Recap

I'm at Frank's right now, with just four (FOUR?!?!) days until Christmas, and I'm having an awesome time. An albeit BUSY time, but awesome none-the-less. Frank's at work right now, and I'm sitting in his apartment, trying to figure out where the nearest Hobby Lobby is so I can make some cheap-o Christmas gifts (in FOUR days). Still no idea on what to get the BFF...

We decorated Frank's apartment last night after finding our perfect tree with Mitch and Hillary. The tree pretty much looks amazeballs, but still needs a star... And the apartment is covered in greenery and ornaments. It looks homey and warm!

I finished out the semester with okay grades, despite my horror after the German final. Looking back, I think the whole school ordeal was a little more tolerable than I would like to believe. SO many wonderful opportunities! The semester in recap (the good stuff):

-Met Frank and formed an AWESOME relationship with him. Frank is so amazing, and I'm lucky to be with him and be a recipient of his generosity! Plus, it's fun to date a tenor.

-Formed a relationship with several semi-professional ensembles in Bloomington, meaning monthly gigs and paychecks!

-Sang my first B Minor Mass, even though it wasn't the experience I had hoped it would be. Looking forward to the Crabb B Minor come April.

-Learned how to sing a few key phrases in German. "Few" is the key word, but maybe I can order a beer in Germany some day...

-Got several favorable reviews in the paper. This is really only exciting to me, I realize, but it's nice when people write good things about my singing :)

-FINALLY figured out some huge things about my voice and my singing: finally tuning better, finally a better legato, finally a more relaxed tone, and I finally can sing both soprano and alto without faking either one! This is huge!

-Developed an awesome relationship with my new family at Trinity Episcopal in Bloomington. It took me a little while to feel comfortable there, but now I do, and it's great! I am SO lucky to have fallen into that opportunity.

-Performed in EVERY gig known to mankind. It was funny because last week I had a rehearsal with my newest endeavor, an all Telemann concert, and Janet, the harpsichordist, introduced me to the gambist as "Lindsey--you know, she's in literally every concert at the school of music." And this is true! Pretty much. While it's scary and hectic at the time, it's wonderful to look back at all the career-building, rep-building opportunities I've been given. And even though I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to pay my tuition next month with room for living expenditures, I think IU has been invaluable for me...

But, on to the holidays! Christmas with Frank, then the family, some Voices of Prometheus the next week, and then a final week of relaxing (hopefully productivity) before treking back to Bloomington for the final round of classes before I start my real life (definitely NOT doing another degree this time...)

Another Handel Post

I'm sorry. I'm too busy to be inspired to write creative blog posts.

But had an amazeballs lesson with Paul today. No one knows what brought it about. But he gave me a rep suggestion (which he never does, so I took note).

Gentle Morpheus from Alceste. And then he said "Of course, you'd sound better than Emma on this" and I didn't know what to say...

I wonder if anyone else enjoys these beautiful slow Handel arias as much as I do.

Pity

I'm sooooooooo sick. Last week was Thanksgiving, and maybe I'll blog about that sometime. But the reason I brought it up was that I spent it with Frank, and on the last day of our visit he started to feel a little sick. And sure enough, the next day I was sick, and he was better. And now I'm still sick.

Unfortunately it's nothing dramatic so people can't pity me too much. It's just a flu or a bad cold or something. But what really sucks is I have no TIME to be sick, no time to lie in bed and enjoy the perks of trying to get better.

I have two concerts this week, one of which I have a pretty hefty solo part... and unfortunately it's soemthing I've been rehearsing without any kind of understudy, so if I'm not able to sing it (the voice is gone today, btw) some one will have to sight read it (Andy?). I feel bad, like there's all this pressure on me to be able to sing. I don't like that.

And because I have no money and a two bedroom apartment and heating bills to pay, I have to find time to fit odd-jobs in to my schedule. So this week I'm dressing the Nutcracker. It's a fairly easy job for minimum wage payments, so that's cool. But it is NOT fun to show up to work every night until 10-ish, running around and lacing ballerinas into corsets with a runny nose and fever. It kind of kills the inherent magic of the Nutcracker.

So, balls.

Really?

I LOVE Dame Janet Baker (don't we all, especially terrorizing us in Handelian pants roles?), but I just heard her singing Trois Poémes de Stéfane Mallarmé (which I loooove), and she sounds totally like balls. It's really bad. And it ruined the dream a little bit, you know? Maybe I was just spoiled by Anne Sofie's version, and I we all know I would make love to her in a second (sorry Frank).

Speaking of love (making), here is my recent obsession, this clip by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Such a crafted sound, such passionate singing. It blows my mind. And really, there's nothing better than slow Handel arias.

I'm a nerd.

By the way, we are doing B minor next week (the 11th, 13th, and 14th) with Pro Arte. I'm very scared. That's a lot of B minor, and everyones' larynxes are freaking out. (Can larynx be pluralized? Well, I just did. Boo yah)

Timely Turnips

Frank visited again this past weekend, and it was amazing. Crazy amazing. Crazeballs, even? But the real point of this post is the turnips we harvested from my garden on Saturday. Here's me pulling one of the little babies from the cold soil, courtesy of Frank:I don't know about you, but I've never really eaten a turnip before. But these puppies are so beautiful, I just HAD to cook them up.
And tonight I came up with this recipe:

Turnip Green and Lentil Soup

-Turnips (roots and greens, I used four little ones. But the more the merrier).

-1 potato, chopped

-1 onion, chopped

-1 apple, chopped (I used a gala, but whatever)

-apple cider vinegar

-stock (either chicken or vegetable, whatever is on hand)

-lentils, cooked

-brown sugar

1) Separate the turnip roots from the greens. Coarsely chop the greens, and cut the roots into large chunks.

2) Saute the onions until golden, then add the chopped greens. Cook until greens are soft and wilted--season well.

3) Add turnips and potatoes and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Cook approx. five minutes.

4) Add apples, and season with the usual suspects, along with a tablespoon or two of brown sugar.

5) Add as much broth as you desire. This doesn't make a lot of soup. Not to insult your intelligence, but add more broth if you want the soup to be brothier... Cook until the potatoes are fully cooked. Add the cooked lentils in at the end.

This soup is crazeballs! Like Frank!

