Adventures during break...

So it was a 3 day process but Jessica and I did it! We made gingerbread houses! :-D It was fun, but it just took a long time, and I would not recommend doing it if you do not have a lot of patience... Which is why I'm surprised that mine eventually worked out. Ha!


To go to the photo album, click the picture:



(If you want to see our gingerbread escapade from freshman year, go to THIS ONE. The rest of the album is Jessica and I being silly and goofy... Like normal...) :-)

I have successfully downloaded all 26 episodes of Ouran High School Host Club. I win! :-D I just wish I could figure out how to convert them to play in iTunes, so I can get them on my iPod... I finished watching the series last night. :-) It was good.

Jessica and I saw P.S. I Love You Friday night. It was excellent! We both liked it a lot, but it was really really sad. We pretty much bawled through the whole movie... Which is something that I've never done before... But yeah, good movie!

I need to finish reading Ivanhoe, and get a Christmas present for Jessica...

But first, it's lunch time!

Post Secret...

^_^

Doctor Who Christmas Special = OMG!LOVE

Ouran High School Host Club and its related soundtracks = Fangirly/music major glee

Hark the Harald, Angels Sing, Christ is Born, the Newborn King!!

Happy Christmas to everyone! :-)

Today has been pretty good. I gotta get this "no sleep thing" figured out. I woke up at 4 am and haven't been back to sleep since. And it's not because of Christmas either. I just couldn't sleep! :-P Bleh.

It was awesome and crazy opening presents with my family today, as it usually is. Stephen is a hoot. :-) The first time someone opened a present, and the actual gift was inside the show box, we were all joking around and saying hooray for the box, isn't that what that person always wanted. And Stephen looks around at us with this incredulous look on his face and goes "No! That's NOT what it is! You need to OPEN it!" It was super cute! :-) He thought it was hilarious when we all acted surprised that there was something else in the box that didn't match the label.

Pictures:

Christmas Carnage!

Ooooh Matthew... What would the Lego-Krusty Krab do if you weren't there to put it together?


And I definitely got a ukulele for Christmas! :-D And I am waaaaay excited about it! I can play 3 chords. C, F and G. It takes a while.... But! Now I will have even more endless fun being a dorky music major as I make up silly songs with random chords on my made of awesome ukulele!

Dinner was good! Ham with mashed potatoes and gravy, dinner rolls, and pie for dessert! Mmm! :-) I ate a lot! :-) Tomorrow night, instead of leftovers I am going to make dinner. I volunteered since mom is working that night. I'm making pizza bread! And if you don't know what that is, it's when you take the dough of a pizza, and instead of baking it flat and round with the toppings on top, you put the sauce and toppings on the dough and then roll it into a loaf and bake it. It's really good!

My family and I watched Stardust tonight! It made me happy! I like that movie. :-) Next I need to get them to see Rat Race. I think they would really enjoy it, especially my dad who is a big fan of Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean.

Well, that's all from this Popsicle stand right now! Merry Christmas!

Afterall there's only 2 more sleeps til Christmas!

I made it through yesterday without a nap. It was pretty impressive. All three of us (Jessica, her mother and I) didn't sleep very well, so we were all pretty dead at piloga, although I think I was the one most out of it. I did like going to piloga with Jessica and her mom, though. Just maybe not that early, or perhaps after I've slept better. I'm not that flexible, and sometimes have difficulty balancing, so those aspects where definitely limiting, but it was a good workout.

The rest of the day was spent being sleepy and crabby with Jessica as we shopped for a present for her younger brother, Jake's girlfriend. (Stupid story. Not worth putting here.) While Jessica visited with some old high school friends who we both knew... But they didn't acknowledge me so I just left for a while and chilled in the bookstore... Anyway, we found a gift and went back to Jessica's house and we watched TV, had dinner, and watched The Holiday while we made a tied fleece blanket, which was also for Jake's girlfriend. (Don't ask me why we were making it. Jake didn't want to do it. >:-P And then he came home and complained about it, and was trying to pick a fight with me because I was sassing him right back. He kept being a jerk so I punched him in the back of the knee. He kept on being a jerk, but he got out of the way.)

Jessica had to babysit last night so I came home early and bummed around. I flipped and turned my mattress but that didn't do anything. (I also put more blankets on my bed. The count this winter: 2 blankets and 3 quilts plus flannel sheets and bed cover.) This evening I put some egg-crate foam on the mattress, so I think that will help.

This morning I woke up and was sore in random places... Like, right between my shoulders. I went to church, and during the collection the choir sang a version of the Hail Mary that ended on the seventh scale degree. So, if you understand the great annoyance that that is, I was severely distracted the rest of the service and have proclaimed that arraignment, by whoever wrote it, stupid and poorly written. Fie on the unresolved seventh chord tone.

After church I baked the cake for the long awaited celebration of my mom's birthday (life's been crazy... her birthday is in September) and took a nap. Then we actually celebrated, and it was fun! :-)

I spent the rest of the afternoon being girly and watching the anime Ouran High School Host Club. I'm made it to episode 15. I looove it and I think it's hilarious!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it seems hard to believe that it is already here! My dad is going to make beef and vegetable soup and clam chowder for dinner and it'll be really good! :-)

Thursday I hope to go see the Golden Compass with Jessica and Scott. Friday I'm going to see Sweeney Todd with Mike and some other people, and I still need to see National Treasure 2, P.S. I Love You, and Atonement..... I think that's all the ones out right now that I want to see...

This Blog is made of awesome simply because he is a writer for Doctor Who. (Speaking of which, ONE DAY until the Christmas Special! AHHH! :-D I can't wait!)

And I leave this post with this video I found, seeing as this blog has been a little on the boring side. Happy Christmas!

Insomina.... again.

Bleh.... It's 1:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. I laid in bed for 2 hours and then gave up. It sucks... Especially since I said I'd do to piloga with Jessica at 7:45 am...

I think there are two reasons for my insomnia:

1. My body is not used to "normal" sleep patterns aka no longer crashing each night from sheer exhaustion, which was pretty common during the last semester.

2. I think this mattress is bad... I'm probably going to have to migrate upstairs to my sister's extra bunk bed.

Also... This basement is cold!

4 more days until Christmas! Can you believe it? (Also, a ukulele costs about $300.... Crazy! So yea, that's crossed off my list.) It's come up so fast...

Grade report: I passed all my classes! YAY! Even super evil conducting I! B-! WHOOHOO! I'll take that! I feel like I worked really hard, so I'm happy with my grades.

Okay, I'm going to try and go to sleep again... :-P

Quick Pondering...

Does anyone else ever wonder if the people who write to the "Dear Abby" column in the newspaper get their problems/lives figured out before their question appears in print? Or do they sit around and anxiously read the paper until "Abby" writes back and gives them advice?

