12 posts tagged “school”

I would have sworn that it was at LEAST Thursday, if not Friday.

For some reason, I am utterly disorganized this week.  (aside to the peanut gallery: YES, even more so than usual!  Hush!)

Now then, another to-do-before-more-recreational-internet list:

-Continue practicing for and take piano test

-Turn the completed-but-unreadable-by-anyone-by-the-composer theory project into something that my poor teacher has a prayer of being able to grade (yes, it's finished--just totally and completely unreadable.  my handwriting is bad, and my notation is worse.)

-review comments on scholarship application essay A and formulate some sort of intelligent reply to the teacher who is so kindly looking it over

-write scholarship essay #2 (it is researched and outlined, I just have to, well, WRITE the blasted thing)

-do the French assignment du semaine (yes, Madame, I SWEAR it will be done and done correctly by Saturday!)

-write out/translate the preparations for the week-from-Monday French oral exam (see previous remark)

I have that nasty suspicion that I'm forgetting something.  Grrrr.  Must go review planner.  I feel like it's...what?  A paper?  No.  A project?  Being worked on.  Financial aid?  FINISHED FOR THE WHOLE BLASTED YEAR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!  (every time I thought I was finished, they requested something else: a truly pointless worksheet that covered nothing that my FAFSA did not, a copy of my high school diploma--never asked for in the two years I've been attending the institution, I might add---etc, etc) Did I pick up an extra shift at work?  Agree to a trade?  Don't have a note of it or remember it.  A meeting with a teacher?  I don't think so, but....

Le sigh.

Off to bed.  If it's important, I'll wake up at 2 AM and remember. 

However, a couple of lines-of-the-week, courtesy of the customers.  Both are Shakespeare-oriented, interestingly enough:

Customer, handing me a copy of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: "Do ya'll have the movie the book was based on?"

Me, deadpan: "Absolutely.  It's in the drama section.  Right next to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which, incidentally, also inspired Mr. Shakespeare to write a play."

I wouldn't have DREAMED of saying it if I had even the faintest idea the customer would have gotten it.  Needless to say, she didn't.   According to her T-shirt, the parents of this intellectual young female are paying about 30K/year for her to attend a local university. 

The second one was more disturbing, and happened a while ago.  I'd neglected to blog it 'til now.

Phone rings. 

Me, answering" "Thank you for calling The Bookstore.  This is ubicaritas; how may I help you?"

Customer on phone: "Yes, I'm a teacher at XYZ High School (public), and I was wondering if you have the Sparknotes version of Romeo and Juliet."

Me: "Let me check." Pause. "Yes, I have three copies, ma'am."

Customer:  "Only three?  I'm going to need about 50."

Me: "FIFTY?  Er, okay.  Well, how soon do you need them?  I can order fifty and have them here next week."

Her: "Well, I teach eleventh grade, and my students are going to read it in class.  Can I just send them in next week to get the books?"

Me:  "Yes, ma'am, as soon as you get an email saying we have them in.  Now, to just check, these aren't the 'easy-read' versions of Shakespeare with the modern English on one page and the original Shakespeare on the other.  These are the outline-basic-plot-structure Sparknotes versions."

Her: "Yes, that's exactly what I need. It'll cover everything they need to know.  Thank you!"

Well, at least she said thank you.

But our educational system is still going straight to the netherworld in the usual conveyance.

Today=Monday.  Mondays are usually good days to begin with, despite their 9 AM piano class (I love the sound of a well-played piano, but that isn't what one hears if I sit at a keyboard, and 9 AM ISN'T MORNING YET, why does no one understand this?  But I digress).  There is a voice lesson in the afternoon, and a vocal repertoire class that evening.  Plus, lots of unstructured free time through the day, as I never work on Mondays.  Much of this free time is spent in homework etc, but I occasionally fit a nap into the early afternoon.  Naps are lovely things.

