2005: Part the Second

since school was surely a huge part of the past year of my life, i think i should elaborate a bit on that subject. this spring i completed my freshman year of college. i had the privilege of taking a couple more hours than my first semester, and taking more than one non-blow-off course. you might could say i learned a thing or two. but apparently not well enough... so i took off from school during the summer, which i devoted to working and practicing. then in the fall i started my sophomore year. i took on more hours, a third semester of violin, and dr mann. now comes that sad part of this tale. i failed a class for the first time. *sigh* no one can believe it when they hear that the class was music lit (except for people who know about the infamous dr mann). but to tell you the truth, it's really hard for me, mainly because it involves so much history, which is the most difficult subject for me. but anyway, what's done is done. i found out bunches about what it means to study, and am more capable of adequate preparation for a difficult class than i was before. i improved my regular history grade over last semester. i memorized 30 pages of music for my jury.

i'm looking forward to next semester. as always, i have new year/new semester resolutions, and bright hope for improvment in the future. and hey, i know one thing i should definitely be happy about... so far i'm completely caught up on school payments. no loans or anything so far.

as far as my outlook on school and carreer is developing, i may be slightly shifting my goals. i started out as a piano performance major, with intentions of getting a graduate level degree in the same thing, at a different university, and likely going on to get a phd. my dream was to become a concert pianist and perhaps play in prestigous competitions, give solo performances, travel with an orchestra, etc. while i knew these were lofty goals, i decided i might as well leave my sights high and see where i got. right now i am still a performance major. however, i'm not so sure about the persuit of the concert pianist carreer. i've always been interested in woodworking and making things with my hands. the marvelous vein i'm considering channeling various interests in, is instrument making. even though the only tangible evidence of my endeavors is a set of wind-chimes, a pvc flute, and a handmade bridge on my violin, i'm very excited about the possibility. my chief interest is making violins, and possibly pianos. maybe doing some piano tuning/technician work. okie doke. there's a glimpse of my aspirations such as they are today. now i'm afraid i'm heading back to work for a couple of hours.

perquisite \PUR-kwuh-zit\, noun:1. A profit or benefit in addition to a salary or wages.2. Broadly: The benefits of a position or office.3. A gratuity or tip for services performed.4. Anything to which someone has or claims the sole right.

In a tight market for skilled labor . . . corporations are increasingly buying homes for hot new hires -- a perquisite once reserved for top executives. --Jennie James, "For Many Europeans, There's No Place Like Home," Time, May 8, 2000

2005: Part the First

since i've been talking about work recently, maybe i should mention that first. this series will not necessarily be chronological. maybe topical.

now, those of you who are regular readers already know this, but i branched out slightly in the job department this summer. instead of mowing yards, or my typical work at jebco, i went to allied sign builders. i learned one new skill in particular: welding, combined with the art of setting oneself on fire. i made a new friend in my coworker/teacher john, and together we made the greatest scrapmetal anchor any sailor has had the pleasure of laying eyes on, not to mention the carmike cinema sign. i dare say a great many sailors, as well as other types of people have laid eyes on that and every last one of them probably wondered why it wasn't lit. that remains a mystery. i also had the immense pleasure of learning to make aluminum letters. a heck of a lot of work to make, but the fine letters you come out with make it all worth it. not to mention overtime... also, waaaaay back when it seems like i remember cleaning and painting a house. sam and seth were helping us. what fun times we had. come to think of it, i actually don't remember that at all. never happened.

i suppose i might mention a small financial difficulty, brought on by myself (no donations please, it isn't a worthy cause). previously i only put my account in the red one time in its history, and that was by 35 cents. i immediately made a deposit (i knew i was about to run out) and the bank waived the charge, much to my relief. however, this summer i managed to go under without realizing it by doing a phenomenal job of not keeping my account on my computer balanced. much to my chagrine i became aware that i had made several small charges after passing the $0 mark, and incurred some tremendous fines. how dreadful was the aftertaste of that $33 cup of mocha... but never fear, by the sweat of my brow and the tears of my regret i paid it all, and piano and violin lessons, and gas (my heart goes out to all you car owners :-P). i hope i can leave well enough alone, since i've charted that territory. you should see me punching in all my receipts now.

that, my friends, is my job and money in a nutshell. wow, reading that last sentence made me wonder if i should even have written any of that. ah, whatever. i have and will write more personal stuff than that. rawr! good night munchkins.

