Glasses

Due to the aforementioned burst blood vessel, I wore glasses to school today.

Hardly exciting news.

What if I told you that I haven't worn glasses to school since fifth grade?

Now it's big news.

I'm much to vain for my own good. However, Painful-Eye-Eric managed to win over Vain-Eric. So... yeah.

I have a chem test tomorrow. One of four tests. I wish myself good luck. I'm also singing the national anthem at the football game-- so everyone should come. I've gotta remember my blue hair dye. :D

This is a short post. I'm tired. Forgive me.

Ruptured

Anyone who has seen me or my left eye in the past week (though I imagine that most people who see my left eye also see me at the same time, but I digress) has noticed that it is slightly red.

It's quite irritating-- the sun especially makes it painful. And, of course, I'm too vain to not wear contacts.

I have determined that this redness has been caused by a ruptured blood vessel in my eye, and that ruptured blood vessels are most commonly caused by...

Wait for it...

STRESS.

My stress has physically manifested itself in the form of a ruptured blood vessel. I'm also very achy at the moment, but that might just be from my most recent 4-hour chemistry study session. But if stress is really behind my ruptured blood vessel, it certainly has good cause. Let's take a look at the last five days of Eric's life:

Saturday: Vocal Master Class and CD/DVD recording for college auditions. Plus rehearsal for said CD/DVD recording.

Sunday: All of the homework that I didn't do because of Saturday's events. On top of seeing a show at the Arvada Center (which I'm not complaining about-- but it certainly didn't give me any extra time.)

Monday: Sweeney Rehearsal, plus Chemistry Study Session, plus half of an Act of Hamlet to read, PLUS working on a giant history project that we didn't even present on Tuesday. (That was a bit of a spirit breaker.)

Tuesday: More Sweeney Rehearsal, plus singing the national anthem at the soccer game, plus more chem studying (we have a test Friday-- AHH!), plus Hamlet notes. Plus an hour out of my evening to watch GLEE. (Again... not complaining)

Wednesday: MORE SWEENEY (which I love, don't get me wrong), piano lessons, voice lessons, and extreme chem study session (I actually worked through all of Robertson's worksheets and feel fairly confident). Plus all the homework that I haven't done yet because I chose to blog about my stress. It's really just a therapeutic way for me to vent my frustrations-- so I'm going to say that this is actually productive.

The chemistry test is Friday. One of four tests of the year. Thursday night, I have Willy Wonka rehearsal (though not the full time... thank goodness.) I really hope I get a little bit of time to have one last jam-packed session of studying, because I'll need it.

I have determined that there are not enough hours in the day. It's not just my blood vessel that has been ruptured. I feel like I have been ruptured-- torn apart in two trying to keep track of everything. Sometimes I just need to take a moment and rest. But there's no time-- probably because I spend all of my extra time blogging about my stress (again-- it's generally productive because it allows me to rest my brain.)

It doesn't help me to know that it's just going to get worse before it gets better. I still have college apps to fill out, scholarships to obtain, and an Extended Essay to finalize. I'm sure that I'm rupturing millions of little blood vessels just by thinking about all of this.

So yeah. I feel ruptured. Physically and mentally. I think I'm just going to sleep through the entire weekend.

Compact-Disc

I don't know how Lady Gaga does it. I just sang five songs to put onto a college audition CD, and I'm exhausted. If anyone's interested, here's a list of the songs on said CD:

1. Il mio bel foco (Marcello)

2. Pieta, Signore (Stradella)

3. Der Doppelganger (Schubert)

4. Beau Soir (Debussy)

5. The Vagabond (Vaughan Williams)

A fairly varied list of songs-- that's what I was aiming for. This way, any combination of these five songs will be enough for any college's requirements. The Manhattan School of Music, for example, requires three songs: an Italian song (1 or 2), an English song (5), and a song in either German or French (3 or 4).

This list was based on what a specific scholarship I'm looking at requires: An Italian aria (1), an English (5), two contrasting art songs (3 and 4), and a final song of my choice (2). I think I picked well. Il mio bel foco and Der Doppelganger show off my low notes, while Pieta, Signore shows off my high notes. Beau Soir is a slower song, which contrasts the rapid Vagabond. And these five songs should fit nicely into any college's requirements.

I'm so glad that I have this under my belt. This is arguably one of the biggest pains in the process college application of music majors. Now I can start sending them in and finishing my apps. (Though I still have to write essays-- including one for MsM that asks what fictional character I identify with. I kinda want to say Harry Potter. :D) Things are starting to fall in place. I'm pretty happy about it.

