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So. I've got this giant fucking paper that was due last Monday to write. And it's turning into a bitch and a half. Well, it's not a giant paper, it's only like 2,100 words or so not including quotations from sources. So that's not all that much. But still. I'm required to draw conclusions about the Ancient Greek polis by comparing Aristophanes' Lysistrata with the following texts:
Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War
Pericles' Funeral Oration (which comes from the Thucydides text, but should be analyzed separately)
Aristotle's Politics
Plato's Apology
andthe Old Oligarch's The Athenian Constitution
Well it's got fun written all over it, I can tell. I've run into problem after problem with writing this paper, starting with putting it off until well after it was due. I just had no motivation to write it, even though its due date had been pushed back by the instructor by about a week and a half. The other major problem I've had was that I had a tough time breaking down Lysistrata and finding Aristophanes' views of the city-state since his document is a play. There are references in there, it just took me until the 4th or 5th time I read that damnably hilarious play that I could really pick up on those references.
But here's the real kicker: I have to make comparisons to those other documents, some of which I read weeks ago, which means that I have to re-read them. And then once I've re-read all the documents, I have to start making comparisons from them to Lysistrata, and then draw conclusions about the Greek polis on the whole. Not to mention this tricky business of the Peloponnesian War that I have to throw into the mix, too.
Well, I'm boned. Or it certainly feels that way. Oh, did I mention that this paper is 22.5% of my course grade for this class? Yeah. Fun stuff.
As for the ideas that I've had so far, I might as well start jotting them here so that I can have them in one place for easy reference. Welp, here goes.
By the time Lysistrata is written, Aristophanes is opposed to the war, that's clear as day. I could contrast almost all of Lysistrata with Pericles' Funeral Oration. There could be a few paragraphs there. Pericles and Aristophanes both mention that women pay the highest price of wars, by giving their sons and husbands. But the two of them differ on how the women should react to this price. Pericles says they should not mourn (I think) and Aristophanes clearly thinks that it's outrageous for women to pay that kind of price when they have no say in the policies of the state. Once I get around to that section of the paper I'll have to flesh it out quite a bit. I think I could also make a good use of Lysistrata's analogy of running a city to carding wool and compare it with how Pericles views how Athens is run and see if Pericles' views mirror those.
As for how to go about the compare/contrast between Thucydides and Aristophanes, I'm not sure yet. Again, I know Aristophanes is tired of the war when he wrote Lysistrata and wanted nothing more than for it to end one way or the other. By the time Thucydides is describing the events during the year 411, and even a few years prior to that, especially the Sicilian expedition, he seems cast the Athenians in a darker light, as though they are in the wrong. Like in the Melian Dialogue, the Athenians do not allow the Melians to speak of justice. The Athenian delegation is cast as extremely arrogant by Thucydides, which seems to correspond to the Koryphairos of Men in Lysistrata. Thucydides' Athenians (in the Melian Dialogue for sure, but I should look for other examples elsewhere in the text so I have more than one single instance) and Aristophanes' Koryphairos of Men are both grossly overconfident and they make fools of themselves. The Koryphairos and his Chorus when the Chorus of Women come to the Akropolis and rout them, and Thucydides' Athenians in their decision to invade Sicily and are utterly destroyed.
Another place I could use the analogy of wool in Lysistrata is when I discuss the Old Oligarch. He clearly has a different view of how a city-state should be goverened when compared to someone like Pericles. The wool analogy could be a really solid transition from one topic to another. Anyway... Lysistrata and the Old Oligarch... There has to be something here. Kunath wouldn't've assigned this as a source if there wasn't. The Old Oligarch talks about the oppression and denial of rights of a group of citizens, and I can compare that to the women in Aristophanes' Lysistrata. The women are clearly objectified and marginalized in the daily operation of the city on the whole, and that seems to be how the Old Oligarch feels about the aristocratic class in Athens. In essence, both Aristophanes and the Old Oligarch feel that the exclusion from power simply because of, for lack of a better term, pre-existing conditions is wrong, and the Old Oligarch for certain states that some action needs to be taken to remedy that problem, while Aristophanes pokes fun at this situation by having the women take over the Akropolis. But in the Akropolis is something that the oppressors in both documents hold dear to their hearts, and that is the money that Athens uses to pay its civil servants. The Old Oligarch feels that the vulgar classes engaging in politics for money is the wrong motivation, while Aristophanes seems to agree by having the Chorus of Men anguish the though of losing their payroll now that the women have locked themselves in the Akropolis. It's kinda weak right now, but when I get there in the paper I'll get more specifics and connect this aspect of Aristophanes and the Old Oligarch very firmly.
Did I mention that I'm boned?
And now it's time for me to address Plato's Apology. After this all I have left to compare is Aristotle. Joy. Then once I've done that I can finally start writing this essay for real. Fuck. Fuck fuckety fuckfuckfuck. Anyway... The Apology. Before I re-read this, I know for certain that Socrates is criticizing the Athenian government. He's on trial for corrupting young boys and turning them against the gods. In the Apology, Socrates makes a number of logical arguments that don't have much to do with the city-state, but he does have a good number of references to the polis and the citizen's duty to it in the latter sections of his defense and also his speeches after the votes to convict and then to sentence him. There is even one section where he compares unjust men to women, seemingly calling both of those groups useless to the city-state. I'm sure Lysistrata would have had something to say about that. Check the early sections of Lysistrata to see what she said about that, I do believe there's something there about how useful/less women are in the life of a city-state. Plato has Socrates focus primarily on justice in the city-state, and how it should be the ultimate goal of all citizens of the polis, above all else. That doing the right thing (morally) should be the highest priority of all citizens. The Athenian men in Lysistrata, especially the Chorus of Men, are minimally or completely unconcerned with that, but rather are more worried about their money, reputations, and other petty pursuits. Plato's Socrates would certainly not approve of how the Athenian Assembly is carrying on the war by the time Lysistrata is written and performed.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... I now turn my attention to Aristotle's Politics. I can feel the excitement in the room already. Damn, this essay is gonna be so late... FUUUUUuuuuuuuck. Man, what did Aristotle say in the Politics anyway? I really have no clue since over the last 2 days since I started typing this I've re-read so much Ancient Greek literature so many times it's all starting to blend together. Which is, I guess, kind of the point of this whole essay. ANYWAY... Right. ... Fuck. Ah, right. Aristotle. He talks in his document about an ideal city-state and how it should be governed and how its people should behave. He even gets specific about the conduct of citizens from procreation to what type of governement is best. He mentions the cyclical nature of governments and how each one is morphed into the next over time, and how each type degenerates from something good to something bad which is then replaced by something good which degenerates into something bad, etc. I could quite possibly get insight on gender from Aristotle also and compare that to Aristophanes since Aristotle talks about the place of women in the city-state. Damn. (Sorry to anybody that fails at life enough to have read this whole thing, I wrote this part at like, 1AM Monday night and I'm losing it just a little bit. That's why this paragraph reads like my keyboard has Tourettes[sp].) Is there something I can say about Aristotle's views on education with regard to Aristophanes? If not, I guess I'll have to make it happen. Even though I think I only have to have just a few references from this document in my essay, nothing huge.
Well, I've clearly established that there's something for me to write about in every document and I've at least tried to connect it so that I can find references in both Aristophanes and the document to which I'm comparing it. This is the part of the post where I finish it and hope to maybe draw some preliminary conclusions based on what I have here to help guide my writing of my real essay when I start that tomorrow. Well, here's what I'll do: I'll ask myself some questions to make sure I incorporate into the leading paragraphs of my essay to guide me.
What does Aristophanes think of Athenian democracy? Does it do what's best for all the residents of Athens? Where does he agree and where does he disagree with the Athenian method of government and who else supports or contradicts his views?
Does Aristophanes think that women should take part in the democracy? What does he feel the place of men and women are, and does he feel that those places are (morally) right?
What generalizations can I draw about the city-state from Lysistrata and the other documents? Are there any inherent strengths or weaknesses? Has the Peloponnesian War undermined or fortified them?
