A New Beginning

[psychotama]

I really should update more often. I don't really know why I haven't because I definitely have the time in my schedule now. For some reason it just seems like a chore at times...I really think I just hate doing the pictures...I'm so lazy I won't stop with the pictures though, and I definitely don't plan on ceasing this log anytime soon. I really do enjoy writing here and I'm sure years from now it will be great to look back and read all of these blogs. There's a lot more than just tamagotchi progress in these entries. I hope people don't mind me rambling...I think it's just a little more interesting to incorporate my life into the writing, especially since I mainly run vintage tamas. I think you need a lot more imagination to make them come to life for you since they are so simple...and I guess the only way to get that across in writing is to talk about my life with them. I don't know if I've ever actually addressed how I personally view tamagotchi. I see tamagotchi as companions. I have never seen them as pets or less than me, if that makes sense. They are friends that go everywhere with me and partake in all of my interests and enjoyments. Maybe that sounds strange, I don't know. I'm not crazy, I promise. Of course I know that they are just toys, but that's where the imagination comes in. It's also not that they take the place of human friends. I have many friends that I spend a lot of time with and a loving family and boyfriend. Tamagotchi is just a great addition to an already great life Well, I suppose that's enough of that haha.

I have been extremely focused lately. I've spent hours each day working on reeds and I'm seeing great results. Reed making has always been a very troublesome thing for me. I didn't take to it as easily as a lot of people do. I've had to work so hard these past 4 years just to get to the point where I am consistently making reeds that are up to my playing ability. I basically play exclusively on my own reeds now, with some guidance from my teacher here and there. I haven't been super happy with them lately though, so I've been trying really hard to figure out what I can do to improve. This past week has been some of the best reed making I've done so far and I'm really happy about it. I've also been practicing relentlessly for the remaining auditions I have and some summer music festival auditions. I'm very proud of my work lately Mimitchi has been here through all of it. He has proven to be an invaluable companion and I think he may just be my good luck charm He is now 12 years old and got his first sickness yesterday. He just started becoming a little needy today. As of yet, I have not paused him once! That's pretty incredible. I really prefer being able to let tamas live out their lives with natural time. I also think it's easier to deal with their neediness in old age if you can avoid pausing. That way they aren't hanging around so long in that state of endless discontentment. Mimitchi is still quite easy to care for though and I'm very happy that he'll be around for a while longer Here's a picture of Mimitchi with some of the reeds I made.

​

This is when we went on a walk a few days ago. It was almost 70 degrees...in late January! This winter has hardly been a winter at all. I'm not upset by this really though...I hate the cold.

​

​

Someone else made a reappearance a couple of days ago...I got Minotchi again! This time I got him from a different cocoon, because I kept the temperature cold. You can get Minotchi from two different places on the growth chart. So now I have had the warm Minotchi twice and the cold Minotchi once. He's my only repeat character so far. I do like him I was kind of hoping for Funkorogotchi but I'll never be upset to see Minotchi. I got him by keeping the weight between 25 and 30 mg and taking average care of him. I'm still assuming that the weight has something to do with the growth, but I still need to test it. At some point, I plan to keep the weight as low as possible, but take absolute perfect care just like I did when I got Koganetchi. If I get Koganetchi that way, then we can probably conclude that weight doesn't make a difference.

​

Just look at that face. Adorable.

 

[psychotama]

The weekend was nice and relaxing. I got plenty of practicing done and also spent a lot of time hanging out with friends. My friend Hannah and I played a lot of League of Legends and then we watched RuPaul with Emily. It was the last weekend that I will be here at school until March. That's crazy to think about. I am going home with some friends to hear Dwight Parry play the Strauss oboe concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. I'm so excited. I heard him play it this past summer at an oboe camp that I attended. He's absolutely amazing and I really hope to study with him in graduate school. I've taken many lessons from him since I live so close and I've always left them really inspired. So very excited for that concert! The three weekends after that I have grad school auditions, so I will be travelling. Life is about to get real crazy real fast.

I had a great lesson today with the woman who is filling in for my teacher. She made me feel so much better about the Mozart concerto. Really needed a lesson like that. Orchestra was also nice tonight. I really liked my reed and all of my low notes came out really well. I'm playing second oboe on the piece and there's so many low notes that I have to tune in octaves with Camilla (playing first oboe).

As for tamas, Mimitchi is 15 years old today. He is getting rather needy, but still fairly easy to care for. I've really enjoyed having him around He's so cute and makes life a bit more fun. Minotchi died on me yesterday I'm pretty sure it was from old age this time though, he was 10 years old. He was sitting next to me on my bed and I got up to switch out my laundry. When I came back he was gone. I have only witnessed the death sequence once on the Morino, and that was with my very first Minotchi, who died of old age. They really are elusive little creatures. I hatched a new white egg this afternoon and now have a sleeping babymotchi.

