marktwainconcerningthetrombone

below is an excerpt from the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
and Other Sketches by mark twain. it's kinda long but if you love trombone, or love someone who plays trombone, you might enjoy reading it. i discovered it on the web site of my new teacher, carl lenthe. here's a link to his website for those who are curious:
http://www.indiana.edu/~trombone/StudioLenthe.htm

If it please your neighbor to break the sacred calm of night with the snorting of an unholy trombone, it is your duty to put up with his wretched music and your privilege to pity him for the unhappy instinct that moves him to delight in such discordant sounds. I did not always think thus: this consideration for musical amateurs was born of certain disagreeable personal experiences that once followed the development of a like instinct in myself. Now this infidel over the way, who is learning to play on the trombone, and the slowness of whose progress is almost miraculous, goes on with his harrowing work every night, uncurled by me, but tenderly pitied. Ten years ago, for the same offense, I would have set fire to his house. At that time I was a prey to an amateur violinist for two or three weeks, and the sufferings I endured at his hands are inconceivable. He played "Old Dan Tucker," and he never played any thing else; but he performed that so badly that he could throw me into fits with it if I were awake, or into a nightmare if I were asleep. As long as he confined himself to "Dan Tucker," though, I bore with him and abstained from violence; but when he projected a fresh outrage, and tried to do "Sweet Home," I went over and burnt him out. My next assailant was a wretch who felt a call to play the clarionet. He only played the scale, however, with his distressing instrument, and I let him run the length of his tether, also; but finally, when he branched out into a ghastly tune, I felt my reason deserting me under the exquisite torture, and I sallied forth and burnt him out likewise. During the next two years I burned out an amateur cornet player, a bugler, a bassoon-sophomore, and a barbarian whose talents ran in the base-drum line.

I would certainly have scorched this trombone man if he had moved into my neighborhood in those days. But as I said before, I leave him to his own destruction now, because I have had experience as an amateur myself, and I feel nothing but compassion for that kind of people. Besides, I have learned that there lies dormant in the souls of all men a penchant for some particular musical instrument, and an unsuspected yearning to learn to play on it, that are bound to wake up and demand attention some day. Therefore, you who rail at such as disturb your slumbers with unsuccessful and demoralizing attempts to subjugate a fiddle, beware! for sooner or later your own time will come. It is customary and popular to curse these amateurs when they wrench you out of a pleasant dream at night with a peculiarly diabolical note; but seeing that we are all made alike, and must all develop a distorted talent for music in the fullness of time, it is not right. I am charitable to my trombone maniac; in a moment of inspiration he fetches a snort, sometimes, that brings me to a sitting posture in bed, broad awake and weltering in a cold perspiration. Perhaps my first thought is, that there has been an earthquake; perhaps I hear the trombone, and my next thought is, that suicide and the silence of the grave would be a happy release from this nightly agony; perhaps the old instinct comes strong upon me to go after my matches; but my first cool, collected thought is, that the trombone man's destiny is upon him, and he is working it out in suffering and tribulation; and I banish from me the unworthy instinct that would prompt me to burn him out.

After a long immunity from the dreadful insanity that moves a man to become a musician in defiance of the will of God that he should confine himself to sawing wood, I finally fell a victim to the instrument they call the accordeon. At this day I hate that contrivance as fervently as any man can, but at the time I speak of I suddenly acquired a disgusting and idolatrous affection for it. I got one of powerful capacity, and learned to play "Auld Lang Syne" on it. It seems to me, now, that I must have been gifted with a sort of inspiration to be enabled, in the state of ignorance in which I then was, to select out of the whole range of musical composition the one solitary tune that sounds vilest and most distressing on the accordeon. I do not suppose there is another tune in the world with which I could have inflicted so much anguish upon my race as I did with that one during my short musical career.

After I had been playing "Lang Syne" about a week, I had the vanity to think I could improve the original melody, and I set about adding some little flourishes and variations to it, but with rather indifferent success, I suppose, as it brought my landlady into my presence with an expression about her of being opposed to such desperate enterprises. Said she, "Do you know any other tune but that, Mr. Twain?" I told her, meekly, that I did not. "Well, then," said she, "stick to it just as it is; don't put any variations to it, because it's rough enough on the boarders the way it is now."

The fact is, it was something more than simply "rough enough" on them; it was altogether too rough; half of them left, and the other half would have followed, but Mrs. Jones saved them by discharging me from the premises.

I only staid one night at my next lodging-house. Mrs. Smith was after me early in the morning. She said, "You can go, sir; I don't want you here; I have had one of your kind before -- a poor lunatic, that played the banjo and danced breakdowns, and jarred the glass all out of the windows. You kept me awake all night, and if you was to do it again, I'd take and mash that thing over your head!" I could see that this woman took no delight in music, and I moved to Mrs. Brown's.

For three nights in succession I gave my new neighbors "Auld Lang Syne," plain and unadulterated, save by a few discords that rather improved the general effect than otherwise. But the very first time I tried the variations the boarders mutinied. I never did find any body that would stand those variations. I was very well satisfied with my efforts in that house, however, and I left it without any regrets; I drove one boarder as mad as a March hare, and another one tried to scalp his mother. I reflected, though, that if I could only have been allowed to give this latter just one more touch of the variations, he would have finished the old woman.

I went to board at Mrs. Murphy's, an Italian lady of many excellent qualities. The very first time I struck up the variations, a haggard, care-worn, cadaverous old man walked into my room and stood beaming upon me a smile of ineffable happiness. Then he placed his hand upon my head, and looking devoutly aloft, he said with feeling unction, and in a voice trembling with emotion, "God bless you, young man! God bless you! for you have done that for me which is beyond all praise. For years I have suffered from an incurable disease, and knowing my doom was sealed and that I must die, I have striven with all my power to resign myself to my fate, but in vain -- the love of life was too strong within me. But Heaven bless you, my benefactor! for since I heard you play that tune and those variations, I do not want to live any longer -- I am entirely resigned -- I am willing to die -- in fact, I am anxious to die." And then the old man fell upon my neck and wept a flood of happy tears. I was surprised at these things; but I could not help feeling a little proud at what I had done, nor could I help giving the old gentleman a parting blast in the way of some peculiarly lacerating variations as he went out at the door. They doubled him up like a jack-knife, and the next time he left his bed of pain and suffering he was all right, in a metallic coffin.

My passion for the accordeon finally spent itself and died out, and I was glad when I found myself free from its unwholesome influence. While the fever was upon me, I was a living, breathing calamity wherever I went, and desolation and disaster followed in my wake. I bred discord in families, I crushed the spirits of the light-hearted, I drove the melancholy to despair, I hurried invalids to premature dissolution, and I fear me I disturbed the very dead in their graves. I did incalculable harm, and inflicted untold suffering upon my race with my execrable music; and yet to atone for it all, I did but one single blessed act, in making that weary old man willing to go to his long home.

Still, I derived some little benefit from that accordeon; for while I continued to practice on it, I never had to pay any board -- landlords were always willing to compromise, on my leaving before the month was up.

Now, I had two objects in view in writing the foregoing, one of which was to try and reconcile people to those poor unfortunates who feel that they have a genius for music, and who drive their neighbors crazy every night in trying to develop and cultivate it; and the other was to introduce an admirable story about Little George Washington, who could Not Lie, and the Cherry-Tree -- or the Apple-Tree -- I have forgotten now which, although it was told me only yesterday. And writing such a long and elaborate introductory has caused me to forget the story itself; but it was very touching.

hope you enjoyed it.

love,
james

breakingnewsfromthebbc

i'm not making this up. i copied and pasted directly from the bbc website. the link is below. you should click it just to see the picture of the poor trombone that was taken. it's just funnier seeing it on their website.

Noisy neighbour's trombone taken

A trombone was seized by police in Dumfries after complaints about noise coming from a flat in the town.

Other items taken included a drum kit, electric guitars, a television, radio, stereosystems and amplifiers.

A 55-year-old man, of Barnraws, in Shakespeare Street, was fined £200 under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 at Dumfries Sheriff Court.

The court ordered the forfeit of the sound-making items which police said could "inflict misery" on neighbours.

The conviction related to a number of complaints of continuous noise and antisocial behaviour coming from the town centre flat.

The complaints were jointly investigated by local police and noise reduction officers.

'Antisocial behaviour'

Police said the action showed they would crack down on people causing a noise nuisance.

"Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is committed to addressing community concerns through working closely with partnership agencies," said Ch Insp Michael Collins.

"In this case the man concerned has been creating a nuisance to his neighbours for some time.

"We are delighted that the court has seen fit to forfeit the equipment this man used to indulge in antisocial behaviour and inflict misery on his neighbours."

here's the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/4973208.stm

looking forward to your comments.

love,
james

somereallysweettromboneplaying

Carl Fontana

52postsisenoughithink

well, i had a chance to sleep on it and i came to this conclusion; it's time for me to just bow out as gracefully as i can. i want to finish out my obligations here in eau claire, spend as much time as humanly possible with all the people i love, take a bow, and exit stage right.

the end.

love,
james

lastone?maybe......

well, i think the goal of feeling awesome for the day has been achieved. i've been down the last few days and the combination of really nice weather, playing chamber music on my trombone with other good musicians, throwing a frisbee around with ryan and phil, and riding my bike has managed bring my moral back up where it needs to be. i think now i'll put on some good music and pick up around the apartment. living in a clean place will help me feel better about myself too.

in other news, i'm toying with the idea of giving up this blog. ::gasp:: i think it's just too easy to say sh*t publicly that shouldn't be said. i know we all have that problem a little bit with our blogs. that's why they're so interesting right? yeah, maybe interesting, but worth the trouble? i don't know. probably not for this guy. personally, i feel like we should have the right to write anything we friggen feel like writing. i'm not here to stop anyone from doing that. that would be completely lame. you can write about how you love osama or killing bunnies and i'm not going to get mad at you for writing it. as long as i'm not being forced to read it, why should i get upset? i'm a big kid and i can choose not to read it, so write on brothas and sistas, write on. write about me for all i care. tell the world i smell like bunny poop. that might be funny. but i figure, if you tell the world that i smell bad, you just make yourself look like a tool. you'd better shower a lot to say such a thing.

