIND?"

I'm pretty sure I got 100% on that test. We shall see come August.

This weekend, let us study together mucho. Spend the night Saturday night!

Really!

You ought to. I feel like a bit of a loser typing so much and so frequently and blabbering on and on about my life...

Piano has been neglected lately, as sorry as I am to say. I just don't have time for it...


April 22nd - US History Exam on the Civil Rights Movements
April 23rd - AP Calculus Exam on Integration.
April 27th - 29th - STAR testing
April 29th - First draft of AP English research paper due
April 30th - AP Chemistry exam on Thermodynamics and Electrochem
April 30th - US History Final Exam
May 1st - SAT I Reasoning test
May 4th - AP Calculus BC exam
-(Full length AP Calculus AB exam for my Calculus final thrown in here somewhere.)
May 11th - AP English Language and Composition exam
May 12th - AP Chemistry exam ($*#@*(#@!!!)
-(A full length AP Chemistry exam for my Chemistry final thrown in here somwhere.)
June 5th - SAT II: Math Level II, Chemistry
June 13th - 15th - Final exams week

Oh. My. God. I'm hyperventilating into a brown paper bag here.

Reticence.

Loquacious but laconic. That is me. That is how I described myself to Warren after he looked at me curiously as I was being rambunctious with Viv.

I realized that I am quite taciturn on this blog.

Ought I write more?

40 minutes.

Before they arrived.

I love those pictures. Yes, I do ask for more.

And obviously I would love a picture of those shorts as well. But, ah, yes, you said they were too inappropriate to photograph.

Well. I guess you shall just have to show me in person, then.

Superglue? Really?

No.

Annie!

The way you say "THE version" indicates to me that you think that there's only one edition on that site... Annie, there's like ten.

This is the one I'm using:

http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/e/ef/IMSLP05979-Liszt_-_S541_Liebestraume_No3__russian_.pdf

I saw Kick Ass tonight. The trailer made it seem stupid but everybody thought it was amazing, so I went!

It was so funny! I was laughing the entire time, except for the parts where some guy exploded and another one was lit on fire. I just don't normally get a kick out of people getting murdered, I guess.

Your boyfriend came over for a little bit today... and guess what he bought me!



Alex and I don't have a lot of good photos together. Meaning, we don't have a lot of photos where I don't look like a dork.

Case in point.




WHAT IS THIS!?


I still love this picture. (:

Cho Chang! I am so in love with
Choooooooooo Chang
From Bangkok to Ding Dang
I sing my love aloud for Choooooo Chaaaaaaaaaaanggggggg!


Mutual suffering in AP Chemistry. And Tw-eon in the background.

I'm a photographer man! I should be on top of this stuff, wouldn't you think?

More pictures, you ask? Okay.

I bought new shorts. They look exactly like all my other shorts, except they're red. I'd take a photo and show you but they're too inappropriate... did I mention they were shorts? Like... legitimately short shorts? I bet you like the thought of that.

Tomorrow! Your house! 8 AM. -yawns- I was planning on staying up tonight because my dad wanted to celebrate his birthday tomorrow night... yay.

I think I should talk to my dad more maybe. I had this weird conversation with Phillip in Engrish the other day.

Phillip: What did you dad say about that?
Me: I don't know. I don't talk to him.
Phillip: Why? Are you mad at him?
Me: No.
Phillip: Are your parents divorced?
Me: No.
Phillip: Do you live with your dad?
Me: Yeah.

(Phillip shakes his head in bewilderment and walks away.)

You know what's the worst? Completely forgetting that you did a chemistry lab and you have to spend five hours writing up a lab report for it. Yup.

My brother suggests I superglue my piano together. I feel like I've hit rock bottom with this. I give up! They just don't get it and the more I resist, the more annoyed I get.

I don't like being annoyed. I'm just going to be thankful I have a piano in the first place.

Not. I'm still annoyed but I'm going to have to let this one go. No superglue though. If the felt comes off, then that key can just ring on forever and ever and produce all the cacophony it wants.

Mrow.

That was the one I went to! But the version didn't seem that great.

Oh well. I shall use it, seeing as how my level of playing does not yet merit a nice copy of Liebestraume. I shall work up to it!

"Mysterious as...the dark side of...THE MOON!"

-intense karate moves-

-HIYA-

You're on crack.

You couldn't find one? You must have not been looking very hard.

Here you go!

http://imslp.org/wiki/Liebestr%C3%A4ume,_S.541_(Liszt,_Franz)

Mrow?

I found mine on IMSLP. What do you mean you couldn't find a good edition? There's like ten trillion that you can access on that site. Are you learning Liebestraume? How exciting. We can work together! (8

Very nice... never paid that much attention to the soundtrack.

I looked up music for that Mulan song...

Let's get down to business
to defeat the Huns!
Did they send me daughters,
When I asked for sons?

I think I'll do it on guitar actually. Mrow. I have 7 guitars and my piano gets more attention than all of them combined.

Atonement.

I printed out Denouement, Love Letters, and The Cottage on the Beach. The last is my favorite.

And I went to the International Music Score Library Project, but I cannot find a good copy of Liebestraume! Where did you get yours?

