I have just finished my 282 midterm and all I can say is thank God for the essay question being worth the most ponits. It was on an excerpt from Tristan und Isolde, and asked about Wagner's innovations in opera. Considering that I think I did fine, but not spectacular on the definitions, and that I'm pretty sure I bombed the listening (worth the least marks, thank God), I should pass, but thanks mostly to the essay.
Elsewise, it is Hallowe'en! Jackie and Amy are dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2. They bought part of their costumes at Old Navy on Sunday. ^_^ Their wigs rock. Everybody at Starbucks this morning was dressed up, and despite hearing talk about how today was Hallowe'en on the radio when I woke up, I was taken by surprise at the Starbucks people. One of them looked far too tired to be dressed as Tigger, though. ^_^ I am dressed as... a music student who had a midterm this morning. I'm wearing my U of A Music t-shirt and fleece pants. Very comfy, but not all that unusual or spooky. ^_^ I don't even know if I have a costume kicking around any more. Oh, well. They won't kick me out if I don't dress up for the party tonight. Hell, I'm not even sure if I'm going, though it does sound like much fun. :-)
Today is the first official day of the Mini Gloria in Choral Tech. We sightread it last class, and I was sitting next to a vocalist and I wanted her to pipe down and stop singing so brightly so that I could hear myself, so I'm already embittered towards the piece. ^_^ We get a list of cues today, though, which will be nice, and it's also always nice to know that I'm not the most inexperienced conductor in the class, so I won't seem quite so foolish when I accidentally panic and do something that more closely resembles flailing than conducting. ^_^ It's also nice that I'm not scared by mixed meter. Bring it on. :-D
10/31/2007
10/29/2007
Cookie Hangover
On a whim, I got a London Fog this morning instead of a latte. I am now regretting that decision as I try to not fall asleep on the keyboard and post a long string of gibberish along the lines of "7 g ei bfwwo9ifpohwepifhahf aoehf ewafoh230..."
Reality is currently of the vaguely unpleasant variety. The job at St. John's Music was full-time only, so I couldn't take it. That was disappointing. They're keeping my resume on file for if they ever need part-time help, though. My second 282 midterm is on Wednesday, the 31st, when the first one was on the 5th, and there's even more pages of music to learn for this one. I currently begrudge Romantics their excess. I'm not too worried about my Orchestration midterm tomorrow, though, as long as I remember to bring a ruler. And my Choral Tech midterm went well on Friday, though I accidentally made a mistake on the IPA spelling of beauty, writing [buti], rather than [biuti]. Meh. Like I said, *vaguely* unpleasant. ^_^
Last night, Joyce and I made Hallowe'en sugar cookies. Some of them puffed up a little bit, so there were a couple of witches on brooms that weren't recognizable as such, but most of them turned out well. That was fun. I took my half to Peter's place, where people were gathered for Sunday dinner, and they got eaten. ^_^
Other than that, not much is up. I think I will go fall asleep studying for 282. ^_^
Reality is currently of the vaguely unpleasant variety. The job at St. John's Music was full-time only, so I couldn't take it. That was disappointing. They're keeping my resume on file for if they ever need part-time help, though. My second 282 midterm is on Wednesday, the 31st, when the first one was on the 5th, and there's even more pages of music to learn for this one. I currently begrudge Romantics their excess. I'm not too worried about my Orchestration midterm tomorrow, though, as long as I remember to bring a ruler. And my Choral Tech midterm went well on Friday, though I accidentally made a mistake on the IPA spelling of beauty, writing [buti], rather than [biuti]. Meh. Like I said, *vaguely* unpleasant. ^_^
Last night, Joyce and I made Hallowe'en sugar cookies. Some of them puffed up a little bit, so there were a couple of witches on brooms that weren't recognizable as such, but most of them turned out well. That was fun. I took my half to Peter's place, where people were gathered for Sunday dinner, and they got eaten. ^_^
Other than that, not much is up. I think I will go fall asleep studying for 282. ^_^
10/26/2007
A List of Good News Items
1. I am feeling very confidant about my Choral Tech midterm in 50 minutes. Once I've finished here, I'll go do some last-minute revision, but I'm quite certain I'll be more than fine. Especially since we can take our English diction handbook and Latin diction sheet into the exam with us.
2. I found my computer cables. Or, well, most of them. I still can't find the wall charger for my iPod. Oh, well. My cell phone is now alive again, as is my iPod (thanks to computer charging), I can now use my portable harddrive, and I have a real mouse for my laptop. They were in the corner of my room, in a big knot, between my desk and my floor lamp. I have no idea how they got there.
3. I have been offered a job by St. John's Music. They left a message for me yesterday afternoon. It's a full-time position, so I might not be able to take it, but I'm hoping they'll be ok with me working part-time. It would bear the hell out of Old Navy, in any case. ^_^ I shall call them back after my midterm.
4. I have calmed down about next year, for at least the time being. Once I fund myself looking at MFA entrance requirement at UCLA, I panicked and wondered why the hell I felt I had to do that/wanted to do that. Then I had a 282 mini-paper to write and two midterms to prep for (the other one is Orchestration on Tuesday), and the fact that there still exists a real world in the here and now coalesced around me. Having a life to live reduces the worry of what to do with your life. ^_^
5. I got above the class average on my EDPY 404 midterm. I got a 77% with a class average of 73%. Not a stellar mark on its own, but the curve is to my advantage in this case, especially with the median grade for 400-level courses being a B+. :-) Now to write a 10-page paper on externalizing disorders... ^_^
6. I am completely certain that I meet my degree requirements. Oddly enough, though, I would need another year of lessons to convocate with them seperately. Also, depending on whether I wanted a General major or a School Music major for my BMus, I'd need either another year of ensemble or a senior-level choral conducting class, respectively. But I don't care about that, because at the end of April, I am so out of here. ^_^
2. I found my computer cables. Or, well, most of them. I still can't find the wall charger for my iPod. Oh, well. My cell phone is now alive again, as is my iPod (thanks to computer charging), I can now use my portable harddrive, and I have a real mouse for my laptop. They were in the corner of my room, in a big knot, between my desk and my floor lamp. I have no idea how they got there.
