Mood Ring
lcummings
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Posts by lcummings
What Mood? Focused!
Aug 12th
Why hello again, DS Band! 
As many of you know, the theme of the show this year is moods, and further than that, mood rings! Our show mentions three different moods, with music to accent that mood. Playful, lonely, aggravated. So far this year, quite frankly, I think our band has felt both playful and quite aggravated in some of our rehearsals. We’re a very easy going, but focused band in general, but sometimes in rehearsals we get very… focused on the wrong things. Over the last few days, we’ve implemented new procedures to keep us quiet, focused, hardworking, strong, and self-driven. Full band pushups being and after rehearsal runs being my personal favorites. It’s completely obvious to me and any other spectator that when we have our mouths closed, our legs are pumping and our brains sparking, we aren’t just an average marching band anymore. And that’s just how we want it! Every student would agree, we want to be drastically better than last year, and it will take intense amounts of work, dedication, practice, and most importantly FOCUS! I’d personally like to think of focus as the 4th mood of our show! Playful, lonely, aggravated, focused… Haha, it as a nice ring to it, don’t you think? But I’d have a terribly tough time writing music for it…. Anyhow, I’ve seen almost all of those emotions in our toughest rehearsals. Playful energy, (forget lonely, you’re in band! Most of us try to help ya not be lonely), aggravated at yourself for a mistake, and focused enough to accomplish anything and EVERYTHING! Let’s take it up a level, band! For anyone that may understand the inside joke there, y’all feel free to make any appropriate noise to accompany the phrase! Well, till next time, take it a level up! Byyee!
Collisions of the “Seasons”
Aug 12th
well, it’s been WAY too long since marching season, but even so, we’re still making huge advances. Contest is tomorrow (whoop, whoop), and the founder’s day parade is in 4 day future! Ah, excitement!! Founder’s has always been a fun time for me… our family and neighbors own a BBQ booth, so that’ll ALWAYS be entertaining! i’m so excited to actually be part of the parade i’ve been watching for my 15 years of life, AND its a great transition between “the seasons”. yes, after the competition this week, i guess we’re technically out of “contest season”, but we’ll have some other performances, but the best of all…. the wait will finally be over!! we’ll know the theme of next year’s marching show!! (we know it starts with a PR, if i remember correctly) it’s almost sad how much i miss football season! sure hope i’m not the only one going through withdrawls! what prompted all this self pity was a highlight tape from my football player cousin. he’d sent out tapes of his best plays to colleges in hopes of being noticed by college scouts (and if anyone needs a 6’5″, dedicated, hardworking wide receiver, please feel free to ask) as we were watching the highlights, you see the boys playing their hearts out on the field, you hear the obsessed parents with their insane little noise makers (or in the Dripping Springs case, a gas can filled with deer corn… don’t laugh, it’s real and it works, so good enough), the cheerleaders yelling “tee hee, EXPLODE! tee hee INGNITE! tee hee” (sorry to good to pass up, no hard feelings cheerleaders), and my favorite, the unending melodies of the headbanging stands tunes (crazy train comes to mind here!) sigh! as the year is coming to a close (maybe i’m speaking too soon! still have 2 months left!), we see the seasons colllide! the ending of concert season, and for that matter, school season, and the approach of a long hot summer of marching/football season. but isn’t that what everyone lives for anyway?! our whole town thrives off the energy of football season, no matter what the score or season total is, and i really cant wait for that again! i guess just marching in the founder’s day parade may bring just a little of that back haha, well until the next time, see ya! have fun yall!!
