Suggested Listening: Christmas Music, of course.
It’s good to be home.
That’s been one of the major themes of this year. Going abroad and back to Sarah Lawrence was a rough task this time around. … well really for the most part it was rough for the past three years.
This year was rough from start to finish. Usually my luck, or lack thereof, follows the scope of the school year. This year, it was 2009.
Man.
One of those rebuilding years. Sorta feel like there was an earthquake, one big one with a series of smaller aftershocks.
All the while I’m trying to rebuild my house.
Hooah.
Christmas always gives me some space to recover from the past semester and year. December as a whole always gives me time to slow down a bit. On top of Christmas I have a birthday to have. This year I made sure that I did something for it, unlike last year. It was going to be 20 degrees out so I decided to have a hot toddy party. A hot toddy is my favorite drink, created by heating up apple cider (non sparkling or sparkling, whichever you want) and adding about a shot or so of rum. Love it. It was really great to have my friends over, even in conference week time.
Oh speaking of which, conference week. That’s what we have instead of “finals.” Conference projects are one on one independent study projects conducted between the student and professor. Mine this year were on Sex and the bible and World War One fighter pilots. The latter ended up being 25 pages, breaking my old record of 16 or so. It completely caught me by surprise though pushing my other two papers back way into the end of the week. Not good.
But now I’m here, recovering.
Good god that was a rough year. One of those years where I had to work for every inch I gained.
It was, however, a great year. It’s sort of screwy to have such high regard for a year that tore your life apart but sometimes you have to destroy a house to build a better one.
I should make one of those inspiring posters.
Christmas at my house is always really chill. Christmas eve we have an open house with food and cookies. This year a good number of my friends came and we raided the x-box and stumbled around Guitar Hero. I kept getting asked to sing. Yay me. Christmas morning is our present morning, followed by a large breakfast.
Sadie and the cats always get a kick out of opening presents. Ninja has taken to sleeping under the tree, while Sadie would take heaps of wrapping paper in her mouth and bounce around the living room.
…well that’s about it. I’ll keep writing. This is just sort of an extended letter to all of you guys. I guess here’s a thought from 2009 and my experiences. (Christian rant up coming. Skip if you want)
Don’t lose hope. Christmas is about hope, and naturally capitalism has pounced on this human desire in order to score a little more cash. But as a religious holiday, its about God keeping his promise in a typically God sort of way.
As a Christian, God, to me, is a guy who works in a really weird way. When he can, he works small and simple. Christmas is the celebration of something small and simple that blossoms into something great and life changing. A lot of Christians like to put on big displays of faith and evangelization. I like working small. I think God wants us to work small and be ourselves.
I mean, his son was born in a barn in a pretty insignificant town in Israel. God is pretty screwy. The little things in the end are what shape someone through a tough time.
Christmas is much more about a beginning than an end of a year, a chance to regroup and move on.
Keep moving forward, I guess. The good little things of a life always keep reality in focus, and I think there’s always a God behind you and fighting for you.
And there were in the same country Shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, and Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the Glory of the Lord shown round about them, and they were so afraid. But the Angel said “fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a savior, ‘tis Christ the Lord, and this shall be a sign unto you. You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth Peace, and goodwill towards men.”
Bit of a scattered entry. My brain has a bunch of advil and cookies in me, interesting combination.
But,
Merry Christmas.
Love,
Me.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
There's No Business like Blog Business
Suggested Listening: Tomorrow Belongs to Me (the London cast I think...the one with the 4 part tenor harmony)
“Hold”
One word has never before stirred such quiet emotion. It’s been tech week here at Sarah Lawrence.
“Hold please.”
Audrey needs to fix something. Her voice comes out of the speakers like a message from God above. Since she is the stage manager after all, it might as well be God.
And this is what’s been going on.
Cabaret is a rather cue intensive show. There are over 400 light and sound moments to be marked out, and we went through them ever so slowly.
It’s not anyone’s fault really. Its just such a big production tech wise that each and every moment had to be plotted out inch by inch. It also means a lot of tired and bored actors. Never a good combination. We try to keep ourselves entertained while we slog through the incredibly dull but necessary tech work.
I have an entrance.
“Do you know what the problem is with English? It is not like German!”
“Hold.”
Aaaaaaaah. Luckily my buddy mike is on stage with me. We start doing the scene as different personalities and accents, such as James Stewart as Cliff and Sean Connery as Ernst while the tech crew match up lights and sounds.
Says Nehemiah: “Sean Connery wouldn’t be a nazi!”
