Microwave Cake, take 3

Each time I attempt microwave cake, it gets a little better. This time definitely surpassed the previous two, possibly because I added six tablespoons of sugar rather than the four that were called for. Nevertheless, recipe experimentation always yields a good learning experience, even if it is at the expense of some of your dishes. In my case, I learned that not every teacup, though to all appearances made out of reliable material, can be microwaved. Also, I learned that you should always, ALWAYS read the information on the bottom of the dish you're trying to heat, as evidenced by my mistake:


Also, the chocolate chips I was trying to melt may or may not have caught on fire.

However, once I figured out the aforementioned information, the cake itself turned out quite well:

Analogies

I like chemistry. I like knowing that if I combine four molecules of aluminum and three molecules oxygen, I will without fail get two molecules of aluminum oxide. It's exact and predictable. I also like 3x3 Rubik's cubes, because I know that if I use all the right algorithms, the cube practically solves itself. I know all the right moves, and I know the order in which to perform them, and it works out right every time.

Right now life sort of feels like a chemical equation with too many molecules - no arrangement of numbers I throw at it will balance both sides. Or maybe it feels like a 10x10 Rubik's cube - I don't know any of the algorithms, and I'm just turning it randomly, hoping that at some point I'll figure out a move that will align the colors correctly.

...I guess this means I'm stressed out. I didn't think that was possible.

This is really depressing. Probably if I sleep, try to get rid of some of the items from my to-do list and fix some of the problems that I unwittingly created, life will return to it's normal chemistry/3x3 phase.

A dilemma...

I'm frustrated. Here's why: in my opinion (and yes, I realize it is strictly my opinion, nothing more), the music at our church is absolutely spectacular Sunday after Sunday, and yet the response from various people is negative over and over again. I have talked to several attendees who have no complaints about the music, and they have expressed that the general church population really loves it. However, another group of church goers is very vocal about the fact that we don't have a church band during the fall, winter, and spring. Now, I know without a doubt that our music director does the best job he possibly can to play high quality music for every service, often taking the time to painstakingly arrange hymns for ensembles that he assembles and choosing music that coincides with both sermons and the liturgical calendar. Moreover, he frequently tries to incorporate a "praise song" chorus as a musical response, and we have a praise band all summer long that does contemporary music (again arranged by the music director for our misfit instrumental group - piano, bass, drum set, guitar, French horn, violin(s), and oboe/EH).

Maybe I'm biased. I'm a music major and I am therefore familiar with more of the older church music than some, and my mom occasionally calls me a "music snob" if I am mildly critical of things. But the way I see it, singing hymns and having high quality music connects us to a long course of church history that will be neglected and eventually forgotten if we only sing contemporary music. Don't get me wrong - I think there is a time and a place that is entirely appropriate for contemporary worship. I love the praise band we have during the summer, and I'm all for stuff like Tenth Avenue North, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and David Crowder. But I also love the tradition of the liturgy, the simplicity and yet the depth of hymns and their ancient texts, the complexity of Bach's sacred music, and the concept of singing music that has been sung through countless generations and in multiple countries.

All of this brings me to the conclusion that it's sad to see a monumental effort given to the church for the best possible worship experience that encompasses music both new and old, meant not only to please but also to educate, and to know that it's under-appreciated and even complained about. I know that it stems from the common debate over the style of worship, and that the issue sometimes gets so heated that churches are divided over it. I also know that the problem with the music in our church goes beyond just deciding which style of music is better. Nevertheless, it would be nice to see Christians be able to respect a balance and to strive to understand the other point of view. Finally, I don't think that my little expostulation does any justice to the topic, nor does it fully explain my point of view....

So here's to you, Music Director Extraordinaire. We (the royal or otherwise) hereby recognize the amazing amount of time and energy you put into making the music at church the most phenomenal that it could be, and we are incredibly grateful for both your impressive giftedness and your hard work.

We're coming to the church meeting next Sunday.











And we're making t-shirts.