i guess i'm just unsure whether or not i can control myself when i REALLY want to say stuff but know this isn't the place. self-control and discipline are usually really easy for me. but when stress is mixed in, dammit it's hard. why do i have to be human. life as a robot would be so much easier. i think i can do it though. you're all gonna have to hold me accountable if i continue to put my thoughts here. don't let me say personal sh*t that i shouldn't say here okay? deal?

sweet.

love,
james"iknowiknow,istilloweyouaduckstory"yardley

leafsoupparttwo

just got back from playing routine with corey. i was amazed at how great i felt once i put that horn to my face. playing my instrument is the best therapy i can think of, mentally and physically. i didn't feel awful when i woke up this morning, but there were some definite lingering effects from last night. i'm a firm believer that pain, whether mental or physical, is all a matter the mind and since my mind thinks of nothing but sound when i play my trombone, it's not occupied with pain or anything else. that's awesome to me.

so last night was freaking sweet. after playing at v-ball i hung with coliflower and his fam for a little while then went over to the house. jake, nate, lydo, phil salwas, phil salwas' friend, and i hung out and drank too much alcohol for our own good. we talked about gas, taxes, practicing, attitude, and probably some other stuff that i'm not remembering right now. the conversation was excellent. i haven't hung with salwas ever i don't think and he's a really cool guy. he makes a mean rum and coke too. i think i left around 2 and came back and slept like a baby. that felt really good.

not exactly sure what i'll do with the rest of my day. if you have any ideas, let me know :-). practicing will be in there somewhere, but other than that, i don't have too much planned for the day. maybe i'll sit around and watch tv or a movie. that could nice.

oh yeah, and i thought of something else that's green and cool while driving over to the music building. green traffic lights. i mean honestly, who doesn't love to see a green light? it's better than a red light and yellow, pff, c'mon. yellow's got nothin' on green. nothin.

love,
james"humptydumptysatonawall"yardley

leafsoup

ever feel like you totally f*cked something up but it was okay because you learned from it? i have.

so, i started a new tube of toothpaste this morning. it's green, which is the sweetest color ever, in case you haven't heard.

okay, i gotta go play routine with vern. more later.

love,
james"lookingattheworldthroughgreencoloredglasses"yardley

greenisthenewblue

so here's a couple things that i think are sweet:

1. thunderstorms
2. waking up and noticing that the grass is greener than the day before
3. ducks

yeah, last night there was an awesome thunderstorm. i slept on my couch, as i usually do, and watched the kitchen light up from the lightening and then listened to my windows rattle as the thunder boomed. the sound of the rain eventually put me to sleep.

waking up this morning, i noticed how much greener it was outside. it made me realize how much i love the color green and i'm now officially declaring it my new favorite color. i used to be a blue guy, but now it's all about the green. green is the color of a famous frog, my eyes, and my favorite shirt. so there ya have it. green is my new blue.

anyways, i had my first lesson with a new trombone student last night and i'm totally pumped about teaching again. i had taken a sabbatical (one of many i'm now realizing) from teaching in preparation for grad school auditions and it was really awesome to work with this young guy. he's a middle school euphonium player who wants to play trombone so that someday he can play in memorial's jazz band. wait a minute...that sounds familiar....oh yeah....that's the exact same thing i did when i was his age. cool. he really wants to learn and my first impression of him is that he's pretty intelligent, especially for his age. teaching a student with goals is about the sweetest thing a teacher can hope for.

not much else going on in the world of me. bone choir concert is tonight so you should probably go to that. 7:30, gantner. it'll be my last one here.....i promise this time! v-ball is this weekend, but i'm not sure how excited i am to go. bone choir is playing, so i'll fulfill my commitment to that, but i may jet afterwards, we'll see. the bistro might be a good place to hang this weekend.

that is all.

love,
james"you'llgetyourduckstoryinthenextpost"yardley

ps-congrats to angie heyer for the correct answer to the "trivia" question in my last post. i owe you a drink. now can someone please tell me what rsvp means?

piddlywinklesticks

so i bet you think you're gonna read another duck story here don't ya. well, you're right. here comes one.

i was at the stones throw tonight and this duck walks in. he's all dressed up like one of those ducks that goes to important meetings and spends every spare second on his cell phone talking to other ducks about important duck business. you know the kind i'm talking about....so anyways, he waddles in and hops up on the stool next to me, orders a drink, and starts quackin' away about this and that. he's talking to me about eggs, and feathers, what it's like to have webbed feet, and i'm listening contently. then, out of no where, he pulls out his saxophone, hops up on stage, and takes 24 choruses of the blues and flies out the door. weird huh?

yep.

easter was cool. i went home to duluth for the first easter since high school (and we all know that's been a loooooooooong time....[insert old joke here]). it was nice to be home to spend time with the family and the dog. i rolled in at about 3 in the morning on thursday night/friday morning after driving from the recording session. i was really proud of my dog because she came charging at the door ready to attack when i walked in until she realized it was me. i was proud because she's the most happy go lucky dog in the world and i never gave her credit for actually being capable of protecting the house. she was really happy once she realized who i was. the rest of my family was sound asleep, even after the few seconds of her vicious barking, so i just crawled into bed quietly without waking anyone up.

the weekend was uneventful for the most part. i saw a LOT of deer and other wildlife, hung out with my brother a little bit, played trombone at church, and just relaxed. my mom's birthday was today so i had lunch with her before driving back to eau claire.

that's it. nothing profound. a duck story and a brief update is all you get.

love,
james"wantsacookie"yardley

ps-1 beer goes to the person who can tell me what ps stands for without looking it up. the person i've already explained it to is excluded from this offer (sorry). actually, no they're not. if they would actually let me buy them a drink (wink wink), then they can be included as well. but anyways, for one drink, what does ps stand for. and no looking it up! this is trivia folks, not research. on your honor! that was a good book....

breakingnews

list of things to do today:

1. dishes
1a. practice
2. laundry
2a. practice
3. haircut
3a. practice
3b. practice
4. quit practicing and record in st. paul
5. drive home to duluth for easter

pretty simple day all in all. most of it will be spent preparing mentally and physically to record a solo for the jazz 1 christmas cd. i believe it will be more of a mental challenge than anything, so, the goal for today is to find that place where any thought that isn't related to music doesn't enter my brain. a good place to start, i think, is to get some thoughts out right now.

c'funk's recital was great. i thought he played splendidly and i was happy to be a part of it. i'm glad joe made it up too. it's always refreshing to play for the people in the audience who are really cheering for you. and...incase you haven't heard, joe got into grad school at the u of mn! that's right, three eau claire trombone players got into grad school in one year. maybe someday the three of us will form the trombone section of a major orchestra. wouldn't that be a ride (no pun intended). anywho....it's nice to know that the trombone studio can find a little bit of success outside of this tiny world of eau claire. if only i could find 5th position, life would be grand.

hmm....what else to write about? i guess that's it... sorry for the boring post. i'll make it up to you later with something really juicy. like...um...a watermelon, or maybe a steak. or maybe just a stick of juicyfruit gum.

so there was this duck....and he was walking (or waddling i guess) down the sidewalk, chewing juicyfruit gum and out of nowhere comes this bunny. and this bunny is like, "hey, gimme some of that gum," and the duck says, "quack quack, i'm not givin' your silly ball shaped tail nothin' quack." so then the bunny says "fine, then i'm not sharing my carrots anymore," and he hops away. yeah....that actually happened. weird huh?

the end.

love,
james"needstoquitsmokingsomuchcrack"yardley

ducksonthesidewalk

so there's these two ducks right? and they're walking down the sidewalk infront of my house having a ducky ol' time. i have to admit that i'm kinda jealous. being a duck would be pretty sweet i think. you could fly to your favorite river or lake and just float around all day with the lady ducks. nice people would feed you stuff like popcorn or bread and could just amuse them with your quacking. yeah, a duck's life for me please.

anyways, i think i should stop reading other people's blogs for a while. maybe till i'm out of eau claire at least. sometimes i run into things that make my head spin, and it's not the good kind of headspinning where you get that dizzy feeling and laugh a lot. it's more of a, "wow, i really didn't want to read that" type of feeling. usually, i'm interested in other people's thoughts because a lot of times, they can be stimulating to my own brain. but, sometimes, i read stuff that makes me sad. i suppose i could just read the blogs i know won't bother me and ignore the ones i think might. any thoughts on the subject? feel free to comment.

joe hartson is visiting tomorrow and staying with me so i'm looking forward to seeing him.

joel left for germany today. we drank on sunday and he helped my break into my house after i realized i had locked myself out. i helped him move some stuff up to dickerson's house yesterday. the dog he was living with really is a little sh*t. i usually love dogs, but not this one. anyways, i'm going to miss joel a lot. i have nothing but good memories with that guy.

not too much else to say right now. warm weather is awesome. ducks are sweet. trombone is good.

see ya later,
james"ducky"yardley

underwaterblogging

sometimes i feel like writing even when i have nothing to say. like right now... i could update you on all the stuff i've done, bought, eaten, stepped in, rollerbladed through, pole vaulted over, etc, etc, but that kind of blogging is starting to get old for me. but for those that are just dyin' to know, i'll humor you....

i bought a new trombone on saturday. becker and i traveled to groth music in bloomington, mn and we picked out a conn 88h with lindberg valve. it's a very nice horn and the more i play it, the more i like it. it made it's debut at the bistro last night on a blues. it was fun.

after hanging at the bistro, i went to the hastings house and hung with old man and company. we listened to some mahler rehearsal and i drank a celebratory beer. thanks pat. next we visited the house where there were two seperate (???) parties going on. it was kinda weird, so i didn't stay long.

i woke up this morning, played some trombone, went to lunch with my friend rebecca, then played more trombone at school, then went to the orchestra concert, then played more trombone. that brings us to the present moment. happy?

ok, so, the orchestra concert was good. there were definitely some very nice moments that sent chills down my spine. so a big, hearty "congratulations" to all who were involved. it wasn't technically perfect, but you made music and that's all that matters so be proud of yourselves. i certainly was.

sooo...not too exciting right? well, brace yourselves. this video is sure to entertain. enjoy!