Me, as Sean Connery : “So far as you know.”
What makes the play long for me is that my role is…sort of like the SAS. I come in for a pretty short time but I’m incredibly important to the scene. I’m everywhere in the first act and nearly nowhere in the second one, except my “presence is felt at all times.” … yeah that was a weird note for me too. Ernst is a playboy and a networker. Everyone loves him, which has been a challenge for me because I’m a pretty quiet guy despite working towards being more social. It’s been a lot of fun though. This cast has been the loosest I've been with. Yeah we’re serious about the play, but we can laugh at each other. Of course we have our inside jokes, such as Erin's (as Sally) difficulty in pronouncing Ernst in an English accent and my difficulty saying Sally in a German one, not to mention everyone going around backstage speaking in over the top German accents to begin with.
Our show opens tonight. I’m really trying not to get sick.
More later,
Me
“Hold”
One word has never before stirred such quiet emotion. It’s been tech week here at Sarah Lawrence.
“Hold please.”
Audrey needs to fix something. Her voice comes out of the speakers like a message from God above. Since she is the stage manager after all, it might as well be God.
And this is what’s been going on.
Cabaret is a rather cue intensive show. There are over 400 light and sound moments to be marked out, and we went through them ever so slowly.
It’s not anyone’s fault really. Its just such a big production tech wise that each and every moment had to be plotted out inch by inch. It also means a lot of tired and bored actors. Never a good combination. We try to keep ourselves entertained while we slog through the incredibly dull but necessary tech work.
I have an entrance.
“Do you know what the problem is with English? It is not like German!”
“Hold.”
Aaaaaaaah. Luckily my buddy mike is on stage with me. We start doing the scene as different personalities and accents, such as James Stewart as Cliff and Sean Connery as Ernst while the tech crew match up lights and sounds.
Says Nehemiah: “Sean Connery wouldn’t be a nazi!”
Me, as Sean Connery : “So far as you know.”
What makes the play long for me is that my role is…sort of like the SAS. I come in for a pretty short time but I’m incredibly important to the scene. I’m everywhere in the first act and nearly nowhere in the second one, except my “presence is felt at all times.” … yeah that was a weird note for me too. Ernst is a playboy and a networker. Everyone loves him, which has been a challenge for me because I’m a pretty quiet guy despite working towards being more social. It’s been a lot of fun though. This cast has been the loosest I've been with. Yeah we’re serious about the play, but we can laugh at each other. Of course we have our inside jokes, such as Erin's (as Sally) difficulty in pronouncing Ernst in an English accent and my difficulty saying Sally in a German one, not to mention everyone going around backstage speaking in over the top German accents to begin with.
Our show opens tonight. I’m really trying not to get sick.
More later,
Me
Friday, November 6, 2009
Blog and Back Again
Suggested Listening: Bananaphone by Raffi off the album Bananaphone
{{Thank you for calling Expedia.com’s customer support line. How may we assist you? Are you calling to book a flight, check on an existing reservation,…}}
I had scheduled my flight home for thanksgiving about a month and a half ago. I had planned to fly out on Tuesday and come back the following Monday, which saves a little money and avoids the big rush for the holiday.
And then I got into Cabaret…which meant that I had to be there on that Monday since it was the Monday before the show.
I’m on the phone with one of those automated systems.
“Existing Reservation”
{{…Thank you. Now, are you calling to change an itinerary, }}
“Yes”
{{ ask about special rates, rent a car}}
“Change an Itinerary.”
{{…one moment please.}}
sigh
“Hi thank you for calling Expedia’s customer service line. My name is Celia, may I have your full name?” Thank god a human. “And what are you calling about today?”
“Well, the thing is something’s come up and I need to change my flight.” I shrug. Nothing I can do about this.
“Lets look at your itinerary…I see you have a flight on the 24th of November from New York- JFK to Los Angeles LAX,”
“Yup”
“And a flight on the 30th of November from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK.”
“Yesm”
“And what would you like to do?"
“Well I need to cancel the flight on the 30th and possibly change it to an earlier flight.”
“OK so you want to cancel your itinerary.”
“no just the one flight.”
“So you want to cancel the flight on the 24th?”
“30th”
“Ok so you want to cancel your return flight”
There we go. “Yes.”
“Why do you want to cancel this flight?”
“Well I can’t make the flight on the 30th and I need an earlier one.”
“ Are you sure you want to do this? There’ll be a fee for canceling your flight.”
“yup.”
