29. The musical stylings of Beverly Smoker

God, that woman can play piano like nobody’s business.

Her recital today was amazing. I loved the theme of her recital, and how it reflected various articles from “The Etude” magazine throughout the 1900s.

I also loved that I recognized the Schonberg piano piece she played, Klavierstuck, Op. 11 from Music History III with Granat. I felt kinda smart!

She also played an Amy Beach piece, and it warmed my soul because I could SO tell it was Amy Beach. Her work just reeks of sunshine and rainbows.

Yup. I enjoy piano recitals.

Now, I will proceed to practice playing I-IV-V7 chord progressions for elementary songs, like Goin’ on a Picnic, because unlike Dr. Smoker, and I am NOT a prodigy. ;)

28. My lesson plan for MED302

Today I smiled because I am actually really excited for Tuesday when I give my first teaching demo for MED302, Elementary Methods. I have Kindergarten, and the lesson is called “Going on a Picnic.”

The first half, which is what I will teach, involves an adorable song called “Going on a Picnic” and the students sing about items they have brought on the picnic. I have these color pictures of clip art (I love free color printing as a library job perk) of some picnic items and some random things, like an alien and Santa. If I sing about an item that belongs on a picnic, they will sing back…but, if it’s a random item, they will stay silent. (The other half of the lesson involves ostinato/word chains, which my partner will cover).

I am excited because I bought these foam dry erase boards so I can write the lyrics of the song on them for the students, and I bought this clear laminate stuff to “laminate” my pictures…and it’s way cheaper than ACTUALLY going out and laminating stuff.

AND I can play the song on the piano like a boss. I feel competent for once!

AND I practiced my “elementary teacher” voice (you know, really excited and cheesy) and I was actually having so much fun with it. Maybe getting in touch with my inner child will infuse my life with some much needed joy and happiness.

I mean…who doesn’t like singing about hot dogs, salad, ice cream, and melon?? :)

27. Plain greek yogurt

I am a day late on this post and I cannot recall anything that particularly stands out that made me smile, so I decided to pick something that makes me happy no matter what day it is!

Plain. greek. yogurt. With a few Splenda and cinnamon. Mmmmm…

Chobani? Wegman’s Brand? It’s all wonderful. High protein, low cal, no fat. How could you ask for anything better?

And it helps build strong bones and muss-skulls (muscles, hehe).

And it just tastes so good.

What else is there to say? It’s just great.

26. Amy Beach

Today I smiled because I had a really good audition for the Women in Music recital in March. I love love love the pieces I’m singing by Amy Beach: “The year’s at the spring” and “I send my heart up to thee” from her song cycle, Three Browning Songs. Gorgeous. Overly romanticized art songs with beautiful accompaniments and exquisite poetry. Gotta love us women and our keen sense of romance!

And, I can sing a pretty mean high Bb. At least in that set, anyways.

Woo hoo. Go me for auditioning after only working on those pieces for a few weeks.

25.

Me: Hi, are you still interested in borrowing my Norton music history textbook and score anthologies/CDs for IB? I’m not sure I will actually make it to Urinetown because of work conflicts, but I think I can come out after the show on Saturday and bring them if you want. Let me know.

Ellice Amendolare: I just wanna see Andrea! No books!

24. The fact that video killed the radio star.

Because, I’m a movie star.

In my own weird way…

I also am smiling at the fact that I am a master at parody-ing songs. I’m Weird Al. Only…Weird Ann—dreeuh.

Maybe that’s another thing I can do if I can’t find a teaching job. I’ll write lyrical parodies. It’ll be great.

23. Being awesome at treasurer-ness

So, even though SOME individuals may not agree, I have decided that I am a considerably awesome treasurer, considering I just got the UA to grant NAfME the $35 registration fee for our State Collegiate Conference for 85 students AND to cover the rest of the ACDA Conference expenses.

If ya’ll don’t agree, and if you don’t like me because I do good things for clubs I help run…then go jump into a pool of valve oil and enjoy it. That’s what I have to say.

:) (An actual representation of my smile.)

Yup, I went there.

22. Going to bed at 8:30 after getting out of work

Even though I didn’t fall asleep right away, it’s always really nice to be able to lay in bed with the lights off. I wore my new decaf coffee pajamas (which are perfect for the stuffy-ness of my room) with the fan blowing me. AND I discovered that after four semesters of trying to figure out why I have so much trouble sleeping, I finally figured out that my mattress pad was making it HARD for me to sleep. I always sleep much better at home…but, I just thought it was because I was in my own bed without a billion responsibilities to think about. Nope. It was partially the (lack of) firmness of my bed. So, the past few nights have been glorious.

Now, getting up this Monday morning was a different story…I was enjoying my bed so much that getting out of it made me a bit upset. However, any night that I sleep well is a good night.