The first week of classes has almost come to a close. I've spent over $100 on textbooks and will be able to bump that figure to over $150 once I get my book for health, which was sold out when I tried to buy it today. In these next weeks, things will start kicking into a higher gear, the pace continuing to pick up as the spring season officially starts. After that, I'm sure I'll miss this week, its slower pace, its moments of boredom. We've got mid-terms right after our second production, West Side Story, which it seems the entire department is involved in. Perfect timing, as usual.
Although I know all this is coming, I'm not as stressed yet, possibly because I'm holding smaller roles in these first two productions. For the children's play the first week of February, I'm running the sound board, getting to monitor and operate about a dozen microphones while listening for cues to play sound effects. Since I'm not the sound designer, I don't have to find them. Right now, my job is easy. I get to worry about nothing other than class until the costume parade. While everyone analyzes the fit, overall look and color of each outfit, I'll just be making sure I can attach a mic to it. After that, though I'm sure I'll get to help with the alteration, my work doesn't really start until the first dress rehearsal.
As part of the run crew for West Side, my job will be similar and easier at the same time: no costume parade to worry about unless I'm given a project in the shop, someone's outfit to help make for the show. I'm not sure what I'm doing in that play yet; I just hope I'm not stuck backstage as a dresser. That role just doesn't interest me. I'd much rather get to do spotlight op again, like I did for Godspell.
Other than wondering about what's coming, I don't have much to do. I've done what homework I'm capable of before my textbooks get to me and have been reviewing where I could, like in Spanish. I'm attending all my classes, even health, which I'm already hating. Still, I'll grit my teeth and muddle through it, if only to keep from having to repeat the boring class. I just can't fathom the way these coaches speak, telling their classes that we'll be working out one day a week as if it were some sort of fun treat. Sure, it's a break from lecturing, but I wouldn't consider it fun by any stretch of the word. It's possible I'm still seething from the $60 book that I won't be able to refund at the end of the semester since its an unbound text.
Oh well. C'est la vie!
15 January 2009
12 January 2009
Back to school
Slipping back into my routine has been so easy and such a relief. I've called home a few times (quite a few times) over the weekend because I was so bored. A month from now, I'll have forgotten what the word "bored" means.
Classes started today and I was off and running like a herd of snails. The day started spectacularly when the alarm on my phone failed to go off at 7 am. Instead, I woke up at 8 and had to rush through my morning preparations - exactly what I didn't want to do. Breakfast was...well,it was food. It was edible. The fact that I woke up feeling like a drill bit was biting into my temple probably didn't help much. The phantom drill bit is still there now, but greatly dulled, so I'm not complaining. I just keep telling myself it's stress, nothing more because I can't get sick. It's just plain not allowed.
My first class of the day was Spanish, a language I have not touched in a month. Just my luck: the professor comes in speaking Spanish, so I got sit and nod along, completely lost and utterly dumbfounded, picking up about every third word. A couple of theater students were in the class, so I'm feeling a lot better about it since I know people. :) After class, we all went to the library for coffee, which I'm hoping won't be a daily habit since it made us a few minutes late to the next class.
Tech theater was enjoyable. It felt so good to be surrounded by theater majors again with Ms. Glitter standing at the front of the class. I'm sure this feeling won't last since the prof. gets distracted even easier that I do and I can't stand it when we go off on tangents without ever getting back to the subject we were discussing. My friends have already said they're going to make me socialize more since I'm on campus and no longer have commuting as an excuse. I'm really looking forward to that.
After classes were over, earlier than they usually will be since there are no labs today, I ran some errands. Getting my post office box, taking care of some last minute paper-work, just more things I needed to finally settle in. Hopefully, I'll get to meet my roommate soon. All I know about her is that she's a senior and a music major. Right now, however, it's time to make flashcards for my Spanish vocabulary and grab some lunch - not necessarily in that order.
