Done, Done, Done

I am pretty much finished with school this semester. I have one final next week, and of course it is on Friday. Go figure. But the Opera project is done, at last, and now I am ready for a lot more free time. I can't wait for Christmas, and the pictures here are how I decorated my dorm room. Pretty cool.

There was an "ice storm" today and now everything has a nice sheet of ice covering it. It makes for interesting walking, let me tell you.

And also, early this morning (around 3:30, a half-hour after I went to sleep) an AU student died from being involved in a fight. I don't know who he was, but that certainly put a damper on everyone's day today.

I guess that's it for now, not much exciting, but I do enjoy the decorations. I'll be sad to take them down in about 5 days. I'm off to get my laundry and then watch The Corpse Bride.

Oh, and we had the Band and Choir concerts this weekend, and at the band concert, we did a joint piece called Sleep by Eric Whitacre. You may know it. Anyway, here are the words. It's very relaxing sounding. A good note to end on.

The evening hangs beneath the moon,

A silver thread on darkened dune,

With closing eyes and resting head,

I know that sleep is coming soon,

Upon my pillow safe in bed,

A thousand pictures fill my head,

I cannot sleep my mind's a-flight,

And yet my limbs seen made of lead,

If there are noises in the night,

A frightening shadow; flickering light,

Then I surrender unto sleep,

I surrender unto sleep,

Sleep....

Sleep.....

Sleep......

FINISHED

It's 3 a.m. I just finished my Opera project, you know, the one I probably did too much work on that clocks in at a total of 51 pages? Yeah, that one. It's done. I mean, ALL done. I am really happy right now, but I am also sort of out of it. I haven't stayed up this late in a long time. That being said, I will continue this post later today, like at a normal hour. Oh, and for those of you in Norwich, it's about 8 in the morning. Good morning. I am going to bed. Now.

I'm as merry as a school boy!

I had a fantastic evening yesterday. I went with six other people from the Honor's program to go see "A Christmas Carol" in Rochester.

We started out by going to a Thai restaurant in Rochester called "The King and I." I had never had Thai food before, so I just picked something that sounded good. I got a dish called Panang Beef. Panang, as described in the menu, is "red curry, creamy coconut, and basil." After several appetizers (including squid!) my meal arrived and it was very very tasty. I brought some home with me, maybe that will be my lunch. I also had kiwi juice, which is basically kiwi flesh put in a blender. It was really good.

The play itself was one of the best plays I think I have ever seen. The set was beyond description. At first, it looked so cluttered, but after a while, it was just incredibly...busy, I guess the word is. Whole offices and living rooms were brought out on raised platforms from underneath other scenary. I am doing a terrible job of explaining it, you had to be there. And the ghost of Christmas Yet To Come may have been the creepiest thing I've seen in a long time. He actually rose out of the floor through a trap door. But there was so much dry ice, you didn't even see the trap door. Just BOOM and there was this hooded figure growing larger and larger. And the gravestones in the cemetary did the same thing: rose from the stage floor.

There were some musical numbers, with a full chorus singing. They stood at various levels, creating that business I mentioned earlier. Scrooge was so perfect, growling and sneering through it (well, until the end of course). And of course, Tiny Tim was the cutest little boy in the world.

This sounds like a review put in a newspaper. But I am so glad I went, not only did I get out of Alfred for a night, I am now full of good Thai food and of course, full of Christmas spirit.

Oh, and after I got back to Alfred, I went to the Miller Center and played Christmas Carols in one of the practice rooms until 11.30!

Happy Holidays.

O Music

I have been converted to the realms of Opera Fans. I am enrolled in an honor's course in Opera this semester, and it really has made me like opera a lot more. I am currently doing a project on Puccini and some or his operas. Which brings me to my first point.

I LOVE NESSUM DORMA. It is a b-e-a-utiful aria in Turandot. The words are lame, it's a guy singing about how the woman he loves won't be able to guess his name. If she can't she has to marry him. Anyway, it is gorgeous. Even if you don't love opera, it is still very nice to listen to. Try and listen to it if you get a chance. If you ask me about it in person, I am very likely to force you to listen to several versions of it. Ok, there's my rant about that.

My second point.

This really does not have anything to with opera, or music, but it is time I mentioned it. I have realized that when you add the letter "O" to the beginning of a noun, it makes the noun seem holy and mysterious. For example:

O Fortune

O God

O Magnum Mysterium

Try it with any noun. It make you want to be reverant to whatever noun it is. (It's also good if you add an exclamation mark to the end.)

O Bookcase! O Winter Wind! See what I mean?

Peace.

O Liz

Tis the Season...

