I do my best blogging in the PM's.
HEY YOU.
....
Pay attention to me.
I am a master at drawing attention. Bing bang boom.
I do my best blogging in the PM's. That's when my thoughts run rampant and are usually never coherent. Which, duh, makes for the best blogs.
I felt the urge to blog today because it was a momentous day in the history of this little thing we call Earth. (H'okay. So....)
First of all, it was Veteran's Day. Now, I've never gone out of my way to celebrate this holiday except by keeping in mind what all of our Vets have done for this country. But today I got to do a little celebrating by doing what I do best: sangin'. I sang the National Anthem at the UWGB men's basketball game.
My parents, as season ticket holders for the women's basketball season, have always told me that I need to get out on the court and sing the National Anthem, but I never knew how to go about it, how to get my name on whatever list that may exist for it, who to talk to about singing it.
Until this year!
Someone e-mailed me, saying that he had gotten my name from a member of the music faculty.
So I guess that's how you go about singing the National Anthem at a basketball game. Recommendation?
Actually singing at the game was pretty fun. Aside from the worrying about what key to sing in as to not wind up screeching in your high range by the end of the song, and once your find your key, whether or not you will be able to stay in that same key throughout the song, it was not nerve-wracking in the least! I was briefed very...briefly on where to stand. Literally, the announcer-guy was starting to introduce me as the coordinator was telling me where to stand and where to face.
Once I reached the center-line and stood where I figured was just about center, the lights in the arena dimmed, and a single spot shone down on me. It seemed that I was a little bit out of the light of the spot, so I moved to be in the center of it. I was startled when it moved with me. Being a theatre major, I just assumed that light was fixed to shine on center court. But it was a follow spot. I laughed a little on the inside. Anyway. Stupid story.
So, I sang, I picked a good key, and stayed in that same key throughout, and even belted notes I wasn't planning on belting. It's funny that actually getting on a microphone and singing changes the way I perform entirely. Like I can practice a song one way, and practice it that way for weeks, and do it the same way every single time, but once I get on stage and hear my voice amplified, it's like the microphone gives my vocal cords super powers, and I make a lot of bold choices on the spot. Which, in the case of singing in front of a thousand people, isn't necessarily always a good thing. Luckily for me, though, tonight, it worked out quite well.
One quick word on the "Star Spangled Banner": I fully believe in singing it straight. Meaning, no riffs, no ad-libbed notes, no running your voice up and down and up and down and all over the place, just to show people that you can sing. And in most cases, when people do sing it that way, they wind up sucking, so it backfires on them anyway. This is our nation's song. We're taught to sing it as children. We are taught to sing it proudly. So I believe it should be sung simply. Don't try to "make it your own," don't add any foofy, fluffy, fancy stuff. Save that shit for pop music. (I'm looking at you, Christina Aguilera.)
Today was also 11/11/11. I'm not even sure why 11:11 is such an important time. I know you're supposed to make wishes and all that fuzz, but why? Because it's the only time in the 24-hour day that is all the same number? Hm. I think I just figured that one out on my own. Woo, and hoo.
I make wishes. I always have. I don't know why, because I don't think one of my wishes has ever come true. And I don't even make far-fetched wishes, like "I wish for a pink polka-dotted pony named Larry," or "I want it to rain cupcakes today." I usually wish for simple things. I shall not name them here, because then they won't come true. Nice try, though.
So I set my alarm for 11:11AM today so that my phone would vibrate during class and I could close my eyes and make my wish. But then, I started to freak out about what to wish for. This only happens twice in your lifetime, I can't waste it on something petty, something small. I wanted to make the most epic wish I could fathom, yet a wish that was within reach.
But this is me we're talking about. So I set my alarm, and I placed my phone in my sweatshirt pocket, and then an hour later proceeded to take my sweatshirt off and placed it on the floor next to where I was standing. Smooth move. Luckily, someone in class shouted, "It's 11:11!" at... 11:11. So I closed my eyes and made my wish.
I don't particularly believe that it will come true, but it sure would be wonderful if it did.
My 11:11PM wish was less far-fetched, and more short-term wish than a long-timey, way-in-the-future type wish.
I don't really believe in wishes coming true, and yet, I still make wishes.
I used to close my eyes, hold my breath and make a wish every time I went under Tower Drive Bridge. I don't really remember why, but I remember how that started. I was riding in a van with my friends, going to a skating rink or something awesome like that when I was in first or second grade, and one of the girls shouted to another to close her eyes and hold her breath and make a wish. There was probably some addition about a curse that would come upon her if she didn't, but I'm just going to keep surprising that from my memory. Sometimes I still make a wish under Tower Drive (though, for safety issues, now that I am the one driving, I don't close my eyes).
I wish on every shooting star I see. Granted, I don't see many, but one time I woke up with my family at 4AM to watch a meteor shower, and I wished upon every single one I watched shoot across the sky as I lay on the cold ground, wrapped up in my blanket.
And now, I am in bed, waiting for sleep to catch up to me, sort of wishing I had someone to lie next to, but my plethora of stuffed animals (JUDGE ME, I DON'T CARE) will have to suffice.
My eyelids have just informed me that they'd like to shut now. Gots ta work in the morning times.
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Loves yooou.
