Holy Crap It's Midnight

Actually... it's midnight-thirty.

And I still have work to do.

And yet I'm blogging.

Happy November!

I really don't have much to say. :P

Eagle!

It's been a while since I've blogged... like almost a week. I know that all of you have been on pins and needles to know about my life. I know I certainly have been.

That was a joke.

Moving on.

I had my Eagle Board of Review last night. Only one year, two months, and some odd days after my Eagle project, which was finished on August 2, 2009. Hmm. A bit of a gap. But I don't care. September of 2009 was when I was first getting myself into the IB Diploma programme, and I have since had no free time.

Well. That's not entirely true. But my mind was certainly in other places. :)

That was certainly the highlight of my week. Now, I can put the fact that I'm an Eagle Scout on all of my college apps (I actually...had already... put it on my Boettcher application. I'm glad it all worked out. :P) It's one thing of many that I can finally check off of my list of things to get done. My very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very long list of things to do.

BUT.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is no longer one of those things. Now I can focus on EE, CAS, IB, Chemistry (which I believe deserves its own category since it's currently killing me), College apps, scholarships (though... I did send in my YoungArts DVD and I'm waiting anxiously to hear back from them. :D), and other things that I probably have blocked from my mind at the moment to compensate for the stress that it causes.

Funny thing about my Board of Review. I was never told that my Scoutmaster and parents had to be present-- I had assumed that they were not necessary since they couldn't sit in on the actual Board of Review. While I'm at a loss as to why my Scoutmaster was not there (since his wife was one of my reviewers... :P), I had told my parents that they didn't have to be present, so they were out. However, when all of my people got there, the first thing they asked me was where my parents were. I, of course, freaked out, and quickly called my mom and begged her to come home. Luckily, though, this debacle didn't affect their decision, so I'm glad. :)

My mom texted me like an hour ago telling that she's bringing home Chipotle. Unfortunately, she was at my brother's football game... in Ft. Collins. So it might be a while before I get Chipotle goodness.

Why do I end every post with food? :P

Homecominggggg

It actually went pretty well. Much better than last year's Homecoming. The DJ was ten thousand times better. (Seriously. I did the calculations.)

Then again, maybe I'm blowing things way out of proportion since this was my last ever high school Homecoming. Depending on where I go to college (I still have no idea. :P), it may have been my last Homecoming ever. It's weird when I think about it. A year from now I'll be in college, surviving off of Ramen. It's hard to believe that this chapter of my life is coming to a close. It kinda makes me want to cry and jump for joy at the same time.

On one hand, I am very excited to be independent and start supporting myself (though my parents, God bless them, are willing to back me financially.) On the other hand, I'm going to miss the lack of responsibility that the dependence of childhood has to offer. Though college is not quite an accurate simulation of the real world, it's going to be a lot more real than the life I'm currently living.

Anyway. Tangent.

Homecoming was pretty awesome. They played some good songs-- luckily, thanks to my iPod malfunction a few months ago, I had to use the radio and so I was able to sing and dance along to most of the songs played. And, of course, the DJ played three Lady Gaga songs, which made my night. :D

Really, a night with my friends is something to be cherished. We could hang out in an old junkyard and have a great time. Though, I'm sure Homecoming (for the most part, anyway-- there were some sweaty kids) would smell a tad better. ;)

In other news, I am currently in the middle of a poke war with Jimena Vallejo. She is one stubborn son of a gun. I am also working on my ToK debate. I have to represent Diogenes, a so-called "cynic" who believed that a life free of possessions and doing whatever the heck you wanted (playing with yourself in public, for example) was absolutely okay. He was quite an interesting persona.

ALLSTATE

Okay. It didn't go too badly. I don't think. Then again, it's really the judge's call-- if there's anything I've learned from years of competitions both in the field of piano and voice, music competitions are very subjective, and a lot of your score may depend on whether the judge likes you.

Luckily, though, the judge I got seemed very kind and loving (of course... it could have been a facade to lull me into a false sense of security). Of the categories... here's my own personal critique (though I of course may be biased. :P)

1. SOLO (Pieta, Signore by Alessandro Stradella)

I think it went pretty well. My voice was cooperating with me, and the room itself had fairly good acoustics. I went at a comfortable speed. According to G, there were a few (very minor) pronunciation issues, but Pieta is a fairly new song, so I, of course, am going to have a few minor adjustments to make (if I get anything out of Allstate, it will be a helpful critique for this song which I can use when I sing it in further engagements. ;D)

2. TRIADS

They all went well, though I slid slightly on the Diminished (which, ironically enough, was the one I felt most confident in. There's a life lesson for you.) I'm not sure if I got knocked a point off for that or not.

