It's that time of year again. Choir tour is upon us and I'm filled with a mixture of excitement and dread. I'm excited because we always get to see really cool things and I do love hanging out with all of my favorite people and singing with them. We get to make beautiful music in fun places. We meet interesting hosts and and their families. We bond, we laugh, we make memories. Every coin has another side though. That other side is spending too much time with all of my favorite people. We endure long bus rides, movies we don't all want to watch, noises we don't all want to hear, and sights we don't all want to see. People get sick, and tired, and cranky, and down-right angry. Some people are more verbal about their malcontent than others so you have to listen to people whine and complain. We have to do the best we can to shake it all off and have a good concert anyway. In the end, it's all about the music.
This tour is a little different for me. It is the only year that I feel like I'm going with very few friends in the choir. I have people I love, don't get me wrong, but I'm also surrounded by people who don't know that I know what they say about me behind my back. I hear the most ridiculous things about myself. I get to hear rumors about things that I say and do that never happened. It is really quite a mystery to me what I did to these people to inspire such angst and flat-out story telling. Most recently, I told one of the sopranos that I swapped her with a different soprano that doesn't like dealing with me. I told her that I picked her because she is my favorite. When I heard the story re-told to me later that week, it was said that I told her that I picked her because she needed the most work. I was flabbergasted. It wasn't even in the ballpark of what I actually said. So someone who witnessed or was apart of that conversation turned around and told a bald-faced lie to make me look like a bitch. I've never done anything to this soprano. I mistakenly thought that she and her boyfriend were my friends. But now I hear from a few people close to them that this isn't the case. It would have been nice to get the memo of hatred from the source but...some people can't man up and say what they mean. The exact same people started a rumor that I don't like my friend Jordyn because I'm jealous of her because she's a better singer than me. Again, my jaw dropped when I heard this. Jordyn is a sweet girl and I adore her. She is an extremely talented musician who has all the potential and work-ethic needed to take over the world of music. I hang out with Jordyn on a semi-regular basis and it never even occurred to me to be jealous of her. She is ridiculously talented but I'm just beyond the point in my life where I want what other people have. My teacher has taught me to make the most of the instrument that I have. It doesn't make any sense to dwell on an instrument you can never have. Jordyn has a ridiculously amazing instrument that I can never have. So I'll just be happy for her and go back to what I need to do to make my instrument the best it can be. When I asked her if she had heard the rumor, she said she had. Luckily, she didn't let it impact her opinion of me which I'm grateful for. That shows amazing maturity on her part. I just wish that the people who are trying to destroy my friendships would develop the same maturity. It seems like these people are purposely trying to misunderstand the things that I say so that I look like the bad guy. I've only ever tried to do what I thought was best for the choir. The mean spirit inside these people is mostly what makes me dread tour. It is that kind of drama-creating/drama-loving attitude that ruins everyone's good time. It makes me so glad that the end of my time in this choir and university are coming to an end. I've met wonderful people and made unforgettable memories in this choir. Unfortunately, the bad is standing out more than the good right now and I want nothing more than to be free of it. I can only hope that with myself and select others being gone next year, the choir can grow and succeed without the lies and the contrived drama. I really want nothing more for this choir than epic amounts of success. I digress.
The opera has been coming along really well. We are doing the memory check for covers today. Katie and I had a bit of a slip-up yesterday so hopefully we can pull it together today. We get to start staging and exploring character soon and I'm very excited about that. It is my favorite part of the whole process. Learning what kind of space you have to work with and what kind of interaction your director wants you to have just makes everything better. I sing so much better after I've got all of that worked out. I can just let go and become my character.
