A lot can happen in seven days

Everything seems to be correlated to or remind me of this past weekend.

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:25:32 GMT

My appetite is still not where it used to be.

I threw away half of my usual English muffin/peach preserves/egg sandwich yesterday morning, and the delicious, hearty chicken portabello mushroom sandwich from the amazing supermarket that I normally scarf down I split between lunch and dinner and was thus extremely full.

I had a bowl of Rice Chex this morning and was quite sated.

Like clockwork, I heard my phone chime at the receipt of a text message.

Choir was surprisingly quick yesterday afternoon, and it was strange that there were only 6 sopranos including myself.

Post-abbreviated P90X plyometrics workout, Jasia and I had a good conversation over bubble tea, although I barely drank mine, and we stayed until closing at midnight.

Last night was the second consecutively that I could hardly sleep. I ended up playing dress up and trying on my cocktail dresses in my closet until about 3:30 AM.

Yet I woke up at 7:28 just before my alarm this morning.

Biology lecture canceled, which would be good if we didn't have an online activity to complete by 5 PM.

I can still hear that music and still hear those words. It is awful.

I almost wish that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's memory-erasing process at Lacuna, Inc. or Men in Black's neuralyzers were real.

I feel so stupid on so many planes. For idealizing them, for looking up to them in that manner, for not being more perceptive, for believing.

and sometimes your heart breaks with a deafening sound

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:17:03 GMT

Loss of appetite.

Vacant stares.

Snippets of the Duruflé still wafting through my head.

Belting (over my passaggio, even... now to translate that placement to classical singing...) the otherwise hilariously flirty "Heart and Soul" with Walter.

Jamming in the truck to Britney and Black Eyed Peas on the way to the playground with Walter and Kristen.

Library field trip with Walter to get the Bryn-Julson recording of The Nantucket Songs, listen to some of our teacher's Masters recital (A Hand of Bridge and Brahms Lieder), and peruse the beautiful Bärenreiter Messiah facsimile manuscript from the British Museum.

The most bird-like dinner I have ever eaten. I could hardly finish the strawberries and minimal whipped cream, which I normally devour.

Staging "The Grass Is Always Greener" with Andrea.

Wanting to be alone, but also wanting to be with people.

I don't know where to go from here.

I hate not being able to talk about it.

Awful elephant in the room. Living a lie. For how long?

Feeling weighed down, hopeless, and frozen.

Those 11 awful, stark, real words constantly coming up in my mind, on the wall, on the board. Everywhere.

It's like a nightmare. But this is real and never-ending.

A few pet peeves...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:29:56 GMT

People who smoke and walk down the street or academic mall simultaneously.

Creepers who aren't music students or majors/minors who clog up the practice rooms.

Male guests who do not return the toilet seat to its initial state.

Poor sight readers who don't have good tonal memory.

And especially today: People who feel the need to divulge their diet strategies out of the blue.

For example, someone who today said that she is going to buy whipped cream to make a Splenda-sweetened concoction to replace ice cream, that she "knows all the secrets [to make this diet work]," that Atkins isn't bad for your heart, and that she and a certain teacher want to lose at least 5 pounds by Thanksgiving.

No offense, I know I've mentioned food before in my journal, but

1) When did it become okay to talk about these things in public?! (I felt like Betty Draper not wanting to be improprietous.)

2) Why do people feel like it's okay to be a martyr about it?! No one is forcing them to alter their eating habits.

3) What does she want me to say? "That's great"?!

4) Everything in moderation, I say.

Half of me wanted to eat that lasagna and dessert, whatever it was, with relish as she sat there, but then the other part of me was so furious that I had to sit through this the entire car trip that I decided to have a strawberry smoothie and Rice Chex instead and resisted partaking of the brownies the soccer players brought over to the apartment when they watched a basketball game with my housemates.

I don't know if I was more annoyed that almost all conversation this evening centered on this diet, or that she bombarded me with it completely unawares. I felt like the rest of the time, I couldn't allude to anything remotely carbohydrate-related, whether it was future baking projects for upcoming school concerts or replacing my roommate's cereal.

Jasia seems to think this occurred because this other friend thinks I'm much closer to her than I think she is to me.

UGH.

On the bright side, the light at the end of the tunnel is near in regards to my applications! I just need to get my screening CD choices approved, set up times and dates to record, as well as finalize the personal statements. The recommendation letters are being written, the GRE was taken, and the money for application fees and transcripts has been set aside. (Yes, passive construction, I know.)

Long day tomorrow. But I can do it. Toodles.

Any chance I can move my lesson time?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:54:40 GMT

I had a revelation today: I don't want exactly "what I don't have." I mean, I don't want to be someone or something I am not. I would rather be the very best version of myself that I can be. With as few (vocal) technical problems as possible.

Power Vinyasa yoga + Handel's Cleopatra + ornaments from Sills, Claycomb, DeNiese, and Te Kanawa + Unused I am to lovers (and its not-hard-to-tap-into subtext) + "I attempt from love's sickness" = :)

My teacher said my middle was "more closed" today, perhaps because yoga was amazing (the first time I'd been in over a month), perhaps because it was past 9 PM at night. I was also able to sing the otherwise challenging "Non disperar" octave from B4-B5 and then A4-A5 more easily.

Perhaps it was because it was the end of the day?

I was mostly happy with what I heard on my recording for once.

Duet in the works with Walter :) Yahoo! "Heart and Soul" will steal the show. It will be cute.

Such a relief.

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:54:18 GMT

A crazy week is over.

Deciding to attend the party after all.

Makeshift Liza Minelli-as-Sally Bowles last night, thanks in large part to my dear Irish housemate Maria, a whiz with costuming and make-up.

Walter winning the costume contest in less than 30 seconds.

Dancing and jumping up and down on the stage/catwalk with Walter, Kristen, Daniela, Andrea, Meeka, and friends to our favorite songs.

Early-morning conversations about music and science with Jasia and Maria in the bathroom.

Four hours of sleep and feeling strangely refreshed.

Kicking GRE butt (thank you, econ_cat, for being instrumental in making that a possibility!)

New and free phone!

Baking chocolate cupcakes.

A good end to a long month.

