My name is Phil, and I'm addicted to practicing...

So, Friday night, I found out the worst news of the week:

Starting in January or 2009, Fantasmic will only be shown on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  I'm so mad!!!  I love the show, and I lean on it for almost all of the extra hours I pick up!.   This isn't just a random rumor that I've heard, it came directly from the Head of Food and Beverage of all of Hollywood Studios.    I know that a couple of you are Cast Members and/or big Disney fans, so I knew it would relate you guys. 

I'm not sure what can be done to prevent it, if anything. .  I really hope something can be done to stop them from doing this.  There is no reason for getting rid of all the other shows, as far as I know.   They're not planning on replacing Fantasmic with anything else, and it's not like the show isn't getting enough of an audience.  I mean, I know that the F&B brings in plenty, plus the Merch ppl, not to mention the extra business brought in by guests who stay in the parks just to see the shows, and then the huge masses of guests that hit all the merchandise locations throughout the park on the way out.

What do you all think?

Yes, I did just use music theory in my LJ subject line.

Today was quite an extraordinary day.  There was a gamut of emotions expressed, lots of practicing, very little to eat, a convo, and yet.  I'm happy.  Thank You God for all my friends.  They make my day.  I love you all, btw.

K, I'm tired, so I'll talk to you all later!

Yay!  Tonight I officially exceeded my goal earnings from McD's, and I think I'll even break my second earnings goal by Thursday!  wOOt wOOt!

I was able to practice today, but it wasn't as effective as yesterday's since I was also babysitting, and my lips weren't responding their best, but an hour and a half of good practice is still an hour and a half of good practice.  I think I have come up with another theoretically great, yet unrealistic goal for myself:4 1/2 hrs a day, starting as soon as it fits my schedule (hopefully by Thursday).  1 1/2 hrs. of Tone, 1 hr of flute scales, 30 min of picc. scales, 45 of etudes/studies, 45 of repertoire.  Somethin' like that.

Okay, I have to babysit again tomorrow, so I'm off to sleepyland.  G'nite!

Today was the first day in a long time when I seriously practiced.  Even though all I did was the same tone exercise three times each on flute and piccolo, it was great.  I play it once fortissimo throughout, tastefully smothering every note with vibrato, and a rich harmonic palate.  I was able to cover the full range of both instruments with this one.  The second time I played with an aquarium tone, which basically means pianissimo, with as little harmonics as possible, and a very gentle, yet not weak sound with no vibrato.  This was really hard to do.  I had to stop at high B on flute, and could barely do anything above the high G, because it was really difficult. on piccolo, second octave B down was usually pretty easy, but I had to stop at Eb, and really shouldn't have gone above the aforementioned B, because it was incredibly difficult, and I sounded really bad doing those.  Sometimes I heard myself trying to sneak vibrato back in there, and had to continuously remind myself not to.  The last time I played mezzo forte, with appropriate vibrato, and just a simple, singing tone.  I covered the whole range again  This last one was really nice, because for one I really found a middle ground as far as expression and dynamics go.  I didn't feel like I had to blast it to get a good sound.

I really want to do this same thing everyday for a year, and see where it gets me.  I think I'd be pretty amazing if I hold myself to it.  If I can make it through the next few days doing those exercises, that'll be a good start.  The reason I say that is because I have to watch my sister's kids from 8-12 Tuesday and Wednesday, and then work at McD's from 3-12.  Yeah, that'll be tough, but I have to do it.  I can't let myself slack anymore.  I must say that I am happy with most of the sounds I make, but I still need to be more balanced and dedicated as far as practice goes.  I think I'll be able to practice some while watching the kids, and I'll also have about 2 hrs before work to dedicate to these tone studies. 

Okay, I'm supposed to be sleeping so that I can do all this right now, so I'm gonna go try again.  If I don't call anyone, or chat online, don't worry.  The solitude really is doing me good.  And it'll make the next time I get to see all of you more exciting, since I won't have talked to you in a while.  I'm in a really good mood, so hopefully this sleeping thing will work for me! XD

Thank you Melissa for helping me not be so emo today!

Erin: I'm glad Mom is okay, tell her that I wish her the best and to get well soon!  Keep me posted if anything changes too.  I didn't call you this morning because when someone is really stressed, it's usually not kosher to pile more on top, y'know?  Love ya.

Scott, miss you, and hope all is going well.

