old home week pictures! lol
Mood:  caffeinated
today wasn't very eventful except that i had to clean out some of our back yard because there's all these sticks around. it was the area where the old skateboard ramp used to stand (that was dismantled a few months ago) and there were a lot of wooden pieces of it all over the place. i also found this old rotting wooden box and when i flipped it over i found the biggest slug that i have ever seen. it had to have been at least seven inches long and i found another just like it on the other side. wow i had no idea we had slugs on our property. you learn something new everyday i guess.

we got our old home week pictures back and the entire photo is as long as our couch. it's the longest one yet and i believe it is the most people i've ever seen in attendance. i am in both ends with my friend david. yay! also today, i worked on some drawing and i am just stuck on how to draw hair properly. the technique is just not registering in my brain so i stopped drawing hair and decided to draw a dog instead. and that is coming out better than i thought it would. maybe i'll post it on here sometime. tomorrow is another field band practice and my dad is going to film us so hopefully i can finally get to see what we look like!

ziggy

nothing much
Mood:  a-ok
not a very eventful day today folks. just had to get myself up at 7:00 am and walk over to take care of roxy (my friend's dog) and then it was back to bed. and nothing else really happened today. tomorrow we get our old home week pictures back. yippeee! i can't wait to see myself in it twice. i've always wanted to do it. i also had a nice talk with my friend kendall in new zealand and i introduced laura to her. hopefully, tomorrow will be more eventful!

ziggy

p.s. this coming tuesday is another field band practice from 6 pm to 8 pm

band camp has finally ended
Mood:  caffeinated
today wasn't too eventful. i just had to get up earlier and go dog sit for my friend's dog and then walk the rest of the way to work. work was pretty busy today and i made my usual thirty-six dollars. i'm noticing that people usually come in in big bunches and not in a steady stream like you'd see in grocery stores or something. a million people will suddenly appear in the story and you're running around grinding coffee, replacing peanuts on the shelf, ringing people up, and dodging the other employees (in my case, only 2 others), and all of this is done at warp speed. and then later in the evening i went out to the fair to collect my winnings which was only fifteen dollars anyways. i think that's strange since i took home four first place ribbons and one second place ribbon. hmph!

but most important of all are the events surrounding yesterday. let's see if i can remember what happened. oh yeah earl's big party for the entire band lol. it started at five 'o clock and i got there a little bit before then to find troy and a few others trying to untangle the volleyball net. it took like five people to get it stretched out and then we couldn't figure out how to put it on the poles. we had one side on but the other side was missing a few strings. so we tied it to a nearby tree and everything was okeedokee. (the pole problem was fixed later).

gradually more and more and more people began arriving as we were playing our feeble game of volleyball. then the guard arrived and more people along with them and it was time to start swimming. and a few of us jumped into the pool and splashed around for a while and then this great big black storm cloud moved over and it started thundering and lightning so we all got out of the pool and began to get stuff to eat since it didn't rain at all.

after we finished, the big rain cloud moved over and it was time to go swimming. and that's when another storm cloud moved over and it really started raining and thundering so we all went in the house. and some people watched "bruce almighty" in the living room, others played cards, and a few played on the computer. that was a blast and i played the most violent game of spoons i have ever been involved in lol. spoons rocks. it's a card game and yet it tests your reflexes too.

and that was pretty much the rest of the party and it was so much fun. but it's always sort of sad at the end of things like that because it's just too bad that time has to fly when you're having a good time. and it was the end of band camp. what an awesome experience. it was some hard work but it was really worthwhile. i am glad that i am doing field band this year. hopefully more fun is on the way!

ziggy

hair cut
i haven't had a lot of time to leave a post on here lately. yesterday wasn't that eventful. just pool time from the afternoon till 4 pm and then it was time to go home and get ready for more band camp.

yesterday we learned the opening charts. and it's nothing complicated really. all we do is run out from behind these props on the field and then into our positions for when the music starts. the props were marked on the field with chalk lines but eventually they'll be these things (i'm not sure exactly what they're gonna look like) with camo netting all over the place around it. and the battery will play and imitate the sound of helicopters and then we all run out onto the field and it looked pretty cool. and i got my uniform last night. it's just this army camo jacket and camo pants. it's too bad that we don't get to wear combat boots which i think is weird.

then after band camp, we (my posse of friends) went out to kristin's house and we hung out there and walked down to the bridge and stuff and the camp ground down there. it was pretty cool. and it was dark. we found a few toads on the way.

