I Suk at Viola

Once a little boy went to school. One morning The teacher said: “Today we are going to make a picture.” “Good!” thought the little boy. He liked to make all kinds; Lions and tigers, Chickens and cows, Trains and boats; And he took out his box of crayons And began to draw.

But the teacher said, “Wait!” “It is not time to begin!” And she waited until everyone looked ready. “Now,” said the teacher, “We are going to make flowers.” “Good!” thought the little boy, He liked to make beautiful ones With his pink and orange and blue crayons. But the teacher said “Wait!” “And I will show you how.” And it was red, with a green stem. “There,” said the teacher, “Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at his teacher’s flower Then he looked at his own flower. He liked his flower better than the teacher’s But he did not say this. He just turned his paper over, And made a flower like the teacher’s. It was red, with a green stem.

On another day The teacher said: “Today we are going to make something with clay.” “Good!” thought the little boy; He liked clay. He could make all kinds of things with clay: Snakes and snowmen, Elephants and mice, Cars and trucks And he began to pull and pinch His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, “Wait!” “It is not time to begin!” And she waited until everyone looked ready. “Now,” said the teacher, “We are going to make a dish.” “Good!” thought the little boy, He liked to make dishes. And he began to make some That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said “Wait!” “And I will show you how.” And she showed everyone how to make One deep dish. “There,” said the teacher, “Now you may begin.”

The little boy looked at the teacher’s dish; Then he looked at his own. He liked his better than the teacher’s But he did not say this. He just rolled his clay into a big ball again And made a dish like the teacher’s. It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon The little boy learned to wait, And to watch And to make things just like the teacher. And pretty soon He didn’t make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened That the little boy and his family Moved to another house, In another city, And the little boy Had to go to another school.

The teacher said: “Today we are going to make a picture.” “Good!” thought the little boy. And he waited for the teacher To tell what to do. But the teacher didn’t say anything. She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy She asked, “Don’t you want to make a picture?” “Yes,” said the little boy. “What are we going to make?” “I don’t know until you make it,” said the teacher. “How shall I make it?” asked the little boy. “Why, anyway you like,” said the teacher. “And any color?” asked the little boy. “Any color,” said the teacher. And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

All the other kids have one teacher, while I had two, though I was in the same class. I took recess by myself. When the other’s took recess, I was constantly quizzed by my second teacher and shown how to color properly because ‘You don’t want your pictures to look like theirs, do you?’ I just wanted to color. 

When I was allowed to participate with the rest of the class, I felt odd. “How fast does the earth move?” The main teacher asked. “100 miles an hour!” “One bajillion miles a hour!” I raised my hand. “Yes?” I swallowed and smiled. “I think it’s closer to 100,000 kilometers per hour.” I didn’t guess, I stated a fact. I was happy. And proud. Because I knew the answer. But somehow, when the teacher said ‘That’s correct’, it was with a large amount of disappointment and odd looks from the other kids. What had I done wrong? I didn’t answer questions anymore.

When I was in the class with my second teacher, we did reading flash cards. “What does this say?” “Government.” She frowned. “And just how do you know that?” I answered as simply as I could. “It doesn’t sound like it’s spelled. It has ‘Govern’ like the governor, and it has ‘ment’ that rhymes vent which is what’s above us! Government!” “That’s not how you learn words, you need to remember how to spell them. Try the next one.” Why did it matter? I remembered and could read it. So I had to learn the ‘correct’ way to spell and read.

So on and so on until 5th grade, when I was falling behind all the other students and was told to try harder and pay attention. ‘Show your work or it counts against you.’ But I didn’t have any work to show… 45 X 3 just is 135. What work was I supposed to show when something was a fact? So I had to relearn math so my teacher didn’t flunk me out.

This has followed me into adulthood. “Think outside the box.” I can’t. There is a small area outside the box I am allowed and no further. That is what I have been taught. When someone wants something from you in this way, they want to know where it came from and for it to match their ideals… not something they can’t understand or want to consider. And there is always a right answer, even if you are just coming up with ideas.

“Do you have any ideas on this matter?” My boss asks. I shrug. “It’s not something for me weigh in on, that’s beyond my area.”

[june 1, 2020]

the world’s falling to pieces but the gears keep on turning. we’re into the last month of school before summer but it’s hard to focus on or even care about school with everything going on in the world. but ignorance breeds hate, making education is our greatest weapon. whoever said ignorance is bliss was a fucking idiot.

friday - what is your favourite idiom (in any language)?

“刻舟求剑” (kè zhōu qiú jiàn) which literally translates as “to mark the boat to find ones sword” which basically means to keep using an ineffective strategy, despite changing circumstances, which i think is pretty applicable right now

saturday - what is your favourite word (in any language)?

epiphany is a fun word, idk if i have a favourite one tho..

sunday - what is the most important phrase in your native language that someone should know?

“could you repeat that slower, please?” or for mandarin, “您好” (nín hăo, hello but make it respectful bc the chinese are judgemental AF)

monday - what is your biggest pet peeve?

So the middle-left picture shows what a “normal” fine tuner looks like away from the violin–I think this is the style that all of the other instruments have, but you can see it in action on the middle-right.

On the bottom-left you can see that I had to wrap the loop end of the string all the way around the fine tuner, which was a pain because the tuner is just slightly too wide for the loop to go on easily.

