Catch Up / Jemsite Award

I feel like Carrie Bradshaw writing at 3 in the morning. I'm surprisingly awake, too.

I was recently honored by Jemsite, a guitar website/blog. I received the Recommended Reader Award which I will post as soon as I can. The HTML code isn't quite right.

I was seriously surprised! Thank you to everyone who recommended me and to everyone that reads my blog. It means a great deal to me. Especially since lately my posts have not been guitar or Berklee centered. The good news is, that's about to change.

Midterms begin the week of March 8th. I am so not ready for them. Ear Training might kill me. I had a quiz today..er, yesterday, and it went pretty well. Paul said it was my best yet, and it definitely was. I hate Ear Training, but I love Paul (because I haven't said it enough).

I'm taking the Jimi Hendrix Lab with Julien Kasper (who is also my private instructor). It's a lot of fun and my Hendrix chops are steadily improving. That man was so incredible. So far we've done Spanish Castle Magic, Who Knows (first two solos), and Wait Until Tomorrow. For our midterm we have to transcribe a Hendrix song. I chose Manic Depression as recommended by Bob. The main riff is really easy. The solo will take a bit of diligence on my part. Don't get me started on my social life. It's great, really, it is. I have problems saying no when it comes to being with friends. I always feel like I'm going to miss something.

I'm taking a course with Livingston Taylor, as in James Taylor's brother, this semester. The class is fantastic. Liv is fantastic. He's so wild; I love it! James recently gave a clinic here and it was incredible. I never realized how great of a guitarist he is. He's an absolutely beautiful guitar player. Magnificent.

I always had assumed that Art History would be boring, but I was wrong. I'm taking Renaissance Art History with Ross Bresler, and it's great. I've been to Florence, Paris, and Venice so I've seen a lot of the paintings and buildings we talk about which definitely impacts my perception of the course. Ross is an art genius. He knows everything, and he's really enthusiastic about it all.

I'm also taking Advanced Computer Applications. It's about building databases, something I don't foresee myself ever needing to know how to do. I'm debating withdrawing from it. I currently have a 4.0 in my major, and I'd like to keep it that way. I missed an assignment and didn't do so hot on my quiz so I'm afraid I might not be able to get an A and consequently bring my concentrated GPA down. I don't know why I care. GPAs don't matter in real life, but they help with scholarships! At the same time I just want to get the class over with. So we'll see what happens.

I've talked about Accounting already. Marty's awesome, but accounting is a snooze. I can see why he's eager to retire. I couldn't imagine doing that for a living, although you can make bank doing it. Which is probably why people go into accounting in the first place.

Now I'm tired. Thank you again for reading/recommending!

When I Can't Sleep, I Blog

I'm breaking all the cardinal-rules of trying to go to sleep: eating, listening to rock music (U2, to be more specific), and looking at a bright screen.

This whole Amy-not-going-to-bed-until-at-least-two started last week. I came home from a jam, and I was so excited, I just couldn't sleep. I slept great the following night, but then my pattern was messed up after being out until two in the morning Friday and not going to bed until three in the morning Saturday. I'm not sure I like it. I like to sleep.

I recently realized several things causing my insomnia:

1. Running. I'm not running. Exercise definitely helps you sleep, at least running helps me. I haven't gone for a run in a while. A long, long while. Blame it on my schedule, but it's my own fault. I'm not exhausting myself the way I should be in order to sleep the way I want to.

2. Midterms. I've been thinking so much about midterms that they could easily be keeping me up at night. I have one tomorrow, I mean today. It's Ear Training Part One: Dictation. I am horrific at dictation. Give me a guitar, I'll play you back the melody after listening to it once, maybe twice. Make me write it down, it's torture. This time I was smart: I scheduled a tutoring session right before my exam. I'm gonna walk in, and have my tutor play me Lydian and Mixolydian melodies for an hour. I can't think of a better way to prepare for it. Why didn't I think of this before? Paul Stiller used to (he still might) have dictation classes for Ear Training 1 and 2 on Wednesdays at 4. I went to as many as I could, and on my final dictation I got a B+. Practice makes perfect, it's just hard to practice dictation.

