Category: Band

I’m trying to decide which pictures to buy of Jazz …

Jolesch.com takes pictures at the band competitions every year. And every year, I buy a few because HELLO! It’s my kid. I think they did a really good job capturing Jazz this season. Then again, Jazz was up front most of the time so he was pretty much in their face the whole show.

I’m leaning towards 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7.

I’d like to buy all five photos but wow, that could get expensive.

AND, I want to buy a group picture, too.

Extra curricular activities are hard on the pocketbook.

It started with a wrong turn.

Literally.

We took a wrong turn on our way up to Columbia (Mizzou, to be more exact) Saturday to watch Jazz’s last band competition for the 2011 season.

(And I KNOW you’re all sighing with relief – enough with the band updates, already!)

It was just me and Kevin. The day was sunny, but cold. I prepared Jazz for this trip by going through a checklist of everything on Jazz’s out-of-town-for-a-band-competition checklist:

Band uniform
Band shoes
Black socks (You’d be surprised how many kids forget the dark socks).
Hat
Gloves
Band t-shirt (he wears this. He also wears gym shorts under his uniform because he doesn’t want to have to change clothes and show his underwear to his bandmates – which … understandable).
Blanket (it gets cold on the bus – and by the way, the band director rents some of those nice tour buses for the kids – which AWESOME SAUCE! The kids love it and it’s SO much more comfortable than riding in school buses. Some schools opt to drag their gear around in fancy semi-trucks. We rent Penske trucks for our gear and spend the extra money on fancy buses for our kids).
Travel pillow (because Jazz is worn out after these things and generally falls asleep on the way home).
DS
iPod
Earbuds
Phone
Money
Snacks
Water bottles (he drinks a lot of water)

I go through all of this with Jazz.

Twice.

“Yes mom,” he snorts in exasperation. “I have everything. Sheesh.”

The kids were scheduled to leave the school at 10:00 a.m. We dropped Jazz off at the school at 9:10.

Guess who gets two text messages shortly before he leaves?

9:40 a.m. “I forgot my earbuds. Can you bring them to me?”

9:45 a.m. “Too late. We’re leaving.”

I guess the kid will start appreciating my checklists from now on, won’t he!

Kevin and I go to Starbucks and grab some Pumpkin Spice Lattes before we head out of town. (I’ll let that scrumptious goodness sink in a bit before I continue … )

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We finally get on the road about 10:30. Even though we have a general idea how to get to Columbia, we don’t know exactly where we’re going so we rely on Kevin’s GPS program on his phone.

Which is a piece of CRAP, I’d just like to state for the record. Oh sure, it’s cool that it’s free and works MOST OF THE TIME, but when it doesn’t work? We end up on some curvy backroad in the middle of nowhere. Thank you very much.

Stupid me did not print out the directions. I looked them up, but I had no idea what roads had been listed so I’m pretty much useless. (As per usual). Our GPS was trying hard to get us to go a different direction, but we ignored it and went a route we KNEW would get us there … eventually.

For the record, because I’d like to document this for next year (IF the band goes back to Columbia next year – our band director likes to keep us on our toes):

How to get to Columbia Missouri, unless you’re like us and fight your GPS device tooth and nail.

Take 44 to Lebanon
Go through Lebanon, turn on 5.
Take 5 all the way to Camdenton.
DO NOT TURN YOUR HEAD TO LOOK AT THE CAMDENTON HIGH SCHOOL AND TALK ABOUT HOW IT’S SUCH A BIG SCHOOL FOR A SMALL TOWN OR YOU WILL MISS YOUR TURN OFF.

Then we heard the dreaded “Rerouting” on Kevin’s phone. We missed our turn?!? How did this happen?!?!

We ended up on the wrong side of Lake of the Ozarks and spent a good twenty minutes (though Kevin will tell you it was a mere eight minutes, I don’t know WHERE he got eight – it was CLEARLY twenty minutes) out of our way before we finally start listening to the GPS device and find our way back to US 54. (And that was AFTER we ignored the annoyed female voice telling us to turn right when we had to CLEARLY turn left. I don’t where the GPS lady was trying to lead us, but it wasn’t Columbia!!)

Take US 54 all the way to US 63 North.

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, will take you directly into Columbia and to Mizzou’s stadium.

