today was solo and ensemble - i performed a solo. it was fantasie in c minor, one of the pieces i'm doing for college auditions. i did it for comments only, since i felt it wasn't prepared enough to perform for a rating, as i'm working to get it fully prepared by february, and it's only november. aAnyway, i played it fairly well, and it's an extremely difficult piece, so the judge was very complimentary to me and told me that he thought i had it prepared very well already. that's so frustrating to me because "it is not enough to be good if you have the ability to be better," as alberta lee cox said. i don't know why i do those things; the judges never give me information that's truly helpful. i suppose it's because none of them know what I'm really capable of, so to them, my 80% effort might as well be my 110% shot. but still, he wrote no comments down and only commented that it was great. i promise, it was not great. to any unbiased spectator (who was previously aware of my abilities), it would not have sounded great. i know this all sounds very arrogant, but it's just frustrating that i drove all the way down to marietta high school - and got lost on the way! - to hear that i sounded fine when i know i didn't. i would have loved some constructive criticism. bleh!

leaving for new york tomorrow! i am soooo excited! six days and seven nights in the greatest city in the world with all of my best friends - what more could anyone ask for?

<3