Small Things in a Big World

Today, I noticed another small thing that makes a big difference: one minute. Not long, right? barely long enough to post a sentence on facebook. Yet this past week of my life has been dominated by the actions a friend of mine did in a minute. He and his girlfriend had a wonderful relationship, marred only by the fact that they usually went weeks without seeing each other. But they loved each other, so it was alright. Then, in the space of a minute, he and a few comrades decided to walk to the local "party place." Needless to say, because of that minut, he got wasted. And, ah, did unmentionable deeds with a hitherto unnamed woman. Suprisingly, his girlfriend would have forgiven him, if he had not put on a "woe is me, I am unworthy" act that lasts to this day. I am unfortunately left to console the girl, berate the man, and in general, try to put Humpty back together again. Please, if you have a decision to make that could potentially lead to all the kings horses and all the kings men being dragged into it, take more than a minute to think on it. A permanent decision made in the blink of an eye, ridiculous as this may sound, is not well thought out.


On a more positive note, a minute can also lead to a particularly interesting game of chess. Yesterday, me and a friend were playing chess. He was new, so I went easy on him. Sadly, he hadn't told me that he was also an expert at checkers. It's not the same game, but there are several identical elements involved. I went easy for just a moment too long, and suddenly, almost all of my pieces were gone. I was distraught, but my moment of glory was nigh. Another person walked up, and asked my friend a few questions regarding a class that they were both in. In the moments that he was distracted, I rearanged several peices slightly. When he turned back, he discovered, to his dismay, that one of my pawns was a single turn from becoming queen, his king would soon be in check, and he had accidentally placed his queen in an area where it was almost certain to be caught by either my one remaining rook, or my king. I won spectacularly, and he never caught on. I proudly admitted that I cheated outrageously, just as he proudly taunted me with my perdicament.


Just remember, a single moment can lead to success or failure.

Latin: So Stressful

As a Latin student, I have to say, Latin is stressful. Hell, learning another language is stressful, and that’s counting when you’ve had at least some sort of interaction with the language before. Most people in my community have encountered some Spanish, in some way, shape or form, as they grow up. Whether its saying si for yes, or hola for goodbye. Bonita for beautiful, or uno for one. In French, most people know oui (Pronounced we) as yes, and merci as thank you. Other languages, whether you take them because of family heritage, or just personal choices, are more difficult, because they just are not said as much. But Latin as a language that is not spoken anymore, is even more difficult to learn.

Not only do you have to learn a new vocabulary, as you do in any foreign language, you have to memorize any and all declensions and conjugations. What I mean is, certain words belong to certain declensions, and thus follow certain rules. For example, the first declension mainly consists of verbs that a feminine. Laborat, meaning he/she/it works. The verb laborat is singular, and the plural form is laborant, only slightly different. If one wanted to say that we are working, one would say laboramus. Now, if we look at the second declension, you would find that the majority of verbs are masculine, while the rest are mostly neutered. The verb sedet means he/she/it sits. It is in its singular form, and the plural is sedent, a little different from the first declension, but enough to make it noticeable.

If all that isn’t stressful enough, you have to keep in mind that there are five declensions, each with ten cases(i.e. singular accusative, nominative, etc, and plural accusative, nominative, etc.) That means that I have to memorize 50 different conjugations/cases for Latin, not to mention any irregular verbs. See what I mean?

Berea Lost: The Science of Faith

Fundamental questions about the interactions of science and religion can be found throughout the majority of history. Can they coexist or do I have to believe in either one or the other? Does this debate even matter? The truth is, around the world, and even here at Berea, most people have come up with a balance of the two subjects to use.

For example, the story of creation causes much debate between Christians and other religions like Atheists and Scientologists. Most Christians believe that the Earth, the universe, and all life was created by God in only 7 days, while some creationists think that the seven days were periods of time – taken from the Bible where it says that a thousand days is but one day to God. Science doesn’t agree with the statement, saying that the world we know today took billions of years to form through the process of Evolution. Would the Berea of the Utopian society have as many ideas as to how creation occurred or would it simply hold to one idea of the creation of the world?