The bottom-right is the “hill-style.” It allegedly allows the string to ring more because it’s as long as all of the other strings (since this is the only fine tuner), but I honestly didn’t ever notice a difference. In the picture you can see that it used to be a ball-end string (it has slightly more length because the string has to wrap all the way around the ball and leave some give). The violin that had a rod-like fine tuner was donated to my high school orchestra and I haven’t found another fine tuner like it online, but it extended closer to the bridge than a normal fine tuner and it was always a pain to change its E string…

Hopefully that makes sense, basically the short answer is that violinists are lazy and don’t want to put more effort into string changes than they have to if they have an alternatively-styled fine tuner. I haven’t ever seen anything but ball-ends for the other strings because they go straight into the tailpiece unless someone is living the high life and has fine tuners for the other strings, but the strings themselves are wrapped around the ball so tightly that it would probably be impossible to remove without damage.

Side note: The reason most non-student instruments don’t have a full set of fine tuners is because they tend to rattle or buzz. There are special tailpieces with built-in fine tuners that won’t buzz–some people claim they look unprofessional, but they’re really just jealous. Hopefully that answers your questions, but don’t hesitate to ask if I explained something poorly or if you want to know more!

And I haven’t heard of cello strings with other than ball endings either; as you said, it’s probably only for E strings.

I haven’t ever seen anything but ball-ends for the other strings because they go straight into the tailpiece unless someone is living the high life and has fine tuners for the other strings

I haven’t seen a cello without fine tuners either… I think everyone just agreed that the pegs are too much of a hassle to deal with all day every day, especially for tiny adjustments. That’s why my program’s viola professor wants a tailpiece with built-in tuners–he doesn’t want to deal with the pegs, but he also doesn’t want the tailpiece to rattle. I don’t know why cello tailpieces don’t rattle because of their fine tuners… that would be interesting to learn about. I found this picture online that shows the top and bottom of a tailpiece with built-in tuners, and I think the reason it doesn’t rattle is because it‘s carbon fiber and doesn’t have a separate screw mechanism that holds the tuner in place. This is just a wild guess, but I think the reason violin fine tuners rattle is because there are so many moving parts and if the screw is too tight it buzzes against the tailpiece, but if it’s too loose it rattles because of the vibrations? I’d love to hear any ideas you might have–instrument mechanics are super fascinating!

who’s your celebrity crush?

are you single or taken?

rant. just do it

do you think its ok to separate the artist from the art?

how many accounts do you have?

how many pairs of shoes do you have?

opinion on… (specify to the person you’re asking to)

how many accounts do you follow?

favorite brand of clothing?

name a dog

what unusual talent do you have?

what’s the most interesting schools gossip you’ve ever heard?

ever prank called a store?

what’s your coffee order?

what’s a question do you constantly get asked?

if you had to get a tattoo right now, what would you get and where?

google the top song from the year you were born

rant about your favorite musician 

what’s your favorite teacher you’ve ever had?

describe your blog in 3-5 words

what’s a conspiracy you believe in?

if you could see any concert tonight what would you choose?

if you could break one of your bad habits which would you choose?

can you dance? sing?

what’s something you can’t stop buying?

crowds or small groups?

how long before a trip do you pack?

what celebrity would you rate a PERFECT 10?

what quote or inspirational setting do you think is bs?

if you had to dye your hair an unnatural color right now, what would you choose?

you can change one thing about your life right now. what are you changing?

how old do you get mistaken for?

what do you think about a lot

do you like your hogwarts house or do you wish you were a different one?

what does home mean to you?

what do you think you’d be arrested for?

have you ever been called down to the principals office?

post a picture of the outfit you would choose if you could have any outfit you wanted

describe your aesthetic

answer with one of your ‘school memes’ (inside jokes you have with your class/grade) with no explanation 

drink more water instead of more coffee.

weekly goals are bullshit. set yourself 3-day goals. you’ll be less laid-back.

don’t just mindlessly stare at words. before you start studying, know your approach to it. have a plan.

summarizing the concept in your own words is the key part of taking notes. don’t just copy things down, convert them into your own way of talking, your own vocabulary, no matter how dumb and unprofessional it sounds.

don’t let the “studyblr aesthetic” fool you. studying doesn’t have to be pretty. summaries and notes can be messy as long as they’re comprehensible. you can always rewrite and reorganize them later. (honestly, you better do. and you better keep them.)

don’t throw away the papers you’ve solved your problems in. staple them to the fucking textbook. you need to see them constantly. cause you’ll need reminders of how far you’ve came, when you’re feeling discouraged.

don’t be an armchair analyst for your issues. if you have an idea then act on it.

remember: the exact point where it becomes difficult, is where your growth begins. take a deep breath, and try to focus on the paragraph in front of you.

get off your high horse and understand that if you’re a zero, you won’t go to 100 in a couple of days. first, you’ll need to reach 30, then from 30 to 60, and then from 60 to 90. nobody is 100 everyday. that happens very rarely.

you need to have fun everyday. you need to have peaceful time every single day. even on exam night. especially on exam night, actually. so make sure you’ve studied enough so you can have some time to yourself.

once you’re on a roll and in need of some challenge to stay on track, start writing down your studying hours. tell yourself you’re not allowed to do less than 80% of what you did yesterday. whatever the hell it was, even just one hour. so if yesterday you really studied for like, say 8 hours, today your goal is to study for at least 6 and a half hours. if you can’t keep up with that, make it 70%, or 60%.