Category: The Band Director

Do we always have to have a title?

Goodness, I need to update, don’t I? It’s unlike me to go so many days without writing something.

It’s been a good week. I spent Monday & Tuesday at the Band Hall, taking care of little things that will help next year start smoothly. There are actually a lot of little things to do and I’m a little behind but it’ll all get done when I go back to work next week.

On Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, I spent at Connally High School working with the YEA!/The Cadets Summer Leadership Series camp. I’m not actually on staff but maybe next year, as they expand the number of camps they run, I might be. It was an interview of sorts. Their curriculum is some of the best I’ve seen; and I’ve seen lots of leadership curriculum being taught. The staff consists of people who have either marched or worked with The Cadets and as much as you may dislike George Hopkins, he has an awesome crew running The Cadets. I think I’m going to find a way to either send our leadership or have them do a camp at our school next year.

I was supposed to go to S. Padre Island this weekend with The Millers but I decided that some of my friends really need “girl time” and with this being a “long” holiday weekend, it would be a great time to do just that. Saturday, Cathy & I spent the day trying to get some sun (we played in the pool at her mom & dad’s but got very little sun) and just kickin’ back, not worrying about work. Aside from the fact the sun stayed behind clouds most of the day, it was great! Yesterday, we went to see The Lake House and she did some family stuff since it was her brother’s birthday. I had dinner with my friend Stephanie, who is a banking lawyer so any time to hang out is treasured. I’ve known Steph since we were in high school and we just don’t get enough time together. We’re definitely going to try to get some more girl’s nights in coming up. She, Cathy and I had one early this year and we had so much fun; then got so damn busy we rarely saw each other. That nonsense has got to stop. 😉

Today, Cathy & Steph must work (corporate life must suck like that) but I think we’re going to get together for dinner. If the weather cooperates, I think I’m going to grill but if not, I have a great grill pan I got during my days schlepping Pampered Chef so I’ll just grill indoors. Tomorrow is National America Day. (Is that redundant?) We’ll probably get together and hope for sun, maybe shop a little (still looking for a chair for the living room) and go to watch fireworks somewhere.

It may not be the beach (I was really looking forward to going) but it’s been a perfect weekend so far.

Oh, before I sign off, I must review The Lake House. Without a doubt, it was a “chick flick”. The plot outline from IMDB says:

A lonely doctor (Bullock) who once occupied an unusual lakeside home begins exchanging love letters with its newest resident, a frustrated architect (Reeves). They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it’s too late.

The film is done fairly well and if you’ve seen any commercials for the movie, you’ll know that the two residents are living two years apart. There are parts where they’re writing each other but it’s put in dialog form and I found that a bit annoying (they don’t even have paper near them). I can see that they did it to keep the format from seeming repetative but I think it came across a bit lame. Aside from that, a cute chick flick that made me cry a bit at the end. The scenery is beautiful, too. I’m going to give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

After The Fourth, I have the rest of the week off but I think I’m going to clean house and get the cats bathed. No, I’m not doing it myself. They’ve got a major dander problem right now and I think it’s making me break out. I think it’s because of the mild winter we had. Should be an intersting process. I’ll try to get pictures!

Quick but long trip

Went to Tyler, Tx today to take our drum majors to camp. It was quite a long trip but I have lots of thoughts to share so I’ll have to remember to blog tomorrow. I’m exhausted and we have a music camp tomorrow so I’m going to turn in.

Just for my references:

  • Buffalo, TX
  • Montoya’s spot
  • funny signs on road

    • Counting, T minus 5 Days!

    Well, I close on my house in 5 days. It’s still very frustrating, working “with” this seller. The last few days before closing are certainly very stressful. Lots of making sure all the paperwork is in order and still being unsure of things until the very last minute.

    I’m really glad that I don’t have to move out of my apartment until the end of May. It gives me 2 weeks to get utilities straightened out and purchase a few necesseties – like a fridge! – before I have to move. I may have to hire a mover for the real big stuff but most of it is going to be movable by myself and a few friends, as needed.

    Have I packed yet? Nope. I have no idea why I can’t get my ass in gear over this. I guess the last few uncertainties (hard to spell out what they are, however) and all this becoming a reality at all is really keeping me. Work has been fairly time and energy consuming still so some of it is just needing to rest while I have time at home.

    We had our last concert of the year last night and it went very well. I presented 3 of the 5 ensembles (1 concert, 2 jazz) and all the kids from all the ensembles received high praise. I’m starting to get a bit emotional about this year ending, however. These seniors were freshmen when I started at Stony Point and I have been with them through quite the adventurous past 4 years. I’m really going to miss them since they won’t be around day in and day out. The one thing I guess I really never have to worry about with being a band director is empty nest syndrome!