In my most humble opinion, I think that Utopian Berea would see the way the universe was created was by a mixture of faith and science. Since every culture in the history of mankind has had some sort of religion, it could be assumed that religions would also exist in a perfect world. When I say that there would be a “mixture of science and faith”, I mean that we would see it as God using science as a tool to create the world; God using Evolution to create the world. While the specifics of the Utopian religions are unfathomable, there would be some sort of general consensus that a higher being made the universe and that science is unraveling the ways in which the being did.

Science and faith would coexist in the Utopian Berea as it does here today. Not too long ago, the Vatican a.k.a. the Catholic Church, pardoned Galileo for the crimes that the Church accused him of. Examples such as these show that while religion and science may not always get along, we need both in order to live the lives that we deem necessary to live.

Moonlit Berea Nights

Welcome people of Berea...more importantly this class. Today’s blog features Berea...not as a pirate ship. Sorry maybe next week. Okay so from what I’ve noticed so far, that not a lot of us sleep at night. Homework keeps us up at all times of the night. Most people never stop to appreciate the beauty of the night at Berea.

In the middle of the darkened abyss that is a night at Berea, out over the field where eager college student would play, gentle mist eerily covers the land and if you walk into it, you realize quite a beautiful thing. That mist seems to go on forever and ever. That’s right. No end in sight.

And should you choose to go out there on a night like last night, you’ll notice a giant and blessed moon. Now definitely only do this on the night of a full moon. Any other night is a mockery of what I’m trying to portray. The moon so high up in the sky coupled with the never ending mist will allow you to reach one conclusion, a conclusion that I myself came to.

You’ll realize just how small you really are. That never-ending nothingness of the mist will help you put things in perspective. And this conclusion will either make you happy as you release your hold on small burdens or it can depress the crap out of you. I mean come on. Who really wants to know that they mean so little in the world?

I truly hope you reach the happy phase. No one wants to be unhappy.

A Place Called Home: Free Time

I feel that I have watched more movies and television shows since I came to Berea then in my entire life. Basically every Saturday is our claimed movie day. Anytime on Saturday one can find movie after movie playing in the basement. Every Saturday I take my homework down to the basement to start working on it, and every Saturday I seem to barely even crack open a book. I blame the movies for this. My roommate has introduced me to a variety of movies I had never heard of upon coming to Berea, along with movies I have already seen multiple times. This is how I spend my Saturdays.

I in turn have introduced my roommate to one of my favorite television shows, Supernatural. This introduction has led to a Supernatural marathon. We have stayed up well until 3 o’clock in the morning watching episode after episode starting from season one. So, as you can deduce, I spend most of my free time in Anna Smith next to a television. I watch way too many movies then needed.

I do also enjoy sitting on the Anna Smith porch. We have a porch swing that I love to swing on when the weather is nice outside. It is a nice, peaceful area to sit and read for a class. I have found that it is a good spot to study alone where there are few distractions and absolutely no movies or television shows playing. I have found a couple other ways to spend my free time while at Berea, but the majority of it is spent either studying or watching movies in the basement with friends.

The Social Hermit: Absurdity

As with any job that works with the general public, I face an assault of questions every day. The questions can range from being intensely personal, to general questions you would ask someone you just met, or even random questions that have nothing to do with my job. I will happily answer any question, but the ones that grate on my nerves are ones involving pre-formed thoughts on Berea. Berea of course has a rich history of many things: equality, labor, teaching, and crafts, as well as other things. Unfortunately, people seem to assume that because Berea has such a rich history of these things that it still adheres to them. Every day someone comes in, looks around the store, slowly gravitating closer to me, only to see that I’m making a broom, to which they ask me “So, are you an art major?” or even worse, “So, are you going to make brooms for a living?” The absurdity of these questions astounds me. Asking that that would be like walking up to a student working in a hotel and asking them if they plan on being a hotel manager after college! All I can do is smile politely, maybe even laugh, and politely inform them that Berea is a Liberal arts school, but that doesn’t mean that we all are majoring in the arts. I have faced stereotypes and generalizations because of where I lived (south eastern Kentucky and about as “Appalachian” as you can get) my entire life, but I accepted them, they were just a part of life that I had to accept. But now that I’m in this new town where tolerance and broad thinking is endorsed, I refuse to continue accepting this. Henceforth, every time someone enters the store with these misconceptions, I work my hardest to correctly inform them about the college and what we really are about.