Additionally, my parents got me barbecue for dinner.

It was delicious.

Conferences

They went well. Much to my surprise.

Actually, that's a bit of an overstatement. I figured every conference would go well except that for Chemistry, since I have a C in that class. (I do have an A in every other class, though. :P)

It's nice to hear people say nice things about me. Ms. Robertson (the teacher of chemistry) said that I actually didn't have anything to worry about, and that my grade would go up. (If I get an A at semester, I've decided I'm throwing a party over Christmas. Everyone who reads this post is invited.) And of course all the other teachers (besides Burns, who, of course, yelled at me in front of my mother... :D) had nice things to say. Which is always nice to know.

So far, senior year is going relatively well. This, of course, is the most important semester of school, since I'm in the process of applying to colleges, and the best way to get good scholarships so I can attend good colleges is to, of course, have good grades. Once this semester is over, grades don't matter as much-- not that I'm going to slack off and drop my grades to straight D's or anything-- but they supply so much stress in my life.

But, yeah, conferences went well. I was pleasantly surprised. :)

Oooh. And I'm recording my CD for colleges tomorrow! I'm excited!

Two-Face

Today was a fairly stressful day for me. And all the stress had one common root: Chemistry.

I am not skilled in the world of sciences. I thank God every day that I have a decent voice, because I'd otherwise be screwed. I'm not even kidding.

The thing about chemistry that gets me the most is the fact that it's like a two-faced teenage girl (I use the feminine for the simple purposes of comparison-- there are no doubt two-faced boys out there as well. I simply am using it because I'm sexist.) Chemistry never has a simple set of rules of follow. No. It's gotta follow one set of rules for one process, and a whole other set for a different process. There's no simplistic way to just know it. There are simply too many sets of rules to understand.

Today, I went to school feeling fairly confident about my chemistry worksheet that I had worked on last night. That is, until second period, when I realized, to my complete and utter horror, that I had done the entire sheet incorrectly. I had followed the processes for a strong acid in a reaction that produced a weak one. Immediately, I panicked and started trying to figure out the true answers.

We also had a quiz in chem on Periodicity-- a subject we "learned" (and I use that term loosely) last year. I think I did okay on it. Hopefully I did, because I haven't been faring well on the quizzes this far into the year.

With ten minutes of our class time spent on a quiz, we got to spend the last fifteen minutes of the hour to finish a lab that we hadn't been able to finish yesterday, due to time constraints. Our group, luckily, was able to finish the lab-- other groups weren't so lucky. They'll hopefully be able to finish their labs in due course.

When I finally got to Spanish 8th hour (late, of course), I sat down and realized how exhausted (mentally and physically) that I was. Chemistry is going to be the death of me. I was hoping that I would be able to do better this year, since Ms. Robertson is more assertive and no-nonsense-- a type of teacher I do well with. Hopefully this is just a nasty speed-bump that will pass with time.

I have some choppy waters ahead of me in the proverbial sea of chemistry.

Glee!

The season premiere of GLEE aired tonight, and I'm proud to say that I arranged my entire day around it, and, despite a few hitches with my family (apparently I couldn't wait until commercial to take out the trash... :P), I got to enjoy the majority of it. (Though I missed Finn's Cheerio audition, which is a bit tragic. I'll have to catch up on Hulu. NO ONE RUIN IT FOR ME!!)

One thing I noticed about this premiere was that it kind of plunged everything into a state of dismay. Finn's off football, the two Asians are going out, Artie's dreams are crushed (though he's used to that now), and Sunshine is off to Vocal Adrenaline. (PS... why did the other football player "transfer?" If I was a friggin' character on GLEE, I wouldn't give it up for anything.)

^^^ BTW SPOILERS ^^^

But, after some reflection time, that's probably the best way to begin a season. GLEE now has audiences hooked, and it will take an entire season (or at least half a season) to make things right again. It's taken the characters we've grown to love and ripped their lives up into pieces, and we're going to be right there ready to help put said pieces together. The season premiere was not as exciting or light as I anticipated, but I'm glad with what they did with it. I'm now, once again, shamelessly addicted to the show.

Regarding next week's Britney Spears themed episode, I'm on the fence. I do believe that Britney Spears herself is quite talented and her music is quite catchy (but all pop is...), and I'm glad to see that she has recovered from the bald woman with two babies in her car that she was. (SHE HAD TWO KIDS! HER HUSBAND TURNED OUT TO BE A USER. Yes. I've heard it.) But I'm not sure if she should be idolized like the GLEE cast is doing with an entire episode. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's just the fact that I am shocked that there hasn't been a Lady Gaga themed episode yet (I don't count "Theatricality" because there were some songs by other artists mixed in.) Maybe I'm just a bitter person. ;)

But anyway, if I had to say anything, I quite enjoyed the GLEE season premiere. While it wasn't quite what I expected, I certainly can't complain. And I will be there watching next week... on Hulu. Since I'll be missing it. (On a related note, come see me sing the National Anthem at the soccer game next Tuesday! ;D)

That's really all I had to say. I'm off to study chemistry.

