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Unplanned and Planned
May. 19th, 2024 08:15 pmI got up an hour earlier on Thursday and was glad I did, even though I'll be tired. It feels nice to have an "extra" hour by the time I'd normally only have one.
I went for a walk at 11am because it was mid-80s and waiting any longer would mean mid-90s.
Didn't see anything special but it was good to get the exercise.
Back home and more data entry. I'm doing a really tedious bit today...I often volunteer for tedious work because I'm a throw-away employee and therefore am good for such things, rather than taking someone else off of their project, if that makes sense. Jameson also had a lot of grading to do so we kept "checking in" on one another to alleviate our boredom haha. Nothing to say except, "So...how's it going?" but at least it's a break from staring at spreadsheets!
Before dinner I went outside to look at the vanilla. The beans are definitely beans...they look like snow peas right now! No idea if that's how they're supposed to look or not, but I like it :)
At the end of the day Jameson got info on a potential job...but I'm gonna have to vaguebook it until we get more info. Regardless it was very exciting, and he had difficulty concentrating for the rest of the night!
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Friday I was up extra-early again, partly because I want to have most of the day off on Saturday and partly because I had low-key tumultuous feelings about Jameson's potential adventure...and shockingly, a potential adventure of my own that I received last night. It'll require an audition, and the material is not stuff I'm comfortable with (ugh, JAZZ...*cringe*) but I want to challenge myself and take the audition anyway. Vaguebooking until I can give details.
I ended up not getting enough work anyway because of trombone practice and having to shop for groceries for dinner. Whatever, I'm doing my best. Dinner was just taco salads and they were crunchy and delicious.
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Saturday I "allowed" myself to "sleep in" until 8am.
Breakfast, work, lunch, and about 2 hours of tromboning, because now I need to learn this audition music in addition to memorizing Disney stuff. I've got about 20 days left to memorize all the Disney music assigned, and I have six pieces left which means I have approx 3 days to work on each piece. That's theoretically plenty of time, but some are easier/harder longer/shorter than others.
As for the audition, I plan to record it on Wednesday or Thursday. Like I said it's in a style that I'm not very familiar/comfortable with, so even though they asked for recordings "ASAP" I'm pushing that boundary as far out as I can.
Right now my practice routine for Disney = a full run-through of what I've got memorized, every other day, so as not to forget things. After the run-through I work on memorization. And on the alternate days I just work on the castle set and straight memorization. After either type of session I've added the audition material. I'll only have 3-4 days to work on that before it's GOT to be recorded and sent. But I've got my first castle set with Disney in 48 hours. Note that I don't get PAID to practice all of this stuff. Do you see why musicians want to be paid as much as they do for performances? Music doesn't learn itself, even for a professional.
And to top it off I get my period on Monday! Nothing like pain, exhaustion, bleeding, and bloating to make one feel really top notch for recording an important audition, and marching in WHITE PANTS in full Florida sun and humidity, amiright ladies??
In the evening we had tickets to Peter Pan at the Dr. Phillips, thanks to my friend Kevin who is Reed 2 in the pit orchestra. I worked with Kevin on Tootsie the Musical. We all went out to dinner beforehand at The Bao Spot, a new place in Orlando. It had a weird space--dinosaur--Star Wars themed interior?
(photo courtesy Orlando Weekly)
The food was very good but came out at random; I was the last of the three of us to order but got my food first, then came Kevin's food and the appetizer, with Jameson's food coming out last after I'd practically finished mine. They're pretty new so maybe they haven't got their sh*t together yet for timing but I hope they figure it out.
My bao: spicy soft shell crab with arugula and apple kimchi slaw. It was VERY good, super crispy and fresh. I haven't had whole soft shell crab in a long time and it was lovely. My other bao in the background there is the kalbi beef with kimchi, also very good, tender and well-marinated.