A couple of days ago I hatched my purple P1, the one that had Mametchi on it. Wow, now I really miss Mametchi. She was the one who started this whole log...that seems so long ago. Oh well, I will get her back one day. This time, however, I am going for Masukutchi and then the secret character, Bill. I really wanted Masukutchi again, so I figured I may as well go for a new character in the process. I have never gotten Bill before. I just got Tamatchi this afternoon and have been taking average care of him I guess...I may be being too nice to him. I'll have to commit. I just really hate neglecting them

I guess that's all for now. I have some pictures of my fast food extravaganza this past weekend...my tamas love going out to eat with me. It's an occurrence that happens all too often I'm afraid....

 

[psychotama]

Not a ton to report this time. I managed to get Masukutchi on my P1 last night and I have taken perfect care of him so far. He called for discipline twice today so he is already up to 50%! That's looking good. Maybe I'll get Bill this time

Mimitchi is 19 today and very needy. I still have not paused him at all, which is quite remarkable. Orchestra performed Tchaikovsky for the OMEA convention last night and I took Mimitchi on stage with me. He fit snuggly in the pocket of my tuxedo jacket He has literally gone everywhere with me since he was born. I will be very sad to see him go.

I have Imotchi on the morino right now and I am keeping the weight as low as possible. I haven't taken perfect care, but it's been pretty good. Only missed one predator attack so far. He will stay in this stage a few days longer than normal because the weight is so low. I'm hoping to get Funkorogotchi this time around

 

[psychotama]

Three weeks since my last post. Time really flies. I never intended to stay away from this log for so long, but sometimes life just happens. Even though I've been away, it has been a really great few weeks and I am happy to say that I have still kept tamas with me. During this time, I have taken two graduate school auditions and been accepted to both schools. So, I have passed the audition for every school I have applied to so far. The last audition I did was for a school that I was accepted to for undergrad but didn't attend. It was actually at the bottom of my list but after going back and taking a lesson with the oboe professor and meeting with some of the faculty, I think I would learn a lot from being there. I also played the best at that audition. It's funny how things don't always work out at all like you thought they would.

I am flying out to New York in the morning for my final audition and will be returning Monday afternoon. I've never traveled like this alone before, so I am a little nervous. I'll have my tamas with me though!

So here is what has happened with tamas during my absence. Mimitchi left at age 22. I was very sad to see him go. I waited about a week and a half to hatch that tama again. I decided that I wanted Mimitchi back for a travel buddy. However, I wound up getting Nyatchi instead because I messed up a little bit with care. I was hoping that getting all of the disciplines would make up for it, but it was not to be. I like Nyatchi though, so it's not a horrible thing. She is 8 years old today and very lively.

I paused Masukutchi a lot over the past couple of weeks and he just left me this morning at age 17. I hatched that tama again and now have Marutchi. I am going to try for Kuchipatchi this time around. I have never had him on a vintage tama before.

Here's a picture of Nyatchi and Marutchi enjoying a nice car ride this afternoon. The weather is so nice! Never in my lifetime have a lived through a winter this warm. It's crazy.

​

I had a tragedy with my Morino and I'm still upset about it. I went to a karaoke bar a few weeks ago and took my tamas with me. Bit of advice: Do NOT take your tamas with you on a night of drinking. Just don't. I had them in my coat pocket and when I got home, my Morino was nowhere to be found. So, sometime between my 3rd gin and tonic and drunkenly trying to sing Fergalicious on the stage, my poor Morino must have fallen out of my pocket. I've called the bar multiple times and retraced my steps but to no avail. It's just gone. So that kind of crushed me. I'm so mad at myself. The only thing that gives me a little bit of comfort is the fact that I remember pausing Imotchi at some point that night, so at least he didn't die from neglect..... It kind of dampened my tama enthusiasm for a little bit, but I never stopped running them altogether. When I went home one weekend, I picked up my brown and yellow Morino. I wound up getting Minotchi for the 5th time. I think after he leaves, I will just take a break from the Morino for a while. I just don't have the desire to run it at the moment. I'll get over this eventually though.

The batteries in my M!x ran out a couple of weeks ago and I was getting a little bored with it anyway so I didn't replace them. I recently started it back up again and am enjoying it as much as ever. I have been working on a Himebaratchi/Masukutchi hybrid and it turned out so cute. I kept the adult for like 12 days, which is long on the mix. I'm glad to be running it again because it will keep me occupied on the plane. This picture also features a wonderful cover I got from Fuzzy n Chic! It's Luna from Sailor Moon

​

Well, I hope to regularly update again and I look forward to writing about my New York adventures! Thanks for sticking with me through this leave of absence.

 

[psychotama]

I am back at school after another weekend of auditioning. I am now completely finished! My trip to New York was a lot of fun. I was really stressed about the travel, but I managed just fine. I got everywhere that I needed to be with plenty of time and everything went smoothly. I'm glad I went by myself because it helped me get over anxiety about travelling.

