The Demon Barber of Fleet Street...

In a few minutes I'll be heading to Bangor to see "Sweeney Todd". Yeah, we have to travel ALL the way to Bangor to see it, it's not playing anywhere around here. It looks a little bit scary, but hey it's a musical so OBVIOUSLY I'm going to go see it. I'll give ya'll a review tomorrow.

On another note, woo go Pats? Okay, I don't ever watch football, it just confuses me. BUT I watched last night's game, there seemed to be a lot of fighting. BUT Idina Menzel sang the national anthem and I almost flipped out. I LOVE HER.

On another another note, I got a trip to DC to see "The Kiss of the Spiderwoman" in March. I am riding back with my dad's class (they'll be down at the same time) and hopefully I'll be able to go see "The Lion King" with them in NYC. I've already seen it, but it's a fabulous show nonetheless and I could see something 1920384 times on Broadway and never get sick of it.

Alright, almost time to leave.
Later, gators!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Okay, before I even start...I took the pictures with PhotoBooth on my computer so that's why all the letters on the books, and the treble clef on the earring are backwards.
BUT MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope everyone's holiday thus far has been just splendid. I got many great things!
In the first picture is my new Vera purse (and I got the matching wallet). I love the pattern, Alyssa actually has the same one...haha! The picture also has the three books I asked for, and got: "A Lifetime Of Secrets" by Frank Warren (go to postsecret.com if you never have), "Celebrity Detox" by Rosie O'Donnell (I don't care if everyone hates her, I love her!), and "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (which got GREAT reviews). I'm excited to get started on all of those! The second picture is of the treble clef earrings I got. Aren't they pretty!? YAY! Other gifts I received:
A pug calendar, "The Pact" by Jodi Picoult (MY FAVORITE AUTHOR EVER), Wool socks, hat, and mittens knit by my grandmother, Target gift cards (WOOOHOO), a sweater, $100, Pajamas, and lots of other little things. It was a very nice Christmas, all in all! Later the extended family is coming over and we're exchanging gifts & having dinner. We did a gift swap this year, in which everyone picked a name. It should be really fun. Okay, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!
Later, gators!

PS...I am so in love with Gerard Butler it hurts...

Today I went to see "P.S. I Love You" with my friend, Tyler. I fell in love with Gerard Butler. A man who looks like that and sings like he does (See "Phantom of The Opera" if you haven't) should be illegal.
The movie was really, really good. I laughed, I cried (there are some VERY sad parts), it became a part of me. (haha)
There were so many good actors in it too. Tyler and I were swooning over Gerard, but the movie also featured Hilary Swank, Lisa Kudrow, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Denny from Grey's..another hunk of burning love), and Kathy Bates.
I definitely recommend it, but bring your hankies. It's a tear-jerker.
Break is going very well thus far! It's nice to be home and it was great to see Tyler today. He leaves for Germany on Thursday to visit his beau, so I was very happy to see him before he left.
Alright, things to do.
Later, gators!

Only 1 more final to go!

So, I only have one more final and then I am done! It's algebra..icky. BUT THEN I GET TO GO HOME! :) :)
I just took that picture, which was taken at a very odd angle and it makes me look like I am writing with my left hand, in the computer cluster in the Union. I'm studying for my algebra final. The computer cluster freaks me out sometimes, you run into some crazy crazies sometimes, and it smells like old people. For an example of the crazy crazies, this kid just walked in here breathing heavily and then argued with the guy who works here for a good 10 minutes about whether or not he can eat in here.
"Oh please sir, just this once! I haven't eaten for 4 hours..." okay? Then go outside in the hall, you freakin wackjob.
My jury this morning went very well. A few hours after it I got to go see my scores, judged by the 4 voice faculty members there. Out of a 4.0 I got 1 3.9, 1 3.3, and 2 3.7's for an average of a 3.65, not too shabby for my first jury! I was very surprised that Lud gave me a 3.9, it made me happy. He's a good voice faculty member to impress around here, so I was glad I impressed him. I really didn't get any negative feedback about my voice, just things like "you move too much when you sing" and stuff like that. At least they weren't like "you were incredibly off pitch" or anything!
After my jury I had lunch with my friend, Cory and then we studied for the music theory final. I think I did pretty okay. It takes me awhile to do the stuff on theory tests that it takes other people (cought...instrumentalists...cough) 2 seconds to do. BUT all in all I think I did better on this test than I did on the final.
Alright, I need to study algebra for a little bit more and then GO HOME. :) :)
Later, gators!

Merry Christmas from 423 Part II

Enjoy :) Later, gators!

Meet Reverend Jiggles...

This cute little fella is my friend Jesse's cat, Reverend Jiggles McGillicutty. She and Alyssa were thinking of funny names for a cat last year, before Jesse even had a cat, and Reverend Jiggles McGillicutty was the name they came up with. I think it suits him well, though we rarely call him by his full name. Usually it's just Jiggles or Jigs. Is he not the cutest thing ever? :)

On another note, one of my finals is out of the way. I had my ear training final at 9am this morning. It went okay. I am really bad at ear training, so it went as well as expected.
This afternoon I met with Laura, my accompanist for my jury, and we went over my music. It all sounds really good. One of the pieces, Do Not Go My Love, is really really tricky timing wise, but other than that everything sounds pretty good! :)

I just want to get this week over with so I can have a nice relaxing break. Alright, gotta practice piano.
Later, gators!

UMaine trudges on!

Tonight's forecast, as you can see, looks grim. On any other normal day tomorrow's classes would probably be canceled, but this will not be the case for December 17, 2007. For tomorrow is the first day of finals week and there is literally no time to make-up finals.
"Oh, the horror! What about those students who live off campus? They should risk their lives to take a test?"
Now, don't you worry about that, because UMaine has a solution for even that!
And that solution lies in this little plan:

Greetings:

There is a large storm forecasted for Sunday and Sunday night. Because of this we are keeping the Memorial Union open 24 hours on Sunday. Please feel free to utilize the Union as a base and feel free to spend the night studying here. We can only provide the space - no amenities will be offered after 9 PM ( though we'll have coffee and cookies available in the lobby until we run out!) - but if you'd like, feel free to set up your study camp here in the Union.

Robert Q. Dana
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

This cracks me up for some reason. A bunch of people camping out in the union? Silly. Though, I, just like the next person, DO NOT want to have to be here any longer than needed, so I say, more power to the school for creating a refuge for commuters. BUT maybe, just maybe they'll plan better scheduling next year and leave a little leeway for storms because, let's be honest, we have them a lot.
Okay, bedtime for me.
Later, gators!

Practice, Practice, Practice...

Hey there everyone! :)
I thought I'd give you an update on what is going on in my life as of now. I have been doing a lot of studying and practicing. In fact, I included a video of me playing my piano final piece so you guys can hear what it is I am playing.
The Athena concerts went well this past weekend. They were fun!
I have a lot going on this week and weekend as well. Tomorrow I have classes + a sight singing test+ opera rehearsal (maybe). Thursday is shaping up to be a pretty easy day because some classes are canceled, which is nice. Friday, I have my usual classes + a music history test+ opera rehearsal until 10. Saturday, we have the opera concert. It's not the whole opera with costumes or anything, that goes up in February, but Saturday night we are doing Acts II and IV in concert form. Don't come, I'm only singing in the last 5 minutes. And then Sunday I have to start studying for finals!!!
My finals weeks looks like this:
Monday, December 17
9:00 AM: Sight-Singing Final
STUDY/PRACTICE
1:00 PM: Practicing with my accompanist for my jury.
STUDY/PRACTICE
Tuesday, December 18
2:30 PM: Piano final
STUDY/PRACTICE
Wednesday, December 19
FREE DAY!!!!
Studying & practicing all day though.
Thursday, December 20
11:00 AM: JURY!
Study
2:45-4:45 PM: Music Theory final
5:30-7:30 PM: Algebra final
AND THEN FINALLY I GO HOME!!!!!!
Well, anyways, enjoy the video of my piano piece and see you all soon.
Later, gators!

A very busy weekend ahead...

Well, I have a very busy weekend ahead of me! In fact, I am pretty much going going going non-stop until my last final on Thursday the 20th. This weekend I have an Athena Consort concert. For anyone that doesn't know, Athena Consort is the women's chorus on campus. We have a concert Saturday evening with the Black Bear Men's Chorus. So, tomorrow night I have opera rehearsal for an hour, then dress rehearsal for the Athena concert until 7. Saturday I am going to see Euphony, another ensemble, perform in the afternoon and then I have the concert that night. THEN on Sunday Athena is performing at Bucksport Middle School in the afternoon...don't ask me why, I couldn't tell ya. This weekend is rather chock full. PLUS I think Alyssa and I are going to have a guest for a couple nights because our friend, Kate, who is in Athena with me, is staying in our room because her roommate is having a friend over for the weekend. So, that should be fun. :)

Next week is very busy too, as I will have to start preparing for my finals, one of which is next Friday. And then the next week is finals and I have 1 final on Monday, 1 final on Tuesday, a free day Wednesday, and then 2 finals plus my jury on Thursday and then FINALLY I can go home. I am off until January 13th, so it should be a really wonderful, nice, looong break. :)

Alright, things to do.
Later, gators!!!

This day in music...

Alyssa found this cool website tonight where you can type in a date and it will tell you what the number 1 song was on that day.

On October 17, 1987...the day I was born,
Lisa Lisa's "Lost In Emotion" was number 1.


On October 17, 2005...the day I turned 18,
Kanye West's "Gold Digger" was number 1.


Interesting, interesting!
Check it out! :)
Later, gators!!!

SNOW DAY!!!!!...kind of.

So, today was a snow day...of sorts. My first class of the day was supposed to be at 10am. Alyssa's first class on Mondays is at 9 so I told her last night that if when she woke up and there was a snow day to WAKE ME UP and tell me! So, I woke up around 7 for some reason so I decided to call 581-SNOW (the number which tells us if class is canceled) and it said classes were going to be going on as scheduled. So, I was bummed, but went back to sleep. I heard Alyssa get up at 8, check her e-mail, and then go back to bed, so I got hopeful that maybe they had canceled classes. My alarm went off at 9, I called 581-SNOW again and it still said the same thing. Alyssa said that her teacher had canceled her first class, so I checked my e-mail and to my delight, my 10 am class was CANCELED. Now, the teacher in my 10am class is married to the teacher of my 1pm class, so I checked that class folder and sure enough my 1pm class was canceled as well. All that left was piano class at 11 and recital lab at 2. SO, I went back to bed for an hour and then got up and got ready to go to piano class. Right before leaving for piano I checked my phone and saw that I had a text message from the university. Yes, a text message. After Virgina Tech the school started this new text messaging alert thing that is supposed to be used for emergencies, but apparently they use it for cancellations as well because the text said that all classes starting at noon or after were canceled. BUT that still meant I had to go to piano. So, I made the trek to piano class. The picture is from the front step of my dorm. That was at 10:45AM...it looks like it's the evening. So, anyways, I went to piano, then came back, ate some lunch and then Alyssa and I went to our friend, Arielle's room. We played Wii. It was pretty fun. Here are some pictures:
Alyssa playing:

Me Playing:


And Arielle playing:


Okay, until next time...later, gators!!!

Happy December, Everyone!

It's December! & 24 days until Christmas! I think Alyssa and I need to get an advent calendar for our room. Or, better yet, maybe I'll make one!
Today is a pretty low-key day, as was last night. Last night I had opera rehearsal and then I ate dinner with some friends. Then Jeremy came over to take a nap, as he often does, and we got caught up on America's Next Top Model (aka...my Uncle Jim's favorite show...not! I believe his exact words were "this show is making me physically ill")...but that's alright, I still love it! So, yeah then I hung around until Alyssa got back from a rehearsal and then Jeremy came back over, we played Monopoly for like 5 minutes, danced for a bit, you know...the regular stuff. Today, because I have the room to myself again, as Alyssa will be at a rehearsal until around 5, I plan on doing laundry, getting caught up on Grey's and Pushing Daisies and practicing a little Christmas piano surprise I have in store for my family. Then tonight after Alyssa gets home we're heading to Waterville to see the WOH production of "A Christmas Carol", I heard it was good. So, I am excited. :)
OH, another exciting thing! I got an e-mail yesterday about a new a-capella group they are starting on campus. Molly, a grad student who stands next to me in Athena Consort, wrote to me, Alyssa, and a few others about starting a new co-ed a-capella group and I am soo excited! I really wanted to be in one this year. Molly is really good at arranging a-capella pieces, as she is in Renaissance, the all girl's a-capella group on campus. SO I am really excited. :) :)
Alright, I have a breakfast date with Miss Arielle Costello so off I must go.
Later, gators!