It's still an hour away in NYC and 2 hours to go here in Arkansas, but I just thought everyone should start 2009 by reading this.
Cheers!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Home for the Holidays part III
So my company on Christmas day was my high school friend Alexis, who is pretty much the only person from high school that i actually talk to anymore. Alexis explained to me her new passion for deer hunting (who knew?) and told stories about her roommate from Hell. The deer hunting stories were the best. She explained how to dress a deer (that means cutting the insides out and getting generally disgusting and using a way too big knife, etc.) and told us all the tricks of the trade for being quite in the woods and stuff like that. She even showed me a photo of the 8-pointer she bagged this season. Apparently 8 points is very good. Then I thought, "I have had sleep overs with Alexis and never seen her without perfect makeup and hair." So I asked her, "Do you go hunting in makeup?" And she said of course she does. She doesn't leave the house without doing her face and hair and putting on perfume. She said the men folk with whom she hunts get mad at her when she dolls up for the woods, but she argues that as long as your upwind of the deer you could be a perfume manufacturer and it wouldn't matter. Plus she's killed the biggest deer of anyone in her group, so there. Crazy.
After Lexi went home, my sister and her husband and the Colonel and Camille and I all watched the George C. Scott Christmas Carol (woo! Roger Rees!), which is far too scary to be a traditional Christmas film.
The day after Christmas we drove across the state to visit Papaw in the nursing home (this is a new thing since the last time I saw him) and my aunt Mary Jane and uncle Gail. Papaw is 90. That's crazy old. He's awesome and I love him, and I'm so glad I got to spend time with him this year. I'm not sure how I feel about nursing homes in general, but he really can't live alone and we can't afford a live-in nurse. It's tough to think about, but I think he's baring everything really well, and he knows a lot of the people in the home already because they're all old together I guess. Mary Jane lives nearby and visits him daily, so that's comforting. Mary Jane and Gail were both sweet and funny as ever. They're going on a cruise next week, because why not? They're taking her dialysis machine on the boat, which tickles them to no end. They think it's hilarious. It is, really. I love them.
Then we drove back Saturday night. Oh! Crazy weather here on Saturday all across the state. Thunderstorms galore that brought with them tornado watches and hail. Lots of lightning and thunder, which I love. I don't think the storms did too much damage. They just looked and sounded hella cool.
Today I sang the anthem at the church, which was nice. It was a fun song to sing and has been stuck in my head all day. Church is pretty empty the Sunday after Christmas here every year. People all go out of town to see family or they have company here and just don't make it to church. Anyway, I got to see Preacher Bob's kids whom I used to babysit. Andrew is now a senior in high school and about a foot taller than me. So weird. He's so smart too. David is still shorter than me, thank goodness. I'm sure it won't be much longer before he sprouts up though. They're a tall family.
There! I'm caught up to myself in my Arkansas adventures finally. That took far too long. New Year's is coming! Lots of people make resolutions for the new year, and I always come up with something that I usually take half as a joke and half seriously, and almost never actually achieve. My 2008 resolution was to be Miss America 2009, as my more faithful readers (hi, you two) will already know. While I did not accomplish this goal (or come anywhere close to it), I think having it as my goal helped me accomplish a lot of smaller important things like look awesome in swimwear, get back into voice lessons (though I've paused those for grad school), do more community service, and keep up with current events more thoroughly. Lots of good little things. So this year I've decided I'll pick another large overlying goal that will at least encourage me to do a lot of little things. Are you ready???
Becca Anderson's New Year's Resolution for 2009 is to write a book. This book will be all about my year of diving into new stuff each month. I think January I will focus on yoga and make myself go to classes and read a little about it. I've done it off and on before, but I want to know more about it and actually feel comfortable doing it, and hopefully it will carry over into the rest of the year. I intend to really jump into it with a full heart. February will be opera month. Again, I know some opera, but I'm gonna try to see tons and listen to tons and finish reading that Cecilia Bartoli book. March is poker, because I know jack-shit about poker, but I know plenty of people who play it fiendishly and could probably show me a thing or two or at least sing that song from Violet at me a lot. April is gardening, because that's a good month to do that, and if I actually put effort into it (and still live in my current apartment...hmm...April might change.) it will take up most of my free time that month anyway. May...modern art? I don't know. I'm second guessing that one. I'm VERY open to suggestions. June will be wine month since I'll be in California doing Grass Harp, and California apparently has some vineyards or something. July I'm thinking improv comedy, simply because it'll be a good excuse for me to take another Upright Citizens Brigade course. I might change this one too, since I probably already know too much about it. In August I won't be doing some new subject. I will just accept every invitation I receive (first come, first served, and it has to be accessible by public transportation). September is fashion week in NYC, and I don't know anything about fashion apart from what I've seen on project runway. I'm a girl after all, so I should find out at least a little bit about the fashion world and maybe even try on shoes I can't afford. I don't do enough girly stuff. It's all Tom's fault, really. October is cooking. I cook a little already, but you can never know too much about cooking, because you get to eat what you make, and I LOVE eating. It's in my top five things to do. November and December are TBD. Maybe science fiction? photography? Anything really. Give me ideas, readers!
