Conviction of Things Not Seen

I survived another week!  Thanks to the USO, Chicago Symphony, and Faculty Showcase concerts this week, I had even less time than usual to do all of the things I never have enough time to do.  I think (I hope) that I will be able to get into a groove next week in which I can deal with 2 majors, 21 credits, 10-15 work hours, 1 student organization, and 1 fraternity in an organized fashion.  Ha!


The Chicago Symphony was delightful, although I was sitting in a major oboe hot spot, so whenever the oboe played, it sounded like the guy was playing into my face.  Thank you, Hill Auditorium.  The CSO finished with Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, a mini-opera which is based on one of those old, creepy fairy tales and involves a man named Bluebeard showing his new wife seven rooms containing something bloody, or, in the case of the last door, his three previous wives.  You have to be a pretty emotionally secure person to find enjoyment in that piece.  I did.


The Faculty Showcase Concert was also rewarding, as I expected, and I got to hear a baritone voice professor sing a recitative from Don Juan and "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific.  Other than Dr. Lyman's duet with the flute professor, that was kind of the whole reason I went.  Personally, I think these concerts are one of U of M's biggest assets.  There aren't too many places where you can go and hear quality music performed every day.


Right now, for Rec Sports, I'm working on the champion shirts that the winners of all 37 intramural sports will get ... very coveted shirts, so I'm told.  I have to make four different designs that the athletes will vote on, and then I'll use the winning shirt design to make one for every sport.  As of last night, two down, two to go!  Oh, and when I met with my supervisor, Nicole, last Friday, she gave me a tour of the IM building and a free Adidas Michigan Recreational Sports windbreaker "just to get me started." I love her!


Today was a lovely day.  I had a rehearsal with my delightful quintet (how can you not have fun with a composition that's supposed to be cheesy in order to make fun of all things cheesy?), made reeds in Lyman's office for two hours, attempted to get some homework done, had a quick ΣAI meeting, went to Buffalo Wild Wings ("B-Dubs") with a couple of friends, and grabbed Starbucks with Angelo ("Jello") where he introduced me to raspberry white hot chocolate and we discussed the majority of our past relationships.  (Incidentally, Angelo once dated a family friend whom I know from Texas whose family now lives near Ann Arbor, where she is a Junior at U of M.  Also incidentally, I will see said family tomorrow morning, as Amanda and I are visiting their church.)


If you're curious about the status of my staying at Michigan or impossibility thereof, so am I.  I have submitted my music scholarship applications; my meeting with the A&D dean isn't until the 17th; and I have a few more miscellaneous scholarships to apply for in the mean time.  What keeps me going?  Faith: "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1.


Go Blue!!


eb




I'm so official, I know.

Inside of Hill Auditorium (Tim was 3 seats in front of me!)

I don't know why it took me this long to
figure out that that phone is WAY more
functional as a scarf rack.

Because I can't do anything the "normal" way.

Everyone, meet bassoon reeds.

Welcome to Hippieland, Michigan. I was amused to read
this inside of a bathroom stall in Starbucks instead of
your usual profanity or racial slurs.