TMC is Official

I finally got my letter from Tanglewood, so I can forget any fears of being accidentally told I was accepted. I was kind of half expecting to get a call from them saying, "Sorry, we meant to call David Gerskin, you weren't actually accepted, sorry for the confusion." But all will be official once I send in the official acceptance letter (along with $200 of course). I have been spending a lot of time looking at the line-up of concerts which will be very exciting. Me and Heather are already salivating about "Film Night At Tanglewood" featuring John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, James Earl Jones, and Star Wars. I can see us flipping out already. It was almost too much to deal with when I called Heather last year and she was sitting backstage while John Williams conducted Star Wars with the Pops. Omg. Also very excited about the concert staging of Elektra which will feature tons of huge name singers and James Levine as conductor. I want to know what chamber music I will be playing. Guess I'll have to wait for a while before I find that out. I heard that me and Heather are playing Brahms Double with the BSO. Well, maybe not. Tags: TMC, Levine, summer, Elektra

More Auditions

Upcoming: Audition at Rice University. Upcoming even sooner: Practice. Thank you. Tags:rice university, audition, practice

Tags

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Concert and Lisa

Concerts: Rite of Spring was a huge success. I'm so happy that I was able to play in it and it was soooo fun. It was probably my last concert with Philharmonia, so that was kind of sad, and it was also my last concert on the Eastman Theatre stage (whatever that means). At least it was good and it was one of my favorite pieces...good way to go out! Andriessen's La Passione is an interesting piece. I seem to be the only person who didn't really like it...there were some very good sections, but over all it didn't do it for me. The singer was VERY interesting though...she was very passionate about the music (or at least appeared to be to the audience!). Of course it was well played...especially the very high and exposed oboe duet! Movies: Watched Happy Endings. This movie deserved much better than it got from me. I watched it bit by bit over the span of two weeks. Perhaps over the summer I will give it a proper viewing. I would have never even known about this movie had it not been for Nathaniel. I can't believe that Lisa Kudrow didn't get any notice for this role. I think it may have been my favorite performance of the year (passing Felicity in Transamerica). She was able to completely make us forget about a character that she played for ten years (on Friends) and become completely new...and give a fully realized and thoughtful performance. That is a pretty huge feat. Go her. And see the movie, its really good. Tags:rite of spring, philharmonia, lisa kudrow, andriessen
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Three Words

I Heart Sasha. She skated best, she got the best scores. Good luck in the long program. As for the real world: CCE recorded the Ply tonight at Christ Church. Editing was used as well as a conductor (which helped but we didn't need for many portions of the piece). We played the third movement and were like, "Ha! See? We can actually play as a string quartet!" Rite Of Spring tomorrow night: Eastman Theatre. Brad Lubman conducts. Louis Andriessen is guest composer. DONT MISS IT. Tags:sasha cohen, cce, plylar, brad lubman
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Sucks For You

I think that the Musica Nova concert tonight was one of my all time favorite concerts here at Eastman (up there with the likes of the CCE Brahms concert and the Ossia concert with Ligeti and Strauss). For all of you who missed it, sucks for you. You missed tons of loud amplified minimal Bang On A Can pop-fest fun. It had to be one of the largest crowds I have seen at a Musica Nova concert. Tons of fun was had by all...wish we could do it again! I think that the Wolfe went better than it ever had before, and I definitely broke roughly 17 trillion bow hairs. And Dave and Elinor were both there, that was nice of them to come! Tomorrow is a long and busy day and I'm really scared of it. By 10pm we will most likely have finished recording to Ply...but that is a long time from now. NEC audition was acceptable, not good, but acceptable. Kind of seemed like a waste of time, especially since I don't really have any interest in going there...but who knows. We'll see what happens.

CONCERT INFO

MUSICA NOVA: ALL AMPLIFIED 8PM KILBOURN HALL Michael Gordon: Weather 1 Julia Wolfe: Lick (performed by yours truly) David Lang: Cheating, Lying Stealing Andriessen: Worker's Union (with Louis in the audience himself!)

Audition Journal: Boston

I officially got sick of writing entries in the form of a time-list, so here is a normal one. Boston is fun. It is fun to visit with Heather Wittels and I will be seeing her this summer at Tanglewood! Yay! Her parents are sooo nice (I have my own room here with this amazing inflatable sofa-bed...so comfortable). Tomorrow I need to seriously find a gift for them. Highlight of the trip so far: seeing Geeta!! We had tons of fun tonight remembering old Ravinia stories (mainly about how she basically killed Cam) and just being goofy in general. She has a super cute apartment with an amazing location and is living it up to the fullest in Boston! Me and Sunny went out for a beer to the Boston Conservatory hangout: Woody's. I wish Eastman had a nice little bar really close to the school that we could all hang out at...we have to walk all the way to the Toad for a nice place to sit and chat. Hmmm... I checked in with the other Heather (Braun) and it sounds like things went well for her at her auditions! Too bad we didn't meet up, but I'm sure we will be seeing tons of each other in the future (especially in the next few days recording the Ply...omg=so scared). Wish me luck on my audition tomorrow...I'm not terrible nervous or anything, so that probably guarantees that I will be beyond horrendous at 4:12. Me and sunny plan on going to H+M afterwards!

Audition Journal: Day Two Cont...

4:30am. David arrives at Rochester airport after driving through scary windy snow-blown highways. Rochester airport is waaaaay too crowded for a Saturday morning at 4:30am. 6:00am. David's plane leaves Rochester. 7:30am. David arrives at JFK. The terminal appears to be a marketplace in a third world country. David quickly boards his next plane. 8:00am. David watches curling on the plane. 9:15am. Heather's mom picks up David at the airport. This is very nice of her. 10:00am. David chats with Heather W, takes a nap and a shower. 12:00pm. David practices and will meet Sunny and Geeta later.

Audition Journal: Day 2

11:40pm. (approx) David realizes as he is getting into bed that he has no money for the cab. He gets dressed, walks to the ATM, finds that the door is locked, then proceeds to Matthew's. For some reason he thinks its a good idea to walk down a back street and an alley to get back to his apartment, but luckily he doesn't run into any trouble. 3:00am. David's alarms start to go off. He reluctantly wakes up. 4:30am. David calls a cab and is off to the airport.