Good. Now I've got that off my chest I can sleep. Sweet dreams, you lovely internet world.
After Lexi went home, my sister and her husband and the Colonel and Camille and I all watched the George C. Scott Christmas Carol (woo! Roger Rees!), which is far too scary to be a traditional Christmas film.
The day after Christmas we drove across the state to visit Papaw in the nursing home (this is a new thing since the last time I saw him) and my aunt Mary Jane and uncle Gail. Papaw is 90. That's crazy old. He's awesome and I love him, and I'm so glad I got to spend time with him this year. I'm not sure how I feel about nursing homes in general, but he really can't live alone and we can't afford a live-in nurse. It's tough to think about, but I think he's baring everything really well, and he knows a lot of the people in the home already because they're all old together I guess. Mary Jane lives nearby and visits him daily, so that's comforting. Mary Jane and Gail were both sweet and funny as ever. They're going on a cruise next week, because why not? They're taking her dialysis machine on the boat, which tickles them to no end. They think it's hilarious. It is, really. I love them.
Then we drove back Saturday night. Oh! Crazy weather here on Saturday all across the state. Thunderstorms galore that brought with them tornado watches and hail. Lots of lightning and thunder, which I love. I don't think the storms did too much damage. They just looked and sounded hella cool.
Today I sang the anthem at the church, which was nice. It was a fun song to sing and has been stuck in my head all day. Church is pretty empty the Sunday after Christmas here every year. People all go out of town to see family or they have company here and just don't make it to church. Anyway, I got to see Preacher Bob's kids whom I used to babysit. Andrew is now a senior in high school and about a foot taller than me. So weird. He's so smart too. David is still shorter than me, thank goodness. I'm sure it won't be much longer before he sprouts up though. They're a tall family.
There! I'm caught up to myself in my Arkansas adventures finally. That took far too long. New Year's is coming! Lots of people make resolutions for the new year, and I always come up with something that I usually take half as a joke and half seriously, and almost never actually achieve. My 2008 resolution was to be Miss America 2009, as my more faithful readers (hi, you two) will already know. While I did not accomplish this goal (or come anywhere close to it), I think having it as my goal helped me accomplish a lot of smaller important things like look awesome in swimwear, get back into voice lessons (though I've paused those for grad school), do more community service, and keep up with current events more thoroughly. Lots of good little things. So this year I've decided I'll pick another large overlying goal that will at least encourage me to do a lot of little things. Are you ready???
Becca Anderson's New Year's Resolution for 2009 is to write a book. This book will be all about my year of diving into new stuff each month. I think January I will focus on yoga and make myself go to classes and read a little about it. I've done it off and on before, but I want to know more about it and actually feel comfortable doing it, and hopefully it will carry over into the rest of the year. I intend to really jump into it with a full heart. February will be opera month. Again, I know some opera, but I'm gonna try to see tons and listen to tons and finish reading that Cecilia Bartoli book. March is poker, because I know jack-shit about poker, but I know plenty of people who play it fiendishly and could probably show me a thing or two or at least sing that song from Violet at me a lot. April is gardening, because that's a good month to do that, and if I actually put effort into it (and still live in my current apartment...hmm...April might change.) it will take up most of my free time that month anyway. May...modern art? I don't know. I'm second guessing that one. I'm VERY open to suggestions. June will be wine month since I'll be in California doing Grass Harp, and California apparently has some vineyards or something. July I'm thinking improv comedy, simply because it'll be a good excuse for me to take another Upright Citizens Brigade course. I might change this one too, since I probably already know too much about it. In August I won't be doing some new subject. I will just accept every invitation I receive (first come, first served, and it has to be accessible by public transportation). September is fashion week in NYC, and I don't know anything about fashion apart from what I've seen on project runway. I'm a girl after all, so I should find out at least a little bit about the fashion world and maybe even try on shoes I can't afford. I don't do enough girly stuff. It's all Tom's fault, really. October is cooking. I cook a little already, but you can never know too much about cooking, because you get to eat what you make, and I LOVE eating. It's in my top five things to do. November and December are TBD. Maybe science fiction? photography? Anything really. Give me ideas, readers!