Spreadin’ the Love
Jan 11th
As some of you may know, my family has a long history with the University of Texas… loyal fans, multiple Texas-Exes, Saturday tailgaters for about 12 hour, ect. On Friday night, I was pleased to go to the UT Football Banquet. My whole family was very excited to meet some of the players, but I was even more interested to see some of the band people behind the giant orange marching suits. walking away from getting a signature from Sergio Kindle (how awesome?!) I ran into two UT band members. I congratuated them on a great year, and looked forward in seeing them in years to come… They were very appreciative and were about to walk away when I consciously, nonchalantly added that I was from the Dripping Springs Band.They immediately launched into a volley of praise! How impressive we were and how awesome it was that we put so much time and effort into our successful season. I got that response throughout the night! It meant alot to me that these people would take the time to talk to me and knew from first hand how great band truly is… and they happened to mention they know people in our band as well! It was really fun to see that our acheivements have been spread farther than JUST the high-school world, and to see that people really do pay attention to a tiny little town in Texas Oh, and I even got a souvenier clarinet reed! (Great, I’m a FLUTE player!! What could I POSSIBLY do with an unwrapped clarinet reed?! Well, I appreciate it anyway) Since that wonderful night, seemingly so long ago, I’ve really had some fun with the recognition Dripping Springs has! I’ve been wearing my show shirt around, and I hear people behind me murmer in recognition of our show! That just thrills me to death! Even if they’ve never seen us in person, they’ve heard of us on the news (thank you KVUE for the film in class!) and they’ve seen viedos on Youtube, and they’ve heard by word of mouth. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! I actually got the UIL video of state, and watching all the performances again not only made my day, it made my entire week! Heck, it made my month!! 
Well, I can’t wait to start the new chapter of band! We have some really interesting pieces that I think will do really well!! Well, till next time, BYYYEEE!!!
“Ya’ll… we’re… so… BEAST!!”
Nov 11th
At the beginning of our contest season (Oh, so long ago!), after our VERY first contest, a member of the Steel band came up to congratulate us… With utter sincerity, he drawled, ”Ya’ll… were… so… BEAST!!!” And yes, for those who are unsure of the meaning, YES, that is a good thing. Look how far we’ve come since then!!!!! WE WON THE 4A STATE COMPETITION!!!! OH MY GOSH!!! Ok, sorry, but I’m still SO incredibly happy for our win!! From the beginning of the opener to the end of the closer, you could feel from the field, see from the field, and hear from the judges’ tapes that we had our best performance all year! Even if we hadn’t won, even if we didn’t make it, I would have been just as excited knowing that we had filled the request of Mr. Woods… To “march with our minds, play with our hearts, bare our souls, (and a new addition, just for state!) and they will love you like I love you!” (Way to go Mr. Woods…. almost making me cry before I go out to a FILMEd performance!) Just kidding!! All those hours, days, weeks, and months we’ve been focused on one thing… Being better every single day. Never winning, just being more focused, more advanced, more strong, more devoted than the day before. Now that the 7 and a half minutes I practically sold my soul to is over and will never be seen again, I come to realize something. Band is more than I’ve ever said it is. Band is more than I have the words to say. What I can say is, staying in this band was probably the best thing I’ve ever done. Ever. No over-exaggeration (and of those of you that know me, that does happen somewhat frequently) no lie, no fooling, no beating around the bush. THE Dripping Springs High School Band has been my outlet, my family, my daily dose of humor, my trial of strength, my one-heck-of-a-workout my buds, my stress source and reliever , and one of the things that can keep me smiling and laughing for days on end. I know for a fact my freshman year would be a completely different world without this amazing experience!! We did something on Tuesday night that not only I’ll remember for now, but something that I’ll tell my children and grandchildren about! The lessons that I’ll never forget, the morals I earned, the stupid mistakes that I gained experience from. Band is more than an extracurricular activity… It’s a lifestyle, a drug, a teacher, and more than anything, one of the coolest and most amazing things you’ll ever see or do. And again, this ALL leads you to believe that I’m being dramatic, over-excited, over-exaggerating, and just downright overstating. Nope, I sure ain’t.
BAND TEN HUT! HEY! Band, drill position of attention! Feet! Together! Stomach! In! Shoulders! Back! Chin! In! Head! Up! Eyes! With pride! Eyes! With pride! Eyes! With Pride!!
The New and Improved S Word!!!!
Oct 26th
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! WE MADE IT TO STATE!!!!!!!! Ok, ok… calm…. Whew!! Ok, if anyone may remember, I wrote about The S Word in one of my blogs a few months ago… ‘S’ THEN meaning school! Now, it means something 100,000,000 times better! STATE!!!! We had one of our best shows last night, in my opinion, and we got rewarded for it!! As a freshman, I get that I may be taking this just a little too seriously, but…. AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! WE MADE IT TO STATE!!! Ok, ok, calm… Marching off that field, I was grinnin’ like a fool, and I though my heart was gonna burst from pride of my band family! I came off that field watching people smile, laugh, cry and even sob with the energy and emotion of the moment! That 7 1/2 minutes changed lives…. as extremely band nerd-ish and over exaggerated as that sounds.. Every single one of us (as Mr. Woods so brilliantly put) “marched with our minds, played with our hearts, and bared our souls”!!! We overcame fatigue, cold, heat, injuries, illnesses, extreme stress, physical weakness, and more importantly, mental weakness! We made a talented, moving, exciting, respected band out of average high school students… I DARE you to say that’s not the product of miracle workers!! A HUGE, gracious thank you from ALL the band to OUR miracle workers… ALL the band directors, marching and pit techs, Band Boosters, band helpers, and band parents!!!!! We would have NEVER been able to do ANY of this without you!!! From this humble freshman to all the band family… AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! WE MADE IT TO STATE!!! And to think… all this, and I haven’t even GONE to state yet!!! On we roll to the Alamodome!!!
Jeez, I HATE bronchitis!!!
Oct 21st
Well, sadly, I had to miss school (AND 2 band rehearsals!!) because of a terrible curse of nature called bronchitis. The fact that I’m freezing while burning up, coughing pitifully, and have a splitting headache amounts to absolutely NOTHING seeing that I’m missing band!!! I’ve been lucky enough to have a clean bill of attendance so far this season (excluding one day for an ankle injury), but even knowing people have missed for a week or more doesn’t quite lift my spirits. If this shows you how ‘band-sick’ I am after missing just ONE day, my day feels empty without hearing the battery warm up before practice, not hearing a trumpet buzzing on a mouthpiece seems unnatural, I’m mad because I missed an opportunity to pass off benchmarks, and I’m even looking forward to running when I get back!!! Eery, isn’t it?! Looking on the bright side though… I had enough quality time to do absolutely nothing!! I ACTUALLY had time to read 409 marching band jokes… and what’s so funny is almost EVERY SINGLE ONE was freakishly true!!! (And what was funnier was watching me try to laugh while slurping chicken noodle soup!) Well, with any luck at all, I’ll be up and running by tomorrow! And congrats to everyone on 3rd place at Westlake!! That was SO SO SO SO much fun!!! But then again, that’s a whole other blog. BYE!!!!!
I’m Maaaarching in the Rain
Sep 6th
Ooooohhh goodness! That was one strange game against Wimberly, especially from a band standpoint! I think it’s needless to say that even before the game, it was PORING! I personally became soaked from dancing in the rain! For a while, we had no real idea if or when we were going to march, and I know as a woodwind that only got her flute back from the shop a day before, I was concerned about our instruments. Thank goodness, the sun finally came through, and things began to look up… and then… halftime! Again, I’m getting this from only my personal standpoints, but that was the most incredible, infuriating, amazing moments ever!!! To clarify, we were sent on a mission NOT to fall apart as we did last week… Mission, not so accomplished… But on the bright side, it wasn’t as bad as last week! Improvement! But anyhow, I’m standing at a hold fuming and brewing over how we messed up once again… and then a single drop of rain alerted me of the FLOOD to come. We had an obligation to complete our show, even when the fans are running and screaming, trying to escape the impending tsunami. After about 2 seconds of complete fury of thinking of how my flute was getting destroyed as I’m holding it in the poring rain, a thought popped out of nowhere… “WHOA!!! I’m marching in the rain! No… I’m MAAAAARCHING in the rain! Just marching in the rain! What a wonderful feeling…” So with the “Singing in the Rain” soundtrack on an endless loop in my head, we finished our soggy show, and spent the rest of the game going through endless rolls of paper towels drying off instruments and keys.
Dragging Along
Sep 4th
Yes, it’s the only the second week of school, yes , I’m only a freshman, and no, I’m NOT sleep deprived…. but REALLY?!?! I’m not honestly sure what it was about Tuesday, but ohh…. it was not pretty!!! I was my normal (well… as normal as I can be anyway!) self for hour-and-a-half marching practice, up to 6th perios in our 7-period day. Then… <shudder> GEOMETRY!!! <bum bum buuuuuummmmm!> It’s that I don’t like the teacher (really, no offense Coach Jenkins!!!) but really, it’s the LAST period of the day, my least favorite subject, AND I’m one out of only two freshman… yes, not fun. Anyhow, that paled to mere insignificance to the fact that I became one of the undead during 7th period. I was so tired, that when I was questioned as to what “11″ was in Spanish, I answered “Well… um… idontknowimtootiredtocaresoletmesleepokbye.” I slept for at least half my geometry class and almost the whole 45 minute bus ride to my house… and from there, sleeping only long enough to shovel food into my mouth and drag myself back to the couch. And yes, since then, I have become one of the living, but apparantly, this is just AVERAGE compared to other horror stories of band sleep deprivation.
The S Word
Aug 18th
No parents, I’m not introducting your child to vulgarity, I’m talking about… Ugh, I can hardly bear to say it… SCHOOL! Though I don’t think many of us are ready for that dragging, endless, listless 7 hours a day (I’m mostly kidding for any of my soon-to-be-teachers!), but the only possible thing that could ever convince me to drag my weary body through that school door is… the B word! BAND! Honestly though, the highlight of my week is thinking about our first football game!!! Not only am I a football fanatic, but I’m waiting on pins and needles for our first opportunity to march in front of a crowd! As a freshman, these past few weeks have been so fun!!! Though I could have been basking on the beach, lounging on the lake, or relaxing on the river, I would have rather busted my butt at band camp any day of the week! Except maybe Sundays… Anyhow and anyway, the B word is the only reason I’m willing to go to the S word and go through the H word… the hallways I mean!
DIY- How To Find A Band Nerd
Aug 16th
As the incredibly obvious title shows, it’s not really hard to spot a band nerd in a crowd… (and yes, we carry that name with pride!!! ) We’re a pretty easy species to locate on a highschool safari, but if you need any help spotting the wild creatures, here’s some helpfl tips from one of them!
1. The tan lines… Check the feet, eyes, shoulders and thighs. If there’s a sock tan, sunglass tan, farmers/ tanktop tan, and short-shorts tan, guess what! YOU FOUND A BANDIE!!! Those long hours in the relentless Texas sun does us some good!
2. By the end of the season, you’ll see that trying to get a band nerd to step off on their right foot is like asking them to stick their foot in their ear… It never works!
3. As much as we hate to admit it now, even THIS freshman can tell that most bandies don’t ever JUST walk… they march! SQUEEZE SWING STEP! TOES UP! HEELS DOWN! SHOULDERS STRAIGHT! CHIN UP!
4. Morning person or not, we get used to the crazy, indesent hours of practice! Band nerds get over that zombie stage of the morning duldroms and learn to deal with it!
5. Students, if you see that students come back from over the summer with one of the symptoms, you’ve caught a glimpse of a band nerd; the loudest, most hyper person you know somehow got louder… The shy kid slouched in the corner can suddenly run longer and harder than you with breath to spare… If you find someone dozing off in class and you suddenly yell “BAND TEN HUT”,even in their sleep they’ll yell“HEY!” at the top of their lungs..
6. Parents, lets say you come home to see your child in a brace, a sling, a cast and about 20 band-aids. You just happen to mention that marching practice is in 15 minutes… If your child is mysteriously healed just for that 3 hours, you not only have a bandie, you have a bandaholic!
To some people, we’re the outcasts, the nerds, the geeks, or the people that have nothing better to do with their spare time (Hahahahahaha! What spare time?!) But to the ones that are closest to us, we’re the commited, hardworking, talented kids that just happen to mention in every other sentence that “It’s just a BAND THING!”