2008 Elections or "god" has a hotmail account...

Sooooo.... I'm all about free speech. It's a right in the US that often gets challenged, but it's here... And I just felt I had to state that before I go on...

(And all of my quotes, unless otherwise noted are directly copied and pasted from this website. I promise I could not think up this stuff...)


So my brother Matthew was talking about the 2008 Presidential candidates. For school mom made him look up a list... And she intended him to look up just the main, front-runners, but he evidentially didn't hear that part and looked up almost everyone who is running for president this year on the Republican ballot.

Evidentially, there is a man who goes by the name of "Saint Michael Jesus Archangel" running for president.

(BWAAAHAHAHAHA *chokes* ahem...)

This is what the description of this candidate reads:

This gadfly candidate -- who also uses the name "Saint Michael Jesus the Archangel" (note: formerly named Philip Silva until he legally adopted the Archangel moniker in 1996) -- appears rather delusional. "From the time I was a little boy I knew I was God and Michael the Archangel, but I didn't dare tell anyone, not even anyone in my family because I knew that the devil, Satan, was going to try to murder Me, and indeed he did try, four separate times," he explains. He says he's a Vietnam War veteran who attempted suicide due to depression and paranoia. He also claims he later became a "a volunteer Secret Agent for the Central Intelligence Agency without pay." A former janitor, he is a self-employed "writer" these days. As for politics, he describes himself as a "radical conservative Republican" who recognizes "the fact that America is an official Theocracy." Archangel was arrested on attempted murder and other felony charges in March 2006. "As a matter of fact, he is crazy. Anyone in their right mind can see that," said the Sheriff who arrested him.

So that description alone piqued my interest... He thinks he is God, and he says he has worked for the CIA for free. Innnteresting. (And it seems like everyone and their dead aunt is some form of "self-employed writer." I'm sorry about the generalization, but I had to point that out.) But it gets better! He's been arrested for attempted murder. Preeeeetty recently. Does attempted murder sound like something "god" would do? (P.S. And America is not a "Theocracy" AT ALL! just in case you were wondering.)

So, wanting to find out more about this guy I went to his website, which is hosted, ironically, by Angelfire. (Hahaha!) Amid all the small pictures that denote links such as "Archangel Army" "Archangel Space Force" and "Cosmic Bank Reserve" (which leads to a page where you are asked to donate money.) There is a small link to his presidential campaign under a picture of the Statue of Liberty in front of the US Flag. Did I mention that some of the pages play Handel's Hallelujah Chorus?

After another plug for his "2nd Best Selling Book" (After the Bible of course... Which he also claims to have written) The visitor is greeted with this:

LET THE MATRIX TEACH YOU THAT YOU CAN OVERCOME YOUR CONDITIONING TO ACHIEVE VICTORY OVER SATAN!

Followed by a windows media trailer from the Matrix online game... thing. From 2004.

After all the links, he continues to plug his book and ask for money... Including a lengthy catalog of various "God/Christian" related texts. You have to scroll almost halfway down this page to find anything regarding his stand for presidency.

He is against abortion. (Italics have been added):

I will outlaw by Executive Order all abortion in America because it has committed genocide against 40 to 50 million innocent helpless babies in America alone which cannot be tolerated any longer in a country that, according to a Supreme Court decision, is officially Christian. The judicial branch, the judges of this country, are by and large responsible for the baby-genocide and they cannot be allowed to escape the punishment for their countless murders. We know the names, addresses, and personal data of all those who have committed abortions, and enabled them. I will order their arrests and imprisonment the same day I am inaugurated into the Presidency. They will be put to death within a year as the Bible in the Old Testament mandates capital punishment for murderers, and in the book of Revelation they are condemned to Hell. Jesus Christ at no time or place did away with the death sentence for these scumbags....

That whole statement alone makes me go "Ooooooh really?" in my most sarcastic tone... I mean.... I'm against abortion... Really against abortion! But I do not think that is how one should go about getting rid of it...

He's against tobacco use:

I will put an end to tobacco smoking and chewing by Executive Order in America because they claim the lives of approximately 500,000 Americans every year...this is not even mentioning the illnesses short of death and lost productivity that our nation's people suffer as a result of the murderous greed of the tobacco lords. Thus it is seen that smokers are both suicidal and homicidal, while the tobacco lords are enablers of suicide and murder, genocidalists just like the abortionists.

He's also against gay marriage, illegal immigration, amnesty (or at least, not until we have illegal immigration under control), among a whole string of other things he is against regarding those topics including dual citizenship... I'm not even gonna go there... You can read for yourself.

He supports healthy foods and natural cures:

I will work to end the persecution of the natural health, food, supplement and medicine industry with safeguarding legislation and order the establishment of a Natural Health Agency which will oversee the certification of a 2-year training period in Natural Health and Medicine for medical students, ongoing education in natural health and medicine for working doctors and the worldwide dissemination of natural health products and literature.

I never thought of natural foods etc. as being "persecuted." All I can really say to that paragraph is: Goooood luck with that.....

Other points of interest:

During My [Saint Michael Jesus the Archangel] Campaign I will work to convince Archangel/President Gabuthelon George W. Bush to have the Congress pass the National Economic Stabilization And Recovery Act on the Internet atNESARA so he can sign it into law, with the exception of its tax provision since the Heavenly Money will do away with taxation and its need completely. If the President and Congress do not accomplish this deed, then I will take it up during my time in office and see it through.

Yes folks. That says "Archangel/President Gabuthelon." Ooooh-mah-gooodness....

The next part talks about how he will choose a female conservative running mate, and how he will make a law requiring the Pledge of Allegiance to be said in all schools at the beginning of each school day.

He says he will also abolish the teaching of macro-evolution or as he calls it "monkey-business" and only teach intelligent design. (I would just like to interject that I do believe in intelligent design, but I don't believe that people should be FORCED to believe it, or that people should not be allowed to think and hold different opinions about how everything came to be. Go watch "Inherit the Wind.")

The rest of his presidential stands go on and on. Read them yourself without my commentary... It's all utterly ridiculous. I want to move on about other things regarding Archangel...

Where to start....

Here... This was taken from the autobiography that he has on his "Archangel Michael's Adventure" page, and it's dated March 26, 2005. (I added the italics.)

From the time I was a little boy I knew I was God and Michael the Archangel, but I didn't dare tell anyone, not even anyone in my family because I knew that the devil, Satan, was going to try to murder Me, and indeed he did try, four separate times. You might remember how Satan used King Herod to kill 200 innocent infants in a botched attempt to murder My Big Brother, Jesus Christ, Whose parents, My spouse the Blessed Virgin Mary Michelle and her guardian spouse, Saint Joseph, had fled with Him into Egypt after Joseph had been warned in a dream.

