Rehearsing and baby news.

Well, for all of my loyal readers out there who thought I gave up on posting, I'm back! Actually, you've all probably just figured out that you should check back once a month or so....I should be better at this by now!

Anyway, I found some more great pictures that I want to post, but I feel I've deprived you all so long of an actual update that I should do that first. So, here it is.

It hit me last night that I've got about a month until my recital, and I'm still learning notes on some, (read, most) of my pieces. Because of this, I actually chose to go to bed at a reasonable time so that I could get up and go to school before my first class and practice. I meet with my accompanist today to practice immediately after my first class, and I always feel terrible if I show up unprepared and she is, so I'm going to work for most of an hour to rehearse, so I can be ready. My first class is at 11 am, so as soon as I finish this post and pack a lunch, I"m on my way to school.

In other news, Baby is growing, and definitely kicking hard now, especially at night and during choir practice. (I think the loudness of rehearsal is getting through and Baby is protesting at being woken up, as I don't notice movement in the mornings and can only assume Baby is sleeping then.) We find out what sex the baby is next week, and I will take comments on this post if you all want to know. However, if anyone protests, I'll just have to figure out how to tell those that want to know individually.....since I probably should do that anyway. :) This is all dependant on Baby being cooperative for the ultrasound and sitting so the doctor can see, of course.

Ok, I really need to get to school to practice, so here are my pictures I wanted to load. I found them in a group on facebook called "Everytime you write parallel fifths, Bach kills a kitten." I am not a member, and yes, it is very much a music major joke. I still like the pictures though.

School stuff.

Ok, stress has been alleviated somewhat, as my recital review went well, and I passed. That in turn made me feel a bit more prepared for the actual recital too, which is good.

I've also finally picked a topic for that research paper that's due on Monday - Benjamin Britten. British composer, wrote weird songs about nannies threating the kids they were watching with lakes of brimstone if they didn't keep quiet (ok, that was one song, but still!). He was also somewhat of a pedophile, which is very creepy, especially with that previously stated song definition. Despite all of that, he wrote incredible music, even if some of it is creepy. He was also born in the 20th century, so that's something...he's at least somewhat recent...

I'm about a quarter of the way through arranging the first of my choir pieces, and it's going fairly well, although I'm not looking forward to showing this to my prof tomorrow...he tends to tear stuff apart and do it in such a demeaning way, like, what's wrong with you that you would arrange it this way??? Of course this doesn't work! Your singers will hate you if you do that! (The first two are implied, most times, the last one he actually says.) So yay for the prof and class I don't really like. :)

Also, there's going to be a mass meeting of the choral department at my school, without the choral teachers' knowledge (arranged by the dean, so he can get our impressions without them being colored by the interim professors standing right there...) This should be a good thing, since all except one person in my studio is having problems with our teacher...big problems. So we'll see what happens...

That's all for tonight, I need to get back to homework, and make my recital programs too...

Time for a real update.

Ok, so here's my reason for lack of blogging (this time) and also what my life involves right now.

Tomorrow, I have to perform for the voice faculty various selections of my recital program, which is coming up in about two and a half weeks...unfortunately, I don't know which selections. I really should have my recital program perfected by now, but I don't, and whenever I'm under stress I begin to forget the words unless I'm über confident on them...which I'm not. Some of them, yes, but not all. The review is tomorrow at 3, and I have between now and then to memorize everything perfectly...that's four french songs, two german songs, four english songs, and three italian songs to have down perfect. Again, I really should have this done already, but I don't. I suppose after tomorrow maybe I'll feel a lot better. We'll see. See, if I don't do well at the recital review, they can decide that I can't do my recital this semester, which means I'd have TWO recitals next semester, and the second one is supposed to be way longer.

In addition to all of this, I have my every day homework, a research paper to write, a book review (same length as research paper), three lesson reviews to write, a student to teach (yes, I"m teaching lessons now too), two choral songs to arrange, and a couple tests coming up. I'm a little stressed, which is really oddly out of character for me to show any stress. Probably why I'm blogging about it and not really showing it too much otherwise.

The good side of all of this...
I've worked out my schedule for next semester, and instead of having 19 credits like I have now, I'll have twelve, and they're mostly easy credits, like choir and recital lab and opera class (we just learn parts and perform an opera). So, I'm REALLY looking forward to next semester. Plus I graduate then, so that's good. :) Then on to grad school, as long as I get in..........

