A measly twelve hours! AGHHHHHHHHH!
Yup. I'm nervous. Can you tell??? No way. I'm so freaking nervous. My piano lesson went well today, though. At least that made me happy. But still. TWELVE HOURS! THAT'S IT! OH MY GOD!
A rundown on the lesson today:
Beethoven - awesome. if i play half as well tomorrow, i will be happy.
Beach - yup, i peaked on this one already. it's going to blow monkeys. the audience won't be able to tell. hopefully.
Chopin - eh. i still have the same problems with rushing. so we'll see. bah!
Bartok - ups and downs! gaaaahhhh! mvmt one-good, mvmt two-good, mvmt three-okay, mvmt four-good, mvmt five-interesting...,mvmt six-ummmm....
Wow. Twelve hours. And I still have to write a $*#@$ing chemistry paper. It's due tomorrow. And it's on PCBs and the Fox River. Or something. I'm not sure. Good lord. This is bad. I'm pondering saying "fuck it" on the paper and turning it in late, but I'm not sure if I can really afford to do that. I suppose I just have to ace my oral presentation next week and the final. Haha, ace the final. Well, Beth did offer to help me study for it, so we'll have to see. Yikes.
I'm going to see how much I can get written by midnight, then we'll see. I suppose that means I have to start writing it. Bah!
Recital! AGH! I'm so nervous. I was hoping to sleep tonight...yeah. Right. Lots to think about. Lots to NOT worry about. Lots to try not to think about....can't wait till all this shit is over! Next Monday is going to be a welcome relief. Sort-of. Let me rephrase. Next Wednesday is going to be a welcome relief. I mean Thursday. No, I mean Friday. Okay. Fuck that noise. The end of the semester is going to be a welcome relief!
In the meantime...
If you're in Ripon tomorrow...
COME SEE ME! YAY MY RECITAL! 11:15 Demmer! Woohoo!!! And if you're not, leave me nice comments wishing me luck ;)
- posted by L. @ 11:16 PM

 
NERVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good lord, it's not even the NIGHT before. It's TWO nights before. And GAH! I'm so fucking nervous!! Tomorrow is going to drag! And my two hour morning work shift is minus one Jean...oh goody. That helps. Or not. So I'll be working on the program in the afternoon - nothing like a last minute deal. But that's how the world turns I guess.
I spent about 2.5 hours practicing tonight in the recital hall. While the Beethoven has improved IMMENSELY (if I play it on Tuesday the way I nailed it tonight, there will be NO worries), the Beach piece, I think, has already climaxed and is just going down. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK. This is not to say that it's not going to be good (I hope it can!), but it really could have been a lot better tonight. Chopin is going fairly decently, and so is Bartok. I'm going to need to iron out a few spots tomorrow night, so hopefully I can find someone to cover half of my night shift in order to practice and then go to bed at a decent hour (since I might have to be up at an insane hour like, oh, 6:30 or something ridiculous like that in order to get ready and look decent BEFORE my 8:30 class. Which I will NOT sleep through this week - I will set all three of my alarms if I have to!)
And then, to top it off, I have to write a CHEMISTRY paper that's due on Tuesday. Poop! Who wants to write a CHEMISTRY paper? I probably should have done that this weekend, but that would have been logical, and smart, and besides I was too busy trying to figure out how to turn on our scanner (before Dad did it for me). So tomorrow night at work, I get to write a CHEMISTRY paper. I wonder if there is a way I can figure out how to get the paper to write itself and still get me an A of some form, because goodness knows I need it.
Oh, this is too much work for the end of the semester! I don't even want to think about all the shit I have to do by next Monday. So much for having Friday off, I'm going to be working from dawn to dusk - and probably then some too. Jazz band Friday night, Choral Union hell on Saturday, Choraliers hell on Saturday night, Choral Union hell concert Sunday, no sleeping Sunday night to write history paper due Monday...shoot me now. That AND I'm missing Rockapella in Milwaukee on Thursday to go to (of all the yucky things...) ORCHESTRA. And they're doing a Christmas program! Rockapella! The same group that was on Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Rockapella! Gaaaaaahhhhhhh! Let's see...Orchestra or Rockapella? The choice seems obvious to me, however the other is a class. Sigh.
I shouldn't even be thinking about all this crap because I've got a recital to worry about. I can't wait until next Monday.....everything will be done. Except my chemistry presentation. But I planned on BSing that whole thing anyway, I'm good at BSing oral presentations for some reason.
Can't wait till next Monday.....
In the meantime, once Dad figured out how to turn on the scanner, my pictures were scanned (not by me...*blushes at computer illiteracy*) and are collected and posted on the web: http://photos.yahoo.com/mslauren18
Check 'em out and lemme know what you think :) Nothing like fun pictures - there's formal pictures there too...thanks Matt and Brandon!! :)
And Paul, you never cease to crack me up:

Paul: Hey, sorry I missed you AGAIN this break. Things were, shall we say, hectic??!! Hopefully this doesn't become a trend. I'll have to catch you next time I'm back in good old Milwaukee...that or I'll have to come to Ripon again sometime. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and I hope you weren!!! Talk to you later.
Auto response from Lauren: practice makes perfect! or at least, it gets closer to perfect that not practicing does! i'm down in rodman, and i'll probably be there for a while...
Paul: Whoops!
Paul: *hope you weren't too bored!!!!
Paul: lataaaaaa
- posted by L. @ 1:23 AM