I'm in the paper! Sweet!

(Herald Times, Oct 20, Peter Jacobi):

For its debut concert of the new music season, the IU Baroque Orchestra on Sunday afternoon rushed St. Cecilia’s Day by a month. The patron saint of musicians isn’t supposed to be honored until Nov. 22. But who cares when the result of the decision is an opportunity to hear portions of Handel’s “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day?”
...
The concert’s opening was strong, that being the Overture to the St. Cecilia Ode, with its mellifluous lyricism and invigorating counterpoint. Ritchie also chose two arias from the Ode, settings from John Dryden’s “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day,” for which the orchestra was joined by a pair of soloists: a sweetly toned tenor, Ben Geier, to sing “When nature underneath a heap of jarring atoms lay,” and Lindsey Lang, a resolute young lady with a secure and rangy soprano voice, to contribute a lengthier, more demanding “What Passions cannot Music raise and quell!” The two arias, indeed, seemed to raise the passions.
...
Instrumentalists distinguishing themselves were oboist Christopher Morgan; Everett Burns and Sarah Williams on horn; and an unidentified harpsichordist. Was the woman on keyboard Hsuan Chang or Dawn Kalis or Maho Sone? Whoever: She played with notable refinement, as did cellist Inha Kim earlier, in lovely collaboration with soprano Lang during that solo from “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day.”

Brad

These past two weeks... I don't even know where to begin... Or if I even want to talk about it...
So today I'm giving Brad Mehldau complete reign over my mood. So far he's totally what I'm needing right now. I'm also needing to find where I left my wallet and ID because this is getting ridiculous.

Shane Returns!

Good news, everybody! Shane is back on YouTube!!

He was my favorite internet sensation back in 2005, only to disappear for several years and reemerge, just as clueless as ever! You might remember him from such classics as "How to sing a C an Octave above a high C" and "Away in a Manger" where he creatively (unknowingly) replaces "Jesus" with "Jahushua."

I love him so much. So, SO much.

Domesticity!

So I had this whole weekend free. No plans. No one to see. Just me and my free will!

Yesterday I made Magnolia cupcakes from scratch. It was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. The recipe called for a mix of all-purpose and self-rising flour. I kind of improvised the self-rising part and the cupcakes turned out pretty dense and compact, but the icing more than made up for it...

And then today I came home from church and decided it was time to start knitting again. Hoping to start a hat for Frank but finding myself without proper materials, I taught myself to crochet instead. The end product of today's craft session is this super-cute, mildly-wearable headband (which I'm sure would look better with more than a half-ass attempt at styling, and maybe freshly washed hair):

And, since the weather was so gosh darn cool and perfect, I decided to usher in fall (i.e. soup season) with my famous Thai Chili (which isn't really MY recipe as it was invented by Mark a few years ago). You really need to make it. It's incredible.

I think the best thing about fall is soup. This is strange for me to say because I'm not a huge soup fan, but when soup is good, it's REALLY good! I love that you can spend a lazy Sunday in the kitchen and miraculously the wonder soup keeps for a week and feeds you meal after meal. A poor foodie's dream!

But so-long to this domesticity for a while. I'm gearing up for a really busy week culminating with a 16 hour (total) drive to see Frank for... about 16 hours...

Obligatory Post!

Frank came to visit me in Bloomington this weekend. It was sooooo wonderful having him around. It made me finally feel like he's my boyfriend. So, now it's official on facebook! Which is a pretty big deal!

It pretty much sucked to drop him off at the airport. How lame. But this morning I was making toast for breakfast and was pleasantly (exstatically) surprised to find that he had closed off the bread bag with a twist-tie. Now, I'm the type of person who loses the twist-tie within five seconds of opening the bread for the first time, and I don't think I've really ever used a twist-tie to seal something a day in my life. So seeing this was like he left me a little present with a card on it that read "I have life skills--I'm a keeper." And it made me very happy.

Banana Nut Muffins

Things I enjoy:

1) Creating things. I love to knit, cook, paint, sew (even though I'm not good)...anything like that. I like making something by myself that ONLY I can make. It makes me feel special.

2) Researching things. Let me emphasize this does NOT mean I enjoy writing research papers. But I really like investigating topics and learning new things.

3) Cold weather. There's nothing more fun than layering a sweater with a shirt with a coat with a scarf, and then adding a hat and knee socks and boots and jeans, and maybe even a skirt over that. I look like a crazy hobo, but I'm proud of my outfit combinations. When it's hot you can't wear anything at all, so I like to savor when it's cold.

4) Singing. Duh. It's what I do. But it constantly surprises me. I mean, sometimes I'll be singing, and I'll disappear into another place. And when I'm done, I'll come back to reality and realize that something very special just happened.

5) A clean house, and being able to keep it clean for over a week.

6) Textures. Mark can make fun of me all he wants, but I love to TOUCH things. Whenever I go to the craft store, I always make a detour through the fabric section to feel all the fabrics. I'm weird. I also like the spot on the remote between the buttons. Touch it sometime--you'll be surprised how it feels.

7) Mint tea. I love it when it's hot, but it's even better when it's verging on cool--you can feel it go down your throat and makes you more aware of your insides. I like to drink it before I sing because I feel like I am more aware of the mechanics of my voice that way...

8) This scene from Stardust Memories:

Entertaining, slightly annoying, sexy. All I love about Woody.

9) Well, while we're on that note, I've always loved Hitchcock's Notorious with Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. It was one of the few films I ever watched with my grandma, and then of course there's the famous kissing scene on the balcony. Oh my god:

10) A little glass of port at the end of a long day. There are few things better.

Things DON'T enjoy:

1) Facing things I know are going to be unpleasant, like checking my email when I know I'm going to get a nasty message

2) The dentist. Because despite the nice outward appearance of my teeth, the dentist always lets me know that my teeth are absolutely terrible. It's a Lang thing.

3) Cereal with milk. Oh man that's bad.

4) Organization. Or, rather, my lack of it.

5) French Grand Opera. Maybe I'm going to hell for saying this, but I don't think there's anything worse.

I just woke up to study for my God-forsaken test. I'm so cold I might die. Like the little Match girl...