Sounds simple, right? Well. We made it difficult.

Oh well. We made it to town about 2:00. Our kids weren’t scheduled to play until 4:00 – so it was all good.

The Mizzou stadium is HUGE. That is to say, the seating is huge. The actual field is pretty small. At least, according to Jazz. (It was so small that there wasn’t enough room for all of the bands to get onto the field after the competition was over).

We opted to sit up high so I could take some pictures of their formations.

(See the arrow? That’s how they started their program).

The kids were great. I love the the last performance of the year because by this time, the kids know the show backwards and have pretty much nailed it.

They all played great and our Color Guard girls danced their hearts out.

Our formations were solid and it was a good show.

I thought the kids looked more relaxed and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Our kids made finals. In fact, they did SO well, that they won 1st in their class. And not only that, our Color Guard girls won third place and our drumline won third place as well.

Our kids were pretty psyched.

The band directors all drew numbers for finals placement and our kids were scheduled to play at 9:00 p.m. So, Kevin and I, using our “trusty” GPS device (*cough*), found a nearby Outback Steakhouse and had a really good dinner.

We made it back to the stadium at 7:30.

Our kids performed and did an even greater job during the finals performance. We felt pretty confident but were unsure of our exact placement given a few more bands that we felt were our biggest competitors.

We ended up placing third. Our kids scored 92.8 and they were ECSTATIC with that score – their best score of the season. Though there are a few of us that felt like they deserved second place (*ahem*), it’s all good. The kids had a good time, they put on a good show, we enjoyed ourselves and the season is over – life goes on.

(Do you see how they spelled “life?” [The name of their show was “Life’s Direction”]. Also, check out how the girls ended the show at the front holding their arrows. I love that).

So. The season is over. We have just one more marching band season to go and then… what? Jazz has already expressed an interest in trying out for the MSU marching band when he starts college. Though he would like to major music in college, let’s be real, shall we? What sort of job can he land majoring music? Other than being a band director? Which, I’m not saying is a BAD thing, per se, but it’s not a job he’s likely to get rich on.

And being rich may not be his goal. All I’m saying is: we’ll have to realistically weigh all of his career choices at that time and make sure that whatever he decides to do, he’s going into it with his eyes wide open – no rose-colored glasses in our house, yo.

What’s next? Well, hopefully, the Christmas parade. The kids are scheduled to march in the Christmas parade every year, but the weather has been so crappy these past two years that Jazz hasn’t marched in a parade yet. I’m hoping he gets to experience that, at least once, but he’s hoping it DOESN’T happen. He’s been talking to the seniors, who HAVE marched in a parade, and they all think it sucks. It’s grueling. They end up marching three miles and they’re all pretty much dead when it’s over.

But still … I hope he gets to experience it, at least once, because momma wants to stand on the sidelines and take pictures/videos of him as mementos.

Momma’s selfish like that. 😀

Thanks for reading about our band experiences! MAN, I’m gonna miss these busy Octobers when it’s all over.

It began innocently enough – a stop on our trip to eat dinner at Taco Bell.

I had something in my teeth. Or at least, it felt like something in my teeth. I sat there and thought, “I’m SO glad that we have toothpicks in my car because I am so needing one right now.”

We have toothpicks in my car because Kevin has a gap between two teeth and he is constantly getting food caught in there. So I keep toothpicks in my car so I don’t have to hear him complaining about food being stuck in his teeth and so he won’t be so distracted with food in his teeth that he doesn’t pay attention to me.

Removing as many distractions as I can is just one of the many ways I cope with marital issues, people.

So there I am, in a Taco Bell located inside a truck stop (because we’re not picky where we eat, apparently), and the pressure in my tooth is getting worse.

“MAN! I must really have something caught in there,” I think to myself.

And not five seconds later, my soft, delicious chalupa is crunchy.

What the hell?

I delicately remove the food from my mouth (alright fine, I spit it out into the palm of my hand – decorum be damned because it’s just me, Kevin and Dude and believe me when I tell you guys, they have seen and heard me do FAR worse) and there, among half chewed up meat mixture, is the corner of one of my teeth.

(And have I mentioned how many dreams I’ve had where I cup my mouth to catch all of my crumbling teeth? It was a freaky moment, let me tell ya).

That pressure I was feeling? Was that fragment of tooth working its way free from the rest of the tooth.