and then today i got my hair cut for the first time in a month or two and now it feels so much shorter. and after that, i went to the county fair. i got three first place ribbons and one second place ribbon. so i did pretty good! i'm glad i won something. after that, i went directly to my friend david's house and we hung out there for a while and played halo and ate food with a bunch of others. there was ten or twelve there i think. directly from there, we went to band practice.

practice went well tonight and we practiced running out from behind the chalk marked props about a million times and then practiced dying for a while. so that was interesting. and then after that i got back to the house and well, here i am now.

ziggy

county fair work
today was mainly a priority type day. first i went to the county fair and after quite some difficulty, finally got the tags and i.d. sorted out. i have 4 photos and 1 drawing in the fair this year and i hope they will all be prize winners. there should be at least 1 that does place somewhere.

and then after that, i went to petsmart and bought turtle stuff. i bought this net for taking out excess food, "turtle clean" which is this stuff that dissolves waste and cleans the water, and some more turtle food. so i hope that "turtle clean" stuff will help keep the tank cleaner longer so i won't have to clean everything so often. at the present time i have to clean the filter every week and the whole tank every two weeks. whew!

then it was off to the pool with saif for a few hours and then i had to come home and have dinner and then go to the evening band camp. we got the end of the show finished and then we did a final run through with the guard and the whole enchilada out there and it looked pretty good. now we just need to set the first opening charts and we're going to do that tomorrow. boy my schedule is going to be filled these next few days. suddenly everyone is planning get-togethers and stuff. i guess it's because of school coming up in 2 weeks. where did the summer go?

kristin wants to have a get-together tomorrow night after band camp and then wednesday david wants to have a party at his house from noon until band camp begins that night and at the end of the week is earl's pool party. we get directions to his house tomorrow. and that new member's parent's orientation is tomorrow night also. so this week is busy busy busy!

ziggy

sunday
tomorrow starts the next week of band camp. except that this time it runs in the evening from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. at the end of the week sometime, earl will have a pool party at his house and that should be pretty cool. tuesday is the orientation for new member's parents while we're out practicing and then we'll do a run through of the entire show for all of them. and sometime this week, kristin wants to have a get-together afterwards because we haven't had a good get-together since old home week. we try to have one every other week or so. when i say 'we' i mean my posse of closest friends which includes laura, kristin, and justin. we've been good friends since the end of school. justin and i tried to figure out a special name for our group by taking all of our first letters of our first names but then we realized all of our names begun with consonants so we'd end up being the "kjlz" group or something like that so that idea was bagged from the start. oh well.

today was mainly spent doing housework and stuff. we're tearing up the old worn out carpet in the computer room hear so we'll have a nice hardwood floor but there's still a lot of work to be done on that. and today i also worked on framing these 4 photographs that i am putting in the county fair this year. last year, i won 1st and 2nd place with my two photos and this year i am submitting 4 photos and a drawing so i'll have better chances of winning something. i have a good feeling this year.

i also cleaned the turtle filter and whatnot. the tank is staying pretty clean so far and we're gonna have to go out and buy an algae brush and a net for removing uneaten food. keeping a turtle is a very messy job. so i'll keep you up to date on everything that's going on, expecially the coming week with more band stuff and everything. i am looking forward to it.

zigy

day numero cinco (actually it was yesterday)
the last day of the first week of band camp went very well considering it was friday the 13th. lol. we pretty much finished the main bulk of the show and it went well. i'll start at the beginning...

i arrived around a quarter till 8 as i usually do. lunches go in the big fridge and then we went straight out to our warm-up spot. there, we hung around and i hacked the sack with derek, austin, troy, cory, ted, and swopey. and then mr. forney came out and we al got our instruments and warmed up (no marching basics that morning) and then we headed out to the field to practice the show starting from chart 35. it was kind of hard since we hadn't really gone over it thoroughly enough but it went well. the part where the trumpets form a triangle and then march forward while doing a goose step still needs work since none of us can properly do it!

then we worked on cleaning it all up and we practiced with the guard and then it was time to start setting charts 47-53 and this was the most fun and probably the easiest charts yet. all you had to do from chart 47 is walk to a spot (freeform) somewhere with the rest of your section (in my case, section 2). there were 3 sections in all consisting mainly of woodwinds and brass and percussion. and then for 12 counts we had to stage a mock battle and that was a lot of fun pretending to punch each other and then after that everyone dies slowly for 24 counts. and then everyone is laying on the field and all and dewayne plays these taps and everyone wakes up slowly and then we all go to these freeform positions with our sections and then we all run around while playing and that part is the bomb raid part. and then we all go into one big line and march towards the stands. and then that's about as far as we got. it's the big finish to the show lol.

