Quote of the Week

"Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once."
--Neil Gaiman, "Neverwhere"

Neverwhere is the BEST Gaiman novel, and one of my favorite books.  VERY scary, very clever, very exciting, very well told, and not long enough.  

Also, the above quote is TOTALLY TRUE.

Music From the Dragonlair

Today I've been listening to a lot of music (purely instrumental 'cause my poor brain can't do music with words while I'm studying) as I have been working on a project for PACT, and I thought I would share a favorite 'study CD' with you!



I have a great love of soundtracks, and one of my favorite almost-all-instrumental soundtracks is from the movie "Miss Potter."  As most of you who know me know, "Miss Potter" is one of my favorite obscure movies.  Ever since I saw it last spring it has captured a place in my heart as one of the sweetest love stories ever as well as managing to capture all the restrictivness of Edwardian England and all the magic and imagination of Beatrix Potter.  



At the end of the wonderful soundtrack, is a track that is worth buying the CD just for that one song.  The simple guitar accompanyment and beautiful voice of Katie Melua combine to make a song that is tug-on-your-heart-strings beautiful.  Go listen to "When You Taught Me How to Dance" and see what I mean!  It makes me want to go pull out that movie again...

Cool Things...

I would argue any of you who are crafty or handy with pointy sticks to consider participating in the Red Scarf Project this year.  As a recent college grad, ministering to college students in a woolly way is close to my heart.  Check out the website here for details of scarf dimensions, styles, and recommended patterns.  If you like doing things like this in groups, head over to Ravelry or Facebook to plug into a group of people who are also playing with red yarn.  The deadline is October 31--that is plenty of time to churn out a scarf or two for deserving students!  I've already started--how about you?

Quote for the Week

"Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing." Redd Foxx

Ha, maybe I SHOULD go eat a whole chocholate bar...

Music from the Dragonlair...

Of all the music I remember from my childhood, one of my very favorites is the music of Roger Whittaker.  Perhaps listening to him all those years in Daddy's woodshop explains my love of folk tunes, ballades, and Irish music.  There was this one tape of his that had most of my favorites--"The Foggy, Foggy Dew," "The Star of the County Down," and my all time favorite rendition of "Oh my Love is Like a Red, Red Rose."  I have been searching for a copy of that tape on the Internet for a few years now; it was never made into a CD.  



Roger Whittaker is a British singer/songwriter who was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1936.  He mainly sings folk songs and easy listening, but he has a few songs that reveal his African background.  He is still singing, whistling, and recording, and there are a number of his CD's and individual tracks available on Amazon.com for your listening enjoyment.



As I have gotten older, I have found that I love some of Roger's original songs as much as those three favorites, if not more.  One that has been going through my head a lot this last week or so is,
I Don't Believe in If Anymore
I love the tune, and the pensive words have been very true in my life as I deal with the emotional drain that was my former job.



As well as having a wonderful, rich voice, Roger Whittaker has an amazing whistle.  His haunting version of the Sky Boat Song is refreshingly different, yet the same dear tune that we know and love.  If only I could whistle like that!  



This one is just fun--Roger demonstrates "African Whistling" and plays a catchy African tune.
Human Whistle



Finally, in closing, I want to share one last favorite song, New World in the Morning.

I hope this inspires you to go look up some more of Roger's music on Youtube or Amazon.com--more people aught to know about this wonderful artist.  I just hope that I will still be making music when I'm in my 80's!

Thoughts...

Quote of the Week- "It matters enormously if I alienate anyone from the truth."
--C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

*sheepish look*

Ha, I had sort of forgotten that this existed. I don't think anyone even reads it anyway... However, I'm glad that I have it to leave comments on other people's bloggers. I graduate in three weeks!?!?!?!

School is almost over!

Yesterday was crazy, but it was THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL which was VERY cool. Now the little thing called finals... No problem right?

I got the Joy Allen and James C. Quinn Endowed Piano Scholarship in the GSR award ceremony yesterday--the funny things is that I can't get the endowment ($1,500) because I have the tuition waiver.

However, my name will be put on a plaque in the music building with all the other people who have gotten that scholarship.

I managed to forget what time studio class was yesterday so I wasn't there. *head bang* I felt SO BAD. Why did I forget for the first time on the last day of my sophomore year? Why? I can only quote the icon that Elise shared with me awhile back--"Can't brain today, have the dumb." I also found out that I wore mismatched earrings all day. If anyone noticed and didn't tell me (thanks a lot palls) , I hope they thought it was a bold fashion statement. So, I got an award, accepted it in mismatched earrings, and forgot about studio class all in one day. WHY AM I SO STUPID SOMETIMES?

Last night it stormed in the early hours of the morning. I was really deeply asleep when one particularly spectacular BOOM jolted me awake. I thought the world had ended and Jesus had come back. To bad--I really don't want to take the finals I have on Monday...

