Saturday, December 29, 2007

My other birthday presents

A not so great birthday present was Benazir Bhutto's death. I wake up and CNN is on (of course...) and the main story says in white letters, "Bhutto has been assassinated." I'm like, "So? It's my birthday!!" Yeah, I really am sorry that she was assassinated, because she was against extremists and militants and terrorists. Pakistan is going crazy now, and the U.S. had a really good ally in Bhutto. I'm not so sure about Musharraf. The U.S. is saying, "Oh crap, what are we gonna do now?"

My sister, the great economist and historian, was very upset about her assassination. "I loved Benazir Bhutto so much, I even dressed up as her for Halloween ten years ago!" This I found quite funny. She put one of those garment things around her head, did the dark eye makeup, and went to a Halloween party. It stunk that she was killed, and it stunk almost as bad that I had to hear about it on CNN all day. Usually CNN doesn't report just one thing all day, so I can keep my sanity a little better. I got to hear what Bush had to think about it, I got to hear what McCain got to say about it (I think my family likes him a little bit? He's apparently probably better able to handle the situation in Iraq...he's just old. Speaking of which, I get to register for voting!), I got to hear what everybody's mother had to say about it. So, Benazir Bhutto, I got to hear all about you on my birthday. You're 54, have three kids probably all under 15, and a husband. You knew the militants were out to assassinate you. You wrote an email that was forwarded to Wolf Blitzer in which you said that you would blame much of your future assassination on Musharraf's inability to protect you with adequate security. You wore unstylish glasses sometimes. The last word you said was Allah. You were running for a third term as Pakistan's prime minister. You were Pakistan's first female prime minister. I think you had two gunshot wounds--one in the neck and one in the back? You died in the hospital an hour after you were hit. John McCain personally knew you. My sister was you for Halloween, and you died on my 18th birthday. Pakistan is now Terror Central, according to CNN!

But, my early birthday present was a Samsung Upstage II cell phone. It's not a flip phone; it's a very slim "candy bar style" phone. It has an MP3 player, 2.0 megapixel camera, and it's kickass! (http://www.infosyncworld.com/mobility/samsung_upstage.html) My other presents were some clothes that we went shopping for on the day after Christmas. I'm changing my appearance a little bit during this month and when I return to school. It's going to be fun. I'm really excited about returning for my second semester in college. It's going to be different...new classes, a new job (or two), a different perception about some areas of life, and hopefully I'll be working on some new projects. I'll blog about them if they come into being. But, I'm very excited. My appearance will probably change after I buy myself some personal birthday presents (and, I don't know how I'm going to get all of the money for them until I start working)...I'm going to buy a bunch of CDs (I love music and books!), get an ear cartilage piercing, get some sort of coloring in my hair (never done that before), and buy a symbolic ring. But, I need to know my ring size first. I still feel dumb, so I'm going to make an attempt to read more, even though I'm not sure at this moment which books I should read.

I miss Barnes & Noble! I can't wait to see it when I go back to the metroplex next week!


What an awesome birthday present

So, one of the best birthday presents for my big 1-8 birthday was going to see the movie The Great Debaters. Why? Well, the non-fiction story of the movie is that of an all-black college in the 1930's. Denzel Washington's character heads up a debate team at Wiley College...can you guess where? Marshall, Texas. I remember hearing about the creation of this movie quite awhile back, before I was even done with high school. I remember my school bus would drive by Wiley College every morning on the way to middle school and junior high. Mrs. Holmes, my bus driver, graduated from Wiley. It's not a school that people really talk about...the most I knew about it was that caucasians generally didn't go there. I feel like this movie is really significant, because East Texas towns don't get much of any rep on the big screen, especially Marshall. The movie is well written and produced, and very powerful. The story revolves around racial issues, which is significant today as I perceive Marshall to still be somewhat segregated, as much of the South still is. Anyway, one of Wiley's professors forms a debate team, which is little-known. The movie follows the debate team as they struggle to defeat known black colleges, as they move on to white colleges (one of the first all-black schools to do so), and ultimately to the best of the best...Harvard. In the backdrop, or should I say, the forefront of their lives, the characters struggle to endure the cruelty of the white population of Marshall. The characters of the debate team themselves are fascinating. James Farmer, the quite young son of a respected Wiley professor and preacher; Samantha Booke (with an 'e'), the first female ever on the Wiley debate team; Henry Lowe (also with an 'e'), the quite intelligent guy who has a hard time dealing with his problems. The scenery of the movie is very East Texas-esque, something I was very curious about. I don't know if they filmed the lake scenes at Caddo Lake, but CL is a very popular place for everyone around here to go.

