It's official.

I'm addicted to tea. As in, I will have serious headaches and be unable to think straight if I don't drink it. O.O Well, I'm not stopping NOW, that's for sure.  There is something so therapeutic about drinking a perfect cup of tea. There really is. And I drink one cup, and I can focus again. I had neglected to drink any tea all day yesterday, and I had the most horrible headache, and couldn't focus on anything that involved alert mental abilities. It's just a little alarming! :D

TEAAAAAAAA

MORE TEA

EVEN MORE TEA! (Have I mentioned that I LOVE tea?)

In other news, this is the blog post for pictures, so here are some of my room.

I have the prettiest view out my window now.

I have a window full of Birch trees, and I LOVE Birch trees.

It is snowing again!

the birch trees and Peacock Pond from my window

the bridge

Did I mention I have a FANTASTIC view?

the desk area

Mormegil! (And my desk/window)

the door (which is to the right of the desk)

the drawers and mirror/cabinet

Those books basically represent me, in a nutshell.

my bed (the window is to the right)

my teeny bookshelf (which is on the side of the desk!)

closeup of desk area

probably three of my favorite pictures in the room.

Narwen, drawn by a very good friend

And me :D

This weekend for Beowulf homework, we're translating the fight with Grendel which is completely awesome, and epic, and here is part of my translation.

He came in the dark night,

slinking, the skulker in the shadows,

those who should have held the gabled hall were asleep

all but one. It was known to men

that when God willed it not,

they could not be drawn under shadow by that sin-scather,

but Bewulf, watchful, fierce in anger

bided, enraged, for the result of battle.

Then he came from the moor under the cover of darkness,

Grendel went, he bore God’s ire,

the wicked ravager intended

to ensnare a certain one of man’s kin in the high hall.

He advanced under the sky to those who in the wine-hall,

the gold patterned treasure-hall of men

who were most readily known to the hostile enemy.

That was not the first time that he sought Hroðgar’s hall.

Never did he in all his life-days, before or after,

find fiercer hall-thanes.

He came then to hall of warriors

to deprive them of joy.

                                The door at once gave way

after he touched the firm band forged with fire;

 he was enraged at the hall mouth,

then intending evil. Soon after the

the enemy treadded on the flagged floor,

he went in, angry of mood; the horrible light

from his eyes stood flame-like.

 He saw in the hall many warriors,

a band of kinsmen asleep together,

a band of young warriors. Then his heart exulted,

the dire demon intended that he should part,

before the day dawned, each one

life from body. Then it came to pass that he was

in expectation of a plentiful meal. Nor was that fate his by any means

the he would be allowed more opportunity

to partake of mankind after that night.

Hygelac’s kinsman readily beheld how the scather of men

desired to act under terror caused by sudden attack.

            The demon did not delay that thought,

but the first time he quickly seized

a sleeping warrior, eagerly slit him open

bit the bone locks, drank a torrent of blood,

he swallowed huge morsels; soon had

entirely consumed from the feet to the hands

of the un-living one.

                                 ~Beowulf lines 702b - 745a

Alright. I'm going to have to go and do lovely amounts of Latin translation... *sigh*

So... originally...

...I was going to post in something of a panic, because this week was going to be insane and crazily stressful. My dear Penny can attest to the mild panic attack that I had Friday afternoon when I realized how much work I had.

BUT

24 hours of prayer with Christian Fellowship later, I have completely moved into my single in Clark (I'll try to take pictures tomorrow) AND have done half of my Latin assignment for Monday. AND better yet, I'm not stressed out anymore. I still have insane amounts of work to do tomorrow, but it seems much more manageable now.

The to-do list of doom.

Latin

·      Translate lines 305-241 

·      Read Menander’s Dyskolos 

·      Write two-page response focusing on any one character.

·      Work on flash cards for quiz

Beowulf

·      TRANSLATE AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE

Astronomy

·      Work on take home exam 

·      Do unfinished problems for Moon hand out 

·      Learn those Astronomers for the in class portion

Music

·      Read Ch. Three to middle of p. 44

·      Play all and any intervals on the piano

·      play any major scale on the piano

·      also practice all of the rhythms on the rhythm handout.  

     Make and STUDY interval flash cards

Plus go shopping for groceries.


It's still a LOT, but I think I'll get through it alright.

