An Update

April has been a lot of fun so far. Though the weather fluctuates more than me or my family would like, and I injured myself last Sunday and have been on crutches since, I've loved this month so far. 

For one, I've had to use less layers of clothing to keep myself warm. This means that once again I can walk outside in merely jeans and a t-shirt and be perfectly fine--no freezing or anything.

For twice, the tulips bloomed. Their yellow, red, and orange blooms were a stark contrast against the bleary shades of brown I'd grown so used to seeing this past winter I could see it behind my eyelids if I closed them. Unfortunately, almost as soon as the tulips had opened their petals to the world, a sharp wind and snowstorm blew them to the ground, snapping their stems. 

I took as many of them inside as I could, and put them in a shallow vase. There, they lit up the area above the microwave nicely, until they finally wilted and died a few days later.

For thrice, the aspect of school being let out next month makes me both sad and jumping at the bit for my summer vacation. I will be sad to leave my homeschooling group, because I know that for many of my friends I will not see them again until the fall, when classes resume. However, I am ready to sleep in every morning, because band class starts first hour and all through the cold, dark winter made me rise before sunrise. 

Which I both hated and appreciated. 

On the subject of band, this week we were required to give presentations. Basically, we had to pick an old classical piece and compare it to a modern day song. I've never been good at public presentations (I get a tremor in my voice, I think), and so I was nervous for this assignment. I chose to compare Night on Bald Mountain, by Mussorgsky, and Lovers' Eyes, by Mumford & Sons.

I compared tone and mood. By the end of the presentation the band teacher was enthused, and I had to replay Night on Bald Mountain for the class. Needless to say, I think I got an a. Which is good.

With spring just now warming up for good, I wonder what the next few months will bring: lots of rain, and sun? Or more cold days with freezing wind?

Whatever it is, I'll have to sludge through it.

The Band

I'm currently writing this blog post in the car on the drive back to my family's house, suckling off of my sister's wifi connection like a day-old pig, praying tat it doesn't give out in the time it takes to write this post. 

The other night my sister and I were out late milking goats (I know, not the bad-girl stuff you expected me to be doing late at night. I'm lame like that), joking about this one time we wanted to perform in a band. 

It would be great, the best sister duo there ever was. I think I was about eight or so, and she was nine, so it wasn't as though we were all that musically talented. I had this little kid guitar that I was too busy to learn how to play, but thought I was pretty good at, and Hope had her voice. We wrote our first song on Christmas Eve, and practiced it in the living room most of the afternoon. 

The song was called Milk & Cookies for Santa, and though the sheet of paper that the original lyrics is on is long gone (who knows, maybe I'll find it some day), it went something like this:

Milk and Cookies for Santa

Oh, we're layin' out milk and cookies for Santaaaaa

You should too,

We're gonna get presennntttsss in the morrrninnnngggg

MILK AND COOKIES FOR SANTA, YEAH!

We were lyrical geniuses. 

Last year I read the blog that my mom used to keep and I discovered, among other things, that she had heard us performing our timeless song and deemed it important enough to blog about. To this day, it is one of my most embarrassing memories, aside from the time I climbed into another person' excursion at the post office while they were in the car.

... Anyway.

Hope and I sat around for forever one afternoon in the summertime trying to come up with a good band name. Sweat poured off of our foreheads as we tanned in the grass, giggling like maniacs as we tried to come up with a name to title ourselves. 

I asked Hope about it, and she said we never settled on anything, but that one of our top choices was The Purple Dolphins.

There's probably a reason why our band didn't kickstart, but I'm just not sure where we went wrong.

 

 I read this book a while ago called The Disenchantments, which is about the world's worst girl band going on a road trip. These girls suck--but what got me was that no one cares after a while, because they're hot and are really into the music they make. 

What got me the most about the book was that it brought up memories of being a brief member of The Purple Dolphins. It reminded me so much of how much fun I had strumming an out-of-tune guitar and singing a few songs which lyrics needed working on. 

The book also made me want to start a band. Not to get famous or anything--I know just how impossible that is. Just to have a good time. Though I know I probably never will start another, band, perhaps I'll look more fondly at the days I was a musician.