Attend the tale

Restless today. I've been dreaming of a break, a getaway, a SOMETHING fun and relaxing and for a semi-significant period of time.

Finished my composition for clarinet and piano today. It's called Longing, because that's what I've been feeling for a couple of weeks.

Restless.

******

The above was yesterday's issue. That composition was performed and submitted this morning, and I'm very happy with how it all went in the end. Yay. 

And I got my first one back and I got a really good mark on that one. Yay.

One of the main reasons I got into blogging was because I was reading so many of them daily and loving it. The one I have been following for the longest is The Man Repeller. Leandra and her team are smart, funny, and super stylish. Their recent post on the Girl Code is a great read. These two are my favourite bits:

• Never agree when a friend says she’s flabby, baggy, saggy, lumpy, floppy, veiny, squishy, scrawny, etc., etc. Tell her to shut up. Tell her life is too short. Tell her to eat, drink, and be merry. And finally…
• Never treat other women disrespectfully: It gives men ideas.

Still rocking blue nails, with a blue denim shirt, black jeans, black riding boots and a maroon cardigan today. And some of my fav bling. Staple outfit for dreary days.

Off to be minimally productive for a little while as a reward for this morning's good work. Yay.

Kisses,

J x

Edit: I DESPERATELY need to figure out how to put some photos on here.

Sunday Funday

Today is gorgeously sunny for Melbourne. Having a relatively quiet Sunday, just finished a decent work out at the gym, I wore my "Bend and Snap" singlet from Legally Blonde the Musical (my Dad took me when no one else would/could, he is the greatest). My gym outfit was stunningly matchy-matchy, pink singlet, pink/black/green sports bra, green nail polish, black bike shorts, pink socks and yellow runners (bloody yellow runners. Love them though.) I'm now about to have nice big piece of chocolate cake as a reward.

I spent the morning, organising, cleaning, rearranging and writing to-do lists. I have three assignments due this week, which is fun. I'm working on a composition for clarinet and piano currently entitled "Longing" cause that's the kind of week it's been. My Mum's coming down to visit in a couple of weeks, in the mid-sem break which will be great.

The current background for the blog is a photo I took at home. A long exposure on a particularly windy night led to some great streaks from the streetlights.

Okay, that cake is calling.

Catch you on the flip side,

J x

Starting a Blog

Hello World,

On this somewhat sunny Saturday, I have finally decided to start on a project I've been meaning to get around to for a little while, that of starting a blog.

First and foremost I am a music student majoring in performance on Recorder. Baroque music is my long time fav, but I'm having a fairly big soft spot for some fourteenth century stuff that I'm playing. Recorder is a relatively unusual instrument to see at a tertiary level, so I'll provide a very brief history of it, of which many, many years ago in an AMEB exam, I couldn't say what recorders were first made of. What a terrible ten year old. The Recorder is a very simply constructed instrument, originally made from wood, and sometimes ivory and other precious materials. It is used primarily as a melodic instrument, and the repertoire dates from the earliest Western European manuscripts that we have, until J.S. Bach's death in 1750. Bach's death marks the popularity of a new instrument in the home and performance halls, known as the pianoforte, or piano. Also why Bach should be played on early keyboard instruments, but I digress. The recorder was unable to compete with the piano's dynamic range, and the increase of ensemble size with the popularity of the classical orchestra and so dropped out of use in the Classical period, so no recorder for Mozart. In the early 20th century, the Dolmetsch family was heavily involved with the revival and construction of Early Music instruments based on those in the British museum. A 1920's movement in Germany of cheap plastic instruments led the recorder to its usage as a classroom instrument. The 1970's saw a huge surge in Early Music and historical performance practice. So most recorder pieces are from the 13th century to the mid 18th and then from the mid 20th century.

I'm in my final year of undergrad, and looking forward to graduating. I've very much enjoyed my studies, and have been very lucky to be in a degree that allows both breadth and depth of learning.

To attend University, I moved from my North Queensland home to the city of Melbourne. I'm currently living in college, and intending to move into an actual house with some of my wonderful friends from down here next year. College has been an excellent experience, I would highly recommend it to anyone.

My other interests include photography, ballet, tap dancing, fashion, interior decorating, the rainforest and reef, my dogs (that live at home in Queensland), my wonderful family and friends, colour, nail polish (28 bottles down here and counting), composition, musicals, not having a tan, pretzels, mediation, blogs, politics, flowers and all kinds of music. I intend to post on all of this, and probably more.

This blog is to take control of my life on the internet. I've figured much of this information is out there on various forms of social media and such, and I'd rather be the one curating it.

To finish, here is a video from one of my favourite Aussie bands, The Basics. I recently saw them at a free concert very close to where I live, which was such a coo, because if you recognise their drummer, you'll be sure to know that these guys will probably be huge this year. The video is pretty beautiful, and the song is such a favourite. Such great harmonies, expect for me to post so much more from these guys. Or check it out yourself.
The Basics: With This Ship

Ciao for now kiddos,

J x