In other news, after tomorrow night, I don't work at Walmart for 14 whole days. I can't think of anything better than that!!!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Happenings
And the results are in! The reason that I was sick for 6 weeks was a bad case of undiagnosed strep throat. I finally admitted that it wasn't a cold and went to the clinic. Got my medicine and 10 days later I'm back! Singing feels SOOOO good. I can't even explain the feeling of hitting an effortless high note again. In my time away from singing, I started to read at an almost alarming rate. I read all of those books that had been sitting on my shelf for a long time and then when I ran out, I started reading random books. But I got five books in the mail today and I'm kind of in heaven. I'm completely torn over what to read first which is probably the best problem a person can have.
My choir is leaving on tour this Friday. I'm getting excited but I'm also bracing myself. Along with tour always comes a little drama and a lot of whining. People get ridiculously selfish while we're on the road and it can turn it into the most irritating experience. I'm so glad that my tour roommate is Jessica. She is so sweet and peaceful and I can't think of anyone better to keep the drama and the bologna away. Our tour is taking us to Iowa, Colorado, and Wyoming. That's a lot of hours on a bus with a lot of temperamental artists who are sick and tired and hate everyone. That's where the large stack of books comes in. When the shit starts to hit the fan, I will just whip out a book and pretend they all don't exist.
All this reading has also made me feel like I could have a knack for writing. I'm so easily swayed by things like that. I see a figure skater and I want to be a figure skater, I see a good dance and I want to be a good dancer, I read a good book and I want to be a good writer. I know this about myself which is definitely a good thing. I can restrict my literary genius to the folds of my journal and keep it under my mattress where it belongs.
My parents are coming back from Texas today. I'm very excited to see my mom. I miss her like crazy. She drives me nuts, but that's part of her charm. The only downside is that she's going to take her car back. This saddens me. I've fallen in love with her 2011 Impala. Alas, our union was always only temporary. I knew better than to get attached but I couldn't help it. I suppose it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. So long shiny silver lost love of mine.
My choir is leaving on tour this Friday. I'm getting excited but I'm also bracing myself. Along with tour always comes a little drama and a lot of whining. People get ridiculously selfish while we're on the road and it can turn it into the most irritating experience. I'm so glad that my tour roommate is Jessica. She is so sweet and peaceful and I can't think of anyone better to keep the drama and the bologna away. Our tour is taking us to Iowa, Colorado, and Wyoming. That's a lot of hours on a bus with a lot of temperamental artists who are sick and tired and hate everyone. That's where the large stack of books comes in. When the shit starts to hit the fan, I will just whip out a book and pretend they all don't exist.
All this reading has also made me feel like I could have a knack for writing. I'm so easily swayed by things like that. I see a figure skater and I want to be a figure skater, I see a good dance and I want to be a good dancer, I read a good book and I want to be a good writer. I know this about myself which is definitely a good thing. I can restrict my literary genius to the folds of my journal and keep it under my mattress where it belongs.
My parents are coming back from Texas today. I'm very excited to see my mom. I miss her like crazy. She drives me nuts, but that's part of her charm. The only downside is that she's going to take her car back. This saddens me. I've fallen in love with her 2011 Impala. Alas, our union was always only temporary. I knew better than to get attached but I couldn't help it. I suppose it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. So long shiny silver lost love of mine.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Retraction
I take it all back. Adrian is the best Valentine and friend that I could ever ask for. He is completely irreplaceable to me.
