School. Wow.
My ibook got ripped off during welcome week. Well, all right, I may have assisted in this thievery by leaving it unattended--I'm really not sure, what with lack of sleep and perilously early mornings. (Yes, I know certain people will have no sympathy.)
Walking out to the parking lot yesterday, right around sunset, I was passing through this area of lawns between some of the performing arts buildings... and there were BUNNIES. I was a bit saddened--those bunnies will probably be homeless when the construction starts for the new arts plaza. Sad bunnies. But it was just bizarre to walk through this suburban-college modern architecture and then be confronted by bunnies manicuring the grass. (Made me think of Buffy the Musical and Anya's song: BUNNIES! BUNNIES! BUNNIES!)
Last night there were coyotes singing on the ridge behind the house. There was a fight over something, I think. It was cool and beautiful out--I went outside to listen better. Full moon, too.
Had a VERY interesting Tarot reading last week, which I'll probably write up and backdate later when I find the scrap of paper. It was a big promise of change, and there were some powerful cards. Also some usual ones, like the 2 of Swords. The lady doing the readings was great, too.
Before going to bed Monday (first night sleeping in the room) I did a little ritual to bless the space and cleanse it and call some aides. Didn't do anything last night for the full moon, but I think I /will/ do something for the dark moon.
What else? Lessee. I didn't pass the theory placement test, so I'll have to wrangle with the department over taking theory AGAIN (I've already had a year at Columbia and a year at Santa Clara). I can't GO to the first-year theory class in any case, because it's at the same time as my choir (which is the only ensemble I can fit into my schedule). The fourth-quarter theory class meets from 9-11, so I /can/ go to the first hour and then sneak out for my 10:00 class; I'm going to talk to the instructor about doing that.
We had a grueling first time in the movement section of Opera Workshop today. Yoga and stretching and wow, my body's in sad shape. I'm going to hurt tomorrow, I think. Might soak in the tub tonight, even. But I felt GREAT afterward. The acting half of the class was full of very centered observance exercises, and then an imagination / body exercise where we first observed an animal and then took on that animal's body posture while standing up. Patrick, the grad student who runs the acting segment, is terrific. I was very focused and felt like the whole class was a success for me, especially the bit at the end. The physical stuff is going to be a real opportunity to challenge myself, too.
Signed up for one belly dance class and one yoga class, for now; I'll see if I like the dance instructor or not before I make any further commitments.
Tonight I checked out a HUGE number of books and scores from the library--some of it repertoire assigned by my new voice teacher, and some other stuff I want to look at, and some supporting texts. Found a good Italian dictionary and FINALLY got a good replaceable-nib pen for Shiel, at Barnes and Noble; I also picked up metallic gold and silver ink, which I'll use in illuminating the NERO map. Need to find time to work on that this weekend...
Room is equipped, pretty much, as best I can. I took some things back to Target and Bed/Bath/Beyond tonight--decided I can bring the small laundry hamper or a bag from home, and also decided to have only one set of sheets. I did buy a quilt, but it will serve nicely in the extra bedroom after school, and it was pretty inexpensive--the lowest price I could find at both stores.
I've made a friend in the landlady's insufferable yapping dog, a poodle-like anklebiter called a /bichon/. Yes, it means what you think. I had to try consciously not to laugh. The dog is high-strung and a bit wacko, not surprising in a breed like that, but she's also fuzzy and soft. And has a fetish for being chased around, kind of like my cousin Jeff's littlest daughter.
Our diction and IPA books still aren't in, GRRR.
In Word and Music today, which is the song rep class where pianists and singers pair up for a junior recital, Robin (the voice chair) volunteered me to work with two pianists and thus do twice as much repertoire. Pretty flattering, in a way. And not at all unfeasible, since apparently they're only looking for a twenty-five minute program. It'll just mean doing a full-length recital, which is no prob for me.
