French, despite not doing the homework, was worth going to. One, I can translate on the fly pretty well, as it turns out. Two, I learned that the French hate Belgians. Three, I learned about the test. Four, I got a photocopy of the book. And five, we learned numbers, which are ridiculous in French. Fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-and-one, sixty-two...sixty-nine, sixty-ten, sixty-eleven...sixty-ten-nine, four-twenty (suddenly, we're not adding, we're multiplying). Then I had a nice afternoon of productive reading in the GSI office, and a good class, and two excellent teaching sections. We hit most of the things I wanted, the students were active and engaged, and I enjoyed it and felt comfortable. Excellent. Plus, I have Gershwin in my head now. Back to the co-op with Kevin on the bus, dinner, and a surprise officer's meeting, which was long but had some good ideas. I love my fellow officers. And then, work/procrastination in the lounge with Claire, Jas, Kira (who gave me an excellent backrub), and Adam (with guest appearances by Natalie and Yoshi). And some phot review with Ascia before bed. Class tomorrow will have to be expanded, so I think I'm going to show movies, because I can.
1/22/05- ***
I got up about noon, and ate (small side note: fragels are amazingly delicious) and showered and went to help clean up more, which was moderately successful. Then I went and cooked, which was a success, but barely. We couldn't turn on the gas for the oven. We couldn't find tomatoes. We couldn't find the frozen strawberries. So we decided to chop up the tropical fruit left over from the party. Coconut- hard to cut. Yeah. Then by Raj's going to make juice, I discovered that the juice canister, which I had filled with bleach to clean it after juice was left in it and it was left sitting out all night, was taken, orange concentrate was added to the bleach water, and it was put out as juice. No, that should not happen. Raj double checked after being assured it was OK, and I think we are all happier as a result. Man. Chaos. But, dinner was awesome. We had this long, meandering conversation about and using big words, ways to mess with academic writing (my favorite: footnotes that go off on completely unrelated tangents like "Yeah, this reminds of a time at camp when there was a guy who went by the name Squirrel, and he..."). For the first time, it felt like being back in Swarthmore with intelligent, silly, funny, awesome people. Yay. And now, maybe I should, I don't know, actually do my work for tomorrow? Just a thought.
1/21/05- ***1/2
Well, winter has returned, but I didn't have to leave the co-op at all. Instead I made jello shots and baked Rice Krispies treats and put up lights and decorations. In between this came food and tracking people down and averting minor crises, although the only major disaster was filling up the pool, only to have to unfill it so it would stop leaking all over the floor. What the co-op needs is a siphon. Anyway, the day was fun, and not stressful, and after it was a rather excellent party. Lots of fun dancing. Rebecca and Shinobu showed up later on, which was excellent. The drinks (daquiris, jello shots, mojitos) were all fantastic, and the Rice Krispies Treats were buttery and gooey, as I like them. I got to take lots of pictures, play a contortionist version of Twister, dance dance, talk to people, mess around with the hula hoop, and wear my neon jams, beach-ish shirt, and the floppy hat that if I wear the brim down makes me look like a middle aged tourist, and if I wear it up, I get the very gay sailor look. Need we figure out which way is more fun? Also, the situation with the person I may or may not be flirting with is still unclear. At one point, Brix was trying to land a ping pong ball in a cup, and while we struggled to come up with a prize, John piped up that if he got it in, we would do a solo dance. And he missed, and told me that it would probably happen anyway, which it did. And yet, like so much else (including my classes), nothing is clear. Still, fun. And even cleaning up with Kira to Wilco until 4:15 or so in the morning was kind of fun. I'm a fan of cleaning up now, while everyone else went for the do it later approach. And then I slept long and enjoyably, which is rare after I party, because I continually wake up.
