November 18-19

       What a mixed bag these past 2 days have been! Thursday apparently was "Lauren-can't-quite-kick-into-work-mode" day which was frustrating. In the morning I had class which was great, but after that I had issues getting much done. My power naps have grown from the acceptable 15 minutes to the over-indulgent 30 minutes lately. Knowing you will wake up to homework doesn't help the situation. Who wants to pop out of bed to read criticism on how cannibalism can be seen as a form of therapy in Titus Andronicus? Not me. Well, I finally got up and decided to work on music instead. While in a practice room, I just couldn't find my groove. I think I set my goals too high that day, so I left disappointed in myself and pissed off too. My friend Sarah had asked me earlier in the week if I would show her a few exercises at the gym, so we went and I hoped it would pull me out of my bad mood. Working out always makes me feel better, except for the fact that lately I have developed a bit of a nerve issue in my butt/lower back/thigh area. I think it's from running more than usual. I could really use a foam roller right now. After our workout, I had . . . DUN DUN DUN . . . Messiah rehearsal which was THREE hours this time. Woah. Between my workout and singing for 3 hours, I was exhausted. My homework again decided my bedtime for me, and I zonked out around 10:30 after brainstorming for a paper. Oh, I forgot to mention the lady behind me at Messiah rehearsal! She was probably the most entertaining/annoying part of my day. For the most part, she knew the music, but she had this grating habit of overemphasizing the "T"s at the ends of words and at the ends of phrases. It was like she was trying to spit the music onto the back of my neck with the force of the "T" consonant. This probably sounds very minor to you, but you start noticing quirks like that when you're with people for 3 hours. There's also the lady who holds almost all the notes out just a milisecond too long at the end of phrases. That's annoying. I just hope I don't have some annoying singing habit that one of the other choir members is blogging about right now.
         After all that wild excitement (feel the sarcasm . . .), you're probably too winded to read on about my day today, but I am going to write about it anyway. It's a general principle that skipping class to do other work is lame, but I gave in today. NERD. The resident sound technician was finally running a help session, so I skipped Composition and Musicianship to get help with my e-music assignments. The funny thing was that both of those classes are taught by the same teacher. Essentially, I was skipping one of his classes to get help in another. Trippy. I still don't know why this university allowed me to mix and match my classes like I have. It is very confusing. For the record, the resident technician was also confused about our e-music assignments. We're starting to think that our teacher might have actually spent some time on another planet. (I can't back that up). There's no way to know. He sure does know his music though. Speaking (well, writing) of interesting personalities, there was a guy who showed up to the help session who had quite the chip on his shoulder. I'm not sure if he thought he was going to a help session or a "I'm-gonna-brag-and-act-like-I-know-more-than-the-teacher-while-challenging-him-rudely" musical UFC session. I almost called him on it during the session, but I held my tongue. Ok, that's enough on that.
        For lunch, I made pizza AGAIN! Just kidding. I actually made pasta this time. Bowtie pasta with tomatoes, artichokes, basil, olive oil, some lemon juice, and feta cheese - Yum! I have leftovers, and I'm excited about them. After transferring that delicious dish into its proper place in my stomach, I actually managed to get some work done. THEN - the fun stuff.
       THE CITY. Marta and I braved the Friday night crowds, and went straight to Piccadilly Circus. It was hoppin! Literally, if felt like driving in rush hour traffic. We originally went to see Les Miserables, but our cheap student instinct kicked in, and we pretty much went on a scavenger hunt around the city looking for the best deal on last minute theater tickets. It turns out that the best deal actually was Les Miserables, and we got tickets for 15 pounds! That is super cheap, ya'll. We couldn't see the entire stage, and the lady in front of me was wearing WAY too much old lady perfume, but the show was phenomenal! I bought the cd after the show with the 2010 cast recording on it. Dude, both of us were blown away and on a musical high afterwards. Just to top it all off, we went to the Haagen-Dazs ice cream shop near the theater and truly enjoyed some serious sugar-dairy product.

                    (I realize how ridiculous I look, but I was a little distracted by the goodness in my hand.
                                        That's my expensive Brick Lane hat I'm wearing, btw.)

       With the comfort of some very nice evening weather, we made our way to the tube and back to campus where we arrived at about 12:30 am.

       Two more random comments, and then I'm done. First, it is both troubling and enjoyable to be spending money on so many exciting things. I'll have to elaborate later, I think. Second, I have been getting esophageal spasms way more often. What's the deal???

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would resolve this (nerve???) issue in my butt/thigh/hip. It's uncomfortable.