I am always so amazed at how much work it takes to do all the little things. Today I spent many hours working on organizing my school work, getting old papers together, etc. It's just incredible how long it takes to do absolutely nothing.

I put in my application to Santa Fe today. It was a simple online form, no fee, nothing seperate to send in. They're coming to Bloomington in about 3 weeks, and it'll be an interesting way to start off my auditions for the year. I feel that they are way out of my league at the moment, but Ms. Wise has encouraged me to audition, figuring that if I do my very best, I've got a shot. Either way, my goal is just to perform as well as I can, at least making a good impression, and perhaps getting some feedback on where I am at the moment, comparatively.

Other things: Happy day-after birthday to both Mom and Susan. Sept. 29th seems to be the largest birthday day I know, considering that one of my exes was also born on that day. Very strange. Today was my grandfather's birthday, so a special thought out for all the wonderful times we spent together, more than 10 years ago. Time passes so quickly...

Tomorrow night the birthday festivities continue at 805 Henderson, without Andrew, however. It'll be a much smaller gathering than last time, and perhaps a bit less scandalous as well. Haha.

Well, I'm off to bed early. I want to stop myself before I try to get one more thing checked off my list of to-dos.

I am smiling right now. I love good dates. Enough said. Goodnight to all!

I totally just had my first motorcycle ride, and it was awesome (I wore a helmet, everyone. it was safe!). Just had to let you all know.

I need to make a list. I need to make a list of my lists. I have all these lists laying around, and I'm lost on them. I've been trying to get so many things done, yet don't even recall what I've done and all the things I have yet to do. Can anyone tell me--where did I leave my brain?

socializing sum-up

You should all be very proud of me--I have been socializing all day. It's practically a miracle that I've spent time with so many people in the span of just 16 hours:

Early morning: Farmer's market with Chester. Chocolate chip pancakes, coffee, and lots of good talk followed. Excellent start to my day.

Afternoon: Party at Dr. Harrington's house for the birthday of three professors. Got to hang out with lots of fun choral conductors, and to spend more time in one of the most amazing houses I've ever seen.

Evening: Dinner and drinks with Adonis, followed by a short nap and then more conversation with lots of people at Noelle's house.

It amazes me to no end that last year I passed up a year of all of these parties. I'm amazed at how the incoming singers already know more people than I do now. I'm not necessarily in my element all the time, particularly with larger groups, but I'm definitely meeting more people and acting more singer-like. Who knows if that last thing is positive, but for now I'll smile about it.

Long week ahead, I think. Monday looks hellish and I hope that I might be able to fit in anything fun between 10:10am and 10pm. This is the week for the doll aria, so everyone beware: the probability of Laura making an ass of herself is at an all time high.

And, for those of you who have been keeping up with my other singing projects, my callback for Rosina went well. It was not fruitful, but Ms. Wise was very proud of me, and for now I should be happy with that.

Well, though should be getting to bed, I think I'll snuggle up on the sofa and watch a movie. It's been a great way to end my evenings, as I love the new setup of my living room, curling underneath my new handmade (thanks, mom!) afghan, lighting a candle, having some decaf coffee, and mellowing out. I wouldn't mind some company, but it's awfully late for that...

My neighbor from Poughkeepsie sent me this picture, and I decided to post it on the blog. Ah, my young creative halloween days.

My Halloween party will happen again this year, and I hope that all the new people I have met and whose company I enjoy will be able to come...without it being too huge or crazy for my apartment. We'll see...

I'm tentatively saying Friday, Oct. 28th for the party, so start thinking about your costumes now. I can't go as squidward again, so suggestions will be heartily and happily accepted :)

Tonight there's been an amazing thunderstorm, and I've been recalling past enjoyable storms. For a while there in Poughkeepsie we'd get one horrendous snowstorm each winter. It would leave us powerless for about 24 hours, and we'd have to sleep downstairs in front of the fireplace to keep warm. Other times when there was just a weather emergency, we would make a "Buffalo run" (named after the NY state city, not the animal) and drive on the icy roads to a place called Miss Saigon, the only restaurant in town that was open, because it was at someone's house. The roads would be desolate, and my dad, who was proficient in the art of driving on ice, would swerve us all over the road while we laughed to and from the spicy food excursion...