Today we had a guest master class in vocal rep, which is precisely what it sounds like.  A guest "lecturer" comes in and works with a few students while the rest of us watch and learn.  New perspectives, different approaches, all that good shtuff.  With me so far?  Excellent.

This was the first time that I sang for a guest lecturer.  I expected to be terrified, or at least nervous and unable to take a deep breath.  The latter frequently happens when I get onstage, even with people with whom I am very comfortable.

I wasn't nervous.  Just...not at all.  I felt fine.  I felt at home on the stage.  I didn't feel at all self-conscious, yet I wasn't just "zoned out," which I will do to avoid stressful situations.  I was there, I was comfortable, I didn't think once about how I looked.  I just became an anxious and upset servant girl, and sang about how dreadful it was that I had lost a pin, Heaven help me!

I enjoyed every second, and genuinely LOVED being onstage and making people laugh.  It was awesome, in the original sense of the word.  I'm just in awe.

Miracles abound, and are beautiful.

...though not necessarily in greater numbers (anyone get the reference?)

The theory homework is done and, I think, done well.

The French is studied, quizzed and tested.

I can play the B flat and E flat major scales in my sleep.

The scholarship app essay is drafted and handed to an English teacher to be checked (what the heck kind of essay is limited to 4000 characters?  Not words, not pages, not paragraphs, CHARACTERS.)

Oh yeah, and I ran a mile and a half today without stopping.  Another record.  I noticed, too, that I am not slowing down during the course of the run.  When I started running, I'd run a quarter mile in three minutes (and, incidentally, be very out of breath, whereas now I can run a half mile without breathing heavily at all), then a half mile in six minutes, and a mile in twelve minutes.  I ran the mile and a half in eighteen minutes.  Not exactly an Olympic qualifier (snort) but still, I like that I'm not slowing down.  Perhaps a 5K in 36 minutes?  I'm thinking that when I hit two miles without stopping, I'll start trying to increase my speed a little, as I'd like to be able to run a 5K in 30 minutes eventually.  We shall see.

I have also noticed that in the last few weeks when I run, I breathe only through my mouth and my lips are rounded when I do so.  I have no idea why, except that perhaps this makes me more aware of my breathing and reminds me to a) breathe and b) to take deep and steady breaths.

I think that the items on my to-do list have been engaging in innapropriate activites and consequently reproducing.  It's the only possible explanation for the way that list has grown.

No more posts until the theory homework is done, the French test is taken, the French homework is completed, the scholarship essay is written, and the letters-of-recommendation folks are (politely, sweetly, respectfully, gently) nagged.  One of the latter set some kind of world record with the timing of her letter; I got it LESS THAN AN HOUR after it was requested.  (thank you, maestra diva!)  I'm still waiting on the other two.  However, in fairness, I really can't say a word until my portion (the essay) is finished, so....

In short, no more Internet for me (except the online French course) until this list is whittled down.   I will even hand the Hair Goddess my two new mysteries (oh, the humanity!) and tell her not to give them back until I show her sheets of completed theory homework, grades for the French test and homework, and a slightly intelligent essay.  I'm at the library now, and here I will stay until the theory homework is finished.  Off to be a good student, for a change...

If I get all this done this afternoon, I shall get some sushi for dinner.

(drools, and says in her best Homer Simpson* voice "mmmm, sushiiiiiiii")

*Disclaimer: I do. not. watch. the. Simpsons.  This is a pop culture reference with which virtually anyone is familiar.

to school, that is.

This morning, piano class.  Scales and Liszt.

Middle-of-the-day break?  Take Hair Goddess' dog to vet.  The poor baby woke up with some NASTY pinkeye/conjunctivitis, and the Hair Goddess is on a cruise.  Nice vet.  I thought the visit was a tad pricy, but it seems to be more the meds than the actual visit (hydrocortizone shot and eyedrops).

This afternoon, homework.

Get back to school, have much-anticipated voice lesson.  It had been too long; between the musical, la maestra diva being ill, and spring break, I think it's been about three weeks since the last lesson.  The lesson was good, and now I'm off to vocal rep.