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Tommy%20Pederson/video/99323

love,
james"girlsjustwannahavefun"yardley

i'm me again!

ahhh...i finally feel like i'm james yardley again. it feels good, let me tell you. i don't feel like i'm someone else, trying to be all serious about auditions and not enjoying life to it's fullest and blah blah blah. ok, granted, maybe this feeling is a quasi drunkenness because i just got back from the joynt, but nonetheless, i feel comfortable in my own skin again, which is a relief. auditions took their toll, but it's all over now and i can do the things i enjoy in life once again.

i had an exciting conversation with a friend tonight. they know who they are. and hopefully they know that i'm actually following through with these plans. nuff said.

i hope my other friends feel better soon. i miss them and want them to be healthy again. hayley....lydo....and anyone else feeling under the weather...you get better soon.

that's about it. ben and i owned colin and evan at darts, so i will sleep well knowing my awesome skill contributed to that. evan started up the trash talking, to his own dismay. poor widdle guy. it's okay buddy. you just keep trying like that little engine that could. chugga chugga chugga chugga choo chooooooo!

love,
j

breathe james, breathe

well, i just got off the phone with andy neesley and i must say, i'm feeling 100% better about my rejection from manhattan. i need a little time to absorb what he told me, so i won't write about it right now. maybe later. it's a shame all the "neesley critics" don't know him like i do because he is a brilliant person, and he's been a wonderfully good friend to me. i'm sure he doesn't read this, but that won't stop me from thanking him here anyways.

so, off to indiana i go. i should find an apartment asap. looks like i'm going to spend my summer at dorney again too. we don't start till june 27th, though, so i'm definitely looking for something cool to do with the beginning of my summer. i think much backpacking and camping will be in order. any takers? maybe a trip out west?

insurance company called me today about my trombone. i've got everything set and will be ordering a few horns to try out soon.

need to get my taxes done. need to start working out again. need to breathe more.

that's about it.

love,
james

bacon pie

well, it's certainly been an up and down week for me. monday i find out my trombone was stolen. tuesday i find out i got a full ride to indiana. then things are cool for a few days. had a great time listening to brian grivna and lewis nash clinic and play on thursday and friday. saturday i received two rejection letters from manhattan and became pretty depressed. still not over it 100% but i'm feeling better. i forced myself to go to the party on saturday night after ignoring about a million and a half phone calls (sorry, i almost never screen my calls), but didn't really manage to have a good time. mostly it was because i was bummed about manhattan, but when you're already bummin' other things that normally wouldn't bother you get magnified and occupy your thoughts. so, i left relatively early and went to sleep.

just got back from lunch with a bunch of cool people and it cheered me up some. i have a bone choir rehearsal in an hour and a half, so i think i'm gonna go warm up soon. i'm calling off my break from playing and am going to dig in again. i needed the break, but it's time to get serious about music and trombone and forget about EVERYTHING else.

congrats to all the people involved with jazzfest. it was nice to play a minimal role this year and step back and enjoy it for once. good job to you all.

i'm gonna go practice now.

love,
james

gracias

so a couple days have passed since i received word of my full tuition scholarship to indiana and it still hasn't sunk in yet. the two days that have passed, however, have made me realize how fortunate i am to have such a supportive family of friends here in eau claire. the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" could not be truer in this case. when i came to eau claire, i was truly a musical child. i think i've grown to become a toddler now, thanks to my teachers and, just as importantly, my friends. the musicians i've grown up with here have had just as much impact on me as any lesson or any class i ever took. to think that you can go to school, take your classes and your lessons and shut yourself off to everyone and everything around you and conquer the world alone is foolish, to say the least. so, with that realization, i owe my family and friends a huge thank you for every little thing you've done for me.

the search for my trombone continues. i've exhausted every possibility to find that damn serial number. i'm such a fool for never having written it down. i assure you, however, that the sn for my bass is now written down in many different places, including my brain. that's right. i have it memorized. i'm actually looking into installing a tracking device on my bass. hmm.....a tracking device in the counterweight of a trombone...quick, i need the inventor's hotline number. ok, i'm a dork. you got me.

not much else to write about i guess. jazzfest is this weekend and i'm looking forward to the concerts very much. i visited the rehearsal last night and was really impressed with what i heard from the band and especially the guest artists. should be a fun weekend all around. good luck to all who are involved!

take care,
james

that's what i'm talkin' bout!!!

this is the kind of news i need to wake up to more often. read below.

Dear James:

Congratulations on your admission to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music!

I am very pleased to inform you that in recognition of your successful audition and/or interview, the Jacobs School of Music has awarded you a music merit-based scholarship. We have sent this information to you via mail as well and you will receive it soon.

You are eligible for the following scholarship funding beginning in the 2006-2007 academic year:



Award renewal is dependent upon your meeting the requirements outlined in the financial aid policy which is in the mail with your letter.

For information about federal need-based financial aid, you may contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance at (812) 855-0321 or visit their website at www.indiana.edu/~sfa. The Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) will notify you of your federal financial aid eligibility in June, 2006.

In order to remain eligible for scholarship from the School of Music, please sign and return your letter to the Office of Music Admissions by April 15, 2006. Congratulations and please accept our best wishes for a successful academic career.

Sincerely,

Anne Vaught, Director
Office of Music Admissions


it's gonna be a good day.

love,
james

things that cheer james up

1. sympathetic friends sending their condolences regarding my trombone
2. beer
3. delicous bread that colin's mom made for me (it's reallly good)
4. insurance
5. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10340.htm
6. listening to good music
7. quasi-acceptance from indiana
8. wearing my sandals for the first time this year
9. playing my bass trombone
10. making lists about things that cheer me up

ok, so thank you all for your sympathies regarding my instrument. i understand there's not much anyone can say to cheer me up, but just knowing you care and feel for me is much appreciated. so thank you.

today was basically spent making phone calls, sending e-mails, and rummaging through pawn shops in search of my trombone. not fun, but i had to do it. i didn't find it, but i can atleast eliminate a few places that it is not, which gives me some sense of coming closer to finding it, oddly enough. i received an e-mail from the person i bought it from and he gave me the phone number of the music store where it was originally purchased. i will go to bed tonight praying that this leads me closer to getting the serial number.

not much else to report. mr. baca asked me, today, to adjudicate for jazzfest. talk about short notice. i'm glad he asked, however, because it will be fun and i can use the little money that it pays. i'm now reminded of what mark lundin told me at the joynt the other night. he said that he was working on the program and it was the first time in 3 (or 4, i can't remember) years that he had to delete my name from the program. sad :-( i'm happy to know that it is being replaced by a worthy name, however.

so that's about it for now. i'm gonna find some food, turn on the tv, and fall asleep.

love,
james

note to a thief

dear asshole,

you stole my trombone and i want it back. it was a bach 42bo, standard yellow brass with a rotor valve. put it back where you found it and never step foot into the music building again.

if you choose not to put it back, you will be sorry. maybe not now, but later, you will be sorry. the money you make from pawning it will not cover the hospital bill. it may cover the ambulance ride, depending on how far you will be from the hospital when you are beat down, but it probably won't cover the rest. i'm not a violent person. never thrown a punch in my life, actually. but, i've never had to either.

i will be looking in pawn shops, classified ads, music stores, grocery stores, treetops, mountain tops, underneath large rocks, and any place else you can possibly imagine. i'll be on ebay, and will be sending e-mails to every trombone player in the country. i have no job, and i'm not currently in school. so i have a lot of time on my hands. probably more than you.

trombone players don't steal trombones. you don't play trombone, but i suggest you start, because if you try to sell it, you will be found. you don't want to be caught holding an angry trombone player's horn. so start taking lessons, and enjoy my trombone. you will be caught.

sincerely,
james yardley

the things james wants

ok, just got back from the joynt. maybe a little drunk. but i deserve it. here's the list of things i'd like before i die.

1. an acceptance letter from a grad school
2. a little bit of money to pay my bills
3. a really sweet dog
4. a pretty girl to hold my hand

yeah...that's about it. call me a simpleton. i don't care.

grad school auditions are over, so when i sober up, i'll maybe write about it all tomorrow. till then, g'nite.

love,
james

holy cow

so i just finished up a big project and need to unwind the ol' brain a little.

andy neesley called me a few days ago and asked me to code a web site for new york artist jerry kearns. andy had done a basic job and needed me to do my thing with it. i agreed, but when i looked at the files, i wished i hadn't. all the pages were basically done with ms word html and it was all f*ed up. so, i poured a many hours cutting, pastings, deleting, etc. just to get it to function properly in any browser other than internet explorer (ie sucks by the way, download mozilla firefox). i couldn't fix EVERYTHING, but the average person to view her site won't know the difference. i just hate doing work that is below what i'm capable of.

if you're curious about the site, you can visit www.jerrykearns.com. remember, i didn't do the design, just the code (for example, getting larger images to pop up in new windows, etc.). her art is pretty neat i think.

other than that, not much else is new. i'm making some barbecue chicken in the crock pot and when it's done i'm going to cook some of my dad's canned corn and make some baby red new potatoes and feast like a king. yakob just sent me a message and i think i'm gonna go to the house and hang with him and erin k. for a while around 10ish.

thanks for readin'

love,
j

i found my tire wrench!

so i was changing my tire last night (because i still had that tiny little donut spare on from our mishap on monday) and i discovered where my change wrench was hiding. i had it the whole time. it was underneath the cover for the holding well that holds the spare and the jack and everything. ok...so...imagine you have a jar of peanut butter and there's label that says "free spoon inside." where would they put the spoon? they wouldn't put it inside the peanut butter because that'd just be a big mess. they'd attach it underneath the lid. so yeah, that's where my tire wrench was. i'm smart. laugh it up because i still blame randy for the whole thing.

last night had to be one of the funnest nights of the whole year. at about 7:30, colin, randall, justin, becker, rachel, dunphy, and i journied (sp?) out to the ostrander residence for some winter time fun. we showed up with trays from the caf, a large shovel, and some hot chocolate. when we got there, becker and i began work on an igloo, while colin and the rest started sledding down the front yard (their house is built right into the side of a hill) on the trays. the ostranders were completely oblivious to what was happening outside their home until we started taking pictures. when dr. ostrander saw the flash, he opened up his back patio door and threatened to send a dog out after us. which was immediately funny to me because i knew they didn't have a dog. but then i later realized that doc pao had told me that he was dog sitting for a friend and he actually did have a dog inside. eventually they came out and, while mrs. ostrander took the dog for a walk, an all out snowball fight broke out. pao was wearing a hockey helmet and using his hockey stick to defend against our snowballs. then it turned into a bass trombone versus tenor trombone battle, which then turned into colin and james versus the world. after the snowball fight becker and i finished out igloo and started sledding in the front yard. colin and i figured out how to go tandem using the shovel and a tray. eventually they invited inside and we made the hot chocolate that we brought with us. we left around 10. i went to the joynt about 40 minutes later and there was pao and mrs. pao sitting at the bar. we actually convinced them to come down after attacking their home.

