It's here! It's here everybody!!! The world's first handbell podcast!!!!!!! I know you all are excited and have been waiting on the edges of your chairs with anticipation for this day. Now it's finally here. Dean and I have started our own podcast. We just posted our first one today. Unfortuatly it's not available through iTunes yet, but you can still listen and subscribe by doing any of the following:
1. go to www.handbell.libsyn.com and listen right on the site
2. in iTunes click "advanced" and then "subscribe to podcast" then type in http://www.handbell.libsyn.com/rss and then it will show up in your podcast directory.
I expect all of you to subscribe and listen to Dean and I make fools of ourselves. I promise that they will get better than this first one.
1.31.2006
1.26.2006
kids at recess
Looking out my classroom window just now, I am watching a 2nd grader drag his already soaked scarf through a huge puddle, kneel down in the puddle, pick up a chunk of dirty ice and stick it in his mouth. It's no wonder I'm sick all the time. Yuck! Boys are gross.
1.25.2006
Cleaning Frenzy
Thoes of you who know me, know that I am just a little bit of a neat freak. Due to my being sick for the past 2 weeks, our house has not been cleaned. In fact it hasn't been "cleaned" since before Xmas. So, last night something snapped as I was standing in the bathroom trying to brush my teeth while looking into a disgusting hair and dirt filled sink at 10pm, and I spent the next hour and a half cleaning. I scrubbed the upstairs bathroom top to bottom, including the floor by hand, emptied the dishwasher, put new dishes in, dusted the living room (after putting everything away), dusted the bedroom, and began to clean counters in the kitchen when I noticed it was 11:30pm. What's wrong with me? Tonight I'll probably finish the job by cleaning the other 2 bathrooms and doing a little vacuuming. I'm so strange...it was like a panic attack last night. All of a sudden I felt very claustraphobic and couldn't breathe and I just HAD to do something about the filth I was living in. Am I the only person who expereinces this? Even now as I sit in my office I have calming thoughts of the work day on friday which will finally give me a chance to clean my room and scrub the germs off of instruments and things. Sheesh, someone call the nice men with the white coats and big butterfly nets.
1.23.2006
Let's keep our fingers crossed
So I think, after two weeks of feeling like crap, I am finally on the mend. But let's not speak too soon or jinx my better health. Something has got to be done about my craptastic immune system. In the meantime I can get back to my ever-growing "To-Do" list and perhaps catch up on my blogging (because I'm sure you've anxiously sat by your computer breathlessly awaiting my next post). So here it is...exciting...isn't it?
On Friday Elissa and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary together. Wow! It was an action packed evening with dining, walking the aliases of the Wedge, and then passing out on the couch. I swear sometimes we are 60 years old stuck in the bodies of 20-somethings. But I had fun and I think "girl" did too. It wasn't nearly as romantic or as fun as Marie's weekend but what is my poor "girl" to do with a boyfriend who can only lie on the couch and use endless amounts of Kleenex? Perhaps someday we too will go ice skating and see a kite festival...dare to dream Weller, dare to dream.
Oh, and happy baptism to Annika. I wish I could have been there Dean.
On Friday Elissa and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary together. Wow! It was an action packed evening with dining, walking the aliases of the Wedge, and then passing out on the couch. I swear sometimes we are 60 years old stuck in the bodies of 20-somethings. But I had fun and I think "girl" did too. It wasn't nearly as romantic or as fun as Marie's weekend but what is my poor "girl" to do with a boyfriend who can only lie on the couch and use endless amounts of Kleenex? Perhaps someday we too will go ice skating and see a kite festival...dare to dream Weller, dare to dream.
Oh, and happy baptism to Annika. I wish I could have been there Dean.
1.11.2006
Choir Applications pt. 2
I just had to share this one. This 4th grader is a man of few words:
I would like to become a member of the Jefferson Choir because:
I like music
I would be a good member of the choir becasue of these skills or characteristics:
I have skill
What is this skill he speaks of? I have known him for 4 years and I cannot in good conscience list singing as his "skill". Hmmm. This mystery shall haunt me for all time. Now for thoes of you who really want to waste time, you can tune in to my new blog all about the goings on at school. It's really meant for the parents and students to use, so please no profanity or inuendo and I will try to do the same :)
I would like to become a member of the Jefferson Choir because:
I like music
I would be a good member of the choir becasue of these skills or characteristics:
I have skill
What is this skill he speaks of? I have known him for 4 years and I cannot in good conscience list singing as his "skill". Hmmm. This mystery shall haunt me for all time. Now for thoes of you who really want to waste time, you can tune in to my new blog all about the goings on at school. It's really meant for the parents and students to use, so please no profanity or inuendo and I will try to do the same :)
1.10.2006
Woes of a church musician - pt. 3
Let me vent for a moment:
On January 1st I placed an order with a handbell music place in preparation for my first rehearsal of the new year. I had kind of figured that the music would not be ready for the first reherasal, but it would surely be there for the next. So I called up today to ask when the order had been shipped. IT HADN'T!!!! For some reason it was just sitting on the desk in some office somehwere. To that I say: What the hell?
On January 1st I placed an order with a handbell music place in preparation for my first rehearsal of the new year. I had kind of figured that the music would not be ready for the first reherasal, but it would surely be there for the next. So I called up today to ask when the order had been shipped. IT HADN'T!!!! For some reason it was just sitting on the desk in some office somehwere. To that I say: What the hell?