Scholarships?

Everyone who knows me knows that I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY want to go to NYU for college. There's a list of reasons why.

1. HELLO. IT'S NEW YORK

2. It will look excellent on a resume, especially when one considers that I want to go into a performing arts career.

3. I'll be in the same place where I want to live for the rest of my life.

4. I'll be in the same place where I want to work for the rest of my life.

5. They've got a well-respected music program (operated through the Steinhardt School of Culture Education and Human Development), which I'm fairly confident I could get into.

5. UM HELLO. IT'S NEW YORK.

NYU is conveniently placed in Manhattan. It seems like the absolute perfect college for me. I'm fairly wary about going to a conservatory school because they won't allow any non-music majors (I do want a fall-back plan) and they are sometimes only two-year programs, which won't give me the amount of teaching I need to become a fairly well-rounded persona. And that freaks me out.

The problem with NYU is... it's the second-most expensive school in the country.

When it comes to overall tuition, room/board, and the rest, it's expensive. My parents have informed me that if I get in, there's no way in heck that they will be able to pay for it. And, unfortunately, my parents make just enough money so that I won't be able to get a ton of financial aid (though I'm hoping that's not entirely true-- doesn't the FAFSA consider where you're going to college?) So, it's up to me to go scholarship hunting in order to make my dream come true.

Another problem with NYU is that it only offers Early Decision options for admittance. If I get in, I'm locked in. There's no going back. I've gotta come up with some sort of money. Student loans are, of course, always an option, but my parents both are against it, because they were still paying off student loans after I was born. It is an option, but I'm not sure that I want to take it.

However, people who do Early Decision I are the first to get their hands on financial aid. A significant percent of students at NYU get financial aid. But I'm afraid that I'll get in... but be screwed financially.

I'm really hoping to make NYU work out. REALLY REALLY HOPING. Like, if I can't make it work out, I'll be crushed. No joke.

New York is calling me!

Vests

For those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with formal clothing.

I love dressing up. Good thing, too, because I've gotta dress up for the numerous piano/voice competitions I participate in. Part of your score is your presentation, and how you dress is a fairly significant part of that score.

It's pretty legit, actually.

I used to hate dressing up, but I've learned to love it. I've also discovered my love for ties and vests. Speaking of vests, I was googling around (that sounded dirty... but you get the point) and I discovered this wonderful site full of vests that are also under $30 each. Those

are pretty good prices when you're looking at quality.

Since I want to keep things fresh, I've decided to wear the same tuxedo to this year's prom (which I hope won't conflict with Sound of Music), but with a different vest/tie combination. Here's a few of the vests that appealed to me.

The picture doesn't show it as well, but this one has a friggin' dragon on it. How awesome is that?I'll tell you. It's pretty awesome. The red tie just completes the deal. This one is $43, so it's not exactly cheap. But it's just so awesome. :D

This one's a bit plainer, but it's in my favorite shade of green. I was looking for a vest like this when I was singing "Wonderful" from Wicked in a musical theatre revue, but I couldn't find one in time. This one is perfect. Especially since I'm obsessed with the color green (even though I don't wear it every day anymore.) Plus it's significantly less expensive ($24.99) than the aforementioned dragon vest, though considerably less BA.

This one's more of a teal, which is one of my favorite shades of blue-green. Actually, teal is kind of the only shade of blue-green. But I like it regardless. It's a little less vibrant than the emerald vest, but since I like teal so much, I had to include it in the possibilities. This one's only $24.99 as well, so I'm leaning toward it. :)

This one is sky blue, which is a very pleasant shade of blue. I like it because it matches my eyes. Not really. My eyes are brown. But I like this one anyway, because it's a little easier on the eyes but still vibrant enough to make an important statement (the statement being, I can look good for cheap, because this one's only $24.99 as well.)

This one's probably my least favorite, for two reasons. Yellow isn't great looking on me, and for some reason, this vest is about $10 more expensive than the three previous vests. But it's gold, and I still kinda like it.

I also, for some ungodly reason, want a zebra print vest, but the site's being stupid and not allowing me to view the website where I could find it. So, just imagine me for now in a zebra-print vest. I think it'd be pretty freakin' awesome. But that's just my opinion.