Wisconsin and Valentine's Day
My weekend in Wisconsin was filled with interesting things. We had a hotel debacle and a fun run-in with Phil in Rochester. The best advice I can give anyone is to NEVER stay in the Concourse hotel in downtown Madison. WORST hotel ever. End of story on that. Despite everything, we had a good time and made a lot of hilarious memories. Now I'm back in Vermillion and trying to get back into the flow of things. I'm a little behind on homework so I spent a bit of time doing that today. Went to the USD/SDSU Women's basketball game. It was such an amazing game! It went into overtime before the Yotes finally won it. It was exciting a fun.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It occurred to me that I don't have a Valentine this year. It doesn't really bother me. I can have just as much fun with friends. The holiday kind of came out of nowhere. This school year has been moving so fast that I can't really keep up. Adrian was my Valentine last year but he's going out with Phil now so he's off limits. They're going to Sioux Falls on Thursday for a date. I have doubts that they'll make it back to Vermillion that evening. :) For some reason, Adrian is always really tentative about talking to me where Phil is concerned. I don't really get it. I'm so happy for them. They are really working out so far. I don't really know how much of a future they'll have with their career paths and education levels being different but for right now, they are happy and I'm happy for them. So its so strange that Adrian doesn't like talking about it. He's never had this kind of reaction with his other boyfriends. I suppose he could be afraid that I'm going to ruin it. Maybe he thinks that I'm responsible for the ending of his other relationships. He is so hard to read and he never tells me when he has a problem with me. It can get very confusing. Especially since I'm so open about my feelings. I've always struggled with him being so passive. There's something about his and Phil's relationship that makes him want to change the subject when we talk about it. It has caused a bit of a disconnect between us. It is hard to watch your best friend start to drift away from you. Its happened before but it is especially difficult this time. I just don't know how we'll hold up when I move away. He says that thinks won't change but I can't see how they won't. Maybe this is his way of trying to make things easier. He doesn't want to share things and he doesn't want to really talk about anything important ever. Maybe that makes it easier. I suppose it sucks either way. Maybe I'll just pretend like Valentine's Day doesn't exist this year. I can start celebrating singles' awareness day with all the other lonely people. I didn't always feel lonely. That's a fairly new development. I hate it.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It occurred to me that I don't have a Valentine this year. It doesn't really bother me. I can have just as much fun with friends. The holiday kind of came out of nowhere. This school year has been moving so fast that I can't really keep up. Adrian was my Valentine last year but he's going out with Phil now so he's off limits. They're going to Sioux Falls on Thursday for a date. I have doubts that they'll make it back to Vermillion that evening. :) For some reason, Adrian is always really tentative about talking to me where Phil is concerned. I don't really get it. I'm so happy for them. They are really working out so far. I don't really know how much of a future they'll have with their career paths and education levels being different but for right now, they are happy and I'm happy for them. So its so strange that Adrian doesn't like talking about it. He's never had this kind of reaction with his other boyfriends. I suppose he could be afraid that I'm going to ruin it. Maybe he thinks that I'm responsible for the ending of his other relationships. He is so hard to read and he never tells me when he has a problem with me. It can get very confusing. Especially since I'm so open about my feelings. I've always struggled with him being so passive. There's something about his and Phil's relationship that makes him want to change the subject when we talk about it. It has caused a bit of a disconnect between us. It is hard to watch your best friend start to drift away from you. Its happened before but it is especially difficult this time. I just don't know how we'll hold up when I move away. He says that thinks won't change but I can't see how they won't. Maybe this is his way of trying to make things easier. He doesn't want to share things and he doesn't want to really talk about anything important ever. Maybe that makes it easier. I suppose it sucks either way. Maybe I'll just pretend like Valentine's Day doesn't exist this year. I can start celebrating singles' awareness day with all the other lonely people. I didn't always feel lonely. That's a fairly new development. I hate it.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Wisconsin
In 10 hours I'll be in a car to Madison, Wisconsin. I'm headed to the ACDA Convention. More than I'm excited about the convention, I'm excited about getting away. I'm also excited about the people that I'm going with. It is going to be so much fun and it will be just what I need. I'm still hanging on to this nasty cold which is really frustrating. I need to get some serious singing done and this cold is really holding me back. So I'm also hoping I'll get some rest and get healthy over the weekend. It isn't very likely...but a girl can hope. Cold or no cold, I must get back to work next week. Ive been losing a lot of stamina by not practicing as much while I wait for my throat to stop hurting. With my recital coming up, I really can't afford to lose this kind of time.