My Favorite Crazies, Part 2: Sir-Ma'am

I met Sir-Ma'am at my first trip to the Bloomington Recycling Center back about a year ago. Eric and I loaded up our boxes and boxes of recyclables and made a trip south of town to drop off our stuff. The Recycling Center has several large bins with really detailed descriptions of what is allowed to go INSIDE the bin. It's a big hassle, and that's probably why no one ever recycles. Sir-Ma'am, an employee at the center, was standing against the cardboard bin, which is hooked up a compresser of some sort. His arm looked like it was inside the bin, and the machine was running, so at first glance it looked as if the machine was crushing his arm. The matter was made worse when he made eye contact with me and started uttering "Ma'am! Ma'am! Ma'am!" over and over. I immediately surveyed the situation--here is this worker whose hand is being consumed by a machine, and he's asking me for help! What do I do! And then I calmed down and realized that his hand was not being crushed, and he was not calling out for help. He was just saying "Ma'am" over and over to ask if I needed assistance. Which I didn't. The next time I saw Sir-Ma'am, I was prepared. When he repeated his catch-phrase I just smiled and shook my head (which doesn't really silence him). I reasoned with myself that he had some kind of disorder, whatever it may be, and appreciated his offers for help. In May, I hosted an Arrested Development party with Kelsey and Miyo, and they came over straight from the recycling center. They started to tell me the story of a worker there who kept yelling "Sir! Sir! Sir! Sir!" at Kelsey. I freaked out and told them about my Sir-Ma'am experiences. Kelsey told me that he overheard Sir-Ma'am talking with a co-worker, having a completely normal conversation, with absolutely no affected speech or social difficulties. I told him I didn't believe him--there was no way Sir-Ma'am had a normal conversation with someone. So we did a google search of "Bloomington Recycling Center Sir Ma'am" and found this. Look at the third paragraph of this person's blog. SHE TOO has experienced the Sir-Ma'am phenomenon!

At the end of the summer I made yet another trip to the center. Sir-Ma'am was no where in sight. I remember I had deposited all of my recyclables, except for an orange juice carton. I was wandering around, looking for where to put the carton, when I hear a voice say "Sorry, we don't recycle orange juice cartons here." I look up, and there is Sir-Ma'am, sunlight illuminating his glowing face. He continues "We only recycle those cartons using curbside service." I was at such a loss for what just happened, that I don't even think I responded. I just stood there with an empty carton in my hands. Two minutes later, as I was putting the carton back in my car, I overheard Sir-Ma'am yell "Sir, Sir, Sir, Sir, Sir, Sir, Sir, Sir" at a middle-aged man recycling cans with his young son. And I smiled.

My favorite crazies, Part 1: Bus Crazies

As inspired by a recent blog post by Ed, I have decided to create my own list of my favorite crazies. As a preface, one of my favorite pasttimes is crazy-watching. I think this is a genetic trait inherrited from my mother, which was developed by Matt and Neil (bizarro-sightings), and then ultimately Mark. Mark and I would go to WalMart and Ryan's to watch the crazies in their natural habitats, most of the time as a way of feeling better about ourselves.

At Ed's request, I will eventually compile an MU music school crazies post... but that requires a bit of stealth as some of those crazies could possibly have access to this blog. So my first crazies posting concerns the crazies on public transportation here in Bloomington:

1) Creepy Guy Who Hits on Girls at the Bus Stop. For most of you familiar with public transportation, this guy is everywhere, in every bus stop in every town. MY Creepy Guy waits at my apartment bus stop, and has recently begun hitting on someone who appears to be a photography enthusiast. He began by commenting on her camera, with non-specific remarks that indicated he doesn't know anything about cameras. I think he threw in something about aperture, but who wouldn't? The next day he talked about photo-developing, again in non-specific terms. And after a week or so he made the bold move of sitting next to her on the bus. Here, it was apparent that they had absolutely NOTHING to talk about, and she was clearly uncomfortable with this closeness. So, he begins to talk about swine flu. Swine flu. He was using swine flu as a flirting mechanism. I haven't seen him on the bus since.

2) Asian Opera Star. Most people know that if you talk on the bus, people will hear you. If you're on a cell phone on the bus, people can and will listen to your conversation. And, if you SING on the bus... well, you know. There is this crazy Asian kid who sings Italian arias on the bus. He doesn't just hum them, he full-out PERFORMS them. And this is clearly something he thinks other people can't hear.

3) Tiny Woman. Tiny woman lives in my apartment complex. She is, quite literally, a tiny woman. I think because of her size she looses heat quickly, so she's usually bundled up in a puffy coat regardless of the season. An interesting (yet unimportant) thing to know about Tiny Woman, is that she is married to Giant Man. At my bus stop at my apartment, a line starts forming about ten minutes before the bus comes. And, as lines often imply, people go to the back of the line when they get to the stop. Tiny Woman believes she is exempt from this rule. No one's going to stand up to her because, well, she's tiny, which is intimidating. So tiny woman marches up to the front of the line and waits there. EVERY TIME she's at the front of the line, Tiny Woman freaks out about something in her tiny head, yells "EEK!" and runs away like lightening. You can always tell the new-commers to the bus stop because they are noticeably perplexed about what is happening, but the veterans remain unphased. About 45 seconds after she runs off, Tiny Woman always comes back to the front of the line and waits, as if nothing ever happened.

4) Pacing Guy. I usually find Pacing Guy waiting for the 4:45 bus by the music school. Pacing Guy is always REALLY nervous about catching the bus. I mean, for the first few days of riding the bus, I was nervous as well. But Pacing Guy has been nervous for a long time. People waiting for the bus outside of the music school all line up alongside a waist-high stone wall. Some people read books, others talk on cell phones or listen to iPods. Pacing Guy paces. It doesn't matter if the bus isn't scheduled to come for five minutes, or if the bus is five minutes late. Still pacing. When the bus finally arrives, Pacing Guy rushes on the bus first and gets a seat about 1/3 back. Pacing Guy always gets off the bus at the corner of High and Hillside. It's the BIG drop-off point on High, at the light. And you can see it for miles away. But Pacing Guy is always really nervous that he's going to miss his stop, and as soon as we turn on to High, he's Eagle-eyes on the watch for his stop. Sometimes I feel like telling him that he can sit back and relax, and I'll pull the stop-cord for him. But I realized you've just got to let Pacing Guy do his own thing. He pulls the stop-cord at the first availible instance (about a block away), and then leaps to his feet to walk to the front of the bus. The bus is moving at this point, and he inevitably has a really hard time walking to the front--he's swaying all over, almost falling, grasping for the support rails along the cieling. When the bus finally stops at the corner, he RUNS off as fast as Tiny Woman. The weird thing is that once I saw him at a bus stop for another bus line, along Kinser Pike. And he wasn't pacing.

