can we just fast-forward two or three months, please?

I start my final(!!!!!!) semester tomorrow and am currently on the bus, en route to Halifax. I can't believe that there are now only four months left in my university career. Let's hope it's not quite as big a roller-coaster as last semester--I honestly don't know how much more I can take. I sure as heck don't want to sink as low as I did: despair is not an emotion that I want to feel again any time soon. But if I do, I've got a solid support system in place.

I've spent the break trying to unwind from what I went through this past semester, which has proven to be difficult (I always have to unclench my brain from the stresses of the semester, but usually it's just academic stress). But given what I went through between September and December, I'm not surprised. Still, I'd give anything to completely relax mentally for more than a night (Friday night was wonderful: I felt the calmest that I've felt since September).

For Nutcracker Weekend, I read the entire first violin part, which was thrilling, though I had a few moments where I didn't know where I was in the music, and I completely messed up the part where Clara and the prince arrive in the Land of Sweets and went back after finishing the Apotheosis and read it with the music again. This time I knew what I was doing and where I was in the music.

We spent a few days, including Christmas Day, in the dark due to the ice storm that hit the Maritimes and New England, which got to be a bit tedious (especially since my room turned into an icebox), though Christmas Eve was pretty nice, as I listened to MPBN radio's Christmas music programs on my pocket radio by the fire--we kept the dining room fireplace and the basement stove going 'round the clock, and every night I had the evening shift from when Mom went to bed until Tom came down to take over for me and sleep by the fireplace for the rest of the night--during the outage, he went to bed around 5:00 PM). By that point, I was properly warm (I'd been shivering most of that day even though I had on four layers from the waist up and two layers from the waist down plus socks and boot-style slippers--both fleece). I'll admit that I was disappointed that we couldn't have cinnamon buns on Christmas morning, though I made up for it by making them on the eve of my parents' wedding anniversary. Mom baked them for me the next morning, and they were worth the wait. At this point, I'm sick of Winter. Trond, if you happen to stumble across this blog, I want you to know that I'm jealous of you and your wife (visual artist Joan Siem). You two have the right idea, escaping to Galveston, TX (in addition to being the BSO's concertmaster, Trond conducts the Galveston Symphony).

The power came back on Boxing Day evening, and we all celebrated--and then disappeared behind our respective screens.

On Friday, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Saint Croix Courier (the local paper), thanking the line crews, many of whom were away from home over Christmas (NB Power called in reinforcements), and all of whom had to work in less-than-ideal conditions and at all hours of the day and night:

"Editor:
"I, like many of my fellow readers, wish to thank the line crews who worked through the holidays and in less-than-ideal conditions, giving up time with their families to get those of us who were without power back on the grid. THANK YOU!
"I admit to feelings of frustration toward the government, especially Alward's insensitive, out-of-touch 'hunker down' comment, and the realization on Christmas Eve that my family would be without our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon buns the next day was more than a bit disappointing (I like my routines). However, those feelings were dwarfed by the relief that Mom and I felt when we saw three power trucks go up the road on Boxing Day evening, and she and I waved and cheered even though we knew no one could see or hear us. When the lights came back on an hour later, the whole family celebrated.
"Again, THANK YOU, LINESMEN!
"Annapurna Moffatt"

I'll let you know if it gets published (if that happens, it should be in this week's paper)--maybe even with a JPEG of the Letters to the Editor section, as my family has a digital subscription in addition to the regular, hardcopy subscriptions to the Courier and Courier Weekend. I believe this is my first time writing a letter to the editor. Either way, it's exciting.

I got a cheap (for a conductor's score, anyway) copy of the score for The Nutcracker and spent the days after Christmas studying it, which kept me occupied during the remainder of the outage, and I've already made a handful of notes in it (because it's sheet music, and a lot of the sheet music that I already have is littered with Lynn's and my notes, I don't feel bad taking a pencil to my favourite ballet). My initial plan was to read the harp part, but along the way I ended up reading the other parts and studying how everything fits together. I read up to Drosselmeyer's entrance, which is the beginning of page ninety. I wanted to finish the galop before I left for Halifax so that I know exactly where I am when I come home for Reading Week. I also got a lot of recorded music (some in CD form and some from iTunes): Charlotte Church's first three EPs, a beautiful recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and one of Trond's albums (Hika), which I want to get autographed the next time I go to a PBSO concert.