Mrow

What's an easy piano piece that sounds amazing? I feel like just playing something new sometimes.

I feel really frustrated. A piece of felt is falling off my piano action and is BARELY attached to the damper it's on.

My piano is literally falling apart and my family just doesn't understand how important it is to have a good instrument. They won't listen to me because they just think I'm trying to get a nice piano for the sake of having something nice.

Chugga chugga.

Choo choo.

On an APUSH roll. Cranked out one. 28% through the second one.

Chugga chugga....

Practice!

An hour out of the shower, an hour at the piano.

How delightful!

To feel the keys beneath these fingers, to play until they feel like stingers.

To scatter over the ivory and black, steady correct notes and proper rhythm do I lack.

But that's alright, if I can practice,

Until I feel as though I'm touching a cactus.

Euro dance party!

It turns out I have tendonitis and it hurts too much to play today.

So I choose to dance instead!

Late night.

Phone calls.

Thank you.

Torie, the wishywashy pianist who wishes she was superior

I'm going back to a small font. Forgive my wishywashyness.

I think Craig inadvertently discovered what really gets me going - competition. During our last session, he introduced me to the Beethoven sonata and casually mentioned that another student of his was playing as well.

Well then. I'll learn it more quickly, play it more accurately, and play it with greater poignancy. Everyone shall sniffle, tuck away their handkerchiefs, and wipe away tears when I hit the last measures of the piece!

No, but really. I don't know what it is that makes me tick about this sort of thing... I think it's some Asian complex where you have to know you're superior or else life is going to come crashing down on you and you're destined for fail for the rest of your life.

So melodramatic... but true. In my head, I've created a fierce battle between me and Craig's other student in the arena of Craig's living room. Rah! Bring it on! I've been studying my Beethoven and watching countless interpretations on YouTube.

Tonight! Going over to Alex's for his get together. I think we'll all nip into his hot tub and eat all his food. Hurrah! Hurrah for warm water and unhealthy snacks!

Torie here! I can't figure out how to make my font dark green or small anymore... so I have to manually add the HTML tags myself. Sigh...



She's so cute... even with half of her coat missing from the surgery! You should see her when she's all doped up on pain medication with the e-collar - she knocks over EVERYTHING. Yes, the normally agile and graceful Bella... always looks bewildered and mews pitifully when she walks.


Piano buddies indeed!


I have no idea how to lose weight or how to work on a specific area. Lo siento Annie. Try Google, which is much more knowledgeable than I am.

Hum hum. Three hours of practice today! I love Spring Break but why is it already halfway gone!? SLOW DOWN TIME.

I just practiced... taking a break right now because my wrist hurts. I'm really concerned that the way I play is actually hurting me.

So does my wrist hurt because I hurt it doing something else and any kind of activity will hurt it? Or does my wrist hurt because I have bad technique and playing piano only aggravates it?

Sigh. I noticed that I do an awful lot of superfluous wrist movements when I play. Have been making an effort to curb that, lest I begin to resemble Lang Lang.

So I asked Clara how many pieces she normally played for a recital and she said six to eight. Good grief! I think I'll play two... but which two? Help me... we'll go through my binder soon and we'll see... yes?

Opening the lid makes my Schafer a tiny bit less of a pain to play. I'm surprised at how much better the bass sounds when I do that... the treble just sounds even more piercingly shrieky and annoying but what's new?

More Liszts.

1. Lose weight:

Get rid of some arm flab, flatten stomach a bit, firm up thighs. More push-ups! More crunches! And how does one sculpt one's arms?

And do not sigh and say, "Annie, shut up! You are not fat!"

I don't think I'm fat. I'm just saying, I would look better by losing three or five pounds.

2. Prom dress:

Status: Acquired.

Tis a violet colour. Has rosette appliques on the bottom hem. I usually think those are extremely obnoxious, but on this one it was okay. And all the other prom dresses were ugly. And made me look either washed out or fat. Me gusta este vestido!

And number one was made in accordance with this. It's strapless and sleeveless (obviously), so I want leaner arms.

3. Shoes:

My god, I'm disgusting myself. What a frou-frou, girly girl list this is turning out to be.

But nevertheless, can we perhaps go on a shoe expedition? If mother does not just come home with Payless/Ross/TJ Maxx shoes as she usually does when I need some.

4. Piano dates:

When can we have some next week? Monday, Tuesday, Friday seem fine.

5. Bella:

Send her my regards and condolences. Give her a treat and snuggle for me.

6. Practice time:

Everything seems to be set on preventing me from practicing more than ten minutes a day! Argh! Clair de Lune has deteriorated from lack of work. Blargh! Smorgaspoomp!

7. APUSH study guides:

I completed one today. Wow. Amazing. Now...thirteen more to go. Breathe down my neck and check my progress. Remember what happened last time.....and I still got an A in the class! Which only made think, "See? I can coast and still come out on top."

Non! Non! TERRIBLE THINKING.

Several things

I like lists. They can be organized. I like making lists because they make me organized. Apparently, I also like speaking oddly when I just wake up.

Let's do Liszts! Har har har har har. Okay, wake up Torie... for real this time.

