Day 60 | Saturday, February 28 | 2009

Don't Look Down...

I am not looking forward to the next 48 hours.  So much work to do.  Both Caitlin and I are pretty much worn out in terms of this quarter's work load.  We can't take it anymore!  This week is week 9, the week after that is week 10, and then comes finals week.  I am looking forward to kissing this quarter goodbye.  The classes have been great but they have broken my spirit in terms of the amount of work.  

If you are reading this please say a little prayer (to whatever deity you may pray to) for me and Caitlin in the next few weeks so that we may emerge with our sanity still intact.  

Day 59 | Friday, February 27 | 2009

Tim...

Here is a guy I met outside the bike shop today.  I went to the bike shop because my headlight was broken and also needed to get a tail light too (the tail light had broken after I had accidentally dropped it off of my bike some time ago).  Anyways, I got to the bike shop at 9:45 and they didn't open until 10:00.  There was this guy (pictured) who was sort of loitering outside of the shop, he was obviously drunk, and we talked for about twenty minutes or so.  I could smell the alcohol all over him and his general disposition was pretty ornery and unpleasant but after awhile he turned out to be OK.  I thought I'd try to strike up some conversation with him about guitar playing (I noticed he had one sitting in the corner near his purple back pack that said 'NYU' on it).  First, I got the guitar out and played him a song or two...then it was his turn.  He played a couple Nickleback songs and then a song by Staind.  Then I asked him if I could take his picture (the one above is just one of the pictures I took).  

The guy seemed like he was a little messed up (obviously drunk) and I felt bad.  I hope that things aren't too rough for him, I wish that I could help him (I'd like to think just talking to him was good company), but then there is only so much that I can do.  At first, he told me his name was Tony Montana, then he told me his name was Tim Allen, someone passed on the sidewalk and said to him Hi, Dennis!, and then someone in the bike shop thought his name was Cody.  Whatever his name is, I hope and wish the best for him.

Today, I need to be productive.  I have so many things to do.  Good thing is that there are really only 3 weeks left.  Three weeks of suffering.

Day 58 | Thursday, February 26 | 2009

Through the Looking Glass...

It's been a pretty good day.  My Documentary Genres class went well -- we watched a film about the Vietnam War called The World of Charlie Company.  Great film.  It's particularly interesting to see the composition of the origin and later development of mutiny amid the soldiers in the movie.

This weekend could turn out to be a perfect storm in terms of work load.  I have a 6-8 page paper in Personal Values in Media to do, a 6-8 page paper in Spanish American Civilization and Culture to do, and an additional 2 page paper in Spanish to do also!  On top of all that I have committed to perform on Saturday and I also have to perform for University Band on Sunday too.  What a headache!

Oh well...good thing is that none of this stress matters.  I still have people in my life that are so important to me.  For example, ... take a good look at these lovely ladies (pictured above).  I took this photo of them while I was walking around the Café Biblio-tech on the library's second floor.  I like how Caitlin's earnest face seems to say This is me; this is how I truly am and, at the same time, Leslie's face hints at a voice that would seem to say Hee hee; I'm up to no good!

Speaking of important people, .. my brother Dustin finished his New York Bar Exam yesterday.  I am so very proud of him.  He has worked so hard for the past 3 or so years and I am hugely impressed by his accomplishments.  I wish I could be in New York to congratulate him on a job well done, regardless of if he passed the Bar or not.

Well...I am tired and I think it's time to go to bed.

Day 57 | Wednesday, February 25 | 2009

Tabletop...

It's been an up and down day.  Up in the sense that dinner with Leslie, Evan, and Caitlin was really great.  Down because of feeling discouraged in the face of all of the seemingly never-ending schoolwork that I have to finish.  A 7 page paper in Spanish, a 6-8 page paper for Media Studies, and another 2 or so page paper for Spanish is all due on Monday.  On top of that, I need to prepare at least one more composition for Saturday, which I am not feeling too good about.  