The flight was nice. I hadn't flown anywhere since I was about 10 years old, so it was kind of like a new experience for me. Honestly, flying is so much nicer than driving. It only took an hour and a half to get from Cincinnati to NYC. By the time I had gotten really situated on the plane, it was time to get off! My tamas definitely enjoyed themselves

​

The audition itself went pretty well. It wasn't my best audition, but it was decent. I played a couple of movements from different solo pieces, an etude, and an orchestral excerpt. I won't hear about the results for a while. I'm so glad to be done with auditions now. I have no other big things looming in the distance and it's nice to be able to just practice without worrying about something coming up. I am planning to enter a concerto competition at a college close by. I'll be playing the Goossens concerto, a piece I did on my recital. So, I'm working on memorizing it. I have a lot of it memorized just from playing it so much, but there are a few places I need to get down.

The orchestra here at school is going on tour during our spring break, so that's how I'll be spending my precious week off....I'm kind of bummed about it actually. Wind ensemble went on tour last year, so I haven't had a spring break in 2 years. We'll have to get up at 6 A.M. every morning and do workshops and performances at high schools. Not exactly my idea of a break. At least my friends will be there. We have some evenings off, so we can try to do something fun in the free time. If I hadn't been home every weekend for the past month, I'd be furious. But, I don't really plan on going home again until after graduation so I guess it's fine. We will be leaving Sunday afternoon and will return Thursday evening.

Time for tama news! I did not get Kuchipatchi as I had hoped. I wound up with Tarakotchi. Apparently I am just bad at getting the unhealthy characters that I want. I have no problem get the top 3 characters, but I haven't ironed out the process for the bottom 3. I got Kuchitamatchi just fine, and I took perfect care of him, never letting his hearts drop below one empty. I admit that I missed a discipline, but he was still 75% full. I think where I go wrong is neglecting Marutchi too much. Many times I have gone for Kuchitamatchi but treated Marutchi too well, ending up with Tamatchi. So, I guess I am over doing it now. You have to neglect to get the right teen, but when he evolved, he had all hearts empty. I immediately filled them and began perfect care, but I guess it registered as me neglecting Kuchitamatchi. Anyway, I got Tarakotchi, who I had not gotten on a vintage before, and he is so cute. So I didn't mind. He left me yesterday at 7 years old. Poor guy doesn't last long. I hatched a new egg this morning and now I have Marutchi. I am trying for Kuchipatchi again, so I'll be more careful this time.

​

Nyatchi is still around at age 14. It seems she doesn't have much time left. Still a few days left to go though.

 

[psychotama]

Greetings from Washington DC! This orchestra tour has been less painful than I thought it would be. We have had a lot more free time than the wind ensemble tour had last year, so for that I am grateful. It is a lot of playing though. Yesterday we did workshops and performances at two high schools in Pittsburgh, which was probably a combined 4 hours of playing. We basically ran the entire symphony twice, as well as excerpts for demonstrations. It was really tiring. I've had a lot of fun with friends though, and the hotels have been really nice. A group of us even got drinks with our orchestra director, so that was cool. It's been pretty chill overall. The Wifi at the hotels are actually good, and a bunch of people have been in my room playing League of Legends. The downside of all of this is definitely waking up at 6 A.M. every morning. That's no fun. Today we had free time until 4 P.M (it's still free time) so I just took advantage of that time and slept in. I feel very refreshed now. Later tonight we are going to perform at the Strathmore in DC, and that will be the culmination of our tour. Leaving early tomorrow morning to head back to school.

My tamas have enjoyed the trip quite a bit. I thought I was taking bad care of Marutchi, but wound up getting Tamatchi anyway. I let all of his hearts empty a few times, but then when he was getting close to evolving, I started taking good care of him so I wouldn't make the mistake that I did last time. Apparently I took care of him too well I was determined not to get Masukutchi though, so I took absolutely dreadful care of Tamatchi....I thought I was going to kill the poor guy. I wound up getting Tarakotchi again, which I am happy with. I didn't get to keep him around for very long last time, so I don't mind having him again when he leaves I will try once again for Kuchipatchi. I realize how bad I am at getting the unhealthy characters now...gotta fix that.

​

​

As you can see, I really had to commit to getting an unhealthy character from Tamatchi....​

​

​

​

Nyatchi is still hanging around. She has been paused a bit because I've been busy. She is 16 years old today, so she will be leaving today or tomorrow. *As I was writing this, Nyatchi died bye Nyatchi. I just hatched a new egg.

 

[psychotama]

I've had a nice relaxing couple of days. Most people are still gone for spring break, so it's very quiet around the conservatory. I like it that way I've just been practicing and making reeds. It's so scary to think about the fact that I'm graduating in a couple of months. I'm really going to miss this place..I've spent so much time here. Still, I'm ready to move on to new things.

When I got back to school, a package was waiting for me. It was the P2 that I ordered a few weeks ago. I found it on ebay new in package with free shipping...only $20! I was really surprised when I opened the package because in addition to the tama I ordered, there was a new silver Angelgotch inside! I didn't order that...so I don't really know how I got it. I'm super excited though. I plan to just leave that one in the package for collection's sake. I think that I now have all of the Angelgotch shells that were released. The Japanese ones anyway.