 
Oh lord, sleep deprivation. I think I'm going to need that cast-iron skillet to calm my nerves on Monday night...
I went to bed at 10:30 tonight, and it's now 2:59 (at start), for which I have now been awake for about two hours. Bah! What am I going to do on Monday night? I had begun to think that the implementation of plan A for December 1 was bad, but I'm starting to reconsider it. This is getting ridiculous, and I'm not happy. So now what? I can't wait till my recital is over, because despite the mad amounts of work I have to do afterwards, it will be nice to not have to worry about it. Who's with me on dropping out of school and moving to a commune somewhere in the middle of nowhere???
- posted by L. @ 2:59 AM

 
Hmm. Interesting spin of events.
Ah, Cantique de Jean Racine....yup, you guessed it, *tear, tear, sniff, sniff*. Okay, I'll be over that in a few minutes.
I just sent off an email that I'm wondering if I should have sent or not. I hope I did the right thing in sending it, lord knows I was actually expressing my feelings for once. And I needed to get a lot of that out. Well, it's definitely out. I'm sure I definitely left parts out. Most likely in fact. I'm an intensely private person (irony right here peoples!) and while I do tell the truth, I tend to leave parts out. And I hate feelings. A lot. My solution to feelings is ignoring them until they go away. Not an entirely effective method. :)
Okay, changing the subject. I haven't touched the piano all weekend. I'm thinking this needs to change. But on the plus side, I think I know what I'm wearing (except my shoes) on Tuesday. Yay! I was worried about that! I only hope that my sister still owns the shirt I'm planning on stealing, otherwise it's back to the drawing board. The only downside is that the shirt is sleeveless, so I'm probably going to freeze my tail off until I get full-fledged into the Beethoven, but eh, meh, it happens. Not to mention I look extremely cute in said shirt!!
I am just praying for no major train wrecks, lots of mistakes, etc. I just have to think back to sophomore year when I may or may not have completely bombed the Schubert Impromptu (Op. 90, no 4 in A flat major...gahhhhh I need to forget that piece exists), and people still were asking Andy if I was a piano major. Hmm, maybe I don't suck as much as I think.
The problem with shuffle on windows media player is that it tends to repeat itself within short periods of time. Damnit, Cantique again! Am I going to skip this? Of course not.
Anyway, it's getting late, and I haven't decided what I'm doing tomorrow, so I should probably head to bed. Regardless, I'm going grocery shopping, getting my hair trimmed (heh, for me, trim = six inches or something ridiculous), and hopefully figuring out how to turn on our scanner to scan some of my pix from this summer so I don't have to put that off till winter break (though lord knows I will have nothing else to do besides count ceiling tiles). I'm so computer illiterate sometimes it scares me.
- posted by L. @ 2:30 AM

 
Melancholy....
Bah, humbug. I'm starting to feel like Scrooge. I want to have a good holiday season, but I have so much crap on my mind lately. I am questioning just about everything. Do I grad-school it? Do I work? Do I move out of Wisconsin? Do I stay in Wisconsin, if so where? North, south, east, west? I love Milwaukee, but do I want to live there? Do I keep my music major or drop it down to a minor? Do I stay with what I committed to during freshman year even though there has been a drastic drop in my involvement, and I'm questioning my heart's dedication to it. Do I burn bridges or keep them intact?? I don't know what I want to do in six months because I have no direction. It's not like I'm banking on finding my dream job out of college, but I don't even know what my dream job would be. I don't even have a passion anymore. It's burned out. My recent realization that at this precise moment in time, I absolutely despise the instrument I've devoted a large portion of time to for the last, um eight years. I'm doing a recital right now for fun, but it's taken a lot of work. I haven't minded the work, it's been very rewarding. But I'm going to have to devote even more time, energy, and work to the recital on my principle instrument, and I don't want to. I have no desire to devote all the time I've devoted to the piano over the last semester to the oboe. Hell, I don't even want to devote half the time to the oboe that I've devoted to the piano, and I would have to devote even more time. I don't want to. I don't to at all. I've wanted to play the oboe since like, 3rd grade, and when I finally started in 8th grade, it was like the coolest thing ever. And I got really good really fast. It just came naturally. And now, eight years later, I could care less if I ever see the instrument again, much less play it. All through college, I was hoping to go to grad school and get some sort of an assistantship for oboe, and now I don't even want to play the instrument anymore.
Blah. What a blah day. Hopefully I don't end up being Scrooge-like this season. Don't worry, it's not going to keep me from getting people Christmas presents (pushing a scarf! i'm good at scarves! and have too much yarn! blah!), and eating lots of food, etc, but really, it's going to be interesting to see if this pans out or not. Bah humbug!!!!
- posted by L. @ 1:45 AM