Today I had an interview with a journalist from Speakeasy Magazine.  They are an online magazine (www.speakeasymag.com) and wanted to talk to me about the show on Saturday.  The interviewer asked me questions about Nostra Nova and song-writing.  One of the questions, he asked me what it was that, in my opinion, made Nostra Nova such a good record, or why people felt the record was good.  I was kind of dumbfounded, mainly because it is not really that easy to explain the Nostra Nova album in one breath.  Here is a letter that I wrote to a friend of mine that might say things better.  These are the things I should have said in the interview:

"....If nothing else, Nostra Nova was something that proved to be somewhat of a small wonder.  Ever since its release, people have approached me (less often now) to tell me how 'amazing' the record is, asked me about the writing process, or miscellaneous things about promotion and the indie-music world.  I remain mystified by these people, mainly because I do not have the answers to their questions.  I do believe, however, that Nostra Nova was mostly a work of magic, definitely not as much as that of the Greats (that is, most of our recording artists/heroes of the 60s, 70s and modern times).  It was a moment of intense personal and artistic revelation for me -- pure feeling -- something of mystery in explanation or dissection.  

Looking back on it now, though, I find that what came out on that record was astonishing in a number of ways.  Nostra Nova was so poorly organized that its first (and maybe greatest) achievement is that anything ever materialized.  None of those musicians on the record regularly practised the music together, there was very little communicated planning, and throughout the recording process there was never a set order or idea that proved that the band on the album ever existed in a concrete plane of reality.  All of this was and remains an organizational nightmare but to hear the sound of one's own voice, one's mallet, a bow across a set of strings, the guitars, and the organs -- the mere attendance of each one in a set space and time -- is a miracle.  The way that it all came together to defy these limitations is indeed amazing.  The real success of Nostra Nova is its beautiful possibility despite everything else.

The second great achievement of Nostra Nova is its sounds.  Sure there are commonplace and modern musical arrangements on the album but the sounds we captured -- the maelstrom of percussion and the doomsday saxophone on 'The Butlers and the Maids,' the triumphant and soaring organs and chorale on 'El Vuelo de la Paloma,' the sparkling timbre of the Tibetan prayer chime solo in 'Dusty Wing Spirit,' the fairy-like arpeggios in 'Voices from the Top of the Mountain,' the descent-into-the-underworld-like swirl of vocals (I am still amazed I was able to hit that high A) and the thick thud of the upright bass in 'Things I've Learned From Bells' -- all of these sounds give a vital ingredient and birth to a vision of rich imagination (something I hold very dear in our achievement).  There are little worlds inside each of the songs on Nostra Nova, all of them governed by the voices of their own instruments.  To me, this is the ultimate goal of creating.

The third greatest achievement was something totally uncontrollable and perhaps even more mysterious -- its affect on the listener.  People have told me -- you have told me -- about how much the album has meant to them.  If Nostra Nova can communicate equally effectively in one way to a person like Bradley Hathaway and then in another way to a guy like Andrew Lamplela, then I consider the record already a resounding success in and of itself...."

We'll see what the people from SpeakEasy have to say.  I hope I don't sound like the babbling buffoon that I normally am.  The show on Saturday should be different.  I don't think that what I am playing is impressive at all.  I doesn't really matter that much.

Day 56 | Tuesday, February 24 | 2009

Diccionarios...

Boring day of studying.  A laundry list of things/projects/papers to develop.

It is beautiful outside but here I am holed up in the library.

Day 55 | Monday, February 23 | 2009

Pedestrian in Alley...

Kinda busy day.  For a moment today I had serious thoughts about cutting my hair.  But then I realized I am going to keep it going.

I have been writing a lot of melodies lately.  This is good because hopefully now I will start to write lyrics.  I want my next work to be one that is more disciplined and focused lyrically.  I think that Nostra Nova was focused enough but was not tightened.  It is important to have the lyrics say something.  I felt like there were some moments on Nostra Nova in which the lyrics said something but I feel that, in general, I did not really know what I was doing.  I feel like I am intellectually, emotionally, and personally light years away from where I was during the writing process for my last album, so this time around it would serve the situation best to really examine the context of the writing content, form, and how it relates to my formulations.

Regardless, I am excited about the writing process and I hope that it turns out well.

Day 54 | Sunday, February 22 | 2009

Open Me Up!..