we may not be the smartest, the best looking, or even the most talented studio, but we definitely have the most fun with our teacher.

so today is st. patty's day. not sure what kind of trouble is going on tonight but i have some web work to do for andy that he needs to be done by tonight or tomorrow. hopefully it won't interfere with hanging out because i think josh hertel is in town.

well, that's all i've got.

love,
james

need a pick me up?

came across a video today that should be shared. it's not funny. it's not sad. it's not political. just a good story that makes ya feel good.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/motion/echo/index?id=2346970&category=Page%202

enjoy.

love,
james

i love music

as music majors, i think we all go through a period of time (or most likely more than one period of time) when we question if we should really pursue music as a career. or maybe i'm the only one...

anyways, i'm listening to some music right now and feeling pretty damn good. i can't tell you what i'm listening to because some of you may disown me and pretend like you never met me before in your life. i love you all too much to allow that to happen. so i'll just say that i was searching through the depths of my hard drive and found some stuff i downloaded from napster, back in the day, you know, when napster was the shit. it brings back so many memories that i didn't even know i had. i can't think of many other things that can conjure up so many vivid memories for me. imagery like pictures and video doesn't do it for me like music does. neither does the written word. something about music and sound does it though.

i've been counting my blessings lately, and music is definitely up there on the list. some of the happiest and saddest moments of my life have been influenced by music and right now i'm feeling pretty thankful for it all.

guess i just felt like writing that down.

today was a good day. i played tenor trombone in a quartet with becker, randall, and dr. ostrander for south middle school kids at 9am this morning. i spent some much needed quality time with a friend. i got my tire fixed (still have to put it on though. that'll be tomorrow's project). i shoveled lots of snow. and finally, i got some good trombone playing in.

that's about it.

love,
james

a quick story

okay okay...i know i posted once already today...but...this story can't go undocumented.

after studio class today colin, becker, randall, and i decide to go get some food. arby's is chosen..to my disappointment. so colin is going to drive but realizes he left something in the building and goes back to get it. i decide that i'll drive instead so we don't have to wait for colin.

we get to arby's and wait too long for our over priced food while listening to the gangster rap playing in their kitchen. the guy working the register has an extreme lisp and colin and company are giggling behind me as i'm the first to order.

we get our food and the lisp guy comes to our table to ask us if the music is bothering us, while colin is talking about him... smooth one.

after eating we get in my car and drive away. i drive about half a block and notice that something is wrong with my car. i think i have a flat. i say something aloud shortly after that i think something is wrong and randall says "oh yeah, i totally forgot to tell you, when we got out of your car at arby's i heard a hissing sound and thought it might be your tire." thanks randall.

so i pull into the quality inn parking lot right next to shopko and begin taking all of the spare tire stuff out of my trunk. when everything is out i notice that i don't have a tire wrench. crap. then becker flashes his aaa card and we call them. it's freezing out so we get back in my car with the heat on and hang out. randall decides he's going to walk back to campus. thanks for ditching us jerk. then becker notices he has a missed call but doesn't know who it's from. it's the towing company calling to tell us that there's a guy at our car but we're not there. hmmm....i definitely didn't see a tow truck anywhere. becker calls them back and reminds them we're at the quality inn on clairemont ave. they sent their driver to the wrong place.....but we told them we were in a blue buick regal...so why would he have thought it was us??? weird. he shows up and informs us that he went to the excel inn, found a blue buick regal, took the back right tire off of it, and was looking for us. whoops. so he changed my tire, and we were on our way.

the end.

lessons of the story:
1. don't go to arby's because their parking is full of pointy things and they play ghetto music.
2. if traveling with randall, be sure to ask him if he has heard any weird sounds coming from your car before driving away
3. be nice to tow truck drivers because they go out in the cold and change tires for the unfortunate traveler who doesn't have a tire wrench.

okay, i'm going to the stones throw now. see ya later.

james

a good weekend

so the weekend was pretty good all in all.

friday was cool. played routine with becker and hung out. colin and i setup the stage for the chip valley concert around 5:30, then we went to acoustic for food. dress rehearsal for chip valley after that, then to the house to make chicken with becker and colin.

the chicken was amazing. i think those chickens must have been sent from heaven or something because they're little legs tasted like amazingness. after we got done eating our chicken, colin and i, and a couple of other people from the house went down the block to the hastings house for a special viewing of conan. conan had spent a week in finland because he looks like their female president and the friday night showing was an hour long chronicle of his time there.

after conan we went back to the house and the party had pretty much died. by 12:30? lame! i walked home and went to sleepy sleep.

saturday was mostly spent cleaning my apartment. i was really happy to get that done and my place has returned to sweetness. i went to the state a little early and got a good warm up in on my tenor, in the hopes that it would be a little nicer to me than it was on friday. it worked, i think, because i made it through that damn wedding march without completely embarrassing myself. cavis pointed out that my part is higher than his part for the entire piece. note to mendehlsohn: don't friggen write trombone parts that are consistently higher than the trumpet parts moron! just kidding mendy. it was good for me. i won't go into detail about what i thought about the rest of the performance because ya just never know who reads these things.

after the concert we went down to the acoustic to hear john raymond's group. they sounded good and they had a huge audience, which was cool to see. i hung till the end just so i could hear them play kenny garret's "happy people." i love that tune.

so i went home, changed out of my tux, put some normal clothes on, and went to the joynt. we played darts pretty much all night and it was cool. the uncool part is that i broke down and started drinking again. dammit. colin was drunk and made some comment, while we were kicking his ass in darts, about how i was sober so ofcourse we would be beating him. little did he know that my dart game actually improves if i have a few in me. his taunting wasn't the real reason i went and got that glass from the bar though. the real reason is that my stress level was higher than i wanted it to be and i just needed to relax for a night and let go of my inhibitions. and let go i did. i had a lot of beer in two hours time and it felt great. now would probably be a good time to publicly thank mcginnis, lydon, and ben for taking care of my sorry ass that night. nuff said about that.

sunday:
practice, wind symphony concert, practice, dinner with mark, chill, then dooley's with evan and mark. in typical fashion evan came over 45 minutes later than he had told me. i wuv that little guy. we played darts and i didn't drink. we basically had the whole place to ourselves which was cool because it wasn't so loud that we couldn't talk. one of the bartender's was playing really crappy music, but i laughed about it more than i got upset. however, the hanson brothters "mmmbop" was pushing that tolerance level.

so here it is, monday morning and i'm pretty excited about all the snow that is falling. we basically had no winter here so this is cool. i don't care what you think, snow is a beautiful thing.

today will be spent mostly practicing with a trip to the gym thrown in there somewhere. thanks for reading.

oh yeah, and i finally figured out how to put links to my friends' blogs on the right hand side. if you'd like to be added or removed, please let me know. i just put the ones i could think of off the top of my head over there and may have forgotten a few. i love you all so don't let me leave you out.

love,
james

journey to manhattan, part II

well, as promised here is installment number 2 of my trip to the MSM audition in NYC (don't ya love acronyms?).

Sunday

i woke up at about 7:30a and popped right out of bed...or should i say, andy's couch. i had used my north face jacket as a blanket and slept with no pillow. colin was on the hardwood floor with a blanket, using one of the couch cushions as a pillow. despite going to bed at 2:30a, being woken up by colin's phone ringing at 4a, sleeping on a couch with no pillow or blanket, i felt surprisingly awake at 7:30. i'm pretty sure it was the adrenaline of being 3 hours away from my audition. anyways, i took a shower, put on my suit, woke colin up, waited for his slow ass to get ready, and we hit the subway.

the manhattan school is on 122nd and claremont so we knew that we'd be getting off at the 125th st exit. having parked my car in front of the school last summer on a trip to the city, i had an idea of landmarks to expect when we got out of the subway. i didn't see those landmarks and began to wonder where the crap we were. so, we walked to 122nd and turned in the direction i thought we should. after a block i realized it wasn't the right way and we turned around and went the other direction. after a couple of blocks we came to a T intersection....which was no good because we hadn't run into our cross street yet. so we went down to 123, and then continued in the same direction. finally we recognized where we were and found the school. phew.

with an hour before my audition, i went to the practice rooms only to find that they were full. all 3 floors of them. with about 45 minutes to go, i found one and began warming up. luckily the auditions were running behind and i was able to feel warmed up before i went in. right before my audition colin came up and sat down next to me. he gave me his headphones and said "here, listen to this, it'll relax you." we were probably the only two that dared to listen to jimmy smith before going into our classical trombone auditions at the manhattan school of music. it worked though, because i felt a little more relaxed.

the audition went well. the panel was steve norell (bass bone of the met. opera), dave finalayson (2nd in the ny phil) and a tuba player whose name i can't remember right now. i played a solid audition. i didn't receive much indication of what they thought of my playing. just a couple "nice job" and "sounds good" type comments. i've figured out, after taking a number of auditions, that that's about all you'll ever hear from the panel. they just have so many people to listen to and are constantly surrounded by good musicians that you're just never going to wow them. even if you did, though, i'm sure they wouldn't say much to you immediately after you're done. which is fine. i can wait for the letter.

after colin finished his audition we went back to andy's place, changed out of our suits, and hit the town. first we grabbed some pizza at a place just a few blocks down from andy's. then we got on the subway and went down to soho to visit the apple store. colin hadn't seen it and soho is a pretty cool place. it was gorgeous outside too, so we bummed around down there for a while.

