The Final Countdown...

It's Dead Week.
Why do they call it that?
Do they expect our demise before the week is over?
Or maybe they're just letting us know that you don't make a lot of progress in the next week, you're just repeating everything you've learned before. You are dead in the water, so to speak.
Hmmm...

Well, it's nice to finally be here anyway...

There's so much going on this week.

Firstly, we are done with Soliloquy.
What is Soliloquy, you ask?
Why, it's what I've been wasting my time on all semester...
Ahem.
Soliloquy is RMC's literary arts journal, full of student writings and artwork, and just one of the many great things they have here at Rocky...
Okay, no, I can't go on in PR mode...
But it's fun, it's funky, I have three...or four...or something pieces in it, and tomorrow we are giving our 'Voices' presentation, where artwork is on display, and the students selected for publishing have the chance to read their pieces to the masses, and guess who is playing piano for the event?
Yep, it's that guy right over there...no, wait, that's me.
My first concert.
Sort of.
If you don't count a few talent show things here and there.
Break a leg?
But don't wish me luck, because Luck is derived from Lucifer, hence luck, good or bad, is from the devil, etc, etc, etc...
Pour out blessings instead, please!!

It's almost time for our juries in the music program.
Basically we will play our instruments in front of the faculty, and they critique our progress and knowledge and we either bump up a level or stay where we are for another semester...
I'm playing four pieces on the piano, and I'm pretty awesome, but I know I'll freak out on stage anyway.
And then I'm singing one piece as well, and that's only slightly less awesome, but the same thing goes...
Again, break a leg.
I've practiced my pieces so much over these last weeks, and I can't believe how much time I spent in the practice rooms...maybe I should keep this attitude up, hmm?
Super excited, though, and I can't wait to see what I can do after this...

I'm done with public speaking.
Period.
Er...
Well, sort of.
I still have to take a small groups communications class this summer, but I get the feeling that's a bit different than the singular speaking I've been doing, so I'm almost looking forward to it...and dreading it at the same time.
Why is it so easy to play something as outrageous as a hooker on stage, but I can't get up in front of the class and speak on music education without almost passing out?
Lord help me...

One more project in English, and I finally have it figured out, so I'm gonna rock the house on Thursday...or the classroom, anyway. And then a final, and yay, done...
I love English?
I love writing?
I love grammar?
I love spelling?
And I am so glad to be finally done with this class...
I'm tentatively planning a writing minor, but if I don't, I only have one more English class to take after this, and I'll be done...
YES!!!
Somehow it's just not fun when it's required...why is that?

I have finalized the application for a summer job here on campus in the music department...
Can you say Awesome??
You can?
Well say it about fifty times more and you'll get a taste of how I feel about this job...
It's nothing too dramatic, it's actually library work for the choir stuff, and it won't be THAT MUCH, but a job is a job, and if there are musical notations involved, I'm all for it...
So, Dr Hart, when do we start?

Lots of fun...

So hope you all had a happy Easter.
I played bells in a choir, and sang as well, at a Presbyterian church.
Nothing wrong with that, though I wish it was the church back home...
But it was very lovely, and I had fun doing it, and I've been invited to join the choir for all other events and such as well...maybe, we'll see...
Afterwards, I went out with some very nice people for lunch, and ice cream, and it was good to finally eat something...

I'm not starving, I'm just hungry.
I don't mind that I keep losing six pounds when I run out of food.
I don't mind that I have no energy, because all I do is play piano, and how much energy does that take?
No, scratch that, it takes a hell of a lot of energy, and the last few weeks, I've almost fallen asleep in front of the piano...
But it's all good.
And food it just kind of annoying, and takes so much effort and time and...
I feel like I'm falling into an eating disorder haha...
Whatever, I'm alive.
If I'm really hungry, I'll let you know.

Mom sent me money which is going straight to textbooks...I still have a can of soup left and some oatmeal and jello, Mom, so don't worry about me!!
And I'm super excited for my summer classes, by the way, so yay...
Oh, did I mention I'm going to get some choir pieces to work on over the summer?
Rad-tastic...
Wow that's lame lol...
I'll have a lot more time this summer, so hopefully I can get things figured out...

Any extra money I make this summer is going to a California trip...
Which makes me think of the song 'Route 66' that we're singing for graduation...
That should be awesome.
Maybe.
I wanna go and I don't want to.
I'd rather...
Nah, never mind, it's not happening...
But, well, actually, if I don't go to Cali, I'll be saving for a new computer because my laptop got a bad cold and may not recover...according to my computer-science friend it's a tough one, and takes more than he has at his command...we'll see, we'll see...

On that note, I'm using school computers all summer.
And I'm not writing any fiction pieces because they're all locked away now.
And I'm not watching any movies or anime at all, ditto on the locks...
Sigh.
Hopefully this just means I'll spend more time outside.
And I'll get my work done faster because I'll have less distractions.
Hopefully.

Um...
I feel out of touch right now, and out of ideas and thoughts...
I'm so tired it's not funny, but guess who's staying up late writing papers and playing piano?
Yeah, that'd be this dummy right here...
Don't you just love how crazy I am?

