I should be studying...

but instead, I am doing this quiz....

Seven (highly avoidable but always overlooked) Sins.

Gluttony

1. Do you think you eat more than you should?
Oh yes. I like food.....and I always grew up having to eat everything on my plate.

2. What is your favorite meal?
All of them! Wow, gluttony already at #2....

3. What did you have for dinner today (or yesterday)?
Pasta that I cooked (out of a packet) because Eakins dinner was bad.

4. What is your favorite dessert?
Anything chocolate...? I like dessert very much.....lemon tart wouldn't go awry either..

5. Can you cook well?
Not really, but muffins I can do. As well as that pasta...and those brownies...

6. Are you a fruit or veggie person?
Mmm, probably rather veggies. I'm such a picky (and very limited) fruit eater...

7. What is your favorite restaurant to go to?
Depends on what I feel like, and who I'm with...

8. Do you feel comfortable with your weight?
Mmm, not bad. Could possibly do with a bit less, but you know...

9. Are you vegetarian or vegan?
I'm a Queen's vegetarian some days....but I do like my meat
(I just don't particularly like preparing it)

10. Describe your normal eating habits.
Breakfast, morning tea/snack, lunch, afternoon snack,
dinner, supper...

Lust

1. How much do you find yourself thinking about sex?
Errr.....not much at all, thank you very much!

2. Are you a virgin?
I'll go with Gina on this one: "Who wants to know?"

3. If not, who did you lose your virginity to and when?
See Q2

4. Do you believe you should be in love to have sex?
You bet!

5. Have you ever cheated on your significant other?
Erm, no. If you know me, you'd know why :)

6. What the first thing you look for in a boy/girl?
Honesty and integrity. My bad, that's two. Surely we all look
at more than one thing first up?!

7. Do you have any special fantasies?
Erm...about what..? The rest of my life?

8. Have you been in lust more than love?
Not really sure...

9. Would you have sex with more than one person?
No diddly way! Err...husband..?!?!

10. Who have you lust for?
Jamie Cullum. Hah. Just kidding. I don't know.

Greed

1. What do you want more than anything right now?
Sleep

2. Does money play an important part of your life?
Yeah, it's important to be able to support yourself financially,
but it's not the most important thing.

3. What are your goals for the future?
Oh, there are so many. Did you mean the realistic ones?

4. Do you think money is more important than love?
I'm with Gina on this one. Definitely not. Love is greatest.

5. If you were given one million dollars right now, what would you do with it?
Spend it on my family and friends. Save a large proportion of it...

6. Has anyone ever called you spoiled or greedy?
Spoiled, due to the collection of presents in my room.

7. Do your parents have a lot of money?
Yes and no. (2nd that, Gina)

8. How much money do you spend in one week?
Depends which week. And how busy it is...

9. Do/would you share with people that are less fortunate?
Yep

10. Have you ever robbed someone?
Erm, no. I don't usually undertake such petty (or possibly violent) crimes...

Sloth

1. Have many people called you lazy?
Not many. Mostly me.

2. How much sleep do you get at night?
During semester, usually about 5.5-6hrs. On the holidays, depending on what's
going on, possibly up to 10..?

3. Do you often take naps in the middle of the day?
Ooh yes! That's how I keep going!

4. What was the most depressing time of your life?
Err, probably teenage years? Those times..!

5. What is the best way to relax?
Spend it with friends doing things you enjoy. Oh, and treating self, such as massage, or a nice bath. Or sleeping :)

6. Would you consider yourself more of a follower or leader?
Mmm, it depends. Both, in different situations. I still, however,
maintain that I am a highly independant person. I think that can work
in either a follower or leader position...

7. Would you consider yourself a caring person?
Yep - well, at least I try to be!

8. What time do you go to bed at night?
I aim for about midnight latest. Often that time is violated...

9. What do you waste most of your time doing?
These sorts of quizzes. Facebooking people. Looking at my photos. Sorting out music.

10. Would you rather go out somewhere or stay home?
Depends on the mood, the people who I'm with, my energy levels..

Wrath

1. Who was the last person you were upset with?
Probably myself.

2. Do you hate anyone?
Mmm, don't think so. Hate is a very strong word.
Dislike strongly - yes.

3. Are you angry a lot?
I'd like to think not. However, I get annoyed quite often.

4. What was the last thing that made you mad?
Mad? That's extreme...can't remember...

5. Have you even been in a physical fight with someone?
Yeah, my brother when we were little...

6. Has there been a time that you wanted to seek revenge?
Yeah, for sure.

7. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Biggest? Well, I have several. Yeah, hypocrites.
And inconsistency (particularly to do with character).
And bad manners/social graces.
Oh, and people that stop in the middle of streets/pathways
when there is a flow of traffic behind them. That's right - you're in the way!
It's not very hard to move to the side to talk to the person
you just saw, or to veer towards the side so that you
can stop! Or people that don't keep to the left when going slowly
(come on, gotta leave room for people to overtake!)
Mind you, this is mostly in reference to walking...

8. How do you express your anger and frustration?
Rant to a friend (sorry..!) or put it away.

9. Is it easy for you to forgive?
I suppose it depends on what. I try to forgive as much as I would like to be
forgiven myself, because I know I'm not perfect. And also because
I know I've been forgiven for the biggest screw-ups I've ever done, and will ever do.

Envy
1. Who are you most jealous of?
Ah, many people for many different reasons.

2. What is something you want that your best friend has?
Erm, not really sure. I suppose I'd have to define 'best friend' first, hey..?

3. What is one thing you think you are lacking in life?
Sufficient sleep

4. Do you think of yourself as an envious person?
Yes, to a certain extent.

5. How would you consider yourself lucky?
Mmm, I don't think I consider it luck. Again, thanks Gina, 'blessed'. Very much so.

6. Unlucky?
Not at all.

7. Have you ever felt sorry for yourself?
Yes, hasn't everybody?

8. Overall, do you think you have everything you need?
Materially? Yes. Otherwise? In theory, yes. In reality, not quite yet....

9. Is there anyone that has been envious of you?
I don's see any reason why so!

10. Do you want a better life than what you have?
I think we all dream about that. That's what dreams are, yes?
But who are we to keep dreaming and not living the life we have been given?

Pride

1. What is your best physical feature?
A consistent photo smile. Haha.

2. What do you like most about your personality?
I'm incredibly persistent, and also have this quirk called "organisational freakism".
It puts me in fairly good stead when doing a million
and one things simultaneously.

3. How much time do you take to get ready in the morning?
Including a shower and breakfast, and a sleep in...
could be as short as half an hour.

4. Do you wear a lot of make-up?
Not really. Most of it comes out when I have some reason for it, such as
going out or being photographed... :P

5. How often do you go shopping?
Grocery shopping? About once every two weeks? Perhaps
interspersed when something I need runs out...

6. Are your looks very important to you?
Yes, but only to a certain extent.
Of course, the minimum is to look presentable and decent!

7. Would you ever like to be a model?
No way.

8. What could be improved about your body?
Get some height. Reallocation of some

9. Do you think that you’re better than others?
In general? No. At a few things (eg. playing the piano? Over some ppl, for
example, those who aren't learning or haven't learnt, then yes.)

10. What is your most embarrassing moment?

Oh, there are a few, but definitely not hideously embarrassing, I think.
Highlights include...
crying in class in Grade 4 after being told off
and being so embarrassed in yr 7 during debating that I blushed
through the entire thing.

amusing

a few people have asked me what i want for my birthday.
and to tell you the truth, i honestly haven't thought about it.
and i when i try to think about it, i really think i have everything i need. i think so anyway.
well, even though i complain that i don't enough stuff, i remember that i am blessed and so fortunate with everything i have.
but for the sake of convenience, and pointers just in case you all wanted to read and sneakily do something, but for the record, i don't advocate it.

and i know this is going to sound like i'm planning my wedding....

*massages at the sports clinic. with the physio. (have you musicians ever gone for them? amazing! especially if you're like me, and get really tense after practice)
*a bag that can hold A4 folders quite comfortably, but not a backpack, like a Krumpler bag?!?! Or something else? I have no idea...so that I can go to piano classes/concerts/rehearsals with my music in it. but particularly to concerts, so I don't look like a bogan hah.
*a device for recording my playing. Like, a minidisc thingy? Or something that records as an mp3 file? something that has good quality sound (so a good microphone)...mm, CD quality. like minidisc. i really should look at what models my friends have because they seem to have done well...
*i love books and CDs.....
although i often don't have time to read :(

and things that i wouldn't normally pick out for myself. but things that my friends pick because they see something else....

*A piano. :) haha. just kidding.





well, not really. but too expensive. Haha.

Wow, I realise that these are all music-related. How sad....!

no really, as I said, I really have everything I NEED.....my life is incredibly rich and full, in my opinion.

unless you're buying me time......that i would appreciate with more than open arms.. :P


really, all i want is for you guys (who are able) to come and celebrate with me, and remind me how amazing and how blessed my last 21 years have been. whether i've known you for all 21, or three weeks, or anything in-between.