Does Aristophanes see comedy as a means of creating change in a system that may or may not be flawed? (dependent on whether or not I argue that he sees the Athenian city-state as problematic) Is it effective?
OK. That's all the documents I need to incorporate into my essay, and the most important themes from each one. Now all I have to do is find specific references from each document and write my goddamn essay. Well, at least I've got all my thoughts here. I just really hope that during the night LJ doesn't crash and I lose all my work. Because if that happened I think I'd have to cry. And, as so eloquently put by Jay and Silent Bob in Dogma: There's nothin' worse than watchin' a fuckin' fat man weep.
And that's all I got. I'm spent. I'm gonna go to go cuddle with Julie and then go to sleep.
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So today, something weird happened to me. I was listening to my iPod today, and I came across a song I've never heard before. Which isn't anything new, I have so much music, that I haven't had time to listen to all of it.
What makes it weird, is that the song showed up in a playlist that I've listened to seemingly dozens of times. And it's not an incorrect placement, either.
I was listening to my completely legally obtained list of songs from Avenue Q. Until today, that list only had 19 songs in it. And since I haven't had an iPod since last February, I didn't notice until I listened through that list from top to bottom. Then I come across a song that I've never heard. It's called "There Is Life Outside Your Apartment." And I know for certain that I didn't have that song before today. I know for a fact that I didn't have that song because otherwise it would've ended up on my playlist months ago when I legally obtained these songs. And it wasn't.
What makes this noteworthy is that a buddy of mine who was right there when I first discovered this anomaly (which is a funny-looking word; I think it's rather fitting spelling for the meaning of that word) asked me if I had that new version of .mp3 playing software, known as MiceTunes. It's software that automatically multiplies your music.
Well, that's the story of me and my iPod. Which, by the way, thank you so much Julie for letting me have your mother's iPod Touch. It's awesome. I love you.
Just wanted to get that written down before I forgot about it. Well, back to your lives, I'm sure you have better things to do that read my ramblings. |
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And no, the thing that feels weird has nothing to do with any physical endeavor. Perverts.
It's just that I haven't sat down and written anything on my LJ in FOREVER AND A DAY. That's right. I just said that I haven't updated in n+1 days. Where n=∞.
I'm in a bit of a math-thinking mood today, despite my best efforts. It's not because of me being in a math class, but it's because today there was a Convo (public speaker who gave an intellectual presentation) today that I went to. Illinois College makes us go to 30 of these to graduate, and in the first 3 years of my schooling here, I've only gone to 15 or something. So I need to go to these since it is my senior year and I would like to get a diploma for all the money my family and I have thrown at this place. Anyway (man I get distracted, don't I?) the speaker today was a mathematician who was talking about graph theory. He essentially talked about the actual mathematics behind the theory of degrees of separation. Like, you've all heard of the 6 Degrees of Separation from any 2 people on earth, right? Also known as the Kevin Bacon Game. This guy rattled on and on for 45 minutes about the Kevin Bacon Game, and how some actors had different Kevin Bacon Numbers. It was boring. But ridiculous. So I'm not grudging that I went, but the way the guy presented it, he clearly thought it was the best discovery since the bowl. And his pep and enthusiasm (H-A-P-P-Y!! I LOOOOOOOOOVE MY JOB!! [man, I'm fuckin' psycho today]) for this topic was a little too much for me. But then again, he does teach in Iowa, so what else is there for him to be excited about?
Anyway, the gravity of being a senior in college hasn't really hit yet. And at the same time, it has. It's weird. I say it's hit me because I've taken out a loan in my name to pay for this year ($12,000) so I don't wanna muss anything up and have to get even further into debt. But at the same time, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to get graduated and get a job, either. All the classes I have left are electives, and then one other class for my major. That's it. I essentially have 5 classes to take and then I'm done with college. Actually, after this semester, I'll only have 4 classes to take. It's eerie and weird thinking that I'll actually be done with education. I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself. I honestly can't believe it.
It seems that my whole life has been in a school. Or in between school years, and now I'm on the precipice (I LOVE THAT WORD!) of being done with it forever. What will I do? Who will I hang out with? When will I hang out with people? Will I have a psychotic episode because I don't have a meal plan and have to pay for every single meal? I feel like posting or embedding "How Do I Go Back To College" from Avenue Q to start playing when people start reading this portion of my post.
I feel like jumping for joy at never having to go to class and then do readings on my own time. But on the other side of the coin, I don't know what I'll do with my spare time once I get it back. Maybe I'll go back to some of my old hobbies.
I could always get back into Foam Fighting. Julie and I talked about that a couple months ago it seems like, but nothing's happened with it yet. I liked fighting. It was fun. Maybe that's how I'll fill some of my time. But I guess we'll find out.
Well, it's been interesting coming back to the world of the internet for a bit, but I must be off to help unload groceries Julie just bought.
I'll be back. Or is it "I am back"?
Whatever.
I'm gone. |
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Man, this one just won't go away. It's ridiculous. I even had that entire, that's right THE ENTIRE FUCKING toenail removed a few months ago, only to have it grow exactly the same way again this time. Jeesh. This is atrocious. So I go in there and remove it with my pocket knife and a pair of scissor-nosed pliers, and now it hurts like a bitch and it's 9 kinds of pussy and disgusting. I should call the school nurse here and see if she can fix it. And if not, then I'm calling that guy that took it off the first time and telling him to do it again and this time do that thing where it won't ever grow back. Yeah, he said he could do that. Sounds like a plan to me.
Besides, I think it'd be kinda neat to not have a toenail there for the rest of my natural life. Makes for interesting bare-foot times, I'm sure. People might notice, but it might take them as long as it took people to realize the Black Ranger from Might Morphin Power Rangers only had 9 fingers. Totally true, but you had to look for it. I wanna say it's on (or NOT on, I should say) his left hand. I should look for a picture and post it.
Ahh, Wikipedia for the win. He's missing the middle finger of his left hand, which I distinctly remember noticing when I was 5 or 6 watching the show, yet it didn't show up during the fight scenes when he was the Black Ranger. What's that discontinuity about? That's bullshit, it is.
Ah, there we go. Clear shot of it, too. Excellent. Anyway...
I guess I was supposed to be going somewhere with that, but I'm not sure where.
Know what I just noticed, I practically directly linked my in-grown toenail with the Power Rangers. Weird. My mind makes some fucked up connections sometimes. That's not just a little startling.
Seriously, is that not a little sickening?
Does that not raise a few uncomfortable questions about how I think?
I think I'll leave you with this:
INGROWN TOENAILS=POWER RANGERS!
Yeah, have fun with getting that image out of your heads. |
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01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Done a striptease
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Touched an iceberg
20. Slept under the stars
21. Changed a baby's nappy
22. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
23. Watched a meteor shower
24. Gotten drunk on champagne
25. Given more than you can afford to charity
26. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
27. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Had a food fight
29. Bet on a winning horse
30. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
31. Asked out a stranger
32. Had a snowball fight
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
35. Held a lamb
36. Enacted a favourite fantasy
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip
38. Taken an ice cold bath
39. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
40. Seen a total eclipse
41. Ridden a roller coaster
42. Hit a [six] in cricket
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
48. Had two hard drives for your computer
49. Visited all 50 states in the US
50. Loved your job
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
53. Had amazing friends
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
55. Watched wild whales
56. Stolen a sign
57. Backpacked in Europe
58. Taken a road-trip
59. Rock climbing
60. Lied to foreign government's official in that country to avoid notice
61. Midnight walk on the beach
62. Sky diving
63. Visited Ireland
64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
66. Visited Japan
67. Bench pressed your own weight
68. Milked a cow
69. Alphabetized your CDs
70. Pretended to be a superhero
71. Sung karaoke
72. Lounged around in bed all day
73. Posed nude in front of strangers
74. Scuba diving
75. Got it on to "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
76. Kissed in the rain
77. Played in the mud
78. Played in the rain
79. Gone to a drive-in theatre
80. Done something you should regret, but don't regret
81. Visited the Great Wall of China
82. Discovered that someone who's not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
83. Dropped Windows in favour of something better
84. Started a business
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
86. Toured ancient sites
87. Taken a martial arts class
88. Sword fought for the honour of a woman
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
90. Got married
91. Been in a movie
92. Crashed a party
93. Loved someone you shouldn't
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
95. Got divorced
96. Had sex at the office
97. Gone without food for 5 days
98. Made cookies from scratch
99. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Got a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted the Snake River
104. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Masturbated or had sex in a public place
107. Got so drunk you don't remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to Las Vegas
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen Siouxsie live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Got into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a cheque
124. Performed in Rocky Horror
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favourite childhood toy
128. Followed your favourite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written to your Member of Parliament
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. ...more than once?
135. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Had an abortion or your female partner did
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone's heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a TV game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than US states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
174. Got someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school as an adult
176. Parasailed
177. Legally changed your name (like by deed poll)
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
</b>182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because your apartment needed them</b>
183. ...and gotten 86'ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times, they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts
194. Sold your own artwork/crafts to someone who didn't know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196. Dyed your hair
197. Been a DJ
198. Found out someone was going to dump you via the internet
199. Written your own role-playing game
200. Been arrested
I'm sure that in the next couple of years many more of these will be bolded too. But for now, this is where I stand |
| » Of dreams of the beloved... |
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So it's been forever and a day since I've made a post about a dream I've had. So, seeing as I just had a dream the other night, that's quite important to me no less, I think it's about damn time I did so.
So the dream starts with my mother, my brother Max, my girlfriend Julie and me. We're at some kind of amusement park, and for some reason my mind says it was Disneyland. So that's what we're calling it. But, being a dream, it wasn't really Disneyland, as there were none of the hallmarks that would have made it Disneyland. You know how it goes with places being different in dreams. Anyway.
We're in the park. And what I remember about it is that we're doing our thing, and somehow I end up on the other side of the park from my group. And I have to get to them. LIke, now. Of course, that's how these things go. So in trying to get across the park as fast possible, I go through the tunnel system. Except for the fact that, you know, the tunnel system is apparently open to the public. Because there's like, a museum down there. It's got features that I've seen in traveling museum exhibits with like the interactive crap. Lots of windows, and lots of wings. Each intersection leads to new rooms and all new exhibits.
So while I'm trying to tear through this underDisneyland as fast as possible, I get a little lost. I get a call from my family on my cell telling me that they're in the parking lot waiting for me, and I tell them that I'm by X exhibit in the basement. That doesn't exactly help them. So I find a map or ask for directions and get out of the basement and into the park itself again. Then I think I'm in a car for a bit, and I come out on top of a mountain where it's winter and cold and snowing. So my family meets me up there (I don't know or care how) I"m just glad to see Julie. So, we start heading down the mountain, with me pulling Julie in a Little Red Wagon. So we're heading down, eventually I end up in front with the wagon in front of me as we head down the mountain toward a ski lift to take us the rest of the way.
Well, I lose my grip on the wagon and Julie goes careening down the mountain and crashes into a puddle of slush, getting totally soaked. It was awkward. Because then my mother appears in our van and my brother's riding shotgun. So once I get to Julie, we hop in the van and continue down the mountainside. Needless to say, since it's cold out and Julie's soaked, she needs to change clothes. She's getting changed when suddenly something else (I can't remember what offhand) separates Julie and me once again.
So the chase begins again. I go after her, and some minutes later (in real time, I assume) I get her again. Well, needless to say joyful reunion and all that. It was overall a good and exciting dream.
And now here comes the sad part. I was hanging out with Julie all weekend, and last night I practically fell asleep in her room. So she walked me back to my room and then she lay next to me for a while because she's awesome like that. And while she warned me that she'd spirit herself away while I was asleep, when I woke up the first time at about 1:30 she was still there sound asleep. It was nice. Well, then after that I fell back asleep and that's when I had that dream. So I woke up again and rolled over hoping to hug her and talk to her for a bit. But then when I rolled over she wasn't there. It was not just little depressing.
So yeah. There you go, Julie. I updated and now you can know the whole story of that dream.
Apr. 7th, 2008 @ 03:40 pm
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| » Concert Day and Miscellany... |
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Well, I'll start with the Miscellany portion. I'm not so hung up on what happened with Julie the other night, but it's still in the back of my mind. And it always will be. Mostly because I started to brand my left shoulder area (stereotypical tattoo place) with naught but a pocket knife and a Bic lighter. It's not finished, because Julie said I shouldn't do that anymore. Although, having these random burn marks on my arm is ridiculous, so I should probably finish it sometime... Depends on whether or not I can get a better system for doing it other than me just guessing with a hot knife. But yeah. Other than that, I'm procrastinating on my midterm for my Soviet History class. It's due tomorrow, but it won't take me too long. It's only 2 short (300 word minimum) essays. And the topics are assigned, and no research is needed. Mostly opinion and evidence as needed as support. No Works Cited page, either. It'll be fun. I'll get to it tonight. Don't none of you forget to remind me about that. I'm also going to see the Illinois College TheatreWorks production of "March Tale." I know a number of the people involved and I've heard that it'll be quite funny. So I'm going to that at 2:00 this afternoon. Yeah. Oh, I'm also currently putting off that reading I have to do for Spanish. And I should get started on that reading for my Local History class. Well, if anything else important comes up, I'll add it at the end. Or randomly when I remember it lest I forget it. ON TO THE CONCERT!
This concert was by far the most fun I've ever had playing a concert. It was amazing. Our theme was Fantasy. We had music from Disney's Fantasia, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Wicked, a couple of other fun fantastical pieces (lots of visuals in the music) and selections from "Video Games Live." The best part of the whole performance was the light show. For each number, we had lighting effects to add to the experience. Changing floodlight colors, moving designs, a fog machine, the whole bit. It was great. So much fun. I helped the guy plan the light show, and the audience loved it. There were so many comments from the audience. And not just the standard polite "you did so well, great job" bullshit. No, sincere "It was FUN. And not just for you on stage, but for us out here, too. It was great, I'm glad I came" kinda comments. The energy in the room was palpable during some pieces, it was great. The light show added so much to it. I'm really really glad I was part of it.
Anyway. On to the Program!
The Illinois College Wind Ensemble presents:
Winter Fantasy Concert
Featuring lights by Psychedelic Steve
Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith arr. by Jerry Nowak
I. Ilia's Theme
II. Main Theme from the Motion Picture
III. Theme from the TV Series (by Alexander Courage)
Ride by Samuel R. Hazo
Stargazing by Donald Erb
I. The Stars Come Out
II. Comets, Meteors, Shooting Stars
III. The Surface of the Sun
Goddess of Fire by Steven Reineke
Wicked by Stephen Schwartz arr. by Jay Bobcook
No One Mourns the Wicked-Dancing Through Life-No Good Deed-For Good-Defying Gravity
Night on Bald Mountain Modest Mussorgsky arr. by Mark Williams
Video Games Live arr. by Ralph Ford
I. Halo Theme by Marty O'Donnell
II. Civilization IV by Christopher Tin
III. Kingdom Hearts by Yoko Shimamura
END
In other news, during this post I left and went to the play. It was awesome. Highly recommended. "March Tale" Go see it. You know you want to.
Mar. 2nd, 2008 @ 01:14 pm
|
| » 7 weeks?! Holy shit! |
|---|
Damn, has it really been 7 weeks? Jeesh. Well, this one'll be a big one I can assure you.
Where to begin? Well, I need to get that concert program from waaaaaay back in December in here, as well as more about Julie, then I have to cover Piso Mojado (boy was that a fun time), and then pledging. Probably some miscellany associated with schoolwork, too. Who knows?