Mummy and I went shopping at K-Mart for suitable shirts to wear in Zambia. I sometimes have a hard time finding shirts that fit well, are long enough in the body and sleeves, and that I can afford. I am trying to build up a good wardrobe as I can afford it. The professional look is a slight drawback to my major... I don't understand why they make shirts so short now! I have a longer torso than a lot of people just because I'm tall, so you can imagine how short things are one me if they are short on an average person... I am convinced that clothing designers are raised in special environments where all they never actually see human beings or where they only see the stereotypical woman (which I have seen very few of in the wild outside of TV).

I can't believe that I am leaving in a little over a week! Hauling off to the other side of the world is a big event and I am so caught up in the big events of my life right now that I havn't really had time to process the full magnitude of what I am going to do and what needs to be done to make it happen. I never seem to really have the time to process mission trips before they happen--maybe its better that way?

I have a CRAZY weekend and tomorrow I am going to hear Natalie's AMAZING piano recital. So, I leave you with this last important piece of advice--

Don't Panic!

Root Canal’s aren’t so bad…

..but still not my favorite thing.

After the grueling dentist visit yesterday (it took about 45 minuets for the dentist to fix the crown they messed up for my mom—I got a little nap while the anesthesia took hold) Mummy and I went to Barron’s.Here in East Texas we really don’t have many classy tea places, so we enjoy visiting Barron’s.Barron’s is the classy boutique/tea room/book store/decoration’s store.We sat right by the Godiva candy case which seemed like a good idea at the time, but as the steady parade of Valentine’s shoppers continued we began to wish we were sitting elsewhere.I found two cool books on the bargain shelf—I Kissed Dating Goodbye and the Oxford Kings and Queens of Britain reference book.The really cool thing was that it was just over $5 for both of them!I love finding good books at low prices.

I watched an interesting movie Sunday night—Zulu.While not 100% accurate it was still interesting.My two favorite lines were a very posh British Officer barking at his men, “Nobody said you could stop working!” as they were barricading their little fort from the Zulu’s and the same officer saying (can’t remember the exact words), “Hi!I saw you ___, your alive!” to a man who didn’t answer the roll call at the end of the action.We had three MK’s over for supper last night, Pete, Jamin, and Ben, who saw part of/half of/all of the movie (in that order).I enjoy MK’s—we should get some over at ETBU to make it cooler!It was interesting finally getting got see Zulu since it is one of my grandfather’s favorite movies.Final verdict—I liked it.Who couldn’t like posh British officers?

It has been so long since I was on here...

I haven't posted on blogger for some time--mainly because I like my Xanga better. If you really want to know what is going on in my life go here here, and if you don't have a Xanga account leave comments on this site. My webpage (which I am really going to try to keep current) is here. There a lot of pictures of things I have made recently under "Dragon Treasures". Once more, school calls!

Singen the Blues...

I am singen' the "Forgott my math project" blues today. The sad thing is that even if I had remembed it I would not have had time. What a crazy weekend! Oh well, there is mercy for those who take late credit...
Two more weeks till jurries! Ahh! I am so excited about the end of the semester, and at the same time I don't want it to end. I am searching for a summer job at a book store (Yes!), but I will miss the people here. It seems like the semester is going both at a lightning pace and not going at all. Life is such a paradox! I guess God knew we like good old imposible occurances. Maybe that is why we find Christianity so apealing?
By the way, if you want a funny book read Never Cry Wolf. So good! The way the author paints his reactions to the wolves is priceless! I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it, but I want to see the movie again now. Oh, so much to do, so little time...

Monday!

How beautiful it is to be in the middle of God's will. He knows you and your needs so much better than even you do; why do we ever throw tantrums when he won't let us do what we really don't want? I am so glad that I am where He wants me; I would not be anywhere else. (Not even in Middle Earth!)
A million years from now I will be lucky if anyone remembers my name. A million years from now I will be doing really well if anyone can recall that I went to East Texas Baptist University. What is the likelyhood that anyone is going to remember (or that it will even matter) that I really goosed the unit 6 sightsinging test? However, it matters a whole lot now! We hates sightsinging forever! Hates it! Argh!
I had an interesting weekend; it was kind of hard. It is much harder than I thought to go back to school when LU is off; it it wasn't for the fact that I don't ever want our spring breaks to be different again I would with that ours was a week early so that I could rub it in for someone. I am not that mad; I will be fine. I am mostly bummed that I didn't get to go to The Masters Mission with my Dad and two siblings. *sigh* However having Elise over so we could watch Willow was really nice! I am soooo glad that she came over!
I hate Mondays. So, in the words of Marvin, "Life, don't talk to me about life." "I never could get the hang of {mondays}."

Horses and Honor.

I love Earthsea! My 'smile box' came yesterday!

The Lippizaners were WONDERFUL! I had so much fun! I want a pretty white horse now... Here is a link to the website:
http://lipizzaner.com There is some pretty cool suff on there!

What is a person's word worth? In the old days when someone said that they would do something, they ment it. Big deals were closed on a handshake. There was no worry about whether they would live up to your side of the bargin.
In todays world there is so little security like that now. A person's word can mean nothing, or it can be trustworthy, but you have to assume that is could fall through to protect yourself. One problem with being a person of your word is that you can become abused by people becuase you do keep your word. If you have a hard time saying no, you could be in some real danger!
Does keeping your word extend to everyday things? I think it does. When I say 'yes' in answer to 'will you...', I consider that binding, and a promise that I will do whatever it takes to uphold. Have you ever though about agreeing to meet someone as being your word? What does your word mean to you? I am not obsessed with honor, but I do feel strongly that your word is part of your integrety, your ethos. What does you ethos say to the world?