Swell. Now I get to take off work to go to the dentist. And did I mention we don’t have dental insurance?

(I’ll just censor this next part out for the more sensitive readers out there).

And that’s how my weekend started, thank you very much.

The reason we were at a Taco Bell inside of a truck stop was because me, Kevin and Dude were on our way to St. Louis. I got off work, came home, threw a few items into an overnight bag and away we went.

Our band kids were scheduled to play at the Bands of America on Saturday.

Jazz never came home Friday. I helped him pack his band uniform, and accessories, along with an overnight bag Friday morning and I didn’t see my child again until nearly 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning. The kids had one last practice after school on Friday, then they packed up the bus and headed up to St. Louis.

We actually passed their hotel on our way and saw they had just arrived. The kids were standing up in the busses and getting their stuff together.

We arrived at our hotel about 9:30.

Along with about 300 other band kids, too.

We stayed at a hotel in downtown St. Louis and apparently, a lot of the band kids had the same idea – the whole area was crawling with young musicians. Luckily, our hotel room was in a corner and the kids were pretty well behaved, so we didn’t have to deal with a bunch of rambunctious kids whose sole mission in life was to disrupt the adults around them.

(Actually – now that I think about it – most of the band kids we’ve been in contact with have always been respectful. Must be a music thing).

We all went to bed shortly after we got settled in (it had been a long work day, after all), and got a decent night’s sleep. (Thanks to Kevin’s sleep apnea machine which helps him control his snoring).

The next morning, we had a hot breakfast (Drury Inns ROCK my world, ya’ll), then headed over to the stadium.

It was about 10:00 a.m. and our kids were scheduled to play at noon. Kevin’s folks drove up and met us at the stadium.

We watched our kids in preliminaries. They were good, but they’ve played better. They started their routine a little off the mark and then they had some technical issues which made one part of the show start before it was supposed to.

I was quite convinced that there was NO WAY our kids would make finals. I mean, come on, there were 52 bands competing at Bands of America – what were the odds our kids would make it??

In fact, we only bought the Saturday pre-lim tickets which did not include the finals.

I mean, 52 bands, only 14 slots available for finals – what were the odds??

The time came to announce who would be going to finals.

And yes, you guessed it, (as if the title of this post didn’t give it away) – OUR KIDS BEAT THE ODDS.

They were going to finals.

My jaw literally dropped when I heard their name announced. We were ecstatic!!! It wasn’t that I didn’t think they were good enough, it was just that everyone else was just THAT GOOD.

I worried our show wasn’t flashy enough. In fact, our show this year was less “showy” than last year, but I think the music is better this year. And according to Jazz, 60% of what the judges judge on is the music. Our band director definitely has his finger on what works because even though our show was less impressive (and by that I mean, we didn’t have the fancy props or fun surprises), our kids played their hearts out on the music and that was good enough for the judges.

We didn’t stick around for finals. I wanted to stay, but Kevin and Dude talked me out of staying because UGH, we’d be driving home in the dead of night again and I just wasn’t sure I was up for that for the third week in a row. So, we ended up going home after finals. (We would have also had to buy three more tickets for finals since the tickets we bought were only good for the Saturday prelims – we’re talking about $50 bucks people. Ouch!). We walked to a Starbucks, grabbed some pumpkin spice lattes (Dude had a White Chocolate Mocha), and we raced home hoping to make it in time to watch our kids play in the finals via webstream. Kevin accessed the band’s Facebook page and saw that they were scheduled to go on at 9:15. And would you know, we got home at 9:00 and I had just paid $20 bucks to access the webstream JUST in time to watch our kids in finals.

And they ROCKED those songs, ya’ll!

They definitely sounded better in finals than they did in prelims.

Our kids ended up coming in 12th place. There were 14 teams in the finals and 52 bands in the entire competition. So our kids placed 12th out of 52. WE WERE SO PROUD OF THEM!!!!! Jazz told me today that his band director was very pleased with their performance as well.

I went to sleep at midnight but set my alarm to wake me up at 2:30 a.m. so that I would be awake enough to pick Jazz up after he got back into town. Kevin got up with me and we ended up napping in the car because the kids were running late and didn’t get back until almost 4 A.M.! *squeak* I’m SO GLAD now that we didn’t stick around to drive home! Because at least Jazz can sleep on the bus on the way home. I would have been out of my head tired if we had driven home that late.

