G.P

The G.P is the Grand Pause. This indication serves the same function as a rest, or fermata--sort of. When written the G.P indicates that there is to be a Grand, General, or Grosse Pause, wherein the instruments fall silent for a period of time that is to the Conductors discretion. A Grand Pause generally is a direction for the entire band, and creates a very dramatic effect where all music suddenly stops...and then proceeds once again.

I am going to take a moment here to diverge from my "typical form", where I would proceed to explain the details of my life and how they pertain to the G.P, and I am going to tell you a story that my Conductor once told me.

Once upon a time, within the bass section of the concert band where my Conductor plays, there was a man who played (I believe it was) a Euphonium. Written onto his score was the dramatic, G.P, and he found himself asking the person beside him what the G.P meant. Of course, he had not seen it written in his score before, and why should he? A Grand Pause is not to be used on a whim, it is to be used sparingly so that the jarring, shock value of it, should not be attributed to routine.

This Euphonium's partner was all to quick to inform him that the G.P stood for "Guns and Pistols" and was a direction to play as loud as humanly possible, with no particular pattern or order.

Shall I say that when the Euphonium reached this G.P he was surprised to find that he was the only one who blasted out his notes, at the top of his "Euphonium lungs." It was a humorous moment for the rest of the band, indeed, but one that likely marked that Euphonium with embarrassment for the rest of his career!

Okay, so maybe that's taking it a little to far. It was a good natured prank, and it serves as a story they my Conductor will no doubt tell for years to come.

Perhaps you believe that this is some sort of lead in to my life story, and the reason why I have attributed the title of G.P to today's post.

You would be mistaken.

The reason I chose the G.P as the musical term for today is because of the long, Conductor imposed G.P, that has dominated my blogging experience for the past week and a half.

Of course, exciting this have happened, planes, and dragons, people with the ability to manifest Starbucks at will; dramatic encounters with warriors from mythical lands, and artists with the flair for the socially awkward and adorable.

That will have to wait though.

The G.P. Oh yes, the reason why I have been unable to share with you these experiences! It seems rather mundane in the scheme of things, but still, I have decided to give it the title of my blog post because it has been so darn frustrating that I am unable to overlook it until I have told you about it!

I left on a plane on December fifteenth for California. This, in and of itself, became a reason that accessing the internet was difficult. That, followed by a week long stay in the sunny state, caused a Grand Pause in my blogging endeavour. Now, I know what you're thinking. "You have left much longer lapses in time between posts, and you're expecting me to believe that you would have been blogging on a vacation to California?" Well no, I was not anticipating to blog while on my trip, but I had every intention of writing down every exciting adventure all but the second we touched down back in the blustery neighbourhood of mine. And what did I find, the day I turned on my wonderful Chromebook, and prepared to detail my account?

A Grand Pause, imposed by the great Conductor of our internet provider. Our internet has been down for the past few days, and to my great frustration! I checked, again and again, if I could blog. All of the excitement, welling up inside of me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Dramatic. I know.

But today I checked, and lo and behold! Internet! I don't know what happened that I can now use it, but I have been checking my school website for updates and marks, checking my Facebook account for messages and important notifications (if there are such things), and then, BLOG! I am frantically typing to try and get it done before the internet decides that it does not want to work any more, and I am left with a half finished blog post, and an immense amount of aggravation.

So okay, here we go. The Grand Pause is finished, the silence is broken! No I can share with you the exciting adventure that has been the International Trumpet Player's Family Vacation! (Anyone. Anyone?)

As I told you before, my little brother, roughly a year ago, had a heart transplant. While he was in critical condition with the Left Ventricle Assist Device, and shortly after his stroke I believe, he was given a "wish." There is a foundation that offers children who are sick, and in need, a "wish." Want to meet your favourite hockey player, or travel across the world? Want to own the newest video game system and all of it's games? This foundation will get it done, and make sure they go above and beyond to make the wish come true. It's really an amazing thing, and I am in awe of what they do.

Well my brother's wish was to go to Disneyland (which partnered with the Children's Wish Foundation more than two decades ago, because so many children's wishes were to go to Disneyland). Not only did the foundation send him, but the entire family as well, even the adult child who still lives inside the house. Me!

I'm going to level with you for a second. I had never been to Disneyland before, and I was of the mind that it was for little kids, and I had missed my chance. I did not understand! I did not know! It's so amazing, so magical, it made me feel like a kid! I will promptly eat my hat, because it was one of the most incredible experiences I have possibly ever had. And the thing was, it wasn't even my trip! It was my brother's, and still I am blown away, awed, and amazed!

Okay okay, let's just start at the beginning and let the story happen in a chronological order so that perhaps it will be somewhat coherent for you.

December fifteenth, two am. The alarm clock goes off, and me and my sister spring (or perhaps more accurately, roll) out of bed after an early night the day before. We were already dressed in the clothes that we needed to be in, hair already (sort of) done, and make-up already smudged from the night before. We grabbed our carry on luggage, and found our way upstairs.