Audition Journal: Day 1

5:00pm. (approx) Philharmonia finishes rehearsing Rite of Spring. David Picks up dry cleaning. 8:00pm. Lauren Radnofsky gives an amazing recital featuring solo cello + electronics. "Very Badly Performed" receives great reviews. Brad Lubman's piece is a success. Brian Sanders loves the distortion in Michael Gordon's "Industry." 9:30pm. (approx) David Sara and Kimberly are bored by ice dancers skating to the same music over and over again. 10:59pm. David realizes that his cello is still in his locker at school. He also realizes that the school closes at 11pm. He then realizes that the school does open until after his flight leaves tomorrow morning. David then sprints to school to get his cello while people are still leaving. 11:20pm. (approx) David attempts to go to sleep and dreads waking up at 3:30am for his flight to Boston.

Sad Day

Johnny Weir walked away with no medal...but to make it even sadder, he didn't deserve one. He wimped out on lots of his jumps and was pretty boring overall...Pleshenko was technically REALLY good, but his routine was only jumps and arm movements WITH NOTHING ELSE AT ALL...stunning by boring. It was VERY obvious he was going to win...he scored an amazingly high score, nobody else had a chance. I guess I'll just wait for Johnny's big win at the next winter Olympics in four years...it's in Vancouver, so I'll be able to meet him in person. Audition coming this weekend in Boston! Should be fun and exciting. I don't really want to go to school there, but I am anyway because of PEER PRESSURE...all the cool people are doing it. Its so lamb. Even the Harajuku Girls. Can I have these?

OMG!

Anna Reguero is writing for New Music Box...a new music blog that I should be reading much more than I already do! Check it out here.

Netflix=not good right now

Is it a bad sign when Netflix sends me a movie that is somewhere around 23 in my queue because everything in front of it is not available for some reason? And Java's has Toasted Almond today and its amazing. Men's figure skating returns tonight...I hope Johnny wins.

Concerts

Next week there are lots of very very interesting concerts happening at Eastman! You may have heard that the composer, Louis Andriessen, will be visiting the school. There are two concerts featuring his pieces. First: MONDAY AT 8PM KILBOURN HALL...an all amplified concert featuring Lick by Julia Wolfe, Weather 1 by Michael Gordon, Worker's Union by Andriessen, and cheating, lying, stealing by David Lang. I'm just playing in the Wolfe, but its really fun and loud so you should come. Everything is conducted by Brad Lubman. Second: WEDNESDAY AT 8PM EASTMAN THEATRE...a large piece by Andriessen called La Passione as well as Rite of Spring by Stravinksy...should be really fun...Brad Conducts again. for more info go here...I expect you ALL to be there...no excuses...at all...

New Stuff

You may have noticed a few changes around here...I added all sorts of cute little buttons in the sidebar, which means nothing to most of you...and I'm probably getting waaaaay ahead of myself, since not very many people even read this blog! But if you use a news read (or whatever they are called) you can now easily add my feed to your reader! And what about the new picture frame thing...good or bad? I'm thinking its time to change the picture on top...maybe something a little more OhMyTrill...anyone want to help?

That is so Lamb

The results are in: most of the male figure skaters suck...but Johnny Weir is my new favorite. He is placed second after the short program, and was by far the best of the people I saw (which is minus Pleshenko, he skated before I could start watching). I really hope that he pulls out an amazing program and wins...and he has a blog (which hasn't really been updated) but nonetheless, you should read it. And Hedwig and the Angry Inch is one of his favorite movies...nuff said. Kimberly Sarah and I and waaaay too much fun watching tonight. We have to do it again soon.

Sweeney

Alison gave me a recording of the new Sweeney Todd currently on Broadway. Sweeney Todd is easily my favorite musical and I have grown to love the recording with the NY Phil and Patti Lupone/George Hearn. Patti Lupone sticks around for the new production where characters double as the orchestra...a newish trend (I think). At first these strange reductions (which are mostly piano) seemed empty, but after hearing more of it, it does kind of work. The show has been re-imagined as a continuous piece that just flows from beginning to end. While the singing and playing is at a MUCH higher level on the NY Phil recording, I really want to see this show. I have only heard raves about it...maybe I should look into next time I'm in NYC...

Large News

I got a call from the Tanglewood Music Center yesterday and it turns out that I was accepted for this summer!!! That means that I will be parading around Lennox, MA with the likes of Heather Braun, Norman Fischer, and of course Yo-Yo Ma...well, I think he comes for like 1 one day or something. And to top it off, they are playing almost exclusively contemporary music (because of the James Levine influence) so that will be very exciting!I can't wait!

Indestructible Knee of Zhang

The Russians may have won, but the stand out superstars of the evening in pairs skating were definitely Zhang and Zhang. The fall was spectacular, and when she was practically carried off the ice we thought it was over...but she got a second wind and they did the program again...and she nailed all of the jumps and throws and the pair now has a silver medal. It was kind of shocking. Talk about Olympic Drama. Looks like Chinese dominance in pairs skating is starting to creep in...the Russians got gold, but China took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. And with a performance like Zhang and Zhang gave, they deserve it. And snowboarding is boring...but its fun to pretend to know what you are talking about and critique random details.

Word Cloud

Apparently this is a T-shirt realization of my blog. Found this via StinkyLulu. Thanks. Try it for your site!

Westerns and Pairs

I think that I am finally learning how to watch Western movies. As most of you know, I really disliked the first few that we watched (Hell's Hinges and Stagecoach) and started to warm up a tiny bit with Red River...but {gulp} I actually liked Winchester '73?!?!?!? How could this be? Let's just say that I am currently writing my midterm (which focuses on one scene that you must analyze) and I'm actually enjoying writing it. It surprises me too. But more importantly, I need to finish it this morning so that I can watch the pairs figure skating tonight without feeling guilty. Check out this to see clips of Sarah Hughes winning the gold as well as revisiting the Pairs Scandal from last year. Now I need to go to the library to see a clip from Red River...

New Blog

Announcing Alma and Me...a new blog written by the one and only: My Mom!!! She plans on updating everyday, so be sure to check in and see what she has to say! The link to her blog will be living in the sidebar at the left under Life Conscious.

One Question:

How can the Ying Quartet program such a good piece (by Tod Machover) and then follow it up with such a huge steaming pile of shit (by Patrick Zimmerli). I wanted to hurt myself during the performance...the piece was that bad...more later.

Pairs...

Is there something wrong with you if you huddle on a couch with two other people and hold your breath to see if Inoue and Baldwin land their throw triple axel? And this is post number 201 since I moved to blogger! Thats a lot of blogging! And in case you weren't watching...they did it!