No one ever really talks about our band program very often, but we’re becoming a force to be reckoned with. We’re like the sleeping giants of marching bands. Our band keeps getting better and better every year and we’re consistently making finals every year, which is really saying a lot, in my opinion.

We have one more competition for the season on the 29th. They aren’t playing this coming weekend.

Even though these trips are hard on me, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for ANYTHING. And even though we rarely SEE Jazz on these trips, he knows we’re there and we all compare notes on the performances afterward. Actually, we passed Jazz in the crowd at the stadium and Dude went after him. He casually walked up alongside Jazz and started talking to him like it was no big deal. Jazz got a kick out of seeing his brother.

Jazz doesn’t say much about our coming to see his competitions, but I can tell that it means a lot to him that we make the effort. I don’t ever want him, or Dude, to grow up and say, “my parents were never there for me.”

These trips may be inconvenient and time consuming, but they are OH SO WORTH IT on so many levels – both for us and for Jazz.

In fact, we love them so much, that we’re talking about doing this every year, including Jazz – making a trip up to St. Louis to watch the bands and to keep track of our boys’ school just to see how they do.

I’m afraid we have become die-hard band parents.

And I couldn’t be prouder.

So. Tulsa and me? We’re like thisclose.

I’ve driven down there and back, in the same day, TWICE now. Once last weekend and once yesterday. I should earn some kind of award for putting the most miles on my car in a month.

Why? You ask?

I’m glad you asked. (Because if you hadn’t asked, then we’d be sitting here now, avoiding each other’s eyes while enduring an awkward silence; and I KNOW you don’t want that to happen).

It’s marching band season! Where have you been?!?

(Before I forget – see those diamonds on the kids’ uniforms? They Velcro on so they can be removed whenever they [meaning the parents – not the kids] get them dry cleaned. Guess who has already lost one. Yep).

The name of our show this year is: “Life’s Directions” and in essence, it’s meant to make people think about where they’ve been, what they’re doing now and to decide carefully on their future.

The show is not as flashy as last year’s, but the music is better, in my opinion. It’s more recognizable and whenever they start to play (their first song is from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”), you can hear the audible gasp of affection from the audience.

My in-laws went with us both last weekend and this weekend. They are getting up there in age and it’s really not very safe for them to drive anywhere by themselves anymore. (Though they would vehemently deny that). They came over about 9:00, parked their car in our garage and away we went.

The drive down to Tulsa is actually pretty nice. It’s flat enough that I can put the car into cruise control and pretty much forget about driving.

Pretty much.

My in-laws brought crackers, cheese and even turkey to make sandwiches with (my FIL is a diabetic and has to restrict his diet), so we had plenty to eat on the trips. When we arrived in Tulsa last weekend and Broken Arrow this past weekend, we grabbed lunch before heading out to the stadiums.

If you’ve never experienced Oklahoma marching bands – it’s a world of its own. We are small potatoes compared to the shows the Oklahoma groups put on. In fact, we’re the only Springfield band to even attempt to compete with them. The competition is FIERCE and I’m being honest when I say, it’s quite an honor just to be in the finals with these same groups.

They’re THAT good.

I’m proud to say, we made finals both last week and this week.

Though our music is good and our kids do a good job performing it, I’m afraid our show is just not up to par with our competition this year. These other schools go all out with their props and really get their band members involved in the process. Though there’s a time period in our show when the kids lay their instruments down and do a little dance number …

… it’s not enough, in my opinion. The bands that beat us really run their band members to death during the entire show.

And it’s impressive, to say the least.

Our kids stick to more traditional marching formations, but there are a few surprises. Our Color Guard girls are quite good and have already won one award this year.

Jazz’s quartet has been doing a really great job, though there may have been a squawk in the finals performance this past weekend.

I know the kids really hit it hard when they’re in band class to try and perfect their sound.

The weather really cooperated with us this weekend, though I really thought we might get some rain at Broken Arrow. There was a wicked line of storms in the western part of Oklahoma when we left home yesterday morning. But I’m relieved to report that the rain held off and the day ended up being really nice, if not a little windy.