​

I opened up the P2 this morning and hatched it. I really love the shell. It is much nicer in person, and it matches my clear green one! I think I'm going for Mimitchi on it. I managed to get Hashitamatchi on my blue P2 and I think I have a shot at getting Hashizotchi now. I filled up his hearts right before he evolved, so if I continue with perfect care, I should get him.

Tarakotchi is still with me, though I think he will probably leave sometime tonight. He is 9 years old today. I'm really glad I have him again, he's really cute.

​

 

[psychotama]

Not a ton to report today. Tarakotchi left on Saturday and that was kind of sad. I restarted that tama in the hopes of getting Kuchipatchi....who seems to be rather elusive to me. I think I may have already screwed up though because I accidentally filled a discipline point on Marutchi today...I just did it on impulse. I'm taking really bad care to try and counteract that though.

Hashitamatchi evolved today. Not what I was expecting, but I got Takotchi! I've never had her before so I'm happy about that I was pretty certain that I would get Hashizotchi, but I guess I missed a discipline somehow...even though I thought I was really careful about that. I took perfect care of Hashitamatchi, never letting the hearts drop below one empty, so it must have been the discipline miss. Oh well. I'm just happy to have a new character! I'm not sure how long Takotchi stays around, but it probably won't be super long. I will enjoy the time I have with her

I got Tongaritchi on my new P2 today, and have continued perfect care. He has 75% discipline now so I am on track to getting Mimitchi. Hopefully that works out for me :mimitchi:

In other news, I had a super hard decision to make today. I was offered the opportunity to travel to Austria this summer to play in a classical music festival for two weeks. Touring Vienna and playing in historical buildings. Sadly, my family and I do not have much money, and I am also in need of a new oboe. So, I had to turn down the offer in order to put the money towards an instrument. Although it is disappointing to not be able to go, it was still a great honor to have been considered. I am sure I will have other international opportunities in the future

 

[psychotama]

Yet another long absence. I've got to get it together! I suppose life has just been really busy lately. I'm happy to say that I finally know where I will be going for graduate school. I was offered a full tuition assistantship, plus a $1,100 stipend per month at my top choice school. I'm so excited and grateful for this opportunity. I can't wait to work with the professor there. An added bonus is that it is 20 minutes from my home, so my family will be able to attend all of my performances. I was thinking I might live at home to save money, but the stipend covers rent so I will be able to live on campus in an apartment. Also, Jared goes there! So we will have a whole year together. He is a junior, so still has another year there. I'm very happy about the whole thing. It's just perfect. I am also going to be getting a new oboe in the next month or so! I will definitely be posting pictures when I get it

Speaking of oboes, the one I'm currently using cracked Oboes crack sometimes when the weather changes a lot. It has been taken to the shop but now I'm having to use pretty much a different oboe for every rehearsal. The other oboists in the studio are kind enough to let me use theirs because my backup is horribly out of tune. I am playing principal on all of the pieces we are working on in ensembles so I have to have a decent instrument to play. I have two recitals to play for this weekend, and orchestra is rehearsing the Brahms German Requiem every single night next week. Lots of playing. I guess this is the best time for this to have happened though....all done with auditions and my recital. It's still very stressful nonetheless.

As for tamas, Takotchi left shortly after my last post. I wound up getting Nyatchi on my yellow P2 because I messed up a bit with care. I got Nyorotchi on my purple tama! I'd never had him before. He completely stole my heart. He was only around for a few days but I really loved him. Lots of personality and very unique. I'll definitely have to get him back soon.

My tribute to Nyorotchi​

​

​

Here's a few of Takotchi as well​

​

​

Jared came to visit a couple of weeks ago and we had a great time. I have some pictures of us playing board games with some of my other friends. We also discovered that watermelon sangria is the best drink ever. Jared got one at Applebee's and we noted the ingredients: Watermelon pucker, moscato wine, and cranberry juice. We went to the store and got everything and then made them ourselves. So good!

​

Nyatchi is still around due to a lot of pausing. She is 13 years old. Aside from her, I have no other original tamas running at the time. I did purchase an Umino Tamagotch (ocean) and have been logging my experiences with it in a separate log. I felt that it needed a different space because it's very complex. That way I can keep things more organized. Once I figure out that tama, I'll start writing about it here. Until then, feel free to check out the ocean log!

 

[psychotama]

Spring has finally sprung and I couldn't be happier! The campus here is adorned with flowers and the air is warm and fragrant. Spring time is definitely my favorite time to be here at school. I'm happy that I have such a flexible schedule now because I was able to spend a considerable amount of time these past couple of days just sitting outside with a book. I've been reading about vocal technique and pedagogy because my future teacher likes to teach the oboe from a vocal perspective. In reading this, I see just how similar the two are and it leaves me wondering why more people don't teach in this way. We need to be aware of how our body is producing sound and using air just as a singer does. I'm excited to learn more about this.