On Friday, Lynn emailed me an article from the New York Times about a photography documentary, and when I watched the trailer on YouTube (I couldn't watch it on the NYT site, as it just kept buffering), I had to share it with the rest of my readers: it's too awesome to keep to myself (I emailed the article to Tom as well). Thanks, Lynn!



Just like last year, the trip back to Halifax was an interesting one, as the bus was half-an-hour late leaving (boarding was right on schedule), due to the bus coming from Québec--which was one of the transfer buses at Moncton that would take those of us going to places in Nova Scotia the rest of the way (due to so many university students going back to school today, there were several buses covering that route, and because the bus from QC was filled to capacity there was a second bus following it)--being an hour late. When I transferred at Moncton, there were two or three buses covering the route between Moncton and Halifax, and I ended up on the same bus that I boarded in Fredericton.

Check out this video and article about the Robinson Ballet's production of The Nutcracker, which they perform around Maine every December. In Bangor (the performances that the feature talks about), they perform with the BSO. Look for a closeup of Lynn at the 1:16 mark--the piece the orchestra's playing is the Waltz of the Snowflakes from Act I, and due to Trond being in Galveston, she's in the concertmaster's seat (when he's in Maine, she sits in the chair to the concertmaster's left). Go violins!

the intensity's finally over

I'm home for a much-needed break.

Monday: Crunch time. I spent the day doing last-minute things, including printing photos for cards--one of which I wanted to give to the techs, as Jake, Alex and, to a lesser extent, Chris, had played a major role in helping me to survive the hell that I went through this semester. The card was half-thank-you card and half-happy holidays card.

I finally started packing that night.

Tuesday: More getting stuff done, including getting a stack of movies from the NSCAD Visual Resources Collection for the break and getting food for Thursday (otherwise I would've been stuck eating crap at Irvings). I treated myself to supper at Boston Pizza to celebrate surviving the semester, and that night I stayed up a little too late packing.

Wednesday: The longest day of the semester. I'll let my Facebook status from that evening do the talking: "[I'm] done for the semester and [have] been kicked out of the Photo Dept., as they closed at 6:00. I said good-bye to some friends who are graduating (one of whom is going back to RI), had some of the dept.'s goodies (including hot apple cider and cranberry juice with lemon), hung out, enjoyed watching the last minute dash, caught up with a former classmate, got hugs from at least four people, shared the story of my busy day with one of the techs [Alex]: I didn't know where we were starting today: in the classroom or at the place where the crit was?, went to the wrong campus as a result, met up with a classmate who also didn't know what was going on, found out where to go [we asked Jake, who was in The Cage at the time], trekked down to the correct campus [Port], was half-an-hour late to class as a result, [ran] back to the campus where I started [Granville] at noon, ordered lunch there and dropped off a holiday card to another tech [Jake, again]--it's for all three guys--grabbed lunch on the way out, [ran] back to the other campus, continued with the rest of the crits, was done about an hour and a half early, went back to [Granville] with a few friends--chatting with them the whole way--wished the daytime weekday security guard happy holidays, went to the Photo Dept., hung out there until close and talked with the aforementioned friend, said good-bye to both her and the tech who was on tonight [Alex] and headed to another location [the library] to catch up on FB and email and eat supper... **whew** And it's not over yet: when I get home tonight, I have to shower, finish my packing up to the last-minute stuff that'll get packed tomorrow, crash until 6:00 AM, get up, pack the last-minute stuff, get dressed, lug my stuff down to the elevator (keeping an eye out for my roommie's cats, one of whom likes to escape), call a cab, lug my stuff to the cab, go to the bus station, lug my stuff inside, lug it back out when my bus is announced, stow said stuff, hand them my ticket and--FINALLY--relax.