The zombie horde and the mythical dragons

Another wave of zombies incoming. The survivors are still awaiting reinforcements if anyone is actually listening to this. They are coming and should arrive in about a week. We've begun preparations to handle this threat. Okay, enough of the character acting for now. In the periods of time between our zombie infestations, we continue our fight against boredom. For me this means going to a different realm entirely. The realm of Dungeons & Dragons. It's a fantasy world where a group of people, generally 4, takes on the world. The "dungeon master," or DM, makes the world, the adventure, and how the population reacts to the party's actions. I was lucky enough to get a roommate who is a talented DM, and agreed to face our party of heroes. Blades and hammers, bows and slings, or even fire balls and lightning bolts; we have used a wide array of weaponry and faced an even wider array of enemies, ranging from skeletons to dragons to ogres and everything in between. Simply put? It is great fun and a wonderful way to kill time and just hang out with friends. If you really get into your character and their ventures into the unknown; things get that much better. I urge everyone to find a DM near them and give our world a chance. Who knows? You might get lost in the realm of Dungeons & Dragons, or possibly eaten by a grue.

The transitions of a freshman

One of the most stressful times I have experienced as a college student have been taking midterms. With the addition of these midterms, I have once again had to make decisions of sacrificing activities on my schedule. The one constant I have felt throughout my time as a college student is the important decision making that is required. Decision making is so important due to the limited resource of time.

The week of my microeconomics and diversity midterm, I readily spent even more than my normal two hours in the library. I realized that the benefit of studying for each exam outweighed participating in a meaningless leisurely activity. I also decided to spend more time studying for my micro exam rather than my diversity and social justice exam. I rationalized to study more micro due to its higher level of difficulty which requires more attention. One of the most important decisions I made was to study in an isolated space that had little to no distarctions.

Although there were times I did not feel like studying, the choice to study has various benefits compared to the enticing method of procastination. The reward of being confident during and after my midterms was well worth the effort. It seems apparent that college is a test of your decsion making ability that reflects your success as a student.

Lost in a New World: Part 4

The journey to find the last piece of me was up and running until I walked into an area of women native to the land. I, no, we've wanted a relationship but always thru it out our head. Maybe we can find a nice girl here. We, no, I look and find no one until night fell. There was one girl alone and was looking out to the ocean. She was not like the other girls of this area, me and her have alot in common. Maybe she can help me, no, us find Sly. We hang out for a good bit, so I finally ask if she can help us, no, me find Sly. She said no but pointed me in the right direction, and I move on. As I traveled, I noticed two things happening. One was that as I traveled I ran into the girl and I would stop to talk to her for hours about stuff. She would always make my travel less lonely if I and she was an item, but she would always say that it is not the time or place and I should wait, and so I do. The second thing I noticed was that without Sly my, no, our mind was more together than usual. Almost like the body was trying to fight against all the different minds of Sylvester. This can't happen to us, no no no, me right now. Sly has to been found or I might do something drastic like hurt some stranger, or someone close.

Life in a Melting Pot: Among the Bereans #4

Who are you? Deep down inside that is what we all ask ourselves when we meet someone new. In Berea, this is a common occurrence because our old friends either went to other colleges or stayed at home. We no longer have the luxury of simply knowing everyone or asking someone about another because other people are in the same predicament we are. The only way to get to know someone is through time and experience.

The first impression rule is a fraud. You can never judge a book by its cover because, here in Berea, the covers come in all shades and designs. There are no two people alike on this campus. The main reason that the “rule” is a farce is because people lie and are what the Bible calls “double-minded” (hypocrites). The decision to continue to like the person once you see his or her bad side is a matter of choice. *It is important to mention that no one is perfect, and not everyone who is agreeable agrees with you.*

To dislike differences in people is closed-minded. At Berea, you will be lonely if you cannot deal with great variety. A person is more than his or her appearance, nationality, accent or language. What really defines a person is character. Unfortunately, there are all sorts of good and bad characters on campus. Time reveals it all, especially the “who are you?”.

