100th Post! *Band (that you should be in) Plays Fanfare*

(I only technically have 95 published posts, but I have five drafts that will one day be posts, so they count.)

          Yesterday, I had band practice. As most of you know, I play the alto saxophone in my school's band. The school year is technically over, but the entire band, corps of cadets and senior class has to stay until Saturday or Sunday. Graduation is technically on Sunday, but on Saturday we have commissioning and the VWIL change of command parade. In commissioning, from what I understand, the graduating seniors that have been commissioned to the Army, Marine Corps, etc. are recognized. I am not entirely sure if this is true. Feel free to correct me and I will correct myself on Saturday if need be. Change of command speaks for itself.
          In band practice on Wednesday we had fourteen people show up. The full band is slightly larger than that, but not by much. We should be bigger on a campus of 1,000 people. The fact that our numbers are so small is very sad. I love band with all of my heart and I wish that more people participated in it. I started playing when I was in third grade and I have loved band ever since. I know that all of the music nerds who read this are wondering about my views on choir and orchestra. I love choir too. I have never been in orchestra, but from what I have heard it is just as awesome as band and choir. I am mainly pushing band right now, but any music group that you love works too. I say band because it is my favorite, but you can substitute orchestra or choir if you want.
          Band is awesome. First of all, band equals music. You and your friends spend hours making and perfecting music. At the end of a song, right after the conductor cuts you off, if you are lucky, and you listen close, you can here an echo of the last note you just played. The cymbals still ringing and the epic song dying as you listen. It is a fantastic feeling. Second reason band is awesome: social opportunities. I have made wonderful friends in the musical world. Band pushes people together and makes them cooperate. Band is like free friend land. A group of people spend a lot of time together and just from familiarity become great friends. Third reason, satisfaction. I get a lot of satisfaction from band; there is a lot to be gotten. I have been playing for almost six years and the satisfaction at the end of every performance has not decreased. The satisfaction that comes from the applause of your audience is unparalleled. You just sit there as the echo of the song dies and the audience claps and cheers. It is one of the best feelings ever.
          I could go on for hours and hours with pros of band, but I want to address your inevitable cons. The point of this post is to convince you to give band, or chorus, or orchestra a try. I have been trying to convince people to join band for years, so I am very familiar with the excuses people give for not trying band/orchestra/chorus. They say that they do not have enough time, or they will be no good. They can't read music. They can't sing. They don't know how to play an instrument. In response to this I say:

SO?

It does not matter whether you can or can't sing. If you know how to read music. Whether or not you can play an instrument. The learning curve has to start somewhere. You are no good? That is because you haven't tried. Practice more. Give it your all. Band is not my "way of life" per se, but I still love it. I still try to push it on other people. Band is a great way to meet new people, learn new things, relieve stress, and be happy.

          Band is something that I plan on doing my whole life. It is a wonderful hobby. I encourage every single one of you reading this post to go try something. You don't necessarily have to do band, but try something new. I hope you join me in the band, but sometimes you honestly just don't want to. I understand if you do not like music, but please try something else. Join a dance team, a fencing club, a gamer's guild. Try something new. It does not matter whether you are good or not. Do it for the fun and satisfaction that doing it brings. That is why I am in band. I love it. 

Find something that you love.

Love,

Alora

P.S. Sorry I didn't post this yesterday. Tumblr and season finales ate my face.

P.P.S (I am such a child. :P) Also, I edited this one, so any mistakes are on me.

Band T-Shirts and New Uniforms

          Yesterday band let out early and the trads ("traditionals" AKA non-VWILS in this case) headed over to VWIL Supply House for  new uniforms. We got fitted for our dress mess tunics (jackets) and we got our dress mess pants. They are white and brand new, so they haven't been fitted to anyone. Mine are huge on me because the size smaller didn't fit at all, but the seamstress when we take them to get hemmed will take them in. We also got windbreaker pants and jackets. The jacket is the warmest jacket of all time and I can wear it in regular daily life if I want too. Yay. We also got PT uniforms: basketball shorts and VWIL t-shirts. All of this stuff took about an hour to get for the tenish band trads. Band ended at 7 yesterday and I didn't get back to the dorm until 8:30 ish.
         I did get my band t-shirt though!!!!! Picture time!

This is the front of the shirt. Everyone has there last name on theirs, but Brittan didn't want us to have the same shirt so we got initials too.

This is the back of the shirt. In case you can't read it, it says "We Lure You In, We Take You Out!" We are apparently the Sirens.

This is  a close up of the mermaid in the middle.

          I am wearing my shirt today and it is kind of hard to tell in the pictures, but it is navy blue with white lettering and green designs. I love it!

Have a terrific Tuesday.

Love,
Alora

P.S. For those of you who do not know VWIL is the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership. They are basically ROTC. Their marching band is the only one on campus so it is what I am doing. All of the traditionals have to get the uniforms and follow the dress codes for parades or we make the core look bad.

Christmas Parades

Okay so it's only now December and I have done two Christmas parades this week. What is wrong with people? The Staunton Christmas parade was on Monday and the whole VWIL (Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership) core was marching in it. Mind you, Monday and Wednesday are two of my busiest days. I had the parade at 7:00 and then fencing at seven, so I did the parade (luckily we were second) and then changed and ran up to fencing. I got in a good half hour of fencing before I came back to do my but ton of homework. I stayed up late Monday night finishing my lab report.

After the Monday parade the rest of the week went pretty smoothly. I had an interview with a reporter on Wednesday, and I got Brittan's uniform for yesterday's parade. Ugh. I had to leave band an hour early for her because she didn't come because she was too busy studying for chemistry. The same test that I was going to take and yet I went to band. Oh well. She got her uniform and it all worked out.

Side note on the chem test. I think I did AWESOME. It was not half as hard as I thought it would be.

Back to the parades --> So in class on Wednesday we got Jingle Bell Rock and we played it in the parade on Friday. It sounds super cool and the saxes have an awesome part. The parade on Friday was in Lexington, VA, and for it I missed an hour of Dungeons and Dragons. It was super fun though. We played two Christmas songs in a loop and our director Colonel Brodie was finally able to come to one of our parades. We played quite well and we marched awesomely too.

WE GOT FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Band got FIRST PLACE!!!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!! It was so awesome. We have not gotten any awards for our parades this semester and for our very last parade we got FIRST PLACE. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about the core awards three platoons for military performance every parade, and we got FIRST PLACE. If you hadn't noticed I am super excited.

Also this was our last parade of the semester so no more parade shoes until next year. Yayish. Parades are stressful, but fun. People clap for us and smile and cheer us on. It makes me feel very special. On the other hand though it is freaking hard to keep alignment while playing. I have mastered marching in step even through wheel turns, but alignment is hard.

OK well all in all my week has been pretty stressful running from parades to homework and back.

Well I will see you guys next week in Hell Week.

Love,
Alora