So... I don't know about you, but I just got my life thrown back into perspective. Slammed back into perspective, rather.

Here I am, chugging along - an excellent academic automaton, if you ask me - feeling good about myself, my accomplishments, my work ethic, etc. Then I read this one girl's blog... a girl I don't even know. Such is the power of facebook, and the stalking that ensues. She's following essentially the same academic trajectory (music + biology) and upon graduation ('09) she is doing med-school work in Africa, learning swahili (mastering it, as far as I can tell), relating all of her daily events in full and entertaining detail, and sounding disgustingly dynamic, witty, and fascinating in the process. I can barely remember two things that happen to me every day... and if I do remember something, it gets garbled and basterdized in translation, to the point that really cool activities are downgraded to worthless, blog-filling fluff.

This girl (if you happen to read my blog and you happen to know who I'm talking about, I apologize), completely inspired me. As per usual, when something inspires me, I tend to catalogue it as something inspiring, and I even plan on acting on that inspiration come dawn... at which point I completely forget I was ever inspired in the first place. Convenient, no? oh.. and she's gorgeous.

Anyhow - first recital rehearsal tomorrow at 2:00 pm. stoked. good reeds, mouth back in shape, music learned. I'm ready (i hope).

Axel is loving his eco-commute to PCC, and I'm loving it too, because it means that I don't have to feel guilty about trapping him at my place in dark (dank) rental rooms. Seriously, the lighting at my house is terrible. Axel cooked black beans from scratch, and heated up some Saurkraut (sp?) - tasted like pooh, but it felt ethnic.

Hmm, sometimes I worry that I have my academic priorities mixed up - every once in a while I feel like I am getting good grades to prove wrong anyone and everyone who doubted my intellectual prowess. High school teachers who warned me about hubris... ex-roommates who condescendingly implied that I had a light "liberal arts" workload (when I was just doing music). Then, at other times... most other times... I feel genuinely interested in what I'm learning. I love knowing WHY and HOW everything works. Life, instead of being cheapened by learning all the secrets, becomes infinitely more beautiful and fragile.. yet powerful at the same time.

I also believe that I am finally completing the transition from a sophomoric dependence on sweet coffee drinks to a more dignified reliance on black coffee. No awful sugar high - just a pure caffeine high.

Also - i'm potentially running into a problem with letters of rec- I know lots of music teachers VERY well. I also know that they'd be more than happy to provide glowing letters of recommendation. I DON'T know any science teachers... at least not beyond the occasional question in lecture. I should really start building relationships.


And as usual - worthless acquaintances pass like ships in the night (that's the expression, no?), and the ones that matter - well, they're not going nowhere.