In further news, my mom is here, so that's really nice, and comforting (though my desire to do ANYTHING from that list of doom is rather depleted since I just want to spend time with her...)

And this picture just made my day.

In other news...I have no other news beyond NEW ROOM *spaz*

What a...

...gorgeous day it is outside. With the temperature at 55 degrees, it is positively balmy. I am torn between absolute enjoyment of how beautiful it is and horror because it's only February. It should NOT be this warm in February!! But I can't bring myself to be too horrified because, as I keep saying, it is GORGEOUS out.

I had two voice lessons this week, one to make up for the first lesson that we missed due to snow, and then my regular lesson this morning, though this morning we got to start at 10:30 instead of 9:30 which was VERY nice. I really do sing better one hour later. Anyhow, today's lesson went really well, as did everything else, though I am slightly worried, because I've been procrastinating since this morning. I did get my Music Theory homework done in a very short period of time, and have done at least half the work for Latin, but I still have Anglo-Saxon and the rest of Latin to do tonight... and really, I just want to watch my History documentary that I got from Netflix... or draw...

Here are some artistic things I've done lately:

I made some conformation errors on him, especially in the area of his withers and upper neck...

but overall, I'm pleased

And other than that, I've not really been able to write, alas. BUT, oh well. I really am enjoying my classes, so it's not the end of the world.

Let's see... the highlights of this week...

Monday... there weren't really any, but it wasn't a bad day, per say. Just normal. Actually, not strictly true. I had a fantastic meeting over tea with my prayer partner, and we read another section of James, and it really is quite remarkable that last semester, before all of this happened, I chose James, because it's actually scarily relevant right now.

Tuesday I had the first voice lesson this week, and it went alright. I didn't know about the lesson till very shortly before, so I didn't have time to warm up before hand, which really made a difference, and I wasn't as good as usual, but I still learned some important stuff, and worked a bunch on learning how to belt.
 Other than that... Music Theory was canceled, and we spent more time on the observation deck at astronomy, AND got an extension for one of the pieces of homework, so that was pretty cool. I also discovered that I am starting to get to know my winter constellations pretty well, which is exciting! I LIKE knowing what I'm looking at, darn it! (Summer constellations never seem to stick in my head as well, which is really a shame, given that one would be so much more comfortable spending a lot of time looking at them, baring mosquitoes.)

Wednesday was Anglo-Saxon and Latin, and both went well, though nothing particularly interesting to report... except that I got a really good grade on my vocab quiz in Latin, so that was nice!

And then there was today, which I've already talked about.

This weekend, hopefully my friend Anna will come visit (she graduated last year, and lives about half an hour away) and show pictures and stories from her trip to Harry Potter World, and I intend to go see at least ONE showing of "Tangled" of the two that are playing at school, and I am going to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean" with Rachel (we watched the first two last weekend), so it should be a lot of fun, and a good break from studying.

I also watched the first episode "Who Do You Think You Are" Season II, and it was quite interesting, as usual, and I will definitely be watching the other ones... eventually. Well, I have to head off to eat dinner before I go to archery, so that's all for tonight.

The holiday we love... to hate...

Ahh. It is that time of year. That holiday that so many of us love to hate. Seriously. I can stand the lovey-dovy couples and chocolates and flowers that appear everywhere. I don't mind lace or hearts, but I cannot help but be wary of a holiday whose primary colors include so dominant a display of pink. Professor P. and her love of pink excepted, I DO NOT LIKE IT.   And I WON'T like it in a house, with a mouse, or with just about anything else either. (Though some pink roses still manage to be absolutely breathtaking)

but then one could argue that that's hardly pink... (from internet)

and this one is fantastic, but has a lot of apricot in it... and apricot is NOT pink. (from internet)

Fortunately I have never encountered a Valentine's Day as bad as this. 

"Lockhart's idea of a morale-booster became clear at breakfast time on February fourteenth. Harry hadn't had much sleep because of a late- running Quidditch practice the night before, and he hurried down to the Great Hall, slightly late. He thought, for a moment, that he'd walked through the wrong doors.

The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers. Worse still, heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Harry went over to the Gryffindor table, where Ron was sitting looking sickened, and Hermione seemed to have been overcome with giggles.

"What's going on?" Harry asked them, sitting down and wiping confetti off his bacon.