Well...

I meant to double post. Really I did. I am not going to copy all my other stuff now. So, if you want to read my last several posts, go here:
http://www.xanga.com/sonatinalina

I will try to double post, but the reality is that I kinda sorta like Xanga better- it is a novel distraction at the moment. Besides, I get more comments on the xanga site than this one.

*Head Bang*

*sigh*
I crashed my way though the cadneces in my Beethoven while I was so tense inside I felt sick. I missed a lesson at a critical time, and now I am paying for it. Pooh. I am trying to hard and I can't seem to get it right!
I am looking forward to the weekend. I can finally sleep, rest, get all my homework done, and forgett about ETBU for a little while. I have had about as much Jena Guest as I can take for the moment.
I am not trying to be grouchy, but I am. I stayed up till 12:40 last night doing a supper hard theory assignment and then I had to get up at 6:10. I felt better once I realized that just about all the other E. Harmony IIers were in my boat. It is so true that misery loves company!
Thank you God for weekend! Thank you that you love me even when I am out of it and when I just want to yell at the world!

Ramblings...

Wow. Today has been interesting. I got called an over acheiver because I checked Wagner's Tristan und Isolde out of the music lab fully intending to listen to it. I guess I am a bit of an over acheiver, but what is wrong with that? Did anyone tell Mozart to give it a rest when he was elaborating on his pieces as a little kid? What about Wagner himself? Talk about ambition man! The music drama is no joke! Okay, maybe us musicians are just a tad over motivated for our own good. However, I like it that way!
Today has also been interesting becuase we finally had a choir reherasle (Mr. Moore has been out of town for a while).We are singing some really awsome things like, "Ride On King Jesus," "Zion's Walls," and "Musicks Empire." I really love Musicks Empire because it is written like a plainsong chant. I love the modal feel and the harmonies! The words are cool too; all about when music was created. Thank goodness that God made music!
I have to go to fatness soon. Ick. I really don't feel like trudging over the hill in the cold and wet to attend a class that I loath. However, I will be a good girl and go. I sort of liked doing resistance training on Tuesday. I am stronger than my work out partner, so it felt kind of nice to be bumping the weights up!
Today is Daddy's birthday; I feel so sorry for hims since he has been sick. He took a shocking three sick days (he normally drags himself in even if he is almost dead), and then has to go back still kind of sick and on his birthday. I feel bad for him. I can't wait to give him the CD that Flynn and I bought. Heh, heh, it is rather an interesting CD. Bonney M! (Music from his college days)I hope he likes it!

I will go insane for sure this time...

Everyone but Lucy, Jasper and I are heading down to Huston to go see NASA. I get to take care of the chillins tonight and tomorrow night until the rest of the gang goes back. Yeah. I am nervous about how they will behave on Friday when they are taken care of by a neighboor and a family who goes to our church. Whenever my parents are gone I get really stressed becuase it is exhasuting enough to be a student, but being a cordinater of a seven kid household and being a student (a musician at that!) is a pretty tall order for even supper woman. I am sure I will live though and be a better person. If only I didn't have an 8 o'clock on Friday! I am reading Rob Roy right now. It is not starting as I anticipated it would. Interesting. I liked a Tale of Two Cities though!

Music...

I am going to make one little statement to make myself feel better, and then I am going to stop before I go somewhere I regret going. Here is the statement:
"Classic musicians are not stupid, or any less musicians than improve wizards, nor do they know all the popular artists out there."
I am done now. Thanks. Don't ask what brought that on. It is not a biggie, I am not mad, I am just a tad tired of being asked certain questions. For the whole world to know, I live in a cave, and yes, I like my cave very much thank you!
Good grief, there are some many CD's I want! I guess is is one of the perpetual oxymorons of being a musician that you spend large chunks of time making music or learning about how to make music, and then you spend large chunks of money on other people's music. I wouldn't trade it for the world! Dr. Dearman once said that we have so many little feelers into the world that other people don't have; that is so true! Sound is a wonderful thing.
Another interesting oxymoron is that the more I practice, the less prepared I feel! Why?
I did something so bizarre for Valentines day yesterday that probably only Elise and Annie would remotely understand why I did. All I am going to say is that it involved chocolate, and that I want to do it again next year.

My thoughts on 2-14

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Hug cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Thier shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relishi the fairy power
Of unreflecting love-then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

Comment if you know who wrote that!

This is too funny...

I just took a quick quiz off the MSN homepage to see if I was ADD or not. (sometimes I feel that way!) I got a 0 out of 7. So, therefor I am like suposedly totally not ADD. Some of the people I hang out with might have other opions... Oh well, I guess we all have bouts of ADD. I just thought that was funny. If you didn't laught, I'm sorry. I hope something else tickles you. : )