Archives for the Month of September 2005 on CWRU: A music geek's perspective
This Week in a Nut-Shell
I know it has been a while but it has been a busy week so I'll just give you the highlights.
As promised, I'm including pictures from Monday's physics class.
Just looking at the pictures still makes me laugh.
Nothing else particularly exciting happened the rest of the week. Tuesday night was the latest I have been up working so far. I was at KSL working on my Physics lab report until 2 in the morning. That was fun.....loads of fun.....
Thursday we had the worst thunderstorm I've ever witnessed in my life. I got back to the dorm just in time to avoid the rain. There was a lightning stike at least once every 5 seconds and, at times, I couldn't see the ground outside the window because of all the water. It was insane. The door to the fourth floor lobby was left open and, when some of the guys went to shut it, the water had sprayed inside all over the common area to the sink and microwave nearly 20 feet inside. The best part of the storm was the cool weather it brought with it. The past couple of days it has been around 70 with a low in the mid to upper 50s. I love this climate.
Today was pretty relaxed. It's parent's weekend so most of my friends were out with their parents doing stuff which gave me an opportunity to start studying for my first college exam: Calc 223. I am not looking forward to Monday at all.
All in all it was a good week though. Friday night I went to my first Archery meeting. I know, I never would have thought of myself as the type to fire a bow and arrow as well, but it was so much fun. It lasted about an hour and a half and I was amazed at the progress I made. I am definetly going back.
That about sums up the week thus far so, until later, thanks for reading.
Pretty Good Monday
I know, it sound like an oxymoron. Good and Monday side by side. But it actually was.
I got up and went to Theory. There are only 7 of us in the class and it was one of the girl's, Elyse's, birthday so our professor, Dr. Lo, asked if we wanted to have class at Starbucks. You can guess what our response was. After a relaxing class (accompanied by a Caramel Light Frap of course) I went to Physics where Dr. Brown was his usual entertaining self. We were talking about torque and angular momentum so, apparently, he felt the need to demonstrate this with a Huge Blue Crayon. That's right, one of those 4 feet tall plastic crayons. And, since he had it with him, he used it to point out some things on the projector screen. It was so unbelievable, I actually took a picture of it on my phone so I would have proof when I told people the story later.
During lunch I bought an Escher poster for my room because they were having a poster sale outside between Twing and KSL. It is a poster of a kid sitting on the stairs looking up at his mother who is at a second story window but the same image is duplicated several times from many different angles (as is Escher's style). Now I just have to find a place to put it...
After Calculus (where I got my quiz back from Friday which was not nearly as bad as I had expected it to be) I spent the evening hanging out with Jordan for a while, then dinner with Mark and Zhen, surfing the web with Mark in Wade for a while, then going to Arabica with Sam and Jordan before turning in for the night. (Turning in stands for Sam and I deciding to watch U-571 so we can stare at men in uniform for an hour and a half)
So, all in all, the day wasn't the most productive in history, but it sure was nice to take a day off from the heavy workload and just have some fun. Now, tonight on the other hand......I don't want to think about it just yet. I'll let you know how much I pay for my night of freedom. Until later, thanks for reading.
Glorious Sleep
I have come to an amazing realization. I LOVE SLEEP!!!
Yesterday was a stressful day. After the usual calculus quiz, I was done with classes and ready for a fun weekend. Jordan and I made a trip up to the Giant Eagle to get some groceries before dinner. I will say it again: Going to Giant Eagle before dinner is not smart. I wont say how much we spent, but I am definetly my father's daughter when it comes to grocery shopping.
We went back to eat in Leutner and met up with Mark and Zhen. That night the film society was showing Mr. and Mrs. Smith so Jordan and I went to see it. Zhen and Mark didn't want to so, while we were gone, they decided to have some fun. The two of them, along with Sam, decided it would be fun to mess up Jordan's room. They got his roommate, Thomas - the guy from Hong Kong, to let them into the room and went to work. They hid his computer behind his desk, his groceries under his bed, and his Ipod in his desk. They put signs up around the room and TPed his bed. When we got back from the movie, he went to bed because he was tired so I went back to my room. As soon as I came in, Sam told me what they had done and so we decided to see his reaction. We hid on his floor until he had seen it. As soon as he had, he went down the stairs (probably looking for Sam) and called my phone. He saw us up the stairs and took off after us. We ran all around the floor and down the stairs before he calmed down. It was hilarious.