next we went up to rockafeller plaza because colin wanted to revisit the sharper image store. when we got there we went up to the ice rink and watched all the skaters. there was one guy that instantly grabbed our attention. he was wearing his iPod and skating around doing all these crazy awkward moves, inspired by whatever crap he was listening to, i'm sure. at first i kinda chuckled, then i lost it and was laughing so hard i almost started to cry. he was doing this move where after almost running into another skater, he would skate backwards on one leg while thrashing is other leg back and forth in the air, then turn around and do this thing with his shoulders. then....a girl fell down next to him and he was instantly transformed into romeo. the problem was that juliet was interested at all and he didn't catch the hint. he kept putting his hand out for her to hold and i can't imagine how awkward the conversation must have been. colin and i began talking as if we were them. you can only imagine some of things we said. all and all, we laughed for a good half hour which is exactly what we needed after the traveling and auditioning. release is a good thing.

next we went to the sharper image store and sat in their massaging chairs for a while. as i was sitting there i witnessed an all out religous debate that again had me in stitches. there were two couples, probably average age of 40 or so, who, from what i could gather, didn't know each other. one couple was looking at a gps system as the other couple walked by. one of the guys kinda looked over at the other guy and said something like "aren't these things incredible." the other guy kind of acknowledged and said something about how times have changed, or something to that effect. from there, and i have no idea how they got to this, they began arguing about jesus while i sat there in the reclined massaging chair, trying to hold my laughter in. after about 15 minutes i couldn't take it any more and we left. the last thing i remember hearing was one lady saying "do you think life is easy? because i sure don't." yeah, maybe that's because you spend your time in sharper image stores arguing about the bible with random people...gotta love the colorful people of new york city!

after that we met up with andy and got burritos at this really good mexican place. they were huge and i barely finished half of mine. colin, of course, demolished his. i love that guy. after dinner we watched a movie called "16 blocks" at a nearby theatre. it was pretty good. maybe not $10.50 good, but it was still nice to relax in a comfy chair and be mildly entertained for a couple hours. after the movie we went back to andy's and crashed. we were completely exhausted.

to be continued...

post no. 27

well, this isn't a continuation of my journey to the manhattan school, but i need to write about some current happenings before i continue the rest of that chronicle.

we had chip valley rehearsal tonight. it sucked. tenor trombone wasn't nice to me. tomorrow will be better, i'm sure. becker made us laugh, which i definitely needed (and desperately need right now). he basically just made an entrance in the wrong place, but the visual exchange between him and nobu was funny enough for colin and i to crack up and begin our spatula choreography. then we continued laughing and couldn't play. it was great.

after the rehearsal we went to the house and made chicken. it was friggen delicious. and it was done just in time for us to eat it and run to the hastings house to watch the special conan o'brian episode of him in finland. i don't watch much tv these days, but it was fantastic to watch conan with a bunch of cool guys.

the drinking sabbatical continues and it is getting harder by the day. why did i decide to do this again? oh yeah, i want to get the crap out of here.

actually, i don't really WANT to leave eau claire. i like it here. i love my friends and i'm going to miss them sooooo much. but, i do need to move on i guess... i just wish moving on involved staying here with my friends.

so, anyways, i just had a good walk home from the house. it is absolutely gorgeous outside. the stars were out, the moon was bright, and it was warm and smelled of spring. settings like that always get me thinking, which is exactly why i chose to walk home instead of getting a ride from my dear friend colin. i needed to do some good old fashioned thinking. i'll be mysterious and keep my thoughts off this blog because it's not the most appropriate place for me to share what i had to think about. it involves people, places, and things. just like on the wheel of fortune. and isn't the wheel of fortune just one big metaphor for life? i mean, you have a pretty woman (vanna white), a buddy who helps you out(pat sajak...he tries), money problems, and random successes and losses. sounds like life to me.

gosh, i think it's bed time now. my random thought meter is telling me to quit writing now. did i mention that i haven't had a drink in a while?

with much love,
james

my journey to the manhattan audition, part I

last night i returned from nyc where i was auditioning for the manhattan school of music. today, i will start to document my trip. while it's tempting to tell about the most recent happenings, i'm going to start from saturday morning and work to the present

so here goes...

Saturday
colin picks me up, about 20 minutes later than we planned, at 10:20a and we drive to the msp airport. we were going to make a stop for lunch at chipolte, but decided we were cutting it close enough and skipped out on burrito heavenness.

we parked off-site and took a shuttle to the aiport. when we got to the airport we navigated our way (it was complicated...) to the northwest airlines (who i will now refer to as nwa) counter. after entering all of my information into the automatic check in computer thing, it told me i needed to speak with a nwa representative behind the counter. i waited patiently and was eventually informed that our flight had been cancelled. our fully booked flight was cancelled? really? the dude tells us that we can take different flights and get there about an hour after we were scheduled. however, we can't be on the same flights because there's only one seat left on each flight. one of us has to fly to boston and make a connection and one has to fly to toronto and make a connection. so they book me to fly to boston and colin to toronto.

so we go through security...

colin gets through just fine. james' bags go through and the lady working the x-ray screams bagcheck as if the bomb i planted in my backpack was about to explode in 10 seconds. another lady comes to her aid, takes me backpack and asks me "is this yours" in an accusatory tone. i politely say "yes it is" and i follow her to the table where she proceeds to take out everything i had just carefully packed. after going through everything (i know it's her job, and i'm not mad about that) she says to me "there are lighters in here, where are they?" hmm...i don't smoke so i'd like to know where they are too... i tell her i have no idea, and she continues to look as if she didn't even hear what i had just said. she frustratingly gives up and decides that she's going to send everything i have in my backpack through the x-ray individually. after doing so she comes back, gives me all my stuff in a bin and says "you're good to go." i ask "did you find them?" she says, "no, you're good to go." i quickly re-pack my stuff, and hurry to my gate with 10 minutes to spare.

phew.

my flight left as scheduled and i got to boston in time to make my connection to nyc.

when the plane touched down i turned my phone on and listened to a voicemail colin had left me. his plan had made an emergency landing in detroit and it looked as though he was going to miss his connection in toronto. i'll spare the details of this whole thing because i believe colin is going to write about it in the next couple of days but basically, it involves him going through canadian and then us customs with no passport or birth certificate and eventually landing at la guardia around 11p where he then tries to board a bus to get him to the subway without a metro card and eventually ends up fronting a $30 cab fee. his rendition is more detailed and comical.

to sum up the travel, we paid nwa $267 for a non-stop flight from msp to jfk that left at 12:55 and arrived in nyc around 4. what we got was two seperate connecting flights that didn't get us to our destination until 11p.

no worries. we got there. however tired...and annoyed...we got there.

we got some chinese food and went to bed at about 2:30a.

to be continued...

james

when to say no more

well, against my better judgement, i'm going to write at an hour when i'm probably not thinking as clearly as i should be.

just got back from the joynt. my drinking sabbatical is still going strong. tonight i had a sprite and a water. the second i walked in there i reminded myself of what my goals are in the next couple days. manhattan grad school audtions....probably the biggest opportunity i've had yet, just a couple days away. pray for me.

the joynt was fun tonight. colin got in a verbal bout with some really drunk guy. i admit i was a little anxious about what drunk guy was going to do because he was getting loud and his judgement probably wasn't quite spot on. the last thing i wanted to see was colin getting whacked in the mouth at such an unfortunate time. on a lighter note, lydon and i teamed up and did well on the dartboard until we got beat the last game. kevin and jake were up to 120 points with 20s and 18s closed after two rounds. ouch.

i had a thought as i drove home...

at what point do you give up and at what point do you keep trying at something? is it a matter of how much something means to you or is it a matter of how long you've been at it and how close you think you are? should trying for x number of years with little success be a sign that it's just not going to happen? i can't remember the last time i gave up on something...well, something moderately important anyways. i've been having this thought about music, and other things... maybe i'm just at a point where it feels like it's do or die, but in the end it's really not. personally, i think giving up blows. but then again, so does mental anguish and i know that i have the ability to let it all go once and for all. my problem is that once i let something go, it's gone forever (which is what i want), so it's hard for me to take that step. no worries though. i'm not about to give up on trombone (yet anyways) and i'm not giving up on life or anything like that. in the grand scheme of things, my problems are miniscule (sp?) and for that, i'm thankful.

dad came down today and we had lunch at the acoustic. when i got in his car he had a page of the newspaper folded open to an article titled Impeachment would solve many of country's problems written by garrison keillor. a surprising find for me since my dad is a republican. here's a link to the article; http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/editorial/13997364.htm if you've taken the time to read this far into my post you probably have a couple more minutes to invest in reading it. i'm not sure how long that link will work either. keillor refers to dick cheney as "gunner" which i found to be pretty freaking hilarious.

welp. that's all i got for now. i probably won't get a chance to write before i leave for nyc, so i'll be sure to save up some good stories for the next post.

g'nite,
james

there's another surprise at the end!

just walked into my apartment about 10 minutes ago. been gone since wednesday. the trip was good, but exhausting. here's the timeline.

wednesday-
5:30p leave eau claire
10:00p arrive in fon du lac
10:30p play through audition for colin's family
12:30p go to bed

thursday-
5:30a wake up and get ready
6:30a leave for milwaukee airport
9:30a depart for rochester
1:30p arrive in rochester
2:30p shuttle to hotel
3:30p walk to eastman to play trombone
5:00p dinner with colin and jennifer
7:00p back to eastman to practice more
10:00p back to hotel to sleep

friday-
7:30a wake up and get ready
9:00a audition meeting thing at eastman
10:00a warm-up
11:00a food
12:00p play more
1:00p relax
2:45p audition
3:30p back to hotel to chill
5:00p chill time with colin, darts, pizza, etc.
12:00a bed

saturday-
6:00a wake up and get ready
7:45a shuttle to airport
9:30a depart for milwaukee
12:30p arrive in milwaukee
1:00p leave for eau claire
5:30p arrive in eau claire
5:32p leave for minneapolis (maria schneider concert)
8:00p maria schneider concert (amazing!)
10:00p hang with george flynn
12:00a hang with evan benidt
1:30a bed (still in minneapolis)

sunday-
11:00a wake up
12:00p leave minneapolis
1:45p arrive in eau claire

and that brings us up to date. as soon as i'm done with this post i'm gonna take a shower, and head over to school to practice.

the audition went well. it wasn't a personal best for me, which was disappointing, but it was still okay. i'm certain that the only reasoning that will get me in, however, is if they recognize that i got a little nervous and pawn off some of my mistakes on that. i can't worry about it any more. time to focus on manhattan next weekend.

