A Post.
Here it is! The random, occasional and infrequent post from me!
I am using the free wireless at Coffee Tree, which, for those of you not in Pittsburgh, is a Pittsburgh coffee chain. They're okay, except you have to BUY something for TWO free hours of wireless. Not really free. I only came here to e-mail my paper to myself just in case my computer somehow dies in the middle of the night and the last 3 months of my life disintegrates into a pile of melted hard drive and excessive tears and LOTS of drinking.
SO to make up for the hour and 30 minutes that I won't be using that I have paid $1.60 for, I will update my livejournal.
What to say? Well, I have moved into my own apartment in Pittsburgh. It is a basement, it's not grand or luxurious, but I like it. It's right in the middle of everything that I need - shopping, bars, friends, and school...not necessarily in that order, but you never know. It's an easy walk to campus, a thirty minute walk to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and all the walking keeps me in shape. Every Sunday (or Saturday) I walk to the library and get out new music, which is good for the mind, soul AND body.
This summer thus far has been overall excellent, since returning to Pittsburgh.
In New Jersey I took three classes at Rutgers - geology, social psych and statistics, which RUINED my days. I was constantly stressed out. At the end of June, I took the GREs and my scores were:
Verbal: 600 (BAD!)
Math: 560 (BEAUTIFUL for me!)
Essay: 4.5 (eep)
I wanted at least a 700 on the verbal and a 5 on the essay. What do you think? Is 600 a good enough score? I think I could at least do 650, and considering that I barely finished the essay and felt like I hadn't answered the question at ALL, I think I could do better! I was so nervous about the verbal, since everyone says it's really hard, that I psyched myself out perhaps.
Anyway, as soon as I got back to Pittsburgh I started the Dalcroze Workshop at Carnegie Mellon, for my second year as a work study. This year was AMAZING. I did not have a love interest to distract (more on why later), and I spent some amazing hours learning about music, making music, loving music, building old friendships and making new connections. Everyday was a laugh fest with Cassie and Kayla, who are such wonderful friends. Every year, this workshop gives me a new perspective on life and art and I feel recharged.
I was asked to participate in my friend Yoojin's plastique anime as a part of her license exam. We did the presto of Francis Poulenc's trio which was FUN, and it's really divine music. Listen to it! Everyday after the workshop (which was 8-5 M-F), I went to some sort of coffee establishment and researched for my major grad school paper on music in the Holocaust (not Wagner or stuff like that, but actually in the ghettos and orchestras. Mostly organized music. Anyway) So I was BUSY, BUSY!
Then I took my first exam for certification in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. It was HILARIOUS. Kayla and I thought we did awfully, but one of the adjudicators told me that he thinks I did very well. We haven't found out definitely yet. Next year, I plan on taking the plastique and piano improv exams and write a paper. After that, I will just have my TEACHING exams. Vomit.
One of the clinicians, Nicole, is an amazing party. She really inspired me. She went to CMU for undergraduate and then got every other degree imaginable in music from Yale. She's not even forty yet. Every word out of her mouth was wisdom. One of my favorites: "A boyfriend will not you get you tenure." I wonder what she would think if I told her that I remind myself that every day.
After the workshop, I started working at my campus job as an assistant in the office of graduate education. I sit at a computer and go on Facebook, occasionally organize data, then go to lunch. I get paid too much, but still not enough. It's exhausting work but only because I am doing NOTHING, which kills my shoulders, neck, and jaw, so I'm wiped out by pain by the end of the day.
As of now I have written almost fifteen pages of my grad school paper. I have one more topic to discuss which will probably take 2-4 pages, and then I have to go back, revise, add more information and I will be at the expected twenty pages "or so." Then I will begin researching for my second paper on Bellini, which will be much easier, since it's less research and more analysis.
Other projects coming up: I am an unofficial research assistant for one of the voice teachers here who is an amazing person as well. We discussed things as if we were equals and it meant SO much to me, since a lot of the faculty at this school condescend. It was good to be recognized as an intelligent, hardworking person again. Anyway, she wants me to help her do research for a recital of Clara Schumann lieder, write the program notes for her recital which will include Frauenliebe und Leben (which I may write a paper on for grad. school as well on a smaller scale), and then help her pick out recitals and repertoire for some of her students!!! EEH!! Life is coming together I feel. She's also urging me to get permission to write the program notes for the fall opera, DIALOGUES. Perhaps I am taking too much on my plate, but I don't care. It's good to be doing something that I love.
I'll also be taking up piano improv with Dr. Joseph, who is immaculate. I am excited because I know it will be the key to teaching eurhythmics, and it will improv my theoretical and aural skills exponentially.
My biggest project, which will be the hardest to organize, is researching the use of Dalcroze eurhythmics in private voice lessons. I haven't taught a lesson (or taken one) in a semester, so I will focus less on technique and more on musicianship. So far I have one potential student, but I am still waiting for replies from others.
EGGS-CITING.
Oh, all of this on top of eight classes...but only four really count. TEHE. And working two jobs.
Who am I???
Okay, so love interest.