Now comes the sleep part. I went to bed at around 1:30 and didn't get out of my bed until after noon. We're talking nearly 11 hours of amazing sleep. I woke up all refreshed and relaxed. It was incredible :)
As for today, it was just as much fun if not more. Sam and I got up and did a thorough cleaning, including laundry, dusting, and vacumning the carpet. The room now looks so nice. Then Sam invited me to go to her house and we hung out there for some time. I also got to know her sister and mother better too. She modeled her prom dress, which she designed and her mother made. It was so beautiful and artsy. I'm so jealous of her talent.
When we got back to the dorm, I hung around until later in the evening when Sam, Zhen, Jordan and I went to a sushi place in coventry. Zhen and Jordan had not been exposed much to sushi so Sam and I helped them order. It was a definite hit and we will be going back soon. On the way back to the greenie we stopped and got some ice cream for dessert.
College life is so much fun. I have only been here for four weeks and I can hardly imagine life anywhere else. I love my family and friends from back home, but Case really feels like my home now (or at least for the next few years). So until later, thanks for reading.
Acting Crazy
What a crazy day.
It started out boring and dull. I got up early and started studying. I had a lot of work to do. I ended up going to the Kelvin Smith Library after lunch to write my SAGES paper. Mark was there for a while but he left around 4:30. Jordan came over to KSL from around 5 until we left around 8. We went back to the dorms to drop off our stuff and get Sam and Zhen for dinner, and then the crazyness began. We were eating dinner, picking fun with each other, acting weird as usual when Jordan goes to get a bowl of Fruit Loops. Jordan apparently really likes Fruit Loops but unfortunately there was no milk so we started a scheme to get back at the dining people. We all went and got styrofoam bowls and filled them with cereal. By this point, we were all acting a little loopy.
Walking back from Leutner Sam walked across the grass because it was straighter than walking on the sidewalk. She called out, "It's called common sense." At this point, Jordan smiles at me and says "It's called a sideways tackle" before taking off toward her. I call out her name just in time to allow her to avoid him. But now it was on. She put her bowls of cereal down took off after him. She chased him all around the field, while Zhen and I were doubled over in laughter.
Ami, an art major down the hall, was making this art piece by taking food, chewing it up, and spitting it onto a poster. It was absolutely disgusting but they were having fun making it. After more crazy acting, some of which involving throwing a foam brain at each other and down the stairwell, we watched Signs before going to bed. It is so great that I get to act crazy and no one even really cares here. I love college! Until later, thanks for reading.
Little doze and Emily Rose
Yesterday, I went to theory, physics, and then an hour and a half break before Calc. I started studying in the comfy chairs in Olin lobby but soon fell asleep. It was alright because the quiz wasn't hard.
That evening, Jordan, Mark, Zhen, Sam, and I went to the movies at Tower City. We wanted to see "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" but Sam and Zhen ended up going to see Red Eye while the rest of us went to see it. The movie was really good. It was not a horror film like I expected. There was much more plot to it and the scary part was limited to a few small parts and the actual exorcism scene which was about 10 minutes long.
After the movie, it was around 10:00 and everything was closed so we had no idea where to get dinner. As we headed back to campus, we thought of going to Little Italy to eat at Mama Santa's. Mark decided to go back to the room so the four of us went and ate pizza at 11:00 at night. It was so incredible. I have never eaten better pizza in my life. After dinner, some people came back to our room to watch Coyote Ugly before bed. It was such an amazing evening. I can harldy stand it.
Today I had a Case Concert Choir Rehearsal/Social. It was a great opportunity to go meet more members of the chorus and sing music with amazing musicians. Tonight I'm going to see pleasantville that the film society is putting on and then probably going to the Case/CIM/CIA benefit party that they are putting on for Hurricane Katrina Relief. They are having a dance, movies, food, from 10pm to 10am. Then tomorrow it my workday. Whoo hoo. I love weekends. Until later, thanks for reading.
Let the work begin
Wow! I never knew there would be this much work involved in school. I never studied in high school but that has now changed. I have tons of reading to do.
