Cochran Family History and News – BlogCochran.com

Well, like many of us, I never hunkered down and said “I shall be a dentist.” I had a wide variety of ideas of what I wanted to be, many of them just kid fantasy. One facet of my temperament is a desire to reach a level of proficiency in everything I try; once I hit “good enough”, I lose interest. Anyway, that played out in these choices too.

Here’s a summary.

Actor
Yeah. This lasted for about three weeks. I might have been fine at it, and it still interests me on some level, but not to the point I could put up with the “theater crowd”.

Lawyer
Interesting initially. I did “mock trial” briefly. I even declared a Philosophy major to keep that option open when I went to school.

Politics
Ties in to the lawyer thing. I always wanted to do good and right wrongs, but I don’t have the stomach for doing it in the system.

Aviation
I went so far as to start in the Aviation program at UVU. I still love flying and airplanes, and I really hope to be able to become a private pilot someday. I didn’t have the grades to fly for the military like I sometimes wished I could as a kid. I also don’t know that I have the temperament to deal with the unions (in commercial aviation) or the military bureaucracy (in the Navy or Chair Force).

Slumlord
I wanted to own property. I might go down this route again one day, but initially, my eyes were closed to the complexities and difficulties. Still, owning property is a worthy goal, and one day, I might still try it.

Teacher
Still ponder this sometimes. Still not interested in wasting time in courses like “Multi-cultural Issues in Education” or dealing with union corruption and ridiculous bureaucracy.

Writer
I have a secret collection of story ideas that haven’t been fleshed out. My prose has really rusted in the last ten years. Still, when the time is right and I can give it attention, I’d like to hash out something novel-length. In the meantime I’ll write dull and poorly-structured blog posts.

Web Analyst
My actual career. I stumbled into it, but it’s a really good fit. I have a knack for finding useful actions hidden in data. I have a good understanding of the internet. I am completely comfortable dealing with bigwigs at large companies and explaining what they need to do to improve their websites. It’s been a lucky (read: divinely directed) career path for me.

Well, that’s it.

This one is for the child-havers among us.  What inspired you to choose your children’s names?  What is their significance to you?

This was a toss-up between AP English Literature and Vocal Jazz my senior year.  I decided that Vocal Jazz might be easier to write about.  Maybe.

I’d auditioned for Show and Chamber toward the end of junior year, and I felt so good about my audition that I was SURE I’d be in.  So did my friends.  I’d also auditioned for Vocal Jazz–I think auditions were at the same time, but I can’t remember–and thought that might be fun too.  I was REALLY hoping for Show and Chamber, partly because the boys I had a crush on had also auditioned and partly because they wore pretty dresses and I liked their music.

I was pretty disappointed when I didn’t make it, but I felt better when I found out I’d made Vocal Jazz (taught by Timm Lyons).  Like Show and Chamber, the current Vocal Jazz members would “kidnap” the next year’s members and take them for breakfast.  I had to work on the Saturday the breakfast happened, so I wasn’t able to participate in that first bonding activity, but Zach made it too and it was fun looking forward to being in 2 choirs with my brother my senior year.

My best friend was in Vocal Jazz, too, and we were really looking forward to the first class.  I’d heard great things about Mr. Lyons and was excited, although it was still hard to NOT be in the choir I’d really wanted.  I got over that at some point, and Vocal Jazz started to be really really cool.

I don’t remember every class, but I remember sometimes helping Mr. Lyons play parts on the piano, and I also remember helping choose shirt colors for our “uniforms”.  We got to sing some really challenging pieces and I learned SO much that I’ve kept with me.  I learned to sing without a vibrato, I learned how to blend, and I learned how to hear my note in the middle of some dissonant chords.  One of the exercise Mr. Lyons liked most was to have us stand in a large circle (there were only 24 of us) around the huge band room, at least an arms’ length apart on either side, and close our eyes facing the wall.  He’d give us one starting note on the piano and tell us to start and end together…without looking.  It was a powerful lesson in listening and being in tune with each other and the music.

When we performed, he’d gather us around a piano backstage, play the root note for our starting chord, and, because he’d taught us about muscle memory and keeping the note in our heads, we were able to go out and just start singing without a director or a piano.  It was amazing.

The a cappella choir was supposed to go to Seattle that year, but through a convoluted series of events, arrangements fell through.  Mr. Lyons had already entered Vocal Jazz in the Greeley Jazz Festival in Greeley, Colorado, and something was finagled to take A Cappella and Show and Chamber with us to the festival.  Vocal Jazz sang Mr. Lyons’ arrangement of “Amazing Grace” and a song by New York Voices called “Come Home” for our division competition, and we placed first.  Liz Hilton got an award for best female soloist for her solo in “Amazing Grace”.

We were able to go to a question and answer session with Bobby McFerrin one afternoon, followed by his concert that evening.  It was unreal–he came out barefoot, in jeans and a button-down shirt with rolled up sleeves, and did a vocal interpretation of “The Wizard of Oz”.  I remember being stunned with his talent and really grateful I did Vocal Jazz instead of Show and Chamber.

It was on that choir trip that we gave each other nicknames:  Erik was Lumberjack Ralph, Brea was Grumpy Eleanor, Cecily was something Penny (I can’t remember…), Brian was Safari Bob, Jim was Frisbee Al, Jenny was Fascist Jones, I was Freckled Frieda, Liz was Gospel Sam.  I wish I could remember the rest, but I think Zach can fill in my memory holes.

I learned so much in that class about supporting each other as a unified team.  I don’t remember a lot of rivalry; I remember closeness and trust.  The lessons I learned made me a better vocalist and more appreciative of jazz music.  I’ve had a few experiences since that remind me of Vocal Jazz, times like the Christmas Carol Choir in 2006 after my engagement ended when I knew I was safe with my choir.