 
Woohoo!!
I'm still waiting on formal pictures (cough cough, hint hint), but in the meantime, now that I'm at home and have access to our hard drive with pictures, I have uploaded a bunch on Yahoo photos! Yay! Nothing super exciting - yet. I have to blow the dust off the scanner sometime before Sunday and scan a whole bunch of pics.
In the meantime: http://photos.yahoo.com/mslauren18
Yay! There's some general CP pictures that my parents took on the digital camera, and some of my 21st birthday. Beware, they're kinda fuzzy. Oh well.
Back at home till Sunday. The excitement level has dropped drastically. I think my life is going to revolve around going to the library to get books on German immigrants in Milwaukee (oh yeah, that research paper is due Dec 6. Surprisingly, I haven't started it. Or thought about it. Or even really got a topic yet.), practicing (maybe at church - they have a grand piano there), socializing with my crazy family (haven't seen some of them since February, I'm guessing my cousin is taller than me now, damn), and watching lots of movies. No shopping for me (I don't have a death wish, and Gina's not here), except maybe to the grocery store. Oh, and eating of course. And hopefully hanging out with people I haven't seen for a while. And watching movies, brought lots home! Yup, my life is boring. Too much to do, not enough fun stuff. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh.
I was informed today that Thanksgiving tomorrow has been moved to my aunt's house. This greatly increased my chances of having their dog pee on me AGAIN. Sigh, no repeats of last year please!!!
Ooh, but I still am serious about that whole scarf thing. I started going through my yarn box today - there's a lot of shite in there. Just let me know what colors you want :) Heehee.
Oh, and have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
- posted by L. @ 1:07 AM

 
Wanted: Formal pictures
Okay, I know it's the up-and-coming holiday weekend, but I'm sure most of you don't have anything better to do - so send me formal pictures!!! I forgot to take out my camera and have none. I know there's a few out there floating around with me in them!!! So in your infinite boredom (or just 'cause I'm cool) - send me pictures!!
Um, yeah...that's it for now. I'm sure I'll be bored later if I don't fall asleep at like, 7pm.
And I wasn't kidding about the scarf thing. Just realize you probably won't get it till 2006. :) I set realistic goals in order to not disappoint!!!
- posted by L. @ 11:21 AM

 
Time for that whole pre-winter break break...well, almost.
Only two days until turkey day. It's kind of an unreal feeling. I've lost complete track of time, seasons, and just general feel of the world. When I was younger, we looked forward to these things for, um, weeks. At least. We anticipated Christmas for months. Now? I live by the college calendar. Christmas is more of a welcome thing once exams are finished, not before. Agh, and my last exam is the 17th. Curses.
Speaking of turkey day, it's two days away. I will be going home tomorrow. I have no idea when. I have no idea how I'm getting there. All I know is I need to bring home my overflowing laundry basket (and I feel no guilt about this either - it's not like I pay for laundry here..hehehe), and my oboe, and my piano music. And a bunch of movies, 'cause we've got a functional DVD player at my house now - hooray!! I think my general distaste for the upcoming holiday is my up-and-coming nervousness for my recital - which is in um, SIX days. That and there's nothing to do at home. Well, Paul will be there, and Adam, and Justine, and I think Lizzie said we should go out for coffee (or in my case, iced chai, or tropical smoothies, or something that's not coffee because i don't like coffee) - so *checks contact list in cell* I will be able to call her. An interesting moment of my day came when I panicked about not knowing if I had Lizzie's cell phone number - did it ever occur to me that I do, in fact, have her home phone number?? Of course not...score one for the technology age. :) So hopefully I'll be somewhat busy over the weekend. I'm trying to put off ceiling tile counting until winter break.
On Saturday night, I did buy new knitting needles. So we'll see if I remember to bring those home/use them/etc. I was planning on making a Harry Potter scarf for myself, um, like, a year and a half ago. Nope, make that two years ago. I made one for Adam for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa in 2002...then lost the maroon and gold yarn, bought more (it's collecting dust). Then I bought new knitting needles (and Paul, if we hang out, I won't trip over anything and almost impale you with them like Gina did...), with the excitement of being able to work on my own scarf before I finished that blue and pink one that I'm giving Mom for Christmas. If I finish it. Since it's now two Christmases overdue. Whoops. Um. The point of this, I think, is that I was going to make myself a Harry Potter scarf when Kali showed up with a super kickass Harry Potter scarf that she made with a round needle (which I don't know how to use). Maybe I'll make a maroon and gold scarf with my new needles because it's not only Gryffindor colors, it's Minnesota colors! And I can give it to my grandpa. If I ever remember how to knit anymore.....
Hmm, maybe this weekend will entail digging through that huge box of yarn in my room and finding out what I have and have no done over the past three years. I set out to be so creative...if I find the time/motivation/time, I can probably knock off all of my Christmas presents by just finishing up what I said I'd give people two years ago. Oh, I'm so clever.
Anyone want a scarf?? Hehe, that's the extent of my talents. Scarves, and half-finished afghans. But those are going to me. If I ever finish them. Just leave a comment with colors you want, and I'll see if I have them. I probably do. And don't expect it by Christmas - but by the fourth of July in 2006. Hey, I set realistic goals for myself. I wonder if I'll get any requests...:)
Now, if you'll excuse me, my cartoon fix of the night, Garfield & Friends, is on.
I'd say Happy Thanksgiving now, but I'm sure I'll probably be bored tomorrow night.
Ooh, thanks for the Empire Records quote. That's one of my favorite parts of the movie. I watched it tonight - again - all the way through! YAY!!!
- posted by L. @ 1:50 AM

