Thursday, July 31, 2008

Day Off

Today I was able to spend some much-needed time with my sister Meggan before I leave for a couple weeks. I really should have spent the day practicing, but instead we went up to see our horses in Carnation. They are taken care of by friends of ours out there. After giving a couple of their kids some impromptu riding lessons, Meggan and I went out on a trail ride. There are lots of old logging trails in the back of their property, so we went on a couple mile trail, out to an overlook of the Cascade Mountains. The sun had finally broken through the clouds by the time we started, so it was a perfect day for it. The forest floor, mostly dominated by ferns and low bushes, was flooded with the light that shone through the tall fir trees. Covering the lower half of almost every tree was a thick moss, illuminated by the sun. There was absolute silence, except for the heavy breathing of my out-of-shape horse, the noise of his feet, and the occasional song from the passing robin or nuthatch. We saw a hawk circling overhead, but that was the extent of the wildlife.

My horse, as I have mentioned, hasn't been used very much, so he was horribly slow for the last part of the trek out to the lookout. He tried to turn back around three times, being very stubbuorn about obeying. He was also holding his back feet up at different times, as if they were hurt. After close examinaton revealed nothing, we concluded that he must have been sore from the fresh hoof-trim he had received only a few days ago. Also, he just didn't want to exercise. Once we turned back home, he left no doubt in our minds as to his health, since he charged ahead at a quick pace to be able to return to the pasture as soon as possible. My horse... (Becky, we have to do something up there when I get back)

I have just finished my packing a few moments ago, because the family and I just finished watching John Adams. I really liked the last episode with all the letters that were read... it's as if we're hearing them from the authors afreash. My goodness, what an ending. And I am glad that they didn't show anything from that, um, proceedure they had to do on his daughter... In all, it was an excellent series! Wow! And the music is inspiring too! :)

As Hilary says in 'In the WENN Small Hours', well at this point, I don't see any point in going home - or to bed. I've got to be up in 2 or 3 hours... So, I'm going to take a shower and work on my music unless I fall asleep first. I've got a long bus ride to Vancouver, BC, and then a long wait, and then a 12 hour flight to China. I think I'll be able to rest some time in there. I hope. :)

So, hopefully, next time I post it will be from my hotel in Beijing!

Until then,
Jp

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

TV and Band... Don't mix.

I just re-watched the last Monk episode because I missed the first 1o minutes on Friday night. The rehearsal went until 9pm of all times! Oh, well, at least I saw most of it. I came in when they met the guy at the airport.

This episode felt different to me, and in a good way. The story didn't center around one of Monk's odd quirks, and didn't even rely on comedy to make the show good. The scene that was meant to be funny - the one in the funeral home - didn't sound funny at all, but only rather awkward, IMO.

It was just a serious attempt to solve a mystery, with a little comedy agmenting it, but not defining it - something that's not very common in the series, as far as I can recall. Monk was shown to be weak, and in a way that was completely separate from his OCD. He couldn't let go of an impossible case, one that was impossible, even for him, until his genius opponent made a mistake. And he actually broke the law... ouch! That's different for Monk! Except for the one with the Naked Man... he broke the law in that one too, but that was quite different; it was because of his OCD.

I adored the scene with the Captain in the questioning room. I loved the cinematography, I loved the blocking and especially the dialogue; it was well written and performed.

The first 10 minutes are rather important, actually, for understanding why he cared so much about the lady. My gosh.

And then, on Sunday night, I forgot about watching Foyle's War because everyone had just come home from trips that weekend and I was beat from the evening's performance for the high school moms and dads.

Maybe Monk will still be on when I get back from China. That would be awesome! At least the family is going to tape the 2 I will miss.

Jp

These Last Few Days

Yesterday was really hot, and we were left out in the sun too long. My goodness, my neck is bright red! I think I'll be more careful in China about putting sunscreen on.

Rehearsal started at 10am, which left plenty of time for sleeping in. We worked on music pretty much constantly, which is a good thing. I'm getting some of this stuff down pretty well. Memorizing music has never been one of my strong points, but I'm definitely making improvement in that area this time through.

I was able to get to know the mellophone from Oregon much better. She's thinking about doing grad school in physical therapy and although she's her school's mello section leader, she's kinda shy about talking in groups, like I am. She said it's hard to teach without coming off as sounding mad, because she would be nervous and would have to talk loudly. I'm glad I never even considered auditioning for section leader... yeah. I enjoy being a learner, because that's the level I am at.