3. I have been offered a job by St. John's Music. They left a message for me yesterday afternoon. It's a full-time position, so I might not be able to take it, but I'm hoping they'll be ok with me working part-time. It would bear the hell out of Old Navy, in any case. ^_^ I shall call them back after my midterm.
4. I have calmed down about next year, for at least the time being. Once I fund myself looking at MFA entrance requirement at UCLA, I panicked and wondered why the hell I felt I had to do that/wanted to do that. Then I had a 282 mini-paper to write and two midterms to prep for (the other one is Orchestration on Tuesday), and the fact that there still exists a real world in the here and now coalesced around me. Having a life to live reduces the worry of what to do with your life. ^_^
5. I got above the class average on my EDPY 404 midterm. I got a 77% with a class average of 73%. Not a stellar mark on its own, but the curve is to my advantage in this case, especially with the median grade for 400-level courses being a B+. :-) Now to write a 10-page paper on externalizing disorders... ^_^
6. I am completely certain that I meet my degree requirements. Oddly enough, though, I would need another year of lessons to convocate with them seperately. Also, depending on whether I wanted a General major or a School Music major for my BMus, I'd need either another year of ensemble or a senior-level choral conducting class, respectively. But I don't care about that, because at the end of April, I am so out of here. ^_^
10/24/2007
Metriculative
I'm at school! And I went to my first class! This shouldn't feel like an accomplishment, but over the past two days, I went to one class. I even missed rehearsal last night. Blah...
It seems that I am rekindling my blog love, or at least my love of rambling. I apologize if anybody finds this horribly boring or stupid or anything. I'd tell you not to read it if you don't like it, but that would make me feel lonely. ^_^ Peter doesn't even read my blog anymore. He says that its because it actually requires reading... So I tell him things in person. :-D
I was going to fold clothes last night, but instead I slept, so I feel reasonably good today. As you may have guessed by the fact that I've been missing class, I haven't been feeling that great lately. In addition to that, I also seem to be having a quarter-life crisis. I'm getting really scared about what I'll do next year. I'm worried about how healthy it would be for me to just head out and teach just because that's what I'm trained to do; I'm not sure that jumping in to a new place with a sudden, very demanding full-time job would be the best idea. I keep thinking about my brother saying that he was sick of taking baby steps, which is why he moved to London, but I don't think that moving to California is that much of a baby step, even if I just work retail or something. I think, ideally, I'd want a 0.7 teaching placement. Tom says there's no such thing as a part-time music teacher, and I agree totally, but less actual teaching would make it easier to set up, revitalize, or maintain a program. I could clean the room and find all the missing percussion mallets. ^_^
Part of me is whispering to go back to school in California, either as a graduate student or an undergrad. Expand on my Drama education. I have decided that I wouldn't make the best Drama teacher to a lot of students. I got a pretty average bunch in my student teaching, and I found that I had little idea of where to start with people who didn't want to be there. An oversight by somebody who doesn't have that problem. ^_^ Having finished all of my Drama requirements and then some, I feel both like I don't know nearly enough and that I haven't found a proper niche. Not that changing either of those things would necessarily give me any more direction in life than getting a BMus or a BEd. Life is stupid that way. Maybe I should go review my Ed Psych text on the formation of identity. ^_^
For now, though, I have lost nearly all of my computer/electronics cables. I can't find anything with which to charge my iPod or my cellphone, and I've misplaced my mouse and the cord for my portable hard drive. Thus, large DivX files are clogging my laptop, my cellphone is dead and I can't play WoW on my machine. I have no idea what happened to any of these things. They went missing gradually. I've done multiple searches of my room, and I am stumped. If you really need to get ahold of me, call my house or e-mail me.
It seems that I am rekindling my blog love, or at least my love of rambling. I apologize if anybody finds this horribly boring or stupid or anything. I'd tell you not to read it if you don't like it, but that would make me feel lonely. ^_^ Peter doesn't even read my blog anymore. He says that its because it actually requires reading... So I tell him things in person. :-D
I was going to fold clothes last night, but instead I slept, so I feel reasonably good today. As you may have guessed by the fact that I've been missing class, I haven't been feeling that great lately. In addition to that, I also seem to be having a quarter-life crisis. I'm getting really scared about what I'll do next year. I'm worried about how healthy it would be for me to just head out and teach just because that's what I'm trained to do; I'm not sure that jumping in to a new place with a sudden, very demanding full-time job would be the best idea. I keep thinking about my brother saying that he was sick of taking baby steps, which is why he moved to London, but I don't think that moving to California is that much of a baby step, even if I just work retail or something. I think, ideally, I'd want a 0.7 teaching placement. Tom says there's no such thing as a part-time music teacher, and I agree totally, but less actual teaching would make it easier to set up, revitalize, or maintain a program. I could clean the room and find all the missing percussion mallets. ^_^
Part of me is whispering to go back to school in California, either as a graduate student or an undergrad. Expand on my Drama education. I have decided that I wouldn't make the best Drama teacher to a lot of students. I got a pretty average bunch in my student teaching, and I found that I had little idea of where to start with people who didn't want to be there. An oversight by somebody who doesn't have that problem. ^_^ Having finished all of my Drama requirements and then some, I feel both like I don't know nearly enough and that I haven't found a proper niche. Not that changing either of those things would necessarily give me any more direction in life than getting a BMus or a BEd. Life is stupid that way. Maybe I should go review my Ed Psych text on the formation of identity. ^_^
For now, though, I have lost nearly all of my computer/electronics cables. I can't find anything with which to charge my iPod or my cellphone, and I've misplaced my mouse and the cord for my portable hard drive. Thus, large DivX files are clogging my laptop, my cellphone is dead and I can't play WoW on my machine. I have no idea what happened to any of these things. They went missing gradually. I've done multiple searches of my room, and I am stumped. If you really need to get ahold of me, call my house or e-mail me.