If you made it all the way to the end of this MASSIVE status update, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! #ChristmasBreak #lastdayofclass #finals"

A little bit later I posted, "I forgot to mention that according to Alex (classmate), I'll be known as the woman who brought rum cake to the final #APC crit (we had a potluck)."

I ended up setting my alarm for 5:45 AM, as I felt that 6:00 wouldn't give me enough time. I crashed at about 1:00 AM.

Thursday: Up and at 'em--way too early and with one heck of a massive sleep debt (due to Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I was missing about ten hours of sleep). I packed the last-minute stuff (including food), triple-checked my packing list, checked the temperature, got dressed, lugged my bags out into the hall one at a time, left a note for my roommie, locked the door, lugged my bags to the elevator (which is just two doors down from my apartment, the stairs being the other door), took the elevator down to the ground floor, lugged everything into the lobby, called a cab, lugged my stuff into the entryway, lugged it to the cab (which was extremely prompt, even for the company that I deal with), went to the bus station, lugged my stuff inside, put tags on the two bags that would be going under the bus, lugged my stuff back out, got my two non-carryon bags stowed underneath, chose a seat and--finally, after two days of non-stop gogogo--relaxed. I snoozed for a couple hours, read and checked the internet wherever possible (while Maritime Bus advertises that they have wifi on their buses, that isn't true for the entire fleet). Finally, the bus from Moncton (there's a transfer there) pulled into the terminal at Fredericton and I unloaded my stuff and looked for Mom's Highlander. I didn't see it, so I lugged my stuff into the terminal as it was far too cold to stay outside very long (welcome to New Brunswick). After lugging my stuff to a chair, I turned around--and there was Mom!

As usual, we talked all the way home. I was in bed by 12:30 that night, as I was incredibly tired.

Friday: I planned to get a bunch of stuff done, but as I was still exhausted and had a headache due to said exhaustion (those are the worst), I didn't do much.

I found out that day that December thirteenth, in addition to being Santa Lucia Day, is International Violin Day. Yes, apparently the violin has its own holiday--as it should. I celebrated by listening to the BSO and then dancing that night to some of my favourite violin pieces. For a belated celebration, here's one of my favourite pieces from The Nutcracker: the Coda. Holy sixteenth notes! Violinists who play this, I salute you! Ditto and double when it comes to sight-reading the sixteenth notes at full speed (which I just tried with the first violin part that I have in PDF format on my computer--see here).



For anyone who's curious, here's what the first violin part looks like for the Coda:

Saturday: I was almost back to normal, and Mom and I brought the tree into the house ahead of a major storm that was expected to hit that night.

That day was the first Met Opera radio broadcast where the MOO was conducted by James Levine in about two years. WELCOME BACK, MAESTRO! (BTW, the opera that day was Verdi's Falstaff.)



Sunday: Much of the day was devoted to making Mom's birthday supper (vegetarian pizza and carrot cake, both of which were delicious).

I discovered this song while listening to a radio station that I discovered yesterday, and which you can check out here. Many of the songs are in Norwegian, and the station itself is based in Norway.

This particular song is mostly in English--but with some Norwegian words thrown in to keep you on your toes. Click here for the lyrics.

Happy Holidays!

back in HFX

I will probably only be used to how NSCAD does things when I graduate: while I've started classes, my NBCCD friends are still on break (until tomorrow). Then again, NSCAD starts their Christmas break earlier and is finished earlier in April than NBCCD.

I spent the break staying up late, sleeping in, reacquainting myself with some music that I hadn't touched since at least April (a long story that probably isn't fit for a public forum like my blog--though I will say that listening and dancing to those pieces again was wonderful and emotional), making cinnamon buns for Christmas, wondering where three hours disappeared to on Christmas morning, photographing with my new Nikon D7000 (thanks, Tom), wondering where Christmas break disappeared and writing a massive year-in-review email to a friend--it was over 1,900 words long. 2012 was a big year.