Blog 4, the weekend.

Hello everybody, I believe this is my fourth blog in this so let’s get started. My weekend started off pretty good, I went home for the weekend which isn’t really too hard for me since I live in the town I go to college but I hadn’t went back in a couple weeks so it was a nice to back and see my family again. The weekend consisted of mostly sleeping for the fact that I have not really been able to relax and sleep more then four hours for the past seven days. Sunday was when my weekend started to begin since I was well rested from Saturday. I woke up around six and went with my dad to go listen to him tell his men’s ministry about his life. To me this was quite enlightening since I have never heard my father’s life story before. I found out some cool facts like my dad was signed to Atlantic and EMI records and that he actually sung the theme songs for shows like Dookie Houser. At eighteen I couldn’t help but think that so cool. The rest of Sunday was spent at church listening to my younger sister speak in front of the church she attends which was quite interesting to me since it takes a lot of confidence for a fifteen year to lead a service but she pulled it off. The rest of the day was spent in a state of sleep or hardcore homework doing. Well that was my weekend in a nutshell pretty uneventful in my opinion. Viva la Weekend.

"Decisions for the Future"

What do you want to take next semester? This is one of the biggest decisions a college student has to make. You have to decide is this class helpful for what I want to major in. You have to think about your prerequisites, so you can graduate on time. You need think about how many credits you need to graduate. You have to figure out if that class covers some of the perspectives you have to take. You also have to decide where you want to work on campus next year, because you really want to choose a job focused around your major. Next year, I want to work in the biology department because I am a biology major. It would not be beneficial for to work in food service, but I am not saying there is anything wrong with food service. These types of decision can affect your next four years of your life, and it could also affect your future. You do not really have to declare a major right now, but it would be wise to have a few clear ideas about what you would like to do the rest of life. You do not want wait until the very end of your sophomore and still do not what you to be. If you have a few ideas, you take classes that fit them. That way you want behind, and you will be able to graduate on time.

Chivalry in Arthurian Literature

If you have ever wondered whether the stories of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are true, I advise you to take a look at their characteristics. These men were the perfect gentlemen. Handsome and strong, gallant and courtly, and always mindful of what woman wanted, they truly were what woman wanted and still do. The Knights were expected to behave chivalrous at all times, even in battle they supposedly only fought another if it was a fair fight, and they had to take their enemy as prisoner, instead of killing them, if the rival simply asked of it. If these men had really lived and the stories about them are true, do you realize how many prisoners there would have been? There would be a sideline of a few hundred prisoners at every battle because they would rather live than die, and the Knights had to obey them! Also, since courtly ideals required that men obey the commands of a lady, can you imagine what kind of woman were at court? They would have had those men doing back flips at their whim and turned them into handsome slaves (as fun as this would have been). Even to the point of death, as written in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it is wrong to flinch away. According to these rules, they had to stand before the strike that would end their life and not move a muscle, but bear this “honor” as a true Knight of the Round Table should. So, after taking all of this into consideration, do you think these Knights truly lived?

Tech Week Giggles

Connections in families are important, even connections with very extended family. It poses true for our theater family as tech week for Turandot approaches. For those of you who don't know what a tech week is, it's simply when the lighting and sound are set, when we do dress rehearsals, and all in all, are running around trying to make sure everything is absolutely perfect before our first production. It's hectic, chaotic, and in my personal experience, can become hell in a hand basket.

But with tech week comes a group that our theater family doesn't often see - the lighting and sound crews. The actors have already gotten close, become the main part of the family, but in come lighting and sound crews to be our extended family. We love them just as much, we just don't see them as often because they're always behind the scenes or working when we're not. Tech week again becomes a sort of reunion for the extended family as well, and the two work together with the actors to put together a fantastic show.