the best part of my trip was my conversation with a 2 year old girl named audrey as i flew between detroit and milwaukee. i began to fall asleep before take off and audrey tapped me on the shoulder to make sure i didn't miss the best part of the flight. so we talked a little bit. she has a brother who is 4 and another brother who is 7. she likes gummy worms and is excited to move into her new house in milwaukee.

well, time for the surprise i guess. a few of you had seen the last video i posted, but i guarantee you haven't seen this one. i received this one through e-mail from a friend (i can't remember who it was anymore) in high school. it's a short video clip of me playing "makin' whoopee" with high school band. the camera work is top notch and 2 points will be awarded for each member of the band you can identify that ended up coming to eau claire. good luck, and enjoy!

http://www.jamesyardley.com/video/mvc-153v.mpg

love,
james

here we go! (read to the end, there's a surprise)

just returned from chip valley rehearsal followed by some 'old man ball' at the hastings house. if you haven't played, it's a great game. colin and i took the first two games versus phil and ryan. not able to cope with losing at their own game, they challenged us to a third and we lost. teams were then switched up with phil and i taking down colin and ryan with a dramatic rebound shot that passed ryan's by a mere inch, thrown by yours truly. a good time was had by all.

chip valley rehearsal was good. tenor felt great today. maybe because i warmed up before hand? also maybe because i'm endurance has shot way up from grad school preparations. if i can get a grip on that mendelssohn wedding march i'll actually feel like i made the right decision by playing principal for the season. I still can't believe we're performing that on ANOTHER concert....c'mon, it's ceremony music, not concert music. i'm sure nobu has a good reason though. the low brass, i thought, sounded pretty good tonight as well. our intonation is starting to lock in, mostly because i'm learning where to place 3rd and 5th degree chord tones. we don't see much of that in the bass bone parts. if you don't know what i'm talking about...it's okay. i don't know what i'm talking about half the time either.

tomorrow begins my journey to my first grad school audition at the eastman school of music. colin and i are going to drive to fon du lac tomorrow so we can be only an hour away from the milwaukee airport on thursday morning. we'll fly in on thursday, walk to the school, get aclamated (sp?) to our surroundings, and then play great auditions on friday. we both did mock auditions for studio class yesterday and they went fairly well. for those who are interested, which i'm sure very few of you are, i'm playing the hidas meditation for bass trombone as my solo, exceprts from berlioz hungarian march, haydn creation, and the sarabande from bach cello suite no. 5. i think these selections do a really good job of showing off my strengths, but the audition as a whole is quite a marathon for me. i'd be fine if i could take even a minute between the solo and the excerpts, but i guess i'll just stall as long as i can to catch my breath. everyone tells me that they can't tell that i'm tired by the end of it, but i know they're just being supportive (which i sincerely appreciate!). the other thing i feel good about is the fact that i've been through this process before and i can already mentally picture how it will all happen. go positive thinking!

if this is getting long winded, it's because i have a ton of crap on my mind and i'm trying to get it all out before i go to bed. sleeping is difficult lately with the pressure of auditions on the horizon.

but...the one last thing i gotta say is that i'm extremely thankful for the backing i have here in eau claire. i can honestly say that i'm not going into this audition trying to win it by myself and for myself. i'm pretty sure if i tried to do this all on my own, i'd fail miserably. instead, i have a teacher who knows what it takes to get in, and a studio who is eager to see how i fair. for some, that may be cause for more pressure, but for me, it relieves some of the pressure. somehow i just have this feeling that i'm part of a team trying to get me into grad school instead of trying to do it by myself. i feel extremely lucky to be even given the opportunity to go do this. i'm prepared because i've worked hard. i'm focused because i've attacked my pieces from every angle possible and nothing can throw me off. i played well last year at eastman and i think by showing up again, at my level of preparation, there will be no doubt about how much i want this. i know they want to hear me play well too. all of these things are going to make for a great audition.

well, you must be bored by now. so here's something mildly entertaining as a reward for stickin' in there. it's appropriately titled "flaming trombones." i don't remember where i got it, but i found it sitting on my desktop. enjoy.
http://www.jamesyardley.com/video/winning_the_audition.wmv

keep your stick on the ice,
james

brrrrr

dang it's cold right now. i'm beginning to wonder how i grew up in duluth where weather like this is considered warm. i'll never forget those 20 below mornings delivering newspapers for the duluth news tribune at 5am. those were the days. really...they were. i didn't have to think about grad school. i didn't really have to think that much about money. i didn't have to think about girls. all i had to do was deliver the papers, go to school, go to practice, do my homework, and go to sleep. life was definitely good.

mmea convention performance with trombone choir was really rewarding. the group played well, and the audience loved us. i've never seen a trombone choir receive a standing ovation before. that was a nice gesture. it was also rewarding being able to play for my high school trombone teacher who hadn't heard me play since i left high school. i was actually nervous for the first time in a while. that took me by surprise. my old band director was there too. i talked to them for a while after the concert and they made me feel really good about the progress i've made since i left. we got back to eau claire just before they locked the building so i got a good 1.5 hours of practice in afterwards too.

speaking of practicing, i just got done for the night. i feel like i was really productive in my practice, but i still don't feel like i'm 100% focused yet. i'm probably at about 88%. i recorded myself tonight with my mini-disc player and learned a lot about the way i am playing. whoops. that always happens though. stupid recording equipment....doesn't it know that ignorance is bliss? the bach sarabande is slooowly becoming acceptable. the other stuff is okay too. okay isn't where i need to be for these auditions, though. so, tomorrow will be more practicing.

not much else to say right now i guess. i'll probably be ready for some good old fashioned ranting by monday though.

what do you call a cow that plays the trombone?

a mooo-sician

-james

andreistrizek.com goes live

andrei's website is now live. you can view it at www.andreistrizek.com. it's basic, but, as far as the code goes, it's my best work. let me know what you think.

james

thickburgers, ugh

ever had so many things on your mind that you can't even remember what day it is? or couldn't fall asleep till 4am? atleast i got to see a lot of the olympics.... i really wish i could just fast forward a month so i could see how it all ends. instead, it's all just hanging over my head, stressin' me out. usually i'm great about keeping my head on straight and staying focused, but something's come over me where i have these moments of terrible confusion. it's all gonna work out right? k, good. as long as you think so, i'll trust ya.

yesterday was valentines day, and in typical fashion, it was spent mostly with my trombone and trombone related friends. i did go on a date, however, with most of the trombone studio to hardees for thickburgers. i've never had a hardees thickburger, and now i can safely say, that i never want to again. until maybe next valentines day. something like 2/3 lb. of beef, w/bacon, fries, and a drink. i could barely finish the damn thing and i felt like crap afterwards. colin, however...that boy amazes me. 1 thickburger, fries, drink, then 2 chicken sandwhiches. then, just when you think he's done, he goes for the cookies n' cream shake. i think just the thickburger combo alone is somewhere between 1500-1800 calories. gross. it atleast reminded why i never eat that crap. i know it doesn't sound like any fun, but you gotta picture colin, randy, ben, matt caine, brad, justin, and myself at the deserted hardees on clairemont avenue all acting completely ridiculous while stuffing ourselves with terrible fast food on valentines day. physically i felt like poo, but it sure was a lot of fun socially.

rehearsed the bass bone feature with jazz 1 on monday. i felt like i played well, especially for having practiced it only twice (i got my part on friday for a monday rehearsal). i'm supposed to show up at the end of rehearsal today to possibly run it again. i'm having a lot of fun with it, but we'll see how much fun it is when i'm in the studio. recording is sooooo much different than playing something live.

not much else to report i guess. well, there is, but i'll spare ya.

monkeys, cows, bananas, so on and so forth,
james

before i start practicing....

just went to the music building to play for an hour, found out it closes at 10, so i got my horn and came home. gonna practice all my stuff, but figured i'd kill some time while i wait for my apartment to warm up. biggest reason i haven't been practicing at home lately is because it's just too damn cold here and i can't really afford to turn the heat on. so here comes some blogging.

things are incredibly busy lately. you'd think that after a guy graduates and doesn't have a job, there'd be plenty of time to do whatever. thankfully, that's not the case for me. (and i am thankful for that!) so here's a list of all the things off the top of my head.

concerts:

• chip valley tomorrow night.


• bone choir at minnesota state music convention, friday, feb. 17


• chip valley march 10

auditions:

• eastman, feb. 24


• manhattan, march 5 and 7


• indiana, sometime soon after manhattan

recording session:
maybe sometime before march 5? but not sure. the session itself won't take much time for me, but i've got a freakin' hard feature to prepare. take a listen at http://www.rewindplay.com/airmenofnote/sounds/holidaynote.htm. it's the last track, 'you're a mean one, mr. grinch' i'm totally pumped to play a feature on a cd, but i just got the part today and it's hard. 4 octaves of hard.

web design:

• trying to update my site in a timely manner - http://www.jamesyardley.com


• working on andrei's site, hopefully will have something up in the next couple days


• working on prescott middle school band website, no idea when it will be complete, but it's going to be a huge project

rehearsals:
every monday and tuesday night.

so like i said, that's all stuff off the top of my head. there's more. i'm not bitching about being too busy, because i'm not too busy. it feels a little overwhelming, i think, because the auditions and recording are somewhat high pressure ordeals. but, i know i can handle it and everything will be fine. yay positive thinking.

not much else is new. and i think my apartment is now at a bearable temperture for me to begin practicing. i'm gonna go check to see if my neighbors are home so that maybe i don't have to play with my practice mute in. that'd be a treat.

cows,
james

an interesting weekend

tomorrow's monday. that means the weekend is over....sad.

my family came down on friday to see the cabaret stuff i had been telling them about. just so ya know, i didn't encourage their visit. cabaret is nothing i would want people to travel 2.5 hours to pay $35? to see. it's fun for us, but it's not that good. when all was said and done with cabaret i successfully, however latefully, wrote the ricky martin set, which, i received praise and guff for doing, and played the solo on 'hit me with your best shot' during the 2nd overture. received an equal amount of praise and guff for that one too. i believe the words doc schwartzhoff used were 'taco bell' and 'flatualants.' well, my response to that is that atleast my flatualantly sound stayed in time and on pitch. just kidding...mostly...don't be offended.

