Since last week, I've been preparing for something that I never really got to do as a kid, out of both general disinterest and lack of funds: summer camp. Well specifically, it was a band camp that was hosted on a college campus, so I was also able to get a good look at what college at this place might be like. This Monday I left for the Missouri State University Campus in Springfield to partake in Bands Alive!, a summer band camp for middle school and high school students alike. The entire program lasted about 3 and a half days, with 3 being dedicated solely to learning a few concert band pieces and molding the sound to absolute perfection so that they can be played for an audience on the half day.
Right off the bat, I'm going to mention that nothing particularly interesting (read: dirty) happened there. Basically it was work, work, work, all throughout the day, so I doubt there was any time to do anything above a PG rating. However, everything that I was afraid would happen, ended up happening all throughout the week, and it was pretty grating. It started when I wasn't able to fall asleep the night before we departed for Springfield, which ended up biting me in the ass later on. I fell asleep for like 10 minutes after the lunch break, and I ended up being late for the auditions, which caused everybody to panic and look for me. After that incident, I was afraid that I would be incredibly inferior to the other students because my concert band isn't very big, and it doesn't cover what other high school bands cover. Turns out I was right when they asked me to play an F scale during auditions and I thought they were talking about an E flat scale. (In my mind, I thought they asked me to play a scale where the note F sharp was played first, and they wanted a scale where G was played first. It's because of concert pitches.)
Everything was kind of lax after that, but the real tragedy struck on the day of the concert, when my mother and sister got into a minor car accident on the way to see me. I don't know how other people think when this happens, but I feel absolutely awful about it. The fact that my family could have gotten hurt over me just pains me to the point where I just hate myself for putting them through that much trouble.
Either way, the time for thinking about that has passed, and it's time to think of happier things. One of which being that I will be in Collinsville, IL tomorrow for the convention: NatsuCon. I will be dressed up as the Joker, and anyone that's brave enough to shake my hand (and risk a Joy Buzzer attack!) will receive a card that has a random Joker quote on it, as well as a signature. (Of the Joker, though every ace card will have a Betaman signature on the back.) The quotes range from all the different forms of Batman media that contain the Joker, from the original comics, to the '66 Batman show to the recent Dark Knight movie and the Batman Arkham City video game. Only 54 cards will be given out, so it's pretty much everyone will get a random card until I have none left. I mean, they're nothing really special, just a deck of Aviator cards with Joker quotes on them. Still though, it's a nice gesture to those that were a nice enough sport to play along with the Joker getup and actually get Joy buzzed.
Anyway, I've got cards to autograph. I'll update tomorrow evening after I return from the convention hall.
If you see me, please don't hesitate to say hey!
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