Almost there...

Well, after studying like crazy, I'm pretty sure I aced my Music History Final. And I got an A on the sight singing portion of my Theory Lab final (first time that's happened!). So, in all a good day. Now I just have to study for Geography and work on my piano. Oh boy! Then I'm done. Yeah!

Finals Week!!! Hold me. Hold me tight.

Sorry about the title, but that's one of Bret's quotes I really like.
Well, after a very hectic weekend (which included Mom and Dad coming up, a choir rehersal, concert, and party, as well as hanging out with friends and such), it is now Finals Week. Yeah...
So, right now I am studying for Music History. It's not going all that well, but I'm sure I can pull it off. As usual. If I can just get through my Listening Journals. They are going kinda slow, but I want to get them done now. Although maybe "want" is too strong a word. Let's say I'm fighting all the forces of procrastination because I know I need to get them done (as my grade depends on it) and yet I really really don't want to have to do them. Well, I can't complain too much as I've already spent much of the day talking with fellow Music Majors, professors, in a final, and walking with Aiko (It was sunny for a change, so I figured why not. Of course, it also was later in the day and the sun went down and we almost froze to death before we got back to campus, but that's beside the point).
So now I need to get back to music history. It should go quicker as this was kinda my last resort at procrastinating in any easy way. Well...we'll see. But I would like to get enough sleep tonight that I don't fail tomorrow from sheer tiredness. Plus I have a Theory Lab final and I never do good on those when I'm tired, but now I'm just rambling. Goodnight all. I shall see the again in a greater light (well, not so much if Dr. McCollum doesn't kill me, but it never hurts to hedge your bets).

Winter Banquet

I have some time, so I'll let everyone know about Winter Banquet.
It was really fun. I took Aiko (obviously), Bret took Lisa, and Josh took Aiko's housemate Genevive. They all live in a house off-campus so we had to go pick them up. We all showed up the same time and gave our dates flour. Yes, it was stupid, but they were highly amused. Of course, we also had real flowers.
The Banquet was at the Senior Nutrition Center right next to Simpson (which makes driving 20 minutes to pick up a date a little silly...). It's actually a really, really nice place. They have a ballroom with a good dance floor. There was a live jazz band and dancing. The jazz band was good. Aiko and I danced for most of the evening. Mostly it was slow stuff, but there was some songs fast enough to swing to. Neither of us is really proficient at swing dancing, but it was fun nonetheless. I've discovered it's more fun to dance when there's someone to dance with.
It was also fun to watch the other people dancing. As Aiko pointed out, you can tell it's a Christian school because no one really knew how to dance (there were some exceptions).
And the table we sat at was full of highly amusing people, so it was quite entertaining. Afterward some of us went over to Lauren's apartment and played games till 12:30, then I took Aiko home and got back to my dorm around 1. Then accidentally slept till 12. Oops.
Now I really need to write my Music History paper, but I really don't want to. Sigh.
Oh yeah, Laura's senior recital on Friday went really well. Just thought you'd like to know.

Free moment...

Well, I have a free moment, so I'll do a quick update. And that is...nothing much is going on. I have lots of homework coming due that I'm working on. Should be fun. Combine that with a gazillion extraneous activities this weekend and what do you have?
I don't know, but I have a feeling I'm going to find out.
In other news, I don't know what's going on, maybe the weather or something, but I've been really irritable the last couple days. Things are just randomly ticking me off. It's not fun. Maybe it's stress. That could be. Oh well, I hope it goes away.
We took choir pictures yesterday. It wasn't very fun. We had to get all dressed up, and squish on the risers and practice then stay afterward so the photographer could take upwards of 35 pictures. He was a good photographer, so it wasn't that bad, but it was just one more annoying thing. Fortunately, I didn't have to go to youth group so that wasn't a conflict, but a bunch of other people were upset because of conflicts.
I went shopping yesterday too. Got myself some new jeans and a pair of slacks, and a new tie, and a new jacket. Aiko pointed out my green jacket is getting a little ratty (which it is, I've had it for almost 4 years...hmmm...same with my jeans...I see a trend). So, I was at Ross and saw a nice jacket for $35 (regular $150), so I got it. I told Aiko and she got annoyed because she had bought me a jacket for Christmas. So, we'll see how this turns out. She thinks I should just keep both. I haven't seen the other one yet, so I don't know. Kind of a quirky thing I hadn't been expecting at all. I guess there will be a lot of those.
Okay, I'm going to go to sleep. I'll need it for this weekend. I was going to skip chapel tomorrow, because I don't particularly care for Stones of Remembrance Chapels, but come to find out that both Josh (roommate) and Annabelle are speaking, so I should be there. Anyway, goodnight all.

