Oscars!

I'm so happy! Colin Firth won best actor playing King George VI, and The King's Speech won best picture!



Oh Mr. Darcy. How delightful.

And if you didn't see The King's Speech, I highly recommend that you go see it immediately.

Oswald Chambers

I've been sporadically reading Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest over the past year(s), and I think that it usually has good things to say. Although today I came across this one. I'm putting up the whole thing, and therefore I guess you can skip it if you want.

The Delight of Sacrifice

"I will very gladly spend and be spent for you."
2nd Corinthians 12:15

"When the Spirit of God has shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, we begin deliberately to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ's interests in other people, and Jesus Christ is interested in every kind of man there is. We have no right in Christian work to be guided by our affinities; this is one of the biggest tests of our relationship to Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, not fling it away, but deliberately lay my life out for Him and His interests in other people, not for a cause. Paul spent himself for one purpose only - that he might win men to Jesus Christ. Paul attracted to Jesus all the time, never to himself. 'I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.'

When a man says he must develop a holy life alone with God, his is of no more use to his fellow men: he puts himself on a pedestal, away from the common run of men. Paul became a sacramental personality; wherever he went, Jesus Christ helped Himself to his life. Many of us are after our own ends, and Jesus Christ cannot help Himself to our lives. If we are abandoned to Jesus, we have no ends of our own to serve. Paul said he knew how to be a 'doormat' without resenting it, because the mainspring of his life was devotion to Jesus. We are apt to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which emancipate us spiritually. That was not Paul's motive. 'I could wish myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren' - wild extravagant - is it? When a man is in love it is not an exaggeration to talk in that way, and Paul is in love with Jesus Christ."


I would love to be the type of person that lived like this. You've met her before - the girl who simply exudes godliness in every action, word, and even expression. The girl who never says anything mean, and the girl who is truly beautiful because her devotion to Christ is absolutely evident as the focal point of her identity. For my part, I have occasionally said that I do not want to be the main character of my life; instead, I want others to be pointed to God through everything I do and say. It's something I aspire to, and yet something at which I fail miserably every single day to the point that I feel like a hypocrite for even thinking about it.


And so I start to wonder - is Oswald Chambers right about this? If you are to leave your own interests behind, how should you deal with spiritual gifts, or are those only applicable to relationships or ministry and not to personal enjoyment? Is it biblical to constantly be a doormat - to sometimes be taken advantage of without complaining and without arguing? Is that what Jesus would have done? At what point do you draw boundaries to prevent yourself from becoming bitter and resentful, or do you eliminate even a hint of a boundary and be so devoted to God that being in a state of doormat-ness is unimaginable? ("So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.") A strong and continual lesson in humility has left me realizing that every single situation that calls your character and responses into question has multiple sides, and that nothing is as simple as it seems from your own perspective. It seems to me that Chambers is saying that admitting personal need and weakness means that I am not trusting in or devoted to God enough, and maybe that's true, but I could be completely off-base. I would love to hear what you think about this question....

Microwave Cake, take 4

Ok. I've decided that microwave cake is the PERFECT thing for a college student, either during break or during the most hectic time of the semester. I happen to be enjoying the former of those two options, which is much more relaxing than I anticipated. Thank goodness. Moving on. I think I've conquered microwave cake. Secret magic ingredients? Hot fudge and peppermint extract. And powdered-sugar-and-milk frosting, preferably made in a plastic cup to add to the charm. Drink it with a cup of milk, if you're into drinking milk. If you're not into drinking milk...maybe with water? It requires a drink, in any case. I highly suggest that you go make it immediately. If you can't, come visit my home and I will make it for you. Even if you come at 3 am.

I'm old?

So...I'm 22 now. My very numerological birthday was quite nice, since it included getting rid of my terrible license picture from when I was 16, hanging out with dear friends, and playing both Rossini and Brahms. Oh Brahms....how you fill my soul with joy!

But now it's on to bigger and more important things, like grad school audition number 2 on Friday.


I'm excited! Hopefully I will not be destroyed or something.

It's all in the cards...

I've heard it said that the green cards one collects during a game of Apples to Apples are a literary depiction of one's personality. If this is true, I guess I have multiple personality disorder.


And yet, somehow I think that this representation of my character may be more true than I originally thought...


(I guess if I want to make my blog super legit, I'm going to have to stop posting random pictures of daily life and start talking about things that people actually want to read about. But where else am I going to put pictures like the ones in the last few posts?)

Lauren's Birthday!

Lauren M. lives about an hour and a half away from Gordon, which gave Diana, Meghanne, Michelle, and I a nice car ride in which to be ridiculous. I mean, heck, what else do we ever do?

Here, Diana and I decided to be Sherlock Holmes and Watson. I think I was Watson...


