Back to the Grind

I am back at school, actually, I have been since yesterday, but I didn't really feel like blogging until after the internet went out. Ew. I couldn't believe that the internet would go out over the whole campus that I could tell. The tech support guys didn't even know until this morning and they fixed it lickety split.

Oh also, if you are reading this, yay for you! You know who you are.

An editorial I wrote was published in the South County Spotlight. I was pretty proud of that article and having it published is nice, even if it is only a small town paper. Since I was published that means that tonight in my writing class we get to have a party, out instructor is bringing snacks and everything. I just thought I would let you all know.

Here is my editorial:

Many people in this country agree that our public schools are going downhill. Students from other countries far out-pace our own in the fields of mathematics and science, and even the knowledge of the native language. How can we let this happen to our future? We must take steps to ensure that our children get the well rounded education they need. If children are our future don't we want them to lead as best they can?

The most appalling lack in our current system of education is a thorough grounding in music; which is a great basis to built everything else on. For people throughout the ages, music was a crucial part of culture, religion, education, history, not to mention everyday life. They taught their children about life and their world using song and story. It was absolutely inseparable from many cultures' form of education.

Having been fortunate enough to have a family life filled with music I can understand the value of starting young. At the age of three one doesn't necessarily know that singing in front of people should be nerve wracking or scary. This helps to create a confidence that will carry across into other areas of one's life. Confidence is key in academia; we must try things that have never been done before. To essay is really to try, to attempt. Without confidence how can that happen?

It is our job to stand up for the rights of our children and our future. Learning about music should not be a privilege, but a valued aspect of the educational environment. We must all strive to leave a strong legacy, and right the wrong being done to our children by demoting them to mediocrity.

Spooky

Introducing the Puppini Sisters.

Plus...um, well actually plus nothing. Just enjoy!

Home!

Here I am at home, nice! I am so glad to be here. It always feels good to be here and relax away from school. Although it would be nice if I actually had a REAL BED!!!! (Thanks, Mom)

I may not be blogging a lot in the coming week since I will be acting the part of the lazy college student, and ignoring my homework...so what's new, right? Yay, so I plan to be a bum, hang on the couch, go to the beach, and listen to music...

Have a nice break(if you have one) and I will blog to you all soon!

Finally!

My friend who has been promising to visit me since I moved finally came tonight! He called me during class and wanted directions to get here since he was on his way. about 45 minutes later we were together, for the first time since January. Yay!

I didn't think he would ever come...but he did. I am glad to have seen him especially since we have so much fun when we are together, like taking down christmas lights at 2am in the rain, or bowling and then staying out till about 3am. Good times.

Tonight was good though, we went to Powell's and to Jake's. Let me just say...yum. Pretty much everything rocked, except that damned oyster. Why the heck do I let him con me into so much. I mean really...

But anyway...I think that is enough for now, I might actually head off to bed earlyish tonight, as I am sleepy from the digesting of food. (Glorious Food!)

Musical Geek-out Alert!

You should expect it fairly frequently now that I am living music more than I have since I started this blog. I went to my parents concert earlier today and really enjoyed it. It also reminded me why I am a music major. I LOVE CHOIR! They performed the world premiere of The Ballad of Jesse James, which was awesome. But, they followed it with a number of Americana octavos and one just freaking amazing piece called The Quest Unending composed by Joseph M. Martin. Can you say gorgeous! I am now obsessed. So I went through some of the music I have saved from choral festivals and my head for other pieces I just can't live without. So here is a partial list of choral pieces I adore. Remember, this is just a partial list, if you have any others to add let me know...but here you go