“You want to cancel your flight.”
“Yes.”
“One moment please.”
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s had to change their flight information. Stuff happens all the time…like getting cast in a play all of the sudden.
Celia comes back. “You want to change your return flight?”
“Still.”
“You understand that there will be a (blaaaaaaaah you’ve said this)”
It’s a pet peeve of mine when customer service people read from a script over and over again…granted that job doesn’t seem that fun so I should go easy on them.
“Yup. Still want to do it.”
“You’re sure?” It’s dissolving into an Abbott and Costello routine.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Ok…”
And finally I got my flight changed from Monday to Sunday. However, since I had also switched airlines I had to call the airline on which the ticket was originally purchased to let them know of the cancellation.
Delta.
Delta is…special as an airline
{{Thank you for calling Delta}} oooooh boy {{How may we assist you? Are you calling to make a reservation, ask about a current reservation }}
“Yes”
{{ ask about our travel packages, to hear these options again }}
“CURRENT. RESERVATION.”
-some time later-
“No, I don’t have a confirmation number. I just need to confirm with Delta that I’ve cancelled my flight on the 30th.”
“So you’ve cancelled your flight?”
“Yes”
“You are aware there is a fee for changing your flight. “ uhvwnwdnffgrrn
“It should be…I’m just calling to let you know that…”
“So you wish to cancel your return flight on the 30th.” Some progress.
“Yes.”
“may I have an email address to send the confirmation details?”
“C, the letter C, Jacobson at GM dot SLC dot EDU.”
“…so wait. GM @ SLC.EDU?
“Ah, no. GM dot SLC dot edu.” It is a confusing email address.
“SMC?”
“No no. SLC. Uh…sierra lima Charlie.”
“Ok. … ecu?”
“No. uh…uh emerald, dogma, unicorn?”
“Oh! Education!”
“Yes” he says as he exhales.
“So that’s Cjacobson@gm.saltlakecity.education”
“…yes.”
Well it somehow got sorted out and now everything’s all right. However the following morning I got an email confirming my cancellation with American Airlines for my flight on Tuesday.
{{Welcome to American Airlines. How may we assist you? Are you calling to book a flight, ask about a current itinerary... }}
Still busy as usual, It's been a while I know,
Chris.
p.s. All my flights are sorted now, so no worries people at home.
Closing Listening: Love Song for No One by John Mayer off the album Room for Squares.
{{Thank you for calling Expedia.com’s customer support line. How may we assist you? Are you calling to book a flight, check on an existing reservation,…}}
I had scheduled my flight home for thanksgiving about a month and a half ago. I had planned to fly out on Tuesday and come back the following Monday, which saves a little money and avoids the big rush for the holiday.
And then I got into Cabaret…which meant that I had to be there on that Monday since it was the Monday before the show.
I’m on the phone with one of those automated systems.
“Existing Reservation”
{{…Thank you. Now, are you calling to change an itinerary, }}
“Yes”
{{ ask about special rates, rent a car}}
“Change an Itinerary.”
{{…one moment please.}}
sigh
“Hi thank you for calling Expedia’s customer service line. My name is Celia, may I have your full name?” Thank god a human. “And what are you calling about today?”
“Well, the thing is something’s come up and I need to change my flight.” I shrug. Nothing I can do about this.
“Lets look at your itinerary…I see you have a flight on the 24th of November from New York- JFK to Los Angeles LAX,”
“Yup”
“And a flight on the 30th of November from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK.”
“Yesm”
“And what would you like to do?"
“Well I need to cancel the flight on the 30th and possibly change it to an earlier flight.”
“OK so you want to cancel your itinerary.”
“no just the one flight.”
“So you want to cancel the flight on the 24th?”
“30th”
“Ok so you want to cancel your return flight”
There we go. “Yes.”
“Why do you want to cancel this flight?”
“Well I can’t make the flight on the 30th and I need an earlier one.”
“ Are you sure you want to do this? There’ll be a fee for canceling your flight.”
“yup.”
“You want to cancel your flight.”
“Yes.”
“One moment please.”
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s had to change their flight information. Stuff happens all the time…like getting cast in a play all of the sudden.
Celia comes back. “You want to change your return flight?”
“Still.”
“You understand that there will be a (blaaaaaaaah you’ve said this)”
It’s a pet peeve of mine when customer service people read from a script over and over again…granted that job doesn’t seem that fun so I should go easy on them.
“Yup. Still want to do it.”