Dreams can be very interesting things. In 1982, I had an out-of-body experience (Some would say these experiences are only dreams to belittle what are actual events) in which I was taken up to Heaven to float in the air in front of God the Father's Glory, the Shekinah. It was an ecstatic feeling I experienced there, hovering in front of what appeared as a Sun, but was really the fiery Glory hiding the invisible Father. As the Light of Yahweh penetrated My very Being, I felt what can only be described in human terms as an infinite orgasm ever-increasing in power. The experience only seemed to last a few seconds, and when I woke the Father asked Me what I wanted of Him. I remembered what King Solomon (He and Moses were My best students in the Heavenly School the angels attend before coming to Earth on divine missions if they choose to do so.) asked for under similar circumstances: wisdom to rule God's people. I thought to Myself: What is higher than wisdom? That's what I want...and the answer came to Me right away...Love is higher than wisdom, so I spoke to the Father saying, "I want more love, and I want to bring a lot of people to You." The Father said "So be it," which is the translation of "Amen."

I wish I could post a picture of my face after I read this....

Okay, okay, okay... A short recap to get things straight...

His is "god."
His big brother is Jesus.
He is married to the "Blessed Virgin Mary Michelle" (who happens to be the the mother of his "big brother"... Wrap your head around THAT one!)
And he taught King Solomon and Moses at "Heavenly School"

WHAT!????

This guy is mental. For real. Like insane. Yes, he has the freedom of speech, and freedom to express what he wants.... But wow... I can't even begin to formulate a coherent statement to reply to his autobiography... Except to maybe quote Lourey's boyfriend, by saying "Prove it!" Are there people who are actually going to VOTE for this man????

But this just makes me choke with laughter... (Ask my mom... I was reading some of this stuff to her earlier... She agrees that it's weird, but doesn't find it as amusing as I do...) This is taken from his page about his church:

Greet people now with HEAVENo to make them think about Heaven rather than HELLo, the old non-Christian greeting which subliminally makes them think about Hell! Peace! Paz! Pacem! Shalom! I, Saint Michael Jesus the Archangel, God the Great Holy Spirit, the Metatron of all, King of the Earth and Sun, Governor of the United Domains Of Heaven, and CEO/Founder of the One World Government United Domains Of Heaven And Earth And One World Religion Catholic And Protestant Christianity have put My complete Catalog on another webpage which you can reach by clicking on the Free Catalog link above, but below is a partial Catalog. Michael is now raising the $50 million needed to build His Castle/Cathedral which He wants to place on a square mile just north of Midland, Michigan.

Buy god's catalog so you can help fund his church in..... Michigan. I don't have anything AGAINST Michigan... I have an uncle who is from there.... But Michigan? Is that just because that is where he is, as in, living currently? Or is there something particularly special about Michigan? (I do know there is a town called Hell in Michigan...) I also like how is he refers to himself as the "CEO/Founder" of basically the world and religion itself.

And I kind of wonder, if he really WAS god, why does he need to build an entirely NEW church? (That is seven stories high, and will include an "Olympic size swimming pool for mass baptisms and recreational swimming, a large restaurant and nightclub, apartments for visitors, living quarters for Michael himself, and a 24/7 prayer room.) What's wrong with the other churches that are already there?



You know.... I have a bunch of other things to say but it's getting late and I'm starting to feel redundant. So I'll leave you, (if you've read, or at least scrolled down this far) with these three things:

1. The copyright claim at the bottom of all of Michael's pages:

Copyright 2004, 2005 by Father Saint Michael Jesus the Archangel: United Domains of Heaven. All Rights Earthly and Heavenly Reserved.

Much like the joke of Christmas with Wartburg (when the soloist sang "but we don't know who he is" instead of "but we didn't know who you was" during the song "Sweet Little Jesus Boy") this makes me want to go: Drat! Now we have to worry about copyright in Heaven too? But really... Think about it: If there are people in Heaven who are going to steal someone's composition/intellectual property and claim it as their own, they probably shouldn't be in Heaven anyway.

2. His contact information:

The United Domains Of Heaven Earth Embassy,
Post Office Box 2281, Midland, MI 48641-2281,

and his email: MichaelJesusArchangel@hotmail.com

Yes, you read it here, ladies and gentlemen... god has a hotmail account. It's free, it's easy and it "brings you more. More space (5 GB), [and] more security!" Personally, I think it's really great that god will be able to switch between the classic version and the Windows Live Version whenever he chooses. [/sarcasm]

I also feel bad that the Embassy of Heaven and Earth only has a post office box... Seems kind of cheap, doesn't it?

Or maybe I'm the only one who (sarcastically) thinks that way.

3.

Saint Michael Jesus the Archangel is an accomplished and very prolific Writer. It's no wonder. When He took the IQ test given to Him in high school, His high school counselor informed Him that they couldn't measure His IQ because His score had gone off the top of that test. All that could be figured is that His IQ is over 180. It is His telepathic links with Yahweh God the Father and Jesus Christ God the Son that actually give Him an infinite IQ like Theirs. He later joined Mensa, which is on the Internet if you want to learn if you qualify to be a certified genius, and recently started His own United Domains Of Heaven Mensa Chapter.

Okay, so the main reason this is funny is mostly a Wartburg related thing... At school, our cafeteria is called the Mensa (meaning "refectory" in German.) So the line "He later joined the Mensa" just rocked my face because I instantly pictured him serving food or something at school. :-P


Overall... The whole thing is quite weird, very odd, and very funny.

Remember Iowans! When you're caucus-ing on January 3rd, stay in "god's" corner!

:-P

Geeky literary excitement...

Sooo... Ivanhoe is turning out to be one of coolest books I've read to date... I was kind of ready to wade through the archaic text and be bored to tears with the never ending descriptions. But you know what? It's actually really awesome! And you do you know why?

Robin Hood is in Ivanhoe!

Do you know that? I didn't! I think that is so cool! I'm only at chapter 15 in the book, but a man, during the rein of Prince John, who goes by the name of Locksley, (Robin Hood is said to be from the area of Loxley) wears Kelly Green, is referred to by others in the story as a Yeoman, and states his loyalty to King Richard Cœur de Lion ("who had a heart of a lion, as well as his own..." ha!) Who else could it be, but Robin Hood!

... I don't know if I'm more excited for the adventures to come in the book as a result of Robin Hood... Or just the fact that there's a name in the book that I recognize from other sources.

Oh, and I figured out the palmer was Ivanhoe when he was first introduced on page 49, even though he wasn't identified by name until page 154.

I just wish I was able to translate all the mottoes Sir Walter Scott keeps talking about on the knight's coat of arms. They're not in Latin, they are in French. :-P


Wow... Two posts regarding literary geekiness in one day... Pretty impressive!

