Start of Term

It's been a little while since I last updated, but I've been busy. Too busy to get a full night's sleep, actually, so though I've thought about reporting my most recent escapades to my anonymous blog audience, I haven't had the opportunity to do so until now.

What a week it's been, too. Summary in list form: my first guest Beth has been here since last Friday, working 30 hours for Carolyn, The Frick Collection, The American Museum of Natural History, The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, seeing Sarah JEssica Parker filming SatC Two, Beth's birthday with sushi, beer, and an attempted visit to the Empire State Building, a date, first day of classes, finding my first piece of furniture on the street (a table!), the arrival of boxes and boxes of things from SF, more classes, and much start-of-term geekiness.

I am so tired at the moment. I seem to be at that weird mid point between events, when one has enough time to realize just how sleepy one is even though there isn't enough time to truly relax. I have a rehearsal room with my name on it in an hour or so, and a class after that. Yay for humanities at my music conservatory. I'm sure I'm quite thrilled and exhilarated by the prospect.

*ahem*

It's not that I don't like books, but rather that the very concept of taking a course in humanities at the college level is a bit abysmal sounding. It's not a literature class, it's not a philosophy class, it's a humanities class- a 'let's see how much we can cram into a required course so that we can maintain accreditation' class. It might turn out to be ok, especially since I was able to comp out of HU0001, and am taking HU0003 this semester instead, but I am a little skeptical. That and the class runs from 8.30-9.45pm two nights per week, which is a ridiculous hour to spend in discussion of said things.

Otherwise, school is looking rather excellent. And obnoxiously intense. I'm taking the following courses:

• Voice Lessons (3 Credits)
  
• Sophomore Aural Skills (2 Credits)
• Humanities III (3 Credits)
  
• Medieval/Renaissance History (2 Credits)
  
• Advanced Freshman Theory (3 Credits)
  
• Freshman Theory Lecture (1 Credit)
  
• Phonetics (2 Credits)
  
• Symphonic Chorus (0.5 Credit)
  
• 2nd Year Performance Class (0.5 Credit)
  
• Concert Attendance (0 Credits)
• Humanities Lecture (0 Credits)

To be fair, though, I was able to sign out of my humanities no-credit lecture, as it conflicts with my theory class, so my schedule isn't as intimidating, but that only saves me 50 minutes.

I am overwhelmed by both the breadth of work I have ahead of me and the sheer joy of being here with such opportunities. My professors (thus far) are all absolutely engaging and at the top of their game. Zillions of nerdy jokes have already made me laugh again and again. I am surrounded by people who take their craft seriously, which is intimidating but extremely validating at the same time.

I'm eager to dive into academia of this sort- my theory prof. wants us to explore both the mechanics of music and the philosophical concepts of where those mechanics came from. Fascinating. My history prof. is dynamic and a bit of a drama queen, and I hope I am never late to his 9 AM lecture. My phonetics course requires that I learn a completely new and MUCH larger alphabet. The very first thing I had to do at school was perform for my as yet unmet peers in my performance class when I had *of course* neither warmed up nor brought music (thank you beloved Library for saving my ass!).

This program is going to alter me significantly. I am ready.