Magical Music Moments

I talked to a good friend tonight who asked me some personal questions for fun. One of the questions that came up was to name my favourite musical moments in my life. It really got me to thinking about some of the best moments of my entire life. Not just musically but as a human being. So I thought it would be neat to share them for this cyberspace world.
I have a few that stick out in my head. Lets go in order of my life, because that seems logical.
1)I once did this solo at school in "this land is your land" and it was pretty epic. you would be jealous.

2)I did my first major solo at the winspear in this song and it was really cute. I was pretty good too.

3) I sang at this festival in banff for 3 years. The rocky mountain music festival. It was the highlight of the choir year from me. You go to see other choirs, and see clinicians, and have your own choir work with a clinician and its just an amazing experience. My second year in banff was particularly special to me. It was part of my last week in the country before I left for a long student exchange to africa. I was scared and wasnt even convinced I was going on this exchange. I just didnt want to leave my life here behind. I talked to a few friends about it extensively. We were singing our showcase concert in a small intimate church, as the main hall was being renovated that year. So we sung in this packed church and the world went quiet for one song, and my fear of leaving was gone. My very very good friend Adam, is probably the sweetest person you could ever meet. He also has an incredible voice. He got the solo in one of my favourite songs. "FARE THE WELL,LOVE". He sang this solo and looked at me as we surrounded the audience, and I felt like this moment was made just for me. I bawled. It was such a content moment for me. I connected with him on such a personal level for that one song, that was just SO special.

4)After leaving banff, I went on the most incredible trip of a lifetime. I travelled across the world to South Africa. I stayed with a family there, and went to school for a few months. During my time off at the school I worked in a preschool called "Emyezweni" for quite some time. I got very close with these children, and the teachers there. It was a very special time in my life.
This whole trip happened through an exchange via my choir. My choir, (as I have mentioned in other posts), was a huge part of my life aswell. I ended up waiting to meet up with the choir after my exchange, as they were on tour the last month I was in Africa. So I stayed an extra month to meet up with everyone before heading home. On one of my last days in africa, our choir went to the township of the preschool, to visit some other schools.
We made an impromptu trip to Emyezweni and visited with the kids there. We all knelt down surrounding the kids and sang soft African lullabies with them, and then they sang to us. We played games with them, and sat with them, learned their songs, and just spent time together. It was one of the most special moments of my life. Two of the most special groups of people in my life together, sharing time enjoying eachothers' company. It was truly amazing.

Goodbye AGA..

Tomorrow is the last day of semester one. I will miss it, and I'm also really glad its over. My only semestered class this time was my graphic arts class. Which has been quite the adventure. Some memories to look back upon this semester and things that made my life more interesting:
the one who shall not be named
Szram
The hobo
his dad
the bum
the dinosaur noise boy.
tits magee
the slapping (bum to hobo, and to a certain teacher..)
GORD.
the silly projects, and the awesome ones
the ugly boy who "only dates models"
the weird girl who "volunterily hugs him.. eww"
The life chats with debourcier
the laughing until tears formed,
and the keeping eachother sane.

Thanks for the ridiculous semester team AGA. I'll miss it all. ( well almost all).

Reminisce.

I hate that I've lost touch with some really important people in my life. My two best friends from last year Esther and Ian I talk to once every few months. And last year we spend EVERY SINGLE DAY together. I have my best friend now Erin, and I love her to pieces. She keeps me sane. And I'm not saying that I dont appreciate the friends that I have now, I just really miss some of my old friends.
Some of my best friends for years were in choir with me, and it is a very odd situation to not have that choir anymore, and its even weirder to have lost contact with all of these amazing people.

I miss my friend Fahim. Who was really my big brother. He taught me so much, in a loving, -I'm not judging you, but really just want to help you- kind of way. I miss going for milkshakes and talking about the world, and playing crib, and watching
stupid movies.

I miss my other big brother Keith. He and fahim were generally one unit, that would always hang out with me, together, and we would laugh about nothing for hours. And Keith and I would sit and talk, or jam while he played trombone (HAHA).

I miss my big sister Jessica. Who I could talk to about anything. I miss her advice, and her admitting she had no advice, but plenty of hugs and icecream. I miss watching house, and silly french movies.