Reading ficton..

I've been reading A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all afternoon...

I think I have a crush on Sherlock Holmes.

iTunes

Sometimes all I need to make me feel better is the right iTunes playlist. Music is one of the best therapies on the planet...




Godspeed from Time Machine

"To be my own hero gets lonely sometimes,
It's my ship to steer,
Oh, it's my course to find,
But when I loose my way,
It's just me steering blind,
To be my own hero gets lonely sometimes..." -My Own Hero by Joni Minstrel

"Just a day,
Just an ordinary day.
Just trying to get by.
Just a boy,
Just an ordinary boy.
But he was looking to the sky.
And as he asked if I would come along
I started to realize
That everyday he finds
Just what he's looking for,
Like a shooting star he shines.

He said take my hand,
Live while you can
Don't you see your dreams lie right in the palm of your hand..." -Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlson

"Don’t give up
It’s just the weight of the world
When you’re heart’s heavy I - I will lift it for you
Don’t give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you I – I will break it for you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don’t give up
Because you are loved." -You Are Loved (Don't Give Up) by Josh Groban

"I've got a smile on my face, I've got four walls around me
The sun in the sky, the water surrounds me
I'll win now but sometimes I'll lose
I've been battered, but I'll never bruise, it's not so bad

And I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
and it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day, you've still got to say,
it's all right." -Ordinary Day by Great Big Sea

"Daylight waits to shine until the moment you awaken
So you never miss the dawn
No question, now, you know which road you're taking
Lights all green, the radio plays just the perfect song

Well, the war's been won. '
All the fights are fought
You find yourself in just the spot
It's a place where everybody's got a song to sing.
Just like the final movie scene.
The prince will find his perfect queen
The hero always saves the world.
The villains get what they deserve
The boy will always get the girl
When I am King!" -When I am King by Great Big Sea

"Now as you sleep the dreams come winging clear;
The hawks of morning cannot harm you here.
Sleep is a river, flows on forever,
And for your boatman choose old John of Dreams..." -John of Dreams from the CD Cherish the Ladies

"A waltz when she walks in the room
She pulls back the hair from her face
She turns to the window to sway in the moonlight
Even her shadow has grace
A waltz for the girl out of reach
She lifts her hands up to the sky
She moves with the music
The song is her lover
The melody's making her cry..." -So She Dances by Josh Groban

"Alone am I, me and I together.
If I went away from me,
How unhappy I would be,
Me and I, oh my." -Tubby the Tuba by Danny Kaye

"Hey buds below ... up is where to grow
Up with which below can't compare with.
Hurry - it's lovely up here ...
Life down a hole takes an awful toll,
What with not a soul there to share with
Hurry - it’s lovely up here!" -Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here! from On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

"Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.

Ask ev'ry person if he's heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot..." -Final Ultimo (Camelot Reprise) from Camelot

"It isn't far to hushabye mountain
And your boat waits down by the key
The winds of night so softly are sighing
Soon they will fly your troubles to sea..." -Hushabye Mountain sung from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

"Someone--
Marry me a little,
Love me just enough.
Warm and sweet and easy,
Just the simple stuff..." -Marry Me a Little from Company

"Somebody, hold me too close,
Somebody, hurt me too deep,
Somebody, sit in my chair
And ruin my sleep
And make me aware
Of being alive,
Being alive.

Somebody, need me too much,
Somebody, know me too well,
Somebody, pull me up short
And put me through hell
And give me support
For being alive,
Make me alive.

Make me confused,
Mock me with praise,
Let me be used,
Vary my days.
But alone is alone, not alive.

Somebody, crowd me with love,
Somebody, force me to care,
Somebody, make me come through,
I'll always be there,
As frightened as you,
To help us survive
Being alive,
Being alive..." -Being Alive from Company

"That the life that I lead
Is a little bit gray
With its lunch counter mornings
And coffee shop nights
Lunch counter mornings
And coffee shop nights..." -Coffee Shop Nights from Curtains

Doctor Who Theme (album version)

"I wish today was just like every other day
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

So have a good life
Do it for me
Make me so proud
Like you want me to be
Where ever you are
I'm thinking of you oceans apart
I want you to know

Well I woke up today and you're on the other side
Our time will never come again
But if you can still dream
Close your eyes it will seem
That you can see me now and then." -Song for Ten from Doctor Who

Rose's Theme from Doctor Who

Let Your Voice Be Heard by Cantus

"I’ve hardly met a single soul, but I am not alone.
I feel grown.
This is wanting something, this praying for it,
This is holding breath and keeping fingers crossed.
This is counting blessings, this is wondering when I’ll see that boy again.
I’ve got a feeling he’s just a someone, too.
And the beauty is, when you realize, when you realize,
Someone could be looking for a someone like you." -The Beauty Is from The Light in the Piazza

"Tiny sweet
And then it grows
And then it fills the air
Who knows what you call it?
I don't care
Out of somewhere I have something I have never had
And sad is happy
That's all I see..." -The Light in the Piazza from The Light in the Piazza

"The day we meet,
The way you lean against the wind,
And do not know that you are beautiful,
Or that anyone is watching you,
This is what I see.

And I notice how you hunger for surprise,
And do not think that you are tall enough,
Like you’re standing on a mountainside alone,
This is what I see.

You’re not alone." -Love to Me from The Light in the Piazza

"Through the eyes
On a bridge in the pouring rain
Not the eyes but the part you can't explain
For the arms you can fall into forever

For the joy that you thought you'd never know
For here at last away you go
To a man who looks for you

Can you find in the world
In the wide, wide world
That someone sees
That someone loves you..." -Fable from The Light in the Piazza

"Stretch your mind beyond fantastic
Dreams are made of strong elastic

Take some sound advice and don't forget it

Anything can happen if you let it..." -Anything Can Happen from Mary Poppins

Fairy Dance from Peter Pan

I Do Believe in Fairies from Peter Pan

"I'll Be There
For To Me There's No Sorrow
Worse To Bear
Than A Life Lived Apart.
I'll Be There
Come The Mists On The Morrow
I'll Be There
By Your Side
And Deep Within Your Heart..." -I'll Be There from The Pirate Queen

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity by Gustav Holst, from The Planets

"The Heart will find a Home the Ship will find a Harbor
A haven for the soul until the storms subside
But when the warmer wind blows
And when the golden light glows
We face into the dawn and float out on the tide

Fire may burn and the sky may thunder
Heroes crumble and the sun may fall
As the river circles on its endless journey
I will follow you." -Endless Journey from Riverdance

Organ Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Maestoso by Camille Saint-saens

Overture from The Scarlet Pimpernel

"These tender hearts of ours
May be endlessly naive
But we grow strong if we believe..." -Vivez! from The Scarlet Pimpernel