Symphony No. 5

This evening when I left the home of the people I babysit for, I happened to turn on the radio at the exact moment that the live broadcast of the BSO playing Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 started. Actually, I turned it on when the orchestra was tuning, but close enough. The time in which it took the orchestra to tune was enough time for me to decide that I was going to drive around the North Shore until the piece was over. It was possibly the best decision I've ever made.

Almost every piece of Tchaikovsky's music has made a deep impression on me, starting with the 4th Symphony when the VYO played it in 2006. Furthermore, I "connect" the best with music that I've played, because instead of just hearing the piece and enjoying it, I know where the nuances are, where the phrases are going, and which parts speak to me the most. We played Tchaik 5 in orchestra last semester, and the second movement with its glorious opening horn solo followed by the oboe interruption and the cello melody (all in the first section!) literally fills my soul with joy. Maybe I use that phrase both too often and too flippantly. But it's true.



(This is only the beginning section, but it's the best orchestra in the world, so I think it's ok.)

So I drove around on 128 for a full 45 minutes, reveling in the glory that is Tchaik 5. Hot dang. Every movement is practically faultless, and each one is different. Thus, I pretty much went to the BSO for free, although I got some additional static as part of the deal and by the time I got back I needed gas.

Optimism...

Truth be told, I am scared to death of student teaching next semester. As in...I'M TERRIFIED. Hopefully it'll all turn out ok. But in the meantime while I wait to find out if it will be or not, there are a number of things I'm really looking forward to that make the prospect of next semester much better.

1. Christmas. As I discussed last year on Christmas Eve, Christmas really happens before the actual 25th of December. This year, the spirit of Christmas has already been brought up. The Christmas Gala at Gordon is featuring two performances instead of the customary one, and we'll begin rehearsing for that immediately following our October 31st concert. On November 13th, we start rehearsals for the lessons and carols service at a nearby church. On December something or other, we start rehearsals for the lessons and carols service at FCCH. Following the performances of the Christmas Gala, we have the lesson and carols services for both churches, and then I'm going on a road trip to PA with some of my favorite people where there is yet another lessons and carols service, rumored to be the best in the world. Score. By that time, I'm expecting to feel like Christmas was the most amazing holiday in the world, and that I can't wait until next year...but Christmas itself hasn't even happened yet. This Christmas extension brings new meaning to the term "Christmas season."

2. All-State. I guess by now I've come to grips with the fact that I will be extraordinarily exhausted and probably sick by the time All-State is over, but it was a lot of fun last year, and it will be again this year if everything goes as planned. Regardless of the fact that we end up getting around four hours of sleep per night, and that we are on our feet or organizing things for the entire day, it's fascinating to see the inner workings of a conference like this from an administrative point of view. I don't think that the VT All-State festival includes workshops for teachers too, so it's a much bigger enterprise than I witnessed in high school. Granted, high school was awhile ago now, but All-State was something that stood out.

3. Student teaching is only 15 or 16 weeks long...so life continues after it. So I get to plan what happens next summer! Right now I'm considering going to Masterworks, which means that I need to come up with a lot of money...but it would be SO good. I mean, with an orchestra repertoire of Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Sibelius, you can't go wrong. It's not possible. And it's Christian! What could be better than that?!??

4. I'm convinced there is life post-graduation. Maybe once everything is said and done, life will settle down a bit. As of right now, it's a little insane...but as one professor likes to repeat, "It will all be OOOOOOO-K." I may have to just take her word for it right now though.

I don't think this is an exhaustive list, but that's what I can come up with right now.

A rainy evening

I was originally intending to meet some friends from high school in Boston this evening, which would have been great since I haven't seen them in probably over two years. However, it was raining and I wasn't feeling particularly fantastic, so I ended up canceling that plan and doing this instead:


I am a pretty terrible horn player, but perhaps compared to an average fifth-grade beginning band student, I'm doing ok. I'm well aware that my posture is utterly horrible and that I could have been sitting in a chair. Furthermore, I know that my air flow and diaphragm were undoubtedly affected, but hey, I'm on par with a fifth-grade band student, and I am conscious of the poor form. That's a step in the right direction, anyway. Today my babysitting kids came over and tried out all the instruments I have sitting in my room thanks to Instrumental Methods. These included the horn, a trumpet, trombone, drum pad, xylophone (perhaps not the best instrument to give a five and a three year old...), flute, and violin. They had a great time, and I had fun watching them try to get some notes out. It was, of course, very loud and to anyone listening it was probably extraordinarily obnoxious. Nevertheless, it was definitely a highlight of the day.