1. Craig & the Mother Unit.

Fantastic - the two most important men in my life have met my mother's approval and passed with flying colours! Alex - love of my life/soulmate/possessor of my future children and Craig - piano teacher extraordinaire. My mother found Craig to be charming but mostly fell in love with his house. Huh. Go figure. I'm paying him $209/month to give me lessons and she mostly admires the decor of his living room, rather than his teaching abilities.

2. My lesson!

My lessons, thankfully, were not just a repeat of last time. Some things were just like deja vu, like me butchering the Mozart and these chords in the end of Liebestraume (I'll show you what I mean during our next piano date!). But I received two new pieces to play - Sonata Pathetique (2nd mvt and 3rd mvt, will tackle 1st at a later date) and this one waltz by Chopin I've been dying to play forever! BUT WOE, THE KEY SIGNATURE IS IN SHARPS! Ay, Frederick! POUR QUOI?

3. I really hate typing in small text.

You may have noticed that this entry is in an entirely differenct colour. As much as it pains me to kiss the beloved black text goodbye, I see that the teeny tiny text is ridiculous! We need another way to distinguish my posts from yours - colour!

4. Today I felt another pang of annoyance and remorse for all the trees I killed when I looked in the mailbox.

Why did I so foolishly check the "Yes! Let prospective colleges spam me with their ridiculous brochures!" box? I was hoping to see letters from Yale and Harvard and Stanford, not... god, I don't even remember the names of these terrible colleges because I just toss them straight in the recycle pile. I stopped reading them early on.

Expert Torie shares her expertise on writing college brochures:

a. Use models in an attempt to make your college seem racially diverse.

-If you use one model, then you MUST use an African American girl BUT DO NOT USE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRL WHOSE SKINTONE IS TOO DARK! She must look mixed with a milky coffee complexion, not like actual African American girls.

-If you use more than three models, be sure that the minority student models (Asian Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, etc) either meet or outnumber the number of white student models. When only using three models, hit the magic trinity of minority-ness and underrepresented-ness: Asian American, African American, and white. You have to throw in a white student in there because remember, you're racially diverse! You accept white students too, who have suddenly become the minority. Also, do not forget that the African American rule from above applies also in this situation.

b. Under no circumstances must your models look genuinely happy to be at your school, dressed in normal clothing, and know how to use the science equipment you're forcing them to model with.

-Models must wear argyle sweaters and look like a stereotypical student. Disregard the fact that nobody really wears that to class completely.

-Models MUST abuse their microscopes and exhibit bad pipetting techniques.

c. Use as many vague and non-specific phrases as possible.

-"...the nation's leading top institute in biochemical research!"

-"...proud member of the nation's top ten universities!" Who cares if this student has already recieved fifty broschures claiming the same thing?! We're the top in our ultimate frisbee team! We'll just conveniently leave that part out because it sounds better that way.

-"...a great school for any student who is looking to pursue an education!"

-"...located in a great location!" Who cares if that is entirely subjective and some people will come out here not expecting the desert?! I think it's great!

d. Don't even bother checking for grammatical errors.

-"What are the chances of these high SAT scorers being grammar nazis? Psh, ZILCH! We already printed out 100,000 of them, send 'em out Joe!"

e. If you make your brochure larger and with more pictures, then you don't need to bother with trying to make your college sound enticing.

-Students will be sucked in by your new VividInk Colour that you're using.

5. I need to practice more.

After AP and SAT testing, definitely. For now... I can surely squeeze in more than 30 minutes after coming home from school. I thought I'd be able to practice a ton during Spring Break but everybody is making it freaking impossible.

Last thoughts.... before bed.

Well sweetheart, I gave you a tiny splash like you requested and turned back to the stove to resume sautee-ing and flipping and dicing and chopping.

Okay... so recital coming up. June 19th, 4PM, at his crib, or rather, studio.

I am allowed four invites.

Four.

Four. Three obligatory ones for my family... that leaves me with one.

I have five friends who would seriously want to come to this. Leah, Alan, Clara, you, and Alexander. Leah has sacrificed her seat and I don't think Alan and Clara would be too upset if I were like... "I'll just have someone record it and put it on YouTube for you."

But then that leaves you and Alex! You are my piano buddy! Alexander is my soulmate. How do I choose? Must I really choose?

-bites nails to the quick-

Must ask Craig... PWEESE ONE MORE PERSON.

Also... attire. What am I supposed to wear? I REFUSE to wear those tasteless gowns I see girls play their recitals in on YouTube. Pleeease... I am a girl with style, not to be subjected to some shiny yellow dress with sequins and embroidered flowers and whatnot on them.

I doubt that it will be that formal but at the same time, I would not like to show up in shorts and a tank top.

My dresses are either too inappropriate or too casual for what I have in mind.

Annie............ what do I do?

I also have a choice of playing two pieces. I thought I was just going to play one at first, but I don't want to be a slacker! What else should I play? I can't play a lot of pieces, that is to say my repertoire is pretty limited. If anything, I'd play Clair de Lune. It's easy, it's beautiful, and I have apparently made someone cry and someone else do a weird swaying dance when I played it.