So, it is officially the start of the Christmas season. It has not come too soon. I started the season off well, making Swedish Pepparkakor with my mother and mormor. Anna wasn't there, she's still over in England... but it was still enjoyable. I even ventured--at Mormor's suggestion-- to ice some of the "spice cookies" with a sugar and milk mixture. As you can see, it turned out very nice. There is a cookie cutter in the shape of a rabbit, and we can never figure out why it is in with the christmas trees and stars. But I decided to start the tradition of the "Christmas Rabbit." It has no significance what-so-ever, but it was cute. Also, I decided to make little Harry Potter "men" as well. It was hard to do on cookies so small; they are only about 2 inches long, at most. At the top there is Albus Dumbledore on the left, and Harry on the right.

Below them are Mad Eye Moody (you can tell by his one Giant eye) and Ron Weasley and lastly, Hermione Granger. I thought I was pretty clever in making these, and I am looking forward to eating them.

I cannot wait for Christmas to get here. I am beginning to sing carols in my head, and out loud. I am watching the sky, hoping it snows. And don't even get me started about movies.

"If I could work my will any idiot who goes around with a Merry Christmas on his lips would be cooked with his own turkey and buried with a stake of holly through his heart." (E. Scrooge)

"In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan." (Ralphie-- "A Christmas Story")

Thank you all, and Merry Christmas!!

Life in General

I haven't written much lately, because I was busy, tired, or had nothing to say. So I've been saving up some things to write, and here they are:

I went to Binghampton yesterday to see the Opera Don Giovanni with my honor's class. It was really good, especially the sets! Then we went to Olive Garden which was amazing. We had free chocolate cake because two people had birthdays.

Saturday I went to Ithaca with the Pep Band. The football team lost, and I was freeeeeezing, but I had a good time being the only trumpet player and the only girl.

Wednesday (I'm going in reverse order) I went to work and had to seal (with tape) about three hundred manilla envelopes. That was fun. Only not really.

Hahaha. And this part is for Emily Schlick. I was thinking about this for some reason the last few days, so here it is. We were working on a "cookbook" for a while, and I remember making this terrible pie. It consisted mostly of coffee ice cream, if I remember correctly. We mixed all this junk in with the ice cream, put chocolate frosting on top, and proceeded to freeze the entire thing. We added (let's see....) mini oreos, those wafer and cream cookies, reese's pieces (?) and possibly junior mints (Emily, feel free to correct me). It was one of the most disgusting things I have ever eaten, apart from the Italian Tacos we made (Spaghetti in stale hard taco shells).

Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. I have four essays due on Wednesday, and I am not looking forward to that. On the plus side, I only have 16 more days until Thanksgiving break! And only two more Wednesdays!!

Love,
Liz

Techno-Trousers

All right, it is closing in on 1 a.m. here in Alfred, and I guess the rest of this time zone, too. Anyway, I just got back from a concert/dance. It was all techno music. And let me tell you, it was awesome. I started out just hanging at the back watching people. There were these two girls that were amazing to watch. They were just going crazy. And it looked cool too. So I thought, ok Liz, you can do this. And by the time it ended, I was. I really enjoy dancing, even if I am not the best dancer out there. I've realized that doesn't make a difference. I'm having a blast at it, and who cares what other people think? I know, I'm being very philosophical right now; I do my best work at 1.02 a.m. Goodnight. (Oh, and that clock at the bottom of the post is wrong. It is very much 1 a.m.)

What Am I Doing HERE?

I just went to a Bergren Forum on the history of Alfred. I learned that there is (in the area):

A place called Tinkertown
A place called Tip-Top
A place called Goose pasture
and
There is a Baker's bridge.

Where am I living? This area sounds like something out of a story book! (I don't really mind, though...)

Man or Mouse?

I haven't written in almost a week. I really have had nothing exciting to say. Ok, this post is not especially exciting, but I thought it was rather funny.

In Opera tonight, we watched Lucia di Lammermoor, a strange opera about a woman who marries against her will and ends up killing her husband and dying herself. Lots of high notes, not a lot of stage action. Anyway, the first time my class saw her husband, we started laughing. He was...robust. Large, with very dapper clothes and a sweet puffy hair-do. Not your Brad Pitt. After his first scene ended, someone in my class voiced in nicely: "He looks like a gerbil." We all laughed, knowing he was right. Another student said, "Or the Lion from The Wizard of Oz." We all laughed again, noting this was true. As the opera went on, I thought (very cleverly too) "Hmm. Here is a man who is both a lion and mouse." I know, very clever.

And then we watched the scene where Lucia goes insane. And sings for about 30 minutes. All in all, I think it was a very good way to spend an evening.