Monday and Tuesday: Packing like crazy. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday: The bus to Moncton was delayed by an hour--which meant that the other buses that connected to it were also delayed by an hour. That meant that I didn't get into Halifax until about 8:30/7:30 EST that night. I did some unpacking and then crashed.

Thursday: I spent the better part of the morning getting my internet sorted out, as the university where I'm living shuts NSCADians out of the internet every semester and we have to go to the ITSS desk and get our computers configured again.

I was not ready for classes to start (three years at NBCCD will do that to ya), but I went anyway.

Although The Reconfigured Image, which is on digital image manipulation, is described as "an intermediate level course," because it's a different course at a different school, I decided to register for it when I put my schedule together in July. I think I'm really going to enjoy it. Plus, I love Photoshop and don't think there's such a thing as too many Photoshop courses.

During break, I dashed over to OSAS and got the semester sticker put on the back of my student ID and asked a few questions about my student loan and changing my expected graduation date to December '13 (I'd originally planned to finish during the summer, but because the summer semester is split into two half-semesters and one of the mandatory courses for photo majors is a nine-credit, 4000-level course, it definitely isn't available during the summer). I have a couple of meetings set up for Tuesday afternoon to start changing things around.

Friday: Fridays are going to be... interesting. I have Questions of Obsolescence, which is this year's PHOT 36xx seminar course (and which is mandatory for photo majors), first thing in the morning and then Writing for the Arts in the afternoon. Although the seminar is a three-credit course, it's a whopping four hours long. So Bob suggested that we meet at 9:00 instead of 8:30. As someone who's definitely not a morning person, I loved that idea. He let us go early, so I went over to Kinko's to order my reading pack.

Writing for the Arts is NSCAD's foundation-level writing course, but although I took NBCCD's FVA writing course, Communication and Student Success, that course is never transferred. I find that more than a bit frustrating, but I love writing so I'm looking forward to Writing for the Arts, and will probably learn some new stuff (the same thing with Reconfigured Image). One of the assignments is a group exhibition, and I've already started thinking about what I'm going to show. This will be my first time showing work outside of New Brunswick.

Saturday: After such a crazy week, HELLO, WEEKEND! I spent the day not doing much of anything except listening to Les Toyens (I was about forty-five minutes late because I'd written down that it began at 2:00 AST rather than 1:00) and doing the reading for Reconfigured Image (Ray Bradbury's The Veldt).

Sunday: I spent the day running errands and getting stuff done. Course pack picked up: check. Journal for Writing for the Arts: bought and started (three pages on Les Mis? Why the heck not?). Readings for Obsolescence: started. I also met my new roommate. She's a freshman from Seoul, South Korea.

Speaking of Les Mis, some point over the next few weeks I plan to go see the movie. I've been waiting for it to be made into a movie since I saw the tenth anniversary concert on PBS when I was eight (the concert was performed the year before). I'll never forget plunking out Master of the House (one of my favourites) on my family's upright piano. I still have much of the "seventeen Valjeans" segment memorized: French, Japanese, Dutch, Norwegian--bring it on.

what to do when there's nothing to do

I'm home for three weeks! 'Nuff said.

Monday: Because I didn't have any homework that day, I spent it packing, cleaning (desk and fridge), and working on some other stuff.

Tuesday: I went back to the Seaport Farmers' Market, but the place was a ghost town. Note to self: the best market days are on the weekend.

Wednesday: Because I'd finished everything for Book Arts, I was free to do whatever I wanted--so I decorated my final project.

Bob had given us the option of installing our final projects over at the Academy Building that evening if we wanted to. Because my project was so big (the paper is 36" x 42") and therefore difficult to manage, I decided to take advantage of the extra time. I went home after class as, again due to the size, I had nowhere at NSCAD to store my print so I had to pick it up in my room. After more putzing, I grabbed the print and went back to the Granville Campus. I'd posed for my classmate/friend Ken's final project for Intro, as had the rest of the class and Adrian, and Ken had made prints for all of us, so I had to pick mine up before the photo department closed for the break. After I squeezed the box that housed the print into my backpack, I had nothing to do for another half-hour, so I spent it hanging out with the studio techs and any passing students and enjoying some of the goodies that were laid out on a table in the studio.