Cucumber Madness!

So, this is the recent cucumber from my garden. I don't know why it's so long or why it curves around to form almost a full circle. I have NO idea what kind of cucumber it is--I remember Elise and I bought the fastest-maturing cucumber seedling. But I've never seen anything like these things!

But it's pretty cool that when you turn it on its side it forms the letter C... for "cucumber"!

And thinking outside the box, the cucumber functions pretty well as a necklace. Don't ask how I came up with this, but if I was feeling more avant-garde than usual, I suppose I WOULD wear it outside... I guess it's too interesting to eat, at least for me as I am not a particular fan of cucumbers...

Back to Bach

Despite the cliched title, I am finally going back to Bach. That's the one thing that's getting me through the school year.

It's going to be a year full of Bach, which excites me to no end. You probably already know this about me, but if I have one obsession (besides Woody Allen movies), it's the sacred music of J.S. Bach. I remember two years ago I took a Baroque history class, and I read an article about the Universality of Bach. I didn't agree with a lot of the points made, but I felt a little changed for the better when I read that Bach appears to be to be such a universal composer (i.e. his musical ideas stimulate similar thoughts in different generations and cultures) because he firmly rooted himself in the ancient traditions of the church and functional harmony and whatnot, but at the same time really fervently explored new musical territory. Thus, this Janus-like position helped him define and era and also pave the way for a new one. And while Beethoven can also be said to have done the same thing, I much prefer Bach for his exquisite vocal writing which conveys so much sacred passion.

I am trying to put together Cantata 199 for my recital this fall. This cantata is for solo soprano with obbligato oboe lines. This morning I was stressing out pretty hardcore about the idea of trying to present this work with just a month or so of rehearsals, when I found this phenomenal video on youtube.

"Tief gebuckt" is the second aria in the work. Although it's not the most outwardly beautiful piece in the cantata, it's easily my favorite because the text and music are so humbling. Usually I have trouble paying attention to music--I often get to carried away in aurally recognizing patterns of intervals and dumb stuff like that. But when I found this clip my attention was on it the entire time it was playing. In fact, I tried to start this blog entry while listening, but my attention kept going back to the music... You know, I've got to admit by the end of her performance I was agitated with excitement and eager to test my chops at it as well. Why is she so good and so riviting?! AGH!

And in addition to the cantata, my year is full of the B Minor Mass. I get to do it twice. The first is with Pro Arte here at IU. But the second (April 23) I'm MUCH more excited about, because it's a professional gig with Dr. Crabb, and I'm the soloist! And on top of that, I get to sing with some of my favorite singers (Stephen Swanson and Steven Spears, even Emily Bennett!). It really makes me feel like a kid to be singing with those guys, but at the same time I feel like this is the beginning of my non-collegiate, adult career. How scary is THAT? I think I'm lucky that I get to sing the Agnus Dei--what a fantastic piece of music!

Interesting tidbit: my friend Koji used to be an apprentice under Masaaki Suzuki and still visits him for advice. How weird and cool is that?

Anyways, I'm so excited to be getting back in the game of Bach! Was talking with Frank last night about how it was strange that my resume only has music jobs on it--those are the only jobs I've ever had! I feel like I live in a different world than most people...

Garden Woes

Well, as if the terrifying approach of the new school year wasn't a sign enough of the end of summer, my garden is also signifying the season change. Almost everything in my plot is dying. I don't think it's my fault as much as it is the unpredictability of the weather lately in Bloomington, or just the end of the growing season. It's very sad, though. The few remnants of my prolific crops are bountiful cherry tomatoes, sacred basil, and peppers (I predict that in two weeks I'll have about 10 bell peppers and 10 jalapenos to look forward to).

It's sad to walk around the park and look at everyone's dying plots. 7-foot tall sunflowers are almost all wilting, tomatoes plants are sagging and turning brown, and the vine crops are all grayish. It looks like most people are tearing up the plants to get ready to evacuate for fall, but I'm planting a few new crops before I lose reign of my 10x10 patch in October. I tore up the radishes and planted carrots and turnips a few weeks ago. In fact, the hunt for turnip seeds turned out to be a wild goose chase around Bloomington, but ended successfully.

I'm awfully sad to see the garden wither away. It was such a huge part of my summer... But it's nice that the few things that are left are doing very well and I can still use them in my kitchen tonight!

On Cynicism

The guy sitting next to me in the library has tuberculosis.  I'm sure of it...

You know, the past two weeks have been really great for me.  Despite a lot of problems and stress and what not, I feel like I'm finally getting over a lot of that baseline bah-humbugness I described a while ago.  I have to admit, most of it has to do with the goings-on in Kansas City and how they renewed my faith in me and, well, guys.  That's a good thing.

God, I need to stop reading Twilight, or at least need to stop having the author write my blog entries...

But seriously, today has been REALLY great!  It's my first full day back since the fam's trip to Michigan, and I feel like I have a newer, more positive take on things.  I got stuff squared away for my recital, had a great talk and dinner with Lizbee, the weather's great... blah blah blah...

I stopped by Brian's on my way to the library tonight to pic up the newest Twilight book from his wife and we had a great conversation, which was much less cynical than usual.  Something's in the water.  Maybe that "something" can get me a job...

Blast from the Past!

Having a great, quick trip to Kansas City this week. My cynicism seems to have been cured... But more on that as it progresses.

The real reason for this post is that I've been in Danny's house today, stealing pictures from his computer. I'd like to post them here for your pleasure:

Danny in the Bratz tee we bought Brandon. Brandon refused to wear it. So Danny did.

A gross picture of our NATS roadtrip senior year to Illinois. Danny bought all the girls spider rings from the gas station. Amelia had been eating cheese puffs...