Just plain rainstorms are best during the early and late summer--during the day when it's warm and you've got plenty of time to dance outside, or at night, cuddling into bed near a large window, candles on, music in the background, and a great book. Ahh. Sounds like a good idea actually, it's my plan once I finish the blog.

I've really been trying to wean myself from the tv recently--not having tv at all in San Fran, I find myself disgusted at how easy it is to get caught up in it. I don't mind popping a movie in, but just regular tv is time consuming and mostly ridiculous. Not that I don't tend to watch it, but I'm trying to read before bed, write poetry, anything to calm myself and put a good end to the day. The soycandles I bought a few weeks ago have been helping set the mood, actually, and somehow keep me going with this plan.

So this week should go by quickly, provided that I'm able to stay relaxed about my callback Thursday. I've been working hard at the aria, and am meeting to coach it briefly tomorrow with the accompanist for the audition. I have been trying to keep my hopes down while still keeping my confidence up--a rather difficult thing to do! Though I don't really know the other singers called back for Rosina, I am sure that they are as up to the job as I am, and most likely more so, as I only feel half up to it most days. I wish I had a realistic picture as to where they are with the aria so I don't feel quite as intimidated or out of my league...and you know, I don't even know what my league is. I always feel so unaccompished, very much like that idea of a minnow in a large sea of vocalists...and I know that this might not be the case, but I'm carrying around that from my undergraduate days when I was living in one of the most professional places for opera in the world, and definitely wasn't even close to being anything of interest.

Sigh, I'm getting long winded. I'll leave you all with a wish for a romantic/relaxing/enjoyable storm. Plus there's a full moon out--you never know what nature has in store for our dreams tonight...

sweet yellow devils

So, I chopped up my ripened lemon drop chilis today, and just to see how they taste alone, put a little tiny slice (and I mean tiny!) in my mouth. Holy Chapupkas! My mouth and lips are on fire. I only had a chance to chew it once, and had to spit it out immediately. I think they were rated at level 6/10. Scary. Can't wait to season my dinners with those. Note to self: use sparingly.

Dinner with Vasiliki :)

Yay! Though today was a relatively low stress day (only 1 class, which I didn't have to sing in, and then practicing) I managed to get a lot of errands done, thanks to Vasiliki's visit. My apartment was in great need of cleaning, and it's at that "pre-party" stage, where everything is vacuumed, and all things organized and put away, couch-cover is straightened out, tabletops scrubbed, laundry done, etc. Maybe I should just have a party to put the cleanliness to use (but then I'd have to clean again, sigh).

Interesting fact: When you cook for yourself, things cook quickly. Particularly if you're multi-tasking and are in the shower when you're cooking something delicate in the oven. When you cook for others, however, no matter how long you give yourself, the food is never quite ready on time.

Luckily, Vasiliki was about 25 minutes later than originally planned, so things were cooked. The artichoke was still not as done as the other day (which took less than half the time, sigh) but everthing else worked out fine. Particularly these raspberry truffles I made. Yum yum. Still have a lot to make, but I don't feel like cooking anymore today. The mix is in the fridge, ready whenever to be rolled into little pieces and rolled into the cocoa powder. In fact, I really hope that it's ok that I don't do that now. Grr. I will not cook anymore today. I will not, will not. Not that I didn't enjoy cooking. In fact, it calms me, keeps my hands busy while I listen to good music or review aria lyrics in my head. Good times.

You know, though I didn't do (or luckily need to do) much school work today, I was productive in very neccesary ways: did laundry (my least favorite chore), super-cleaned, did some walking (ok, it was walking home from school, but I booked it, promise), made lots of yummy food for dinner and dessert, etc. I guess I can count today as a success. Hopefully the same holds true for all you reading this.

you know what's weird? I have no idea what happened to yesterday. It's already Wednesday, and tomorrow I only have two classes, and the weekend is here. It was just the weekend! Wow.

random thoughts

you know, every monday or tuesday I tend to ponder the weekend on my walk to the bus stop. Next weekend, that is. I so quickly forget that I have just had 3 days (3!!! incredible) to get my stuff together, relax, sleep, hang out, etc., and am already prepped for more classless days.

Recently I feel like most of my time out of the practice room seems wasted, and I'd rather be singing or working on my singing than doing anything else. It amazes me I haven't felt like this earlier before, at least to this capacity.

It seems to me that this year things are taking me a lot longer to accomplish. I don't know whether this is because I have so many more things to do, or that I just care to do them more satisfactorily. It doesn't seem like either of these answers is right, though something's gotta give. I'm practicing more, spending more time in the library....what's going on?

I was also listening to the radio in the car on the way home from grocery shopping (wow, 4 prepositions in a row, jeez) and was changing from station to station...I used to listen to the oldies all the time, and I guess I just got bored of it one day, realizing that instead of playing the same 20 songs over and over for a few months without switching, they play the same 500 songs over and over for ever. I did love those songs though, and listening to the station for a few minutes almost dragged me away from this time period, and I could imagine myself driving along in the late 50's, living some really weird, totally different life, having completely different priorities and situations. I know I'm going off on a tangent, but for a few moments, music can take you damn near anywhere, have you believing almost anything.

That led me to a different thought completely...I wonder what life would be like if I just decided I wasn't going to work. That I didn't need a job, didn't have to worry about acheiving any particular goals, and just stayed home. [Certainly I know that staying home and being a parent or whatnot can be the most difficult and brain-frying job out there, but those thoughts aside...] Even the thought of working a "9-5" job, with no desire to advance further, no need to prove anything to anyone...it's just scary. Life could be so much easier just working to live instead of living to work...but I would be so bored and unsatisfied that I'd probably short-circuit at age 28 and become some kind of half-alive shell of a person. You know, I realize that 90% of the time I meet someone new, the first thing I ask after we introduce ourselves is "so, what do you do?". Such a focus of life. Interesting, interesting...

I guess I don't have too much more to rant about as of this moment (or at least I'm too tired from grocery shopping to care). My friend Vasiliki is coming over to dinner tomorrow, and I'm psyched. We've been trying to plan a get together for quite some time, and finally we're going to get to relax a bit outside of the IU choir-system. Haha. Hopefully a lot of good food will be had, as I'm happy to have a few hours to cook (and will need to do lots of cleaning!) so we can eat well. I'm planning on some roasted chicken (thanks Kaia for showing me the easy way!) in either an orange or garlic marinade, artichokes, and perhaps some pasta. Then raspberry truffles for dessert. (gosh, it sounds like I'm preparing like a donna reed, back to the thought earlier...)

Either way, Yay! Gourmet [oh boy, I'm rhyming, get me out of here] a few times a semester.

Lowareed

Goals

Goal 1: eat more healthily, go to farmer's market. Not reached. However, I had a good reason, as I didn't get to bed until 6am. This was due to the fact that I reached:

Goal 2!: socalize more.

See pictures below for great times at 805 South Henderson.
More partying tonight, updates tomorrow.

scattered thoughts

[The picture above is a group of us from Basoti (Anna, Laryssa, myself, Gabriel, and Naomi). Fun times.]



...I feel like I have so many goals and expectations this year, and I'm not really pleased with anything at the moment. I just feel like I'm living mediocrely, and it's driving me crazy. I need to start making more lists, and feeling that satisfaction when I check things off. Being a musician also means that things never really get checked off, as you never reach the completion of learning something. It can always be better, and therefore you need to convince yourself of what constitutes success. It's a little frustrating.