I don't think I'm gonna do any more blogs with picture posts on them for a while. That was fairly exhausting. Stupid Blogger. :P

Theatre Kids

I need to hang out with them more often. Be they the THS or NYT version.

There's something about theatre kids that makes them more valuable than other high school cliques. When I hang out with people who consider themselves more "popular," I end up wanting to shoot myself in the brain. When I'm with theatre people, I don't have to worry about being obnoxious or crazy, because I'm in good company.

We are also the masters of excellent inside jokes. I wrote an entire poem comprised of tonight's list of inside jokes. They have no been forever immortalized in the Facebook world.

(I also want to clarify that all of the same things can be applied to choir people. I just hung out with theatre people tonight, so they're kinda my point of focus right now.)

I feel most healthy with theatre people. Even if I barely know them, it's like we're best friends. We get each other. It's pretty legit, actually. :)

Art!

So, in honor of the Congress-passed National Art Appreciation Day, all of THS's choir, band, orchestra, and art students were given the day off to perform for the other students. And I've gotta say-- it went really well! :)

Now, as I'm sure everyone and their brother is aware, THS isn't exactly known for its art programs. First off, we're not an art-based school. Second off, THS is in a lower-income area, where people can't always afford the necessary materials for the creation of visual and performing arts. A lot of people will turn their noses up at Thornton High School (its art program as well as the school itself), simply because of the stereotypes that surround it. Students at the school themselves also have probably been turning blind eyes, deaf ears, and other disabled appendages to the miracle that is the Thornton High School art program.

Until today.

I was frankly amazed at the number of students who came in to watch the choir performances. We were sure that we'd get a few people out of genuine interest. But we feared that would be it. We were shocked as the auditorium slowly began filling up. Sure, a lot of them had come because their teachers had their class watch the performance, but a lot of them came out of genuine interest. (Or boredom... ha.) And a good 95% of them-- I exclude a few people who were forced by others to come, or were simply disrespectful-- allowed themselves to enjoy the performance. I think a lot of them were shocked, too. This was the first time that several of these students had ever heard the choir. Given the aforementioned stereotypes surrounding the school, they had simply assumed that the choir program would be bad. That made the performance all the more effective.

The most important thing about art day is that it raised awareness to administration, the principal, and the friggin' SUPERINTENDENT (who was kind enough to make an appearance. :D) about the importance of the arts. We survived the first $24 million budget cut, and we've got another $20 million cut to go. Historically, the arts are the first to go. Hopefully, after today's demonstration, the school board will think twice before taking anything out of the art programs.

I'm super proud of everyone (band, choir, orchestra, and visual art kids alike) who participated in today's activities. Each and every one of you took a part in maintaining what is an amazing art program. I commend each and every one of you.

You humble me. :)

Brazil

Well, we had our first Willy Wonka "rehearsal" of sorts. It was more of a cast meeting with a readthrough rather than an actual rehearsal, but that's beyond the point.

I know that this show is going to be awesome. :D

The only trouble is, my character, Mr. Salt-- who, I might add, is traditionally a British character-- hails from Brazil. And I've gotta come up with the accent.

If you Google "Brazilian Accent," absolutely nothing of any use comes up. You would probably (I say "probably" because I haven't actually conducted a field test) get more useful results for the query of "Brazilian Wax." I'm just saying. Anything goes in these modern times.

But I finally found a Yahoo Answers that told me that there are several different types of Brazilian accents. Apparently, people who hail from Sao Paulo-- the home of the Salt family-- speak with an Italian accent.

Unfortunately, I keep slipping into my Russian, Asian, or Indian accents while trying to pathetically speak in an Italian accent. Learning accents is harder than people may give it credit for. But I'll eventually get it. It will just take a bit of practice, with perhaps the addition of immersion into Brazilian culture. Maybe I'll take a mini-vacation. For purposes of research (and... multiculturalism.)

;)

Bumblebee

I kinda like these one-worded posts. It makes me feel mysterious and enigmatic. Of course, mysterious and enigmatic pretty much mean the same things. But the fact that I use both words with similar meanings makes me... well... mysterious. And enigmatic.

;D

Of course, the title of this post is bumblebee, because I got a little taste of how busy my life is going to be the next couple months today. I came home from a full 8-period day of school plus Sweeney Todd practice (music plus run-through) at 5:30 pm. After that, I met Cori and Helen at Barnes and Noble for some studying (and general tomfoolery, but studying happened as well, I assure you.) In between, however, I had to go to a Boy Scout Meeting to acquire a few necessary signatures for my Eagle Paperwork. After that, I returned to Barnes and Noble to continue studying.

