Thanksgiving

Classic Birmingham moment: sitting in Wagamama, clinking sake glasses with four people from four different countries (none of which are the US), and all saying "Happy Thanksgiving!" In Greek, German, British and Canadian accents.

I love my friends.

Of course, I'm missing my friends and family from the US as well today... you know what they say, "Make new friends, but keep the old / One is silver and the other's gold." It's such a cliche, but I felt like reiterating it today.

In other news, I've pretty much finished my writing sample! I'm going to read it aloud to myself to play with style and check for typos, but I think it's good! :) It's only been, what, a year and a half?

And I'm going to London tomorrow to spend more time with the parental units. That'll be fun. And I'll take aproximately five gagillion books on 18th-century theater with me. Whee.

Then Renee is coming! Yay!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, folks.

I'm confused about earwax

There was this kids' song I used to listen to as a kid (obviously--mabye) that went "I'm confused about earwax / Earwax is some mighty strange stuff / I'm totally perplexed about earwax / 'Cause earwax is weird enough." I think the song is weird enough! But it's in my head.

Wanted to share.

Happy Thanksgiving, by the way. I'm celebrating by going out with a bunch of friends, to... a Japanese restaurent! Naturally. But it's Wagamama, so it's awesome. It's a UK chain that I discovered in London. Well, my parents told me about it, then I discovered it. :)

Speaking of London, I was there last weekend, and I'm going again this weekend. Going to see the Aged Ps. :) Fun. Last weekend was really relaxing; I just need to work hard today so that I'll earn some relaxation again this weekend. My goal was to get the writing sample done by tomorrow. We'll see whether that happens. My revised goal is to get done by tomorrow a writing sample that I'd be okay with sending to the first graduate school, with the idea that I could do a bit of polishing on it for subsequent schools. A bit slap-dash, but hey. This is, what, my twentieth draft of the thing post-thesis? I think I've earned a little slap-dashness. :)

And then I get to work on my personal statement more. And Berkley (the first deadline--Dec 9) wants a statement of personal history -- why I want to be an acadmic and what my life is like. Oy. I'm thinking of writing it on my year here... Working on a draft, which is becoming rambly. Rambly, me? I'm sure you're all shocked.

Enjoy your turkeys (and/or Tofurkies). Maybe I'll see if Wagamama has a ramen turkey soup... :)

Because online quizzes are more fun than PhD applications

Rosalind Russell You scored 21% grit, 42% wit, 19% flair, and 28% class!

You are one wise-cracking lady, always quick with a clever remark and easily able to keep up with the quips and puns that come along with the nutty situations you find yourself in. You're usually able to talk your way out of any jam, and even if you can't, you at least make it more interesting with your biting wit. You can match the smartest guy around line for line, and you've got an open mind that allows you to get what you want, even if you don't recognize it at first. Your leading men include Cary Grant and Clark Gable, men who can keep up with you. Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 48% on grit You scored higher than 85% on wit You scored higher than 6% on flair You scored higher than 53% on class

Link: The Classic Dames Test

Nothing in particular.

Not that there ever really is.... Sorry I've not posted in a while... Been a bit busy, esp. with PhD applications... The first one is due Dec 9... But it looks like they might actually get done, which is a large improvement on last week. :)

On the other hand, if I keep doing goof-off-y things like talking to people on AIM and topping up my phone, they won't get done.... trying to strike a balance between not freaking out and actually getting stuff done. It's hard.

So maybe I should close this post.... But you're all cool!

Haworth Churchyard. The Brontes aren't actually buried here; they're in the chapel. But it's so gothic! 

Lovely lane walking back... looks like one of those prefab Windows wallpapers... 

The sun was definitely in my eyes for most of the hike. Oh, and it was muddy, too. But fun. 

Lone tree... reminds me of the set of a production of Waiting for Godot that was done at VC my freshman year... 

Signpost: to Bronte Falls. I didn't go. But the signpost was cool. 

again. Isn't it lovely? The great sunset light... at 3:30pm. 

The moors in the foreground, contrasted with the green hills in the background.... gives me some idea of what Emily was talking about.... 