"There will always be a valley
Always mountains one must scale
There will always be perilous waters
Which someone must sail!" -Into the Fire from The Scarlet Pimpernel

"Oh, is it only in dreams that we find our ideal love?
Are there lovers with real love?
If you know how to feel love, show me now
Ah, but my prince, if you can't be as sweet as you seem
I'd rather dream

Come and wake me!
Come be the love I can hold now
Storybook love leaves me cold now
Show me the way to stop dreaming
There is only one perfect storybook ending
That is the end of pretending
That is the moment I say, love me now!" -Storybook from The Scarlet Pimpernel

"If I wasn't so afraid
I'd take you out the door today
But talking birds and tales of
Fairies keep me scared away
And yes, I promised not to tell what
Else is there, although
If in the maze you chance to see
A garden guarded by a tree
And meet a bird who speaks to thee
Then come and tell my fine white horse
And me!" -If I Had A Fine White Horse from The Secret Garden

"When I'm lonely yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you
When I'm dreaming yes I know I'm gonna dream
Dream about the time when I'm with you." -I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers

I'm Back!

This is me, officially taking my blog off hiatus! I have finished my fall semester and I am still alive! (Just barely it seems like...) Jury is still out on my grades, but any good ones will be celebrated here!

Just to warn you, this post will probably jump topics all over the place, since I haven't consistently blogged for almost 4 months...

I made peanut brittle today for the first time. It's not too bad! Although when I was breaking it into pieces after it had cooled it cut me on the first and middle fingers of my right hand. So now I'm trying to type with a band-aided finger.

Other things I want to make over the holiday:
Popcorn balls
A Gingerbread house
Fudge
Sugar Cookies

I also need to:
Hem 2 pairs of pants
Make Christmas presents
Send out Christmas cards... maybe?

What else...

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is one of the cutest movies I've ever seen! Along with Enchanted and August Rush. Brilliant, brilliant movies! :-D I saw Golden Compass on Monday and that was pretty good too, but like always, the book is better. I can't wait to see Sweeney Todd!

Leah gave me a Pirates of the Caribbean alarm clock for Christmas and it is the coolest thing ever! :-) It plays the theme from the Disney ride, sings the song and then chants "Dead men tell no tales" which is something I don't want to wake up to (because it's one of the alarm options) but still, it's ridiculously awesome! She also gave me super fuzzy pajama pants and the movie Rat Race.

Our roommate Christmas party was awesome! We exchanged gifts, had pizza and sparkling grape juice, then friends came over and we watched The Polar Express and then went out and played in the snow. We made snow angels and ran around and took pictures of us coming through the giant fir trees like we were entering Narnia. Then we played the board game Jessica gave me for my birthday: The Worst Case Scenario Game of Surviving Life. (Yes, like the awesome books.) You have to go across the board and answer questions like "How to politely accept a business card from a Japanese colleague" or "What should you do when confronted with a herd of angry kangaroos" or even "How to make a temporary tooth filling." If you answer the question wrong you loose a body part on your game piece, and once you loose both arms, legs and your head you get sent to the graveyard, which is exactly like Jail in Monopoly. Anyway, we ended up playing that until almost 3 in the morning. Then the party disbanded and we went to sleep.

Sunday was spent studying for finals. I had finals Tuesday and Wednesday and a final paper due Thursday. I'm not going to go into the gory details other than I was about to cry almost all through my conducting final. Thank-you Allison for keeping me sane and my suite mates and Rachel D. for putting up with my literal crazy/scatter-brained-ness.

Over break, in preparation for my May Term trip to England, I have a bunch of reading to do. Mainly, Ivanhoe, Sense and Sensibility and Wuthering Heights. My winter schedule won't allow for me to take British Lit as the prerequisite for the England Trip so the professor is letting me read the material on my own. I'm 2 chapters into Ivanhoe and I'm not bored to tears yet, so that's good. I also checked out some Sherlock Holmes and Chaucer for good measure. I also checked out a CD music by William Bryd and a CD with Peter and the Wolf narrated by David Bowie. Which are both MADE OF AWESOME!

I am in love with my Muppet Christmas Carol vocal/piano book, even though I can barely play it.

Three movies that I want to see (aka rent) over break are: Amadeus, Impromptu and Immortal Beloved. Any one in the area interested? Otherwise Jessica, (even though you barely read this) whether you know it or not, you are going to watch them with me! :-D No matter who sees them with me I expect there will be some music major swooning and some bits that render me indignant with historical inaccuracy... Just to warn you...

Things on my Christmas list:
A ukulele
A book about how to play the ukulele
The soundtracks to Mr. Magorium, August Rush, Stardust, and Legally Blonde the Musical
The DVDs: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Stardust and No Reservations.

But really, a ukulele would be awesome. :-) The rest I could just buy for myself.

The Doctor Who AdvenTURE Calendar makes me really happy! :-D I can't wait to watch Voyage of the Damned (illegally... ha) when it gets released on Christmas day.

Okay... I'm off to bed! Night!

The life and times of a college student...

This is madness...

The link is the video my roommates and I made of us cleaning out the drain in the shower of our suite last week. It's pretty spectacular! (But also kind of gross, just to warn you. There's also lots of screaming and yelling...) Sometimes the movie gets a little dark... Sorry about that. Oh, and this was filmed at about 12:30 at night... Which is the hight of activity for college students.

Rachel V. is narrating, I'm obviously doing the dirty work and Leah is helping with everything else. The part where I turn away and I'm looking down... That's me trying not to throw-up because it smelled SO TERRIBLE!

What's even funnier is what happened AFTER this movie. (Funny now, anyway) The Drain-o did NOTHING to the drain, and the water still would not go down. And no one in our suite was awake to tell the one suite mate who missed this whole ordeal, that the drain in the shower was not working... So she took a shower... And flooded our half of the suite. We had to call maintenance, who came and shop-vac-ed our room. They also poured some super-duper Drain-o down our shower which now works fine. But the chemicals have burned some of our shower curtain away... Pretty impressive, huh?

Wibbly-wobbly, Timey-wimey stuff...

Today is Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day! And I've never had so much fun!

Click HERE to see the awesome pictures of our adventures!

Free Verse

Sitting against the wall,
Watching the other couples dance.
She’s the definition of a wall flower,
No one takes a second look.

Romance movies make her happy,
In a very sad sort of way.
Watching fireworks alone,
Eating ice cream by herself,
Her sole company is her imagination.
People may think she is alone,
But in her head the seat across from her is occupied.
She hears about people getting together,
She reads about people breaking up,
Whispered words that spark jealousy,
Fights she doesn’t understand,
About stupid things,
That seem trivial and unimportant.

Too independent for her own good,
All she wants are fingers laced through hers,
And strong arms around her waist.
A hopeless romantic to the last.

