I joined the first sports club I have ever been a part of in my life. I had a huge amount of fun today and I was doing a sport, I never do sports, but this isn't just any sport, this is fencing. I expect to be very busy this year, in addition to writing my dissertation and taking my final courses for my degree I am also playing a lead role in an opera, taking Italian, and fencing. I figured the Italian would be good since the opera (which is over 3 hours) is in Italian, and well, I need to do some sort of exercise, and I've always wanted to play with swords.

I'm about to turn in my application for grad school. That's making me stressed. I am so worried about my damn personal statement, and then if I do get an audition, I am really worried about making sure I pick the right audition pieces as well as the fact that I'm pretty sure I need to learn some new ones and I'm worried about if I can do that in time.

Otherwise, I'm alive, and poking people with pointy objects, and am generally fairly happy.

Everyone should take part in Earth Hour and turn their lights off for an hour at 8:30PM (whatever their local time) this evening. Earth Hour is a global protest against climate change. It would make you a good person. Here's a link

http://www.earthhourus.org/main.php

I'm going to Edinburgh tomorrow to see Riverdance. AWESOME! It will be deafening fun.

Next week I'm going to go see Swan Lake. And later in the week I'm going to do something I have never done before: perform an all American concert. Oh yes, folk songs, Gershwin and good old Stephen Schwartz (the guy who wrote Wicked) all in one concert. I may even arrange it as sorts of snapshots of developing American music. It will be fun.

So this week, Irish fun, next week, Russian and American fun. All around, good fun times. Huzzah!

I just got an email from the University Chaplaincy.

"Going to see Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore on Saturday 21st February. It will be at Aberdeen Arts Centre Theatre at 7.30pm. Prices are £10 for adults and £8 for students. Gilbert and Sullivan were famous for writing musicals/plays around about 200 years ago."

So, apparently operas have turned into plays and we have suddenly gone 80 years into the future.

I found a swimming pool in the hall closet today. So naturally my flatmates and I inflated it, filled it up, and drank booze while relaxing in the pool.

I'm not sure which is cooler, this, or the igloo I built a couple weeks ago with my friends.

Hey Jacksonville kids (and those who used to live there), you should check out this link.

http://www.duvalschools.org/static/aboutdcps/superintendent/supermessage_2009_budget.asp

Education cuts next year might be as high as $139 million. My mom says Duval county is looking at cutting all music and art programs in elementary schools, and they're looking at limiting transportation to magnet schools. Please check out that link, it will tell you how to get in touch with the right people to help minimize some of the cuts. Florida is currently ranked 50th in America for education, and 47th in taxes, clearly something needs to be done to help education in the state.

In December I had the single worst audition of my life so far. I completely bombed it, the only thing I did well was I kept going and kept my cool (externally at least). I thought it went so badly I haven't been back to choir since and I've been avoiding the director at all costs. Today I had to go see him for something else and he handed me a letter which I read in the hall after I left his office. I GOT THE SCHOLARSHIP I AUDITIONED FOR!!!!!! I was in complete shock for over an hour. I couldn't understand why I got it when I had failed so badly. Not the shock has worn off I'm finally doing the "YAYOMGIGOTIT!!!!!*SQUEE*" so....

OH MY GOD I GOT THE SCHOLARSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!

*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*

Note: this is my first scholarship ever, and its for vocal performance

Today I made the most amusing purchase I have ever made. I bought J K Rowling's new book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", and "The Crimes of Love" by the Marquis de Sade.

I'm not usually patriotic about America, but this time, something has pushed the right buttons. I'm taking a music history course on twentieth-century music and I've noticed something a bit...unusual for the subject. The course is completely ignoring American composers. You know, just little people like Gershwin, Copland, Bernstein...you know, just little, unimportant people right? I swear to god I'm going to chew out the course co-ordinator for this. You can't study ANYTHING in culture in the last century without mentioning America at least ONCE, even if it's negatively. Oh my god, how could you ignore GERSHWIN?!?!? RHAPSODY IN BLUE PEOPLE! not a small piece of work there. Oh, and of course later we have John Cage, and although I don't like him, he does deserve a spot in music history. My god what were these people thinking when they arranged this course?!? "Oh well, the only classical music that exists comes out of Europe" That sounds about right. My god it annoys me. I mean, I love Stravinsky, but I love Gershwin too, I just want all my boys to get credit where credit is due.

Oh, and this course is more specifically how music changed over time, and new influences, you'd think jazz might actually show up seeing as harmonies permeate much of classical music now.

Oh my god I stayed up until 5am last night dredging through my essay. I'm still not done. I got up an hour late today and I'll go into work late, I don't care. I'm going to ask for an extention on this essay. It should be due in this afternoon but I have been sick since Sunday and I literally have no voice. If I attempt to speak, nothing comes out, I did my presentation for this course with little voice this past Monday and didn't complain about it, so I hope she takes pity on me and remembers that. I really hope this throat thing goes away fast, I don't want to be sick while traveling this Saturday.