Band, and how to have a life while doing Band

Okay, I lie about the 2nd part. I don’t have a life, but if I did, I’d be working on it.
So pretty much immediately after I got back from Austin, I began summer band, which was kind of bad since my procrastination has created backup in the other stuff I need to do, but I think I’ve handled it pretty well. As far as band goes, it’s definitely a mixed basket this year. I’m extremely proud of my section: every returning tuba is better than they were last year (more significantly at the bottom than the top), respect is generally going pretty well, and Mr. Phillips has been right on top of things (if you read this, you’re welcome). We cling to our ways, though with a new mentality: “Do the little stuff so we can get away with the bigger stuff”. Section pride is now much more visible than ever before (in a manner of speaking). GJ tubas.
What’s not cool is just a lot of band in general. Perhaps this is simply out of arrogance and 3 yrs of marching experience, but I don’t think that fundamentals and exercises have been handled all so well this year. Fundamentals have been drastically shortened. Back fishmen year, I don’t think I handled drill until after the school year started, and the same for soph year. I ‘member being vaguely startled by beginning drill during summer band last year, and I’m blown away that we started it this year after less than a week. As far as I’ve seen, fundamentals are things that sink in as time passes, not something linearly gets better the more you practice. I could march my section up and down over and over, but they really need to make their own discoveries to make their marching better. Exercises have been a lot different this year, with some being better, some worse, with a “go X, hold X” exercise being one that I feel falls in the latter. Without details, I’m skeptical that our work is really for the best, but then again, everything is new. Perhaps I’m clinging to the old ways like an old toaster oven: it didn’t seem blatantly broken and I’m used to dealing with its minor faults, and with things changing, I kind of look back at the “reliable” old ways. A lot of organizational changes have been bugging me too, but that’s probably the same thing. Time will tell.
On the plus side, the drill this year is really cool, and if everything falls into place, this marching season is going to be incredible.

So “life” for me can be interestingly defined. Wednesday night, after band, I came home, took a shower, then prepared for Aditya, Grant, Josh, and Matt to come over for a game of Axis & Allies, probably the coolest war game that most of you have not heard about. Around 10 (at night), they arrived, whereupon we started around 1030-11ish. Approximately 20 cans of pop, 2 bags of tortilla chips, 1/2 jar of salsa, a jar of queso, and a box of teddy grahams later, we finished. Basically, a very stupid mistake on my part (put the wrong starting piece on the map) costed me(Germany) Normandy, causing my downfall, with Japan taking the weakened USSR in the same turn. In an incredible sequence of moves, Matt (Japan) managed to hold off the Trifecta (Allied powers) long enough to successfully run east as they chased him, taking both washington and london (with berlin likely to follow), before we basically stopped caring around 5-6 in the morning. Thanks to my mom, I successfully woke up for uniform fitting (unlike the USSR), then went back to sleep until noon, when john, lonnie, and andrew came over to complete my day of ultimate nerdiness: we had a Magic the Gathering draft. All in time for me to get to band at 4.
And so I learn the ultimate trick of time management: sleep is a waste of time.
(I swear I’ll post the next chapter in my story blog tomorrow evening.)