A little late in the weekend...

So, this was, yet again, an interesting week. School is the same, except it is getting busier, and I'm doing more work for the professors, which means I get some money. So, I have a lot of stuff to do, and feel less like doing it than ever (but that's true of everyone for this time in the semester).
So, I'll give you a recap of my weekend, just for fun.
Friday was busy. Had lots of stuff to do (worship practice, piano lesson, comp lesson, etc.). Then in the evening I went over to Aiko's for dinner. Then we went to Daun Hayes' recital. She's the vocal teacher here. It was very good. And the accompaniest she brought with her was incredible. He teaches part-time at Chico, but he's graduated from Eastman, Julliard, and Cinncinnati, and done a bunch of other things. Both Aiko and Dr. Thorlakson were very impressed. Then afterward Aiko and I went out again. We've discovered that after 10pm the only things really open in Redding are Denny's and IHOP. So we went to Denny's and had hot chocolate and talked till 12:30 or so.
On Saturday, I practiced a lot and did some other homework then went to a recital of Aiko and Mrs. Nichols' piano student (the non-college ones). It was pretty cute, and short. Which is something I miss in recitals nowadays.
I sat with Lauren and we came to two conclusions. The first is that the ratio of our musical skills to the little kids performing is probably the same of our professors to us performing on recitals. So, now I know how the professors feel watching us perform recitals, and it doesn't make me feel any better. The second is that we want to go back to easy music. Learn it in a week, memorize it in a day, and be able to get all the musicality right. It would be nice. Oh well, not so.
Then I did a project for Dr. Thorlakson, after which Aiko and I went out. We walked around Barnes and Nobles for a few hours looking at books, then we got kicked out because they were closing and went to IHOP because we were both hungry. So we hung out there and talked until 12:00, again. (Don't worry, this won't be a regular habit).
Then today we had a choir gig at a church. It's a church in Shingletown, way out in the middle of nowhere. Ironically, it's name is Open Door Community Church. The nice thing is that their single service starts at 10:30, so we didn't have to leave until 9:00 (as compared to multiple service churches where we have to leave school at 7:00 a.m.). It was interesting. We did okay, but it was a dry room (their sanctuary add-on isn't done yet) and we were singing in the round, which means we were spread around the room instead of packed together. This means we all tend to push a bit because we feel like we're singing solos in a dead room. So, I kinda pushed my voice a little too hard on one of the last songs and lost my voice for a bit. Then at 2 I had rehearsal for Messiah. Thankfully, my voice was somewhat better, but I also think I'm getting a cold. So there you go. After than I ate in the un-spectacular Sunday evening cafeteria and just finished up watching Equilibrium. Oh yeah, I got my Amazon orders on Friday too. So I got some fun new music and DVDs. Yeah!
Now I have to decide what to do homework-wise. Ugh. Oh well, I must do something.
This week will be somewhat busy by shouldn't be too bad. The weekend though will be crazy. Friday is Laura's senior recital. Saturday is Winter Banquet. Sunday is Messiah rehearsal, and there's another one Monday night. It's a good thing that the next week is only two days. Well, actually, no. That just means the teachers cram more into less...and then Thanksgiving break is shot for homework and practice...not good. Oh well. I'll deal. It's only 4 more weeks and then I get to start the whole thing over again. But at least then I have the goal of graduating. Which, the more I think about it, the less I want it to happen. But I also don't really want to do homework any longer than I have to. I pretty much just want to hang out in the music department with my friends and the professors and have music classes, but not really have them count for anything. Sigh. I'll get over it eventually I guess.
Anyway, I'll wrap this up because I should go do something (and no, it will not be hanging out with Aiko all night).
Later. Love to you all.
P.S. The Messiah performed by the Oregon Bach Festival musicians and directed by Helmuth Rilling is quite good. Okay, I'm done.

