Piano Lessons

Today was my recital and it was AMAZING!! That is the closest to perfection I have ever gotten playing the piano, and the fact that I was accompanying, not playing as a soloist adds to my amazement. I don’t know how I did it, but I did and I’m really proud of myself. I suppose since I was an accompanist I worked really hard to make sure it was perfect and exactly how it should be, not because of me, but because of Chris. Usually when I’m performing by myself, if I mess up it only affects me. And although I don’t like to mess up and would rather not, it is all me and I am ok with that. However playing with Chris, I knew that if I messed up, it could cause him to make a mistake, so I knew I had to make it perfect for both of us. And miraculously, I did!! I must have practiced enough and managed to keep my head cool so I was in the zone and able to play my piece perfectly. I am really proud of myself, and now that I know I can be this close to perfect and getting it right, I will work harder to make this the case every time I play.

Piano Lessons

Today I had another piano lesson with the cellist I'm playing my Christmas piece with. I was really nervous, and I messed up a lot. My teacher kept telling me to let go and improvise, but I'm finding that hard because I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to my piano pieces. I wish that I could let go and just play, but I think part of the reason is that I can't site read very well. Once I learn a piece, I memorize it and don't really look at the notes much after that, and since I can't recognize all of them at a glance, it is causing problems. I think I need to work on practicing my sight reading and really work on my theory. I also need to practice letting go of my perfectionism and just play and go with the flow when I'm playing by myself at home.

Tennis

After not playing for a couple weeks because of scheduling and homework, I was surprised how easily we were able to slide back into the minimal skills we had required. After warming up and practicing for a little while, we tried playing a game, and although we were a little confused about some of the rules, I think it was a good improvement.
However, I think in order to improve, we will need to practice some more outside of our weekly meetings, or else we need to meet more than once a week. I've come to like playing tennis, and if I can fit more time in my schedule to go and play more often, I would in a heartbeat.
Today I was especially stressed and I found it very relaxing to run around and play and worry about the game and nothing else. None of my other issues worked their way into my brain, and all I thought about was tennis, which was a pleasant change.

Piano Lessons

Now that "Primavera" is completed, I am working on an accompaniment piece, "Ode to Joy" which I will be playing with a cellist. I am really nervous about performing with another musician, especially because I have about 4 months to get this piece ready, and I don't have much time to work on it right now.
At my lesson today, my teacher had me practice with the cellist, and I was not ready at all. But what she taught me was very valuable. When playing with someone else I can't stop and correct myself, I have to keep going and pick up somewhere if I get lost and stop. Also, it is very important that I keep the left hand going with the basic melody, because that is what the audience hears since I am not the main performer. The cellist is what the audience will be listening to, which is nice since I'm not sure how ready I'll be in a few weeks. I just need to work on practicing more, and focus on not correcting myself so I can get into the habit of just continuing on if I mess up.

Tennis

This is the second day of tennis, and this time, my partner and I had a better idea of what we were doing. After practicing and getting used to the power needed to hit the balls across the court, we can now get a fairly good volley going.
I never realized how much practice and work goes into learning a new sport, or how technical some sports can be. We overheard some tips an instructor was giving a student on the court next to us, and we tried to encourperate some of those, but I think we need to start at a very basic level and work with getting a volley going each time and especially our aim. I thing that if we could aim, the game would be a little easier, so I think that is what we will work on next.

Hiking

In preparation for my backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon this summer, I am going on several hikes to get in shape and get used to the elevation change. Today, I hiked to the Peter Grubb Hut outside Colfax with some other Girl Scouts. It was a lot of fun, but since I haven't been hiking at elevation or doing that rigorous of activity in a while, I'm really tired now! It took about 4 hours, and it was around 5 miles round trip, with a few hundred feet of elevation change. It was something I'm not used to, but I need to since the Grand Canyon is around 1500 feet of elevation change in 4 days of hiking.
We talked a lot on the trail and took some funny pictures, and some more serious ones. I loved how blue the sky was, and there were a few white puffy clouds that looked awesome when I took pictures of them. Also, the trees were nice to take pictures of since some were losing their leaves, and some were evergreens, so it provided a nice contrast with the red and green leaves of trees.
I'm glad I went since I now know how much preparation I need to do in order to be ready, plus I had a great time hanging out with my friends.

Tennis

Today was the first day I started playing tennis. Due to scheduling conflicts, I haven't been able to meet up with my partner until now. We both are new to the game, so we spent today practicing techniques and getting the hang of the game. For next time, I'm going to look up rules and some pointers on how to play so we can start working on improving our game.

Piano Lessons

I had my recital today! I messed up at one part, and I was lost for a few seconds, but I eventually found my spot and kept going. I'm just upset because I know that I knew it, but nerves got to me and I froze. I think I'm going to play it again in a couple days, just to make sure and to prove to myself that I can really play it correctly.
There were a lot of other great pianists at the recital too. One girl played a Beethoven piece that was really impressive, and I would love to try out some day. There were also a lot of beginners, and it took me back to when I used to be their age and was still extremely nervous and intimidated by the other pianists.
Now that I'm done with "Primavera", I'll have time to work on "Ode to Joy", a duet with a cellist, and maybe other songs. I want to work on more than one song at a time and really stretch my boundaries. I know I can work harder than I already am, and I want to see how far I can go.