And I'm not exagerating. I've spent all of Monday, Tuesday, and Today when I haven't been in class studying. I had articles and passages to read for SAGES, a Physics Lab Write-up to finish, Calculus practice problems to try, Music Theory workbook pages to complete, and practicing to do. It is around 11:00 right now and I am not finished with my work yet. The biggest issue is that I am in class until around 6:00 three days a week without significant breaks in the middle of the day to get any work done so I end up trying to finish all of it later in the evening. Let me just say I can hardly wait until this friday when I get a few days off from work and some of us go to see "The exorcism of Emily Rose." It looks really creapy. I can hardly wait! Until later, thanks for reading.
Weekend of Cards and Walks.
Well, the title basically says it all. This weekend was a weekend of card games. Let me explain.
Saturday I met Mark, Matt, Jordan, and Jocelyn for lunch around 1:00. We ate, then Mark had to go get ready for a family reunion and Matt had work to do so Jordan, Jocelyn, and I met up with Zhen to go shopping for a birthday present for Jordan's sister. It was a nice trip. We got on the rapid and took it to the waterfront to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We weren't really in the mood to go around it so we just got gifts from the gift shop and then decided to walk around Cleveland some. We were trying to find a mall and Jordan and I remembered our SAGES professor Chris telling us about something called "The Arcade". We found it on a map and walked to it. On the way we came across the ingenuity festival which was a set up of fair-food booths and a swing band on stage performing. The Arcade ended up being a very old building converted into a Hotel on the upper floors with a bunch of small boutiques on the first two floors. Most of the places were closed and the ones that weren't didn't have anything worth buying.
Our next stop was Tower City. It is the main depot for the Rapid trains that run around the Cleveland area but it is also a big shopping mall on the upper floors. We went in there and Jordan was able to find a game called "Pit" which we would play later. I also bought 6 decks of cards so I could teach others to play "Hand and Foot". We grabbed something to eat in the food court and then headed back to campus. Then, the card playing began.
First, Jordan taught us how to play pit. The deck consists of sets of 9 cards that all have some crop or produce item on them like "barley" or "wheat". After all the cards are delt, you are supposed to trade cards with people but you can't say what you are looking for. All you can say is the number of cards you want to trade. If someone else is looking to trade the same number, you can switch those cards with them. The first person to get 9 of a kind then slaps the "corner - a card in the center" and they win the point total of the cards they collected. For example, wheat is worth 100 points, barley is worth 85 , ect. There are two wild cards. One is the bull which can hurt you or help you. If you have 8 of a kind and the bull, it can count as a wild to be the 9th you need. If you have 9 of a kind and the bull (since two of the four people get 10 cards instead of 9) you get double the score on the cards. However, if someone slaps the corner while the bull is in you posession, it counts as -20 to your score. The other wild card is the bear, which only hurts you. If you have the bear, you can't slap the corner until you get rid of it and, again, if you have it when someone else slaps the corner, it is a -20 to your score. The first player to 500 points wins the game. As you can see, it was an intense game of screaming "4? 4? 4! here, okay 2...2...2...2...2!!!" You sound extremely stupid but it is so much fun, it is all worth it.
After several games of pit, we played a game of UNO to 500. We were vicious. There were games when we would just gang up on people (meaning too or not) and sometimes one of us would end up with a hand of nearly 200 points.
Deciding to take a break from cards, Jordan, Jocelyn, and I started listening to and looking through my music. The three of us all realized that we sing different parts. I sing soprano, Jocelyn is an Alto, and Jordan normally sings baritone. I rememberd that Mark is a tenor so I'm going to check some music out of the music library and we're going to for a little quartet for fun. I'm so excited!!! After watching some tv, we decided to call it a night.
Sunday, the three of us hung out all day. Mark was still at his family reunion and Sam, Zhen, Matt, and his twin brother Chris all went to the air show down at the waterfront. Sam is obsessed with planes and is looking for ways to get her pilot's licence. Anyway, the three of us went to lunch around 1:00 and then went back to the lobby of Taft to play more cards. Jordan taught us an italian trick-taking game called "Cala Brasella," one of the few games made for 3 people. Then we played two more games of pit with a fourth guy from our dorm. I actually won both of these games.