On a fairly sad note, I yelled at Lola-kitten today for dragging my clothes around the house. She got small and pitiful and sad. I felt so awful when I realized that she hadn't drug the shirt out, I dropped the shirt when I was talking my laundry to my room. She still isn't happy with me. I apologized but she hasn't forgiven me yet. Poor Lola-kitten.
Right now South Dakota athletics has erupted. USD is playing SDSU for the first time in 8 years. This is a gigantic rivalry and it has brought out all kinds of school spirit. I'm currently watching the rivalry on enemy territory. USD is in Brookings and they are pretty much getting schooled at this point. I'm watching it from the safety of my own living room but I can feel the hostility through my television screen. USD is running a zone defense that really doesn't seem to be working for them. They keep leaving the perimeter open so SDSU is shooting 3 pointers like crazy. It is hard to believe that they haven't changed things up because they are getting owned on the perimeter. USD also seems to having a problem rebounding. They give up a lot of rebounds and I'm not sure if that's strategy or not. If it is, it isn't very effective. They are down 15 points and they still refuse to try a different defensive approach. Its kind of hard to watch. Tomorrow night, SDSU comes to the Dakota Dome and the rivalry gets to play itself out all over again. Because of the trip to Wisconsin, I'll be missing the home game. I'm a little bummed about it but I'll be having so much fun that I'll probably forget all about it. My DVR will record it and I can watch it later. Men's basketball is a passion of mine.And Samcat...she loves basketball too. :)
On a fairly sad note, I yelled at Lola-kitten today for dragging my clothes around the house. She got small and pitiful and sad. I felt so awful when I realized that she hadn't drug the shirt out, I dropped the shirt when I was talking my laundry to my room. She still isn't happy with me. I apologized but she hasn't forgiven me yet. Poor Lola-kitten.
Right now South Dakota athletics has erupted. USD is playing SDSU for the first time in 8 years. This is a gigantic rivalry and it has brought out all kinds of school spirit. I'm currently watching the rivalry on enemy territory. USD is in Brookings and they are pretty much getting schooled at this point. I'm watching it from the safety of my own living room but I can feel the hostility through my television screen. USD is running a zone defense that really doesn't seem to be working for them. They keep leaving the perimeter open so SDSU is shooting 3 pointers like crazy. It is hard to believe that they haven't changed things up because they are getting owned on the perimeter. USD also seems to having a problem rebounding. They give up a lot of rebounds and I'm not sure if that's strategy or not. If it is, it isn't very effective. They are down 15 points and they still refuse to try a different defensive approach. Its kind of hard to watch. Tomorrow night, SDSU comes to the Dakota Dome and the rivalry gets to play itself out all over again. Because of the trip to Wisconsin, I'll be missing the home game. I'm a little bummed about it but I'll be having so much fun that I'll probably forget all about it. My DVR will record it and I can watch it later. Men's basketball is a passion of mine.And Samcat...she loves basketball too. :)
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Awesome Weekend!!
I had an amazing weekend! It was so laid back and unplanned and just what I needed. I wish it could have gone on forever.
Bree decided not to come (it's like I'm psychic) but it was almost better that way. She would have been tons of fun to have around but with her being sick I think she would have spent the majority of the weekend complaining. So things worked out for the best I think.