Music, music and more music.

Well, this was an interesting week/weekend.
I managed to get through my various presentations and quizzes okay, well, excepting my theology quiz which I have no idea how I did on it.
Aiko is finally done with her competition. She did well for the most part, but is a little disheartened that her abilities lag a bit behind piano performance people from other colleges. But she also got to spend some good time with her family, which is nice.
As for me, on Friday I helped Becky Levy set up for her senior recital, then yesterday night I was there for many hours getting things ready and then recording the senior recital. She did very well. She's a vocal person, for those who don't know, and she put out probably the best senior recital to date. It was very nice.
Then today, I had church, then Messiah practice, then a Sinfonia concert, then went out to dinner with Aiko and Lisa, and now I"m back to do homework. Fun fun.
The Sinfonia concert was good. They've improved alot. The strings were reasonably in tune, and there were only a handful of 'wince' moments.
So, now I get to do lots of homework for the upcoming week. It's like everthing got pushed back and is all coming due at once. Oh well, I'll survive. But I still need to work on it.
Later.

Weekly Update...

Well, this week is finally over. I managed to make it through my Music History midterm in one piece, and still managed to do all my other homework to a certain extent. Nothing really special going on school-wise, other than my homework for Monday that I will hopefully finish sometime this weekend.
On other fronts, I went to another birthday party for Anna (and for Josh, he finally turned 18) yesterday. That was a nice relaxing thing, especially after the midterm. And I got to hang out with friends, and see Lauren's apartment, which would probably go for $1500-$1800 in Novato but only costs them $700 (which is actually a major increase in price as tons of people are moving up here for some reason.). It's a nice apartment.
Tonight, for our second date, I took Aiko out to Tokyo Gardens, which has some pretty good Japanese food. Then we figured out there really isn't anything to do in Redding, especially when it's 40 degrees out so we went back to her house. Laura, Lisa and Annabelle were watching Finding Nemo, so I got to see most of that for the first time. It was good. (I am aware it doesn't come out until Tuesday, but Laura works for Hollywood Video and can get movies before they are officially released.)
So, now it's late and I'm tired and I think I shall go to bed so I can do homework tomorrow, although I'd rather not. Sigh.

A Week of Miracles

Well, there were quite a few miracles this weekend (even more if I pass some of my tests late this week).
Miracle one:
For the last 13 years my roommate, Josh, has had an unknown problem with his knees that meant he couldn't run, kneel, stand for long, or even sometimes walk without using a cane. However, last Wednesday he had the elders of his church pray over him and now he's completely healed. It's amazing, he's been running around, dancing, and so forth, all without pain, well, if you don't count his legs adjusting to being used properly.
Miracle two: Laura Jordon's parent's house is in San Bernadino where they've been having the serious fires. On Saturday they thought the house had been burned down because the fire swept right through their neighborhood, but somehow the fire went right up to the house and didn't touch it. Laura said the fire pretty much just jumped over their house and continued on. Which is both incredible and really good because she doesn't need anything else bad happening in her life right now.
Miracle three: This isn't technically a miracle, but it's pretty cool anyway. Ryan Sharkey and Lauren Calvert got engaged on Saturday. They've been dating for a while and Ryan and Lauren's dad finally had "the talk" on Saturday, and then Ryan proposed. As a little background, they're the friends I work with at the youth group, and Lauren is the one who plays the harp.
So everyone is really happy for them (and naturally, they're really really happy). They'll probably get married in the summer.
As a consequence though, I've had two seperate people tell me that Aiko and I are not allowed to get engaged for a while (it would depress them too much apparently). In fact, Anna went so far as to say (direct quote), "If you guys get into the romanticism of Christmas and get engaged, I will kill you!" Not that we needed that admonishment, but it's always nice to know people are interested, or something. And it was just funny the way she said it.
Now I need to do homework because I am really swamped, but somehow not motivated. Oh well, it will get done somehow.
Goodnight.

After only 22 years Justin has his first date!