Okay, so, I have to work with the stupid christian guy again tonight *sigh*.   I really don't like that man at all.  The better I get to know him, the more I dislike him.  Oh well.  If I can keep my mouth shut for like 2 more days, I'll *hopefully* never see him again.  wOOt wOOt!

My sister is taking an online driving test for her husband...under his name!  Highly illegal, but "it was either that or hire a babysitter for 4 hrs, b/c he can't read"  Waah.  I'm still here, remember?  W/e not my life.  I hope they get caught though.

Okay, I'm heading to work, see you all when I see you!

So, I have 7 of my pieces for the Wrife thing picked out.  Here they are:

1.) A piece for solo flute, currently titled 'Groovy', but hopefully that will change
2.) A piece for Jazz band/ensemble thing.
3.) Liberte, for baritone voice and piano.  I have a couple verses finished already, but I want to add more
4.) Retrograde Theme and Variations on a Nursery Rhyme, for violin and piano  think Mary had a little lamb, and started smoking crack, backwards...but cutesier.
5,, 6., and 7.) Fragments of a Symphony.  For full orchestra.  Two are less than 16 measures of material and one is about 1-2 min. of mostly good stuff

Now, the fun part!
I want you guys to leave comments and suggest challenges of mediums you want me to write for, or styles you like, whatever.  I still need 7 more pieces.  I may not use your idea specifically, but that's okay.  Ready, set...GO!

Ya know, sometimes I watch 'Reality TV' and say how horribly distorted it is, comment about the drama, laugh at people's stupidity; and sometimes I watch my loved ones, and am amazed by how similar their actions are the people I see on TV, and it's disturbing.  My sister and her husband want to start a new tradition with their kids of opening one present Christmas Eve, and the rest Christmas morning.  With our family in the past, it's always been all on Christmas Eve.  According to Carol, she and Mom had already talked about this, and Mom suggested 'starting their own family traditions'.  It didn't work.  Mom claims to not have known that, and she ended up hiding in her room and crying because Carol insisted on sticking to her guns.  It hurts my heart, seriously.  I can't wait to get back to school.  January 5th, please hurry.

Anyways, I expect to hear lots of stories of everyone's Christmas celebrations, and lists of what you got and gave!!  I love hearing from you all, so don't hesitate to leave comments, or email, message, call, something.    

I've been trying to input as many CD's as possible on my iTunes, so that I don't have to take all those CD's back to school again.  Very annoying to do, but it'll be worth it, right?

So far, I've worked on that flute piece I mentioned before, but I still need a title, so someone with a brain for computers needs to tell me how to put it on here for people to listen to so you can help me name it.

I'm gonna read the bible before I go to bed tonight.  I need to after tonight.

God, help me.

So here are four of my most interesting McD's experiences, and they all happened yesterday:

A woman pulls up to the window, and hurriedly demands a grilled chicken sandwich.
Me: What type of sandwich would you like?
Her: Grilled!
Me: Grilled Classic, BLT, or ___(whatever the third one is)
Her: You guys don't make 'em in grilled anymore?
Me: We do, but what type of sandwich do you want the chicken on?
Her: Oh, classic's fine.

I then tried to tell here that her total is $11 even at the corner window, but, she pulls, no, flies around to the corner window, and then asks me the total again, but doesn't hear because she's too busy digging out money. She hands me $13, expecting to get change. She was surprised to hear that her total was indeed $11. I returned her change, and she went on her way.

Moral of the Story: Thank you for paying attention to what you're doing.

Next:
A while later, someone pulls up to the ordering box thing. I ask them to give me a minute, because I had to empty some coins in my drawer, but he said he would pull up, even though I didn't need him to. It was three young rednecks. The one in the driver seat begins telling his order, very careful to enunciate, so that I can understand him through the, I dunno, two feet of empty air between us. Then, the fun starts. The guy in the passenger seat speaks up: Is your name Phil?
(Keep in mind, I'm trying to take the drivers order while keeping up with all this)
Me? Yeah, that's my name. What else did you say you wanted?
As I kept trying to finish his order and give his total and all, the passenger pipes up, 'You're hot. Will you go on a date with me?' I knew he was just being stupid, b/c he was a high school redneck out with friends. I declined, saying that it wouldn't go over well. He asked if I had a girlfriend, and I said no. He asked again, and I kept declining. All this time, there had been a guy in the backseat moaning like he was getting some, or at least having some fun by himself in the backseat. The passenger kept asking about a date, and when I told him that it just wouldn't pan out, he asked if I had a boyfriend, to which I coolly replied, 'Yes.' Either they believed me, or they realized that I would play along with their stupid games. Shortly thereafter, I finished their order and they drove off.