News on voice: My new voice teacher is /very/ interesting. Dr. Darryl Taylor, this fit, bald young man, African-American, maybe in his late thirties. It's off to be calling someone only little older than me "Doctor" anything, but I like reinforcing the hierarchy in the relationship and I understand why it's needed. Especially in my case--I think part of the reason I didn't make a lot of progress with Janet is that we developed a friendship rather than sticking to a firm teacher-student hierarchical separation. I had way too much power (being a private student who could just quit if I didn't like something) and I think that was why I didn't really get any discipline going in the later years. Taylor promises to be a hard taskmaster, and I've talked to him about why I'm here and so on. We're going to strip it all down to basics and address the issue of my 'driving' the sound, which produces that fast artificial vibrato; I'm not going to sing any opera for a while, just going to learn some new rep and focus on really freeing up the sound. In the first part of performance class, when we didn't have a pianist, he worked with the whole class on some breathing stuff, and it was just amazing--he really knows what he's doing. I really need to get in more practice time, though--I only managed about 20 minutes today, working on a new Liszt chanson. But then Monday and Wednesday are my hellish days; I'll be able to put in some time tomorrow. Maybe get up early and sing in the morning, even, to get a head start on it. Sang for Dr. Taylor Thursday and had the first real lesson yesterday; he's very, VERY sharp when it comes to vocal pedagogy and physiology, and I think the partnership is relly going to work. He strikes me as someone who's very disciplined as well as knowledgeable, and I'm optimistic about developing a new technique and learning from him. Also into sports/stress psychology, so he understands a lot of my little behaviors and will work with me on developing more positive habits. I was apologizing for how much I sucked when I sang in Voice Performance (well, I screwed up an entrance /and/ then acknowledged the mistake, plus it was just not a top performance)--and he stepped on it right away. In the first lesson we talked about positive/negative affirmation a bit more, and I think he's really going to be an excellent match for me. He knows the psychology, which is just great.
OK. It's midnight and I still have to read Agamemnon--gotta do a writing assignment on it by Friday, so I want to get well into it tonight.
Still need to petition for both drama and writing requirement issues. Whew. At least I just have an 11:00 class tomorrow. Which I'll try not to sleep through. :)
I miss my friends and Chuck's game and stuff, though. One of my classes was moved to Friday afternoon 2-4, which means I basically have to wait until rush hour slackens before leaving for home. Suck.
Walking out to the parking lot yesterday, right around sunset, I was passing through this area of lawns between some of the performing arts buildings... and there were BUNNIES. I was a bit saddened--those bunnies will probably be homeless when the construction starts for the new arts plaza. Sad bunnies. But it was just bizarre to walk through this suburban-college modern architecture and then be confronted by bunnies manicuring the grass. (Made me think of Buffy the Musical and Anya's song: BUNNIES! BUNNIES! BUNNIES!)
Last night there were coyotes singing on the ridge behind the house. There was a fight over something, I think. It was cool and beautiful out--I went outside to listen better. Full moon, too.
Had a VERY interesting Tarot reading last week, which I'll probably write up and backdate later when I find the scrap of paper. It was a big promise of change, and there were some powerful cards. Also some usual ones, like the 2 of Swords. The lady doing the readings was great, too.
Before going to bed Monday (first night sleeping in the room) I did a little ritual to bless the space and cleanse it and call some aides. Didn't do anything last night for the full moon, but I think I /will/ do something for the dark moon.
What else? Lessee. I didn't pass the theory placement test, so I'll have to wrangle with the department over taking theory AGAIN (I've already had a year at Columbia and a year at Santa Clara). I can't GO to the first-year theory class in any case, because it's at the same time as my choir (which is the only ensemble I can fit into my schedule). The fourth-quarter theory class meets from 9-11, so I /can/ go to the first hour and then sneak out for my 10:00 class; I'm going to talk to the instructor about doing that.
We had a grueling first time in the movement section of Opera Workshop today. Yoga and stretching and wow, my body's in sad shape. I'm going to hurt tomorrow, I think. Might soak in the tub tonight, even. But I felt GREAT afterward. The acting half of the class was full of very centered observance exercises, and then an imagination / body exercise where we first observed an animal and then took on that animal's body posture while standing up. Patrick, the grad student who runs the acting segment, is terrific. I was very focused and felt like the whole class was a success for me, especially the bit at the end. The physical stuff is going to be a real opportunity to challenge myself, too.