It's quite possible that this site as a whole will now shift from a school emphasis to a relationship emphasis, and for that I am truly sorry. But I'm going to write this anyway.
Well, first I'll recap my week. Basically school was school. Nothing major due. A few Midterms and quizzes, but nothing exceptionally hard. In fact, on my Christian Theology quiz my gamble of answering the two hardest questions paid off (Slane has the quiz set on a system of giving us 7 essay questions worth different points based on hardness, and we pick two to answer, and he grades on a base of 28, although the essay's we pick don't necessarily add up to 28). In any case, I answered the two hardest questions well enough to get me a 33 out of 28. And last class I managed to take up 50% of the talking even though I wasn't presenting (usually it's 80% Slane, 18% Justin and Jason, 2% everyone else). Not that that's especially important, and it rather sounds like gloating, but I needed something to draw attention from the fact that actually the majority of my week revolved around Aiko (if you're wondering see my last post in which I tell you that we're now dating/courting/whatever).

Anyway, tonight (Friday) was our first date. Aiko had to go to a planetarium presentation for astronomy (yes, Redding has a planetarium. A very, very small planetarium, but a functional one nonetheless). Since we really don't get to see each other very much given our schedules (we figure we'll probably actually get to see each other, outside of class, about an hour or two a week) she invited me along and so I decided to make it our first date.
I took her to dinner at Applebee's, then we went to the planetarium. It was actually highly amusing. The program for the night had something to do with the Andromeda galaxy, but it was hard to tell because actually it was an excuse to give an evolutionary history of mankind (pausing briefly to paint Christianity as an outdated religion that supressed scientific research). On the whole it was quite hilarious, especially the soundtrack (being a composition major I notice these things). It was even funnier because it was narrated by Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek), meaning they were taking themselves pretty seriously. Okay, enough about the planetarium. So we watched the show and then went back to campus and walked around for a few bit talking (Side note: it's amazing how quickly perceptions change. Last week if I had seen a couple walking around campus holding hands I would have either shaken my head in mock annoyance or made fun of them. Now I'm part of that couple. Ah, the insanity of life.)
It's interesting because we're already good friends, so we know each other pretty well. This keeps down the "Surprise!" factor somewhat and actually lets us pick up in a slightly further along place than we would if we just started dating without knowing each other. So you'd think it would be kind of boring, but that's negated by the fact that we've never done this before and are both still somewhat in shock, so that keeps things interesting.
On the whole, I think this is a good experience. We get along well, we like each other, and we're not in any particular rush, so we can take things slow. Also, since we know each other pretty well, we don't have to try and impress the other person. In fact, it was nice because, aside from just general nervousness, I didn't have any of my usual anxiety attack stuff happening. So that was very nice.
On an amusing side note, we've kept the number of people who know about us to a minimum, at least up here. So we're waiting to see how fast information travels. For example, the only professor who knows for sure is Dr. Thorlakson, althought Dr. Slane is starting to guess, so if the other professors start saying anything we'll know Dr. Thorlakson was talking about us (On the whole we're not obvious enough to be noticeable).
To sum up, it was a good night, and my nervousness over the whole situation has diminished somewhat. Hopefully that will continue to hold true.
As for this weekend, I have a ton of work to do for school, and a party from Anna tomorrow and Messiah rehersal on Sunday. So, my weekend is going to be pretty well packed. I'm glad I got my computer working again yesterday rather than have it fritz out when I have no time to mess with it (XP doesn't like Nvidia's video card drivers very much).
Okay, it's getting late. I hope everyone else has an equally interesting week coming up.
Love you all.

And so on...

Well, this was certainly an...interesting...Monday. Had a 20th Century Theory Midterm, which I did passable on. Should have some more fun mid-terms coming up, such as a Theory Lab sightsinging midterm tomorrow (with the ear training portion on Thurs).
I didn't really do much this weekend. Between sleeping in, a few b-day parties (a trend that will continue next weekend), and rehersal for the Messiah on Sunday, I wasn't very motivated to do extra work. Oh well, more to keep me occupied now.
Back to Monday, I signed up for classes today. Looks like I'll only be taking 17 units next semester, which is nice, it being my last semester and all. And that is a sad thought in many ways.
The thing that made today so interesting (I might as well just tell you all) is that after a long discussion, Aiko and I are going to start dating. Well, more accurately, we're going to hang out more to get to know each other better. So, there it is. All those shocked at this sudden reversal (two week turn around time) raise their hands (oh me...oh me). It wasn't quite what we had expected to happen, but...yeah...that's what happened. And, yes, there is no question that I will be finishing school, so no one worry about that.
Well then...I think it's time to go do homework, or something.
Goodnight. Talk to you soon (I'm assuming).