A random collection of things I've done

okay, so it's been a while. but here we go. in no particular order (well, we'll see..)

on friday 4th april, i went to participate in a psychology study. the postgrad student is exploring perfect pitch, and whether there exists a spectrum of abilities. now, i already know i have absolute pitch, so i figured that i might be able to help out - i figure that there's so few people in this world that have it (something like 0.01% of the population) that i might as well help out if i'm able to. it was kinda fun. this is the 2nd study i've taken part in exploring perfect pitch (various aspects of it), and the people have always been really nice.

we finally found out our chamber music tutor, but as anticipated, it is very hard to find a mutually convenient time for four people. we have just one time so far, and hopefully it goes well.

had a good music training day at church. learnt some stuff, although i felt quite alone because i am the only 'instrument' per se. perhaps i should whip out a new instrument every time we play. just to confuse everybody. at least it'd be amusing. :)

had the 3mbs recital as well. the bakery was good... :)
the playing, not so haha. oh well, it went alright, but we knew we could have done better. oh well, stuff happens. but it was fairly enjoyable, and fairly cruisy. and apparently doesn't sound as bad as we thought it did. sorry that non-local people couldn't listen in to it because the server was down...i will try to get that recording.

had a couple of dinner appointments last week....one was a bunch of (mostly) wyverns plus extras. we all traipsed over; it was the first time most of us had been there; we have a fantastic time, the company was wonderful, the food was great, and the conversation entertaining. we were most impressed. we all raved about how great a time we had for the next week - it was that good.

the other one was held at my place, with three of my close friends. i cooked (eek....although it turned out well!) which i did enjoy quite a lot. dessert was almost experimental, though fool-proof (it comes from the women's weekly receipe books.....triple tested!) and turned out fantastically. i have decided (although a while ago..) that if you know, uni didn't work out for me, i'd go into dessert production. haha. it's all about presentation - this i also observe from my uncle. we had a fun evening, i laughed so much, the boys didn't need any provoking at all. that is one of my secret sources of amusement. :)

and talking about cakes and uncles, my aunt and uncle (and parents) have generously organised a cake for my 21st, so that i don't have to bake 100 cupcakes...! they just asked when and where the party is and whether i would be able to pick it up. easy peasy....

my trios are going well. although the viola trio often struggles to find a mutually convenient time for us all...the violin one had a rehearsal on friday morning just gone. it went well. we had intended to ask if we could play in class, but due to this new system of signing up, we weren't able to guarantee us a spot. however, we'd heard on the grapevine that the original quintet were unable to play, and also that the replacement quintet were also unable to play. so we jumped on the opportunity to do so. and luckily so, because the class was taken by none other than barry tuckwell. he's awesome!!! go look on wikipedia if you haven't heard of him. he had good things to say to us, to help us out.

i actually played in piano class on monday. it was 3rd and 4th yrs performance class. i decided to get up and do it, because it was one of the least-pressure piano classes that were going to exist for the year. i had just had a lesson that morning, and my teacher had taken it all apart, and put it back together. [for the record, my lesson was really good. i decided that i'm not going to do the shepparton competition, because i can't commit to it. i thought for a very long time, and very hard about this, but decided finally. and i figure that it's the right decision.] anyway, i was terribly nervous. and this was pointed out to me, but in my defence, i did say that i hadn't played in piano class, or concert class, solo, for a very long time. to which i got a 'well, good on you for doing it', along with the best comment i think i could possibly get from the facilitator, that he does say every time i play (phew..!): 'you play well'. three simple words, they mean so much. anyway, he had some good things to say.
but when i compare to how i felt playing solo to how i felt playing in chamber music, i definitely felt more comfortable in a trio. even though i had solo moments, and in front of somebody arguably more distinguishes, it felt comfortable, and exciting that i was playing in a trio. i dunno. maybe that's supposed to suggest something. maybe not. although i kinda already know this.

i've been out way too often. this weekend, i went out on friday, saturday and sunday nights. and i'm going out tonight. this can't be good for a) my health b) my study productivity.

but in recent weeks, i've really enjoyed hanging out with a certain group of people. some are close friends, some aren't that close. but there's just something about it. and i always come away from it with a fairly silly (and large) grin on my face. there's just a quality about it. something that i agree can be homogeneous, but at the same time, you can see why it works. we (and by that i mean, I and the whole group, although there are some people in the group who are closer to others than other people, and that's totally fine. admittedly, the margins are not well-defined, nor exclusive) don't spend large amounts of time together every week. but it works every time. it's beautiful. they're people i'd really like to get to know better. i've just noticed in recent times that the people i am increasingly drawn to and enjoy the company most of are mostly my church friends. admittedly, a few of them are musos or collegians, which makes for a nice overlap. but some aren't. and i think that's the beauty of it.

also (and totally unrelated), i thought about how interesting it would be just to sit back and watch who i consider to be 'my' soloists perform. with other pianists. it feels a little weird at times. but that's ok. because i respect the pianist very much.
and it's nice to take a break sometimes. and get a different perspective. by no means am i bitter about it, i actually quite enjoy it. particularly as some of the repertoire is the same as i've worked on with them. which makes for most interesting listening!

i went to see ION over the weekend. for the record, their original soprano is enjoying motherhood very much, so much that she won't be coming back, and therefore, their replacement soprano is now their permanent soprano. it's been wonderful to see her grow in the year and a bit she's been with them. and she's growing on me a lot. she has a very different sound, and very different strengths and weaknesses. but then again, every singer is different. the gig was great, although there were a few times i felt pitching was a little awkward (which is highly uncharacteristic of them), but it wasn't significant enough to detract from the performance.

A Few Quizzes....

What Your City Walk Means

You are thoughtful and contemplative. You enjoy spending time alone with your thoughts. You are generally confident and friendly with strangers. You are well mannered and sociable. Money is fairly important to you. You aren't super greedy, but you enjoy spending money on yourself. You tend to be organized, logical, and methodical. You're so efficient, people often wonder how you get so much done.

The City Walk Personality Test

You Should Play the Violin

You are highly intelligent, and mastering difficult subjects never intimidates you. And while you may not be musical yet, you have a good ear - and you're sensitive to subtle differences in music. You are dedicated and studious. You have a great work ethic. You study well under a teacher, and you don't mind repeating tasks or following instructions. Expressive and moody, you are very likely to convey a variety of rich emotions through your music. You are definitely a passionate person... passionate enough to truly love the violin. Your dominant personality characteristic: your high intelligence Your secondary personality characteristic: your sensitivity

What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

You Are a Lemon Cake

Strong, sexy, and overpowering. You know who you are, and you're not afraid to show the world your fabulous self. You're confident, charming, and extremely popular.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

BEING IN YOUR TWENTIES

With thanks to a friend who posted this...


It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job… and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you’re doing this because you know that you aren’t a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself… and while winning the race would be great, right now you’d just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

also...

Annoyances unleashed....

Why English dialogue in The Magic Flute didn't work:
The actors had strong Australian accents. And the music is so lovely. German is so appropriate, particularly for the austere references to Freemasons. And then comes the nasal Australian accent.

Don't get me wrong, I know I have one too. But it's just so painful sometimes to listen to. Particularly in classical opera, which was definitely not intended to be tainted with bad accents reciting the dialogue.


Things - I wish people:

* Would stop saying "back in high school..." This is only appropriate for first years in their first two weeks of university. After that, it becomes tedious. And in my opinion, displays immaturity. Only use if it's very important to the story, or event, you are retelling. If it's not, I just don't care whether you were fifteen and a genius, or thought you were. Or whatever. For the record, I loved high school (while I was there). Now, I've moved on - the memories from school I still keep with me, but this is a different part of our lives now. High school is over, get over it.

* Retained their independance. Particularly in relationships. You're not one person. Symbolically, yes, two become one in marriage. But guess what? You're still two people! Shock horror!!

* Had opinions. On all sorts of things. It's ok if you don't support either argument, so long as you're well-informed. And even if you don't want to know about stuff, then to say so, because you have a good reason for it. I'm not saying you need to have an opinion on everything, or can't do things on a whim, but since when have I had a discussion about the US Presidential Race with a muso?!?! (I'd like to have one though. I do love you guys, but seriously, music is important. So too are world issues. They will affect you sometime. Even if minimally.) And even if you don't know much, be at least willing to hear the other side. Sitting on the fence because you have no opinion, becuase you haven't been bothered to find out what they're talking about, because you just can't be bothered because you think it won't affect you (barring things like celebrity gossip), and for that which you actively choose not to bother about, annoys me very much.

* Would sometimes stop pointing out the insanely obvious. (Disclaimer: does not apply for university tutorials, when your tutor asks you questions.) This, too, sometimes may display immaturity. If you point out the obvious, however, and then expand on an idea, this is okay. It shows that you have thought about things, rather than purely opening your mouth for the sake of it.

* Would more often act in a mature manner. This is not to say "Don't have fun" (I'm usually all up for fun....), but to act (at least) one's age. Simple as that.

* Didn't talk or make sounds directly in my ear/s. I have figured out why I hate it so much - I consider my ears to be incredibly important to my life/career/well-being (all them things...) and for somebody to expose them to such sound levels (even if whispering) at such an immediate context puts them in jeopardy (even if small). If I want to go deaf, I'll do it on my terms, thanks. As for whispering in my ear on a very intimate level, you'd be wanting to check with me first...although I'm pretty sure you'll get an indication of whether it's ok for you to do so or not.