“You’re sure?” It’s dissolving into an Abbott and Costello routine.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Ok…”
And finally I got my flight changed from Monday to Sunday. However, since I had also switched airlines I had to call the airline on which the ticket was originally purchased to let them know of the cancellation.
Delta.
Delta is…special as an airline
{{Thank you for calling Delta}} oooooh boy {{How may we assist you? Are you calling to make a reservation, ask about a current reservation }}
“Yes”
{{ ask about our travel packages, to hear these options again }}
“CURRENT. RESERVATION.”
-some time later-
“No, I don’t have a confirmation number. I just need to confirm with Delta that I’ve cancelled my flight on the 30th.”
“So you’ve cancelled your flight?”
“Yes”
“You are aware there is a fee for changing your flight. “ uhvwnwdnffgrrn
“It should be…I’m just calling to let you know that…”
“So you wish to cancel your return flight on the 30th.” Some progress.
“Yes.”
“may I have an email address to send the confirmation details?”
“C, the letter C, Jacobson at GM dot SLC dot EDU.”
“…so wait. GM @ SLC.EDU?
“Ah, no. GM dot SLC dot edu.” It is a confusing email address.
“SMC?”
“No no. SLC. Uh…sierra lima Charlie.”
“Ok. … ecu?”
“No. uh…uh emerald, dogma, unicorn?”
“Oh! Education!”
“Yes” he says as he exhales.
“So that’s Cjacobson@gm.saltlakecity.education”
“…yes.”
Well it somehow got sorted out and now everything’s all right. However the following morning I got an email confirming my cancellation with American Airlines for my flight on Tuesday.
{{Welcome to American Airlines. How may we assist you? Are you calling to book a flight, ask about a current itinerary... }}
Still busy as usual, It's been a while I know,
Chris.
p.s. All my flights are sorted now, so no worries people at home.
Closing Listening: Love Song for No One by John Mayer off the album Room for Squares.
Friday, October 16, 2009
You Blog Me 'Round (Like a Record)
Suggested Listening: Who Says by John Mayer. (Off the album Battle Studies. However, the album isn't released yet. I have the single.)
So I’ve noticed something
I’m not sleeping. It’s gotten to be a problem
It’s more than the usual I’m thinking too much in bed to sleep. It’s just not happening. First off it takes me nearly an hour to actually GET to sleep, and then I’m only actually asleep for 4 hours or so before I just wake up again
I’ve tried everything under the sun, believe me. It’s just not happening. Student health recommended antihistamines.
Meanwhile,
Man I’m just busy. Soccer season in winding down, Cabaret is starting up, Blues ensemble is really great, and life is going all right right now.
There is this great thing coming up called October Study Days. This is where I usually catch on my sleep, especially this time around. Of course, the given point is to study. There are a few different things I’ve done during study days. For instance, I went to Alabama to visit my friend down there and experience that whole scene. That was pretty awesome.
So I’ll make sure to let you know of what goes on. Yes, I'll be studying and researching topics of importance some during the break.
Man I’m tired. I’m sure you guys can read it on here.
Uuuuuuuuuuh, oh! Right! That!
I used to drive the student shuttle around campus. One time I took a couple of people to their dorm and one was talking about being a dancer at SLC. “Essentially, my parents are paying 50,000 dollars for me to roll around on the floor meaningfully.”
I am proud to say that at the moment this class is Comedy Workshop. If my parents watched this class they’d wonder where all their hard earned cash is actually going to if all I’m doing in the workshop is…
Well for instance one of our warm up routines is to walk around the space, point to objects, and then clearly say what they weren’t. This is to free your imagination up and to let your stream of consciousness flow (something I have a pretty hard time with.)
So essentially, mommy and daddy are paying hand over fist to have Chrissy walk around pointing at stage lights and folding chairs calling them such things as “dog” and “vitamin.” This’ll all pay out in the end…I hope.
Thing is I’ve been having a problem with the class because I’m way in my head. That means I’m just checking up on everything I’m doing to make sure it’s the right thing to do in the situation, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re supposed to do in improv.
I’ve been chalking that up to having no real way to unwind so far this year. I still feel like my foot is firmly on the gas pedal and while I’m doing pretty well, I just need a few seconds to stop and…well…relax. I feel like I just can’t relax. Part of it is the sleep and the other thing is…something more.
I don’t know, honestly.