I had a latin lover very briefly, and I am glad it is over. He gave me his number at a coffee shop, and I was tickled pink but not looking for anything especially since it was the end of May. Then I found out that he was a FRESHMAN. EEK!!!! Anyway, we texted back and forth, hung out. Nothing extraordinary. Then he made out with me at 1am against a mailbox. He smelled of tequila. I LOVE THAT. Anyway. Thought he was precious, didn't make much of it.
Then I accidentally slept over ( I missed the last bus. I have a habit of doing this. Right Ryan?) It was actually quite adorable. We hooked up, but nothing major.
Then he left Pittsburgh, and then I left. He came back before I did, and all the while he was texting me saying some pretty wild things like "Let's get married." He also said some things that led me to believe that he might have image issues - which is bizarre 'cos he was actually really attractive and had an immaculate body. I didn't take any of this seriously because, still, he's 18, I'm 21, and I'm graduating soon!
Anyway, when I came back to Pittsburgh for a weekend to move in, he wanted to hang out. The timing was all wrong, and it didn't happen. I think he held that as a grudge. He also didn't like how I told him that we weren't dating...because, hey, we weren't! I'd seen him a total of two or three times. Texting across state lines does not equal dating. We hung out when we got back to Pittsburgh, and he was kind of an extremely disgusting person. He insulted my apartment, demanded that I ordered him pizza (which I refused. He left the leftovers that he didn't eat, which I shared later with Adam), and then pushed the poor cat around! It was actually borderline animal cruelty.
Anyway, for some reason, I don't know, I guess I was technically a doormat, we made out. He insisted that we were dating. I was like...WHAT? Anyway. He slept over. We hooked up again. He left, and then didn't talk to me for like 2 days, and when I told him that I didn't think it was going to work out he called me an asshole. My revenge? He left his movie at my house, and I am giving it a girl I haven't spoken to in two years. I don't need it!
So that's it. I saw Julie/Julia yestersday with my ex-"boyfriend" (we never officially dated for almost a year), his mother and grandmother. Hilarious. The movie as well as the situation. It put me in such a good mood.
I miss my friends, especially Ryan, Ryan and Madge! When Madge comes back we are seeing Julie/Julia again and getting frozen cosmos. I CANNOT WAIT!
Well, this place is closing soon! I have to walk home and listen to some music for research then go to bed! Work at 12. Life is so hard.
Oh, here is the grad. school list:
Columbia, NYU
UPenn
USC, UCLA, Berkeley
Michigan
Chicago
Not in that order, though NYU/Columbia/UPenn would be great since they are so close to New Jersey and therefore, home!
I am using the free wireless at Coffee Tree, which, for those of you not in Pittsburgh, is a Pittsburgh coffee chain. They're okay, except you have to BUY something for TWO free hours of wireless. Not really free. I only came here to e-mail my paper to myself just in case my computer somehow dies in the middle of the night and the last 3 months of my life disintegrates into a pile of melted hard drive and excessive tears and LOTS of drinking.
SO to make up for the hour and 30 minutes that I won't be using that I have paid $1.60 for, I will update my livejournal.
What to say? Well, I have moved into my own apartment in Pittsburgh. It is a basement, it's not grand or luxurious, but I like it. It's right in the middle of everything that I need - shopping, bars, friends, and school...not necessarily in that order, but you never know. It's an easy walk to campus, a thirty minute walk to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and all the walking keeps me in shape. Every Sunday (or Saturday) I walk to the library and get out new music, which is good for the mind, soul AND body.
This summer thus far has been overall excellent, since returning to Pittsburgh.
In New Jersey I took three classes at Rutgers - geology, social psych and statistics, which RUINED my days. I was constantly stressed out. At the end of June, I took the GREs and my scores were:
Verbal: 600 (BAD!)
Math: 560 (BEAUTIFUL for me!)
Essay: 4.5 (eep)
I wanted at least a 700 on the verbal and a 5 on the essay. What do you think? Is 600 a good enough score? I think I could at least do 650, and considering that I barely finished the essay and felt like I hadn't answered the question at ALL, I think I could do better! I was so nervous about the verbal, since everyone says it's really hard, that I psyched myself out perhaps.
Anyway, as soon as I got back to Pittsburgh I started the Dalcroze Workshop at Carnegie Mellon, for my second year as a work study. This year was AMAZING. I did not have a love interest to distract (more on why later), and I spent some amazing hours learning about music, making music, loving music, building old friendships and making new connections. Everyday was a laugh fest with Cassie and Kayla, who are such wonderful friends. Every year, this workshop gives me a new perspective on life and art and I feel recharged.
I was asked to participate in my friend Yoojin's plastique anime as a part of her license exam. We did the presto of Francis Poulenc's trio which was FUN, and it's really divine music. Listen to it! Everyday after the workshop (which was 8-5 M-F), I went to some sort of coffee establishment and researched for my major grad school paper on music in the Holocaust (not Wagner or stuff like that, but actually in the ghettos and orchestras. Mostly organized music. Anyway) So I was BUSY, BUSY!