* Didn't try to act like somebody or something they aren't. And know that cool kids are those that don't even try. Those who don't have to change depending on what situation they feel they're in, and those that don't have to change because they think people will think differently about them. And especially those that exhibit fullness and consistency of character. Those who take everything life throws at them, with open arms, the good and the bad. Those who don't catch onto trends just because everybody else is doing it. Those with original ideas, those with initiative, and courage. Those who know that life is more than the things you do for yourself, more than the things you own, and more than what other people say about you.
Those are true friends. Those are the ones that deserve and warrant respect.

More Ridiculous English

Now in it’s second year, the (Music) Series is an intrical part of the cultural fabric of the (region), and takes place on selected Sunday afternoons within the stunning hand‐rendered walls of the (location) , approximately 50 minutes from (place).

Since when was "intrical" a word?!
I would have groaned less and probably laughed if it was, instead, "inextricably linked".
Is it supposed to mean 'integral'? Combine 'intimate' and something else?!

Please explain.

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......

almost home!

i go home tomorrow night, which i'm really excited about. i suppose what they told me was right: as one progresses through their degree, one realises that going home is actually really good, and one starts to miss home a bit more as they grow older. I think this is true in my case. I can't wait to go home to see family, and to sleep comfortably (not that here is uncomfortable, but my own bed at home), and to use my own bathroom, and to be able to lounge out (even though i have a lounge here..) and to have food stocks well replenished (thank you mummy and daddy! hehe)
i'm just looking forward to having some time off to really relax a bit, and catch up with work. it feels like i've been here for ages already, which is kinda true, but they've all been go-go-going weeks, and even on weekends i feel like i have little time to relax.

i think i'm also getting more cynical..that's gotta be bad....
for example, the other night was good. but i didn't enjoy it. i sat there picking at stuff. i felt really bad for doing it and quite guilty that although it was good, i was critiquing it all. and yeah, as a musician, i know i listen to everything with a critical view (not necessarily bad critical, but with all open ears) and i can't turn it off, whatever it is, but i'm terribly bad at faking stuff too.

i'm not really sure how i feel right now. well, for the past few days, i suppose.
my classes are really interesting, that's for sure. i think that's one of the things sustaining me right now, the thing that makes me get up every morning. microeconomics, potentially the driest subject, has an awesome lecturer, who's russian. she's really quite funny, apart from the accent, and she's very cute. for example, she showed us a segment from lord of the rings, to demonstrate that "even elves try to maximise their utility!" hehe. my tutor for the subject is also really good, and explains things really well. he's really nice and understanding, which always helps. the tutes don't comprise any component of the assessment, so it's not necessary to go (although helpful) so our class has diminished in size a little, but the people who are still around are obviously the ones who want to learn, and they're a great bunch - they talk, ask questions and generally interact well. techniques is also very interesting, although my composition (40 bars, serial method, in the style of webern or schoenberg, i chose schoenberg for the thicker texture, of course making life harder for myself...) sounds horrible, i think! the process of composition was great though, i really enjoyed it. the philosophical aethetics that some of these 20th century composers (and later) are really quite interesting. i'm not sure i agree with them all, but i can see where they're coming from. unfortunately, i don't think most other students in my class even appreciate the concept being interesting, even if they don't enjoy it. which is a pity - i like learning in an environment where the students, my peers, are self-motivated and genuinely interested in the material because this motivates me too. which brings me to my techniques tute, which last week, was almost excruciating. boring and piontless, that is. we learnt almost nothing new, didn't really consolidate anything from the lecture, and created more confusion and red tape and restrictions than i would have liked. or that were specified in the subject outline at all. i suppose in comparison to my micro tute, this tute is so dead - the people aren't really interested in being there, but are because they expect to be told pearls of wisdom (rather than interested in having a genuine discussion about the material to extend their minds), and there are questions that are obviously asked with the sole intention of getting better marks. sure, marks and assessment is important, but not the whole story of uni and learning. it all sounds a bit idealistic, but at least i have some ideas, i suppose. i suppose i consider education to be an experience, a tool for further use, and to having ends that extend beyond purely learning for the material's sake.

idealism is all around us, i think. a friend admitted that if circumstances were ideal then a lot of things would be as such. i think this was one of the most challenging, but interesting conversations i've had in a little while. it was good though. it forced me to think about how i would express my beliefs. and although the medium was probably not my preferred form of communication, it forced me to express it in words concisely and with clarity. which often doesn't happen when i talk. i appreciated the honesty in which my friend conversed with me, something i really value in friendship.

people often ask my opinion on things. and ask things about what to do, how to do it etc. of course that's what friends do. but it seems that it often is a general consensus "oh, ask her, she knows everything". it's kinda nice in a way that people think this (whether it's true or not is another question....! but i have likened myself to the office lady, who knows lots of things and who to talk to and the like...haha) but i wonder if they actually do think i know stuff. and i wonder if they think i have got it all together. because i'll tell you, i don't think i do most of the time. but if they think i do, what am i doing that suggests so? judging by the state of my desk, one would suspect that i am a seriously disorganised, messy, hectic person who's off with the fairies. i think half of it is true half the time. i'm not saying that i'd like that 'role' to be changed, i'm just intrigued to find out why people ask me things.

in general, i think the last week has been a little disappointing for me with a few exceptions. i could put it down to a few things, including assignment stress. (two due on successive days, and not worth too much individually, but it's the 1st one, and i'd like to keep on top of work...) unfortunately on tuesday night i spent several hours working on my serial composition and lost a little bit of it (a couple of bars, but they were really good bars..). i had worked on it that day, as well as doing my micro assignment [involving getting stuck for an hour, only to make a 'breakthrough' only to discover later that my 'breakthrough' was wrong, and then submitting an answer which was very easy, which took me one minute to calculate. it had better be correct - i spent too much time doing that problem!] i stayed up till 2am just putting in all the notes, because that was what i'd intended to achieve that day. and i had to talk myself into justifying that it was alright not to wake up at 6am later that morning to practice. so i slept in till 7.30am. i was so proud of myself. i think i've been disappointed with the expectations i held of some things, only to find out the results were otherwise to what i expected. the combination of little sleep, deflated expectations, the heat (barring yesterday and today) and just general bothersome probably hasn't put me in the best mood. for that, i'm very sorry.

i feel like these days i'm either feeling sorry because i can't do X or Y due to other commitments, or in a bad mood (which has happened a bit more in three weeks than the last year combined..!) [here we go, i'll apologise again...] and the only people i can show this side to are a select few for whom it doesn't matter if i'm in such a mood, or i can put it aside because i enjoy their company so much.

in some ways i'm able to detach from things really easily. in others, everything is emotionally/physically/thoughtfully involved. that's human, yeah? the way i usually cope is to throw myself deeper into the things i do, the things i enjoy, and the things i know need working on. maybe that's why i'm a workaholic. there, i admitted it. i really am. although when i want to, i'm pretty sure i can be a very big bum haha. but i hope that the reason i do (fairly) well is because i work hard as a result of being so sad/disappointed/up-and-down every year. that would be a pretty bad motivator.

so, the title of this post "almost home!" is very optimistic. and ultimately it's turned out to be anything but happy. so, if you were reading with the anticipation that it was going to be happy, i apologise. there's been so many things piling up, with one massive issue being piano (too much detail to write here, but i am playing piano this year, don't you worry!) and my plans for 2008, which may or may not determine the next few years...
i can't wait to get home to:
-sleep
-practice
-study
-catch up and actually make sense of all the material
-geographically distance myself from everything and everybody (much as i love you all..)
i'm sorry if i don't even get to see all you guys in perth. given the list above, i'm planning to have a pretty quiet trip.
even if it means i don't see you for two weeks or three months or put rehearsals on hold. i think i need to do this one for myself.......
just for myself...i hope you don't think it's selfish.

i have power! (this was supposed to be posted in 17 March 2008.....somehow it didn't...)

as of last week, i have power!
that is, for my laptop. i already have mss power haha. Just kidding.
anyway, so my quota usage has taken an enormous hit, but you know, that happens

I've been able to do invites for my 21st, work for MSS stuff, create my 40-bar composition on sibelius (after S sending me all the fonts, and walking me through how to uninstall and reinstall the programme), surf the net in my room. You know, all that funky stuff.

too long...

okay, the main reason there hasn't been any activity here is because my laptop's AC adaptor has busted, it doesn't work, and my laptop battery isn't functioning either, so essentially i don't have a computer in my room. which makes for a bit of a hassle, but at the same time, makes me actually have to study. and i don't waste hours each night online, or facebooking hah.
but anyway...
uni has started.
since i last wrote, there have been many things going on. you know, o'week organisation, meetings, practice, catching up with some people, a few rehearsals here and there. it's been busy.
and then uni started. and i think i nearly died, i was ready for a holiday at the end of my long summer. go figure.
but nevertheless uni started. the first two days were ridiculously hectic. and then it settled down a bit for the rest of the week but this is not to say it wasn't busy.
it looks like it's going to be a hard semester - many assignments, many bits and pieces. exams that are worth lots (by that i mean about 70%), and there will be many things to do.
oh well, like much has changed anyway..!
i'm doing ok with this whole living situation at the moment...learning how to balance the uni with college with my life in a flat. furthermore, my flatmate has just left for mexico for about four weeks, so it's the whole place to myself at the moment, which is a little freaky at times, but i also know that from here on in, everything is my responsibility. which is a good thing, i think. i hope anyway.
i baked muffins last week for some friends, which was incredibly fun. i didn't make that many though, so there'll have to be more batches to come!

anyway...i'm still waiting for P to ring me to pick me up for breakfast, but i'm not sure what's happening...oh well. i'll keep waiting...adios.

has rational use of English died??

