Update

I have about 55 minutes before symphonic band rehearsal, so I thought now would be a good time to write. I'm sitting in the computer lab at the college of music. It is an extremely nice lab with very good computers, both PCs and Macs. Each computer station (total of about 50) has some really nice stereo headphones and an electronic piano for any music student with an ID to use.

To the left is part of my most recent homework assignment. Each measure is a list of notes which may be played using the fingering (valve or slide position) noted at the bottom. It is for brass methods: a class where I learn how to play (and teach) trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium, and tuba at the rate of two instruments per semester. I have to learn virtually all of the instruments as a music education major. This semester I am working on horn, snare drum and cello. I hope to learn tuba, xylophone, and double bass this semester as well.

I am working on a really fun Spanish piece for clarinet called Hommage a M. de Falla by Bela Kovacs (pronounced koh-vahch) as well as the Clarinet Quintet by Mozart for Clarinet in A and string quartet. I'm not sure if I'll try to find a quartet to play with me or not, but it could be fun. I hope to give a solo recital in the fall. It is interesting that I love clarinet now more than ever now that it is not my primary focus; now that it doesn't really matter compared to my work in the field of music education.

Otherwise, Dawn and I are doing well. We celebrated 6 months of marriage a couple of weeks ago by eating dinner at Bennigan's and going to a Dallas Symphony concert. The traffic was terrible and it took us one hour to drive four miles, but Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 was amazing. The hall was a bit hot and the seats were tight so I suppose I prefer the Fort Worth Symphony to the Dallas Symphony.

We are having more fun together and are getting to spend more and more time with our new friends. I got to drive out with two other men from homegroup this weekend to go boar hunting. We didn't really see any boars but I did get to shoot a rifle. I enjoyed the great exercise and the camper we stayed in was really comfortable. Our wives had a sleep over and had a lot of fun as well.

Usually I try to be more philosophical or try to tell just one story instead of many. I don't plan to get in the habit of writing about everyday life like this, so this is an exception. I am sometimes annoyed by people who do that exclusively. What kind of blog writing are you most drawn to?