Well, I'll start off with the main thing that prompted me to post once more: Pledging. Pledging started 2 weeks ago this upcoming Monday. I started pledging for Gamma Nu, one of the Literary Societies (those of you not affiliated with IC would call these frats/sororities) here on campus. I already know a bunch of Nuers from classes and musics and other stuff, and a couple of them are from towns that are like, 10 minutes from Sycamore. I like the guys, they're great to hang out and drink with, and I have a good time overall. So I started pledging with them. I turned in my bid and got started. At first, it was alright. I wasn't worried about schoolwork because I didn't have any of my books because they hadn't come in the mail yet. No books is a valid excuse to not have the work done. Well, once I got my books I had to do the work. And the backlog from the first week of not having books combined with the insane hours I had to keep because of pledging meant that I didn't have much time to do my work for school. After a week and a half of being continually behind the ball in class and losing sleep at night, I come to the decision that I have to drop one or the other. I either stop caring about my grades and go all out for Gamma Nu or I do what my family is paying for me to come here for and be a student. Since I like being here and don't wanna fail out, I chose the role of the student. I tell the guys that I'm unsure of whether or not I can complete pledging, and they work out a nice schedule for me to follow for getting my schoolwork done. It's a nice schedule, one that I'll keep and continue to use. However, it pretty much forces me to put Gamma Nu second. If I do that, then I'll fall behind on pledging stuff and slow down my brothers. So instead of hindering them, I decided that Gamma Nu had to drop. The main reason they didn't want me to drop was because 2 guys already had dropped, and if I dropped then they're down to half as many pledges as they started with. Needless to say, that's not exactly appealing to them, but I have to stay focused on my work. I didn't relish dropping, but I had no choice if I wanted to stay here at school for the next two years. Well, they won't be thrilled, but then again, neither will my parents be if I don't succeed here at school. Needless to say, blood is thicker than water or some shit like that, so I have to worry about my grades more than Gamma Nu. Also, I've been sick for the last couple of days, and I've missed meetings and classes so now I'm behind on both. That was the final straw that made me decide to finally drop pledging and focus on studies.
Jeesh, after all that I can hardly remember what else I had to say. *checks top of entry*... Ah yes. Let's move on to Piso Mojado. Um... It was like a week before pledging started that Gamma Nu threw one of be biggest parties of the semester. Piso Mojado. It's a Mexican-themed party where the main drink of the night is tequila and beers with Mexican names. I ended up doing some 17 shots of tequila that night. I only remembered because for each shot they marked my arm. It was a fun night, and best of all I didn't have a massive hangover. I had like, none at all. It was good. I also drunk-dialed, or rather drunk-texted Julie for a good portion of the night.
Which conveniently enough brings us to Julie. I mentioned Julie in my previous entries, and since then we've gotten closer. I daresay call her my girlfriend. We haven't been going on many walks (or any, actually) since the semester started, but that's just because of pledging and it being really cold. We made up for it when she took me down to St. Louis to see Video Games Live with her and a couple of her friends. Awesome show. I nearly crushed her hand when they played "One Winged Angel," though. She whispered in my ear something along the lines of "could you loosen your grip?" It was amusing, and yet, embarrassing at the same time because I totally didn't notice I was squeezing at all. Well, aside from Video Games Live, we spent that whole weekend together. We left campus Friday night and got back on Sunday night. We stayed at her parents' house that weekend, and her father thought that I do drugs and also said I need a haircut. Which I also find amusing, because I don't think I come across as a stoner at all. And I know I need a haircut, because my mother seems to like to remind me that it's too long. But yeah, that was a fun weekend. Julie ended up buying like, everything for me. Because I'm poor. Like, I have no money to my name. Once I start getting paychecks again I'll start to pay her back. She said that next time we do something like that, I need to be a cheaper hooker. Well, I still say that I wasn't exactly a hooker, because if I was a hooker, there would've been much more sex than there was. Oh, well. The concert was great, and I had a great time with Julie for a whole weekend. I need to do that more often.
Speaking of concerts, the final thing I need to discuss is that holiday concert that the Symphony put on in December. I can't remember the exact date off the top of my head, but I know that it kept me at school for an extra 3 or 4 nights than I needed to be there. It was still a fun concert and it went well. The program goes as follows:
HOLIDAY GEMS
*insert proper date here*, 7:30PM — Rammelkamp Chapel
A Christmas Festival by Leroy Anderson
Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Jule Styne arr. Charles Sayre
Carol of the Bells by M. Leontovich and P. Wilhousky arr. Richard Hayman
What Sweeter Music*• by John Rutter
Two Excerpts from The Nutcracker by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
—March
—Waltz of the Flowers
'Twas the Night Before Christmas• by Ken Darby arr. Harry Simeone
INTERMISSION
Midnight Mass for Christmas* by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
—Kyrie
—Gloria
——Featuring Addie Gramelspacher, Chuck Taylor, and Chris Walters, soloists
God Rest Ye Merry*• arr. Chris Walters
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane arr. John Whitney
The Twelve Days of Christmas° arr. John Finnegan
The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite 4*• arr. Robert Shaw & R.R. Bennet
END
NOTE
*=Symphony Chorale singing
•=Jacksonville HS Concert Choir singing
°=Audience Sing-along
-Chris Walters directed the Symphony Chorale and the Jacksonville HS Concert Choir and Dr. Garret Allman directed the Jacksonville Symphony
OK, then. That's it. And that's all I have to say. About that.
Feb. 1st, 2008 @ 06:31 pm
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| » Jacksonville is fucked up... |
|---|
This whole town is fucked up. It makes no sense. From the layout to the lack of college activities to the street-clearing capabilities. This town is retarded. It's bigger than Sycamore by a good 5 or 6 thousand people, so you'd expect it to have a better infrastructure, but no. No it doesn't. For example, we had an ice storm down here that started late last week. About Thursday or so, if I recall correctly. We got about an inch of ice over everything in about 2 days, and tree branches started falling and breaking and power lines started going down. No big. Right? Not all the wires are back up yet still! They're still just lying there on the ground where they fell! I haven't even seen any Ameren (power company) trucks around fixing anything! Oh! And it gets better, yes indeed! I go out walking every night with Julie, right? We normally start about 11 or 12 or so, and walk for a couple hours usually. Every night out there last week, during the peak of the storm, I saw one salt truck. Not each night, but total for the whole week. One salt truck. What the fuck? Honestly, they should've had a fleet of ice trucks out from the start, but no. I've only ever seen that one truck. That one time.
IN other fuckedupness of this town, Julie and I were out walking again last night, like we always do. We were just walking and talking. Not even a playful argument between us like there sometimes is, no physical contact, nothing. We're just about to our turnaround point when a car stops behind us. No big deal, there's a stop sign about 20-30 yards down the road, we figured that it was a very cautious driver who wasn't sure what we were gonna do. So I gesture that it can go ahead, and just after I put my hands back in my hoodie's pocket, the spotlight is turned on and we discover that it's a cop. He puts his flashers on and everything and Julie and me are just like, "What the?" He comes out of the car and asks us how we're doing tonight, and then tells me none too kindly, "Sir please get your hands out of your pockets."
Oh, this is just the beginning of the fun. Because not only were there 2 cops in that car, but then another squad car shows up with another 2 cops in it. Not a minute after that, one more squad car shows up. I'm standing there on the shoulder of this back country road thinking to myself, "Dear God, you're serious? Three cars for 2 people? Jesus." So, the first cop asks us for ID, so I hand him my Drivers' License and Julie, who doesn't carry her Drivers' License on her all the time gives him her school ID. Then, the second cop kinda moves out of the light so I can't exactly see him, and he positions himself a few feet off at about my 8:00 or so. Then the third cop asks Julie, who was placed on the other side of me from the cops, to come over and talk with him for a bit.
So, they separate us, and now there are 2 cops paying direct attention to me and one asking Julie some questions. Meanwhile, the one cop asks me what my name is, where I'm from, what I'm doing out here this time of night, how I got out there, how long ago I left the school, and whether or not I'm wanted anywhere. He also asks whether or not Julie and I are dating, and how I know her since I told him we aren't. Meanwhile, Julie is getting asked questions like, "are you all right, what's your friend's name, what's your birthday, what she's doing out here," etc. At this point, they still haven't told us why they pulled us over and what's going on.