At this point Jocelyn needed to practice for her audition so Jordan and I played a game of Cribbage while she practiced. He also taught me another trick taking game for two people before Zhen called saying they were on the greanie on the way back. We ate in Leutner for dinner and then Jordan, Jocelyn and I went on a walk to the park by the Library and then went to starbucks for coffee. After playing pool (which I suck at) and ping pong (which I'm a little better at) in the lobby with Zhen and Sam, we went to Jocelyn's to watch Finding Nemo. Mark came back at the end of the movie and he, Jordan, Jocelyn, and I went for one more walk around campus just to see it at night. After getting back to the dorm, Mark and I talked for a while just to catch up and then I went to bed.
Today is a study day. I don't expect anything extremely exciting to happen but who knows? At college, you never know when the ordinary will become an adventure. Until later, thanks for reading.
North Carolina Blue Skies
What a beautiful day! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Friday. I got up, took my theory quiz (which I aced), and headed to Physics. Every Friday we do a lesson on Chaos theory. Today we studied fractals. It was so interesting!! I think I am going to love this class. I studied during lunch because I was worried about my Calculus quiz. Of course, it was an extremely easy 2 question quiz so my studying was for no reason, but whatever. I didn't really care because, at 2:50, I was done for the day. Then the fun began.
Sam and I decided that, since it was such a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky, we would go to grocery shopping today instead of later this weekend. So, we rounded up a group with Zhen, Joeclyn, and a guy from my SAGES class named Jordan and walked up to the Giant Eagle. I never thought I'd have so much fun going shopping for groceries. On the way, Sam wanted to stop for gelato so we all tried some. It was heavenly! I have always been an ice cream person but this was much creamier and smoother than anything I had had before.
We spent forever in the grocery store. Jordan and I found a whole wall of cheeses and spend nearly 10 minutes picking out which one we wanted to buy. We had to carry all of our groceries back to the campus loop "greanie" bus stop at south campus. Zhen joked about stealing one of the Giant Eagle shopping cart to push them all the way back down the hill and, half way back to school there, we found an empty one on the side of the road! We decided to use it to get to South Campus and, when we got there, we found a whole stash of them just sitting outside one of the dorms. I figure that the south campus students just take them up the hill to the store, buy groceries, and then bring them back after full of groceries. Either way, the irony of finding one was extremely funny.
Back at NRV, we met up with Mark and went to dinner at Leutner Dining Hall. Then we decided to head back to Sam's and my room to watch a movie. Matt came buy and Mark brought "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" which we watched first. Jordan and I had each bought food to share so we had a carpet picnic to share with everyone. We had everything from bree and crackers to flavored pretzels to, Jordan's recipe, tuna with mayonaise and seasoning salt on sour cream and onion potato chips. The tuna was surprisingly very good.
After the first movie, I suggested we watch "The Fifth Element" becasue I love it so much and many of them had never seen it. We got part of the way through it when Sam, Zhen, and Matt had to leave to go see "Sin City" playing with the film society on campus. The rest of us stayed, finished watching the movie, and watched some Will Ferrell skits before calling it a night.
I am so excited. I don't have to get up before noon tomorrow and I have a full three days ahead of me with very little required of me. So, it is time for a good night sleep. Until tomorrow, thanks for reading.
The Calm after the Storm
Today was a very relaxing, stress-free day. After SAGES early, I only had theory (which is still extremely easy), my first Voice Lesson, and Eurhythmics. None of those classes actually took much effort on my part. I simply had to show up and sit there.
The most exciting part of my day was my voice lesson. Marla Berg seems so amazing. She is so friendly and easy to talk to. I know this year is going to go extremely well as long as I'm in her studio. She seemed really impressed and said I had a "powerful instrument", which I took as a huge compliment from a new teacher. I can hardly wait until next week for my next lesson.
Well, apparently I am not being fed enough here at school because I just recieved a huge care package from my parents filled with trail mix and crackers and chocolate and hard candies (thanks Mom and Dad). I loved getting the email saying "You've got a package in Wade". It was like Christmas in September. I can't wait until the next one arrives (hint hint ;).
Well, I know it's short, but today was sort of a lazy day. Tomorrow I have my first college quizzes in Theory and Calc. We'll see how those go. Now, I must study so, until then, thanks for reading.