Good. Now I've got that off my chest I can sleep. Sweet dreams, you lovely internet world.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Home for the Holidays part II
So in the car on the way home from the airport (it's over 2 hours away), mom played us a Christmas CD. A heavy metal Christmas CD? Complete with hard to comprehend yelled lyrics, drums, and electric guitar? Of course! Because why wouldn't Camille be into this sort of thing?
That said, I had to teach the Colonel and Camille how to use the DVD player in the living room (again) and they're still having trouble figuring out that CD player in there just as CDs are becoming obsolete. I like that.
The day after I got home, Camille and I took my sister to Little Rock for a routine doctor's visit. We went and picked up some last minute gifts while sis was at the doctor, but then we wound up sitting in the waiting room of the Baptist Medical Center ER for four hours waiting to get sis a shot. A somewhat tedious day. Left me wishing I was back in New York.
I got over that the next day when I got to just stay home and relax with the folks. We watched White Christmas in the living room in front of the fireplace and we ate nice meals together and just had a really pleasant day. We had freezing rain all that day, and I don't think I set foot outside the entire day.
Yesterday the Colonel picked up my nephews, and Camille and I did something, I'm sure, though I can't recall what now that I'm thinking about it. Oh well. We goofed off and showed each other our iPods, because they're super cool teenagers now, and that's what they do. Oh, I remember what I did. I went for a "run" but totally wound up half running half walking because I suck at running again apparently. We went to a church service, and I sang with the choir. I love seeing everyone in the choir. They're all so sweet and encouraging, and I sang a solo, and even if I'd messed up every note they still would have made me feel like I'm the next Maria Callas. I love them so much. They make my Christmas merry.
Oh! I have company! More to come. This'll be a 3 parter, I guess!
That said, I had to teach the Colonel and Camille how to use the DVD player in the living room (again) and they're still having trouble figuring out that CD player in there just as CDs are becoming obsolete. I like that.
The day after I got home, Camille and I took my sister to Little Rock for a routine doctor's visit. We went and picked up some last minute gifts while sis was at the doctor, but then we wound up sitting in the waiting room of the Baptist Medical Center ER for four hours waiting to get sis a shot. A somewhat tedious day. Left me wishing I was back in New York.
I got over that the next day when I got to just stay home and relax with the folks. We watched White Christmas in the living room in front of the fireplace and we ate nice meals together and just had a really pleasant day. We had freezing rain all that day, and I don't think I set foot outside the entire day.
Yesterday the Colonel picked up my nephews, and Camille and I did something, I'm sure, though I can't recall what now that I'm thinking about it. Oh well. We goofed off and showed each other our iPods, because they're super cool teenagers now, and that's what they do. Oh, I remember what I did. I went for a "run" but totally wound up half running half walking because I suck at running again apparently. We went to a church service, and I sang with the choir. I love seeing everyone in the choir. They're all so sweet and encouraging, and I sang a solo, and even if I'd messed up every note they still would have made me feel like I'm the next Maria Callas. I love them so much. They make my Christmas merry.
Oh! I have company! More to come. This'll be a 3 parter, I guess!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Home for the Holidays!
Well, I finally made it back to Arkansas for the holidays. It was quite the headache getting here, but I made it in one piece, and I'm happy to be here with the Colonel and Camille enjoying a glass of white wine by the blazing hearth watching Mysteries of the Bible on A&E. First, let's discuss Northwest Airlines.