A small voice constantly reminds her,
That there is someone out there waiting.
But she wishes other people would stop telling her so.
She’s tired of the sympathetic looks,
The quiet nights alone,
And the books with the happy endings.
She wants the guy to get the girl,
But the fiction drags on,
And creates a reverse frustration.
Reality makes her cynical,
And she laughs at the world as she spreads her sarcasm,
Hiding inside are the echoes of her loneliness.

It’s the curse of a small school.
The fact that everyone else,
Seems to be anything but interested.
And the few who were, were wrong.

Despite her loneliness,
She puts on a brave face,
And listens to Snow White’s lyric hope,
And emulates Belle’s want for something grand.
Someday she’ll have what she dreams about,
And she’ll find her better half,
But the time it takes to get there,
Is the struggle she must win.
Because alone, is alone.
Not Alive.



(c) S. Schnoebelen

Frustrating things...

I hate conducting more than any other class I have taken to date. I'm so tired of being told how terrible I am at it, and doing all the stupid busy-work that is incredibly irrelevant to actually LEARNING to conduct. I'm also tired of hearing the professor talking as if orchestra will be the only thing we'll ever conduct in our lives, and telling the band how we should play our instruments, when some of us have been playing them for almost ten years. And I don't care WHAT the professor says... Some of the "techniques" that she is having us learn I have NEVER seen. EVER. So I don't see why learning them is important.

It's getting really hard to "play the game" to try and make it through this class. I hate it so much! It feels like it's only a matter of time before I loose my temper. I just sit there and stew. I cannot wait for this semester to be over! (Have I mentioned that the professor looks like the crypt keeper?)

I'd rather take my IS 101 Code and Code Breaking class over. And that's saying something!


Oh, and evidentially my laptop is slowly dying. So I should start putting away money to buy a new computer as well. Great.

Off to Christmas with Wartburg rehearsal... :-P

Junior Recital

My junior recital went really well. I mean, I'm often my worst critic, and there are definitely parts that I wish I could have played better. But wow. It feels good to be done, and it was really exciting to perform for people after working so hard! I did my recital with my suitemate Rachel V. who did brilliantly too! She's a mezzo-soprano and sang some pretty amazing pieces! :-)

And it's over and I survived!

Here's a picture. Lourey did my hair and I learned how to put on eyeshadow. lol...


















Me and my roommate Leah, who was also my accompanist.




















These are all the flowers we have in our suite... Leah still has a bouquet left from her recital, Rachel V. and Lourey both got flowers for being in the fall play, and Rachel and I got flowers for our junior recital. They really aren't ALL sitting on the counter of our bathroom, they're spread out around the suite. It's pretty much like a small floral shop. :-)



















This is an overhead shot.



Last night in celebration of being done, Lourey, Rachels V. and D. and I went and saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium and then went to IHOP for dinner. The movie was absolutely BRILLIANT! We all loved it! I would love to see it again! It was so spectacular! :-D

Now, off to do homework!

8:00

I have my junior recital tonight.

It is going to be amazing.

I'm a bundle of nerves.

But it is going to be amazing. :-)

That's not my heartbeat... It's the bass from the boys downstairs...

To the Boys Downstairs,

I haven't asked you to turn your music down yet, but I've been forced to listen to it since 7 pm. You have it so loud that it is shaking the floor of my entire suite.

I just feel that you should know that nature is on my side... If you keep listening to your music the way you have, you won't be able to listen to it much longer. Either you will loose your hearing, or I am going hire some big, burly man to restring your speakers through YOUR FREAKIN' EARS!

No love.

Me

History Test indunced PTSD...

I had a music history test today... It went something like this:

Test: Hello! I am here to test your knowledge of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven!
My Brain: What? Who are they?

The test included a hand written essay worth 25 points. (And to give you an idea of how the test is weighted... If you got all the QUESTIONS, which numbered about 75 total, and analyzed the sonata example correctly, but didn't do the essay, you could scape by with a C+.) the essay was about Haydn's symphonies and string quartets, and Mozart's Operas and solo concerti and how both composers influenced those genres to what we know them today. And you were to provide lots of examples. I cranked out about 2.5 single-spaced pages in about 20 minutes. I think it's some of the crappiest stuff I've ever written. I just didn't have time! It was insane. Everyone left that classroom looking shell-shocked.

This is what Rachel V. said afterwards about trying to write the essay. "My hand cramped up! It made me start to write in like, lines, dots, and check marks! It was like I was suddenly writing in Wingdings!" It made me laugh and I feel that statement is an adequate representation of the test.

Oh well... It's over. Now I just have two vocal analysis to do and write a paper on Beethoven's Eroica Symphony.

The funny thing is, that everyone in the class thinks that I'm brilliant at music history, because I can answer and remember a lot of random things about the stuff we discuss in class... But all I do is read the chapters....

My recital with Rachel V. is a week from today! 8 pm in the Orchestra Hall! People who read this should come!

Gunpowder, Treason and Plot...

I blogged about Guy Fawkes night long before it was considered "cool."

That's because I learned about Bonfire Night through researching Harry Potter. :-)


...I wish my suitemates and I had time to burn something. Like a textbook... That could be cool!

A pondering...

Has anyone else wondered why A Nightmare Before Christmas has not been made into a Broadway musical yet?

I don't know about you, but I think it'd be a pretty awesome show!

Yay for break!

So I'm home on fall break. I have a lot of homework to do, which I will get to as soon and I'm done blogging.

Nothing really really new... Had a band concert last week which went really well. We have another one the first week of November. Then it's getting ready for Christmas with Wartburg. We're getting filmed for IPTV this year at our Des Moines Civic center performance so that will be an extra hassle... Everyone has to put on TV make-up and stuff. We'll miss at least a whole day of school... And it always blizzards over the Des Moines performance anyway

I have a lot of homework to do over break... An article review, two tests and a personal evaluation for conducting, plus I need to read a couple chapters for music history, practice flute and piano and write program notes for my recital. I also want to work ahead and do another score analysis for my Music Methods 5th-12th Grade class.

I also just got back from the dentist. I got four small cavities filled on the left side of my mouth. I have to go back in tomorrow to get three small cavities filled the on the right side of my mouth. Currently, I can't feel the left side of my face from my chin, up past my left eye. It's really weird and kind of annoying.

I don't really have much else to say... :-P If anyone is home, or in the area, I want to go see Across Universe and Elizabeth: the Golden Age, and The Dark is Rising. Give me a ring if interested!

I passed my preview for my junior recital... So now I'm allowed to actually give it in November...

But it felt like a pity pass.


And I'm not really happy with how I played.

My sentiments exactly...

WTF J.K. Rowling?!

...