Nite Life

Well, this week was interesting. On Tuesday I was in classes, Wed I was in Reno, Thurs I was back to classes in time for my quizzes. Yeah. Then Friday was rather easy, which was nice.
So this is Celebration weekend, which means that tonight was nite life. It's gone downhill somewhat. Instead of funny talent, it was mostly serious, "musical" talent. 98% was music peformances, 95% of which was completely unnecessary. And while I do say this as a Music Major, I'm more coming from the viewpoint of a breathing human being. If someone wants to be goofy and they perform poorly, then that's understandable, as long as they don't take themselves seriously (see Andy and Jon being Milly Vanilly, which was one of the good ones). But, oh well. Probably the absolute best was the "Gap Rappers." Two years ago they were called "The White Guys." Basically, they're a group that dresses up as preps and raps stereotypically white, and are absolutely hilarious (the title of their last "cd" was "Keep Smiling.") Anyway, they made a fake movie trailer clip that they played on the overhead. It was awesome. Very well done, and a complete spoof on action movies. Plus, it had Dr. Slane as "The Chief." Next nite life they're selling copies on DVD. I am so there.
But, for the majority, I was just sunk in my seat. Well, there's always next time.
For the rest of the weekend, I'm going to be doing homework and practicing, and studying for Mid-Terms. Now I just need to figure out what homework I have, and when my Mid-Terms are. Should be fun.
And now, for sleep.

Happy Birthday to me...

Well, another birthday come and gone. Overall, it was pretty uneventful. I had classes almost solidly from 8 - 5:30 with two quizzes and a presentation, but other than that...
I got some Birthday cards, and was sung to twice, once in choir and once in the cafeteria. And I got a present from Aiko, Lisa, Laura, Annabelle, and Josh. Well, two actually, one was a gift card to Best Buy, and the other was a pink feather boa. The boa is a joke going back to Aiko's birthday party.
As can be seen here.
But as for celebrating, I didn't really do anything. Aiko, Lisa, and Laura had worship practice and then tomorrow they're going down to Laura's home for the weekend to do a concert. Annabelle is busy, and my other friends, like Josh and Anna are in Ashland for the evening seeing a Shakespeare play. Wait...that means I get some peace and quiet. Nevermind, that's a good birthday present.
As for the rest of the weekend, my top three priorities are homework, piano practice, and composing. As well as working on my car a bit (just to get it ready for Wed.), and maybe setting up my new computer, if Ryan gets it to me this weekend. Should be fun...or something.
Anyway, thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday. Love you.

Choir Retreat

Well, today was a long day. The choir retreat was mostly fun, good food, got to hang out with lots of friends, and so forth. But now I'm tired and all peopled out. Good night.

Fun, fun and more fun...

Well, this was an interesting week. Lots of stuff going on, all of it school related, so not worth mentioning.
Tonight was the Professors in Performance, which was spectacular as always. Then a group of us went to Marie Callendar's and had a good time.
Tomorrow is shot as we have an all day choir retreat. Should be fun(even though it means leaving at 7:30), but the lack of homework-doing time is going to kill me (and lots of other people).
So, this weekend should be very busy, and so will next week. On the plus side, it's only a four day week (which is actually my week every week), on the downside I get to spend the four day weekend with homework. Mostly practicing piano and composing (have to get my senior recital done).
Now I'm going to move in the direction of bed, as I want sleep.

As we go frolicking...