I miss steve. Who talks to my mom now, and I havent heard a word from him in months. And that really bothers me. I know she's still sick, and needs encouragement and friends, but a single hello, how are you handling things would have been nice.

Kokopelli was FULL of my older siblings, and anyone I could talk to for hours, about nothing and just enjoy the company, or talk about incredibly important things.

I have a few quite close friends now, but I also miss feeling like I have a place somewhere other than home. I dont want to go back to choir now, because its an entirely new group of people, and I dont know them. Its not the people I knew and loved. I really just want to sit here, and reminisce about how great last year.


AND I WAS THE BITCH WHO TOOK IT FOR GRANTED UNTIL IT WAS FAR TOO LATE.

blog of 3's.

Three things that make me smile:
1) Puddles. Which means rain, and the amazing smell rain has. The fresh, yet old familiar smell of rain. The puddles on the ground that form, that you can splash in gumboots, or drive through, and laugh hysterically when you "accidentally" hit a pedestrian walking by. The childlike emotion of excitement during the rain. Dancing in the rain, and splashing in the puddles. And, the way "puddle" sounds. What a fantastic word.
2) My Dog Nog. His brown curly hair, and his funny wagging tail. The way he throws his head back when he barks, and sounds so excited to have me home. The way he greets me at the door, and needs to tell me all about his day. I love the way he stands on his back legs, and dances. He spins in circles balancing on his hind legs, and it is great. He cuddles me at night, and more often than not, decides to take up most of the space on my pillow, sometimes resorting to the room on my pillow which I refer to as my head. He reads with my at night, and prefers the girly books the best. His favourite right now is the Shopaholic series. He also likes to read emails with me. He sits on my lap most of the time. He likes pop, and gets shaky excited over rootbeer, which is clearly his favourite. I love nog, he is friendly, and cute, and everyone else thinks he stinks like shit, but I love him. And I think love masks the smell.
3) My piano. It has a gazzilion keys (I counted) and they have the greatest feel to them. It is such a different piano from others I have played before. It has a weird deep sound to it, but still sounds like a "normal" piano. I have spent some of my happiest, and my saddest moments at this piano. I play and I feel free from whatever is happening at the moment. And I always leave the piano bench feeling good. Even if it takes a few hours to feel better, or satisfied, I wait.


Three things I could live without:
1) Blarg. Fast food. It is my arch nemisis. It makes my stomach so upset, but it tastes so good when I eat it. What a terrible way to go. Its no good for calories, and for all that other unhealthy jazz, but worst for my stomach and the rest of my digestive system.
2) curly hair. Man I wish my hair was straight. Straightening is so much a waste of time.
3) Spicy food. I like food with spices, that has flavour, and i can feel my tongue the next day. plain and simple.


Three of my fears:

1) Tornadoes. They pretty much sound like the scariest thing ever. The wind, and the rain, and the thunder. The power one holds to destroy a home in seconds terrifies me. Everything I love and have known my whole life could be gone.

2) Birds/ flying objects. The flying things that fly and are unpredictable. Aka birds, butterflies, dragonflies, wasps, bees, and flying sorcerors.

3) Being on my death bed, not feeling a sense of completion, like I haven’t finished living. Like I could have done more.


Three of my accomplishments:

1) I achieved my goal to sing in the most incredible choir. It has given me so much. It has made me grow, and learn. I have met some pretty incredible people over my lifetime, alot to be credited towards this choir. I met my first love, I met conductors, and musicians, and composers that inspire me everyday. I have made friends, and some not-so-friendly people. I have learned to sing, learned to harmonize, and learn how to be me. I feel so at home at choir, with the ups and downs. It might not be my favourite place all the time, and I complain about how hard it is, or the silly drama any group has, but this is my place. My place to make friends, to share music, to share love, and to be like a second family. Its my place to ask for help, for comfort, or for a hand to hold. Its my place. And it took me many years to learn enough to get in, and to also get old enough to get in. And I DID IT!!!

2) I travelled to Africa, all on my own. I stayed with a family, but I did something that scared the living hell out of me- all on my own. I flew in a plane by myself, I sat in airports by myself. I made my own friends, took my own classes, and worked. I had the best time of my life. I wanted to do something that was scary and new. I wanted to be challenged, and to rely on myself, to know that I could do it. And guess what... I DID IT!!!