Hallo-what? I can't even think about my costume.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:29:11 GMT

Last night Jasia, who worked at Smoothie King during the summer, made Zoe, Sebastian, herself, and me strawberry-banana smoothies with vanilla Gladiator protein powder for dinner. Initially I thought, "Mmm, this tastes good," since I've not had a smoothie in a long time, nor have I ever ordered a milkshake. However, as I neared the end of the 16-ounce cup, I suddenly felt full. Whoa. It was pretty neat, but I do like eating solid food.

We had Johannine Literature for the first time in a little over a week. I was relieved that the professor was well, but then I was also disappointed to have class because I was falling asleep.

I get to be Woman #3/Karen Mason as Tess Harding in "The Grass Is Always Greener," originally from Woman of the Year and incorporated into Kander and Ebb's And the World Goes 'Round. I'm happy that the lower part (not that I couldn't sing Woman #1's part) happened to be the celebrity. I was hoping for a more dance-oriented solo, however.

I need to stop eating dinner on Wednesdays. Srsly. Meatloaf, green beans, rice, bread pudding with whiskey sauce. It's a good thing that I don't eat lunch on Wednesdays.

I lost my phone tonight... My housemate called it, and the voicemail picked up the call, so hopefully this means that it wasn't stolen? I can't believe this happened. I've never lost my phone before, and I had just gotten it in April the day after my recital.... Aaaack.

Off to try to calm down and do bio lab homework. Toodles.

"Be obsessed with music -- it's how you get three degrees in it."

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:05:02 GMT

This whole not-eating-for-8-hours thing is getting old. I kind of want to try Larabars, what with those enticing flavors... although I don't really like replacing meals with 200-calorie bars, nor do I really like the concept of snacks, organic or not.

Piano lesson went mostly well, except for the fact that I was seized with momentary fits of anxiety. Again, I need to stop treating my weekly piano lesson and its completion like Peter Rabbit evading Mr. MacGregor and enjoy myself. I mean, I practice diligently.

Voice class went well, too, I think. My teacher said that the lines of "Wir wandelten" accelerando and then slow down, and then I repeat this again and again. He had me kick off my heels and run around the piano during the opening and then sing.

When my teacher asked how I felt, I replied, "I feel alive!" with a huge grin on my face. I was heartened with Vivian said that my lines were beautiful and that my face was engaged to the point that she believed I was in love, that she was compelled to look behind to see the "man."

Walter's "Non è sì vago e bello" was gorgeous, like chocolate silk pie. I realized toward the end of his turn onstage that we may not go to the same graduate program... and I got kind of sad.

I want to do "Non disperar" next week, but I have nothing to wear, and I don't want to get burned.

Choir went okay, except that 1) I was famished, 2) that partly dwarfed any sense of accomplishment I could have derived from voice class, 3) the sopranos kept missing intervals in David Ashley White's Love came down at Christmas, and 4) my teacher pedestalized the gorgeous, thirty-something mezzo-soprano staff singer who is bolstering the alto section. She is such a humble, beautiful person, though, so you kind of feel bad feeling bad about his praising her; she is nothing short of amazing.

It just made me wonder if and or when would it be possible to attain such a level of musicality, professionalism, and skill. It made me feel behind. After the 2 or so hours of both voice class and choir, I mostly noticed what was missing: the "feigned" notes in the Brahms, the missed intervals, the shading that could've happened in that English carol.

We had pedagogy video-viewing for about 40 minutes, which made me want to cry even more because it only underscored the fact that most of what singing entails is controllable or manipulatable by us, the singers, as opposed to things like the weather, one's cycle, and allergies that might negatively affect us.

The weather is gorgeous outside, and I feel depleted. I'm heading out for a run within the hour...

facepalm

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00:19 GMT

It's so hard not to freak out when you get a horrid grade and remember that the world isn't over because life is so much more than grades, but also because your professor allows you to drop a quiz grade (although I have 2 particularly disgusting grades, not 1), so in the grand scheme of things, you can still make an A in biology and graduate summa cum laude...

But still. The feeling sucks.

And I love that my roommate, as I was taking the quiz, brought in a housemate to peruse online make-up tutorials and talk loudly.

*sigh* It's not their fault that I tanked -- the quiz was particularly difficult and full of application questions -- but eeeek! I don't want to have to be climbing uphill for the rest of the semester. And I'm tired of living someplace that is virtually unconducive to studying.

In the living room 2 of my housemates and 2 friends are watching the North and South miniseries after taking a break to visit a local 24-hour diner and earlier, watching the 2005 Pride & Prejudice adaptation. Don't these people have homework?!? Having a social life is not a potential BA concentration when I last checked.

Tabbing my chamber choir music and then it's finally time for bed. Amen.

I don't know where to start.

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:16:34 GMT

It's the ninth week of school.

I went to bed last night at 12ish, got up at 6 intending to write a paper that was due at 12:10 PM, but went back to bed because I was still tired. Got up at 9ish, wrote through my 11:10 biology, finished the paper, literally ran to the theology house, and lo and behold, class was canceled because the prof was ill. Oy. At least the paper was done.

I'm taking the GRE soon and am finalizing graduate school applications, confirming recommendation letters, and fine-tuning my personal statement. Part of me is glad that I'm finally making time for this, since it seems that school and music have taken most of my time, but part of me is still scared because this only affirms that the end of my time here is drawing close, even if "the end" comes in May.

Part of me misses having time and interest to go out with friends, but another part doesn't really give a care about what most of my friends and acquaintances here at school are doing (econ_cat and mental3540case, I am not referring to you here! I do miss you), mostly needy underclassmen. (Is that so horrible to say?)

My apartmentmates are all juniors, many of whom have classes Monday through Thursday, which means impromptu hookah-smoking at a restaurant on Tuesday (!) or a boisterous movie night in the living room on Thursday, complete with Grey Goose and tortilla chips; my actual roommate and her boyfriend (soon to be fiancé) are practically attached at the hip.

There is no "perfect" time to practice, what with the extremely thin walls in the music building. In the morning, I value my sleep or time to do homework or I have class, but in the evening, I'm bordering on exhausted, or I have to compete with the freshman pianist banging out minor scales or other singers whose voices I don't care to hear. Ugh. I left after my thirty-something minutes of piano practice and about twenty minutes of Handel and Brahms.

I feel like I enjoy practicing for piano now more than I do voice, in part because there is a newness and slight impersonal aspect in that I am manipulating an percussion instrument instead of my vocal cords.