It turns out that there had been a call made of a report of a domestic disturbance, some fighting and screaming going on. It sure as hell wasn't us, and we certainly didn't hear anything of the like. Like I said, we hadn't even been arguing that night like we normally do. It was quiet and cold and a perfect night to walk. No clouds, nice and dark, perfect stargazing weather. When the cop pulled up, we weren't even walking at the time, we were standing there watching shooting stars. I don't know whether it was a meteor shower, but I definitely saw about 10 shooting stars last night.
So, the cops realize that we're not the droids they're looking for and explain everything that was going on, to my great amusement. I found this whole situation funny as hell. The third cop, who had by now returned with Julie and was watching over us with the second cop while the first one was in the car running my Drivers' License number, started up a pleasant enough conversation with us and told us what was going down.
I think this whole thing is just uproariously hilarious. I mean, honestly? I was pulled over while walking. It's so astoundingly ridiculous. Oh, man. Good times dealing with the fuckedupnes of Jacksonville.
Dec. 14th, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
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| » This one's for Norbert... |
|---|
So, I meant to post this last Saturday, not gonna lie. Oh well. Procrastination gets me again.
Anyway, Saturday was pretty awesome. There was pep band for the final home football game, maybe the last of the season and a JSO (Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, or as the organization calls itself, the JSS: Jacsonville Symphony Society) concert, so I was able to be a happy little music fag all day long. It was pretty awesome. Anyway, a bunch of neat stuff went down at the game that made it quite memorable.
First off, hardly anyone showed up to Pep Band, so we were more like a combo. There were 3 flutes (one of them playing oboe parts, I think), 2 clarinets, a bass clarinet, one guy playing both alto and tenor sax (switching when he felt like it), a trombone, drumset (who has a torn rotator cuff so he can't really play much), and me. Real fun instrumentation that is. Well, it was a pretty fun time anyway because we almost won the game, and it was exciting from the start. We went up 14-0 in the first quarter, and were up 17-10 at half. But the fun stuff really started after halftime.
Craig found a spider near the mouthpiece of his alto sax that was making a web. It was awesome. It was building it in the curve at the top, and having a grand old time. (We think it was a he) He tried attaching it to the music stand once or twice but it didn't work, so he kept busy by exploring the top half of the sax, to our great amusement. He even made a go at a fly that settled there, but it flew away before he could get it wrapped up and bite it. Poor guy. Well, it's been about 10 minutes or so by this point, so we've all grown rather attached to him. We called him Norbert. He was our mascot. It was awesome. We were debating putting him in the bell of the sax and then keeping him indefinitely. We'd feed him bugs a couple of times a day or something. It was gonna be awesome. Best mascot for a band ever; especially since we were bored out of our skulls except for Norbert.
Well, Norbert was great. I say was (unfortunately) because after like, 20-30 minutes of being our rock-awesome mascot of Eight-Leggedness he decided to part ways with us. He had let out a thread, and being a rather blustery day, the wind took him and he parachuted away. He flew about halfway down the bench Craig was sitting on, and then started to crawl away and do his own thing. Well, Norbert had grown up and gone out on his own (they grow up so fast).
Here's where it gets really sad... A few minutes after Norbert flew away, a guy squished him! SQUISHED HIM! We were like, "NOOOOOOOOOooooooo" and all that... A random guy in the audience saw what was about to happen and cried out to stop it, but it was too late. Norbert was murdered by a townie; nevermore to be our Mascot of Eight-Legged Fantastic Rock-Awesomeness. Where ever you are Norbert, may your silk never break, your venom be potent, your prey ever bountiful, and your senses be forever bright and keen.
Poor Norbert.
Anyway, I had a concert for the community orchestra that day, too. It was a good concert, and I think it went rather well. It was a fun little performance, because the soloist was arranged very quickly because the originally planned guy was still recovering from major surgery and couldn't sing that night. We were supposed to have had a Frank Sinatra guy come in, but instead we had an accordionist/violinist duo. They were fun. It was a nice break from the formality of all the other orchestra concerts in which I have participated in the past. They were funny.
The program went as follows:
Slavonic Dance in C Major, Opus 46, No. 1 by Antonín Dvorák
Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson
Presenting Maria Merkelo and Dorothy Martirano
In A Persian Market by Albert Ketélby
Valentino Dances by Dominick Argento (from the opera The Dream of Valentino) with Maria Merkelo, accordion
INTERMISSION
Can Can (from Orpheus in the Underworld) by Jacques Offenbach
Pavane by Gabriel Fauré
Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor by Johannes Brahms
Presenting Maria Merkelo and Dorothy Martirano
Procession of the Sardar (from Caucasian Sketches) by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
The Gliding Girl Tango by John Philip Sousa
Russian Sailor's Dance (from the ballet The Red Poppy) by Reinhold Gliére
END
There you have it. Nice little concert. And by little, I mean the usual 2.5 hour behemoth, but this one was more fun. And afterwards, I went and watched Green Street Hooligans with the guys of Gamma Nu (Nuers, said Nu-ers) and had a good time.
And yes... John Philip Sousa did indeed write a tango. It played like a march, but it was called a tango. It was by far the weirdest experience of my musical career. It was kinda eerie, and mostly crazy.
Nov. 6th, 2007 @ 10:37 am
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| » Concert Day v2 |
|---|
Had another concert today. Means that I'm posting again. I've looked at my LJ entries since I created this page, and I've realized that this page is really a chronicle of how much more of a music fag I've become. Don't get me wrong, I'm damn proud to be a music fag, but if things continue at their current rate I'll be a Music Major in under a year. Weird. Anyway...
Tonight's concert was, as mentioned earlier, a combined affair between the Jazz Combo and the Wind Ensemble. My fingers are still sore from the Jazz Combo section of the performance, so that's a good thing. I've had better performances, but that's just because by the start of the concert, I'd already played through it, not to mention a few extra hours of rehearsal under my fingers, so my hands were probably just tired. I made a few mistakes and got lost a couple of times, but it was Jazz so it played it off as that's how it's supposed to be. That, and it means that I just went through the chord progression one too many times or missed the Coda, but came in a few bars later. Thankfully, where I went and the Coda had the same chord progressions, so nobody noticed; that happened on like, 2 of the songs tonight.
The Wind Ensemble performance actually went much better than I expected. I was rather pleased. somehow between the rehearsal this afternoon and the concert, people got their acts together and we didn't suck nearly as much as I thought we would. However, there was much room for improvement, which still irks me. We're college students. We played through HS, all, so why do we suck so much? The worst part of it is that most of the people in the group are good players, but somehow it doesn't come out. I don't get it. I kinda wish we could hold auditions for this, but it will never happen that way. Oh, well. I like playing my basses (I'm working on a name for both of them, if you know them I'm open to suggestions and any help you care to offer) so I'll stick it out.
And, now on to the real reason I post LJs on concert days. Copying the program so I can remember what I played in the future. The program ran as follows:
Illinois College Jazz Combo
Marty McCandless, Director
Fall Concert
Birdland, by Josef Zawinul
Blue Bossa, by Kenny Dorham
Fly Me To The Moon, by Bart Howard featuring Craig Barnstable
My Funny Valentine, by Richard Rodgers
Comin' Home Baby, by Dorough/Tucker
Stormy Weather by Koehler/Arlen featuring Janette Spenny
Go Daddy-O, by Scott Morris and as performed by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Illinois College Wind Ensemble
Ann Marie Stahel, Director
FOUNDATIONS
Marching Song, by Gustav Holst
London Symphony First Movement, by F.J. Haydn; Arr. Merle J. Isaac
Celtic Hymns and Dances, by Eric Ewazen
Foundation, by Mark Camphouse
Finale, by Vaclav Helhybel
There you have it. Finale is an abomination against Civil War music, in my opinoin. Worst arrangement of any piece I have yet played. It butchers When Johnny Comes Marching Home, Battle Hymn of the Republic, ... and one other American classic that I can't think of right now. When it comes to me I'll edit it in here. But yeah, it takes "When Johnny" and instead of putting it in 12/8 (my favorite meter, by the way) it puts it in 4/4. It's just a bad arrangement of good songs. I love "Battle Hymn" normally, and I absolutely adore "When Johnny" and I'm indifferent to the third one, but combined in this manner it just... *BAH*. Grrr. It bugged me. 12/8 is just the perfect way to go, and it's so amazing. I love it. It's just [yes, I know I'm gushing, forgive me. It's what I do. I'm a music fag.] Yeah. And he ruined it. *growls*
But yeah, things went rather well. I had rather good time, and my expectations for the performance were exceeded. I was pleased.