    Speaking of day in and day out, it’s time for bed. I’m beat.

    Ah, I’m back.

    This weekend, we were on our annual band trip. This year, we were scheduled to go to Florida (Disney, etc.) but because of lack of students who were able to afford the trip (in other words, actually saved when they heard a year ago we were wanting to plan that trip), we changed our plans and went to Dallas instead. It was a great time as I got to hang out with the Senior Trombones (and a few others), whom I started my tenure at SPHS with. Okay Kelly, here are the pictures:
    Midieval Times
    -Yes, that is a virgin drink in my hand.-

    Sorry if I’ve been a bit out of touch lately. Last week was all-contests, all-day, every day. Then, we left for the trip. Now that I’m back, I’ve been working like crazy to play catch up. Hopefully, I’ll be all caught up by Thursday afternoon and this weekend will be relaxing. I’ve got a few things that are “must do’s” for the weekend but they’re fun (for the most part) so no big deal. YAY for a long weekend!!!

    The Results Post

    Well, I’m done with contest!
    end of story.

    Just kidding. 😀

    First, I had a real hard time falling asleep last night. I just couldn’t get the music out of my mind. I turned on the Light Classical station of my Digital Cable service and set the sleep and it worked. I got my band music out of my mind and relaxed enough to fall asleep. Full nights sleep and no wierd dreams – a big blessing the night before the big contest.

    Today was a good day. We all stayed really calm and most everything I had to deal with (not just contest) went really smoothly. In other words, the kids kept all their questions (good ones as well as potentially stupid ones) to themselves (or another director). The Orchestra also got off okay to New York so that always is helpful in keeping a day light in stress. So, rehearsal was fairly easy – I didn’t ask the kids to do too much. We went through the recording of the last rehearsal and procedures of the day and I sent them off to their next class. I took care of a few personal errands and avoided the next band, of whom a lot of kids didn’t realize or care to think about my taking a band to contest so that was also good.

    My kids came back, loaded the truck and I said a few last instructions and away we went. They were so well behaved the entire way and it was fun travelling with them. We joked a bit and kept the energy very light, despite any stress any of us felt. (YAY!!!) Of the entire process, that may have been one of the most difficult parts of the day…no, it wasn’t. That was sightreading.

    We got to Georgetown with no problems only to find that Westlake (coming from way South Austin) had gotten behind a wreck or something on Mopac so we had to wait for them to get there before we could proceed with the contest. The band that was before us but after Westlake decided that they wanted to be nice and wait for Westlake to get there. They had just decided to not wait any longer when guess who pulls up in the parking lot. That kinda sucked – having to “hurry” to get there then sit and wait for 30+ minutes…but again, my kids handled it like champs. It does wear a group down, just waiting, though.

    Finally, we got into the warm up room. We had a fantastic monitor, too. She was cute – kept reminding me to breathe and wishing us luck. We had a very smoothe (and again, well behaved) warm up time. We moved to the concert stage. They got settled nicely and away we went. From where I stood, there were some wonderful parts of pieces that had obviously been their best playing so far. There were also parts that were blips and blemishes that had never happened before but the recovery was beautiful! Coming off the stage, they talked about their blips and blemishes more than their beautiful parts but I think they were really proud of themselves. I know I was and am very proud of them.

    Now, sightreading…it’s a monster of a piece. For about the past 7-10 years, they’ve been using pieces composed just for sightreading because so many bands were coming across pieces that they had seen before (which would negate the term “sightreading”) when they were using pieces published for concert performances. There are specific things composers are asked to incorporate in their work so most pieces follow a very systematic pattern that is fairly easy to predict. Not this one! It was quite a beast and my kids did a good job at following as many things as they could catch along the way. Again, a scary situation survived = a very proud band director.

    So, our scores…
    3 judges in each room.
    Each judge could give us between 1-5, 1 being “Superior”.
    Each judge in each room gave us a 3, which is categorized as “Good”.
    The comments that I’ve read through have pretty much told me what I already know we still need to work on. Do I agree with the number they gave us? Maybe not…for the kids sake…but it’s just a number.
    And, MANY bands were in the same place today; even the ones that usually get better numbers. That’s always reassuring – I’m right in the pack with the “big boys”…or just boys.

    I also talked for quite a bit with my high school band director tonight. He called to find out my results and he said that I certainly am on the right track with the band and to call him for help or a clinic anytime…but book him early in the season. How cool is that? He really is one of the people that I admire and one of the big reasons I decided to become a band director.

    All in all, I’m going to sum up with:
    YAY, I’M DONE!!!!
    Now, end of story. Good night. 🙂