Work

today was one of work, just as i suspected. got off to a slow start (is it possible to go to sleep late, and then wake up and get to work early when you're your own boss?). rebekah came over for the afternoon, to help with some of the continuing packing, and to visit. i only got to be here for almost an hour during lunch, then went back to work, and then got off at about 9, with odds and ends of chores and errands thrown inbetween. ugh, what horrible sentence to have in a blog. oh! also talked with ever on the phone for a while. fun times. that's all for today, cuz i'm going to start my 05 overview.

quiddity \KWID-ih-tee\, noun:1. The essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity of a thing.2. A hairsplitting distinction; a trifling point; a quibble.3. An eccentricity; an odd feature.

He wanted to capture not just live animals, but the aliveness of animals in their natural state: their wildness, their quiddity, the fox-ness of the fox and the crow-ness of the crow --Thomas Nye, quoted in "Ted Hughes, 68, a Symbolic Poet And Sylvia Plath's Husband, Dies," New York Times, October 30, 1998

Another Day, Another Dollar

today was quite an adventure. an unadventurous adventure. or maybe i should say a boring... no, scratch that... okay, definitely a frustrating and slow moving day. and now that your day has officially become confused, allow me elaborate. i awoke at the light of dawn to my beeping phone telling it was time to get up. next i awoke again to my beeping phone, about 5 minutes later. repeat. once i heaved to and dragged myself off the couch i... isn't it awful putting contacts on bleary, sleep deprived eyes, when you'd really prefer to have about 3 more hours? soooo, i drove to laneville and filled the entire van to the brim with 432 baseball cap holders. here's where the trouble starts. when i called the matt board supplier (if you're genuinely curious about what some of this stuff is or means i'll be glad to answer emails, otherwise it will remain a mystery) they said they were entirely out of what i needed, wouldn't be able to order more till after the first of the year, and then would have a minimum of two weeks before they received a shipment, afterwhich i would have to wait another 3 days for delivery. i'm like, you've got to be kidding me. then i spent the next several hours calling crecent board distributers around the country looking for materials in my price range, for which i wouldn't be required to wait an inordinate amount of time. suffice it to say that i finally found what i needed, after leaving numerous messages, setting up business accounts with other companies, cancelling half finished orders, and almost smashing the computer with a baseball bat. is this the life of a businessman? no, i'm sure this is the easy stuff. also i got several steps of the manufacturing process set up out in the shop, counted materials and did my high tech calculations with a thick black marker on cardboard. now once i get a form in the mail from MCI and fill it out and sign it and mail it back i should be able to buy the last of my materials from them and i'll be good to go. good grief. i hopfully tomorrow will be all i'm dreaming it will be.

at the beginning of the year i have decided to do an overview of 2005. i will probably divide it up into a few topic posts. hmmm, we shall see. stay tuned.

oh! i did get to go to church this evening, and then to java jacks. it was grand. i'm way tired. goodnight.

cynosure \SY-nuh-shoor; SIN-uh-shoor\, noun:1. Anything to which attention is strongly turned; a center of attraction.2. That which serves to guide or direct.3. [Capitalized]. The northern constellation Ursa Minor, which contains the North Star; also, the North Star itself.

Java

jack's coffee tastes better when drunk with friends. and that statement could definitely be missinterpreted. anyway, i'm desperately hoping to go and hang out with the gang from the mission tomorrow night. here's hopin'!

oh, here's a really sad story. i kicked the tar out of my shin on the trailer hitch today. the end.

unfortuneately, i think my break is sort of coming to an end already. called ballqube today and talked to his royal bossness and worked out a deal to make some more baseball cap holders, and hopefully a load of dough. then, once that's finished i'll head back to allied signs for a couple of weeks before school starts back. speaking of ending the break, i should really get going on the whole piano practicing thing.

horror of horrors, i have lost my wallet. that was actually an occurrence of last week. i got my debit card cancelled, and a new one on the way. just ordered a new license today. at the time i was foolishly carting my social security card with me, so that's the only thing i'm really concerned about. but it sure is a hastle starting over with all that stuff - license, debit/hastings/blockbuster/library/school id/etc. cards. and man, that was a nice wallet... hahaha

i can't believe i'm going to have to get up like a normal working person again in the morning. gah. got 11 hours last night. it was glorious. when was the last time i got to sleep at 10:30? course, when was the last time i stayed up till 6? thankfully the last time i remember was installing a bathroom in a church the sat night before they had their first service. i'll try not to think about that. oh yeah, and the racetrack bathroom. but that was two or three years ago. okay, that topic is officially through.

apposite \AP-uh-zit\, adjective:Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable; apt.