Two bao is enough for me but the boys ordered a few more as we talked, and Jameson got a burger that was sealed like an Uncrustable and fried, it looked pretty amazing tbh. We talked about musician nerd stuff and tour stuff mostly. Peter Pan is going to Monterrey next, and Jameson and I sort of cringed and looked at each other: Monterrey is where the circus got run out of town by a mob of hundreds, and where our animal crew got HIJACKED by a bunch of thugs on motorcycles (our animal crew was mostly huge buff dudes and former circus STRONGMEN, so the thugs got absolutely beaten to a pulp but it was still a scary experience.) Anyway, we warned Kevin, uh, "gently" about Monterrey. Maybe it's different now (I doubt it. Sorry Mexico.)
Soon it was time for the show. We had amazing seats. Thanks Kevin!!
The musicians, who did a fantastic job btw.
I went to the pit to harass Kevin before the show. Here he is warming up on flute! Notice the bass clarinet next to him. Tour musicians are often doubling on other instruments; some reed players have as many as five instruments to play during one show!
(CLICK HERE to see Kevin warming up)
The show was great. Kind of a kiddie show but that's to be expected. The child actors did an AMAZING job, especially with the choreography. And the stage featured a hi-def screen that gave a lot of depth, and it really made the flying scene where they all go to Neverland the first time AMAZING. It felt like a ride! The kids are in the air on a fly rig system directly in front of the screen and facing it, to look like they're flying, and I wondered if any of them need to keep their eyes closed for it (I would.)
No spoilers but the crocodile was the best part :p
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, I let myself sleep until 8am again (just another lazy millennial who doesn't want to work!) and then got up to do the same as Saturday: breakfast, data entry, lunch, tromboning. I memorized more Disney stuff but don't feel any better about the audition music.
I had to exchange some bed sheets at Target so picked up dinner for us there too.
We had a pretty chill evening...both of us are a bit psychologically exhausted from preparing for musical opportunities that may-or-may-not exist. There's a tension while you're waiting to audition, or preparing material, or waiting to hear back about a job offer. It can wear you down.
Tomorrow I take my Minick trombone to my friend Pat to see if he can free up the slide.
Tuesday is Disney day and my first day doing a castle set, plus they could have me do the parade and/or flag retreat.
Wednesday I have to finish up any audition practice and set up for recording, and either do it on Wednesday or Thursday.
The good news is after the audition is submitted, I should have nothing else on the docket for the rest of the weekend except data entry and memorization. But it's going to be a tense week.
I went for a walk at 11am because it was mid-80s and waiting any longer would mean mid-90s.
Didn't see anything special but it was good to get the exercise.
Back home and more data entry. I'm doing a really tedious bit today...I often volunteer for tedious work because I'm a throw-away employee and therefore am good for such things, rather than taking someone else off of their project, if that makes sense. Jameson also had a lot of grading to do so we kept "checking in" on one another to alleviate our boredom haha. Nothing to say except, "So...how's it going?" but at least it's a break from staring at spreadsheets!
Before dinner I went outside to look at the vanilla. The beans are definitely beans...they look like snow peas right now! No idea if that's how they're supposed to look or not, but I like it :)
At the end of the day Jameson got info on a potential job...but I'm gonna have to vaguebook it until we get more info. Regardless it was very exciting, and he had difficulty concentrating for the rest of the night!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday I was up extra-early again, partly because I want to have most of the day off on Saturday and partly because I had low-key tumultuous feelings about Jameson's potential adventure...and shockingly, a potential adventure of my own that I received last night. It'll require an audition, and the material is not stuff I'm comfortable with (ugh, JAZZ...*cringe*) but I want to challenge myself and take the audition anyway. Vaguebooking until I can give details.
I ended up not getting enough work anyway because of trombone practice and having to shop for groceries for dinner. Whatever, I'm doing my best. Dinner was just taco salads and they were crunchy and delicious.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday I "allowed" myself to "sleep in" until 8am.
Breakfast, work, lunch, and about 2 hours of tromboning, because now I need to learn this audition music in addition to memorizing Disney stuff. I've got about 20 days left to memorize all the Disney music assigned, and I have six pieces left which means I have approx 3 days to work on each piece. That's theoretically plenty of time, but some are easier/harder longer/shorter than others.
As for the audition, I plan to record it on Wednesday or Thursday. Like I said it's in a style that I'm not very familiar/comfortable with, so even though they asked for recordings "ASAP" I'm pushing that boundary as far out as I can.
