The Happy Thread IV

[Tessar]

I'm pretty happy with the recordings!

My family asked to hear the recordings, so I played the tracks. Although we all agreed that I have a loooooong way to go... I dunno. I'm very hopeful this will be good enough to get me into the summer program. My family really liked how I sounded.


I've also learned the secret to making my voice teacher be focused. When I brought the aria in to him, it was pure business during the lessons... we didn't waste a second. He said he was impressed with what I'm capable of achieving. I was afraid before of making him angry and having him think I was being disrespectful of the pace he wanted to set... but nope! Apparently he was afraid of pushing me too hard.


So either way... I've learned a lot . It was well worth the $75 bucks I owe the CD recording/editing guy.


Now I just need to put together a resume, and express ship the CD and application to the summer program's director... then get down on my knees to pray and not get back up till I get a letter back in response . I REALLY hope I make it in.

[Earniel]

My, that went pretty quick! I hope you at least will keep a copy of the CD?

[Tessar]

Oh yeah, of course! I have the raw CD, and then a CD with the cuts, and then I burned what I wanted onto an audition CD, and then I made one more to send to my grandparents.

My dad gave me a check to pay for the CD. O_o I just about fell over thanking him. YAY!!! I'm really grateful for him doing that... turns a $100 audition into a $25 audition for me.

[Tessar]

I'm happy because I FINALLY figured out how to effectively teach my voice student.

I've been thinking about it, and thinking about it, and doing some research and I realized that my job is to get the kid's voice placed correctly... I was thinking about all of the struggles that young singers have, and I realized that the only problem most people have is that they just don't know how to place their voice.

Most people make the mistake of trying to get the kids to 'sing out', and I realized that if I've got him singing softly he'll be able to place the sound in a more natural fashion... then I just told him to keep the 'soft feeling' and give it more air and BAM. He was singing in a nicely placed full voice instead of the overly chesty voice most kids try to use. Yay!

That makes me happy, because it's a technique I can use for ANY kid I teach.

[Tessar]

I've started playing Chess!!! I always hated it before, but after I played a few rounds against the computer on the 'easy' setting I started to actually see how some strategies work... so I bumped it up to medium, and I'm losing a lot more than I'm winning, but it's starting to make sense.

I actually rather enjoy it . I played against my sister yesterday, and it was like a battle to see who was the least incompetent . I won by a bit, but it was probably more luck than anything I actually did right.

I don't think I have the brain capacity to do the whole 'plan out four moves in advance' thing, but I'm actually managing to think two rounds ahead now, so... that's one round better than I ever have before . I doubt I'll ever get serious about it, but it's nice to see that I have the patience to play and enjoy something I always thought was boring before...

[Mari]

I visited my uncle and cousin, the mathematicians in the family, without notice so I could borrow something mathematiciany and it turns out that my youngest cousin was staying with them so I played with her for a while!
She is so cute! Almost 3 months now.

[Varnafindë]

Today is my 1st anniversary at Entmoot!

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Varnafindë

Today is my 1st anniversary at Entmoot!

happy anniversary!

[Tessar]

I got some wonderful vocal advice from a friend... I've been singing my songs and during tender or emotional phrases I've been trying to let my voice get very soft at the end of the phrase.

He pointed out that I would be much better served if I kept the volume consistent because I can already sing the phrase softly... it doesn't need to taper off completely.

Great musical advice that I'm happy to have .

[Tessar]

Wish me luck. I have a small solo in church today... since we sing at all three services, I'll at least have three chances if I totally screw it up, right?

I'm not worried about it particularly, but it does land in a portion of my range that's still not very polished... I probably wouldn't be able to sing it at all if not for my current teacher. So it's exciting to realize that I'm able to sing something I couldn't have before .

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by Tessar

since we sing at all three services, I'll at least have three chances to screw it up, right?

Dear Tessar, why have you adopted such a pessimistic attitude?

You'll do great!

[Tessar]

It's good to have real friends who share your views on religion, life, and are also gigantic sci-fi and fantasy nerds .

[Nerdanel]

Originally Posted by Tessar

It's good to have real friends who share your views on religion, life, and are also gigantic sci-fi and fantasy nerds .

Absolutely

[Tessar]

MY TEACHER MOVED BACK THE DATE OF THE MOCK BOARD MEETING!!!

Oh my God, this means I can go to bed RIGHT NOW instead of staying up late trying to finalize everything. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. I actually started crying a little bit when I read it.

I am so exhausted after this week. It has been an endless stream of projects, practicing, writing papers, having to attend concerts, singing at concerts, and a ton of other things.

Don't get me wrong, I've never been so happy to be dead tired, but I've also never been happier to get to go to bed. Thank God.

[Mari]

Today was awesome!!! Saw lots of wonderfully dressed people/fairies/goblins/whatevers and I saw a torture session (which was rather gory) and I followed a ball folk dance workshop!!! That was so much fun! We 'learned' 4 dances in 45 minutes with about hundred people at the same time
Heard lots of great music too!!!

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Mari

Today was awesome!!! Saw lots of wonderfully dressed people/fairies/goblins/whatevers and I saw a torture session (which was rather gory) and I followed a ball folk dance workshop!!! That was so much fun! We 'learned' 4 dances in 45 minutes with about hundred people at the same time
Heard lots of great music too!!!

Whooo, the Fair was wicked! Best time I had in a while! Totally visual overload too, soooo many spiffy costumes. If only I was a little better with the sewing machine, because all those outfits, you start itching on designing and making one for your own. And darn those dresses, oh if only I could wear them on occasions, now they'll only end up in the closet for years on end.

But man, I'm totally spent, these last three days have just been too busy. And tomorrow's Monday again. >.< Too tired...

[Tessar]

That's awesome! I'm glad you had such a great time!

[Mari]

You would have liked the dancing too ^_^

[Tessar]

I had an amazing, inspirational day today.

I got to give seven or eight kids voice lessons, and one of the kids was extraordinary because of how BADLY she wants to be a good singer... despite having a home life that I would literally describe as a nightmare, she was one of the most sweet and articulate girls I've ever met.

I swear the minute she and I looked at each other it was like we just recognized something. I have a great family, and I don't even have an iota of a clue what it is to deal with some of the other things she has to deal with, but I do know what it feels like to want to sing well so badly you can taste it.

Let met tell you... this girl can taste it. I can relate to that intense passion and desire to learn. Even the choir teacher said, after the lesson was over and the girl had left, that she was inspired by the girl's desire. I think the girl can do it, too, because she's got a wonderful instrument.


I wish I could describe more about how wonderful it was to get to teach, particularly that one girl, but I feel like I can't without bragging... and frankly I have no right to brag because the progress is entirely dictated by how willing to work the kids are. Suffice to say that I'm grateful to my current voice teacher for giving me solid techniques that I can pass on to other people. I really believe they're effective techniques, and it's a thrill to get to see them work for other people.

I got some wonderful complements from the choir teacher, and the things she said really boosted my self confidence. I feel ten times more capable than before, and I know that I can really learn from these experiences. Right now I'm still at the bottom of the mountain of learning how to teach voice, but I feel like I'm taking good strides. I hope I can be an amazing teacher some day.

[Mari]

That's great, isn't it?
Congratulations Tess and I think you'll be very good at passing knowledge on. Don't get too modest in that respect, because no matter how willing the students are, if you don't know how to pass things on in a good way, they won't learn much.