Cheers!

from here i can hear shakira singing, and doing whatever that thing is with her voice. owen is gaping and grinning blandly at me, half asleep, half infatuated with the music, and i don't know about the other half... to my right there's a window with a hunched reflection and pony tail. the bed in my bedroom/storage room/school room/game room is looking inviting since i went to bed in my blue jeans at 6am "last night." and all around me the rumbling sound of a rotating drier and, my goodness, i swear this house is chock full of mirrors. have you ever wondered if mr goodbars are worth the peanuts between your teeth? me either. it is good to sip whole, cold, vitamin D borden's from a bright red plastic cup.

okay fo'ks, this christmas season has been... i don't know, almost weird. for one thing there's the weather. that's always a good place to start. i know this is east texas, and i know it's more likely that santa is real than that myth about some white stuff called snow - but t-shirts? on christmas day?? wow. in a few weeks you can look forward to some "cool" pictures of our wintery holiday antics. as of yesterday, i have a new favorite hat. no, that's not related in any way to the wintery antics. it's a fedora! woot! i love it. it occurred to me today, however, that it might not ride so well with bicycle transportation. whatever. i walk plenty of places.

now where was i? oh yes... the weirdness (weird is such a strange word. seems to have a peculiar conotation). the second thing might very well be my four in one room i mentioned before. this may be my home (it is indeed), but it certainly isn't my house. i can hardly believe this is a new permanent place of residence for my family. obviously not quite so much for me, but it's odd that i will never sleep again in that house which i helped (to the best of my ability) build with my own hands, and in which i have lived for about half of my life. i honestly don't feel upset about it, it's just that this definitely feels like a temporary dwelling, and a small, pie shaped cell on sfa campus is becoming the place i'm talking about when i say, "i'm going home." that sounds awful! lol. of course, that shouldn't be hard to remedy when the time comes.

jonathan came with his family this week from georgia. it was really great to visit. of course, watching movies, eating, playing darts, and driving around listening to loud music was great too. not to mention staying up till dawn. you know how you have some friends that you just feel like you couldn't live without, and then they move waaaay far away? i guess that's the way jon is, and it makes me so glad to see him every year or two. yeah, that's you bud, if you're reading this.

we've been putting up loads of vinyl skirting around the house, sheetrock and trim in the living room, etc. speaking of which, duty calls. i will be back! maybe not today. but i will be back!

i swear i will write again. i swear it by my one good pinkie toe

Tired

so this morning when i woke up, i realized that with finals over and not having to think about studying and stuff, my body is finally making me aware of its exhuastion. or maybe that's too strong a word. i'm just... tired. with the conclusion to a really amazing semester, it's all catching up to me.

went to my house for a bit this afternoon. ever, nick and ben all came, and we had a fine lunch and ate cake and stuff. i got a fine, hand made, purple and white garter... i mean arm band from courtney. very school spirited. :-P we also put up some christmas lights. unfortunately, we need a few more to make it all the way accross the front of the house.

ever and i finally started packing this afternoon. at the moment, the room is pretty much a wreck. i'm trying to decide what all i should leave, and what i should take. hmmm. but what am i thinking boring you with those details?? i should get to it though. more later.

i was not familiar with this word. i had exactly the opposite reaction when i heard a story today.

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun:A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others.
That the report of Sebastian Imhof's grave illness might also have been tinged with Schadenfreude appears not to have crossed Lucas's mind. --Steven Ozment, Flesh and Spirit

Finals is OVER!

i am officially totally done with my last final. i don't know if i'm insanely relieved, or if i couldn't care less. i kind of feel like sleeping. but since this is cause for celebration, i'll write a little something first.

today is nick's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!!!! that's the violist nick, not my former roommate. you're welcome for the clarification.

last night was the dalmas/reychev string party for all the violinists, violists, celloists [sic], etc. there were three main attractions of the evening. 1. food. i think everyone would freely admit that that was of singular importance. it was good. mmmm. dr reychev made a bunch of stuff, including something that i really don't know the name for, but was sort of bready, eggy, quiche-like dish, with lots of olives in it. 2. a giant game of catch phrase. rarely have i played a boring game of catch phrase, and this was no exception. did i say that right? i think so...whatever. it was a blast, we made lots of noise, odd sounds, funny faces, and said stupid things. my first word was "burp" and i didn't even have to say anything to get people to guess... 3. animals. i'm pretty sure there are three cats and two dogs in residence. the walls sport such decorations as, "cats are like potato chips. you can't have just one," etc. one of the cats is huge. and by huge i mean HUGE. megan said it had "lovely lady lumps." i was like, don't even start. we got some treats and waved them in her face to tempt her, and then set them in a line on the floor to "see what it looks like when it moves." she heaved-to and waddled precariously to the snacks, much to everyone's delight. the smallest cat, felix, and the indoor dog, lucy, provided endless entertainment by chasing jessica's laser. we all took turns tying them in knots, making them run in circles, turn their heads back and forth, jump on eachother, jump on other people, and run into furniture.

i also tried some pineapple soda, which i think is a first for me. and tinkered around on the piano. then, after much delay and chatting, and amidst hugging and handshaking and backslapping and stomach punching and howling dogs getting their feet stepped on, we made it out the door. then i did this really intense 5 min study session for theory, checked my email and went to bed.

this morning i actually took the exam, which was even more a piece of cake than i expected. now i have somehow spent another 30 on this computer when I SHOULD BE SLEEPING!!! ahhh, i think i shall take a nap at this time, and see y'all lata. and here's what finals does not do for you...

hale \HAYL\, adjective:Free from disease and weakening conditions; healthy.