That means I play it well, right? Kissin supposedly made Karajan cry... what an accomplishment!

Will pepper Craig with my questions tomorrow. I am so glad that he is a patient person and doesn't mind my endless questions and my fangling of Mozart, whom I intensely dislike right now.

WHY WOULD YOU THROW IN SO MANY DYNAMIC MARKINGS... Was he just bored when he wrote this sonata or something?! Nono, he was a genius, I know, but that doesn't stop my grumbling.

K. I'm going to go brush my teeth and go to bed early! Tomorrow:

-Wake up at 7:30 AM or whenever my bod chooses to wake up naturally. Around that time.

-Brush teeth, shower, look decent, furiously practice

-Piano lessons

-Alexander

-SAT practice test

-Calculus homework

-Some history homework

-More practice....!

I found my kitty ears. If you are lucky, I will wear them for you the next time we meet.

I'm not that innocent.

The title is derived from your previous posts's title....Oops led to Oops, I Did It Again....which led to, "I'm not that innocent."

Now Craig will know about how thou doth corrupt me with the fermented grape juice, dear. Tsk tsk. Didn't you do enough damage in sixth grade? Good lord, how eye-opening that was.

Quality for a steeper price > (Low quality for a cheap price)^10

And let Craig know about my personal thoughts. Oh well. Tis the price you pay, Craig, for following a blog between two best friends!

And I have explained to you, now, why I cannot dance or sing. Traumatic experience as a young child. I don't know what it actually was, but I heard my parents talking about it a couple years ago. I kind of want to ask what happened...

P.S. - I never actually felt anything. It was a placebo effect. And what a wonderful effect it was! Did you hear me and Alex bonding?!

Ooops!

So today didn't go exactly as planned. I did end up seeing Alex, but only after much deliberation and last minutes plans thrown together. My gazillion hours of piano practice went down the tube only to be replaced by endless scribbling of history. BAH! I worked for three hours today, wrote up ten pages of notes, and I am about a quarter of the way through.

Oh, the joy....

But really! Uh, I don't know what to do at my lesson tomorrow... it'll just be a repeat of last Sunday's lesson, I'm afraid. No considerable progress made today... but then again, I did wrangle out some Vanilla Twilight. But hey, I'm not going to whip that out tomorrow morning unless Craig happens to be a huge fan of Owl City and is just dying to hear me play it.

God, that song is terrible. I hate it now and I can't believe I was ever so tasteless to like, even if only for two days.

In any case... my mom is going to be there and watching everything like a hawk. Craig, if you're reading this, I really don't mean to make you nervous, but my mom is going to be closely scrutinizing every second of the hour.

"Why," the woman asked, "do we pay this man so much money?"

"Because," Victoria sourly retorted, "teachers who charge $20 hours an hour are not worth my time of day."

"But we saved so much money with Joe. He even came and gave you free lessons when you were young and when your father and I were going through tough times out of the kindness of his charitable heart."

"Au contraire, mutti." (Oh did you like that? German AND French!) "Au contraire. The progress I have made with Craig in the past few months could rival the progress I made with Joe in several years. So really, we are saving money with Craig! And I find it despicable that you accepted charity."

"But $55 dollars!" her mother ejaculated. "Plus, it wasn't exactly charity. We provided a nice lunch for him."

Today I learned that under no circumstances, must I cook with wine when you are around, no matter how delicious it makes the sauteed mushrooms and steaks, unless I am willing to keep a vigilant watch on it at all times.

Good lord. Woman! You could have landed me in a pot of hot water with your mama.

But aside from that, I enjoyed our dinner and Euro dance club party. Too bad you wouldn't dance... I don't understand you! You'll dance in front of hundreds of our peers in a cafeteria completely sober but you won't dance with your best friends after god-knows-how-much-wine-you-drank-before-you-made-the-mistake-of-putting-it-down-and-I-dumped-the-whole-thing-down-the-sink.

You must still be feeling it or something. I FORBID YOU FROM EDITING THIS ENTRY OUT OF EMBARRASSMENT. WE MUST COMMEMORATE THIS NIGHT FOREVER.

hpotterfreeeq713
: You know how we both have weird fantasies about our men?
ohhtorie
: my fantasies are pretty normal
hpotterfreeeq713
: Koala girl.
ohhtorie
: dunno about you.

: OH SHUT UP. not a fantasy. just a joke.

: a fleeting comment. but continue, my interest is piqued.
hpotterfreeeq713
: I would like to kiss/make out/do it in front of the Tree of Eywa with Alan.

: With the Avatar soundtrack playing in the background.

hpotterfreeeq713
: But in front of the Tree of Eywa at night....when it's all bioluminescent.

: -sighs-

Thou art truly a dweeb.

Pandora.

I'm busy tomorrow. No can do.

Pues, how about...let's see. Today we have a Von APUSH session from 10 to 1, then badminton practice from 3-6, but I have to go to the dentist at 4.

Can we study history together in the evening?

Aye, I too must find practice time. Heehee, Vanilla Twilight. Have you been playing that?

I'm really into the Avatar soundtrack now.