Kari Traa is like, "shit..."

1) Free hot doughnuts from Krispy Kreme are always worthwhile. 2) This shit is bananas. 3) Its always a joy watching certain events with Heather (such as Moonstruck and Pairs Figure skating). 4) The Olympic coverage is not wonderful...women's moguls were exciting...luge was fun...pairs was good as always...but ever single competitor in men's really really long speed skating? What were they thinking? 5) CCE rehearsed at Java's. 6) The woman from last night was nowhere to be found in the Olympic coverage today. 7) CD exchange with Kimberly...aquired more Madonna...she got something else. 8) B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Ouch.

So I was just walking back to my apartment from school and I was talking on the phone and I slipped and fell on my back. It was kind of embarrassing...and I told my mom on the phone and she was like, "so?" and just kept talking. I hope that nobody saw me...but I'm sure they probably did.

Love the Ladies

Watching the Olympic opening ceremonies was an interesting event. Its a huge super production, but it really makes no sense at all...but whatever. Did anyone else notice the woman at the very end commenting to Bob Costas in a very low voice how much she loved all the women? Um, I really shouldn't go there...but...no...{cough}...Les...{cough}... Did I mention that pairs skating starts tomorrow?

Audition #1 Complete

My audition was sooo intense. They heard the entire Bach prelude, most of the first movement of Ligeti, the entire second movement of Ligeti as well as the first page of the Dvorak. I think I actually played fine...Ligeti was not very good, but was much better than it has been before, so I'm on the right track! My aural skills interview was hilarious. You try sight singing and playing piano etc when you haven't done any of it for trillions of years...I asked the person if I should just leave at one point and she said that I should really keep going...so there must be some really bad applicants out there. And I can't believe I forgot to say that Sara's recital was completely amazing. She looked gorgeous and sounded gorgeous too! Yay Sara!!

Audition insanity

There are really no practice rooms at all. Not a single one. Heather kicked somebody out of one and then gave it to another auditonee even though her audition is in less than an hour. But she did manage to find one somehow. I have to go to a mysterious meeting for a "graduate award" that I'm kind of scared of...it may or may not be an aural skills test...that would be interesting. Send me good vibes at 2:15!

Eastman Audition

Tomorrow is the first day of many. Me and Heather will meet at 8:45 and proceed to Kilbourn Hall with all the other auditonees, it will be kind of fun. I think tomorrow is supposed to be a rather large audition day, so that will be interesting. It turns out that my auditions are kind of in order of importance...Eastman first, which is perfect: great way to try out all of my audition rep and get instant feedback from people I know. NEC is next...I really don't want to go there. Then Rice, which I have kind of lost interest in, but once really loved. Then the big one: Juilliard. I have a month to build up to it...I hope it goes well. I'm kind of nervous for it already. Then Mannes at the very end...a nice little wind down to the insanity. But whatever...tomorrow is the first of many...wish me (and Heather) good luck!

Not cool enough...

Over at ModFab there is a race going on to pick the next big thing...the FabSix...I just submitted my votes (some of my favorite bloggers have been nominated). You will not find any mention of me however, since I didn't even submit my name. Since I am only involved in pop-culture from time to time I didn't think it would be necessary to enter my name in the pool...but perhaps they would want the opinion of a hip music trendsetter? How about the student of a grammy winner? A New York wannabe? Ok...I haven't even seen Project Runway before, who am I kidding? Did I mention that my cello teacher is a grammy winner? But seriously, you should check out some of the links in my sidebar, cause they are fun to read from time to time.

Grammy

Congratulations to the Ying Quartet who won the Grammy for best cross-over album today! Now I can say that I study with a Grammy winner! They were all in LA for the ceremony and me and Kimberly looked for them on TV, but they were most likely sitting way in the back. They were one of the many awards announced in the afternoon...the only mention of them was a little message that scrolled across on the bottom of the screen informing people about 'other winners.' Rite of Spring went much better today...Brad mentioned something about a version of the final section of the piece (switching from 2/16 to 3/16 etc...) all written out in 4...so why not rewrite a Mozart symphony in 5/8??? Hilarious... First audition is coming soon... Good luck to Sara on her recital tomorrow!! I'm sure she will astound and amaze everyone with her super violin skills!

Netflix

Does anybody know anything about Blockbuster.com??? I'm thinking about switching...Netflix has not been so good to me lately: movies are taking longer and longer to show up and most of the movies that I want to see are on "Long Wait" or "short wait" and never seem to get sent, then when they do, they take forever...Blockbuster seems to have the same selection, plus you get 4 free rentals a month from a blockbuster store...Seems like a pretty good deal to me since its the same price as netflix...what do you think?

Twin Peaks!

Brian Wins!! I still have to decide what his prize is...

{Insert new tradition here}

Ice cream is good. Practice is going ok...wish I could play with less tension...could I be trying too hard to get rid of it and by doing so causing even more tension? I need to free myself! Ack! Rite of Spring returns tomorrow...I really need to pay a visit to the admissions office to discuss a few items such as the fact that they are missing a recommendation and my transcripts. And I want to see if I can make my audition so its not during Phil since I will be missing one of the Saturday rehearsals and I'd rather not have to miss another. Let audition mayhem begin!

Name that tune!

e-----d-f-e-d-c- e-----d-f-e-d-c-b---a---g---f---a-flat.......

[C]........................[a]........................[F]................[d].......................... Name the piece and win a prize!

Counting

Rite of Spring=so fun! Rehearsal went better than I expected it to...need to work on my part soooo much! I think that Birtwistle basically taught me how to count!

An entire Bach suite?

I really want to practice right now, however; not one single room in all of the Eastman School is open...there are several reasons for this great urge: #1...I have my first audition (here at Eastman) on Friday. #2...I think that I need to learn an entire Bach Suite for the NEC audition in 2 weeks...is this true??? Ack!!! NEC auditionees please let me know! #3...Today is the first rehearsal of Rite of Spring and I really should know what I'm doing since I'm sitting in front...think I'm going to drag that out for Kathy... #4...I have a lesson with Kathy...right now... #5...gone

Lower Your Voice

Kimberly and I left the Superbowl Party early and ended up getting a private showing of Transamerica at the little. The entire theatre was pretty abandoned...when we came in they had to tell the guy what movie so he could go up and get it ready. Main thing to love about this movie: Felicity Huffman...I will admit that I am a bit biased (since she is actually Lynette from Desperate Housewives) but she is so fun and quirky and lovable in this movie...Definitely my pick of the Best Actress noms...I know some see Reese as the chance to break the deglam trend, but Felicity's performance does actually warrant a win (sometimes deglam perfs are actually good: Charlize in Monster...sometimes deglam perfs are really bad Swank in Million Dollar Baby). I understand the need to end awarding actresses for dressing down, but can't we just end the streak next year? It would be so nice to let Felicity have her Oscar, its probably her one and only chance. The movie wasn't my favorite thing ever...ended up being a bit draggy in a few places, but all in all it is VERY fun and VERY entertaining and Felicity is a joy...still can't stop laughing about the one dollar bail "I can't possibly afford that..."

