An Announcement

Guess who got a license to drive?

oh yeah. =]

Guess who splurged on their gift card and bought $15 worth of Godiva Chocolate?

Oh Yeah.

Guess who loves Torrey?

OH YEAH! =D

Things my little sister has done to me...out of the goodness of her heart

Generally speaking, I love my sister but sometimes...

Mom: Isn't Aaron cute? (That's my two year old cousin)

Me: Awww, he is he is. *squinty eyed smiles*

Mom: All two year olds are cute...they can get away with murder.

Joycelyn: Yeah Gabriel, I mean, even you were cute at some point!

sigh...

So I was pulling into the garage and Joycelyn opens the door while I'm still driving.

Me: What are you doing! Where's your brain?! Did you lose it?

Joycelyn: Nope, but I was looking for yours...

Oh the Humanity!

You know that wonderful fuzzy moment right before you fall asleep when everything is right with the world and you've said your prayers etc.? Yeah..... imagine me in that moment and then

BUGAUGAUGUAGBOOOO!!

Yeah....that would be Joycelyn. Hiding beneath my bed. That wasn't a goodnight for sleeping. Nope. Nutin. Nada.

And if that wasn't bad enough, when I woke up....

You know, I don't know about you, but I have a pretty full bladder in the morning. So I stumble into the bathroom that we share all bleary eyed from lack of sleep (plus I don't have my glasses on so I'm legally blind [not really]). So it's pretty standard routine from here on out right? Sigh. Not happening today. To be blunt. Joycelyn had put plastic surround wrap over the toilet. Yeah....

Big. Big. Big. Mess.

I was noooot happy.

And to round out a perfectly horrendous april fools, I found out that my toes were painted glittery pink. Did I mention they GLITTERED.

P.S. Joycelyn says to take notes Talia and Jane...

Dating...

My parent's rules for dating:

Me: So, what's a good time to start dating?

Mom and Dad: You can't date until after you're married

Me: ..........

Me: ........... O.O

Yeah.... =D

(For those of you who are even slower than I am, that was a joke) ;)

Silliness in Torrey

Heh, we can't be serious all the time! Some funny tidbits:

Me: Nooooooooooo! It can't be! No it's true, Disneyland is EVIL!

Mr Buhler: Really?! Why?

Me: Well the classical underworld was called Dis and it's the name of the city in the Inferno. Dis - ney land? Coinkidink? I think not!

Mr. Buhler: *Chuckle* Silly Mr. Choo, Disneyland isn't evil, it actively combats evil. You see, the archaic form of "no" is "nay" and a variant spelling would be "ney". So it's actually Dis - ney land, the land where we defy evil and say "NAY!" to all of Hell.

=]

Mr. Bartel: Guys (Mr. Chavira, Mr. Diaz, me) if an attractive woman came up to you and said, "God told me to become romantically involved with you, would you believe her? What would you say?

Mr. Chavira and Mr. Diaz: ............

Me: "PRAISE GOD!!"

ah....you had to be there. ;)

Cyrano de Bergerac...

Was a drama queen. A very good one at that. But reading that last scene is always good cartharsis, even if it is a bit embarassing. It's funny too! =]

Life imitates art and Art imitates life. That's the way things work.

Of course, watching this also helps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQFs33fWzxo

(Watch at your own risk, this is PG ish for some language and relationship humor)

And this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrnK-qPARYI&feature=related

=] =] =]

These two are my favorite shorts, besides Pixar.

Ahhh, isn't it great being a hormonal teenager? ;)

Tangability in Music

The thing about great composers is that they each have their own 'voices' that are recognizable if you listen closely. For example, I've come to know Mozart (ah, my first love!) very well (for various reasons) and now whenever I hear him on the radio (which is alot!) I can tell if it's him or not within the first 5 seconds. (About 45 out of 50 times) =] It's quite fun! Certain characteristics and sounds often give composers away. In Mozart's case, it's usually an extended trill that ends with a lower note, a higher note, and then a lower note again.