On an unrelated side note, the children's section of Barnes and Noble is far too distracting to work well in. Don't ask me how I know this. I just do. :)

...And I'm just gonna get busier, having obtained a significant role in Willy Wonka. Looking back, I'm glad I got a smaller role. I can focus more on Sweeney. Tomorrow, I have no plans of getting home anytime before 8:30. Hopefully there will be a little downtime to do some homework.

Speaking of homework, senior year of the International Baccalaureate isn't going to complete itself.

I'm not complaining. I understood when I made all these commitments that I was going to be busy, and sometimes stressed. I merely just wanted to discuss and remark (two words with similar meanings) my busy schedule. I hope I'm appreciated. ;)

Eagle

So, I have my Scoutmaster Conference for my Eagle Scout award later this evening. And it's only been a year since my Eagle Project, which took place July 31-August 2 of 2009. I've been awaiting my letters of recommendation, and they're finally getting in. It's really been all about getting things in. And in the spirit of the true IB student, I've been procrastinating.

But everything is now done. My project paperwork, my application, all but one of my recommendation letters, my personal statement, and all the required merit badges. I'm so friggin' close I can taste it. :)

And it's gonna look really awesome on all those college apps.

Salt

Mr. Salt.

That's me. :)

When I first got the call, I wasn't entirely sure of what to make of this part. My first thought was something along the lines of "That's not a very significant role at all. :(" I, along with several other hopefuls, was hoping for the role of Willy Wonka. I'm not gonna lie. I was a tad disappointed. But after a few hours of reflection, I've come to terms with the part, and I know I'm going to enjoy it.

Mr. Salt is going to be a very fun role to play. The father of the spoiled brat. And as far as I know, I'll get to speak in an English accent, which is just legit enough for me to be completely happy with the role.

Let's think of it this way. There were 75 kids at callbacks. Even more than that auditioned. I know people who couldn't even make callbacks. People who are talented. People who did well. There were 75 kids at callbacks and only 35 roles in the show. More than 50% of the kids at callbacks have nothing. Take the 40% who do. Half of them are chorus roles. People who might... just might... have one line. If that.

I feel very fortunate indeed.

Would I rather be Wonka? Of course. In a heartbeat. But will I enjoy this role? Yes.

And I'm gonna steal the friggin' show if I can. :D

Callbacks

So I had callbacks today for NYT's production of Willy Wonka. And within the next 24 hours, I will know who I am. :)

Yes, I'm going to be in this show at the same time as being Sweeney Todd. Because I'm too legit (or ambitiously idiotic) to be in one show. Hopefully, I won't be pulling my hair out at the time that both shows end. I don't think I will. If I'm busy with something I love, it won't be working. It will be doing what I love. And there will be plenty of time to do my homework at rehearsals.

But I hate waiting. I suppose that's good, since Sweeney Todd has problems with waiting. I can incorporate that into the show.

Waittttttttttttinggggg.

Waiiiitttttttttttiiinnnnnnngggggggg.

¡¡Clase de Español!!

Estoy en la clase de español ahora... es bueno practicar todo el tiempo. Es muy dificíl hacer los acentos a veces, especialmente en una computadora de laptop. Ayyyyy Dios Mio....

;D

College

It terrifies me beyond belief.

I have been applying for scholarship after scholarship (I actually just applied for the Boettcher... essays and all) and it still terrifies me.

If you have never met me or heard of me or ever breathed the same air as me, you might not know that I am into musical theatre... singing in general actually. Classical and Musical Theatre is my personal favorite (I'm not much of a pop singer... as much as I idolize Lady Gaga... :D).

So, the logical college choice for me is New York University. AKA My Dream School.

AKA The second-most expensive school in the country. Gahhhhhhhh.

Hence scholarship after scholarship after scholarship. It's ridiculous, actually.

If I can make it work, I will be happy. If I can't, I'll get through this. But unlike some things, if you want to make it big in music, where you go to school is very important. Colorado schools are not exactly known for churning out Broadway stars. I mean, they do happen, but I want to take opportunities if they present themselves.

On an unrelated note, I just auditioned for Willy Wonka today with NYT! :) I'm hoping that turns out well. Callbacks, should I be called back, are on Saturday. And yes, I'm going to do both this show (if cast) and Sweeney Todd (in which I'm playing the title character) at the same time. If only to prove to myself that I'm awesome.

It's 11:13 on a school night. I think I'll go to sleep now. ;D