10/23/2007
The Soul, as Seen Through One's iPod
I found a meme while blog surfing where you write down the first 25 songs your iPod (or whatever you have) comes up with when you set it to shuffle. I contemplated maybe restricting my list to within my "Contemporary" playlist, at least, but using the whole library got interesting enough results. I'm surprised at the under-representation of classical music on here, as well as the over-representation of music that's been sitting in my library ever since I leant my mom my iPod years ago. Enjoy my editorial comments. ^_^
1. Chained to You –Savage Garden (Their first CD was so much better. This one's all about his divorce. And it's all pop-influenced, like they're trying to be a boy band. Blech.)
Paradise – Coolio (You know you loved it.)
3. White Houses – Vanessa Carlton (This didnt' do well as a radio single, and the whole album got dropped from promotion. That makes me sad.)
4. Chameleon – Martin/Waters (I know some of you may want to disown me for this, but I don't know this song. It's from one of the Jazz History CDs, and I don't think I listened to it beyond my need to pass that course.)
5. Every Other Time – Some Manufactured Boy Band (I can't remember the name of the group, but it's a hilarious song about a dysfunctional teenage relationship.)
6. Take a Picture – Filter (A One-Hit Wonder. Kind of too bad.)
7. You Don’t Mess Around with Jim – Jim Croce (One of my mom's. She got upset when I remarked on how similar some of his songs were, once. *sigh*)
8. Curbside Prophet – Jason Mraz (Another one whose commercial success stalled when I didn't want it to. :-( ...)
9. Heatnoise – Bruno Deazio (From a sampler CD of electroacoustic pieces Paul Stienhuissen gave my class the year he had to teach the introductory Music Technology course. I think I've listened to this song onece.)
10. Girl with the Flaxen Hair – Jens Lindemann (Debussy, of course. The opening track on Jens' first solo album. So pretty. And the double high Cs are in tune~!)
11. Before You – Chantal Kreviaszuk (I liked this song at one point. I'm kind of over it now.)
12. Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles (Another one of my mom's, but I don't mind having it on my iPod.)
13. Criss-Cross – Thelonious Monk (Ok, so maybe people don't have to *completely* disown me. I know this one.)
14. Heart of the House – Alanis Morissette (A quaint one from her second album, which, for some reason, people think of as being quaint on the whole. People can be stupid.)
15. Show Biz Kids – Steely Dan (From a greatest hits CD, a song I don't know all that well.)
16. Duncan – Paul Simon (Don't remember ever listening to this one, though I may have, what with Peter's love of Paul's music.)
17. Trumpet Concerto no 1 in Eb – Adagio – performed by Hakan Hardenberger (I don't feel like rummaging around to find something that will tell me *which* trumpet concerto this is--it's from a CD of a bunch of them, and, yes, I've listened to it several times.)
18. The Passportal – Team Sleep (from The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack, which I bought for the Chateau track. I've never listened to this song before.)
19. What a Scene – Goo Goo Dolls (Would've been a single from Gutterflower if the album's popularity had lasted enough. Not as carefully-crafted lyrics as the songs in Dizzy Up the Girl, but very recognizably a Goo Goo Dolls CD.)
20. Track 05 (A trumpet etude of some kind. I don't recognize it off the top of my head. I thought the only etudes I had on my iPod were Small etudes and Arbans, but I don't think this is either.)
21. Sex and Candy – Marcy Playground (A guilty pleasure. :-D)
22. Moody Blues – Elvis Presley (Another of my mom's. Again, I don't mind so much.)
23. Cecilia – Simon and Garfunkle (I remember dancing with the babysitter to this song years ago. Good times.)
24. Are You Still Mad – Alanis Morissette (Also from her second album. About being the bad guy in a relationship. I'd say, overall, that this album feels guilty.)
25. Good Mother – Jann Arden (I think I originally owned this on casette. Considering that I never bothered to buy any of her other albums, I'm surprised I bought this one on CD.)
I encourage you all to play along! :-)
1. Chained to You –
3. White Houses – Vanessa Carlton (This didnt' do well as a radio single, and the whole album got dropped from promotion. That makes me sad.)
4. Chameleon – Martin/Waters (I know some of you may want to disown me for this, but I don't know this song. It's from one of the Jazz History CDs, and I don't think I listened to it beyond my need to pass that course.)
5. Every Other Time – Some Manufactured Boy Band (I can't remember the name of the group, but it's a hilarious song about a dysfunctional teenage relationship.)
6. Take a Picture – Filter (A One-Hit Wonder. Kind of too bad.)
7. You Don’t Mess Around with Jim – Jim Croce (One of my mom's. She got upset when I remarked on how similar some of his songs were, once. *sigh*)
8. Curbside Prophet – Jason Mraz (Another one whose commercial success stalled when I didn't want it to. :-( ...)
9. Heatnoise – Bruno Deazio (From a sampler CD of electroacoustic pieces Paul Stienhuissen gave my class the year he had to teach the introductory Music Technology course. I think I've listened to this song onece.)
10. Girl with the Flaxen Hair – Jens Lindemann (Debussy, of course. The opening track on Jens' first solo album. So pretty. And the double high Cs are in tune~!)
11. Before You – Chantal Kreviaszuk (I liked this song at one point. I'm kind of over it now.)
12. Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles (Another one of my mom's, but I don't mind having it on my iPod.)
13. Criss-Cross – Thelonious Monk (Ok, so maybe people don't have to *completely* disown me. I know this one.)
14. Heart of the House – Alanis Morissette (A quaint one from her second album, which, for some reason, people think of as being quaint on the whole. People can be stupid.)
15. Show Biz Kids – Steely Dan (From a greatest hits CD, a song I don't know all that well.)
16. Duncan – Paul Simon (Don't remember ever listening to this one, though I may have, what with Peter's love of Paul's music.)
17. Trumpet Concerto no 1 in Eb – Adagio – performed by Hakan Hardenberger (I don't feel like rummaging around to find something that will tell me *which* trumpet concerto this is--it's from a CD of a bunch of them, and, yes, I've listened to it several times.)
18. The Passportal – Team Sleep (from The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack, which I bought for the Chateau track. I've never listened to this song before.)
19. What a Scene – Goo Goo Dolls (Would've been a single from Gutterflower if the album's popularity had lasted enough. Not as carefully-crafted lyrics as the songs in Dizzy Up the Girl, but very recognizably a Goo Goo Dolls CD.)
