Alix, Jan, Hilary and I all went to the Final Fantasy concert on Saturday night!

Here's all the lurid details. :D
FFFF the San Francisco symphony is pretty darn good. I noticed several mistakes they made, though, like when they weren't quite together, or when someone's note didn't quite come out. I guess they hadn't really had time to polish the music very much. They were still amazing. We got seats very close to the orchestra, so I could see at least the string section very clearly. There were some lovely viola solos.
What still really bothered me is that the orchestra (especially the string section and with the exception of the piano) was constantly dragging behind the conductor. It really messed with my mind, because I thought our job was to try to follow the conductor exactly.

WELL anyway, about what they played:
I enjoyed most of the arrangements, especially Vamo Alla Flamenco (SOOO GOOD!) Some of them were stale to me, like Don't Be Afraid and One Winged Angel, because they sounded EXACTLY like recordings I have. I guess it can't be helped when the conductor is the same and he wants the orchestra to play it the exact same way, but I had hoped that it would sound a little different because it was live. I was a little disappointed.
Terra's theme was beautiful, as was To Zanarkand. Delicious woodwind solos as well as atmospheric stringy bits with piano and harp.
Man With a Machine Gun was something new apparently, but I wasn't pleased with the arrangement and thought it sounded better as a techno song. Also the bowing for the strings looked really hard XD
Swing de Chocobo was great fun
The video they showed for Aerith's theme managed to be SPOILER FREE. I was impressed.

BUT THE BEST
was definitely the opera scene from ff6! I was seriously squeeing the whole way through--it was just so awesome that they did that. I think it worked very well as a scene and I wish they had done more! The singers were great <3 (it would have been mega-awesome if Setzer came and abducted one of them half-way through, but that's a spoiler, I guess)

AND THE WORST
was the giant screen playing movies the whole time. It really detracted from the experience of seeing the SF Symphony and I felt like it insinuated that gamers had really short attention spans. It also made people laugh and clap at inopportune moments, which is kind of weird when you go to the symphony. Not to mention it's also kind of a faux pas, depending. It also distracted some of the musicians--I kept seeing people turn around to look at it while they were playing.

Gotta go! Yesterday's art party was fun and productive for me :D

Floradora is fun and challenging. Honestly, I've never played anything where the cello is treated so well. It gets the buttery melodies as well as soloistic awesomeness that is seldom seen in the mid-range orchestral instruments. I didn't practice the music beforehand, though, and the myriad key changes bit me in the ass. (four flats...FIVE SHARPS...ohhh back to four flats. NOPE--one flat.)

Ruthie came over today to have dinner with Mom and Nancy, but when she got here, Rob and I were about to head off to have dinner, so she joined us instead. A crazy, non-nonsensical argument followed, ranging from a dispute over the name of a restaurant to Ruth saying that she doesn't know me anymore and me crying and approaching hysterics. This is bordering on a normal occurrence when Ruth comes over. I've got to have faith that she doesn't mean to hurt my feelings, but she is the worst arguer on the face of the planet--the kind that just pulls assumptions and malice out of thin air: so defensive that everything you say could be taken as an attack. Needless to say, that's why I was in hysterics.

Then we had dinner, watched some youtube videos, and took Ruthie back home.

On the way back, I found out that my Aunt Martha just died. It wasn't really a shock, seeing as her condition has been terminal for days now, but I felt bad and I didn't know what to say. I never met her, and she just became a grandma.

Rob and I watched a Shinsengumi! episode that was sad (main character body count raised by two), but it paled in comparison to the intensity of the day.

Tomorrow, I plan not to do anything with anyone.

Pencils are to first graders as
cigarettes are to prisoners.
Seriously.

No one was home, so I was impulsive and drove over to Elaine's house yesterday!

17 is a scary son-of-a-bitch to drive, but past that, the weather is gorgeous, and there's my friend living there, so it was worth it :D

Yesterday:
-racked my brain to remember stuff about Myst to try and help Elaine beat it
-drew/inked comic and read Dororo while listening to Elaine and Brad play D&D over several timezones
-had delicious food that I didn't have to make myself
-tagged along to meeting with Elaine and Brad's wedding photographer and thought in my head the whole time, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEE WEDDING!"
-watched some British television
-suffered horribly because I forgot I was allergic to cats (but then was given some medicine and everything was better)
-slept so well and dreamed about God knows what

Today:
-woke up early, very disoriented 'cause I was still at Elaine's
-drew more comic and hung out with kitties, because I woke up an hour before everyone else
-drove back on heart attack-inducing 17
-Laura and Mom were home and I gave them hugs
-Laura gave me a couple awesome fancy shirts she got from a friend (and...they smell nice...mmmm clothes)
-will go to the first Floradora rehearsal without having looked at the music at all -- am relying heavily on sight-reading skills. Actually, I'm really excited.
-will watch "Shinsengumi!" with Rob when I get back.

Overall, I'm having a great day! I need lunchhhh

One of the kids in my reading group refused to work with the other kids because, and I quote, "I won't be partners with someone the same age as me."
...
WHOAAAAA ATTITUDE PROBLEM!

This is the kid that asked me my age the very first day, and pretended to be so shocked that he dropped his pencil and stared at me. Also, he constantly "forgets" my name. And fake cries a lot to try to get his way. DUDE today he cried because I didn't let him write on the white board because he was misbehaving. He had a mini temper tantrum and sat on the floor and threw his pencil.

OH THAT GUY. I hope he loses the attitude, because he is the most uncool guy. Maybe when he tries the crying on me again, I'll just say something along the lines of that he's acting like a weenie.

oohhh posting from school.

I should learn to prepare breakfast before going to work with little kids.

Really, they just kind of walk all over me. Even the good kids D: Someone was listening in on my trying to read with the kids, and she had to step in and teach me how to keep them all with it. I still have so much to learn.
Next is computers, though, which is SO EASY 'cause children just LOVE computers.

Today, I go to school, and then come back and work on my comic, and then go play a gig in Menlo Park, which is for some company party.

Tomorrow, I go to school, then come back and work on my comic, then play some music over at Jan's house.

Friday - School, comic, music.

Saturday - Music, music, music.


Today is pajama day, and I really hope I'm right about that, because it's really embarrassing to go around in your pajamas when it's not pajama day.

I placed an ad on Flipside! D: Maybe it'll bring me fans! D: D:

I finally scanned and edited all this stuff I drew in the pit.

( comic heavy! Most are from Yeomen, some are from Marriage of Figaro. )

Yeah.....

( Oh, and here are some unrelated comics I also drew. )

gFDf last day until the weekend!

Yesterday, Jan and I played Myst until we got totally stuck. And now it just feels like we wasted tons of time. Because Myst is not fun when you're stuck.

Although, we also jammed together with a bunch of her dad's friends (and Alix!) which was really fun. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hear myself play at all, but it turns out the sound of the cello is different enough from the sound of the guitar that it pierces through just fine...when I'm playing as loud as I possibly can. At one point, we had like 3 guitars, a bass, drums, a flute, and a banjo (and a cello). My calluses are forming nicely. I really want to play some Bach today and see what it did to my stamina. I've been playing pretty much every day, so I'm really really in practice and it feels damn good.

Hans got a lot of compliments :D

I've been sketching my comic, and it's almost there--it's almost to the climax of the beginning Mohei-Freg storyline! I'm so excited, and yet a little nervous that this won't look or feel as good as I want it to. Timing is everything!

Okay, gotta go--don't want to be late again.