It starts by being able to tell which period the music is from (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, 20th Century). And slowly progresses to a group of composers. (Haydn and Mozart are sometimes hard to tell apart). Elgar has a voice (Very English!). Beethoven is Mr. Cadenza. Vivaldi is Mr. Concerto. And Rachmaninoff is the Russian Dante. ;) Etc. etc.

But it really really really gets awesome when you can tell what period, which composer, the type of composition, what instruments, AND the soloist playing the piece. (Something I've only achieved once, that was while listening to the Beethoven Triple concerto with Anne Sophie Mutter on the Violin [I own a cd set of her playing all the Mozart violin sonatas, her Stradivarius has a very distinctive accent to it, it reminds me of German] and Yo-yo Ma on the Cello. You know you've crossed over to nerd status when.... =]

But silliness aside when I'm listening to individual pieces, there's a certain mood/feeling/memory/sensory sensation that is almost touch-able. Rachmaninoff for example runs the gamut from overwhelming ecstacy and breathless tenderness of the Second Concerto to the unequaled sparkling joy of his Bach transcriptions. (Especially when he himself plays it!). Oh Bach! You don't know what you do for my soul. When I listen to you, it's like having my soul soaked in sunshine after coming out of a refrigerator.

But seriously though, each piece, I believe, has a memory/feeling that is that piece. The mental/spiritual sensation is burned in. I can sometimes almost taste a piece! It's so hard to describe. =P

Anyone else feel the same way?

Tonight is Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff at the Bowl.

It will be good. =]

Foof!

Or Faith of Our Fathers.

It's going to be an amazing Torrey year!

I have never been this excited to take a class. It's seriously jumping up and down bounce off the walls kind of exciting.

And what's even better than spending time with some of the greatest minds of the West? Spending time with some of the most ridiculously beautiful people for a whole YEAR of course! =P

There will be Goodness. There will be Truth. There will be Beauty.

...And silliness! =]

Here's to a wonderful, wonderful life!

P.S. You can tell that summer does wonders for stopping that mushy grey stuff in your noggin from growing. =]

P.P.S. La Mirada should definitely take over all the other torrey classes! That way all the beautiful people could be in class together!

...And join the tissue box cult...but that's another story. ;)

Mood: Vulnerable

After watching myself solo sing for the first time I can safely say that it is decidedly amateur. Ha! You won't believe how much more self conscious I feel watching it than singing it. One would think that it's the other way around huh?

So, if you're not busy and you're ready to laugh at some sub-par singing, I am at your service. =]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q45nU8kGzJg

Personally, I'd rate myself with a two star (out of five), but then again I always have an exaggerated opinion of myself. ;)

Feel very free to laugh, either at me or with me, or both!

Everytime I feel inordinately boastful, this is definitely gonna be one of those pride bashing tools. ;)

I might as well have been singing in boxers!

Enjoy!

P.S. This one's in Russian!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7HTcnIBk-Q&feature=related

Consolations for the Emails...

Okay, here it is:

Our version of the Jersey boys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU2LnsYVaS8

=] (There is a button that allows you to watch it in high quality, if you're willing to wait)

After your done watching (and laughing) you can search for the Tony Awards version on which we based it. =]

Let me know what you think and Enjoy!

P.S. I shall be gone for a week, so this will have to cover for all my computer interactions. =\

Videos

While we're waiting for Joycelyn to upload the videos from the Loma Linda Chinese Church's first annual Youth-ical (to raise money for earthquake relief in China). Here's a funny video of my friends (who I performed with this year) doing song and dance for a fundraiser last year. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QUWTPnWMdw

A Joke

An original joke by Joycelyn:

What do you get when you cross a chicken with a Wookie?

ChewBOOCKa!!

*applause* *thank you thank you*

As to singing for fund raiser...

There shall be video. =]

Goodnight!

(Silly) Adventures while Jet-lagged

Here is an odd/silly/ridiculous series of videos that we created while certifiably insane (which is the norm). Please forgive any offense we may unfortunately cause. =] That being said, enjoy!

Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRmk8IOnDik
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I7XZbpnVJI
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lzw2uggH8s
P.S. I'm really not like this at all...most of the time!