20. Track 05 (A trumpet etude of some kind. I don't recognize it off the top of my head. I thought the only etudes I had on my iPod were Small etudes and Arbans, but I don't think this is either.)
21. Sex and Candy – Marcy Playground (A guilty pleasure. :-D)
22. Moody Blues – Elvis Presley (Another of my mom's. Again, I don't mind so much.)
23. Cecilia – Simon and Garfunkle (I remember dancing with the babysitter to this song years ago. Good times.)
24. Are You Still Mad – Alanis Morissette (Also from her second album. About being the bad guy in a relationship. I'd say, overall, that this album feels guilty.)
25. Good Mother – Jann Arden (I think I originally owned this on casette. Considering that I never bothered to buy any of her other albums, I'm surprised I bought this one on CD.)
I encourage you all to play along! :-)
10/22/2007
Musings
I went to Starbucks this morning, and instead of giving me a latte with an extra shot of espresso, they gave me a latte with artificial sweetener in it. I don't usually mind the stuff, but today it's left a funny taste in my mouth...
Also, I have a tooth ache. Calamity!
I've been playing a lot of solitaire recently. It's actually quite amusing with my tablet pc and stylus. My parents play a lot of card games on the computer. I refuse to play Freecell because of my father's addiction to it, and the way it made him... unpleasant. My mom said that playing cards was something for him to do while he smoked. This was back when he still smoked, so maybe the unpleasant wasn't so much to do with the cards. In any case, I'd say that I play solitaire for something to do while I think. It's very soothing. And, every now and then, when I get the urge to smack something because of the thoughts going through my head, I can just be extra vigourous with the stylus. ^_^
I'm watching people around me leave the lab for 282. Yeah, there's a listening quiz that I don't feel like embarassing myself horribly on. I'm quite certain I'd get exactly no marks on it. I completely forgot about it. I was too busy thinking about the next paper due on Friday and the second mid-term next week. God, I hate that class.
As happens whenever I'm away from Drama for an extended period of time, I am currently missing acting. Not that I every really focused on acting--it's just the most, uh, active activity in Drama that I can't do on my own. Some of you may remember me expressing a similar sentiment last December while I was student teaching. I'm not even taking a Drama class, so I don't even know when 383/483 (the directing courses) auditions are. I'm taking 383 next term, though, so I imagine I'll be painfully aware of them then, as I scramble to find actors who are at least the correct gender for the characters in my scripts. I did a 383 scene about a year and a half ago where I played a guy. Poor director person I was working for, being late with choosing her actors and getting stuck with whomever was available. Then again, she was a designer, so I really shouldn't feel that bad for her. ^_^ I kid, I kid...
Somebody's practicing the timpani next door. I think I'll go take a nap.
Also, I have a tooth ache. Calamity!
I've been playing a lot of solitaire recently. It's actually quite amusing with my tablet pc and stylus. My parents play a lot of card games on the computer. I refuse to play Freecell because of my father's addiction to it, and the way it made him... unpleasant. My mom said that playing cards was something for him to do while he smoked. This was back when he still smoked, so maybe the unpleasant wasn't so much to do with the cards. In any case, I'd say that I play solitaire for something to do while I think. It's very soothing. And, every now and then, when I get the urge to smack something because of the thoughts going through my head, I can just be extra vigourous with the stylus. ^_^
I'm watching people around me leave the lab for 282. Yeah, there's a listening quiz that I don't feel like embarassing myself horribly on. I'm quite certain I'd get exactly no marks on it. I completely forgot about it. I was too busy thinking about the next paper due on Friday and the second mid-term next week. God, I hate that class.
As happens whenever I'm away from Drama for an extended period of time, I am currently missing acting. Not that I every really focused on acting--it's just the most, uh, active activity in Drama that I can't do on my own. Some of you may remember me expressing a similar sentiment last December while I was student teaching. I'm not even taking a Drama class, so I don't even know when 383/483 (the directing courses) auditions are. I'm taking 383 next term, though, so I imagine I'll be painfully aware of them then, as I scramble to find actors who are at least the correct gender for the characters in my scripts. I did a 383 scene about a year and a half ago where I played a guy. Poor director person I was working for, being late with choosing her actors and getting stuck with whomever was available. Then again, she was a designer, so I really shouldn't feel that bad for her. ^_^ I kid, I kid...
Somebody's practicing the timpani next door. I think I'll go take a nap.
10/19/2007
Tragedy, Feminism, Cubase and Bob
I just got out of 282, and I'm busy thinking about Tristan und Isolde. I'm not completely familiar with the story, so I'm not sure what all is said about the nature of their love, what with the (current) implication that love potion causes fake love. Thinking through it, though, it seems that the point is more the sameness of love and death. Falling in love, for the two characters, is the same thing as dying, just a slightly more protracted method. How Romantic. You know, I can't think of a real tragic love story, where it's tragedy because it's love. I have a kind of essay thing on my computer about how the Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliette is used to point out that love is Romeo's tragic flaw, or excess. It points this out by comparing it to more obvious tragic flaws, like lawyers who become greedy and soldiers who develop bloodlust. Yes, I wrote this for my own enjoyment. Shut up. In any case, though, this one feeble insistance is not really sufficient to bring the first half of the play into the realm of tragedy when it prefers to live in the realm of comedy. The idea of tragedy is predicated on an excess of something (for the context), and I've never seen that with love. Romeo and Juliette stops being a comedy when Mercutio dies because Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, but there's nothing really tragic about it. With Tristan und Isolde, the notion that love and death are the same thing makes their deaths more pathetic (literally, not colloquially) than tragic, since the death isn't caused by the love if they're the same thing--the death is caused by the potion. I'll shut up about this now.