Why I love Buses

I've been to the Hornell Wegman's twice, taking the bus both times. I love Wegman's like it's going out of style, but the bus rides were also awesome. Here's why.
The first time I went, after I had finished shopping and was on the way home, it was like reversed Rosa Parks. I was the only white girl on the bus, and I was sitting in the back. I group of about 7 black students were in the front, basically shouting and laughing the entire time. I felt very progressive at the moment and silently cheered for civil rights. :)
The second time (earlier today), when I first got on the bus, it was packed. I mean, no seats at all. (Well, there were two fairly obese people on the bus, and they each got two seats, but I didn't really care.) I had to stand for a 20 minute bus ride. I got pretty good and digging in with my heels whenever we took a right turn. I kept waiting for people to applaude me, saying "what a trooper you are!" and when they didn't I was slightly disappointed. Oh well. I was proud of myself anyway for not falling on someone.
On the way back, it was me in the back, again, but this time with a group of Asian girls in the front. They were sharing food they got, and there were several bags of chocolate things being passed around. Here were these girls, eating fatty and sugary food, and they weigh about 90 pounds each. And there's me: I bought wheat thins and some juice with 150% of my daily intake of Vitamin C and Manganese (what is Manganese good for, anyway?) and I have a hip size of 38 inches!
Anyway, that was my adventure for the day. I'm going to go try that juice now. Apparently it has algae in it too. Is that healthy? Maybe I should stick to chocolate covered pretzels.......


And that is why I love the Bus.

Bonnie Bonnie Bob Dog

I will always love you Bonnie and Bruno. You were fantastic.

Butter as a source of fuel?

I have to go to class in about 5 minutes, so I'll keep this short. We were talking about fuel sources in environmental science today, with ethanol, gas, crude oil, nuclear power and all that stuff, when someone mentioned butter power. I don't know whether this kid had ever heard of "butter power" before, or if he had just made it up, but anyway, my teacher had "butter power" on the chart she was copying, and it's not that far behind wood power!! (wood is 12 BTUx10^6/ton and butter is 9!!) I almost started laughing in class. Butter power!!?!? It's like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Dr. Suess. But I guess butter power isn't that effiecient anyway. So don't go out and buy a ton of butter. It really can't power all that much electricity, or whatever. But you might want to start a stock pile somewhere, in case our oil is gone. You just might need it to power your car or house.

I-ay am-ay appy-hay

This weekend I went home. On Saturday I dug potatoes, trimmed a hedge, raked, and watched King Kong. The old school version. On Sunday we went to the Busti Apple Festival and I got some apples and a Cactus. Her name is Cynthia Sophia. That is basically the extent of my weekend, but the point is, even though I had a really great time at home, it wasn't so hard to come back to Alfred. Heck, if I had the choice, I would rather be home, hands down. But it didn't seem like the end of the world this time, coming back to school. I guess that's a good thing. Maybe that means that school isn't hard enough, that I'm not realizing what a change college is from the rest of my life. Maybe not. Anyway, I guess it's still a good thing that I'm so darn happy, at here, or at home. Being happy is a good thing, right?

Christmas, smells, and things

Well, not much is going on today. I am leaving for Jamestown in a little while, for the weekend. I get to dig up potatoes, and I'm quite excited about that, really. I keep listening to Christmas music online-it's getting me all excited for Christmas about four months in advance. I think my excitement will peak about mid-November, and then when Christmas comes, I won't be so excited anymore. I hope that doesn't happen. I keep thinking about Christmas and how it smells. It smells like pine trees (of course) and pepperkakar (which is spelled so wrong) and snow and smoke and korv. Pretty Swedish, right? And now my room here smells like Febreeze, wheat thins, lotion and hospital room. Not quite the same. But it smells lovely outside when it's raining-like dirt and trees and wet things. This post is really random, but I guess that's the kind of day I am having.

Why I like College

To be honest, I was worried that Alfred wasn't the right college for me for a few weeks. But now...it still may not be the "perfect college." There may be a place out there that was perfect for me. But I am really happy here, I love all my classes, and it is a beautiful campus. Just this past week, I got to read short stories, debate about environmental ethics, and watch Don Giovanni. I mean, what's not to love? Not to mention the food. Give me half a grapefruit a day, and I will be fine. And the fact that there are pianos available any time of the night or the day if I ever want to practice on them. So I think overall, this is the right school for me. I'm not trying to sound sappy or emotionally whacked out, so roll your eyes if you will. I am having a sweet time, essays, rain, homesickness, and all.

Oh and one more thing...

"Those aren't giant prawns."

"Yes they are."

"No they're not."

To Boot or Not to Boot

So, I have these Amazing pair of boots. They are probably designed for 8 year olds, but they were a size nine, so I got them. And they look like bees. I haven't had a chance to wear them yet, because every time it's rained, I've been inside. So last night, about 20 minutes before I have to go to Opera class, it starts rainging. I say to myself "Haha! Tonight I will wear my Boots!" And then it stops raining. But I don't care because the groud has to be wet, right? Eh, not so much. So there I am, debating about boots or no boots, and I finally say, "Oh eff it. I am going to wear them." So I put them on, lope downstairs (I recieved a compliment on the way down) and exit Openhym only to discover that it is not really wet out at all. There's a group of guys hanging around, and I sort of self-conciously/proudly walk by them. To make up for this lack of surface water, I have to find puddles to step in or wet grass to walk through in order to justify my lovely boots. But I think they sort of justify themselves.