Danny and Brandon in a time of crisis. This is the day after the ninja and the crackhead story.

Danny trying on everything he could at Walmart. Over his suit. Me being a babe in the background.

We find a spooky house in Illinois.

Me being a crackhead in the restaurant at the beginning of our Illinois roadtrip. There's a long story to this, having to do with somehow involving the whole restaurant in a picture-storytelling game...

Me and my Grandma, one of our last pictures, after my senior recital. One of my favorites--on my piano!

Rachel and I after my senior recital. This is our first performance together, with the Mahler set. Rachel, I live for singing Mahler with you.

Tetris Party

I just got back from a whirwind two weeks and despite CRAZY car troubles, I'm feeling very refreshed and ready to tackle this next year.

So instead of unpacking my two suitcases worth of dirty clothes or throwing out the dead flowers from Whitney's wedding, I've been glued to my wii, playing Tetris Party.

Brian and Amanda bought Tetris Party at the beginning of the summer, and they've been OBSESSED. Every time we break out the wii, we inevitably play Tetris Party. They're so obsessed that they practice all the time, and they've gotten really good! So all of our group of friends has been downloading Tetris Party on their own wiis so we can try to be as good as them... Since my internet has been gone all summer I never had a chance to download my own copy...UNTIL I brought my wii to Matt's place a few weeks ago. And you KNOW that's all I've been doing in my spare time.

There's a game in Tetris Party called "Field Climber." Basically it's this guy (specifically "The Guy") about the size of a Tetris block, and he's in the Tetris game, and he really needs to get out of the game by climbing up Tetris blocks. My job in playing the game is to provide him with one-block steps to climb out, occassionly providing a path to goals along the way. Sounds simple. Even FUN. But today I played it for HOURS and just couldn't seem to get the hang of it.

There’s a few things I don’t really understand about field climber. First of all, I’m not really sure why sometimes I squish The Guy, and other times I don’t. I have theories about what constitutes a game-terminating squish. But honestly, in the moment of field climber, I lose all rational thought, logic, and forsight and I inevitably squish The Guy.

I also don’t know what the items on field climber do. And because I don’t know what they do, I tend to ignore them. It’s typical in a game of field climber for me to rack up several items on the side of the screen. I suppose they’re all beneficial but I'm too afraid to try...

What I also don’t understand is why The Guy is so erratic. I’ll be waiting to put a block down, and he’ll run underneath it and stand there, and I know in my elementary knowledge of the game that if I place the block on him, I will squish him. You know, it almost seems like The Guy is just as confused about field climber as I am. I don’t think The Guy realizes that if he would just calm the f**k down, he wouldn’t get trapped or squished and I would be better able to help him climb the blocks. The Guy and I are in this together, and when The Guy doesn’t cooperate he screws my game up.

But when I succeed in helping The Guy to his final destination, I feel a lot better about myself. I feel like somehow I've commited kindness along the level of ending poverty or war. It's a good feeling.

Bizarre Weather, Bizzarre Moods

Well, I'm sitting in Matt's sunroom here in Ann Arbor. The weather has been really weird-- malicious rainstorms all day long, with patches of bright sun and a cool breeze, then a rain storm two seconds later. My hair hates it, so I'm tempted to hate it as well.

I'm in a really weird mood. I have been for quite some time. I don't know if I can chalk it up to my failure to keep up with my thyroid pills, or lack of sufficient funds for anything, or missing Mark, or what. I've been crafting a lot, gardening perfect veggies, exercising, eating brown rice, straightening my hair, doing all the things that usually make me happy, but there's this lingering base-line "bah-humbug" feeling creeping into everything I do. And it's driving me nuts.

There's a busy next two weeks on the horizon. Stressful and exciting at the same time. Next weekend Whitney and Neil are getting married, which isn't particularly stressful for me, but stressful for me to think of everything that goes in to a wedding. The morning after the wedding I drive back to Bloomington and pack up for my newest endeavor, a small chamber choir tour lead by Dr. Crabb, and a reunion of sorts for some of my favorite singers from MU. The tour, August 4-9, is gearing up to be an exciting week with wonderful music. I'm excited and nervous to work with Crabb again, hoping I can sing through some allergy problems I've been having.

Rather annoyedly, though, I'm going through a strong "anti-relationship" phase. It's come at the complete worst time as everyone is either beginning new relationships, or getting married, or something. It kind of sucks to be cynical when everyone else is so happy. I suppose that might be a good reason for the mood...

At least my garden is doing well. HUGE cucumbers every few days, beautiful green beans, round tomatoes almost ready to harvest, peppers!, tiny radishes, all of which make it the bright spot of my day. Here's some more pictures if you care to look. And you should care, because they're awfully cute.

Welcome to the Earring Party!

We made these.

And why is everyone in the library at 9:45 pm a crazy face?

Scenes from a garden

Presenting a huge cucumber and some very cute harvests.

Gardens and Encouraging Internet Network Titles

Summer break! I currently on my break, and have been for about two weeks. It's been SOOOOO nice. But, I've had some unpleasant things to deal with:

1) I don't have any internet at the apartment. I had been stealing from a network entitled "Steal Me" all semester. It was amazing. But Steal Me up and moved away over night at the same time I started break. So I've been sitting around in my apartment with no internet AND no cable (but that's not new), and only two PBS channels to entertain me (thr

ee if you count the all Spanish channel). It's been pretty lame at times, but I discovered Blockbuster's wii rentals, which is totally amazing.

2)BLEMF. The Bloomington Early Music Festival. It's a little lame (sorry, BLEMF). Well, maybe BLEMF is not as lame as is my involvement with it. I did a repeat of the Cantata 161 concert last night and am signed on to sing a Vespers concert on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Everything about this concert is a mess. And I feel bad about it... But I'm not very enthusiastic about participating in a hot mess, so the experience is pretty bad. This is my second experience this year with putting together a Spanish Baroque concert in less than a week. Which is weird...

BUT!

I've also had some great developments:

1) Got a church job at Trinity here in Bloomington. I've lusted after the job for a while, and now I feel really priviliged to be singing there! Yay to a new church home!