We started off by driving to Mankato on Friday night and checking into a hotel downtown. We ate B-Dubbs and did a tiny bit of bar hopping. The first bar we went to had this rapper called Prof. He wasn't very good so we moved on to the next bar where we settled in for a while. I was running a pretty healthy buzz when we headed back to the hotel. The next morning we hit the road for Minneapolis. We couldn't check into our hotel right away so we spent some time at the mall. It isn't my favorite place to go in Minneapolis but it was something to do and I can't help but have an amazing time when I'm with Phil and Adrian. We ate and looked around a bit and then headed back downtown to our hotel. Then, we stared in awe for a bit. All Phil could say once we got inside was that we didn't belong there. This hotel was so nice. When we checked in, they upgraded us to a double corner room with handicap access for free. It was HUGE! We took the time to bask in our surroundings before trying to figure out a plan for the evening. Phil decided that instead of trying to go to the Lion King, he wanted to see You're a Good Man Charlie Brown instead. So we got back on the train and headed to see the show. It was a lot of fun. Its one of my favorite musicals so I was excited. The cast did a great job and we left the theatre in pretty high spirits. We waited for about 30 minutes in the cold for the bus to come but even that was fun. We huddled together for warmth and constantly found something to giggle about. We took a bus back to the train station and then took the train back to our hotel. We ordered pizza and watched Golden Girls for the rest of the night. It was probably the most fun I've had in a long time. When we got up this morning, nobody wanted to leave. We gathered our things and headed back to Mankato to drop Phil off. After another 3 1/2 hour drive, Adrian and I are back home. He went to work and I'm trying to pretend to be interested in the Super Bowl.
Now that one amazing weekend has passed, I'm getting really excited for next weekend. Ashley, Adrian, Jared and I are headed to Wisconsin on Thursday for the ACDA Conference. It is going to be so much fun! We're even thinking about going through Mankato on our way back so we can see Phil again. January and February have been filled with lots of traveling and lots of fun. I can't think of a better way to spend my last semester of college. Hopefully the good times will keep on rolling!
Bree decided not to come (it's like I'm psychic) but it was almost better that way. She would have been tons of fun to have around but with her being sick I think she would have spent the majority of the weekend complaining. So things worked out for the best I think.
We started off by driving to Mankato on Friday night and checking into a hotel downtown. We ate B-Dubbs and did a tiny bit of bar hopping. The first bar we went to had this rapper called Prof. He wasn't very good so we moved on to the next bar where we settled in for a while. I was running a pretty healthy buzz when we headed back to the hotel. The next morning we hit the road for Minneapolis. We couldn't check into our hotel right away so we spent some time at the mall. It isn't my favorite place to go in Minneapolis but it was something to do and I can't help but have an amazing time when I'm with Phil and Adrian. We ate and looked around a bit and then headed back downtown to our hotel. Then, we stared in awe for a bit. All Phil could say once we got inside was that we didn't belong there. This hotel was so nice. When we checked in, they upgraded us to a double corner room with handicap access for free. It was HUGE! We took the time to bask in our surroundings before trying to figure out a plan for the evening. Phil decided that instead of trying to go to the Lion King, he wanted to see You're a Good Man Charlie Brown instead. So we got back on the train and headed to see the show. It was a lot of fun. Its one of my favorite musicals so I was excited. The cast did a great job and we left the theatre in pretty high spirits. We waited for about 30 minutes in the cold for the bus to come but even that was fun. We huddled together for warmth and constantly found something to giggle about. We took a bus back to the train station and then took the train back to our hotel. We ordered pizza and watched Golden Girls for the rest of the night. It was probably the most fun I've had in a long time. When we got up this morning, nobody wanted to leave. We gathered our things and headed back to Mankato to drop Phil off. After another 3 1/2 hour drive, Adrian and I are back home. He went to work and I'm trying to pretend to be interested in the Super Bowl.
Now that one amazing weekend has passed, I'm getting really excited for next weekend. Ashley, Adrian, Jared and I are headed to Wisconsin on Thursday for the ACDA Conference. It is going to be so much fun! We're even thinking about going through Mankato on our way back so we can see Phil again. January and February have been filled with lots of traveling and lots of fun. I can't think of a better way to spend my last semester of college. Hopefully the good times will keep on rolling!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Lion King!