Ron pointed to the teachers' table, apparently too disgusted to speak. Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence. The teachers on either side of him were looking stony-faced. From where he sat, Harry could see a muscle going in Professor McGonagall's cheek. Snape looked as though someone had just fed him a large beaker of Skele-Gro.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart shouted. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all - and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and through the doors to the entrance hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Not just any dwarfs, however. Lockhart had them all wearing golden wings and carrying harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison"

                     ~Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chapter twelve). J.K.Rowling

And for one parting shot at the whole silly day, here's something my very good friend Veronica wrote, and which voices sentiments that I wholeheartedly agree with.

!                !

I am not       fond of

The holiday    with hearts

It makes me feel  rather awkward

The immediate solution is to ignore it

But when it creeps up every year

You have to wonder if there is

Simply another way to deal

Then you remember that

This dreadfully pink

Holiday is a very

National thing

Valentines

You are

Hmf

!

Alright. Enough of that. I'd like to take this moment to remember my fantastic friends and family whom I love very much. You guys all rock my world.

 

ahhhhhhhhh

Finally, a weekend of relaxation as well as work. This week was, all in all, fairly good. Academically, it was witness to the most intensely amusing Beowulf class, the return of my first graded writing assignment for Latin (in English), my first forays into the land of the belters, and my decision to drop Chorale for this semester.

Emotionally, I've been a little drained and on edge, but nothing too horrible, and the fact that my roommate is in Boston for tonight and part of tomorrow helps a little, since I'll have time to just be by myself and reflect and relax.

This evening, my friend Rachel and I are thinking of ordering Chinese food and watching Beauty and the Beast together, and before then, I'm hoping to wash dishes and sweep, etc... before tackling my homework for this weekend. I've got a bit more to do in Latin, since we have a play to read in English, and I have...something horrible like... three hundred lines to do for Anglo-Saxon in hopes of catching up to were we are on the syllabus... but in Astronomy there are only two fairly short readings, and some problems, and in Music Theory, Professor Urban said (and I quote), "Merry Christmas. No homework this weekend!" And there was much rejoicing.

Speaking of much rejoicing, in Beowulf today there were two separate references to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"  that were not only perfectly quoted but also perfectly in line with what was being discussed in class at that moment. It was really so very funny, and should definitely happen more often. The first one was the one where the page says that Camelot is only a model and then they change their minds because, as Arthur says, it is a very silly place, and the second one was the one about the castle that sank into the swamp. All in all, it was highly amusing.

In other news, or lack of news, I will hopefully get some drawing done this weekend as well...

Learning how to... WHAT?

I'm just back from a really hard and rewarding voice lesson: the new goal for a new semester? Begin to learn how to belt. *faint*

It's super exciting and so different from what I'm used to! The other exciting part about that beyond a completely new challenge, is that the piece I'm working on is "Home" from Beauty and the Beast, which is ONLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE MUSICALS OF ... well... just about all time.

To go back to belting. WOW. HARD. Yes that's all I can really say. It's going to be so much work, but I really think I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

In other news, this is the third day (at least) where it has been SUNNY!!! Which is just as well, because

I never thought I'd get tired of snow, but here I am, almost sick of the stuff, and it's only February. Not a good sign. The only thing to do then is watch The Snowman and drink tea (or hot chocolate). BUT I still have to go to work and do classes and such... shucks.

Thursdays have become quite the music day! My voice lessons are at 9:30 in the morning! (Yes, it's hard to wake up early enough to be able to warm up properly before hand...) then I do homework until 12 at which time I go to work, then at 2 I go straight to music theory class, which is a lot of fun...when I'm not falling asleep (which I shouldn't be today).

There's also archery tonight, which reminds me that I need to go send out a reminder email.

Well, I'm off for food and work!

RIP Brian Jacques

My dear laddie and lassie bucks, fellow Redwall dwellers, and all other kindly folk, there is some very, very sad news in Mossflower today. Author Brian Jacques, best known for the fantastic Redwall books, as well as The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman and many others, passed away two days ago. He will be sorely missed. 

These books were a fairly large part of my early teen years, and brought me many long hours of delight. I know that the legacy he leaves behind him in pen and ink will continue to charm and enchant generations of young readers for many, many years to come.

Eulalia!

UUUUHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGG.

That about sums up how I've been feeling lately, though it has nothing to do with classes or homework.

BUT enough of that. My friend Rachel and I wandered around campus a few days ago and took some pictures of the snow and icicles.