3. INTERVALS

They all went well, with the exception of one of my sung intervals, which was like half a step off. (A minor third descending-- the judge herself said that was a fairly cruel choice. :P)

4. SCALES

Perfect. I'm sorry. They just were. :)

5. SIGHTREADING

Melodic sightreading was, of course, my weakest point in my audition. Having said that, however, I think I did very well on the first one. I would say it was perfect except for the fact that I have no way of knowing. So I gave myself an 8 out of 10. The second one did not go nearly as well-- especially when I realize that it contained an accidental which I probably botched. BUT I do think I ended on the right note, so finding my way back has got to get me something. As far as rhythmic sightreading goes, I think I did well except on one measure, which should give me a score of 8 out of 10.

All in all, I don't think I did too shabby. There are, of course, points to improve on, but I doubt that there are many perfect scores. I hope to get in, of course, but it won't be the end of the world if I don't-- I've got a lot of other things working for me. :)

And the fact that I made it there and back in one piece is reward enough for me. ;)

Mental Health

So. I took a day off today. I actually had a legitimate reason-- I had a doctor's appointment scheduled today for my eye.

The prognosis: Eric has a mild bacterial infection in his eye (NOT conjunctivitis. I don't appear to be contagious) and so he should use these special eye drops through the weekend and NOT WEAR CONTACTS.

Which means I will be wearing glasses to school tomorrow. Again. I figured I'd wait another six years before I wore my glasses to school (meaning, I'm allowed another bacterial infection in grad school) but nature failed to comply with my demands. That ho.

But I'm getting sidetracked. Today was also just a nice day to sleep in and relax. I pretty much did nothing all day. And I think I needed it. With everything going on in my life, it was nice to just take a day and pretend like I have no responsibilities. For a day, such trivialities as IB, college, scholarships, homework, or play rehearsal didn't exist. And I was able to watch TV like the teenager that I ought to be. (I actually did all of my homework last night, so I wasn't technically shirking on my responsibility. Though... I'm going to be busy until 8:30 tomorrow night, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea.)

I've used up my mental health day for the quarter. I don't think I should allow myself more than one per quarter. They're nice, but if I have to many of them, I'll just be screwing myself in the end. And Eric wants to go to college and be successful. :)

But it was worth it. I feel recharged and ready to take on the rest of the week. I'll need to anyway, since quarter ends next week and a certain Caucasian male has to get his Chemistry grade up. I'm hoping my labs will take care of it, but I'm not going to hold my breath. So far, I seem to understand organic chemistry. But again, I'm not going to hold my breath.

Here I am, talking about school again. You'll notice that "school" is a major topic in my blogging. It's pretty much the most important thing now. Second semester, not so much. But now. It's very important. I'm hoping that once I get over this metaphorical hill, it will be smooth sailing from here on out (with the tangible exception of the IB exams, but I'm going to pretend that they don't exist for now. Since I'm still technically on my mental health day.)

Well. It's 9:15, and I'm going to be a good little blogger and get to sleep, so I can get up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning. Adieu, faithful reader. Until next time.

Eyes Eyes Baby

My titular allusion to pop culture is, of course, referring to the current irritation/infection/whatever-it-is-I-have-in-my-eye in my eye. It's gotten pretty bad, leading me to believe that it's more than just a stress-induced ruptured blood vessel, thereby nulling the significance of the post discussing that, but it was so artistic and well-done that I'm keeping it as it is, thank you very much.

So, I'm staying home from school tomorrow to talk to a doctor about it, and get some antibiotics if it is actually an infection (so yes... it is possible that I have pink-eye, a disease that I formerly thought I was safe from since I graduated kindergarten-- then again, I had an ear infection last year, so anything's possible).

I've been very wary of missing school this year, because, as any IB kid knows, making up an entire day of school can be VERY difficult, especially when you consider how many extracurricular activities I participate in. I'm also afraid of leaving the choir to its own devices, since I'm a leading participant in it (though, I am confident in their abilities, and they'll certainly have to function without me when I graduate, so perhaps this is a good exercise.) But, since tomorrow is Wednesday (or, as Ms. G puts it, "Stupid Day"), I figure I won't be missing out on too much. Which is always pleasant.

It's kind of ironic. Most kids would kill to have parents like mine who will sometimes let me have a day off without any real reason at all. The problem is, I don't want a day off for no reason at all. I, myself, am straining at the bit about missing tomorrow. If I didn't think a day off to see the doctor would be beneficial overall to my health and mental being, I wouldn't go.

I'm tired now. I think I'm going to go to bed now. This post is short, but brevity is the soul of wit. So get over it. :)

Reevaluating Reevaluation

And, once again, we have reached the end of a weekend. And it's 11:33, and even though I'll regret this in the morning, I'm taking the time to blog a bit, since I find it therapeutic. :)

This weekend was fairly mellow. After our Chem Test on Friday, there really was nothing that we particularly had to study. And so, I finally found some extra time to put together my college essay for the Common Application. So, I'm pretty much ready to submit my application to everything but the Manhattan School of Music, which does not accept the Common App (they just have to be different, don't they?)