Here was a paper box that Leslie and I found on a library table on the first floor.  After we saw the mysterious box, we decided to open it up (just as it had indicated for us to do on its outside cover).  To our surprise, inside the box was a small note written on a magenta-colored piece of paper.  The writing appeared to be written by a female and, with a lot of flair, the writer of the note simply wrote the words Your Gay! on the paper.  

Leslie and I made two very acute observations about this paper.  (1) Point in fact, the writer of the note made a serious grammatical error in using the word Your instead of the word You're.  The second mistake, error number (2), was that the author ignored the context of the situation.  Whoever, by chance, would open the box would unlikely be homosexual.  In this case, neither Leslie nor I are homosexual -- therefore refuting the author's claim of our gayness.  

Anyway...

It was a nice day in general today :)  Slept in with Caitlin out at Lake Hope and then got a delicious breakfast at the Village Bakery and Café.  We then went to Perks and waited until the library opened at noon (me at least).  The rest of the day has been mostly work -- getting ready for a music theory midterm, Spanish class presentation, and also a presentation outlining postmodernism.  The postmodernism project is especially great; I am excited about what I am learning.  Here are a few quotes that stood out as particularly notable:

"A world view characterized by the belief that truth doesn't exist in any objective sense but is created rather than discovered.  Truth is created by specific culture and exists only in that culture.  Therefore, any system or statement that tries to communicate truth is a power play, an effort to dominate other cultures."

--Josh McDowel & Bob Hostetler

"What then is truth?  A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms -- in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people:  truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are:  metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power:  coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins."

--Friedrich Nietzsche

"The world does not speak.  Only we do.  The world can, once we have programmed ourselves with a language, cause to hold beliefs.  But it cannot propose a language for us to speak.  Only other human beings can do that...Languages are made rather than found, and...truth is a property of linguistic entities, of sentences."

--Richard Rorty

"To see -- to really see -- all that is right with the world.  Just as believers in a beneficent deity should be haunted by the problem of natural evil, so Gnostics, atheists, pessimists, and nihilists should be haunted by the problem of friendship, love, beauty, truth, humor, compassion, fun."

--John Horgan

Day 52 | Saturday, February 21 | 2009

Sail Away...

Today has been a great day.  We had the parent/student meeting for everyone studying abroad this spring with the Cuenca program.  

Last night was wonderful, too.  Caitlin and I had a great time at the cabin and we are about to go back there right now.  More pictures from our stay to come soon.  It'll be nice to get some good rest for the hectic week to come.

I'll talk to you later.

Much love,

Adam

Day 51 | Friday, February 20 | 2009

Hair...

I feel a little remorse for not posting this in real time but Caitlin and I spent the night in Lake Hope State Park last night in a wooden cabin that does not have internet access.  Caitlin's family and my family paid for the cabin, as it is a part for us to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of dating.  Caitlin is sincerely my best friend I have ever known and I am so lucky to have her in my life.  She has been there for me -- in good times and in struggle.  She is so loving, sweet, goofy, gorgeous, and loyal.  I love her so much.

Friday also marked the day of 1 year without a haircut.  My last haircut was on February 20, 2008 -- exactly one year since friday.  It has been an interesting experience growing out my hair.  I thought that I wouldn't last -- give in, buckle, and have it all shaved off.  Sometimes, I feel like doing that still, but I think I am going to keep on growing it.  I hope to keep on growing it at least until June -- for and past my brother's wedding that takes place on June 12.  We'll see.  For sure, I won't cut it before or during my Ecuador trip.  

Which brings me to my next topic -- Ecuador.  This week has been hard, mainly because I have been toiling over writing my independent study proposal.  Below is the abstract of my proposal.  Forgive me for grammatical errors, as I had written it probably at 4, 5, or 6 in the morning:

"For photographers, the best way to capture the essence of a foreign culture, of a foreign country, and of a foreign environment is to photograph it.  The reason why I request to conduct a field study in Ecuador this spring is because I want to take pictures too.  I want to take pictures, but not in the way a photographer would use a camera -- I want to take pictures with a microphone.  Instead of visual images, my study will focus on the collection and analysis of sound.  By using a high quality portable digital recorder, the sounds that I collect will aim to transport the listener directly into the context of the recording -- whether it be a sample of indigenous music of Ecuador, natural sounds of the tropical rain forest Amazon basin, sounds from Cajas National Park, sounds from la Costa (the Coast) and southern region in Ecuador, or sounds from the populated and bustling cities of Cuenca and Quito.  This collection of sound images will serve to raise cultural awareness for the listener -- it will give the listener a chance to experience some of the music that takes place in different locations and among different populations in Ecuador.  Also, this study will aim to raise the listener's awareness of noise pollution and how human-generated industrial sound affects the natural systems of our world.