This movie is very powerful to me because of all the crap the characters have to go through. At one point later in the movie, the team is driving to another college, and as they are driving they stumble across a black man being lynched, with a group of white men surrounding him. The team barely escapes the angry mob after it realizes that their car is full of black people. Later in the evening, Henry Lowe basically has a breakdown. After James Farmer confronts him, Henry gets upset at James and tells him--"You will never forget what you saw. You will never forget how that felt." Gaah, it was awful.

Go see this, it's worth all of your money. Go learn about the story of this college from my hometown, and think of me. Enjoy the richness of the characters, enjoy the scenery in the movie, and enjoy a part of history!


Friday, December 21, 2007

Harsh reality

Pondering my life as I sit and stare at the walls of my room. Walls that I looked at hundreds upon hundreds of times over the past ten years. The oddness that reaks from the posters of the black basketball players. I thought about tearing them down in the future.

Pondering this past semester, my first semester as a college student in Texas---doing my own laundry, becoming a better musician (or at least gaining more musical knowledge---do I even care anymore?), drinking coffee, agreeing with myself that I don't want to be an accountant. Personal growth...have I grown? The disconnection is still there, but not because I want it to be. And yet through the changes that have been made, so much still remains the same. That terrible off-and-on depression, working against it every day. Silly that I fooled myself into thinking the main problem would mostly go away once I left for college. Not only was it still there, but reinforced almost every day. All the time...and then they'd all leave for the weekend. They would all go home. The feeling that I felt when I saw the empty parking lot and knew where they had gone. Home to see their mom and their dad. The visits from happy families, complete happy families and happy friends. The closeness and the bonds that I'll never have. The brokeness from the instant pain that comes ever so quickly, as I walk across campus by myself. That never goes away.

Then, looking at the cold walls of my bedroom. This isn't home.

Silly me, I knew I couldn't run away from all of it, but I thought I could escape most of it. It chases after me, every day. How I respond will determine the outcome of my life.

"This is how you remind me..."

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Um...okay...?


So, today I was late for a trio rehearsal because the women's soccer game went into double overtime and penalty kicks. We played Trinity University, from San Antonio. My roommate was the first kicker for the penalty kicks...and she scored! Yeha!

Anyway, I kind of took some heat for being late to the trio rehearsal. I was totally not about to leave the game after I had been sitting there for most of the first half, all of the second half, and two overtimes with the score 0-0. It was nice to see us win. I think we scored all five kicks, and our goalie stopped two of TU's kicks. Tomorrow morning our team is heading to Atlanta, Georgia for more of the NCAA tournament, but they're really beat up and also playing a team better than Trinity.

Well, my phone rang at some point during trio rehearsal, and Dr. Neubert (he "coaches" us on our pieces that we're supposed to practice outside of the "coaching") looked at me like I was crazy. He said something like, "What is that bizarre sound? It sounds like a washing machine." Kathryn added, "It sounds like a siren."

...It was the opening of "Jesus is Still Alright" by dc talk. :/

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Just don't ask.

Did anyone watch the Jesus video? Funniest video ever?

I'm starting to become more active with schoolwork and the like. I'm striving to pay more attention in my economics course, I studied a lot more for my second business test, I'm making a commitment to turn in all of my music theory homework papers on time (I turned some homework in late during the first half of the semester, but my high midterm test grade overruled the 'B' I probably would have gotten with only homework grades. My professor takes off ten points for late work, plus the exercises I actually get wrong.), and my violin practicing has become much more hardcore. Dr. I is helping me develop my bow arm, which is a struggle for me because I've always placed so much emphasis on my left hand, which I don't think I even realized until today. I am left-handed and left-sided, so my thought process is sometimes backward from the standard. I feel like I am using a different part of my brain to focus on just my right arm and wrist (and fingers! Craziness!) instead of the fingers that are playing the notes with my left hand. The bow arm actually is more important, which I am just now beginning to understand this semester. My bow itself has issues, so that doesn't help my cause. It needs to be rehaired, and it has a natural tendency to bounce all over the place. It's hard to control, which makes my bow arm situation even worse. Anyway, I've been practicing kind of hardcore lately. I was even wired enough a few nights ago to go in the practice room around 9:00 in the evening and come out a little bit after 11:00. I'm hoping that some progress will really show up by the end of the semester.

I have been thinking about getting a second bachelor's degree in music for quite some time - before I started college, actually. I've really had some different perspectives for the past month or so. Music Theory/Composition was sounding great, but I hesitated because of the extra time it might take to graduate. Although I want to learn to write music, I'm fairly certain now that I'm going to declare a double-major in Music Business. The courses required for the Business Administration minor are some of the same fundamental courses required for my Accounting major (thus I might be able to graduate with both degrees by 2011). I'm also really interested in music production and I've even discovered a good school with one of the best music business programs in the country. If I was to transfer to that school, I might not even graduate with an Accounting degree at all. If I was to complete my degree at yet another university, I might only graduate with an Accounting degree and music minor. And if I stay at HSU, I'll leave with the two degrees. Confused? You're not the only one. My mind is all over the place with what I can do. I've randomly been very interested in law school along with music business. I even know one of the law schools I want to apply to (University of Virginia).