Rehearsal got over at 3pm, and that left time at home for relaxing, eating a nice dinner with the whole family, paying my credit card bills for the month, doing important communications with people before I go, watching Star Trek III with the family because I hadn't seen that stupid one in a long time..., and practicing a few places in the Olympic Medley, before retiring to bed.

Today, rehearsal was much shorter becasue we were limited in our use of the high school band room. We rehearsed the Classical and Olympic Medleys and 'Sing,Sing,Sing'. Afterwords, the Husky Band treated all the college kids out to a nice lunch to celebrate the end of band camp before we go to China. We don't have anything tomorrow, and thank goodness, because I need to get ready to go. I like waiting till the last minute to pack for things, and this will be perfect, because I need to be on the bus at 4am the next morning! That should be an interesting night...

It's hard to decide what to do with myself in these few moments that nothing is scheduled. I suppose I should practice for a while and start getting my clothes together or something before my friend comes over tonight.

I feel slightly ill at ease about not being packed, but I don't really want to yet... I can never decide... before big trips like these. Oh, dear! Just take a deep breath (sigh) and everything will be fine.

Until next time,
Jp

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Dead Tired

Pretty much every muscle in my body is exhausted. My shoulders are so tight, I'm afraid they're going to crack or something. And my legs... oh, my legs! On top of a bad sunburn from yesterday, I've been standing up for almost two whole days. Ug.

I had a wonderful time last night, once we finally started marching in the Torchlight Parade. It was a great experience for the whole band.

I was wondering if I could enjoy anything for a second though... because one of the HIGH SCHOOL band directors executively decided that my horn angle (how straight I hold my horn up) was not good enough for marching on the edge of a row. So, he told me to move to the other side of the row, 3 places in from the other edge... He didn't say why... just asked me to move. I didn't want to, so I asked the reason. He admitted it was because he thought my horn angle wasn't good enough. So, I got upset, not only because this happened as we were already lined up to go in the parade, but because he didn't care about fixing my horn angle; I was just a problem to be moved out of the way. He didn't respect me enough to think that I could respond to criticism. Thank the Lord I didn't go to that high school. I might have prematurely quit band.

My section leaders went to complain to him that he was being unnecessarily rude and disrespectful, and after that, he came back over to my new position and tried to explain to me why I shouldn't be upset. Which is the number one mistake men make when dealing with women. Never try to reason with a woman why she shouldn't be upset. Especially when you've previously disregarded her intellegence. Geesh. Needless to say, he moved me AGAIN, this time to a different edge of a row, probably just because I was upset. (That didn't help my opinion of him) As if being on the end of the row was the issue... I don't think he understood that it was about his rudeness and mishandling of a simple situation.

Several good things came about because of all this messing around, though. So in an odd way, I'm grateful to the guy. I moved around so much that I got to learn the names of three different people in my section; the mello from U of Oregon came over to me to encourage me; my Husky mello friends were very awesome to me; and because I was on the other side of the row, I saw my Jr. High band director in the crowd. Weird.

When we actually started marching (there was 3 hours of waiting around beforehand) I had such a great time! The crowd really loved us, because we're big, and we're going to Beijing, and we sounded amazing. The other 3 years I've done this parade with the Husky Band, I've not had such a pleasant and happy crowd. It was exillerating to march down the street, although my shoulder muscles were crying out to let my horn down and my legs and feet were very sore, to say the least. Just to be able to play that music from memory in front of people (and have them like it) was great. And just to imagine how awesome it will be in China... I can't wait!

So, after the 2 and a half mile parade from Seattle Center to Quest Field, we loaded onto buses at a quarter after 10pm, and after an extremely quiet ride, got back to Bothell around 11. Upon returning home, my sister suggested a WENN episode for relaxation, and we watched 'The Importance of Being Betty'. Often times, my sister and I refer to WENN as Acedawennaphin. Very calming. Or exciting. Whichever you prefer. Oh, oh! Meggan noticed a small inconsistancy in the precipice speech. When the camera's pointed at Scott, his hand is grabbing the edge of the wall... when it's facing Betty, his hand is flat against the wall... I hadn't noticed before, although I'm sure others have. My goodness, there's a bunch of awesome lines in that episode... what am I saying? That's true of all of them.