 
I feel like I'm a commuter student!!! Gah!
In slightly better humor for most of the day - though I swear I should just up and move my entire freaking room to Rodman. Of my 17 waking hours today, approximately 14 of those were spent in Rodman. I reeeaaaaallllllllyyyyyyy need a life. One that doesn't revolve around Rodman, Rodman, Rodman, Rodman, uh, Rodman, and did I mention Rodman? We didn't even have band today, and I still spent that time in Rodman. Yikes. Today was probably not the best day to wear super itchy wool sweater with too long sleeves, because now I feel like I'm one big mosquito bite and piano practicing was nightmare-ish. And haha, stupid me, let's wear a tank top under the sweater. Brilliant thinking, Lauren. So when it gets itchy, tough shit! It's not summer, it's getting to be winter, and tank tops, no matter how damn good they may look, are not so much practical ;) (damn you Wisconsin weather!)
Anyway, it's already way past my bedtime (given tomorrow's schedule - more brilliance on my part!)
I suppose this tiredness could have been prevented had I decided not to watch Empire Records last night. I mean, instead of sleeping, I was watching the movie. Ahhhhhh, I LOVE that movie...one of my absolute favorites...and I hadn't watched it since, like, May, or maybe even *gasp* April. Yes, I think that's some kind of sin.
Well, off to bed! Yay student recital. And me playing three movements of the Britten. Okay, maybe that wasn't my best idea. But that seems to be this evening's theme :)
- posted by L. @ 1:21 AM

 
Is it May 15 yet????
Less than six months till graduation (and one of those months is spent at home...aka NOT HERE!!!). I think that's the best news I've heard all day. Six months from today, graduation will be over. Ripon College will be the past. And let's be honest - IT CAN'T COME FAST ENOUGH! Sorry to anyone who's left here, I most likely won't be around, um, ever again. Aside from Steph and possibly Chris' recital, I doubt I will ever set foot on this campus again. I might as well have dropped out at the end of last year, because quite frankly, who cares? I think someone told me earlier this year that senior year is supposed to be fun.
Sure, it's been fun...if you define fun as having more or less everyone you've ever be close to graduate, or decide to go abroad next semester. Sure, if you define fun as spending all waking hours in the music building because it's a generally nicer atmosphere. Sure, if you define fun as having a class you need not offered so instead you're taking a class you're going to fail (or at least do extremely poorly in) because it's not something you're not good at, and you know you're not good at it, so that's why you didn't take the class in the first place? And have a lab partner that treats you like you're a dumb mute or something to boot. Sure, if fun means longing after the summer months after it's over? If fun means looking forward to a specific event/date/etc for almost as soon as you find out about it, only to have it completely suck for a number of different reasons both within and beyond your control? If fun means to invest your whole heart and soul into something only to realize that if given the option now, there's no way in heaven, hell or earth you would repeat the action of being a part of that something even if they paid you lots of money to do it! So yeah, if you define all that as fun, sure. Senior year's been great. Definitely.
It's been great just like Cedar Point was. Except that Cedar Point was great, so I don't want to go back because I don't want anything to tarnish that fun image. Kinda like here. Freshman year was great - even the yucky parts *cough - calah - cough* were stuff we could look back at and laugh at. Sophomore year was not so great. There's not much about sophomore year that I can look back at laugh at. And it just continues on that way...junior year, and now this. If I'd left at the end of freshman year, when I should have, then I'm guessing I would have only good memories.
Sigh. Never do anything for the benefit of anyone except yourself.
- posted by L. @ 6:58 PM

 
fam-ILY!!!
Gina's response to my pictures:
Gina: ohmygod- i almost posted those exact pictures on my blog today- no joke!
Gina: yay!
Gina: i have oboe road, if you want a copy of it

Yay! I think I have a copy of oboe road, but for some reason it's not reading as a jpeg, so I might have to mess around with it a bit - or I'll take the easy way and Gina can send it.

On the way home from Oshkosh today, I was reminded of a very fond memory. The Rolling Stones song "As Tears Go By" came on the radio, and immediately I was reminded of the time that Sonja and I decided that would be a great song to request on the radio during a sleepover in, what, 7th grade?? I mean, hey, who wouldn't want to request a song on the all-request hour from 3-4am??? :) Woohoo us!

- posted by L. @ 1:30 AM

 

More oboes on tour - I wonder where oboe road went...I'll have to find it...because who wouldn't want a picture of three crazy oboes doing the whole Abbey Road thing - two oboes, an English horn, and Jenny wearing no shoes. And Buddy - who took the picture and got hit by a car in the process. Just kidding. :) 
- posted by L. @ 10:22 PM

 

Oboes on tour! Oboes on tour! In case you were wondering where that name came from :) It came from me, Jenny, and Gina going around Rodman and taking random pictures - oboes on tour!  
- posted by L. @ 10:21 PM