Our kids came in 7th place at Renegade Review (last weekend) and 5th place at Broken Arrow (yesterday), though they narrowly missed placing fourth by .7 of a point. Their score was 73.1 and the fourth place team ended up with 73.8.

There was a band that didn’t make it to the finals and though we were all shocked, I was disappointed with their fans’ reactions. I thought they were quite rude when the final bands were announced. They didn’t clap, (as in, not even being polite about it), and made disparaging comments as they piled out of the stadium. Though I understand their disappointment, it was quite immature and quite disturbing, in my opinion. ALL of these kids work their butts off to be the best they can possibly be and they deserve our respect and admiration – no matter what score they end up with.

Sometimes being too confident is counter-productive.

I knew our kids’ performance would not land them in the top three (there were just too many bands with better programs), but I was pleasantly surprised that they made 5th place and we couldn’t be MORE proud of them. I know their band director puts them in these Oklahoma shows to challenge them to be better players and it’s honestly paid off in spades. Any score they get they fight tooth and nail for – it’s NEVER easy for our kids – ever. They consistently compete in REALLY HARD competitions and as a result, our band program is one of the best in the area.

The band that won the Broken Arrow Invitational TOTALLY deserved it – they were PHENOMENAL. Seriously. Their music was incredible and they played it flawlessly. Not to mention, their movements were entertaining and impressive and I really enjoyed the premise behind the show. (Statues that come alive and savor the moment). There were some fans from the second-place band behind me and when I stood up and clapped for the winner, they got quite cranky with my enthusiasm.

I don’t get “grown ups” sometimes. Does it really matter? Again. These kids are incredibly talented and pour their hearts and souls into their programs – I admire them all and respect the hell out of them. Shouldn’t we set an example and practice good sportsmanship?

Honestly. The attitudes of some of these parents just astounds me.

I really love the last formation the kids do at the last of our show – it’s an arrow. I don’t know if people really catch that since it’s hard to see unless you’re sitting up high.

Kevin also took this picture of a judge, standing right in front of Jazz, and well, judging his playing abilities. I can’t imagine how stressful that must have been for Jazz.

But here’s the funny part – when I showed Jazz this picture and asked him if he remembered the judge watching him, he said no. He said he was too busy worrying that his hat was going to come off (because it was super windy at Broken Arrow yesterday, though the winds died down for the finals performance). HA!

One of the perks of participating in the Broken Arrow Invitational is that we get to preview the Broken Arrow band’s performance as we’re waiting for the judges to tally their scores.

I love the Broken Arrow band – they are truly amazing. Those kids have perfected the art of performing. Their music is spectacular, their formations are tight, their girls are sexy and in sync … but if there’s one thing that drives me a little nuts about BA is that it takes them forever to take the field and then exit the field. This year, their girls take the field two-by-twos – and there’s about 40 girls in their Color Guard. It takes FOREVER for them all to get on the field. They also put way too much sexuality into their shows. This year, there’s a lot of full body touching and at one point, the boys actually cradle the girls. Now, I’m not a prude and sexy is hot, but when you’re talking about 16/17 year old kids, it gets a little uncomfortable. Still though, the show was pretty amazing and I’m sure they’ll go on to win Bands of America – they win it nearly every year.

At any rate, our kids will be competing at Bands of America next weekend. This is their overnight trip of the season and our kids are really looking forward to rooming with their buddies and playing XBox. (Yes, they allow it. I was surprised too, quite frankly. When do they sleep?!?) I believe they play at noon on Saturday (if the schedule I saw is accurate), so we’ll also spend the night and spend the day at the stadium to see how they do and who goes to finals. Though I would like to say that our kids will makes finals, the odds are against them. There will be close to 50 bands competing this year and well – I’m being realistic. They will likely not make finals and we’ll be heading home about dinner time next Saturday night.

Which is fine. It’s all about the experience, right?

It’s really hard not to take this whole marching band competition too seriously. It’s SO FUN to watch these talented kids strut their stuff that I sometimes have to stop, back up, take a breath and remember, they’re just kids. They’re kids having fun, making memories and doing what they love to do.

I envy them the experiences.

So. I’ll be writing more about their time in St. Louis next week. Cross your fingers for us!

Jazz’s new band uniforms arrived yesterday. I took him out to take the traditional “by the tree” picture.