Ramble on the moors... This is settting off--I walked up to that ridgy thing... 

Leeds Town Hall from another angle. Note the Christmas lihgts. And the slanted lighting... I think this was around 2 in the afternoon... the sun never got really high. 

Pictures from Leeds and Haworth

This is the Leeds Town Hall. Note the NY-Public-Library-like stone lions 

Belfast!

So, I just made a plane reservation to visit Pete for six days in December in Belfast! (or the other way round). Very excited about Peteage, and very excited about seeing Belfast. :)

Now I'm in a happy mood to do my writing sample. Which is actually going ok. But now I'm enterng the tough bit.

Grindstone. Nose. GO.

The word on the street...

... is "stop." And sometimes "only."

and another

To get everyone in the mood for the new Harry Potter film.... Not sure if this text works, but for some reason I like that line of the film... and I just love that image of Lupin. Am thinking of doing a desktop collage of just Lupin soon... but need to go to bed. Lots. 

Prettiness

This'll make more sense after you see the movie, but here's a desktop for the Pride and Prejudice movie.... Was keeping it back to add some text, but think it might work better without. What do you guys think? 

Weekend

I hope I'll get a chance to post more about this, but just to say that I went to London with Peter this weekend. Had a fabulous time. It was great to hang out -- don't think I'd seen him since Japan. Funny -- he went home a few weeks ago, and Mom and Dad are coming out weekend after next, so there is much familyage to be had..... We basically walked around a lot and ate very well. And saw Kevin Spacey as Richard II at the Old Vic in a production that knocked my socks across the auditorium. And went to some museums. And walked. Got some blisters. And ate. :) And talked. Hurrah for the fun.
(is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.)

How you get to Carnegie Hall

I practiced in a real practice room with a piano for the first time since I left Vassar.... Really good feeling. I'd been singing in the uni choir and I'd practiced in my room a bit, sung in the shower, etc., but it was really nice to have a thorough if brief practice..... I was plesantly surprised; I'd expected my range to shrink, my breaks to be bad, etc., but actually things were good--and I was more relaxed, although I had to work to get there (initially I was a bit put off by the new surroundings and the window with people going past, so I closed my eyes and imagined I was in Skinner, with the latticed window (and the groundhog outside) and the familiar frayed curtains, the Steinway baby grand, the off-white textured walls--with "40" inscribed for some odd reason into one). The accoustics in the room were actually really awesome. Made me happy. Went up to a C# and down to a D. Good deal. Didn't push, either. Sang some stuff from last year and beyond-- "Oh foolish fay," "Easy to love" (which is still a really hard song for me), and part of the duet from the Magic Flute. Missed Andy--played his part on the piano. But the cadenza was wicked fun!!! (Oh look, I'm British--or from New Hampshire) The Bb sounded a bit squelched, but wasn't painful--think I was psyching myself out. Made me want to do more runny repertoire--maybe I'll check out some Handel or Bach, just for the heck of it. And maybe more high stuff. I mean, I've pretty well accepted the fact that I'm a mezzo and happy indeed with it (I'm singing alto in the uni choir--a fact which shocked Andy), but it's good to stretch myself--the high notes are fun, even if they're not superusable. I mean, and it's not like I'm going to do the Queen of the Night or anything.

Speaking of opera, I had my first shift at the Hippodrome yesterday, and it was fun. More like real work than I'd imagined--actually made me miss the Bull's Head, just in the whole working-dynamic thing. The show was the Merry Widow, performed by the Welsh National Opera with Lesley Garrett. Apparantly she's a big deal here--beautiful voice, and people love her. She has a reputation for being very down-to-earth--I actually met her father -- he was buying a program and said, "Isn't she lovely? That's my daughter." The usher I was training with expressed incredulity, and he said, yes it is. Cool, huh.

Must return to newspaper history.... and am thinking of revamping my writing sample. Again.

Headline

Just wanted to share with you this headline from the Sports section of Bham's school paper, Redbrick: "Dominant Birmingham squeeze anxiously past the post against valiant Durham." To me, there's just something very amusing about that headline. And perhaps something English. Not to criticize. I just wanted to share.