Right now my practice routine for Disney = a full run-through of what I've got memorized, every other day, so as not to forget things. After the run-through I work on memorization. And on the alternate days I just work on the castle set and straight memorization. After either type of session I've added the audition material. I'll only have 3-4 days to work on that before it's GOT to be recorded and sent. But I've got my first castle set with Disney in 48 hours. Note that I don't get PAID to practice all of this stuff. Do you see why musicians want to be paid as much as they do for performances? Music doesn't learn itself, even for a professional.
And to top it off I get my period on Monday! Nothing like pain, exhaustion, bleeding, and bloating to make one feel really top notch for recording an important audition, and marching in WHITE PANTS in full Florida sun and humidity, amiright ladies??
In the evening we had tickets to Peter Pan at the Dr. Phillips, thanks to my friend Kevin who is Reed 2 in the pit orchestra. I worked with Kevin on Tootsie the Musical. We all went out to dinner beforehand at The Bao Spot, a new place in Orlando. It had a weird space--dinosaur--Star Wars themed interior?
(photo courtesy Orlando Weekly)
The food was very good but came out at random; I was the last of the three of us to order but got my food first, then came Kevin's food and the appetizer, with Jameson's food coming out last after I'd practically finished mine. They're pretty new so maybe they haven't got their sh*t together yet for timing but I hope they figure it out.
My bao: spicy soft shell crab with arugula and apple kimchi slaw. It was VERY good, super crispy and fresh. I haven't had whole soft shell crab in a long time and it was lovely. My other bao in the background there is the kalbi beef with kimchi, also very good, tender and well-marinated.
Two bao is enough for me but the boys ordered a few more as we talked, and Jameson got a burger that was sealed like an Uncrustable and fried, it looked pretty amazing tbh. We talked about musician nerd stuff and tour stuff mostly. Peter Pan is going to Monterrey next, and Jameson and I sort of cringed and looked at each other: Monterrey is where the circus got run out of town by a mob of hundreds, and where our animal crew got HIJACKED by a bunch of thugs on motorcycles (our animal crew was mostly huge buff dudes and former circus STRONGMEN, so the thugs got absolutely beaten to a pulp but it was still a scary experience.) Anyway, we warned Kevin, uh, "gently" about Monterrey. Maybe it's different now (I doubt it. Sorry Mexico.)
Soon it was time for the show. We had amazing seats. Thanks Kevin!!
The musicians, who did a fantastic job btw.
I went to the pit to harass Kevin before the show. Here he is warming up on flute! Notice the bass clarinet next to him. Tour musicians are often doubling on other instruments; some reed players have as many as five instruments to play during one show!
(CLICK HERE to see Kevin warming up)
The show was great. Kind of a kiddie show but that's to be expected. The child actors did an AMAZING job, especially with the choreography. And the stage featured a hi-def screen that gave a lot of depth, and it really made the flying scene where they all go to Neverland the first time AMAZING. It felt like a ride! The kids are in the air on a fly rig system directly in front of the screen and facing it, to look like they're flying, and I wondered if any of them need to keep their eyes closed for it (I would.)
No spoilers but the crocodile was the best part :p
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, I let myself sleep until 8am again (just another lazy millennial who doesn't want to work!) and then got up to do the same as Saturday: breakfast, data entry, lunch, tromboning. I memorized more Disney stuff but don't feel any better about the audition music.
I had to exchange some bed sheets at Target so picked up dinner for us there too.
We had a pretty chill evening...both of us are a bit psychologically exhausted from preparing for musical opportunities that may-or-may-not exist. There's a tension while you're waiting to audition, or preparing material, or waiting to hear back about a job offer. It can wear you down.
Tomorrow I take my Minick trombone to my friend Pat to see if he can free up the slide.
Tuesday is Disney day and my first day doing a castle set, plus they could have me do the parade and/or flag retreat.
Wednesday I have to finish up any audition practice and set up for recording, and either do it on Wednesday or Thursday.
The good news is after the audition is submitted, I should have nothing else on the docket for the rest of the weekend except data entry and memorization. But it's going to be a tense week.