3) I made it to grade 12. Enough said. What a ridiculous journey. Barf.

3 quotes.

If I were to pick 3 quotes on how my last few days have gone, these would be it. All from the old days of grey's anatomy, when dead people dont haunt the characters, and interns dont do surgery on themselves. These were the good old days, to help me through today.


"I love you, in a really, really big pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me, choose me, love me."

"A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

"At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don't keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That's how we're made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines... We just dont know what to do with."

bored on saturday afternoon.

1.Spell your name without an E,R,S,H,K,I,M,L,C,A,Y,N:
T J

2. Are you single?
YES.

3.What is your favorite number?
7 is pretty good.

4.What is your favorite color?
Green

5.Least favorite color?
Orange.

6.What are you listening to?
The commercials between Jon and Kate plus 8.

7.Are you happy with your life right now?
I'm decently happy. Could be worse, could be better.

8.Are you involved with anyone?
Involved romantically? No. Crushing innocently..yes.

9.What is your favorite subject in school/ college?
I like band.

10.Do you shop at Abercrombie?
No. its dark inside, you cant see the clothes, it smells like ass, and it is loud as hell.

11.Do you have money?
I have some cash downstairs.

12.Would you take an ex back?
No. You clearly broke up for a reason, why go through it again.

14.Are you gay?
Nope.

15.Where do you wish you were right now?
Having a nap/


16.What should you be doing right now?
Vaccuuming.

THE CANS:

Can you blow a bubble?
With gum? yes. With spit? Yes. I am attractive, I know.

Can you do a cart wheel?
I'm too old for that. My bones would break. But back in the day, I definitely could

Can you touch your toes?
Yes. Really well.

Can you wiggle your ears?
Very subtly.

Can you touch your tongue to your nose?
ew. no.

THE DIDs:

Did you ever want to be a doctor?
Not overly. Although grey's anatomy is inspiring..

Did you ever want to be a fire fighter?
Nope. I used to freak if mom tried to have candles at the dinner table. Like wouldnt eat.

Did you ever want to be a teacher?
Yes. Everyday.

THE DOs:

Do you like rollercoasters?
Not even a little. Why put such stess on my little heart?

Do you own a bike?
Nadda.

Do you play the lotto?
No.

Do you like football?
Not overly. Games are fun to go to, and not watch on tv. its the atmosphere.

Do you have a shopping addiction?
Some might say....

THE DOES:

Does your family have family picnics?
We like to roast hotdogs sometimes. That might count.

Does you wallet have any pics in it?
Only ID pics. I should carry one of nog.

Does a soft answer turn away wrath?
WTF.

THE LASTS:

Last person you hung out with?
Nicole. I went out, and didnt finish my room. Its the last hang out for a while. Lets not talk about it.

Last car ride?
Last night, I got a ride home.

Last text message?
I just texted taya.

Last baby you held?
Molly. Like a month ago. She hates me,.

LAST THING?

What was the last thing you bought?
uhh. lunch. A veggie sandwich and creamy veg soup.

What was the last thing you had to drink?
water.

What was the last thing you watched?
Jon and Kate plus 8 just ended.

What was the last thing you read?
Uhh.. The last lecture. Or my math text book.

What was the last thing you hand wrote?
holy man. I cant remember. Its been a few days.

THE WHOS:

Who last talked to you on the phone?
I tried to call taya. she is in a movie.

Who was the last person you took a picture of?
Nog. Hes a star.

Last person to leave you a comment?
Kristina Ketsa

Who do you miss right now?
Nog. He's sitting on he couch, and not my lap.

Who last hugged you?
Nog.

Who last IM'd you?
Dear god, i have no idea.

CURRENTLY:

What color shirt are you wearing?
Brown.

Have any tattoos?
Nope One day/

Have you any piercings?
yes. nose. ears.

Straight hair or curly?
I have curly death.

Where are you?
Den

HAVE YOU EVER:

Failed a class?
Uhh, lets not talk about chem 30 ok?

Confessed your love and been turned down?
Not immidiately, it took a few months of lying first.

Accomplished a life goal?
Yes.

Thought you were pregnant?
NEVER.

