Things That Piss Me Off: Attack Ads

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm a political junkie.

I love presidential elections. I love gubernatorial elections. I care about pretty much every office...except the Water Authority. I'm still not entirely sure what they do. But with politics comes a considerable amount of lashing out. Politicians have claws, on both sides. But this time, the Republican party's candidate for Georgia Governor John Oxendine has gone too far. Here's a Macon.com article that details Oxendine's attack on Handel: Macon.com-- Oxendine's Attack Ad

In a recent ad, Oxendine attacks Republican Karen Handel, accusing her of being a "liberal democrat." Where I live, that's considered an insult, and at this point, I'm no longer offended by it. What I am offended by, however, is how Oxendine demonises Handel for supporting equal benefits for domestic partnerships.

I don't care if you're liberal or conservative, pro gay marriage or against it. It doesn't matter. Homosexuals are people, and they deserve--no, they are required to have--equal rights. As most of you know, gay marriage is illegal in Georgia. Fine, conservatives, you can keep your terms. But don't you DARE tell me that gay people don't have the same rights as straight people.

Just like during the civil rights era, separate is not equal. And right now, Georgia is not only dealing with an issue of separate laws and separate rights; we're dealing with unequal and unconstitutional circumstances.

Okay. I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.

1776: Twelve Angry Men, Colonial Edition

So I'm officially a freelance musician.

I am playing in Theatre Macon's production of 1776 as Reed III: Oboe, English Horn (transposed to oboe), and Clarinet. I'm also getting paid for it. If you do the math, it's actually a little under minimum wage...but I'm getting paid. To do something I love. This is excellent!

The first night went off with only two minor disasters on my end. First, the cork on the top joint of my clarinet came off, and unsurprisingly, this makes the clarinet STOP WORKING. In the least legitimate fix of all time, it is currently attached with Elmer's Glue until I can take it into the shop to get it fixed. Second, my shoe and the side of the stage got into a fight. Guess who won? Hint: not me. I hit the side of my knee--the muscle that holds on the kneecap--on the corner of the stage. After limping to the kitchen, I iced my knee for Act Two. Luckily, today I can walk on it with little pain. Stairs, however, are another story.

Well, it wouldn't be theatre if something disastrous didn't happen.

The music for the show is FANTASTIC. The more I hear it, the more I love it. There are many parts in the show that, on first read, come off as "wait, does he really want that?" But the way the pit supports the vocalists and some of these chord progressions...so beautiful, despite horrendous amounts of flats. I wish I could describe the incredible rush I get from performance in general, but there's something about pit...it's thrilling, being a part of a show...having such an important role as both an accompanist and a soloist. It's such a great high.

In other news, I am making a new blog, Birthmother in the Back Room. Those of you who know me know that I'm adopted. For nineteen years of my life, I had no contact with the woman who carried me...until today. I'm meeting her in early August, and today I got the chance to talk to her on the phone. It's strange and wonderful and overwhelming and definitely one of those things that people like to call "a journey" or some other cheesy thing like that. This blog is for the benefit of me making sense of my brain.

Things I Learned from SIMF:

So I spent three weeks in Bryn Mawr, PA at the Strings International Music Festival. Yes, I know I'm an oboist, but they needed me for chamber music. It was lots of fun. I ended up befriending a lot of string players and participating in an excellent trio (of woodwinds! Go figure!).

There was also a great amount of ridiculosity that ensued from this festival, such as taking a friend to the emergency room and then going clubbing, hanging out on rooftops, a Gay Council meeting that lasted until 4am, and salsa dancers invading my room. And hanging a pirate flag from the great hall.

