My clothes are really tired (not emotionally or mentally...duh) - they have holes everywhere and are thin and sad. Mom took me shopping yesterday morning and this afternoon, and I found all sorts of things! I really needed dress clothes and warm clothes. I'm proud to say the trip was a success! Here are the things we found:
1. Gray suit coat/blazer
2. Black suit coat/blazer
3. Black turtleneck shirt
4. Funny bird shirt
5. Black cardigan sweater
6. Gray/green flowered pencil skirt
7. Gray dress pants
8. Blue dressy shirt
9. Green sweater
10. Yellow/gray v-neck striped sweater
11. Brown sweater
12. Two pairs of jeans (from Becky's closet - thanks, sis!)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
End of the semester!
Okay, so grades were finally posted (they were supposed to be up six hours ago..ugh). I'm really pleased - I honestly thought I'd be getting a C in Poly Sci. However, I'm super disappointed in my choir grade. I've never gotten below an A in choir before, what the heck? I had two excused absences this semester (we're allowed five). Not to mention, I'm the president of and accompanist for the choir. Seriously? Anyway, I really have no complaining to do for my 3.86 GPA this semester. These last few months have been the most academically stressful months I've had at school. Sooo here you go!
Voice: A
Organ: A
Choir: A-
Gamelan: A
Classicism: A
World Musics: A-
Strings/Woodwinds: A
Conducting: A
Poly Sci: A-
Voice: A
Organ: A
Choir: A-
Gamelan: A
Classicism: A
World Musics: A-
Strings/Woodwinds: A
Conducting: A
Poly Sci: A-
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The library's been taken over!
I'm in the library right now and I'm supposed to be writing for Classicism. But seriously, my brain is fried! These last couple weeks have been exhausting. In the last week, here are the papers I've written:
44 pages for World Musics
26 pages for Poly Sci
18 pages for Woodwinds
Combined, I'd have a short novel! Anyway, I'm sad that so many people study in the library during finals week. There are a lot of people here that I've never seen before, and my usual spots are taken. This is me rolling my eyes at the fact that I'm in the wrong section of the stacks. I'm surrounded by about a million pages of a million copies of "US News & World Report." Yuck!
44 pages for World Musics
26 pages for Poly Sci
18 pages for Woodwinds
Combined, I'd have a short novel! Anyway, I'm sad that so many people study in the library during finals week. There are a lot of people here that I've never seen before, and my usual spots are taken. This is me rolling my eyes at the fact that I'm in the wrong section of the stacks. I'm surrounded by about a million pages of a million copies of "US News & World Report." Yuck!
World Musics
Okay, so I finished my World Musics field project this morning at 9:57 AM (it was due at 11:00 AM, I was pretty proud!). I had originally intended to write a rap, but that didn't work. So then I was going to videotape myself making a documentary, and that didn't work. So I settled on a journal of correspondence with my teachers, a blog, and a poem. The blog was titled "Super Great Field Project." It was super great. Here is the poem, I think you might get a kick out of it.
I first joined choir around the age of three
In Cherub Choir with my director, Lee
Lee studied lots of places - Luther College, for one
Michigan, Westminster, and Cambridge for fun!
Lee also taught me handbells, Jennifer as well
For twelve years now I've known how to ring a bell
Jennifer went to Lawrence to study Music Ed
And the U of M for music, at least I think that's what she said?
I started piano lessons with Pat at the age of five
She helped me reach the pedals, similarly when I learned to drive
Pat studied Music Ed while at Winona State
And performance at the U, her talent was innate
At the age of fourteen, I switched teachers to Sue
It was a hard transition, but the right thing to do
After studies in Colorado, Sue's teaching was first-rate
And grad work at the U, golly she was great!
I studied violin for fun and kicks and giggles
Sarah taught me lessons, and all that rhymes is squiggles...?