 
Hmmm
So, it's now abour 2:45 in the morning and for some reason I'm still up...but Life as a House is on TBS right now, so yay for that. Such a great movie. And hi, Hayden Christenson? Can you be any hotter???
Ah, melancholy reminder of easter weekend freshman year, watching with Emily and Joe before we were going to watch Muppets Take Manhattan, but after Life as a House was over, we were too depressed, and just went home. The things I remember...
Now, if only it was a week ago at this time...that'd be great. Sigh.
- posted by L. @ 2:44 AM

 
Um, so not exactly what I promised but hey, it happens...
Well...not much along the lines of "ooh, it's my exciting life!"
Failed a chemistry test today. Oh well. I'm over it...probably not the best attitude I can take for a test, but I think I'll end up doing okay in the class. I mean, as long as I don't fuck up the exam, or my next paper, or the presentation. Maybe I'll have to actually study hard for the final. Damn. The only chemistry I'm good at isn't book chemistry...
Yeah, I know, you're all thinking TOO MUCH INFO! So I'll shut up now. :)
At least about that!
My cell rang this morning at like, 4am, and I was really confused, checked the caller ID, saw who it was, decided I must be dreaming, and went back to bed (I had already missed the call anyway). However, in the morning, the name was still in my missed calls, but there was no voice mail. So I figured it must have been a fluke of some sorts. But nope! I was wrong...a missed calls check revealed another missed call from this person earlier tonight!! Huhwhat?? Ryan?? What the hell happened to "I'll call you so we can hang out before you go to Ohio???" :) That was what? Six months ago?? :) Hey! It's been more than six months - graduation was May 16!!! It's now November 18!! Okay, so it's been six months and two days. But STILL!!
It's been a week of living in the past, I'm starting to think. It all started last Friday, and now it hasn't stopped. It's a stupid thing to whine about, but I can't help it. WHY CAN'T IT BE LAST YEAR?? Hell, why can't it be last week?? I was so excited about last weekend, and while it was great in some ways....it definitely sucked in others. I'm definitely not undermining the greatness of some parts of the weekend because hell, they were great. Amazing, in fact. There were some definite amazing moments...some I'll never forget. Hopefully those moments will be repeated somehow, either with those same people or with others...
Changing the subject abruptly, I forgot to get out my camera at formal. Anyone have any good pictures with me in them that they want to send me? Digital or prints - either one! I'm not picky - I can't believe I forgot to take out my camera. Score one for me.
So yeah, Friday night was both absolutely incredible, and sucky. I stayed up way too late for my own good, and wow, was I hauling ass on Saturday. Saturday was not nearly as good as Friday. Not even close. Saturday was filled with large amounts of suckiness from when I woke up at 6:00...then again at 10:30, till I went to bed at 3:30 in the morning (two days in a row - wow).
Sunday was another excruciatingly busy day. I was also extremely tired. But happy. Went out to lunch, went to Austin's recital, watched the Packers kick some Viking ASS!!!!!!, got dinner, watched TV, went to bed. It was a good day.
This week, however, has my mind not working correctly. Ohboy, that's always fun isn't it? I think my brain has stopped working. I just keep wishing it was Friday night - or better yet...a week ago today?? Then all the fun wouldn't have even started yet. :)
In the meantime, AGHHHHHHHH! Orchestra concert tomorrow night. This may be my last posting ever folks. I just might die from exhaustion after tomorrow night. If I make it to the band concert, I'll be happy. Then it's a three day week, followed by a four day weekend (with lots of food. oh. and crazy relatives. and hopefully not getting peed on by any dogs.)...and then my recital. Yup, I'm nervous. Shoot me now. :)
Maybe I should find out what it was that Ryan wanted. Hmmm...
- posted by L. @ 10:52 PM

 
Ohh man, this is too good...
Today the instructions in my friends away message directed me to Google.com. Go to Google.com, put in "failure senator" and click on "I'm feeling lucky" and see what comes up. Amusing, yes.
Even more amusing is the following:
Go to Google.com, put in "Failure president" and click on "I'm feeling lucky."
Even better. :)
Ohh, that makes my day. Who care about the chem test I have in *checks clock* 35 minutes that I'm certain to fail. :)
- posted by L. @ 1:35 PM

 
Selling your soul to the devil ... OR ... classical music/singers that make people cry.
Blog title kind of like a Rocky and Bullwinkle episode title except less humorous...at least halfway less humorous.
Friday night (no, this isn't my promised weekend update post - is it already wednesday? working last night totally threw me for a loop), we got on the subject (i don't remember how) of music/singers/etc, and selling of souls to the devil. A brief discussion about some soprano (fuck, is it Maria Callas? please please please let me have gotten the name right, i got enough crap for not knowing who it was in the first place! some music major i am, i was told! i can identify oboe players, not opera singers. and i hate opera. most of it. not mozart, though. and i like operetta - die fledermaus was great! umm yeah), and how performances can bring people to tears.
It got me thinking about pieces of music that make me cry. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two - and I've been thinking about it for a while too.

1.) Make Our Garden Grow - the finale to Candide, by Leonard Bernstein makes me sob. Okay, maybe not sob. But I get misty-eyed thinking about it still...almost four years later? I can think of two reasons mainly that it makes me cry - 1) it was the finale to the last musical I ever performed in (backstage, no less - score one for the pit orchestra and the worst keyboard player SHS has ever know - damnit, that was me), and 2) seriously. beautiful lyrics. beautiful melody. harmony that is out of this world. how many musicals have singers divided into NINE PARTS (we had to cut out 2 parts - so i think it was nine, i think they were able to seven) a cappella at once??? And then to finish it off with a finale by the orchestra? Ahhh, Sonja and I were crying before it was even closing night....

