Sunday, February 11, 2007

back to procrastinating

having successfully completed my first round of exams and fifth week of school, i can still say that being back in school is the best! turns out i will need to study after all, as evidenced by the difficulty i experienced during last week's tests, but that is just what i want to do! it still blows my mind that i am learning all the stuff i have known i was missing all these years like contemporary harmony and music technology; one of the most fun is an ensemble class, or arranging-for-rhythm-section-on-the-fly. some of these classes were not offered at rice university way back and are still not part of a traditional classical music education. lucky me!

some things have not changed, though; i find that my knack for procrastinating has improved over the years and am delighted that my car will get the living daylights cleaned out of it during the monthly assessment weeks to come. really, it could be just what i've been waiting for to give me the motivation to put all those loose photos in books (finally), finish my last painting, make that curtain i designed last year, or update my blog. =]

my classes are small, ranging from 6-30 students, and are comprised mostly of students in my 'batch,' or on my program schedule and/or degree track sprinkled with some repeaters hoping for an improved grade the second time around. i don't know if i can pick a favorite although the friday performance class is one thousand times more fun than the gut-wrenching nervous-flu-inducing ordeal at rice. since we have arranging, performance, music technology/production, film-scoring, and audio production majors, friday afternoons are a complete blast. every student must perform once during the semester and the teachers give them a pass/fail grade and a critique on their band, the groove, the performance, etc. the class is set up like a concert in our mini hall complete with sound system, stage, and lights. wish i could include a file of the film score a senior performed this week; i found myself, along with my classmates around me, momentarily struck dumb in wonder; imagine monster house meets chariots of fire and lord of the rings and you get the picture. the orchestra was sampled and sequenced on her macbook and she played the fool out of the piano along with it. it was like being in an imax theater, you could see a story unfold in front of you. this is SCHOOL. amazing.

surely i have a different focus after waiting all this time to complete my degree. to say i am grateful just doesn't capture the sentiment- the fulfillment of a hope deferred is like getting a new pair of prescription glasses. things look clearer and more defined, and colors have shades previously unnoticed and full of life. if we were still in the U.S., i would not have this opportunity for several more years- at least until ashley and brooke had graduated from university. but greg has made this possible by stealing us away from the 'comfort' of home to this exotic place! so, i choose a life of adventure any day of the week. i am fortunate and blessed, and this time around it is exactly what i truly hoped for (who knew?!). i am experiencing a gift and am so grateful; God is a good daddy who not only redeems us but restores things that seem long gone in His perfect timing.

thanks greg, you are a perfect match for me and i am so glad we are lobsters. i love you to the sky!

...okay, i have one more exam- a presentation on the future of online music distribution to place out of english with full credit. better get to work! =]

chryl left the ground at 15:01 11 comments