November 4-5

       This post is going to be the longest one yet, I can feel it. So be forewarned. Feel free to take a breather somewhere in the middle. Here I go -

       My performance in Performance and Analysis class turned out to be very laid back. You never perform exactly how you practice, but it went well altogether. My teacher is really chill. Thanks for your prayers! After a lunch break and a short music skills session where I found out how weak my music theory is, I listened to parts of the Messiah online, took a power nap (I think the Messiah is a snoozer, no offense Handel), and headed out for a jog/walk. In case you're wondering why I always write "jog/walk," it is because I can never jog the whole way. I don't have that kind of endurance for some reason, but I am jealous of those who do. People who can run far are cool. I soon stopped by the campus gym to see if they had put their act together yet, and they actually had! The gym was in usable condition, so I had my first decent workout in over a month and loved it!
       I cleaned up and headed to Messiah rehearsal. This whole event has turned into a huge guilt sandwich that all the music department VIPs are trying to cram down our throats. I can understand that they are frustrated that so few people are showing up (10-15 maybe), but the mandatory nature of 5:30-7:30 Thursday night rehearsals for college students who will receive no academic credit for participation seems a bit much to me. AND, there are only a total of 4 practices before the performance. We've already had 2, and they are still looking for other people. Really?!?!? I don't know how it's gonna come together. To top it all off, our conductor was 45 minutes late to rehearsal because of traffic. Not his fault, I know, but it just made the whole night worse. Also, the lady sitting behind me was really loud and didn't know the music very well, so I had even more trouble than usual. I don't blame her. We're all learning, but the situation pissed me off even more. After rehearsal, my throat felt like that blistering heel I mentioned last time. Erg!
       Two things:
                        First: I realize my negative comments towards The Messiah situation may appear sacreligious. Let me be clear. It is the musical score called "The Messiah" by G. F. Handel that is the object of my scorn, NOT my actual Messiah, Jesus. Jesus is way more beautiful than Handel's score.
                        Second: Do you ever have that urge to chuck a bad book across the room after you've consumed its distasteful contents? The last two books I threw against the wall were "The Jew of Malta" (just last week) and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (last semester. I still plan to burn it, actually.) I couldn't throw The Messiah score against the wall for a number of reasons, but I dropped it with force onto the ground during a break to express my frustration. It helped. (It's hard to outwardly express strong negativity toward something with such a holy title such as The Messiah.)
       I met up with a girl from my Composition and Musicianship class after rehearsal to work through our assignment that was due this morning. We are both having lots of trouble in that class (as are others), so my bad mood continued as we sat at the piano and tried to make sense of our assignment. I think I figured most of it out eventually, but I was fed up with school by the end of the day. Exercise was the main redeeming factor yesterday.

       Now's the time to take that breather if you want it. Go pee, get a snack, and come back.      

       Today was MUCH better! Composition and Musicianship class went well. As a possible solution to my growing frustration with being so confused with my studies, I decided to start speaking up more in class. My classmates are generally pretty reserved with speaking up in class, but I'm sick of being quiet. Even if I look like a fool, I want to learn. Thankfully, my professor responded well to most of my comments, and a number of them were actually right! Yay! I headed to library after class for a short while to find music that will help me with my sightreading, and then I killed sometime before heading out for afternoon tea in the city! The shuttle buses from campus to the tube station were packed, so I had to walk down Snakes Lane for about 15 minutes to get there. (Did I mention before that foxes are very common over here? Almost every time I'm out at night either in the shuttle bus or walking around campus, there is a fox or 2 somewhere. It's kinda cool.)
       I met up with some friends, and we went to Harrods for afternoon tea!

Me perusing the afternoon tea menu! 

      Swanky! That place is huge! It would be so easy to get lost there, and we barely saw any of it. There were 7 of us, and we all sat together at a round table in the middle of a large dining room. We were all starving, so when the stack of plates containing finger sandwiches, scones, and desserts came out, our mouths started salivating. Along with some tea, we enjoyed as much food as our stomachs would allow (they keep bringing you refills whenever you want) over the course of about 2 hours. The service was pretty slow which surprised me.