School is back in session, and life is good. 

Very, very good.

I love this.

I have one piano test tomorrow morning which might last ten minutes at the most.  Post test, I shall return home, go running, mow the grass, clear the yard of wind-fallen branches, plant some flowers, clean the house, do the laundry, and get some groceries.

After which, I will take a hot bath, put on my pajamas, and watch TV all evening because...

(drumroll, please)

SPRING BREAK WILL HAVE BEGUN!

(hops up and down excitedly)

Just checked my email and discovered a note from la maestra diva, informing us that the course notebook due date has been moved to two weeks from tomorrow.

I know she reads this blog occasionally, so if you are---thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!  And I swear I WILL start it sooner than two weeks from today.

When I made out my "to-do" list for this weekend, I forgot a few tiny details:

-My mother's w-2 just arrived in the mail

-April 15 is rapidly approaching

-Have to do my taxes in order to do my FAFSA (federal application for free student aid, for those non-US readers)

-Was refraining from doing taxes because "well, i can't do the financial aid paperwork 'til mother actually sends her w-2 anyway, so why bother with the taxes"

-no longer have this excuse

-$&#!%*^

-Personal goal: finish taxes and financial aid paperwork by monday afternoon

-Who knows? perhaps i'll actually get a refund instead of owing them

-yeah, right.

-The whole researching/writing those political articles might take a little longer than i originally thought...

-NO MORE BLOGGING until at least SOME of these goals or finished or tuesday, whichever comes first

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/retail.asp

school doesn't open 'til 10 AM.

Guess I'll have to miss my 9 AM class.

Phooey. :P

Now back to French...

as we got a few inches of SNOW.  yes, snow.  yes, last Saturday was in the EIGHTIES.  Humph.  Fiddlesticks.  And all those words I decided to give up for Lent. 

The show WILL, however, go on on Monday, assuming that we avoid any tsunamis, hurricanes, sandstorms, and the like.  hey, anything, obviously, is possible in Texas!

So what to do this weekend, aside from working 3:30-midnight tomorrow and Saturday?

• course notebook for vocal rep class (due monday)
• study for ear training midterm (tuesday, the DAY AFTER THE MUSICAL)
• French, French, a bit more French (orals on Monday, the day OF the musical)
• perhaps even find my desk and vacuum the house?  might be a bit drastic.
• sing at Mass on Sunday evening

Okay, how to break this up:

• tomorrow: I may or may not have school.  If I do, I have piano class at 9 and am supposed to meet with my French teacher at 11:30 to practice for the oral midterm.  If not, I'll spend the morning and early afternoon prepping by myself for the oral and completing this week's online assignments for the class.  Have to be at work at 3:30; will review the questions/answers for the French oral during my breaks there.
• Saturday: I have to be somewhere at noon for an hour.  I'll be up by nine, and will put in two hours on the course notebook.  I'll spend another thirty minutes cleaning my desk, vacuuming, and emptying these wretched catboxes.  At the end of the two hours, I should have a general outline completed for the notebook.  Post appointment, I can spend another two hours on the notebook, which should put it at halfway finished or so.  Work at 3:30, and again, will review my questions/answers for the French oral during breaks.
• Sunday: I will do all my online French assignments for the following week Sunday morning, and then finish the course notebook in the afternoon.  I have to be at church to sing at 4:30 PM. 
• On Monday, I should have some free time between the piano class (9-10) and my voice lesson (4).  I can continue to review for the oral exam and practice for the ear training midterm during this time.  I also know that some of this time will probably need to be spent doing various odd jobs about the stage, but nearly all of that is finished.  I doubt that there is much left (aside from a quick wipe over the stage, as someone walked muddy footprints over it).

And yeah, I know y'all REALLY wanted to know all this, right? :P  What can I say?  Writing it all out really helps me focus on doing just the next right thing, rather than panicking about all the stuff that needs to be done.

Spring break is beginning to sound rather fabulous at this point...