Christmas plans…
12/24-12/25 – Staying at Allie’s apartment in Lyndhurst. Spending Christmas Eve and Christmas night with her fiancé Matt’s family in Secaucus.
12/26-12/30 – Flying down to Tampa to visit my parents with my sister and Matt. Spending 1 day in Disney, we’ll figure out the rest of the week as we go.
12/31-1/2 – Home in Belle Mead. No plans yet for New Year’s Eve so if anybody has anything going on let me know!
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
First day of pep band
Today was the very first rehearsal of the Ridge Pep Band ever.
I did something that I’ve always wanted to do too; I ran a music ensemble rehearsal. I extended my comfort zone a little further since I’m not too confident in my conducting abilities. A few screw-ups here and there but all in all nothing too bad. Relatively small group today (5 flutes, 1 clarinet, 1 alto sax, 2 trumpets, 1 tuba, 2 on keyboard and 3 percussionists). And the kids were good. Relaxed rehearsal but when I started conducting they shut up and played.
Now I just need to figure out how to listen to them play while conducting instead of keeping my eyes absolutely GLUED to the melody line in the score so I don’t mess up.
I did something that I’ve always wanted to do too; I ran a music ensemble rehearsal. I extended my comfort zone a little further since I’m not too confident in my conducting abilities. A few screw-ups here and there but all in all nothing too bad. Relatively small group today (5 flutes, 1 clarinet, 1 alto sax, 2 trumpets, 1 tuba, 2 on keyboard and 3 percussionists). And the kids were good. Relaxed rehearsal but when I started conducting they shut up and played.
Now I just need to figure out how to listen to them play while conducting instead of keeping my eyes absolutely GLUED to the melody line in the score so I don’t mess up.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
First Snow
So I set my alarm clock for 8am this morning with plans to go out and take some photos of the first snow of the winter. I woke up at 7:45 and jumped out of bed to see the snow like I was 5 years old.
I took a couple shots of the undisturbed snow outside my apartment and was in my car on the road by 8:05. I headed up 206 through Hillsborough with a requisite stop at Dunkin Donuts. The roads weren’t too bad until I got out into the 2 lane are near the Duke Estate.
I decided to head to Bridgewater Commons. I was hoping to get some interesting shots of the peaceful, still virgin snow prior to the mall opening to the throngs of holiday shoppers. There were a handful of cars in the lot when I got there about 8:30 (opens at 10). I took a few shots outside Macy’s, but I think I needed some holiday lights or decorations to get the full effect of what I was going for.
I realized I could go walk around inside and take some pictures of the empty mall with decorations so I did that. I felt awkward though because it was me, a few security guards and the earliest mall employees. I only took a few pictures because I constantly felt like I was being watched. I felt guilty of something – like I was plotting a terrorist attack.
But then I spotted him, undercover, out of uniform – Santa Claus. Standing around the photo area hanging out. I considered going up to him and asking to take his picture, but I thought it’d be more fun to try to do it undetected. So I went up to the second and then third levels of the mall (he was on the first) and took a couple shots.
Then I headed out of the mall, down Dukes Parkway looking for a good place to stop. The road was pretty slippery so I decided against pulling off. Instead, I made my way to the Delaware and Raritan Canal in Franklin Township where I had done some biking in the summer.
There is a great path along the canal that was originally used in the 1800s because people and work animals had to walk alongside to guide the boats coming up the canal because of how narrow it was. I took some cool pictures of the paths, the reflections of the trees and 19th century homes in the river, etc. I tried to get some of a squirrel but he/she would go on the far side of the tree and then peek his/her head around, look at me, and then scurry further away. Stupid squirrel.
Finally, I made my way back to my development and the community center. I walked along a path and then decided to explore in the woods that are left. There’s isn’t much because most of it has been knocked down for more townhouses. I got some great shots of a stream. There was a tennis bowl trapped in the flow of water – it looked like it’d be stuck there perpetually.
The woods I was going through opened up into a construction site. I highly considered taking a walk through the almost finished townhouses but decided against it because of passing traffic. Oh well.
This adventure took about 2 ½ hours of my morning. It was a lot of fun even though I didn’t get quite as many shots as I thought I would.
You can see the pictures at: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mmingle16/album?.dir=/de84
I took a couple shots of the undisturbed snow outside my apartment and was in my car on the road by 8:05. I headed up 206 through Hillsborough with a requisite stop at Dunkin Donuts. The roads weren’t too bad until I got out into the 2 lane are near the Duke Estate.
I decided to head to Bridgewater Commons. I was hoping to get some interesting shots of the peaceful, still virgin snow prior to the mall opening to the throngs of holiday shoppers. There were a handful of cars in the lot when I got there about 8:30 (opens at 10). I took a few shots outside Macy’s, but I think I needed some holiday lights or decorations to get the full effect of what I was going for.
I realized I could go walk around inside and take some pictures of the empty mall with decorations so I did that. I felt awkward though because it was me, a few security guards and the earliest mall employees. I only took a few pictures because I constantly felt like I was being watched. I felt guilty of something – like I was plotting a terrorist attack.
But then I spotted him, undercover, out of uniform – Santa Claus. Standing around the photo area hanging out. I considered going up to him and asking to take his picture, but I thought it’d be more fun to try to do it undetected. So I went up to the second and then third levels of the mall (he was on the first) and took a couple shots.
Then I headed out of the mall, down Dukes Parkway looking for a good place to stop. The road was pretty slippery so I decided against pulling off. Instead, I made my way to the Delaware and Raritan Canal in Franklin Township where I had done some biking in the summer.
There is a great path along the canal that was originally used in the 1800s because people and work animals had to walk alongside to guide the boats coming up the canal because of how narrow it was. I took some cool pictures of the paths, the reflections of the trees and 19th century homes in the river, etc. I tried to get some of a squirrel but he/she would go on the far side of the tree and then peek his/her head around, look at me, and then scurry further away. Stupid squirrel.
Finally, I made my way back to my development and the community center. I walked along a path and then decided to explore in the woods that are left. There’s isn’t much because most of it has been knocked down for more townhouses. I got some great shots of a stream. There was a tennis bowl trapped in the flow of water – it looked like it’d be stuck there perpetually.
The woods I was going through opened up into a construction site. I highly considered taking a walk through the almost finished townhouses but decided against it because of passing traffic. Oh well.
This adventure took about 2 ½ hours of my morning. It was a lot of fun even though I didn’t get quite as many shots as I thought I would.
You can see the pictures at: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mmingle16/album?.dir=/de84
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