Vocal Jazz got me through a really tough year and I’m grateful for what I learned there.  It was something I’ll never forget.

List all of the things you wanted to be when you grew up.  Talk about them a little, if you can remember why you liked that career choice.

I’m going to hedge and say Band was my favorite class.  I know, it was many classes in many variations over the years, but I enjoyed being in the band.

We had a group of talented kids at Orem High.  It was a big school, and we were really able to flesh out our band with all the bits and pieces.  In Symphonic Band, I typically played the 2nd or 3rd Trumpet parts, on the grounds of saving my chops for Jazz Band.  I think I was in Concert Band (that was the junior band) the first year and Symphonic Band the next two years. 

Our symphonic band in my senior year was excellent.  We were better than many college bands I’ve heard.  Mr. Cox challenged us with very difficult pieces: “Chester”, “Variations on a Korean Folk Song”, etc.  These had multiple time changes, difficult keys, and 2 over 3 (or 4 over 5!) rhythms.  An example: we performed it better than these guys =).  They’re a bit sloppy.  But you get the idea. 

We went on tour to Las Vegas that year, with Mom and Dad as chaperones.  Dad, naturally, engaged in a spitting contest at the Hoover Dam (with a girl I kind of liked, too).  At the Desert Winds Festival at UNLV, we pretty much destroyed the local bands.  We were teh awsum.

Every morning there was Jazz Band.  My first year of High School I was in the Junior Jazz Band, taught by Mr. Lyons.  I got better at reading music quickly and we were prepped for more challenging music in the years that followed.

My junior year, I took 5th Trumpet in the senior Jazz Band.  We had a very good group; Dan Thrower, Brian Ladle, Kenny Freestone, and Brigham Ashton.  We played some very challenging pieces; “Manteca”, “ I Remember Clifford”, “Ornithology”; lots of very good songs.  We’d have Ray Smith, director of Synthesis at BYU, come in and do clinics with us.  We did very well at our festivals, scoring the highest marks.

In my senior year, I played 2nd trumpet, traditionally the solo position.  I wasn’t a very good soloist though.  I didn’t feel the music in those days and couldn’t improvise well.  I was still very good at sight reading, though, and played well enough.  I’ve improved on improvisation dramatically, but I sold my trumpet eight or nine years ago and don’t play anymore.  We did well enough, but not as good as in my junior year.

My first year out of high school I joined the BYU Marching Band.  I had never really marched before, so this was new to me.  I had a great time in spite of the time commitment.  We practiced twice a week with football games and occasionally parades on Saturday.  My friends Dan Thrower, Lea Saville, Mitch Lee, and Aimee Piper were in the band too. 

BYU’s bowl game that year was the Copper Bowl in Tucson, where they played Oklahoma.  Oklahoma had two baton twirlers, “Feature Twirlers”, who I believe were twins.  Mitch and I sat with them at dinner during one of our combined activities, woo hoo.  I couldn’t find any video of the halftime show at the Copper Bowl.  I wasn’t expecting to march, but we had someone get sick and I filled in.  Anyway, I flanked the wrong way at one point and had to recover quickly.  There’s a story behind this.  We were given some music to play together with Oklahoma and didn’t have time to memorize it.  So we were keeping it in our pants, right at the waistband.  Mine started to slip down, and was at about my knee when it was time to flank.  It finally came out when we stepped off the field. 

It’s funny about music.  I was in both the highest musical groups in High School, both vocally (in the Show & Chamber choir) and on an instrument (in the Jazz Band).  I think other students had more sense.  The only other person in both that I recall was Crystal Shields.  But I always identified myself with the band much more than the choir.  Thus band is my favorite class.

Honorable mention to AP US History, but only because I sat next to Steffany and I really had a crush on her.

It started with anthropomorphized food.  I remember my food talking to me, making me feel guilty it wasn’t in my stomach with the rest of its nutritious friends.

Mom’s filing is legendary, too.  It even had a card catalog.  I hated it when things changed, because I would adjust to locations better than to systems. 

I remember the advent calendar fondly too, even down to the system we had for taking turns. 

Mom was always careful with things.  We had another little advent calendar that was made of paper and lasted through many small children.  I think my kids would have that destroyed within minutes of seeing it.

I think with me it was often a case of just letting me play creatively.  Mom let me tear up the whole garden for weeks to make canals and lakes for my GI Joe toys.  She’d also let us leave our creations in the play room up for many days; this let us build elaborate adventures and build on them over time.  I remember blocks, my electric trucking set, micro machines, and many hours of fun filling the whole play room.

Anyway, Mom let us play but also helped us from getting too messy.  There was always a place for things to go when we were done.  This let us be creative without causing a disaster.

Children tend to grow out of their clothing, sometimes before you are ready to buy new sizes for them. Fortunately, their father wore out knees on his levis. Maybe I was tired of patching them, or he didn’t need them any more. Using the fabric from a pair of levis above and below the knee,  the back of the leg, back pockets and waist band, you can make overalls for smaller people. Find a pattern you like in the size you need or outline the shape of a favorite pair onto some paper. The legs can be cut for legs, a pocket can be used for the bib front. If you use both the inside and outside of the pocket, the bib can be used for a big pocket. The waistband is used to make the overall straps and waistband. Elastic can be sewn in a casing for the back of the waistband, if necessary. Use the waistband for overall straps. It already has a buttonhole in it so you only have to sewn one button to the bib front. The other strap can be sewn on to the bib front or you can make a buttonhole in the end of it and sewn on a button so both straps can be unfastened.

Yarn hair ribbons don’t slide out of hair as easily as regular ribbon does.

What was your favorite class in high school?  You can only pick one, but maybe we can do others later .