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Easter wrap-up
Apr. 17th, 2006 07:36 pmHey there. Well, Easter was had. Religiously speaking, it was actually quite a good weekend; I feel like I got a lot out of it. Reminded me that even though I may have major disagreements with the Catholic Church and its hierarchy, the central tenets of the religion -- its true, base-level beliefs -- are things that I still believe. Every year at the Easter Vigil mass when we reaffirm our baptismal vows, I also think very carefully about them, and I always worry that someday I won't agree with them. Up until now, though, I've always come back to them without conditions.
Singing was also very good. I've really and truly missed singing; it's been a good year and a half since I sang on any sort of regular basis. I honestly don't know what I'll do next year... I know I want to sing, but I'm really less than enthusiastic about rejoining Glee Club. It was a great time, but first of all it's of the past, and second of all I just don't think I want to dive back into the random juvenile crap that seems to go with it. My options... still uncertain. Singing at the Newman Center, or with another church choir? Would involve me going back to church regularly, but at least when I was last there it was a surprisingly liberal congregation that I felt comfortable in. Or I could go into one of the other university choirs... U Chorus is distinctly unattractive. Mastersingers equally so. Chorale's very attractive, but it's also the top vocal group, and my sight-reading skills are so rusty that I'd be very worried about the audition. Eh. We'll see.
This was a weekend of much baking. I baked another pear tart, Mom helped me out on a couple loaves of challah (I need to post my preferred recipe online somewhere though, since I was without it and had to use a passable, but inferior, random recipe from the interwebs), and Dad made a real pumpkin pie (i.e. not with pumpkin pie filling) and one of the best apple pies I have ever eaten, ever. All that some buttery mashed potatoes, Jody's Pineapple Salad (lemon and lime jellos with crushed pineapple, cream cheese, and 7-Up), and a Greenberg smoked turkey, mmm. Food is tasty.
This has also been the conclusion of an already very book-filled week. Finished up Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History, read the better part of John Berendt's City of Falling Angels (a study of Venetian society in the vein of his earlier Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). Listened to Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues and a strange philosophical treatise by Harry G. Frankfurt called On Bullshit. I also downloaded the audiobook of the Pimsleur Company's German: The Short Course, as I've finally decided that my lack of German proficiency is just stupid. I can now officially ask you if you speak German or English (or French, cause I sneakily have prior knowledge), and I can exchange salutary pleasantries.
When I arrived home (the Benadryl for the cat helped, by the way, thank you Mary and Amanda!), my camera was waiting for me on the porch. It works beautifully again, and I am very very very pleased with Sony's warranty repair service, which was lightning-fast and utterly hassle-free. Now I'm washing clothes, basically beating time until Wednesday morning, when I leave BR nice and early to drive to Kentucky. I'll be in Lexington from Wednesday evening to Sunday morning; I actually do the presenting Saturday morning. I have to admit, I am entirely unenthusiastic about the conference; I wish there was another student from my school attending, instead of me just being there all alone giving a paper that, while I think it's quite good, I just don't give a damn about. Oh well, it'll look good on a resume, and it'll give me something concrete to show for my work down here (other than my degree, which is of course the biggest marker). I'm looking forward to seeing Michele at least, so there's that.
Singing was also very good. I've really and truly missed singing; it's been a good year and a half since I sang on any sort of regular basis. I honestly don't know what I'll do next year... I know I want to sing, but I'm really less than enthusiastic about rejoining Glee Club. It was a great time, but first of all it's of the past, and second of all I just don't think I want to dive back into the random juvenile crap that seems to go with it. My options... still uncertain. Singing at the Newman Center, or with another church choir? Would involve me going back to church regularly, but at least when I was last there it was a surprisingly liberal congregation that I felt comfortable in. Or I could go into one of the other university choirs... U Chorus is distinctly unattractive. Mastersingers equally so. Chorale's very attractive, but it's also the top vocal group, and my sight-reading skills are so rusty that I'd be very worried about the audition. Eh. We'll see.
This was a weekend of much baking. I baked another pear tart, Mom helped me out on a couple loaves of challah (I need to post my preferred recipe online somewhere though, since I was without it and had to use a passable, but inferior, random recipe from the interwebs), and Dad made a real pumpkin pie (i.e. not with pumpkin pie filling) and one of the best apple pies I have ever eaten, ever. All that some buttery mashed potatoes, Jody's Pineapple Salad (lemon and lime jellos with crushed pineapple, cream cheese, and 7-Up), and a Greenberg smoked turkey, mmm. Food is tasty.
This has also been the conclusion of an already very book-filled week. Finished up Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History, read the better part of John Berendt's City of Falling Angels (a study of Venetian society in the vein of his earlier Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). Listened to Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues and a strange philosophical treatise by Harry G. Frankfurt called On Bullshit. I also downloaded the audiobook of the Pimsleur Company's German: The Short Course, as I've finally decided that my lack of German proficiency is just stupid. I can now officially ask you if you speak German or English (or French, cause I sneakily have prior knowledge), and I can exchange salutary pleasantries.
When I arrived home (the Benadryl for the cat helped, by the way, thank you Mary and Amanda!), my camera was waiting for me on the porch. It works beautifully again, and I am very very very pleased with Sony's warranty repair service, which was lightning-fast and utterly hassle-free. Now I'm washing clothes, basically beating time until Wednesday morning, when I leave BR nice and early to drive to Kentucky. I'll be in Lexington from Wednesday evening to Sunday morning; I actually do the presenting Saturday morning. I have to admit, I am entirely unenthusiastic about the conference; I wish there was another student from my school attending, instead of me just being there all alone giving a paper that, while I think it's quite good, I just don't give a damn about. Oh well, it'll look good on a resume, and it'll give me something concrete to show for my work down here (other than my degree, which is of course the biggest marker). I'm looking forward to seeing Michele at least, so there's that.
