#46, #101, #102, #226

#46: Have a piece composed for CES ensemble.
Another piece has come in for our school! This is from a composer in our town and featuring poems written by the students. It sounds fantastic and the kids will love it!

#101 & #102: Attend a CES game.
I went to two basketball games. In a row. That's eight quarters!

#226: Listen to NPR for a week.
This was fun because I got to listen to someone I went to high school with, and it was very informative. Unfortunately there is no music and just talk, so I got bored sometimes, especially when I would hear the same news story two or three times. A testament to driving too much, I guess. They also ruined a movie for me, giving away key scenes in Flight. I hate that. Also, finding a station that comes in consistently is annoying. I like NPR a lot (especially on weekends) even though it doesn't really sound like it from this post.
 

#53, #69, #242, #264, #265

"That Damn Blog"

That's what I would title post thing if I titled my posts differently. I am a rule-follower at heart, so I won't change the form, but those are my thoughts. Melanie coined the phrase while completing #242 when I was stressed out before my recital and said to myself, "Why on earth did I put myself through this voluntarily?!"

I said it again today because I looked at the list of golas, assuming I had completed a ton of them! I haven't yet. Oh well. Regardless, here's what we've got:

#53: Vote. 
Boom, baby! Two presidential elections, 100% track record!

#69: Buy a new suit.
Had to do this for Patrick's wedding. It's gray and I love it. I work it to school on picture day.

#242: Give a Recital at PSU.
So glad this is over, and thankful to my friends for performing with me. I was amazed at who came to watch, very inspired and felt very loved. My reed feel off in the middle of one of the pieces, but that's how it goes.

#264: Patrick/Angela Wedding!
Sept. 28 was a perfect day! Well, it rained, but it was an indoor wedding. I had to kneel on the alter next to Patrick since it was a catholic wedding. I had a communion wafer for the first time! It wasn't too tasty.

#265: Drew/Jill Wedding!
Sept 14 was another perfect day! I sang a song at the wedding with Will playing guitar. It was perfect. This wedding was like an IC reunion, so it was really special.

Yeah, that's it. That's all I've done. Since August 20th.

Damn blog.

#67: Buy New Concert Shoes

Am I cheating because these are the shoes that are for Patrick's wedding? No, I'm not. I make the rules to this stupid blog, not you, Will.

#54: Work on a Political Campaign

Hung out with my new friend Paula on Sunday and canvased for Obama. This consists of knocking on specific doors of independent voters and asking them who they are planning on supporting for the 2012 elected.

Whew, was it exciting!

#10: Go to a Fair.

I went with Jenny and Lisa to the Wolfboro Hospital Fair. This is one of those goals that I said, "Oh! This is a goal!" Totally forgot about it. Anyway, we went to Bubble's and got pizza and watched MLP:FiM which is everything I wanted to do and nothing to do with the fair. We also saw Carnie Drama (should be a TLC show) and got yelled at for spinning too fast on the "Berry Go Round/Spin the Apple" ride. There was a long conversation about the title of the ride, and looking back on it, I'm remembering the two girls as drunk even though they were completely sober. They were both tired. We also saw a Carnie with a face tattoo. I really wanted to take a picture. I didn't.

#326: Stand behind politician! (Instant Goal)

Have you ever watched a candidate speak and have seen all of those people behind them? THAT WAS ME! Behind Michelle Obama! 

I'm the one right by the demonic high school teacher. Actually, his tallness got us INTO that position! Michelle hates short people.

#266: Go to another Wedding!

This goal was achieved in June, but I forgot about it! It was a great wedding with brunch and...AN OPEN BAR. Perfect.

#55: Find a Republican Candidate to Support in the 2012 Elections

I think the purpose of this goal is to teach myself that not all republicans are bad, and not all democrats are good. Actually, I really have an easy time finding democrats I don't like (re: John Edwards) and an easy time finding republicans I do like (Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski), but when I look at who I like and who I don't like, there seem to be too many similarities on things that don't matter.

For instance, I am extremely inclined to vote for a female over a male. I supported Hillary over Obama, wanted Martha Coakley to win the Massachusetts primary for senate and all of the above republicans I listed who I liked are women.