I love our chapel. It is very photogenic.

The poor rhododendron. It doesn't look very happy, does it?

That long one could be used as some sort of spear!! :D

This has to be my favorite.

No idea WHAT this was doing in the snow, but I agree with the sentiments 100%.

This was truly a remarkable fort, complete with a causeway to get to it through the knee-mid thigh high snow.

Part of upper campus

You can't see them, but underneath they've blocked the stairs with cones. Apparently they don't want anyone to get skewered as they walk in to Admissions.

Chase, Peacock Pond and the pine trees.

First you swim in a line, then you stand in one.

Professor Drout said it's supposed to snow again tomorrow... which is not a happy thought... but then, what can one do! I hope very  much it isn't enough to cancel class...I've already done tomorrow's homework! That would be most annoying! BUUUUUUT if it does happen, then I'll catch up on Beowulf (with the syllabus not with the class. XD We're just a tad behind, which is not surprising given the length of class time versus the amount of translating we do on the weekends).

Other than being a little behind the syllabus, Beowulf is fantastic, and I love it. Ok, I wish it didn't take so long to look up words, but I think I am getting a very little bit faster at it, and recognizing more words/forms than before, which is a plus.

Latin is also going fairly well, and it is really remarkable how much easier it is than translating Livy, despite the sometimes confusing Roman sense of humor (mostly shown so far by lots of repetition and slightly odd phrasing in spots). We had our first quiz today, and for the first time in .... a very very looooooong time I felt adequately prepared when I saw what was on the paper. THAT was a relief, and a very pleasant surprise.

Music theory is still fairly easy... except that augmented seconds and I aren't such good friends. I KNOW it's the same as a minor third... but it has to be all annoying and technical and call itself an augmented second. Really? Is that really necessary? At least I still understand everything that's going on.

Ancient Astronomies is still very interesting, though the math defeats me every time, and it's really frustrating. How unfortunate that one of my rather large interests involves so many numbers. It is very saddening.

In other news, I'm hoping to be able to move to a single in a little while, but we'll see how that works out!

Anywhoo, that's about it.
Namiko out.

maybe next week...

...we'll have a full week of school! After all, we got through this week... with the exception of Wednesday... but now they have all the snow already on the ground under control, and it was actually sunny almost all day long...

I started the day with a horribly early voice lesson, and this lesson my first one back after being sick all break. I wasn't nervous, per se, but I was apprehensive about the earliness of the hour. It actually went quite well though, and I'll be singing Caro mio ben (of course nowhere near as well as Bartoli sings it, and possibly not quite in the same register, but oh well), When Daisies Pied, and Oct's Ave Maria, and oh dear, apparently I have the wrong book of Soprano Solos! Of course, I only just now realized this. I honestly don't know how I manage to get good grades while being this scatter brained. It's really quite a marvel that I haven't done the wrong homework more often or forgotten it in my room, etc...

Speaking of being scatterbrained, some of you had expressed an interest in seeing what my room looked like, so here are some pictures from the beginning of the semester.

Wow the desk is a mess. This semester there are no books on it. I have hidden them.

You see those post cards? They're lonely. They need some new friends. *hint hint*

Yes, I like Lord of the Rings. Why do you ask?

My roommate's side of the room. Hers looks a bit different now as well.

*sigh* Today was really one of those days that went on forever, which was really odd and rather disconcerting, because I'd think, "Oh, surely it has been twenty minutes at least since I last looked at the clock, and then I'd look, and it would only have been five. Annoying. Very annoying. And it kept happening. After my voice lesson and work (during which time I made a very feeble stab at doing my Latin homework) I had Music Theory, which continues to be interesting but mostly review (though I have no doubt it will get complicated in a few weeks, give or take...

 Some things I'm looking forward to in the next few weeks

1. no more snow days (please, weather!!! NO MORE SNOW FOR A WHILE!!)
2. Watching Avatar at some point
3. More voice lessons!
4. Going to the Contra Dance on Saturday
5. Going through the book of James with my friend/prayer partner from CF (Christian Fellowship)
6. Helping Professor Polanichka (hereafter known as Professor P.) organize/catalog the books in her office.

This last should not only be fun, but will also, besides earning me a few extra bucks, supply me with a huge list of books that I'll end up having to add to my list of things to buy when I have money. I seem to follow the policy of:

"When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." ~Erasmus

 Needless to say this should probably stop before I graduate college so that I can buy food and clothes before I buy books, but books are so fantastically wonderful!

