October 2016 Notes

My mom found some old clothes in her closet. I wore her silk top with a wool jacket over it. I really liked the outfit!

The new additions to the family are Romeo and Juliet. Romeo has the fat and fuzzy leaves dotted with brown, while Juliet is the one with flat leaves and wavy and red edges. I am very happy with them!

Boo!

This is my new favorite candy store in my vicinity!

My mom and I crushed raspberries in a cup and added some sparkling water and honey to make this nighttime drink!

Argh! I want to steal your candy!

Music Vault Academy Halloween Party

At this time of the year, Halloween is preceded by a concomitant event: the Music Vault Academy Halloween party. People ensconce themselves in the audience section, basking in the Halloween-themed performances that talented musicians put forth after a month of practice. There are also snacks, drinks, and a photo booth for our pleasure. This year is the first that I performed for the Halloween party. It is also the first that I performed in a piano ensemble. I wanted to try something new, like matching other people's tempos with mine to beget an unified ocean of sound that I could not create alone. Nevertheless, despite practicing with vigor and anticipating the joint production, I was extremely nervous. After all, I had only performed twice on stage during the year that I had been at Music Vault Academy, the second time having ended badly.

I arrived early to practice with my group in my pirate costume. We were going to play the theme song for The Phantom of the Opera. My friend adored that story. She could tell me all the different variations and versions of the story, and she spent two weeks last year going through the 2004 one whenever she got the chance to at school. We had three piano players not including me, and an oboe player who joined in our practices two weeks ago. We went fifth in the program, and in my opnion, we performed fairly well. There was one part where I felt everyone lost their places, because the music produced sounded awkward and off, but we got back together soon later. Unfortunately, I lost my place for a while, in the spots where I only most recently got good at, so the volume deflated for measures. In the end, I still feel bad about my failures, but the applause we received made me forget about them for a bit. I still had tried my best and overall, it was a pleasant performance that people enjoyed. I liked working in a group, so I will most likely do this again in the future.

A band called the Monday Night Band performed last, after the Thriller group. They did four songs, which I really enjoyed. The singer was a particularly great singer, with a clarion voice. It was a fun night.

Report: Halloween Is Coming Soon

It feels like only days ago when I first decided to start gathering elements for my pirate costume. I already had a hat that I wanted to wear, pirate-like albeit pink, and boots that my mom might or might not have. Now, Halloween is days away, with a piano ensemble at my music school's Halloween party on Saturday that I am dressing up for too, and I need to get my outfit together. Tomorrow, I plan on making my eye patch. The poet shirt that I ordered was, unfortunately, a disaster. I was disappointed at the low quality MajesticVelvets produced. After seeing their velvet dresses, I expected scrupulous, clean work. Two days ago, I received an extremely simple, muslin shirt with unfinished edges and sloppy sewing. It has the texture of a potato sack. It is expensive for such handiwork. Although my mom tried to cheer me up, I still feel awful for wasting $35 (with a coupon deduction) on it.

Despite its shortcomings, I have some time to modify the poet shirt in case it looks odd when paired with the rest of my costume. I can even embellish it with an array of colors, though that might make my whole appearance the more bizarre, ha-ha.

The worst thing that happened tonight was my phone's cable port malfunctioned. I dropped it in chicken soup. Then, I thought the only two things I could be depressed about were the oily condition of my phone and my delicious, now-contaminated chicken soup that I could no longer drink. After cleaning the surface of my phone, a notification popped up on my screen, saying that either the cable port or the accessory port were no longer functioning. I tried downloading my photos and discovered then that my phone, at 37% battery level, could not be charged. Yikes. Now what?

My mom bought me two new succulents about a week ago, in little pumpkin pots. They are called Romeo and Juliet. They are both beautiful and are sharing the sun in my study with Ours-de-Vent.

Featured:

I printed this shirt yesterday after school. I got this photo from pixiv.com, and used a heat press machine to put it on a large, mustard-yellow sweater I had. It is certainly colorful now.

I consider this an early Christmas present from my mom. I saw this Topman bomber jacket at the mall the other day and really liked the comfort it gave me wearing it. And so, my mom purchased it online and voici, ma nouvelle veste!

The pattern on these skinny black pants caught my attention. My mom bought them in Taiwan. 

A Petite Note: 文豪ストレイドッグス

文豪ストレイドッグス, or Literary Stray Dogs, season 2 began with a small side story during Dazai's affiliation with the Port Mafia. After episode four aired, I was both dismayed, by Odasaku's sad death, and zealous, since elements of the main story popped up. This is just a "shoutout" (using technology slang) to this awesome Japanese cartoon, sequel to an overall comedic and action-packed first season. Plaudits should go to the unique plot and definitely to the art, if nothing else. I have great expectations for the rest of this season!