This weekend Adrian, Phil, Bree and I are headed for Minneapolis. We're going to go see the Lion King and spend some time experiencing the night life of Minneapolis. I'm finally starting to kick this cold and I hope it will subside so that I can enjoy the weekend to its fullest! Bree has been sick (no matter how much she has tried to deny it) and I'm hoping that she doesn't decide to stay home. I very rarely see her without Jared anymore and it will be nice to have her all by herself for a while. She is so much more fun when she's not with him. They are both more fun when the other isn't around. I'm sure they don't realize it. They get into lovebird mode and you can't penetrate the barrier. Bree also has a hard time being with other people when he's around. She just lays in his lap and doesn't say or do anything. Its a shame because she's such a fun loving person. In conclusion, I'm really hoping she'll come because I think we'll have a really amazing time. It will also be nice to have someone else with us so that I don't end up being the awful 3rd wheel for Phil and Adrian. They have the exact opposite problem of Bree and Jared. They don't get enough alone time and I feel so bad. They are trying to have a long distance relationship. It has been really nice lately because Phil has been coming home a lot. Unfortunately, when Phil comes to visit Adrian, I'm here and I feel like I get in the way. I offered to not come along for the weekend of debauchery and Adrian seemed to want me to stay home but Phil wants me to come. I tried to find a happy medium by inviting a friend of my own to come so I wasn't constantly annoying them. Hopefully it will work.
We're supposed to get an epic snow storm this weekend and I'm not excited about it. We've been having unseasonably warm weather and I've gotten rather used to it. Having real winter would ruin my happy outlook on the season. Ok...that's not entirely true. But I have loved the 40-50 degree weather we've been having. I haven't actually worn a heavy winter coat yet.
I just got done booking a hotel for this weekend on Priceline through their handy dandy "name your own price" function. There are pros and cons to this process. Good Things: They've never turned down my ridiculously cheap offers. You can pick very specific criteria so that you don't end up in rapeville. Bad Things: You don't know what hotel you're staying at until you can't refund your money. So if the trip falls through or more people decide to come, you're stuck. You have no say over what kind of room. For example: I just booked a room for 4 people that turns out to be a single king room. So now 2 people are out of luck with no bed. I called and asked to have it changed to a double room but that would have cost me an extra $50. You kind of have to get over it though because it is a 4-Star hotel in downtown Minneapolis that I got it for $70. It is 8 blocks from the theater and is surrounded by everything we want to be near. It is one block from the rail that can take us to the mall. So....I can sleep on the floor and get over it. We saved 50% on the hotel room and now won't have to pay for gas once we get there. Sounds like a good trade off to me.
Regardless of any negative details, it will be a fantastic weekend. We will do fun things and have a blast. And then come back and shovel some snow. All's well that ends well. :)
We're supposed to get an epic snow storm this weekend and I'm not excited about it. We've been having unseasonably warm weather and I've gotten rather used to it. Having real winter would ruin my happy outlook on the season. Ok...that's not entirely true. But I have loved the 40-50 degree weather we've been having. I haven't actually worn a heavy winter coat yet.
I just got done booking a hotel for this weekend on Priceline through their handy dandy "name your own price" function. There are pros and cons to this process. Good Things: They've never turned down my ridiculously cheap offers. You can pick very specific criteria so that you don't end up in rapeville. Bad Things: You don't know what hotel you're staying at until you can't refund your money. So if the trip falls through or more people decide to come, you're stuck. You have no say over what kind of room. For example: I just booked a room for 4 people that turns out to be a single king room. So now 2 people are out of luck with no bed. I called and asked to have it changed to a double room but that would have cost me an extra $50. You kind of have to get over it though because it is a 4-Star hotel in downtown Minneapolis that I got it for $70. It is 8 blocks from the theater and is surrounded by everything we want to be near. It is one block from the rail that can take us to the mall. So....I can sleep on the floor and get over it. We saved 50% on the hotel room and now won't have to pay for gas once we get there. Sounds like a good trade off to me.
Regardless of any negative details, it will be a fantastic weekend. We will do fun things and have a blast. And then come back and shovel some snow. All's well that ends well. :)
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