Signed up for one belly dance class and one yoga class, for now; I'll see if I like the dance instructor or not before I make any further commitments.
Tonight I checked out a HUGE number of books and scores from the library--some of it repertoire assigned by my new voice teacher, and some other stuff I want to look at, and some supporting texts. Found a good Italian dictionary and FINALLY got a good replaceable-nib pen for Shiel, at Barnes and Noble; I also picked up metallic gold and silver ink, which I'll use in illuminating the NERO map. Need to find time to work on that this weekend...
Room is equipped, pretty much, as best I can. I took some things back to Target and Bed/Bath/Beyond tonight--decided I can bring the small laundry hamper or a bag from home, and also decided to have only one set of sheets. I did buy a quilt, but it will serve nicely in the extra bedroom after school, and it was pretty inexpensive--the lowest price I could find at both stores.
I've made a friend in the landlady's insufferable yapping dog, a poodle-like anklebiter called a /bichon/. Yes, it means what you think. I had to try consciously not to laugh. The dog is high-strung and a bit wacko, not surprising in a breed like that, but she's also fuzzy and soft. And has a fetish for being chased around, kind of like my cousin Jeff's littlest daughter.
Our diction and IPA books still aren't in, GRRR.
In Word and Music today, which is the song rep class where pianists and singers pair up for a junior recital, Robin (the voice chair) volunteered me to work with two pianists and thus do twice as much repertoire. Pretty flattering, in a way. And not at all unfeasible, since apparently they're only looking for a twenty-five minute program. It'll just mean doing a full-length recital, which is no prob for me.
News on voice: My new voice teacher is /very/ interesting. Dr. Darryl Taylor, this fit, bald young man, African-American, maybe in his late thirties. It's off to be calling someone only little older than me "Doctor" anything, but I like reinforcing the hierarchy in the relationship and I understand why it's needed. Especially in my case--I think part of the reason I didn't make a lot of progress with Janet is that we developed a friendship rather than sticking to a firm teacher-student hierarchical separation. I had way too much power (being a private student who could just quit if I didn't like something) and I think that was why I didn't really get any discipline going in the later years. Taylor promises to be a hard taskmaster, and I've talked to him about why I'm here and so on. We're going to strip it all down to basics and address the issue of my 'driving' the sound, which produces that fast artificial vibrato; I'm not going to sing any opera for a while, just going to learn some new rep and focus on really freeing up the sound. In the first part of performance class, when we didn't have a pianist, he worked with the whole class on some breathing stuff, and it was just amazing--he really knows what he's doing. I really need to get in more practice time, though--I only managed about 20 minutes today, working on a new Liszt chanson. But then Monday and Wednesday are my hellish days; I'll be able to put in some time tomorrow. Maybe get up early and sing in the morning, even, to get a head start on it. Sang for Dr. Taylor Thursday and had the first real lesson yesterday; he's very, VERY sharp when it comes to vocal pedagogy and physiology, and I think the partnership is relly going to work. He strikes me as someone who's very disciplined as well as knowledgeable, and I'm optimistic about developing a new technique and learning from him. Also into sports/stress psychology, so he understands a lot of my little behaviors and will work with me on developing more positive habits. I was apologizing for how much I sucked when I sang in Voice Performance (well, I screwed up an entrance /and/ then acknowledged the mistake, plus it was just not a top performance)--and he stepped on it right away. In the first lesson we talked about positive/negative affirmation a bit more, and I think he's really going to be an excellent match for me. He knows the psychology, which is just great.
OK. It's midnight and I still have to read Agamemnon--gotta do a writing assignment on it by Friday, so I want to get well into it tonight.
Still need to petition for both drama and writing requirement issues. Whew. At least I just have an 11:00 class tomorrow. Which I'll try not to sleep through. :)
I miss my friends and Chuck's game and stuff, though. One of my classes was moved to Friday afternoon 2-4, which means I basically have to wait until rush hour slackens before leaving for home. Suck.