A Change
I play the violin, not the viola.
GDAE - the open strings of the violin,
CGDA - the tuning of the viola.
Even their body size differ.
Playing the viola part on a violin,
Makes my mind go into chaos.
I'm used to the Treble Clef,
And now they make me switch to Alto Clef.
The notes just swam in my head,
Staying afloat, refusing to sink.
As if laughing at me,
Mocking at the same time.
Just staring at the notes stupidly,
While the other family members blended.
Attempting a note or two as it squeaked from my violin,
It sounded like a note with a crooked stem trying to fit in.
"It's all in the mind," they say.
That was easy, no effort included.
Yes, maybe for them,
But certainly not for me.
"Just go down a tone," I repeated to myself.
In my mind, I thought I knew the notes
But my fingers were just not cooperating.
Useless, useless, useless!
Time. Time is what I need.
Like moving to another country,
the switch from violin to viola is not easy.
At least not for me.
The third rendezvous coming up.
Three years, three positions.
First violin to second violin, and now to viola.
I have tried it all. I have had a taste of it.
This is a challenge, no giving up allowed.
After all, flexibility is all that counts.
A musician, I believe, should be flexible.
Alto Clef, here I come!
---
That was just some thoughts I had during our first strings ensemble practice yesterday. Because of the lack of viola players on campus, I volunteered to take on the role of playing the viola. I am still experiencing 'viola shock' but I hope that as time goes by, I will get used to it.
Anyway. Another thought just came into my mind. Have you ever had the experience of having your name spelled wrongly? Well, I have. My full name used to be Julie Marsyina Lamam, and stayed that way for 12 years, but somehow it got changed to Julie Marsyina George (that change really upset me at first) in the process of making my identity card. When we were in the Philippines, "Lamam" always got spelled with an "n" at the end, so instead of "Lamam" it became "Laman". It not only happened to me, but also to my parents and brother. We have no idea how and why, but after some time we came up with a conclusion that the people probably preferred "n" than "m". That, I can tolerate although I always thought they 'murdered' my ancestor's name.
What I could not (though possible) tolerate were the mispelled names on my certificates. Certificates are very important to me. All the certificates I received are kept in a green file back home. I love to browse that green file. I would have loved to have my name spelled correctly on every certificate, but that is just not the case. On my Primary 6 graduation certificate my middle name was spelled wrongly, instead of "Marsyina" it was spelled "Marsyiana". I mean, how could they simply add an "a" on it? On one of my violin exam certificate, again, my surname was spelled wrongly! I hate for my name to be spelled wrongly because I love the name that was given by my parents. Now that my surname is my father's name, I hope my name will not be 'murdered' again in the future! :D
---
Have a good day!
~Julie Marsyina George
I play the violin, not the viola.
GDAE - the open strings of the violin,
CGDA - the tuning of the viola.
Even their body size differ.
Playing the viola part on a violin,
Makes my mind go into chaos.
I'm used to the Treble Clef,
And now they make me switch to Alto Clef.
The notes just swam in my head,
Staying afloat, refusing to sink.
As if laughing at me,
Mocking at the same time.
Just staring at the notes stupidly,
While the other family members blended.
Attempting a note or two as it squeaked from my violin,
It sounded like a note with a crooked stem trying to fit in.
"It's all in the mind," they say.
That was easy, no effort included.
Yes, maybe for them,
But certainly not for me.
"Just go down a tone," I repeated to myself.
In my mind, I thought I knew the notes
But my fingers were just not cooperating.
Useless, useless, useless!
Time. Time is what I need.
Like moving to another country,
the switch from violin to viola is not easy.
At least not for me.
The third rendezvous coming up.
Three years, three positions.
First violin to second violin, and now to viola.
I have tried it all. I have had a taste of it.
This is a challenge, no giving up allowed.
After all, flexibility is all that counts.
A musician, I believe, should be flexible.
Alto Clef, here I come!
---
That was just some thoughts I had during our first strings ensemble practice yesterday. Because of the lack of viola players on campus, I volunteered to take on the role of playing the viola. I am still experiencing 'viola shock' but I hope that as time goes by, I will get used to it.
Anyway. Another thought just came into my mind. Have you ever had the experience of having your name spelled wrongly? Well, I have. My full name used to be Julie Marsyina Lamam, and stayed that way for 12 years, but somehow it got changed to Julie Marsyina George (that change really upset me at first) in the process of making my identity card. When we were in the Philippines, "Lamam" always got spelled with an "n" at the end, so instead of "Lamam" it became "Laman". It not only happened to me, but also to my parents and brother. We have no idea how and why, but after some time we came up with a conclusion that the people probably preferred "n" than "m". That, I can tolerate although I always thought they 'murdered' my ancestor's name.
What I could not (though possible) tolerate were the mispelled names on my certificates. Certificates are very important to me. All the certificates I received are kept in a green file back home. I love to browse that green file. I would have loved to have my name spelled correctly on every certificate, but that is just not the case. On my Primary 6 graduation certificate my middle name was spelled wrongly, instead of "Marsyina" it was spelled "Marsyiana". I mean, how could they simply add an "a" on it? On one of my violin exam certificate, again, my surname was spelled wrongly! I hate for my name to be spelled wrongly because I love the name that was given by my parents. Now that my surname is my father's name, I hope my name will not be 'murdered' again in the future! :D
---
Have a good day!
~Julie Marsyina George
posted by Lorena at 9:13 AM
4 Comments:
I think the misspelling of names happens because the original spelling of the name looks weird.
Weird name = Non-existent
Non-existent = Unaccepted
Unaccepted = Change
Change = Misspelling
Okay don't believe that . I just made it up. Me and my silly 'expressions of equations'.
I think misspelling happens just as errors happens. Other times people just don't really care whether they spell someone else's name correctly or not.
-Lorena-
Julie, your "A Change" was fun to read, fun because of the tone you used. Carries right through. I really liked the comparison of the switch from violin to viola as if moving to another country. That makes perfect sense even though I know nothing of either violas or violins. I envy you for playing the violin though. It is one of my favorites to listen to.
As for your name change, I'm sorry. I've also experienced it once I moved to the U.S. (who ever thought that a G could be next to a J in English so sure, always misspelled though not in legal documents). I think Lorena is on to something with her equations! But government officers should be sued for such mistakes.
ags
Talking about names being mispelt, i think mine would rank the highest in class. My name is Daron, but i've had a variety of spellings: Darren, Daren, Darran, Daroon (once)
Yes! Government officers should be sued for such mistakes!! How can they change my name when I had filled in the form correctly? Something must be wrong with their eyes...or minds...at that time.
~Julie
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