But, exciting news!  Band Geeked Out is DONE.  From acknowledgments to the back cover copy (which is adorable).  I’m very happy with the book, and was super stoked to see it on Little Willow’s list of notable advance reads in teen fiction.  It’s officially out on April 1st, which seems weirdly both far away and very, very soon.

So when I was hanging out with the family over the holidays, I heard some interesting news.  My eight year-old cousin has started playing trumpet.  And apparently he’s really into it!  This is cool because it makes him the fourth person in my family to play trumpet…my grandpa and my dad played, so did I, and now my little cousin.

And since my grandpa, dad and I all played on the same cornet (which is basically the same thing as a trumpet, just a little smaller and more mellow), the same unused cornet that is currently inhabiting a cobwebby corner of my closet, I did what any good older cousin would do.  I offered to send him the instrument.

Even though I haven’t played my cornet since high school (I switched to euphonium in college marching band), and even though I still have my fancy silver trumpet to get out when I’m feeling sentimental, I’m still kind of sad about passing on the cornet.  I played it for seven years, carried it back and forth to school, played solos on it for my senior year show, thought about throwing it at people’s heads on occasion…it holds a lot of memories.

So I took some pictures:

Oh, wait.  THAT’S not right.

(It’s a Christmas decoration my mom gave me.  I tried to play it, but it is not a real trumpet.)

Okay, much better.  Isn’t it pretty?  I mean, in a brassy and practical sort of way.

I also had to clean out the case, which was a very interesting archaeological dig through my past.  Like I said, I haven’t played this cornet since high school, so the case contained many fascinating artifacts of 17 year-old me.

Contents:

(1) Order form for band polo shirt

(1) Brass polishing cloth (lightly-used)

(1) Note from high school bff bad-mouthing other high school bff (names redacted to protect the innocent)

(1) Sunblock

(1) Gently-used lyre, taped-together

(1) Name badge from music camp

(1) Empty bottle of valve oil

(1) Pixie stick wrapper

(1) Mechanical Pencil

(1) Container of slide grease

Closer examination of my cornet revealed the following:

I believe this very well could be a dent from throwing the cornet at someone’s head.

So that’s that, I suppose.  Use it well, cousin, but you better believe I want it back when my (hypothetical) child is ready to play!

Fortunately, a friend of mine took a whole bunch of lovely photos and collected the eyewitness quote “It’s marching band on steroids”.  Looking at the pictures, I think I’d have to agree!

Drum Corps International World Championship Pictures

I think it painted a pretty good picture, though the profiled band camp definitely sounds more hardcore than any high school camp I ever attended:

…Ben and his snare drum strode onto the dewy grass of the band’s practice field on the Tallahassee campus. He had been awakened at 5 a.m. and the day’s last rehearsal would not end until 10 p.m. His feet screamed. His shoulders ached. Gnats swarmed around his face, daring him to break rhythm and lose composure.

Five a.m. AND gnats? That’s some serious dedication.

There are some really sweet YouTube videos of the Florida A&M Marching 100, too. What an awesome band!

Well, I for one would be all over Trumpet Hero if they ever created that…I played a lot of Rock Band and Guitar Hero this past weekend, and while they were fun, I think the market is totally ripe for a similar game for marching band.  You know, like some sort of combination of Dance Dance Revolution and plastic marching band instruments…it would be awesome!  Right?  Hello?  Is this thing on?

This totally happens to me ALL THE TIME. (From xkcd.com)