Without further ado, Things I Learned from SIMF:
1. An accompanist can make or break a performance.
2. Think less. Feel more.
3. Lose your ego and you'll lose the nerves.
4. Being on top of someone's shoulders who is standing on top of a bass stool while trying to dodge campus security is TERRIFYING.
5. It is possible to throw pants onto one's body.
6. If you're up at 5:30 and have to wake up at 7 to catch your plane, it's best just to not sleep.
7. Three weeks of rehearsals and seminars and practice without weekends will make one a) insane, and b) coffee dependent.
8. Trains are a MUCH better way of transportation than buses.
9. Check to see if the club you're going to is 18+ or 21+ BEFORE you go there.
10. Sometimes, you just need a new shoulder rest for your flute.
11. Sometimes, friends are more important than practicing.
12. It is possible for a dining hall to screw up peanut butter.
13. Sometimes, it's not your reedmaking ability.
14. Most of the time, it is.
15. People *will* listen to you practice. Practice as if someone's listening.
16. 13 blocks in Philadelphia heat is a LONG WAY.
17. If you want something to happen...you have to make it happen.
18. Madness? This is CHAMBER MUSIC!
19. Singing RENT loudly in public places will make people stare at you, as if this wasn't obvious.
20. 90s music is good for singing on buses.
21. BRING SUNGLASSES TO OUTDOOR CONCERTS.
22. Madness happens, and it's awesome.

Here's to all of my crazy-awesome friends from SIMF: Ello, Addie, Patrick, Ilya, Chris, Alex, Nina, Paula...heck, everyone!

Revelation

Yeah, it's my second post within an hour. But.

I realised today that I am both a music major and a person. I realised today that I'd forgotten about that whole "person" thing during the school year. I also realised that I'm totally okay with that. This makes me:
a) totally insane, and
b) entirely a music major.

I also realised today that I (hopefully) get to play music. For a living. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!

Nerdfest 2010: The battle of Rachel vs. Wireless Internet Charges

Earlier this week, I attended the AccessData Techno Security conference in Myrtle Beach, SC. I'd like to take this moment to subtitle this event "Nerds on the Beach."

Unfortunately, my father was attending the conference and I was not, and therefore I did not get to hear the one speaker who analysed all 2500 computers from this little trial you may know of called the Bernie Maydoff trial. In fourteen days. And within two days, he had enough evidence to convict. I did, however, get to see R2D2, my personal counterpart.



On this trip, I also discovered that, despite staying at a resort, wireless internet is not free. My first thought was "well, I'll use another network that isn't the hotel's." Brilliant idea? Nope. My second thought was "GOGO GADGET: iPHONE!" I was going to tether. I was going to iPwn the shit out of paying for internet (pardon the pun).

The Challenge: Tether iPhone to MacBook WITHOUT jailbreaking.

It took two days and almost three hours of trial and error, and I ended up with...error. My first method of action was to update the carrier settings on my phone from my laptop, which would allow tethering. I went around the beach with a flash drive in my pocket, aiming to gather the carrier files at the business centre. In a brilliant fail of thriftiness, the hotel charged for business centre access as well as wireless. After eventually commandeering the files from a Starbucks, I tried to update my phone.

Thanks, Apple, for updating iTunes and OS 3.0.1 so that I can't get those files onto my phone.

So then I tried installing two profiles that would supposedly allow internet tethering. I'll spare you the details, but after about three hours I went to bed with a low battery and a high level of frustration.

The next day, my father came back to the room from his lectures. The last one had been Computer Forensics On A Mac. In the Q&A session at the end, one patron asked about internet tethering.

Turns out it's AT&T's fault. No tethering of the iPhone currently works.

So OTHER than checking to see if something will work BEFORE delving into problem-solving, I maintain one statement as an absolute moral opinion:

I refuse to pay for wireless internet at a place where I am paying for a good or service. I will use my phone. I will proxy around it (also unsuccessful, by the way). I will tether (if that ever gets back to working). Who's with me?

Stand strong for what you believe, folks.

Things I Learned This Week

So I've decided to do a semi-weekly recap of what I've learned, since I'm stubborn and have to learn everything the hard way. Also, I'm a compulsive list-maker. This seems to be the perfect match.

1. In Java, it takes one hell of a lot of code just for the compiler to output "Hello, World!"
2. If a recipe ever says "fill the muffin cups all the way up," IT IS LYING. Your muffins will look like Vesuvius. This isn't a problem, but it makes your baking experiment that much more combustible.
3. There is a BIG difference between "target heart rate" and "maximum heart rate." Don't mistake these, or the crossramp trainer will try to kill you.
4. Plastic bag anywhere near frying pan = very, very bad idea.
5. I cannot leave Barnes and Noble with only one book, no matter how hard I try.

Alright. That's it. For more life lessons...tune in? Eh. This will not be a list blog. Real post shall be coming soon.