I don't know if it's the ragweed, being female and irregular..., the change in the weather, and/or fatigue, but I feel as of late like it takes effort to vibrate. We sing G and A5 straight tone in chamber choir a lot, but I haven't warmed up to anything higher than that lately, and I miss using my high.

I feel like the rest of my life won't begin until I can iron out my technical problems. That haunting quote from that renowned pianist/coach to his son -- that he had no business dating a girl whose middle voice was a wreck because that meant she couldn't keep house, balance a checkbook, etc. -- always resonates in the back of my mind. I feel like I want to fix my problems SO badly that I can taste it, but I don't know if this willfulness will help or hinder me. I'm supposed to relax certain things but simultaneously maintain tension elsewhere. I don't understand how some people can not think about it and just sing. I wish I were one of those people.

Part of me is honest when I answer people that I don't know what I want to do after school. Part of me is not. I know pretty well what I want in life, in music. But part of me is embarrassed to admit it because I fear that people will judge me or think negatively of what I want.

I've had beef twice this week for dinner (beef brisket last night, French roast tonight)... I almost never eat beef. Eeeek. I need to stop.

I think I'm going to write this lab report and go to bed. I was going to run the parking garage stairs with my roommate, but my heart is not in it right now.

Back at school.

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:41:12 GMT

Whip It! was an entertaining if somewhat long movie that almost made me completely forget all of the stress and deadlines mounting in my life... until, for a split second, as the screen panned from Ellen Page to Landon Pigg parting ways after their nighttime pool rendezvous, my mind drifted back to reality.

When Mary Kate and Zoe picked me up from the airport in the former's shiny red Prius, I was almost in disbelief that I was already back from my brief sojourn, that yesterday I was in the car with my parents after my unsuccessful trip to the mall.

I need to stop being overambitious on short school breaks like this one. Or at least be more content with what I do accomplish. Just getting out of here made my weekend that much better.

My hair is now a cross between a 1920s flapper bob with 20th-century asymmetrical bangs. The wispy layered back was getting on my nerves, despite compliments from some friends at school.

Time to get on with the rest of my day. Some TV, biology, laundry, groceries and preparing for the weeks to come.

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:51:36 GMT

I never thought I'd say it... but I kind of hate shopping because of the way I'm built.

Over 2 hours at the mall for the first time in months with my mom, and the only things that I came remotely close to buying were a set of durable stainless steel measuring cups and spoons from Williams-Sonoma and a pair of black satin heels at White House Black Market.

Maybe also a pair of black glitter-dusted pointy-toed flats and a black wool capelet with three shiny buttons at Forever 21, but I thought about how it's not quite sweater weather yet. I decided to hold off on Sephora purchases until I got back to school. There were also these delicious-smelling black leather equestrian-style boots by Frye at Dillards that were extravagant...

No one seems to carry nude fishnet stockings in my size. Victoria's Secret was out, and Dillards no longer stocks them.

Earlier I had lunch with Donna at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants, which was the first time I'd had sushi this semester (!) Tonight we're going to see Whip It! with a few friends. Paranormal Activity will have to wait until Wednesday night, since it's not showing here, but I'm looking forward to that, too.

Ooh. Want to watch this one.

Off to the movies.

This has been a long week.

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:49:25 GMT

I want to have a day when I don't feel remorseful about everything that goes into my mouth.

I sometimes forget that food is sort of necessary to live.

But I don't understand why I seem to be hungry most of the time...

Fall Break at last. I realized this afternoon that it's been SO long since we've had a real break -- I don't mean a two-day weekend, because those go by so fast and are usually jam-packed with rehearsals and homework -- that my body is confused as to what to do.

I wouldn't mind being Diana Damrau when I grow up, but I know that the world already has a Diana Damrau, and she's amazing.

I've listened to "Je veux vivre" so many times this week that, in the heat of my biology test, as I thought about ribosomes and lipids, I could hear the lilting waltz. Oy.

Postmark deadline on Monday for a light opera summer program. I'm sending my things off on a whim, since the program includes a favorite musical of mine.

And I am likely going home, if only for a day-and-a-half. I have to get away from this place.

P90X with Jasia and Sebastian tonight. Should be good.

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:25:27 GMT

I did it!

Picspam to come in the morning...

It's been one amazing weekend. And it's not even over yet! Toodles.

God is indeed good.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:31:27 GMT

I should live up to my first first name more.

And now I'm off to prepare Opera Workshop music before going for a brisk run. I think, post-toning, I will have dinner with Marissa and Ariel before we acquire ingredients to bake something tonight. I was thinking a king cake, but I don't know what will strike my fancy later this evening.

It's also Fridaaay! Long, good, music (concert attendance)-filled weekend ahead! Toodles.

Sunday night musings.

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:50:14 GMT

tuesday
- ~~shower and pack~~
- ~~purchase airfare~~

ASAP
- ~~USingers - input Greene duet into Noteworthy~~
- ~~e-mail teacher rough draft of concert program and response~~

for fun when I'm home
- ~~go for sushi~~ This (Monday) afternoon :)
- ~~bake a pie~~ Apple lattice-work!
- ~~watch a movie~~ The Dutchess at 10:05 PM with my mom. And probably two other people a few rows ahead/below us.

halloween costume. help. Halloween is less than a week away... I'm a bit bummed that it falls on a Friday because that means I'll only get to wear my costume once; the school-wide costume party will obviously be on Halloween, as opposed to the Friday before Halloween as it was last year.

I originally wanted to be Zerbinetta, patterned somewhat after Kathleen Battle's costume, except red, black, and white with a solid bodice/corset and diamante skirt like Diana Damrau's. I already had a jaunty hat as an accessory.

But I don't know how feasible that is given the short amount of time. My other ideas for this year were Sophie from Der Rosenkavalier (Julianne Gearhart in Seattle Opera's production), Duchesse de Polignac in the green gown from Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, or Cécile de Volanges from Valmont (which I know is a tweaked version of Les Liaisons dangereuses)... which are about as involved as the Zerbinetta costume *shrugs*

My mom said she'd make me my costume if she had an adequate workspace, so my thoughts now are 1) renting a costume, 2) paying to have my costume made (I supply the pattern, measurements, fabric, and notions, and hope for the best), 3) *shudders* buying a simple costume, or 4) not going incognito at all. I don't want to be Cherubino again this year, since that costume was quite memorable last year, nor do I want to be like hordes of other girls scantily, skankily "clad" in the potentially cold weather. That is too easy :p

I'm going to e-mail our stage director if she can recommend me a good seamstress/tailor who could execute my costume.