Again, tech week is also where things become . . . silly. Some people are putting so much effort into it and classes and everything else that they begin to grow slap happy with lack of sleep, and rehearsals are forced to stop and start as actors (and directors) break down into fits of giggles, unable to stop for several minutes at a time. And of course, once on starts, others are soon to follow. It becomes something of a game, to see who can make who laugh - or to see who can go the longest without laughing.

Hopefully, though, we'll be able to pull out a good show once we throw the extended family into the mix and get our giggles under control. I guess we'll be finding out the 28th!

BC Soccer: Confidence

Each of us has that one thing that we’re really good at, maybe it’s solving complex math equations like it’s nothing or painting masterpieces, but whatever it is, we are able to really shine and others are able to notice. I won’t claim to be an amazing soccer player, and I do have other strengths, but soccer is one sport that I am confident in my abilities and sure of my skills. In soccer there isn’t a defined way to measure ability because there are so many different roles to be played; someone could be an All-State defender but not be able to score a goal even if they were right in front of the net.

On my high school team I played defensive-mid and I measured my ability by beating my opponent to the ball or winning a header or being able to control the middle better than the other team’s midfield. The satisfaction that came with an individual win was one of my favorite parts of a game. My coach once referred to being beat by the other player as “being second best” and I never wanted to be second best, and over the years I was able to gain confidence—I knew that I could win the ball and I would. Now, however, I’m in a different position and I haven’t had any years prior to build on my skills and be confident in them. Half the time I have no idea what I’m doing; sometimes that works, sometimes not so much. The other half of the time…well I still really don’t know what I’m doing.

It’s hard to have a lasting confidence boost when one minute you make a great save and the next minute you get scored on. It’s hard to feel good about having a good game when the team still loses. But you can’t give up, because eventually that confidence and skill will come before you know it, and you might even break some records in the process. I was able to beat the previous record of most saves in a game and this coupled with constant encouragement from my teammates has helped me from feeling lost and uncomfortable to just a little lost at times but confident.

Endgame.

Ah... Seems like I'm a little late to the party, but I come bearing news. The first game of HvZ took place just last week. It was quite interesting to see the wide variety of weaponry everyone possessed. I saw everything from a tiny 3 shot pistol to a drum fed, full auto blaster.

Unfortunately, I did not get to participate, as I couldn't attend the rules and safety meeting... I was able to observe the strategic planning of both sides, however; and not only did I see one of our then human brethren be taken down; I witnessed a standoff between a single person from each side. It was intense as neither side was willing to give in. This shows one strategy, but the main ideal for both sides was to move in groups, with the survivors to watch each other's backs and the horde to swarm anyone they came across.

The zombies were quick and organized, much more so than the humans. I saw a group of 5 zombies sprint across the quad after a single human. He fought valiantly, but sadly, he was defeated. It wasn’t long before all of the survivors began meeting the same fate… Then as the final day neared a close, I began hearing screams of joy. The zombies had succeeded… all of our friends and family… all of them were now blood thirsty zombies. Even as I type this, I can still hear the scraping of the zombies trying to break in… If anyone is out there, send reinforcements. Learn from our failure. Stay together, stay alert. They’re always watching. I don't know if anyone will ever see this, but I'll keep sending updates on the situation here at Berea.

Arthurian Literature: Christianity in The Mists of Avalon

I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior and my best friend. I also believe that everything the Bible says is true and is the word of God my Father. As to why it scares people to say this boggles my mind, since this belief brings me such profound joy. Yet, for some reason, I always fall into the crowd whose interests are the same as my own, but whose beliefs are opposite. My Arthurian Literature class, and also the book we are reading, The Mists of Avalon, is not fond of Christianity and many slurs are repeated. Now, I have absolutely no problem with people whose beliefs are different than my own. I actually find it very interesting to hear what others believe and question my own beliefs against what I have learned. However, I do have a problem when people take things out of context from the Bible and lie about something, or speak badly about something they do not understand. Not only does that make the speaker sound ignorant against someone who knows more about the subject, but it is so wrong I can hardly stand it. I knew college would test my faith, and it has, but I also knew my faith is strong because of the experiences I have had the past few years and is nearly impossible to break.