Mr. Gresser was my teacher for Choir in fifth grade
He always wore bell-bottoms that I think were handmade
I asked my teachers to tell me about their past
Who their teachers were and the impact that still lasts
I wanted to find out about how my teachers learned
And what was passed on down as time quickly turned
In their learning, my teachers valued the same things that I do
A passion for music and teaching, and energy in the classroom, too
An openness to life, confidence, and style
Enthusiasm, technique, interpretation, all the while
They learned patience and direction, focus and respect
Positivity, connections, encouragement, and intellect
It was fun for me to hear about when my teachers were my age
And what they have retained now when they're on stage
(the teaching stage, of course!)
My teachers learned from their teachers, they say
Music is life, it's a love per se
But in Choir and the classroom, teaching is the key,
It's a way of getting through, it's the way to be
Teachers give themselves to kids, and are happy in result
If that's the case, I can't wait to be an adult!
Teachers give kids the gift, of music as an art
For music is love, and it comes from the heart
My teachers gave advice that' been passed through time
Their words of wisdom rhyme (thank goodness!)
Their thoughts are from the heart, sentimental and true
Rewards are many, and worries are few
Put child before music, to be noble and fair
Teach with love and kindness and you'll make it anywhere
Be tender with critique, but firm with your words
Every word you speak is another one heard
Practice unconditional love, and focus your thought
Make a little trouble, but be sure to not get caught!
Encourage positively, and remember to connect
Teach to each student, and always use respect
Know what you're doing, and be a musician, too
Care about your students, and let them care about you
Never stop learning, nor loving to learn
Be extra patient, and always take your turn
Work with parents often, set goals to begin
Speak from your soul, and play from within
Practice long and hard, even when you teach
Take time to yourself, head to the beach!
I first joined choir around the age of three
In Cherub Choir with my director, Lee
Lee studied lots of places - Luther College, for one
Michigan, Westminster, and Cambridge for fun!
Lee also taught me handbells, Jennifer as well
For twelve years now I've known how to ring a bell
Jennifer went to Lawrence to study Music Ed
And the U of M for music, at least I think that's what she said?
I started piano lessons with Pat at the age of five
She helped me reach the pedals, similarly when I learned to drive
Pat studied Music Ed while at Winona State
And performance at the U, her talent was innate
At the age of fourteen, I switched teachers to Sue
It was a hard transition, but the right thing to do
After studies in Colorado, Sue's teaching was first-rate
And grad work at the U, golly she was great!
I studied violin for fun and kicks and giggles
Sarah taught me lessons, and all that rhymes is squiggles...?
Mr. Gresser was my teacher for Choir in fifth grade
He always wore bell-bottoms that I think were handmade
I asked my teachers to tell me about their past
Who their teachers were and the impact that still lasts
I wanted to find out about how my teachers learned
And what was passed on down as time quickly turned
In their learning, my teachers valued the same things that I do
A passion for music and teaching, and energy in the classroom, too
An openness to life, confidence, and style
Enthusiasm, technique, interpretation, all the while
They learned patience and direction, focus and respect
Positivity, connections, encouragement, and intellect
It was fun for me to hear about when my teachers were my age
And what they have retained now when they're on stage
(the teaching stage, of course!)
My teachers learned from their teachers, they say
Music is life, it's a love per se
But in Choir and the classroom, teaching is the key,
It's a way of getting through, it's the way to be
Teachers give themselves to kids, and are happy in result
If that's the case, I can't wait to be an adult!
Teachers give kids the gift, of music as an art
For music is love, and it comes from the heart
My teachers gave advice that' been passed through time
Their words of wisdom rhyme (thank goodness!)
Their thoughts are from the heart, sentimental and true
Rewards are many, and worries are few
Put child before music, to be noble and fair
Teach with love and kindness and you'll make it anywhere
Be tender with critique, but firm with your words
Every word you speak is another one heard
Practice unconditional love, and focus your thought
Make a little trouble, but be sure to not get caught!
Encourage positively, and remember to connect
Teach to each student, and always use respect
Know what you're doing, and be a musician, too
Care about your students, and let them care about you
Never stop learning, nor loving to learn
Be extra patient, and always take your turn
Work with parents often, set goals to begin
Speak from your soul, and play from within
Practice long and hard, even when you teach
Take time to yourself, head to the beach!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I had a dream!