Universal Studios Photos

A Hogwarts Adventure to Remember

Today, my school held a PSAT exam session during regular school hours, making it mandatory for every student. The good thing about it is that today was a minimum day, which means that students get out of school around three hours earlier. I contemplated skipping school today, but the little sense I had stopped me from trying to think of a valid excuse to use to get out of school. Well, with or without the PSAT, my mom and I were having a fun mother-daughter adventure in the Harry Potter-themed village in L.A. Universal Studios! 

Even though it was about one o'clock when my mom and I left our house, we had plenty of time for fun! We actually arrived there at three, after eating lunch and sitting through traffic. I became car sick for the first time in a long time, so that was amusing. The village was incredible to be in, especially since I adore the world of J.K. Rowling's, and actually walking among little shops inspired by the magical society described in it is a wonderful feeling. I got a warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach. Smiles kept growing on my face, like shark teeth. I bought Sirius Black's wand, since I view him as one of my favorite characters. It was only after purchasing it when I realized I bought the interactive wand instead of just a regular old wand, which was more expensive. Yikes! I went on several rides, my favorites being the Harry Potter ride in Hogwart's and the Transformers ride. My mom got freaked out in the Walking Dead maze. We walked in there without knowing it was supposed to be a haunted maze attraction and were shocked at the zombies that suddenly jumped out at us. It sucked having to walk around them after they'd already successfully scared a couple in front of us and we're barring our way. I went to a haunted maze made by the drama department at my school last night; although the quality was not as good, it scared me more because of the little video they had us watch before starting the maze that got us in the mood and setting. Plus, my mom was screaming and bumping into people, causing me to laugh and lifting my spirits up. Unfortunately, most of the time I left my mom behind, who was holding onto my hand, in order to escape a zombie; I couldn't drag my mom fast enough to use the small windows open to me. You can bet that we didn't go there a second time. My dad would have loved it though, since he enjoys the TV series. I also rode the Jurassic Park ride. My mom was afraid of the drop, so I got to enjoy a peaceful ride in an almost empty car. The drop was really interesting: it was not too scary, I guess since I'm used to them, but it was enough to bring a smile to my face. 

We didn't know Universal Studios closed at six pm so when we exited for dinner, we were bewildered to discover that it was closing. I wanted to buy some Harry Potter candy, like what I think is Bert's Beans and the Chocolate Frogs, and a quill set, and maybe a few more t-shirts, but I suppose I'll have to wait for next time. What I did get to buy, though, was a 9 3/4 shirt and, like I mentioned earlier, a wand. I'll post photos of my awesome trip to L.A. in a separate note once I get them on my computer. Now I am excited to read the rest of the Harry Potter books (I finished the first book this summer)! It's funny: the first book of the series I ever read was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when I was in elementary school. This time, I'm reading them in order.

Six Types of Love

I always scorn people who snicker at Japanese cartoons in which two boys or two girls have a really intimate or close relationship with one another. I see them as great friends; they see it as taboo love, and start hooting. In an article I found online, http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-ancient-greeks-6-words-for-love-and-why-knowing-them-can-change-your-life, I discovered that in the past, the Greeks had six different words for love, dividing the feelings of love into different degrees and levels. I think that knowing these different words for love is a nice bundle of knowledge to keep in the mass of trivia tucked in your head, something to blurt out to sound cool or to use for creative or literary purposes, or enlightening about the culture of an old civilization. In the article, the author points out some differences that he perceives between modern society and ideas and the past society and ideas. It is a quick read (ten minutes maximum if you are a slow reader), so if you are interested, take a look at it for a few minutes.

Jewelry from Farmer's Markets

I am the Disney Concert Hall

Today I took a break from the usual goings of my Sunday to take a trip with my family to Los Angeles, where we got to visit the Disney Concert Hall. If it was a giant metal slide, I probably would be more impressed by it, but it works out pretty well for a building. Its architecturally unique construction is something many come to marvel at. But no one forgets about the music. It is, after all, a concert hall. With it located in a bustling city, there is always a crowd of people to be found, some eager to rest their eyes and ears to a lovely performance, and some, like us, mostly just for the fun of it. At the gift shop, I bought a pair of white socks with a musical score on it, and a Chopin CD. For more information about the Disney Concert Hall, check out the link at the bottom of this post.

http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/about-walt-disney-concert-hall

Photos from Home Base

How vexing is this sign? Very.