In other news, there's a masterclass tomorrow with Manon Lafrance, a new trumpet player with the Canadian Brass. I am greatly looking forward to it. Lafrance is a woman, too, which is something I don't really care about, but is still likely relevant to her situation, since I don't think she's *that* young. I can only think of three professional musicians who are female trumpet players that I've met and didn't go to school with. One was a teacher one year at MusiCamerose, one is Angela and the other is Wendy. Neither Angela nore Wendy make their living as trumpet performers. I remember Doug saying, once, when he was still at the U of A, that music is often thought of as a feminine pursuit in this day and age, what with the expressiveness and emotion and such. It's all so odd to me. I tend to think of myself as somewhat of an end product of feminism. You've convinced me that gender roles are not binding, and that I can enjoy being girly or not as I wish, and I am capable of whatever I want within the laws of physics. In most ways, this is a good position to hold. In other ways, it makes me want to yell at people "You got it done, now shut up!" I appreciate that many people overcame adversity, and, largely, they're better for it, but this isn't an adversity that every woman has to overcome, especially if they don't care about it. Now talk about playing the trumpet, or whatever it is you're good at.
(There's a guy sitting in the row in front of me in the lab working with Cubase. That was the only portion of my Music Technology class that I did poorly on. I got a 64% on the MIDI assignment and an A- in the course. Cubase did *not* like me.)
Lastly, Bob DeFreece handed in his resignation/retirement letter on Wednesday. Despite the fact that this is my last year, that kind of saddens me...
In other news, there's a masterclass tomorrow with Manon Lafrance, a new trumpet player with the Canadian Brass. I am greatly looking forward to it. Lafrance is a woman, too, which is something I don't really care about, but is still likely relevant to her situation, since I don't think she's *that* young. I can only think of three professional musicians who are female trumpet players that I've met and didn't go to school with. One was a teacher one year at MusiCamerose, one is Angela and the other is Wendy. Neither Angela nore Wendy make their living as trumpet performers. I remember Doug saying, once, when he was still at the U of A, that music is often thought of as a feminine pursuit in this day and age, what with the expressiveness and emotion and such. It's all so odd to me. I tend to think of myself as somewhat of an end product of feminism. You've convinced me that gender roles are not binding, and that I can enjoy being girly or not as I wish, and I am capable of whatever I want within the laws of physics. In most ways, this is a good position to hold. In other ways, it makes me want to yell at people "You got it done, now shut up!" I appreciate that many people overcame adversity, and, largely, they're better for it, but this isn't an adversity that every woman has to overcome, especially if they don't care about it. Now talk about playing the trumpet, or whatever it is you're good at.
(There's a guy sitting in the row in front of me in the lab working with Cubase. That was the only portion of my Music Technology class that I did poorly on. I got a 64% on the MIDI assignment and an A- in the course. Cubase did *not* like me.)
Lastly, Bob DeFreece handed in his resignation/retirement letter on Wednesday. Despite the fact that this is my last year, that kind of saddens me...
10/17/2007
Random Things
I cannot believe that I got an 82% on my Music History mid-term. That came out to a B- and got me a comment of "Good start." I am slightly less worried now that I was before.
This afternoon is my Adolscent Development Ed Psych mid-term. This one will probably be fine, but I think that's more because a lot of this is just expanding on EDPY 200. I'm currently taking a break from panic-studying for it. Well, actually, I'm not panicking, but what else do you call studying three hours before the exam? The concept of diffused identity would sadden me if I wasn't so jaded, but, as it is, I just find it frustrating.
I am so very sleepy. I have no idea why, since I had a nice triple grande non-fat latte this morning. Maybe I should cut back on the caffeine so that it'll actually do something to me when I need it to. But then I'd be even worse off than I am right now, at least for the first while. Bah. I even made myself go to bed at midnight last night. It's not my fault I couldn't fall asleep until after 1:30. In my slow-but-steady collection of pictures for my own mood theme, I have recently acquired a picture that says "Oh, God, go to SLEEP, brain!" as well as one with the more broadly-applicable "Bad Brain!" I spend a lot of time yelling at my brain, it seems. ^_^
I'm taking myself grocery shopping after my mid-term this afternoon. I'm down to one microwave lasagna, one Easy Mac and half a bowl each of a couple of cereal. And I'm sick of only eating stuff like that. I think I'll go buy some more fruit. Maybe a flavoured cream cheese for bagels. Ooh, or some yogurt. Mmm, yogurt...
Oh, hey, Auntie Brenda's in the lab. Haven't seen her in a while. Time to go back to studying, though... -.-
This afternoon is my Adolscent Development Ed Psych mid-term. This one will probably be fine, but I think that's more because a lot of this is just expanding on EDPY 200. I'm currently taking a break from panic-studying for it. Well, actually, I'm not panicking, but what else do you call studying three hours before the exam? The concept of diffused identity would sadden me if I wasn't so jaded, but, as it is, I just find it frustrating.
I am so very sleepy. I have no idea why, since I had a nice triple grande non-fat latte this morning. Maybe I should cut back on the caffeine so that it'll actually do something to me when I need it to. But then I'd be even worse off than I am right now, at least for the first while. Bah. I even made myself go to bed at midnight last night. It's not my fault I couldn't fall asleep until after 1:30. In my slow-but-steady collection of pictures for my own mood theme, I have recently acquired a picture that says "Oh, God, go to SLEEP, brain!" as well as one with the more broadly-applicable "Bad Brain!" I spend a lot of time yelling at my brain, it seems. ^_^
I'm taking myself grocery shopping after my mid-term this afternoon. I'm down to one microwave lasagna, one Easy Mac and half a bowl each of a couple of cereal. And I'm sick of only eating stuff like that. I think I'll go buy some more fruit. Maybe a flavoured cream cheese for bagels. Ooh, or some yogurt. Mmm, yogurt...
Oh, hey, Auntie Brenda's in the lab. Haven't seen her in a while. Time to go back to studying, though... -.-
10/16/2007
A List of Changes I Have Observed
1. Breakfasts go in and out of fashion in FAB. When I was in first year, it was all about the French Toast from Eurasian Bistro. In second year, it changed to coffee and a loafer from Cookies by George. I was rather fond of that one. Bagels from Java Jive have been a constant undercurrent, the crew neck t-shirts of breakfast. Over the past while, I replaced getting breakfast from HUB with getting breakfast from Starbucks. Not that much more expensive, actually, if I'm reasonable about the caffeinated beverage I purchase. I don't know what's in fashion for breakfast right now in FAB. I wonder if breakfast sandwiches from Subway will ever catch on.