seeing the fam and the dog was cool. i didn't get to see my parents much, unfortunately, because they had to take off early on saturday morning for a funeral. i guess one of my dad's friends suddenly dropped dead during a hockey game. man, life is so freaking fragile and unpredictable.

my bro hung around for the weekend, which was cool. he came to phil's surprise party with me after seeing cabaret on friday night. i was happy to make it to phil's party. he's just a sweet guy and we both came to the awesome conclusion that we need to hang out more. congratulations to him for making principal in orchestra too. that's uber cool to be playing principal on mahler 3. good for him.

speaking of phil's party and birthday stuff, i'm reminded of a conversation with someone, i won't name names, who once again put me back in my humble position towards the female race. quick story; we'll call her...um...crazy girl (it's an affectionate term, don't get upset). so i'm talking to phil about what he did on his birthday and he tells me that lauren took him to a dragonetti's. it's an italian place and i've never eaten there, but always wanted to. so i said jokingly, 'man, i need to find a girl who'll take me there on my birthday next friday.' so crazy girl walks up and i propose that she take me there. 'yeah right,' she says 'it's expensive and i don't have a car.' fair enough. 'so i'll give you some money and let you borrow my car,' i say. phil chimes in and says that's a great idea and tries to convince crazy girl to take me up on my offer. she declines, despite much prodding. you know you're a loser when....you can't lend a girl your car and give her money to take you out to a nice restaruant on your birthday. i probably would have been willing to dress up in a suit and everything. her loss right? ok, end of story. and crazy girl, if you happen to read this, you know it's all in good fun and that you're still loved.

so that about sums up my weekend. partied a little too late last night, so i'm gonna shower up and try to get some rest so i can make it to the gym before rehearsal tomorrow.

oh yeah, and if you're interested, i think i'm going to try to get my friends together for a nice lunch or dinner at dragonetti's on saturday sometime. gonna try to make my last birthday in eau claire a classy gathering of my friends.

love,
james

stuffage

just returned from cabaret. it was loud, it rushed, the jokes were terrible, and the audience loved every minute of it. good for them. funny things included mr. baca talking to the orchestra in the pit while being recognized by dr. schwartzhoff out in the house and the entire audience looking back at the pit during the 'moment' in the josh grobin (sp?) set while we waved our horns back in forth in the air (i think i started that one...oops). 3 more performances to go. ugh.

tomorrow is going to rock. my family is coming down tomorrow. my parents are coming to see the show. they're way too excited to hear my ricky martin set and to hear my play a solo on pat benetar's 'hit me with your best shot.' couldn't get them to come to an orchestra concert during my 5 years here, but apparently they'll come to hear that. sheesh. my brother is coming down as well. he just turned 21 on wednesday, so i think he wants to go do some boozin'. the most exciting thing, however, about my family coming to visit, is that they're bringing my dog. her name is gert and she's the coolest dalmatian to ever have spots. she's going to stay at my apartment and i'm pretty friggen excited about that. you all should definitely stop by.

dad stopped by today and dropped off some mail from home. i got a diploma and a check from the university for my new york trip. also got a birthday card from grandma. overall it was an excellent mail day.

gonna cut this one short. i'm off to the joynt to hang out with my wonderful friends then up early to play routine with becker, rehearsal at noon, then working on some jazz stuff with my teacher, ben herpel-derpel.

thanks for reading,
james

a post about jazz

so it's 1.23am and i just got home from the stones throw. lots of people came out tonight, which was awesome to see. a lot weren't even music majors. i'm happy that monday night is staying alive because i realize it's been good to me all these years.

so lately i've been sitting in, trying to improve my improvising chops. to say the least, it's difficult for me. (i just had a random idea....i should record myself next time i go down.) i'm finding out that no matter how much i study a tune and practice it, it's going to be completely different when i go down and play it. things such as tempo (i played mercy, mercy, mercy tonight and it was so much faster than i had been practicing/listening), volume of the ryhthm section, and how well i can hear myself changed drastically for me tonight. in addition, i thought i knew the form of the tune and became slightly confused when we played it tonight. it was my own dumb fault i'm sure. so as i always do, i assess what i can do to improve the things that caught me off guard. the only thing i could really come up with is to listen to different versions of the same tune and play some of the licks i learn faster and slower. those are the things i can do on my own. other than that, i've concluded that i just have to get my ass down there every monday and play on something to get used to it.

i'm gonna start working with ben a little too. we're gonna meet on friday, which i'm looking forward to. i think ben will be a gentle and concise person for me to learn from. he sounded great tonight.

i'm gonna hit the hay now. maybe do a little reading or something to calm my mind, which is racing with so many thoughts about practicing and improvising. i got a gym membership today and need to get up at a decent time tomorrow and make use of it. i'm looking forward to working out again. it's been too long and i miss it.


g'nite,
james

ahem

first, some musician jokes that i haven't heard before that i think are funny.

Q: how does a violists brain cell die?
A: alone

Q: how do you stop the spread of aids?
A: let BMG distribute it

Q: what do a viola and a lawsuit have in common?
A: everyone is relieved when the case is closed

and finally....

Q: how many trumpet players does it take to pave a driveway?
A: seven, if you lay them out correctly.

that was fun. i should start my blogs with jokes more often. now on to something relevant.

my first professional website went live today. www.fancypantsproductionsinc.com is now up and running. this is the first time i've developed a website for a client as a professional and i'm pretty proud of it. i'm pretty sure it's going to get some good exposure too, as dorney park's website is linked to it. i have a link on the bottom, crediting myself as the designer, and i'm hoping it will draw people to my site to hire me. that would be excellent.

hmm....what else. oh yeah, if you haven't seen my new facebook picture you should probably check it out. i laugh everytime i look at it. it combines my love for two very special people in one spectacular image.

on the horizon...gig for the luther midlefort employees party tomorrow night. then off to the cities on sunday for a rehearsal before leaving for new york city.

i got a haircut today and that's about it.

wuv,
james

home for christmas

well, this is going to be the last update for a while. i'm going home to duluth tomorrow and my parents home on wilderness trail road doesn't have internet or cell phone service. there's a lot of trees, and the stars are friggen amazing up there, but just a simple phone line to communicate with the outside world. hence, i won't be in touch with most of my friends for a week or so. :-( sad...

couple things to talk about. first of all, i was talking to my friend katelyn tonight (she was a dancer at dorney and she's pretty awesome) and i was telling her about the northern lights and she said she had never heard of them. it reminded me that there's a lot of people that have either never heard of them or seen them live. if you're one of those people, you gotta check out this link to a photo gallery of the northern lights over lake superior. here's the link http://northernimages.com/webgallery/list.php?exhibition=39. Even if you have seen them before and know what they're all about, you should check it out because there's some amazing pictures in there. i'm hoping to see some when i go home this week.

went christmas shopping today. my whole family is getting sweaters. i asked them what they wanted, and they were way stubborn, so i decided i'm going make a statement and give them all sweaters. i bought them today, and don't get me wrong, they're not ugly christmas sweaters, they're actually nice and somewhat expensive, but the fact that they're each getting the same thing should get the message across. if you're going to be stubborn about telling me what you want, you're going to get a sweater. it'll probably backfire and they'll think they're the greatest gifts ever.

got a call from my ex-girlfriend, jennifer, tonight. boy was i surprised to hear her voice. i usually talk to her about once a year or so, which is somewhat unfortunate, but i'm probably better off that way. she was out with all of our friends that we used to hang out with in high school and i'm sure they asked her to call me. they passed the phone around and i got to talk to about 6 different friends that i hadn't seen or talked to in forever. it was really nice, especially since i'm in eau claire all by myself today, and somewhat on the lonely side. about half an hour later colin's dad called me to tell me that colin had just pulled an 'evan.' i laughed pretty hard. you know your friends are cool when their parents are calling you to tell you about stupid stuff their son or daughter has done. i guess they also called to say merry christmas too, but mostly to tell me about colin.

well, i guess that's it. i've got some stuff to do before i leave tomorrow. dishes, laundry, takin' out the garbage, all on the fun list of things to do. i hope you all have a wonderful break and that santa is good to you all.

thanks for stopping by san diego,
james

what are you doing new years eve

so i stumbled across something pretty sweet that i need to share with you. if you like music at all, you should definitely check out this video with diana krall singing 'what are you doing new years eve' accompanied by the clayton/hamiton jazz orchestra. great singing, absolutely beautiful orchestration. here's the link: http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/player.aspx?fid=1365&ftyp=3&pgid=6&hid=2701&pl=72&fp=wmp. enjoy!

so here's my plan for the break...

• dec. 24 playing a gig in hastings, mn then home for christmas


• dec. 31 playing a gig in menomonie, wi then to eau claire for new years


• jan. 1-9 hanging in eau claire, practicing, working on my cabaret set


• jan. 10-15 in new york city for the iaje convention


• jan. 15-whenver, cabaret rehearsals and performances

time off mixed in with some gigs and a trip to new york. doesn't get much better than that as far as breaks are concerned. hopefully some of you will be around for some lunch dates and some much needed hanging out time. don't ever hesitate to call because i won't hesitate to call you back.

merry new years, happy christmas, shalom, peace, and everything else,
james

answering some questions

well, it seems to be that time when the people who don't know me very well start asking me lots of questions about myself and my future. so, i'm going to answer some of them here. before you read on, i must admit, some of these questions have annoyed me, but most have not. i'm not trying to lash out, just trying to write some thoughts down. it's more for me than anyone else i suppose.

1) what are you going to do now that you've graduated?
answer: the same stuff i've been doing since i got here. practicing, taking lessons, hopefully getting better, trying to get a job playing trombone. i'll still be living in eau claire, i'll still go to the joynt, and i'll still be the same person.

2) when are your grad school auditions?
answer: february and march. i've applied to eastman, manhattan, and indiana. still contemplating either northwestern or depaul. i won't know a thing about acceptance until late april.

3) are you going to get a job?
answer: possibly. if i do, i'm going to try to hold out till after auditions are over. i have some gigs and i'm returning as a web designer and have a few projects lined up including a site for Brian Thorstad's Prescott Middle School band and a site for Maestro Nobu Yasuda. i'm in the process of building an online portfolio at www.jamesyardley.com, but it won't be finished for another month or so.

