Free Lunch #71

Hello there you conversing cobblers. Today is Tuesday, which means that it’s time for another Free Lunch. If it’s been so long that you’ve forgotten what this series is, that’s alright. I just type for five minutes about whatever I want to and then publish it with only light editing.

I haven’t posted in almost two months, and I can finally have a good reason. Hume Fogg is pretty academically challenging so I have been using most of my free time to just relax instead of writing. I was spurred back to this by remembering when the author of one of my favorite books said my review was written eloquently. That’s a really fond memory, and I’d like to make more in the future, so here I am.

I’ve gotten a lot better at Trumpet in the last few months, thanks to being in two after-school clubs and practicing at least an hour at home every day. In Jazz Combos (one of the clubs) I’ve been developing my improvising skills, and I am a lot better at soloing than I was when I started. I think I’ve made more progress in the last 2 or 3 months than I did last year. I haven’t been working on my piano songs that much, but I did buy a melodica, which is fun to take around and play with. Speaking of my melodica, here are some very short musical ideas that I put on Soundcloud using it. They don’t make a lot of sense unless you read the description of each song, (click the title once it’s playing) which offer some insight on what I was trying to do. I think that trying out concepts from other mediums in music is super fun, which you can see in Hero’s Ringtone.

I got a raise at my job and made all A’s and high B’s in the first quarter of the school year, so my life is pretty good everywhere else too. I’ve generally been happier at high school than I was at middle school so far. What’s been going on in you guys’ lives?

That’s all the time I’ve got for you today, I’ll see you in the next post.

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Free Lunch #70

Hello there you remind me of the rainy days. Today is Friday which means it’s time for another Free Lunch! If you don’t know what Free Lunch is, I just type for five minutes about whatever I want to talk about. It seems like this is the only type of post I do these days, but I plan to release a book review sometime in the next month.

Since the last Free Lunch, I’ve gotten a bit more settled into my classes, and boy do I have some stuff to say! For the first time ever, I’m behind the class in Math (I had a very confusing teacher last year), so I really need to study on something like KhanAcademy. In Band, I am significantly worse than all the other Trumpets except for my friend who came with me from my middle school, and it feels weird going from like top 10 in the whole band program to one of the worst in my class. I haven’t had any particularly challenging work yet, but I’m trying to stay diligent and not fall behind on anything to prepare for whatever lies ahead. I’ve been going to the library after school every day to do my homework and play video games with my friends, which is pretty fun.

But here’s the fun part! Today my friend Iverson and I were walking around downtown, and we saw this guy singing old jazz songs with a microphone on a street corner (Fly Me to the Moon, What a Wonderful World). We both had our instruments, so we walked over and talked to him for a bit. I tried to play Trumpet along with his singing on Fly Me to the Moon, but I did really poorly so I stopped halfway through. However, Iverson took out his clarinet and we started playing a song we learned last year in band, “Park Street Celebration”.

And then someone actually left a five dollar bill in my trumpet case! I split it with Iverson, and the dude on the corner said that there were these two boys who were about my age who busked on street corners like that for a couple hours, and would pull in hundreds of dollars! This is the first time I’ve ever seen music as something you can make money like that so easily. I’ve never really thought of hobbies as careers unless you put some serious dedication into it, but thinking that I can be good at an instrument and make money without going to college or having connections is interesting.

I typed for about ten minutes instead of five, I hope that’s alright with all of you diehard Free Lunch fans.

Thanks for reading all the way down to the very bottom of this post!

Free Lunch #69

Hello there you potential pots. Today is Tuesday, which means there’s like a 50% chance of a Free Lunch coming out. Lucky for you, today one’s coming out! If you don’t know what Free Lunch is, I basically just type on my computer or phone for five minutes about whatever is happening in my life, or anything I feel like typing about.

I have officially finished a whole week of high school, and so far it’s been mostly positive. The worst things about the new school year have just been getting lost on the way to classes (my school is like a maze), and being in awkward situations around people I don’t know. However, I think all of my classes will be pretty challenging and fun, even if they might get tedious later on. My favorite part of being in high school has been the freedom. At the end of the day, we aren’t shepherded into rooms to wait to be dismissed or even released over the intercom. Once it’s 3:00, we are just free to leave the building. There are no announcements telling us to leave or anything, the teacher will just say that class is over, and then we walk out of school.

I am 6th chair Trumpet out of 11 right now, which I think is higher than I should be. I’m not really going to complain about it, but I’m pretty sure some of the people behind me are better than I am. The schedules are pretty weird as well, we have double period days where classes are an hour and a half long, which is a really long time to be sitting and paying attention in my opinion.

The second unnamed piano piece that I’ve been working on for about 8 months is nearly finished, and I’m trying to think of some good names for it. An idea that I have is “Gymnopédie No. 4” because it draws so heavily from the original Gymnopédies.