On Saturday evening, we performed Brahms' German Requiem. It was a really great experience. A critic was at the concert and wrote a review about it a couple of days ago. He was very impressed with my playing and I got a mention in the review! I was the only student who was written about directly. So, that was pretty cool

In general, I've been kind of lazy lately. I really have no more big things to worry about for the rest of the year. Just a couple more concerts and my jury and I'm all done. So, I'm taking it easy and just enjoying my final days as an undergraduate. Time has really gone by so quickly. I'm trying to slow it down as much as I can

As for tamas, I really don't have much to say. It got to a point where I was forcing myself to keep running them. I could feel my interest quickly waning so I just put the tab in them. Nyatchi had already left at this point so it was really just the ocean. It made me really sad that I was losing interest, but I didn't want to force myself to run them...that kind of ruins it. I took a break for about a week and a half before hatching my yellow P2 this afternoon. I am trying again. I just couldn't imagine abandoning them after I'd been going strong for this long. I really hope the break was enough to get me back in the game. I am trying to get Mimitchi back this time. If he can't hold my interest, then no one can! haha I plan to try my hand at the ocean again sometime soon, but I'm not sure when.

Until next time.

​

 

[psychotama]

Happy to report that I am still running my P2 and haven't once had the urge to pause it. I'm taking it slowly and plan to just run this one to make sure I don't get burnt out too quickly. So far, things are going well

Yesterday was the last day of class before Easter break. We have today off as well as Monday. It's really no different for me because I have those days off every week This year is a little different because it is the first time I haven't gone home for Easter. I'm graduating in less than a month so I want to spend as much time here as I can. Most people have gone home, so campus is very quiet.

Today I slept in a bit and then worked on reeds for a while. My reed situation is currently not the best....I have a couple that are decent and I have been playing on them for rehearsals. The reed that I used for the Brahms concert is still playable, but quickly dying. I've been trying to make new ones but the past few I've worked on haven't turned out. I have a full week of rehearsals followed by two concerts coming up, so I really need to come up with something this weekend. I'll probably go back and work a bit more this evening.

Tonmarutchi changed into Tongaritchi yesterday. I have taken perfect care so far, and got all of the disciplines when he was in the child stage. Due to that, Tongaritchi is already at 50% discipline. He is 4 years old today! Only two more days until I (hopefully) have Mimitchi back :mimitchi: I'm very excited.

I have a few pictures from the past couple of days.

Hannah and I went to a candy store yesterday to buy some Easter candy. Tonmarutchi fit in really well with the chocolate eggs ​

​

​

This is Tongaritchi and I at my favorite reading spot. I like to sit on the ledge next to the conservatory. We were definitely enjoying the weather today. ​

​

​

We also went on a nice walk today. It's a shame that it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow ​

​

​

Now we are just relaxing and getting ready for RuPaul tonight!

 

[psychotama]

It's been a lovely Easter! I spent it doing all kinds of things that I love. Made reeds, practiced, laid in the sunshine reading...just a perfect day. I also didn't come across one person all day. My anti social side was very happy today It's nice to have a couple of days of solitude. I'm always surrounded by people!

Sometime in the mid afternoon I was playing piano (good thing no one is on campus) when I heard the changing music...I held my tama in my hand anxiously....a few seconds passed and Mimitchi was staring back at me! I was so happy to see his cute little face :mimitchi: Unfortunately for him, he had to endure another hour of my horrible piano playing. I really am an abysmal pianist, but it's something I'm working on. I had no piano experience going in to college, but I was able to get high grades in all of my required keyboard classes. I'm still a lousy sight reader and don't have a lot of technical facility, but I'm trying to improve it. I was working on the piano part to Breathe No More by Evanescence. Should be super easy, but for me it's taking some work The whole concept of playing two different things at once freaks me out. I'm so accustomed to just my one line of music in one clef on the oboe. Oh well.

​

Mimitchi wakes up at 9 a.m. so that's when I'm going to get up! He will keep me getting up at a decent hour I have a lesson tomorrow at 4, even though we don't have any classes because of the holiday weekend. Oh, and I signed the lease on my apartment today! Found a really nice one two minutes from the campus of my new school. There's also a pool and 24 hour gym. All for a great price. Now just need to get a car....so many things haha. This is going to be a great week because Mimitchi is here with me

 

[psychotama]

It's been another beautiful day. Mimitchi and I spent plenty of time out in the sun. We walked to get food and then sat out in the grass for a bit. Mimitchi is 7 years old today. Looking forward to having him around for a long time

​

My future teacher emailed me about a very exciting opportunity...I am waiting to find out more, so I'll share at a later time.

I'm thinking about hatching a P1...but I haven't decided yet. I really want to try getting Kuchipatchi again. Haven't been successful the past couple of times. I don't want to burn myself out though, so still contemplating it. Maybe the next entry will see the arrival of a new friend!

I guess that's it...maybe this is the reason I usually wait so long before updating. Nothing to talk about

 

[AlvaroHC]

Hello.