The first time I saw it, I thought of Alan during the part where Neytiri is like, "So and so is a good hunter/singer."

"I don't want her. I've already chosen. But that woman must choose me too."

"She already has."

I want to learn how to play the Avatar theme!

To-do list

1. See Alex

2. Spend 8327492839 hours practicing today. Because I can!

Sounds good to me. Schoolwork? Hehe... I'm going to shove that under a pile on my desk right now... out of sight, out of mind. It can wait until tomorrow! Want to study with me?

Hum hum.

Weather like this calls for catnaps and bundling up with your significant other. I think my significant other is at a soccer game right now though, so boohoo for me.

"Torie Nguyen, extraordinary cook who can whip out a perfectly delicious steak, AND YET CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH INSTANT RICE UNDER NO UNCERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

My mom is usually pretty good about taking me to the doctor and desisted with the Asian herb thing many years ago... actually now that my mom is studying anatomy and whatnot, she's been SUPER good about taking me to the doctor. But BLAH! Not this.

I will learn Vanilla Twilight and make a video in response to yours!

I must work extra hard today and tomorrow because I have piano lessons on Tuesday! AHH!

Let's study together over the week! Prom dress shopping will have to wait for the weekend.

I predict I will go through many happy daggers this week. O, thank you, Merciful Mr. Smith, for assigning 270 terms to write small paragraphs. O, and thank ye, Mr. Warren, for assigning a ridiculous research assignment in accordance to California State Standards. And lastly, thank ye Mrs. Peterson, for piling on the Calculus homework on this poor camel.

-back breaks-

Eek.

When I read your first post, I thought you were referring to the whiny vampire.

But then I read your second post! Oh noes! Poor Bella! Poor kitty!

That's so sad, imagining her mewing pathetically from under a pot...and now she needs surgery. =(

But it was actually a car. Damn driver! Oh, poor dear.

And you. And me. Asian mothers who stuff weird Asian herbs down our throats and tell us it is our fault - "You don't wear five layers, that is the problem!" "You sleep weird, that is the problem!" "You don't put on a jacket immediately after showering, that is the problem!" "You don't exercise enough, that is why you have acne/month-long scar pain!"

No American doctors to turn to. Let us writhe and die! Then they'll see! That is the sad mentality they promote in us.

Creating my spring break schedule now......oy vey. So much to do. Another 1.5 inch high stack of APUSH study guides to plow through. AP exams to study for. SAT II test to prepare for.

-weeps-

-holds SARASA pen up dramatically-

Oh happy dagger! There rust, and let me die!

-slumps over piles of papers-

Prom dress shopping. Give me something to look forward to. A few hours away from books and studying. When?

Piano, piano, piano. I love playing piano on rainy days like this. Enhances the mood.

Scratch that.

Bella was hit by a car, not crushed by a pot. Her pelvis is broken in two places and she has to undergo pelvic surgery soon.

Meow ):

Why don't you just post on Facebook?

My kitty was just taken to the ER... my sister heard her crying outside and ran out and found her underneath a pot and she couldn't walk. I hope she's okay and her poor little legs weren't crushed or anything.

Wrist acting up. Mother refuses to take me to see doctor. Perhaps Mother forgot what happened the last time she didn't take me to the hospital. (I almost died and racked up a nice little hospital bill of $44,000.) Mother blames it on the way I lie in bed. Mother just insists that I continue bandaging my hand.

Practiced for an hour today! Started making some progress... for the first time this week. Better late than never, right? But maybe this time... too late. I need to get my act together.

Spring Break! I should be rejoicing but the only thing I'm rejoicing about is that I have free time to tackle the huge load of work my teachers have decided to shovel upon me.

90% of the silver nitrate burns are gone. Faint black smudges remain. Reminiscent of pen ink.

Spend some time with me next weekend.

Check yo Facebook.

I posted a video for you.

Microphone quality is BLARRRRRGH.

Asian parents.

I'm not even going to get into an Asian parent rant. It requires too much time and energy that I can ill afford to waste of that infuriating topic.

Leigh's power couple. How curious.

Remember me in sixth grade? The loser (and don't deny it) with few friends and who wore weird, uncoordinated, random clothes like a men's Nike sleevless shirt and shorts?

And now...five years later...I dress much better, I have many wonderful friends and a wide network of friendly acquaintances, I'm doing well in school, I'm editor-in-chief, and I have a wonderful boyfriend. Who incidentally is now the senior class president.

Progress: check.

But said boyfriend is still a jerk. He said he would visit me at practice before going over to your house. =(

I glanced over at the doors many times, hoping I'd see his Yugoslavian frame in the doorway.

Psh.

Why don't you guys just go out. Be a polygamist. You're the prettier one, the one who is able to hang out.

And those videos below piss me off. Trashy French maid outfit? They didn't even make it a satire so it was funny. Just a disgrace.

I had half an hour of practice time before leaving for practice. 5:30 - 9:45...I'm tired.

Now I'm Youtubing opera pieces as I do my SAT homework.

These eyedrops sting...but at least they help. Burst blood vessel. Bah. They're my dad's prescription-strength ones.

Oi, frustrated!