2) I just planted a garden with my friend Elise! We're both first time gardeners, so we don't know much... But it's so exciting! We planted tomatoes, peppers, green beans, lima beans, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, herbs, and flowers. Brian is determined to prove to me that the cucumbers will not survive. And even though I think he's right (I don't think the majority of our plants will survive), I'M determined to prove him wrong!

3) My birthday is coming up, June 4th. Get ready.

4) I dyed my hair blonder.

A Love Affair With Jimmy Stewart

Yesterday was pretty terrible, so I decided to spend tonight by myself.  I ate homemade steamed pork dumplings and drank a Gewürztraminer while watching Harvey.  

I've always been kind of in love with Jimmy Stewart, and watching him while tipsy I couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.  

I suppose that's also why I love A Philadelphia Story so much.  Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart in the same movie.  I always finding myself fighting the entire time with who I love more, and that's why it works for me.

On another note, Mark and I decided he'll be coming for my birthday (and his) either later this month or in the first few days of June, and staying with me in Indiana for a few weeks.  I can't wait.  I also can't believe it's been so long since I've seen him.  Apparently he and Oscar are wearing red dresses tonight to a party in Portland.  It's sad he couldn't have borrowed my red and white polka-dotted tulle dress.  Although I'm not sure he'd fill it out quite as well as Ed:

I guess this was his birthday last year around this time?  Ah, the memories of being drunk in the old place...

Spring is Icumin

The weather the past few days has been unbearably wonderful.  I'm one of those people who worships the Winter, and I get really upset when the weather warms up and the sun comes out for Spring.  But, every year, I realize I'm a crackhead and Spring is actually really wonderful.  I mean, the sun's been out, the grass is green, there's a steady breeze that ripples said grass, and people seem on the whole a lot cheerier.  Maybe that's just because school's almost out...  

But one thing about Spring that frightens me is the crazy crackheads who emerge from their winter domains to enjoy the sunlight like everyone else.  You know?  The people with severe social disorders, crazy cat ladies with no bras and mumble as they walk... those people.  They're EVERYWHERE.  I mean, they scare the crap out of me, but they also make me miss Mark and our Saturday morning dates to WalMart to see the crazies.

Last night the weather was too perfect.  It was about to rain, so there was a breeze and the grass was dark green.  I drove to a friend's house for game/wine night with the car windows down, and Bloomington NPR was playing 1940s piano jazz ballads with commentary from two old jazz crooners (probably an old couple reminiscing).  They reminded me of the parents from Hannah and Her Sisters.  And even though I'm claiming to the rooftops that I'm no longer a romantic, this really got to me.  So today I broke out my Woody Allen "Classics" cd and I'm listening to "You Made Me Love You" with Harry James and His Orchestra.  I'm a sucker for this shit.

Maybe this calls for an evening of dim sum and Annie Hall?

Busy-ness Business

A busy week. But it's going well so far. Instead of prepping for the tidal wave of concerts at the end of the week, I've been drinking some great wine, sewing a skirt, and cooking galore. My apartment is in shambles. Apparently cleaning it didn't make the cut.

I've been getting a little sad lately because Sunday is Pro Arte's John Poole Farewell concert (the Haydn Mass). It makes me sad because this is Mr. Poole's last concert at IU. It makes me sadder to know that I only just met him on his last semester. He's a wonderful man, with terrific energy, and a vast knowledge of he choral repertoire. I would have liked to work with him much longer, but I am very privileged and thankful for the opportunity to sing the Creation Mass with him. It's funny, by the way, to think back to when I first found out we were doing the Mass instead of the actual Creation. I was very upset and felt almost cheated, but now I think it's an amazing piece of music and I hope everyone that CAN come does, in fact, attend.

If you got past the poor grammar in that last sentence, I applaud you.

But enough about how busy and stressed I am! I mean, my emotions are pretty predictable (I'm happy to be here but IU is stressful, blah blah blah) so I don't know why I blog about them so much.

You know what I really love now? Classical music. Yes, that's right. I'm taking a Classical performance practice class and have discovered that, if performed correctly, classical music can be incredible. And I also discovered, sadly, that I had never heard classical performed correctly.

I always hated Mozart, and found Haydn bearable. I know it sounds like blasphemy, but I always found it so boring. Especially with recordings of divas singing all the operas and masses from the late eighteenth century in the same style they would sing Strauss. And then I heard this, which is life-changing:

(It's even better with Sylvia McNair)

And now I want to snatch up all the classical music I can find and sing it as long as I can.

Good timing for the Haydn Mass, eh?

Stressin'

Hmmm... Last week was beastly.  This week is beastlier.  Next week?  I don't even want to think about it right now, but let me just say that I have three concerts in four days.  Last week I had a concert, and it was stressful.  This week I had two concerts.  It's been crazy stressful.  I don't even want to know how next week will be.  Plus my parents will be in town...

Last night was the American Choral Scholars concert in Indy, with us performing Lassus's Lagrime di San Pietro, conducted by Brian Schkeeper.  The concert was kind of a hot mess, but it was a great opportunity for me to sing with some musicians I really respect, so not a total mess.  We all got trashed last night to celebrate.  

Tomorrow night is the EMI Chamber Concert, where I'll be singing a solo cantata by Caldara.  It's on the verge of sounding like either a hot mess, or a hot FEST.  So we'll see how it turns out.  

I uploaded a my recent performance of Shepherd on the Rock onto my myspace, if you're interested in hearing it...  The first phrase is god awful because it was the first time I'd sung in that space ever and my breath was all messed up, so don't listen to that.  And I breath in weird places because I was kind of whack.  But I like the recording otherwise...  Take a listen.  

And don't make fun of the fact that I have a myspace!  I know nobody actually visits it, but it's there for fun.  So don't judge.

Kinda Blonde

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So, I'm kinda blonde now.  I'm totally liking it.  Back to my roots, you know?

It's been such a crazy week since I came back from Spring Break, but maybe the blonde is improving my quality of life, because things have been totally okay.  Busy, but good.

My apartment is a mess.  Atrocious.  OMG.

Singing and Chardonnay

Still haven't decided about my hair... hm... The dying of my hair from blonde to brown four years ago was kind of ritualistic, as it aided in a huge life change.  So I feel like the dying-back needs to be ritualistic as well.  It's hard when I've put that kind of pressure on a dye job.