A List

1. Martinis at Lola are fun. 2. NYC is a lot more exciting than The Cha. 3. I have finally bought all of my audition plane tickets. 4. I fly to Boston very early in the morning. 5. Yuck. 6. Tanglewood audition went well, but not amazing. 7. The Ply quartet is hard. 8. My first audition is this Friday here at Eastman. 9. I though m Dvorak was really bad at the TMC audition, but N Fischer said it was good. 10. They asked for Beethoven 4. 11. They also asked for Audition Masterpiece. 12. Johanna (Kimberly's friend) is very fun. 13. Cher's daughter works at a diner on Monroe. 14. I have music ADD. 15. I shocked the TMC audition people with a loud Bartok pizz. 16. Look at the new Flickr pictures (above). 17. Rite of Spring starts on Monday! 18. Dawn has a cute apartment with lots of dogs/people and a cat. 19. I Heart NYC. 20. Capote is a really really good movie...although some people wouldn't like to use terms like amazing or impressive.

I'm a musician too

Youth Orchestra of the Americas audition went MUCH better than I expected...tension was MUCH better at the audition than when I practiced. All the excerpts were acceptable and definietly NOT perfect so we will see how it turns out. I didn't do the application and the woman handed me one and was like "you can turn it in later today." Much to my surprise there was an ESSAY...ugh...just dashed that one off in about 5 minutes...oops... And I totally offended the lady...at the end of the audition I commented that I had never done an audition only for a camera before...her response: "I'm a musician too!" Its time for NYC! Wish me luck at Tanglewood!

Torture...

I think that I need to officially declare this a very bad year for movies. Aside from the genius that is Brokeback Mountain, I can't think of one movie that has really made a huge impact on me. And not only are there a lack of non-impact films, there is a plethora of trash. #1: Munich...a jolly romp around Europe featuring Israelis trying to take revenge on some terrorists. #2: Crash...I'd rather stab myself in the eyes with a spoon over and over again than watch this movie. Watching Crash was a painful experience...I had my doubts before watching it...I saw 20 mins of it yesterday and was not impressed...I just finished it off. I have to say, that at the end, when the music started up I literally had to hold my right hand down, because if I hadn't, I would have been slapping myself in the face...it was really that bad. Focusing on race relations the movie features several groups of people all having their own racist issues and troubles...their stories cross paths in various ways usually coming together at a "crash moment." The movie doesn't really seem to know where its going and ends up not really going anywhere, it is content just to acknowledge that racism is a problem and doesn't really do anything but that. The cast is huge and full of movie stars (many of which seem to be trying to rescue their careers) and none of them give a real stand-out performance...but how could they? The writing is so terrible that none of them really had anything to work with...STAY AWAY FROM CRASH...IT IS A HUGE WASTE OF YOUR TIME... In other news: I have my first audition of the season tomorrow for Youth Orchestra of the Americas...I am not expecting much from it since I have to play Mendelssohn Scherzo (easily my worst excerpt) but if nothing else, it will be good audition prep for Tanglewood on Friday...Tomorrow also marks my first New York trip of the semester...and I'll be staying with Dawn! Wish me luck in all my auditions in the next two days...and good luck to Paul on his recital...and good luck to Sunny on her Phil Concert! I'm missing so much while I'm gone!! But no worries...I'll be here for the party on Friday night when I get back!!

Frustrated

Sometimes I wonder why I even try...

SotU

This is 'interesting'. Don't like some of the comments at the end...barf.

Post 2-0-4-6

Saw 2046 yesterday...very interesting movie, can't say that I loved. I do love its predecesor: In the Mood for Love...2046 is slightly more daring and experimental and in general tries to do more...I think director Wong Kar Wei would have been better off sticking with his minimalist style. 2046 takes one of the leads from ITMFL and follows his life post "break-up"...he has become a womanizer living in a hotel (room 2047)...he constantly tries to replace his lost love, but nothing seems to work out...he writes his many flings into a story series he is writing for a newspaper...they appear as androids that the main character falls in love with. Sometimes the movie becomes the story, so it is part sci-fi, which was a bit strange to me. To movie is very beautiful to look at...the cinematographer has a way of framing shots so that what you may think is important is either off the camera or blocked by something and you realize that it wasn't that important after all...why need to see somebody's mouth when they are talking? 2046 is a great effort, but pails in comparison to ITMFL, a movie which it has to be compared to...I need to check out more of these movies though...so artistic and imaginative...

Drool

I need to stop drooling over the MacBook Pro (see several entries down)...I keep finding myself looking at the page and wishing I had one...maybe I should start saving up so I can get one over the summer? Wait...maybe after auditions stop consuming every single dollar I have... Graduation present?...hint hint... not that I'm asking or anything... but maybe I am...

Senioritis

So I just had my first major case of senioritis: I have had plenty of time to do the reading for film and to write the response paper...but I just can't make myself do it, and I just gave up. Maybe I can take the excuse that I have two summer auditions this week and was too busy...hmmm...at least you get to drop one so it doesn't matter that I didn't do this paper...but its pretty stupid on my part... Oscar nominations were announced this morning...I have made changes to my netflix queue to insure that the correct movies will be watched in time for the big show. Yay for tons of Brokeback Nominations including picture, actor, supporting actor, and supporting actress (although Jake G is really one of the leads, but whatever)...Boo to noms for Munich...it showed up as best picture and director, but then doesn't follow up with any other nominations...how can a film be good enough to get a pic nom, but then have nothing to show for itself in the other categories? I guess they just love Spielberg too much... I really dislike Tuesdays (and Monday nights for that matter)...

Eat some cake

Happy Birthday to my one and only mother!!!! Today she turns a double digit number, and we'll just leave it at that. As part of the birthday celebration I will be helping her start her very own blog...look for it coming soon!! Happy birthday ma!!!!!