Blogfully yours,
Chris
So I’ve noticed something
I’m not sleeping. It’s gotten to be a problem
It’s more than the usual I’m thinking too much in bed to sleep. It’s just not happening. First off it takes me nearly an hour to actually GET to sleep, and then I’m only actually asleep for 4 hours or so before I just wake up again
I’ve tried everything under the sun, believe me. It’s just not happening. Student health recommended antihistamines.
Meanwhile,
Man I’m just busy. Soccer season in winding down, Cabaret is starting up, Blues ensemble is really great, and life is going all right right now.
There is this great thing coming up called October Study Days. This is where I usually catch on my sleep, especially this time around. Of course, the given point is to study. There are a few different things I’ve done during study days. For instance, I went to Alabama to visit my friend down there and experience that whole scene. That was pretty awesome.
So I’ll make sure to let you know of what goes on. Yes, I'll be studying and researching topics of importance some during the break.
Man I’m tired. I’m sure you guys can read it on here.
Uuuuuuuuuuh, oh! Right! That!
I used to drive the student shuttle around campus. One time I took a couple of people to their dorm and one was talking about being a dancer at SLC. “Essentially, my parents are paying 50,000 dollars for me to roll around on the floor meaningfully.”
I am proud to say that at the moment this class is Comedy Workshop. If my parents watched this class they’d wonder where all their hard earned cash is actually going to if all I’m doing in the workshop is…
Well for instance one of our warm up routines is to walk around the space, point to objects, and then clearly say what they weren’t. This is to free your imagination up and to let your stream of consciousness flow (something I have a pretty hard time with.)
So essentially, mommy and daddy are paying hand over fist to have Chrissy walk around pointing at stage lights and folding chairs calling them such things as “dog” and “vitamin.” This’ll all pay out in the end…I hope.
Thing is I’ve been having a problem with the class because I’m way in my head. That means I’m just checking up on everything I’m doing to make sure it’s the right thing to do in the situation, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re supposed to do in improv.
I’ve been chalking that up to having no real way to unwind so far this year. I still feel like my foot is firmly on the gas pedal and while I’m doing pretty well, I just need a few seconds to stop and…well…relax. I feel like I just can’t relax. Part of it is the sleep and the other thing is…something more.
I don’t know, honestly.
Blogfully yours,
Chris
Monday, October 12, 2009
Shameless Filler
...
Look I'm really busy, but I still love you guys. So far senior year has been great but really packed. I mean, sure, lots of great stuff has been happening, but I'm coming back from my days just wiped out (plus I'm not sleeping which will be the topic of the next actual entry).
Keeping true to the blog schedule has been daunting. First comes school, then soccer, Cabaret, and then everything else. I'll try to be better about it, but truth is, I got other stuff going on.
Just wanted to say hi.
Love,
me.
Look I'm really busy, but I still love you guys. So far senior year has been great but really packed. I mean, sure, lots of great stuff has been happening, but I'm coming back from my days just wiped out (plus I'm not sleeping which will be the topic of the next actual entry).
Keeping true to the blog schedule has been daunting. First comes school, then soccer, Cabaret, and then everything else. I'll try to be better about it, but truth is, I got other stuff going on.
Just wanted to say hi.
Love,
me.
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Lion Blogs Tonight
Suggested Listening: Who Needs Sleep? by the Barenaked Ladies off their album Stunt
Well, where can I begin?
I kind of can’t remember where this lull in time started. I seem to remember something about a rant against Christian music and…I don’t know.
Sarah Lawrence does this to kids. Unless it’s work, you can’t use your brain for it. Right now it is occupied with World War One aircraft. One of my conference projects is looking at the role of airplanes in the Great War and it was a pretty sour idea to take up a project where the topic literally flies circles around my head.
But there’s really not much to write about. My work started this week and its actually really fun. I’m a senior interviewer, which means I interview prospective students applying to SLC. There’s actually not much to the job except stick to the party line and get the student to open up to you about whom they actually are. Then you put in your opinion on if he or she would be a good fit for the school.
I love this job. I have no idea why. I love it. There’s not much I can share about the job because, being in admissions, I cant tell you details of the process or who I talk to.
There have been two principle things that have been keeping me busy. Firstly, SLC. I seemed to decide that having an incredibly busy schedule would be great to have in my last year here. One day runs from 11 am to 10 pm, another from 9 am to 5 pm straight through.
Mom’s about to tell me to make sure I eat and get some rest.
