Yes, first update in about... erm... omg 5 months. I need to be more dedicated.

Holidays haven't quite started, at least for me that is... Exams ended on 18 Nov, after which was rightfully holidays, except that there was Beethoven 9th on the 25th, and then we were in for about one and a half weeks of intensive rehearsal, culminating in the Opera Scenes concert on 2 Dec.

Feel so overworked. At least I got to be principal cellist for that concert. VH said I did a good job too. Which makes me feel happy because it shows he hasn't completely excluded me.

Talking about the principal cellist position. 이민진 was down with a wrist injury and couldn't play, so I stepped up in her place. VH forced her to play, despite her injury. I told her not to come for rehearsals but she still played. Silly, naive little girl =/ VH still let me lead, though. Yay.

With scarcely any rest from Opera Scenes, I'm already staring down my next performance - with FUSED for the weekend in Johor Bahru. Exciting. As the composer/arranger in tow, I'm doing a lot of work for this concert, namely arranging Vittorio Monti's famous 'Czardas' for strings and producing parts by cutting full scores to shreds. Which I'm going to continue doing after I finish this post.

Hopefully I'll be able to get some rest after this. So far, my schedule looks a bit like this:

- Recording session (Christine's Prologue to a Ballet) on Thursday
- FUSED concert on Friday
- Recording session (Dr Goh's church) next Tuesday
- Something on the 19th. I forget what it is. Oh yes, caroling with my alma mater, Dunman High.

So it looks like I'll be pretty frazzled when I head back to school in January, to tackle:

- Concerto competition, February
- DipABRSM, July

Sometimes I feel that I'm incapable of saying no. However, I have already expressed lack of interest in

1) playing with re:mix, because it's unpaid, is heavy on pop and I want my holidays, you know.
2) playing with Philharmonic Youth Winds, because it's unpaid and I don't buy the concept of cellos in symphonic bands. And I want my holidays, you know.

Sounds like I'm being a moneyface here. Well, money's not the reason I expressed lack of interest. It's just that it's the icing on the cake for me to put aside my lack of interest and, well, play. You know what I mean.

Am I working too hard? Well, I believe that you should have high standards in whatever you do and if you want to taste the fruits of success, you have to work hard. Plus, with no girl to prevent me from working myself to death, why should I bother?

Yes, you heard me. Loved and lost. Long story behind it. Suffice to say that I'm not quite over her, and I'm worried about the competition because I'm not finding another accompanist.

[/end rant.]

Off to complete the third movement of the Vivaldi origami now. Viola section: I'm terribly sorry about the lopsided staves and all. That being said: (this applies especially to J.) if anyone has anything bad to say about my scores, you will be the next score whore. When I apologize, I am doing it as a formality. I will accept no criticism for my scores. I did the best I could, and no one in the ensemble can do better than me. You cannot ask for more.

Ich brauch mehr Kaffee.