My name's Álvaro Hernández. I am journalist from Spain and I work for this tech web: www.hojaderouter.com.

I want to write about Tamagotchi's collectors, so I would like you.

Is it possible? Could I send you some questions via mail?

I will wait your answer,

Thank you and all the best,

Alvaro

 

[psychotama]

Tama life has been quite eventful lately! I am now running three tamas...Mimitchi, my purple P1, and a new Japanese P1 that I got from someone on the facebook group. It is a shell that I've been wanting for a long time and it was being sold at a wonderful price. Couldn't resist

First of all, I finally succeeded in getting Kuchipatchi!! I realize now what I was doing wrong. I had forgotten the step of filling Marutchi's discipline to at least 50% in order to get it high enough in the teen stage. I had just been completely neglecting. So, this time around I filled the discipline to 50% and took otherwise horrible care. I got Kuchitamatchi and then took perfect care from there. Even though I was still missing one discipline, Kuchipatchi arrived during orchestra tonight! I was so happy to see him

​

I hatched the other P1 a couple of days ago and just got Tamatchi today. I'm not sure if I'm going for Mametchi or Ginji...I still have time to decide. Of course Ginji is my favorite, but I haven't had Mametchi since my first hatch back in October! Decisions decisions....

​

Mimitchi is doing well. He is 14 years old today and getting a bit needy. He's not been paused at all and has been by my side (or in my pocket, rather) for his whole life

Here we are at Sweet Mango​

​

​

Here we are getting ready for the concert​

​

This past weekend I had my final wind ensemble and orchestra concerts. In wind ensemble, we performed John Mackey's Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band. It is a programmatic piece based on the story of the Odyssey. I absolutely LOVED the piece. We closed the concert with Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez. A very fun piece, and one close to my heart because I played it twice in youth orchestras back in high school. In orchestra we performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. It was such a fun experience and I really loved the oboe part. I was just so happy the whole time we were playing. We still have one more concert this coming Friday...another performance of the Brahm's Requiem. But, it is off campus, so this was the last official concert.

This past week I found out that I have been chosen to perform on the Honor's Convocation Recital this coming Thursday. I was chosen out of all of the wind/brass/percussion seniors so that was a quite an honor. I will be performing the Malcolm Arnold Sonatina for Oboe and Piano...a piece that I did on my recital. Rehearsals are also under way for my jury. I'll be doing the Slavicky Suite for Oboe and Piano. I have a lot of practicing to do and a lot of reeds to make!

More exciting news is that I have been chosen to join the American Wind Symphony Orchestra for the summer. It is a touring ensemble of advanced pre professional students. The ensemble will tour the Great Lakes on a floating stage and play on the water. The season is from June 21st through August 5th, and I will get paid a large sum of money for participating. This means that I won't have to work a crappy summer job! It will pay more than I'd make all summer anyway. Very great opportunity.

I'm less than two weeks away from graduation! It's finally here. I'm definitely ready for summer, but I'll miss this place so much. I'll enjoy the short time I have left

 

[psychotama]

New oboes came in the mail today! I had two Loree 125 oboes sent to me for a trial. I got the notification this morning and hurried over to the mail room to pick them up. My tamas got to join in the excitement with me The oboes are beautiful and it's definitely a tough decision to choose the one I like best. I have a week to decide and my teacher will try them as well. I'm going to try them out in the concert hall at some point to see how they project. The only aggravating thing is that I can only play them for 15 minutes a day because they are new oboes and have to be broken in. If I play them for longer, I risk cracking them. Oboes are such fussy little things.

​

Kuchipatchi especially liked this oboe, and his shell matched it quite nicely I love that Loree's color is purple. The perfect oboe for me.

​

Speaking of Kuchipatchi....he is mean! I've never had another tama that caused so much trouble in winning the game. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have to play like seven games just to win once. He loves infuriating me. Sometimes I will guess wrong every time until the end, when he casually decides to let me have a point. Rude little bird. He then has the audacity to pout when I lose. It's tough keeping the little trickster happy. What's even more maddening is the fact that I win almost every time with Tamatchi! So it has to be Kuchipatchi Even though he has a mean side to him, I still think he's adorable. He is 7 years old today and got sick this morning. I fear that I will be losing him much to soon, but alas, that's how it is with the unhealthy characters.

Mimitchi is doing just fine. Quite needy, but lovable as ever. He is 16 years old today and got his second sickness this evening. Time is running out with this little guy. I think I would say that he is my second favorite, next to Ginji. I don't think that I'll ever tire of seeing his cute face.

I have decided to go with Mametchi this time around on my new P1. I haven't had her in so long and it just seems like the time to have her back She is 5 years old today and already got sick, so I will have Mametchi tomorrow!