1.09.2006
God Bless Greenday
On friday I sent home applications for the school choir. On this application I ask 2 simple questions:
1. Why do you want to become part of the Choir
2. Why do you feel that you would be a good member of the choir (list skills and ccharacteristics).
Many of the answers are very simple: I love to sing, I sing at church, my mom can help me learn the songs, etc. But this one I thought took the cake (so far):
To the first question the child answered: I think I can sing very good. I also have very good memory becuase I memorized "Holiday" "St. Jimmy", and "Homecoming" by Greenday.
I give this child props not only for not listening to rap or some other crap that I hear from the kids every day, but for correctly using quotation marks and sentance structure. Even though "rock music is easiest for [him] to memorize" I think he will be a good addition to the choir.
Another application response I found particularly entertaining was turned in by a student who is constantly talking, disrupting, and generally off task. TO the second question he answered: " I can tune out distractions. I try to be quiet and I try to use my best singing voice". I'll beleive it when I see it.
Happy Monday all!
1. Why do you want to become part of the Choir
2. Why do you feel that you would be a good member of the choir (list skills and ccharacteristics).
Many of the answers are very simple: I love to sing, I sing at church, my mom can help me learn the songs, etc. But this one I thought took the cake (so far):
To the first question the child answered: I think I can sing very good. I also have very good memory becuase I memorized "Holiday" "St. Jimmy", and "Homecoming" by Greenday.
I give this child props not only for not listening to rap or some other crap that I hear from the kids every day, but for correctly using quotation marks and sentance structure. Even though "rock music is easiest for [him] to memorize" I think he will be a good addition to the choir.
Another application response I found particularly entertaining was turned in by a student who is constantly talking, disrupting, and generally off task. TO the second question he answered: " I can tune out distractions. I try to be quiet and I try to use my best singing voice". I'll beleive it when I see it.
Happy Monday all!
1.06.2006
Santa is the Godfather?!
One of my favorite new podcasts is The Seanachai . The name of the podcast refers to Irish storytellers who would travel the countryside regaling the pub-goers with all manner of tall tales. Recently this podcast did a 4 part series on the podcaster's "war with Santa". In this series of very intelligent short stories it detailed Santa as a Godfather type character trying to destroy the Seanachai podcaster before he posted his Christmas podcast. If you have never listened to a podcast before this is a good way to start. These are short very well produced stories. In fact I am listening to the very last episode right now...wait, did he just say that this is the last episode of the Seanachai??!?!? Yes he did! Crap. I just told you all about it and now there won't be any new episodes. But there is a bright side: another one of his small series on the seanachai podcast was "How to succeed in evil" and he is making that into a standalone podcast. I'll have to check this one out and let you know how it is. For now, listen to the Seanachai as it is hilarious and I will check out the new one.
1.05.2006
Fun with Facial hair
okay, so far I have underwhelming support for the growth of hair on my face (not to mention that this picture really is terrible...what is with my hair?). All day long I hear kids saying that I don't look good and that I should shave. Does wonders for the old self-esteem. So, let's have a vote...whaddyall think?
1.04.2006
My Schedule & Woes of a church Musician Pt. 2
Ever wonder why I don't email all day? Well folks here's my dirty secret. I know I complain a lot about my schedule being hellish but it's really not that bad (except for day 4 where I go almost straight from noon to 4). So right now today, it's Day 2 and I am in the middle of the biggest prep time I have all week: one whole hour attached to my lunch of 30 minutes! I figure that I'm justified for taking this time for myslef since I came in early and wrote a couple of lesson plans and then found out these classes were behind a lesson due to programs before xmas time. So, basically I came in early for no reason. On the bright side, I'm being entertained by emails from Marie and her...um...coworker (wink wink).
Now, who can tell me what to do at bell tonight? Monday night I finally got an email from the Pastor at my church saying that I was only allowed to spend $300 on music. I had quoted him $700 for the rest of the year. So I placed my meager order for 2 songs for each of the choirs and had a good cry. Not only do I not have enough music for the year, but I don't have it at all for reherasals tonight!!! How can I be expected to play once a month in church with such a small library of songs. There is no way that this is going to happen. So until I get the rest of the allotment approved I am going to have to plan to play once every other month. Plus, he told me that all funding should be brought to the music committee. This seems rather confusing as he told me when I started that all funding requests need to be approved by him. So now what?!
Now, who can tell me what to do at bell tonight? Monday night I finally got an email from the Pastor at my church saying that I was only allowed to spend $300 on music. I had quoted him $700 for the rest of the year. So I placed my meager order for 2 songs for each of the choirs and had a good cry. Not only do I not have enough music for the year, but I don't have it at all for reherasals tonight!!! How can I be expected to play once a month in church with such a small library of songs. There is no way that this is going to happen. So until I get the rest of the allotment approved I am going to have to plan to play once every other month. Plus, he told me that all funding should be brought to the music committee. This seems rather confusing as he told me when I started that all funding requests need to be approved by him. So now what?!
1.03.2006
Am I still here?
So I came in early this morning with every intention of getting things organized and ready to go. I am so scatterbrained this mroning that I can barely function. Plus I have an enormous headache that has plagued me since I woke up this morning. Perhaps it's a delayed hangover from the crazy weekend I had.
I hate days like this...where I feel that the lessons I have written are total crap and have no academic value or musical relevence to my scope and sequence. It just makes me feel so disorganzied and unprepared.
Ug...hopefully once the kids shwo up, I will be a bit more alive.
Pearhaps then too, Iw ill be ablet o form cohereent blog enteries and not ramble on like an idiot.
I hate days like this...where I feel that the lessons I have written are total crap and have no academic value or musical relevence to my scope and sequence. It just makes me feel so disorganzied and unprepared.
Ug...hopefully once the kids shwo up, I will be a bit more alive.
Pearhaps then too, Iw ill be ablet o form cohereent blog enteries and not ramble on like an idiot.
1.01.2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)