Classes started today and I was off and running like a herd of snails. The day started spectacularly when the alarm on my phone failed to go off at 7 am. Instead, I woke up at 8 and had to rush through my morning preparations - exactly what I didn't want to do. Breakfast was...well,it was food. It was edible. The fact that I woke up feeling like a drill bit was biting into my temple probably didn't help much. The phantom drill bit is still there now, but greatly dulled, so I'm not complaining. I just keep telling myself it's stress, nothing more because I can't get sick. It's just plain not allowed.
My first class of the day was Spanish, a language I have not touched in a month. Just my luck: the professor comes in speaking Spanish, so I got sit and nod along, completely lost and utterly dumbfounded, picking up about every third word. A couple of theater students were in the class, so I'm feeling a lot better about it since I know people. :) After class, we all went to the library for coffee, which I'm hoping won't be a daily habit since it made us a few minutes late to the next class.
Tech theater was enjoyable. It felt so good to be surrounded by theater majors again with Ms. Glitter standing at the front of the class. I'm sure this feeling won't last since the prof. gets distracted even easier that I do and I can't stand it when we go off on tangents without ever getting back to the subject we were discussing. My friends have already said they're going to make me socialize more since I'm on campus and no longer have commuting as an excuse. I'm really looking forward to that.
After classes were over, earlier than they usually will be since there are no labs today, I ran some errands. Getting my post office box, taking care of some last minute paper-work, just more things I needed to finally settle in. Hopefully, I'll get to meet my roommate soon. All I know about her is that she's a senior and a music major. Right now, however, it's time to make flashcards for my Spanish vocabulary and grab some lunch - not necessarily in that order.
09 January 2009
Calm waters
Things here are starting to look like they might calm down. Logically, I'm thinking this simply because I'm heading to campus tomorrow...or I'm thinking this way to avoid thinking about heading to campus tomorrow. There's really no telling. I'm looking forward to the move - really I am. This will ensure a lot more time to hang out with friends, a lot less time spent commuting, and, coincidentally, a lot less money going towards gas for my new/old 'Stang.
However, I'm really going to miss a lot about home. Never mind that I'm less than an hour's drive away. I'll miss my oh so sweet and logical mother who is my best friend and my coach. She has always helped me stay on task and I've done the same for her.
I'll miss cutting up and joking around with my stepdad, who I call Elrond. I can always go to either of those two any time I have a problem. Despite his demanding work schedule, working two jobs and holding an assistant manager position at one, Elrond always makes time for me and anything he knows is important to me or Mom.
I'll even miss my hard-as-nails grandma, never mind what I might say to the contrary. A lot of the time, her heart's in the right place. She still needs to teach me how to cheat good when we play games. ;) I guess her secret is number crunching; after all, she always acts as the score-keeper.
I'm going to miss our awesome neighbor Nessa and her family. Her kids are so sweet - if they don't keep up with their homework and do what is asked of them, I'll come home just to straighten them out. Nessa has always lent an ear if I find myself needing to get away or get hacked off at Mom or just want to yammer about Twilight. We've got an open door policy between our two households and I don't think we could've asked for better neighbors. I can only hope my roommate and suite-mates will be half as sweet. :)
I'm also going to miss TV. The best I can get in the dorms is basic cable, which is hardly worth the effort. While I don't watch TV all that often, I do have shows I follow: House MD, Top Chef, Project Runway, Top Design, Shear Genius, Solitary, Criss Angel Mindfreak, and Wife Swap to be specific. (I know it sounds like I'm a reality TV junkie, but I swear I'm not.) Although I say I'll miss this, logic and experience both tell me that I won't have time. My first semester on campus, although I still didn't get much done, I don't remember ever touching the TV. Besides, why haul the heavy thing and put it the only place it'll fit - the top of the closet - just so I'll have to climb onto my end table whenever I want to turn it on? Such a headache (plus a backache for Elrond, who is glad I'm on the first floor) when my laptop is lighter, more conveniently placed, and much more portable if I want to lounge on my bed while browsing youtube.