I was thinking of having either this pattern (pattern 3637) or this simpler one (pattern 4092) made for the blue Cécile gown. However, I realize that both designs require a pannier of some sort... or at least petticoats. The more complicated one even has a separate, $17.95 pattern for the panniers (pattern 3635).

ETA (10/21, 7:30 PM): I decided to put an inquiry to the local professional costuming supply. I added Queen of the Night to the list of possible costumes. I hope it's still possible, that it won't break the bank, and that I get a pretty costume.

As for the pie, I'm baking a lattice-work peach pie tonight! Perhaps will watch The Dutchess around 10 PM with my mom? I don't know.

what to bake? I'm thinking it's between the hand pies, for which I actually packed my two cookie sheets, and the apple crumb bars. Or just plain apple pie, hahah. Fruit filling, definitely.

I also want to snap up a set of icing tips (okay, I'd be happy with a 1M and a set of 12 disposable icing bags) at Michael's before I return to school so my next cupcakes are spiffier looking. And a pair of 9" springform pans. And a 9 x 9" pan.

zzz. I was reminded today of how much sleep I need (have lost?) because I almost slept all afternoon. I'm taking an extended break before I return to my Introduction to Sacred Scriptures homework. Tomorrow is Christ and the Moral Life, and Tuesday is theory and ET/SS.

The aroma of scrambled eggs calls? Toodles.

Eh, scrivi dico. E tutto io prendo su me stessa.

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:16:12 GMT

today
- ~~e-mail Media Services about videotaping Friday and Saturday performances~~
- ~~call General Office re paper~~ Apparently not. I mean, the office is still closed because I got the answering machine. Boo.
- ~~print dummy of program and assemble in order~~
- ~~1 hr voice practice~~

thursday afternoon and evening
- ~~2:10-3:25 PM choir~~
- ~~6:45 PM call for final dress rehearsal at 7:30 PM~~
- ~~PRINT PROGRAM. SRSLY. When else will I do it?!~~

friday
- ~~breakfast~~
- ~~9:10-10 AM theology~~
- ~~10 AM break~~
- ~~11:10 AM-12:10 PM theory~~
- ~~12:10 brow waxing/plucking appointment~~
- ~~baking (miniature Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Muffins!)~~
- ~~bring baked goods to Music Department~~
- ~~lunch~~
- ~~shower~~
- ~~warm up~~
- ~~6:45 PM call for 7:30 PM curtain~~
- ~~sushi dinner!~~

Apparently ear training was cancelled this morning, and no one saw fit to tell Walter and me?

Huzzah. We had this great conversation about how we've enjoyed this process learning and tweaking our scenes, that we can't believe that it's already time to perform them in front of audiences, and how we get emotional at the end of "Lady's Maid," the finale of the workshop.

In other news, I am grateful that I didn't roll over and go back to sleep this morning at 4:50 and instead went to 6 AM Bikram. I am also grateful that the bus indeed came, and I didn't have to walk 14 blocks more en route to class, and that I was so refreshed, and the morning was so crisp and bright that the walk back to school was quite pleasant.

Time to get on with my morning. But first... what to wear?

We open tomorrow night!

</stream-of-consciousness>

Wonderful evening, if sans Beethoven.

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:58:30 GMT

- ~~call former workplace about last paycheck (and if possible, pick it up!)~~ Nope, they mailed it last week, I guess, when I asked.
- ~~haircut~~
- ~~rehearsal dinner~~
- ~~visit storage at some point to retrieve dress~~

Opening night was sold out, natch. I guess fire code prohibited the symphony from letting two students into the relatively small hall. *shrugs* We went for sushi at the Japanese restaurant I've been wanting to try for months, in part because Donna was famished from not having eaten since earlier today.

I caved and finally ordered the unagi domburi (heheh, econ_cat), but I got to sample Donna's tuna (part of the Rainbow Roll, which consists of "snow crab roll wrapped with pieces of tuna, salmon, and yellowtail"), Mango ("fresh mango and fresh salmon and snowcrab"), Special Crunchy ("tempura sea eel, avocado, snowcrab, tempura batter inside seaweed and rice with smelt roe on the outside, topped with eel sauce"), and Violet ("fresh salmon, snowcrab, and crunchy tempura batter") rolls, one of each. I felt like Belle in "Be Our Guest." That, coupled with the small salad with sesame dressing and the delicious miso soup and several glasses of water -- I was quite full afterwards. (Donna let me take home the leftover sushi, ginger, and wasabi :) Except the saltiness of the meal made me want something sweet.

The Italian gelateria was sadly out of tiramisu by the time we arrived, but Donna bought some miniature biscotti and amaretto merengue-esque macaroons as well as the coconut variety for her parents, while I learned that you can apparently buy a small order of gelato with two scoops/two different flavors. Donna and I split this, nonetheless, since I wasn't too hungry. This was another first, as I had strawberry paired with amaretto, marking the first time that I had ice cream other than vanilla or cookies and cream (not counting the times I had neapolitan ice cream).

Back at Donna's, her mom was baking miniature blueberry-banana-nut loaves for a housewarming party tomorrow, as well as muffin (e.g., 6 to a pan)-sized Duncan Hines yellow cakes. We tasted them before finishing Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason, which I'd begun watching earlier this evening while waiting for Donna to arrive home from work. I agreed with Donna that the fight scene near the end was brilliant.

This evening of firsts and just spending time with a wonderful friend made me realize the silver lining, if you could call it that, in this storm dramaturgy. I am indeed ready to resume school, but I am glad to have had the chance to come home for a few days. My roommate also wrote me back today, and I was relieved to hear from her. I was stricken by a particular part of her message:

"I love the weather (it feels like its time for thanksgiving!) Its been so beautiful down here, I'm guessing its been like that downtown too, today its gotten a little hotter but I hope it gets cooler again. I also love how every one is just taking care of their neighborhoods and friends and there are no schedules to stick to, no one is rushing, no red lights to stop at!, nature is in control of us. It feels very primitive. :P But at th same time I feel like I don't have anything to do, like I'm jst sitting around trying to get the initiative to do my homework. BUt, I have to say, two nights ago my sister and I were driving back to our house after dinner and here was a full moon and it was pitch dark aside from that because the power was out everytwhere, but the moon reflected off the lake and it was so gorgeous. I didn't notice how pwerful the moon was because we can never see its full light because of all our artificial city lighting. It was beautiful."