The Quest Unending; Joseph M Martin
Omnia Sol; Z. Randall Stroop
The Awakening; Joseph M Martin
Requiem; Mozart
Carmina Burana; Carl Orff
Requiem; Faure
It Is Well With My Soul; Phillip P Bliss, Arranged by Tom Fettke
Oh Magnum Mysterium; Morten Lauridsen
Lux Aurumque; Eric Whitacre(that is this video, I don't know which choir it is but I LOVE THIS ONE! especially the soprano sustained note for about 40 seconds!!!)
Alleluia; Randall Thompson
Ave Verum Corpus; W.A Mozart
There Will Be Rest; Frank Tichelli
Amor de mi Alma; Z. Randall Stroop
The Last Words of David; Randall Thompson
The Rune of Hospitality; Alf Houkom
Shanendoah; Arr. James Erb
She Walks in Beauty; arr, Tom Fettke
A Glimpse of Snow and Evergreen; Vijay Singh

This is possibly enough of a geek out for one night, especially since I have a psychology test in the morning. I hope you have enjoyed this especially geeky time with me. I personally had a lot of fun with it.

Amor, y Musica!

Campfire Songs

Today I was procrastinating on finishing a paper and stumbled across a website that has all the lyrics to a bunch of summercamp songs. The website is geared to scout camp, which I never went to but since I was a musical girl scout I know a bunch of them. It brought me back to my summers spent at Camp Adams. I love it there, it is still one of my favorite places on the planet.

It put me in mind of some of the amazing songs we sang during campfire, which were not featured on the scoutsongs.com site. Wow, those were the days. One Tin Soldier, so brings me back, I even looked it up so I could hear it. I am fairly positive that I freaked my roommate out; she never went to summer camp and looked at me like I was crazy when I sang the Brownie Smile song, she has also never heard The Noble Duke of York...wierdo!

So, here is a list of some of my favorite either Girl Scout or Camp Adams songs:
One Tin Soldier
Boom Chick-a-Boom(Janitor style is the best!)
Noble Duke of York (Or the more popular version Noble captain Kirk)
Today (the John Denver song)
Make New Friends
Swing Low Sweet Chariot (with all approriate hand motions)
Barges (with harmony of course)
When E'er You Make A Promise
Land of Oden
Buzzard Song
Banjo Song (I u-lo-sed to plalay)
Black Socks (They never get dirty)
The Cat Came Back (they outlawed it after a couple years since it is so violent and not-church campy enough)

This is all I can think of for the moment, I will probably think of some in a moment. I know there are more from Camp Adams, especially worshipy-er songs. Enjoy!

One of My Music Geek-Outs

Here is a video of Snow Patrol's song "Open You Eyes" The video is not the important part of this posting. If anyone wants to hear one of the coolest moments it is right at the 4 minute mark. Just something about the strings underneath with the building tension just gives me shivers. seriously, the first time I heard this I was like...What was that! I did not expect a moment like that out of Snow Patrol. No offense to anyone who is a die hard, but they are pretty good, but I wouldn't necessarily say genius band.

Obviously though they appeal to the public alot. However this moment just makes me quiver...yes, I said quiver. This post just went to a whole different place, although I have heard of those musical moments of awe described as musical orgasms....ANYWAYS

I am in the midst of a show and have been lazy the lst few days about posting, so I thought since I was up I might as well post this.

Oh, My Head!

So, it seems the migraine I thought was gone was only pretending. Although I am not sure, a headache looms after I spend too much time in one place (like in front of the computer), or in fluorescent lights. Naps or walks seem to help them dull down to a quieter sort of roar. It is driving me nuts. Midterms and papers are conspiring to make me do exactly what I need to avoid. Not to mention I am relearning all of my choir music since I am switching to alto for this concert. Oh well, such is life.

Hopefully this weekend I can come up with a solution to my head-problem (No, not the head-dumb problem, thank you very much!). And, perhaps I will actually get to spend time with my dear friend, who promised to come visit me and has yet to.

Whatever!

That's about all I have today/tonight. I think I will try to get to be a bit early tonight, since I have a big day tomorrow.

Kids! (What The Devils Wrong With These Kids Today!)

I am not blogging today about Bye Bye Birdie! I am writing about a problem I have; maybe it isn't so much my problem but a problem others see in me and I in them.