Then I took my first exam for certification in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. It was HILARIOUS. Kayla and I thought we did awfully, but one of the adjudicators told me that he thinks I did very well. We haven't found out definitely yet. Next year, I plan on taking the plastique and piano improv exams and write a paper. After that, I will just have my TEACHING exams. Vomit.
One of the clinicians, Nicole, is an amazing party. She really inspired me. She went to CMU for undergraduate and then got every other degree imaginable in music from Yale. She's not even forty yet. Every word out of her mouth was wisdom. One of my favorites: "A boyfriend will not you get you tenure." I wonder what she would think if I told her that I remind myself that every day.
After the workshop, I started working at my campus job as an assistant in the office of graduate education. I sit at a computer and go on Facebook, occasionally organize data, then go to lunch. I get paid too much, but still not enough. It's exhausting work but only because I am doing NOTHING, which kills my shoulders, neck, and jaw, so I'm wiped out by pain by the end of the day.
As of now I have written almost fifteen pages of my grad school paper. I have one more topic to discuss which will probably take 2-4 pages, and then I have to go back, revise, add more information and I will be at the expected twenty pages "or so." Then I will begin researching for my second paper on Bellini, which will be much easier, since it's less research and more analysis.
Other projects coming up: I am an unofficial research assistant for one of the voice teachers here who is an amazing person as well. We discussed things as if we were equals and it meant SO much to me, since a lot of the faculty at this school condescend. It was good to be recognized as an intelligent, hardworking person again. Anyway, she wants me to help her do research for a recital of Clara Schumann lieder, write the program notes for her recital which will include Frauenliebe und Leben (which I may write a paper on for grad. school as well on a smaller scale), and then help her pick out recitals and repertoire for some of her students!!! EEH!! Life is coming together I feel. She's also urging me to get permission to write the program notes for the fall opera, DIALOGUES. Perhaps I am taking too much on my plate, but I don't care. It's good to be doing something that I love.
I'll also be taking up piano improv with Dr. Joseph, who is immaculate. I am excited because I know it will be the key to teaching eurhythmics, and it will improv my theoretical and aural skills exponentially.
My biggest project, which will be the hardest to organize, is researching the use of Dalcroze eurhythmics in private voice lessons. I haven't taught a lesson (or taken one) in a semester, so I will focus less on technique and more on musicianship. So far I have one potential student, but I am still waiting for replies from others.
EGGS-CITING.
Oh, all of this on top of eight classes...but only four really count. TEHE. And working two jobs.
Who am I???
Okay, so love interest.
I had a latin lover very briefly, and I am glad it is over. He gave me his number at a coffee shop, and I was tickled pink but not looking for anything especially since it was the end of May. Then I found out that he was a FRESHMAN. EEK!!!! Anyway, we texted back and forth, hung out. Nothing extraordinary. Then he made out with me at 1am against a mailbox. He smelled of tequila. I LOVE THAT. Anyway. Thought he was precious, didn't make much of it.
Then I accidentally slept over ( I missed the last bus. I have a habit of doing this. Right Ryan?) It was actually quite adorable. We hooked up, but nothing major.
Then he left Pittsburgh, and then I left. He came back before I did, and all the while he was texting me saying some pretty wild things like "Let's get married." He also said some things that led me to believe that he might have image issues - which is bizarre 'cos he was actually really attractive and had an immaculate body. I didn't take any of this seriously because, still, he's 18, I'm 21, and I'm graduating soon!
Anyway, when I came back to Pittsburgh for a weekend to move in, he wanted to hang out. The timing was all wrong, and it didn't happen. I think he held that as a grudge. He also didn't like how I told him that we weren't dating...because, hey, we weren't! I'd seen him a total of two or three times. Texting across state lines does not equal dating. We hung out when we got back to Pittsburgh, and he was kind of an extremely disgusting person. He insulted my apartment, demanded that I ordered him pizza (which I refused. He left the leftovers that he didn't eat, which I shared later with Adam), and then pushed the poor cat around! It was actually borderline animal cruelty.
Anyway, for some reason, I don't know, I guess I was technically a doormat, we made out. He insisted that we were dating. I was like...WHAT? Anyway. He slept over. We hooked up again. He left, and then didn't talk to me for like 2 days, and when I told him that I didn't think it was going to work out he called me an asshole. My revenge? He left his movie at my house, and I am giving it a girl I haven't spoken to in two years. I don't need it!
So that's it. I saw Julie/Julia yestersday with my ex-"boyfriend" (we never officially dated for almost a year), his mother and grandmother. Hilarious. The movie as well as the situation. It put me in such a good mood.
I miss my friends, especially Ryan, Ryan and Madge! When Madge comes back we are seeing Julie/Julia again and getting frozen cosmos. I CANNOT WAIT!
Well, this place is closing soon! I have to walk home and listen to some music for research then go to bed! Work at 12. Life is so hard.
Oh, here is the grad. school list:
Columbia, NYU
UPenn
USC, UCLA, Berkeley
Michigan
Chicago
Not in that order, though NYU/Columbia/UPenn would be great since they are so close to New Jersey and therefore, home!