I have a performance tomorrow that I'm very excited about. I was really happy with how I played this piece on my recital, but I think I have improved it since then and am excited for the opportunity to make it better this time around. Glad my tamas will be there for support

​

 

[psychotama]

I am now a college graduate! I graduated yesterday afternoon and left my school for the last time. It was a very intense mix of emotions. Saying goodbye to my friends and knowing I may never see them again was really hard. Saying goodbye to the conservatory itself was just as hard. I have spent so much time in that building these past four years. It's really hard to believe that it's over. I don't think it's completely set in yet. I had a horrible feeling in my stomach as I was packing up my stuff from the reed room. That was such a special place. The double reed players would hang out in there for hours making reeds and talking everyday. I turned in my key and that was it. Done. I am home now and got to see Jared today. I'm really excited for my new school, so I'm sure I will feel better about things very soon. I'll have Jared with me all next year so that will be really nice.

In other news, I chose an oboe. It was my favorite of the two Lorees. I am now the owner of a beautiful new Loree 125 oboe. It feels a bit different from the other oboe I have been playing, so it will take some getting used to. I am up to playing it for 30 minutes at a time now. I can increase the time by 5 minutes every week until it's broken in. I have so much purple now!!

​

(Yes, I got Mametchi!)

I've had a lot of tama loss the past week or so. I have been a pretty terrible caretaker lately and I feel bad about it. I lost Mimitchi at the young age of 17...I've never done this before. He always makes it to 22. I have just been so wrapped up in getting ready to graduate that I wasn't able to keep up with his neediness. I lost Kuchipatchi not long after at the age of 10. Thankfully this wasn't due to neglect, it was just the little guy's time to go. He was a joy to have around The last death was really awful. Somehow I forgot about poor Mametchi for a few hours and lost her at the age of 14 So young. I feel so bad about it. Due to my negligence, I had no tamas running for the past few days. So, I ended my college journey just as I started it, without any tamas. I was definitely planning on having Mametchi with my when I graduated, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. I have decided to take a break from the vintages and have started three V1s. I plan to run them without any specific characters in mind, but will be taking care to analyze what I do so I can work on making a guide to the characters.

​

The V1s are special to me because they were the first Tamagotchi I ever owned. In fact, this translucent orange tama was my very first. I still remember getting it when I was nine years old very fond memories. All three are boys. The orange one is named Jerick, after one of my favorite drag queens, Jinkx Monsoon. Jerrick is his real name. I named the white one Taran, after the hero from the Disney movie The Black Cauldron. The blue one is named Drake, just because that's the first name that came to mind haha. Excited to be raising V1s again! Also really excited to enjoy the summer.

 

[psychotama]

It was supposed to rain all day today but there hasn't been one drop of rain! You really can never trust the weather report in Ohio...so unpredictable. Glad it's been a nice day I haven't really done a lot...just unpacking and practicing. I've also been playing a lot of flute and I am seeing results with that. I like playing flute sometimes because it's not as stressful as the oboe and I can just have a good time. There's also no pressure for me to actually be good at it, so I don't have any worries when I'm playing the flute. Just casually improving. It's a fun instrument. I've been working on some piano as well so I won't be a complete disaster if i wind up having to play a bit in grad school.

I'm having a lot of fun with the V1s. Drake and Taran are both 2 year old Ichigotchis today. They both had their discipline meters completely full at age 1, so I guess I've been very conscientious about them. The V1s take a lot more discipline than the vintages, but there are also many more opportunities to fill it up. So, they have called for discipline probably 4 times each today even though it is already full. Even though I haven't been trying for any specific characters, I have basically taken perfect care and will most certainly end up with two Mametchi tomorrow.

I have some sad news concerning Jerick. The V1 that housed him was acting glitchy when I first put the battery in, but I thought it would be ok. Maybe an hour after hatching Jerick, I got the dead battery sign. I changed the battery twice and the same thing kept happening. Also, if I even lightly dropped him on my bed, he would reset. So, I'm afraid something is wrong with that V1 I'm really sad about it because it was my first tama. I don't know how to fix it, but I will try at some point. For now, Jerick has moved to a different V1. I hatched a boy on it so we will just say that he moved Because of all the drama, Jerick is a day behind the other two. He is a 1 year old Ichigotchi and he has 6 discipline points (a little over half full). I think I may have missed one or two, but it doesn't really matter because there will be plenty of opportunities to make them up.

I like that the V1 is still relatively low maintenance, but the games are a bit more entertaining. I have still to this day never won the Dance game. I don't think I ever will. Short term memory is not my thing I guess. The Jump game is probably my favorite game from any tamagotchi. I just really like it. I like playing "extreme jump". This is where I play the game on all of my tamas at once. It's crazy! I start them a few seconds apart to give me time to clear the hurdles on each. I've gotten up to 20 jumps before messing one up but I'm going to try and win on all of them at the same time. Wow, I really have too much time on my hands right now haha. You have to get 30 jumps to win. I can do it just fine on one at a time, but all three is definitely a challenge

In his free time, Drake enjoys running and falling on his face​

​

​

Taran has a talent for singing ​

​

​

They are all quite hygienic​

​

​

In other news, I wound up going into my old work today. I hadn't really planned on working there this summer since I'm doing the wind ensemble thing, but they called me and asked if I could. I figured I may as well make some extra money until I leave, so I will be working there a few days a week. My tamas went with me. Luckily they are teens and can deal with being left alone for a while at a time.

