We went on a school trip to the Akron Symphony yesterday. It was a 2 1/2 hours drive to Akron, south of Cleveland. We saw Jennifer Higdon, and I was delighted that she remembered me from the masterclass. The orchestra played a wonderful program that included only works from the 20th-21st centuries. It's great that I finally get to see Jennifer Higdon's On a Wire live--what a compelling piece of music.

This is my first post of the year! This year is looking to be pretty intense already. Good news came yesterday that my Saxophone Quartet (2009) will be played in Texas in March. They actually informed me last month, but had to check with their quartet because my piece "presents some challenges." First day of school, I had to deal with all these application stuff... Anyways, happy new year!

I love California - the weather is amazing. Aside from some applications and editing stuff, basically I have nothing to do! Aaron and Dave have to work, so I am home, and I would sometimes go out to Fry's or Ranch 99 and have a walk. I love Ranch 99. I wish we have it in Bowling Green.

There's a park right outside the apartment, so I took my camera out and took some pictures today! I never had much opportunity to photograph "moving" things. It is challenging but certainly fun and rewarding. I had to stand there and wait for the birds to fly.

Drove 11 hours to Atlanta, stayed for two days, then 30 hours or so to Grand Canyon (see new pictures here, which was very enjoyable!), stayed for couples hours, then LV, then 10 hours to SF/Concord... that was the craziest driving schedule I have ever done in my life. Somehow, I managed to arrive at CA in one piece... I did the road trip last year, was so snowy, got stuck twice, once in Ashenville, once near Flagstaff... almost no snow at all this year--isn't that great!

Overall, it was a really fun trip, and now I get to see friends in CA!

Just finished an "Ignite" Presentation of my Awakening (2010). It was fun. I got 5 minutes, 20 slides, and each of them auto-advances every 15 seconds, so I had to talk fast and concise.

That was my last thing this semester! Now, I'm heading to Atlanta, then San Francisco!

I am so excited that my songs won the "concerto competition," which means, no matter where I will be next year, I am coming back to BG for the next Annual New Music Festival! It's my honor to compete against my wonderful fellow composers, whose music I respect very very much.

I seriously just can't get much enjoyment outta my cheap Dell speaker that cuts off all the low frequencies, and boosts up all the high frequencies at vocal range. There recently is so much that I needa spend on for my enjoyment of music and life - I still need a new laptop, crave for an iPod Touch, new phone, etc... I am spoiled. Also, if I will go visit all the schools that I apply to, I will be completely broke...

I sent out my UMKC application today. The score of my Fanfare for Brass and Percussion (2009) was way too big - I had to purchase this huge box (they ran out of big envelops) in FedEx Kinko's and stuff everything in including a crap load of recycled paper... I felt like sending out a huge Christmas present in Thanksgiving.

Actually, I would feel very happy to receive such a huge package. For me, receiving packages is exciting and satisfying - I like online shopping.

and...

I bought a gift for myself again...! It's Samson's Zoom H4n! I've been wanting it since last year. Now, I can use it to record my own sounds, so then I don't need to rely on the sound library anymore. But, the primary reason for buying it is that I need a convenient tool to write my new EA piece for trombone and live electronic, which will be performed on Dec. 15th.

I took the GRE today, and it was absolutely horrible. It's a disaster. Why do schools need this kind of exam that does not measure my ability to write music?!

I probably shoulda studied earlier than two days ago, but hey, none of the words that came across my study sheet actually appeared in the exam, so, whatever. However, I wished I looked up what those math. words mean. Those questions are easy, but sometimes I didn't understand what they're asking... ok, I'll stop...

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I think... these coming few weeks will consume my life!

I'm very excited about concert on Wednesday. I finally get to have my Saxophone Quartet (2009) performed!

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I'm gonna take the GRE this Friday. It's frightening because I still haven't started studying yet! I'll need a lot of luck... As for my thesis, I don't get how I have 40 pages but only five minutes of music... is it time for a big repeat sign?! ||:   :||