Mmm, insomnia. Dr. I isn't the only one experiencing it.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Send your love

I'm urging all my friends to go watch this video, because I love it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nl2rf50-mWE

Someone told me about this video over a year ago and I finally watched it for the first time a few nights ago. It's called: The Jesus Video. It's my all-time favorite and the funniest video ever created. A-men.

I'm going to Marshall with my friends in two weeks for the HSU-ETBU game. It's the day after our first orchestra concert. I'm so excited for that weekend.

Everything is starting to fit together. Maybe Jesus is somewhat proud of me? More news will be on the way.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

The part where I write stuff that you read...

So the whole get work done before internet thing hasn't worked so well. But I'm getting my work done. I think.

I moved in a month ago. A month? It seems like I've been here for a year. Time is always so messed up at first, then it just flies by like nothing. New Student Orientation (the bizarrest and coolest beginning a college student could have) couldn't have ended three weeks ago. Classes couldn't have started three weeks ago from Monday. I didn't walk in my room for the first time and see my roommate's pink bedspread a month ago. My mom didn't help me move in all of my stuff a month ago.

My roommate's a soccer player. She actually played against the institution of my mom's employment today. She was in my hometown. So weird. She is a freshman, presently a starter on the team, and becoming increasingly familiar to me with each passing day. I've gone to some of the soccer home games, which have been a lot of fun (I have so much more respect for soccer players now). I wish I could have been in Marshall today and Longview tomorrow, just to experience the familiarity of the last ten years.

My new friends all rock. I am in a small group of friends who are transfer students. It's great and I love them already, but I really dislike being the youngest. I've always almost preferred making friends with people older than myself. No worries, I have lots of freshman friends.

A brief synopsis of classes: Music classes can be such a drag to get through, as we have an 8:00 every single morning. No one suffers like music majors, because they have 8:00s all the way through their entire college career. I'm just a minor, haha! I love my economics professor because he's funny and sarcastic. On Thursday he was asking us what it would cost for us to become ranchers. For example, would we become ranchers if we made $100,000 a year? $500,000? A million? We were all somewhat reluctant to really answer him. He says, "I'm not asking you to be porn stars! I'm asking you to raise cattle!" My accounting prof almost made me cry the first day (my fault...I should have gone to his office to talk with him after I dropped Calculus and added Princ. of Accounting...by the way, I'm still planning to take Calculus), but I'm really enjoying the class and I think he's cool. He is funny as well. "You know, you guys look like you'd rather be at the dentist's office getting wisdom teeth removed rather than be here in your accounting class." Intro to Business is so un-challenging that I'm scared. We talk about Apple (the dudes who make iPods, Macs, iPhones and the like) all of the time. We watch a Youtube video to start off the class almost every time. We randomly watched part of Britney Spears' VMA performance. She's coming out with a new album. Wow...

I've become such a basketball freak that it's actually starting to scare me. I think I might even be more of a freak than I have been. If I ever thought that I could just forget about it, boy was I wrong. So Thursday night basketball on TNT is starting October 30, and I'm going to watch games in the cool basement lobby instead of the main lobby. People don't usually spend time in the basement lobby, as far as I know. If they come in on Thursday nights, they just might find...someone who's passionate about something...

Wow, it's 3:41...so today I might go see more volleyball, go to my first-ever HSU football game (they can't be as good as those ETBU games were...except that ETBU can't say H-S-H-S-U-U), take a drum lesson from a hot guy, and...whatever else.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Classes start tomorrow

I have set a rule for myself regarding the use of internet on my laptop. I am not going to use the internet for leisure time (e-mail, Facebook, blogging, etc.) until I have finished my school assignments, practice times, rehearsals, and other academic commitments for the day. I am only allowing myself to use the internet before I finish all tasks on the exception that internet research is necessary, or if I know that I have important e-mails in my inbox relating to school matters.

HSU is crazy fun! Thinking of my hometown makes me groan.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Hopeful

1. I have my sweet laptop.

2. I am moving in tomorrow.

3. I love my baby nephew.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Transition

I have been fiddling with the layout of my blog today. I am not satisfied with it. I will hopefully be able to make the changes that I want to make. I did find another on-line service that allows users to subscribe to blogs. It's called FeedBlitz. I posted the easy-to-use sign-up box on the right side of my blog. Hopefully it's easier to use than Bloglines.