I then headed over to the Academy Building with my print and hung it with the help of a classmate (pinning a photo that big is nearly impossible if you're doing it solo).

Thursday: Crits. All day. We didn't discuss the technical quality of the prints so much as we discussed the ideas and concepts addressed by the project that we were critiquing. My crit went extremely well.

An installation shot of my project.

After all that, we went out for beer at a pub that's a block from the Academy Building.

Once I got home, I grabbed supper, did some last-minute things for the next day and got to bed as early as I could because I had to be up at 6:00 the next morning (5:00 EST).

Friday: Homecoming Day. I was surprised at how awake I was that morning: I'm usually a zombie before 8:00 AM. I packed the last of my stuff and putzed some more because I was half-an-hour ahead of schedule (how did that happen?). My roommate helped me carry my stuff down to the front door of the residence where I called a cab.

Once at the bus station, I got my luggage tagged and then waited some more--this time for my bus to be called. I then dragged my stuff to the bus, got my two non-carry-on bags stowed, chose a seat and settled in for the ride. I spent most of the journey reading, though I called Mom at Truro, NS with an update about needing to transfer buses (when I'd checked on the Maritime Bus website, they'd said that there wouldn't be any transfers for my route, but the bus driver said that anyone headed past Moncton, NB would have to transfer. This confusion is pretty much expected because the company had only been in operation for two weeks as of Friday).

Mom greeted me with a big hug, and we drove the rest of the way home.

I'd been offline all day, so when I logged into my Facebook account, I was greeted by news of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. I couldn't believe it: who would even think of deliberately killing little kids? As I read, I could almost feel my heart break. Sometimes I can barely think about the shooting without sobbing.



Saturday: Mom's birthday. Once I got going that day, I didn't stop. I spent the afternoon cooking for her birthday dinner while humming along to the Met's performance of Aïda.

Sunday: We put the tree up, and I did most of the decorating while listening and singing along to Christmas music.

homework? what's that?

I'm now counting down the days until I go home for Christmas. After not going home for Thanksgiving I. can't. wait. to. see. my. parents. and. cats!

Monday: I bought my bus ticket on my way to NSCAD--and asked a lot of questions. Once at school, however, I realized that because I don't have my school email password memorized and I didn't forward the email about the final project for Intro to my main email, I couldn't double-check the questions that I needed to answer in order to write the artist statement for the final project. I spent some time there, putzing around on a school computer, and then went home and wrote the statement.

Tuesday: Much of class was a working class. I'd planned to print my photos for Intro on Wednesday, but ended up printing them Tuesday afternoon, after giving them a once-over with Adrian. He also helped me edit my artist statement.

That evening SUNSCAD invited representatives from FUNSCAD (the faculty union, which is split into two units: unit 1, which represents the teachers, and unit 2, which represents the studio techs, librarians, etc.) to update the students about the union's collective bargaining situation. It was supposed to be a general assembly, but SUNSCAD then decided that it would just be a casual meeting. If (if) there is a strike, it looks like it'll happen some point in late-February, and the faculty and studio techs would strike at different times (if the techs are on strike, there'd still be classes). There were other things as well: other universities limit the percentage of part-time faculty to between ten and thirty per cent of the total faculty--NSCAD's percentage is much higher. Part-timers are only paid for the time that they teach--unlike full-time faculty, they're not paid for the time they spend doing other things related to the job of being a teacher. Part-timers don't develop courses. To quote SUNSCAD, full-timers are the ones who "hold the school together."

Wednesday: We started the final project (a large sketchbook).

I spent the afternoon tweaking my project for Beyond the Frame.

