new england conservatory

location: boston

tuition*: $34,500

jordan hall - said to be one of the most acoustically perfect performance spaces in the world.

fast facts:

boston. no more needs to be said.

awesome faculty, including lawrence wolfe: assistant principal of boston symphony orchestra

lessons can include both jazz and classical. while you do have to declare a major, at most conservatories, that's it and you can't study both.

i like their prescreen requirements

dave holland hangs out there. umm i don't think college gets better than that.

*and welcome to the reason why scholarships are also the name of the game. some of my other dream schools make nec look cheap.

college

is the name of the game.

that mythical, far-off land of quasi adulthood is not far off. i'm in the last summer before my last year of high school, and the meaning of summer has changed. i've got a lot of work ahead of me this summer, and that starts with figuring out which colleges to apply to.

scary.

starting tomorrow (after my ap english summer essay has been turned in) i will be trying to feature a new college that i am looking at, along with facts that i find important and other weird ramblings that are currently being stored on my desktop in a ms word document entitled 'college thinkpad'

maybe not super duper exciting blogging, but i need motivation to keep researching.

ps. i discovered today i've had this blog for over a year now woooo

finals week accomplished

done.

(almost anyway.)

now the real work comes. hey maybe i'll actually blog this summer.

a year ago tomorrow

was the beginning of the end of my childhood.

and things are so much better now.

blogging fail

relief

done with the craziest couple of weeks of my life.

in comparison, they made finals week look easy... oh wait, it actually is. someone lucked out this semester :)

i am hardly beginning to grasp how happy i am that starting next monday, i have a completely fresh slate. (and hopefully more time!)

p.s: cool cool cool: dave matthew's grammy performance. when the horn players walk on behind the strings (around 2:25), look for the 3rd guy from the right. definitely know him (!)

for your listening pleasure

on repeat for the past few days:

freddie hubbard

here's that rainy day

in case you were wondering...

• passed my driving test with almost a perfect score
• realized my finals this semester don't scare me
• started work on vivaldi sontata #5 for competition season (THAT scares me)
• had my first ham sandwich in close to 2 years
• fallen in love with ralph waldo emerson
• practiced more this weekend than the last two weeks combined

it's been a good week.

two weeks

i have a little under two weeks until my drive test. (it's about time.)

which means i have a little under two weeks to learn how to park.

wish me luck.

new years resolutions

so there are mere minutes left, not only in this year, but in this decade. i have my fair share of new years resolutions...

1. read a book outside of class every month
2. have semester 2 bring my gpa up
3. drink more water
4. make my room somewhere i want to live
5. get my driver's license
6. document my memories more efficiently

...but as i start the second full decade of my life, i have some new decade resolutions as well.

1. surround myself only with people who will support me
2. never let a day go by where i don't work towards my dreams of life and career
3. make friends quickly - without sacrificing the quality of the friendships
4. if i don't stop procrastinating, at least manage the last-minute things well
5. never miss a chance to tell people i love them

here's to new beginnings and to new hope and a wonderful start to the new year.

and...

...can we just agree that this is phenomenal?

this is what friendship looks like

(at least with us freaks.)

blisters

i'll spare the gory details because i realize some really just don't want to know, but i've had quite the experience or two with blisters this winter break. since last sunday, i've been almost incapable of playing jazz, so billé('s nuovo metodo per contrabasso) won over in terms of practicing, and has since stolen my heart.

but i tested the waters with some pizz stuff today. needless to say it felt reaaally good.

ba-humbug

snow is fine.

please let it come after tuesday.

december

well, i already failed at blogging every day this month like i was planning on.

but that's okay.

i have just been busy reveling in my love of this month.

december is my birthday month.

it's the month where 16-degree mornings make fleece blankets and a cozy bed so much more enjoyable.

christmas lights are everywhere, and it only takes a little imagination for them to be covered with snow.

a different pair of fuzzy socks are the highlight of my outfit every day.

average of about three rehearsals/shows a week outside of school for me.

but this crazy crazy month has an end in sight - winter break makes it all worth it.

chocolate silk pie

as this week has gone by, i have looked forward to almost nothing more than all the food, particularly my specialty around this time of year, my soon-to-be-famous chocolate silk pie. i don't have any pictures of it (yet), but you can take my word for it - it looks fantastic and tastes even better. since the recipe isn't exactly a guarded secret, i figured i would share:

chocolate cookie crust:

• 2 cups crushed chocolate cookies
• ¾ cup melted butter

preheat oven to 375° f.

combine the crumbs and butter in a medium bowl and mix well. Firmly press the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch pie plate. bake for eight minutes. cool before filling.

french chocolate silk:

• 1 stick butter (in eight equal pads)
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate square melted and cooled
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 large eggs*
• 1 chocolate cookie crust
• whipped cream
• chocolate curls

mix butter and sugar, beat in chocolate and vanilla. add one egg at a time, beating five minutes each on medium. turn into baked pie shell. chill overnight. garnish with whipped cream and chocolate curls.

*since the pie filling is never baked, i use pasteurized egg substitute suitable to replace 2 eggs.

2012

since the day i first saw the teaser trailer for the movie 2012, i've been over the top excited for it to come out. maybe not in a wait-in-line-for-6-hours-for-the-midnight-premier type of excited, but excited nonetheless.

i was nervous for reviews to come out. i didn't want them to spoil my fun by either setting my expectations too high or too low.

but i ventured out to the theater for the first time in a long while last night, and i have to say, it was perfect. film snobs may not remember 2012 as a classic, but there's not much more you can ask of an apocalypse movie. it was not only completely epic where it needed to be, and serious where it needed to be, it was one of the funniest movies i've seen in a long time.

no one else in the audience seemed to think it was as funny as i did, but they just didn't understand. also i got punched in the arm many times by my friends whom i was embarrassing. all in all, highly recommended! and you'll have much more fun if you go see it with me.

day 4

a whole list of happiness from today:

• three-hour naps instead of homework
• not reading the scarlet letter
• valentín
• jazz band sounds good. league competition next week might go better than expected.
• spanishdict, my favorite english-spanish online dictionary, has an app for my iphone.
• thelonious monk. does much more need to be said?

winter

today was a first hot chocolate of the season, hot bath, do homework with a snuggie kind of day.

it's winter.

and i'm just fine by that.

leonid meteor shower

every 33 years, debris from the remains of commet tempel-tuttel passes through our neck of the woods, giving us a celestial showcase of pure wonder. it peaked last night a bit after midnight, but it was unfortunately too cloudy to be able to see.

but tonight, a quick patch of clear sky gave me the opportunity to catch a meteor before i got too cold.

how magical?

also making me happy: a facebook friend of mine created a facebook event months and months ago for the shower and invited only a few friends. man did it grow- there are just 50 grand short of 1,000,000 attendees on the facebook page today!