I e-mailed a residence life director at HSU a few days ago and explained my roommate-less situation. He wrote me back today and assured me that I will have a roommate. That makes me feel better!

These next two weeks are going to be fun and crazy. We are having a small graduation ceremony, so I have to send out invitations and prepare a speech. I'm also in the process of buying clothes and everything else I need, ordering my laptop, packing, and taking care of minute details.

I am in transition. My brain is going in different directions. I'm ready to get to Abilene and sort everything out.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Frustrated and phlegmatic...

Um...I now have no roommate. My basketball-playing roommate decided it would be best to room with another basketball player. I am frustrated that I have to find a new roommate. If I am not able to obtain one, I will have to pay lots of money and sign a crummy Private Room Agreement. I'm also afraid that I'm going to get a psycho person for my new roommate. At least my old one was cool. In addition to my roommate dilemma, I got a call from the number 000-000-0000 yesterday, at a time when I was not able to answer my phone. I later checked my voicemail. The aforementioned caller was a HSU staff member. She said in her message that the MicroFridge my old roommate and I attempted to reserve for our dorm room was not available. The staff member said to "make other arrangements for a refrigerator." (MicroFridges are nifty. Go to http://www.microfridge.com.) I am a bit frustrated.

I think I have decided on the tuxedo black color for my laptop. My gift registry project was successful, in my opinion. I raised $137.49. That more than pays for my printer. I am grateful to my family and friends who contributed.

Kevin Garnett got traded! YES!!! Last year during draft time, I remember a remark I wrote on one of my posts here. Something like, "free this man from his prison!" The opportunity to play with basketball greats and future hall-of-famers Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in Boston is huge. I just want to say that I really liked the Celtics a few years ago. I still like them, but my affinity for them has not been as great because they haven't had any sort of identity. I am a Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen fan, so I am excited.

Today I read a book called Positive Personality Profiles. I have touched on the different personalities in school: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholy. This book took the same personalities and gave them different titles: D, I, S, and C.

"D's" are equivalent to cholerics. They are driving, dominating, out-going and task-oriented individuals. They can get in your face.

"I's" = sanguines. They are inspiring, easy-going, out-going and people-oriented. They sometimes have problems because they want to talk instead of getting work done.

"S's" are phlegmatics. They are reserved, people-pleasing, easy to get along with, shy, and people-oriented. They want to be appreciated by others.

"C's" are melancholics. They are cautious and careful. They are perfectionists. They don't like to take risks. They are reserved and task-oriented.


Anyway, I find the four temperaments very interesting. 80% of people have more than one temperament. Most people have one dominant temperament and then at least one other supporting temperament. I will probably have much more to say on this topic in the future. I hope it isn't bad to write about three unrelated topics in the same post.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Choosing a color

I need you to help me! I'm not here to parade around that I'm getting a cool laptop, but I need you to help me pick out which color to get. There are three: tuxedo black, crimson red, and pearl white. I was immediately attracted to the red, of course, but I really like the others as well. The red is deadly cool. The black is also very appealing to me, but my only beef with it is that it may absorb a lot of heat if I am outside on a hot day. Then there's the white, which I also adore. I was actually looking at Apple's MacBooks before looking at Dells, and I was extremely attracted to the white MacBook. Here, please click on this link and take a look at the previews of the colors (just roll your mouse over the description and the picture will change on the left side): http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=eep&cs=2236&eep_orig_cs=2236&sm=2&oc=AYCWTBPL&link_number=17970622

So what do you think? Truth be told, Red (Elektrik_Red, a longtime username) has kind of died. I still love the color, but I'm not sure if I want my laptop to be red, even though it is not the bright red. This crimson red is my favorite shade of red. Also, I'm planning to use this notebook for taking notes in some of my classes. Red kind of stands out. I don't know! I love the black! And the white! Help meee!

Oh, and as always, you can still contribute to the cost of my laptop, if you wish: http://www.dellunleashed.com/rdavis07 (or just click on "Chip in for my Dell" on the widget on the right side of this screen)

Thursday, July 5, 2007

I have been tagged. You have been warned.

Seven random facts about me that you might not know.

1. I am the youngest of three children in my family.

2. I taught myself how to juggle when I was nine by reading a book from the library.

3. I wrote to someone in prison (and got in lots of trouble).

4. I am left-handed.

5. I played cello for a brief period of time and earned a seat in the the all-region orchestra cello section in the eighth grade.