2.) Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Faure. It's just sooooooo damn beautiful. I guess I'm just completely blown away by the sheer beauty of the piece.

Umm...I guess the other part of the title doesn't exactly fit. Maybe I'll elaborate more when I finally get around to writing about this past weekend (it'll be next weekend before that happens).

- posted by L. @ 5:05 PM

 
Yikes, I need to get a life.
I spent THREE hours PRACTICING today AFTER WORK! That is, UNTIL 12:30!!!! And I still feel completely unprepared for this recital (OF DOOM!!!) that's in, oh, two weeks. 'Cause I don't already have to worry about the orchestra concert (also OF DOOM) because lord knows this hour long Schubert symphony isn't going to kill me (news headlines on Saturday November 20: Oboist DIES during performance of Schubert's Symphony No. 7(9). I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to use the Bulgheroni oboe (it sounds like some sort of Italian food, doesn't it??) or the POS oboe (aka the Fox Renard - a repetitious name, but only to those who speak French, or so I've been told). I think I might use POS oboe during the Mozart, but I'm not sure. Depends on my, uh, mood. That, and there's the band concert (everyone with me, OF DOOM) on Sunday. BLAH! I hope Giannini (or whatever the fuck his name is) died a long painful death, because that's how we're going to kill his symphony. Long, and painfully. Hopefully it'll be all over soon. Then it's the student recital....
POLL TIME!
Of the Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for Oboe Solo, I can play four (the fifth one sucks, and the sixth is hard. and it sucks too.)
I'm definitely doing Pan (movement I), and I would prefer to do Bacchus (movement 4 - aka the OBOE DRINKING SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
However, not sure if I can get Bacchus up to par by, uh, Tuesday, the 23rd....
So given your knowledge of mythology, of oboe music, or just because you think one word is cooler than another, should I do Pan and Phaeton, or Pan and Niobe, in case I can't play Pan and Bacchus (depending on how ambitious I am this week/weekend). :)
Leave a comment with your opinion!! Heehee.
Umm...so yeah. Student recital, than Thanksgiving. And then my recital. Fuckity, fuck, fuck.
Speaking of the word fuck...(subject change!)
http://www.msu.edu/~karjalae/electionrecap.htm
Check out this page (courtesy of Lizard!)...goooooooooood times.
So yeah, recital. Less than two weeks. YIKES!!!!! December 1, how I love them!! :)

Oh, and you guys were oh so helpful (not) with the song identification. It was sooooooo obviously Grandfather's Clock. American folk music, anybody?? (didn't anyone else hear this as a kid??)
Oh American folk music, that would be my senior sem topic. And senior sem work has come to a screeching halt already (not that it ever began....). Heh, good thing that's not till next semester. Procrastination, anybody????
I promise I'll have weekend fun up soon...just procrastinating. I'll do that right after I clean my room...maybe by this weekend. :)
- posted by L. @ 1:55 AM

 
Steph's reaction to my cleaning...
Steph: LOL

Auto response from Lauren: Hey, wanna hear a funny story??
Yes??
Okay. Here it is.
I'm cleaning. :-P
Leave a message!!

Steph: I never laughed so hard in my life!!!
Steph: you clean??
Steph: j/k

Anyone who has seen my room lately (or ever! except after fall break) can relate!! :)
That's okay, Steph, I didn't get around to it. There were too many distractions - LOOK SHINY THINGS! Or ladybugs. Wait, didn't see one of those. But it doesn't matter, 'cause I don't have class tomorrow till TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! And even the fact that class tomorrow is chem lab (of DOOM), it doesn't matter! Because it's not till two! :)
Anyway, look back for updates on this weekend, etc, soon!! Yay!
Ooh, but in the meantime, have you ever had a melody stuck in your head that you KNOW that you KNOW, and have definitely heard before, but cannot for any amount of money be able to identify? Yeah..me too. So help me out here, guys.
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da.
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da.
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-daaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da.
Hmmph, I don't think that's going to work. It's not like sur le pont, after all.... Oh well. It was worth a shot.
- posted by L. @ 1:38 AM

 
Dear AT&T,
I hope you die. I know it's not possible for a company to die, but I hope you do. And I hope it's a long, painful death. How long did I just spend on the phone getting sent to the same department how many times because nobody knew WTF was going on or how to do their job??? All I want is a phone number with the RIGHT AREA CODE??? Is that too much to ask?? Good lord.
Okay, I'll keep you updated as to how that works out, but as for now, I'm running a tad bit late for a lesson, and then practicing and/or CALLING AT&T, then orchestra, and then I'm done for the week! Hoopa!