I'll miss my two year old half sister, who lives with my Dad. Yeah, I know I can come home every weekend if I wanted and visit her. I could even come home and take her back to school with me for the weekend, I bet. Still, I'm just going to miss being able to go to Dad's house anytime I want and see her big blue eyes and her smile and hear her yell "Sissy!" before rattling off the names of all five of our dogs, asking if she can go see them. My world revolves around that little angel anytime she's near me. Who could resist this face?
So, tomorrow, I will leave the safety and familiar routine that is my home to go to school, go back to theater, and hang out with some real characters. My best friend, for one, who just got his own apartment and is so proud of his new place that I just find it adorable. This guy is like my other half when I'm at school. Each of us is the other's eyes and ears amongst our gossipy classmates. Not that we're not just as bad. ;)
It'll be good to see the professors too. I actually miss a few of my teachers! Namely my theater teachers. The department head is, I'm almost sorry to say, the only man with a walk that can be described as "fussy." The more irritated he gets, the fussier his walk. Then, there's Ms. Glitter, who I didn't have in class last semester and whose quirkiness I have missed so much! She's teaching two of my classes this spring. :D I just hope my ADD can tolerate her constant verbal flitting from subject to subject during class. She's very easily distracted (might be ADD too?) and the students take full advantage of it since we get no such luck with the dept. head. Our newest prof just joined the department last semester and I wish I had her this spring. Not that I won't still see her, of course. She's the sound specialist and boy did she teach me a lot last fall! The last one of the bunch is the costume shop supervisor, who I've never been taught by in a classroom setting. Since I'll be learning how to sew (groan...) I'll get to spend more time with her too.
Oh, I can't wait to get back to school!
However, I'm really going to miss a lot about home. Never mind that I'm less than an hour's drive away. I'll miss my oh so sweet and logical mother who is my best friend and my coach. She has always helped me stay on task and I've done the same for her.
I'll miss cutting up and joking around with my stepdad, who I call Elrond. I can always go to either of those two any time I have a problem. Despite his demanding work schedule, working two jobs and holding an assistant manager position at one, Elrond always makes time for me and anything he knows is important to me or Mom.
I'll even miss my hard-as-nails grandma, never mind what I might say to the contrary. A lot of the time, her heart's in the right place. She still needs to teach me how to cheat good when we play games. ;) I guess her secret is number crunching; after all, she always acts as the score-keeper.
I'm going to miss our awesome neighbor Nessa and her family. Her kids are so sweet - if they don't keep up with their homework and do what is asked of them, I'll come home just to straighten them out. Nessa has always lent an ear if I find myself needing to get away or get hacked off at Mom or just want to yammer about Twilight. We've got an open door policy between our two households and I don't think we could've asked for better neighbors. I can only hope my roommate and suite-mates will be half as sweet. :)
I'm also going to miss TV. The best I can get in the dorms is basic cable, which is hardly worth the effort. While I don't watch TV all that often, I do have shows I follow: House MD, Top Chef, Project Runway, Top Design, Shear Genius, Solitary, Criss Angel Mindfreak, and Wife Swap to be specific. (I know it sounds like I'm a reality TV junkie, but I swear I'm not.) Although I say I'll miss this, logic and experience both tell me that I won't have time. My first semester on campus, although I still didn't get much done, I don't remember ever touching the TV. Besides, why haul the heavy thing and put it the only place it'll fit - the top of the closet - just so I'll have to climb onto my end table whenever I want to turn it on? Such a headache (plus a backache for Elrond, who is glad I'm on the first floor) when my laptop is lighter, more conveniently placed, and much more portable if I want to lounge on my bed while browsing youtube.
I'll miss my two year old half sister, who lives with my Dad. Yeah, I know I can come home every weekend if I wanted and visit her. I could even come home and take her back to school with me for the weekend, I bet. Still, I'm just going to miss being able to go to Dad's house anytime I want and see her big blue eyes and her smile and hear her yell "Sissy!" before rattling off the names of all five of our dogs, asking if she can go see them. My world revolves around that little angel anytime she's near me. Who could resist this face?