6. I had my own high school letter jacket for about a week (they made me give it back after I switched schools!).

7. I became friends with an actor during my first visit to Mexico. He has made small appearances in several shows, including "Charmed" and "CSI." He was also in a movie with Jack Black by the name of Airborne. I have seen him in a few commercials since I met him, including a Radioshack commercial and an Ameriquest commercial. He is warm, good-looking, very nice, and shares a common interest with me: the Los Angeles Lakers. We e-mail every now and then.

Pick out five favorite movies, then look them up at IMDb. In the overview at the top of each movie’s page, there are “Plot Keywords,” usually five of them. (Plus more, if you click the link.) Take the first five, and post them. Then the rest of us get to play movie buff and see if we can guess them.

Heeheehee...

1. Turtle / Interracial Romance / Traffic Light / Spit In the Face / Mr. Potato Head
If you have seen this movie, it won't be hard to know this one. By the way, I didn't take the first five because some of the other ones were better (and hilarious).

2. Single Father / Secret Identity / False Teeth / Restaurant / Child Swearing
Tee hee hee!

3. Jamaica / Bobsled / Hotel Room / Winter Olympics / Sled

4. Falsely Accused / Island Prison / Sword Fight / Prison Escape / Betrayal

5. College Football / Vomiting / Football Coach / Moving In / Hiding In Closet

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Somehow I don't remember Independence Day being this big of a deal.

I don't know, but it's an exciting day. I must admit that I have grown rather tired of the bipolar weather this past month. As Relient K says, "And lately the weather has been so bipolar, and consequently so have I..."

tobyMac is coming to Frisco at the end of September. My sister and her husband are actually selling their house and making plans to move to Frisco, which is close to where they live right now. So since Sarah is permanently back from the Air Force now (can't wait to see her again), I was thinking that it would be awesome if we (and anyone else who wants to come along) could make the exodus down to Frisco to see Toby. We talked about our desire to go to concerts, and we mentioned seeing Toby. I'll be in college, which is quite a few hours away to the West, but I'm sure we can work something out. I was thinking we could crash at my sister's place after the concert (shh Z, don't say anything because I haven't asked her and St. Patty yet). (And don't tell them that I just called him St. Patty.)

Yesterday my mom and I went shopping, cause she gets a discount on the first Tuesday of every month. There were no good jeans, which I will desperately need for college. Two of my favorite pairs are almost too holey to wear now. We went to Old Navy and found shirts that we thought were 50% off, only we discovered at the checkout that they weren't. Bummer. I have so much shopping left to do...

I have actually found the laptop I want: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1330?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
Click on "Overview." Red is my favorite color, but the black one looks awesome as well.

My favorite blogs at the moment (check them out):
http://laurish.blogspot.com/
http://www.xanga.com/bittersunday

Oh, and don't forget the great Emily Ask. http://emilyask.blogspot.com. She is way too cool for me.

Happy fourth...

Rachelle

Saturday, June 23, 2007

These are the signs of life.

My roommate is a basketball player...

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

A couple of days ago when I was going with my teacher to pick up peaches, I came upon the highlight of my day. I was sitting in the van while waiting for my teacher. I glanced to the left of me where all of the people were standing. Just a split second after I looked up, this girl (probably around seven-years-old) swung a fly swatter in the air and threw it down hard on the table. Having killed the fly, she was clearly feeling triumph. She raised her fist in the air and enjoyed the moment. A few seconds later her grandparents were walking over, and I heard her say, "Who's the queen now?" That girl was my hero.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Summatime

I started picking berries at a local berry patch last week. The blackberries are fun to pick, but they don't pay as well as the blueberries. The blueberries take forever and a day to pick, but hopefully in the next week or two, more will be ripe. Thankfully I was able to take Saturday off because of bad weather. The job is Monday-Saturday and picking just three days last week took a toll on my body. I'm revamped and ready for tomorrow, however. I'm saving my berry-picking money for my laptop. Anyone have any laptop suggestions?

I got a call from Sarah on Thursday. Unfortunately, my phone was turned off. I received an email from her sister stating that the Air Force was working on a deal to get cell phones for the recruits or something like that. Apparently, Sarah attempted to call me with her new phone privileges. I was ticked that I had just turned my phone off. Within a ten or fifteen-minute period, I turned the phone back on and discovered her message. I haven't actually spoken to her since she left, which was May 1st. She is currently on medical hold and is working on getting discharged. The process should be finally completed in a few weeks.

Calculus and Physics are coming along slowly. Please pray for me and my math if you read this. The days are going by quickly and while I am getting pumped up for college, my last two courses still need to be worked on heavily. I have completed all other subjects though! It feels good.

It is still a small world. On Thursday I went with my teacher's son and his wife to a business plan meeting and I met a woman that I had previously seen at the gym, back when Sarah and I were still working out there. One day at the gym, she walked up to me and asked me if I worked at Kroger. She swore that I looked just like a girl who worked there. I frequently saw the woman enter the gym to work out. Anyway, she is involved in the same business that Paul and Ruth are involved in (I am also thinking of joining). I'll probably write more about it later.

