much happier note

That's the intention anyway.
Sorry if anybody felt really down after reading my last post. Hopefully this won't be so depressing. Well, sad is probably the better word.

Home was fantastic - I had a really good time just relaxing and the like. I didn't get any more work than in a normal uni week, which meant that the study/homework load was just spread out over two weeks rather than one, which was nice. So, I studied and did homework. I slept a little bit. I facebooked (hehe). I didn't watch that much TV. I practiced. I hung out with family. It was nice. We had a family & friends dinner on Easter Sunday, which was very yummy! So much good food, so much food in general. It was good to see some friends after a while. Apart from that, I did little else socially. I went out for lunch with a friend at UniClub, which was pretty darn swanky (and very pretty in general!), and then for a Dress Rehearsal of the WA Opera's production of "The Magic Flute". Thankfully over the summer, I had watched a DVD of the Met production of the same opera, so I knew what the story was about. For some reason, it was sung in German (the original language) but the dialogue was in English. I was a bit disappointed with that - I do enjoy listening to the German...

The actual production side of things I did enjoy - they used the stage effectively, the costumes were quite good, and the acting was quite good. However, musically I was left a little wanting. The Queen of the Night aria (yes, THAT famous one) was out of time (she had little sense of rhythm in general), it was mis-pitched and out of tune, and a little strained, without consideration of a character. Sarastro was well portrayed, and presented a very rich bass sound. Tamino was sung with good expression, as too as Pamina. Papageno was most humorous, and was well-played, with completeness of character in acting and singing; Papagena too was well portrayed. The Chorus was well-prepared; particular mention must be made of the tenors, who were especially expressive. One particular Chorus member, who played the role of one of the guards (the tenor) was particularly beautiful, and seriously underrated! Kudos to him! The three boys were adorable, and very cute hehe!
There was some great playing from the orchestra, in particular, the woodwinds. The strings, I think, lacked a little body and vibrancy at times.
Anyway, that was my brief review... Sorry to slip into review mode there.....

My aunt and uncle came back from India during the week, so I caught up with them (I barely get to see them during the year, with me being over here, and them travelling for a fairly sizeable proportion of the year). Had lunch with them, which was nice; then went to the market, did some errands, and then it was time to pack.

So, uni has started, and I've hit the ground running. But I don't suppose anybody would have thought differently?

I took a red-eye flight back over on Saturday morning - now I remember why I hate taking that particular time flight again. I saved a bit of money by taking the SkyBus to Spencer St, and then cabbing it home. Cheaper than the cab all the way from the airport by a long shot. I went to bed, intentionally for an hour. However, an hour went past, and I'd already hit snooze a couple of times, and then I finally decided I'd turn it off and get up soon. 'Soon' translated to about two hours later. But I suppose my body really needed it, as I didn't sleep (almost at all!) on the plane. So, running on 3hrs sleep, I had a rehearsal that afternoon, which went quite well. Did stuff in the arvo....then in the evening, did.....more stuff.........and then at about 8pm I decided I was tired, and wasn't going to be any more productive with my time, so went to bed. It was amazing. I haven't slept that much in about 15yrs. A whole 10hrs. M will be so proud of me hehe :P

On Sunday morning, I went for brekkie with a few of the ex-1J girls; it was so nice to catch up, because I'd been away for a week, plus don't get to see two of them very often. I had to go home for another couple of rehearsals that day (Yeah, I know, my life seems to be taken up by rehearsals). They were fun though! The later one included a surprise, which was greatly appreciated :) Then came a funny coincidence and revelation. Well, there were actually two that weekend. It was pretty cool. We played at church that night, which was awesome. We had duelling violins. Hehe :P

Something has been brought to my attention. My 21st (party) is coming up, in 17 days, actually. Eeeek!!!! And, as it's a sit-down dinner event, my suspicion is that it's beginning to resemble the makings of my wedding reception. Okay, people, don't freak out here. But just think about it. There is a fairly sizeable guest list. We're eating dinner. At tables. The room is divided into separate areas. People are making speeches. I dunno, just seems a little too similar. Scary when I think about it, but also amusing. So, don't freak out, this is just the way I like things done. I'm not really one for just the cocktail party. And hey, I like organising things like this. It should be fun; I'm excited, some others have told me they are too. But, as I said to a friend, I believe my role here is to be a social facilitator. Just like that.
Although I haven't organised everything just yet.......hmmm........

Anyway, I have been feeling quite tired for the past couple of days (it may have been because of not enough sleep after I got so excited that I had gotten 10hrs sleep, that I must have decided that those 10hrs could be distributed elsewhere, and getting 10hrs in one go means I don't have to rest for long enough for the next ten years...). So, I think I'm getting sick. This is bad......