one day i might go deaf. i can tell by the way i listen to music-- it's always ON FULL BLAST. i like it that way. music takes me on a high especially on-a-high worthy songs like the songs that i will probably never get tired of-- Third Eye Blind's Semicharmed Life (one of my favorite songs since forever), Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved, and Keane's Somewhere Only We Know. my family gets annoyed every time the music is on full blast. my mother complains that it gives her a headache and my sister thinks i'm deaf.

i love music. if i could turn back time i would have learned how to play the guitar. i learned piano since i was four. it went on until i was 13. now i'm rusty (although i can still read notes) because i haven't practiced for a long time since high school.

i had three piano teachers my whole life. the first was Ms. Beverly. she was pretty nice to teach a four year old to play the piano. this was during the time while i still lived in Myanmar. she taught me the basics for around more than three years.

then there was Ms. Josephine, "the piano teacher from hell". i really mean that. she was really cruel. i remember afternoons right after school. she'd be waiting for my sister and i in the living room where the piano was. with her frizzy permed hair, scary eyelids with thick liquid eyeliner, and ghostly white face, she would wait for us. i hated her to pieces. she would whack my hand really hard when i miss a note or when i play the piece wrong. she'd ridicule me and i remember being so furious that i'd actually press the keys harder than needed to vent out my anger. but she was really very good. she taught us pretty well and what i loved about the lessons with her was that she'd teach us Christmas songs on Christmas. my favorites were Silver Bells and White Christmas. the downside was that as i played, she would sing with her squeaky horrible voice that would make me burst into giggles. oh, i must mention that our terrier Bonnie hated her to pieces too! our dog would wait for her by the gate on afternoons. i'd know when she arrives because Bonnie would bark and bite her long skirt. he would pull it and follow the poor piano teacher until she gets to the front door. my sister and i would watch from the second floor living room window with mischievous grins plastered on our faces. but looking back on those days, i had hard times trying to reach keys while playing difficult pieces. i have a small hand (heeh), not exactly pianist material but still, it was fun playing.

lastly, in high school while living in Abu Dhabi, my parents got me a new piano teacher who was a Filipino. he was also good. he played in a couple of recitals at the Cultural Center in Abu Dhabi. there was this one time when he asked me to memorize one long piece. it was a Minuet. a week later he asked if i memorized it. i said i wasn't able to because i had exams. i think he got pissed off because he turned beet red, it was pretty funny for his pale skin. since this guy is gay, he always tried to make his voice smaller in hopes of making it sound feminine. one time he got pissed off when i kept missing a note. he caught me by surprise when he said "D!!!" in a manly voice. after clearing his throat, he went back to his normal "feminine voice". that was so funny. it made me smile like a geek instead of being intimidated by him.

i loved playing the piano. the realization that you are the one creating the music that's playing is way beyond priceless.

i'd like to learn to play the guitar any day now. maybe when i learn to manage my finances (i spend way too much on unneccessary things), i can buy a shiny red guitar. i want to learn to play Shiny Red Balloon by Barbie's Cradle and This Side by Nickel Creek. i love both songs to pieces.

so watch out, world. there will be a new "girl with a shiny red guitar" on the loose any time soon.