Also, I love the republicans who are bi-partisen and hate the "blue dogs". I can't stand Nelson or Lieberman, but love Olympia. This really isn't very fair of me. I will say that I do like some ultra-conservative senators, even if I don't agree with them. I always liked hearing Pete Domenici speak, and enjoy Orrin Hatch and John Kyl whenever they are questioning a supreme court nominee. Still, those are exceptions to my rules.

So when I heard about Mia Love, the woman vying to be the first black republican woman elected to congress, a young woman from Utah who shares the same first name of my sister I was sold. She is adorable and seems smart. I agree with nothing she says, but like to hear her say it, and I'm sure Utah agrees with what she says, so I'm sure she'd be representing well. Turns out she is running against the only democrat Utah has currently elected to congress: Jim Matheson. There has to be some love for the democrats in Utah! Then I thought about how much I don't really like what Mia Love is saying, and just like the person who is saying it.



Trying to think of a similar situation on my side, I looked toward Massachusetts, which currently has no  republicans in the house of representatives, and hasn't since 1997. Scott Brown has served a two-ish? year term in the senate and is now running for a full term against Elizabeth Warren, who I can't get enough of (....woman). There is one candidate, Richard Tisei, who is running and is openly gay. Actually, he'd be the first openly gay republican to serve in the house. Socially liberal, fiscally conservative...ok, fine, this guy wins. If Utah can have a democrat, Massachusetts can have a republican. Vote Tisei!

#5, #6, #45, #55, #203, #204, #245, #326

#5 & #6: Visit Two New Countries: Armenia & Georgia!
Many of you know that I went with the Friendship Chorus to Armenia and Georgia. They have a "cool" relationship with each other (mostly because of the friends they keep) but both have a long history with Christianity, so we saw a lot of old churches. Like first century. The difference between the two countries is very clear at the border. You enter into Georgia and it's like you've warped forward 60 years. Tblisi, capital of Georgia, is very modern and new, while Yerevan, capital of Armenia, is 2,500 years old. Yerevan also has a sweet fountain show. Both countries have lots of stray dogs, which is fun/sad. I had a great time in both countries!

#45: Have a Piece Written for CES
I was so psyched to have the first piece sent to me a few months ago for the New Hampshire concert I'm doing at CES in the spring of 2013. The concert theme, which has been hinted at in the goals list, is new works by New Hampshire composers, or composers with a connection to New Hampshire. All of them have lived in NH for a period of time, most of them still do. An exciting adventure!!

#55: Find a Republican Candidate that I like
Ok, I did this! But more on it later--got to save something!

#203: Go to a Museum
The Armenian Genocide Museum was very moving, but I felt like they were trying to prove the genocide happened the entire time. Probably because Turkey is so mean! Anyway, whatever your feelings are about the subject (mine is very pro-Armenia, but Turkey is my favorite meat) I thought it was interesting when someone said that people who live IN Armenia care about this issue, but care more about opening the border to Turkey for trade, in contrast to outside-of-Armenia groups who are really only focused on making Turkey and other countries label it "genocide".

#204: Go to a Museum
The Tretyakov Gallery has the largest collection of Russian art in the world. And it's air conditioned!!


#245: Visit a New Country: Russia
On our way back to America, we stopped by Russia! Spent three nights there and had a blast trying to cram the entire city in! It's big.

#326: Go to a Ballet
Instant Goal! I don't know why this wasn't on the list, but it should have been! The seats were too close together, there was no air conditioning and the orchestra was laughably bad. On the plus side, the tickets were reasonable, the seats were in a fantastic location and the dancing was great!...I think. I couldn't tell because my eyes were crying sweat. Anyway, I learned that you should not go to the ballet if:

1. There is no AC and it's the summer.
2. There is an awful orchestra and you are a musician.
3. You don't like paper fans.

Still, it was a ballet. And it was in Russia. And I wore a bow-tie with jeans.

#171: Have a Facebook Free Month

The facebook Free Month goal was something my friend Mark did and I liked the idea. I have a pretty addicting personality so I thought it would be hard (and it was), but it was made easier with my former roommate moving. He canceled the cable and internet and I deleted my facebook app on my phone, so it was a easy in that sense.

Anyway, I didn't like this goal. It sucked. It did not make me a better person. I'm not overly addicted to facebook, so I did not get hours of my life back. I did not blog more. I did not read more. I just went on reddit more and missed large pieces of information that everyone else knew like engagements. I also missed important messages that were facebooked to me from people who didn't see I was taking the month off.