I plan to artistically create a representation of these field recordings by writing a musical composition that incorporates various recording samples from this study.  I will submit this composition or group of compositions to be premiered at SEAMUS (Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States) Annual Conference that will take place in the spring of 2010.  Additionally, with the guidance and participation of my mentor, Jeff Redefer, I plan on presenting my study in coordination with Arts for Ohio in an event setting that would be analogous to a lecture."

Day 50 | Thursday, February 19 | 2009

Sailing around the Room...

Finished my proposal with about 50 minutes to go.

So tired.  Life is good though.

Day 49 | Wednesday, February 18 | 2009

Students at Noon...

I have worked pretty much non-stop today on my research proposal that is due tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:00PM.  I am still very excited about the proposal (I'll post about this in more detail coming up) but it has rendered me exhausted in general.  Not to worry, though, I will pull through and it will all come together.

If you are reading this Susan, I am sorry for not getting back to your e-mail and I'll try to do so tomorrow when I am finished with all of this work.

Day 48 | Tuesday, February 17 | 2009

Graffiti...

Busy day of working on proposal.  Not much time to talk.

I know that a lot of what I say is lifted off of Men's Room walls...

Day 47 | Monday, February 16 | 2009

Café Biblio Tech...

Another gut-wrenching day.  I was thinking about the general work and sacrifice that goes into earning a degree today in order to try to convince myself that all of this toil will pay off.  And I came to a resounding 'yes'-like conclusion after thinking about it.  One day this will all pay off.  I will be doing something that I truly love and life will be good.  Dealing with all of the pressures of society will also always be hard.  But there are ways to escape.  I was reading this today and it made me feel a little better.

The Laughing Heart

by Charles Bukowski

Your life is your life

Don't let it be clubbed into dank submission.

Be on the watch.

There are ways out.

There is a light somewhere.

It may not be much light but

it beats the darkness.

Be on the watch.

The gods will offer you chances.

Know them.

Take them.

You can't beat death but

you can beat death in life, sometimes.

And the more often you learn to do it,

the more light there will be.

Your life is your life.

Know it while you have it.

You are marvelous

the gods wait to delight

in you.

Day 46 | Sunday, February 15 | 2009

Shoes...

So today I have spent a lot of my time thinking and working on my proposal.  Tomorrow I will talk to Dr. Porter about any concerns she might have about me conducting research while participating in the Cuenca program.  If she thinks that the study might not be a good idea, then of course I will unfortunately have to terminate any more development with it.  I hope everything works out and that she approves.  I think the opportunity is pretty great and that the end result could prove to be not only a worthy learning experience for me, but also a good activity that both the Media Arts and Studies School and the Modern Languages program.  

I am at the library now and am about to go to dinner with Caitlin.  Caitlin is stressed out about her music theory, sight-singing and dictation classes again.  I pray (and I am not the praying type) that she will feel better about these areas and that she will make it through.  I have faith that she will make it through and I am looking forward to the day where we can celebrate her completion of these needlessly arduous courses.

Day 45 | Saturday, February 14 | 2009

My buddy Rob...

It is Valentines day! Woo hoo! Going to go out to dinner tonight with Caitlin. We just had lunch with Rob and Laura at Casa which was really nice. It's been too long since we've spent time with Rob. He is such a great guy.

Day 44 | Friday, February 13 | 2009

Happy ... Day

Tired day.  Took a half hour nap around 3 but it should have been longer.

