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......

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.

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!!