Today our call time for rehearsal was 9AM! Gosh, that's early after a long, late, tiring night! We played practically the whole day, and in oh, would you look at the time, an hour... huh... we get to perform ALL of the songs for all the parents of the high schoolers. yey.

Don't get me wrong... I am having a good time. I'm just in that exhausted, limbo part of the band camp where we're constantly working and it seems like it will never end, but after a few years, we should get to China. LOL.

Until Next Time,
Jp

Friday, July 25, 2008

Here we go...

In just a couple hours, I'm gonna head over to Bothell to begin our mini band-camp for the China trip. Tonight we'll be rehearsing our music for tomorrow night's parade. I can't believe it's here already...

I was able to clean most of my stuff up at work today, in the few hours I had. It goes really fast when you have to get a certain amount of stuff done in a short period of time! I am taking all of next week off of work, although we don't have a rehearsal on Wednesday. It'll be a good time to pack before we head off at 4:30 AM on Thursday, the 31st. Ouch, that's gonna be a long day.

Last night the family watched parts 3, 4 and 5 of John Adams. I really liked them as well, but so far my favorite would definitely be part 2. I think this is because the drafting/ signing of the Declaration was in part 2. I was a little surprised how quickly they moved through the war, but then again, I was unaware that Mr. Adams was in Europe the whole time, and that he was not a part of the drafting of the Constitution. I really love all the actors they selected for this series though! Wow! George Washington is incredible! and Benjamin Franklin! Wow!

And to those of you listening, out there, right now, alone in a small room, or working late again at your computers... I saw the part in which Jefferson and Hamilton were hating each other and I went, "I'm sorry that I didn't get to see this before we shared our time over the Internet Relay Chat-waves together". (And to you, Rodney, I'm sorry for butchering that quote/ stealing your idea... LOL) Note my period outside of the parentheses. If I can't chat tomorrow, then darn it, I'm going to do it here.

And what's awesome, is that I'll get to see parts 6 and 7 before I leave! Yey!
And here's for another new episode of Monk tonight! Yey!

Until next time,
Jp

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Studying History

Why is there such a forgetfulness and apathy in our society today, especially among young people, of our past? Why should we try to remember what happened in our history and in the history of other peoples?

Our past should be remembered in order to inspire us to be better people today. It should not stop at a simple head knowledge of facts and dates, which is what many people I've met stereotype the study of history as. No! It has to be much more than that! It has to touch people's hearts as well as their minds. It should remind them that the people who have gone on before us have struggled through some of the same struggles that we face in our own lives. That some of those people rose above their fears and made a difference of one kind or another, and that they were not gods, but ordinary people such as you and I.

The study of history should be more akin to story-telling, albeit with a serious attempt to not embellish what happened, than essays on the causes of the coming and going of kingdoms.

There is so much to learn from the past; the struggles, and failures and triumphs. Could it be that we have made the study of it too boring?

Jp

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Joy of a Change

I've been pretty happy at work these last couple days, cleaning up everything in my cube in anticipation of three whole weeks off for my trip to China! I'm putting away stacks of stuff that I've long ignored! It does help that the work load has totally slacked off across the board at the Data Center. The company just made an enormous shipment of engines to a customer, earlier this month. It was so much, that I had to help my coworker full time on something that normally gets done with one person. We shipped out data books for 23 bi-propellant engines at once! Normal shipsets, that take one analyst, usually run from around 8 to 10 engines. We were pulling out our hair!

To celebrate our mutual accomplishment of getting this done on time, our supervisor brought in a lovely Thai lunch today, with 5 or 6 different courses. I tried peanut sauce for the first time, and loved it. I was a little unsure if I would because I don't like peanuts. Gosh, my boss is swell.

While scanning Manufacturing Orders at the end of the day, I listened to Rupert Holmes's 'Widescreen', or most of it, for the first time. I could barely stop myself from bursting out in laughter at 'Second Saxophone'. The man NEVER ceases to amaze me. He is too good at what he does! I love swing. Especially comedy-swing. LOL!

Oh, my gosh! LOL "I'd even buy a reed if they'd let me play lead..." LOL

There's just something about that guy...

Until Next Time,
Jp

Monday, July 21, 2008

Words Can't Describe It...