2. The introduction of exclamation!points into online language was something I kind of missed the start of. I was too stubborn about it--I liked my compoundwords. It's turned out to be a very useful application of a punctuation mark. I'm waiting for it to be adopted into search engines, much like the comma. I think the reason that inexperienced people have difficulty with the internet is that they don't know what to look for. I was sitting around the other day while my father was looking up prices on vacation packages to various beach!destinations, and he actually had a pretty good grasp on what he was doing. The exclamation!point is probably something he won't get for a while, though. The [square bracket] (yes, I know that's redundant, shut up) is a good cousin to the exclamation!point, and would probably be easily understood by people like my dad, but [brackets], unfortunately, have their own logical meaning already. It's bad enough that IMs turn math equations into a string of emoticons you didn't even know you could type.
3. My wardrobe has become more and more filled with Old Navy clothing lately. This makes sense, since I've been working there for about five months now, but it was something I was sort of hoping to avoid, for the most part. I'm actually dressed entirely in Old Navy clothing today, except for my shoes, which I wish people would stop buying so that we could stop selling them, because they're a pain to keep organized. Now, granted, my sweater is five years old and I love it to death, but I didn't decide to work at Old Navy because I liked the clothing. I'm actually rather apathetic about it. I wanted to work there because it was a big store and I'd be working with many people. If I wind up quitting sometime within the next few months, I think I'm going to do a purge of all the jeans I've purchased that I don't particularly care for. I won't feel bad about donating them, though, because I got them at either 40 or 50 percent off, for the most part, and they served an important function while I needed them.
4. The house I live in, along with every building that surrounds it for a one-mile radius, at least, is less than five years old. I remember being in my old house, which was the first thing that was *mroe* than five years old at the time, and thinking how crazy it was that everything was expanding so quickly. The housing boom in Edmonton can be attributed to a handful of things, most of which also explain housing booms across North America lately. When I lived in Blue Quill, there were the sounds of construction from the redoing of 23rd avenue behind my house. When I lived in Whitemud Hills, there was construction for the houses immediately surrounding me, then for the houses immediatly South. In my new house, there's construction all around me, and I've gotten way too many flat tires for my liking. I joke that it's not home without construction, because it's been there steadily for more or less my whole life. Each time I've moved, though, it's been farther into the middle of nowhere. I'm getting rather annoyed with it.
5. Many of my friends' blogs have been either neglected or abandonned entirely in recent months. Largely, this is due to the surge in popularity of Facebook. I find it interesting that it was Facebook that distracted people from Blogger, rather than something else. Things like MySpace and LiveJournal are centred around blogs, so despite their community aspects, they aren't that likely to lure people away from the blogs they already have. It's surprising, though, that Facebook, which, while it has a blog aspect to it, is rarely used as a blog, would *replace* Blogger. But I guess that Facebook is as much of an everything site as exists right now, especially with the addons. The supermarket of online social networking and communication. I want something a tad better, personally. Maybe if I made myself some sort of package deal with Facebook, Blogger, Livejournal and IM, I'd be happy. They should come out with that. Call it the "Never Be Alone Again" software bundle. Adapt it for cellphones.
2. The introduction of exclamation!points into online language was something I kind of missed the start of. I was too stubborn about it--I liked my compoundwords. It's turned out to be a very useful application of a punctuation mark. I'm waiting for it to be adopted into search engines, much like the comma. I think the reason that inexperienced people have difficulty with the internet is that they don't know what to look for. I was sitting around the other day while my father was looking up prices on vacation packages to various beach!destinations, and he actually had a pretty good grasp on what he was doing. The exclamation!point is probably something he won't get for a while, though. The [square bracket] (yes, I know that's redundant, shut up) is a good cousin to the exclamation!point, and would probably be easily understood by people like my dad, but [brackets], unfortunately, have their own logical meaning already. It's bad enough that IMs turn math equations into a string of emoticons you didn't even know you could type.
3. My wardrobe has become more and more filled with Old Navy clothing lately. This makes sense, since I've been working there for about five months now, but it was something I was sort of hoping to avoid, for the most part. I'm actually dressed entirely in Old Navy clothing today, except for my shoes, which I wish people would stop buying so that we could stop selling them, because they're a pain to keep organized. Now, granted, my sweater is five years old and I love it to death, but I didn't decide to work at Old Navy because I liked the clothing. I'm actually rather apathetic about it. I wanted to work there because it was a big store and I'd be working with many people. If I wind up quitting sometime within the next few months, I think I'm going to do a purge of all the jeans I've purchased that I don't particularly care for. I won't feel bad about donating them, though, because I got them at either 40 or 50 percent off, for the most part, and they served an important function while I needed them.
4. The house I live in, along with every building that surrounds it for a one-mile radius, at least, is less than five years old. I remember being in my old house, which was the first thing that was *mroe* than five years old at the time, and thinking how crazy it was that everything was expanding so quickly. The housing boom in Edmonton can be attributed to a handful of things, most of which also explain housing booms across North America lately. When I lived in Blue Quill, there were the sounds of construction from the redoing of 23rd avenue behind my house. When I lived in Whitemud Hills, there was construction for the houses immediately surrounding me, then for the houses immediatly South. In my new house, there's construction all around me, and I've gotten way too many flat tires for my liking. I joke that it's not home without construction, because it's been there steadily for more or less my whole life. Each time I've moved, though, it's been farther into the middle of nowhere. I'm getting rather annoyed with it.
5. Many of my friends' blogs have been either neglected or abandonned entirely in recent months. Largely, this is due to the surge in popularity of Facebook. I find it interesting that it was Facebook that distracted people from Blogger, rather than something else. Things like MySpace and LiveJournal are centred around blogs, so despite their community aspects, they aren't that likely to lure people away from the blogs they already have. It's surprising, though, that Facebook, which, while it has a blog aspect to it, is rarely used as a blog, would *replace* Blogger. But I guess that Facebook is as much of an everything site as exists right now, especially with the addons. The supermarket of online social networking and communication. I want something a tad better, personally. Maybe if I made myself some sort of package deal with Facebook, Blogger, Livejournal and IM, I'd be happy. They should come out with that. Call it the "Never Be Alone Again" software bundle. Adapt it for cellphones.