"It must have been hard having another language being talked around you" (heard on radio)

"...so as not to elongate the meeting any longer" (senior member speaking in a meeting)

"When did you get back?"

is one of the most common questions being asked of me when I bump into a friend I haven't seen for a while.
which is cool.
For the record, the answer is two weeks.

"What have you been doing?"
is the other.
I usually answer with a 'moving into my new flat' ("Where are you living now?!?!" "Still Queen's"), 'learning to cook', 'hanging out', 'organising o-week stuff', 'organising 2008 and uni and stuff'.
which is all true.

I've met up with some friends for varying reasons. Such as: because they were in Melbourne (as opposed to Perth), just because (they were already at uni), for rehearsals, going to the Queen Vic markets, for MSO (and AYO) concerts! Good fun.

The markets were very exciting, although I have to admit being quite overwhelmed by it all, because there were so many stalls, so many things to look at, so many prices to compare, and this was just the fruit and vegetable section. Go figure.

Had a rehearsal with K on Tuesday for some Beethoven, which was pretty good. I asked her honest opinion on Wednesday whether we think it could work with us and she was confident. And then last night, we agreed that we (K, J and I) were going to do chamber music this semester together, as J and K need groups, and I haven't quite switched just yet, but I shall. Should be fun. I like chamber music very much! I suppose the only flaw I see now is that we're not critical enough and we're all really good friends, so rehearsals may be unproductive to begin with? Hopefully not. And hopefully we're critical enough, purely being professional, and nothing personal.

We went to see AYO last night (they played before MSO at the Music Bowl) which was lots of fun. We had quite a few friends in the orchestra, so it was exciting to see them all, especially because we hadn't seen some of them in a while. A great bunch of friends came along and we all had a lovely time. We were going to go to that place next to Town Hall for a coffee (or equivilent) which a friend has told me is a very feminine thing to do (what do guys do? Go to the nearest pub? Were we supposed to go to Young & Jackson's instead?) - hehe. But then ran into a friend who told us that we should go to Curve Bar which was where AYO people were hanging out. So, we changed plans (sorry J, I totally forgot, we had so many people come and leave and all that) and went to hang out for a little while with them. But we were all tired and went home after a drink or two.

Met up with M on Thursday which was good - we were talking about repertoire and we're still waiting for the Francaix, which is apparently still 'At the Binders' (which the catalogue tells us). Then we decided that we think that we should work on the Gordon Jacob, so we have the parts for that. And then we thought that we should look up other music, which we figured out we'd have to augment our clarinet-viola-piano outfit. Which is cool, we'd just handpick our people (which is what I do anyway).

So, the next week looks similar - meetings (SCR, MSS, Apollo), more library books due, more sorting out of chamber music, more concerts (MSO, AYO, 3MBS to listen in to), hopefully the cricket, O'week stuff at the Con, drinks and dinners to attend. And apparently I'm supposed to be practicing lots. But there's various conference guests and O'Week things happening, and there are silly maintenance works going on at the back of the Con, which makes getting in through the back impossible, and getting into the Basement really awkward. I don't know...!!

And I actually have to fix my enrolment things....

Yeah, so nothing really unusal in the life of G. Still busy as always. Surprise surprise.

seven random things

A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it."

I suppose I'll just do A....

1. Much as I love having my friends around me, I sometimes need me-time. Everybody does, but I think mine may often be quite pronounced in the way I act and if I voluntarily choose to decline invitations and the like. Which, if you know me, can be incredibly hard because I have a problem with saying 'no'.

2. I usually get quite irked by people who have bad English grammar and spelling. This of course doesn't usually apply to text messaging or online conversations. I don't mind it in some emails too, because I know I'm guilty of it at times. But it's when almost everything gets replaced by the shortened form.

3. By no means am I a sporty person. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy watching sports. You may or may not know that I enjoy watching the following sports (I've included only those that may surprise you): cricket, soccer, tennis and rugby union.

4. I'm an incredibly picky fruit eater. It's basically limited to: apples, pears (only good ones, not really soft ones), oranges, watermelon, grapefruit, rockmelon, grapes (the pureple seedless ones are my pick). See? No stone fruit. Although apparently it takes about 10 times before your tastebuds adapt - we'll see how those peaches go!

5. Yeah, I can be really girly and love romantic comedies. But I'd be equally likely (I think anyway!) to choose a drama or action movie. Or an offbeat indie flick (of course, if it catches my fancy). I like the fast cars, I really do!

6. Despite my life being on-the-go for much of the semester, I really appreciate being at home over the winter and summer holidays and being away from Melbourne (much as I love the city!). It gives me a chance to physcially and emotionally get away from the busy-ness of it all. I really appreciated going to Bendigo to be away from business (of course, I almost regretted coming back on Friday because things had piled up!). And as much as I love my friends very much, sometimes it's good to take a little break, I think it makes me appreciate them more.

7. I worry that I won't have direction in my life once I finish uni. I have dreams of ideals, but let's be realistic here. And even though I love Melbourne and that, I'd like to move on too, I think. I have picked out my ideal cities: Boston, Chicago, Manchester or San Francisco. I have no idea really...

it's been just over one week...

....since i came back to melbourne.

am settling in quite well, apart from seeing a mouse in my room the other day. not impressed.

went up to bendigo during the week to visit friends, which was lots of fun. did touristy things like see the old buildings such as The Capitol Theatre, Art Gallery, Old Post Office (which houses a tourist info centre now), Rosalind Park, up to the top of the tower there, Mickey Mouse Hill, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo Senior Secondary College (hehe), other schools (haha), and hung out with my friends' families, which was lots of fun. Thanks A and J for showing me around and for having me at your places!

had SCR induction day today. that was ok. we knew most of the stuff already, having lived here for three years, but there is now a different perspective, I suppose.

am trying to figure out my econometrics conundrum - i think i may have reached a breakthrough, and hopefully can figure out a way around this. it's very annoying, particularly as the office basically told me "sorry, we can't help you, bad luck". but i think i can do this.

am looking forward to music 2008, although i'm disappointed i can't take Stravinsky and Studies in Opera (particularly this one) because i officially was accepted into prac 4 on friday (i assumed i would already, and had started planning my repertoire!)

so, the plan for this week is to hopefully clean my desk (looks like a BOMB!!! at the moment), get my room sorted, having carpet redone monday week, going to a couple of mso concerts, meeting up with a couple of friends, learning to live (that whole cooking, organised etc thing) and practice, of course, which i'm starting to get back into. oh, and last night i started researching places for my 21st. i suppose i might have left it a little late....i'm so bad at this....oh well, hopefully i'll be able to find a place that will allow me to have an 80-person dinner a la carte. if not, i have no idea what i'm doing.
stressful. go figure...

back in melbourne

so, i got back yesterday.
and still kept flipping out. what am i doing here? why am i by myself? how do i cook?
where do i begin with the unpacking?
what happens if i don't have something?

argh!!!!

on tuesday mum and i went to the supermarket to walk through every single aisle, every single bit of the store so that i could learn everything there was to know about everything there.
it was pretty intense.

i still don't know if i've got everything under control.
i know that i haven't yet unpacked everything and it's not motivating me any more! i hate unpacking.. :S

my housemate moved in a couple of days ago, but is away. so that makes it slightly odd but i'm coping. slowly.

and hopefully more people start trickling back to melbourne soon, because i'm starting to get lonely..!

anyway, that's my rambling done.

a month of sorries

it's a month of sorries because i haven't blogged very much this year.
so, sorry for the lack of activity. but i'm glad to look at my clustermap to see some readership in parts of the world where i wouldn't expect! but that's cool!
so, what has happened, you ask!
well, A came to visit! yay! we did lots of perth things, some i didn't even know existed!
went to lots of places, which was cool. went to the beach (which i don't normally do on my own, admittedly), touristy places, walked about places. hung out. it was awesome. sad that's she's gone now though!
however, i only have about a week left in perth. and lots of people to catch up with. my brother suggested holding a press conference so that everybody could ask questions in an open forum because half the questions will probably be what everybody would ask anyway.
oh, and i'm supposed to be practicing but clearly, blogging is much more exciting.
listened to ayo nationaly music camp concerts, which was cool. and hoping to make it next year..fingers crossed!
i suppose i have to get through this year first though....

coolest holiday event (in my opinion anyway). my teacher came to perth to do a recital with her violinist. so, i got free tickets in really good seats, and caught up with her afterwards to discuss repertoire.

wow. i must sound like such a music nerd. haha. that's ok, i accept that! but it was cool. because i enjoy going to concerts. a bit like work and leisure all rolled into one.

ok, that's a bit weird...

anyway. the to-do list for the next week looks a bit like this:

practice
learn to cook (oops, left it a bit late, you think...?)
meet up with lots of people
i mean a bunch of people
pack
figure out what to pack
figure out how to get more than 20kgs worth of suitcase onto the plane
organise flat (eg. bed - contrary to popular taste, i'd prefer a single over a double)
organise february

which looks a bit like this:

SCR stuff
bendigo trip perhaps?!?!
practice
have piano lesson/s?
organise concert-ing
organise timetable
get me out of the timetable clashes!
get me into my desired subjects


oh no, and uni hasn't even started.....sigh!!!

Happy New Worries

Another year gone, and here arrives another one.

Happy New Year all – I hope 2008 proves to be (another?) successful year. I know I’m hoping for it to be!

As we hugged a Happy New Year to each other I could not help feeling worried.

There were a few large worries in my mind at the time, but as the year as started making headway they have taken more shape. And I realise I’m writing this is retrospect so my worries to be detailed did not all come flooding to me in such specifications.

I just realised that my Music Techniques 3-1 and Econometrics classes clash on the Tuesday. Which sucks. And they both matter. Not that all classes don’t matter, but the point is that they are both important subjects. Techniques because it possibly will count towards Honours. Plus it’s a compulsory subject. And Econometrics is a pre-requisite for Honours and is a fundamental subject in taking later year Economics subjects. Ok, and plus Techniques is one class I think I’ll enjoy because of the friends taking it.

I have been thinking for a while now about who I’d like to play with next year. In terms of musical partnerships. As well as chamber music. There are more people I’d like to play with, and more pieces I’d like to work on than time available. Perhaps re: Musical partnerships, I’ll keep just a couple regular ones through the year and then take others on a project basis. I think chances would be better if people gave me an idea of what they’re playing and when they’d like to do it (and perhaps what for too, if that’s an idea). Because I’m all too guilty of saying stuff like “Sure, we’ll do that” but never getting round to it. Although the longer time I have to think, the more ideas I get. Apart from horn music and violin music, and perhaps cello music, I’m contemplating a piano duo of sorts. Who – I’m not sure yet but I have a couple of people in mind. Which could possibly lead to exciting things. I don’t know.

Re: chamber music. I’m glad M keeps his research up. But the more I think about it, we stay may be able to keep our currently-unnamed trio for the subject. Not that it’s all about assessment for uni. In fact, the more I think about the less it is about assessment. But that also leaves us with the prospect of another trio, with clarinet, violin and piano. There’s a lot of stuff I want to do chamber-music wise, but again, time is limited. What a pity.

I’ve just found out that a couple of my really close friends won’t be returning to Queen’s in 2008. For this, I am very sad. I totally understand though and of course, I can’t dictate what everybody else’s plans are. So, however it pans out for this year, I still hope I can keep in contact with these friends.

I really am looking forward to 2008, really. It's just that there are lots of things to sort out too and you know me, I'm a worrying sort of person. Hopefully it'll just figure itself out...

sorry sorry sorry!

hi all
sorry i've been so slack at writing. since coming home, internet has been a bit lacking.
and now we have no internet at all, so i'm kinda dying a little but that's ok.

first up, merry belated christmas to all!
thanks to everybody who sent messages - i really appreciate it. sorry i haven't been able to reply to most messages via facebook - again, lack of internet issue.

my christmas was ok, had ppl over for dinner, so spent lots of time in the kitchen preparing!
we're still eating leftovers now! hehe :P

am basically relaxing at home, but missing my friends whom i know from Victoria very much! don't worry, i shall be back in melbourne soon! i plan to head up to ballarat and bendigo in february, so fingers crossed!

so, sorry this is so brief, but just to let y'all know that i've received your messages...
eg. re: apollo strings and choir collaboration; apollo jazz/pop etc.
and all your lovely messages of Christmas greetings, and messages of 'hope you're going well' or something of that sort.

okies, gotta go - hope you're all keeping well :)

last post from melbourne!

yup, that's right kids, this will be my last post from melbourne in 2007! i'm going home tomorrow night, finally!
will be having dinner with a few friends before they take me to the airport (how nice of them!)
i'm at the con basement (again!) using the computers (again!) after having been here for some meetings at the faculty today, and some practice too - last day of practice before heading home, where i'll do more practice yay! hehe.

got results, which were pretty good. at least the ones i cared about were very good :) always a bonus. but yeah, i did pretty well, so i'm happy. the one that mattered the most (ie. prac) i did well enough to take prac 4 next year yay! thanks to all those who came to my exam on the 23rd to support me, and thanks also to those who supported me in spirit on that day!
hope all you guys who had results went well, and are happy with them. otherwise, well, i'm always open for a chat if you wanna whinge, or find some more motivation for next year (although results not guaranteed!)

and musing of today: have all my text messages been going through, or are some of you guys lazy and not replying?! please help me here! i have about $40 of credit still to use by next week, which is why i'm writing some of you extensive text messages for no apparent reason!

okay, going to the library, and then finally leaving the con for the last time officially for 2007!

adios amigos - either catch you at home or next year back in the 'bourne!

hats off, and cheers to a fantastic year that 2007 has been xoxo

supposedly practicing

i'm in the con basement, supposed to be practicing. because that's what i came into uni for. oh, and to use the computers too. to check my email.
but i'm having a break. because i'm unmotivated (a bit...) and my wrists are sore. that can't be good....

anyway, last week was pretty intense. moved out of queen's, moved to the vic for a couple of days, then moved to my aunt and uncle's apartment on swanston st. they've since left, so i'm there by my lonesome self :(

had rehearsals last week, for MYO and queen's choir. the queen's advent service was on sunday arvo, went pretty well :) although it was really hot. MYO also went well, the concert was quite good (well, our bit anyway) - it sounded heaps better in town hall (with a real organ too!) with the acoustics. i didn't miss a cue in the scherzo bit (phew!).

now just hanging out, coming to uni to practice because i have nothing better to do, and meeting up with a few people for various things.
so if you feel the urge to talk to me, please call my mobile because there is no landline at the apartment, and email is possibly unreliable because there isn't internet at the apartment either. although i'll be kinda checking off and on.

anyway, this must be thoroughly dry for anybody reading it - sorry, i'm boring at the moment.

Sextet from Don Giovanni

Fleming as Donna Anna, Kanawa as Donna Elvira, Hong as Zerlina, Hadley as Don Ottavio, Terfel as Leporello and Robbins as Masetto

finished with 3rd yr!

finally!

i can't believe it's all over.
but this i think, will be a long post because there seems to be a lot that needs to be caught up to speed!
woah, i just realised i haven't given the entire rundown of the last two weeks! HERE WE GO!!!

had coffee (or equivalent) with P and M saturday two weeks ago. for catching up. but also for more serious matters. it was very difficult. but i'm glad i did it. i think it was necessary. i wasn't sure what i was expecting, but i think the result of it was good for all of us. thanks P for your support. and thanks M for listening.
went to the idea of north concert that night. P said it'd probably be a great time to do it, because the last thing i'd want to do after the coffee date was to sit at home by myself moping. she was right. i had a GRAND time. the concert was fantastic (as always). had a few more newbies 'inducted' and some oldies (but hard-core, die-hard friends hehe!), and a fine concert indeed. of course, i was paranoid so i left plenty of time to get there. phew! getting home took much longer than expected, because we had to wait for a tram for a long time, then walked L home, then walked the rest of the way home. Thanks S & P for coming with me. i know i wouldn't have liked to walk home from there by myself! We never ended up getting something to eat, but that's cool :)

went out with our small group for dinner on sunday, which was lovely. as T pointed out about two weeks later, "you girls are like, best friends". which is kinda true. but we love the boys too. :) ate very well. which is always a bonus :)

last monday (12th) had 2nd yrs exams to attend (in differing capacities). went to J's trumpet recital in the morning. i'd figured out my entire day so that i could get in my practice (in the morning woohoo!) and then get ready, then go to J's. then warm-up and all that jazz. J played well - i haven't heard her play much (solo) so that was nice. bozza was funny - it's because of that rhythmic thing that he uses in all his stuff! then went to warm up for S's exam. S played well, i was really proud of him. mind you, he nearly sweated off 3kgs! but we got there in the end, which was good! straight after was A's exam. he sweated about 1kg off! Hehe. :P it was nice that some people could come to either, or both of the exams! and let me tell you, it wasn't just them that felt the pressure!
the programme for me was this:
S's programme: Strauss Nocturne, Strauss concerto #1
A's programme: Sea Eagle (unacc. phew!), Strauss concerto #1, Saint-Saens Romance, Le Basque

See? two times of the strauss concerto was pretty intense. also because they listened to all of it. both times. i think i nearly died!

but we were all glad that it was over. went to PA's for a drink. one of the examiners came and joined us hehe! we had a good chat, he congratulated the boys on their exams, and even complimented me! he's cool :) funny guy.

hehe. the boys tried to make it really casual sounding, it was so cute. kinda went like this:
S: so....what are you doing tonight?
me: studying...supposedly.....why so?
S: well, do you want to have dinner...?
me: well, i suppose i could do that. i mean, i can study in the afternoon, so yeah, dinner sounds good.
S: hey A, what are you doing? wanna do dinner?
A: yeah, sounds good!

hehe. it was very cute. we were going to go out to somewhere, but instead, S 'felt domestic' (his words!) so instead we went to his house and he cooked, and we hung out for a long time. but wait...there are in-between bits to this story.
we decided after a while that we needed lunch. so i tried to make the first move, "right, i'm hungry, and i have to study. i'm going to union to get lunch". then we all decided to go to union to get lunch. A: I'll grab a table.
So we sit down, just at another place, and have a late lunch. we hung out even more. were in north court looking at cds when J called, and we all had turns pretending we were each other, or somebody else completely different! amusing, probably not for her, but for us, it was very much so.
i came home at about 3.30. (this was after the first exam i had to play for was at 11.50am) haha.
then went to J's clarinet recital at 4.10. she had quite a crowd! some family, quite a few friends, which was really cool! i thought she played well, but it seems in general the 2nd years were all a bit "eek!!! that didn't go to plan!!!!" with their exams. don't stress, i think it's just the examiner you had...! he kinda has that effect, unfortunately...!
came home after that, studied a teensy bit more then went for dinner. it was muchly fun. :)
we hung out for a really long time, and enjoyed the company of each other. we watched cool youtube videos, other videos, listened to funny music. the boys quite almost ate my EARS off!!! (the eclipse mints). and now we have developed a passion for the jamaican accent. Haha. and stupid faces. went to the church to have a play. most amusing. we pretended we were muse and rocked out. and did other silly stuff. it was very muchly fun!

listened to the don banks trio, as well as other brass stuff, on tuesday arvo, part of the 3MBS 'live at the convent' series. it was fun to listen to friends perform. i always feel proud of them :)
and just in case i hadn't seen S enough in the past 24hrs, A & I went to his house to watch a movie. A piked on us (pooh!) but we still had fun. C brought food (sugar) so we all pigged out while watching "Madagascar". Hehe. such a cute movie.

so, really, last week, i did study during the day. the way i did it, i practiced in the morning, and then studied macro during the afternoon, and night (as time permitted. i do really devote time to study, i kid you not! hehe)

had macro exam on friday afternoon. it went ok, i think. i suppose we'll see in a few weeks time when my results come out, eh?! i could do some stuff, and made some other stuff up. oh well. i was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a full open (and functional!) economy question though, i was really good at that! oh well.
after my macro exam, i met up with N to have a coffee. despite living so close to each other, i haven't really had a good chat at all this year with him! so, i only could do an hour, but it was a great hour, really nice to catch up and the like :)
then rushed off to dinner with the girls. it was going to be us 4, H was running late, and then J joined us, after her rehearsal! so it was lovely that we could all hang out. we went to Blue Train at Southbank, which was fantastic. after that, due to P's fantastic idea (full of those, she is!) we went on the ferris wheel which was totally cool! that was probably the 2nd time i've ever been on one, so i was yelling for the first half, to which my friends tried to shut me up! but it was just the loveliest day for going out at night. i had a FANTASTIC night with you guys - i love you girls!
anyway, P and I stayed on in the city.....we were hanging out waiting for 10pm. before that we wandered over to Fed Square where there was a presentation to campaign against china's human rights record. it was a pretty big do, so it was pretty cool. then afterwards an irish band played for a while - totally cool!
then we headed off to the purple emerald (as organised by S) for a night out, with some cool music. anyway, it's TOTALLY cool!!! we should all go there heaps next year.
Purple Emerald, 191 Flinders Lane

on saturday arvo, i played through my programme for A and A, who would be away on the day of my recital. it was good practice, which was cool. then just in case you know, i hadn't hung out with A enough that day, we went to mso that night with B & A. hehe - the organisation was a bit hectic, involving numerous phone calls! it was the first time in two years that i've been to mso! it was cool to go, a good concert (for haydn...?!?! hehe..for bartok too. hehe. good stravinsky too!). afterwards, B had to go to work, and A, A and I couldn't decide what to do for the longest time. we learnt that we suck at deciding, but at least A and I organise stuff!!!

went for a massage at the sports centre on monday. i wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was good. yeah, it did kinda hurt, because my muscles were so tense! he actually gave me an hour, even though it was supposed to be 45mins. anyway, it was good. had a frantic sms from C about his accompanist not being able to play for his exam the next day, so had to do a ring-around!

had lunch with S on tuesday, which was wonderful. we're usually so busy during semester that we don't get a chance to catch up with each other. we got to hang out with each other for a while, so that was cool. A called in the arvo to ask whether we wanted to meet up with the boys to get gelate that night. (it was a really hot day!!!). so, we traipsied over to S's house that evening. A again piked on us, despite me calling him to guilt-trip, i mean, ask him to consider us in his evening plans. but anyway, he didn't end up coming at all. we got gelate, which was very tasty :) went back to S's house and hung out for a while, which was cool.

had a nice phone call from my teacher on wednesday morning, which was cool. she said some really nice things, and some really encouraging things, so that made me feel really comfortable about my preparation for my exam. she even said (as a side-thing!) "you're in the ABC database!" indeed i am :) hehe. cool.

went to S's flute recital on Thursday. she did well :) i page-turned for her accompanist for a couple of the pieces.....one was terribly hard...! it's times like those i feel perfect pitch comes in really handy! unfortunately couldn't go to two recitals that night, because my exam was the next day. it would have been lovely to see both (or even either!) of them! anyway, J came down to melb because she had to do a concert the day, and decided to come a day before so she could come to my exam :)
we had dinner that night, and talked for about three and a half hours, which was lovely. we realised that we hadn't really hung out with just each other for a long time (although we have hung out, just with other people, which is cool too!). it was great to hang out. :)
then put myself to bed early, in preparation for friday!

so, that was yesterday. woke up at 6am, because my exam was at 9.15am! (so early!) left plenty of time to get ready, have breakfast, warm up and head to the con, warm up again etc.
the exam went ok - i felt fairly comfortable for the most part, until the last piece (which is a very daunting piece in itself!). about 12 friends came, which was just lovely.
thanks to those who came, it was great to see you, and thanks for the support.
went out for brekkie afterwards with some friends who'd come to my exam, plus A, whose exam was unfortunately at the same time as mine!
we were walking out of the con, and there was some string players gathered, and somebody was like, "hey!!!" and gave me a huge hug. it was S!!! i apologised for missing her quartet's concert the previous night (due to having to put myself to bed early because of exam!), but it was fantastic to see her. she's just LOVELY! definitely somebody i respect intensely personally and musically. she's just wonderful.
(okay, don't worry, i'm not obsessed or anything, i just haven't seen her for the longest time, we went to school together..., and i just hear about her occassionally, about how well she's doing and the like!)

we went to brekkie, which was fantastic. we ate LOTS. A had started making a cake (which her mum took over, because she was supposed to be warming up!), a traditional russian chocolate recipe, yum! although we were so full that we didn't eat that much cake!
didn't really eat lunch after all that, but that was cool.
went to M's piano recital in the arvo, which was nice. although, as i predicted, he asked us "why are you coming to listen to me?!" because you invited us, M...!
hung out with S all day because i was packing, and we went to the free opera in the park that evening. Bizet's "Pearlfishers", by opera australia, put on in conjunction with Australia Post (ie. they paid lots of money). A and A had saved seats for us (well, anybody, but we were there, so we got them), which was awesome.
the opera was beautiful. i thought the conductor at times was a bit unnecessary (not him, but his actions, some of them), and the amplification altered the true sound of the music, particularly the voices, but nevertheless, it was enjoyable. the famous duet was quite beautiful, but definitely not the best i've heard. although the guy who played Zurga, the more i listened to him, the more i liked his voice. i suppose i don't really know much opera at all. i've only ever seen two, and studied two (one overlaps!), and it was in french as well! (i only do italian at the moment..! although i'm willing to learn much more!) it is a sad opera, actually. well, i think it particularly poignant. the chorus was great, i thought, and the more i thought about it, the more central it is to the music and drama!
it was beautifully presented.

today i slept in till 8am woohoo! practiced a teensy bit, then go to work packing. i hate packing.
i've been doing a lot of it this week, interspersed with practice. (no wonder i'm sore..?!)
then went to my first MYO rehearsal. it was a teensy bit daunting, and really revealed what i need to work on. admittedly, in the entire half hour (or so!) symphony, i play for a grand totaly of about 3mins. my mum was so disappointed when she found out hehe. but yeah, i need to practice!
and just need to pack up the rest of everything - i'm almost there!

so, this massive post is also because i'm not sure when i'll be able to next post.
stella needs to return to her owner, mine is currently being re-built, i think. hopefully. anyway.
got reherasals for choir and orchestra next week, with two performances on sunday (eek! talk about intense day!) but should be fun. i've almost forgotten what it's like to have rehearsals now! but also some friends' recitals to go to next week as well, which should be cool. will be living at S's (well, the vic, of which whose it is can be debated) and also at my aunt's and uncle's next week. so i might not be that readily contactable via email. be prepared to wait a couple of days for any response, ok?
if it's urgent, call my mobile. or text me (although i might not msg back because i don't know how much $ i have left...)

ok, signing out.....

will let you know about myo tickets if you're interested. :)

steph: thanks for the clarification. of course i remember you! just wasn't sure which steph because i know at least five - please forgive me! but yeah, email me. my email hasn't changed, although i primarily use gmail now, but that's cool :) but as above, might not get back to you immediately...

some help

could the 'steph' who left a comment re: a proposition/suggestion, please email me.
or facebook me.
because i don't know which steph it is.
sorry.
but it sounds exciting, so let me know...