My flight was scheduled for 4:30pm yesterday, but it got delayed to 4:55, then to 5:32, then to 5:55, then to 6:56, then to...6AM the next morning. Vomit in my mouth. It wasn't delayed for weather reasons during any of this, but instead for required crew rest, but I guess they were just downright sleepy, because I wound up hopping in a cab and heading back to Bed-Stuy and sleeping for four hours before leaving my house at 3 this morning to head back out to LGA. However, they didn't start giving any of us Memphis flyers gate passes for our 6AM flight until around 5:45, so needless to say the flight was delayed again. Then we sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half. I made it in to Memphis around 10 something Central time. I was grumpy. But seeing my parents at the gate made up for it. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel on the way back to Batesville and had a nice brunch. I don't remember what time we got into B-ville, since I slept in the back seat for half the drive. Dad hollered at me to wake up when we got onto Big Pine Road, and I got to see all the changes that were made on the block since I was last here a year ago. There's a new house at the bottom of the hill, and the folks are doing an amazing job painting the house by themselves. It's lovely and looks like they are about halfway through. It's red, and the roof has been redone and it is a bluish grey. It's lovely. I'll take a photo.
They went all out with the decorations and put up a tree on the front porch and in the living room. There's a little table top Dickens-style village on the game table in the living room, and there is holly and garland all over the place. We all stumbled into the living room and took naps when we got home. Then Camille made some dinner and we all sat together at the table chatting and chowing. Then I taught them how to play Mexican train dominoes. I dislike when I teach someone a game and then they kick my ass at the aforementioned game. Really, kicked my ass. 152 to 54. Ouch. Ouch.
More later. This will be a two parter.
My flight was scheduled for 4:30pm yesterday, but it got delayed to 4:55, then to 5:32, then to 5:55, then to 6:56, then to...6AM the next morning. Vomit in my mouth. It wasn't delayed for weather reasons during any of this, but instead for required crew rest, but I guess they were just downright sleepy, because I wound up hopping in a cab and heading back to Bed-Stuy and sleeping for four hours before leaving my house at 3 this morning to head back out to LGA. However, they didn't start giving any of us Memphis flyers gate passes for our 6AM flight until around 5:45, so needless to say the flight was delayed again. Then we sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half. I made it in to Memphis around 10 something Central time. I was grumpy. But seeing my parents at the gate made up for it. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel on the way back to Batesville and had a nice brunch. I don't remember what time we got into B-ville, since I slept in the back seat for half the drive. Dad hollered at me to wake up when we got onto Big Pine Road, and I got to see all the changes that were made on the block since I was last here a year ago. There's a new house at the bottom of the hill, and the folks are doing an amazing job painting the house by themselves. It's lovely and looks like they are about halfway through. It's red, and the roof has been redone and it is a bluish grey. It's lovely. I'll take a photo.
They went all out with the decorations and put up a tree on the front porch and in the living room. There's a little table top Dickens-style village on the game table in the living room, and there is holly and garland all over the place. We all stumbled into the living room and took naps when we got home. Then Camille made some dinner and we all sat together at the table chatting and chowing. Then I taught them how to play Mexican train dominoes. I dislike when I teach someone a game and then they kick my ass at the aforementioned game. Really, kicked my ass. 152 to 54. Ouch. Ouch.
More later. This will be a two parter.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
a quarter of the way
I reached a milestone last night. I finished my first semester of graduate school. That means I only have three semesters left until I have a Master's degree. Three semesters until I will have completed a one-act musical and a full-length musical. Three semesters until I have to start paying back my ridiculous student loans. Three semesters in which to figure out how to get my work produced and make a living doing what I love. I think I can do that.
The past four months have been some of the best of my life. I feel happy in general, probably because I'm being creative every day, I'm proud of the work I'm doing, I'm growing more confident as a writer and even as a performer to some extent, and I'm surrounded by what I love most in the world--musical theatre. The program has given me so much already, that I can't imagine my life without it now. I've made new friends, I've learned so much about my own writing habits and how I need to work, and I'm shown every day that this actually is something one can do to survive. It's reassuring.
Okay, enough about g-RAD school and how brilliant and fabulous it is. Writing writing writing, blah blah. Let's talk about everything else now. I'm sitting on the couch feeling very relaxed as I had a mini-panic attack this morning when I opened some mail from Citibank saying my loan for next semester was declined. This confused me to no end and I had a good cry and sat on hold on a help line for a while. Then I realized that all my loans are fine and I will most definitely be continuing in grad school next semester. I do not and have never had a loan from Citibank, and they sent me a weird letter for no reason. My loans are through HESC, and are all still intact and will be dispersed the second week of January. No clue why they sent me a letter, but the person on the help line said not to worry about it, since my loans were never through them in the first place. Panicking was a nice little release of all the stresses from the past few months though. Even though, over all, these have been fabulous months.