10/12/2007
Of a Friday
Today I learned about the Eater Egg-esque cryptograms in Robert Schumann's music and I am thoroughly delighted. I *heart* Romantic music.
I'm currently doing a little dance of "no afternoon classes today!" When I'm done Choral Tech, I'm heading to work to pick up my schedule and (finally) change my availability so that I can actually schedule appointments with my doctor (who's now working Monday afternoons only), and then I'm going to go home and veg. I haven't decided if it will be in front of the computer or in front of the tv, but it will enjoyable. :-)
My brother left last night. I was wondering where my parents were when I got out of rehearsal at 6:30, and when I called my mom's cell, they were at the airport, along with Chris' mom and stepdad. Apparantly, everybody cried except for Jim (the stepdad). I don't know if I've ever seen my dad cry before. It's an odd thought. It's also an odd thought that my dad would be so upset at Chris leaving when my dad used to go years without even remembering his birthday. I guess things have changed in the past few years, and it's not that I ever thought that my dad didn't love Chris, but... people are odd and act in self-contradictory ways.
My nose is dry and sore in spots. This is actually a good thing, since it's been running like mad the past few months, and a change hopefully means that the treatment for the mould is working. Yay, no more mould! Yay, no more chronic respiratory annoyance!
Random craving: tequila. And it's 10:30 in the morning.
Amusing fact: my dog has started to snore. It's ridiculously cute. ^_^
I'm rambling now. Stupid not getting enough sleep. More tequila!
I'm currently doing a little dance of "no afternoon classes today!" When I'm done Choral Tech, I'm heading to work to pick up my schedule and (finally) change my availability so that I can actually schedule appointments with my doctor (who's now working Monday afternoons only), and then I'm going to go home and veg. I haven't decided if it will be in front of the computer or in front of the tv, but it will enjoyable. :-)
My brother left last night. I was wondering where my parents were when I got out of rehearsal at 6:30, and when I called my mom's cell, they were at the airport, along with Chris' mom and stepdad. Apparantly, everybody cried except for Jim (the stepdad). I don't know if I've ever seen my dad cry before. It's an odd thought. It's also an odd thought that my dad would be so upset at Chris leaving when my dad used to go years without even remembering his birthday. I guess things have changed in the past few years, and it's not that I ever thought that my dad didn't love Chris, but... people are odd and act in self-contradictory ways.
My nose is dry and sore in spots. This is actually a good thing, since it's been running like mad the past few months, and a change hopefully means that the treatment for the mould is working. Yay, no more mould! Yay, no more chronic respiratory annoyance!
Random craving: tequila. And it's 10:30 in the morning.
Amusing fact: my dog has started to snore. It's ridiculously cute. ^_^
I'm rambling now. Stupid not getting enough sleep. More tequila!
10/10/2007
Ugh
It's Wednesday morning and I feel like crap. I'm exhausted, even though I slept for seven hours last night and I just had a long weekend, and my chest feels really weird. I think it's from stress. Or frustration. Isn't the latter a type of the former? *sigh* Why do I live my life in a near-constant state of wanting to hit things? I don't even know what I want to hit. *another sigh*
I got back my "paper" from my Music History class today. I got an 80, which is fine. There were a lot of markings on the page, though. I don't know whether it was the TA or the prof (I'm pretty sure it was the TA), but one of them seems to have been given a grammar nazi stick and no grammar textbook. There's a long explanation about how I supposedly use the wrong subject for the second half of one of my sentences near the end of the paper, and bits of it have been flat-out reworded, and the new words don't mean the same thing as what I originally wrote. Even if I *did* phrase something incorrectly, why would anybody reword it? That's not an exercise in grammar, that's an exercise in following instructions blindly.
*falls asleep*
*wakes up*
*is frustrated*
In other news, the furnace in my house is broken. We had no heat whatsoever for a couple of days. It's working halfway now, though, and should be fixed completely tomorrow. We've had about five different people come to fix it over the past couple of weeks, and each until the latest guy has said that it needed to be dealt with by a different kind of tradesman. The current diagnosis is a low voltage short circuit, so we've currently got electricians poking at it, but since nobody could stay home today, they couldn't come to finish the job they started yesterday.
Thanksgiving was good. Saturday night was dinner at my place with my parents, my brother, Peter and myself. My brother gets on a plane to move to the UK tomorrow evening. I can't go with him to the airport because I have class and rehearsal. Sunday was dinner at Peter's dad's place. Andy and Simone, Dave and Sheryl, and Peter and I were there. There *wasn't* an insane overabundance of vegetables. ^_^ I ate waaaaaay too much on both nights. :-)
I have Choral Tech in ten minutes. Today's lecture is on concert programming. This course is so redundant. It's fun, and I love Bob, but I've taken courses on how to run a music program and how to conduct a choir. Now that I've got IPA more or less under my belt, there's not really anything new for me to learn. What with the exhaustion and the feeling like my body is trying to wrap itself in around the centre of my chest, I am so very tempted to just go home and go back to bed.
*falls asleep again*
*wakes up*
*is sad*
I got back my "paper" from my Music History class today. I got an 80, which is fine. There were a lot of markings on the page, though. I don't know whether it was the TA or the prof (I'm pretty sure it was the TA), but one of them seems to have been given a grammar nazi stick and no grammar textbook. There's a long explanation about how I supposedly use the wrong subject for the second half of one of my sentences near the end of the paper, and bits of it have been flat-out reworded, and the new words don't mean the same thing as what I originally wrote. Even if I *did* phrase something incorrectly, why would anybody reword it? That's not an exercise in grammar, that's an exercise in following instructions blindly.
*falls asleep*
*wakes up*
*is frustrated*
In other news, the furnace in my house is broken. We had no heat whatsoever for a couple of days. It's working halfway now, though, and should be fixed completely tomorrow. We've had about five different people come to fix it over the past couple of weeks, and each until the latest guy has said that it needed to be dealt with by a different kind of tradesman. The current diagnosis is a low voltage short circuit, so we've currently got electricians poking at it, but since nobody could stay home today, they couldn't come to finish the job they started yesterday.
