It is with the last of my remaining energy that I am writing this post...

... Not really, actually. Quaffed some coffee and now I feel life returning to my tired old shell. I just finished a grueling filming for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra...

... and decided not to submit.

Yeah. It was a tough decision on my part, but my Bach sounded really hideous, and the beginning of my Tan Dun was really out of tune, even though the ending was pretty good. So I'm better off not submitting. As opposed to my crappy little videos going online for the world to see.

I'll admit that I didn't prepare enough for this. Couldn't practise during the three days of Chinese New Year break (my cello couldn't fit in the trunk of Dad's car) resulted in me sounding absolutely crappy when I came back to school today. Add to that the fact that I'm also preparing a concerto for performance next week, and I'll readily admit I wasn't good enough this time round.

Talking about today... It's been a really, really tough day for me.

First disaster struck when I learned that the Chinese ensemble was up for Music Platform today, a fact about which yours truly was, in the classical tradition, uninformed. So I left Theory in the middle of the class (and told Tee Heong 'you can mark me absent if you want'), and rushed home in a cab to pick up my concert attire. That's $17 for a return trip.

Second disaster struck during rehearsal for Music Platform, when my friend ACCIDENTALLY KNOCKED OVER MY CELLO AND IT WENT CRASHING BRIDGE-FIRST TO THE FLOOR.

...

.........

Omgwtfpwned.

I immediately called Szabo and arranged for an appointment, but RA wouldn't let me go til after orchestra rehearsal. I spent the whole afternoon in his shop, with him tweaking lots of different stuff on my cello, but he couldn't get the sound back. The feel was also completely different each time. Every time he handed me my cello back, it was as if I was taking a new (and lousy) instrument from him.

I felt like crying, I really did. I even considered withdrawing. With the competition only 5 days away, there really can't be a more inopportune moment for such a mishap to happen.

In any case, I left the shop with a powerful but rough sound. Szabo also lowered the bridge (meaning he moved it closer to the tailpiece), which theoretically makes my finger spacing bigger. So I gotta practise, practise, practise.

Thank you, my precious treasure, for standing by me all this time... I feel I couldn't have made it through today without you.

Gah. After I publish this post, it's off to do my Music and Multimedia homework. Maybe I'll fall sick and get a day of well-deserved practice - I mean rest.

More coffee?