Last night, I had this great dream that I had become a world-famous composer. My specialization, per se, was that I could invent new scales in the blink of an eye. And each one was just brilliant, of course.
When I woke up this morning, I truly thought I had discovered my hidden talent: scale-writing. So, I sat down with some staff paper and decided to do some composing.
I figured I should start my scale on A (a pretty non-descript note, I'd say). I wanted it to be similar to a Dorian or Phrygian mode, just an altered major-scale. So, I decided to lower the third, sixth, and seventh scale degrees. Great, right!?
After I had this wonderful epiphany of a beautiful scale to write, I decided to try writing it out. The scale I ended up with was...
A B C D E F G A
Hello, natural minor! Glad to know my ideas are original. :)
When I woke up this morning, I truly thought I had discovered my hidden talent: scale-writing. So, I sat down with some staff paper and decided to do some composing.
I figured I should start my scale on A (a pretty non-descript note, I'd say). I wanted it to be similar to a Dorian or Phrygian mode, just an altered major-scale. So, I decided to lower the third, sixth, and seventh scale degrees. Great, right!?
After I had this wonderful epiphany of a beautiful scale to write, I decided to try writing it out. The scale I ended up with was...
A B C D E F G A
Hello, natural minor! Glad to know my ideas are original. :)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Christmas Uncarols
Over the last few days, the music in my life has been a broken record, repeating the same few Christmas carols over and over.
Life as a church musician is tough! I've attended seven Christmas services in the last five days, and they had almost identical music.
I'm not sure how many more times I can hear "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" a cappella, or "Joy to the World" with terribly sharp descants sung by tuckered-out sopranos.
Okay, so maybe the holidays aren't an appropriate time to be bitter, but seriously. Can we please get some new music?
Life as a church musician is tough! I've attended seven Christmas services in the last five days, and they had almost identical music.
I'm not sure how many more times I can hear "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" a cappella, or "Joy to the World" with terribly sharp descants sung by tuckered-out sopranos.
Okay, so maybe the holidays aren't an appropriate time to be bitter, but seriously. Can we please get some new music?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Food
As the end of the semester draws near, my food supply is running short. It's completely my own fault, don't get me wrong! I've been trying to finish things up since I'm going home in five days. Here is what I have left, between my freezer, cupboard, and fridge:
- one loaf of banana-pumpkin bread
- two jars of peanut butter
- quarter-gallon of soy milk
- two apples
- one carrot
- one clementine
- a half-serving of uncooked spaghetti noodles
- about fourteen shell noodles
- a handful of Chex cereal
- a handful of Cheerios
- a handful of Life cereal
- six crackers
- fourteen almonds
- trail mix
- half a bag of chocolate chips
Dinner is going to be slim pickin's tonight...yikes! I am thankful for DS, which feeds me delicious food with little effort on my part.
- one loaf of banana-pumpkin bread
- two jars of peanut butter
- quarter-gallon of soy milk
- two apples
- one carrot
- one clementine
- a half-serving of uncooked spaghetti noodles
- about fourteen shell noodles
- a handful of Chex cereal
- a handful of Cheerios
- a handful of Life cereal
- six crackers
- fourteen almonds
- trail mix
- half a bag of chocolate chips
Dinner is going to be slim pickin's tonight...yikes! I am thankful for DS, which feeds me delicious food with little effort on my part.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Oh, those summer nights
A few days ago, I sent our camp director, Andy, a message saying that unfortunately, I will most likely not be able to be on staff next summer. I told him that several opportunities have arisen, each of which would allow me to study music throughout the summer. Consequently, working at camp would not work out.
I thought that by sending Andy the message, I would gain a sense of closure and feel better about the situation. Quite to the contrary, however, I’ve just had this pit in my stomach and my throat ever since sending the message. When I received his response, confirmation, and well wishes, I just about burst into tears.
