Friday, September 28, 2007

Lots of Piano, iTunes, Core, Cereal, and Jane Austen

I need something mindless to do while I listen to music. Because this year I'm really taking advantage of having access to tons of music via my dorm's network. It's great.

Today's been kind of crazy. I had a Core 250 exam this morning. It's interesting to see how various people prepare for Core. Have I talked about Core? I'm sure I have... It's a series of 3 required classes that you must take in order to graduate regardless of your major. Well, there are some exceptions but not many. Core 150 is kind of an "intro to the Christian faith" writ large... Actually, even after passing it I'm still not quite sure what the unifying theme of it is. It's a little bit of theology, some history, cultural studies... I dunno. Right now I'm in Core 250, which is straight philosophy and it's amazing. We've just finished a unit on Plato, Aristotle, the Sophists, Augustine, and Aquinas. Which, you may imagine, would be kind of overwhelming if you'd never heard of these people before. So some people were really freaking out and having all-nighters and some people barely studied. I'd say I fall into the tertium quid.

Anyhow, in addition to the first Core exam of the semester, I had a paid gig tonight. I was kind of freaking out about it because there was no way to prepare. It was just a show up and read out of the Real Book type of deal. But, fortunately, my sight-reading has improved tremendously, so I survived. I was really nervous in the hours leading up to it though. After my last class of the day, I basically had to get ready for my gig at 5:30. It complicated matters that I had to use Whitworth's electric keyboard. This required transporting said keyboard and an amp across campus. I don't know how I would have done it without our drummer's help. Since he has to move a whole drum set, he brought a car with a lot of space and could help me lift things. It didn't help that it was raining, so we had to cover the cymbals, amps, and electrical wires while moving them from location to location. It took a long time to set up, and after we had been messing around with this for maybe 45 minutes, the instrumentalists decided to show up. Instrumentalists have it so easy. Although usually I can't complain about the set up part. Although I can complain about the instrument.

The actual gig was Whitworth's "Pirate Night," which is basically an auction that benefits the athletics department. So there were lots of rich people and the atmosphere was really nice. I don't mind getting paid for something like that. It's probably the best job I've ever had, even though my playing was all over the place. I hate keyboards. I could not hear myself through the amp. That makes it kind of difficult.

So we've started an unofficial Jane Austen/period drama club I think. We meet at 10a.m. on Saturdays and watch movies such as Pride and Prejudice (the miniseries), Emma, Sense and Sensibility, I think North and South is on the list... It's a good time. Recently we've provided sugary cereal just for fun. You know, the gross stuff that has no nutritional value but reminds you of childhood? It's amazing.

That is all.

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Now playing: Beethoven - 04. Symphonie Nr.1 C-dur op.21 - IV; Adagio - Allegro molto e viva
via FoxyTunes

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