Please?

Now that it is apparent that my computer will be out of commission very very soon I have set my sights on this.Who wants to buy it for me?

Sunday Afternoon Library Blogging: Match Point

First things first: Match Point=not good. I know I talked to a lot of you who raved about it...but me? I didn't like it. I liked it for a while...very calm but brooding, the whole opening monologue thing...but I kind of started to lose it the first time Scarlett Johanson entered the scene. She happens to be one of my favorites (based largely on one movie, namely Lost in Translation) but the poor girl has nothing to work with in this movie. At first she is this super seductive woman (for no apparent reason) she flirts heavily with everyone, and they fall for here, even though she is engaged (which of course poses many problems, mainly the basis for the movie), and then, about half-way through the film, she just gets whinny and annoying. If she gets nominated for Supporting Actress I will be a bit mad, she doesn't deserve it. The story was good enough with plenty of twists and turns (lots that surprised me) but I was expected it to go to a more interesting place than where it went...I don't know where, but what it did was fairly obvious and contrived, and I kind of got sick of it after a while. The story is based on Crime and Punsichment, but still, didn't work for me...Maybe Woody should stick to his comedies? The whole thing just seemed a bit ridiculous to me...I really did want to like it, but after that first scene with Scarlett (which is about 10 mins into the movie) I wasn't really taking it seriously anymore...the dialogue was too forced too soon and it only set up disappointment for the rest of the film. What happened? This could have been a really great movie...oh well... Hope Scarlett comes through next time... This has to be the slowest I have ever seen the library...I have been sitting here since 1:00 and only one person has come to the reserve desk to get one book...where is everybody? I'm gonna be sitting here for another 3 hours...maybe I will get some reading done? There are big happenings coming soon in the "my mom" department...a big day is arriving!

Winter Ball

Winter ball was a success...Me and Kimberly found something to wear at the mall at the last second...you can see hers below and mine above. Sara had an amazing dress (and we won't discuss where she got it). The three of us arrived ontime, but due to orchestra and a certain someone who is known to take longer, the others arrived much later...but all was good since they set up another table and we were all able to sit together. Food was good, fun was good...and we all actually danced! And Carrie requested Material Girl...which we had to run up from the bar to dance to...me and Carrie had a dancing moment when we attempted to swing dance and neither of us had any idea what we were doing (well I didn't at least!) but we must have been ok since Brian seemed to think it was good...Some people came over afterwards and had a few drinks...all in all a successful evening! I had no idea that the Inn on Broadway was about one block away from school...who would have known that it was even there? Just played in studio and it wasn't half bad...although it wasn't amazing either...I think it was the first time I got through the entire Ligeti with no stopping at all! Yay! And Bach was surprisingly loose and relaxed. Hope I can keep the trend up! CCE returns tonight!

Preview

Quote:

"In fact, every county [in Florida] has an official Nuisance Alligator Rustler who is on call to remove excess or inappropriate reptiles. On my last trip to the Fakahatchee I stopped at a gas station, and as I was squeegeeing the bugs off my windshield, four baby alligators scooted from one trench to another, about six inches away from my feet. At that particular moment I was wearing sandals. About one second later I changed into regular shoes." -Susan Orlean "The Orchid Thief"

Lots o' Movies

The Squid and the Whale is a very good movie...especially the acting...the little kid was a bit freaky. Kind of echoes of Royal Tennenbaums (minus the joyful randomness)...you should really see this movie...guess the stand-out is Jeff Daniels, but it really is the group of four that makes the movie. Very understated in a "here it is" fashion. I must admit that so far I am not taken with the genre of Westerns...after viewing Hell's Hinges and Stagecoach I am not very excited to see any more...perhaps they will get better? First rehearsal of CCE went very well!!! We managed to play through the whole first movement of the Plylar (keep in mind that it is about 40 seconds...but it is a very difficult 40 seconds). Yay!

Quote:

"An Illinois orchid breeder named a new Phalaenopsis hybrid after Shinichi Suzuki, the Japanese violinist who developed a method for teaching music to tiny children." -Susan Orlean "The Orchid Thief"

Happy Australia Day

Have a Tim-Tam...

I just had my first courtesy of Leila! They are very tasty!! And you can bite off opposite corners and suck coffee through them!

Busy

I need to go over to school and practice...but first I will waste time on a blog entry. And I don't really have anything to say...first rehearsal of Lick went very well I though, I'm not used to playing with the people in the group, but it works really well...its also very difficult to not really be able to hear anything that I'm playing...and my fingertips are pretty beat already from the Bartok pizz...but that always happens. Dinner with Dave was an entertaining affair...went to Golden Dynasty, which is a very good Chinese restaurant! Enjoyed chatting about his friendship with some surprising people and how they turned down a chance to play at a rock concert thing for over 90,000 people and instead play with an amateur Chinese chorus...whatever... Laura said that I can't stay with her in NYC...so if anybody is willing to host me March 6-9 please let me know!!! And check out photos from the past few days now on Flickr. PS(ophia)> My favorite is Hung Up (boring I know)...but I also have a special place in my heart for Future Lovers...and I Love New York...and Jump...and I should stop there.

zzz

Too tired...long day ahead of me...want to sleep...

Soon to be Desperate

Brian and I are slowly getting to the point where we are going to have to wait an entire week between each episode of Desperate Housewives. This is not good news. I am far too accustomed to watching an entire season of a TV series in the span of 1-2 weeks...and now thanks to iTunes I can purchase episodes of shows that are not even on DVD yet...needless to say, I am not looking forward to waiting an eternity between episodes...I will just have to suffer... And I am starting to have mixed feelings about Bree...she was once hilarious, but her recent actions have started to bug me...we'll see where that goes... Matthew's with selected individuals who shall remain nameless was an interesting affair...and we'll leave it like that to protect the innocent.

Sweat

Madonna+O-Zone+Cher+Queer as Folk Soundtrack+Aphex Twin=good work out Just watch the pounds roll off...

One Question:

How did Judi Dench win best supporting actress for Shakespeare in Love?

Sunday Afternoon Library Blogging: Mall Walk

Let's start with this: a few days ago when me and Kimberly were a little bit tipsy (after the Dvorak competition) we asked each other to the winter ball. A few days later, we confirmed this with no alcohol in our systems and decided to actually go for real. This poses one major problem: we need to buy something to wear since everybody needs to look fabulous. That predicament lead us to go to the mall early this morning...assuming that the stores opened at 10...we got in the car at 9:30. However, upon arriving at the mall, we discovered that the stores don't open until 11...which left us all alone with the mall-walkers. I don't really know what drives people to mall walk...after all, you need to drive to the mall so you can mall walk...why not just take a walk in your neighborhood? We definitely stuck out in the crowd, since for a large amount of time we sat down on a little fountain ledge and had Starbucks...some of the people there were just previewing the stores before they opened...but then there was the breed of hard-core mall walkers, dressed up in their Adidas work-out clothes, counting the laps around the mall. So we tried to blend in with them, and miserably failed, and eventually went shopping when the stores opened. Went to Abercrombie and Fitch for the first time ever...and Kimberly bought a shirt that had her name on it (like almost everything in the store does). She decided to pass over the shirt that only said Fitch since it was a men's XL...We will need to go back to the mall sometime this week since none of us bought anything for the Winter Ball...any suggestions? PS>Java's has toasted almond today.

see below

Lazy Day

What?

Today I received the special audition piece that Tanglewood sends to everyone playing an audition exactly two weeks prior to the audition. I was expecting it to be some sort of crazy contemporary thing, since Tanglewood is almost all new music this summer. Turns out it is a contemporary thing, but its just three lines of noteheads and at the bottom it says you can play any rhythm dynamic or articulation. So I'm not really sure what they are going for with this. Whatever... Don't know if I mentioned this before...I will be playing "Lick" by Julia Wolfe in Musica Nova first rotation. It will be the first time that I get to play amplified!! Sounds exciting to me!! My computer is also having a semi-disaster. There is basically no free room on it...so I am working on transferring all of my music to CD's to free up some space. I need a new computer so badly...agh!

My name is...

Anastasia Beaverhausen lives!

OOC Semester

Had the first official meeting of The Cape Cod Experiment last night...things are going to be really crazy this semester. Luckily we seem to have 9:30-11:30 free on most Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it wasn't so hard to find rehearsal times as before...for those new music people out there our rep is very exciting this semester: 1) David Plylar: String Quartet (9 crazy movements featuring such techniques as left hand only, colored blobs to indicate bow pressure, a harmonic movement, a toneless movement, and a gliss movement) 2) Penderecki: String Quartet No. 2 (lots o' noise) 3) Crumb: Black Angels (electric string quartet, gongs, 32 tuned crystal glasses, and random phrases shouted in German and Vietnamese) And you are all required to attend each and every concert.

Loud Alarm

I was practicing in the annex and then the fire alarm went off. The hallway was really really loud...as you all know...like so loud you could go deaf. I should go back and practice more, but I have to work at 3:00, so it isn't really worth it. And I was actually practicing well...

W+G

Will&Grace with Lauren and Kimberly=hilarious

Not so bad afterall?

I guess my playing wasn't completely terrible at the competition on Monday. Dave told me that they considered four cellists to be "in the finals" and I was one of them! I'm glad that some of my preparation (or something) showed through the mess! Next Project: Summer Festival Auditions and perfecting audition rep while finishing up recital rep and starting Beethoven Triple and learning Plylar's quartet...should be interesting!!!

Look to L.A.

Rock stars, star architects, Finnish diffidence and intellectual experimentation: Can other cities learn from this strange amalgam? Maybe other cities should study our friends in the West...

Brokeback revisited

I'm not really sure what it is about Brokeback Mountain that makes it such an amazing movie. Its really a simple story that is beautifully told. Every tiny nuance is there to make it a spectacular movie. It was interesting to watch it after only one day of Western class...I love how Jack is always wearing a black hat and Ennis is always wearing a white one...is this to imply that Jack is the "bad guy" in some way? I love how the camera always seems to know what to focus on and always manages to do it with such beauty and grandeur. I love how Roberta Maxwell (as Jack's mom) manages to convey so much even though she utters about three lines. I love how Michelle Williams lays low for most of the movie and then suddenly explodes to steal the scene (and the movie!). But most of all I love Anne Hathaway and her final monologue on the phone to Ennis with the small emotional gulps so perfectly executed...the best performance in the movie. See it now...It won the globe...it will win the Oscar...movie of the year.

First day of classes

Thank you for the comments everybody...they did make me feel better...guess I'm not so bent out of shape about it as I previously thought. First day of classes went smoothly. Western Cinema class was not spectacular, but has the potential to be interesting. Unfortunately the professor said work would be heavy for the first half of the semester and then trail off so people have time for juries...however, auditions are all during the first part of the semester and I don't have a jury to worry about...oh well. Rhythm blues and beyond was intriguing although some of the opinions expressed need some thought...I'm all about learning about African music, but it most likely wont be that important to me and my career as a musician. But I guess we will see about that. And I officially got an audition at Juilliard. There may be NYC in my future!

Failure

This of course does not refer to the fact that I didn't win the competition. I had no desire to win the competition. I set the simple goal for myself about two days ago to just be happy with how I played. I had been sounding so good over the past 2-3 days...and I don't mean just on this piece. I mean that I feel like I had really improved my cello playing overall...my tension was at a minimum and I was able to express things that I wanted to. As little as 10 minutes before I played I was feeling really really good about myself. This was HUGE for me. I have not felt good about anything I have played for at least a year...and I felt REALLY good about what I was doing. However...none of this happened when I played tonight. I was tighter than ever...I missed shifts...I played things out of tune...I was un-musical. I wanted to leave about 5 mins into my playing because I was so embarrassed. I had no business being there. I made a fool of myself...which was the one thing I was sure I wouldn't do. I think this was the single most crushing thing that has happened to me. I was so confident going into this competition. I was confident that I would be happy with how I played. But I failed. And there is nothing I can do now. I did what I could...and it wasn't good enough. So what should I do now? After this competition I am less confident than I ever have been. How am I going to get into any grad schools? What the hell am I supposed to do? Everything is telling me that I should just stop now...that I don't have it in me...but I don't want to. {sob}

Good Vibes

Tommorow is the big day. Wish me luck! Things went pretty well today...need to take care of some items tomorrow. Dave said he was proud of me. That was nice of him!