...and in a blog, that's not good.

Finally, I have seen the first two installments of 'John Adams'.

And I am speechless with the raw power and emotion of the simple way they told our nation's greatest story. Yes, John Bedford Lloyd did a wonderful job (can we expect anything else from him?) and in the one scene in Independence Hall, when everyone was shouting, Tom Beckett's character cups his hands even, to shout... but we can't hear him over all the other noise...

But Paul Giamatti's performance as the titular role was stand-out brilliant, to say the least. And I mean that in all true honesty. I'm afraid I can't describe fully how much I enjoyed this; as I write this with the stain of tears on my cheeks. Oh, my, these were great men that founded our country. How wonderful that their story is being brought to life again with such care and beauty.

I haven't been entertained; I have been taught.

Jp

TV times...

Today after church and lunch and the playing of Yahtzee and Sorry, both exceedingly delightful games, we were able to squeeze in Episode 4 of Remember WENN.

Here we are introduced to the romantic side of Victor Comstock as well as being given our only glimpse into his past. This episode is really important for several character's development, however. Obviously, Hilary is portrayed, for the first time, really, to have a very vulnerable side to her. We get to see her realize how distant she is from her coworkers, and to see herself, maybe for the first time, as a selfish person. But what I really love about this episode, is Betty. We see much more of her youthful enthusiasm in making friends with Grace Cavendish, and when she helps talk to the electricity company for Victor. She is definitely surprised at witnessing Victor's romance, and I'm not sure what exactly was going through her head when Grace sang the theme song to Victor, but it is interesting to consider. She sees him as a very tender man... maybe for the first time... I don't know. I wish there was an episode for every single day at the station after the pilot episode! Sigh. But what I really liked about Betty in this one was her last line. There's just something about the way she excitedly says, "See you tomorrow!" that makes me smile. She really loved working with him. :)

While listening to this one recently, I noticed that one of the main reasons why Victor left New York was because Grace left him. I guess I never paid attention to it before. So, not only because of "artistic freedom", but because of a broken relationship that probably hurt pretty bad. Hmm. Interesting stuff.

Remember you, remember me, and all those dreams come true that never came to be. The foggy lights of distant nights now shine so clearly, and I can hear your voice as if your mine and near me. What happened then, can live again. I'll meet you then if you remember when.

Wow, it's late... oh, well. I hope my hour and a half nap today will help with tomorrow... the dog woke me up at 5am today... when I planned on sleeping in... such is the life of a house sitter.

After dropping off the house key to Bob and his wife and going out to Ivar's with my sister Meggan, (and stopping by Half Price Books again - it's so darned convenient when they're so close - I found a mystery about the mystery writer Samuel Dashiell Hammett, which excited me because while filpping through it, one sentance jumped out at me... "Who killed Vic?" The cover says it's a part fictionalized history, part biography, of the writer of 'The Maltese Falcon' and 'The Thin Man'. The former of which I was already aware of... LOL. Sounds dangerous... ) I got home just in time to watch the next installment of 'Foyle's War' on PBS. This time I started watching from the beginning, and I already knew some of the characters, so it was even better than last week. I really enjoy all the historical detail they put into the stories. The mysteries kept me guessing and took unexpected turns, which was great. I really like the character of Sam, Foyle's driver. She's fun to watch; and she's my type of gal... something like I would have been if I was my age in WWII England.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Monk and other things

Well, I'd have to say that I enjoyed Monk! It was so well done, the way they handled Dr. Kroger's unexpected departure. They simply "told the truth" about what happened. It made it that much more believable and unexpectedly beautifully done. The only thing that I didn't like about the episode, was how Monk and Natalie didn't go for the bad guy's gun after he was out. I don't know how many times they've had the Captain rush in to save the day in the nick of time, but it's sort of a stretch to believe that it could happen the way they did it. Oh, well. The rest of the episode was stellar.

The rest of the day was pretty ho-hum. After work, I came home and played a fun, but extremely long game of Phase 10 with my bro, my dad and my sis. It went back and forth, but I came out on top by... 10 points. Which is just a lucky chance in a game like that. It was the first time we'd played this since the last time Meggan was here... like Christmas. For some reason, we usually only play when she's around... weird.

This time, on the way to housesitting, I went to the coin shop for the coin sheets and it was open! Meggan accompanied me, and we again, cough, went to HPB;I again found a CS Lewis book. We then went to the house and I practiced and she read.