I took a break in the middle of writing all this to call my dad and chat for a bit. It's always nice to talk to him. I don't call him often enough. I feel like I always just call my mom. I should talk to him more often. Anyway, I'm glad I called him, because he let me know I'm singing a solo at the church on Sunday. Mom sent me music ages ago, but I didn't realize I was singing solos the whole time I'm home. That's my own fault for not really looking through everything. Did a quick once over with everything at the piano, and was happy to learn that not only can I sing Gounod's Ave Maria, but I can play it! It's super simple, but it felt really cool to me to be able to play and sing something at the same time since I've never done that before. And while it is a really simple piano part, it's still a workout for me, as I suck suck suck at the piano. Anyway, I'm glad I looked over everything before getting back to Arkansas. That could have been embarrassing.
I have three big assignments to do over break, though I've worked on one of them on and off all semester (finding public domain materials). I think I can finish one of them before I leave on Saturday, and I'm going to aim to complete it before then. The other one is more difficult, and I probably won't put a lot into it until I get back on January 4th. So much to do! I need to mail Rob and Ashlee's Christmas presents, look for mom's perfume she requested, finish this writing project, clean the house, pack, celebrate Hudson's birthday like whoa, and write some letters all before I leave the city this weekend. It shouldn't be too difficult, but I was hoping to have a few hours of blissful nothing for napping or reading or something. I feel like I've hardly read anything this semester, and I miss reading. I'm always busy. I like being busy, don't get me wrong, but there is little in life as enjoyable as curling up with a lovely book. Thank goodness for those train rides to and from Vermont this past weekend.
Vermont!! I went to Vermont on Saturday to visit a friend who is playing Marius in Les Miserables at Northern Stage in White River Junction. First of all, I love train rides. Love them. I know that long train rides do not appeal to all types, but they appeal to me, gosh darn it. The ride goes through New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and for about half of the trip, the train runs alongside the Connecticut River. The sun set around 4:30 on my way north, and there was an almost full moon glowing brightly and reflecting from the river from that point on. It was really beautiful. Plus I was in business class and had posh accommodations. I did some knitting and some reading and lots of relaxing and reflecting. Once I was in Vermont, my friend met me at the train and we quickly ate some sandwiches before I went to see the show and he went to, you know, be in it. Les Miz... Les Miz is a big show. It's a big score and a big story and a big cast (sometimes). Northern Stage. Northern Stage has a 250 thrust stage space that's pretty much a glorified blackbox. It's like the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre doubled. So, not very big. That said, the cast sang their hearts out and really turned in terrific performances. Plus, I've never felt so physically close to that show before, so I was much more engaged in it than I thought I would be considering I've seen it more than any other show. The staging was a bit funky, but I'm just gonna associate that with the space and reflect on how nice everyone sounded. Mmm.
Snow. So much snow. Being from the deep south, I don't think I've ever seen as much snow in my life. Maybe the one time I went to the Double H Christmas party in Lake Luzerne, but I think there was more snow in Vermont while I was there. I hiked up a big hillside in some woods and looked out at the little town and all the hillsides around it. It was so peaceful and quiet, and I like the way the air feels when everything is frozen. It's clean. I wandered all around White River Junction and just enjoyed being outside in nature. It was a very nice and much-needed break from the city.
Oh oh! And I painted a mug! And I had a nice dinner and I drank some nice wine and I saw a movie. I really just had a lovely little vacation. It was so nice to see my friend again.
Okay. Now I must go get ready for Hudson's birthday dinner. I've not spell or grammar checked this. Whatever.
The past four months have been some of the best of my life. I feel happy in general, probably because I'm being creative every day, I'm proud of the work I'm doing, I'm growing more confident as a writer and even as a performer to some extent, and I'm surrounded by what I love most in the world--musical theatre. The program has given me so much already, that I can't imagine my life without it now. I've made new friends, I've learned so much about my own writing habits and how I need to work, and I'm shown every day that this actually is something one can do to survive. It's reassuring.