Eleven years ago today one of my childhood friends died after he hung himself in his basement.  He was actually better friends with my older brother than he was with me but I still remember him vividly.  His name was Ryan Long and he was the leader of our little neighborhood club called The Challengers.  The Challengers had a club house (a tree fort in Ryan's backyard) and we would all gather and meet and then play touch-football with one of those pink and black Nerf footballs.  Ryan was usually wide-receiver, my brother was quarterback, and I usually rounded it all off as the running back.

Every year when February 13 comes around, I think of Ryan and his life and why he would want to do something like what he did.  His family never quite figured out why he killed himself -- he didn't leave a note or anything.  He was only 17.

Day 43 | Thursday, February 12 | 2009

Caitlin...

I do not know how I made it through last night. My whole body was sore and aching from the Tetanus and Hepatitis shots that I had received earlier in the day. On top of that, I had to finish a 16-page paper that was due this afternoon that I had barely made any headway with already. Somehow, I managed to get enough rest and was able to write about 5,000 words in about 4 and a half hours. I am still in somewhat of a shock from all of this writing but hopefully things will return to normalcy soon. It'd be nice to get a chance to genuinely relax soon. We'll see..

Today I feel a little bit better from the vaccines but my arms are a little achy. I am sure that it will be pretty much gone by tomorrow.

I got my ISIC (International Student Identification Card) in the mail today! I am getting really excited about Ecuador with each passing day. I started reading The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller, as it is required reading for my program. It is interesting so far -- the whole premise of the book will be to study the manufacturing and eventual distribution and sale of Panama Hats, somehow shedding light on numerous cultural and sociological observations. It turns out that Panama Hats are actually manufactured in Ecuador (not in Panama) and there is a long explanation of why they (the hats) have been come to be associated with Panama instead.

To change the subject completely, I think this is a really good picture of Caitlin. I took it while we were walking from the library to Casa for dinner. She is so beautiful inside and out. Lately I feel that she has been really stressed with the demands of her music classes (sight singing and dictation in particular) but I believe things will work out for the best. I think that she will persevere and make it through this class and then will do likewise in the spring. A lot of weight will be lifted, it seems, once she is done with this dreadful sight singing and dictation classes. In the meantime, though, I will be there for her in her times of trouble as a simple reminder that things might not be so bad and also to remind her how beautiful she is.

Well, I have rehearsal in about fifteen minutes, so I really ought to go. Until tomorrow...

Day 42 | Wednesday, February 11 | 2009

White's Mill...

Woke up early around 6 and finished my theory homework.  We had a brief quiz and I did pretty well on it so I feel a little better about that course.  It's been a busy day.  I got my tetanus vaccine and also my hepatitis A vaccine too.  Tetanus is in the left arm and Hep A is in the right.  I have a vaccine in each arm!

I met with one of my advisors to find out about funding my independent study in Ecuador via Student Enrollment Awards (SEA) through the Council on Research, Scholarship, & Creative Activity for Undergraduate, Graduate, and Medical Students.  Last year, they awarded 21 students for a total of $93,774.  One of last year's recipient from my program (Media Arts and Studies) got an award of more than $5,000 -- here is an excerpt from the news release:

Michael Kortlander, an undergraduate student in media arts and studies, received $5,268 to produce a short film, "The Dying Western," which tells the story of a man pursuing his dreams of becoming the next John Wayne.

Just by reading about Michael's project makes me feel like I have a good possibility of winning an award for my proposal.  My proposal, in so many terms, will be to conduct a field recording study concerning some of the bioscapes (phonographic soundscapes) of Andean, coastal, and the Amazonal regions of Ecuador in coordination with documenting the urban, rural, and cultural expressions of Ecuador as experienced through my program's trajectory.  

I still have a lot of things to iron out as far as the details -- I need to define and refine my narrative description, establish a bibliography of research, establish a mentor endorsement and a number of other itemized things required for the proposal -- all of which is due by next Thursday, February 19.

I have added a few favorite websites because they are related to some of my interests -- phonography, field recording, sonic architecture, and found sounds.

Day 41 | Tuesday, February 10 | 2009

Salad...

Not too bad of a day.  It was rainy and mushy and everything bled together like a wet watercolor painting.  It's these messy weather days that can lead to messy emotions.  If only the sun were 100s of thousand miles closer, then we would be able to be happier.