In the evening, we all enjoyed some fresh raspberries on ice creme while we watched Monk together. Yey!

Jp

Friday, July 18, 2008

FYI

Since I love pictures so much, I thought I'd make a blog for just pictures...

http://nifer-jen-pics.blogspot.com/

I'm adding it to my Blogger Friends List...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

States I've Visited


Thanks to James Young for finding this awesome website.
http://www.world66.com/myworld66 You can make the same map.

I've visited 34 states, but I've only been to the airport in Utah and Texas and Georgia, so I don't know if that really counts or not. Illonois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and West Virginia have all been "drive throughs".

I love maps.

Until Next Time,
Jp

Ah, TV Shows...

So I wore a skirt to work for the first time in ages (because it has been really warm out and because I felt like it), and I found myself in the hall downstairs (when no one was looking) with a reason to go fast, so of course, I thought of Betty and took off running down the hall, trying to kick my heels up the same way she does. LOL! And all I could think of is... "poetry in motion". Oh, gosh. That line is supposed to make me get mad, but all I could do was laugh.

And then at the house I'm sitting, the cat's name is Muffin. And I continually call it "Mittens", for some reason or another...

In anticipation of this week's premiere of Season 7 of MONK, my friend (that I recently introduced to MONK) and I watched both parts of the last episode, in order for her (and me, since I forgot some plot points we were introduced to) to be caught up to date on what's happening in the series. "Whyyyyyy did the man have to dieeeeeee?" I love Randy.

Until next time,
Jp

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Quickie

Just as an FYI for everyone... I fixed the link to the Olympic Orchestra website.

Now you can see all sorts of things, like what our uniforms will look like and pictures from the hotel we'll be staying at, along with the latest big, big, news that's floating around.

Jp

Wishful Thinking

While looking at my friend's awesome blogs and web pages, I find myself wishing that I knew the first thing about editing html so I could make an awesome page too. Back in college, I took an intro to computing, and along with all the duh-stuff, like how to get on the internet and manage your email, we had one week on Javascript and writing basic html. That nearly killed me. So, I guess it would be a misnomer (giggle) to say that I don't know the first thing about it... but it's close.

Ah, technical things... will I ever catch up?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Consternation

I only have limited internet capabilities at the house I'm sitting, so what am I going to do on Saturday night? I think I should try to find a free wireless internet cafe or something... but I don't know how late those stay open... ;) I could drive home, I guess, but I really shouldn't be gone that long from them. I think I should just stay at the house and deal with a lousy internet connection. It worked off and on last night, so I suppose it'll be ok. Everybody'll see me popping in and out, I guess...

Monday...Tuesday...Whatday?

Well, it's been fun taking care of the beagle, Sammy, except for last night when she woke me up 3 times to go potty and to get up on the bed..., and Muffin the cat. They're pretty low maintenance, but I hope I'm not freaking them out too bad by staying up late...

Sunday night, I was too tired to do any of the work on my computer that I planned to do, so I just turned on the TV instead. Lazy bum. Oh, well. So in addition to seeing the last two minutes of King Kong (which were, as Hilary says, the only important reels to see), and a minute of Hellboy (just because I was a little curious - hey, it looked like it was ending too - but then it kept going on... so I flipped the channel) I stumbled on a brand new episode of 'Foyle's War' on PBS. It's a detective show about espionage in England during World War II. What luck! I love stories about espionage and England and World War II! Especially when they are in conjunction with each other... lol... so I looked it up online yesterday, and found out that it was the premiere episode of the fifth part of a series! There are new episodes on the next two Sundays! Needless to say, I have disc 1 coming now on Netflix.