I went home today with the intent of taking a practice SAT test. Waited patiently for my mom to leave the house like she said she would... yeah, that never happened. My dad came hom and then my parents made completing an entire practice test IMPOSSIBLE. I got half way through.

What is it about Asian parents that makes them so inconsiderate? They stress the importance of school and high SAT scores but they just so conveniently have a huge karaoke party whenever I'm frantically trying to complete my homework.

I'm really awfully tired of this. Everybody says, "OMG enjoy your youth! You're only young for another 10 years and then you face middle age!" But really, living with my parents is so cumbersome. They are so backwards! I know every 16 year old thinks that they know better than their parents, but in my case, I REALLY DO. They do so many things that would result in the house blowing up if I weren't around to fix their problems for them.

SIGH.

I have a lot of attractive silver nitrate burns on my hands from working in the lab today... I don't know why I was so cavalier about not wearing chemical splash gloves when I was the one measuring out and diluting and retrieving the chemicals and cleaning out the test wells, etc. Lots of little black marks on my hands now! Note to self: CHEMICAL SPLASH RESISTANT SUIT UP!

If you watched How I Met Your Mother, you'd be laughing right now.

Okay okay. Did I practice today? Un poco. I haven't had a lot of time to practice lately because I'm too emotionally agitated and I'm not one of those brilliant musicians who can channel their negative feelings into something constructive. Nononnonoono. No! Life is frustrating enough without adding a whole other slew of problems that my Schafer gives me.

I was reading an interesting debate though poised to piano teachers - Can they tell the difference between their students who play on an accoustic v. students who played on a digital? The unanimous answer was yes. I'm really quite surprised... of course, a student playing on dinky two-octave Casio digital really can't compare to a student who has a nice little Estonia sitting in their living room... but I thought an upper quality digital would be a fine substitute.

I was looking on spending $2500-$3000 on a digital for college but now I don't know anymore!

Congratulations on being Editor in Chief sweetheart. I always knew you'd make it this year. You and Alan - Leigh's power couple.

Bzzbzz.

CollegeBoard sent me a reminder today that my SATs are two weeks from now.

F.

M.

L.

Love,

Me

French maid outfits + Mozart? Since when?

I LOVE Sull'aria from Le Nozze di Figaro.

I was looking up some videos of actual performances and was baffled to see a woman clad in a little French maid outfit walk across the screen.

Oi. Last time I watched the opera, they're just WRITING LETTERS and hanging out! No scantily clad dressed maids in Act 3, or the entire opera as far as I recall. Bah! QUE PASO!? Bunny ears?!

Brilliant! No French maids in this one.

Crisis averted!

After my meltdown last night/this morning, I feel better.

K. Must blog about my nightmare from a couple nights ago before I completely forget about it!

So I had a dream that my old piano teacher showed up at my house one day and told my mother and me this great long sob story about how he lost his job, his wife left him, and he's become an alcoholic, chain smoker, needs help paying the bills etc. Out of pity, my mom paid him for one lesson and he sat me down said all these snarky things while I played the etude. Then when I finished he got up and left, claiming that out lesson time was over! I reminded him that he's being hired to teach a full hour and he just left!

But when he left I was just glad to be rid of him.... but then my mom told me that I had to quit lessons with Craig because my old piano teacher charged nearly three times less and she couldn't afford a monthly tuition of $220 anymore.

I woke up and hyperventilated. Then checked my email and saw some old emails from Craig in my inbox and realized that it was all a dream. Phew.

I am going to take a nap! When I wake up, I will practice piano, take an SAT practice test, review Spanish vocab terms, prep for a chemistry lab tomorrow, and do some reading on electrochem.

Easy day! ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

.

I don't even want to talk about my day.

Funeral tomorrow.

I know I'm going to cry. Pansy. I teared up just writing the letter. And seeing his tombstone. And obituary. Bah.

Piano date on Friday! Let us play uplifting songs!

Brrrr.

Let us be daring and have two piano dates!

I have two challenges for thee, Marisol:

1. Who can look the most fobby?

I shall go first.

2. How much BS can you catch on Craiglist ads for pianos?

So far, my favorites are:

-A $25,000 200 year old square grand. No, they did not forget the decimal point.

-"A Weber spinet that sounds JUST like a Steinway grand!"

My two books about music composition came today. Yay! Must finish Calculus and essay first before I can crack them open. (:

Would you like to "study" with me over break? (:

I've been listening to so much MGMT lately! And eating too many fruit snacks. :3

Piano date.

Tomorrow or Friday.

Can't practice at home until about Thursday or so.

Forgive me, piano gods...

But after nights of sleep deprivation and a draining day, I have decided to forfeit some piano time for sleep. I'll make some sacrifices after I wake up... I'll burn the old compositions I wrote when I was like, two. Haha, I was fishing around my piano bench and found some old paper at the bottom! I picked it up and immediately started laughing when I recognized what it was. Oh man, I'll be honest - I was no Mozart.

Forgive me also, SAT gods, but I will put off the practice test until tomorrow, and not tonight. For tonight, there is some Calculus to wrangle through, a Spanish test to study for, an essay to write on the Great Gatsby, and an outline to draft for long paper on Mark Twain and how he used wit and satire to mock the hypocrisy of American society.