I really should go to the gym, but have been really rather unmotivated, perhaps because my gym buddy graduated, but there, now I've said it, and now I'll have to do it because I said I would.

And on that really random note, I shall stop, even though I didn't say anything about this evening. Clearly I am too tired, as I am rambling. Good night!

Huzzah! There was class today!

And there was much rejoicing.

So class was not canceled today and will not be canceled tomorrow, for which I am extremely thankful. And now that I've actually had each class at least once, I will describe them all.

This semester I am taking Beowulf, Ancient Astronomies, Music Theory I,  Roman Comedy, Chorale and Voice lessons. There is only one English class with Professor Drout, and none at all with Professor Polanichka, which is a bit saddening, but I am getting several requirements out of the way as well as focusing on a wider range of subjects.

Beowulf is, as I have said before, a great deal of fun, but so much work. This last weekend was particularly bad because I was so distracted for most of it, so my translations took way too long, but even so, it is an arduous process. Fortunately I enjoy it, and it's not actually hard per se, it just takes a loooooong time. My friend Simone, who is currently studying abroad in Scotland has been Skyping in, which is quite entertaining for all, and brings the number of students in the class up to ten.

Ancient Astronomies will be a lot of fun, if this first class this evening was anything to judge by. I've had Professor Barker before, back in my first semester freshman year, and this kind of astronomy is much more up my alley than the more modern and scientifically advanced stuff we studied in The Universe. We watched a short documentary on Stonehenge as an observatory, I don't have my notes at the moment, so I forget who the main professor was, but it was about the discovery in... 1964 or 5, I believe, where an astronomer discovered that certain stones corresponded with specific lunar and solar events, including a 56 year cycle of lunar eclipses over the heel rock. It was supper interesting, and was followed by some tinkering on an astronomy computer program and the obligatory mental references to the Black family from Harry Potter when confronted with Regulus, Sirius and Bellatrix all in close proximity to each other.

Roman Comedy is so very much easier than Livy was last semester, which is a bit of a surprise for me since I'm used to Latin being a constant struggle, but I breezed through the eighteen lines this evening, and have been almost entirely correct in all my translations! Furthermore, Professor Schell has a wonderful, dry sense of humor which is humorous under any circumstances, but is rendered even funnier in contrast to the outlandish things she is commenting on. Wow that was a convoluted sentence. I suppose this is what happens when I write after midnight? That does not bode well to any future three am papers...

My last class, and I'm not sure why I put it last, is Music Theory I which is focusing almost completely on "Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music" and which should be informative without overloading me with stuff I don't understand. The professor, Professor Urban, seems to be both fun and business like, though, having never had him before, it is a bit hard to judge from just the first day of class.


I am also, as I mentioned before, doing Chorale and voice lessons again -- sadly I will not be able to be part of World Music Ensemble this semester, because Ancient Astronomies meets at exactly the same time. We're doing a Beethoven mass, which promises to be quite nice once we learn it, and I like particularly because it's all in Latin, which is probably my favorite language to sing in.  I have not had a voice lesson yet, but have met with Joanne, and will be working on a fairly broad range of pieces , if our conversation was any indication.

Well, it is late, and I must be off!

...siriusly ridikkulus

It is snowing again. This is not cool. Astronomy class had better not be canceled again... But then... it has been snowing all morning, and probably most of last night too, so the odds of that are rather slim, I fear.

That path was completely clear a few hours ago...

Maybe I'll take my camera with me and get some pictures of the chapel, library and pond when I head off to class.

I spent the last few days doing homework and watching Jane Austen movies, specifically Persuasion 2007 and Persuasion 1995 as well as the first episode of Lark Rise to Candleford, which is fun, but I'm not sure I'll watch much more of it, as it stops at the end of season four without the plot finishing... and I hate not knowing what is going to happen. I did request the book it was based on though, so if I really like the book, then maybe I'll finish it. I am also very much in the mood to watch Harry Potter, hence the title of this entry.

In other news, we're more than 200 lines into Beowulf, and have already written a short (and I mean short) paper for Roman Comedy, and my roommate made a delicious quiche, so there have been some  good things happening here, despite the constant snowfall.

I'm also hoping to get around to doing some drawing today... but we'll see what happens.