I am tired.  Have a ton of music theory work to do.  I have been writing songs again lately which is interesting taken in the context that its been about 2 years since I had last written a song.  Maybe I have more music in me after all.

Tomorrow should be fun.  I'm going to get my hepatitis shots and maybe my tetanus shot.  

Day 40 | Monday, February 9 | 2009

Lunar Illusions...

I got about two and half hours of sleep last night on account of writing a couple papers and doing a homework assignment last minute.  My work ethic has definitely declined as of late and I just can't seem to get anything done.  

Not much to say for today...just work and classes.  I have a midterm tomorrow in my Documentary film class.  It should be challenging.  

Also tomorrow I am going to propose an independent study for the spring.  More on this soon.

Day 39 | Sunday, February 8 | 2009

Dr. Kickipoo the Medicine Man...

Such a busy day.  I had a good meeting with Jim first off in the day and then later with Corbin.  I have been trying to concentrate but have gotten little done.  

So much work to do; so little time.

Day 38 | Saturday, February 7 | 2009

American Woman...

This is a statue outside of Alden Library (just outside of the 4th floor entrance/exit).  The title of the statue is American Woman and it was made by two OU students in either 1949 or 1950.  

Today has been good -- things are off to a good start.  Worked out with Caitlin at the Rec. Center and then I am now at the library trying to get school work done.  There is a long list of things for me to do so I shall try my best to systematically get things done.

Day 37 | Friday, February 6 | 2009

Boaz...

This morning I spent a couple hours helping prepare and cook food with Boaz Ramos (pictured) and several other wonderful people.  These people help cook and serve Vegan food twice a week on Tuesday nights and on Friday afternoons.  The Tuesday night Vegan cooking is called Vegan Cooking Workshop and then the Friday afternoon event is called Starving Artist's Lunch.  Caitlin and I usually attend both of these events pretty much every week and it has been nice on a lot of levels.  The food is always fresh, healthy, and ... vegan!  

Vegan food entails that none of the base ingredients are made from or come from animals.  Everything is usually soy based and there is never meat, milk, or egg-related ingredients either. I myself have dabbled with veganism but it was too hard for me to maintain. My attempt at Veganism is a whole different story altogether but I generally do find peace in having a combinational diet.  At least for now...  Maybe one day I will eat a vegan diet but I have come to think that that will probably not happen.  Maybe not at least until I have my own place or house.  We'll see.

Anyways, it was really nice to help make food and the people there were very friendly.  So far, today has been a good day!

Another good and funny thing that happened today was that I got a special video recording from Caitlin's dog, Penny.  Here is the special message below:

As you can see, Penny is very adorable in a number of ways.  She might be the canine form of perfection.  However, I do believe she is misguided in being in love with me.  On numerous occasions, she has professed her love for me, despite the fact that it is an impossible love -- especially because I am happily dating her "sister" Caitlin.  Additionally, I think she is overlooking someone too.  She is overlooking someone who deeply loves her.  His name is Riley Remnant and he is Rem and Amanda's dog.  Similarly, he made a video recording to profess his love too.  Riley's video:

Day 36 | Thursday, February 5 | 2009

Street Clock...

Woke up early -- around 6:45.  I noticed that part of the trouble I have been having with waking up relates to the general dismal feeling of winter and part of it is just that my body aches.  I give in to this sensory detail to the point that I tell myself that I cannot get up.  That is not to say that sleeping might actually do me some good but I think that the process itself is one where the mind conflicts with the body.  In my mind, I would be saying that Get up!  It's time to greet the day and its challenges.  You have quite a bit of things you could be doing.  So then, in turn, the opposing argument that my body is saying is the antithesis of what my mind is saying.  My body says Go back to bed.  You don't really need to be up this early.  Don't you feel how sore you are?  Don't you feel how much you really need to sleep.  Go back to bed.

I think there is a certain state of mindfulness that one must have to transcend what the body is telling us.  At least, this is what we talked about tonight at a group meeting I had attended.  The name of the group is called Reflections and they meet every Thursday.  In these meetings, a small group of people have discussions related to mindfulness, the body, and spirituality.  Tonight, there was a meditation (about 15 minutes or so), some stretching, a lengthy discussion, and then there was a serving of delicious food that sort of concluded the event. 