I think I’m having such a hard time with this because there is no right answer as to what I should do next summer. I feel as though if I were to do something other than camp, (i.e. study abroad), I would be leaving behind a part of my life that I’m not ready to give up.
Needless to say, this is something to which I need to devote quite a bit of thought during the coming weeks! Right now, it’s occupying my thoughts in an unproductive and unnecessarily detrimental way. I’m just bumming myself out. Hopefully after a couple nights in the cities, a few nearly sleepless nights of studying, a Christmas service at church, a Lessons and Carols service at school, a Chapel service at school, seven final exams, three juries, a few papers, countless rehearsals, and a long drive home, I’ll be able to relax and sort things out.
I thought that by sending Andy the message, I would gain a sense of closure and feel better about the situation. Quite to the contrary, however, I’ve just had this pit in my stomach and my throat ever since sending the message. When I received his response, confirmation, and well wishes, I just about burst into tears.
I think I’m having such a hard time with this because there is no right answer as to what I should do next summer. I feel as though if I were to do something other than camp, (i.e. study abroad), I would be leaving behind a part of my life that I’m not ready to give up.
Needless to say, this is something to which I need to devote quite a bit of thought during the coming weeks! Right now, it’s occupying my thoughts in an unproductive and unnecessarily detrimental way. I’m just bumming myself out. Hopefully after a couple nights in the cities, a few nearly sleepless nights of studying, a Christmas service at church, a Lessons and Carols service at school, a Chapel service at school, seven final exams, three juries, a few papers, countless rehearsals, and a long drive home, I’ll be able to relax and sort things out.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Random thoughts of the evening!
I know I should be thankful that we've had such a mild fall and winder season so far this year.
Yet, I know it's too cold outside when I walk home from class and my contacts freeze in my eyes.
Today, the windchill was twenty below! The temperature dropped seventy degrees in just over a week.
Welcome to Fargo-Moorhead, right?
Also, I think one of my biggest pet peeves is when people mispronounce the word "contemplative." Seriously.
You should watch this funny YouTube video of Michele Bachmann. Okay, it's only sort of funny, because she is terrifying! Anyway, she talks like Palin, and that is enough to make her super funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_pN2IPAw6E
Yet, I know it's too cold outside when I walk home from class and my contacts freeze in my eyes.
Today, the windchill was twenty below! The temperature dropped seventy degrees in just over a week.
Welcome to Fargo-Moorhead, right?
Also, I think one of my biggest pet peeves is when people mispronounce the word "contemplative." Seriously.
You should watch this funny YouTube video of Michele Bachmann. Okay, it's only sort of funny, because she is terrifying! Anyway, she talks like Palin, and that is enough to make her super funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_pN2IPAw6E
Time flies!
Where did my semester go?
I keep writing "October" at the top of my papers, and I can't believe November has already happened.
Time flies, when you're having fun! Or when you're so busy you don't even realize time is flying.
And that's a pretty big deal, because I would think that if time were to actually fly, it would be pretty obvious.
Can you imagine?
Okay, I digress. Have a terrific day!
I keep writing "October" at the top of my papers, and I can't believe November has already happened.
Time flies, when you're having fun! Or when you're so busy you don't even realize time is flying.
And that's a pretty big deal, because I would think that if time were to actually fly, it would be pretty obvious.
Can you imagine?
Okay, I digress. Have a terrific day!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Life!
A lot of really exciting things have been going on lately. Okay, so nothing too exciting, but it just seems like my days have been so long and my evenings so short that I must be busy with something!
This morning, I had a group presentation in Poly Sci - a debate. Let me preface this by reminding you how much I loathe group presentations. They're usually a terrible idea, super stressful, and I learn little in doing them or watching them. Anyway, we had to debate gun control for seventy-five minutes in front of the class. Regardless of the little sleep I've gotten because of the stress, it went really well. In the same class, I can look forward to a cumulative semester exam on Monday, another group presentation on Wednesday, and a twelve-page paper due Wednesday. Yowsers!
