I woke up the morning after I got home from band camp (fully clothed and after eleven hours of sleep) with a relatively unfamiliar feeling which seemed to flow through my entire body. After a few seconds, I realized that the feeling was extreme contentment. Band makes me very happy. I love music. I love marching. Most importantly, I love almost every single individual in the band as if he or she is a member of my own family. I love band. I love it. And I've almost forgotten, over the past eight months, just how happy it makes me.
There's no way I can write down everything that happened at camp in any sort of chronological order. So I'm just going to jump around in topic until I've said everything important.
First of all, I fell in love with the show the first time I played it. I love the music every year, but I think this year's is my favorite out of all of them. I've always liked the fact that Mr. Thomas arranges the music himself and that we play stuff that's actually worthwhile to listen to instead of movie soundtracks and the like. This year we're doing Joni Mitchell - Free Man in Paris, Help Me, Big Yellow Taxi, Both Sides Now. This sounds really wierd, I know, and I was concerned at first, but it actually turned out to be really cool. Especially Big Yellow Taxi, which basically sounds like a jam session. The pit plays background, and Alice plays the melody while Jay improvs during the rests. (Besides being drum major, Alice is also a pretty insane trumpet player.) The marching is cool too - really fast and harder than anything I've done before. Drill this year was pretty intense. The only thing I don't like about the show is that it isn't longer.
I have pretty much fallen in love with the trombone too. I love being loud. I love feeling like I am supporting the band instead of just sort of surfing on top of it. I actually dream about how awesome it will be once I get good. I like fact that, along with Dave, I am needed as a leader in my section. Chris and Moose (whose real name is Joe) have turned out to be cool kids, but when it comes to music and marching they need a lot of work. I think I've been able to help them, and I think I've been able to strike a balance between fixing things that need to be fixed and not being obnoxious. I'm pretty sure they like me, or, at the very least, don't dislike me. Although we are technically part of low brass, Dave has essentially become trombone section leader, and I can tell he likes it.
Another thing I like is knowing that I have a guaranteed position in the jazz band. Mr. Casto (who is now part of the staff) has made this clear several times.
There are two downsides to playing the trombone: 1. The heart-wrenching guilt I feel whenever Mr. Thomas or Matt, the assistant director, says, "play out flutes, I can barely hear you," and 2. The fact that because of the way I hold the instrument, I have not been able to feel my middle finger since Monday, and at this point I am actually pretty afraid that I will never be able to feel it again.
I ended up rooming with Molly, Sarah, Bonnie and Valerie. I was kind of disappointed. Bonnie and Valerie are very quiet and serious (Valerie to the point where almost every joke has to be explained to her) and Sarah, although I've known her since I joined and love her dearly, has been pretty annoying since she joined a state-wide drum corps, as it is all she ever talks about. She even brought a DVD of their performances and watched it almost every day. I didn't object to rooming with any one of them individually, but collectively... Well, I hate to admit this, but I was disappointed that I didn't end up in a "cool" cabin. I thought I wouldn't end up having fun. However, this did not turn out to be a problem at all. Alice, Natalie, Molly, and Cassandra were in the other side of our cabin and came over almost every day to play cards or just hang out. Eric and Dave were there all the time too (there are really no rules at band camp.) We told inside jokes, passed around Bertie Botts' every flavor beans, and exchanged stories about Special K. Alice and Natalie were in the class where the kids would order pizza, go down to the lobby and get it, and then when Special K would ask if he could have a slice, say "no." When I mentioned hearing about this to Alice, she laughed and said, "Well, he never pitched in!" (Alice has one of those laughs where all you can hear is the rhythmic, squeaking intake of air. It doesn't sound silly or annoying though. It's just distinctive and kind of infectious.)
Occasionally, Eric would make fun of everyone and we would make fun of him back for breaking his arm all the time and being dyslexic. Hey, when you dish it out as much as Eric does, you'd better be able to take it. And he can. One of Alice's favorite games is "Confuse the Dyslexic." To play, you write the words "top" and "pot" on a peice of paper, show it to Eric, and say "Okay, which one's on top?" He usually puts his hand to his chin, laughs a little, and says, "I think you put top on top, because that's what you did last time."
As usual, I hung out with Molly and Dave more than anyone else. One thing we did a lot, to my delight, was trash Adam. He is still a douche bag, by the way. He brags and makes bad jokes and fails at talking about physics. He thinks he is growing a goatee. He is all touchy with the freshmen in his section, and, worst of all, I think there is something going on between him and Valerie. She would fit the pattern - Older, very pretty, sort of innocent, and not a very good friend of his to start out with. This bothers me, and I wish it didn't. When I ask myself why it bothers me, a voice in my head yells indignantly, "Because I don't want the only person I've ever loved to be a slut, okay?!" I hope the voice is right.
Anyway, some quality trashing went on. I know it's bad, but for how much better it makes me feel, it's worth it. Once, after I said something about the clarinets, there was a memorable conversation that went something like this:
Molly: I don't like the clarinets. Well, I like Cassandra. And Kevin.
Me: Hm. Let's name all the exceptions. Do you like Tony?
Molly: Yeah, he's cool. Let's see... I think I like Jenna...
Me: ...And I've seen you talking to Amy...
Molly: ....And I don't really know any of the freshmen...
Me: Hm. That just leaves...
Molly: Yeah. I really just don't like Adam.
We laughed, quietly.
Me: I really don't either.
I noticed that Julian came up a few times too. I wonder if it's wierd for Molly, after reading this, to keep a straight face when I talk about him. She doesn't seem to have any problems. Perhaps she's just forgotten.
Dave: I really like the sound Julian gets on his sax. It makes the sax like, not sound like a lawn mower.
Me: Well, alto's always better than tenor. Besides that, he's an insane musician. I mean, what else does Julian do besides practice the sax?
Molly: Um... His frickin' BC calc homework...
Me: I suppose.
Dave: Well, one thing we know he doesn't do: Eat.
We all burst out into cackling laughter. I may have turned slightly pink.
We did give Dave a mohawk, by the way. It was quite interesting. We had to be pretty creative since Dave forgot both scissors and a razor. We ended up doing it on the porch of our cabin. Cassandra stole scissors out of the first aid kit in the colorguard cabin. Kevin took a mirror off the wall in the bathroom. (He assured us that "It came right off," but you have to understand that Kevin carries a screwdriver around with him at all times and therefor might have a slightly different idea from most people of what "right off" is.) Molly got her melophone case for Dave to sit on. Adam brought an electric hair trimmer. ("What does he have an electric hair trimmer for?" "I dunno. His 'beard'?" collective snigger.) After discovering that none of us can cut hair, we enlisted the help of Alice, who can. Pretty soon, in addition to all the people involved, there were a bunch of people standing around watching. Then Jason the trumpet section leader showed up with a boom box, and I swear to God, we had a mohawk/dance party right there in front of our cabin. It was awesome. The mohawk turned out to be pretty awesome too, especially considering that it was done at band camp with first aid scissors. The next day at drill when I looked over at Dave, with his mohawk and glasses, playing trombone, I laughed to myself and thought, "That is the most ska thing ever."
To be continued. Jeez, this is taking me forever.
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