And it begins....

Spring term. Those words are both welcome and terrifying. Welcome in that winter term is finally behind me -- that was awful for so many reasons. Just... hard. Stressful. This term should be better in terms of workload, in terms of breaks, in terms of relationships with other people, hopefully in terms of my relationship with myself.... It should just be a lot better. But at the same time, it's as though an inner countdown has begun. I feel like the clock is ticking in terms of my relationship with Matt. And it is, I suppose. But I don't like that it hangs over my head like this. I've been getting excellent advice from everyone (including myself) -- don't think about it, enjoy your time together, make the most of the time you have. Make plans for the future without worrying about it. Know that things will work out without feeling like you have to control the path they take. ....But that's so hard for me. *sigh* Some days are better than others, and I guess that's just how it's going to be. On a cheerfully related note, if all our reunions are like the ones after Christmas break and after Singers tour, then we definitely have some happy times ahead. :-)

Classes this term are looking to be interesting and hopefully fun -- if it shapes up the way I think it will, this should be the best term I've had yet at Furman. English 22 won't be overly challenging, especially as I've already read half of the material we'll be covering -- that's nice. Playwriting will be a challenge, but it will be good for me, I think. We're going to be required to share what we write, which means not only do I have to actually do the work instead of relying on my ability to bullshit, I also have to get over my shyness (yes, you wouldn't think it, but when it comes to my work and my creations, I'm incredibly shy). So I'm pretty excited about that. And Shakespeare is just gonna be awesome. Dr Oakes is amazing. OH, and neither Playwriting nor Shakespeare meet on Fridays. Yep, I'll be done by 11:00 on Fridays. SCORE.

We had to write ten-word plays in Doug's class today. Some of the responses were really cool. At the very end of class I found myself thinking of something Audrey did back in high school which I totally should have played with -- it would have been different from everyone else's. Essentially, we had to write dialogue in which each character spoke only one word at a time. Most people's went something like:

A. Why?
B. Because.
A. But --
B. No.
A. When?
B. Tuesday.
A. Sure?
B. Yes!
A. Fine!
B. Thanks.

Basic argument/resolution type deal. Pretty straightforward, just the barest outline of a plot. Audrey's technique which I kind of wish I'd stolen would have gone more like:

1. Question.
2. Evasion.
1. Clarification.
2. Rebuttal.
1. Statement.
2. Diatribe.
1. Silence.
2. Apology.
1. Forgiveness.
2. Gratitude.

Waaaay more interesting, don't you think? (Audrey, I apologize for not being nearly as good at this as you are. ;-) But then, you were totally the best playwright in that class. So I don't feel too bad complimenting you through mimicry.) Anyway... I think the class should be pretty cool, if a little scary.

I'm feeling really good about Madrigals this term. I'm still hopeful that we'll be adding a couple guys, but I haven't heard anything from said guys yet and so I'm not really counting on it anymore. As wonderful as it would be, it was probably a hopeless recruitment from the start. Ah well. But I think with the retreat and with a couple of the performances we have lined up, we should really pick up some momentum.

FUtones will, I hope, be better this term than it was last term. At least for me. I know other people didn't have issues and were kind of confused by my dissatisfaction with the group last term, and that's okay. I still don't feel like going into it on a public site -- there's no need. I just hope things will be better.

Yay Spring term. I'm totally up for this. :-)