Pardon my small rant. Continuing on to the main subject, one of the conflicts in The Mists of Avalon is between the Old Religion and Christianity. The Old Religion, at least in this novel, is where there is one central god and goddess and many smaller deities. Whenever a character becomes Christian in the novel they are suddenly very stupid, making decisions that make no sense and forgetting everything they once knew. The novel says that Christianity is a religion of suffering and death, referring to what Jesus went through, but that is not the religion at all.

I have noticed an interesting difference between these two religions. While the Old Religion offers every kind of sensual pleasure possible, along with magic and other abilities, such as seeing into the future, they offer absolutely no love. The main character complains about how she has served the goddess her whole life and has never truly experienced joy or love from another person. On the other hand, Christianity guarantees love, even in the story. The Christian characters in the story are loved. If I was given the choice between every pleasure and power imaginable, or love, I would most definitely pick love.

The transitions of a freshman

The challenges of college have suddenly increased the past few weeks. The schedule I made in the beginning of the year periodically is becoming moderated. With the spike in the amount of work and the same amount of time, I have been forced to sacrifice some activities. When there are constant changing variables in your day, consistent good decision making skills are the key to your success.

In my original schedule I had two hours to hang out and go to the seabury center. This time slot has been somewhat compromised on a regular basis. I usually could afford to spend this time by making progress on my homework prior to going. But unfortunately events such as studying for a micro exam or reading those pesky assigned chapters have forced me to make the decision of decreasing my leisure time. Although I was not too excited about cutting my relaxing time, I came to the realization that studying for that test or reading trumps going to the gym for two hours.

The positive outcome of this somewhat unfortunate situation is that I made the best decision based on my circumstances. One of my strengths that allows to have mostly good decision making is the ability to adapt to change. I realize it does not make rational sense to continue with my schedule when there are more important variables that should effect my decision. On of the key characteristics of a successful student is to distinguish between the times when work is more necessary than play.

“Decisions of Homework and Time"

How do I manage my time wisely? This is one of the biggest questions asked by college freshmen. When a club is trying to get you to join, you decide do have time for this in my schedule. If you are like me, and like to be involved you say yes. I believe that when you are involved it motivates you to better in your classes. You have to decide what times you should set out for just studying, and you have to look at your club schedule and your work schedule. Then you have ask yourself what subject should you work first, and which subject is more important. I usually go by which one is due first, and then you have to decide which one to do first the worksheet or study for that exam. Lately, I have been doing well on time management, but this week I messed up. It is always best to look at your planner because that is a huge help to you in college. You really have to decide when there is time for fun, and a time to be productive with your school work. This past Wednesday was Mountain day, and I decided to go see the sunrise that morning. I told myself that I would comeback after my performance and do some homework instead I decided to take an hour nap. After that nap, I was going to catch up on my homework. I fell asleep at one, and it turns out I slept the whole day away, and I got behind.

Latin: Inside the Classroom

I think that how you learn a language is just as important as the learning itself. You can’t just start talking in full sentences. You have to learn the basics first, and then you have to build upon them. During my first class, we started to look at vocabulary, some verbs, nouns, adverbs, etc. Then we used those few words and started to stumble through some very simple sentences. We learned that most sentences will be in two basic formats. Something is something, or Something is doing something, what? For example: Scintilla in casā laborat; fessa est. This sentence showcases both types of basic sentence structures. The first part of the sentence, Scintilla in casā laborat, means Scintilla is working inside the house. Something is doing something, what? or in this case where? The second part of the sentence is fessa est, which means, she is tired. Something is something. If you switch the verb for another and the adjective for a different one, you can make so many sentences. That is why you have to know the basics.

After learning the first set of verbs, the first declension feminine verbs, we started to learn a different set of verbs, the second declension masculine verbs. With these, we also had to learn to make sure all parts of the sentence followed the verb in case, number and gender. What this means is that, for case, we have to know what the subject is, what the direct object is, and what the verb is. For number, we have to make sure that we use all singular or all plural words. As for gender, we have to check that each part is following whether the subject is feminine or masculine (not including neutered).

As you can see, the fundamentals are very important, for they are the stepping stones that get you to understanding the language. And remember, what I describe only scratches the surface of learning Latin.