:)

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test...

8 - the Asserter

Thanks for taking the test !

you chose AY - your Enneagram type is EIGHT (aka "The Challenger").

"I must be strong"

Asserters are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.

How to Get Along with Me

Stand up for yourself... and me.

Be confident, strong, and direct.

Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.

Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender, vulnerable side.

Give me space to be alone.

Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.

I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's a personal attack.

When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just the way I am.

What I Like About Being a EIGHT

being independent and self-reliant

being able to take charge and meet challenges head on

being courageous, straightforward, and honest

getting all the enjoyment I can out of life

supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me

upholding just causes

What's Hard About Being a EIGHT

overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to

being restless and impatient with others' incompetence

sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it

never forgetting injuries or injustices

putting too much pressure on myself

getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when things don't go right

EIGHTs as Children Often

are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit

are sometimes loners

seize control so they won't be controlled

figure out others' weaknesses

attack verbally or physically when provoked

take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings

EIGHTs as Parents

are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted

are sometimes overprotective

can be demanding, controlling, and rigid

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele

The Enneagram Made Easy

Discover the 9 Types of People

Harper
SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages

You liked the test?

so S P R E A D I T ! tell everyone!!!
(use Quick-Paste below)

you wanna know MORE?

so check out, what Google found
about your type...

or do you prefer to

You are not completely happy with the result?!

You chose AY

Would you rather have chosen:

BY (FOUR)

CY (SIX)

AX (SEVEN)

AZ (THREE)

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P.S. The yoga studio will add 4 days onto my next unlimited pass for the days that the studio was closed! Huzzah! I also bought two pretty blue tops for yoga this afternoon after I learned that my gym membership expires on the 23rd.

Just lists.

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:24:34 GMT

To buy at lululemon
1. Athletic Dp V Tk III
2. Dp V Tk III
3. Dash Short

To bake for Opera Scenes Workshop reception/s
1. Annie's Eats' Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
2. Annie's Eats' Cheesecake Bites
3. Brown-Eyed Baker's Black Bottom Cupcakes
4. The Good Wife's Blueberry Muffins
5. Smitten Kitchen's Bourbon Peach Hand Pies
6. Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake in minimuffin form, frosted or unfrosted?

(We have a four-night run, so I don't know if I'll bake one for each night or attempt to bring two or more on one night. It all depends on the availability of the kitchen and how much money, spare time, and patience I have :D)

I tried to listen to the opening scene of Figaro while I read the libretto, except it was weird because I was already on the scene with Bartolo and Marcellina, but Figaro was just beginning to measure the bedchamber. *shrugs* I also realized that it wouldn't be quite prudent to tie up Maria's computer for a little over three hours listening to Figaro. I will just read the libretto and then move onto my theology homework.

It's not begun to rain yet...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:06:02 GMT

today
- ~~read Beaumarchais play~~ I couldn't help hearing the major musical scenes in my head as I read the play, lol.

I think I'm going to do doubles for Bikram next week to make up for the four days that I'm not practicing yoga. It will take extra willpower to go to manage my time well so that 1) I get everything that needs to be done for class on or ahead of time, so 2) I can go to bed early, so 3) I can get up that early in the mornings. But I surmise that it will work out just fine.

I also realized that it's a good thing I practiced two hours the other day. I could theoretically take two days off practicing this week, since I almost always take one day off practicing. (I regularly practice about an hour a day in terms of solo voice rep and going over choir music on my own, not counting soprano sectional rehearsal or daily vocal ensemble rehearsal time.) But if I wanted to practice, I could, since Maria has a piano.

This morning I woke up with a start and saw the sunlight filtering into the bedroom in which I'm staying this weekend. I feared it was late. When I finally pulled myself out of bed and looked at my cell phone, it was hardly 8:40. I guess I'm so used to waking up early, earlier than that now.

And I had cereal for breakfast for the first time in awhile! Mmm. I was planning on having one of the peaches Maria and her mother bought yesterday, but I was so full after the several bowls of cereal that I decided to wait. Lunch was a slice of Italian cream cake. Mmm. Perhaps I will have the peach later, after all.

Maria and I were sitting in the living room earlier, she transposing a viola part from C to G-clef, I reading the beginning of a performable English translation of Le mariage de Figaro, as BBC America's You Are What You Eat was playing in the background. The host was mentioning something about which pig parts go into hot dogs... and she had a bowl of pigs' ears and snouts. That were still hairy. Ew. I don't eat hot dogs anymore, and if I had any doubt about changing my mind, I don't now.

This morning the sky was bright, and everything seemed calm. Now the trees are rustling more, the poolwater is rippling, and the sky is grayer.

Back to Beaumarchais. Even if I'm reading it in English and not in French (that might take a bit longer because my French is a bit rusty), I'm seeing the similarities and differences and after I read the Da Ponte libretto without hearing the music (Figaro was the first opera I ever saw, at the Met, when I was 13, and I've seen it live or on DVD several times), I think I want to pick up another book on the collaboration between Mozart and Da Ponte in writing the opera. Then perhaps I'll be more ready to answer the Stanislavsky-based questionnaire focused on Susanna. Toodles.

In that grandest nation I'll stand tall. Reach my very highest hopes of all.

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:40:48 GMT

tomorrow
- ~~breakfast and change~~
- ~~8:10-10 AM class~~
- ~~shower~~
- ~~10 AM voice lesson ??~~ Postponed to...
- ~~11:10 AM-12:10 PM theory~~
- ~~12-2 PM break (lunch, studio copies)~~ My lesson was supposed to be 12-1 PM.
- ~~2:10-3 PM Pop Singers staging "Give My Regards to Broadway"~~

cold turkey. pancakes. Ahahahah. I had pancakes with strawberries for breakfast. *shrugs* I will try to supplement apple cinnamon oatmeal and an orange tomorrow morning with, say, protein of some sort. So I don't feel like passing out come 11 AM at the end of my voice lesson.

practice session whoa. I was only going to practice for 30 minutes this morning... but I had an immensely productive, good practice session that was 2 hours and 7 minutes long. I covered rep for chamber choir, Opera Scenes Workshop, and solo voice. It was great. I found that dipping into "Broadway chest voice" for "Lady's Maid" after having fully warmed up about thirty minutes prior only made the "classical" rep sound better. I can't wait to sing the Mendelssohn "Morgenlied" with the full accompaniment. I'm glad that my subtext for that song is basically the way I felt that morning I went to 6 AM yoga, or rather, the way I felt walking back to school afterwards.

