Catch up post

So this is just a catch-up post to let you know what I/we have been up to. Pretty much the whole family has been sick, so we haven't been out and about much this past week, but fortunately most of us have seen the worst of it and are now on the way to recovery. This virus has been particularly nasty, primarily because it means I haven't been able to sing OR play the flute!! In fact, I have lost a whole octave of my vocal range since getting sick!! It was worse for Caitlyn, though - she couldn't even speak until yesterday, after having lost her voice for several days. Like I said, though, we're mostly on the way to recovery now, which is something we can really be thankful for.

About the composition workshop last week, though: it was actually not how I expected it to be at first. At all. It was completely different to the description, but still really good! The most notable difference was that it was all about "orchestration" and not so much about composition. In fact, we only did a little bit of composing in the last 20 minutes of the 3-hour workshop, and that amounted to each group (there were 3 groups) writing 1 bar each, all based on a different chord. The ensemble (which at the time consisted of flute, violin, & cello since the pianist was directing the composition) then played these bars together in a certain chord pattern to create the "tune" which the students had just composed. Given that most of them had never written music before, it actually didn't sound too bad. But the thing I liked most about the whole day was the concert at the end. About two-thirds of the concert were pieces composed by the man who was directing the workshop - it was amazing to hear some original compositions after spending a day learning about them. Other works were a piano trio by Debussy and a piccolo suite by Schocker, a contemporary American flautist and composer. The piccolo/flute player was amazing!!! I got to speak to her, which was excellent, because she told me all about what it's like studying music at ANU, what the flute classes are like, all about the teachers, and all the interesting sort of things I really wanted to know! The musicians were incredibly friendly and helpful, and the whole thing would have been worth it if only to get to know them. The pianist had the funniest sense of humor, and had everyone in stitches the whole time!! In a word, the day was inspirational.

Today I got to revisit all the rabbits I sold a couple of weeks ago because they were due for their vaccinations. It's so nice to be able to see them again, check up on how they're doing, and see how much they've changed. Not to mention I've always loved giving rabbits vaccinations (except for that first time when Peter's skin was really tough and I couldn't jab the needle into him...).

Other interesting things that have happened to me this week are listed below in no particular order:

• I finally found out what this "MLIA" thing is that everyone is talking about. It is THE easiest way to waste a whole lot of time without getting anything done at all. Take my advince, and don't ever get started on MLIA.
• I found my latest favourite song! I LOVE this song so much. That's why I put it on this blog post - so that the rest of the world can benefit from hearing it too. It's called "You know better than I" from the movie Joseph the Dreamer, which is the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt.
• This afternoon I discovered that I had the ability to bring laughing fits upon myself at will. I had lots of fun until the others made me stop.
• I got my very own DVD of The Phantom of the Opera!!! Best present EVER!
• I was walking outside today and suddenly found something stuck in my throat. I think it was a fly, because I could feel it moving. I couldn't cough it back out, so I swallowed it. The cool thing was (other than the fact that I can now say I've swallowed a fly) I discovered I could actually sing for the first time all week! And reasonably well at that!! That fly made my day. Must keep it in mind for next time I lose my voice... 
•  I brought the Clavinova back into my room! It didn't end up going to Newcastle after all... instead it just sat in the garage, and I was here wishing we could rearrange our room to make it fit again. We didn't, but I brought it in anyway. At the moment it's just dumped in front of my bed which is slightly inconvenient, but a huge improvement on not being there at all.

Can't think of anything else to say now, so I shall sign off. Have a great week!