A Place Called Home: King Louis

King Louis does as he pleases. He doesn’t always listen when you call him and sometimes he decides not to move at all. As much as King Louis annoys me, I can’t help but to like him. Who is this King Louis you may be wondering? King Louis is the Anna Smith Elevator.

I call the elevator King Louis because he runs by his own rules and therefore is a king. My first trip on King Louis was terrifying. For those who have not seen King Louis, he just looks dangerous. When you enter King Louis, there is a heavy door you must close and then a rickety gate. If both are not closed all the way, King Louis will not run. So one day, my roommate convinced me to take the elevator instead of the stairs. I stepped in and closed the gate. I pressed the 2^nd floor button and braced myself. The elevator started to move and I took a sigh of relief. We had almost made it to our floor, when the elevator stopped. It stopped, right between the first and second floor! I was prepared to panic. I was prepared to scream. We were stuck in an elevator and there was no way out. Before I started to have a heart attack, my roommate slowly lifted her hand and pressed the second floor button again. The elevator started to move toward the second floor and soon enough we arrived at our destination. Before we stepped off, my roommate turned to me and laughing said, “You should have seen your face!” I had survived my first Anna Smith elevator ride.

I have now stopped having mini heart attacks when King Louis stops between floors and have gotten used to pressing the button only to realize the elevator is stuck. While going to the basement, the word “Hell” with an arrow pointing down on the wall has mostly lost its effect, though it still a main point in jokes when taking the elevator downstairs. At first I feared King Louis, resorting to take the stairs. Now I get agitated when I can’t take the elevator. King Louis may look dangerous and terrifying, but that is what makes King Louis unique.

Lost in a New World: Part 3

Sylvester is seen in the distance in a land filled with zombies. I have to save him before he's turned. He may be my last hope at finding Sly and getting myself together on this island. Why would he travel here where the dead rise and the living hide in fear. Is that what he wants, to hide in fear from this new world. I arrive and the land smells of the dead rotting corpse of zombie. Never have I felt so much death in one area, but yet I welcome it like it was a piece of warm apple pie. X must want out now we're in a land where he can do as much death and destruction as he can without someone stopping him. I gotta to find him fast or else X might takeover for once. I think of where I would hide in a land filled with zombies, so I check the trees and like a breathe of fresh air I find Sylvester. He explains that he hide here knowing I would eventually find him. Athough he has no idea where Sly is he, we, I, us are closer to being one. As we join, Sylvester's thoughts join with mine own and I experienced ever thing he has seen, heard, taste, touched, and smell. Never has such sensation come over my body like that. I feel my body adapting to my surroundings, I can stay up for hours and not be tired, I feel lazier, but my senses are growing so high that I feel as if the other me was made up of drugs. I need this sensation more often, it feel good. Really good and I love it. Need to focus Sly is still out there and he never comes back so easy and without him. I feel that my mind, body, and soul are going to tear apart do to the fact that I'm lost in a new world.

Unconventional Holidays

As Turandot rehearsals are in full swing and our first full run-through not far off, more and more of our 'family' are spending time at the theater together, especially in the Green Room. As the productions draw near, it seems to me more like a holiday than a production. Families get together for holidays of course, as such the theater department family gets together for the production. There are talks of people bringing snacks for before and after, and even plans of going out to dinner before-hand on at least perhaps the last night. Families do that for holidays, right?

But all in all, it's more about the togetherness that seems to be all around the theater at this time of year as Turandot draws closer. We're growing closer together as a whole cast, filled with inside-jokes and fond memories of rehearsals that have gone uphill and downhill. To me, each rehearsal seems like some sort of family reunion, and each time we get together on that stage it's like we never left the night before. It's a wonderful thing to come back to each evening.

Even though rehearsals are starting to get far more intense and frustrating as we pound out the holes in our acts, there's still a sense of accomplishment - as long as we pull together as a cast, we can pull off a great production that an audience will adore and we'll have to look back on sometime in the future.