My other midterm I'm concerned about is Sound Reinforcement. I'm not so worried now. We reviewed in class today. As long as I do some prep work, I'll be fine.

3. Other things. I have so many little things to do. My lists are everywhere and unaccomplished, which is so unlike me. I have to get back on track. Not that I'm derailed, but my wheels are coming a little loose. Not in every area. Usually my guitar chops get lost in the shuffle (oddly enough) when I'm at school, but I've been spending a lot of time playing. Which is great. I didn't play nearly enough my first two semesters.

I've been thinking too much lately about everything. I think I'm thinking about sleeping too much.

I'm listening to U2's Zooropa, and I feel like it's December of 2008 during finals week because this album was my soundtrack. My mom called me sometime that week, probably that Tuesday, to tell me that she never bought the plane tickets to fly to DC for my cousin's wedding, but it ended up being the best mistake she ever made. A massive blizzard was headed for Boston the day we were supposed to fly. We would have missed our flight. Having never bought the tickets, we got a last-minute deal to fly out on Thursday and we ended up staying at the Willard and eating at Old Ebbit's Grill that night. It's amazing how I associate all that with Zooropa. And the Devil Wears Prada. I watched that movie eight times that week I think. I would put it on whenever I could. Ask my old roommate. Throughout November and December it was on all the time.

I could go on for a while now, but I need to stop myself and try and sleep.

Thank you for reading my late-night ramblings. I hope there are fewer of them.

So Much To Do

I figured I'd update before I get down to brass tacks and start my homework. I know it's Friday, but I have way too much to do to put it all off until Sunday. Small doses. I also have to clean my room, it's rather disheveled. Plus I want to get ahead because I'm going home next weekend and don't want to have to worry about getting stuff done here. Sometimes I'm an overachiever, what can I say? You gotta get ahead.

I'm really enjoying second semester. I love my classes and everything's just kind of falling into place. Or it's starting to, I should say. It's gonna be good, I can feel it.

I have a ton to do, I should get started on it. I'll post more later.

It's Just A Moment, This Time WIll Pass

My motivation has returned, but I felt the need to update before I begin tackling my workload.

Honestly, I would love if this semester was done now. I'm not in the mood for school. Even if ear training will help me become a better musician, I really don't enjoy doing it. I refused to sing in class yesterday, and I promised my teacher I would sing Friday so I better be ready. I will be ready. I'm gonna ace whatever he throws at me. I got this.

Continuing on the subject of not being in the mood for school, I have an essay due tomorrow. It's a compare and contrast essay, and I think I'm going to do it on the two presidential candidates. It's the most relevant topic I can think of, and I have sooo much to draw from (which is a blessing and a curse). However, just like ear training, I really don't feel like doing the work. I'm motivated, just not motivated to write an essay.

Harmony might kill me. We went from talking about the modes of a major scale (easy easy easy stuff) to writing out guide tone lines. I know all about guide tones, but writing out actual lines? Easier said than done for me. Now this is something that I don't ever see myself using. Ear training, yes. Creating drum patterns, yes. I use English every day, but guide tone lines? Guide tones themselves, yes. But lines? Well, unless I become extremely proficient at piano, no. I don't think I'll ever be writing out guide tone lines outside of Berklee. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

There are some moments where I question my decision. I love Berklee, I do. It's not about that. I do feel as if I "belong" here, I just question whether I "belong" some place else sometimes. I'm happy here, but I know for a fact I could be happy anywhere--anywhere near Fenway Park that is. Ha, I'm kidding. I can be happy anywhere. We all know that. And I am happy here. In the words of U2:

And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if your way should falter
Along the stony pass
It's just a moment
This time will pass