I've had a long day.  I think I learned how to sing today.  Recently I've been surrounding myself with Youtube videos of Edita Gruberova and I think somehow something clicked.  Yesterday I went to the practice room and sang for two hours, and today I did the same.  And I sounded like a different person.  So I got home at 7:30 and was exhausted.  I'm making curry and just opened a bottle of Charles Shaw chardonnay, and nothing seems like a better reward.  

It seems like the secret to singing is confidence, inspiration, and a clear idea of what you want to sound like.  God, I've been having so much trouble singing lately.  And I think it's because I've had strange ideas of what I need to sound like.  And when I heard Gruberova I heard the voice I wanted to sound like, and had the potential of sounding like (uh, I by no means think I'll ever be able to sing Zerbineta or even sing as high, but I'm talking about her general sound...).  And as soon as I had a new sound ideal in my head, everything about my singing changed.  And how long has it been since I've spent two hours in the practice room two days in a row?

By the way, some day I'll post about my fab New York trip with Kyle.  But now I'm too uninspired :)

Blonde Renewal

Me, a few months ago--with brown hair.  This is what I look like.

Me, four years ago with blonde hair (and Matt).  

Should I dye my hair blonde again?  Suggestions?

No Drama!

Lord knows why I'm sick all the time... ugh.  It's pretty ridiculous.  This semester I had a brief cold to jump start February, then I got extreme food poisoning on Valentine's, and now I have the cold virus of death.  Sunday I threw a Pro Arte Potluck (otherwise known as "No Drama" Potluck, because drama wasn't allowed!), and by the end of it I had completely lost my voice and felt like death.  Ah well, it was a success.  But Monday I woke up with an over-the-top fever that lasted the entire day, and it's kind of morphed from sore throat to fever to sore throat to runny nose to sore throat to horrendous dry cough... it's been absolutely ridiculous.  So I'm sitting at my computer with my nose as red as a rudolph (that's the oldest comparison in the book).

Oh well, that's a shot of the Pro Arte Potluck, with absolutely no drama.  And plenty of sweaty, sweaty drunkenness on a school night.

Speaking of Pro Arte (and drama), there is drama with me and the choral department, and none of it is my fault.  It's a long story, but the basic jist is that one choir wants me in their concert, and so does Pro Arte, but they both rehearse at the same time, so I was snatched from Pro Arte and put in the EMI choir and now there's drama.  You know, I just want to sing and I don't want to make people angry.  I just want the whole world to be a No Drama Potluck.

Ah, everything at IU is drama.  Choir, my singing, my PERSONAL LIFE, money, my health... oh God I could just go on and on.  But I won't.

Because I'm going to visit Kyle in New York tomorrow!  Yes, after a full week of HARDCORE stressing due to choir drama and its schedule conflicts with my trip planning, and after + $300 in fees to change a plane ticket for a later time in the day, and hours of hotel searching over the phone with Kyle, not to mention lots of time spent crying in my bedroom because my life is too stressful, I will FINALLY be spending the weekend with Kyle away from Bloomington, spending money I certainly don't have in the big city, eating cupcakes and watching Natalie Dessay.  I guess that's the life.  But what I neglected to consider was that Sunday is Daylight Savings... and my flight out of Newark is at 6:50 in the morning...

E Vivo Ancor...

What a week... I don't even know what to say.  But, vivo ancor...I still live... Which isn't necessarily good or bad...

I found this on Erika's facebook.  It's about a woman who found a cell phone in her potato chips and freaked out.  Why would you freak out?  She's all like "It makes you not want to eat a chip ever again" and "What would have happened if a child put it in his mouth?"  If a child opened up a bag of chips and found a cell phone, I don't think the kid would try to eat it.  Maybe her kids would, and that's because her kids are dumb.

OMG Marshmallows!

Bloomington has a Winter Farmer's Market, and it's the best thing in the entire world, hands down.  I bought sweet potatoes, a leg of lamb, and...gourmet, organic MARSHMALLOWS!  They are literally the best things I've ever had.  I mean, right now they are.  They're salted caramel marshmallows.  Can you believe it?  

I had an absolutely terrible Friday, which ended with me drunk pulled over on the side of the road in my car and sobbing to Mark on the phone.  Yeah, a hot mess.  And surprisingly, I woke up, bought marshmallows and other goodies, picked up some gray brushed alpaca at the yarn store, came home and fixed some macaroni and cheese, got an unexpected email, and...my terrible Friday turned into a wonderful Saturday!  Funny how that happens...

Hate Blog!

I'm in a bad mood!
I'm just frustrated with a lot of stuff, particularly my singing. I feel like I don't know how to sing. Which is kind of awkward, because I think knowing how to sing is a prerequisite to getting a master's in singing. Whatever.
So I'm going to make a list of things that make me mad:
-Group back massages. What is that about? Why does every choir in the world think that it's appropriate to give group back massages as a warm-up? I don't want random people touching me, and I don't like giving massages, especially to random people.
-Bloomington's local stations. Basically, Bloomington doesn't get local stations unless you pay for cable. So cheapo me can't get local channels on my tv. Which is dumb, because isn't every person with a tv and a converter box supposed to be able to get local channels so they can at least see the news and the weather? All I get is THREE PBS channels. Who knew that PBS has three channels?
-Early music. Why am I studying this stuff? No one knows. It's annoying. I guess I like the music, but I don't like people going around saying that people who sing anything after Mozart are "modern singers" and that A=440 is WAY TOO HIGH.
-The "reply to all" feature on email. I never remember to press "reply to all" and so I never send out group responses when I'm supposed to. And I hate that. Why is this a skill I have not yet mastered? (and by "skill" I mean pressing a button)
-Paying bills. I don't like bills. I think they're dumb. And I don't have money to pay them. And sometimes I forget to pay them. I am retarded. But so are bills. So we're even.
-Travelocity. Travelocity is dumb because it says "Fly to Portland for only $150!" So I go to their site and they say "Sorry, that price is no longer availible. EVER." So it makes me mad. Why do they send me emails letting me know that I can go fly to see my best friend for an affordable price, when it's just a big lie?
-People who are not on facebook. Okay, facebook is dumb. But everyone is on it. Parents, teachers, junior high students. EVERYONE is on facebook. So when someone isn't on facebook, I have no idea how to contact them when I need to. Or find out if the guy I like has a girlfriend. 
-Animal Crossing. Now, some of you are probably like "Lindsey LOVES Animal Crossing." But I hate it. I really do. It's a dumb wii game that has ruined my life. I give it so much love and affection and it gives me nothing back! I hate Animal Crossing. I really do.
-Competition. I hate competition. I hate people who think that music is a big competition. Seriously, did I not get the memo? Who randomly decided that singing was a game, and why did everyone at IU decide to follow this person in thinking that we must be competative in order to be successful? Because it's not true.
-I also hate the person who decided that dating was a game, with rules. Because that's dumb and we all know it.

