Christmas came early December 19, 2009

The best Christmas present ever is to be done with the semester from hell! Twelve hours ago I turned in my grades for the class I teach at the junior college and thus ended my semester. Breathe a sigh of relief, me. You’re done!

Yesterday (I guess it’s technically the day before yesterday now, since it’s after midnight… but whatever) after I gave my final at the j.c. I rushed home to get my turkey in the oven only to discover that it still wasn’t thawed out. I replaced the water that it was soaking in and hoped for the best, but it was still slightly frozen inside when I started to stuff it with lots of yummy aromatics… onion, celery, carrots, rosemary, thyme (both fresh), bay leaves, butter, salt and pepper… I was incredibly nervous about it not being done when everybody got there for the party, but it finished at the perfect time, and the gravy I made (with the help of my new favorite person, who I just met two days ago) was the best gravy I’ve ever tasted. It was the herbs. OMG! I will never do a chicken or turkey plain again! (This was my first turkey, and the first time I’ve ever stuffed a bird with anything.) I also made my mom’s fantabulous stuffing and some roasted garlic and rosemary mashed potatoes. New-Favorite-Person and his boyfriend brought a yule log cake. It was delicious and gorgeous.

Anyhow… so that dinner party was a Christmas/end of finals/Songbird’s birthday party. We had a good turnout, good food, and a lot of laughs, so I would call it a success. Since she and Mosquito are headed up north tomorrow to spend the holidays with their families, we opened her birthday gifts and our Christmas gifts tonight. She gave me a fantastic cookbook that I’m having fun reading.

It’s divided into menus, and each meal has a short story to go with it. Some of the recipes I could do without… I’m no fan of seafood, so I’m not all that into the crab recipes. But I’m excited to try some of them, such as the Chicken with Lemon, Garlic, and Fresh Bay Leaves and Lemon Roasted Fingerling Potatoes. Mmmm…. Sounds yummy!

In other reading… For her birthday I bought Songbird The Inner Game of Music. So far I’ve only read the first chapter, but I’m excited to read the rest (after she has read it, of course). It sounds very interesting and the techniques it talks about for improving skills and letting go sound very promising.

Aside from that, I’ve spent most of the day translating Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore.” It’s a daunting task. I typed up the libretto for the first act and have translated up to Dulcamara’s entrance. My brain hurts! For the most part it’s going well, but there are some spots that are tricky. Whether it’s idiomatic expressions or antiquated forms of Italian words, I don’t know. Probably a bit of both. I have to have the whole thing translated and learned (I’m singing Adina) by the Tuesday of the first week of the semester. I’ve got just over a month to get it all done, plus learn the rest of my music for the semester, because I’m determined to do better this spring. I also have to get ready to teach my voice class next semester, which means revising my syllabus and tweaking a few things that didn’t quite work this time around, and I have to choose new music for about 10 private voice students and get it copied. I’ve got a busy break ahead of me.

I have one other thing planned for this break aside from relaxing as much as possible – I have to get into shape! Or into better shape anyhow. I’ve got too far to go to totally get into shape. Over the past year and a half I have gained about 15 pounds. I’ve gotta get some of that off. I’m starting to feel the way it’s affecting my health. It’s not extreme, but it’s there, and I don’t like it. And of course I don’t like the way I look when I’m overweight. (I was already about 15 pounds overweight before this last 15.) To feel better and to feel better about the way I look I MUST start working out and eating better.

Anyhow… It’s now 1:20 am, so I think I should try to get some sleep.

New Quote December 14, 2009

Ok, so I like quotes. I am in the university library working on a project on contemporary American art song, and I came across this quote in one of my CD cases:

“As a performer I think composers are the cat’s meow. With pitches and rhythm (and often words), they create an incredible world that a performer can enter and respond to so that those who listen to this ‘music’ can open doors to worlds in their own imaginations that never existed before.” –Tom Bogdan

I am not overly impressed by this guy’s singing (I got the CD for his recording of Hundley’s “Come Ready and See Me”), but I like the quote. I’ve always heard books described this way… doorways to amazing new worlds that we can never visit in reality. I like music being described that way too. It seems apropriate.

Ah, finals, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… umm… umm…………. December 11, 2009

Actually, finals don’t scare me like they used to. Finals week actually sounds relaxing after the last month or so. :/ No, it’s not finals that stress me out… It’s the week BEFORE finals week, and I have the cold to prove it! I just finished my DMA paper and emailed it to the prof… All 59 pages of it. I think that’s my record so far, although there are far more tables and such at the end than actual writing. Yesterday I had my final singing exam, and I was sick for it. Lovely! Luckily I only had to sing one song, but I still screwed it up. Go me. Before that it was a discography for my vocal literature class, and before that the workbook and take-home test for Italian. (Totally zoned out on the chapter, so I had no idea what I was doing.) Before that the concerto competition, and before that the opera performances, and it goes on and on…

Anyhow… It’s been stressful. Teaching with this cold was hell yesterday. In fact, I was told that I looked like hell several times, twice by professors. I might have been offended, but it was true. I really did look like hell. I feel (and look) slightly better today. At least my eyes aren’t as red and puffy.

So now I don’t have anything due till Wednesday… I’ve got a test in German, a take-home final in Italian, and a presentation to give in vocal lit about contemporary American art song. And then on Thursday I get to give a final. Thursday night is Songbird’s birthday/Christmas party. So I’ve still got a lot to do, but no classes to get in the way. There is light at the end of this tunnel!

