Working in the housing office.... happily anticipating my paycheck tomorrow... I'm not really running out of money, but I'm running a lot lower than I would like. All those late-night runs for food really cost you after a while... So yes, my RA paycheck will fill out my account nicely. And my birthday is on Saturday -- possibly I'll get some money from family members. Always an excellent present. Just a big fat check. Am I a terrible person for just wanting spending money for my birthday? I mean... there's really not any STUFF that I really need, and I have difficulty coming up with enough to ask for, usually. And I'd rather get money for stuff that I'll want later than get stuff that I won't ever really use.

Yeah, I'm a terrible person. =)

Homecoming was amazing. Friday night the Madrigals went downtown to the Peace Center to perform -- we had probably prepared 20 minutes worth of music and we ended up singing a total of five songs. And we got $150. Not bad, not bad at all. That's like... $30 per song. It'll pay for tickets to the Renaissance Festival, that's for sure. That and the money that's already in the account. And then... well, then we'll be broke again. But that's ok.

After we sang, I went to the carnival, and I had a really good time. Hung out with Zaruba a lot. I'm really glad I've gotten to know her -- we get along really well. She's excellent fun. =)

Saturday night, went to the dance with Bounds -- we went to Gattitown with Ike and Christina first, and it was so much fun. It was really laid-back, and I just relaxed and had fun, which I've been able to do a lot more recently. I like this whole not-being-tied-down thing. Everything is easier. =) The dance was awesome (and by "awesome" I mean it was exactly like high school and a thousand things could have made it cooler, but I was there with fun people and I mingled and danced with a lot of different people and so even though it was completely goofy it was completely fun).

This week's been busy... I have so many papers to write.... I really want to get them done soon so that I don't have to work over my birthday... which is Saturday, by the way, so if anyone actually reads this I expect nice notes and messages on Saturday. =) I'll be 19. Which still makes me younger than most of the freshmen on my hall. *le sigh*

Ok, my lunch is here, so I'll go waste time some other way. =) Hasta luego.

My Musical Life

Yeah, so, it's been a while. Lots has happened... let's go back to Family Weekend.

October 7-9. Friday night was the first Madrigals performance of the year, and it was right after our auditions, which yielded a whopping eight people... that's HUGE, especially to a group which had previously consisted of five singers. Exciting, also a little scary for the musical director (oh yeah, that's me), but very very cool. So the performance was 8 songs, 5 of which the newbies learned the DAY OF, on Friday, and were able to sing with us that night. They're awesome. =) Granted, it's easier to learn music when you're singing next to someone who knows it already, but still. They were still sort of sightreading Friday night, and we still managed to get a standing ovation from Polly's dad. =) It was sad, though, because Karen and my dad and Jack were all on their way down to visit for the weekend, and it had been an awful rainy day and the interstate was horrific. Karen called me a couple times saying she was glad to be alive. =/ So she only made it for the very last song, and dad and Jack didn't make it at all. I was a little upset with my dad because I'd told him when the performance was, and he basically left Greensboro at the very last moment that he could and still get here on time, which meant that since he was running about an hour late because of the roads, we barely got time with him at all on Friday night. We all went out to Flat Rock for dinner and they were superslow, so Karen and I wolfed down our food before running over to the movies to meet Bounds, his brother, and Z. We went to see Transporter 2 (which was fun because Karen, Z, and I spent the whole movie just making fun of it) and The Corpse Bride (which was fun because it's so freaking weird). Good times.

Saturday was a FUtones performance. Went pretty well. I wish they trusted us newbies to learn music quickly so we could stop doing the SAME SONGS over and over again. Not that they're bad songs, they just get old after a while. At least Dad and Jack and Karen were there to see that. Jack liked it so much he bought a cd. =) He surprises me sometimes; I never would have thought he would buy a cd of a cappella music. Course, he surprised me all weekend. We went to the football game that afternoon, and during the 3rd quarter I went over to his and Dad's seats to visit them (Karen and I were in the student section). Dad wasn't there so I sat with Jack for a minute. He put his arm around me and told me how much he missed me. ...I don't know how long it's been since he initiated a hug like that. I thought I was going to cry. At a freaking football game. I love him so much, and he's always so distant, such a loner... it seems like he's starting to open up again and it makes me sad that I'm so far away from him now. I wish I could be there to build up a relationship with him again. *sigh* Anyway, after that, I took him with me back to the student section, which was a good idea -- he loved it. I think he had a really good time down here with me. I hope he comes to visit again this year. Something about not being at home seemed to loosen him up.