Having a cell phone free month would be stupid. So was this. Anyway, it's done. It's nice to know I could give up facebook if I wanted to, and I didn't miss it that much. Also, I've been on facebook all day instead of finishing moving, so I probably did a lot of other productive things while I was off it. I think a reddit free month would be better for me, and something I will never do.

Also: I completed #260 (have a nature themed concert) and #223 (Hear Emma say my name!).

#36, #105, #254

I thought I had done more. Oh well.

#36: Middle School Musical, Beauty in the Beast.

#105: The Biography was about Patrick Conway by Dr. Mark Fonder.

#254: Portal 2 co-op!! Beat it with Patrick!

#123: Read a Novel

I feel like a piece of me was ripped out. Mockingjay was great, and I look forward to reading this series of books again in ten years. I finished a while ago and am now on to reading "Patrick Conway and his Famous Band" by Dr. Mark Fonder (!!)

Looking forward to Hunger Games in a few weeks. Until then, all I can do is have playing tests in band resemble the games. I feel a Quarter Quell coming on...

#122: Read a Novel

The second book in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Read it on my kindle and finished it last night. Started the third right after. I am burning through these and am already sad that it's almost over. I almost want to take more time in between books but I can't! I'm looking forward to the movie too and am interested in how they look at characters that are in book one but pretty unimportant while making a bigger appearance in books two and three. Anyway, I plan on finishing Mockingjay (book three) in the car on the way to Connecticut. This has been a pretty successful vacation for my goals! Who knew?!

#121: Read a Novel

The Hunger Games. First one I read in full on my Kindle! The book is amazing and there are two more to come. Katniss reminds me of my sister, so I quickly told her about it and of course she has already read all three. The book is just excellent.

The movie is going to be released in mid March, but if you want to read the book before hand you can quickly go through it. I read the first in about three days. Really great stuff.

#326: Make a Basket in a Basketball Game (Instant Goal)

I got two. AND ONE WAS A THREE POINTER!!

It was the last day of school before vacation in the faculty vs. student game. It was a game-winning shot! The faculty was up by about twenty points, and after my three pointer they were up by twenty three. Game winning.

I proceeded to do the gayest dance around the gym after each basket. Especially the one from down town.

The fourth graders even made me signs!!

#17: See and Opera I Haven't Seen

Boston Lyric Opera gave me Peter Maxwell Davies' one act opera: The Lighthouse! Turned out I knew two people in the pit--small world!

The opera was excellent. English was good, so I didn't feel bad knowing very little about the work before hand. The pit was great, and the three men in the cast did a nice job. It was based off a true story or three lighthouse keepers who vanished!

No time to write, but it was good and this is done!

#27, #160, #243, # 250, #268

Can I start this by saying I tried to do #197 and failed? FML, but I will prevail. Also, I would like to make an unofficial addendum to #247 (write a musical based on Animal Crossing) saying that Meryl Streep will have a role that is integral to the plot, and that only she can play. Her name will be Meryl Sheep. FYI: I did send an e-mail to Nintendo. They have yet to respond.

On with my successes:

#27: Be in a Musical
Two down, one to go! (I am not counting the opera I was in over the summer, mainly because I know I will be in next years ETC production.) This show was an original piece based off a story by Hans Christian Anderson. I had five students perform with me in the production and a cast of ~75. It was wonderful, and lots of fun!

#160: New Recipe
Ok, I stole these off Melanie's facebook (I would link to her blog, but she never updates it. If she does, I will edit this) and they did not turn out well. Too goopy. I'm sure that    hers, if she attempted them, came out better. Anyway, the recipe is for Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells. They looked better than they tasted, and they really didn't look that good.

#243: Get my DAMN oil changed
Only took 70,000 miles.

#250: Watch all the episodes of Big Love
Sooo good. I was recently at a board meeting with a lot of women and pretended they were my harem of wives. This is probably because I'm reading a book (that I'm counting for #105) about polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Big Love didn't help.

#268: Move to a new condo!
I did this a while ago. No pictures, just come over or get over it.

This was an odd update, but isn't it IS an update, so there's that! Woohoo!