4) why are you still single?
answer: this one annoys me a little, but, since it's usually asked by people that don't know me too well (like my parents or friends from high school) i tend to let it roll off my back. the answer is that i haven't found a girl that i'm in love with and that loves me back. i think it's a good idea to stay single until i do. i also don't tend to invest a lot of time towards such a goal. i think it'd be great and rewarding to be in that kind of relationship, but right now, i don't have the time to look for that. i don't want to force anything, so i don't spend my time pursuing a serious relationship. i'm happy enough with my friends and confident enough in myself to live without it for the time being. and if you don't believe any of that, then i'll give you answer b; i'm intimdating. don't buy that one either? fine, answer c; my trombone is my girlfriend.

well, when i first started writing this i had intended on addressing a few more questions, but after answering those ones, i've realized that i just shouldn't worry about those people that think i'm not doing the right thing with my life. if you're reading this, you're probably one of those that knows me well and doesn't really question my life path. i guess those are good questions to think about sometimes, they're just hard to swallow coming from someone else.

on a happy note. i really felt like i nailed my jury today. i'm pretty sure i heard Bach clapping for me when i got done playing the sarabande from cello suite no. 5. either that or it was the sigh of relief coming from dr. o signifying 'finally, james doesn't sound like crap on that piece.'

that's pretty much it. until next time, keep your stick on the ice,
james

the graduator

welp, i'm gonna take a page from the book of dr. phillip ostrander and start with some positive comments about graduation. lets see, well, i got to sit next to two cool people, kara sorenson and sacia jerome, instead of next to people i didn't know. nicole's speech was excellent. and the last positive comment i have about graduation is that it is now over.

now how about a couple um...other...thoughts about the ceremony. orchestra sounded fine, but i certainly didn't expect the "hiccup" in the national anthem. it's okay, because i love nobu and the rest of the orchestra and it paled in comparison to the speech given by that grant writing lady. hmm...what can i say without being too harsh...how about..that was about the worst speech i've ever heard in my life. i can't remember the last time i wanted to punch myself repeatedly in the face just to dull the pain of having to listen to someone speak. i'm sure she's a very nice person, and i certainly don't have any hate towards her, but good lord. i would rather hear a speech given by a 12 year old about the finer points of bubble tape bubble gum.

oh well. i graduated, it's over, and time for me to move along. even though i'm not leaving immediately, which is what usually happens when normal people graduate, it's gotten me to think about what i'm going to do without all these amazing people i've spent the last 5+ years with. too many to name here, but you know who you all are. in a perfect world, i would keep in close contact with you all and maybe even be fortunate enough to live in the same areas as some of you too. i guess i shouldn't be saying my goodbyes yet though, because i'm still going to be in eau claire for a few more months. i hope to enjoy them to their fullest.

well, it's time to look over those loan papers and take note of how much money i have in my bank account. i think i need to write that stuff down so that when i'm rich and famous i can start my autobiography with "when i graduated from college, i had x amount of dollars in my bank account and x amount of dollars to pay back to the federal government that funded my education." maybe i'll just flee to mexico instead....i hear they have awesome tacos down there.

that's all for now.

james 'the graduator' yardley

holy monkeys it's an update!

ok, this one's for you andrizzle.

haven't updated in a long time, but it's for good reason...sort of.

i've been too friggen busy. so here's the brief summary,

nov. 21-24 trip to NYC
nov. 24-26 back to school to finish work i missed while in NYC
nov. 28&29 worst jazz 1 tour ever
nov. 29-dec. 1 being very sick, jazz 1 concert on dec. 1
dec. 2-dec. 14, working madly on service learning, web design, and alexander technique class projects, while trying to improve my health, while trying to get my chops back from the time i took off while i was sick.

ok, so we're totally up to date now. graduation happens on saturday. i'm happy to graduate, but damn i'm gonna miss this place. don't worry kids, i'll be around all next semester.

current and future projects;
www.jamesyardley.com - this is going to be my online portfolio of the web design work i have done and will be doing. should be fun. check out www.jamesyardley.com/FancyPants to see my latest project. web design projects on the horizon include a web site for Brian Thorstad's Prescott Middle School Band and possibly a web site for Maestro Nobuyoshi Yasuda.

working on my ricky martin set for cabaret. it's fun but i know i'm going to struggle with guitar, piano, and drum parts. the horn lines are great and i have tons of different ideas on how i'm going to work some subtle unison instrumentation with the vocals.

playing a new years gig at the mabel tainter theatre in menomonie. it'll be my first new years in eau claire, and i can't wait to spend it with my college friends.

off to nyc again jan. 9-15 for the iaje convention. been keeping in touch with george flynn and certain i'll see him when i get out there. can't wait.

grad school auditions are on the horizon. manhattan, eastman, indiana, and possibly northwestern. holy money/time/travel/practicing. gotta keep tellin' myself it's going to be worth it once it's all over with.

well, i think that's about it. cheers!

james

life is good

just got back from the joynt. won the first game of darts, nearly won the second game (nice job mcginnis!). left by 1:10, which is an accomplishment as my habit is to stay till close. now i should be able to get up early and play trombone at 8am. dropped colin off at home and as i drove away he ran beside my car waving. i laughed.

it's snowing. i'm happy and the ground is white.

my dad came down yesterday and we had dinner. he brought me some mail from home. i got my new check card and i have now been upgraded to a 'wells fargo gold check card.' ahh, the perks of being me. basically it's gold colored and it makes me feel important.

bone dinner is tomorrow night. one cajun fried turkey comin' up!

monday i leave for new york. i can't wait. it's going to be such a great trip. edlund called me last night just to say "hello and i'm glad to hear you're coming." such calls really brighten my day. taking lessons out there is going to be awesome. in addition to that trip i get to go home to duluth for thanksgiving, which i didn't think i was going to be able to do. i'm really looking forward to being with my family, as i have not been home since the summer.

life is good. i'm thankful. g'nite.

james

stuff to read

well, some people write in their blogs everyday. i'm not one of em. i'm a little more sporadic. haven't really figured out what motivates me to write here, but it doesn't matter that much i guess.

anyways. raise your hand if you've ever heard a polka version of "oops i did it again," "toxic," or "eye of the tiger." well, i did this last weekend, and let me tell you, i haven't laughed that hard in a looooong time. i don't remember the name of the band, but while riding to hertel's wedding with joel this last weekend, i had the pleasure to hear such a thing. leave it to joel...

hertel's wedding was fun. i played decently enough on my tenor to not embarass myself in front of all my fellow music majors. i used to think the tenor playing was getting better (and it has...) but it is kind of up and down for me recently. actually, my playing on the whole is up and down. can't figure it out, but it seems as though i've lost a lot of consistency and range in my playing this last week. but, no one wants to hear about that, so on to something eles.

i went to the university orchestra concert today and enjoyed it very much. the strings are getting better every year, and that is so awesome to see. if we had a bigger french horn studio, i think that orchestra could really start to do some big things. the trombone players seemed less than enthustiastic about they're playing on the concert, but i felt like they did fine. i understand that it's hard to accept a performance that is less rewarding than past performances, but the good news is that the general audience loved it, and that's probably the most important thing...reaching an audience with your music. so, no matter how crappy you guys felt about your playing, just remember, you reached a lot of people and that and that deserves a congratulations.

so this week should be a good one. i'm going to buy a turkey tomorrow for friday's dreaded bone dinner so that is is thawed by the time i fry it. yeah, that's right, i'm frying a turkey on friday for the third year in a row. i've got a kitchen now, so i will be cooking and eating healthier food all week, which should lift my spirits quite a lot. i got into the gym tonight and worked out for a little while and will spend this week getting back into that whole routine. practice time will be a priority as i prepare for my trip to nyc the following week. for those who don't know, i'm flying out there to take a few lessons with one of the world's greatest bass trombonists, george flynn. in addition to taking lessons, i get to hear maria schneider's band play all that week. it's going to be great and i'm sure i will have lots of stuff to write here after that trip.

ok, i think i've written enough. someday i'm going to figure out how to organize these thoughts a little better. like when writing a music history paper....

g'nite kids.

rebounding

well, life seems to be on the rebound...

my trip to michigan was so-so at best. the gigs were moderately rewarding and the traveling really sucked. to sum up the traveling, we left late wednesday night, arrived in byron center (near grand rapids, mi) at about 6am thursday morning. then we began our trip home late sunday night, and arrived in eau claire at about 6am. on the way home, evan managed to give us a tour of east lansing before i got us directions to I-496, and talked to a drug dealer, somewhere in western michigan, just before entering indiana. evan, you're amazing.

anyways, life is slowly improving.

becker, colin, randall, and i "decorated" dr. ostrander's house last night (halloween) while he was gone playing a gig with the MN Opera. ornaments included chalking the driveway with the Ride of the Valkyries in B-flat alto clef, which modulated to A-flat treble clef, which then turned into a jazz lick followed by chord changes only colin and randall could thing of. sharp 1, that's brilliant. other ornaments included hanging a trombone, with a knot that was supposed to resemble a noose, from his basketball hoop. oh yeah, and steve turre called...he needs him to play piano. blaming the freshman by signing their names was a nice touch as well.

i played my tune (cantaloupe island) last night at the stones throw and felt about the best i ever have about my improvising. sad as that may be...because i still have a long ways to go with that. but i'm starting to leave the realm of suck and enter the realm of it-could-be-worse.

i saw branden's sister, katie, there too. that lifted my spirits quite a bit. if she's able to go out, i can't feel too awful myself. it's still hard to cope with though, but time is doing it's thing.

i got two new wycliffe gordon cds in the mail yesterday and i can't stop listening to them. they're sooo good and inspiring me even more to practice my improvising everyday.

chip valley rehearsal didn't totally suck today. the tenor is really starting to feel comfortable and i'm actually enjoying the principal chair. high c's aren't so bad afterall. i still have a lot of improving to do, but i'm getting better every time, which is extremely encouraging.

i think if i could get back up to the gym on a regular basis i would be even happier. i just haven't felt like going lately, and it's bugging me, but i just can't find the motivation to get up there. i think it's the reality of how sore i will be from starting up again that is one hinderance for me. i've started running a little, which feels really good. but, i really do want to get back to the lifting.

i guess that's about it. i love my friends and i'm still thankful for the time i get to spend with them.

g'nite fools.