Most of Monday was spent wishing it was Friday. I was totally not focused at work, mostly because I'm stuck with the small, stupid jobs, like getting picky data errors fixed and processing Usage Change Requests... Oh, those are boatloads of fun. I went home for dinner after work, instead of going directly to Bellevue, because I live only 10 minutes/ 3 miles from work. After a lovely dinner prepared by mom, I left for Bellevue. Along the way, I tried to stop in at a coin shop to pick up a couple coin-holder sheets for the awesome coins my sister Meggan brought me from Africa, specifically Lesotho and South Africa. But, they were closed. I then stopped at the Half Price Bookstore that is conveniently located right next to where I'm house-sitting. I had a coupon for 40% off a single item, a couple bucks left over from a gift card and a book to sell. I walked out of there with the two C.S. Lewis books I was missing and the movie 'Drumline' for a total of $3.30. Love that store. I then tried to find a good frame at Michaels for a set of pictures I have, but the only two choices they had for what I wanted was around $30 or so... and it's not that important, so then I went to the house to practice... (getting pretty good on the 1st couple songs... ) and I turned on PBS again. I was pretty curious about 'History Detectives', so I checked it out. Both of the mysteries they investigated were about FDR, and pretty interesting. I enjoyed learning that Bob Sherwood wrote speeches for the president...

Anyway, time to move on with the day.
Until next time,
Jp

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Sunday is Sunny

I'm not really used to all this heat, but I guess it is good for mildly adjusting to what it will be like in China. I hope I don't pass out when I get there. They say to drink tons of water even before you go so that you start out hydrated. Uh-oh...

I had a lovely time this afternoon, watching some Monk with my friend, and then starting reading 'Mere Christianity' with her. I haven't read it myself yet, and so far it is awesome! He starts out describing the Law of Nature and gives strikingly original examples for his arguments. Gosh, I love C.S. Lewis!

We watched "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink", because of the stages of grief scene. What hilarity! Oh, my! I remember when I first watched it, I had freshly come out of a period of grieving... It is so clever! and well done! I love Monk.

I'm off to go house-sit for my friend... I almost forgot that it started tonight. EEEK. that would have been bad if I didn't remember.

Until next time,
Jp

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Whales and Tales

I hope I can blog when I'm in China. I'm not going to bring my laptop because I think it's a little too risky. They will have computers available, but I don't know if I'll have much time. I'll try...

I've been listening to Moby Dick at work these last couple days. It's such a long book, I've been taking breaks between groups of chapters. I'm on chapter 103 at the present time. Ahab has finally found a sea captain that had seen the white whale! I just love it! It's a combination of marine biology, philosophy, history, religion, and fiction! What a mammoth work! What a contribution to science and literature! Herman Melville was definitely a literary genius. And it's a great way to get through a long workday as well.

Yesterday, after work, I went with a friend to Discovery Park in West Seattle. We got lost because they don't mark the roads very well and we ended up at the Indian Cultural Center. After asking directions there, we finally found the visitor's center in time to buy a map before we had to go meet a friend for dinner. It was a bright sunny day, something that we, in Seattle, are not used to. Most of our days are partly cloudy. I think that's the reason that I-5 was so backed up; becuase everyone realized at the same time: "It's bright sunshine outside... and it's the weekend!" So, we're going to go back another time to walk the trails and see the Olympic Mountains from across the Puget Sound at the tip of the park by the lighthouse. The park has quite the history. Back in the days of World War I and II, it was all part of Fort Lawton. The 70th Infantry Division still has US Army Reserve sites at the park, but they are isolated, for a very good reason, I'm sure.

Anyway, after picking up another friend at the UW medical center (she is doing grad school in Physical Therepy), I backed into a parked Jeep. Thank the Lord that the driver was a nice person! There was no damage, but you never know with some people. We then went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Lynnwood and then saw Kung Fu Panda for a few laughs. (the plot line was slightly predictable, but overall it was enjoyable)

Until Next Time,
Jp

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Whew.

I'm tired. It's mostly my fault, because I stay up to late doing stupid things every night of the week and then I have to be at work by 7am. Stupid. I think it's because I try to do every last thing I think of before I go to bed. And that's not a good idea when you have lots and lots of things you want to do. By the time the weekend comes around and I actually have some time, I just goof around. Wow, I'm silly.

I did have somewhat of an excuse last night, because I had that really long music rehearsal. (Which was just music and really long, but good. I think I have the 4 page Classical Medley pretty much together - which includes a selection from "The Toreador Song" by Bizet. He loved Russian music - and I'm doing really well on the easy "Strike Up the Band" and "76 Trombones". The 8 page Olympic Medley remains to be seen. Ug.

Until Next Time,
Jp

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Last Night's Dinner

Was good!