So, tomorrow, I will leave the safety and familiar routine that is my home to go to school, go back to theater, and hang out with some real characters. My best friend, for one, who just got his own apartment and is so proud of his new place that I just find it adorable. This guy is like my other half when I'm at school. Each of us is the other's eyes and ears amongst our gossipy classmates. Not that we're not just as bad. ;)
It'll be good to see the professors too. I actually miss a few of my teachers! Namely my theater teachers. The department head is, I'm almost sorry to say, the only man with a walk that can be described as "fussy." The more irritated he gets, the fussier his walk. Then, there's Ms. Glitter, who I didn't have in class last semester and whose quirkiness I have missed so much! She's teaching two of my classes this spring. :D I just hope my ADD can tolerate her constant verbal flitting from subject to subject during class. She's very easily distracted (might be ADD too?) and the students take full advantage of it since we get no such luck with the dept. head. Our newest prof just joined the department last semester and I wish I had her this spring. Not that I won't still see her, of course. She's the sound specialist and boy did she teach me a lot last fall! The last one of the bunch is the costume shop supervisor, who I've never been taught by in a classroom setting. Since I'll be learning how to sew (groan...) I'll get to spend more time with her too.
Oh, I can't wait to get back to school!
08 January 2009
Drama belongs onstage
Anyone who has been reading Nessa's blog or my Mom's blog has no doubt been following a lot of what's been going on. Mom reminded me I needed to blog and that I sure as heck had plenty to blog about, so here we go: the one subject I didn't want to discuss here. This is my view on these issues. Nothing more.
I hate it when real life starts to feel like some sort of stupid soap opera. So much drama has been revolving around these four little angels: two year old twins, their four year old brother, and six year old sister. Although its been revolving around them, nobody who has been directly involved (their family, the people who are supposed to care) has cared at all about those same kids, instead putting them in the middle of a tug-of-war. They're not releasing any information about what condition the children's father is in, although they've allegedly been in town the past four days instead of at the hospital while we had the kids.
They've got them now. I'm sure they'll be taken out of the state and away from their Mom as soon as the courts allow it. These poor kids have been in such turmoil these days, never knowing what they'll be doing or where they'll be from one day to the next, not having any sort of routine, asking questions about whichever parents they're not with. The rumor mills in our super-small town have been churning and chugging away; I'm doing all I can to ignore the predictions of what's going to happen, what did happen, and who did what to whom.
Right now, I'm trying my hardest to keep my focus on this coming weekend. I'll be moving back to campus, away from whatever fallout this might have later. I'll be able to get back into my regular routine at school. Boy, is this semester going to be a busy one! Here's a glimpse at my schedule, which I may end up detailing in a later blog.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Spanish is first at 9 am. Joy. Ever so much joy and rapture. *eyeroll* At 10, I go to Tech II and get to learn about costuming. (Pardon me while I groan piteously.) At 11 is language lab, followed by an hour break for lunch, then three hours worth of lab work for my theater classes. School day officially ends at four.
Tuesday, Thursday: First up is the theater department's writing intensive course, theory & criticism at 9:25 am. Seems I plugged my two most difficult classes into my morning routine. This is good, I keep reminding myself, because I'm generally more focused in my morning classes. At 10:50, I'll go to makeup design, which I am so looking forward to. Maybe the professor can tell me something about putting on makeup that won't disappear once I put my glasses on... These are my short days, ending with health at 1:00 and 2:15 signaling the day's academic end.
What a way to start 2009...
I hate it when real life starts to feel like some sort of stupid soap opera. So much drama has been revolving around these four little angels: two year old twins, their four year old brother, and six year old sister. Although its been revolving around them, nobody who has been directly involved (their family, the people who are supposed to care) has cared at all about those same kids, instead putting them in the middle of a tug-of-war. They're not releasing any information about what condition the children's father is in, although they've allegedly been in town the past four days instead of at the hospital while we had the kids.
