02 March 2011

Solo: A Tale About Hard Work, Doctor Who References, Snowmen, and The Beatles

Yesterday, was the All-City Solo and Ensemble event for, as the name suggests, the city. Let's just say I'll never forget it...

The day started off with me, confused because the night before I had a dream about Solo and Ensemble with me doing my performance, talking to the judge afterward, and the judge and I having a fairly nice conversation about Doctor Who. I told my mom I thought it meant I was going to get a 1 rating, which is superior. Best dream ever (you'll see why later)

I went to school excited and then came strings class. I decided that I was going to perform for the class again so I'd have practice playing in front of a random stranger for the event. So I did that. It went well.

Then school got out. My dad picked my brother and me up from school and took us home, when lo and behold, some kid from school walks by and beheads Resurrected Herman. I was furious. My brother and I chased him down the street with a shovel. When we returned, my dad had made a new, scarier head for Herman and my brother destroyed his amazing Snow-Dalek(he didn't require tea).

After that little skirmish, I found that I had lost my house key. So my dad and brother attempted to MacGyver the door by lock picking with various things found in the car. Twenty minutes later, we decided to give up on MacGyvering and go get my sisters from their after school things, which I looked forward to because Mini Cheese Face has a house key attached to her backpack. Yay, we got access to enter the house. But first we had to get my fundraiser food and money for the school's Washington DC  trip I plan to go on. So we got the food and money and headed home to sort it.

While my dad was sorting the food, I was upstairs in my room practicing my piece for S&E which was Eleanor Rigby (which is how The Beatles fit in this little tale).

Then we had to take my siblings to my Nana's house because they wouldn't be able to handle S&E very well. That went fine. The trip from there to the school where the event was held, however, was not.

The trip was OK at first, only hitting a few stoplights. But when we reached downtown, it was like everyone had wanted evacuate the city (maybe because of a Dalek invasion?) It was not easy trying to navigate downtown Cheeseland. A truck hit a pothole so large that it popped off the truck's rear wheel and rim exploded off.  But then we reached the highways and it was smooth sailing from there... until we reached the school.  Apparently, the idiot who designed the driveway was either high or really wanted to make people's day miserable because it was almost impossible to weave through. We found our way to the front and my dad and I walked up to the building while my mom parked the car.

Well, now that we had found our way to this million-miles-away school, I could get set up to rehearse some more in the practice room and find my room. The practice room was the school's cafetorium, which is right in front of your face when you walk in through the main door. Mr. S said, multiple times, that you should set your things in the cafetorium and go find your room. Well, I didn't know where my room was. So I looked for someone I knew, in case they knew where it was. That person was my good friend and awesome percussionist/violist, Kayla! Unfortunately, she didn't know where my room was. So, my dad and I went off to find the mysterious room 145. We found it. At the very end of an already crowded hallway was room 145. Then my mom joined us in the practice room, where I, for the last time, rehearsed Eleanor Rigby.

Then I had to go to my room and wait in front of the door until my performance time. My time was originally 7:18 pm, but another group was late so everybody was late. I worked so hard for the past four weeks that I was not about to let some Suzuki-fed snobs have their moms complain to the judge and have their "precious angels" cut in front of me and the other non-Suzuki-brainwashed kids. Twenty minutes of Suzuki-fed snobs and Doctor Who jokes later, it was my turn. I rocked. So much so. My judge said that I didn't even need a string quartet to back me up.

Remember the dream I told you about earlier. This is where it comes in today. When I walked into strings class the results were posted and I had gotten a 1(which meant superior in case you forgot). I say the Doctor made this the best search for acceptance I've ever done. It was. Because the last time I searched for acceptance in the music world, it was for a city talent show. That was not so good...

Even though I got a 1 rating, the judge still offered some advice. She said: "Careful not to cheat the long note values. The rest of the rhythm were very good. Work on getting a bigger, deeper sound. Keep up the good work." She also said that "I looked very professional". Hmm.

After the event I felt like this:
Picture drawn by the Fantastic Emma.

I feel special.

Cheese Face out.

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