Changing Seasons - 11/29/2006 in 2005 - 2007: High School

Band season is over. The parade and banquet were on Sunday. I was pretty grumpy through the parade because the new tuba kid, who really isn't too bright, was marching too close to me and dented my new trombone with his giant awkward instrument which really shouldn't be played by people who aren't too bright. I was slightly grumpy through the banquet too, but I think I managed to hide it pretty well as I presented Eric's joke award and ran the yankee swap. (Eric's award was the hypocrite award, since he is obnoxiously vocal about his dislike of band couples even though, as we all remind him, he was a part of one last year. We also presented him with a book called "Major Crush," a teen romance novel about two drum majors. We got it signed by all of the band couples. Schultz read the summary on the back into the mic. My favorite part was, "...Until they share more than just their halftime salute.") Anyway, people were laughing, and my parents said I did a good job at the mic, and I think it was genuine, because they sounded surprised.

After the banquet though, I absolutely crashed. I had... A minor emotional breakdown again. Because it's over. That was it. The end of band.

I feel like someone died. Or... maybe just moved away is more like it. I feel helpless. It's just gone, there's nothing I can do about it. There's a sense of regret, too. I wish I'd gotten to know it better. I wish I'd enjoyed it more, while I had the chance. If only I'd tried a little harder, been a little more into it, gone that extra extra step, maybe it would have been better. Maybe I wouldn't have to miss it so much. But now it's over, and it's too late.

I was also upset because Molly yelled at me again for no reason. Like, really yelled at me. Really for no reason at all. I don't know. I really don't know what's up with that, still.

Well, at least jazz band season started the very next day. Good thing. Last year that in-between nothing period was painful. And besides, I felt more like I fit in when all the AB calc kids were talking about their sports that were ending and their other sports that were beginning. (They all play sports.)

B band was on Monday. That was pretty cool. I could more or less sightread the trombone music, and one of the songs has a flute solo which does not overlap with the trombone part, so I played that. (A couple of non-bandie saxophones turned around and looked at me funny when I put down my trombone and started playing the flute.) I hung out with Dave for a pretty long period of time, and that was cool. I should really start making a conscious effort not to flirt with him.

Today the alternative jazz band rehearsed, for the first time in a while. It went much better than it ever has. This was mostly because Noah suggested halfway through that he play set on Latin Jam instead of congas. "Because I don't really uh... play congas. And I think it should be more like... sectionalized." So I figured I'd let him try it, and after that, it just sounded awesome. We sounded like an honest-to-God big band, except with flutes and strings. Even the people goofing off thing wasn't so bad. (This might be partially because I realized that it's not just me - people do it to JV jazz band guy to the same extent. And he's played with Dizzy Gillespie.) Julian was being a nice guy. He was quiet when I asked people to be quiet, and he helped New Tuba Kid out with the trumpet part since New Tuba Kid cannot really play the trumpet even though it is his primary instrument, and he took a pretty damn good trumpet solo when I said, "somebody take a solo!" I could tell that he had practiced soloing over those particular chords. Aww.

Of course, 'Round Midnight still sucked. I'm not exactly sure what we'll be doing at the concert besides Latin Jam. But hey, we'll be playing at least one pretty freaking awesome song.

A band starts an hour and a half after my band ends, so Dave decided to come over my house, and after she mentioned that she didn't really have anywhere to go, we invited Laura Euphonium too. We hung around drinking water and trying to tune the water bottles to various chords. (I wish I were making this up.) Molly showed up later for a little bit. Then the three of us went to A band, where I quickly remembered that, even taking into consideration the flute feature we're playing, I am the worst person in the band. I got that award because I work hard, but really, in terms of chops, I am not A band material. The trombone piece is way out of my range, and the flute peice is crazy fast, and I play it with the saxophones, who absolutely school me at it. Dave was being obnoxious about the difference between his range and my range again. I hate it when he does this. If I were obnoxious about the ways in which I am a better musician than he is, I would win hands down. So I wish he would shut up about it.

I have a bunch of band memorobilia from the banquet. They gave me a blanket with the school mascot on it and a picture of me with my parents on senior night in a corny cardboard frame and and an award for having been assistant drum major. (Mr. Thomas figures that the drum majors should get awards along with the the people who get best musician and best marcher, because "the fact that he put us in charge of the band means we probably deserve most of those awards anyway, but he has to take us out of the running." It used to just be the drum major who got this award. This is really the first year that all three leaders have been reffered to as "the drum majors," and I know it's because of me. This makes me happy.) I also got a Hello Kitty doll in the yankee swap. It had an iTunes gift certificate tied around its neck. I am a little embarrassed about how much I am genuinely enjoying the Hello Kitty doll. It is really adorable. You know, the kind of adorable where you want to squeeze the thing until it dies. It is next to my bed. I feel like I should get rid of it before someone sees it there.

Julian came into the band room during lunch the other day and we talked about the yankee swap for a while. He said His Brother once got one of those hats that you can put two beer cans in. "Or... soda, I guess." I always forget that The Brother* was in marching band. He apparantly was one of those kids who complained about it all the time but rejoined every year anyway.

Now I'm going to do no homework and go to bed.