Sang in front of a crowd?
tons of times with my choirs.

SIX THINGS YOU WILL FIND IN YOUR ROOM:

1. My pillow.

2. MANY SHOES

3. clothes on the floor

4. Nog

5. my bed

6. Math deathbooks.

--------------------------

3. Wanna get married?
perhaps/

FOUR THINGS ON YOUR MIND:

1. Popcorn

2. Sleep

3. Food

4. My butt going numb..

The way to win your heart?
be genuine and loving. honest. open. FUNNY sarcastic.

When was the last time you really laughed?
I really laugh all the time. I went to band camp.

Do you drink milk straight from the carton?
I sure have. Why waste a glass if all you want is a sip?

Who knows a big secret about you?
I dotn have many BIG ones. But if I did, my close friends would likely know.

How long is your hair?
just passing my shoulders

Who was the last person who told you they loved you?
MY momma.

When was the last time you sang out loud?
Listening to the radio.

What did you have for breakfast??
WAFFLES. i made them all on my own, and didnt burn them, and then noone wanted them. so there are lots in my fridge.

Is your birthday on a holiday?
Yes. I was born on good friday, and every year its during spring break.

What instant messaging service do you use?
MSN,but i NEVER use it.

Are you signed on it right now and if so, who are you talking to?
no and no

Can you cook?
that is debatable.I like mac and cheese, and brocolli chicken. AKA yes.
Did you have a nap today??
I wish.

What do you wear more, jeans or sweats?
Jeans

When is your birthday?
MArch 29.

Where did you get the shirt you're wearing?
one from Gap.

Do you have any regrets?
don't we all? they are good life learning experiences though.

Do you use an alarm clock?
Baha no. My mommmy wakes me up..

Whats the first thing you notice of the opposite sex?
shoes.eyes. hair.

What color is your favorite shoe?
brown.

Who would you like to see right now?
Taya.

Are you a social or antisocial person?
I like being social with my friends.

Have the cops ever come to your house?
Yep. a multitude of times. for reasons that show i am no criminal.

Do you have a tan?
people often use the words "white" "pasty" to describe my skin color.

Would you rather sleep in the bed with someone, or alone??
I like to sleep diagonally. So alone. in a huge bed.

Are you afraid of the dark?
a little.

Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
No.

What's your favorite commercial at the moment?
I love the one for Telus with the meercats with that song from LOTR. They always play it at the theatre.

Do you always wear your seat belt?
Always. I don't want to fly through the wind sheild.

Who was the last person to disappoint you?
The boys at band camp.

Do you know what you want to do with your life?
parts of it, yes. :)

How is life going for you right now?
Pretty good. Could be better could be worse.

Do you like American Idol?
the auditions are the only good part of that show.

How do you feel about piercings and tattoos?
I like when they are tasteful.

Do you believe that what comes around goes around?
Yes.Sometimes. bad things happen to good people though. all the time.

What is your favorite fruit?
I love strawberries at room temp. Not overly cold.

Does anyone love you?
My fam.

Where is one place you want to visit?
. I want to go back to Africa again. I hope we go to Greece.

Have you ever crawled through a window?
Yes. How else do you get into your house when you are locked out?

Are you a morning person or a night person?
I am a total night hawk.

Are you a forgiving person?
Sometimes too much of a forgiving person. Sometimes I hold a grudge.

What are you listening to right now?
Commercials.

Who was the last person to smoke a cig in your presence?
not sure?its been a while i hate it. BARF.

Are you taller than 5'6?
Yes, I am 5'8ish.

This week.

this week we went for our choir retreat. It was REALLY fun. We got there, and had some workshops with these really awesome-or really not so awesome people. We worked on breathing, and african music and then a song to sing as mass. I learned so much.
And then there was the bonding. I had some pretty interesting conversations. I learned alot about new people, and played games, and laughed until it hurt. We stayed up way to late with our cheerios and shared beds for warmth. It was a blast. .




Then I had a day to catch up on some sleep, and then headed off to do it all again for the Alberta Honour Choir. I am so grateful for the experience. I learned so much from our conductor, Dr. Adam Kon. We rehearsed for hours on end, and then laughed and made friends to no end. I made friends, and sang my brains out, and helped others, and got help from others.