Things I Learned Freshman Year of College

Freshman year of college is over, and I honestly think I've learned more in these nine months than I have in the entire 19 years I've spent on this (at the moment, freakishly hot) planet. Here are the lessons I've learned about love, life, and music:

1. I didn't know how to play the oboe
2. There is a difference between 17 degrees and -2. It does not all fall under one category of "really effing cold." -2 requires more modifiers.
3. After a while, your friend group starts to act like a family.
4. You can't be everyone's mother.
5. Converse are not suitable winter attire.
6. There is a such thing as a "fall jacket," and it's heavier than you'd think.
7. Case humidifiers are not just a good thing; they're a way of life.
8. When you find true friends, you know it automatically.
9. Listen to all nine of Beethoven's symphonies all the way through at least once before you die.
10. Breathe.
11. Practicing to the exclusion of bodily needs (going to the bathroom, eating, etc.) is not a good thing, though is sometimes unintentional.
12. Go outside. Take a break. Do something else. Clear your head.
13. The people who piss you off gain power over you only if you let them.
14. Being obscenely nice to these people is almost the only way to deal with them.
15. That being said, don't take shit if you're being given it.
16. Sometimes your oboe teacher will mother you. She usually has good advice.
17. Sleep is a luxury. Get it when you can.
18. All-nighters writing code are a really, really bad idea.
19. More than three consecutive hours of writing code at a time will make you batshit insane.
20. Same goes for practicing.
21. If it's getting worse and you're getting frustrated, leave the practice room.
22. There are non music majors at college, but you never see them.
23. This might be because you never leave the music school.
24. Take an outside course every semester. This will make you leave the music school at least once a day, which is good for your sanity.
25. It's okay to take a day off.
26. How you're feeling affects the people around you. Be kind to them.
27. Eventually, you will expect your roommate to show up in your baby pictures.
28. Anything that involves drinking an entire pot of coffee is a bad idea.
29. Joining a professional fraternity will teach you how to professionally stalk people.
30. There's no shortage of two things: bad music jokes and ways the internet can further corrupt your mind.
31. There is a world outside of the music school. It does not understand the extent of a music major. This does not mean they are lesser humans.
32. Not everyone understands concert etiquette.
33. The freshman fifteen is real, unless of course you live half a mile uphill from the music building.
34. People change. They're not going to stay the same as they were in high school.
35. You'll change too.
36. Don't be too proud to ask for help, from students, professors, even a counselor if you need one.
37. There are a hundred people like you at college. Befriend them. But keep your individual identity.
38. Cake batter does, in fact, burn if you spill large amounts of it in the bottom of an oven. This could lead to your dorm catching on fire. Panicking does not help this at all.
39. Exercise, while taking time out of your day, will make you feel better and less stressed.
40. Dorms are loud, no matter what.
41. The nightly running of the sluts happens, even on weeknights.
42. Make as many Hitchhiker's Guide references as you can.
43. Relationships are good, but don't stress out over making one happen. It'll come.
44. That being said, you do, in fact, have to say something if you want it to happen.
45. Three words: challah french toast.
46. After spending all day analysing music, it's okay to listen to mindless pop. In fact, you'll probably appreciate it more.
47. Being pretentious doesn't make you seem smart; it makes you seem like an asshole.
48. Give friends the help you can, but you can't make them accept it.
49. Go on walks.
50. When debugging code, a) Firefox has a debug console, and b) it's usually something obvious.
51. Snow fights will hurt the next day, but are violently fun. They often conclude in sodden pants.
52. Apparently, 18 inches of snow is not grounds for not having class the next day :P
53. Ice is slippery, and it is not to be messed with.
54. Insomnia Cookies takes FOREVER.
55. It takes an hour by bus to go where you could get in 20 minutes by car.
56. You often have the most fun when wandering around without a plan.
57. Remember your ID.
58. Just because you have a reed today doesn't mean it'll work tomorrow.
59. Even if you're just over five feet tall, you can still hit your head on the beam of your lofted bed.
60. Seriously, take out the trash. And vacuum.
61. Live. Make mistakes. It's only these four years when you can use the excuse "I was dumb. I was in college." That being said, don't drive drunk or have unprotected sex.
62. If you don't like what you're doing, you're in the wrong field. Remember every day why you love music.

Alright. That's about it for tonight. I think I'm going to make a weekly list of my mishaps and lessons learned the hard way. Any thoughts?