Yeah, I know, I ramble. Sorry. If you read all this, I'm sorry. You can start skimming any more posts I make because there's rarely anything of substance in here. If it's available to the public, then it's probably trivial in nature. The hidden ones or Friendlocked ones are where the important stuff is. If you're curious, you can always ask me about hidden posts, and I'll either tell you about it, probably in email or IM form, or I won't. Simple. I use LJ mostly as a way to record what happened so I can go back to it and see it as it happens. It's something I picked up from history classes. It helps a lot.
See, there I go again, rambling.
Oct. 27th, 2007 @ 11:02 pm
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| » Sad geek... |
|---|
I'm not gonna lie, I'm psyched about the MacOSX Leopard. It came out yesterday. World Premier. I wanted to be there. I should have been there but Rachel had my car and was on her way home. And the nearest Apple Store is in St. Louis. So, I couldn't go. And it made me sad.
Well, maybe not. When it dawned on me that I couldn't make any of the parties at any of the Apple Stores (they were all from 6-10PM) the theme from Schindler's List was playing in iTunes at the time. Like, I see the email Mac sent me yesterday, I open it and see that it's telling me to go to the party (I SO WOULD HAVE) and then I check the time and see that it's 8:14PM and then I was sad. Right then, the violin entered on the theme. It was frighteningly fitting. So, needless to say, every time that song comes up in iTunes, I'm probably gonna go right to remembering that I missed the World Premier of MacOSX Leopard. I suppose in some senses that makes me an anti-semite. But yeah.
I want my MacBook now! All Macs purchased henceforth ship with Leopard standard! I want it! It looks so sexy. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Panther (what I'm currently running, or maybe it's Tiger... I think I have Tiger, actually) but I'm just a bit of a technophile when it comes to Mac. Yes, I suppose I'm a fanboy. And yes, I'm hyping. But... Leopard? Come on, who could resist wanting an OS named Leopard? It just sounds sexy and powerful and lethally amazing at ... well, anything. Oh! And sleek. Can't forget sleek.
Besides, the big thing I wanted to go to the Apple Store was because the first 500 customers at each store got a free T-shirt. Come on! Free! Even if I wasn't a Mac Man, I'd go for the T-shirt! But alas, I could not make it.
WHOA! THERE IT IS AGAIN! Party Shuffle, you're just too creepy. It's right now (9:38AM) playing that theme again as I get kinda forlorn about this whole thing. Why must Valerie (my laptop, an iBook G4) be so awesome at knowing me? It's... Kinda cool, but just as kinda creepy.
Yeah, I've got a concert tonight, almost two really; Jazz Combo and Wind Ensemble are both performing tonight in one concert divided into 2 parts. I'll post details on that when I have the official program in front of me so I can give you all the music-ey details and whatnot.
Oct. 27th, 2007 @ 09:22 am
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| » "No, I thought you did..." |
|---|
Words I never thought I'd really say to anyone when it comes to planning something. Not gonna lie. But, that's just what happened today in the car on my way home. It was most amusing, warranting a post about it.
So, Rachel (my older sister) is in Grad School right now to get her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, right? And she's got Med. Trials, I think they are, where she's essentially working in a hospital for a week. The hospital where she's working next week is in Springfield, IL. As such, she's going to be living in Jacksonville (30 min or so from Springfield) in a friend's apartment and ghenking my car to commute every day, then I drive her to the train station so she can go home on Saturday or Sunday of next week.
Well, since she's got time this weekend, she decided to go home before she does her Med Trials. This is where I really enter the picture. She calls me last week asking if I'd like to go home, too, or if she'll just be driven from St. Louis to JVille to pick up the car and then go home etc. I say that's fine, and we decide that we'll meet in Springfield as soon as I can get off work and pick up my paycheck and get there. Flawlessly executed, we got to the Panera at, like, exactly and I mean exactly the same time, maybe a minute between us. It was great. (GOD MY DOG WHINES A LOT, STUPID SON OF A BITCH, I JUST LET HIM OUT NOT 2 MINUTES AGO)
So, we eat at Panera, and then we hit the road. We're cruising, no big deal, and then the conversation eventually goes something about like this:
R: Did you happen to tell Mama that we were coming home this weekend?
Me: ... No, I figured you would have.
R: No, it slipped my mind *laughs*
Me: *laughing* Ooops! Oh, well, right? It's too late now. Besides, I figured that you would have told them already. This whole trip was your idea anyway, not mine.
R: *laughing*Ye-No, I forgot to mention it last time I called home. This could be fun. I bet they had plans for tonight to go out to dinner or something nice. And we'll just walk in and be like, "Hiiiii."
Me: SURPRISE!
R: *laughing* Yeah, no kidding.
Me: Well, I did text Max about a week ago asking to save a particular episode of "Scrubs" because I wanted to watch it when I was gonna be home and he told me that he deleted it already. So, they might know. But then again, I told Max, so the message didn't go anywhere.
R: Yeah.
So, needless to say we thought it was hilarious that we would probably be unexpected. So, we get home this afternoon before our parents, but after Max. He opens the door and things go about like this:
Max: Oh, yeah. You guys are coming home this weekend.
R: Hey, are you guys planning on doing anything tonight? Like, is it OK that we're here? We don't wanna mess up any plans.
Max: No, not that I can think of. We're not––OHHH! *laughs* We were supposed to go camping this weekend!
R: Really? *laughing* Oh, man that's hilarious.
They weren't planning on leaving until tomorrow anyway, because Max had to play with the marching band at the football game tonight, but yeah. There were definitely other plans for this weekend and they were not planned around Rachel and me in the least.
So, we're home. And we're just killing time until the parents get home. We're in the living room, and I see my dad pull in the driveway. He comes in through the back room and kitchen and into the living room and is like, "... Hey. What are you guys doing here?" So we explain it all to him, thinking it's amusing as hell. He's not so amused, but sees the comedy in it and pretty much rolls with it because he's awesome like that. I, needless to say, quickly shift any and all possible blame for this surprise visit onto Rachel.
However, the real fun started when my mother got home. By this point, I've shifted from the living room to the family room, which is adjacent to the garage. The back garage door opens, signaling that my mother has just arrived. After the requisite time for her to get out of the car and get her stuff and get to the door, she does. She opens the door, and while she does, she looks through the window in the door at me, with a cockeyed look on her face. She comes in and is like, "... Hii. What are you doing here?"
Me: "Hey! Don't blame me, she's the one that didn't call to tell you guys that we were coming home!"
Mama: "She's here, too? Oh, crap."
That's right. My mother wasn't too thrilled at our surprise visit, but it was all worth it for her face. Especially when she found out that Rachel was here, too. Oh, it was astoundingly funny to me. I wanted to get it all in writing quickly because it's just that hilarious. It was all worth it just for that look.
Needless to say, the plans for the weekend changed, and they're not going camping. But it's fine because they didn't have any reservations anywhere. I'm headed off to the Swim Meet between my old high school (Sycamore) away at Waubonsie Valley High School tomorrow at like, noon or so with my buddy Hiatt to show support for his girlfriend and the team and all that. Maybe I'll explain sometime about my brilliant plan for the SycaMORONS that fell through, but I've rambled long enough here and now. Maybe some other time.