Berea Lost: Music in a Utopian Society

The difficult part of describing a Utopian Society is the fact that there is no Utopian Society in existence. The only thing that one can use to describe is a compilation of what opinions and what one has seen or read in science fiction works. In order to say what music would be like in a Utopian Society, opinion will have to be highly relied on. In essence, there is no right or wrong way to describe what music would be like in a Utopian Society.

A Dystopian Society is the exact opposite of a Utopian Society. “Aspects of a Utopian Society would also be aspects of a Dystopian Society,” says Kathleen Barton. Since there is a certain amount of uniformity in both societies, there would likely be no music. Music is an expression of emotions and opinions and so therefore if everyone was thinking the same things or being told to think the same things, then there would not the expression of anyone’s individual opinions. The niche in which you belong wouldn’t be inexistence, meaning the songs that the niche would create or listen to would also not be inexistence.

There is no wrong way to think about this. Some people believe that music in a Utopian Society would primarily be “happy music”. This would include music that is uplifting and possibly even some form of religious music. Classical could also be included into this genre of happy music but, the question is, who defines what “happy music” is. Would it be the upbeat pop music of our generation or simply music that doesn’t express any negative thought or image?

Can the human mind even begin to fathom the concept of perfect? Is music something that can exist in a world that is perfect? Can it be said that music is, in its own way, perfect? All of these questions and more help us to try to understand the ideas that aren’t understandable and sometimes seem ludicrous but ultimately will help us learn about the human mind.

Weekend 3

So this time around I would like to start of with talking about how weekends can be lead to so many things unexpected. What I’ve noticed while living here for the last few weeks is that it is unknown what exactly is going to come our way and to try and predict one’s future is foolish. My weekend began with playing down the street at the black feather last Friday. The show went fine there weren’t any “oh my god what kind of note did I just hit” moments but you know at the end of my show, unexpectedly I got in a very severe argument with the guy that went on before me saying that im highly disrespectful and have a lot to learn about treating people correctly. If he said this by its self I would feel awful and would apologies several times over. (The issue was that I spelt his name wrong on the poster). Sadly, he started the entire conversation by saying that my music was kind of ok so I got mad. Let’s just say that we probably won’t ever talk to each other again. But this proves my point that trying to see what is going to happen in ones future is nonsense and to tie this in with my weekend subject that especially on the weekends you have no idea what can happen and that in my opinion to just go with what happens and not to stress about it because if you do, you may end up writing a little blog about it to vent your frustrations. Viva la Weekends

Decisions

There once was a man named Bill and a woman named Maribel. Each was apparently attracted to the other-and so our story turns to one of a modern American courtship. Not that drivel you see on MTV, mind you, but a respectable (although frustratingly slow paced) building of a relationship. At one point, after about a month, came the first kiss-and with it, a rather disturbing revelation: “Uhm… I don’t know how to tell you this. I meant to tell you earlier but… I have a boyfriend back home, and I’m still in love with him.” Needless to say, our friend Bill was quite disturbed and confused. It didn’t help matters that less than a week later Maribel thought it appropriate to simply continue on the way they had been-as if nothing had changed.

What exactly is going on? Is Maribel simply a loon, to drop such a bombshell and then continue on, happy as can be? Is this one of those things that we simply ascribe to the fact that women are confusing and move on? Or can we utilize this unfortunate situation and attempt to perhaps understand this mysterious creature? I’d prefer to attempt the latter.

Now, it’s easy to understand why Maribel has such a light heart after saying what she did if you just step back and try to be empathetic. For a month, she’s been holding this secret inside her, slowly but surely eating away at her conscience. After she unloaded it unto Bill, she was lighter than ever, and was quite happy to return to business as usual.

But why exactly did she choose to kiss Bill when she’s committed to another man? That’s not something anyone can understand very easily. I’m not entirely sure anyone who hasn’t been in that situation (which I have not) could even begin to fathom why you would be unfaithful. It seems monstrous, doesn’t it? To simply toss the trust placed in you upon the floor and firmly stamp upon it; but I digress. This post was intended to be about shedding light upon the fact that if you try hard enough, women are almost as understandable as men, and not about infidelity.(perhaps a topic for another time)