Just a few notes about the world...
* The NBA Finals was completely disappointing.
* The 2008 election is an annoyingly popular topic. It is a little early.
* When asked about his thoughts concerning Paris Hilton, my uncle replied, "I would've just spanked her and sent her to bed..."

Friday, March 30, 2007

Confusion

I was sick as a dog during the release week of tobyMac's new album. I had planned to go with Sarah to Best Buy on the day it came out, a Tuesday, to pick up a copy. I miserably stayed home on Monday and forced myself to come to school on Tuesday. Months ago I had planned to buy Toby's album on the first day and being sick wasn't going to hinder me. Sarah and I left school around lunchtime and made our way to Best Buy. We both bought copies of Portable Sounds. I then payed for our lunches at McAllister's. During the afternoon, my fever came back and I was miserable. I was thankful when I went home later on and didn't come to school the rest of the week.

So Sarah is leaving for the Air Force on May 1st. We are both hurriedly trying to finish our Accounting. In a couple of weeks, we are going to work together on the practice sets. The practice sets combine the information we (supposedly) learned and apply that to real Accounting work. Miss Kay said that they could take 40 hours each to complete--and we have two practice sets. Sarah said that we'll order a pizza and make it a party. We both laugh about that. We're having a graduation/Air Force going away celebration for Sarah during the last week of April. She and I both need to move on, but I do feel very sad that this is the end of what we had in high school. When I first came to this homeschool group two and a half years ago, there were seven high schoolers, including Sarah and I. There were expectations that at least half of these students would stay at Miss Kay's school and graduate through her program. One by one, they all left, either by dropping out or by going to another school. By the end of the Spring semester of '06, Sarah and I were the only ones left. We became very good friends within my first semester at this little school (Spring of '05). So being the first graduates of Miss Kay's school means a lot. We also share a plethora of memories. Whether it be walking to the duck pond, walking to the gas station or even the mall (the last of which we did more often before Sarah got a car), we have walked and talked a lot over the past two and a half years. Back in the first semester of this year, I had a ride from Marshall who would take me to a gas station in the mornings. Sarah would pick me up most of the time. We would have a grand time laughing at the absurdities of the outside world and picking up donuts. We still go pick up donuts now. We've picked up the occasional pizza, we've run errands for Miss Kay, we've gone to Books-A-Million, we've eaten lunch at the mall, we've had loads of fun at the gym, and we've whined about accounting and math and whined some more. The point is this will all be gone on May 1st and it will never come back. The chances are that we will see each other very little over the next four years. But we are both moving on to better things and we had the grandest of times.

Speaking of moving on to better things...about three weeks ago, my mom called me during school to tell me that she had received an e-mail from Hardin-Simmons University which revealed that they wanted to give me the tuition exchange scholarship through ETBU. I had recently just accepted that I would be attending the local ETBU for hopefully no longer than a year. I didn't think that any school would give me the scholarship without first receiving my transcript, which I am aiming to send to HSU next month. I was overflowing with joy when I heard that news. I discovered that the next audition for music scholarship consideration was two weeks away, so I got busy preparing for that. My mom and I are hoping we can get some money to take care of room and board expenses. We spent the night before the audition at my sister's house, which is a little over three aways away from HSU. My sister took us over to Abilene, Texas the next day. After leaving the big Fort Worth metroplex area, we entered a long stretch of two hours of land. Miles and miles of nice land, with not much else in sight. Welcome to West Texas, I guess. Abilene is supposed to be nicely sized, with a population of 100,000 +. The proof of that didn't show much on the Hardin-Simmons part of town. As we were searching for a place to get food, we happened upon another university, Abilene Christian University. It looked bigger and nicer than HSU. After passing by ACU, we began to enter a more promising part of town. Perhaps we were getting closer to downtown. There wasn't much time for exploring because I had to get to my audition. We also didn't do any exploring afterwards. If I end up going next year, I'll get to do lots of exploring. Things are a little hectic right now. I'm trying to graduate and figure out how to get the funds I need for HSU next year, among other things. Anyway, I did like the campus of Hardin-Simmons. It's not a very big school, but I think I'd enjoy myself there. I think I'd also grow a lot more as a person there than I would at ETBU. I'll probably be blogging more often if I go there. I'll buy a laptop and it's likely that I will write little posts on a more consistent basis, even though I know I will be very busy with all sorts of things. Enough of this post...this is just a broad review of what's going on with me right now.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Portable words

Why is it that songs from upcoming albums are always made available to the public when they probably aren't even the best songs from the album? I've listened to clips for all of the songs from Portable Sounds, and I'm fairly certain that "One World" and "Made to Love" are not the best songs on the album. Of course I still think they're awesome, but I want to hear the full version of "Boomin" or something else. 18 more days!