Oct. 19th, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
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| » Bored.Bored.Bored.Bored.Bored.Bored.Bored.Bored.Bored. |
|---|
This is an amusing little thing I found on the Interwebs. I hope it comes true.
Yeah, I'm on a quiz binge. Big deal.
<td align="center">Your hidden talent is lying
You are able to lie to anyone and get away with it. Sometimes you even do it for fun. You are specifically skilled at acting and bluffing during poker. And you know that to be a good liar you should give lots of details, to be a great one you give no details at all.
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com</td>
Oct. 2nd, 2007 @ 10:08 am
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| » Concert Day... |
|---|
So yeah, had a concert with the Jacksonville Symphony Society today. In other words, the local semi-professional orchestra. It went well. I can't for the life of me remember the pieces we played right now... OK, so I lied. I'll grab the program I was smart enough to get and use that. I's a genius.
We played:
-Selections from Carmen: Les Toréadors–Prélude, Aragonaise, Intermezzo, Seguedille, Les dragons d' Alcala, Chanson du Toréador, Habañera, Danse Bohême by Georges Bizet
-*Ah! Je veux vivre ("Waltz Song") from Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod
-Overture to Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute") by Mozart
-*Ach ich fühl's, from Die Zauberflöte
-*What good would the moon be?, from Street Scene by Kurt Weill
-Overture to The Secret of Susanna by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
-Quando me 'no vo' from La Bohéme by Giacomo Puccini
-*The Willow Song, from The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore
-Polovtsian Dances, from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin
-*Glitter and be Gay from Candide by Learnoard Bernstein
And the soloist's encore was Climb Every Mountain from The Sound of Music.
*=Soloist
It was a great concert and things went very well. Even though I sightread no less than 3 of those pieces, and no less than 2 of the movements from Carmen alone. But despite that, it was a great concert, and an awesome opening to this season with the JSO, or JSS. Whichever.
Tonight's soloist was Ms. Diane Dietz, soprano. She was a teacher here at IC through last year, but retired from teaching to pursue a professional opera career. This was her swansong thing at IC, her official goodbye to the campus and all that jazz (OK, opera, but who cares? It's a phrase) before she goes off to Germany, Austria, and I think Belgium to audition for opera troupes. She's quite good, but opera is still beyond my preferred tastes. Seeing as she nearly gave me a migraine a couple times during the concert with the piercing screamer parts, I don't think I'll frequent too many operas. But that's another rant.
I must say that I still love being in a professional-esque group like this, because we play challenging music, and we get lots done fast. It's lots of fun. I'd love to see us tackle a Requiem sometime, but I won't hold my breath. The thing that makes this group particularly fun is that everyone is so laid back. It's hardly what I thought a professional group would be like. It's really a lot of fun to play with them. Although, it feels really weird to look at the majority of the ensemble and realize that each individual has probably been playing their instrument longer than I've been alive, but you get used to it.
Yeah, good show. Although, if I never have to play or hear anything from The Sound of Music again, it'll be too soon. I've never liked that musical, and I don't think I ever will. While it's got great music and plot and all that, I just don't like it. Probably because I was forced to watch it like, 8 times by my older sister when I was like, 5 or 6. Bad first impression. But while it's a good show, I just don't like it and would really prefer to not have anything to do with it.
EDIT: This should've been posted last night about midnight, but I was getting some wacky UniCode Error. So yeah. Obviously got it figured out, not really. I tried today and it worked. Lucky me, I guess.
Besides, there's a little bit more to tell of yesterday. It started early, because I had to practice. I know, it was weird, but it was good. I got to the chapel (Rammelkamp) only to discover that Dr. Zuiderfeld was practicing the organ. So, after lounging around for about half an hour and talking to this really nice old man about travel difficulties back in the day during one helluva snowstorm about 25 years ago or so, Dr. Z. leaves and I can finally get started.
Well, I get warmed up and all that, and start practicing, when I hear the front door open. Which is a complement to the acoustics in the place. I keep working, and then out of the corner of my eye, there stand about 4 people in the doorway to the narthex looking all *awkward turtle* because they didn't expect anyone in there. It turns out it's a small tour group of a couple of prospective students coming to get a look at the school, and they stopped by Rammelkamp. They stood in the doorway for a few seconds staring at me while I practiced, then they backed away slowly into the narthex. It was great. Anyway, the big thing about all this is that I never practice outside of rehearsals, so it's a big thing for me. I think the last time I actually practiced my bass was... Um... Sophomore year? Freshman year of HS. That's when it was. I'm proud of me, for finally getting off my ass and actually practicing.
Sep. 30th, 2007 @ 10:23 am
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| » Dreams; In a manner of speaking... |
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I rarely update this thing... And I don't know why that is. I've noticed that I only seem to update on request and when I'm otherwise thoroughly exhausted of the rest of the internet. Anyway, on to the real reason I'm posting...
Well, this afternoon, being the College Student that I am, I took a nap after work. That, and I was nodding off at the computer, so instead of falling asleep and crushing Valerie (my laptop) I decided to put up my rarely-used napping Away Message and take a nap. I love naps. I just love the feeling I get when I wake up from a nap. If there's any time that I just feel good, it's right after waking up on my own accord and not because I subconsciously remembered that I have (had) a paper due in 40 minutes (in other words, 9:00 this morning) that I haven't started yet. Anyway... Nap. It was great. I woke up twice from said nap, so this nap was 2x as good as normal.
But after I woke up the first time and checked the clock to see how much longer until dinner (20 minutes), I went back to sleep and had a most interesting dream, as far as my dreams go. For one: it had color. My dreams don't normally have vivid colors, but this one did. You know the scenes in Wizard of Oz where they slowly switch from color to black and white? Well, the in-between stages are usually where my dreams lie as far as color intensity lie. But not this one. Everything was vivid and crystal clear. Next thing: I seem to remember having complete control of the events around me, not reacting to craziness... Which leads me to think that this might have been a lucid dream, but I'm not sure. If it was, I need to have those more often because they're awesome. Now for the events and descriptions, as best as I can.
It started on a cruise ship, of all places. One of those Alaskan-type cruises, too. Because it was cold outside. Not freeze your face off cold, but what most would consider cold enough for a medium jacket. It was great. Sea-ish breeze adding a little bite to it... Ahhh, perfect. Not many clouds in the sky, but enough to make it pretty. Cumulus clouds here and there, but nothing heavy or dark. A few lines here and there of clouds to make things nice and picturesque. Again, perfect. The ship itself wasn't a standard cruise ship, however. It was a catamaran design, with about 10-20 feet of clearance between the water and the bottom of the boat, and about 50ish feet between the two hulls. The boat was white, with greenishbluish trim and a design.. Kinda reminded me of like, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. The boat was also at least a couple hundred feet long, too. Not exactly a small vessel.
Nor for the fun part. I'm on the top deck talking to someone. I've no idea who. I think it was a guy. But I'm talking to him, and he's telling me to fly over to the other boats and have a good time or something. So I do. Only, it's not the Superman or Matrix flying. I'm in something that I can only really describe as like a kayak, only you're lying down in it and your arms operate the wings. Really neat design, wish I could've gotten a look at it to describe it better. So I'm tooling around in the air with this thing, rushing and diving and climbing and otherwise enjoying the exhilaration that comes with the ability to fly.
The ship is in like, a fjord, because it's narrow, and there are mountains on one side for sure... Back aways from my starting ship, there's a bend in it, meaning there are mountains on both sides, yet it's narrow behind the ship, and really wide and open ahead of it. You could see for miles. So I'm flying around the ship, and I get the brilliant idea of flying high above the ship, and then getting in front of it, only to dive nearly straight down toward the deck of the ship, only just ahead of it. And then, just before I hit the water, I pull up like mad, and fly under the ship between the two hulls. It was a blast. Then, after flying under the ship, I come out and climb, and see that behind my ship, there's another of identical make. So I do the same thing to it. I must climb hundreds, maybe as much as a thousand feet up before diving. It's exhilarating (seriously, I'm getting a rush just remembering it.)
