The art of having a life during break
It is so incredibly cold down here in the family room. I have the curtain by the screen door open so we can let in natural light and not waste electricity, but this also means that the curtain is not blocking out the cold air, which is why we normally keep it closed. The last three days have been ridiculously cold overall. But I can't really complain, as it is winter and I would rather have seasonable weather than the alternative. (I only wish it would snow and make the low temperatures more fun.)
So now that I am finally finished with my Doctor Who madness- at least until I get back to campus and start trying to hunt down the Christmas special online- I actually got out and did things this week. Lots of fun things, in fact. Here are some highlights:
Friday (not yesterday, the one before): My parents and I went into D.C. to see a glass exhibit at a gallery. The artist was an Italian guy whose name I can't remember because it was a whole week ago. :) Tagliapietra is what my dad thinks it was. There were some really nice works by him- one of my favorites was a yellow-orange tendril-y one that looked a bit like a snake, but was named "Phoenix" (or the Italian word for phoenix). There was also a cool one with triangular-shaped multicolored glass pieces suspended in the air so they looked like boats. He specialized in fancy goblets, so there were a lot of those, and they were very intricate. Afterward we went to Java Green, a vegan restaurant at Farragut North that my family loves.
Saturday: Saw a performance of "As You Like It" at the Olney Theatre! My parents subscribe to the performances there, so we go to see a lot of them- which is good because they're always excellent. (They did a production of "Big River" this past summer that I loved, and I also saw "Peter Pan" by them over Thanksgiving.) I don't think I'd ever seen this particular play in performance before, although I had read sections of it in 8th grade English class. I definitely enjoyed it. The choices they made in terms of style and format actually reminded me a lot of the performances I saw at Stratford over the summer. It was modern dress, just like the ones at the RSC, instead of traditional Shakespearean costuming. Also, they ended the performance with a song, and a lot of the RSC shows I saw ended with either a song or a dance. I think this was also the first Shakespeare play I've seen since coming back from England, so I really had a lot of fun. :)
Monday: Went back to the elementary school to sit in on some 3rd grade classes! The experience as a whole was good, although it wasn't the best day to come in terms of seeing how a class normally functions. All the teachers had to do individual reading evaluations for each student, so they had the others doing independent work while they did that. It was fun- and surreal- to reconnect with my old teachers, though- especially since I kept trying to imagine myself as a student in their classes way back when! I don't remember much from that early in elementary school, so it's tough. Hopefully when I substitute teach I'll be able to wing it well enough.
Sometime earlier this week (Monday, I think): I listened to one of the CDs I got for Christmas- "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. I was really hoping for this CD as the title track is my favorite song of the moment, and I'd heard very good things about the album in general. People were saying it's Coldplay's best work yet. And from what Coldplay I have heard, I think they might be right. It seemed to me like the song was both typical of the band and quite different simultaneously. There were more driving beats on this, and fewer soft piano ballads (although much of the music was still piano-based). My favorite tracks, besides the one that was already my favorite, were "Cemeteries of London" and "Violet Hill", just because they had a great atmosphere to them, and the "Reign of Love" half of "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love", because of the beautiful piano in it. And of course there was "Viva La Vida", which is a completely different track from anything else. I think it sounds unlike anything else Coldplay has done. The CD as a whole is fantastic, and I'm looking forward to listening to it many more times.
Thursday: I looked up my book prices for this semester, and discovered that they are going to be terribly expensive- more so than any other semester, possibly. Not something I'm looking forward to, but it has to be done. I'll buy them on Monday afternoon when I get back to school.
Yesterday: Got an email saying I still have my admissions job for next semester! This was in question because the second-semester daily tour spots are usually given to underclassmen, so they can continue them in the coming years. But I think they're finding themselves a bit understaffed, because I do have a daily spot, and I'm on the roster for alternates on Fridays in case they need someone. I expect I'll actually be working quite a bit this coming semester, because spring is always huge for admissions, so they'll probably have a tour for me each Monday when I come in and might even have to call me in for extra backup on Fridays as well. It remains to be seen whether I'll do any volunteer tours for them (i.e. unpaid); that really depends on my workload.
Speaking of which, 2 of my 3 classes are cancelled on Tuesday because of the inauguration. And the 3rd (which is at noon, right during the swearing-in) is considering cancelling, but hasn't decided yet. If she decides not to hold class, I will have absolutely no commitments until Thursday. I don't have any Wednesday classes, placement (which is Wednesday mornings at 8:15 this semester) won't start till the following week, and club activities won't begin until after spring club fair. I think I can handle nothing until 8 a.m. Thursday morning. :D We'll see what Professor Savage decides to do.
Mostly, over break I've been trying to just kick back and do whatever I want to do. When I'm at school I tend to micro-manage my time (which I will undoubtedly start up again the minute I get back on Monday), so during vacations I've been trying to take it easy. I do have some stuff that still needs to get done- SMP writing, a scholarship letter or three, the ridiculously long application for substitute teachers- but I'm trying to let it flow naturally. Now that it's been almost a month, though, I'm just about ready to get back to school and let the madness begin again!