I don't care much for either of the two Super Bowl teams. I've really just never liked the Colts much, but they've been a good team for such a long time and definitely deserve to finally make it to the Super Bowl. I've always felt like Peyton Manning is overrated though. He's a good quarterback, but I never saw why everyone talked about him. If Chicago wins, that's cool too. I just want to see a good game. So I guess I want the Colts to win, but I'm okay with Chicago winning as well.

I'm sick with a cold and very ready to sit back and relax, eat some food, and watch a movie before going to sleep. I'm taking a music theory test tomorrow morning and it's kind of important; a small amount of college scholarship money is involved. Actually it's a very small amount, but it can buy some books.

I recently discovered that a person with an Accounting degree can apply for a job in the F.B.I. The idea of it is way cool. It looks very difficult to get a job. I imagine that they only take the best. They're looking for people with certain qualifications and there's a lot of testing involved. I'd have to work really hard on my mathematical reasoning and analytical skills to even have a chance. How cool would that be though?

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Desperate tobyMac fans

Portable Sounds is coming in one month from yesterday!! YEAH!!!!

Sarah and I made a trip to Best Buy on Thursday and I asked one of the workers if he could look up the album and check if the store would be carrying it the day it came out. It took him forever to find it and he kept frowning and shaking his head like the answer would be no, they wouldn't be carrying it. I was like, "If y'all aren't carrying it, can you order a copy?" Finally he said, "February 20th?" in a tone that hinted towards the answer I hoped for. He then confirmed that Best Buy would be carrying the album on February 20th.

Chicago just pounded New Orleans. It's too bad cause N.O. totally had a shot at winning, down just 16-14 before Chicago took over. It's strange to think that there could be a Chicago-Indianapolis matchup in the Super Bowl. Eww...

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Every basketball star has to start somewhere.

At the end of November, Sarah and I checked out a gym recommended by our teacher that was close to our school. Sarah needed to get in shape for her upcoming leave for the Air Force...and I was wanting to get in shape so that maybe I could play basketball in college? So we both were able to join up until April or whenever she was supposed to leave. Well, for the past couple of weeks I've been the only one out of the two of us actually going to the gym. After changing into my red shorts and t-shirt, I stare at myself in the long mirror. I definitely don't look like a basketball star. Anyone else in that gym who looks at me must be secretly laughing. I'm this pale white girl with spiderweb arms and legs who wears black and white Chuck Taylor shoes (at least I don't wear the red ones). My skin turns very pink while working out. Ah yes, I would laugh if I saw myself from someone else's point of view. It's still fun to observe other people. The owner of a business a couple hundred feet away comes in to walk on the treadmill and use the weight machines. I applied for a job at his business last year and actually came in for an interview. He never called me back about it. I don't know if he remembers who I am, but he's nice and we smile when we cross paths. Then there's the guy who gave me such a great deal on my gym membership, K.C., who says, "Aw, what do you want?" when I enter the gym. There are a few big scary black men. There are young white men with piercings and tattoos. There's a short chunky lady who mistakenly thought I was a cashier at Kroger. "You look just like her!" Then there is the occasional tanned white girl. Then there's Sarah. Okay that was a joke.

After running pathetically on a treadmill close to the business owner who never called me back, I tiredly make my way to the weight machines. I make sure that no one who looks strong is watching me as I change the amount of weights from slot 18 (at the very bottom) to slot 4 on most every machine. I am pleased to find that the business owner who never called me back uses no weights on the crunch machine while my abdominal section lifts 25 pounds on that piece of equipment.

I have met some cool people like K.C., the other guy who works there (I think his name is Jay), and some chick that I just met today. She and I were in the locker room and I asked her how long she had been coming to the gym. We briefly talked and she told me that she had just finished LVN school. She seemed nice.

So the point? I am slowly but surely building strength in my upper, middle, and lower body. And hopefully I am building my stamina. I walk in sporting glasses and Chuck Taylor's, pink spiderweb skin, and a goofy grin. Yeah, I'm gonna be a basketball star.

P.S. Happy birthday Hula. I won't be calling or writing you this time around, but I'll never forget your birthday.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Baltimore

I want Baltimore to get to the Super Bowl and win. I have Raven fever right now and it's due to Steve McNair, Jamal Lewis, Mark Clayton (Oklahoma, whut?!), Ray Lewis, Samari Rolle, and all those other guys. Their game against Indianapolis this afternoon should be good.