​

​

 

[psychotama]

Work kicked my butt today! It was so busy the whole time. It's a very small restaurant, so the staff is limited. I am the only one who does the dishes for the entire place. I do the dishes that the customers use and also all of the dishes from the kitchen. That's a LOT of dishes. In add-dish-in (wow I'm really proud of that pun), I also bus the tables and when it gets really busy I help run the food out to the customers. Last summer when I started the job, I was only doing the dishes but they fired a bunch of people really quickly and I wound up doing expo. So I got all the orders together and organized the tickets and things. I liked that a lot more because it was more intellectual and kept me mentally engaged. But when I left for school last fall, they had to get people to replace me. So now I'm back to dishes It's fine though. I'm happy to be making some money. I also get a share of the tips, which is always nice. I have been taking my tamas with me, but I leave Taran and Drake downstairs since they don't need much attention and their discipline is full. I keep Jerick in my pocket so I can keep a closer watch on him.

This morning, I was greeted to the changing music! Taran and Drake both reached adulthood. Drake became Mametchi, as I had predicted. I was very surprised when Taran changed and became Kuchipatchi! Although I was expecting a second Mametchi, I am thrilled to have Kuchipatchi back I'm not really sure how it happened because I was sure that I had taken identical care of the two. I must have somehow let the hearts drop slightly more with Taran. I know for a fact that I never let either of their hearts drop below 2 empty. And I thought that I had basically taken perfect care of both. I know that once or twice I let the Hungry or Happy hearts drop down to 2 empty on each of them while they were teens. My only guess is that it happened maybe one more time with Taran? At least I can confirm that it is possible to get Kuchipatchi with a full discipline bar. Maybe a plan of action would be to fill the discipline bar completely and then let the hearts drop to 2 empty only TWICE and never more than 2 empty. I will test this some other time. Wow, Mametchi and Mimitchi are tough to get on the V1! I had forgotten. I was extremely conscientious with my tamas this time around, so it must really be hard. Anyway, super happy with the adults I got. Still waiting to see how Jerick turns out he is 3 years old today with a full discipline bar. I feel like I've been slightly less careful with him, but I'm not sure. I know his hearts have dropped to 2 empty at least once. Can't wait to see what happens.

​

Drake, Taran, and Jerick are all very good friends. They have been connecting a lot. Jerick was given a ball to play with from Taran, and Taran has received Maracas and a Hat from Drake! Drake has yet to get any gifts...he's just very generous I really like how all of the characters have specific toys that they play with. This was the very first tamagotchi with infrared connection capabilities, so it is rather basic compared to the later models. There is only one connection option, and it is random whether the tamas play a game together or visit to give a present. Although there is no way to manipulate whether you get a game or visit, I have discovered how to make sure a certain tama gets the present in the event that there is a visit. When you go to the connection option, press it only once on each tama. It should say: Standby. Then, press B again on the tama that you want to receive the present. They will both say "connect". This will ensure that if there is a visit, the tama that pressed B twice will always receive the present. This is useful if you are trying to get an item on a certain tama! I'm pretty sure that this works on later models, but I haven't tried in a long time so I don't remember.

​

I have tomorrow off of work and I will probably go to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert, if I can get a ticket. I'm excited!

WAIT! Jerick just evolved...Kuchipatchi!!!! So excited to have 2 Kuchipatchi. I think this definitely looks good for my Kuchipatchi theory...almost perfect care but letting the hearts drop to two empty twice or so. I'll still try to get him intentionally sometime soon to test.

I suppose that is all. The matchmaker will come for them all at age 6 or 7. You don't really get to keep them around for long on the connections I think it will be fun to have a more fast paced tama for a change though!

 

[psychotama]

Well, I had written out a whole post and accidentally deleted all of it. I really don't feel like writing it all again, so I will just stick to the basic tama stuff. So annoying

Everyone is still here, but it is their last day. There was a lot of pausing this past week because of work and other things.

Drake and Taran met the matchmaker at age 7. Drake married a Hanatchi and Taran a Tarakotchi. The following day, Jerick married a Tarakotchi. Drake and Taran had baby boys and Jerick had a girl.

​

I have a lot of pics from the past week. The animations on the connections are so cute!

Here is Jerick and I on a nice summery car ride​

​

​

Here is Taran kissing the screen!​

​

​

Drake got a present from Taran. A pencil! Mametchi is known for being an intellectual Tamagotchi, so this was a perfect present for him.

​

No, thank you Drake for being a great friend ​

​

Last night, I went to see the opera Carmen, by Bizet with a friend. It was so good! I knew music from Carmen, but had never seen a production. I really enjoyed it. It was a great last night out with everyone. I'm glad they got to go with me

​

​

It has been so fun to have these guys around and I will miss them. Looking forward to getting to know the new babies!

​

​