tonight is not an off night and true to my word i dont really understand much of what i wrote last entry. thats alright though, because today was a good day. pressure's off, parties, class rings, psat scores... its a grand life. im glad that damn band concert is off my back. its just and extra stress before midterms tuesday. we did alright, although we could have done much better. its all good though because most of the audience was parents anyway and practically by law they are forced to smile and really believe that their children performed much better than they could have ever dreamed which is cool in some ways but not in others cuz, being onstage, i know we could have done better. but that was last night and this entry is about today. it all started in gopo, with that buzzer review game. it was great, wonderful, excellent. me and the canadian, all the way. our team performed ok but it was me and the canadian. lets see, i think the final score was along the lines of mugwumps 26 (i didnt pick the name, sounds harry potter-ish to me), Greenpeace 14 (i wanted the name but mugwumps was picked), and the brigadiers of justice... 4. at least they had 4. they were in the negatives the whole damn game. nice work guys, you had 5 for a while but then you missed another one and lost your diagonal line. i'm sorry, but it was a raping. that kind of score should be illegal. of course, we got gum or candy whatever but it was more the fact that we won the candy than how the candy tasted because whoo, even a horse would have denied stepping on that gum, jesus. but it all continued with french next. we were gonna have a party anyway for the 1st years but i found out that wasnt till lunch so we got to do fun stuff like dancing and singing and stuff like that. the teacher was dressed in "traditional french canadian dress..." more like a lumberjack offspring. so she brings out some spoons and played them for us... spoons... she played the spoons. it wasnt that bad because if there was more amazing than those magic spoons, it was how fast she talked. amazing, i didnt know speak that fast can be called language. it certainly couldnt be understood by anyone in the room, let alone me the southern raised redneck. french is gibberish slow but that fast it was almost like she was singing skat, i swear. she proceeded to bring out, lets see, a mouth harp, an accordion, more spoons, a harmonica, and a little dancing man. i dont understand the dancing man but the accordion looked fun... yesss but alas she didnt know how to play it so we just squaredanced. you heard me right folks, squaredancing. it was quite interesting. i didnt do it (thank god) but the people running around in circles seemed to enjoy it enough. it was pretty funny actually. they would spin and call people birds and crows and jig and whirl and whoop and yell and eventually two guys would get stuck together and refuse to dance, and aww it was great to watch. well after that, we were led in a rousing rendition of the french version of frosty the snowman (frosty le bonhomme). that was cool because that song is utterly addictive. but anyway... lunch was excellent for one simple word... pie! yes there was meat pie and syrup pie and fudge and logs and all that is good and sweet in france. yes i almost got sick and the hot coke didnt help but it was still good for a while. after the pie i had to go stand in a friggen long line to pick up my class ring but it was worth it. its white lustrium (the cheap stuff) with a cross and a phoenix and a black onyx on top. wonderful cept its a little loose on my finger. ahh but thats ok, i hear your fingers swell in the summer anyway. band was last again but this time it was stress free and cool with more chocolate to fill my stomach with organic bliss. yesss and more hot coke, but thats beside the point because i got to watch a video of us playing. yay i was thinking. that is, till the speakers on the camera finally kicked in and my yays turned to groans. with the exception of the first song, which we pretty much threw in a ditch and stomped on (although the parents thought it was nice of course), the rest of it was pretty good. the saxes (moi) played too loud all the way thru but thats ok too because of course we are the stars anyway... a few duets went well, or as well as they are expected to go on stage with all those damn lights. all the damn lights, there must have been like 50 of them, spotlighting us. it was a 100 friggen degrees up there... good thing i had my trusty nalgene with some ice water beside me. so it went ok, everything i mean. today was grand and tonight is better much because i again have wonderful music, great friends, and for once, or twice a week, i can stay up all night if i want. theres even a new guitar shop opening up near me! this f@$%&#g rocks! the dude sells austins for $30 cheaper than squiers, even though they're made in the same friggen factory. its practically highway robbery, plus he gives lessons... he's also a really cool guy, looks like a hippie to me but thats ok because im hippie at heart. go greenpeace! yeah well i better stop writing before my right ring finger, its about to fall off after typing and supporting this super heavy... white lustrium... ring for 12 hours. but all that will eventually go away and we will all mellow out and mother earth will be saved and taken over by the hippies, and i will be there to help them. peace out!!!