And another fun filled week comes to a close. Nothing of particular importance, just the usual school stuff.
There was the Capitol Jazz Project concert last night. The official jazz band for the State of California. They were good, to say the least. Piano, drums, bass, sax/flute, trumpet/flugel horn, and trombone. All of them are the heads of the jazz departments for their respective state colleges, except for the bass player, who is a mail carrier for the post office. Go figure.
Also, Aiko had her brother, his roommate up this weekend. They stayed in our room, but I never actually saw them because I was always asleep when they got in, and they were always asleep when I got up and left. Oh well.
Guess I better do some homework. This week features many converging quizzes, presentations, papers, performances, and so on, and I since I got caught up in composing yesterday, I really didn't finish too much of it. Ugh.
It's funny, this is the first semester I've had that, for the majority of the week, I feel like I'm in college. Homework will do that, I guess.
Later.

Just for fun...

Seeing as it is Friday night, I took a little time and redesigned the site. Nothing really spectacular since there is only so much you can do with straight html. But it doesn't need to be fancy anyway.

Once again, I survived the week, even with chapel everyday. Not that that's a bad thing, but having chapel on T, Th cuts into my prep time for Theory Lab. Aside from that the week has been relatively uneventful. I've chosen to do my practicum at First Presbyterian. The one with Becky was going to require too much time (like 6-7 hours a week). First Pres's youth group requires less time, is smaller (try 5-7 kids, as opposed to 100 for the other one), and means I get to hang out with Ryan and Lauren. All in all, a good deal. I went on Wednesday and had a good time, so I think it will work.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. Lots of homework in the morning and in the evening there's a music major party over at Becky Levy's 'mansion.' She's living with a widow who has a rather large-ish house with a pool, spa, and so forth. So, that should be a nice break. And then next weekend, Jason is having a music major party at Shasta Lake with his motor boat, but I'll probably end up skipping that one on grounds of time constraints. There's also a concert that night by The Capitol Jazz Project with pianist Joe Gilman. He had his trio here last year and it was incredible, so that should be really cool.

Not too much else going on around here. Lots of trivial news that doesn't really matter that much to anyone who doesn't live here. Like Dr. Thorlakson's two nightmare days dealing with Immigration (he's Canadian.) He spent 8 hours yesterday waiting in line in Sacramento only to get to the window to find that he had to be at the office in San Francisco (thank you Dept. of Homeland Security). So, today he went down to SF, which was actually less painful since they're more efficient. But it was still annoying.
And then there's the news we got today that the Pinkston's (Dr. Pinkston is my theory teacher) are going to have another baby. Their first one, Lily, is almost two now. So that should be fun (they learned their mistake from last time, however, and the baby isn't due till after school is out).
Anyway, lots of random stuff, and so forth.
Well, I should probably do something more productive tonight or I'll hate myself tomorrow. Love to all.

For your edification...

Just so you can start marking your calendars now, my Senior Recital is going to be on March 5, probably around 7:30. Maybe later because it happens to be a Friday and I know it's going to play havoc with everyone's work schedules, but that was best all around option given everything else going on around that time.
Okay, got the date. Now I just need the music. Sigh.
Oh, and speaking of dates, graduation this year is Saturday, April 24 at 10 a.m.
Kinda early. This gives us over two weeks of choir touring and we'll still be back a bit after May starts. And we'll be doing recording this year after tour, which may be good or bad. We'll see.
Now it's time for bed. I have what will probably be the hardest day of few classes to date tomorrow. And if that sentence made sense to you, you should go to bed too.
'Night.

Sunday

Well, today was a good day. The highlights being...
1. Ross Hauck. He's an incredible singer. He did a concert of art songs (Schubert, Irish folk, and Spanish) and American songs (20th century composers like Bernstein, Leher, and so forth). Like I said, he's one of the best singers I've ever heard, and a really nice, and funny, guy on top of it. Tomorrow he's doing a master class with the vocal students that I'll probably sit in on.
2. Went to Aiko and Lisa's for dinner (with Josh and Laura). Sure beats cafeteria food, that's all I have to say. Then we watched a movie. And met all of their housemates. And I suffered random and not so random beatings. All in all, a typical evening with Aiko and Lisa.
And tomorrow is Monday. Woohoo. Another week of school, and all it's joys are upon me. Better get back to composing before my lesson tomorrow.
Take care.

Another week, Another pile of homework...

