I got up at 4:45am and all I got was this stupid blog entry

Something in my bed is eating me alive!

I first noticed a tiny itchy bite on my arm a few days ago. The next day, there were three on my stomach. Now there are a few on my leg and they itch like crazy. Sucks.

Today (night?) was the full moon. I saw it up high in the sky around midnight, and read that the moon would be full at 5:33am. I wanted to see it set over the foggy horizon--I've found a really great place to watch things set. So I left the house at 5am to get there, and I didn't see the damn moon anywhere. I didn't know the moment of fullness happens after it's fallen out of sight, I must have missed that part.

But you know, I'd forgotten how much I love being awake the early morning. The world is still asleep except for the birds. They're like the youngest campers in the cabins the first morning of camp...chit-chatting like nobody else around is trying to sleep. Except people here have windows and it shuts out the sounds so the birds can talk as loud as they want.

The world breathes extra loud in the dawnish hours--it's a noise that, if it's not always happening, is somehow extra evident that early. Like being the first person awake at a slumber party. Everyone is breathing the whole time, but you're never made aware until it's the only noise available. So even if I didn't see the moon, I got to listen to the world sleep and watch the city of Eureka sparkle wearily across the bay.

I just made a playlist of all the clarinet music I have. This is what I've got:

Aaron Copland: Concerto for Clarinet, Strings, Harp and Piano
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Trio in a minor, Opus 114 [Clarinet, piano, cello]
Giacomo Setaccioli: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in E-flat Major, Opus 31
Darius Milhaud: Duo Concertant [I really REALLY want to play this! Why has nobody done this at my school? Just because it has fast arpeggios and high notes? Boo-hoo, welcome to Woodwind Land.]
Copland: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano Opus 128 [This was my big piece I worked on last semester--so crazy hard, but I felt like a champion when I practiced stumbling through the fast movements]
Brahms: Sonata in f minor, Opus 120/1 [A definite yes for my upcoming recital in the fall...I am in love with this piece.]
Leonard Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
W.A. Mozart: Concerto for Clarinet K. 622
Nino Rota: Sonata in D for Clarinet and Piano
George Gershwin: Three Preludes for Piano (arranged for piano and clarinet by James Cohn)
Brahms: Sonata in E-flat Major, Opus 120/2
Carl Neilsen: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, Opus 57 (FS 129)
Morton Gould: Benny's Gig for Clarinet and Double Bass [I was thinking of doing this with my friend who plays tuba.]
Mario Pilati: Inquetude (Etude Melodique)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Six Studies in English Folksong
Nicolas del Grazia: Tarantella

Total: 4.3 hours of clarinetty goodness.

Some recordings I don't have: Sonata for clarinet and piano by Saint-Saens, both Spohr concertos, Premiere Rhapsodie by Debussy, Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet by Stravinsky, Ebony Concerto by Stravinsky, and all the foofy stuff by Weber. Honestly Weber can keep his concertos, concertino and duo concertant. Merh. I've got more expressive fish to fry!

I've also got a bit of jazzy clarinet, but that gets its own playlist later in life.