My Life

This entry is dedicated to my life.
So band is going to be all inclusive for the next 3 weeks (even moreso than normal), with some event on every day (well, 2 of those are TBD) except sundays. Fun, right?
It’s crazy how contradictory this comes off, because if you talk to band kids right now, about all we do is b*tch and moan about how busy we are, the shape we’re in, the changes being made, the excercises we’re doing, etc. But at least for me, I’m enjoying this way more than I realize (now there’s a paradox, having written that).
I’ve been working on college stuff for a fair portion of today, and one diversion involved looking at their marching bands. You would not believe how disappointed I am that the only school with a real marching band that I’m applying to is my safety school. Yes. The cool, big-name, out-of-state schools I’m applying to have, in my opinion, the lame, watered-down, idiotic version of marching band. The so-called “scatter bands”. In essence, a bunch of kids run out on the field randomly into some crude formation, play some, mebbe scramble over to another, play some, and they’re done.
I’m not quire sure what it is about marching band. I’ll admit as much as anybody in the stands, our formations look a lot like nothing. Curves, lines, diagonals, grids, it’s all really hard to figure. And for what ppl notice, there is way too much work in it. But it’s art. You take the athleticism of sports, the elegance of music, and the abstraction of visual arts, and you get one insanely awesome event. It surprises me minorly that the elite colleges don’t recognize it as such, but I’m not really in a position to criticize. The fans love the scatter bands, some (I’m guessing enough) performers love it, and they just kind of go with it.
What a letdown. What hurts even more is knowing that right now, I don’t appreciate how much fun I’m having. In about 3 weeks, my last marching season will be over, and there’s a fairly good chance that I won’t march again. No more practices, or games, or performances. Of course it’ll happen way too fast. I’m sure I’ll be much to concerned about this set here, or that bad curve there, or the ratings from the judges to enjoy it.
Forest or the trees?