1/20/05- **1/2
Such a beautiful afternoon. It was almost spring. In January. I spent it mostly either inside writing a synopsis of Tristan und Isolde or at the GSI meeting/lecture. The meeting went well- I'm gaining footing, and reassurances that my fears and problems are in fact shared by people who've done this before. Awesome. Then a delicious dinner (spinach patties and rice, with chocolate cake), extended for a couple hours. I was going to go bowling, but it started raining, and I was enjoying watching Mary Poppins with Anna and Brix, so I did that, some work, and then went off to a co-op party elsewhere, and ran into a bunch of people there. This did absolutely nothing for my general un-thought-out plan to meet new people, but on the upside, I had fun hanging out with them. Which itself is something of a victory.
1/19/05- ***
502 was intense. After finishing up Tristan discussion, we returned to our first assignment, which he told us all we completely missed the point of. The big problem is you can't address what 6 people did wrong collectively, not when your expectations depends on the extent of extant work on your topic. Thus some people left in tears feeling personally attacked, while I just felt confused. I'm pretty hard to upset. I read through the comments, I have my complaints (he questions all the assumptions I make on behalf of the audience, which is a fine instinct, but to question my calling the Kennedy assassination a tragic event still memorable to people is ridiculous. Really), and I've got an idea of how to fix it. Lunch was quiet without Rebecca, and then British music was quiet, as I was the only person who seemed to say anything at all in that class. I never know when to stop talking, because no one else says anything, and the professor looks pained, but doesn't press the issue, so I usually end up answering her questions. And then in Bach class, we actually got to Bach and analysis, even if it wasn't always clear the point the professor was making. Also, there are conductors in the class. The kind that insist on grandly conducting the recording from their seat, which I find just about as tolerable as that guy I sat in front of at Porgy and Bess who sang along, off-key, with the music. Can't we just listen and discuss, because this is a musicology class, not conducting practice. Or at least, try to conduct to yourself, smaller, and less distractingly. After class, I chatted with Stephen and went home for dinner, and then off to the concert, meeting Rebecca. John Eliot Gardiner was conducting the Orchestra Romantique et Revolutionaire and the Monteverdi Choir in a double bill of Mozart's C-Minor Mass and Requiem. What a pity the C-Minor Mass never caught on the way the Requiem did, as it's a far superior piece, in my opinion (for starters, there's no bland finishing of Sussmayer). Gardiner's approach is a stunning one, scaling back the hyperemotive tendencies many performers take, using period instruments, and a smaller ensemble, to create the full range of emotion with the intensity of a finely-tuned chamber group. The conducting was brisk and clean with the chorus, and orchestra, and the ensembles maintained if not a constant balance, a cohesive sound which blended well between the colors. The soloists in both pieces were strong and warm, and the soprano soloist who began the Mass burst out radiantly, both with her strong, clear voice, and her warming smile. There's a lot of joy in Mozart's music here, with its pastoral moments, balanced by a good dose of fire and brimstone in its more austere moments. The sharper movements, like the stunning Qui Tollis, and the Rex Tremendae in the Requiem were marked by a decisively sharp-edged attack on the rhythms, milking more meaning from the silences than most can from the disssonances and soaring vocal lines. Gardiner showed at times a bit too much ritardando, which clashed with the decisive, clean style so effective here, but the overarching result was one of pure radiance, a magic and wholly memorable version of classic pieces scrubbed down and glistening with musical power. The best part about the concerts is I know everyone on the bus back to north campus: Rebecca, Brad the clarinetist, Bryan the bassist, Ian the composer, coopers Wolfgang, Simon, and Dustin, and probably others. General consensus- an excellent excellent concert. After getting back, I watched The Daily Show, did some work, and went to bed at a reasonable time. Amazing.
1/18/05- **
French was enjoyable as always. A few mistakes, but I'm learning. Learning learning learning. Because it was cold, I decided to come home for lunch, leftover curry and stuff like that, warm and tasty, before heading off again for the popular music class. After class, I had an afternoon free to do all the work and reading I have to do for tomorrow. Part of it, naturally, was squandered, but reading got done. And that's what counts, right?
5:18 PM