I can't sleep. I've been laying in bed for the past two and a half hours. Just laying there. I can't sleep and I am utterly exhausted. I've been up till at least 2 am for the past four nights working on an absolutely overwhelming amount of homework and having to get up at 7 am or 8 for work and lessons each day. I had to skip music history today to totally finish a paper assignment for another class. And it's not that I put it off... I didn't have time to START it until the night before.

And I just tried to make hot chocolate to drink and it freakin' overflowed in microwave.

I have my preview on Monday and I have an extra lesson with my flute teacher at 10 am today, but how can I play my best when I'm so tired? I haven't even been able to actually practice since Monday!

I just need it to be break right now. I'm so tired.

I just got an email from a friend that I haven't seen for about 7 years saying that she is pretty much engaged.

Sometimes I think I am going crazy. Or just so frustrated with life that I don't know what to do.

I think being single is driving me insane.

6 am wake-up call...

Hey Everyone!


IT'S OUTFLY!


WHOOOOOOOOOOO!

Don't expect this to be a regular thing...

Sooo....

I have to post because I am excited out of my mind for this trip and I feel bad talking to some people about it because they can't go, and that just makes them feel bad so I'm here on the internet for some text-based happy dancing!

I'm going to England for May Term!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I'm taking Wartburg's British Literary class, and we will travel all over England for 19 days seeing and doing stuff that deals with famous works of literature!

We start the trip off in London for 6 nights and visit the Tower of London, the Globe Theatre, Westminister Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Dr. Samuel Johnson's house, the Tate Museums, the Anchor Pub, Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, British Library, and the Museum of London. And we have a free day to ourselves.

Then we go to Bath for a night and visit Jane Austen's house, Stonehenge, and Tintern Abbey (which is actually in Wales.)

On our way to Stratford-upon-Avon we will swing through Oxford, take a walking tour of the place, visit Christ's Church College, and go punting.

We'll spend 2 nights in Stratford-upon-Avon, and visit Shakespeare's Birthplace and Anne Hathaway's cottage. We'll also visit the Holy Trinity Church and see a play by Shakespeare.

We'll stop in Lichfield and see Dr. Johnson's birthplace.

Next we will spend 2 nights in the Lake District and visit the Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum. We'll also see Coniston Water, Brantwood, and go hiking.

On our way to Edinburgh, Scotland we will visit Burns' birthplace in Ayr.

We'll stay for 2 nights in Edinburgh and visit Edinburgh Castle, the Writer's Museum and hike up to Arthur's Seat. We'll also visit Abbotsford House.

On our way to Bradford we will visit the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

We'll stay in Bradford a night and visit the Bronte Parsonage museum and go hiking in the moors.

Next comes Cambridge, and we'll be there for 2 nights. We'll go on a walking tour of Cambridge, visit Trinity College and do some more punting. We'll also get a tour of Cantebury Cathedral and Kings College.

We go back to London for the remaining 2 nights and get to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe, and have one last free day. The last night we will have a farewell dinner at the George Inn.


AHHHH! I've been mentally running in circles out of pure excitement for the past couple days! I had to post also because.... While I'm in London.... I will get to see:

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE MUSICAL!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Like.... This is like..... Unbelievably awesome! Like.... I don't know how to describe it!

I AM SO EXCITED!

I'm not gloating... and I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging... I just NEED an outlet for all my EXCITEMENT!

...Because I'm about ready to run a hole through the carpet.

For LotR Musical awesomeness check out this:



And all the other movie clips on YouTube. :-D


I'm also beyond excited for the two Shakespeare plays I get to see. I don't know which plays they are, but still. :-D I can't wait!


I am pretty much excited out of my MIND-- MY MIND, I TELL YOU-- for this trip!!!!




In other awesome news:

Saturday is my 21st Birthday



AND!

THIS GUY *points down* is coming to Wartburg in January. ROCK ON!




My future life is awesome.

Schedule and announcement

In case you're wondering why all my links have disappeared from the tool bar on the right, it's because I accidentally deleted my blog template and I haven't fixed it yet. :-P



Here's my schedule for Fall Term:


Mondays:

10:45 am: Conducting*

12 pm: Lunch

12:30-2:30 pm: Work at ITS

3:10 - 3:40 pm: Trumpet/French horn methods

3:50-4:40 pm: Symphonic band


Tuesdays/Thursdays:

8-9:30 am: Work at the Library

9:35-11:15 am: Music History II*

("Free time to eat lunch")

1:00 - 2:40 pm: Instrumental/Vocal Music Methods: Grades 5-12*

3:50-4:40 pm: Symphonic Band


Wednesdays:

9:30-10:30 am: Flute lesson

10:45 am: Conducting*

12 pm: Lunch

12:30-2:30 pm: Work at ITS

3:10 - 3:40 pm: Trumpet/French horn methods

3:45-4:40 pm: Flute Seminar


Fridays:

9-10:30 am: Work at the Library

10:45 am: Conducting*

12 pm: Lunch

12:30-2:30 pm: Work at ITS

3:10 - 3:40 pm: Trumpet/French horn methods

3:50-4:40 pm: Symphonic band


*Indicates a class is writing intensive.

After band each day I study until 6 pm when Rachel V., Rachel D., and Leah are done with their classes and then we all go to dinner together. Lourey usually meets up with us at the the Mensa. Eventually piano lessons will be in there too. I budget about 10-15 minutes of time to walk from the FAC which is at one end of the campus to my dorm which is at the other end.

Sooo yeah... All my classes are writing intensive--meaning a minimum of 30 pages total will be written for the class except for my flute lesson, band and Trumpet/Fhorn methods. My 5-12 class also requires 10 hours of classroom observation.


Band audition results:

I have been placed in 5th chair in symphonic band. Which is 2 places down from where I was last year. Kind of.... sucky. But there's little I can do about it now. There's also about 30 flutes in Symphonic band. 30 flutes! (We had 20 incoming freshman flutes this year! TWENTY! AHH! >:-O Plus, Wind Ensemble didn't take ANY more flutes then they did last year.) Which is freaking outrageous. I literally can sit there in band and pretend to play and not make a difference in the sound. (I'd have to be horribly out of tune to even kind of stand out.) It's really discouraging. Because I know it matters that I'm there. Meaning I know that by my being there in band my personality makes a difference. But my playing does not. And don't tell me that that's not true. Because it is. No one can stand on the podium, have the whole band play and then tell me that you can hear me specifically. There is no way anyone can say that every flute in band is important to the piece. I'm reading off a photocopy for crying out loud! There are too many flutes! I'm not mad about being 5th chair. I'm very frustrated with the amount of flutes in Symphonic band. It really really sucks.



Also, due to the amount of schoolwork I have this semester, I have decided, for the first time, to put this blog on hiatus until further notice. I really want to do well and keep up with my schoolwork so I am going to work hard to not let myself be distracted by any sort of obligation I
feel to update my blog. Because I do feel bad when I don't update at least every-other-day.

