Election Day Special

Last night, for those of you currently cut off from civilisation with this blog as your one connection to the outside world, was the culmination of the Presidential Election here in the US. It was my first time voting and my first time watching the results on TV. (The closest I've gotten to that was the 2000 election, when we listened to the results on the radio until it was my bedtime.) For the 2004 election, my class held an impromptu poll for grades 1-12, recorded the results, and probably watched some of the aftermath on TV.
Now I'm in college and my peers take it more seriously because they can vote, and I admit it, that responsibility is contagious. Yes, I actually voted. I wasn't sure what registering to vote would do to my claim on Australian citisenship, but I figured that it wouldn't do any more harm than getting a driver's licence did, and anyhow, the chances of me needing Australian citisenship anytime soon for anything other than bragging rights are basically nil, so I might as well vote.
Election Night was celebrated here in grand style by the Young Democrats club, the History Club, the Social Work Club, and the College Republicans club. Not being a member of any of those clubs, I snuck into the meeting anyway, stood in a corner, and watched the results come through, because (a) I knew people at the meeting; (b) I needed to get out of my dorm room, otherwise I would be eating everything in sight; and (c) watching CNN projected onto a huge screen sure beats waiting for it to either load onto my computer or appear on YouTube in 5-minute installments. So I stayed there for almost two hours, read Shakespeare during commercial breaks, and generally had a great time.
The club I'm in is celebrating Guy Fawkes Night tonight with the History Club. It promises to be a highly entertaining time ...

Later,

~`Cello Girl

Last Sunday night was the Barn Party.



(dramatic pause)



I wanted to go as string theory, but after testing that idea on several people (all of whom wrinkled their noses and said, "String what?"), I was persuaded to ditch that idea, buy a $2 pleated wool skirt from Goodwill, don argyle kneesocks, and go as a British schoolgirl. (Many thanks to the guy who loaned me a maroon tie. I don't remember your name.)



For what it's worth, I also thought about dressing up as a Freudian slip, but as only one person in the impromptu poll actually knew what a Freudian slip was, that idea was also discarded. (Plus, it would have involved finding and wearing a false beard. No, thank you.)

Now it's the end of another week, and I've had a minor breakdown over my organ practise log, taken a Survey of English & American Lit (SEAL) midterm that was disappointingly small (I almost said, "That's it?" when the teacher handed it to me, but quickly realised that teachers dream of such opportunities), and arrived in Latin class to find chipotle soup and bread waiting for me. Oh yes, and I'm also getting sick, so I've been stuffing myself with vitamin C, drinking water like it's, well, water, and packing Kleenex into my bookbag every morning.

What I'm thankful for right now:

1. Clean water
2. Chewable vitamin C that tasted good (vitamin D tastes like you're chewing on drywall)
3. My eye infection is almost gone
4. It's Friday! Oh my word! It's Friday!
5. Odwalla C Monsters
6. The local grocery store has small packets of brownie mix for only 99 cents. (Fact: Chocolate boosts your immune system.)
7. Warm, dry dorm room
8. I've made a good start on my two Western Thought midterm papers (topics received Wednesday, papers due Monday)
9. My laundry detergent - it makes the clothes smell really nice ...
10. Cornflakes and soy milk
11. Vespers - it's such a great start to a happy, peaceful Sabbath
12. I now know how to replace a cello string.
13. Giotto behaved himself yesterday (his tuning pegs have been very loose lately)
14. We have new orchestra music that is AMAZING!!
15. I finally picked up my work keys.
16. My wonderful, happy, encouraging friends

Have a restful weekend!

~`~`Cello Girl

Musings After 1.5 Weeks of Classes

Having just concluded the first week of classes, it is my humble and unbiased opinion that Sabbath totally rocks. Say what people will about how "inconvenient" and "frustrating" it is to schedule events around a 24-hour block of time, the fact remains that when Friday night arrives, it is such a relief to sit down, take a deep breath, and praise God that you don't have to do anything for the next twenty-four hours. It isn't that you can't do some things; rather, you get to rest and concentrate on what's really important. Last Sabbath I went biking/running with my sister (she ran, I biked); then I went to church for two hours before eating lunch, heading out on a 2-hour hike in a beautiful part of the country, and listening to an organ recital. After sunset, my sister and I ate stir-fry, watched the last fifteen minutes of a football (soccer) game (our team lost), and went to a friend's house to watch the Latter-Day Saints version of Pride & Prejudice. Now it's Wednesday, and I've memorised the endings of the first declension, read fourteen books of The Odyssey, started my laundry, practised organ for 75 minutes last night, and wondered why I'm nearly out of bread. Speaking of laundry, I used Spray n' Wash on my khakis this morning, and it was the first time I'd smelled it in nearly two months and I almost cried. Anyhow. To-morrow is the busiest day of the week - four classes right in a row, plus chapel, so I don't have lunch until about 3.30. Then I have my organ lesson, coffee with my sister, orchestra, and practise with the rest of the Stringinators (an octet of freshman girls rockin' out on various string instruments). Then I read some more Homer, memorise some more Latin vocab, and praise God that the next day is Friday and I have time to prepare for Sabbath and relax.
And no, I didn't audition for A Christmas Carol. I was extremely tempted, but decided not to in the end. Maybe I'll try out for Sense & Sensibility in the spring ... we'll see.

Love, peace, & granola,

~`Cello Girl