I'm not exactly in a mood to write, but if not now, then I'll never post.

Yesterday was.. surreal. I had gone through three Investitures before this one.. And I can only remember bits and pieces of each one. 2003, all I remember is not being told to bring civilian clothes, and going to the Grassroots' Club somewhere near Yio Chu Kang for a long a la carte buffet dinner. I think it lasted till about 11. I was the quiet one then.

I remember more from 2004. We gathered as a section on the main level of the band room. Adriel gave out his gifts and message cards. Instead of names it had descriptions of each section member so we had to guess which was who's. Mine read 'the "I'm lovin' aux!" one' because I was supposedly obsessed with auxiliary instruments. And I remember George giving out his corn to the UD members. For section dinner, we went to some place in Bukit Batok for a cheap buffet. Shared a cab home with Adriel, Wei Ren and of course Kin Chun.

We didn't have section dinner last year!! Must have a replacement one before it becomes a reunion dinner X_x

Yesterday's section dinner was short.. It lasted an hour at most.. Not a buffet, and no round table, so not much interaction.. Lanning was quite silly. A few other sections were in the same building as us and we didn't even know. And there was supposedly no space where the clarinet section was.. Would have been much more meaningful and fun if we were owning other sections instead.

But I guess it only struck me once I got on the cab. The feeling of "it's over". We're still friends, still in contact with one another, but it's just different. We were the most close-knit section in the band, that's for sure. Never before have I had such a great group of friends.

I didn't want to listen to any more of our Prometheum XI recordings for a while.. But I did, and I recalled memory after memory of playing, teaching, learning and practicing each piece. Drilling Ben's Fossiles part. Practicing offbeats on the marimba. Teaching how to play the crash cymbals and doing fun crash exercises xD. Practicing Army of the Nile over and over again while giving instructions in silly accents. Playing Jalan-Jalan over and over again as a section a week before competition.

I guess I could say all of us are rather skilled in our playing. In fact, we are very skilled. I used to brainwash all of you during sectionals. But yes, we have done very well in our playing. I mentioned that we were the most close-knit section, and I think there's no doubt about that. Everything just works out when we enjoy playing with one another.

Why did we get one stick for each person, not a pair? Besides the cost factor, it's significant because.. we ar- we were (argh!), and you are, a section. How beautiful can the music be if you make it with one stick? Compare that to many sticks played by a group of friends.

I will miss being in this section with all you wonderful juniors. I already am. What we had, what we made, was just indescribable. I wish I could get it back, I really do.