First of all, I love kids, always have, since I was a kid myself I would be drawn to babies and smaller children. I still am... I was interacting with a group of kids at a birthday party for my nephew and was shocked to hear...yet again "You are so great with kids, When are you going to start your family?" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Just because I am no longer a teenager and I like kids is no reason for me to start a family.

I am so not ready for that. The plan is in place...well most of it: finish school, live life for a while, find someone, then...maybe have kids. I'm still not really sure I want to have kids. The thought actually frightens me. I am more than happy to change diapers and potty train and all that, but actually being responsible for someone else's life completely from beginning to adulthood just makes my stomach churn. Plus, I have always thought about adoption.

At this point in my life, it is not at the top of my list to have my future completely planned out in advance. Plans can change, but I am determined to put my education first. The same thing goes for dating as having kids....although without nearly the emphasis. I am not PLANNING on having a relationship, but if something were to happen I wouldn't fight it...just NO KIDS!!!

Love kids, just not today.

In other news, the weather was gorgeous today and I got to spend some of it outside! Woohoo for that.

There may be pictures to come of the Power Rangers Birthday Party. Otherwise known as massive crowd control and sugar...lots and lots of sugar.

I leave you with this final though taken from the save energy posters posted on the bathroom stall doors..Peace, love, and granola

Creepy Horoscope

As I was logging on to my computer, my horoscope was right there on my homepage. Generally I have a giggle since they are so generic, but today...it is uncanny have a look:

You have been overly expressive, without necessarily being too productive. Now, however, it's time to keep to yourself. You can effectively work behind the scenes and it can even feel more fulfilling than being seen. You are relieved that the spotlight is on someone else for a while. Keep in mind that this is temporary; you'll be back on stage in a couple of months.
By Rick Levine
Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Odd, right? As I am currently working back stage, and more than happy to be, and excited to perform in Grease this summer. That is all I have, except I am a bit pissed off today.

I am soooo done waiting on other people to be my friends. I will just have to only rely on people I can count on, not people that I wish I can count on. Cryptic enough for you, eh? If you don't believe this applies to you, it probably doesn't, and I don't even think the person that it actually applies to will read this. I won't ever say anything...that's not my style. Self-reliance, here I come!

Ghosts and Ghouls

Some of my readers may be aware that I am obsessed with the paranormal. I have always been really empathetic, to the extent that I have been aware of my friends emotions from long distances away. It is an uncomfortable feeling to not know the source of your own emotion and have no real control over them. I also get alot of Deja vu something that tends to make me uncomfortable. I even had a complete dream of something that hadn't happened and wouldnt happen for another couple years. Needless to say, I am intrugued by these types of phenomena.

I also love ghost stories and hearing about encounters with them. I personall had quite a bit of experience with the theater ghost, Vera, at my high school. An interesting tid bit is that there is a ghost here at Pacific named Vera as well. Not that it is that original of a name, but...coincidence? Hopefully I will get a chance to experience Vera in all her glory, and I heard some cool stories already.

On another note-Happy Birthday Elias. On this day in 2003 I was granted an amazing nephew on 03/03/03. I love you little buddy.

Sleepytime!

Well, I am kinda tired and trying to sleep. I haven't really gotten down to it yet, but even thinking about sleeping makes me want to say up even later. I am not completely sure how that works... Maybe I have a disease. Or, I just don't like to sleep. Maybe that is the answer!

Anyhow, so today was my first REAL rehearsal for On The Verge, well the first one where I did anything. I ran the soundboard through the cue to cue. I think I did pretty well, if I say so myself...which I just did. It isn't really brain surgery though, all you have to do it click on the go button when the stage manager says to. The worst thing about today was getting up early...I had to be there at 9am. Ew! I am a nocturnal animal, who was the crazy person to think 9am was a good time for something theater related. Not me! It went well anyway.

The best thing about today, well, that would have to be hanging out with David! I so didn't realize it was after 1 when I left. If you read this...sorry about that, I had NO idea. But I had fun hanging out and joking around... I haven't done that in a long time. (I have just realized that I have used the ellipse(...) 4(now 5) times, is there such a thing as an addiction to ellipses?)