Okay, enough about g-RAD school and how brilliant and fabulous it is. Writing writing writing, blah blah. Let's talk about everything else now. I'm sitting on the couch feeling very relaxed as I had a mini-panic attack this morning when I opened some mail from Citibank saying my loan for next semester was declined. This confused me to no end and I had a good cry and sat on hold on a help line for a while. Then I realized that all my loans are fine and I will most definitely be continuing in grad school next semester. I do not and have never had a loan from Citibank, and they sent me a weird letter for no reason. My loans are through HESC, and are all still intact and will be dispersed the second week of January. No clue why they sent me a letter, but the person on the help line said not to worry about it, since my loans were never through them in the first place. Panicking was a nice little release of all the stresses from the past few months though. Even though, over all, these have been fabulous months.
I took a break in the middle of writing all this to call my dad and chat for a bit. It's always nice to talk to him. I don't call him often enough. I feel like I always just call my mom. I should talk to him more often. Anyway, I'm glad I called him, because he let me know I'm singing a solo at the church on Sunday. Mom sent me music ages ago, but I didn't realize I was singing solos the whole time I'm home. That's my own fault for not really looking through everything. Did a quick once over with everything at the piano, and was happy to learn that not only can I sing Gounod's Ave Maria, but I can play it! It's super simple, but it felt really cool to me to be able to play and sing something at the same time since I've never done that before. And while it is a really simple piano part, it's still a workout for me, as I suck suck suck at the piano. Anyway, I'm glad I looked over everything before getting back to Arkansas. That could have been embarrassing.
I have three big assignments to do over break, though I've worked on one of them on and off all semester (finding public domain materials). I think I can finish one of them before I leave on Saturday, and I'm going to aim to complete it before then. The other one is more difficult, and I probably won't put a lot into it until I get back on January 4th. So much to do! I need to mail Rob and Ashlee's Christmas presents, look for mom's perfume she requested, finish this writing project, clean the house, pack, celebrate Hudson's birthday like whoa, and write some letters all before I leave the city this weekend. It shouldn't be too difficult, but I was hoping to have a few hours of blissful nothing for napping or reading or something. I feel like I've hardly read anything this semester, and I miss reading. I'm always busy. I like being busy, don't get me wrong, but there is little in life as enjoyable as curling up with a lovely book. Thank goodness for those train rides to and from Vermont this past weekend.
Vermont!! I went to Vermont on Saturday to visit a friend who is playing Marius in Les Miserables at Northern Stage in White River Junction. First of all, I love train rides. Love them. I know that long train rides do not appeal to all types, but they appeal to me, gosh darn it. The ride goes through New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and for about half of the trip, the train runs alongside the Connecticut River. The sun set around 4:30 on my way north, and there was an almost full moon glowing brightly and reflecting from the river from that point on. It was really beautiful. Plus I was in business class and had posh accommodations. I did some knitting and some reading and lots of relaxing and reflecting. Once I was in Vermont, my friend met me at the train and we quickly ate some sandwiches before I went to see the show and he went to, you know, be in it. Les Miz... Les Miz is a big show. It's a big score and a big story and a big cast (sometimes). Northern Stage. Northern Stage has a 250 thrust stage space that's pretty much a glorified blackbox. It's like the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre doubled. So, not very big. That said, the cast sang their hearts out and really turned in terrific performances. Plus, I've never felt so physically close to that show before, so I was much more engaged in it than I thought I would be considering I've seen it more than any other show. The staging was a bit funky, but I'm just gonna associate that with the space and reflect on how nice everyone sounded. Mmm.
Snow. So much snow. Being from the deep south, I don't think I've ever seen as much snow in my life. Maybe the one time I went to the Double H Christmas party in Lake Luzerne, but I think there was more snow in Vermont while I was there. I hiked up a big hillside in some woods and looked out at the little town and all the hillsides around it. It was so peaceful and quiet, and I like the way the air feels when everything is frozen. It's clean. I wandered all around White River Junction and just enjoyed being outside in nature. It was a very nice and much-needed break from the city.
Oh oh! And I painted a mug! And I had a nice dinner and I drank some nice wine and I saw a movie. I really just had a lovely little vacation. It was so nice to see my friend again.
Okay. Now I must go get ready for Hudson's birthday dinner. I've not spell or grammar checked this. Whatever.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Winter is here
Hi, readers!