- posted by L. @ 5:21 PM

 
Formal Date Application Results!
Ahh! It's the time you've all been waiting for: yes, formal date applications have been dutifully read, considered, and I have made a choice.
Before I release the name of my formal date, I'd just like to make a few comments.
First off, for whoever the lucky winner is, beware of my shoes. I can't walk in them. :)
I greatly appreciate all applications! Yay for all who submitted. The race was close.
However, I was only able to choose one date, and for that I chose Andy!! :) Yay!!!
Sorry everyone. Try again next semester. :)
- posted by L. @ 8:37 PM

 
Teeny-tiny clarification...
"Emails? What? Yikes."

Probably shouldn't have listed that anywhere near me being "giddy"...'cause the emails I was referring to (uhh...five different ones, i think) were from a certain professor of mine asking to do a lot of bitch work (*cough - kirin - cough*)...BLAH to her! I'm still bitter about last Wednesday!! :)
- posted by L. @ 3:03 PM

 
La la la la la la....
I'm definitely what you might call giddy. I dunno why. La la la...it's been a long and somewhat yucky day (staying up late throwing up kinda does that to ya) and of course it's past midnight and I'm not asleep (8:30 class tomorrow morning what? didn't do the reading what?)...
I think this post might be filled with la la la...just randomly.
So the formal date applications keep pouring in. The one I am most amused by is from Justin, who I have only met once, is stationed in Germany, and is engaged to one of my friends. Yeah, that one amused me. Leahann, you've got a good one! :)
Anyway, applications are still open uni 11:59 CST Tuesday....(less than 24 hours, folks!). I'll review applications and make a decision. Look forward to it :)
La la la la la la...
Yup, I'm bored. And now I have even less of a reason (desire/urge/etc) to participate in the Choraliers festivities on Saturday. Maybe I can back out after the national anthem. Bah. Who wants to sing Christmas carols in November???? Not me!!!
I think I'm moving into Rodman this semester! And next semester too. Johnson hall is just too damn far from Rodman for me to be practicing late at night. Hmmmm Rodman is somewhat scary when you're by yourself late at night though. And fart-monkey (aka Chris) is going to be gone next semester, he's my late night Rodman buddy. Poo.
Tried on formal dress today - it still fits! Huzzah! Which means I don't have to wear the corset of doom. Ugh, I hate those things with a passion. It's nice because it sucks in my stomach, but then pushes it all out below my stomach anyway...BLAH! That and I can't breathe. Not breathing consequently means not eating. And who wants to go to formal for anything other than food?????
So wanted to steal a dress from Katie (my sister) that she wore to prom or turnabout or something, but because we have slightly different dimensions in certain areas of our bodies, what looked absolutely great on her, looked absolutely horrible on me. Boo again. Bah!
Gina, I thought of you the other day when I bought my Super Grover shirt. Yay Super Grover!
Lalalalalalala....
anyway.
I think I'm going to stop this posting because it turns more weird, since I'm bored. And giddy. And HUH??? Emails? What? Yikes. Lalalala...
- posted by L. @ 1:14 AM

 
Yup, it's formal date application time again!
I'm looking for a formal date!! Sorry everyone, don't really have lots of time to be picky....
To submit an application, you may leave a comment with the following:

Full name-
Age-
Birthday-
Zodiac sign-
Occupation/Job/Schooling-
Reasons you'd like to go to formal-
Reasons you'd like to go to formal with me!!!-

Please keep applications brief...and submit by Wednesday. :)
Formal is Saturday :)
- posted by L. @ 1:36 AM

 
You can't tell me you don't remember THIS skit....:)
The Banana Sketch, Part I
(Ernie is standing in the apartment humming to himself. He's holding a banana in his ear. Bert approaches.)
Bert: Hey Ernie? Hey, uh, Ern?
Ernie: Oh! Hi Bert!
Bert: Uh, yeah. Hey Ernie, uh, you know that you have a banana in your ear?
Ernie: (Loudly) What was that, Bert?
Bert: I said, you have a banana in your ear, Ernie. Uh, bananas are food. They are to eat, not to put in your ear.
Ernie: Whatdya say, Bert?
Bert: WILL YOU JUST TAKE THAT BANANA OUTTA YOUR EAR??
Ernie: I'M SORRY-- YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK A LITTLE LOUDER, BERT! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I HAVE A BANANA IN MY EAR!!!
(Bert rumples in anger).


WOOHOO FOR SESAME STREET!
Leave a comment if you remember & enjoy THAT skit from the good old days of Sesame Street - yay for my Sesame Street UNPAVED book :)
- posted by L. @ 9:55 PM

 
Two days lataaaaaaaaaa...
Luckily, the drama has died down. But I have one medium-sized complaint left.
Yesterday, there was a lot of bitching by the Bush supporters who said all the Kerry supporters were whining about something that couldn't be changed and that we should get over it, blah blah blah (refer to previous post).
Here's my beef to you guys:
Stop with the whining yourselves! Cripes! By the way the Kerry supporters have gotten bitched at, you'd think that you were being completely innocent and 'oh, they're whining, so i'm going to be better than that.'
Thanks, you failed.
Stop with the "I thought the Civil War was over" or the "I thought the Cold War was between the US and the USSR and ended in 1989 (or whatever)." You tell us to stop being dramatic, good lord, take your own advice. I've heard that kind of stuff from numerous sources, so I'm not pinpointing anyone in particular. Just speaking generally.
Oh, and one more little thing. The American majority picked Bush, but the WISCONSIN majority picked Kerry. So if you voted in this state, you were NOT the majority. The beauty of a swing state...
Not much else in the excitement department. Oh well...hopefully life will pick up in excitement sooner rather than later!!
Only 9 days till formal!
Only 21 days till turkey day!
Only 26 days till my recital!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! only TWENTY-SIX???? i'm DOOMED!!!! :)
- posted by L. @ 5:06 PM