My World Musics field project is still going well. I've now heard back from four past teachers - Mr. Gresser, Sue Leonard, Sarah Myhro, and Jennifer Taylor. I have faith that I'll be able to pull the project together, hurrah!
Christmas Concert rehearsals have been a doozy this week (going until ten p.m. and followed by group project meetings for a couple hours). We had our first recording session last night - PBS flew in to videotape us in High Def to be broadcast across the nation. It's pretty exciting. I can't wait for our first performance tonight; I'm just hoping I don't fall asleep!
In Strings class, we're preparing for our Christmas Concert. We're playing twelve carols, and they sound just terrible! Heidi and I both volunteered to arrange songs and unknowingly both arranged Carol of the Bells. Oops! Oh well, it will be fun! When I have some more free time, I'm going to make a mural for our concert. We're doing a parody of the real Christmas Concert - instead of "Journey to Bethlehem," we're calling it "Journey to Dilworth" (a tiny town nearby). Should be loads of fun! In Woodwinds, we finished playing bassoon and we're on to oboe. Woohoo?
My contextual studies music course that used to be Gamelan is now Organology, the study of instrument-making. It should be super awesome and all (you know, making instruments? fun!). However, it's the most dull class ever. We're not making instruments, we're studying how to classify them in various nations. Ugh. Whatever, almost done, right?
Church choir has been a blast! We're preparing for our big Christmas music service. I can't wait, it will be a hoot! Also, the Aesthetics are singing in Chapel in a couple weeks (my madrigal group), so I'm really pumped for that.
Yep, I think that's about it! Janet and Sarah, and Mom/Dad/Holly are coming to the concerts tomorrow, yay! Then, I'm gearing up to head down to the cities for our Christmas Concert minitour to Orchestra Hall. More to come later. :)
This morning, I had a group presentation in Poly Sci - a debate. Let me preface this by reminding you how much I loathe group presentations. They're usually a terrible idea, super stressful, and I learn little in doing them or watching them. Anyway, we had to debate gun control for seventy-five minutes in front of the class. Regardless of the little sleep I've gotten because of the stress, it went really well. In the same class, I can look forward to a cumulative semester exam on Monday, another group presentation on Wednesday, and a twelve-page paper due Wednesday. Yowsers!
My World Musics field project is still going well. I've now heard back from four past teachers - Mr. Gresser, Sue Leonard, Sarah Myhro, and Jennifer Taylor. I have faith that I'll be able to pull the project together, hurrah!
Christmas Concert rehearsals have been a doozy this week (going until ten p.m. and followed by group project meetings for a couple hours). We had our first recording session last night - PBS flew in to videotape us in High Def to be broadcast across the nation. It's pretty exciting. I can't wait for our first performance tonight; I'm just hoping I don't fall asleep!
In Strings class, we're preparing for our Christmas Concert. We're playing twelve carols, and they sound just terrible! Heidi and I both volunteered to arrange songs and unknowingly both arranged Carol of the Bells. Oops! Oh well, it will be fun! When I have some more free time, I'm going to make a mural for our concert. We're doing a parody of the real Christmas Concert - instead of "Journey to Bethlehem," we're calling it "Journey to Dilworth" (a tiny town nearby). Should be loads of fun! In Woodwinds, we finished playing bassoon and we're on to oboe. Woohoo?
My contextual studies music course that used to be Gamelan is now Organology, the study of instrument-making. It should be super awesome and all (you know, making instruments? fun!). However, it's the most dull class ever. We're not making instruments, we're studying how to classify them in various nations. Ugh. Whatever, almost done, right?
Church choir has been a blast! We're preparing for our big Christmas music service. I can't wait, it will be a hoot! Also, the Aesthetics are singing in Chapel in a couple weeks (my madrigal group), so I'm really pumped for that.
Yep, I think that's about it! Janet and Sarah, and Mom/Dad/Holly are coming to the concerts tomorrow, yay! Then, I'm gearing up to head down to the cities for our Christmas Concert minitour to Orchestra Hall. More to come later. :)
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