Spirit Day At School

There was some "discussion" about them wearing the same thing to school, which is an identical twin ultra-verboeten no-no.  But when you each only have one Gremlin sweatshirt, and it's Orange and Black day, you just have to roll with the fact that you're gonna look alike.  Even though they didn't like it.

His First Paycheck

Unexpectedly, this check came in the mail.  Quinn had played the organ for mass twice this past month, while the regular organist was out of town.  Whammo bammo, here comes $60.  Quinn had no idea this would be a paid gig, and he was SUPER PUMPED about this turn of events.  "I just thought I was volunteering to do it!"  Even better, I think.  But now that he knows there's moola involved, I have a feeling he'll be volunteering as a sub more and more ;).

Ahos at the Piano

How this makes my mama heart full.

Behind the wheel

They have been begging and begging and begging to take driver's ed.  The problem is, they're just too dang busy to fit it in to any kind of reasonable schedule.  Something's gotta give!  I did cave, however, and let them drive the last block or so home on our back-country road.  I've opened that can of worms.  Pity me.  Now they want to drive themselves home every day, and it's a big fight as to whose turn it is.  Most of the time we end up driving past the house, dropping one boy off, and then letting the other drive a ways in the opposite direction down the road.  Because we don't spend enough time in the car shuttling people around as it is, apparently.

I don't think I'm ready for this.

Official 15 Year Old Stats.

Trial #2 of a well-child visit, a full three months after their ACTUAL birthday, because this is when the doctor could find the time to see us.  UGH.  Here are the official stats:

Quinn, at age 15 years, 3 months:
Weight: 121.6 pounds (42nd%, up nearly 2 pounds since August)
Height: 5'10- 3/4" (that's up an inch and a quarter since August!) (87th%)
BMI 9.27%

Colby, at age 15 years, 3 months:
Weight: 116 pounds (32nd%, and down 4 pounds since August.  All that running in cross country, without upping the food intake, is making him go in the WRONG DIRECTION)
Height: 5'9-1/2" (up an inch since August). (77th%)

When I expressed my concern that my son is losing weight, while gaining significant height, because he refuses to eat at a time when he is running 5 miles every day and growing like a weed... the doctor suggested Ensure.  I can't get Colby to eat the good stuff.  He's not going to drink Ensure.  I was always told that teenaged boys will eat me out of house and home, but to be honest... neither one of them eats much at all, except junk (which is typical).  The other day at the cross country meet, Colby started blacking out, because he had not eaten breakfast, didn't eat lunch, and then decided to run in a cross country meet in 89 degree heat.  I had to literally carry him from the finish line, and force-feed him a scotcheroo… which he didn't want.  UGH.

Size 13 feet, so I am sure these boys aren't done growing yet!  Doctor said their growth spurt is about a year behind their peers, which seems about right.

Onward and upward, young men!!

Colby AP English Paper on Music

Colby had to write a college application essay.  He's hoping to pursue sound design in the future.   Here's a little glimpse inside his skull....

The Art of Sound

When I was younger, I was obsessed with a game called "Geometry Dash".  Geometry Dash was a rhythm-based game where you would time your jumps to the beats of electronic music songs.  Each level was a different song, with a harder difficulty.  This game was insanely difficult.  Most of this stems from the fact that if you die, you start back to the beginning of the level.  Every time I went on car trips with my parents, I would play that game.  They would hear the same songs and the same death sound effect over and over again.  They got tired of these songs quickly.  However, I loved these songs.  Up to this point, I had no idea what electronic music was, and hearing it for the first time was amazing.  I wanted to learn as much as I could about it.

The concept of synthesizing sounds with just a simple computer has always baffled me, when I was younger and to this day.  Anything you can imagine can come to fruition with just a bit of sound design and creativity.  It's like painting with sound.  You start with a basic design, then grow from there.  With a synthesizer, instead of a shape, there is a soundwave.  With that regular soundwave, you evolve into something pristine and unique.  An ordinary square wave can be molded into a sweeping and luscious pad with shifting timbres that change from a deep muffled moan to a symphony of harsh and raw frequencies.  No conventional instrument can recreate this.  This is the beauty of electronic music.  You have unlimited possibilities on what you can or cannot do.  With synths, you invent the instrument that is unique to you and your sound.  Sometimes I will spend hours on just one individual synth patch, and I never get dull of it.  Very few people in my area understand much about the production of electronic music.  I had to learn it by myself using the internet.

It took me years of hard work and dedication to get me where I am today.  When I first started, I had no idea what I was doing.  I uploaded my first song to SoundCloud in the 6th grade.  I was so excited.  I thought I was going to become famous instantly, a superstar in a matter of hours.  As you might guess, that didn't happen.  This song was terrible, and it barely got over 3 views.  This made me upset.  I was ready to quit, right then and there; my career as a musician was over.  But then I heard a notification.  "New Follower!" it read.  That was all the motivation I needed.  I sprang to my feet, sprinted to my "studio", and got to work.  If I han'dt done that back then, I wouldn't be writing this essay today.  From that point, I kept on improving slow.  I got better.

Currently, my most viewed song has over a thousand views, I have gotten to the top 50 on Spinn' Records Talentpool, and I still make music to this day.  THe past 4 years have been a long and egregious journey, but I am glad for pursuing this route.  This is only the beginning, however.  I have only scratched the surface on what I could learn.  Sometimes this seems intimidating for people, including myself at times.  Nevertheless, I still strive to explore everything that music production has to offer.  Music production is what I am most passionate about; both the creative and technical sides.  THis is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and you are key to jump-starting my career.  THank you for your time.  I hope it wasn't too long!

Sniff Sniff

ONE lonely space left on their school picture frame.  How can that be????  Putting in their sophomore pictures this year, it occurred to me just how little time we have left, how big and old they've gotten, how NOT like little boys they are now.  It all just makes me want to cry.  My babies!!!