However... this great practice session meant that I, uh, missed ear training :/ Well, we're granted four absences, so I will save the rest for when I really need them.

thank you, econ_cat! My bank said that since I didn't open my account in this state, I cannot obtain a temporary debit card. Woe. So I withdrew cash instead. At least this way I have money on me, and I am not tempted to go splurge at the mall or anything before my paychecks arrive next week.

healthy. mm-hmm. Salads are my new turkey sandwich. (I used to have a turkey sandwich -- on wheat with tomato and one slice of Muenster cheese, that's it -- at lunch and dinner almost every day last semester. It was filling, not unhealthy, and simple. I'd have a fruit and a bowl of cereal, and voila! A meal. Alas, now you have to buy the sandwiches prepackaged, which means you cannot specify what is in them, boo.)

I noticed today that not only are the croutons in the dining hall's prepackaged salads partially hydrogenated soybean oil- and high fructose corn syrup-laden, but the whipped cream atop the cup of fresh berries (strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries) not only lacked a taste (eeeyuck!) and had a thicker consistency than I would've liked, but of course, that topping also contained the aforementioned anathemic ingredients. Ewww.

Other than that, the berries were tasty. I will just have to try harder to find options that aren't preservative-laden. However, my roommate and I realized today that, if the prepackaged foods are that costly ($4.49 for a salad, $1.99 for a fruit cup, etc.) and have preservatives, how much more expensive would food be if they were totally organic and natural? Eeek.

do I sense a 'tude?!? Long story short. In my soprano sectional rehearsal today, several sopranos obviously hadn't practiced beforehand. I, with my nascent piano skills, slowly plunked out the notes before we attempted to sing the pieces. On the Agnus Dei from Haydn's Kleine Orgelmesse, at one point, we as a group accelerated the tempo, thus turning straight quarters into eighth notes. I wasn't as concerned with the rhythms because the group as a whole was unsure of pitches. A testy, cocky freshman soprano asked, "Wait, why are those now eighth notes?"

I automatically (d'oh! I need to stop being apologetic for things that aren't my fault) apologized on behalf of the group and said, "Yes, those are straight quarters."

"Then why don't we sing them as straight quarters?" the nasty soprano shot back with an edge. I think the air became a lot more still after that. I know I couldn't have been the only one to reel from the unnecessary vitriol. My roommate later confirmed that she felt like the attitude was unwarranted.

I wish I had been witty enough to reply with something like, "Yes, but I'm more concerned that the group as a whole is unsure of pitches. In the future we will endeavor to maintain rhythmic integrity."

Aaaand this is the soprano who sang "Se Florindo e fedele" breathily with almost no physical indication that she knew what the text was about, the soprano who didn't get into Opera Scenes Workshop, aaand who, in choir, as evidenced by today, slouched and consistently let her focus and gaze meander when the sopranos weren't singing. You can run sectional next time, kthxbye.

Our director, however, not only listened in surreptitiously from the hallway to my rehearsal, but he said he was proud of me for having made a difference in getting the sopranos through some trouble spots in the Maurice Green All Thy Works Praise Thee, O Lord. However, the sopranos consistently missed descending perfect fifths (?!?!?!) in Parry's Crossing the bar and the Agnus Dei of the Kleine Orgelmesse. I was also turned off by the fact that, in the final iterations of "Agnus Dei," the sopranos were swatting at the D to F5, and it wasn't pretty.

yoga. Day 17. There weren't many people in the class, so I secured myself a spot on the second row where I could see myself. However, I hadn't exchanged my glasses for my contacts, so those didn't help much when we did several of the floor series poses. Plus they were susceptible to blurring with sweat :p But I was glad to have had the chance to go again today, especially after that BS with the sopranos.

one day at a time. I feel like I'm living day-to-day. I mean, I am well aware of deadlines, of which rehearsals are to come, etc., but I only have exactly enough time to do the work that is due the next day, if even that. When the weekend comes, I am tired, but I still need to work. I know this is a matter of prioritizing and time management. I guess it's not so bad that I have time to do Bikram daily as well as check my e-mail and journal :)

Okay. Full day tomorrow. Nonstop. Bedtime. Toodles.

Shout when you wanna get off the ride

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:33:30 GMT

post-practice
- ~~laundry (Bikram apparel and towels, separate loads if possible)~~
- Christ and the Moral Life - re-read 3rd-5th reading assignments and take notes!

monday
- ~~7:30 AM breakfast~~
- ~~8:10-10 AM class~~
- ~~deposit music and translations in music department~~
- ~~10-11 AM free period (read theory)~~
- ~~11:10 AM-12 PM class~~
- ~~12-2 PM free period (lunch, turn in timesheet, voice practice time, stamp music)~~
- ~~2-3 PM Pop Singers (RECORD TAPE FOR D)~~
- ~~3 PM editors' meeting~~
- ~~6:30 PM Bikram yoga~~
- ~~9-10 PM "Lady's Maid," Titanic music rehearsal~~

I am thankful for my roommate and my God moment that I had on the way home from yoga this evening. I had enough change to either 1) wash and dry one load of laundry, or 2) wash two loads, meaning I'd have to hang everything. I wanted to wash my Bikram clothes and towels, hang the clothes, and dry the towels.

As I was walking in front of an apartment complex, I looked at the sidewalk, and lo and behold, there was a dollar bill folded into four. If I had a spring in my step before that, I was positively insistent on reaching home in a timely manner to catch dinnertime as well as to put away the dollar and get back to work.

Earlier this afternoon, our beloved accompanist/coach dropped by the dorm to give me the Nico Castel translations for the scenes we're doing in Opera Workshop, and we were both glad to see each other. Although I didn't tell her, I was taken aback by how striking she looked, as usual, even in casual attire, in this case a gauzy white button-down shirt and shorts. She looked so effortlessly put together like an actress from the first half of the twentieth century. I felt like I was a little girl again admiring an actress or ballerina.

