Monsoon on Bartlett

I awoke at 4am to drive to Casa Grande to pick up my new grand piano. Yes, folks, after weeks and weeks I finally found the perfect one. And since pianos can't be moved in the heat we left real early.
The drive up there was amazing: only 4 miles outside of Ahwatukee and it's like a new planet. Just miles and miles of nothing, mountains, hills and creosotes. It was humid and storm clouds were rolling in for a beautiful sunset.
And by 9am it was there, sitting in our house looking tired. Poor piano. Here's some background info:
1929 Mason and Hamlin
rebuilt/strings, dampers, cast-iron painted, soundboard redone in 1970's
single family owners since 1929.
Black satin finish
5'8'' parlor grand.
and sounds so great.

That afternoon my friend Dan came over to go boating with us. I could not believe after a mere week of cleaning and fixing the boat, that we would be able to take it out to Bartlett.
It sat in the backyard for nine years and last Friday dad got the (terribly impossible) idea of bringing it out again! PUHLEAZE like that would ever happen!
And there I was, riding in the back of the Expedition up to Barlett. So excited, so glad, and so ready for some tubing!
We saw a wall of periwinkle as we drove to the north but didn't think much of it.
Getting on the water brought back so many memories of camping on Lee's Ferry, tubing with Keilah Ortegus when I was 6 and holding on for DEAR life as the boat pulled us at high speed. ALso the time when my dad forgot to put the plug in the boat, and we sped off and soon realized the enormous puddle pooling at the stern. And that one time mom gave me too much cough syrup and I lay asleep for hours as my parents and grandparents had a fun time on the boat.