We took one wrong turn on our way that led us to a warehouse that apparently had something to do with either new or used cars - couldn't figure out exactly what - but we found a Mini with the Union Jack on the back of the mirror. I think I want it.


Once there, there were, of course, the obligatory and yet much-loved roomie pictures:



...and then things got a little weirder.




(Scenario: "Jillian, you just found out that Matt Damon is your father." I'm trying to remember why I was so excited...)


(Scenario: "Jillian and Lauren O. are planning a camping trip for Meghanne, but she doesn't know about it.)


(Scenario: "You just found out chocolate has been made illegal." I find our reactions very accurate.)


(No scenario; just really good carrot cake.)

And finally, this was the whole group!


Happy birthday, Lauren!

Catching up

I just went through my camera and I found a whole bunch of pictures that I should have posted long ago!

One time, Meghanne, Jon, Diana, Luke, Taylor, Chris, and I went to Boston to hear the BSO. Once there, we quickly discovered that the BSO was out of cheap(er) tickets, and none of us wanted to spend over $25 dollars, let alone $98. Ha. So it was time for plan B: Fire and Ice! This adventure was partially in celebration of Taylor's birthday, so we we told the chefs, and they made him stand in the middle of the cooking area while we all sang. ("Sang" is a very, very relative term...) After we had gotten our first round of food, we took some scenario pictures. I don't know what was supposed to be happening in this one, but it's my favorite.


This is another scenario picture that is definitely not ringing a bell...


But regardless of what the scenarios were supposed to be, we had a good time acting them out.

Later that week, I baked a cake for our organist/music director's last week of church. I took a picture of both the copious amount of butter necessary to make it taste good, and the even more copious amount of powdered sugar that went into the frosting. At some point or another, I'm going to have to dedicate an entire post to the merits of butter - as in, if you want anything to taste good, throw in as much butter as you think your arteries can handle. Take a look at the sugar-to-cake ratio...



Post-church, there was a party at a new restaurant in Boston called Lolita. NOTA BENE: IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD OF OR BEEN TO THIS RESTAURANT, HEAR ABOUT IT OR GO TO IT RIGHT NOW. RIGHT NOW! I can't recommend it highly enough, and to top it off, it was started by people from church. So cool! And they gave us fake tattoos!


(This is my left arm, if you couldn't tell.)

The next week, my lovely apartment played Bananagrams. I won the last round that I played before heading off to a concert by a phenomenal string quartet, and I took a picture of my crossword masterpiece.


Good times.

This weekend, we went to Lauren's house to celebrate her birthday, but I think that requires a post of its own....

What's that?

The word "vacation" appears to have vacated its position in my mental dictionary. This is a small portion of what I have to do over my "break" next week.

-Get my license renewed. This requires driving to Vermont for a day and a half.
-Have a lesson or two.
-Go to a bunch of rehearsals.
-Take my most important audition.
-Catch up on any paperwork that I didn't fill out last week.
-Create an evidence binder and a portfolio.
-Practice.
-See some friends that I haven't seen for most of the semester.
-Turn 22.

There's a lot more than that, but it seems that brain function as a whole (along with vocabulary) has vacated the premises. Not gonna lie...right now I just want to curl up under my down comforter with my pajama-hoodie on with the hood pulled over my head and sleep for a million years. It's not possible, but that's what I want to do. It will not be possible over next week's "vacation." It will not be possible when vacation ends, because I'll have to go back to school. It will not be possible on weekends, because MENC stuff happens then.

I'm so tired.

Eek!

I have my first grad school audition tomorrow....

Occupational Benefits

My dear roommates/apartmentmates, Meghanne and Diana...


...work in the mailroom here at school.


(This is us, in a nutshell.)

Some of our other friends - who happen to be male - have been prank-subscribed to some magazines. They don't want them, because they are rather quintessentially girly. Thus, our apartment has gladly acquired said magazines - the kind that we would never actually buy or subscribe to ourselves because they would squelch our feminine dignity.


But since we have them, we figure we might as well read them. I mean, who wouldn't want to discover "what to wear, what to buy, and what to skip," "get the hair, skin, and body you want," find "new ways to wear your jeans," and learn to "shop like a fashion editor?"

I had a little time this evening, so I had a good time looking over the latest issue of In Style.


Apparently, I am not rich enough to be truly in style.


However, I can dream, right?


I found some things that I want (when I am rich and famous, of course). I can't use polyvore for this, because these items don't match. But I can display them separately!

I want to smell either like this:


Or like this:


I probably wouldn't use these, but I think these eyeshadows are really cool:



I love this skirt (maybe minus the bow in the front):


I really like this dress:


(Here we depart from the list of things I want.)

I think Penelope Cruz is gorgeous:


I love V8 Fusion juice; it's yummy (it was in the magazine, so drinking it must automatically make me cooler):


I guess that's all I have time to list, because student teaching requires that I go to bed early. Lame, yo.

Super cool!

So...other people may find this weird, but I think it's fantastic. As someone with a peculiar interest in looking at old photographs and wondering about the people in them (especially if they're family relations...someday I will track down my family tree!), this photographer's mission to recreate old photos was pretty fascinating.

http://irinawerning.com/back-to-the-fut/back-to-the-future/

"Bless me, Blogosphere, for I may have sinned..."

Ok, ok, so I have a somewhat embarrassing confession to make. I have tried extraordinarily hard to avoid admitting this for a long time, but both the truth and the guilt are weighing so heavily on my conscience that I can no longer put it off. Please don't judge me, even though I realize that this is perhaps juvenile and unacceptable for someone aspiring to be a quasi-respectable, grown up sort of person.


(I secretly enjoy listening to Taylor Swift.)

Oh no...

I just discovered that the school at which I student teach has a secret supply of free chocolate. This is bad.

Yesterday at church, a song was performed during the Offertory that was truly beautiful. These are the lyrics:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hear their songs,
Their words of beauty reaching deep
Within cathedrals of my heart.
Angelic choirs reverberate
The stained glass windows
Of saints and sinners in their place
Singing out "Amazing Grace"
While in the glory of their faith
I'm drawn to find my part
And sing with all my heart.

I know their words,
Their thoughts reflecting simple truth
Of testimonies rich in love.
Their eyes can see
The mystery of loving kindness,
Of chains and blindness torn away,
Power found in each new day,
The Lord's compassion on display.
His touch from Heaven above
Gave words to speak their love.

Composer of my soul,
Show me all You show them.
The hymnwriter, hymnsinger,
Let me know their eloquence;
Let me share their offering.
Put the notes in my heart,
The lyrics on my lips,
And let the essence of my life
Be a song that others will want to sing.

I see their lives
Like tears that fall upon a page -
A mark indelible in time.
What sacrifice!
Their hearts poured out like ragin water
For sons and daughters to believe
And generations to receive
The harvest white from all their seeds.
No greater love sublime
Could change this heart of mine.

Composer of my soul,
Show me all You show them.
The hymnwriter, hymnsinger,
Let me know their eloquence;
Let me share their offering.
Put the notes in my heart,
The lyrics on my lips,
And let the essence of my life
Be a song that others will want to sing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think that every musician in the choir, sitting in pews, and performing would agree that this is the prayer of our lives, which can really be boiled down to a musical version of the beginning of the Westminster Catechism:

What is the chief and highest end of man?

Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

The Cow

I just rediscovered a picture I took while visiting home in Vermont. It made me laugh.

The Joys of Public School

There have been some seemingly unimportant things that I've learned while student teaching that may actually have some significance. For example, I've learned to USE THE COPIER! Now, I'm not just talking about putting a sheet of paper on the glass, shutting the lid, and pressing start. That I could have done in middle school. No. I'm talking about taking sheets of 9 x 13 music, reducing the size, scanning four pages, reversing the order, double-siding, and ending up with one sheet of double-sided-with-a-fold-down-the-middle 11 x 17 paper. Hardcore, right? I will entitle this Skill Number 1: Mastering the Art of Sheet Music Copying.

Skill Number 2 does not have quite as concise a title as skill number one. It goes something like this: The Fine Art of Bringing Food to School When One is Horrible at Buying Portable Nourishment. The fact of the matter is, I don't like lunch food. I just don't. I'd much rather heat up leftovers from dinner the night before than make a sandwich that will be wimpy and gross by the time I take it out four hours later. Moreover, there's no good way to keep the food cold if it needs to be. Ice packs are helpful, but then you take out your sandwich, and one side of the bread is dry and cold, and the other side is warm and soggy. Your granola bar is too hard, because the honey that holds it together has solidified. Your water is ok because it's in a bottle that hasn't been in your lunchbox all day, but you're so bummed about your food being strange temperatures and consistencies that the success of the water doesn't really count. Because of all this, I don't buy lunch food, which presents a problem since I need to bring a lunch every day. This has led to me either being really, really hungry by the time I get home or coming up with something rather unusual to bring. I count today as my best idea yet - I made oatmeal in a thermos in the morning, and brought it with me along with a long-handled spoon. It was lovely. I think it beats last week, when I brought a small loaf of homemade bread and ripped chunks of it off for two days. Sadly, when I had the bread I forgot that I also had a block of cheese, or that would have come along as well. I think I'm improving.

Skill Number 3: A Formula - Amount of Chocolate Consumed = Amount of Happiness at the End of the Day. No kidding. I have eaten more chocolate this semester daily than I have in the past 7, probably combined. Chocolate just makes everything better.

Skill Number 4: Gaining Personal Amusement from Overheard Quotes. Here are some of my favorites:

"You play the obee, right?"

Teacher: "I don't have one of those Facemail things."

High school student: "What's your favorite brain disorder?"

Me: "Trombones, what does pesante mean?"
Trombone section: "PIRATE-LIKE!"

::Student hold up both hands to high five:: "You're my best friend!!" "NO! She's MY best friend!" "NO! She's MY best friend!!"

5th grade girl I've never met: "You're SO SKINNY! You're, like, smaller than ME!" Me: "Uhhhh....well....I think I'm pretty normal...." (She's in 5th grade. I am certainly not smaller than she is.) Girl: "Is that a weird thing to say? People say I'm unusual." Me: "I like unusual people!" Girl: "Oh good. Hi, by the way."

Me: "Baritone...what's your name? You're doing a great job!"
Baritone player: "Colin!"
Sax player: "YEEEEEEEEEAH, DECLAN!"
Me: ::correctly assuming sax player is either lying or not paying attention:: "Hi Colin!"

6th grade clarinet: "My poor baby [clarinet!] She's broken! Is she going to die?!?"
5th grade clarinet: "No, but you'll have to take her to clarinet hospital. They'll take good care of her, but she'll probably have to stay there awhile because she's sick. They'll have to give her medicine! And maybe surgery!"

(Then there are the All-State audition singer quotes. Here we recognize the difference between singers and musicians.)

"Oh my GOSH! I just couldn't find the pitch because it was like, a WHOLE step away from the other one!"

::After looking at the key signature:: "A was do! E was sol!" "No, you're wrong. E was do. A was sol!" "No! It was the other way around!" "No it wasn't!" (Mind you, if A was do, E would be sol, but if E was do, B would be sol, and A would be fa. Fail.)

"I think I did really well!"
::I look at score sheet, see all 1s and 2s out of 10:: ".....great!"

"Yeah, my life goal is to go to Berklee and be a Song-Writing major."

Andrew to a tenor wearing organ shoes: "Oh, so you're an organist?"
Organ-shoes tenor: "Uh....no....why would you think that?"

"Oh, I'm soooooo glad there weren't any dotted quarter notes on the sight reading! I would have died!!"

I think that's pretty much it. Sometimes, being around public school and its students is pretty amusing.

Super Bowl?

Normally, the highlight and perhaps only benefit of watching the Super Bowl every year (for me, at least) is watching the commercials. I liked this one in particular:




And I also thought this one was kinda funny, especially with the re-orchestration of the 1812 Overture:




But honestly, I would be remiss if I neglected the absolute BEST part of the Super Bowl this year:



That's right. Christina Aguilera sang the wrong words to the national anthem. I love American pop culture.

(Which is why we spent most of the Super Bowl time frame listening to recordings of church music, sorting sheet music, and singing the Te Deum. We're cool kids.)

I have decided that student teaching is a rather lonely business. I know I said the other day that I still feel connected with people on campus and I'm involved in as many ensembles as I can be, and that's true, but I find myself missing little things like chapel (more like the skipping of chapel...), classes with friends, and random incidents that I am nonetheless amused to hear about later. Coming back from public school in the afternoon and hearing about everyone else taking tests and studying with loads of homework makes the fact that the 7th grade second alto saxes played their parts right for the first time at a quarter of the original tempo seem incredibly insignificant, and so I can't help but wish that I could spend my last semester investing more time in the incredible blessings of both focused academic learning and dear, dear relationships that simply being in college has provided over the course of the last 3.5 years. I'm not ready to relinquish those quite yet. But I guess if I weren't off campus for most of the day, maybe I wouldn't see the value of these things until they were completely unavailable. Is this what growing up feels like? If it is...I'm not sure I want it to come so soon.

Perilous Parking

While it is true that parking becomes somewhat hazardous when the snowbanks are significantly taller than the average person's head, it probably shouldn't be excuse for bad driving manners. This afternoon, Meghanne, Jon, Diana, and I decided to go shopping. We pulled into the North Shore Mall, drove into a parking spot, and adjusted so that we were between the half-obscured-by-slush white lines. While we were getting out of the car - mind you, this is a Volkswagen Beetle - a lady in an SUV drives up behind us and says, "HEY! What do you think you're doing?!?" We must have looked shocked, because she went on to yell, "Can't you SEE that you're taking up, like, THREE spaces?!??"

We looked at her. Then we looked at Meghanne's little car that was very obviously in only one parking spot. Then we looked back at her and said something to the effect of, "Uhhh.....we're definitely only taking up one." She neglected to respond and drove off in a huff.

When we returned to the car after our shopping expedition involving free chocolate (among other things), we found her large SUV parked in the spot immediately adjacent to ours, with lots of room to spare on either side. People are funny sometimes.