after we died a few times on the field and i accidently landed on my chapstick while dying and jabbed myself in the leg really hard, it was time for lunch. that was pretty normal and then after lunch i always have like 30 minutes of free time and we watched the talent show that austin and ted were in and they played 'one' by metallica. and then they played the tape a few more times after that.

it was back outside immediately after our hour break for lunch and went to where the pit usually practices outside and we warmed up and practiced playing there. swopey and i agreed that it was getting hotter and the sun came out from behind a cloud and we began to roast suddenly. then the sky began looking really ominous and dark and this big black cloud moved over head. we all felt a few drops of rain but it never really amounted to anything and it moved on. after that, we went back to the field and marched from cahrt 35 to 53 and practiced that over and over and then we did a final run through of the entire show and it was great.

a few funny things happened that day and one of them occured right when i arrived. as i was walking inside, i noticed all these marbles everywhere and it turned out that the seniors had put all these marbles over the door so when mr. forney opened it, they would all drop onto him. and mr. forney is always going on about 'squeezing your marble' and stuff while marching so we all found that rather amusing. and then out at the field someone had painted all the lines and hash marks pink and purple and dumped all these froot loops on the ground and took ketchup packets and placed them in strategic positions on the field so someone was bound to step on (which i did unfortunately). and on the fence, dewayne (although he doesn't admit to doing it) took these mcdonald's bags and ripped them up and taped them to the fence so they spelled out 'miss saigon.' and also on the back wall of the concession stand someone had taken duct tape and spelled out 'class of 2005.'

later in the day, i found earl's trumpet (a wonderful silver and gold plated bach) lying on the ground just outside the field and mr. forney just happened to walk by too. and i said:

"hey, isn't that earl's trumpet?"

and he was like "yeah i think it might be his."

and i said "gee, it looks like someone just stepped on it."

and mr. forney was like "yeah ziggy i think you're right."

and i said a bit louder "i think someone must have bent the valves. look they're all messed up."

and by this time earl jumped up and was like WHAT??? and we all laughed because it was such a funny joke to play on him.

after band camp was over, david, swopey, nate, matt, and i all went over to dave's house and hung around and played on nate's x-box and we had a ton of fun. then we played halo (which i had never played before) and i sucked really really bad at it but we all had a good time. and then it was time to go home around 10 and go to bed because i had to wake up early today and go to work.

nothing special at work today really except that lisa sims who used to work at the coffee roasters returned and i got to meet her and she has these wild dreds. so that made for an interesting day and it wasn't too busy at least.

ziggy

day numero cuatro...
another great day of progress made at band camp. and a lot of real funny stuff happened today too. i'll go into all of that while i explain what happened today...

the first thing we did was arrive, put your lunch into the big walk-in fridge in the kitchen by the cafeteria, and head straight out to our warm up spot. and while waiting for everyone else to arrive we played on the fitness trail monkey bar thing that was there and we were swinging our hands all around and eventually our hands hurt so we stopped. and then mr. forney came out and we begun. we started with marching basics and stuff. we were taking this water break when all of a sudden i see troy tearing out into the alley for some strange reason and he comes back with this hub cap. see it had fallen off the car that had just drove by and everyone was yelling at it but they didn't hear us and they drove off without their hub cap. troy decided to keep thje hub cap for himself and he wanted to put it up on his wall but later the car drove by again. everyone was yelling and waving their arms around but the guy in the car just stared at us and kept driving. i guess that hub cap is going on troy's wall after all.

that all went on for less than an hour and then we warmed up our instruments and headed over to the field and we marched from charts 27 to 34 which we had learned yesterday and that took some getting used to because most of us forgot the moves. but we worked on cleaning it all up and eventually it was as smooth as butter. and then it was time to set more charts and we marched to that and that was pretty difficult because i kept forgetting where everything was but eventually we had charts 34-40 memorized alright and we played to that and it sounded pretty cool. and mr. forney had this bird crap on his shoulder and everyone was laughing and he had it on his shoulder for like 30 minutes. and he finally washed it off during lunch.

then we had lunch and all and that was pretty normal. there were 10 people sitting at our table today which made for great fun whenever we do this trick where we all stare at some table and see how long it takes for them to notice. and what's weird is that people seem to know when they're being stared at even when they're not facing you. it's a weird psycological thing i guess.

after lunch we went out and practiced for a while outside standing up for like an hour and then we worked on the show for the rest of the day. and then at the end we did one final run through of everything up to chart 47. only 10 more to go! and next comes the mock battle sequence and stuff we'll do next week. tomorrow is the last long day and then it's just 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm next week.