Today was the fourth day of no heat here on Putnam Ave, but it's back now finally. Thank goodness, because it's friggin' cold out! I'm sitting on the couch right now blogging/watching The Christmas Story with Hudson and the lazy dog. I just emailed more rewrite lyrics to my composer. I'm not sure how to end our piece this week, but I've got some ideas. Have to figure it out quick though since it has to be rehearsed on Wednesday. ay yi yi.
Having no heat for four days sucks. Just layin' that out there. We had periods of no heat last winter, too. I'd love to find an apartment in an actual apartment building instead of in a house I think, because a landlord of an actual building is surely more likely to keep the heat and hot water working, right? Readers, let me know if you think this is true. I don't want to put in the effort to move and still wind up with a crummy landlord.
Okay. Mushy story time. I'm going to Vermont this weekend, and I'm thrilled, because I want to play in the snow, I want to look out the window on the amazing train ride, and I want to see a certain gentleman. Aforementioned gentleman is a total sweetheart and even got my train ticket for me AND on top of that, he upgraded me to a fancy class with bonus legroom, etc. How sweet is that? It's sickening.
Mushiness over! I saw two movies this weekend in an attempt to stay out of my freezing cold house for as long as possible. Anyway, A Christmas Tale, this French movie that's not so much about Christmas is it's about a dysfunctional family in an amazing house in Lille, is awesome and better than Rachel Getting Married. Rachel Getting Married starred a bunch of people being assholes to poor Bill Irwin and a weird cameos from Annaleigh Ashford, Daphne Rubin Vega, and Michelle Federer (what?). I wanted to smack everyone in the film and liked it far less than the French movie.
OMG. Remember when you believed in Santa?? How awesome was that? I used to believe someone lived on the northpole and had pet flying reindeer and could zip up my chimney? Really? I'm glad that i used to believe that. It makes me happy.
Right, I'm exhausted so this is a short entry. I'll write more tomorrow. Off to bed.
xo,
b
PS, if you're the aforementioned gentleman, I'm thinking of you.
Today was the fourth day of no heat here on Putnam Ave, but it's back now finally. Thank goodness, because it's friggin' cold out! I'm sitting on the couch right now blogging/watching The Christmas Story with Hudson and the lazy dog. I just emailed more rewrite lyrics to my composer. I'm not sure how to end our piece this week, but I've got some ideas. Have to figure it out quick though since it has to be rehearsed on Wednesday. ay yi yi.
Having no heat for four days sucks. Just layin' that out there. We had periods of no heat last winter, too. I'd love to find an apartment in an actual apartment building instead of in a house I think, because a landlord of an actual building is surely more likely to keep the heat and hot water working, right? Readers, let me know if you think this is true. I don't want to put in the effort to move and still wind up with a crummy landlord.
Okay. Mushy story time. I'm going to Vermont this weekend, and I'm thrilled, because I want to play in the snow, I want to look out the window on the amazing train ride, and I want to see a certain gentleman. Aforementioned gentleman is a total sweetheart and even got my train ticket for me AND on top of that, he upgraded me to a fancy class with bonus legroom, etc. How sweet is that? It's sickening.
Mushiness over! I saw two movies this weekend in an attempt to stay out of my freezing cold house for as long as possible. Anyway, A Christmas Tale, this French movie that's not so much about Christmas is it's about a dysfunctional family in an amazing house in Lille, is awesome and better than Rachel Getting Married. Rachel Getting Married starred a bunch of people being assholes to poor Bill Irwin and a weird cameos from Annaleigh Ashford, Daphne Rubin Vega, and Michelle Federer (what?). I wanted to smack everyone in the film and liked it far less than the French movie.
OMG. Remember when you believed in Santa?? How awesome was that? I used to believe someone lived on the northpole and had pet flying reindeer and could zip up my chimney? Really? I'm glad that i used to believe that. It makes me happy.
Right, I'm exhausted so this is a short entry. I'll write more tomorrow. Off to bed.
xo,
b
PS, if you're the aforementioned gentleman, I'm thinking of you.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
global warming
It's 50 degrees outside. It's December 4th. What's going on? I wore my big winter coat today, and I'm melting like the wicked witch of the west. Global warming is real, people. We're all gonna die.