Thursday: This week's class was really short: just meet at the Academy Building, where we're going to have the final crit, critique a project (the classmate who did it is going to be out of here by the time we have the real final crit next week), and then go do whatever we wanted. For me that meant going back to the Granville Campus and printing a test strip for the final project for Beyond the Frame (I'd booked the printer a day or so in advance). It's a good thing I did the test because I found a small--but significant--issue, which I quickly solved.

I spent the evening in the printshop for the last time. And I finished the final project--which means that I'm (wait for it...) ahead, and officially have nothing to do for the final class. I'm sure I'll find something to do though--like decorate the cover of my final project.

Friday: Hello, super-busy-but-productive day. I had an interview that morning at the Visual Resources Collection, so I was out the door about an hour earlier than usual. I did the interview, and then ran around doing what felt like a gazillion little things for an hour-and-a-half: getting cash for the Big Print (i.e., the print for Beyond the Frame), chatting with one of my classmates, stashing my interview clothes in my locker (they're far from the least comfortable ever, but I'm always glad to get out of them and into something a bit softer and less stiff), getting lunch--and finally going to class.

We spent the entire class critiquing each others' final projects, which we did in three shifts, due to wall space. Mine went very well. After class we all went to the Split Crew Pub, which is in the same building as the Granville Campus, for beer.

When I got home, I checked my email: I didn't get the job.

Saturday: I spent much of the day not really doing anything except laundry and listening to the Met's first radio broadcast of the season (Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi). Hello again, Met Opera and Met Opera Orchestra--how I've missed you guys! I listened to the first few minutes via my pocket radio, before switching to MPBN on iTunes, and I noticed that the CBC Radio 2 frequency in Halifax (102.7 FM) is much clearer and less staticky than the frequency in F'ton and Saint John (101.5 FM). Hmm...

Sunday: I printed my final project for Beyond the Frame, and as of this afternoon 24" x 36" is no longer the biggest I've printed: 36" x 42" (the image is 30" x 40") now claims that title. I'm extremely happy with how it turned out.

On my way home, I decided to check out the Public Gardens, but it turns out that the Gardens are closed for the winter. I ended up doing some Christmas shopping, and checked out the Seaport Farmers Market. I'd never been to that market before, but I know I'll be back. I'd go tomorrow, but they'll be closed that day.

This week, I only have to be at school two days, instead of the usual four. Hello, near-freedom!

flying the coop, bit by bit

Tomorrow, I start my final semester at NBCCD. **sniffle**

I thoroughly enjoyed my break. I photographed, stayed up late, slept in, danced (including celebrating twenty years of dancing), got high on music (who needs illegal drugs when music and other art will do just fine, and maybe even better?), hung out with my parents, cooked, cuddled the cats, watched movies, listened to opera, wrote, took an online typing course (I'm good--when I started the course, I could type forty-five words per minute, and I've improved by ten WPM--but I never finished my first typing course, and as a result I'm almost completely self-taught), finally put some photos up on my 500px account, read, and stayed up late and slept in some more.

Christmas was a bit weird in that after we opened presents, I spent the rest of the day wondering what to do next. I usually spend the day enjoying my presents, but this time I didn't know what to do (though Tom and I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which he gave me).

Last night, my parents and I had what Tom called a "life perspective" talk. I have to admit that, although I'm a good person (I'm well-behaved most of the time, I try my darnedest to obey the law, I do my chores--most of the time--and I try to treat everyone the way I would like to be treated: with kindness and respect), every time my parents say that they want to talk with me, I assume the worst: have I done or said something that I shouldn't have?

Basically, as of last night my parents have officially begun to cut me loose and to remove those training wheels. Which in a way feels great, but at the same time it's a bit scary. You mean I now have to go after things myself?? **gulp** However, I've known for years that it would happen some day. And I'm actually ahead on at least one of the things that they mentioned: as of September sixth, 2011, I've started to try to figure out what I'd like to do as a career. I know that I want to do something in photography, but what, exactly? What do I want to do within the world of the medium known as photography?