Dad and Jack left Saturday night. Karen stayed till Sunday morning... she helped out with a *situation* of sorts on Saturday night and then we went to ice cream with Bounds and his brother -- Karen wanted Spill the Beans. =) So after the drama there were good times to be had.

Fast forward to Fall Break.

October 13-16. FUtones retreat. We all left Thursday morning for Leah's place in the mountains, with a pit stop at the grocery store. Once up there, we all basically crashed. Watched movies, took naps, hung out. Thursday night we had spaghetti for dinner and much MUCH later in the evening we had s'mores, which was great fun. In between was kind of depressing, just for me probably, just because I was very bored and all of the "veteran" FUtones were out on the screen porch singing songs that only they knew. And I get really self-conscious in situations where I'm the new person. And so I really wanted to go out there and just pretend like I knew the songs and just sing them, but I was scared. And they seemed kind of oblivious to the fact that Emily and I were just sitting there working a puzzle, away from everyone else. After a while someone mentioned s'mores and then we became a group again, so it got better, but there was probably a solid hour where I just felt very left out. =(

Friday we went "hiking" up to this beautiful waterfall, where me and Ike and Jordan and RevPhil and Charles waded downstream, which was very fun. And then hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. And a dance party. For like 3 hours. We must have been insane. =)

Saturday we rehearsed, a little bit. We were supposed to learn like 3 new songs? And we learned... sort of... one? Hehe. But I think we bonded a lot over the long weekend, which was obviously the point. So we'll just make up for the lack of real rehearsal later.

And now it's almost Homecoming weekend. Madrigals performance tomorrow night, then the carnival after that, then the game and the dance on Saturday. Woot! Should be excellent fun.

More later....

To be continued

*shout out to Page*

... well, she asked for it.

What an interesting weekend. I'll have to come back after I finish the research paper that's due tomorrow that I haven't started researching for and tell everyone alllll about it.

Blah.

The Letter Everyone Should Read

The following is a communique -- intercepted by the new Communications Collection Center of the Department of Homeland Security -- from a group calling itself Unitarian Jihad. This startling new underground group is spreading lack of panic across America. Citizens every are declaring themselves "relatively unafraid" of these threats of relative rationality. Beware!

By Jon Carroll
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, April 8th, 2005

"Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only one God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all. His objection was noted, with love, by the secretary.

"Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. you have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!

"People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? Why is the news dominated by nut-balls saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea? Sister Immaculate Dagger of Peace notes for the record that we mean no disrespect to Jews, Muslims, Christians, or Hindus. (Referred back to the committee of the whole for further discussion.)

"We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Un-exalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.

"Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-idealogues who have carefully thought through the issues.

"We are Unitarian Jihad. We will appear in public places and require all people to shake hands with each other. (Sister Hand Grenade of Love suggested that we institute a terror regime of mandatory hugging, but her motion was not formally introduced because of lack of a quorum.) We will require all lobbyists, spokesmen and campaign managers to dress like trout in public. Televangelists will be forced to take jobs as Xerox repair specialists. Demagogues of all stripes will be required to read Proust, out loud, in prisons.

"We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm. Get a dog, or comfort someone in a nursing home, or just feed the birds in the park. Play basketball. Lighten up. The world is not out to get you, except in the sense that the world is out to get everyone.

"Brother Gatling Gun of Patience notes that he's pretty sure the world is out to get him because everyone laughs when he says he is a Unitarian. There were murmurs of assent around the room, and someone suggested that we buy some members of Congress and really stick it to the Baptists. But this was deemed to be against Revolutionary Principles, and Brother Gatling Gun of Patience was remanded to the Sunday Flowers and Banners committee.

"People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We will strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution."