Narnia! And normal things.

Because spring break entails some amount of free time, I have been filling mine with rereading some of the Narnia books. I didn't read them all until the later end of high school, and I can't believe that I didn't read them sooner. They are absolutely phenomenal. They are full of good things - quality literature, brilliantly portrayed characters, creative plots, fantasy, reality, and good messages - that everyone should encounter. If they were arranged chronologically, they would look like this: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and his Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle. I plan on bringing them back to school with me so that there will be more frequent (?) opportunities to read sections from them on a regular basis.

Also, today I went to the eye doctor. As it turns out, the astigmatism correction on my contacts was all wrong and has been since January 22nd, 2008, which totally explains the weird eye problems that I had at the end of last semester. Who knew. In any case, now I have a much more accurate prescription for contacts as well as glasses, so hopefully I will be able to see better all the time.

I am going to back to school on Saturday rather than on Sunday, which means that I get to go to church back at school! This is most exciting! After missing a week in MA because of spring break, I am very much looking forward to going back to a church with splendid hymns, an organ, short-yet-good sermons, and fantastic people. That's not to say that church at home is bad...it's just not the homey place that church is back at school.

Finally, the Massachusetts All-State Festival is happening the week we get back from break, and I'm SO EXCITED! I am prepared to get very little sleep for the last four days of the week, but I think it's going to be an amazing opportunity to see how the inner workings of this type of thing fit together. Also, I get to dress up and pretend to be a professional for a little while. Score.

WHOA.

People my age are getting married. I realize this every once in a while, but it has never really had any effect on me. But this evening, I went to the bridal shower of a girl that graduated from high school one year before I did. It feels so incredibly surreal to have reached an age where getting married does not seem as unrealistic as a fairy tale. Really, I have no brilliant realizations stretching beyond this somewhat obvious one - I mean, we all have to reach that age at some point, right? - but that feels like enough to keep me thinking for a good long time.

More than a basketball game

Having gone to yet another basketball game this evening - I don't really know why I keep doing this to myself, knowing full well that I do not enjoy watching basketball - my impression of team fans has not grown any more positive. In fact, I think it has gotten worse. Except this time, the fans whose behavior shocked me the most were from my own school. Curses.

I'll start from the beginning. Upon arriving at Middlebury College, where the game took place, we bought our tickets and sat down on the bleachers near center court. The Middlebury fans were loud and rowdy, which just got our fans riled up as well. I think there were really two games going on: the actual basketball game along with the Battle of the Team Supporters/Other Team Bashers. Insults were being flung across the court liberally, more directed at the other fans than at the teams themselves. For the first half of the game, all the fan competition was limited to that. However, after the break at half time, our school's fans, commonly known as the "Pit," decided to stand up. As previously stated, we and the Pit were sitting front and center, and standing up fully blocked the view of anyone sitting two to five rows behind. Needless to say, this event did not please most of the people sitting in those rows. They started talking, saying things to the effect of, "Hello!! You're blocking our view! SIT DOWN!" They were completely ignored by the Pit, until one or two of them got so annoyed that they went down front to speak to them all as a group. I figured that they would apologize and, if not sit down, at least move somewhere where they weren't directly in the way of anyone else. I was utterly wrong; they grimaced, rolled their eyes, laughed before absolutely refusing, and rudely told her to bug off. She was clearly insulted, and after she returned to her seat, it wasn't long until I heard the following conversation: "I can't believe their behavior! Maybe we should just leave! I'm fully intending to write a letter to their athletic director as soon as I get home! We paid to watch this game...we should be allowed to see it!" But the worst of it was this: "They are supposed to be representing their school! And they call it a CHRISTIAN college?!?!"

I think it's so easy to forget that we do attend a Christian college, but I also think that it's one of the most important things that we need to remember. Whether at a sports game, a concert, or just hanging around in our local Starbucks, we need to recall that we are representing more than just a college; we are representing our school's reputation, our faith, and ultimately, our Savior. It could be argued that the angry people behind us were out of line, asking a teams fans to sit during a game. But I think that the moral implications of the dilemma stretch further than whether it was right or not. Our responses to a request, reasonable or otherwise, speak more 0f our character than the original motivation. Or at least, they do in the case of this particular basketball game.

I'm over 21, I promise...

This afternoon marked my first experience purchasing a bottle of wine. I spent almost 45 minutes in the grocery store, slowly accumulating all the materials I needed to make dinner, wine included. The process of finding the wine in and of itself was a bit of an adventure. I had (and still have) absolutely no idea of what makes a wine good or not; I just knew that I needed a "young, full-bodied red wine such as a Beaujolais or a Burgundy." Right. Eventually, after staring at the astonishingly wide array of options for a significant amount of time, I decided to save money and buy the least expensive Beaujolais I could find. That probably means that it tasted bad...but I can't tell, and I was only using it to cook anyway. Finally, after I'd perused the rest of the store, picking up things like three pounds (!) of lean stewing beef, tomato paste, and parsley, I headed up to the check out. The lady working scanned everything, saving the bottle of wine until nothing else was left. She asked for my ID, and after struggling to get my license out of my wallet, she took it. Now, I haven't gotten my license updated yet, so the format is that of the under-21 license, complete with a picture of me at age 16. Nonetheless, it very clearly reads that I will be 21 years of age after 2-22-2010. Today is 3-4-10. I think she thought it was fake. She looked at it for what felt like a full three minutes before she finally decided that I wasn't trying to be illegal. Finally, after typing several numbers into the computer (maybe she was trying to calculate my age), she asked, "Does that say...19...80...9?" I assured her that it did, she let me buy the wine, and I went on my merry way. Ironically, I didn't even drink a sip, because I'd bought cider as well and I was more excited to drink that.

Julia Child!

I've often discussed cooking, Julie and Julia, and culinary experiments here, but I feel that at least one more discussion is utterly necessary. I got Mastering the Art of French Cooking for my 21st birthday. I plan to experiment with it all through our upcoming spring break, including recipes that involve red wine, because we're not allowed to have that in our possession on campus. Of course, boeuf bourguignon calls for a full three cups of it, which means that I can only cook it off campus. Maybe that makes me a rebel or something. I also want to try making a real omelette, because the only omelette I've ever had was made by the cafeteria people here at school. I'm not sure that I'm coordinated enough to create one, because you need to move the frying pan rapidly back and forth with one hand while stirring the egg in the pan with a fork using the other hand. It sounds complicated, but I think it will probably end up being like rubbing your head while patting your stomach. Once I get the hang of it, maybe it will be easy...?

Early morning practice...

This morning my alarm went off at 5:30 so I could practice at 6.  This is the first time in my college career (I think) that I've gotten up that early.  This was my thought process:

-"Oh crud!  It's SO EARLY!  Does anyone actually function this early?  I'm soooooo tired...It's so early!  SO EARLY!  What was I thinking?!?  I NEED to get up.  NOW.  Ok.  Go.  Well...maybe in five minutes.  What am I going to wear today?  Oh yeah...I already laid that out.  It's so early!  I need to practice.  GO PRACTICE.  Why the heck would I do that so early?  Eh...I could just lie here...NO.  I have to practice.  GET UP."  

Etc.  Thinking along those same lines happened for approximately the next half hour, until I was finally in the music building by 6:10.  My first hour was extraordinarily unproductive, but once I ate breakfast and woke up a little bit more, the second hour was very nice.  However, I do need to doctor up my reeds, because right now the back pressure makes it feel like I'm killing 2,000 brain cells per one second of playing.  Nevertheless, these things can be fixed.  

I'm planning on trying to get up as early tomorrow, and maybe if I go to bed really early this evening, getting up tomorrow morning won't be quite as difficult.  

Also, I'm now 21.  It doesn't feel any different, and while I always thought that 21 sounded rather grown up, it doesn't really sounds like that any more.  It just sounds like a number.  I went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, which was delightful, and when I came back a whole bunch of wonderful people were in my room waiting for me!  When I walked through the door they all starting singing and dancing, and it was a fantastic way to end the day.  So, while I'm pretty sure that none of them read this, thank you all for being the best friends I could ever have! :)

Weekend Plans

I AM GOING TO THE BSO TOMORROW!!!!!!!!! I am so incredibly excited. This will be the first time I that I go to see a real orchestra. I'm so excited that I allowed the previous sentence to start with "this" and to continue without a noun immediately following the "this." Moving on. They are playing some 20th century Berg stuff - not exactly sure what - and then Renee Fleming is singing Strauss, and then they will be performing Mahler 4. MAHLER! And the best part is that it's free! A friend of mine got free tickets somehow - maybe it was miraculous or something - but now we're going to an amazing orchestra concert for free. Tomorrow evening pretty much couldn't get any better.

On a different subject entirely: our school cafeteria is so very odd. If you ask for a few eggs, they give you what cannot possibly be any less than half a dozen, and they look at you strangely if you ask for any less. The same is true for pasta, various entrees, and occasionally stir fry as well. Moreover, the food doesn't really taste good at all, so I am seriously contemplating selling all my meal points and creating a food budget to buy and make my own food. Ok, so that won't actually happen, because I'm probably too lazy to get around to doing it, but it would be pretty fun. But that's enough complaining. It is what it is, and so there's not really anything to complain about.

And finally, a note on the fact that I seem to lack the ability to speak English. Or maybe it's slowly deteriorating. I speak in what could potentially be called Freudian slips, but they're not really Freudian because they don't reveal anything about my inner soul or whatever it was he thought they indicated. I just use the wrong word. For example: "One time I couldn't remember where Detroit was, so I had to ask. Honestly...I couldn't believe I forgot...I mean, I'm not that dumb. Actually, I'm quite good at geometry." Yeah. That was supposed to be geography. I am quite certain I have never seen the person I was talking to laugh that hard ever. Note to self: if ever you give a public speech, make sure to be very, very careful and rehearsed so that you don't make weird word substitutions. If not, at least I'll be laughing along with the audience. :)