Pi Girl

We went to the regional quarter finals of the International Championship of High School A Cappella at the Corning Museum of Glass last night. It was 3 high school a cappella groups competing for the semi finals plus performances from the host group, The Aces and the emcees, the Sons of Pitches. Basically, we went for the Sons of Pitches and hoped the high school groups would be worth listening to.

And the high school groups were pretty darn good. They were from Dryden, Millbrook and Portville, NY, none of which are all that local to Corning. The groups all had very different styles and backgrounds. The winners of the evening (and very deserving I might add) were the Voices of Harmony from Portville. They are a female quartet and they were fantastic. They had a wonderful blend and their arrangements were out of this world. Jason whispered to me that it sounded like there were more than 4 people on stage and I told him that’s the sign of a good quartet.

Of course, I mostly just looked forward to the Sons of Pitches in between sets. I had heard them before but this was my first time seeing them live. I really need to see them live more often.

I think my favorite part of the experience was sitting in the audience in the balcony. That’s where the kids went when they were done singing. And they were so jazzed about their performances and their night (as they should have been) and their energy was infectious. They were giving love to the performers on the stage and the performers started to direct their love back to the groups in the balcony. It was really nice to see the kids all bonding over the music. They don’t live anywhere near each other, but they’ll see each other again at the semi finals (all 3 groups qualified). So it was nice to share their excitement and see them all learning and loving the a cappella music. I hope those kids all continue in their music and sharing it with the world. We need more groups like them.

I feel like I’ve fallen off the blogwagon with my non-personal posts and all. But I’m here, I promise. To everyone who sent me birthday wishes and emails, thank you - they made me smile. It might take me a while to get back to you and I apologize profusely.

Mostly, life has just been really crazy lately and alot of it falls under the “can’t blog about it” category. I’ve been up to B’ville to see my favorite people, to Delaware for business fun, to Maryland to see more of my favorite people. I watched people eat a very interesting dish called a sushi martini (I don’t do sushi, hence the watching). Janice introduced me to “Bob Hope.” I ate an “Irish potato” - very weird, in no way could it be considered Irish (a coconut center wrapped in cinnamon). Amber and I went for a long walk at Onondaga Park. I went to Annapolis, where we saw people in Civil War era clothing, Irish dancers and a Alex Haley memorial. I bought new shoes, which are really cute. Mom bought me fun stuff at the Apple store. Mom and Pop-in-law took Jason and I to a new Korean restaurant. I had the best grilled cheese sandwich ever in Newark, Delaware. Jason’s grandparents are the cutest couple, they are so good to each other, I hope Jason and I are like that when we have grandchildren.

On top of all of that, I’ve been really sick. I spent a whole day in bed with a fever. I’ve had no voice for a week and a half. :-( I’m attempting to pretend I can go to chorus and quartet rehearsals even though I can’t squeak out one note. I met with bigwigs last week and tried to impress them even though I could barely get out a word. I feel like I’m swimming in tea and overdosing on cough drops. My birthday dinner was ok, but not fabulous - I think I would have liked it a lot better if I had been able to smell anything. Now that I’m home, I went to the dr yesterday, who gave me drugs and mouthwash. I better get my voice back soon. I miss it.

And now I present to you the first 29 digits of our favorite number.

3.1415926535897932384626433832

If you’re curious, here is an interesting history of Ï€. And this has to be the coolest thing ever - a musical interpretation of Ï€!

There’s been a lot of crap in the news lately but this story really made my day.

A bus driver taking kids to a high school has a heart attack and the bus starts to go off the road. Some quick-thinking kids get the bus driver out of the way and apply the brakes and stop the bus from crashing into a building. They radio the bus garage for help, which comes quickly.

Unfortunately, the bus driver died. But the kids did the right thing and acted quickly to prevent a huge disaster. Someone should give them an award or something.

I spent Friday and Saturday in Niagara Falls for the Area 3 Help Day. Lots of coaching, learning and singing fun. And yes, there’s a photo gallery. As you can see, the view from the hotel was spectacular.

Power Play was the featured quartet this weekend. They are the 2003 International Quartet Champions for the Men’s Society. Llllllllllloved Power Play. But there is nothing better than the sound of 4 men singing in harmony.

Affinity got a coaching session with Mike, the lead. We worked hard and I learned alot from him. After Crystal Chords’ session with Don, the tenor, I noticed a recurring theme in the message from the Slamka family. Really got to work on those consonant sounds. At least whenever Power Play sang, you could see them working everything they told us to do.

So now I’m really excited for Area contest in 2 months. I cannot wait to get up on that stage.

Things have been super crazy at work, so I’ve been extra super busy. If you don’t live in the area, here’s part of the reason why. (Hey Mom, remind me to worry you later with the 2 degrees of separation I have to the murder suspects.)

Among all the hectic news yesterday, I still made time to get to church on Ash Wednesday. Jason and I decided to try something new and instead of going to St. Matthew’s service, we attended an ecumenical service at Trinity Church in Elmira. It was a very nice service, kudos to Father Bill Lutz and the other ministers who got together to organize it. The choir was so big, they overfilled the choir area and all the men had to sit in the first 2 pews of the church. I tried to play “where are the Episcopalians” but Jason made me sit up front; so not right.

So, for Lent this year, instead of giving up something, I’m adding something. I am going to exercise every day for 30 minutes. More, if I can swing it. But minimum 30 minutes.

I’ve actually gotten myself into a whole “get healthier” routine. I started a secret blog (you can’t google it, I tried) to track my progress, log all my calories and exercise minutes. I’ve also been posting new ideas I’m learning, what’s working, what’s not. The idea is make it public in the future, when it looks like it’s working anyway. I’m trying out a running program - yes, you read that right - called Couch to 5K. Although I’m so out of shape, it’s taken me 2 weeks to actually be able to handle the level they suggest you start at. But I’m starting to get what people see in the whole running thing.

Anyway, I’m feeling very positive about my Lenten challenge this year. I really think I can do it, and even make it stick past Easter this time.