We set off and dad pushed the throttle and we rushed across the water. It was beautiful and I forgot how much fun it was.
Dad stopped and pulled the tube out and tied the rope on and started fiddling with it. Something was wrong with the float that held up the rope, and it sank and therefore was geting in the way with the propellers. To make matters worse the waves pushed the rope under the propellers and it became tangled In addition, our dog was being VERY ANNOYING and whining and barking and jumping from seat to seat. My mom was screaming at Jacky to be quiet and 'lay down!' and dad was upset about the possibility of not tubing. I suddenly realized how the periwinkle clouds had turned to dark purple. The wind was whipping around us and I noticed how fast the horizon was moving. "Dad, the rocks." He looked up and worked even faster. Seconds later I looked towards land again and my eyes widened. We had moved SO fast within mere seconds and approached the rocky shore. "DAD!!!" I screamed above the din of wind, dog-barking, mom-yelling... "THE ROCKS, THE ROCKS!" Dad picked up his head from the mess of rope he was working with. We were suddenly in a terrible predicament. Faced with the rope off the end of the boat, interfering with the motor, we coulnd't punch it and get out of the waves. Decisions had to be made. Dad raised the motor out of the water and told us to jump out and push the boat away from land while he untangled the rope. It was a good thing the boat drafts in 8 inches of water, or we'd be wrecked for sure. Mom, Dan and I jumped out and clambored to shore and braced against the boat right as the hull gently collided with the bulky river rocks. Our feet were throbbing at this point; none of us had shoes. So there we stood on those rocks, acting like human bumpers, keeping the boat stable. The wind really kicked up now, dad told us to push off and get the motor away from the rocks so he could lower it, we heaved and the boat shot out just enough. He lowered the motor and we climbed in right as he punched the motor. Four foot swells crashed against the hull and pushed at our boat (which was still sideways.) Dad tried to steer the 18 foot deck boat in the shallow cove. The sunshade above us was acting as an enormous sail, and did not work to our advantage, but in that hairy situation none of us thought to take it down. Right when we thought we were out of the worst, the wind tossed the blaze oragne flag into the water. We all stopped for a second watching, and thinking it would float, but it sank! Dad stopped the motor and mom went in after it. Again, we started drifting to the shore. Dan put the ladder down and mom tried to climb up, but she couldn't because the boat was moving too fast. Dad couldn't speed away because mom was by the motor. We were now heading even faster to the shore of a yet another rockier cove. Nobody was worried about mom as she tossed about--sans life vest--in the middle of the lake with 4 foot waves crashing over her head.
One would think Jacky would have become hoarse from all the barking, but NO. She barked and barked and barked. The boat careened closer to colliding starboard side with the rocky shore. Dad screamed at us to get out and keep the boat from crashing...AGAIN.
Not thinking, I jumped out starboard side and the water was deeper than I thought, and the boat almost went over me! Dad was livid and I could barely hear why, because the wind was so loud. Dan was already on the shore struggling to brace the boat. The waves became so bad they pushed me face-first and I banged my shin against a rock.
Meanwhile, mom was 10 yards away scrambling to shore with the wilted flag. I heard her cry out in pain and hold her foot. This was quickly turning into a disaster!
Dan and I held the boat as best as two people could, but we heard the spine tingling sound of scraping rocks against the hull. Mom joined us at this point and we pushed the boat as hard as we could. We isolated the motor and dad lowered it. He got out and pushed with us, the boat traveled away from the shore for a brief moment. We jumped in and lurched forward as dad laid on the throttle.
But it proved to be useless. The waves were so bad, and the boat--extremely bulky. We had no choice but to drift into a sandy cove.
The boat beached starboard side, and port side to the waves. We assesed the damage: towels--sopping wet, chips and Cheeto's all over the boat, ropes in a mess, water all over the seats. So we got out, took some chairs and food with us and just chilled on the beach. Jacky bolted as fast as she could to dry land and... well, took care of business. The poor dog was freaking out the whole time because she had to go. My parents felt bad for calling her...colorful names during the whole boat-crashing deal. Surprisingly it was sunny and very nice out. Except...the wind was unreal and there was a storm moving towards us.
We were full and relaxed and exchanged stories. Mom said, "While I was out there flailing in the lake, I noticed a lonely Cheeto just bobbing by my face. It's funny the things you notice when you're about to die."
After lunch, dad checked on the boat and noticed the waves crashing into the boat had contributed to a very large puddle pooling at the stern. He turned the bilge pump on and trekked out with the anchor in search of a rocky point to hook the anchor on.
He came back and broke the news, we were going to have to push the boat out again to get it deeper into the cove and hook it to the anchor.
We braced against the boat, all four of us and pushed. It. Did. Not. Budge. Our feet slipped in the sandy mud and the waves crashed on the hull and into our faces. We pushed with all our strength and might for 60 seconds. Dad had us time the waves so when they lifted the boat up a tad, that's when we'd go in hard and push like never before, then when it loosened from the sand, we would push from the back. It was so stuck in the sand, I thought we'd never make it. NO phone service, no nothing. I guessed if it got too bad, one of us would have to swim to the middle of the lake and try to flag down a passing boat.
We set our feet and heaved. For what felt like hours we did this, and finally it let go. We moved to the stern as part of the plan, and manuvered the boat into the water. Dad got in and steered. Finally we were in the middle of the cove and hooked up to the anchor. I slipped into the deep water and just floated there thanking God.

The rest of the lake trip was fun. We jetted across the water and explored some beautiful areas of Bartlett. I got to drive the boat--which was fun. The day wasn't completely ruined and we ended up having a great time!