Molly
....
Pay attention to me.
I am a master at drawing attention. Bing bang boom.
I do my best blogging in the PM's. That's when my thoughts run rampant and are usually never coherent. Which, duh, makes for the best blogs.
I felt the urge to blog today because it was a momentous day in the history of this little thing we call Earth. (H'okay. So....)
First of all, it was Veteran's Day. Now, I've never gone out of my way to celebrate this holiday except by keeping in mind what all of our Vets have done for this country. But today I got to do a little celebrating by doing what I do best: sangin'. I sang the National Anthem at the UWGB men's basketball game.
My parents, as season ticket holders for the women's basketball season, have always told me that I need to get out on the court and sing the National Anthem, but I never knew how to go about it, how to get my name on whatever list that may exist for it, who to talk to about singing it.
Until this year!
Someone e-mailed me, saying that he had gotten my name from a member of the music faculty.
So I guess that's how you go about singing the National Anthem at a basketball game. Recommendation?
Actually singing at the game was pretty fun. Aside from the worrying about what key to sing in as to not wind up screeching in your high range by the end of the song, and once your find your key, whether or not you will be able to stay in that same key throughout the song, it was not nerve-wracking in the least! I was briefed very...briefly on where to stand. Literally, the announcer-guy was starting to introduce me as the coordinator was telling me where to stand and where to face.
Once I reached the center-line and stood where I figured was just about center, the lights in the arena dimmed, and a single spot shone down on me. It seemed that I was a little bit out of the light of the spot, so I moved to be in the center of it. I was startled when it moved with me. Being a theatre major, I just assumed that light was fixed to shine on center court. But it was a follow spot. I laughed a little on the inside. Anyway. Stupid story.
So, I sang, I picked a good key, and stayed in that same key throughout, and even belted notes I wasn't planning on belting. It's funny that actually getting on a microphone and singing changes the way I perform entirely. Like I can practice a song one way, and practice it that way for weeks, and do it the same way every single time, but once I get on stage and hear my voice amplified, it's like the microphone gives my vocal cords super powers, and I make a lot of bold choices on the spot. Which, in the case of singing in front of a thousand people, isn't necessarily always a good thing. Luckily for me, though, tonight, it worked out quite well.
One quick word on the "Star Spangled Banner": I fully believe in singing it straight. Meaning, no riffs, no ad-libbed notes, no running your voice up and down and up and down and all over the place, just to show people that you can sing. And in most cases, when people do sing it that way, they wind up sucking, so it backfires on them anyway. This is our nation's song. We're taught to sing it as children. We are taught to sing it proudly. So I believe it should be sung simply. Don't try to "make it your own," don't add any foofy, fluffy, fancy stuff. Save that shit for pop music. (I'm looking at you, Christina Aguilera.)
Today was also 11/11/11. I'm not even sure why 11:11 is such an important time. I know you're supposed to make wishes and all that fuzz, but why? Because it's the only time in the 24-hour day that is all the same number? Hm. I think I just figured that one out on my own. Woo, and hoo.
I make wishes. I always have. I don't know why, because I don't think one of my wishes has ever come true. And I don't even make far-fetched wishes, like "I wish for a pink polka-dotted pony named Larry," or "I want it to rain cupcakes today." I usually wish for simple things. I shall not name them here, because then they won't come true. Nice try, though.
So I set my alarm for 11:11AM today so that my phone would vibrate during class and I could close my eyes and make my wish. But then, I started to freak out about what to wish for. This only happens twice in your lifetime, I can't waste it on something petty, something small. I wanted to make the most epic wish I could fathom, yet a wish that was within reach.
But this is me we're talking about. So I set my alarm, and I placed my phone in my sweatshirt pocket, and then an hour later proceeded to take my sweatshirt off and placed it on the floor next to where I was standing. Smooth move. Luckily, someone in class shouted, "It's 11:11!" at... 11:11. So I closed my eyes and made my wish.
I don't particularly believe that it will come true, but it sure would be wonderful if it did.
My 11:11PM wish was less far-fetched, and more short-term wish than a long-timey, way-in-the-future type wish.
I don't really believe in wishes coming true, and yet, I still make wishes.
I used to close my eyes, hold my breath and make a wish every time I went under Tower Drive Bridge. I don't really remember why, but I remember how that started. I was riding in a van with my friends, going to a skating rink or something awesome like that when I was in first or second grade, and one of the girls shouted to another to close her eyes and hold her breath and make a wish. There was probably some addition about a curse that would come upon her if she didn't, but I'm just going to keep surprising that from my memory. Sometimes I still make a wish under Tower Drive (though, for safety issues, now that I am the one driving, I don't close my eyes).
I wish on every shooting star I see. Granted, I don't see many, but one time I woke up with my family at 4AM to watch a meteor shower, and I wished upon every single one I watched shoot across the sky as I lay on the cold ground, wrapped up in my blanket.
And now, I am in bed, waiting for sleep to catch up to me, sort of wishing I had someone to lie next to, but my plethora of stuffed animals (JUDGE ME, I DON'T CARE) will have to suffice.
My eyelids have just informed me that they'd like to shut now. Gots ta work in the morning times.
Y'all come back now, y'hear?
Loves yooou.
Molly
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