 
Yup, I've had it already
So...election's over.
Oh yay...so much excitement now...so much fucking drama.
Because everyone else is bitching about the supporters of the opposite candidate, I'd like to take this time to do it as well.
I'm really fucking tired of the supporters of the President who are all "get over it, he lost, obviously the american public voted for bush, blah blah blah, obviously more people wanted bush than kerry, blah blah blah, stop being dramatic, blah blah blah, bush won, etc."
Thanks, we got your point.
However.
Your point did have a few holes.

More people wanted Bush than Kerry, so get over it and accept that it's true.
Okay, I have accepted that Bush obviously won the popular vote (but it's the electoral college, thank you. If there had been a tie like was potentially predicted, would the election have then been determined by the popular vote? oh...looks like a negative on that one! The election would have been then determined by the House, NOT the popular vote, so um. Yeah. Theoretically, Bush could have won the popular vote, or one of the following two scenarios and lost: 1- lost the electoral college vote, 2- tied the electoral college vote and then lost in the deciding vote by the House. Okay, that's what I thought...so big deal. As we found out in 2000, Gore won the popular vote...and who's been in the White House for the past 4 years? Didn't think that question needed answering).
Let's look back at some extreme differences in voting, where there was a HUGE difference in the two candidates, and where I might have been able to accept your argument that more people wanted one person over another.
1984 - Ronald Reagan - 54,281,858, Walter Mondale - 37,457,215
1988 - George Bush - 48,881,221, Michael Dukakis - 41,805,422
1992 - Bill Clinton - 44,908,254, George Bush - 39,102,343, H. Ross Perot - 19,741,065
1996 - Bill Clinton - 47,401,185, Bob Dole - 39,197,469, H. Ross Perot - 8,085,294
2000 - George W Bush - 50,456,167, Al Gore - 50,996,064
(http://www.swishweb.com/Politics/USA/politics04usa.htm)
Oh. Look at that. Just a reminder that Gore won the popular vote. So that argument doesn't work...obviously the popular vote doesn't really mean anything in a situation like that. Clearly more people voted for Gore. I'm not saying more people voted for Kerry, but you've got an election split that's roughly 59,000,000 and 55,000,000 (i found a couple different numbers so I'm just approximating) which is a 4,000,000 vote difference...which seems like a lot, but really isn't much, given the grand scheme of voting. Clearly, Bush has won. But the problem there is that there are still FIFTY FIVE MILLION people who DID NOT want Bush. It's not just a matter of a huge margin like some of the other elections (not any especially in the above, but definitely in other elections, go to the webpage and check it out).
What I'm saying is that Kerry supporters are upset because a lot of them did put a lot of effort into electing a new president, and then their candidate lost. And there fact is that a lot of people don't want Bush.
So you can tell us to get over it, but it's easier said than done. And I also have zero in the respect department for people that I know would probably be whining just as much if THEIR candidate had lost.
- posted by L. @ 9:20 PM

 
Live from my television set...it's now Nov. 3....
I am speechless. The results aren't in, but I'm extremely disappointed in a LOT of things.
First off, to my generation, you SUCK. A LOT. I'm so fucking tired of hearing how we're optimistic about the future, how we want to be heard, et cetera, et cetera. Well, guess what. In order to be heard, you actually have to go out and make your voice heard. It's really not that hard to go out and vote. And you can't give me any bullshit about how you can't make an educated vote. Hello, get an argument that actually works. How long ago were the primaries? Yeah, that's what I thought. It wasn't hard to start reading up on the candidates soon after. Hell, look at me. I went and spent my summer under a rock in Ohio (fucking Ohio!), and had really no idea who I was going to vote for when I got back to Wisconsin (and reality) in August, but I started reading up on the candidates, and made my decision. I wasn't one hundred percent sure even a week ago, but I had ideas. And I knew what I was looking for in a candidate and president-elect, and everything, but I was educated. And I made an educated vote. I don't think either candidate was a great candidate, but I picked the better of the two (or the lesser of the two evils, if that's the way you want to look at it). There's no reason to NOT vote.
So anyone from my generation that was frustrated with the country and DIDN'T VOTE...you should keep your fucking mouth shut. If you didn't vote, then you can't complain about decisions made about the country. You had NO SAY in this decision, so you can't complain about it. If one party loses, and you voted for that party, then you have more reason to complain, but if you didn't vote at all, and COULD, then don't complain.
It makes me mad because I truly believe that a better voter turnout in the 18-29 age group could have drastically changed the outcome of this election. Get off your ass, stop complaining, and actually vote next time, instead of complaining about the outcome.
I haven't given up hope yet, but if things continue to go the way they have been, I hope that our country knows what the fuck they've gotten themselves into.
And because I actually did go out and vote today, I can complain about how the country will end up.
- posted by L. @ 1:17 AM