ziggy

day numero tres...
geez i can't remember how to exactly spell these spanish words lol. well day number three has come and gone and you know i'm noticing this trend where everyday something funny occurs with an insect. like the first day (i may have forgotten to mention it) austin found this praying mantis in the grass during a water break and he tried to pick it up. and then it took off and we were chasing it all around the field and stuff and it flew at kassie and tried to land on her head and she freaked out and screamed so it changed direction and decided to land on kristin's shorts. and kristin didn't know what was going on or why kassie was screaming and pointing at her until she looked down and saw this insect the size of a b-52 bomber on her pants and she screamed and brushed it off and then we chased around some more. the funny thing was that you could spot it flying around from like 50 feet away because it was so large.

then the second day there was the wasp incident where we were chasing wasps around and swatting at them and stuff with our shoes and today was more of that and this time i actually killed 2 of them (however swopey pointed out that the one didn't count because it's wings weren't working). and then later in the day while we were setting charts and stuff out on the field, there were these large grasshoppers hopping around and stuff and john janson caught one and was holding it and he took it and threw it right at kristi and it landed right on her chest (*cough *cough) and so she was running around and it was pretty funny.

so who knows what might happen tomorrow. the band might be attacked by a swarm of angry locusts or something worse. time will tell. it may actually rain tomorrow though too. oh and austin and i have this cool secret hand shake which involves a lot of crazy stuff that we invented and we're gonna have to add more to it tomorrow. it's pretty funny actually. we always do a run through of everything from the beginning to the final charts that we have learned that day. and we ended today at austin's solo and after he did the solo, he did the secret handshake thing and it was so funny.

we made it to chart 36 today and that puts us about 10 charts further from yesterday. so we're averaging about 10-12 charts per day which is good progress. today was mainly spent cleaning up the beginning part of the show and then learning a few new moves. see there's this one time where we have to do a slow horn lift during an about turn and then we do a 360 degree turn real fast for 4 counts with the horn lift, drop the horn life, and then the trumpets (which is the group i am in) has to move backwards into a circle in about 8 counts. sounds complicated? try doing it without music. lol. that's right. we had to actually do without music up to chart like 26 or something and that wasn't too bad. and also we have to a free form move that's 16 counts to a far away position during laura's solo and you have to really listen to her and the music so you know when exactly to come into position because you're going freeform and that means that no one is in step. so that's sort of awkward and we have to walk around each other and i think david tries on purpose to mow me down lol.

and speaking of mowing down another person. earlier in the morning we were doing our marching basics and stuff and we have to get in our groups according to our instrument played. and then our student leader of that group will help us practice marching around and stuff and they give us commands. in this case, lindsay is our student leader and we have about 5 or 6 in our section group. and we were marching and minding our own business and suddenly here comes the trombone section and their leader, john janson, and they were headed straight for us and i could see that laughing look in john's eyes which was a bad thing lol. so lindsay changes our direction and then john changes the trombone's direction and they are still heading towards us. so we change again and move backwards and then forwards again but they are still inches away and then suddenly we all collide. but a few minutes later, lindsay and all of us spot the trombones talking to the saxaphones a ways away. so lindsay puts us into rank and then she says that we'll be practicing our slow 8 count step and then change to our fast 8 count step. and so we're off headed straight for the unsuspecting trombones and saxaphones and suddenly we're about 10 feet away and lindsay orders a double quick 8 count step and we charge into them and i knock into david and we're all clashing again. but our excuse was that we were only following orders to "seek and destroy" lol. so tomorrow there will be more of that and next year, i want to be a student leader and attack the clarinets with a double quick 8 count step lol.

ziggy

day numero dos...
gosh i hope i spelled 'dos' right. oh well. today went good and it was almost the same as yesterday. we got there at 8:00 am as usual and took our stuff out and did our marching basics and warmups and then we had another marchoff (we had one at the orientation for new members; i won that one!) but this time id didn't win. lol. so that was the morning session and during water breaks and stuff, derek and i found some interesting things to do.

first and foremost was the newest discovery that there's this wasps' nest right by this light pole and it was underneath this metal thing at the bottom of the pole. and if you lifted it up, about 20 wasps would come out and chase us around and stuff and the trick was to see how close you could get to them and take your shoe off and try to swat them with it. it was a pretty fun time and, luckily, no one got injured.

after our morning session we had lunch and then we played inside for a while and then went back outside. we made it to chart 27 today and we're averaging 12 charts a day just about and that's really good time. by the end of the week, mr. forney wants to have it all down. tomorrow, we'll clean up the opening and everything move by move which is a good thing because i forget charts 19-22. lol. more improvement is needed!

ziggy