A Bit Late, But Conference Got In The Way

Thirteen Details About Canada's Choir Tour 1. The bus ride was surprisingly fun. Just hanging out and chatting with the people I like to hang out with, and having Beck pick tunes that she thought I'd like on her MP3. Good times. 2. The Log Cabin Restaurant on highway 7, although a popular stop for travellers, is kind of sketchy. Glad it was just the rest/coffee (and for those who needed to, smoke) stop. 3. The rehearsal went well. Even the piece I was doing on flute, except that after my 20 bars of rest, where I was about to come in, Gordon stopped the choir to fix a few notes in the basses, and then said "okay from blah blah blah and we'll go on". But I didn't have the lyrics, because I was playing the flute. So I didn't know when to come in. I managed to get in a little later, and made it to the end. So, this was the second time I'd played this with the choir, and still hadn't gotten all the way through. Hmmm, anyone think I might have been freaking out a bit? 4. Dinner? Soup at Tim Horton's. I was really, really nervous, and also wasn't very hungry (we had lunch before the rehearsal). And I was fighting off a sore throat that had started on Thursday (2 days before), so chicken rice soup seemed like a good choice. 5. The concert. My flute piece was second. Right before we started, Gordon gave a little intro, and then said "And our flautist is Canada". What?!?!?! Holy crap, now everyone is looking at me. I played the first part just fine, and then started counting my 20 bars of rest. During which there are some tempo changes. I came in, but wasn't sure if it sounded okay. And then Gordon mouthed"you're a bar off". uh-oh. Now, if he had said "you're a bar behind" or "you're a bar ahead", it might have been more helpful. As it was, I dropped out, feeling slightly panicky and my stomach was clenched with nerves. I managed to come in at the very end for the last few bars, but I was extremely upset with myself. 6. And then two pieces later, I got to play the finger cymbals. At least I didn't completely cock that up! 7. Oh, and later in the programme, there was a part of something when everyone was supposed to be singing (like, the whole choir), and somehow, we all bailed! I think we peaked at the rehearsal! 8. After the concert, I changed out of my choir robe and went to pack up my flute. That's when it really hit me about how upset I was, and I was almost in tears as I cleaned my flute and put it away. I was so pissed off at myself. Bugle Boy finished packing up his trumpet, and we headed to the bus (we were close to the last on, just before Gordon, whom I really didn't want to see at that point). I sat in the very last seat, very glad it was dark, and announced to Weasley and Beck that tequila would be necessary. (consider that the only way I've consumed tequila since the Ohio camping trip when I was 22 has been in margaritas, and I was ready for a few shots. This may indicate my mood). 9. Hotel, quick shower (no hair wash), lotion, sexy shirt, jeans, black boots with three and a half inch heels, black leather jacket, dangly earrings and some makeup - including eyeshadow, lip plumper, and a lot more eyeliner than usual, and I was ready to go (okay, once I'd checked the trampiness rating of my shirt). Of course, we ended up saying hi to some other choir people in the hotel bar. And Weasley says "check out Canada, you should see her shirt, blah blah". So I had to undo my jacket so that Gordon and a few others could look (Weasley!!). Then Ravi offered his car keys to me, but I told him he really didn't want me to drive that night. So Beck became the DD, who had never driven stick. Weasley got us there, and thankfully I had the common sense to get him to back in to the parking spot so Beck wouldn't have to try to back out later. 10. Junction - way too busy, huge line. So we went down the street to Sin City. We were told it was a bit smaller but it was a "local bar". Huh? Once we got there and saw the people in line, we figured it out pretty quickly. Junction has the university crowd, and Sin City has the locals. Whatever, where's the bar? We went in, and I had a big "oh no" thought because they were playing Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy (I love that song, but I was in the mood for some SexyBack). Then they played RedNeck Woman. Shit. But they had tequila, so Weasley, Bugle Boy, Ginger, and I all did a shot, and then had a beer. At which point they started playing some current dance music. And then Billy Jean by Michael Jackson (ugh!), and then some 90's stuff. It was a weird mix of a chunk of country (3 or 4 songs) mixed in about once an hour. But they played good stuff, and it was a pretty cool dance floor, no strobe light, and it was fairly dark. SexyBack, and Buttons, Promiscuous, and Don't Cha. And SexyBack again! There was some serious dirty dancing and grinding with Weasley, and even Bugle Boy during Promiscuous. We were all astounded when Bugle Boy knew all the words and started the sexy dancing - it's always the quiet ones. Somewhere in there, I had two more shots of tequila, and two more beers. I think we left around 1:30 or so. 11. So we couldn't go straight back to the hotel, some alcohol absorbtion was needed (and Beck was trying to delay the inevitable, her first lesson in driving a standard, coached by drunk people!). There was a really cool, and very packed place called City Lights, obviously capitalizing on the after-bar crowd. And they had awesome poutine. Heavenly. 12. The drive back was amazing. Weasley really knows how to teach people to drive stick, and Beck only stalled twice (maybe 3), but always approaching a stop. How many people have to, the very first time, drive out of a parking lot, turn right, drive half a block and stop at a red light, turn left, turn left again in half a block (after stopping at a red light), and even manage to coast almost all the way in to a parking spot. The last stall was in the parking spot, and she was a bit nervous about giving too much and hitting the curb, so Weasley drove the last two feet. 13. Water, advil, sleep,no hangover (mercifully), church, etc. Right before lunch, I was moving my bag and I was alone with Gordon and I said I was really sorry about the day before. He said "For what?". And I said "You know, totally screwing up the piece, flute, etc" and he said "you got a little lost and then you got found. Very appropriate for church. We'll be doing a lot more of this"(gesturing to my flute case). I told him that I do much better with a stricter tempo, and he agreed that the piece I played was pretty hard to count during rests, but that "it got you over the hurdle". I guess it wasn't as much of a disaster as I thought. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. crse (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things.
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants