User talk:BBril198

ALright- just immersing myself in music all of the time. CLasses arn't that difficult, but I'm keeping up with the work. Found a kid who has a synthesiser, so he's been involved some of the time. My biggest counterpart is still the 16year old professional guitarist. Practicing a huge amount of lyrical improvisation, which is a huge challenge.

Hey Ben - Hope this works - Appropriate Quote for you: "A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." Grace Murray Hopper MD&D

Hey- The SAS page I was using to send emails has been down so...

Thanks for the cards!

Grandma: Realls appreciate the cards as well, glad to hear that you're going to go experience some new places! You'll love denver, there's so much going on there.

Hawaii:

There was only a period of about 10 hours before we needed to be on the ship again, but I tried to cover as much ground as I could. Everywhere I went there was guys sitting on benches playing Ukeleles, so I went to a shop where I picked up a cheap one and learned the chords. We were parked on Oahu Island- where honolulu is, so it was very urban. Didn't have enough time to see the natural side of the place, but I'm sure it's incredible. I met a few guitar bums playing for tips, and talked to them for a while about where's good to play, where's a safe place to sleep- things like that. Companies grow stuff called "kona" coffee there, and it's got a really interesting and delicious taste, so I picked that up. Next I walked to a popular beach and rented a sea kayak for an hour. Followed a sting ray for a bit, since the water was shallow, and worked my way to some waves. They weren't anything to wild, but I was able to ride a few small ones. That's all I did really. It was great to talk to my college friends. Fell like I had taken them for granted while I was at home. A friend of mine on the ship compared this semester to dying and seeing your home life from a distance. Found that thought provoking. There's this thing called the ambassador's ball tommorrow that I'm gonna play at with Willie. I guess it's a fancy meal where everybody gets out their suits/ dresses, and drinks champagne. It was 30 bucks so I'm skipping- but our set is going to be cool. Recently, the ship had a "charity auction event." It was unreal seeing the way these kids threw their money down. I'd have been royaly pissed if it wasn't for a charity, but 3 cans of brazilian soda was sold for 125 dollars. I think the priciest item was the map that hangs in the lobby of the ship. It's nothing special, just a paper map that was used to chart our progress during the trip so everyone could see where we were. $650. I thought it would be nice to donate a cd that willie and I started working on, and it sold for 170,  so we do feel a little obligated to make it decent. A guy on the ship has a good recording program, so we set up our gear in a bathromm and started recording there because of it's rich acoustics. So- nothing going on now, just doing yoga and practicing for the next 8 days until costa rica. Got the plane ticket- see you in Miami!

-Ben

'''Everythings good- 2 days till Costa Rica. Keep posting on this page if you need to tell me anything closer to May 9- Im out of internet time on the ship. '''

Hey Ben - we did actually reply after your hawaii post, but must have hit the wrong button and it didn't save. It's sunday...and presumably your leaving costa rica this evening. Really looking forward to friday!! Happy Birthday tomorrow!! 20...oy vey! Love - MD&D