Piano Lessons

My recital for "Primavera" by Ludovico Einaudi is tomorrow. I had one last lesson today before the actual recital, and I'm still really nervous. This piece is longer and more complicated than any other piece I've done before, and there are 2 page turns. Debra took out one of the turns, and I'm worried about how I will handle that after gettign used to having a break before starting that next part. That is the one part I am really worried about messing up. However, I guess it would be a good learning experience if do, but I really want to play this one correctly all the way through.

Piano Lessons

As my recital date draws nearer, I am getting more and more nervous. I'm not sure I'll be ready for the 20th, but I'm going to try. I'm afraid that if I don't do it this month, then I will have too much free time between now and the next recital and I won't work on it as much and that it would be worse than if I performed this month. I will just have to work extra hard on this, and practice every day. I'm still struggling with some of the page turns- trying to turn the page, continue the melody with the right hand, and then pick up with both hands. I know I can do it, I will just have to work hard at it and give it my best try.

Wildlife Care Association

This is my last week at the WCA. Since I've been getting home so late, I don't want to be out until 9:00 or 10:00 PM and trying to do my homework after that. Today I only did about 3 hours, so I left at 8:00, but I still don't want to risk it.
I think I'm going to miss working out here. While it may be tiring, I really liked it. Seeing all the different species of birds, getting to feed them, and washing tons and tons of dishes was a new experience that I had fun learning. This is the hardest I think I've ever worked for such a long time, and though sometimes I felt like quitting, I'm glad I stayed. I hope that some of the birds I fed can grow and learn to live in the wild and successfully raise offspring of their own.
It's hard to believe that animals really need our support sometimes. We tend to think that they are out there living on their own and that we should just ignore them. Before working at the WCA, I would have never thought that anyone really went out of their way to care for wild animals out of the kindness of their harts, but I know now that compassion is a big part of most community service, and that it extends to wild animals too.

Piano Lessons

I'm still having issues memorizing it and getting it up the speed it needs to be at. I really am hoping and can get this done by my recital in September. I want to have this done and memorized as soon as possible so that I can work more on volume control and having the piece flow smoothly. Also, the pedal is starting to give me some issues. Remembering to lift my foot up is the hardest, luckily the left hand which is the basic melody is fairly simple which makes pedaling a little easier.
I think I will have to postpone the recital, becasue I don't know if I will be able to get the piece ready to perform by September. I would like to spend more time practicing, but I just don't have the time to with my other work to do.

Piano Lessons

To make up for the lesson I missed last week, I had an hour lesson this week. It was really nice because I got to really talk with my teacher and get some good technique down I might not ordinarily due to time constraints. This also allowed me to work on one piece, move to another and come back. My teacher, Debra, emphisized today the importance of "giving your brain a break", which is why I swiched. She told me that your brain still works on something even if you're not focused on it. I thought this could really apply to studying once school starts again. I'll be curious to try it out, because if it does work that would be a really nice tool to have.
"Primavera" is comming along better, but not as far as I wanted it to be. I'll have to schedule in more time during the week since I'm home now to practice more than just a half an hour each day.

Wildlife Care Association

Working at the WCA is getting to be really exhausting! I know I've said it before, but it really takes a lot of work. But it also hits home how much work other put into simple yet extremely influential service projects, and even if they may put in hundreds of hours, they are not recognized for what they do. I still have the rest of the summer ahead of me working here, but I'm going to do my best to work my hardest and not complain either out loud or in my head, because there are others who put in so much more time and don't complain about anything.

Piano Lessons

I'm getting closer and closer to finishing "Primavera" by Ludovico Einaudi, the piano piece I am currently working on. I found the song when I was listening to a CD of my dad's and I fell in love with the song. I've been working on this song since about April, and even though I love it, it's really hard. I am really having to practice a lot and not just playing the piece a few times and saying I "practiced". I am spending half an hour to an hour every day working towards it, slowly. The strange thing is, even if it is hard work, I love doing it. The fact that I like the song so much to begin with really motivates me to work on it so I can hear the finished product.

Wildlife Care Association

Today was another 5 and a half hour day at the WCA. The smell of the food we give them, Basic Nesting Diet (BND) is starting to get frightningly disgusting the more I smell it. Especially when one of the birds isn't feeling coorparative and decides to shake all of their food everywhere when you try and give it to them.
I was also in charge of the incubators today. There are SO many tiny birds in there! We have two incubators, one for birds with no feathers yet, and one for those who have developed feathers. the tiniest birds are nearly impossible to feed because their beaks are so tiny, and they only require a small amount of food.
Although I really enjoy helping these birds recouperate and be released back into the wild, I had no idea how much work went into it. When they said they needed volunteers, I thought they needed a few, but in actuallity, they need hundreds. There are the interns in the hospital and who can come in to help, but mostly rely on volunteers to come in for 5 hours a week to feed these birds. At first, it was hard to believe that that so many people would be needed for something as simple as feeding birds, but after spending a few weeks doing it, I completely understand.

Wildlife Care Association

I've been working at the WCA for about a month before, but this is my first time I've used the hours for CAS. I started doing 2 hours per week, but I'm now at 5 or 6 hours. The first hour or two, we feed the baby birds that are grouped by species in laundry baskets with food and water. But most of them don't eat the food unless they're weaning. After that, we start the dishes, and becasuse there are hundreds of birds and anywhere from 20-50 baskets, that's too many dishes to start at the end of the shift. While I usually do that, the other volunteers cahnge the newspaper and paper towels in the bottom of the baskets, and change the food and water.
I had no idea so much work went into rehabilitating birds. I thought you fed and then released them, but the birds need to be fed every 30-45 minutes, which takes up a lot of time. By the time you finish one section for the first feeding, it's time to start the next feeding back where you started!