They also talked about how far I've come: prior to starting at NBCCD, I'd never finished anything in my life, and, frankly, my parents were more than a little concerned--and for good reason. Actually (and this is from me), I had finished stuff: I knew when choreography that I was working on was where I wanted it. However, I never consider a dance completely finished: I may come back later and tweak it a bit. So does that exclude it from the "finished" category? Hmm...

I remember Christmas Break of my FVA year: I didn't want to go back. But my parents basically shoved me out the door with a "you're finishing this, kid. You're graduating with your certificate in Foundation Visual Arts" attitude. And I'm incredibly glad they did.

Thing is, until FVA, I didn't really take education seriously. I think that's one of the reasons why I didn't finish academic stuff--and why I procrastinated on my school work (Mom had to ground me once when I didn't finish a report on the RCMP--even then, it was weeks before I finished the darn thing).

When I got to NBCCD, all of a sudden I had to finish my projects--otherwise, I wouldn't get into Photo. Yikes. And I had to keep my GPA at 2.0 or higher. As it was, I graduated FVA with a 2.43 GPA. And I had to worry about grades.

Somehow, I managed to survive. And here I was, on the eve of my final semester at a school that I love dearly, being told, "you're thisclose from graduating from college, and it's time that you started pursuing what you want yourself (e.g., scholarships). You are the one who has to look for job openings, scholarships that you can apply for, etc."

So, with that in mind, here's to the next semester and whatever it brings. And I want to publicly thank my parents and my college: thanks for putting up with me, for teaching me, for supporting me. I am proud to know you (parents)/be affiliated with you (NBCCD). And to get this semester off to a wonderful start, I thought I'd pick out some festive music. This is the overture from Die Fledermaus (The Bat), by Johann Strauss, Jr., which the Met Opera broadcast on New Years' Eve day (an archive performance from January twentieth, 1951, which was sung and spoken in English, rather than the original German). There's a reason why I hummed along in the shower--and I never sing in the shower!

Hip-hip-hooray for Christamas Vacation

Welcome to the final post of the semester. Today is Day 3 of Christmas Break, though I've been on break since about 10:40 or so on Thursday.

Monday: All I had that day was an assessment for Preparing for Professional Life, otherwise I was free! And I couldn't have been happier. I liked all my classes, but having three of 'em in one day was way too much, and every faculty and staff member to whom I mentioned it--from Drew to Nancy (the registrar)--agreed that three classes was too much in one day.

My assessment went very well. Trudy said that she really noticed how far I'd come: in the beginning, she was concerned about me and my writing. But by the end, she was really happy with how much I'd improved.

After that, I had absolutely no plans, nowhere I needed to be, nothing I had to do--SO WHAT DO I DO NOW??? This always happens at the end of term: I'm so used to working with a deadline, and needing to have things done by a certain date that when that mindset is no longer needed, I become rather bored. I realize just how mentally tense I've become, and I have to unclench my brain.

I eventually went to the local public library and checked out some movies. I also did some Christmas shopping and cleaned out my drawer in the studio.

Tuesday: That day I did the last of my homework: putting my independent-study project in a portfolio. And once again I tried to fill in the time that would usually be taken up with homework.

In the afternoon, I went to the registrar's office and got my schedule for next semester--NO MORE THREE-CLASS DAYS!!!! I also signed up for the elective: I chose Imagery: Sources and Development.

I somehow managed to lose my keys (mailbox, residence, room and food-locker) that evening. I thoroughly searched my room, but had to give up. I asked the hall proctor, Aaron, about replacing them. Doing so meant a trip to the UNB campus, which I'm never thrilled about. I like UNB, it's a great university, but all my time is spent in the opposite direction, in downtown F'ton, and I only go up the hill when I need to.