       (Pause. I had to take a breather myself just then. There's so much to write about!)

       Having afternoon tea at Harrods was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In fact, today has been a once-in-a-lifetime day, and I haven't even told you the best part yet!
       Conveniently, Harrods was only 1 tube stop away from Royal Albert Hall where Imogen Heap's concert (for which I had a ticket) would begin about an hour after we finished stuffing ourselves.
       During my interview with the Study Abroad interview committee back at CSUS, they asked me why I picked London. I gave them some cheesy answer about feeling like I needed British culture to better round out my English literature degree, but I also mentioned that many of my favorite musicians are British. Mainly, I was thinking of Imogen Heap, hoping I could catch one of her concerts while I was over here. Well, I DID!
       Royal Albert Hall is gorgeous! It's a huge roundhouse with a dome top. The ceiling inside was amazing. It's hard to describe, but here are some pictures of the venue:

 Those purple things are some kind of decoration hanging from the ceiling, and they are huge.


                                        That's a huge organ in the background (that wasn't used in the show.)
       I had no idea what to expect tonight. Afterall, it IS Imogen Heap we're talking about. She pretty much epitomizes eccentric. The first half of the show ended up being an orchestra/choir performance of Imogen's newly composed symphony! Who knew? It was set to video clippings, all of some element(s) of nature. Imogen conducted the 45 minute piece (you go girl!). I definately wasn't expecting that, but it was cool. I give her mad props for pulling that off.
       After the 50 minute intermission (they had to totally recreate the stage), Imogen came out and performed her normal kind of songs. Well, I wouldn't call them normal, but they are the ones I knew. The kinds of things she used in her performance were nearly unbelievable. Between her and her groupies, they were playing steel saws with a bow, violins, a cello, wine glasses with water in them, a key-tar, all kinds of synthesizers, guitars, drums, shakers, bells, sounds of birds chirping and bond fires crackling, etc. Fantastic! She is so creative. She had the crowd sing with her a few times too which was cool. Now I can say I sang with Imogen Heap! (Extra: She had the crowd sing the round on "Just for Now," so the whole song was a cappella, and she sang over us. Rad to the max.) It was definately a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
       I don't think I mentioned that I went to the concert all by myself. Well, I did, but it was cool. I got to soak everything up even more. As I was silently watching the videos of nature go by accompanied by awesome music during the first part of the show, I kept thinking, "God, you made all that! You make such beautiful stuff!" But there was no one to share that joy with : ( It amazes me how people can admire beauty and love and not acknowledge God's handiwork and goodness. It's like the key to life is right under their noses, but they can't sense it, or won't sense it, sense Him. Even the amount of talent that was on that stage tonight points to a larger Creator, the Mastermind, the Inventor and Master of music. I'm thinking of a Bible passage that says something about maybe Isaiah or David or Jeremiah ??? trying to keep God's praise hidden inside them, but it kept growing and burning, and they had to let it out. (I have no idea where this passage is, or maybe it isn't really a passage. A little help, anyone???). Either way, I feel that burning, the need to say outloud and often that Jesus is beautiful and offers true life, etc. This is new for me, and it is disappointing and strange to think that it took me this long to reach this point. On the tube ride back to campus, I was excited for the future and what I can do with my talents to make Jesus look good. I was feeling inspired to work on my writing and my music so I can make something beautiful and divinely purposeful of them soon.

There you have it. My insanely long entry for the past 2 days. It is now 2:24 am, and I have to catch an 8:30 bus in the morning to head to the London Zoo with some friends. I'm so excited! But I need to sleep. If you made it this far, I applaud you for your concentration skills. Thanks for reading.

Prayer Request of the Day: That I would make Jesus look good.