Death and Orchestra

So the pope died. Terri Schiavo died. I had a near death experience on my evening stroll today. I was approaching a cross walk. I checked the lights and the white walking guy was all lit up so I decided it would be okay to cross the intersection. As I was walking, however, someone making a left turn almost hit me. I tried to run away from it, but the car kept swerving wherever I ran. Seriously, this car was only a few inches away from me when it finally stopped. A guy on a motorcycle was sitting in another lane and watched the whole thing happen. After the car moved on he said, "Wow that was scary." I said, "Yeah, maybe I should wear reflectors."

Speaking of near death experiences, I think I'm going to have one this week. For those of you out there who do not already know this, I'm playing my rusty clarinet in the orchestra for the Schmeckfest musical. The show is Guys and Dolls so at least sounds fun. Well, it would sound fun if I could actually play it. At the last rehearsal I skipped this measure that had too many notes with too many sharp signs in it. Lloyd, the director, asked if anyone was playing in that measure. I had to sheepishly raise my hand and admit that I am supposed to play, but I couldn't really make my fingers do that at the moment. Lloyd asked if I would be able to get my fingers to play it by April 8 which is the first night of the show. I promised him I would so I have a week to get it down.

Another "highlight" of orchestra practice is my neighbor and music partner Jesse. Jesse is a 9th grader who plays the tenor sax. When he's not playing he is jamming out in his seat and trying to tell me when I'm supposed to come in. We are really developing quite the dependent relationship. He uses my pencil and tells me what key I'm supposed to be in. I help him count and tell him when he's supposed to play. This next week we have orchestra practice every night except Monday so I'm probably going to be very tired and crabby. Hopefully we can pull this thing off by next Friday. I will let you all know how it goes.

Mike Dargatz quote of the day:

"Dude, she doesn't know my fucking DVDs!!"
-In response to Kellie's and my proposition to go to Mike's house and ask his mom for his Jackass DVD.