 Tonight's discussion was really interesting, though, and is particularly remarkable.  The discussion centered around the body and its governance.  We talked about the body's demands, necessary functions, and all of the things needed to make the body operable -- i.e. temperature, sleep, food, bodily functions, etc.  One of the center pieces of this discussion was the contrasting dichotomy of idea between a person who eats to live and a person who lives to eat.  I do not remember the name of the man who had made the insightful comment, but it seemed appropriate that the idea of a person who eats to live is a person that is governed more by their mindfulness (or purely their mind) instead of a person who lives to eat being someone who is completely governed by their body and its instinctual reaction (to want to eat everything).  This is not to say that it is healthy or appropriate to not eat but I do believe in a certain level of awareness and mindfulness one should take before they participate in eating.  

Questions of how should I use my body seem to come into mind here.  One could decide consciously that I will use my body to eat this rice and this soup because it will nourish my body with necessary nutrients and will also stabilize my body temperature.  In another case, a person could somewhat give in to their body's governance and plainly say to themselves I am going to eat all 6 of these slices of pizza!!  Either way, the person is making a decision.  The respective difference here, however, is the presence or absence of mindfulness when a person makes such a decision.

Day 35 | Wednesday, February 4 | 2009

Locker...

It is so cold out today.  Everyone that I talk to has been dreading this weather and the Winter.  Everyone except for Evan who loves winter weather.

Today I got a Typhoid and Yellow Fever shot in preparation for studying in Ecuador this Spring.  I still need to get a tetanus, hepatitis, and rabies shot which will have to happen later.  

Today I woke up feeling a little ill.  I really can't afford to get sick because I need to be at full strength this next week.  There are several projects and midterms that come to mind.  

Day 34 | Tuesday, February 3 | 2009

Red Tea...

Today has been pretty productive though I still feel discouraged.  I just wasn't made to be motivated in this frigid existence.  I rode my bike into town today and that was invigorating and made me feel alive but I still feel bogged down by everything.  Today I worked on a recording for Alex -- he wrote a song for Stacy and her son Ser (sp?) -- and it is almost finished.  I'm going to give this recording to Christine who, in turn, will give it to Stacy in time for her birthday this Saturday.

I had my first tutoring session today and it went well.  My student's focus is in Music Theory -- a pretty fundamental level -- so I tested the waters to see where I was at too.  It all seemed to go pretty well.  Most of her questions were surrounding scale notation and identification and scale degree concerns.  Most of the time spent was a run through key signatures, staff notation, and devices that could help her memorize some of the order of sharps and flats.

Tonight should be a lot of fun -- Caitlin and I are going to vegan cooking (happens every Tuesday night and Friday afternoon) and I don't have a whole lot of homework although I should really try to make a lot of headway on some projects that will be relevant in the near future.

Here goes nothin.

Day 33 | Monday, February 2 | 2009

Truckin'...

Well I went and done it today -- missed my first class of the quarter.  Actually missed two.  It shouldn't be of much consequence.  Oh well.  I was so tired from writing my spanish paper that I just couldn't muster any energy for going to class.  

I don't have a whole lot of time but things are going okay.  I really get in a rut every winter but if I can put things in perspective everything will turn out fine.

This week I'll be busy trying to gather and plan a lot of things in preparation for Ecuador.  Should be loads of fun :)

Also, I'm gonna work on my super secret surprise for Caitlin...something that will surprise her when she least expects it...

Day 32 | Sunday, February 1 | 2009

Happy Birthday Susan!..

We are just about to leave to go meet Mark, Susan, and Robin at Casa Nueva for breakfast.  Tomorrow is Susan's birthday, so I made her this special message from American author and humorist, Mark Twain.  I hope she likes it.

Today will be a busy one -- lots of work to do for my spanish midterm, reading for both of my MDIA (media studies) classes, and then homework for music theory class.  After our group meeting for spanish class I will meet for the first time with my Ecuador study abroad group to comprehensively discuss the program in the Spring.  I am excited to learn more about what to expect this spring.

Well, I'll talk to you later...gotta get a movin'!