Please still give me a 2250+. Please. Please. Please.

I looked at the back of my piano today and I noticed that it still had the sticker price on it. After 33 years! It was sold back then for more than $4,000.

WHAT?! It boggles the mind.

So during the Code Red today, I was in my photography class! We were all developing film because we have a big project due this Thursday and we were all very reluctant to leave. Mr. Cohen was running around and grabbing supplies and was telling us to leave our developing containers as we slowly agitated and pleaded him to let us stay and develop film.

"Mrs. Hope made it very clear! This is NOT a drill."

"B-b-b-b-ut... we have to add the stop bath..."

But if there is a place to be during a Code Red, it is the photography darkroom! The shooter would have to wind his way through this dark maze that we have so light doesn't get in and then he is greeted by complete darkness. I even found a nice little corner.

I had a string break on me today while playing guitar. Man, I always hate it when that happens. I should take better care of my stuff though and change my strings so often so they don't get so darn old!

Piano date soon! You, me, and that nasty Kimball! (;

By the way, I know that you're going to be EIC. Stop doubting yourself, you're clearly the most capable one of the group.

I hope you had a good day sweetheart!

And now...we wait.

Did my editor-in-chief presentation to the class today. Employed throwing Lego towers across the room and a magnetic dartboard.

And I was the first to do the interview!

Gah!

I think I did pretty well.

People are telling me that I'm a shoo-in and a guaranteed EIC.

Gah!

Fah!

Bah!

Hopefully!

asdjflak;sdjfl;kasjdfl;kajsdf

But yes, I have been practicing. For shamefully paltry amounts of time (30-50 minutes a day)...but practicing nonetheless.

Shush.

Don't be so self conscious. Your seductive winks and kisses are the best part of the telenovela.

I was bad and squeezed in 50 minutes of practice. Tinkered a little bit with the ending of Liebestraume and did some heavy lifting with the inventio. I completely embarrassed myself at my last lesson because I was so unprepared... will not happen this week!

-flexes fingers-

Oi, you. Have you been practicing?

Excited for summer hols. Next summer, would you like to accompany me on a road trip? Let's start thinking about where we would go.

Voiceover.

I look so stupid during the voiceover part. Why did you make it so long? You started the voice clip after many, many seconds, too.

Gah.

Bastardo!

However, overall, part two is quite good.

Did you practice today at all?

OLIVIA!!! POR QUE?!

Finally finished! What do you think? You were a great gold diggin', promiscuous lesbo.

Lonely.

Good for you sweetheart.

It's nearly 2 AM... why am I wide awake? I need another night owl friend I hang out with at night... I feel like a vampire sometimes. Leah's sleeping soundly next to me.

I have a strong desire to play piano right now but everyone else is normal and sleeping and it'd be awfully rude if I just banged out some piece in my living room. Having a nice digital would be convenient right now.

Wrist bandaged up again. Oh the joys. I just love chronic wrist pain. I wonder if it's from bad technique? Must tearfully question Craig and interrogate my doctor.

Busy day.

APUSH study session with Von from 8 o'clock to 10:30, then SAT class until 2:45, then Spanish telenovela project until 8 o'clock at night!

I'm a wee bit tired, sad, frustrated, happy, and well, a bit of everything, I suppose.

I did fit in thirty minutes of Clair de Lune at around 7 o'clock this morning before leaving.

The piano gods are not on my side this week.

Came home at almost ten today. Had to shower immediately and then tackle SAT class homework.

-sigh-

But we have an APUSH study session tomorrow! 8 o'clock, Von's class.

And I am ecstatic that Alan won senior class presidency!

I checked after I finished my match (which I won, 15-1, then 15-0), and yelped when I saw the confirmation: "Senior Class President: Alan Prijatel."

I called him.

"Guess what."

"What?"

"I won my game and you're senior class president."

"AGGGH!"

And he came to school with Amanda Sharpe and we hugged, and he picked me up and spun me around! =D

I was very surprised he could do that, and for quite a while, too.

And then he spun me and Emily around at the same time. Made us all dizzy. 245 pounds combined clutching his neck!

And when he left he told me that Amanda thought I was cute. I said that I felt the same way about her. She seems nice.

And this post is saturated with a most puerile tone and style of syntax! Pah! Oh well!

WAIT.

I just remembered that I fit in forty minutes of practice this morning! I tiptoed down and played Clair de Lune. Mother demanded why I was practicing and not studying, and I said, "This is a very difficult piece. Mrs. Norton said that I must practice every day."

All is not lost!

A Good Friday, indeed.

TGIF.

I couldn't practice today, even though I had the time. Oh, the irony.

Picture says it all.

Ouchies.

I practiced... the right hand though. Which is really no good because I can sight read anything one handedly no sweat. I need my left hand if I want to actually work on something.

So what does this mean?

No Bach for Craig. A half-arsed attempt at the ending of Liebestraume. Some sketchy Revolutionary Etude.