Meanwhile, something much more interesting is soccer. I’m back with the team here and we’re practicing 4 nights a week (3 for me since one night is full up with classes.) It’s intense, actually. The coaches are running us a lot, which I like. I mean, its soccer. However, the league seems to have the idea that we shouldn’t be practicing or playing in the rain. Practice today and our game last Sunday for instance were cancelled because of rain. Its soccer…we should be playing in the rain. The soccer guys are great to hang around. However, it is not suggested you go telling one of them your high school nickname.
Bobby: Hey guys, Chris’s nickname in high school was Tom Cruise.
Guys: Haaaaaaaaa
It’s not just Tom Cruise now however. I wear a SAWA brace that is a…device specifically engineered to lower the chance of me dislocating my shoulder in sports. Its rather big and bulky but in the end just looks awesome. Once again the soccer guys:
Akash: What is that?
Daniel: what are you a cyborg now?
Peter: Yeah, T-1000
New nickname: Terminator, or T-1000 (which is a lot better than Tom Cruise). There’s also Kiwi, which comes from my ability to do a New Zealand accent, which they all demand I speak in.
That’s life for the most part. More later. I have to get back to doing important work.
Chris
p.s. This blog sounds exhausted because I am quite exhausted.
Well, where can I begin?
I kind of can’t remember where this lull in time started. I seem to remember something about a rant against Christian music and…I don’t know.
Sarah Lawrence does this to kids. Unless it’s work, you can’t use your brain for it. Right now it is occupied with World War One aircraft. One of my conference projects is looking at the role of airplanes in the Great War and it was a pretty sour idea to take up a project where the topic literally flies circles around my head.
But there’s really not much to write about. My work started this week and its actually really fun. I’m a senior interviewer, which means I interview prospective students applying to SLC. There’s actually not much to the job except stick to the party line and get the student to open up to you about whom they actually are. Then you put in your opinion on if he or she would be a good fit for the school.
I love this job. I have no idea why. I love it. There’s not much I can share about the job because, being in admissions, I cant tell you details of the process or who I talk to.
There have been two principle things that have been keeping me busy. Firstly, SLC. I seemed to decide that having an incredibly busy schedule would be great to have in my last year here. One day runs from 11 am to 10 pm, another from 9 am to 5 pm straight through.
Mom’s about to tell me to make sure I eat and get some rest.
Meanwhile, something much more interesting is soccer. I’m back with the team here and we’re practicing 4 nights a week (3 for me since one night is full up with classes.) It’s intense, actually. The coaches are running us a lot, which I like. I mean, its soccer. However, the league seems to have the idea that we shouldn’t be practicing or playing in the rain. Practice today and our game last Sunday for instance were cancelled because of rain. Its soccer…we should be playing in the rain. The soccer guys are great to hang around. However, it is not suggested you go telling one of them your high school nickname.
Bobby: Hey guys, Chris’s nickname in high school was Tom Cruise.
Guys: Haaaaaaaaa
It’s not just Tom Cruise now however. I wear a SAWA brace that is a…device specifically engineered to lower the chance of me dislocating my shoulder in sports. Its rather big and bulky but in the end just looks awesome. Once again the soccer guys:
Akash: What is that?
Daniel: what are you a cyborg now?
Peter: Yeah, T-1000
New nickname: Terminator, or T-1000 (which is a lot better than Tom Cruise). There’s also Kiwi, which comes from my ability to do a New Zealand accent, which they all demand I speak in.
That’s life for the most part. More later. I have to get back to doing important work.
Chris
p.s. This blog sounds exhausted because I am quite exhausted.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
You Are Beautiful, My Sweet, Sweet Blog.
Suggested Listening: Bridges by Lifehouse off the album Who We Are.
I…
I am really, really sick right now. I mean physically sick. Achoo, gezhunteit sick.
I’m starting out with this just because it’s been a good long time since something has knocked me so off my feet as this bug has.
Last weekend I got back to going to church up here at Trinity Grace. TGC (trinity grace church) is a relatively young community averaging around the 20’s and 30’s age group. It’s mostly college kids and college graduates which I find great because the teachings are always on a level that is easier to understand.
Now, allow me to rant.
Do you know what praise music is? It is probably the most terrifying innovation to happen to church music since the Medieval Church decided to keep things simple and canonical. Thank God for the Renaissance. Quote me on that. Todays new christian music is pretty much constructed as such: basic I-V-ii-IV (variations thereof) chords and just sing "Jesus" or "You are most Holy" every other bar and you're set. Brothers and Sisters in Christ Risen Again we have great music written by some of the best minds in this art: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Hayden, Handel, Mendelssohn, the list goes on. Why are we listening to this stuff?