Upcoming Competition

Yesterday was spent practicing and shopping with friends. Food was bought (and consumed) alcohol was bought (but not yet consumed) a tablecloth was bought (and also isn't consumed...which is a good thing). The apartment is clean...I hope it stays this way for at least a week. That would be nice. The good news: I won't make a fool of myself in the competition tomorrow. I played through the whole concerto (not a run-through) and it sounded half-way decent...not a winning product though. It will be interesting to see who wins in the end...there are a lot of people who are well qualified to win this thing...too bad they can't pick different people for different movements (although that would makes sense since the second half of the program is one movement from each symphony that Franz Schmidt composed...whatever). Small get-together at Matt's apartment...was fun. Today: practice...more practice...lesson with Dave

Too Much to Do

I am now back in Rochester, but this list of things to do is so huge I am nervous already. First of all: the Dvorak competition is on Monday...crazy...it doesn't help that I haven't really practiced enough, but as I commented a few days ago, I don't think its really my thing: so I'll try my best and whatever happens, happens. Looming not to far in the distance are grad school auditions: I will be traveling far and wide to Boston, Houston, Rochester, and the amazing NYC for many auditions during the months of February and March. My senior recital is sneaking up too, that happens at the end of March (or possibly mid-February) I also need to learn the Beethoven Triple Concerto which will be performed with the Greece Symphony in April and tons of stuff for Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon's composition recital on the same day as my senior recital...not to mention learning three pretty difficult pieces with CCE and possibly recording for competitions... This is not supposed to be a complaint entry...its more just sorting everything out for myself...sound like it should be a busy and fun semester...and I can't believe its all almost over. We have to have fun this semester ok?!?!? I miss everybody already!

The Berghoff

Last night me and my dad went to the Berghoff restaurant in downtown Chicago. Supposedly I had been there before when I was a wee little one, but I didn't remember it at all. The Berghoff will be closing in February (I think) so there has been a mad rush to go there before it closes...we had to wait 25 mins in a line before we could get a table, and it was only about 4:30. The Berghoff is a Chicago landmark...it has been open since something like 1893...and is finally closing...thats a pretty good run. They feature German food...I had sauerbraten with a root beer float for dessert (they make their own root beer!). It was fun and the food was good...too bad its closing! Tomorrow is Part 2 of the BT (the big trip for those of you who don't speak abbreviation...I guess that could also stand for something such as beautiful tarp...or bouncy tree) I'm sure we will have tons of fun and we will most definitely be spending at least 72% of the time listening to the producers soundtrack. Finished season 3 of Will&Grace last night...hilarious as always. I feel like I could have applied myself and finished the 4th season during break as well...but that is a lot of work.

Houston Rehash

Had my lesson with Norman Fischer this morning. I don't think it went very well. In the past when I played for him he has been very enthusiastic and excited, today he was very take it or leave it. It also doesn't help that I didn't play well. Bach and Dvorak were very very tight. He told me to think about what the main thing was in each piece and concentrate on that...we made the Bach sound much more improvised and light and fluffy...I didn't really like how it sounded, but it was much easier to play. On Dvorak we worked on building more space into everything without actually putting anymore space into anything: basically he made me realize that I have more time to do everything...he told me to concentrate on sound...it made things easier to play and I thought it sounded better. Rochberg went really well and he said that it sounded good and I had a very big and open sound (so at least he knows that I can make that type of sound!). He charged me $120 for the lesson...I wasn't really expecting that. Not a good sign in my mind. Regardless of the lesson...I wasn't very impressed with Rice for some reason. I always knew they had an amazing orchestra, but what I didn't know was that their lives revolved around the orchestra. According to one source: how you do at Rice really depends on how you play for the orchestra conductor -and- The orchestra conductor is by far the most powerful man at Rice....Apparently he is some sort of genius. This would all be fine, but I have no interest in investing almost all of my time to orchestra. I'm sure I would learn some very important things...but I feel like I've already spent so much of my time playing in orchestra and its not a very rewarding experience. Sometimes its really fun (French Concert anyone?) and sometimes the music is really fun, but most of the time its a drag. PS> Mr. Fischer commented that he thought I was much more at home with contemporary music. The music building at Rice is completely white and completely spotless...the walls have not one item of anything on them. It's really kind of scary. In front of the music school is a large grassy field full of dead grass and trees that are struggling to stay alive...it wasn't very attractive. The campus kind of scared me, but that is most likely the fact I am so used to being at Eastman where there is no campus. I hate to say it, but it seems like going back to Eastman is becoming more of a possibility in my mind. I don't particularly want to go back there, but for the things I am looking for, it seems to have much more of them than any other school. You can have a good teacher basically anywhere, but at Eastman I would be able to play in lots and lots of contemporary music things...this doesn't really happen at Rice (or NEC for that matter) I guess Juillard has some and I have no idea about Mannes...at least they are both in a city that has lots of contemporary music. Rice was one of my top choices, but after this trip I can't really see myself going there...I would however go with CCE...but that is a completely different situation and it has such a small chance of happening that I know I shouldn't count on it. But hey...that's why you go to these places right? And I listened to the producers soundtrack a lot on the way home and discovered a new line to obsess over: "He's having a stroke...of genius!!!!!" Guess you have to hear it...enjoy the Houston pics.

Houston: Day 1

Woke up at 3:15 to get to the airport. Arrived in Houston around 8:45am. Went to practice around 10:30am at Rice. Took a walk and a nap and practiced more (I think N. Fischer caught me sleeping on a couch in the music school) To dinner with Andrew and Diana Owens. Bit of reading. Back here for sleep. More thoughts tomorrow after the lesson.

Surprise!!

I opened my blog today to find that Rabsteen had switched the template!! This is very exciting indeed...I futzed a bit with the order of stuff in the sidebar, but I am really the opposite of genius awhen it comes to this stuff. Maybe he will teach me someday. I never would have picked the flower thing...but its really fun, and I'll keep it! Maybe some day when I have (and can use) photoshop I will be able to design my own OhMyTrill image and figure out how to put it at the top!!! I leave for Houston tomorrow...my flight is at 6am, which means I have to check in by 4:30, which means I have to leave the house by 4, which means I have to wake up at 3:30am...omg. Andrew said he would pick me up, even though it is sooo early...what a nice guy! I called him today, and he was actually here in Chicago...how funny. Don't really know what I'm going to do with myself for two days in Houston, maybe Andrew will have some suggestions...I know tomorrow that I need to practice! Dvorak Competition in nine days...yikes!