On a lighter note, I think my biggest assignment of the semester was well received. I'm excited to work on the rewrite. I'm getting really pumped for Christmas time. Mostly because I'm excited to not have anything to do for a couple weeks apart from see my family. Winter break is so soon. A week from today I'll be done with classes. Bizarre. Did you like how PC I just was? Winter break? Who am I? (24601)
Change of subject, I have all of these ideas for original musicals, but lately I just keep thinking that I want to do an adaptation of a specific piece into almost an opera. The strangest thing is that it's a very serious piece, and I'm never drawn to serious stuff, but the more serious stuff I write, the easier I think it is, and there's something nice about seeing people be moved by what you wrote. It's almost as nice as hearing them laugh, but I think it's easier to achieve. Also, I think people give more generous responses to drama in general than they do to comedy. Read a bunch of old reviews on the Times archive website and you'll see what I mean. Not that the response should be the motivation for the work, and it truly isn't, but it's a nice bonus. I am really drawn to the source material as is, and I think I could make something powerful with it.
Hudson sang for me in lab today. I'm really grateful she was available. I don't think she liked singing, but I appreciate it so much. I hope I can do a favor for her sometime soon.
What else? hmm. I'm in a mood to write, but not really to sit and pound out a song or a scene at the moment, so blogging seems like a logical step. I want to hang out with Tom. I've not seen him in a week, and I could use a nice dose of his humor and conversation. We saw Milk last weekend, and that was pretty brilliant. It made me want to fight for something, but I feel like I don't have the energy right now. I think I used to, and I probably will again, but not right now. I don't really know what I'd fight for anyway. Something for kids, I'm sure.
I'm going over to Victoria's for dinner tomorrow night. Paul is cooking something for us, and we're all going to watch a movie and sit on her cozy couch in our socks. Sounds lovely and like a nice little reward to myself after this week. On Saturday I'm going to the Met to look at paintings and such for a class project, and I have tons of rehearsals for the second year's forty-five minute presentations (I'm singing in two of them) this weekend as well. On top of that I need to work on my play, do my extended sequence rewrite, and find some way to get my laundry finished before Monday. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world. Though not really. All of this stuff is pretty easy in the big scheme of things.
Right. I'm gonna knit. I'm waiting around for a meeting, and I'm bored bored bored.
On a lighter note, I think my biggest assignment of the semester was well received. I'm excited to work on the rewrite. I'm getting really pumped for Christmas time. Mostly because I'm excited to not have anything to do for a couple weeks apart from see my family. Winter break is so soon. A week from today I'll be done with classes. Bizarre. Did you like how PC I just was? Winter break? Who am I? (24601)
Change of subject, I have all of these ideas for original musicals, but lately I just keep thinking that I want to do an adaptation of a specific piece into almost an opera. The strangest thing is that it's a very serious piece, and I'm never drawn to serious stuff, but the more serious stuff I write, the easier I think it is, and there's something nice about seeing people be moved by what you wrote. It's almost as nice as hearing them laugh, but I think it's easier to achieve. Also, I think people give more generous responses to drama in general than they do to comedy. Read a bunch of old reviews on the Times archive website and you'll see what I mean. Not that the response should be the motivation for the work, and it truly isn't, but it's a nice bonus. I am really drawn to the source material as is, and I think I could make something powerful with it.
Hudson sang for me in lab today. I'm really grateful she was available. I don't think she liked singing, but I appreciate it so much. I hope I can do a favor for her sometime soon.
What else? hmm. I'm in a mood to write, but not really to sit and pound out a song or a scene at the moment, so blogging seems like a logical step. I want to hang out with Tom. I've not seen him in a week, and I could use a nice dose of his humor and conversation. We saw Milk last weekend, and that was pretty brilliant. It made me want to fight for something, but I feel like I don't have the energy right now. I think I used to, and I probably will again, but not right now. I don't really know what I'd fight for anyway. Something for kids, I'm sure.
I'm going over to Victoria's for dinner tomorrow night. Paul is cooking something for us, and we're all going to watch a movie and sit on her cozy couch in our socks. Sounds lovely and like a nice little reward to myself after this week. On Saturday I'm going to the Met to look at paintings and such for a class project, and I have tons of rehearsals for the second year's forty-five minute presentations (I'm singing in two of them) this weekend as well. On top of that I need to work on my play, do my extended sequence rewrite, and find some way to get my laundry finished before Monday. It's a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world. Though not really. All of this stuff is pretty easy in the big scheme of things.
Right. I'm gonna knit. I'm waiting around for a meeting, and I'm bored bored bored.
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