Well, I survived another week. Of course, I've had professors with the flu on one side, and professors and students with colds on the other, and I haven't been feeling so hot lately, so that may change.
But, in the meantime, I have lots of homework to do tomorrow. Most of it is reading and listening to music, so it's not too bad. The real annoying one is the map studying for Geography. Actually, that class is a bit more interesting now. We have more in class discussion and it turns out Dr. Claspill is actually a mountain climber. So, if we can get him talking history or mountain climbing, things are interesting. The biggest problem though, is that right before I have Christian Theology: God and Humanity, which is extremely intellectual discussion. So, I go from that straight to Geo, which is all note taking and sitting there bored and waiting for choir. On the plus side, I sit near Annabelle and we get to amuse each other with comments, stories, and the like (discreetly, of course), but it's still an hour and a half of my life I'll never have back.
In other news...well...I guess there really is no other news. School is pretty much it. I guess I could mention that on Sunday we have this famous tenor, singer, dude coming to give a concert. Then on Monday he's giving a master's class for vocal students, which I'll probably sit in on (being a composition major and all, it's good to get a working knowledge of all the available mediums). And after the concert on Sunday, Josh and I are going over to Aiko and Lisa's for dinner and movies. This could be good or bad because the last time we talked about it, I insulted Aiko and she threatened to cook every single type of food I don't like. We'll see.
Well, probably should be off to bed now. Lots of work to do tomorrow. And, as usual, the problem isn't time, it's motivation to use the time I have. So...I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
G'Night.

Yippee!

The new Batman. Now all we need is a proper villain.

For all interested parties, my phone number is (530) 224-7020. I'm not usually around, but you can listen to Josh's lengthy answering machine message and I can call you back when I am in.

Practicum

So, tonight I went to the Opportunity Fair. This is basically an event held in the gym that features booths from a lot of churches and organizations that want Simpson student involvment. So, now I have many options for my Practicum. The two I'm really considering are both youth group music things. One is leading/teaching high schoolers how to be a worship team. The other is helping out on a youth worship team. Both things are being overseen by friends of mine. I'll probably go for one of them. The question is: which one? Decisions, decisions.
I'm also going to try and be on Pep Band (drums). This means my Tues. are going to be even longer. Oh well, it should be fun.
Yeah. Tomorrow is Wed. That means I have one class! Of course, I've still schedules lots of misc. stuff that will still fill it up, but that's okay, because it's all voluntary. Or something.
Okay, I'm thinking it's bed time. Goodnight.

Party!

Well, I made it through the first week. Granted, it was only 4 days, and my Fridays are technically a day off, but I still have a lot of homework.
Just got back from a Choir party over at Sarah's house. Played Old Maid with Cheryl, Nancy, and Becka, then a few other games. Then watched The Two Towers. Always good.
So, now I just have to motivate myself to get back to homework. I just have to keep telling myself that having only one class on Mondays doesn't mean I have enough time to get homework done for Tuesdays (on which I have 5 upper-division classes, in case you thought I was slacking off). We'll see how that strategy works.

One Down!

Well, I've complete my first day of classes. It's going to be a challenging semester, but shouldn't be too bad for all that.
So, in between my five classes today, I found I still have time to eat, talk with friends, and take a trip to the Registrar's office to help them decipher my Application for Degree Completion so they don't think I'm trying to take 19 units next semester. Fun, fun.
Choir's going to be good. We have roughly 45 people this year, which means we don't fit on the risers. Oh well, the more the merrier.
Josh says "hello." He's doing better for the moment.
Well, I guess this is going to be an interesting year from what I've seen so far.
Now, after an hour and a half dorm meeting, it's time for bed.

Bring the Updates...Foo!

I'm all set up at school now. Got everything pretty much taken care of. Spent lots of money on all the usual stuff...books, internet connection, etc. But I've also seen most of my friends, which is nice.
I'm not in Cooper Heath this year, sigh. Which means I'm in a 4 person suite (two rooms connected by a bathroom). Oh well, I've got good guys with me, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Speaking of roommates, today I took Josh to the emergency room due to a kidney stone. What a way for him to begin the semester. Hopefully he'll be better for classes tomorrow.
Nothing much tonight, just dinner with Aiko, Lisa, and Laura, and then the Presidential Convocation, which is boring, but mandatory.
I'll try to update this at least once a week. Later.