Thanksgiving was good. Saturday night was dinner at my place with my parents, my brother, Peter and myself. My brother gets on a plane to move to the UK tomorrow evening. I can't go with him to the airport because I have class and rehearsal. Sunday was dinner at Peter's dad's place. Andy and Simone, Dave and Sheryl, and Peter and I were there. There *wasn't* an insane overabundance of vegetables. ^_^ I ate waaaaaay too much on both nights. :-)
I have Choral Tech in ten minutes. Today's lecture is on concert programming. This course is so redundant. It's fun, and I love Bob, but I've taken courses on how to run a music program and how to conduct a choir. Now that I've got IPA more or less under my belt, there's not really anything new for me to learn. What with the exhaustion and the feeling like my body is trying to wrap itself in around the centre of my chest, I am so very tempted to just go home and go back to bed.
*falls asleep again*
*wakes up*
*is sad*
10/03/2007
Slow Morning
It's Wednesday morning and I should be in 282 right now. I'm half an hour late, though, which is good enough reason to not bother, according to me. Traffic was crazy and a half this morning, so even though I left at a reasonable time, I've just now arrived at school. Oh, well. I stopped by Starbucks and got a scone and a triple latte, so I enjoyed a good sit in traffic. I wish the latte would kick in now, though.
(There's a rather creepy noise in the computer lab. It's a kind of rattling sucking sound every few seconds, like the room is trying to breathe through pneumonia. I have no idea what it is, but it's been steady since I got here.)
I don't really have much to say today, but blogging is a nice way to get my brain up and running. I should almost just go home and go back to bed. My next class is cancelled because Bob DeFreece is in Idaho, and my next class after that isn't until 1. Even that one I may be skipping to go see a visiting conductor talk to the 315 class. He's here for a while, though, and listening to him talk to the introductory conducting class might not be all that exciting. Annoyingly enough, the one thing I really should (and want to) do today, I can't. There's a review session for my first 282 midterm today at 4, but I can't go because I have to be at work for 5. Stupid work. At least I get to be a cashier today, rather than being in the fitting rooms, like I have been soooooo often lately. The review session is with the TA, too, so it would be nice to get another person talking about some of the things that I'm supposed to know, but I guess I'll have to make due with the sheet of key terms we were given, along with the textbook and the CDs, of course. God, I hate that course.
Come on, latte... Oh, I give up.
(There's a rather creepy noise in the computer lab. It's a kind of rattling sucking sound every few seconds, like the room is trying to breathe through pneumonia. I have no idea what it is, but it's been steady since I got here.)
I don't really have much to say today, but blogging is a nice way to get my brain up and running. I should almost just go home and go back to bed. My next class is cancelled because Bob DeFreece is in Idaho, and my next class after that isn't until 1. Even that one I may be skipping to go see a visiting conductor talk to the 315 class. He's here for a while, though, and listening to him talk to the introductory conducting class might not be all that exciting. Annoyingly enough, the one thing I really should (and want to) do today, I can't. There's a review session for my first 282 midterm today at 4, but I can't go because I have to be at work for 5. Stupid work. At least I get to be a cashier today, rather than being in the fitting rooms, like I have been soooooo often lately. The review session is with the TA, too, so it would be nice to get another person talking about some of the things that I'm supposed to know, but I guess I'll have to make due with the sheet of key terms we were given, along with the textbook and the CDs, of course. God, I hate that course.
Come on, latte... Oh, I give up.
10/01/2007
Pre-Meta
I totally missed the handing out of a 282 assignment sometime last week, so when I walked into class and people were handing them in, I was not impressed with myself. Now I'm starting to worry about my grade in that course. Note to self: don't fail. That would add another 8 months to your degree (counting summer). I've never failed a course before, though, even when I've done things like consciously skip the midterm, so I'm not *that* worried. There's just more at stake for the courses I'm taking right now, what with not having the time to take them over. Dragging myself out of bed first thing on a Monday morning to learn about sonata form and Felix Mendelssohn doesn't make for a happy me, though, so I'll have to fight the temptation to just plain not show up.
In less boring news, it occured to me the other day that Peter and I are rapidly approaching our 4-year anniversary. It's about 2 months away. That floored me. I haven't gotten to see him much over the past week or so. :-( I've had to stay at home so that my dog wasn't left alone while my parents were in Vancouver. Amusing tidbit: I had no idea why they were in Vancouver--I asked them when they came back yesterday. Turned out it was for a judges' conference. Why they had a conference for provincial judges in Vancouver is beyond me. I find it funny that my parents are gone enough that it never even occured to me to ask why they were leaving. Another amusing tidbit: My mom told me this morning that she had no idea where my dad had gone or when he'd be back. He may be back at 2pm today, having only been as far as St. Albert, or he may be in Cold Lake for the week. At least I'm not the only one oblivious to the travellings of my immediate family. ^_^
But, yeah, four years is... impressive to me. *is slightly thunderstruck*
Time to go organize the flurry of papers that are slowly but surely taking over my binder before I head to class. I lead such an exciting life... And to think, I was going to start this post talking about formalism amd meta-formalism. Which is worse according to you guys: mundane happenings or dry ponderings?
In less boring news, it occured to me the other day that Peter and I are rapidly approaching our 4-year anniversary. It's about 2 months away. That floored me. I haven't gotten to see him much over the past week or so. :-( I've had to stay at home so that my dog wasn't left alone while my parents were in Vancouver. Amusing tidbit: I had no idea why they were in Vancouver--I asked them when they came back yesterday. Turned out it was for a judges' conference. Why they had a conference for provincial judges in Vancouver is beyond me. I find it funny that my parents are gone enough that it never even occured to me to ask why they were leaving. Another amusing tidbit: My mom told me this morning that she had no idea where my dad had gone or when he'd be back. He may be back at 2pm today, having only been as far as St. Albert, or he may be in Cold Lake for the week. At least I'm not the only one oblivious to the travellings of my immediate family. ^_^
But, yeah, four years is... impressive to me. *is slightly thunderstruck*
Time to go organize the flurry of papers that are slowly but surely taking over my binder before I head to class. I lead such an exciting life... And to think, I was going to start this post talking about formalism amd meta-formalism. Which is worse according to you guys: mundane happenings or dry ponderings?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)