They've got them now. I'm sure they'll be taken out of the state and away from their Mom as soon as the courts allow it. These poor kids have been in such turmoil these days, never knowing what they'll be doing or where they'll be from one day to the next, not having any sort of routine, asking questions about whichever parents they're not with. The rumor mills in our super-small town have been churning and chugging away; I'm doing all I can to ignore the predictions of what's going to happen, what did happen, and who did what to whom.
Right now, I'm trying my hardest to keep my focus on this coming weekend. I'll be moving back to campus, away from whatever fallout this might have later. I'll be able to get back into my regular routine at school. Boy, is this semester going to be a busy one! Here's a glimpse at my schedule, which I may end up detailing in a later blog.
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Spanish is first at 9 am. Joy. Ever so much joy and rapture. *eyeroll* At 10, I go to Tech II and get to learn about costuming. (Pardon me while I groan piteously.) At 11 is language lab, followed by an hour break for lunch, then three hours worth of lab work for my theater classes. School day officially ends at four.
Tuesday, Thursday: First up is the theater department's writing intensive course, theory & criticism at 9:25 am. Seems I plugged my two most difficult classes into my morning routine. This is good, I keep reminding myself, because I'm generally more focused in my morning classes. At 10:50, I'll go to makeup design, which I am so looking forward to. Maybe the professor can tell me something about putting on makeup that won't disappear once I put my glasses on... These are my short days, ending with health at 1:00 and 2:15 signaling the day's academic end.
What a way to start 2009...
02 January 2009
The holidays in ten sentences
What an enjoyable, relaxing holiday I've had! On Christmas Day, we visited my stepdad's family and my stepbrother came to town to announce his recruitment into the Army, which has us all both proud and nervous. I made out like a bandit in the gift department, even without counting the car amongst my presents. Some of my favorites included the kick-ass pair of boots, the brand new iPod, the perfume, the old books, and the giant stuffed shrimp.
The books are amazing, all of them first editions with copyright dates ranging from 1875 to 1912 and subjects ranging from a beginning Spanish dictionary to etiquette to a brief study of the ancient Romans to works by Washington Irving and Herman Melville. However, I've been neglecting this blog, which I hope to stop shunting aside and procrastinating over. The final count on baked goods was 66 dozen and the leftovers from X-mas dinner are slowly being emptied from the fridge. My Twilight reading has progressed, although I'm using audiobooks, which is irritating and makes comprehension difficult. The cabinet I built, which measures 6' x 4' x 1' and is made of medium density fiberboard, is still on the porch; I hope to get it inside and anchored to the wall this weekend. Although I'm still nervous about a lot of things, not the lest of which is the fear of flaking out and failing, I can't wait to get back to school and back to my usual schedule.
The books are amazing, all of them first editions with copyright dates ranging from 1875 to 1912 and subjects ranging from a beginning Spanish dictionary to etiquette to a brief study of the ancient Romans to works by Washington Irving and Herman Melville. However, I've been neglecting this blog, which I hope to stop shunting aside and procrastinating over. The final count on baked goods was 66 dozen and the leftovers from X-mas dinner are slowly being emptied from the fridge. My Twilight reading has progressed, although I'm using audiobooks, which is irritating and makes comprehension difficult. The cabinet I built, which measures 6' x 4' x 1' and is made of medium density fiberboard, is still on the porch; I hope to get it inside and anchored to the wall this weekend. Although I'm still nervous about a lot of things, not the lest of which is the fear of flaking out and failing, I can't wait to get back to school and back to my usual schedule.
01 January 2009
06 December 2008
Holidays, Vampires, Mustangs, and Finals
Well, it's that time of year again. Contrary to the music I've recently added to my blog, I'm not referencing the holidays. No, instead, I'm talking about finals: those dreaded, generally cumulative exams all college students must slough through before Christmas Break, an interim period that stretches just long enough to ensure complete insanity and non-comprehension when everyone returns to school in January. Those first few days of classes, the green room is always so filled, so noisy, so chaotic, you can hardly tel one conversation from the other. These days, this close to the end of the semester, it's the exact opposite.