Pumpkin fun.

Ok, Chris and I invited our friends Matt and Heather over to carve pumpkins, and these are the results. The painted one is mine (I'm terrible at carving!) and the middle one is Chris's, the one on the end is Matt and Heathers. I believe that Matt and Heather named their's Wilma, though it was a guy, apparently, :), and Chris's was the Mac-o-lantern. I guess mine would be Cat Noir. (Yes, I know it says Chat Noir, but still...) Yay for pumpkin fun!

OS Updates.

Ok, Chris is probably going to blog about this, but we got Mac OS X Leopord today. I have to admit, it's pretty sweet. Brings out the geek in even me, a non-geek, (well, a non computergeek, that is). It's got a great way of organizing your windows, say if you've got iTunes, the internet, a chat, and a couple homework documents open...it's like having four, or up to sixteen, seperate computers to work with, since you can put them in different spaces...essentially, they each get their own screen space. You can still have music playing in the background as you're working on another screen, but you don't have to deal with that window unless you want to. It's difficult to explain, but really cool to see. There are bunches of other cool things that they did to the system too, including it's just plain pretty now. So yeah. Cool.

The Career Game

Ok so I took the quiz recommended to me from Psychobunny's site, and here are the results. Remember, these are my suggested careers to go into.

1.Costume Designer


2.Special Effects Technician


3.Actor


4.Psychologist


5.Animator


6.Desktop Publisher


7.Potter


8.Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator


9.Fashion Designer


10.Craftsperson


11.Set Designer


12.Art Director


13.Casting Director


14.Artist


15.Graphic Designer


16.Comedian


17.Sport Psychology Consultant


18.Medical Illustrator


19.Composer


20.Industrial Designer


21.Stylist


22.Computer Animator


23.Musician


24.Marriage and Family Therapist


25.Magician (??????)


26.Addictions Counselor


27.Archivist


28.Jeweler


29.Editor


30.Public Relations Specialist


31.Critic


32.Print Journalist


33.Writer


34.Market Research Analyst


35.Picture Framer


36.Anthropologist


37.Sign Maker


38.Translator


39.Upholsterer


40.Furniture Finisher

School and Casper.

Hi all!
Well, school starts officially on Tuesday for me, when I have to go in for a choir audition, so I'm currently enjoying the last friday night before school starts. I'm really excited that Monday is my last day at work, though my boss didn't remember that until Thursday, which was the last shift I worked. I thought it was kind of funny, really. When I reminded him, he said that another girl was leaving the day before me and that he "felt kind of rejected". He said it with a smile on his face though. The other girl's a college student too, and we told him we were done when school started, he just forgot when that was. Oh well.

I'm taking 19 credits this semester. Hopefully I won't go crazy with it, but I'm preparing a half hour recital, on top of my regular school work. I also don't know who my accompanist is yet, though I did ask a friend and he's considering. I forgot to ask him a couple of key questions though, one of which is if he charges anything for his accompanying services??? Wow, that makes him sound like an escort. Completely off, but still amusing. I hope he gets back to me soon with a yea or nay. I need to know.

Also, there is an adorable black cat outside our building. Chris and I have both grown very attached, and (of course) we named her. Her name is Casper, and she seems to love it, because we have only to step outside and say 'Casper', and she comes running. She's a very snuggly lap kitty, though Chris has discovered he can't hold her anymore, as she was sitting on his lap, and fell in between his legs and dug in with her claws to hold on. She didn't break through fabric, or injure anything, (though I have to say the sight was nervously funny), but she did scratch his calf with her back claw and we're waiting to see if he reacts to it...he's allergic to cat saliva, cats lick their claws, claw scratch.....you get the picture. Hopefully nothing happens. In any case, I can still hold her, and we play with her almost every day outside. I know, too attached already, but it's like having a pet with no responsibility! Kind of nice. We know she gets fed, too, because not only are other people in the building feeding her, but we saw her chowing on a bird she caught the other day...that was gross.......

Ok, that's all for now. It's almost 1 am and I'm tired! I don't usually stay up this late anymore!! Goodnight.