So anyway, I had another college talk with my parents, who are once again suggesting that I go to CSU, because it's cheap. Don't get me wrong, CSU would certainly be a good choice for me, but I've told my parents time and time again that I feel like it's taking the easy way out. I know I can get into CSU. I want to at least try to raise sufficient funds to go to a music school.

I've always lived by a philosophy that the only you can 100% ensure you won't get something is to not go for it. There's a chance that I can get significant financial aid and live my dream of studying in New York City, which is where I'm going to end up working, anyway. (I know I can at least get a job at Ellen's Stardust Diner as a singing waiter. ;) ha.)

There is a significant advantage of going to CSU, though, even though it's in-state. There's a professor there who's been following me since I was a freshman, and I'm pretty sure I can get a significant scholarship there-- and it's already an inexpensive school to begin with. If I get a Bachelor's of Music there, I should be able to make the transfer to MSM for a 2-year grad program. Two years at Manhattan would still be enough to send me on my way in NYC, and it'd be significantly less expensive. Plus, at CSU, I would be able to study more than just music, so I could ensure that I'd have some sort of career when I get out of college to support myself-- music performance is a risky business. Especially with all the tenor-happy composers out there on Broadway. :P

I seem to be changing my plans for school every week. And I haven't even submitted any apps yet. Three weeks ago, my dream school was NYU. Now I'm not so sure.

Why must college cost so much?!? GAH.

But since I don't want to end this blog on a negative note, I had chicken Parmesan for dinner tonight. It was delicious and ate far more than the Department of Agriculture deems a full serving. :D

Fictitious

So I've dedicated this day to writing college essays, but I've gotten stuck on one that has made me think my face off. (Not literally, of course, because I can't very well attend any sort of college without a face.) And, being the 2000's kid I am (I honestly remember very little of the 1990's, so I don't consider myself a 90's kid), I decided to turn to the power of the blog to work out some ideas.

The Manhattan School of Music (which has recently become my new "dream school" since I won't have to study science there :D) has a wide range of requirements, all of which I can adhere to. I am currently in the midst of applying there to study Classical Voice. I honestly think I can get in-- even though MSM only admits roughly 800 students a year. Let's hope the fates are with me on this one.

Anyway, the main essay question is "What fictional character do you identify with and why?"

fic·ti·tious/fikˈtiSHəs/Adjective

1. Not real or true, being imaginary or having been fabricated.

2. Of, relating to, or denoting the imaginary characters and

events found in fiction.

And so my thoughts scatter.

My first thought was Harry Potter. Let's look at how we compare:

- We both are human

- We both have had personal struggles in our lives but have overcome said struggles (in my case, my issues with my leg-- my mom has told me that I have to include that in all college essays from now on. Ha.)

Hmm. Not an impressive list. Then I got to thinking about characters outside of the realm of books. Musical theatre characters. And boom. I arrived at the Phantom of the Opera (who, interestingly enough, is named Erik. Coincidence? I think not.) Again... comparisons:

- We are both lovers of music

- We have had physical struggles to overcome. (Again... working up the leg.)

- We both have eccentric albeit enchanting personality traits.

- There is more to us than meets the eye.

I feel like the Phantom essay is more relevant, since I'm going into a school of music. Though there is no specific requirement that I have to mention my musical career, I think it's best to emphasize specific points of my goals (those being a career in musical theatre or opera) as much as possible, while still getting sympathy for my leg (I'M FINALLY A MINORITY).

For similar reasons, I could include Willy Wonka... but since I'm currently in that show, I don't think I'd feel comfortable writing about it. Plus I can just see the college board thinking of the Johnny Depp version and being like WTF.

And then I wonder to myself... are they looking for more classical characters? Something that makes me look like an intellectual? Something completely based off of Sparknotes (which they don't have to know) that makes me look like some worldly scholar of literature? I am, after all, going into classical voice. If that's the case, then all I can think of at the moment is Equality 7-2521 from Anthem... one of the few pieces of classical literature that I've been able to actually stomach. I could also do an essay on Snowball from Animal Farm, but that would make me a Communist. And a pig.

And we simply can't have that, can we?

And so, I'm unsure. Right now, I'm leaning toward the Phantom idea. But we still must remember that the Phantom is a crazed lunatic who kind of hanged a gentleman from the rafters in the climactic scene in the musical.

So the idea is kind of like that fly that's currently buzzing around my room and everything time I try to swat it, it flies away even though I clearly hit it.

Symbolic fly, give me inspiration.