Monday Class reflection

We first read "Two Tramps in Mud Time" by Robert Frost. What an understandable and accurate description of the changing seasons and a unique interaction! It's rare that I understand poetry so I really enjoyed reading this. Next we went through a list of things to remember to do/ have done:

-24 entries and 8 mentor meetings
-mind the gaps (Don't take large chunks of time off, not that I would ever do that)
-be logging research regularly and clearly
-what am I learning? Where am I and why is that ok/not ok?
-do the assignments (like out of the rut)
-mp3 ends Thursday
-sample presentation 5/21

So basically I know what I need to do. Time to buckle down and get caught up. As far as where I am and if that's okay, I think that it's okay as long as I start moving in my new project pronto.

Spring Break Brain Dump

Over this past week I have thought a lot about WISE and switching my project. Ms Gergley said I should do a half hour write, which I like to think of as a brain dump. I was at the beach with my parents this past week, so I went back and forth between super analyzing everything I should be doing for my project and completely avoiding thinking about it so I could enjoy the sun and clear my mind. Even though I've gotten a little behind I think it was a really good think to take a step back and then reevaluate what I want to do. I still think that switching projects is a really good idea because I should be really psyched about my project and carpentry is just not doing it for me. So if I start there with a clean slate and imagine I never thought about doing a music project, in what direction would I go? Some ideas of general things I want to do in life to get me started: gardening, training on my bike (perhaps to do the AIDS ride), become a lifeguard, become an EMT basic, do more childcare with babies and toddlers, learn how to waitress, learn how to sail, play more music (improve piano and guitar skills), start a business, start a charity, do international missions trips or any type of service trip, do more kayaking, make a cookbook, train another guiding eyes dog (just to name a few). You can tell I clearly lack ambition in life, right? So some of these things are really too big to do as a WISE project. Becoming an EMT takes lots of time and money. Doing service trips also take time and money. I suppose time and money make the world go 'round, but only if you let them. Well here I am, about three quarters of the way through WISE and I have some really valuable time left and although sometimes it feels like I have to limit myself a lot, I know that I really do have a huge opportunity in front of me. So after all this brainstorming and thinking I have concluded this: I must do all these things in my life because making this brainstorm list got me so excited ( I better live to be 300 or else get ready to multitask), and I still want to pursue a project in music for the rest of my time.  My mother is a music teacher and my father a performer for as long as I can remember. Music has always been a part of my life and I think that's why I initially strayed from the idea as a project. I have already taken countless voice lessons, learned guitar and piano, and performed on stage more times than I can remember, so I felt like maybe I should really get out of my comfort zone more. What I realized though is that I can do something I love and push it to a new level in order to get out of my comfort zone. For instance, even though I've performed so much, sometimes when I have a solo in the choir concert or something (especially if I feel I don't know it as well as I should) my lips start to shake and I get crazy stage freight even though I've done it a million times!  Maybe a goal of my project could be to take a next step towards being super confident while performing. For instance maybe if I were to decide on playing the mandolin I could learn some cool songs and sign up for a performance slot at the Ithaca festival! I don't even know if that's possible, but just an example of a step that would take this project far from ordinary for me. The thought of that terrifies me a little, so I think that's a good sign. Now the question is: what should I play? I either want to learn mandolin or banjo, so here is a list of things I need to find out in order to proceed.
-pros and cons to both
-does Hickey's rent either and how much?
-Who could I contact in the community that could give me a basic lesson?

I also want to see if I can get a hold of Sam Kelling. He was in WISE two years ago I believe and I am pretty sure he played banjo for his project. He was a friend of my brother's so I'm hoping I can find a way to reach him and perhaps he can give me some ideas from his project.
In summary, the great thing about a brain dump is that it's a string of disjointed thoughts so I don't even need to summarize it because it wouldn't be logical! Lovely.

Tuesday mentor meeting

Tuesday I met with my mentor and discussed my potential project switch. Guess what? He has played the banjo for years! Who would have thought. He said I should do some research and potentially he could lend me a banjo if I decide to go that direction. I also love the sound of the mandolin and it turns out there is a shop in Rochester having some sort of a special month for mandolins during march ( sweet alliteration, right?) We also talked about recording/ doing some very basic mixing using garage band which would be awesome because then I could also play piano and sing on a track. I already have some base knowledge about garage band so that would be great!

What would my project switch be?

Thinking back to the first days of project brainstorming, I remember Ms. Gergely saying that your wise project should be that thing that you can't stop googling when you should be doing your homework. So I thought to myself... What is that for me? Well exotic vacations and traveling the world are out of the question, so the next thing that consumes my time is music. I taught myself piano and guitar and i love to sing even when my family doesn't want to hear me. I was initially deterred from doing something music related for my project jut because I am already active in music but then I thought why not! If its something I love, why shouldn't I do it? So then the first thing that came to mind was learning the banjo or mandolin. And the scheming begins...

Potential Project Switch

Carpentry is pretty cool, I will admit that. I have found, however; that it is not as much fun as I thought it would be. There are definitely some good life skills involved in woodworking, starting with the ability to fix basic things for yourself. Even though I know this very well I still find myself having incredible trouble getting motivated to do anything with my project because, lets face it, I'm just not that passionate about it. I am going back and fourth with this idea because I am not really that interested in my project but I have trouble just deciding to quit without pushing myself further. I then think about how WISE is so much shorter than it seems and if I want to switch my project it's probably now or never. The next step is to talk to my mentor and get his input.

WISE class on Monday

This Monday in WISE we talked a bit about how our respective projects are going and introduced the narrative assignment which will be due after break. I think this is really good timing as far as my project goes because I am in a bit of a rut that is teaching me a lot. Speaking of a rut, we also looked at the "Out of the Rut" journal activity. We are to complete this and then read a partner's (my partner is Emma Denman). This activity includes lists for planning, recording, and reflecting.

Ketchup

Here is my confession to the wise blog community: as Ms Gergely's email reminded me, I have not posted in 8 days. :O! The reason for this being that I am in a bit of a transition time with my project right now and I am still figuring out some details. I will now, however; continue to do some catch up journal entries. Ready set go!

XDXP GG