Day 15 of the Bikram yoga challenge, e.g., one-fourth of the way. It was different practicing without a hand towel, so that meant I perhaps wiped off my face less (I still did it between Savasana and sit-up, but using my big towel, of course), but I liked where I was situated in the room, in the second row. The teacher was the statuesque honey blonde with a calming voice who I think is my favorite out of all the Bikram teachers at the studio, and I was flattered when she told me after the first Bow Pose, "That was beautiful."

Augh. This weekend was full of opportunities to partake of baked goods :p But then again, I don't eat birthday cake or doughnuts every day, I eat fruit at every meal and exercise daily, and I don't eat fast food, so I suppose everything in moderation is okay.

Waiting for my laundry... I should do my Christ and the Moral Life readings rather than just sit. Toodles.

Quel journée...

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:12:35 GMT

tuesday
- ~~6 AM Bikram yoga (wake up 4:45)~~
- ~~breakfast~~
- ~~e-mail Mo music majors' and minors' addresses~~
- ~~print hard copy of Choir Etiquette handbook and make 28x~~
- ~~print roll for USingers~~
- ~~copy 21 of two pieces~~
- ~~1 hr 4 voice practice~~

tuesday evening
- ~~1 PM soprano sectional~~
- ~~workstudy (copy voice repertoire, overhaul binders, and label Pop binders)~~
- ~~proofread articles and e-mail ed.~~ Man, oh, man. That was an hour-long exercise in grammar. I would be rich if I had ten cents for every time a comma was unnecessarily used...
- ~~Introduction to Sacred Scriptures - read third assignment (Readings 4, 5, and 6) thoroughly and take reading quiz on Blackboard~~ Made a 90, which isn't too bad, considering that I'm falling asleep.

wednesday
- ~~Christ and the Moral Life - read third reading~~ Skimmed it. Going to read it in earnest tonight.
- ~~8:10 AM Christ and the Moral Life~~
- ~~9:10 AM Introduction to Sacred Scripture (ask if I can leave 5 minutes early)~~
- ~~10 AM first voice lesson of the semester!~~
- ~~11:10 AM theory~~
- ~~12-2 PM free time (lunch, finish tne boys' cards)~~

Several of the past mornings, I've set my alarm to wake me up early. However, I often got up, flipped open my phone to stop the alarm, and promptly rolled back into bed. Not this morning.

Although part of me couldn't fathom being up as early as 4:45 -- as I walked through the lobby at 5 AM, I couldn't believe there were still people studying... it's only the second week of school! -- and part of me started to think irrationally, wondering what would happen if I turned back when I was already 15 minutes into the walk to the studio, I felt wonderful especially at the end of my practice.

The sun had just risen, and after final Savasana, and everyone else had left the room, I sat, stretching as the sunlight filtered in through the blinds. While the sidewalks had been dark and silent en route to the studio, it was as if the world was waking up as I walked back home. I felt a spring in my step and felt ready to take on the day. I was so pleased that I didn't feel the need to listen to music on the return.

Riffling through my new repertoire for voice just now, the translation of Mendelssohn's Morgenlied, op. 82, no. 2 seems appropriate:

Awakening in renewed strength,
I greet Your light, God,
and I turn my happy face
toward Your works.
How splendidly the sun sends its beams upward,
awakening life's loud chorus!

Songs of jubilation already resound
in fields, bushes, and sky,
and from the forest's halls
the morning's fresh fragrance pours.
Little birds shake off the dew,
fly up, and sing in the bright blue.

The sun is already hovering higher
in its victorious course;
all that lives breathes rapture,
and all that slept awakens.
O God, in Your sunshine
how splendid it is to be alive!

So I didn't go to ear training this morning. *shrugs* I wanted to take my time at breakfast. Peter and Walter informed me that we have a test on Thursday on the reviewing we've been doing, on intervals, scales, etc.

I got a lot accomplished this morning in terms of workstudy tasks, but what I was really concerned about was conducting my first soprano sectional. My piano skills are nascent and I was pondering how I'd come across as firm yet loving, poised yet not supercilious. We worked on plainchant, a hymn, and sort of [jo jo]-ed our way through the Kyrie. I found there was a glint of unsolicited vibrato, vowels in need of uniformity, and an affinity for ritard-ing at the end of every verse in a hymn. Hm. It was a good first sectional, though, and it made me realize that I don't have to be a concert pianist to conduct one.

One word of advice I wanted to stress was that listening to the Mass constantly and spending at least 10-15 minutes at the piano with the score daily will be invaluable in getting the music in their bodies. I about floated off the ground when we finally got to sing the Kyrie, and our director was pleased with the sopranos' sound. "If the top ain't right...," begins a familiar choir cliché. But today it was, for the most part. We moved to the Agnus Dei and touched two pages before we moved onto another piece, William Mathias's Lift up your heads, O ye gates. It has divisi and some A5s towards the end.

Copied new repertoire, overhauled the studio binders (e.g., took out the people who graduated/left and shifted the singers to their new lesson days), and labeled the Pop Singers' binders over the course of about 2 hours this evening. I think I'd already known during choir that I wasn't returning to yoga this evening, not merely because I was tired, but because there was little to no way I'd be able to reconcile the time it takes to practice Bikram in the evening with the amount of workstudy tasks PLUS my homework for tomorrow. Not to mention, um, my first voice lesson this semester. Bikram will always be there; I can always go twice in a less hectic day, like Saturday, perhaps, instead of today.

Dinner consisted of a small Caesar salad with honey dijon dressing, a fruit cup, an orange, and grapes. And too much bottled water. I didn't think it was possible to eat too many fruits and vegetables, but now I know better. I had a slight hankering for unagi, but I wasn't willing to take the time to get myself to the sushi grille.

I got to talk to my mom for the better part of 36 minutes, and it was good to check in with her. My family visited a leading technical institute for my brother today and enjoyed the campus, although my brother's first choice remains a leading non-technical institute. I really hope he gets to attend his first choice school because he's bright, and that would mean we might get to be in the same city during the school year.

So. I've got two readings and some theory (mmm) to cover tonight. Or eaaaarly tomorrow morning. Methinks the theology will come first, since I have a reading quiz at 8:10 and need to finish the second quiz before I go to sleep tonight. Toodles.