EDIT: This game stunk and was a waste of valuable time. I keep missing all of the good games, except that I watched the second half of New England-San Diego and it was good. I'm wanting a New England-New Orleans Super Bowl matchup. Stinky Baltimore, couldn't win a simple game against Indianapolis. Stinky Colts, beating my Ravens. Stinky stinky stinky.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

It's something personal.

Kevin Max, the "eccentric" man behind the music of dc talk. (Don't be surprised if I talk about dc talk on more than one occasion. Old friends will never be surprised anyway.) So anyway, the start of my story begins a few months ago when I was with my best friend Sarah at her church's youth group one Wednesday night. At some point when we were all visiting with each other, I found a magazine on the magazine table that included an article about Kevin Max's latest project. Nearby was a girl whom I had met and spoken with more than once before. We had briefly spoken about another musical artist whom we both liked. I asked her if she liked Kevin Max. Her response was, "I don't listen to his music. He has a beautiful voice, but...I don't like him." She might not have said that she didn't like him, but she said something like that. My response was, "Oh, why (don't you like him)?" She wouldn't tell me and responded with something about "personal reasons" for not liking him. So I thought that maybe she was crazy and wouldn't like him just because he divorced his wife a few years ago. No, that wasn't it. "Oh, I didn't even know that." And she wouldn't tell me. Well, my best friend Sarah was there throughout the whole conversation, and her and I still ponder about this subject all of the time. What was it about Kevin Max that prompted her to not like him so much? I tell Sarah to ask the girl why she doesn't like Kevin Max all of the time before she goes to church on Wednesday nights. She hasn't asked her yet, but I am determined to find out the reason why. What on earth could it be that she wouldn't even tell me? Sarah and I talk about this almost every week. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves when we talk about it because we find it so ridiculous. We joke around and talk about wearing Kevin Max t-shirts or other KMax apparel to the Wednesday night meeting so that the girl will see us. So I occasionally try and think of personal or moral reasons that she wouldn't like Kevin Max...
* He divorced his wife (let's all have a cow and not listen to his music!)
* I think he had a baby out of wedlock because the time difference between the wedding with his new wife and the birth of his baby was something like six months (I can't even remember where I read that information. Oh yeah, Wikipedia.).
* Under the smoke/drink question on his MySpace, KMax has his answers marked as Yes/Yes (let's all have a cow and not listen to his music!)
* He has like, these huge tattoos on both of his arms. I was not aware of them until just a few days ago when I was browsing his website, which is something I rarely ever do. On one of his pictures, his tattoos were quite obvious. I'd put the picture on here, but my internet connection is too slow and stupid.

Probably none of these happen to be the reason why she doesn't like Kevin Max, but what she said still bothers me. I just can't figure out what it is. If it has nothing to do with his music, then what could it be? Sure, I disapprove of the morals of a lot of mainstream artists even if I like their music, but I still wouldn't go all crazy just because they do some things that I don't like. I don't judge people, and I especially try not to think badly of people I don't even know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Max and http://www.kevinmaxmusic.com for background information and other stuff.
Album review coming soon. Don't get too crazy when you're listening to Kevin Max!

Monday, January 8, 2007

2007 Tostitos Bowl

Right now it's halftime between Ohio State and Florida for the college 'chip. I'm not an avid fan of either school, but since Florida is beating Ohio State so badly right now (it's 34-14, yikes!), I'm really wanting Ohio State to come back and at least make it a decent ball game. I really don't care who wins, but a good game is always fun to watch. I have much more to discuss, but the game should be back on now, so I'll check it out.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

The Strange Sensation of Updating

After discovering that I am listed on the sidebar of a couple of bloggers that I read, I have decided to post, thinking that since I am listed on their sidebar...maybe they would actually read a post if I posted one. Isn't that a thought?
Well...I reread some previous posts and there are definitely some subjects I could update on. First of all, I've decided to major in Accounting. No music major (yikes), no journalism major, and I narrowed down which business field I want. My decision could definitely change, but accounting is the foundation for all things business, and I can do a lot with an undergrad degree in Accounting. I'm still going to study music and I still want to take a journalism class (or classes). I'm really not limited to just being an accountant with the degree, so I think that I'm making a good choice. Where I'm going for college next year is still up in the air and I have no idea what's going to happen.
I recently purchased some albums and I think I want to post some reviews on here soon. I love talking about music and records and discovering new artists. Music is amazing. Anyway, I think that people would like reading what I have to say about some of the music I listen to, so if anyone's reading this, you might come back to read what I have to say.
Indianapolis and Kansas City are playing in the first 2007 NFL playoff game. I don't think that KC is doing so well, but I want them to win. I've never really liked Indianapolis. Sorry, Colts fans.