Belieber

Today a great girl named Brooke came over for my Never Say Never movie night. We both dressed up in sequins, sillybandz, converse and other 8th-grader clothes.
I haven't known her for a long time but she's been in my circle of friends for a while. I've wanted to hang with her since Sept of last year. I had a great night.
First we played an Elton John record because she wanted to see what it was like.
Then we ate quesadillas with Rooster sauce (super spicy sauce.)  After that, we viewed an episode of Arthur just to be nostalgic.
Mom geared up to go to Albertsons to get the movie from Redbox and we came. Feeling a little awkward, we stepped out of the car in our total dorky, sparkly 8th grade girl clothes and entered the grocery store. I, of course was ADD and hyped up on BIEBER. And could not memorize the 3 item shopping list. Brooke kept me on track. She is so funny and is like my twin. Only she is an Alaska native and I'm a tootall Arizona desert child.
We stood by the Redbox and found the DVD, and to my horror found mom chatting it up with the check out lady. (I assumed the lady was telling mom her life-story, because my mom attracts people like that.) But no, instead I saw mom mouth the words, 'Justin Bieber'. And then the check out lady and other people in line began to look at us and chuckle with those wide eyed looks adults give best. Brooke and I hid behind a cardboard display.
As we were about to leave, mom hands us both a Justin Bieber folder and says, 'The woman I was talking to suggested we get these. She also thinks your Bieber movie party is cute and she likes Bieber too!' So Brooke and I held up our Justin folders, smiled and walked past the check-out counters and the lady had a big grin on her face.
At home we watched the movie. Surprisingly, my dad would talk over the movie and other silly things in an obvious ploy for attention. We told him to leave in shrill girl voices. And dad even said Justin was adorable and beyond talented! Yay
The, movie was really good and during the concert scenes, we would use our phones as lighters and wave to the music. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda cried during the part where he struggled with strained vocal chords during his tour and his mom prayed for healing as he cried. IT WAS SO SAD.
I also brought out the teen gossip magazines and we peeled the Justin posters from the binding and ripped up the Selena Gomez poster--total revenge.
Brooke is the biggest Oklahoma Sooners fan known to AZ. When my dad discovered this at dinner, those two went back and forth about college football. Dad hates the TX longhorns, so they had something in common to rip to shreds with football-speak! Mom and I were laughing hilariously while the conversation escalated. Football stats were thick in the air, Brooke blared the OU fight song from her phone and confessed her love for Sam Bradford. Dad blathered on about Michigan's legacy and was all pumped about how, 'good they're gonna be this year.'
Brooke had so many amazing, funny stories from Alaska...and how her sister ran over their pet bird's toes. And growing up wearing side ponytails... and trips to Russia... eating dog... and twirling baton for the Fiesta bowl. Soo glad I had this party! Mostly because I was a somewhat sheltered middle schooler who never did girly parties and obsessed about a teen pop star. But I think it was wayy more fun to do it now as a high school senior. :)

Today

Piano lessons in Tempe. Stopped by the grandparents in Phoenix for homemade cookies and tacos and a nap. Gearing up for some errands, and a nice day of 100* with a thunderstorm. Party later tonight. I'm looking forward to badminton!

Another beautiful July day in the valley!!

Massive Attack, SoCal, Redscale, and Seventh Chords

Massive Attack
(Listen to the music. Not the videos)






I could literally look at pictures of abandoned psych wards and listen to this song. It's so weird!





After a year of Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Alan Parsons Project, and Peter Gabriel I am finally on my new kick: Trip hop.
Trip hop is amazing. I bought 'Mezzanine' by Massive Attack and basically listened to the whole album for 9 months. It's so dark, surreal, and slightly orchestral and it blows my mind. It's crazy to think that most of their stuff was from the 90's. It's timeless. I would just love to chill back and have a jam session; record it, and then mix it later and get super creative--technically. That sounds like the best way to make and album!
Dubstep is increasingly becoming popular and somewhat related to trip hop. It's a little too over-produced for me, and rarely has vocals. But I'm glad the teen crowd's liking it. I think America will agree with me: I'm so sick of blonde pop stars and shrieky/ambient indie rock bands.

SoCal
SoOverdone. SoCliche. SoArtsyFartsy. SoTwoMinutesAgo
maxi dress, floater tops, single chain necklaces with little silver owl feather charms, military boots, leggings, boho hair extensions... MAKE IT STOP. You open your issue of Vogue, see something avant garde or unique, and you think, 'Why can't we do THAT??' Obviously true, creative fashion doesn't sell, because then it wouldn't be creative anymore. I'm a huge fan (now) of minimalism, and menswear-inspired looks.

Redscale film photography.
Not really a fan of the whole hipster lo fi photography movement, (Instagram is my enemy) but I adore redscale film.
It's July and I have yet to do this. All you need is two rolls of film and a 35 mm and you can do it yourself!

Seventh Chords.
I'm learning seventh chords in every interval of all major and minor scales. Musical theory is really opening up a new world for me. I play one chord and a million melodies fill the corners of my ear. I feel like I want to write music but I don't know how. So I'm just learning theory until I can.

Cyberbully
Just watched this movie on the DVR with mom. OH my gosh, yeah ABC Family you're thinking it's lame, but it was actually good!! I was blown away. It was so true: and I think every teen should watch it. And all the middle schoolers especially. You have no idea how much of this goes on. I see it a lot, and it's happened to everyone by some point in time. It was actually refreshing to see old Disney stars REALLY act (not just roll their eyes and deliver whimsical teenie bopper dialogue.)

I'll conclude with a laugh.
I literally could not stop laughing the whole time I saw this. My mom was in tears too.