(warning, links pertaining to contemporary christian music rant contain really, really sappy songs. Just out to make a point, people. Sadly, my two song links are some of the better of the bulk of christian music out there. It goes very downhill very fast from here.)
There's some pretty good contemporary stuff out there. But for the most part, it’s all pretty dull.
This song, for instance, has one of the best hooks I’ve ever heard in a song written within the past 15 years. When it gets to the verses, however, it just falls apart into repetitive vapidness.
I think its tragic that such an amazing hook got used up in this manner. I know it would be plagiarism, but I want to take "You Are Beautiful, My Sweet, Sweet Song" and give it a proper soul and groove. Such a waste.
It's a fraking killer hook, isn't it?!
Er ok moving on.
After church, I got cupcakes with an old friend of mine from high school. You might recognize this friend of mine as the friend I frequently get into San Francisco vs. New York for “Greatest City in the World” arguments.
(Approximation)
Veronica: Well you know, New York is the greatest city in the
Me: San Francisco (interrupting)
V: How is San Francisco better than New York?
M: Sunshine, weather, happier attitude, and it's not New York.
V: Siiiiiigh. You’re just wrong.
M: You're wrong.
And that’s how it usually ends up. Even more heated are the LA vs. NYC arguments. I actually had not seen Veronica in a very long time and it was great to catch up. I know her from a way back in high school (you know, one of those kids who saw me as “Horton the Elephant”). There were also cupcakes. Magnolia Bakery does something else to their stuff that I can’t begin to explain. Apparently it’s just a lot more sugar in the baking process, but it just tastes so much better than everyone else’s efforts. I mean go figure. The sugar is so strong that you have to stop for 10 minutes sometimes to let your body recover after a few bites. Good times.
This was the first proper week of classes, if you could call it that. The first class of a course is always the “welcome, here are what books you need” talk and then you’re on your way. My classes this year, if I haven’t told you already, are:
History and Literature of the Two World Wars
Early Readings in Christianity
Jazz History 2
Jazz Theory 1
Comedy Workshop
Singers Workshop
Diction for Singers (groooooan)
Voice lesson
The Blues Ensemble
If you couldn’t guess it, I’m a pre-med major.
So far the devil class, i.e., the one responsible for future lamentations of not having a life on this blog will be the Two World Wars class. This week I had to finish a 400-page book and now I have two 100-page things on reserve to read for Wednesday. Meh, not a big deal. I love reading about this stuff. I have strange fascination with non-fiction books.
Reading has always been pretty hard for me, especially in school. I can hardly ever remember something I read if I find it too boring. However, if I’m really into a book, it takes me twice as long to read. This was a big problem sophomore year when we read War and Peace. I loved the book and therefore it took me twice as long to finish. I was supposed to knock it out in a month or so (two classes a week) and I just couldn’t go fast enough.
Soccer practice started this week, and I was in a lot better shape than I thought I was going to be. That is until I got sick. For some reason I got really slow and winded Thursday without doing much work. That night I got a huge cold.
Then a huge fever Friday night. This weekend, sadly, has consisted of me getting what rest I could.
But somehow I still managed to audition for SLC’s theatre department. There are two levels of auditions you have to run through before you’re cast into anything. First is a general audition in which you prepare two minutes of material’ either 2 one minute contrasting (one comedy, one dramatic) monologues or 1 two minute monologue. I performed “On Why Charlie Brown Hates Lunchtime” from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown because it was a good piece to relate to and share with an audience. Apparently I did pretty well. I did get called back for our musical this year, Cabaret.
God knows how that’s going to turn out. Usually they post the cast lists the night callbacks end (which would have been Sunday.) Alert We Didn’t Start The Blog readers have by now noticed its Tuesday. No cast list. Grah!
I’ll keep you updated. Our first soccer game is this Sunday, against Albany College of Pharmacy. It’s a home game…but I have no idea where our home field is. So, there’s that.
Later,
Chris
p.s. this just in: I'm a Senior Interviewer at the Admissions Office.
I…
I am really, really sick right now. I mean physically sick. Achoo, gezhunteit sick.
I’m starting out with this just because it’s been a good long time since something has knocked me so off my feet as this bug has.
Last weekend I got back to going to church up here at Trinity Grace. TGC (trinity grace church) is a relatively young community averaging around the 20’s and 30’s age group. It’s mostly college kids and college graduates which I find great because the teachings are always on a level that is easier to understand.
Now, allow me to rant.