Just thought I'd share a picture from the DDR party I threw in January with my friend Lizbee (that's Dominic in the background).

Lizbee is totally one of my best friends here at IU.  I remember when I met her at the beginning of the year.  We sat next to each other in Pro Art and I thought "Geez, this girl is the best sight reader I've ever heard!"  And she seriously is.  She also has a cd coming out, which you should check out.

Well, I guess that's it.  The semester's going better.  It's quickly busying up, because I say yes to everything anybody asks me to sing.  And I'm currently on the search for my own Ira Glass to have an intimate relationship with.  But I'm in no hurry.

Hot.Mess.

So, I find myself wasted on Tuesday night by accident...  Hot mess.

Thought I'd put this up here for posterity's sake.  When forced to feed myself with minimal ingredients on this snow day, I improvised.  And I must say it's amazing.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

-1 yellow chopped yellow onion

-1/2 diced jalapeno pepper

-2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

-1 Can of Pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

-2 and 1/2 C. Vegetable broth (mixing broth and water is fine)

-1 large spoonful of peanut butter

-Coconut Milk

-Seasonings: salt and pepper, ginger, thai seasoning, any fresh herbs are fine.

1) Sautè the onion, pepper, and garlic in a pot with wok oil until onions are transluscent.  Make sure to season the onions with salt and pepper.

2) Add the pumpkin and vegetable broth.  It will probably be easiest to add the broth in the pumpkin can--less dishes.  It's about a can and a half of broth.  Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.

3) Stir in the peanut butter and season to taste.  It will probably need a lot of salt.  Simmer until peanut butter is dissolved.

4) Add coconut milk until soup changes color slightly.  You'll only need about a 1/2 cup.  Stir soup together.  At this point you may either blend it or serve it.  

5) Top with crushed cashews.  It's really good!

Bloomington Hates Snow!

So, today was a snow day!  I didn't know it was so bad out.  But I just walked to my front door and saw the mess.  Yup.  We got a lot of snow.  And last night it was sleeting the entire night.  I thought the east was prepared for this stuff.  And, I mean, we're only a few hours from Michigan.  But apparently Bloomington has no efficient snow-plowing capabilities.  No complaints here.  The snow day couldn't have come at a better time.  Yesterday was truly AWFUL.  TERRIBLE.  HORRENDOUS.  Unfortunately, my bad mood prevented me from stocking up for the snow storm, so I don't really have anything to eat.  Yet again a repeat of Thundersnow 2006.  

Well, whatever.  I'm anticipating a day of knitting (mark's sock #1 is done! and I just began my squirrel mittens), and a day of no showering, and a day of Mariokart and Animal Crossing.  And maybe even a snowman.  We'll see.  Maybe.

(See, I don't shower)

Back to Square One

So I've been in school for a week now, and so far the semester has been going okay.  Not great, but okay.  

I had been proclaiming to the rooftops that I was going to do one of my two recitals this semester, but I think I'm going to save it until next September.  Mainly because I want it to be a spectacle with lots of instrumentalists and whatnot, but I think trying to pull that off during April's recital season would be death (for me and everyone else).  Instead I'm trying to fill my time with other things--an audition for St. Matthew Passion (fingers crossed), learning the solos for Haydn's Creation (MORE fingers crossed)... and things like that.  I just feel like I spent all last semester trying to prove myself (I'm not very competitive, so that's hard), and here I am this semester trying to prove it all over again.  It's frustrating... I've already had several teary conversations with Mark.

Speaking of Mark, my visit to Portland was AMAZING!  I love him so much.  My two week stay there proved that everything is a-ok in our friendship.  The distance has even brought us closer.  Which is wonderful.  I got to meet his boyfriend (who I adore) and everyone else (the good, the bad, and the ugly).  Dawn Upshaw cancelled her concert (she was sick), so we were pretty upset... but the concert Mark and I gave was definitely a success.  It was so great to sing with him.  It really raised my confidence about my own abilities as well.  The goodbyes were crazy hard.  I was a mess for a few days up to the goodbye, and a few days after.  I just didn't want to leave and go back to a place with so little support...

I also saw Kyle over break.  We had a lot of time to catch up.  Just like Mark, it seems like Kyle and I have gotten closer since my move as well.  I find that odd, but in a good way.  We sang a lot together, watched bad tv, tortured my mom with cookie decorating, and even squeezed in an opera.

I also met up with Whitney and Neil a few times--once after Christmas, and then when I got back from Portland.  They drunkenly picked me up at the airport and had made a sign.  Amazing.  Whitney asked me to be one of her bridesmaids!  I'm pretty excited because she's one of my only female, non-gay friends so the opportunity to be a bridesmaid might not come again.  I miss them--especially how energetic and positive they are about life.  I guess because they're both happy...

I also met up with the old Crabbster.  We had coffee in the HyVee Starbucks.  Lamest thing ever.  But it was nice to see him.  It always is.  He gave me some great advice and seemed really interested in everything that was happening with me at IU.

So far back in Bloomington, besides music, I've been trying to be social (the DDR party on Sunday was a success!), finish Mark's socks, cook a lot, and find a job.  The job hunt so far is fruitless.  The socks are scary (try knitting something fitted for someone who isn't there to try it on).  I'm slowly getting sucked into my Wii and the fictional town of Animal Crossing.  But it's one of the only things I can so while plopping down in front of my space heater on days when the windchill is in the negative digits.

Loss of an Idol

Tessa Bonner, famed soprano of the Tallis Scholars, passed away on the 31st.  I just found out.  I know it's a great loss to the group and to the early music community...