So I come out from underneath the second ship, coming even closer to the water before I pulled up from my dive. I come out from under the ship, and then fly alongside it for a while, talking to people on the rails. Then I climb and dive under the front again, this time getting the tips of the wings and the tail of the craft wet. After I exit a second time from the back of the ship, I climb up again, and decide to do it backwards. I dive toward the back of the ship and fly forward underneath it. I do it, and it's just spectacular. It's like riding a rollercoaster without the car or harness to protect you. It's incredible. I fly around, and then I notice that there are a few more flyers about, and lots of birds, too. Pelicans and kingfishers mostly, I think.
Taking little notice of them, I decide to climb ever higher and then make a dive for one of the ships again. Only this time, as I get close to the back of the ship, just before I pull up, I decide not to, and put my arms forward and execute a perfect dive into the water, down down down right to the bottom. My hands hit the sand, which is pure white and I move some seaweed, I guess, out of the way. I turn around and stand on the bottom for a few seconds, when I notice that I suddenly have a full beard that's as soft as the hair on my head. Needless to say, I wiggle around making all kinda wavyness in my newfound beard and then I start to fly through the water like a penguin. It's great. The water is pale blue, and everything's as bright as day. It's like I'm wearing goggles, but I'm definitely not, everything's so clear.
I come to the surface, and then repeat this little move a few times, diving under the water and tooling around there for a bit before returning to the air. As I dove into and rose out of the water, I kept hoping that people on the third boat (as yet unmentioned, but I've been flying near it for a while) think I'm acting like one of the many birds about. It was amazing.
Somehow, I seamlessly returned to my dorm room and woke up feeling absolutely amazing and not knowing how I came to wake up without noticing the end of the dream. After stretching, I look at the clock and see that it's only been an hour since I woke up the first time. Normally I don't dream, or I don't remember them during the night, but during naps and the like, I seem to remember more dreams than any other time. And I must say, that if there were any single dream that I'd like to recur, it'd be this one. Because it felt like I was really in control. It wasn't stereotypical dream stuff, really. Not your standard "I'm flying look at me!" dream, this was. It felt like I was truly in control, and that's why I think it might have been lucid. I need to have more lucid dreams, then. They're... Yeah.
OK, and if you seriously read through this whole thing, I'm sorry. I just wanted to get this all down shortly after it happened (OK, so 5:40ishPM when I woke up to 3:20ishAM when I posted this isn't exactly shortly after, but still) before I forgot everything. It was a lot of me rambling and forgetting the exact order of events, but seeing as this dream really had no plot to start, it doesn't matter so much. Seriously, after this dream, I don't know why Superman or any other hero that can fly even bothers saving people. I think it'd just ruin the fun of flying and the like.
Sep. 29th, 2007 @ 03:23 am
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| » *WHIPISH!* |
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Whipped. It's a word with many meanings, ranging from being beaten with a variety of semi-flexible objects as a punishment for misbehavior to a man being controlled by his girlfriend or wife. Well, seeing as corporal punishment is being decreased across the country (I'll discuss my opinion on that in a later entry, I'm sure), I now officially fall into the latter category.
My girlfriend, Kat asked me to write an LJ entry. Well, hon, here it is. This is the first in my new series of posts on this page, which will be fairly sporatic due to my schedule and Internet access and the like. I'll be trying to lead a discussion of sorts about topics of my choosing, and hopefully not being a total bitch about the topic. I'm not sure how many people actually come across my page, but small groups make for excellent discussion, yes? Anyway, onto today's topic: Gender Relations in the Modern World.
For starters: I've not done any definitive research on the topic, so bear with me. The opinions and claims that follow in this document are based solely upon my own limited experience and what I deem to make sense. The purpose of these entries is to get feedback and learn something, so mild degrees of offense are intended (there aren't any good educational debates unless you've got two offended parties bickering at each other, right?). Please, if there is anything that you think is inaccurate or is disagreeable (I hope you find something, otherwise this is a moot point) you are encouraged to call me out on it and bring it up for discussion and further investigation. Thank you.
GENDER RELATIONS IN THE MODERN WORLD
There are two genders, as if you hadn't noticed. And each has its own modes of thought. Men tend to be more blunt and forward, while women tend to be more subtle than men care to notice. This will naturally cause strife and dissension in the ranks of humanity. Due to the natual superiority of males in sheer physicality, women have been subjugated throughout the course of history. This is not always the case, as in the case of the predecessors to the Ancient Greek civilization, where men were viewed as second-class citizens. But on the whole, men have come to dominate the world in politics, business, private sectors, etc.
Recently, within the last couple hundred years, women have started movements for equality, making great strides from being disenfranchised and essentially the property of their husband to being, in my opinion, equal members of society with voting rights and the freedom to acheive their dreams just like any man.
However, even more recently, that is not enough. Militant feminists, or as Rush Limbaugh called them, "Femi-nazis", are seeking more. They view the world as still biased against them, limiting them to places in the home and menial tasks in the business sector as secretaries and the like, but nothing more. And in the case of a few businesses, that was the case. But in government actions and in society as a whole, equality is the rule, not the exception. In the opnion of the author, the extreme feminist groups are going too far. They don't seek equality, but domination. They seek to subjugate men like men subjugated women for thousands of years. Equality has been acheived. Look around. Woman is everywhere, not just the supermarket getting the supplies for dinner for her husband and children, she's not stuck in the home cleaning and child-bearing for her entire adult life.
She is going to school, getting a job, climbing corporate ladders, getting elected to public office, starting movements for positive reform, raising children, etc. This all looks like equality. Because Man is doing the same thing. He is given the same opportunities as Woman, and vice versa.
Equality is opportunity. Opportunity is being given a choice. And Woman is choosing. Therefore, equality has been acheived. The actions of individuals in a society are not the actions of society. Just because one business owner will not promote a qualified person because she's a woman does not mean that society is holding her down. Gender issues are outdated. Turn all that political activism and effort to something of real consequence to us all. Work toward pulling our troops out of Iraq, or environmental protection to curb the advance of Global Warming, or limiting our dependence upon foreign oil and OPEC specifically.
Other aspects of gender relations are those within relationships. If our society were truly as unbalanced in favor of men as the extreme feminists would have us think, why does the man lose all of his possessions when he and his girlfriend move in together? Why does everything have to go through her before it can be truly approved? This does not seem to be evidence in favor of proving that American society is male-dominated. It would appear to point to American society being dominated by women, not men.
However you look at it, society is in balance when it comes to gender relations. Neither is dominating the other anymore, and therefore, the issue of Gender Relations is solved.
Now, if you've read all this, more power to you. I hope that my claims here will get some good, solid discussion, hopefully here on the page, but in other media (email, IM, phone, face to face confrontation if you're really pissed, whatever). Again, my purpose was to cause a little bit of offense, at least enough to warrant comments and discussion. Thank you and have a nice day.
Apr. 30th, 2007 @ 11:31 pm
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| » I'm back for real this time... |
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OK, I took a wicked long break from this page. I've been stalking people on here continually, but I haven't done anything here since December. I've obviously changed the setup of the page from before, because I'm thinking that I'll take this page in a new direction from before. Meaning, that I'll have a direction for it, because the last one had none and that's why I didn't pay attention to it. Anyway, I've class starting in 3 minutes, and I'd best be going.
Apr. 18th, 2007 @ 01:55 pm
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| » Let's see if I can embed videos... |
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OK, I apparently can, which is good. I love this video, it rocks my socks. Keep your eye on the bassist. You'll see what I mean.
But yeah, in this nearly sabbatical since my last post, nothing that I can really narrow down had happened. If you're really that close to me, you probably already know about it. It pretty much just means that I can't narrow down to explain here. Obviously, much has happened in the 7 weeks since last I updated, but I'm not feeling well at the moment, and don't fee like typing any more than this.
Dec. 11th, 2006 @ 12:20 am
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thinkmuch818's journal