Does not everyone, including the hale and hearty, have the right to choose the timing and manner of their own death? --"Let death be my dominion," The Economist, October 14, 1999

um... no

i've been tagged...

...by abigail... (thanks) :-P

so....
here are 5 weird habits that i have:
1. i ride my bicycle around very fast and always dismount while the bike is still moving full speed.
2. i voluntarily spend hours on end in a small, square, padded and soundproof room. and according to my degree plan, i intend to do that as a career.
3. i enjoy mixing and drinking dr pepper and orange juice.
4. i tend to say "punch" while kicking someone (usually ever), and "kick" while punching them.
5. i whistle almost continuously, the annoyance of some and the delight of others.

Now I get to tag 6 people to do the same on their Blog/Xanga. I tag... candace, evan, josh, karen and melanie!

Here are the rules: You must write 5 weird habits you have on you're Blog/Xanga. Then you must Tag 6 other people to do the same on theirs. Let them know you tagged them too. Tell them to read your Blog/Xanga for instructions...That's it... enjoy!

Brrrrrr!!!

it's cold outside! 30 and feels like 25, with a low of 16 tonight! ayeeee!!! break out the scarves and chapstick for sure. not that chapstick isn't already in use. i'm thinking of not riding my bike tomorrow. i should study for history. i should go to sleep too. i shouldn't be here. i mean what? why can't it be one week from now now.

i think it's not a good idea to put a new post right before a bunch of pictures.

ah! what an exhilirating experience! 

what a gorgeous tree. 

best buds on a tire (stephen and owen).

our new home. 

oooo, cotton. random? 

i don't know who that is. we're not related. 

i wonder if evan would be embarrassed to see how he has been captured. 

awwww. is it necessary to list names? that's stephen. i think courtney doesn't realize she's in the picture.

bethany, my bench seat buddy for the weekend. 

are we having fun yet?? 

mom's not so sure about smiling for the camera when the road's on her mind. 

strawberry newtons

are so good. what could be better? oh yeah, chocolate. mmmm, sticky chocolate kahlua cake with generous cream cheese icing. i think i need a bib just to type that.

a couple of days ago i had a long-hair panic attack and i wanted to cut it off right away. i'm over that for now. haven't yet decided on a chop date.

so nick was having trouble with his bike today. the chain was apparently coming loose in one spot. like, a link was coming undone and the chain would fall off repeatedly. they called me and ever suggested that i come down and take a look with them and attempt to be of assistance to the process of bicycle repair they had going. so i hopped on to see if i could duplicate the trouble they were having, and managed to completely snap one segment of the chain. and then it was really cold so i went back inside.

well whaddaya know... i just made a new friend. a cat in fact. orange (i think :-P) and white striped, with a significant notch in his right ear. i went to crosspoint for a meal, and i was too early. or actually, i was 10 min late, but it still hadn't started. so i was sitting out in the cold whistling and this cat came out from behind a bush. eventually he worked up the courage and crossed the road and we made friends. anyway, he got distracted and went away to stalk a raccoon who was patroling the area, and i went to eat. then, lo and behold i saw him again behind the forestry building on my way back to the dorm. he seemed moderately pleased to see me. at least he seemed to remember who i was. oh wait... i'm not an animal person. what the heck?!? i'm into reptiles, not mammals!

well. dead week approaches. woot.

i have pictures i want to post now, so this post is over. besides the word of the day. or should i say word of/for last month?

gaucherie \goh-shuh-REE\, noun:1. A socially awkward or tactless act.2. Lack of tact; boorishness; awkwardness.

If you find yourself sitting next to an obviously prosperous guest at a dinner party and your host introduces him (it will be a him) as a "successful barrister", you will be guilty of a gaucherie of the crassest kind if you exclaim: "How fascinating! If I promise not to call you Rumpole, will you tell me about your goriest murder trials?" --Nick Cohen, "Don't leave justice to the judges," New Statesman, December 13, 1999

hey folks

life is good. not my music lit class, but life in christ is good. sweet. that's all i got at the moment. book quiz in 9.5 hours. good night.