I like them, especially compared to last year’s:

They look more polished and definitely more up-to-date than their old ones. (I think they had their old uniforms something like ten years before they “retired” them).

But, I think the jackets are a little too short and his uniform is TIGHT. I’m hoping it stretches a bit with use. These are brand new uniforms and they measured him before they ordered so … I guess we’ll have to make it work.

The new hats are brown, the same color as the uniform. They will have a white feather again.

First competition is October 1st in Tulsa. Can’t wait!!

Update: Jazz is going to talk to them about his uniform today. Is it SUPPOSED to be this tight? Are the jackets SUPPOSED to be this short? We’re thinking it’s just too small, but we’ll know more after he talks to his band directors.

UPDATE #2: Yep. He picked up the wrong uniform. Whew! We swapped them out today. Though his new one is still tight, it’s not as tight as the picture above. The jackets are supposed to be short – they’re supposed to look more like a tuxedo-type of uniform. At any rate, I’m glad he asked as he had someone else’s by mistake! Oops!

I hate to start this post out by being all melodramatic and depressing, but we ONLY have two more years of this, ya’ll!

Jazz is a Junior this year, which means we have this year and next year and that’s IT!

Unless he goes to college and signs up to be in the college band, which … could happen. (With momma’s help. *ahem*)

Every year, the band director hosts a parent preview. This preview marks the “official” start of the marching season.

The parent preview takes place the evening of the last day of band camp. This preview gives the parents a chance to see what they kids have been working on.

The weather was perfect – low 80’s and clouds moved off, which meant there was a nice, cool breeze. Everybody was advised to bring lawn chairs. We did not. We stood – for about an hour. We took lawn chairs last year, but hardly anyone else did and we ended up standing up anyway because we couldn’t see past everyone else who was standing.

But this year, we were in the minority, most everyone else brought chairs.

The kids play three songs – that’s the duration of the show. So, it goes pretty fast once they get started. They also serve ice cream, which people can buy for one dollar. The band director gives the kids a chance to eat ice cream before they perform. (None of us ate ice cream because we were planning on going to Andy’s after the performance – it’s a tradition we’ve started).

The show finally began. Jazz started out the show the very last person on the far left – by the end of the show, he’s the very last person on the far right. So, the boy is required to MOVE during the performances. In fact, he said that he has to move so far, but keep pace with the rest of the band, that he ends up taking really big steps to compensate.

There is a point, in the second song, that Jazz and three other saxophone players meet at the front of the field and have a solo quartet number. It’s fun and fast paced and the kids played really well together. Jazz had to try out for this part, so he really wanted it and I’m proud to say, he’s really good at it.

I believe the show is called “Life’s Directions” and it’s geared to evoke different emotions in audience members – each person will relate to the songs / experience in different ways.

The weather was so nice this past week, that the kids KICKED BUTT on practice. They actually marched two out of the three songs. (Last year, they only marched the first song). And speaking of the music – it’s pretty cool. There are a few numbers that we recognize and I think it’s going to have a really fun feel to it after it’s been tweaked and finalized.

It’s always so fun for me to watch these previews and then compare that performance to later performances when they’re all in costume and have added in moves and steps. It absolutely amazes me that these kids learn these songs, and the steps, in such a short amount of time. Granted, they started learning the music at the end of last school year and they met a few times during the summer before band camp, but they played all three songs without sheet music – which is really saying a lot about the incoming freshmen and how fast they learned.

Kids are like sponges at this stage in their lives.

I was also really shocked, and I mean TRULY shocked, to see how much taller Jazz was when compared to his classmates. He’s always been the shrimpo in his class and this year – well, he’s NOT. I’m betting his new-found growth spurt attracts some girls’ attention this year. *ahem*

At any rate, here we go. The band has competitions scheduled for every Saturday in October, (except for the 22nd, which means they’re not participating in the Greater St. Louis competition this year, which … WTH?), and I plan on making every single one of those performances. Like I said, we only have two more years of this and I want to enjoy every single minute of it.

And of course, I’ll be bringing ya’ll along for the ride.

You’re excited, I can tell. 😉

ADDED:

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/104287180628819968

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/104292052703002624

CLEARLY, I need supervision.

I know it seems extravagant, but I’m going to call this sweatshirt my “souvenir” from Jazz’s marching band days. (Hush. I have to justify it somehow.)