Moral of the Story: Don't be stupid. Also, tell the truth, and see how much it throws people off!

A man pulls up to the menu. I begin with the usual, 'Good evening, how may I help you?', and he asks for a McFlurry, with quite a bit of bounce in his voice. I finish the order out, tell him his total, and ask him to pull around. Every time, he responds in an ultra happy voice.
When he gets to the window, I see that he's an overweight older man, and there's a woman in the passenger seat. I comment on his good mood, and he says he's with his new girlfriend. Then I realize that the passenger is young enough to be his granddaughter. Ew. Then, even weirder, he says in a rough pedophile-esque voice, 'I like 'em young and fresh!'
Yeah, weird. Then the girl starts talking about the price of food at Disney; they were probably just getting back from candlelight. We finished up, and right before leaving, the man says 'God bless!'.

Moral of the Story: Don't be a creepy old man, and if you are, don't finish conversations with 'God bless!'

Last (and shortest) one:
A car pulls up to the menu. I ask 'Good evening, how may I help you?'
A woman speaks up:'Is the drive-thru open?'
I'm thinking 'Nope, I just asked to take your order for the fun of it. Duh we're open!'
I couldn't say that though, and I finish up, and ask her to pull around: It was my 7th grade math teacher! Oops, oh well.

Moral of the Story: Just don't be stupid!! Period.

These are my stories. Your total is $5.67 at the corner window. Thank you and have a nice day!

I got in 8 hrs. and 5 min. today at McD's.  Yay.  Only 72 more to go to reach my goal of $500 over christmas break, I think.  I'm pretty sure I'll beat that goal though. :)

Work went well, and I practiced a bit today as well.  I also read like 4 more chapters of Matthew.  For those of you I haven't filled in yet, I'm trying to read through as much of the New Testament as possible over the break.

Things I Learned About Myself Over the Semester:
1.) I have little groundin for my religious beliefs beyond "That's what so-and-so told me".
2.) I was hiding behind my flute more than I thought.
3.) I did need to get out of the practice room more, but maybe not as much as I did. ;)
4.) I'm not very firm in any of my beliefs or standards.  I'm very wishy-washy.
5.) Much of my lack of self-esteem is self-inflicted, it seems.

I'll expound on this later, when I'm not falling asleep on the keyboard.  G'nite all.

<div style="padding:16px;border:4px dotted #fff;text-align:center;background:#ddd;">On the twelfth day of Christmas, <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b><a href="http://pr157.livejournal.com">p…> sent to me...<div style="background:#fff; margin:8px 8px 16px 8px; padding:8px; color:#000"><div style="color:#0a0; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Twelve somethings drumming</div><div style="color:#a00; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Eleven somethings piping</div><div style="color:#0a0; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Ten somethings a-leaping</div><div style="color:#a00; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Nine <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">dessorcrats</b> dancing</div><div style="color:#0a0; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Eight <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">theoryoferin</b>s a-milking</div><div style="color:#a00; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Seven <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">ayaka_sukunami</b>s a-swimming</div><div style="color:#0a0; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Six <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">stripp2010</b>s a-laying</div><div style="color:#fa0; font-weight:bold; font-size:1.5em; padding:2px"><i>Five <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b cla-a-a-ass="lj">dctgrl84</b>s</i></div><div style="color:#0a0; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Four <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">brittanymonique</b>s</div><div style="color:#a00; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Three <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">pr157</b>s</div><div style="color:#0a0; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">Two <img src="http://stat.livejournal.com/img/us…" height=17 width=17><b class="lj">asxork</b>s</div><div style="color:#a00; font-weight:bold; padding:2px">...and a LiveJournal meme in a pear tree.</div></div><form action="http://thesurrealist.co.uk/12days" method="get">Get your own <a href="http://thesurrealist.co.uk/12days"… Days</a>:<input type="text" name="user" style="background: #fff url('http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif') no-repeat scroll 0px 1px; padding-left: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 204); font-weight: bold;"><input type="submit" value="Generate"></form></div>