Thanks for reading all the way down to the very bottom of this post, I’ll see you in the next one!

Free Lunch #68

Hello there you kindly cooks, it’s time for another Free Lunch! If you don’t know what Free Lunch is, I just try to type for five minutes without stopping about whatever I want to. These typically come out every Tuesday and Friday.

Starting at 9:50.

Since the last time I made a Free Lunch, I haven’t really done enough to warrant a new post. I got the strings fixed on my Electric Guitar and a haircut. Now that my strings are fixed, I can finally play solos that use the high E string. I haven’t made very much progress on any of the songs I’m learning/composing since Tuesday, but I have started practicing the Trumpet vigorously. I have band camp next week and I haven’t really been practicing every day over the summer. I’d say I’ve practiced about 35% of the days this summer, and a lot of that shouldn’t really even be counted as practice. Mostly I’ve just been playing Fly Me to The Moon, Megalovania, and doing a bunch of scales to try and hit new high notes. My record right now is High D, which you can see below.

I’ve made a little bit of progress in Earthbound, I’m past Saturn Valley and starting up the next arc of my journey. Enter the Gungeon had a huge update so I started playing it again for the first time in a few months. The new content is definitely enough to warrant picking it up. On the Nintendo Switch eShop it’s 50% off right now, and I’d say it’s totally worth it.

That’s all the time I have for today, thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of this post.

See you next post! (Retiring the Bai?)

Free Lunch #66 (RIP the Jedi Order)

Hello there you smouldering shakesnacks. Today is Tuesday, which means it’s time for another Free Lunch. If you don’t know what Free Lunch is, I just type for five minutes about whatever I fancy and post it on my blog. I’m going to stop including the ‘Starting at’ part, because it’s pretty pointless.

I was considering not doing a Free Lunch today because of how much schoolwork I need to do tonight, but I decided I could just write this on the bus. I’ve got an essay due for ELA tomorrow, and my math teacher just sprung the EoC (End of Course test) on the class, so I need to study for that. It’s kind of ridiculous that she only gave us two day’s notice on it though. Other than that, I need to practice Trumpet for my band concert that’s in two weeks. I’ve got most of the songs down, I just need to work on keeping my tone quality good when playing for a long time.

I’m going to try to make the Smiles and Tears into a jazz cover, but I don’t think I’m good enough at composing for that yet.

Thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of the post!

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Free Lunch #65

Hello there you cardboard cats. I wish I could give you a good reason for why I haven’t been posting, but all I can tell you is that I was burned out and lacked the motivation. I’m posting now because a song reminded me of sitting on the bus, listening to piano music and writing Free Lunch. So that’s what I’m doing now. If you don’t know what Free Lunch is, I just type for five minutes about whatever I feel like writing about.

Starting at 4:52.

I’d like to start off by apologizing for not posting all the neat stuff we had planned for this year or posting at all. However, in the mean time a lot has happened. I’ve gotten noticeably better at all of my instruments except Piano, which is difficult to find the time to practice for. Tomorrow I have a Trumpet audition that determines my placement at my high school next year. I’m hoping for Wind Ensemble, but that’s kind of a long shot. The piece I’m playing is pretty difficult, but I’ve got all my scales down. I’m really hoping the sightreading parts aren’t too trying.

I’ve been playing a lot of Super Smash Bros recently on my 2DS with my friends. I’m about second best in the group, and I’m maining Sonic and Toon Link. I’m also a bit into Earthbound, and I’m learning Smiles and Tears on the Guitar.

That’s all the writing I have time for, so thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of this post! And thanks to Victoria and mr. bubbles for continuing to post in my absence. And thanks to you readers for sticking around!

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Free Lunch #64

Hello there you emo omelets! Today is Tuesday, which means it’s time for another Free Lunch! If you don’t know what a Free Lunch is, I basically just type for five minutes on either my laptop or phone. I have plenty to talk about today, so I should be able to actually type the whole time. I’m starting at 8:20.

I started off today with a tour of my soon-to-be high school, Hume Fogg Academy! The impression it left on me was that high school is going to be really fun. A lot of the teachers were talking about how difficult the increased workload would be, but I think I’m going to be fine in that corner. We peeped in on the Band class during one of their rehearsals, and they sound awesome! It’s kind of inspired me to try to become amazing at Trumpet over the summer, which was already on my ‘maybe’ list of summer activities.

Fast forward a few hours, and I’m in Physical Science watching the SpaceX Falcon Heavy test flight. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll put a link to the liftoff here. I got to watch the rocket launch on a live stream, and it was super cool. My teacher was jumping up and down in excitement when it made it into the air. It was pretty great, maybe I can be an Astronaut Trumpet player?

