harpojaeger.com

I am solidifying plans for my eighteenth birthday.  Here is a list of things I am intending to do, in no particular order:

• Go skydiving
• Open a Roth IRA, and potentially a separate investment account
• Register to vote

I called JumpTown in Orange this evening, and confirmed that part of the plan.  It will cost me $205 to jump as a student, and I will require a twenty to thirty minute training session before going up tandem with an instructor.  I suppose I am thus going to take the day off from school in order to get all of this stuff done.  Also, 5-Alone has our big show at the Iron Horse that evening, so it will be a busy day.

This was a fabulous show.  Brett Dennen is sort of like David Byrne crossed with Ted Hawkins.  Also, his guitarist is from Chicopee.

The show was a mix of more pop-ish music and a sort of very heavily salsa-influenced strain, which I really liked.  Brett’s voice seemed suited to both; he was able to pull of the pop stuff and still maintain musical respectability (which can be difficult), and he could also switch to the more melodic feel of the salsa.  Lead vocals for salsa have a unique quality in that they always sound as though they are falling.  The voice sort of takes up a space and then gently falls out of it.  It is a very graceful sound, and one that not many artists can create.  Both the band and Brett were really good at this.

The opener, Angel Taylor, was awesome.  She had a two-track EP for free, so I snagged a copy, and it is great.  And I singed up for her mailing list so I got a free MP3 of another track, which is also excellent.

Another thing that is excellent is sleep.  And the word “promulgate”.

I ended up not going to New York this morning, so I am home for the day.  I think I will see if I am needed at work, which opens at noon today, and I am planning to go see Brett Dennen this evening.

We won!  WAHOO!

I didn’t get home until about eleven last night, and I have been getting sicker and sicker since yesterday morning.  I only got out of bed about forty-five minutes ago.  Today I am going to be catching up on my independent study work, which I have greatly neglected in recent months.  After that, I will be going to Costco to get new glasses.  When I return, I will do more homework.

No rest for the weary.

Also, this is the best headline ever.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7853564.stm

What an exhausting week.  We have been working very hard at school, and combined with the fact that I’m getting very little physical exercise in the winter, I have been both physically and mentally worn-out.  It will be good to have a calming night tonight.

Tomorrow I will be in Boston all day at the Berklee High School Jazz competition.  This will be a ton of fun, especially if we win.  It will be fun even if we don’t, though; we will get to see a ton of really good music, and generally have an exciting time.

I have been working on a really cool piece of code that I hope to finish soon.  When I do, I am going to put it up in the Projects section.  It is based on software that I saw demonstrated at Olin College of Engineering when I toured there.  I will say no more until it is finished, but it is really awesome.

Tonight I am going to Northampton’s First Night celebration.  My friends from the NHC Summer Institute are all here in full force for our annual Recodion.  At the moment we are hanging out, and we will be heading downtown soon; I am performing at 3:00 and need to be there at 2:00.  It is snowing like crazy.  Six to ten inches by the end of the night.  It is going to be an excellent New Year’s.

I have maintained total radio silence for the past four days or so due to a variety of reasons. Some involve Brown, some do not. I will begin with those that do. The long and short of it (as I don’t really have more information at the moment) is that I have been admitted to Brown University. As I applied using the binding Early Decision program, and I have received a legitimate amount of financial aid, I will be matriculating there this fall. I am incredibly relieved to be done with this process, and very excited to start school.
This rather momentous news is, believe it or not, not the main reason for my preoccupation these last few days. I’ve been simultaneously performing in and running sound for our school’s annual Holiday Show, a music showcase which is usually thrown together at the last minute. This year was no exception, and as Mitch (the director of the music department, who is responsible for this show) was out of school a lot for the past month or so, due to a death in the family, the show was even more last-minute than usual. We really pulled it together, and there was even a group that dedicated a song to Mitch, and another teacher, Rahul, whose mother had passed away. They played Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven”, which was wonderful. It was a fabulous show all around, and I had my hands full between performing with 5-Alone and doing a Matisyahu song with some friends (King Without a Crown). Last night I didn’t get home until about eleven because I was striking.
I think I may take today off of work, as I am starting to cough again, and I have a whole lot of homework to do. Now that college is out of the way, I will be focusing solely on academics; more specifically, regaining the ground I lost during this time-consuming process. I have been a rather bad student for the past few months. No more.

I just got back from the dance show at my school, which was fabulous. The school’s modern, jazz, ballet, and probably some other style that I have forgotten about, troupe, Catalyst, performed a bunch, the African Dance troupe performed, and the hip hop class Urban Connection did a number, as did the Tango / Salsa class (not mine, the other one) and various smaller combos. One of the pieces had live music, played by a friend of mine.
One of the dances started off with a Christina Aguilera song before switching to something, which, although I don’t remember what it was, was a lot better. Before it switched, though, we were unfortunate enough to be subjected to Christina Aguilera scatting. This is not something that anyone should have to endure. Cruel and unusual punishment, say I.
But it was otherwise a great show.

Me and a friend performed all 18 minutes today at open mic. It was fabulous. He played guitar, and I “sang”, if you can call it that. From memory. ZING!

We waited after the show with a small group of other people for about half an hour to get David Byrne’s autograph. When he came out and started signing, we hung back a bit near the end of the line. I was expecting that after people got autographs they would leave, so he would see who was left, but everyone just kind of hung around. So before he got to us, he unceremoniously got on the bus and shut the door. I was astounded, and didn’t even think to say “Wait”. So we didn’t get autographs. Which was incredibly disappointing, because we could have had we spoken up or been more insistent. I was going to have him sign my shirt and my ticket stub. I would have worn the shirt tomorrow and gloated to every single person I saw that David Byrne signed my shirt. It would have been the best day ever.
But no. All for naught.
But it was still a fabulous show.