Today Kaia and I are going for a long walk--in an attempt to get outside and get our heart pumping. We could go to the gym, but why not take an hour or two and check out some new neighborhoods and get a great cardiovascular workout at the same time? Granted, we won't be running, but it's warm enough outside that if we keep up a fast pace it should be affective. ...Adonis and I totally pigged out last night at Red Lobster, and then we got frozen custard afterwards. I was so good this summer with my eating (for the most part) and I don't want to ruin my efforts now.

What other random things can I say? My apartment never seems clean anymore--I don't know why, but there are always papers and clothes and odds and ends everywhere. I've suddenly become a slob (no mom, I wasn't always one, thank you for thinking that) and it's driving me crazy. Sigh.

Well, maybe I should go do something about it before Kaia calls. Must be productive. Must be productive...

How to be studious, Laura-style:

1) make a nice big mug of cappuccino. The foamier the milk in the espresso, the better.

2) bring out all necessary and most likely boring reading assignments and spread them out on the dining room table.

3) light a scented candle in the adjoining room for some ambience.

4) bring out one of Ashkenazy's Rachmaninoff recordings--make the volume on the stereo just loud enough so you can hear the quietest parts if you really listen.

5) try to enjoy what you hear, taste, and smell, while you drudge through what you see and hopefully comprehend. Highlight to make what you see more comprehendable.

Tada.

Thank you, <taking bow after bow, for having finished a disgusting number of pages of boring material on Monteverdi's Orfeo> Thank you very much.

And a good night to you all.

Studio Party!

Today Ms. Wise had us all over to her house for our studio party--this is almost all of us (some had to leave early to rehearse). It was really a great gathering, and I think we've got quite a group of sopranos. Glad I brought my camera, as we definitely should document this beautiful bunch of people :)

I definitely had my tuckass kicked in my lesson today---in a good way. We worked really hard, and to avoid getting too technical, really tried to reign my support in. By the end of the lesson my back and abs were aching, a very good sign indeed.

Another goal of this semester: take more risks. Taking a lot more risks when it comes to singing--being more opinionated when it comes to my presentation, really going out of my way to say what I've decided I'm going to say with the way I present it, singing anywhere and everywhere I can...whether or not I feel 'safe' or completely prepared (while still being prepared). I've got to stop being scared of getting out there and doing something potentially completely wrong. Mistakes are the only sure way of learning how not to do something...

So today Kaia, Naomi and I went to the farmer's market this morning. I have never managed to be awake and energized enough to make it before, and I'm really happy we went. It's beautiful outside, and I picked up a lot of fresh and healthy produce. One of my goals this year is to eat more vegetables, cook with healthier things, etc. Maybe these Saturday trips will be a good start at reaching that goal.





I picked up this little guy at the market, I'm really excited! He's supposed to be a little spicier than jalapenos, with a distinctive citrus taste. I think he deserves a good name, so any suggestions would be appreciated :) He's got a new home in my kitchen window with my cacti and I hope he'll be very happy.




I suppose I should take a moment and mention cattle calls. I've been avoiding it, because it's been the one thing out of everyone's mouth this past week (well, at least for singers). I had a good time with my piece, and think I did a pretty good job. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for anything at all, but realize that there's a lot of talent out there, and just doing my best should be my goal. Congrats to everyone that's made it through another year of IU auditions (opera, orchestra, band, chorus, etc.) and good luck to all who have yet to audition. I'm sure I'll post up any news I may hear about my friends or myself, but for now, let's just be happy I got some good produce at the farmer's market! :)

I've been thinking about trying to host an every 2 weeks movie night here. Thanks to netflix and a new living room arrangement, I think I could manage having a few people over every week or two, and it would be fun to keep up the socializing, as it's another one of my goals this year. I realize that I am quite intimidated by being surrounded by so many singers all the time, and am going to try to work at being more social in that circle. We're just such a loud bunch, and I completely pull back into my shell when there are too many of us around. So, more fresh produce, and more parties. Two good goals, don't you think? Haha.

Well, I'm off to do some reading and relaxing on this fine Saturday. I have errands to do, but maybe they can wait until tomorrow. I'm going to listen to cattle calls this afternoon, and then chill out. Have a great day, everyone. More later this weekend.