At the end of the school day, we had a Pep Rally. Most of my friends and I got to play in the Pep Band for it. It was pretty exhilarating to play in front of almost 500 people.

I’m all out of time for today, thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of this post! I hope all of you are having a great day, and if you aren’t, you can still change that now!

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Free Lunch #62

Hello there you chilling cartridges! If you don’t know what a Free Lunch is, I just get on either my laptop or phone and type for five minutes without stopping. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, and regardless of how much has happened since then, in usual fashion I’m still probably run out of things to say.

Starting at 7:45.

Today I had my first job interview, and I think I have a good chance of getting the job. I’m trying out for the supermarket that my step-dad works for, so unless I royally screw up on the first day, I’ll probably be able to adapt and integrate it into my lifestyle. I’ll be working on Bagging, so I need to practice my social skills a bit before I start, as I am expected to interact with every customer near me.

In musical news, I really haven’t done much composing recently. I’m learning Great Fairy Fountain on Guitar, and practicing Megalovania for Trumpet (as usual), but I seem to have left the Piano behind. I’m going to try to start playing it again every day, because the reason I’m not playing as much is less of me not wanting to, and more of me forgetting about it. I’ve screwed around with some lyrics as well, but I haven’t really found anything that strikes a chord with me (PUN INTENDED) recently. Wouldn’t it be a disappointing career if I released one emo song and then never wrote again? I think it would be, so I’m making an effort to try and write something every day, even if it’s short or bad. If I don’t practice writing, I’ll never improve.

I’m out of time for today, so thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of this post! I’m going to attempt posting regularly again, I’m really sorry about Throwback Week not happening on time. Consider it rescheduled, for a surprise date!

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Free Lunch #47 (almost there edition)

Hello there you Pirates of the Pancreas. Today it’s Tuesday which means it’s time for a Free Lunch! If you don’t know what that means, I just type for five minutes on either my laptop or phone trying not to stop.

Starting at 7:08.

The reason there hasn’t been as many good posts recently is because i’ve been pretty swamped in schoolwork. It’s mostly stuff that I should have already finished, but didn’t because I was being lazy. That’s all come back to bite me now as everything is due on Thursday, the last day before fall break. I wouldn’t expect another post from me until Friday for the Free Lunch, sorry.

Anyways on to the usual discussion topics, recently i’ve been working on a couple different ideas for piano songs that could branch off into their own full song. Most of them are about thirty seconds long and are kind of boring, but i’m sure i’ll find one that interests me. On Guitar, i’m practicing my Pentatonic Blues Scale and it’s pretty fun. I think i’m going to try and make my own solo later using that, but not anytime soon. In Trumpet news, in class we have just been working on making sure that we are able to correctly play stuff and comprehend rhythms, so we aren’t practicing any pieces, which is disappointing. I am still working on Megalovania for the Trumpet though, and it’s still a huge challenge… but one day I will conquer it.

I don’t really have much else to say to you, except I started watching a new show today indicated by the Hello There You.

Thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of this kind of boring post. I promise that this Saturday you’ve got a pretty good book review coming, so hold on for that!

Dictionary Taboo:

Choose (someone or something) from a number of alternatives, typically after careful thought.

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Free Lunch #37 (“Happy” Fish Edition)

Hello there you happy fish. I want you to know that this is the one of the first few image results for “happy fish”.

I guess he does look happy. But more like a forced happy, like the kind that clowns at birthday parties have to put on to amuse the children. Anyways, back to Free Lunch. It’s been a really long time (2+ weeks) since I’ve posted a Free Lunch, but we’re back now! If you don’t know what Free Lunch is, basically, I just sit down with a device for 5 minutes and write as much as I can before I am out of time.

I’ll be starting at 5:31.

Now it begins. What begins, you might ask? If you did ask, I would be inclined to tell you that it’s Free Lunch. You already knew that, this was just filler. MWHAHAHA.

In meaningful or at least slightly thought poking news, we didn’t have too much work in our classes today. This was very welcome, as I was able to accomplish absolutely nothing in the free time I had for finishing early. Literally all I did was write the introduction to this post (fish and all), leave it, and play Santale and Bad Time Simulator for the rest of the time.

We still don’t have a band teacher, and the substitute got angry at me for correcting her. Ever since she was hired she’s been trying to get us to do non-band stuff in band. She had wanted us to write Haikus, and put that Haikus were 7-5-7 syllables…

I can’t wait until she’s gone. Though she did redeem herself slightly by letting me play Trumpet in the back room, I still don’t like her very much.

My time is up for this Free Lunch. I’m sorry that it was a little on the short side, but hopefully it retained your attention nonetheless.

Thanks for reading all the way down to the bottom of this post :1

Dictionary Taboo:

Minute shreds or ravelings of yarn.

The first person to answer correctly get’s eternal happiness. Probably.

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii