Change of address

To those of you who read, there have been two fairly recent changes in my interactions with the blogging world:

1. Switching to Wordpress. It's just time.
2. Doing the joint blog thing with my apartmentmates.

Consequently, I'm writing at MADadventuresin6B.wordpress.com now. Same style, different place.

The best things in life...

Yes, they're free. And they include (but are not limited to)...

• encouragement
• listening
• patience
• gratitude
• jokes

and lots of other nice, sappy sounding things like that. But it doesn't change the fact that it's true. So there's that.

off we go...

My most recent thought train:

• Oooh, this looks like a fun recipe.
• Weird flours though, so I'd have to go make a run to the grocery store. Maybe two.
• What time is it? Hmm...may be too late to get started on a project.
• What else do I have to do tonight? 
• Oh that's right, nothing. There is no homework. I don't have to practice.
• Right. Because it's summer. Well that's fun.

Off we go to TJ's...

Cool.

I'm writing a paper on the musicals of Sondheim and Bernstein (oh, what a drag), and in my research found a cool little thread about West Side Story. Brace yourself:

Background info: Originally, West Side Story was to be a version of Romeo and Juliet that instead pitted Jews against Catholics.
Bonus: Leonard Bernstein was also, coincidentally, born to Ukranian Jewish parents.
Where it gets interesting: The first three notes of the prologue* mimic closely the call of a shofar. Shofars announce holidays and processions, sure, but are also a signal for a battle to begin. And this faux-shofar call happens at the beginning of a musical that's essentially one big battle.
Bonus, round two: Additionally (and this one's a stretch for non-music people), traditional Jewish music often has some ambiguity between major and minor, often seen in the third scale degree ("mi," if you were going to sing "do-re-mi"). And that's all over the place in West Side Story, too. Like in "Maria" with "And suddenly that name will never be the same to me" line. ("Sud" gets the third in the major mode, and "nev" gets the flatted third, taking us to minortown.)

Aaaaaaand making up names of fake places is my cue to exit.

Daily thoughts, 2/14

A comment I got for an evaluation: "This is a worthy path to travel; like all quests one never knows where it will lead or how long it will take; all we can do is embark." I'm highly amused that comments like this would even be written as part of any evaluation, but I also find it endearing that the professor put that much thought into evaluation comments.

Daily thoughts, 2/9.

Daily thought: this is too, too accurate.

I ran four miles tonight. What now.

A challenge.

I have decided, on a whim, that I will attempt to complete a challenge for the week inspired by a post I just read: use the word "kickarooni" fourteen times this week. Wish me luck, and I challenge you to do the same.

Update 1/22: 2 of 14 completed.
Update 1/23: 3 of 14 completed (total, not just today).
Update 1/27: So I didn't exactly make it, but it's not because I didn't have opportunities. I'm pretty sure I could have worked "kickarooni" into conversations even more than fourteen times. The problem is that that word is not in my natural vocabulary, so I didn't really think about it during the day. So that's a bummer. Also, happy birthday to Mozart. He's a good guy.

On making the world a better place.

Sometimes I think the world would be a better place if we handled conversations as if they were journalism. This would mean leading with the main idea, the most important fact, and then filling in with all your colorful details. Of course I know this isn't really always the best idea. I, for one, am quite partial to telling stories with dramatic pauses, imitative facial expressions, and a good deal of build-up. In revealing disheartening news, I know that leading with the biggest punch maybe is not ideal. But when it's just an "oh-I-was-talking-to-so-and-so-the-other-day-and-you'll-never-guess-what-happened" sort of story, it can get frustrating to have all this dancing around the subject and interjections of "it was just so funny" before you even know what it is that is such a big deal.

NaBloPoMo, Day 30! The last one!

Howdy.

• Tonight, my piano studio counted 87 cookies we'd baked after we'd all had well beyond our fill. We used cookie cutters for most, but we also cut our own. I made a partridge in a pear tree. We also did a quite accurate depiction of our piano teacher. So that was fun. Exhausting. But very fun.

• You know, when you show up to a rehearsal not knowing what you'll be playing exactly, and it happens to be a number you haven't yet looked at, and you're sight reading at full speed, and your choir director who will also be running the pit also happens to be sitting in for the first time that day, and she asks after a bit if you're sight reading, it's kind of exhilarating, but it's also muy stressful. Because whoa, those notes go fast. And yes, I'm doing OK for sight reading but yikes bikes. It was rough, guys. What a Friday afternoon.
• It's an even more exciting Friday afternoon when a visiting pianist plays one of the pieces you're playing for your jury in a few weeks, and he plays it at about 175% of my speed. And while I don't really agree with that tempo musically, I also know very certainly that my fingers will never be able to do that. And ick. You just don't want to practice after watching that.
• And I didn't practice today. True confessions, yo.
• In other news, November's over! So NaBloPoMo is too. You've all been lovely -- a great audience.
• In other news, November's over. And it hasn't snowed. How am I supposed to finish my 3 South bingo if I can't roll around in the snow or sled on a saga tray?!
• I got paid today for Secret Garden! And while I totally would have done it happily without pay, it's nice to get mail in CPO. And then when the mail is money, it's even better!

I can't promise I'll be posting quite so frequently in the coming weeks (or months, but hopefully it won't come to that). But I'll try a little.

NaBloPoMo, Day 29

Hidey-ho, y'all.

• Tonight, I went to a little restaurant called Austin BBQ. Now, it's no Goode Company, but it's some very decent brisket and tastytastic cornbread. Also, they have Blue Bell ice ceam. So there's that.
• I have had so many adventures in the Fischer kitchen this year because of the microwave inconsistencies -- namely, that the microwave hasn't worked for about a month now. Last time, at 1 a.m. snickerdoodle time, I ended up softening two sticks of butter on a cookie sheet in the preheating oven. (It worked marvelously.) Today, I needed to melt some margarine (yes, margarine), so I did so in a somewhat suspicious but altogether passable skillet on the stovetop. I'm not entirely sure if the brown bits and other lovelies on the bottom of the skillet stayed on the skillet when I poured the melted butter impostor into the batter.
• I'm learning to play a little drum set in my percussion techniques class. I'm not usually a braggart, but today, my facial expressions had nearly everyone in the class, including the professor, laughing to the point of tears. I considered it a highly successful class.

Again, maybe I'll make it in bed before midnight. But the last time I said that, it didn't exactly happen.

NaBloPoMo, Day 28

Welcome, welcome.

• Today, I tried "snapea" crisps. They are weird, sort of like shrimp fries or shrimp chips or whatever they are, but without the fishy flavor. Kind of addictive, but also the sort of food where things just get stuck in your teeth and too much is too much. So whoa. 
• Somehow, I'm getting the impression that there is a whole heck of a lot to practice in the coming weeks. More than will fit in an hour a day. My schedule doesn't usually allow for more than an hour a day. You see the predicament here. I will be on the hunt for a solution.
• Tonight, I participated in an attack tea party. 3 South: we bring the tea to you. And then we find a way to get in your room and sit there drinking tea and knitting until you come back and try to remember why you became an RA in the first place if all these sillies were going to be crashing your Wednesday night.
• Everybody's busy, all semester long. Especially at Wheaton. So when you open a devotional or prayer time with "things are really starting to pile up" or "as our lives really ramp up and start to get super-busy," it's somehow not all that satisfying. Yes, we know we're busy. But if we're "really starting to get busy" right as the first month of school is ending and as fall break is approaching and as B Quad starts and as we head into Thanksgiving break and as we come back from Thanksgiving break and as we head towards finals, and as we go through finals, we're not really reminded of the times we're not dying of stress. A better option might be to try to find a day you're not running around from the early morning until well past dinner and enjoy the fact that you've got a little extra time. Because we're all busy, and it doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon.*

*Disclaimer: I'm fine, not dying of stress, not over-committed. Just so we're clear.

NaBloPoMo, Day 27!

We're almost there!

• Events that happen once a year are funny. You either look forward to them or shrink back a little bit, not really wanting to deal with them (winter juries). The thing is, this past Thanksgiving is my second of four while I'm in college. Half of my Thanksgivings are gone. This is the only sophomore year fall semester I'll get. It's important, then, to make the most of it.
• I just remembered a frozen banana I put in my freezer before I left for Thanksgiving break. I'm thinking midnight snack. Don't you feel informed?
• Also, I have a little conducting evaluation tomorrow. I'm feeling a little bit like this, except we're doing asymmetrical meters, not sforzandi.
• Also, I just remembered some theory homework I haven't done. We're all set here, aren't we? 

NaBloPoMo, Day 26

• Something a friend of mine said popped into my head tonight: "If you are lovely and kind, people will bend over backwards to help you." This was in the context of allergies and servers at restaurants, but still. It applies. Yes, to life in general. No, this wasn't spurred by someone's unusually eager helpfulness. I just thunk it.
• I had a real go-getter of a day. I got stuff done. I practiced far beyond what is required of me. I showed up and did what I was supposed to do. Way to go, me. It's been a good one.
• I don't care what you say. Small classes will always trump big ones. Regardless of how dynamic your lecturer is, my itsy bitsy discussion-heavy classes will always win. Yay music majors.
• Maybe I'll sleep before midnight? And be a go-getter again tomorrow? Maybe? 
• Shoot, guys, that was two Annie songs in one bullet.

NaBloPoMo, Day 25

Welcome back to me!

• I'm back at Wheaton, and it's lovely to be out of the car. I've had tea and popcorn and watched a couple episodes of Fawlty Towers. It feels like I've been here a whole lot longer than just four hours.
• If you, like me, have a serious aversion to Guy Fieri, read this. It's highly entertaining.
• Alias is an amazing show. Go watch it now!
• If you ever find yourself in St. Louis, pop into Companion. They sell bread, and their cornbread in particular is particularly delicious.
• Thank goodness November is almost over, because you guys can't take much more of this, I'm sure.

NaBloPoMo, Day 24

Well howdy. This is a story about me. Sometimes, parts of my family go on road trips. In today's case, that trip is from Houston to Wheaton. Today's drive took us to Missouri, but that's irrelevant. What is relevant is this: when my mother goes to sleep early, which she always does, my sister and I are left to our own devices, and this is a dangerous thing. We have to be quiet, but we are witty Winchell folk and like telling stories. The solution is what you see above. We've had full conversations of typing, misspelling, intentionally misspelling, silent giggling, and jokes about cheetah pants. Thus, tonight is just a little screenshot of our tiny lives in Springfield, MO.

This has been...POETRY ALIVE.

NaBloPoMo, Day 23

I'm thankful for many things, but I will tell you about nine of them, because nine is a nice number.

• my major being what it is. A conducting class where you practice clapping and moving your arms in different directions and focusing without looking like you're focusing. A theory class with six people where you look at the structure of music. Aural skills, where you sing badly and nobody minds. A daily date with my brain and a piano in a practice room. If these are the things that fill my days, I'm pretty sure everyone else is jealous.
• food, and how I get to be picky about what kind of figs I want for Project: Homemade Fig Newtons.
• health. I haven't been in the hospital since I was three, folks. That's some kind of crazy.
• that I'm having a hard time coming up with a Christmas list. 
• people who bake with you in the middle of the night and tell you their shenanigans and think you're funny and listen to you rant and make your life so entertaining and worthwhile.
• a puppy who lies stretched out on the couch and does nothing but sigh contentedly while you pat her (very large) tummy.
• anything soft.
• contrast between things that are infinite and finite, rational and irrational, sweet and salty, crunchy and pillowy. You just appreciate things more when you see its opposite. You just do.
• mornings when you can wake up and just stay there, snuggled. No need to get up. You have all the time in the world.

NaBloPoMo, Day 22

Well, for all the planning-stages thoughts on what to make for Thanksgiving -- ruminations on pop-up turkey thermometers, brines, sides, desserts, and predicting what other people will eat -- came to a head today with what actually happened.

A breakdown of the menu, when all was said and done:

• duckies! cured in some combination of salt, orange zest, thyme, sage, and other lovelies
• mashed 'taters: not my favorite, but we aim to please here
• a carrot and sweet potato puree, featuring apple cider and other flavors of fall
• broccolini with some cheese and walnuts
• fennel gratin with lots of crispy-crunchy panko bread crumbs
• and for dessert, a pie featuring grapefruit curd, caramel cream, caramel sauce, and a mile-high meringue, torched with everyone's favorite Bernzomatic propane buddy. All atop a graham cracker crust. Different, but ooooooh. Delicious.

The truth of it all: everything was tastytastic. Except for maybe the mashies. I underseasoned them, and the one dish I wasn't responsible for (the duckies) took longer than expected, making the consistency of the mashed potatoes a little gluier than if they had been served immediately after ricing/mixing.

And all this is more information than you ever needed or wanted! Yay blogs!

NaBloPoMo, Day 21

The thirty things nearest me:

1. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (Platinum!)
2. My computer
3. My sister's computer
4. Various Apple cords
5. My phone
6. the game plan for Thanksgiving
7. My sister's phone
8. Pillows
9. Blankie
10. Water
11. Burt's Bees
12. My sister
13. My sister's pillows
14. (Wouldn't it be great if My Sister's Keeper were the next thing?)
15. Pens
16. Stamps for when I like to pretend I'm a teacher
17. Mock trial affidavits
18. Scissors that look like a pig
19. A little pot that holds quarters
20. A curious craft called "scoubidou." What.
21. Coca-Cola paraphernalia
22. An Indian headdress sported by me for the paper* staff photo two Thanksgivings ago
23. A pirate pinata
24. Daisies, painted
25. A funny rug
26. Cookbooks aplenty
27. A large bottle
28. A safety pin
29. Stitch, the stuffed animal
30. A penny...Lincoln!

Have I mentioned how sorry I am not to actually be writing anything of value to you?

NaBloPoMo, Day 20

With any luck, tomorrow will bring two things I've been meaning to do for a while now:

• make this cake. I've always had good excuses. Something else flashier and more glamorous pops up. It's not the right season. I'm out of whole wheat flour. I don't have buttermilk or yogurt. (Also, who measures butter in thirds of a cup?) Excuses are now gone, and this is happening tomorrow, if I have anything to say about it.
• see people who are in Houston! This one hasn't really been about excuses, I've just been a whole plane flight away. So I'm here, they're here, it's go time.

And you're getting gypped. You've gotten two very short, not very substantial posts. And I'm sorry.