Bastien Abstain Refasten Robuster Sebastien Edit... Ignore all Add to dictionary

genius genus genii's Geno's Genoas Edit... Revert to "genious"

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We Remember

Saw most of Fargo on TV with my parents. This movie is so amazing. I can think of very few movies that got everything as right as Fargo...perfect casting, perfect music, perfect camera work, perfect writing...no loose ends, no confusing plot twists...Absolutely astounding levels of acting (Frances McDormand creates one of the most lovable and fully realized characters in her very limited screen time that has ever been shot in a film). If you haven't seen Fargo so haven't lived. The bulk of my day was spent with friends and family (and many people I had never seen or met before, at least to my knowledge...and even one who reads this blog!!!) at the memorial service for my grandfather (inventor of powder cakes mix and powder cheese...translation: cheetos and Kraft Mac+Cheese). I had the usual responsibility of setting up all of the music...big surprise. Heather came down from Wisconsin and Julie drove up from some western location (I think) and we rocked out on gig music including an arrangement that I did of some Berlioz thing (my uncle picked it out!!). I thought the service was really nice, and I actually managed to play The Swan in tune, so in my book everything was a success. Lunch and my grandmothers new place...everybody thought it was really nice although I'm sure she will still say that its like living in a hotel (but who wouldn't want to do that?) Heather is rapidly becoming a regular fixture in Gerstein/Noznick family gatherings...she even took part in a tour of my grandmother's apartment. My grandmother starting taking her around explaining the significance of everything that she had hanging everywhere...I think the two of them really hit it off. My mom is already signing Heather up to play at the scattering of my grandfather's ashes over the summer (depending on whether or not I get into TMC I guess...no pressure, right?) preparations for lesson with N. Fischer are happening tomorrow...translation: TIME TO PRACTICE TONS SO I DON"T MAKE A FOOL OUT OF MYSELF IN TEXAS...

Produce

Just saw the producers with Heather...I have to say it was fun. It was so nice to see two actors who are actually able to sing and dance...Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane are such an amazing comic pair, I wish I could have seen this show on Broadway...I however do not live in NYC and don't really have much money, so the movie is the best I can do right now. The music is a bit on the unoriginal side, but who cares...its fun. Almost every song comes very close to breaking into a song from another show, but I guess that's kind of what makes it fun. So many cute and over the top characters...wish Uma could sing a little better though...but her costumes were amazing! Dvorak competition is in a little over a week. I am not ready at all for this at all and have basically resigned myself to having no chance at winning, not that there was ever much of one. But I was thinking that I'm not sure if I would really want to do something like that...I soloed with my High School orchestra once, and it really wasn't the highlight of my life...I don't think that doing Dvorak Concerto is really 'my thing,' but whatever...I'll try to play my best and what happens happens, but if I did manage to win somehow, I would be so freakin nervous. I need a haircut really badly. [insert family drama here] Oh! And Rabsteen is now my bitch since he soooooooo generously volunteered to help make a new template for me. Now all I have to do is do some template research and we he can start work on the template!! Yay!!! Any suggestions for what YOU want to see on ohmytrill?

The New Mean Girls?

Or should I say the old Mean Girls...since Bring It On precedes Mean Girls by several years. I have to admit, this movie really surprised me (and I'm sure Heather's mouth will hit the floor). I have kind of been into this "teen girl ditz-fest" movies lately...I guess there are tons of them, but some of the better ones separate themselves from the crowd...and one of the best is Bring It On. I can't say why, but I was just really into it...and throw in hugely choreographed cheer sequences and I'm sold. And Kirsten Dunst (who I have always liked) is fabulous. See it (although most of you have seen it already I'm sure) I'm putting it at the top of the must-buy list.

What Gives?

So, what is it with all of these TV shows that have tons of characters living completely fabulous lives in NYC? Does everybody in NYC have easy jobs that make them tons of money? I know I would like to live in NYC and go out to eat for every meal...however, If I lived there, I would never be able to go out because of the lack of money. I mean, take Kramer from Seinfeld as an example. He lives on the upper west side (I think) and doesn't even work and somehow manages to go on all of his escapades AND own a car (but mostly takes taxis...hmmm). If this is what it's like to live in New York, I'm moving there tomorrow. I will, however, keep watching my 'friends' living it up in the big city... Saw "Trick" tonight...not one of the most amazing contributions to gay cinema, but it is adequate. Its such a horrible genre of film, at least the movies that get made. Maybe now it will snap into shape that Brokeback Mountain has been made...all others pale in comparison. PS> I got audioscorobbler goes iPod to work finally...if anybody cares...that means that all of the music I listen will get updated in the Spy On Music link at the right...so spy all you want.

1. This post is not a list

Welcome back to the world of normal entries. Although I must admit, it is much easier to just write a list...anyway...I get my cello back tomorrow from the shop. This will be just in time to record the Popper Duo with Lauren...I also just realized that I forgot to check out the Kummer parts from the library...I hope Lauren remembered to. Finished Tanglewood app and scheduled an audition for Youth Orchestra of the Americas...guess I won't be doing anything "cool" this summer...Lucerne and Bang on a Can can wait, right? Until I have money and time to learn crazy contemporary repertoire? And Jack+Cher=hilarious. PS> Me and Lauren are having a Will&Grace party when we get back to Rochester.

Six Things

1. Blue cosmos and pink champagne with Jonathan and Alison=fun new years 2. Somebody called me today to tell me that they are obsessed with my blog and they have a fear of me posting about them. Names will not be mentioned. 3. I now own the Brokeback Mountain Soundtrack...you have to love a soundtrack that consists of basically two notes...and the whole thing is only 12 minutes of music...hmm... 4. Clueless is really funny...how did I miss this movie? Add it to the ditz-fest: Mean Girls/Heathers/Clueless/Bring It On. 5. I like Target. 6. Link to the site I stole this idea from. Sorry.

Happy New Year

1. Happy New Year!!!!!! 2. Saw Brokeback Mountain and I can't even begin to explain the amazingness...you MUST MUST MUST see this movie because your life will be incomplete without it. It's probably the closest I've ever come to crying at a movie, and on a repeat viewing, I'm almost sure I would. I almost am now. The movie was a very slow two hours, but I could have easily watched five more hours of it...I would be happy if I was still in the theater watching it. Its that good. See it. Now. 3. Celebrated new years with Alison and Jonathan (and a bit with Ruth and Rachael) and a phone call from Kimberyee!!! And who can forget the Madonna Dance Party (minus the dancing). 4. Could this be the new form for leaving entries...what do you think? 5. More later. 6. Eastman students gossip waaaaaay too much. 7. Oh well...its fun.