blessed

as one friend keeps reminding me, we are blessed to have the friends we have.
i often marvel at the friends i have.
how did we meet?
what do we share in common?
what keeps us friends?
pretty amazing stuff.
there are friendships were we spend lots of time together. and don't get sick of each other.
there are friendships were it swings between feeling like a parent and a little sister.
there are friendships that are borne out of certain things we do.
and that's definitely not the extent of them.

for all of them, i am very thankful.

thanks to M for the loan of stella. i hope oliver isn't feeling alone.

let's keep this brief

had couple of exams on tuesday.
smashed the listening test, especially with my nice fountain pen with peacock blue ink. that was really not relevant at all!
there were too many Ds in the chorale, but yeah. string quartet had little given (2 bars) then we had to write 12 extra bars! too many. but i managed to fill them up somehow.
am still working off computer lab, my own laptop refuses to come out of its hibernation, refusing to actually resume windows, as it promises.
empty, i tell you, empty!
am dying from not being able to check email or facebook every ten, wait, make that three, minutes.
dying even more from not being able to listen to my music. i was so excited that i could listen to muse while studying macro. but tis not to be so.

so, am supposedly studying for macro.
have managed to fit in practice every day.

had a lesson with G and S and A on thursday - spent three hours with the boys, including the lesson, which was good, but also amusing all at the same time. G's piano is too soft, but managable. oh well, we made it through. Well, S nearly didn't because he'd given blood that morning.
Actually went to brekkie with the girls that morning, which was lovely. and then went to uni to study (not that productive though..) and then watched M's exam, which was nice.
had a lovely thursday in all.

but what my cousin said a while ago, he reckons that after so many highs and with all the adrenalin, once it stops, one may get depressed. uh-oh.
i have many highs and good adrenalin. maybe that's why i need to keep going.
and maybe that's why i feel so unmotivated today.

i'm starting to miss the con and its antics and all my con friends already..!
the cool 2nd yrs won't be 2nd yrs anymore..!

i'm going to go practice my sounds. like the click. and the raindrop. haha.
and try to suss out which earrings NOT to wear when i see the boys because they resemble those sweets too much that they want to eat them.

silly me

i've screwed up my computer again - water. but i don't think it was the water that did it. i think it was because in my cleanage, i managed to accidentally hit the screen. but not too hard.
it flickered, came back on.
then flickered again. and cut out.
and now i can't turn it back on again.
but yeah, i can't use it. my life without facebook and email is kinda tormenting at the moment, but on the flipside, i have all this space on my desk.
well, some more.
but i don't have any music to study to now..!!! :(
i'll take it to the computer guys to fix it. i don't really care how much it costs, i need it back.
so yeah, send me emails, but it won't necessarily get a reply within 10 mins, like other times.

a weekend of music

okay, i know, i blogged only a day and a bit ago.
but meh, i'm procrastinating - there! i said it. plus, lots has happened.

on friday night, i had to play for 'cop song' from urinetown. the show had been nominated for awards at the UHT cabaret and awards night, and subsequently was asked to perform just one number from the show. it went quite well, considering we had a very short time to prepare it, plus it wasn't fresh in our heads. a few hitches but nicely saved, would be how i'd describe it overall. i didn't realise that there'd be quite a few people i knew in the audience, because i'd gotten a "go gladys!" when i stepped onto stage (albeit to the side to play piano! hehe) as well as a few comments in the next 24hrs of "well done!". wow, who would have thought i had so many friends who were into theatre?!

then we rushed off to mel's 21st. thanks to D who drove S, A and me. it was wonderful to see so many of her friends (who incidentally are also half my friends hehe!) from all sorts of places. especially some that i haven't seen for a while (ie. mostly wyverns). i had a wonderful time. the place was so cute (all to herself!) and had a good chat to a few people - some old, some new. the cupcakes were a treat, sooo cute! i unfortunately managed to stack it down the stairs near the end, causing a flurry of "are you ok?!?!" don't worry, i was, but my bum hurt for a little while, but not an issue! at least i didn't twist my ankle! haha. there was a guy we didn't know (but part of the party!) who was coming down the stairs trying to bust the moves on P and me (he started busting the moves when he saw us - desparate..!) but then just as he did, he hit his head on the doorway coz he was too tall. hahahaha. shows that he really shouldn't try to flirt when it's possible he could make himself look like the biggest idiot (which is what we thought) haha. for amusement factor, good score!

did a little bit of homework on saturday morning, but kept getting distracted (i'm really good at that!) then met M at 12 to go shopping. (I haven't eaten properly all weekend......anyway, different story completely). i wanted to buy a black dress for performing, and/or a nice top for performing (so that our trio can have some colour!). we went into the city to browse and all that. went to several places, including melbourne central, myer, and swanston st. actually found a gorgeous dress in central, from ojay. tried it on, but wanted to leave it to think more about it for a while. kept going around trying to find stuff, but to little avail - nothing else really caught my eye that much. M had to go quite suddenly (well, earlier than expected because her aunt arrived at spencer st earlier than anticipated) leaving me to try on a dress in another store. that didn't quite do it for me, even though it was half-price, at $45, and quite nice. however, it just didn't quite cut it. i decided to go back to ojay to have a 2nd try of the dress. the girl who'd helped me the first time was very helpful again ("back for the dress?"), and so was another girl working with her. i totally fell in love with the dress again. mostly for the skirt, but the dress is just gorgeous! and so i decided to buy it. even though it was more expensive than i intended to spend (mind you, it was on sale because of racing season), but i figured that i'd wear it quite a lot (getting lots of value for money!) and it was just perfect - well, so suitable for playing piano (the original intention of buying a dress) and plain enough to dress up or down with all sorts of accessories, but nice enough to wear by itself. i also went to the supermarket to buy a pair of stockings (real ones with feet this time!) - but who knew it'd be so hard?! i thought i'd have lots of choice, but i didn't really, which was a pity! the time i wanted footless tights, they didn't have them. but the time i want just normal stockings, so little choice!

so, the farewell concert.
sound-check at 6.15, so had to shove down dinner pretty fast. got all dressed up. new dress and all. so nice to wear!!! a few people are incredibly jealous of it.. :P (not that it's fun to be the envy of people, but yeah, anyway....)
waited around for ages, but i guess that happens.
our sextet was wonderful. so much fun! A turned pages for me again (this is only the 2nd time i've actually met him, although i've known about him for well over a year), but he was much fun to talk to and hang out with.



i have loved working with this group of singers - i did originally tell N, "More than two singers in a room makes me scared!" but this group, you guys are incredibly talented. when and what is our next project? many happy and fun memories :)

merlyn's performance was stunning. she is just such a gorgeous singer. "I'm Tone Deaf" was performed with great amusement, and Laudate Dominum was just gorgeous (also involving the music coming on screen and the audience joining in! I love singing the alto lines!) the opera project tribute was quite amazing - i've heard about this, but never really known much about it. to see the footage of what goes on, and how it evolves was amazing. the best opera was definitely the one about camels. the composer even made all the costumes, wrote the libretto, helped with set design and construction. and wrote an aria from the point of view of the camel belonging to lawrence of arabia. HAHAHA.

when we'd finished performing, we got off the stage and sat in the audience, as they were still applauding - it was almost just breath-taking to see bebbo applauding and smiling at us as though we were his protegees! it was cute.
AK came up to me later and told me in her usual (fairly stern) way "that was fantastic, gladys" i felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside. because i'm pretty sure comments like that from her are fairly rare. and she's hardcore. well, in terms of knowing exactly how it's meant to be.
hung around for a while, especially catching up (a bit!) with G, which was wonderful - i haven't really had a chance all semester to sit down and chat with her. even though we didn't sit, it was great to discuss big issues. :)
just as we were about leaving, i stopped merlyn and thanked her for helping us out and working with us. even though i'd heard the rumour for three years about her being mean, i have found this, in my experience, to be completely untrue! she was wonderful to work with, so supportive, and so encouraging, and so full of humour! she gave me a hug, and told me that i was talented!!!! wow. i was really taken aback by this second comment from such a prominent person (people!) in one night. she said i could go far if i had determination, and that it's hard being a woman in this industry. but i assured her that i was full of determination and grit...! this was quite phenomenal - there was this lady, an amazing musician, who i'd only worked very briefly with, telling me that she could tell i was talented, and urging me to keep doing this stuff! i was really touched.

it was an amazingly touching and emotional kind of concert. of course, there was a standing ovation for her. and i don't know her that well, yet had tears in my eyes several times! what an amazing woman.


daylight saving started from saturday to sunday. gargh, i hate this time of year - one less hour of my life! i really could do with just adding hours consistently..! oh well.
didn't get much done today, admittedly.
went to parkville this morning, which was lovely. got to see G, whom i haven't seen all year! plus, i got to meet W in the flesh! (he has been in the flesh for quite a while now, though..!) soo cute!!!
tried to do some work this arvo, but that didn't go that well, because.....i'm lazy....!
was intending on going to the choir of westminster abbey musica viva concert this evening...but E and i got there at about 5.20pm, and ALL the student rush tickets had sold out. we waited to see if any would become available, but to no avail. what a disappointment - i'd been waiting for a whole year for this event, and didn't end up seeing them at all :"(
instead, M, E and i went for some early dinner-y thing at blue train. it was nice to hang out with them, because i don't get to enough, and definitely not much at all outside of uni.
it was just a pity that soo many students missed out - i find it quite preposterous that they advertised to VCA and con students (potentially at least 100 students who would go) but only had about 20 seats to actually sell!
i suppose i will just have to go to london to hear them. there will be lots of things to do on this trip!

anyway, swotvac officially starts tomorrow. as you can probably tell, i've been very successful at procrastinating for an ENTIRE weekend. i really have to knuckle down. but when one's homework and study is:
1) practicing and playing the piano, it doesn't feel like study.
2) so spread out because exams are so spread out, motivation has to last all that time..!!!
3) listening to set pieces, i can still blog at the same time. or do other stuff while doing homework. i really think my homework is too much fun to be homework.

week 12 - some stuff happened!

but is that really surprising? as i've always maintained, i think i'm one of the busiest people i know. if not, the busiest. but i suppose i don't have friends who are CEOs. so perhaps not.
anyway.

my piano lesson last week didn't go as well as the one before it. well, i felt a lot smaller after it. but i suppose that happens - one needs to be brought down to size haha. but i tell you, it made me practice a lot because i was afriad of being crap! went to the vic on friday night, but tim was unfortunately sick again. so we hung out and talked and ate yummy food (including yummy lemon coconut slice made by jon...soo good!!!) and watched a movie, "The Great Race". So old, so cliched, but so funny. Plus a fantastic pie fight scene to die for. Well, not really, but it was fantastic. jule, jac and kristen came over fairly late, and it was cool coz then there were heaps of musos friends also there - it was really nice!

S came over on saturday night to play through his programme - this was the first time we were playing together, so that was cool. plus, i was really bored that night, so it was greatly appreciated! i did most of my homework on saturday day coz sunday was huge....

there was just lots of stuff on! had a rehearsal at 1pm with our yet-unnamed trio. then dashed off to newman at 3pm for orchestra nouveau's debut concert (M stayed in my room to practice). then had a little bit of time to dash over to the vic (for about 20mins!) to at least show up for a bit of F's 21st birthday lunch (had a slice of cake that her dad had made - yum!!!), and then dashed back to queen's for the chamber music concert at 5pm. i stayed until 6.30, then ran to chapel (i have hardly been this year because i've had HEAPS on..!) and then straight to jude's. i grabbed dinner with T, J & J (and B & E) afterwards - i was STARVING!!! and got home fairly late. but it was a big day (i did warn you, yeah?)

monday was also very busy, but unfortunately i couldn't go to everything! i need to learn about hexalocation, i think!

anyway, the lunchtime concert was the chamber music comp final. the don banks trio changed their name to the senzamento trio. i was confused for a while, until it clicked. and i laughed VERY loudly, VERY hard.
they played well. actually, they all did. the yarra trio won, so well done to them.
they played the smetana trio. and revelations over two days:
in the chamber music concert at queen's on sunday, A's trio played two movements from the Schubert. and i sat there thinking "hey! I know this! the kungsbacka trio played this at their concert earlier this year!" (the one i really enjoyed) and then the smetana - i wasn't sure coz i don't know it. except that when they started, i recognised it! the kungsbacka trio also played this one! so, having been slightly put out when i saw their melbourne programme wouldn't include the ghost trio, i still enjoyed the concert. but now, with hindsight, it was FANTASTIC! it's nice when you have those moments of recognition. :)

unfortunately, couldn't go to everything that night. this is why i needed to learn about hexalocation:
1) woodwind concert
2) comp 1 concert
3) big band gig
4) SMC meeting (which i ended up going to)
5) S's birthday dinner
6) RFP's concert at queen's

yeah, no prizes for guessing, from the above list, the things that fill my life! the meeting went for quite a long time - there was much to be discussed, esp. coz the AGM was on tuesday.

had a rehearsal on tuesday for don giovanni stuff with the sextet and M. we (and i mean 'they') staged it, which was cool! it sounds really good :) i'm really excited to be working with these people, even though more than two singers normally scares me!
so, went to the AGM dinner on tuesday night. which was good. got to talk to a few people, plus heard a report about student ministries. that was really interesting, but i suppose none of it was really surprising because we'd discussed it all (plus more!) at our meetings hehe. i have decided not to continue being on the committee, for various reasons (but one more so than the others). i had thought it out and emailled R that day. all rational. that's ok. i don't feel scared to raise an issue through a committee member now anymore, now that i know how it all works.

trio reherasal on wednesday was called off coz J had to go back home for a dentist and back appointment (not concurrently, though...) so i had a lot of the day to myself. had a don giovanni rehearsal in melba; it was good to work in the actual space. and to have the Eb actually work. :) was a good rehearsal, we're all feeling good about it! then went to Rosamund Illing's recital, which was very enjoyable. of course, i felt almost like a fake because i was a pianist, and there were lots of vocal students, but hey, i was interested. and i showing interest is a good thing too (not that it's the only reason one goes to stuff). got my techniques assignment checked by M (and had a cup of tea and a chat, which was nice!) then had the aedificamus launch. my essay, titled "Economic and Social Success or Failure?: The Impact of Globalisation on Women in Eastern Europe" was published in the journal. yay for three years running! hehe. reading back over it, i can't believe i did all that research and actually wrote it! yeah, this was the essay i wrote last semester for that online commerce subject i was taking, the one that i thought i wasn't going to do that well in (turns out i got like, a 90 for it..! haha)

missed the percussion ensemble concert that night - much as i love going to concerts, i figured i should do some homework. that was the intention anyway. but after dinner, ended up on s'north for a while. quite a while, in fact. like, till 10.30 or so. i think. haha. it was good though, to chat with friends, to hang out. and to look for 'missing' (ie. that we couldn't find) bible verses!!!! we were looking for one in particular......and called all sorts of people to see if they knew where it was! kudos to J for it!

anyway, so i got back to my room, and i checked my phone, and i'd had a missed call from a landline i didn't recognise. and an sms to tell me i had a missed call from a mobile number that i also didn't recognise. but looking at the times, it seemed somebody wanted to get onto me, so i decided to text message saying something along the lines of "i got a missed call from this number earlier tonight, so if you need to talk to me, you can call me coz i'm still awake." i get a "who are you?" back and figure it must have been a mistake in the first place whereupone i apologise "i'm sorry, must be mistaken. sorry to have bothered you". "that's ok" comes back.
Then 10 or so minutes later, i get a "are you a musician?"
now, that is WAYYY too lucky. and random!
my response is "um, yeah, good guess. i suppose i'll just say i'm a third yr pianist at the con". if that makes sense, that's cool. if they're not a muso themselves, then the con won't make sense.
the message i then get surprises me beyond anything, "Then u must be Gladys CHUA?"

WOW.

and i immediately ring it because i think that this must be a friend from uni whose number i don't have or something. but that's lucky, at least they know me! sounds personal, at least.
i didn't realise it was already quarter past eleven or so when i ring, but i figure, up this late and text messaging, they won't worry if i call them.
i call this number and say "I'm gladys, who are you?!"
and get a "hi gladys, this is PB"
AHHH. all the light bulbs go on, and then turn to confusion. because i've never met him before! but i know some about him, apart from conducting MYO. he also conducted uni orchestra last year. and i read his bio then (in the programme) and incidentally also comes from perth. I blurted this out on the phone, and said "you're from perth! so am i!!!"
the real reason he called was to ask if i was willing, available and interested in playing the 1st piano part in saint-saens' 3rd symphony with MYO on 2 dec.
we had a lovely conversation (after i called back on a landline..) about perth and all that jazz. turns out we know lots of people from home - all in music, of course! and that he is an old haleian, his mother lives around the corner from me and all that. just really random, coincidental things. that really made my day, it was just so amusing and so.......WOW..!!!
and also a lot of people from melbourne, especially current students; i didn't realise just how many people i knew from uni who are in or have done MYO! he had good things to say about them all, actually. even though his rapport with students may not be in the best shape.

anyway, so that was probably the most exciting thing all week!

thursday had classes, including the concert class which started at 10.15am..! of course, i was in the middle of ANOTHER class...what odd timing of it all! mss held a bbq for the end of semester, which went really well. another successful year, i think!
then rushed home for a rehearsal with R, then went off to hawthorn to do exam! woohoo! again, i forget what it's like to do ameb exams hehe. sat around talking to D for a while, which was nice. but then got home, and had to rush to theatre for reherasal, which unfortunately didn't even start on time (ppl before us were running late, took longer etc.) oh well.

i think i'll do the friday update another time...i'm incredibly tired right now, and feel quite ill (again...)
last day of classes was today, and it's scary! i mean, i still have tutes next week for college, and chamber music and stuff like that, but it's really coming down to crunch time now. assuming i don't fail anything, i'll be well past halfway of undergrad. and to think some of my friends are finishing undergrad now! eek!
i'll continue to aim to enjoy uni - i really enjoy it and definitely value the friendships i have there!

anyway, time for bed, i think. i'd like to do some shopping tomorrow..!

"wow" on a couple of fronts

1. that people actually read the post below. i'm really impressed - it was long. which takes me to point 2...

2. the post below (fortnight du mort) is just over 4000 words. no wonder it took so long to write!

3. 4000 words is longer than any essay or assignment i've written for uni (probably also because we have word limits, but still..!)

4. there are people visiting my blog from many parts of the world. and i don't think i know who they all are..! go figure. but cool.