Right now I am going to go watch a movie and let my sickly little self rest a while.

To DMA or not to DMA? December 5, 2009

My voice teacher assigned me a research project: pick 4 DMA programs, find out as much as I can about them, and then write a 20 page paper about them. So far I’ve got 20+ pages of appendices and I’ve written 3 pages about CU-Boulder. I’ve got a long ways to go…

I almost died today December 3, 2009

Today as I was driving home from work (an hour drive along a busy freeway), a very determined jackass tried to run me off the road. He passed me, but didn’t have enough room. His massive van pushed my little bitty car half way into the median (luckily just a dirt median). I’m ok, but rather shaken up. I’ve never been so close to actually having a car accident.

Great Quote December 2, 2009

“If you get put on Santa’s naughty list for having a large carbon footprint, does he still give you coal in your stocking?”

Thank you Morosoph! (about whom a professor once commented, “For the sarcastic, heresy comes much easier.”)

FYI: A morosoph is a learned fool, and it is a nickname of his own choosing.

Quick Post December 2, 2009

1. I have far too much to do in too little time. Ugh.

2. I am fickle. Sigh.

3. I cannot abide teachers who do not teach (doing nothing but playing cd’s every day in class does not count as teaching) and then lose their students’ papers and blame it on the students. GRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Songbird and Mosquito November 30, 2009

I have two roommates. They are both about 10 years younger than me, which can make for some “interesting” dynamics… One is a voice major, a Songbird, like me. We have our moments, but for the most part we get along quite well. Those moments tend to be the result of spending too much time together and are usually remedied by spending time with other friends for a few days. The other roommate came as a package deal with Songbird… (They have been friends since junior high and needed a place to live that was closer to campus… I needed roommates so I would have enough money to pay my bills.) This one is a Mosquito… Irritating in the extreme. For several months I was simply indifferent, but I have reached my limit and now I simply can’t stand her. I wish I could describe exactly what it is about her that I find so annoying, but I can’t find the words. Soon Songbird and I have to tell her that come June we will be moving to a new place without her… It could be… interesting.

The past 2 weeks… November 28, 2009

The last couple weeks were absolutely insane! Production week was tiring, but went more quickly than I had expected. At the beginning of the week I was scared that there was no way we were going to be able to put the show together in time, but by Thursday I was fairly confident that it would be ok. Saturday’s show was best, although Sunday we had a bigger audience. It was almost packed! That was a nice sight.I went out with Nice Guy after the show on Saturday. I had a good time. Ok, I must admit that although he’s not particularly attractive physically, I am really starting to like him.

Tuesday was the school concerto competition. There were close to 30 competitors. Considering that I was the only singer amongst a bunch of pianists and instrumentalists, I doubt I made it into the finals. I’ll find out in a few days, though. Honestly, part of me hopes I didn’t make it… I’ve got enough stuff on my plate without another round of that competition.

There are only two weeks of classes left before finals, and I have a ton of work to do! I have a 20 page paper to write that I’ve done next to nothing on. Other than that it’s the usual… tests, assignments, small projects, a few more songs to learn and memorize. (Oh shit! I still have to memorize my music from the beginning of the semester that I haven’t looked at since September!)

And suddenly all holiday spirit is gone… I started wrapping a few Christmas presents today. Yesterday I decorated a bit. I put up the tree and set out some of my holiday candles. I have to wait for the rest until my roommates get back from up north. They spent Thanksgiving with their families and I’ve been home most of the break… I did spend the day with my family on Thanksgiving, but I chose to drive back home the same day. I guess I’m just a home body. I don’t get my apartment to myself very often, so when I do I like to enjoy it as much as possible.

Ugh! I guess I better go get to work on some homework. Either that or finish cleaning the apartment… I’ve done quite a bit of cleaning since Wednesday, but the kitchen and dining room are still disastrous.

St. Theresa’s Prayer November 20, 2009

I’m sure I’ve read this before, but I just came across it again and really liked it:

St. Theresa’s Prayer:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

This somehow seems very poignant right now. I am in the middle of production week for an opera scenes show. I’ve had a full week of classes and work plus long rehearsals every night this week. Last night was tech and tonight is our final dress rehearsal. We open tomorrow! We’re still ironing out problems with costumes and set changes, not to mention the problems that some of our singers are still having with the music. About two weeks ago I was asked to cover two parts for a girl who suddenly had a schedule conflict, so I’ve had to learn her music and staging in a hurry. Can we say stressed! And sleep deprived! Soon I will go get Starbucks for the second time today so that I have enough energy to make it through tonight’s rehearsal…

This morning Nice Guy bought me coffee after our German test. It was very sweet of him. I was really expecting to do poorly on that test, but it was surprisingly easy. The verbs that were asked just happened to be the five (out of about 30) that I actually knew, and the professor didn’t make me do the speaking part of the exam. I suppose I should stop psyching myself out about these tests.

Stupid is also in that class, but being his usual idiotic self, he didn’t show up today. In fact, he’s missed the past couple of weeks. He’s been at school, just not in that class. He knew about the test… I told him about it last week. I don’t understand some people’s mentality.

Hmm…  Now I have an hour and a half before rehearsal. To take a short nap or to go get Starbucks? Decisions…