Freezing rain covered the roads, and we very slowly made our way towards the airport so that we could get ready for our flight.

A lot of waiting, security, and a Starbucks Chai Latte later, we were on the plane! We left freezing rain, and arrived in beautiful weather, with palm trees swaying in the wind. It was a drastic contrast, but one that none of us were complaining about in the slightest!

We grabbed a rental car, with a bit of confusion, and me and my sister sang the opening theme to "The OC" and squealed with delight at every street sign, or billboard that mentioned "Newport."

We went looking for Newport beach at first, because we didn't have any plans set up for the first day in California, but that turned out to be a bit of a bust. We got lost, confused, and found ourselves staring at a port full of yachts and not any kind of large body of water, or beach like area. That didn't dampen our spirits though! We got on the Interstate and headed to our hotel! Our rooms weren't ready when we got there, so we milled about, the kids watched TV, me and my sister got a tea. When we got out room, we hit the bed, and lazed around, and didn't do a whole lot of anything. We had pizza for supper, and then showered, and got ready to say "Hello Disneyland" the next day!

I have to say, the first day at Disneyland was overwhelming. That made it no less amazing, it was just a lot to take in. There were so many people, and so many things to do. We rode the train probably twenty times (because my brother loves trains, and that was basically what he wanted to do.) We checked out some stores, I bought some buttons because I love buttons (like pin on buttons, not the kind you find on your shirt) and we went on the Finding Nemo ride. It was pretty darn cool!

We found TomorrowLand, and my brother did the "Jedi Training Academy" attraction that they had there. It was so cool! I mean, at first, it seemed alright. The kids get to swing around a toy lightsaber, directed by some people who were dressed up pretty fantastically as Jedi masters. But then, I couldn't believe my eyes, but Storm Troopers came blazing out of the crowd, waving their guns as the stage in the middle of the Jedi arena began to rise out of the ground! It was Darth Vader! Then, Darth Mal jumps out of nowhere and the kids have to use the skills they learned to battle them!

Darth Mal was so scary! Me and my sister (being nineteen and seventeen) were too scared to even take pictures of him because he kept looking at us when he walked by and it was terrifying! Honestly, they did the make-up so good that I am utterly convinced that Darth Mal must actually be real. Except not. But you know what I'm trying to get at.

I must take a moment and apologize for my poor story telling capability today. I am overwhelmed with the amount of information that there is to relay to you and I am trying to breeze through it as fast as humanely possible, and it's hard to accurately describe detail to you while I'm blazing through my story. I fear that if I slow down though, one of two things will happen. I will have a thirty seven page blog post that no one ever will be willing to read, or the internet will quit working and I'll be left sputtering in front of my laptop with another unwanted Grand Pause on my hands.

But alas, on I must trudge. This is a harder task than I had imagined it would be, and while it is still fun and exciting to relay to you, it also is beginning to feel a bit like a daunting chore. I was gone for a week and I haven't even relayed the whole first day to you! Perhaps I will have to divide an conquer, telling you as much as I can now, and cross my fingers and hope that the internet will work tomorrow for me to finish my tale off. We shall have to see what happens I suppose.

Alright. Onwards!

My brother then got to meet Darth Mal, Darth Vader, and the Jedi Masters because of the amazing work of the Children's Wish foundation! And we all got to go with him.

He got amazing pictures taken, and a signature in each of our homemade Mickey Mouse shaped autograph books. (My mom is a creative person and made each of us one in our favourite colour before we left for our trip.)

While in TomorrowLand I saw a banner with "meet Thor" hanging from a large dome shaped building called the Inventorium or something like that. I wished beyond wishing that I would be able to meet Thor, but alas. My brother would not be convinced that going into the Inventorium was something that he really really wanted to do. I was a little bit sad, but who can complain while at Disneyland, right?

From there, a private meeting was set up for our whole family, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. At first, I think my brother was a little bit scared, but he soon warmed up to them and kept looking over at them as if he was thinking "is this for real?" I think we all developed a new love of Mickey and Minnie.

I know I sound like a child, gawking at the bright attractions, and the people in costume, but it's so magical in Disneyland I felt like a child again! It seems so real, like anything is possible there! It's a place where dreams come true. At least, with our wish pass, it certainly was a place where a couple of kids at heart, and a whole slew of siblings, got to have their dreams come true.

More on that later.

In fact, perhaps I may have to take another Grand Pause (hopefully not one as long of one) and blog the rest of the amazing trip later. I am finding that I just cannot describe it properly, and things are coming out sounding kind of--funny. Not eloquent, or exciting, or entertaining as I would like it to be. Perhaps I am just off my "A game" right now. I would rather wait another week and a half and have an exciting tale to tell, than continue describing this to you in a rushed a hurried fashion where you are lost and left behind, confused, or worse, bored.

I bid you farewell for now, and hope that my adventures can be more accurately, and more excitingly recounted later.

--Trumpet Player