Labor Day.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:49:10 GMT

today
- ~~breakfast~~ Oatmeal and an orange, mmm!
- ~~11 AM-12 PM free Power Vinyasa class taught by my friend!~~
- ~~lunch with Jasia~~
- ~~laundry (Bikram, other clothes)~~
- ~~dinner (around 6:40ish?)~~

HOMEWORK and more

Christ and the Moral Life
- ~~read Introduction and first reading (Monday)~~
- ~~read second reading more thoroughly, take notes (Monday)~~

Introduction to Sacred Scriptures
- ~~finish second reading assignment (Readings 2 and 3) (Monday)~~

USingers
- ~~modify and e-mail (.pdf form) Choir Handbook (Saturday)~~ 2 hours.
- ~~start Haydn Kyrie~~ I basically whisked through the whole score and [jo jo]-ed or sang the soprano line. Aaand fell in love with the Benedictus all over again. It's not merely fun to hear but also to sing.

miscellaneous
- ~~assemble bicycle (Sunday)~~

For some reason, I awoke with a start this morning around 5:22. I had feared that I'd overslept and missed my 8 AM Bikram class, but the darkness outside confirmed the time that I read on my cell phone.

However, when I next roused, it was already 7:25, which was too late to make it to Bikram on foot.

I decided to *gulp* just go twice tomorrow, in the morning and in the evening, so that Jasia and I could still make Stanzie's complimentary Power Vinyasa class for beginners at 11 AM. Although neither of us is a beginner, it was great to see both Stanzie and MM and just do some basic vinyasa asanas.

I realized how long it had been since I'd been there at the studio when my muscles started to smart somewhat while we were holding Chaturanga. But the sensation of downward dog and crescent lunge were great, and it made me wish I could somehow practice both Bikram and Power Vinyasa regularly. I mean, I could, but it would take a lot of time management and slightly more money than I am willing to part with at the moment. I think after the 60-day challenge ends, I will combine both Power Vinyasa yoga with cycling/running. I guess five days a week of Vinyasa yoga and cardio isn't bad, although I think being able to do Bikram seven days a week spoils me.

Another thing I noticed this morning as we did the sun salutations is that my mat still retains that funky aroma of the Bikram studio! I wonder if it's the smell of sweat or what, but the heated room always smells like it. *shrugs*

Cream cheese-filled kolaches are mmm but meant to be eaten sparingly, of course (although I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they're not as "bad" nutrition-wise as I thought). Sebastian let Jasia and I split the last one as we drove to lunch at a Mexican place. I was proud of myself for choosing the black beans in my salad, because I'm not particularly a fan of beans, despite their positive attributes.

Jasia and I were finally able to get quarters not at CVS, which, again, wasn't giving cash back with transactions, but at the grocery's customer service desk. I previously picked up about 2.5 pounds of red grapes and two Valencia oranges since fruit isn't as readily available on campus.

The dining hall is thankfully open this evening, but again, the hours are silly, 4:30-7 PM. Do they not realize that most students won't be hungry for dinner until after 7? Oh well. QuizNo's, when it opens, will close at 10 PM nightly.

For some reason, I have peaches on the mind again. I saw two recipes for peach pies today, first, of bourbon peach hand pies, which I am making for sure when I go home in about two weeks, and then for peach pie redux, utilizing the same recipe I used when I made my first peach pie a few weeks ago. There is something special, exciting, and whimsical about fresh, ripe peaches; for some reason I always think of frolicking barefoot in an white fence-enclosed orchard in the summertime when I see them.

I'm glad Gustav weakened before it hit today, but I hope the storm surge doesn't prolong the time residents have to be away from their homes, work, etc.

Okay. Enough procrastination. Time to finish this reading assignment. Toodles.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:48:26 GMT

Sunday
- ~~10:30 AM Mass~~
- ~~breakfast~~
- ~~4:30 PM Bikram yoga~~
- ~~1 hr 30 voice practice~~ Mwuahahah! I practiced for an hour and 56 minutes, so tomorrow, I only need to practice an hour and 4 minutes.

I did go to yoga this evening. I ended up getting the spot next to the mirrored door, so that at the end, when we were in final Savasana, as people left the room, I felt repeated cool breezes :) But, no, seriously, it was a good practice. I feel rested and ready to practice (voice) now.

Aaaand I also thought I wasn't going to make it back in time to scoop up dinner at the dining hall, but I arrived shortly after 7, and not only did the cashiers let me grab something, but because the cash register was malfunctioning, they said it was on the house! I had a turkey sandwich on white, a 2-oz. container of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, a fruit cup, and an orange -- sort of like what I used to have before the switch from buffet to à la carte, except with white bread and mayonnaise instead of wheat with no condiments, Cinnamon Toast Crunch instead of Honey Nut Cheerios, and with the addition of a fruit cup. It was a delicious, filling dinner, though, especially after walking over 20 blocks to yoga and back.

The copy editors' meeting has been canceled due to the change in the weather, but we'll still be sent our articles to proof via .pdf form.

Methinks it's time for a shower before I go practice. I also want to check in with my parents to make sure everyone's safe. Toodles.

Sleepy Sunday afternoon.

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:59:29 GMT

Putting together this road bike was a little more than I bargained for... but I'd rather have paid $19.95 plus shipping for the toolkit and instructional DVD than spend $65+ at a bike shop. I still have to buy the helmet, lock, and rack. *shrugs* All I have to do is adjust the brakes, fiddle with the chain, and I think it'll be operational. (Whenever I see/read/hear that word, I think of Emperor Palpatine and the Death Star.)

I sort of don't feel like going to yoga today. In fact, I feel like just going back to bed. However, missing a day of the Bikram challenge means you have to go twice the next day. Hahahahah. No thank you. There are only three classes tomorrow, and that would either mean sitting through two consecutive practices or coming back. I'm going this afternoon. I know I'll feel energized afterwards, and then I'll practice.

I finally realized why the Gloria in the Oxford score doesn't resemble any of the three recordings I've heard. I didn't realize until just now that it's a prolongation by Michael Haydn, and the original score, what I've heard on the recordings, is on page 45... I wonder which one we'll sing. Here's to hoping it's the original.

catthewonderdog, you're right... sushi is addictive! I can't stop thinking about it. My roommate says it's the one thing that doesn't upset her stomach. I wished aloud last night in conversation that they offered it here at school... and then I realized that 1) it would probably be waaaay overpriced, and 2) I wouldn't want to think about whether or not the fish would be sanitary.

Almost time to dress up for Bikram. Toodles.