A couple of years ago, one of my co-workers in the warehouse at Bellevue Community College asked me to housesit for him and his wife as they went on vacation. Since then, I've done it twice, and next week, I'm gonna do it again. So he and his wife took my sister and I out to an elegant dinner at... Black Angus. Mmmmm. So good! We all had a wonderful time reminiscing about BCC and our old jobs together (my sister had the same job I had before me). They have an old beagle and a young cat that I will be responsible for. I'm just glad that I'm gonna have some time in the evenings for uninterrupted practicing on my music for the Beijing Olympic Orchestra.

Speaking of that, I've got a rehearsal at the University tonight. 6-9 PM, after a nine-hour workday. Is that what we mean by fun? I'm not sure.

Hoo-rah for China! Ack! It's coming up fast!

Until Next Time,
Jp

Monday, July 7, 2008


Pudge hits the ball. One of the many times he did. At least he's one of my favorite ballplayers (and he's a catcher)... but darn it! He's for the other team!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Ahh, the weekend!

Saturday was just plain restful.
Ebay, TV and talking online.
:)

Sunday was good too.
Good sermon, good baseball game. Even though the Mariners lost it in the 15th inning, we had good seats and the weather was PERFECT. Sunny and cool with a few clouds. Ah, Seattle! And they say it rains all the time... (they're lying).

Until Next Time,
Jp

Saturday, July 5, 2008

A Blast of a Fourth

Happy Birthday, USA; and thank you, Founding Fathers for 232 years.

What an awesome Independence Day, even though the pie crust was a pain in the neck. It was really crumbly, but Denise said that must be because of the humidity.
Anyway, it was a wonderful day because my good friend Becky came over for most of the day, and along with putting up with me griping about the stupid pie crust, watched MONK with me, and played games and talked! She also gave me a suggestion about the crust that made it sort of do-able. What an awesome friend!

So, people came over at 5, and then we ate a lot of tacos. Beef, beans, cheese, lettuce, sour creme, salsa, olives, tomatoes, onions... sigh of contentment... After a marathon game of Apples to Apples, in which I was described by 16 different adjectives, we ate apple pie and a patriotic colored fruit custard and watched an impressive show of fireworks from my front lawn. Many people in my neighborhood shoot off huge fireworks for about two hours straight. There were at least five different "shows" going on around us. We sat in chairs under the flag on my house and cheered for the big ones. And I did see a little heliotrope.

Until Next Time,
Jp

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Food and Thoughts

Since we get paid for a full day tomorrow, we've only had 8 hour days this week... which is a lot more fun than 9 hour days... and since I've worked extra, I only have 6 1/2 to finish today!

Then I have to mix up some pie crust so it will be chilled for tomorrow's baking! There's nothing quite as good as good ol' Apple Pie on the Fourth of July. Hoo-rah for being American!

Just watched The Philadelphia Story last night for the first time. My family's not really a Katherine Hepburn fan, but she was pretty good in this one. Also, Cary Grant starred, in a role that was so similar to My Gal Friday, it was scary, but of course, well acted. The real reason for getting this one, thank you Netflix, was Jimmy Stewart. And like always, he was excellent. I don't think I ever remember him doing a drunk scene before, and the one he did in this one was great. I was watching for him to do that over the top drunkenness that's so common in movies, but he did it with a reservedness that made it really believable. Meg said that they gave him an Oscar for this performance because they messed up and didn't give him one for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, where it was deserved like none other. Yeah, I hate the Oscars; they usually screw it up. One thing I really appreciated about Philadelphia Story, was an interesting and well written screenplay. It's really a shame that dialogue today is usually so terrible. It's like screenwriters have forgotten how people actually talk.

A Jimmy Stewart movie that I really want to see is Carbine Williams, from the 1950's. Unfortunately, Netfilx doesn't have it and neither does anybody else, that I could find. Boo.

Until Next Time,
Jp

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

My Favorite Things

For reasons that two people know of, I've had 'My Favorite Things' going through my head for a couple days now... and this is what I got:

My Favorite Things

Sunshine and Fridays and Victor and Betty
Lions and Fishies and Horses and Mooseys
Birdies that sit on phone wires and sing
These are a few of my favorite things'

Pictures and music and movies and books
Forests with flowers and swift, quiet brooks
The Army and Navy as well as Marines
These are a few of my favorite things.

Telling bad jokes about science fiction
Living with family dispite all the friction
Loving the Lord and the joy that it brings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Until Next Time,
Jp