Consequently, I doubt I'll be on MSN or AIM very much either. If anything I will be "away." That means that even if I'm there, I have no obligation to reply to you. If someone wants to get a hold of me, they can email, text/call my cell, or leave me a message in the comments or on Facebook. Calls to simply chat (with the exception of my parents and Jessica) will be very short. It's kind of rude, but I have so much stuff to complete this semester that's just what I'm going to have to do. I am already feeling overwhelmed and I've only gotten through my second day of classes!

I'm kind of bummed about the course load also because I turn 21 this month and I have no time for anything other than school.

Before I finish this post, my junior recital is going to be November 13th at 8pm on the Orchestra Hall.

Some of you I'll see around campus, or next door, or at home so hopefully after I survive I can give a nice long update!

Party time!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

I hope your day was fantastic! I thought this STAR WARS cake of Max Rebo was pretty cool, so I put it up here for you to look at and imagine what it would taste like. :-) Pick out some good ice cream for your party tomorrow! I wish I could be there! Lots of love from the 'Burg!

Hoo-ha Nerdfighters!

Hey everyone, I'm still here. I just finally have a moment to sit and type an actual blog post. Life has been busy back at the 'Burg, and it's taken a while to finally get settled in, but I think that aspect of dorm life is going pretty good. I hope the people who read this haven't missed me too much!

Well, I survived my week of being the only person here. I actually had very little time to sit and be like, "Oh woe is me... I'm alone with no one to hang out with." The first two days were spent in training for ITS, unpacking, enjoying the cable channels on TV, practicing for my band audition and studying for the PRAXIS. Ted and Kellee both invited me to come hang out with them, but it never worked out. Thursday and Friday were like Monday and Tuesday, sans the PRAXIS studying and swapping the ITS training for training at the library. Friday night Rachel V. moved in and tonight Lourey moved in. Leah moves back in tomorrow. She moved her stuff in on Sunday, but then she left again to be with her fiance, Travis.

Sunday Rachel V., Bryan and I also went in to Waterloo. We went to Target and Barnes and Noble. We had lots of fun adding "in my pants" to the ends of book titles. It made us very giggley and we got a couple of weird looks from a lot of people. One of the better ones was "The Secret Life of Lobsters [in my pants]" and "What They are Teaching our Kids in Public School [in my pants]." It was pretty awesome. I bought the book The Last Unicorn (heeheehee... in my pants) by Peter S. Beagle. I remember seeing the old 80's movie so I figured the book would be something nice to eventually read. Then we had drinks at the Starbucks there and I had a strawberry and creme smoothie, and I accidentally sliced my thumb on the plastic rim of the dome top to my cup. It hurt and Rachel laughed at me. :-P

Tomorrow is the opening convocation which starts the school year. Classes start on Wednesday. Rachel and I got our books yesterday. For spending over $300 in the bookstore I got a free Wartburg orange highlighter pen. Which makes the outrageous prices they charged for my book okay? Not really, but whatever. Since I'm taking conducting this year I had to buy a baton. It kind of felt like I was selecting a wand, like in the Harry Potter books. I suppose I'll put a picture of it up here eventually.

Did I ever mention that we got a goldfish last March? As part of a floor program? Everyone on our floor last year got a goldfish, they had to provide the bowl etc, but the goldfish was free, and whatever room kept the goldfish alive would win a prize. Leah and I named our goldfish Monteverdi after a composer in the Renaissance who we were studying in music history at the time. Well, Monteverdi is still alive, so we still have a goldfish in our room. (For the record, Monteverdi was the longest living goldfish on our floor, but we never got our prize. How lame is that?) It's kind of fun to have just one fish. He likes to come up to the glass if you ever get close, because he thinks he's going to get fed. Rachel V. has a Beta Fish that she named Benedick after her favorite character in Much Ado about Nothing.

I just have an ivy plant named Charlie the II (because Charlie the I died...) and Jessica's mom gave me this mossy carpet-like pant that I named Marv.

I worked at ITS today and it was really really busy. There are so many people who don't know how to connect to the internet at all. Or they are lazy and want ITS to just do it all. Either way we were hopping today. Between the phone ringing and people taking messages and setting up appointments, or trying to troubleshoot over the phone and people walking in and simply saying "my computer doesn't work" (which tells us a whole lot...) Hopefully by the end of September it'll settle down a bit.

I have my band audition tomorrow at 3:03 pm. I'm kind of nervous but I feel rather prepared. I'm actually not sure what band I really want to be in. Because I think symphonic band is more fun than the higher band, wind ensemble, just because there is less pressure. But wind ensemble gets to travel and is the more "prestigious" of the two bands. There's a certain sense of "awe" tacked onto people who make wind ensemble. But in wind ensemble I wouldn't get to play piccolo. No flutes graduated last year and the piccolo was already spread thin amongst the people who want to play it. I love playing piccolo. I really really do. (If I could major in piccolo performance, I would.) And it would be really hard and really sad to have to sit and not play it. Or play like, only one piece. If I was lucky. In symphonic band, I'd have a pretty good shot of being the only player or one of two. That's okay. It's when you get past 3 players that it gets ridiculous.

...Also, the pressure I feel my flute teacher puts on me to make wind ensemble makes me want to go and do the opposite just to spite her. Not making wind ensemble last year was kind of a big deal because they were going to Japan. But I ended up going to New York instead and I think I enjoyed that so much better. I'm totally over that. I wouldn't have traded New York for anything.

I've been going on a run almost every morning. And the mornings I've missed, I've gone on long walks so it alternates nicely. The route I take when I run has telephone poles alongside it, which work as excellent visual markers/goals. So each day I can run to the next pole and go farther and farther. I'm starting to tell that I am beginning to build up my endurance, little-by-little. It's kind of a nice feeling! :-)

Last night, there was this terrible racket in our building around 4 am. Rachel V. heard it too. Neither of us know who or what it was. It woke me up, it was so loud! It was a really loud banging and crashing noise that sounded over irregular intervals. It sounded like someone was trying to break down a door somewhere. Part of me wanted to get out of bed and tell who-ever it was off for being so freaking loud at 4 in the morning, but I didn't know WHO was out there or what was going on. I was about to call security but it finally stopped and I went back to sleep. This morning nothing in the hallways looked damaged, so I have NO idea what it was. Our building has a mandatory meeting with our RA Wednesday night, with everyone there so maybe I'll ask to see if anyone else knows what happened.

Bleh. I also have my junior recital to prepare for.


Have I mentioned how busy this year is going to be?

Absolutely crazy. But I plan to work my butt off. I'm not ready, but that's okay.




And I'm still looking for a car to buy.