Sarah
So now that I am finally finished with my Doctor Who madness- at least until I get back to campus and start trying to hunt down the Christmas special online- I actually got out and did things this week. Lots of fun things, in fact. Here are some highlights:
Friday (not yesterday, the one before): My parents and I went into D.C. to see a glass exhibit at a gallery. The artist was an Italian guy whose name I can't remember because it was a whole week ago. :) Tagliapietra is what my dad thinks it was. There were some really nice works by him- one of my favorites was a yellow-orange tendril-y one that looked a bit like a snake, but was named "Phoenix" (or the Italian word for phoenix). There was also a cool one with triangular-shaped multicolored glass pieces suspended in the air so they looked like boats. He specialized in fancy goblets, so there were a lot of those, and they were very intricate. Afterward we went to Java Green, a vegan restaurant at Farragut North that my family loves.
Saturday: Saw a performance of "As You Like It" at the Olney Theatre! My parents subscribe to the performances there, so we go to see a lot of them- which is good because they're always excellent. (They did a production of "Big River" this past summer that I loved, and I also saw "Peter Pan" by them over Thanksgiving.) I don't think I'd ever seen this particular play in performance before, although I had read sections of it in 8th grade English class. I definitely enjoyed it. The choices they made in terms of style and format actually reminded me a lot of the performances I saw at Stratford over the summer. It was modern dress, just like the ones at the RSC, instead of traditional Shakespearean costuming. Also, they ended the performance with a song, and a lot of the RSC shows I saw ended with either a song or a dance. I think this was also the first Shakespeare play I've seen since coming back from England, so I really had a lot of fun. :)
Monday: Went back to the elementary school to sit in on some 3rd grade classes! The experience as a whole was good, although it wasn't the best day to come in terms of seeing how a class normally functions. All the teachers had to do individual reading evaluations for each student, so they had the others doing independent work while they did that. It was fun- and surreal- to reconnect with my old teachers, though- especially since I kept trying to imagine myself as a student in their classes way back when! I don't remember much from that early in elementary school, so it's tough. Hopefully when I substitute teach I'll be able to wing it well enough.
Sometime earlier this week (Monday, I think): I listened to one of the CDs I got for Christmas- "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay. I was really hoping for this CD as the title track is my favorite song of the moment, and I'd heard very good things about the album in general. People were saying it's Coldplay's best work yet. And from what Coldplay I have heard, I think they might be right. It seemed to me like the song was both typical of the band and quite different simultaneously. There were more driving beats on this, and fewer soft piano ballads (although much of the music was still piano-based). My favorite tracks, besides the one that was already my favorite, were "Cemeteries of London" and "Violet Hill", just because they had a great atmosphere to them, and the "Reign of Love" half of "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love", because of the beautiful piano in it. And of course there was "Viva La Vida", which is a completely different track from anything else. I think it sounds unlike anything else Coldplay has done. The CD as a whole is fantastic, and I'm looking forward to listening to it many more times.
Thursday: I looked up my book prices for this semester, and discovered that they are going to be terribly expensive- more so than any other semester, possibly. Not something I'm looking forward to, but it has to be done. I'll buy them on Monday afternoon when I get back to school.
Yesterday: Got an email saying I still have my admissions job for next semester! This was in question because the second-semester daily tour spots are usually given to underclassmen, so they can continue them in the coming years. But I think they're finding themselves a bit understaffed, because I do have a daily spot, and I'm on the roster for alternates on Fridays in case they need someone. I expect I'll actually be working quite a bit this coming semester, because spring is always huge for admissions, so they'll probably have a tour for me each Monday when I come in and might even have to call me in for extra backup on Fridays as well. It remains to be seen whether I'll do any volunteer tours for them (i.e. unpaid); that really depends on my workload.
Speaking of which, 2 of my 3 classes are cancelled on Tuesday because of the inauguration. And the 3rd (which is at noon, right during the swearing-in) is considering cancelling, but hasn't decided yet. If she decides not to hold class, I will have absolutely no commitments until Thursday. I don't have any Wednesday classes, placement (which is Wednesday mornings at 8:15 this semester) won't start till the following week, and club activities won't begin until after spring club fair. I think I can handle nothing until 8 a.m. Thursday morning. :D We'll see what Professor Savage decides to do.
Mostly, over break I've been trying to just kick back and do whatever I want to do. When I'm at school I tend to micro-manage my time (which I will undoubtedly start up again the minute I get back on Monday), so during vacations I've been trying to take it easy. I do have some stuff that still needs to get done- SMP writing, a scholarship letter or three, the ridiculously long application for substitute teachers- but I'm trying to let it flow naturally. Now that it's been almost a month, though, I'm just about ready to get back to school and let the madness begin again!
Sarah