In any case, in order to continue the low-key rainy evening fun, Diana and I are going to watch a Redbox movie whilst sitting in our newly-redecorated living room. Yay quad break.

The Continuing Adventures of Diana and Jillian

Over the past three years, Diana and I have done many fantastic things including, but not limited to:

Photo shoots in the dorm room hallways:


Building forts:



Traveling to both Vermont and Maine:




And living in an apartment.


But today we had a grand adventure right here around Gordon. It started as an errand run with both of us because we were stranded together at Gordon for quad break. Diana needed to go to the tailor to get a dress altered, and I had to find a cobbler to get a pair of shoes mended. We tried a cobbler in Hamilton first, but it was closed, so to appease our disappointment we stopped by Winfrey's Fudge and Chocolate shop (right down the street). After sampling some chocolate and deciding it was good, we bought some malted milk balls. They were wonderful.


Then it was on to the tailor, which turned out to be more of an experience than expected. The shop was tiny, and the friendly elderly man sitting at the sewing machine came up and greeted us immediately with an unplaceable accent. While I waited for Diana, I found a magazine on a table titled "Istanbul Life." Eureka! Zeke must be Turkish! Soon another man came in the shop. He seemed friendly enough, informing me that he was an engineer and (after some small talk) asking what instrument I played. He told me he was an artist, and then Zeke brought out the shirt that the man had had altered. It was white with a rainbow-colored balloon print. I didn't say anything until he mentioned he was a balloon artist. I then commented on how the shirt was appropriate....thinking to myself that it was perhaps ONLY appropriate for that purpose.

After the tailor, we went on to a second cobbler. This man might have been related to Zeke the tailor, because we'd seen an advertisement for the cobbler in Zeke's shop, and the cobbler also had an accent and a wife named Olga who apparently cleaned houses, according to the handwritten poster taped to the counter. Maybe the accent was unrelated. Maybe Olga was unrelated. Unknown.


Post-cobbler, we resolved to stop at the Wenham Tea House for some tea before heading to Target and then home to boeuf bourguignon for dinner, but we stumbled across Henry's, a grocery store that had fantastic baked goods, according to Diana. We weren't disappointed:


Nevertheless, we didn't buy anything because we were trying to save as much money as possible, and there was a free wine tasting next door. This free wine tasting led to - dun dun dun - DIANA'S FIRST DRINK! Mind you, Diana turned 22 four days ago. This was clearly a monumental event.


As it turns out, Diana doesn't really like wine. We cleansed our palates with the free cheese that went with the free wine. Oddly, they didn't card us; the lady asked, "You're over 21, right?" We must have looked honest.

After the wine tasting, we continued to the Wenham Tea House. They weren't serving tea anymore, because it was 4:30 and afternoon tea only spans from 2:30 until 4:15. To make up for this tragic tragedy (yes, I know that's redundant...but it's alliterative!), we explored the shop attached to the Tea House, and then headed to the playground behind the building. Babysitting has taught me a great many things, including where to find the best playgrounds in the Hamilton/Wenham area. The dad with two little boys and the two moms each with little girls probably thought we were a little weird, but we enjoyed the swings.



Between the wine tasting and the swings, we definitely have abstract perceptions of maturity. Finally, we went to Target to pick out some things to decorate our apartment living room.



I think it was successful.

Before:


After:


Finally, we had boeuf bourguignon for dinner. It was pretty darn tasty!

All in all, it was a great day, and it will forever hold a very lovely place in our hearts. We were so entertained that we thought we should immortalize the day here. It has subsequently turned into the longest blog post of all time...but I think it's worth it.