Gripes abut professors, moans over going to class as textbooks are opened, seniors frantic to graduate rather than spend another semester in school, all this seems to lessen and increase at the same time as the semester winds down. Some people, myself included, are alternating between studying and procrastinating, planning our study schedules around our exams. Others are already making holiday plans. I've recently learned two of my friends from school live in Austin, which was cool to find out. More good news: I got a new (old) car, an '86 Mustang Capri. It's not much of a looker at all, but I love it. We had some bad luck today, though.
Today was my first day of exams and man, was it crazy! I got a flat on the way to school, which was ever so much fun, especially since I was worried I would be late to my first test. After making phone calls to my best friend and my Mom, who called my cousin, I eventually got to school...just in time to discover that my 11:30 exam which I've been studying for all weekend is in fact scheduled for...tomorrow.
Yeah. That was fun.
After that, I proceeded to the scene shop to work on the cabinet I'm building for my technical theater class. This time tomorrow, it will be sitting in the dining room, probably being painted since I ran out of time. The final for that class is 8 a.m. tomorrow, followed by the history final I thought I had today.
Despite my moment of complete foolishness, I did remember one of my exams, thank god. This afternoon, I took my final for English, a one-question essay test we were allowed to use the text for. To make things even easier, we were able to choose from about twenty questions, so I could afford to be picky. ;)
On Thursday I have my last exam which is for Spanish. *cringe* Oh, how I dread that one. After that exam, however, I'll be finished for the semester and will just have to wait for grades to be posted. Once I finish my finals, I'll also get to get back to my latest recreational reading: the Twilight series. I've only read the first book so far - in two days as a matter of fact - and can't wait to read the rest. I don't ever see myself owning the books, but I'm enjoying reading them.
So, what book did you read last? Did you like it? What's next on your reading list? When did you last have car trouble? I hope everyone find their 'knight in shining armor' to help them off the side of the road.
Happy holidays; try not to run over anything your tires won't like! ;)
Gripes abut professors, moans over going to class as textbooks are opened, seniors frantic to graduate rather than spend another semester in school, all this seems to lessen and increase at the same time as the semester winds down. Some people, myself included, are alternating between studying and procrastinating, planning our study schedules around our exams. Others are already making holiday plans. I've recently learned two of my friends from school live in Austin, which was cool to find out. More good news: I got a new (old) car, an '86 Mustang Capri. It's not much of a looker at all, but I love it. We had some bad luck today, though.
Today was my first day of exams and man, was it crazy! I got a flat on the way to school, which was ever so much fun, especially since I was worried I would be late to my first test. After making phone calls to my best friend and my Mom, who called my cousin, I eventually got to school...just in time to discover that my 11:30 exam which I've been studying for all weekend is in fact scheduled for...tomorrow.
Yeah. That was fun.
After that, I proceeded to the scene shop to work on the cabinet I'm building for my technical theater class. This time tomorrow, it will be sitting in the dining room, probably being painted since I ran out of time. The final for that class is 8 a.m. tomorrow, followed by the history final I thought I had today.
Despite my moment of complete foolishness, I did remember one of my exams, thank god. This afternoon, I took my final for English, a one-question essay test we were allowed to use the text for. To make things even easier, we were able to choose from about twenty questions, so I could afford to be picky. ;)
On Thursday I have my last exam which is for Spanish. *cringe* Oh, how I dread that one. After that exam, however, I'll be finished for the semester and will just have to wait for grades to be posted. Once I finish my finals, I'll also get to get back to my latest recreational reading: the Twilight series. I've only read the first book so far - in two days as a matter of fact - and can't wait to read the rest. I don't ever see myself owning the books, but I'm enjoying reading them.
So, what book did you read last? Did you like it? What's next on your reading list? When did you last have car trouble? I hope everyone find their 'knight in shining armor' to help them off the side of the road.
Happy holidays; try not to run over anything your tires won't like! ;)
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