Do you know what praise music is? It is probably the most terrifying innovation to happen to church music since the Medieval Church decided to keep things simple and canonical. Thank God for the Renaissance. Quote me on that. Todays new christian music is pretty much constructed as such: basic I-V-ii-IV (variations thereof) chords and just sing "Jesus" or "You are most Holy" every other bar and you're set. Brothers and Sisters in Christ Risen Again we have great music written by some of the best minds in this art: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Hayden, Handel, Mendelssohn, the list goes on. Why are we listening to this stuff?
(warning, links pertaining to contemporary christian music rant contain really, really sappy songs. Just out to make a point, people. Sadly, my two song links are some of the better of the bulk of christian music out there. It goes very downhill very fast from here.)
There's some pretty good contemporary stuff out there. But for the most part, it’s all pretty dull.
This song, for instance, has one of the best hooks I’ve ever heard in a song written within the past 15 years. When it gets to the verses, however, it just falls apart into repetitive vapidness.
I think its tragic that such an amazing hook got used up in this manner. I know it would be plagiarism, but I want to take "You Are Beautiful, My Sweet, Sweet Song" and give it a proper soul and groove. Such a waste.
It's a fraking killer hook, isn't it?!
Er ok moving on.
After church, I got cupcakes with an old friend of mine from high school. You might recognize this friend of mine as the friend I frequently get into San Francisco vs. New York for “Greatest City in the World” arguments.
(Approximation)
Veronica: Well you know, New York is the greatest city in the
Me: San Francisco (interrupting)
V: How is San Francisco better than New York?
M: Sunshine, weather, happier attitude, and it's not New York.
V: Siiiiiigh. You’re just wrong.
M: You're wrong.
And that’s how it usually ends up. Even more heated are the LA vs. NYC arguments. I actually had not seen Veronica in a very long time and it was great to catch up. I know her from a way back in high school (you know, one of those kids who saw me as “Horton the Elephant”). There were also cupcakes. Magnolia Bakery does something else to their stuff that I can’t begin to explain. Apparently it’s just a lot more sugar in the baking process, but it just tastes so much better than everyone else’s efforts. I mean go figure. The sugar is so strong that you have to stop for 10 minutes sometimes to let your body recover after a few bites. Good times.
This was the first proper week of classes, if you could call it that. The first class of a course is always the “welcome, here are what books you need” talk and then you’re on your way. My classes this year, if I haven’t told you already, are:
History and Literature of the Two World Wars
Early Readings in Christianity
Jazz History 2
Jazz Theory 1
Comedy Workshop
Singers Workshop
Diction for Singers (groooooan)
Voice lesson
The Blues Ensemble
If you couldn’t guess it, I’m a pre-med major.
So far the devil class, i.e., the one responsible for future lamentations of not having a life on this blog will be the Two World Wars class. This week I had to finish a 400-page book and now I have two 100-page things on reserve to read for Wednesday. Meh, not a big deal. I love reading about this stuff. I have strange fascination with non-fiction books.
Reading has always been pretty hard for me, especially in school. I can hardly ever remember something I read if I find it too boring. However, if I’m really into a book, it takes me twice as long to read. This was a big problem sophomore year when we read War and Peace. I loved the book and therefore it took me twice as long to finish. I was supposed to knock it out in a month or so (two classes a week) and I just couldn’t go fast enough.
Soccer practice started this week, and I was in a lot better shape than I thought I was going to be. That is until I got sick. For some reason I got really slow and winded Thursday without doing much work. That night I got a huge cold.
Then a huge fever Friday night. This weekend, sadly, has consisted of me getting what rest I could.
But somehow I still managed to audition for SLC’s theatre department. There are two levels of auditions you have to run through before you’re cast into anything. First is a general audition in which you prepare two minutes of material’ either 2 one minute contrasting (one comedy, one dramatic) monologues or 1 two minute monologue. I performed “On Why Charlie Brown Hates Lunchtime” from You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown because it was a good piece to relate to and share with an audience. Apparently I did pretty well. I did get called back for our musical this year, Cabaret.
God knows how that’s going to turn out. Usually they post the cast lists the night callbacks end (which would have been Sunday.) Alert We Didn’t Start The Blog readers have by now noticed its Tuesday. No cast list. Grah!
I’ll keep you updated. Our first soccer game is this Sunday, against Albany College of Pharmacy. It’s a home game…but I have no idea where our home field is. So, there’s that.
Later,
Chris
p.s. this just in: I'm a Senior Interviewer at the Admissions Office.
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