At least Craig is not mean and scary like Senor Keck! :3

"QUE PASO, VICTORIA?!?!?! NO HICES TU TAREA?!?! ADIOS DIEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

QUE PASO?!

Sweetheart, what is this blasphemous nonsense about days of not touching the piano? Please reference the very first post and the second post of this blog.

1. Me proposing that we practice every single day.

2. You agreeing.

At least TOUCH the piano, lest it wither away from loneliness.

-hums Mozart happily-

I, too, fit in an hour of practice today! This would have been splendid, had I not noticed the following offences:

1. The keys make very distracting noises as they go back and down.

2. Some keys do not ascend as quickly as the others.

3. One of my Bb keys began sticking. In addition to the 92387492839247398423 other keys, making it impossible to practice a lot of sections of pieces.

4. It's going out tune.

@#*$&(@*#&$(@*#^!(*@&$#*!(@&#(*!@&(*@#^(*#@&$@#&$(!*#&!$@#(*(*$^!*$($@#*^@$#^(**!^(^*@!(

(@*#&$(*^#*(*^(#!*^!#(^*#!*^#(%!#^*@&*#(%*&()!(&!(&)^*$#@@^*($#^@*(^*!(^*!@^$*((^*$*#^(!*@^(@

(*#@$&(*@#&$(!*@^$!(*@&$(*!@&$(*!@&$(*^@$(*!@&$(*!@&$(*!

It is incredibly frustrating. I know you feel my pain, fellow Schafer owner. My piano is quickly approaching it's 33rd birthday and I am not amused by its shenanigans.

I'm sorry you lost your game today. You'll get 'em next time. Just flash them your hairy diseased hand and you're guaranteed a win.

I have to put in mucho practice tomorrow after work. I'm going to come home, drop everything, and dash over to my piano. I need to:

-Polish up the Chopin

-Polish up the Mozart

-Polish up the Bach

But for now... integration by parts calls.

Cross your fingers for me sweetheart. I hear back from Stanford tomorrow and I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of being rejected.

Finally!

I finally got to practice! After days of not touching the piano, save for the brief minutes at our piano date.

One hour of hip-hop and Clair de Lune-ness.

Lost my game today.......sigh.........so I played the beginning of Une Larme several times.

No such thing...

No such thing as no time... there is only less sleep.

P.S.

A piano-starved week.

Piano. I want to practice. But, alack the week, I have no time! Except these lunchtime piano dates, which I hope will happen more often.

The Rhapsody in g minor, by Brahms.

I like that video! Piano battles. I wish we had them at our school. Mrow! Those would be so fun to watch. You'd be the Princess of Piano for Leigh. Mahaha.

Ray Charles!

-soft snore-

I was so tired I literally fell asleep, jarred myself awake with the sensation of my head falling down, and am sleepily resuming typing.

So tired.

Thirteen hours at school. I've had fifteen hour days before...but they are difficult to grow accustomed to. One still becomes very, very tired.............

Duets...........................................

It's called....

Un pistole.

I just took a three and a half our nap. Rather than feeling refreshed and vibrant, I still feel vair vair sleepy. I suspect that three and a half hours did not remedy my huge sleep debt I've been accumulating since August.

I know what will make me feel better.

Chopin.

I had a dream about music. I have dreams about music all the time, and I always have it bouncing around in my head. I just don't know how to put it down on paper, on two staffs.

Dearest, Craig had an inquiry for thee: Which Rhapsody are you playing?

Look at this! Maybe it would be worth purchasing a four hand book:

http://store.doverpublications.com/by-subject-music-piano-and-keyboard-piano-four-hands-and-duets.html

Or we can learn that duet from the Asian movie. I've actually always wanted to learn the third piece and the improv of the waltz. Have you seen it yet sweetheart?

I truly enjoy "Mr. Ice," the sleaze ball.

The movie is terrible. You want to know my favorite most terrible quote from it?

"Why do you play piano with one hand?"

"So I may hold your hand with the other!"

Take a peek at Jay's right hand during the Black Key Etude bit... It looks like a spider. I was taught to keep my hands curved and relaxed! I see a lot of Evgeny Kissin videos where his fingers are sticking straight up. Oops. I'm starting to realize perhaps this rule can be broken. Must consult Craig.

Okay okay okay. I'm going to go do homework and then I'll go practice piano for one hour at 9:30. Wrist pain no more, stinging finger/hand pain no more. Today I WILL finish Liebestraume and what Craig has asked me to play of the Revolutionary etude... and because it is already Wednesday, I really should work on that Inventio and Mozart! Prokofiev can wait, as charming as his pieces are.

And I will stick to this! Really! Nevermind that it is vair vair cold in my house... I'm considering purchasing one of those Costco packs of hand warmers.

OOFFF okay. Oh wait, you have a Journalism work night tonight! I'm awfully sorry that I can't come visit you but I know you'll forgive me. Especially after our wonderful piano date.

Except for the silly Kimball upright we were forced to play. Why can't our school purchase better pianos? My Schafer sounds better than that... but then it'll just be subjected to abuse. Did you see all the profanity carved into that thing? The deep grooves on the hammers? It's time that thing is tossed out, it's hit and missed its prime!

Goodbye dear.