Guess I'll leave off then, I'm gonna buy my textbooks now...
Love you all, have a great week!!
~ ♥~ ♥~ ♥~

April Snowfall brings...

Pretty pictures!!!
Thanks to my theory professor for the photo...if he happens to wonder. :)

But it was kind of shocking to step outside and see all that white...which is in a constant state of melting and freezing, and this makes it the perfect consistency for one thing...snowball fights!!
Of course I didn't indulge in an all-out battle, no. I'm more the spy behind enemy lines, and when I saw my chance, I took it...and apparently scared the kids in the choir room with my beautiful aim at their window.
Mission: Success.

On another note, we're starting to wind down here at RMC...
Next week is 'Dead Week' - rather aptyl named, isn't it? - followed by the dreaded Finals...and then summer break, yeah!! Except wait, no, not for me, I'm taking some general courses over the summer term so I can focus on my music for the main one. Smart, yes, but wow, I feel a tad over-worked...it's okay, I'm good, I'm great, I can handle anything...I hope.
So summer doesn't actually start for me until July, and then things get interesting...
But that's for another time.

Hope you're all having a wonderful day, be it snowy or sunny, and I'll talk to you all again soon!!

Foiled by a watch...

I am looking for this watch...I've spent about an hour searching through sites, looking up 'GOTO' watches, and I get nothing...nada...zip...and then I stumble upon some Taiwanese pop artist that is apparently endorsed by the makers of this watch...but there's no link to the site...foiled again. If anyone knows where I can find this watch, please, let me know!!

On another note...
It would appear our house is being bought by some of our best friends from church.
Which means I can visit anytime I want, because they love me!!
Of course, I know, it won't be the same house exactly, but it's nice...
And rather than worry about not going home again, Mom and I are discussing plans for traveling abroad to see family...and it's family that makes it home, right?
Right...
Though I still wish I could go home, at least to pack up things, or rather figure out what should NOT be packed and throw it out, so Mom n Dad don't have to deal with so much of my stuff...
Oh, well, I guess they're fine without me.
South Carolina, here we come...er...here they come...


So since I don't have much of a family out here, I've made one with this group: Billings Catholic Campus Ministries. The leader of the group, Mary (not pictured because she's taking the photo!) is a really great girl, and she and this group have become a bit of a home-base for me, at least faith-wise.
And no, I'm not Catholic, nor am I converting, but I have to say, I've never met a Catholic I didn't like, and they're always more God-focused than other Christians I meet...sad, but true. Maybe it's all the rules, the rituals, the 'I have to attend church every Sunday plus Saint days or I'm going to hell...' mindset (though maybe they've laxed on that rule in the last few centuries?), but since they're so involved in church, they live their faith so much more openly then others, and there's a real sense of community, and family...
And they'll even take in a messed-up, funky kid like me.
Thank you, Mary, for the long talks, the pizza, the coffee, and setting up events like 'Theology on Tap' and 'An Evening with the Bishop;' they really help me to stay focused, and I love being apart of this ministry!!


On a not-so-God-filled note...
I played a hooker in the RMC Theatre production of Neil Simon's "California Suite."
I was cast as 'Bunny,' but no one ever knew my name unless they looked in the program.
And it was lots of fun, and no, I'm not just wearing underwear, that's a bikini!!
And I'm glad that I could find a role that wouldn't force me to cover up my tattoos, because that's been a bit of a concern lately...as if having a tattoo makes me less of a person? Yeah, thanks a lot...
But it was great, it was wonderful, it was amazing...
And I can't get Michael Bublé out of my head, but I think I"m alright with that.
Check out the lovely review here:
Click Me!!!

In a theatre exchange sort of thing, after coming to see our show, a group of us went down to Sheridan, Wyoming to see a production of 'The Dead Guy,' written by Eric Coble. It was funny, it was awkward, and we weren't quite sure we liked it...
Funny, but we kind of expected 'the dead guy' to survive...
But it was a blast, and I wish I'd gotten some pictures...oh well...

Life outside of theatre is going well.
Music is Life.
'Nuff said.
And I think I might be happy...today, anyway.

Love you all, hope life's treatin' you right, happy Thursday!!

Save the Breakdown for the Dormroom...

So I just realized that I will never see home again.
Confused?
So am I...
Let's go back a bit...

My parents are moving to South Carolina.
They've wanted to move for a few years, not necessarily there, just somewhere else, and it's finally official, and the house is on the market and they have an inspection or something happening today, and well, yeah...
And I was on the phone with my Mommy this morning, and was on the verge of asking if she wanted me home to help --since they're moving in the summer, I figured I could lend a hand, you know? Only before we get to that point, I say something about July or August, and she cuts in and says, "Actually, probably around June 15th."

Oh.
Okay.
I'm taking some summer courses until the beginning of July. Guess I can't help, sorry, but would you ask Grandma if she could store my stuff for me for a bit, please, until I figure out where I'm going? Yeah, sure thing, no problem...
No problem?
I just realized I'm not gonna be home at all before this happens.
Well, I have the pretty snow-covered Christmas scene in my head, so I guess I ended on a good note, anyway...

And goodness gracious, how am I gonna get to South Carolina???

Time to bring out the water-proof make-up so people only notice the glamorous and not the sad haha...

What's new in your lives?