Wednesday: Because Drew teaches three of the second-year classes, he lumped all three into one assessment. One of the great things about assessments is that they're a time when you can talk with your teacher one-on-one about any issues that you may be having. For me that means that next semester Drew is going to show me some more about how the slave mechanism in the Speedatrons works. NBCCD has a few cords that can be plugged into the power-pack to make slaving less finicky, which makes me very happy. As I said to him, I want to learn how to use those flashes: I don't want to be limited to just one system.

Next semester, one of my courses will be Photography Seminar: Research and Techniques, which will be two-week independent-study projects, and Drew suggested that I use the course to figure out what I want to do as a career (he asked me what I'm thinking of doing after graduation--I'm still trying to figure that out).

That evening, one of the first-year Photogs had a potluck/end-of-term party/Christmas party/housewarming party (she just moved into a new apartment a couple weeks ago). I went, and had an awesome time, talking and eating with some of her/our friends. As I wrote in a Facebook status update, I "felt not unlike an overstuffed couch by the time [I] left."

Thursday: Before my assessment I numbered all the .PSD files of the photos from my dance project.

The assessment itself was an interesting one: it was probably Peter's toughest critique of my work and his toughest discussion of my next independent study project (a two-day weekend course package for Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre).

Afterward, I hung around, waiting for Mom, who was picking me up that day. In the meantime, I played around on one of the school computers and helped one of the first-year Photogs, who was having some issues with preparing photos that he wanted to print. When Mom finally arrived, I jumped out of my chair, skipped over to her, gave her a huge hug, and wished her a happy birthday. I then grabbed my stuff, and almost emptied my locker (there are still a few things in there).

We drove over to my dorm and grabbed my things there before heading home through the snowstorm that had started during my walk to school (meaning around nine that morning--eight EST). I drove part-way.

That night, I watched about half of Home Alone. I finished it Friday night.

Friday: That afternoon, I had an appointment to get my hair cut. Afterward, I did the last of my Christmas shopping in St. Stephen and Calais, including going to both the SuperStore and Sobeys in search of Swiss Knight gruyere (I found it at Sobeys). It just isn't Christmas without that cheese.

When I got back, Mom and I hauled the tree into the sunroom and put it up. We always need to secure the tree with lots of string, but this year's tree is definitely the stringiest: we had to use about double the usual amount of string.

Saturday: I spent the afternoon decorating the tree and listening to opera (Madama Butterfly, live at the Met Opera House). Getting the topper (a star) on was tricky, and made even trickier by my fear of heights. I eventually got it on. As usual, I was in charge of most of the decorating, though Mom pitched in in the evening. Mom is usually in charge of the lights, but this year it was my job.

Before the opera, I called Sunbury Shores and asked the director (Jamie Steel) what I would need to include in a course proposal, and what the Centre would need to know. I took notes and stuck them in the front pocket of my planner.

I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation that evening.

Sunday: Today has been amazingly unproductive. In fact, the only thing that I've done that could qualify as "productive" is finalizing my Christmas Eve radio list (see below). Oh, and listening to CBC Radio 2's broadcast of the European Broadcasting Union's (EBU) Joy to the World Christmas music special.

Some point in the next few days, I plan to take photos of the tree, and also begin the process of documenting my collection of violin Christmas tree ornaments. I'm going to create a database with photos, descriptions and dates for each ornament. Yesterday, Mom gave me a box to put my collection in, instead of putting it in the usual boxes and bags. She also gave me an ornament that she'd commissioned for me and my collection.

My Christmas Eve plans: radio, radio and more radio! 89.7 is the local NPR station in Calais, Maine, and 101.5 is the local CBC Radio 2 station in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. All times are in Atlantic Time.

One last treat before I end this post: here's the ad for the Bangor Symphony/Robinson Ballet production of The Nutcracker. Talk about thrilling! They're performing the ballet as I write this, and I'm listening to the Royal Philharmonic's 1992 recording of the complete ballet right now. Oh, the things the BSO makes me do (I've been listening to the ballet or playing the violin part at the same time as the BSO for several years)--especially you guys over there in the violin section!

See you back here around January seventh or fourteenth!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HANUKKAH! BLESSED YULE!