Sunday, June 05, 2005
Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow
The title was going to be included under Quoted Randomness, but I feel that it kind of applies to what I have to say. I saw it on a Tshirt, under a picture of a hot dog.
Please forgive me if the following entry isn't the most well-organized and coherent. There are a few distractions that will be keeping me from concentrating, namely Kevin and his quarter-past-eleven-on-the-night-before-finals viola practice. I'm drowning it out (no offense to Kevin...he's a good player, but he is practicing and not playing) with some iTunes, which will probably just distract me further. Add that to the fact that I only have scattered stories to tell you and...well...just give me a break with the writing, okay?
So class ended last week, and finals start (for some) tomorrow. I personally have my digital design final on Tuesday morning, my two math finals adjacent to each other starting at 7am on Thursday, and my circuit analysis final on Friday. I'm coming into all of them with good grades, and thus the amount I'm worrying about them is minimal. I will say that each of these finals is 35% to 40% of my grade, so I can't really blow them off. But I figure that since I've done well on midterms then I'm likely to do well on finals, too. So that said, I haven't had a whole heck of a lot to do this weekend. Lots of sleeping in, reading, running errands, and playing some classic Goldeneye 007 on N64. It's good to be a little bored every once in a while, but I am looking forward to coming home and finding a job.
I don't mean, however, to give the impression that I've done nothing of interest over the past few days. So here are some highlights:
The bookstore had a phat 30%-off-everything sale on Thursday, and I went a little crazy. I bought myself four Cal Poly Tshirts, some Cal Poly gym shorts, a "Cal Poly Mom" sweatshirt and bumper sticker for Mom (as per her request), and a "Cal Poly Cow Tipping Team" Tshirt for Joanna. I also did some shopping for Father's Day...maybe at the bookstore and maybe not (tune in in a couple of weeks to find out!). I know...I went a little overboard. But the prices were good and I couldn't resist. Funny story though...as I was walking out of the bookstore I was reading over my receipt (the cheapskate that I am) and discovered that they had charged me for one too many Tshirts. So I went back in a got my $12 back. It was lucky that I looked over the receipt then, because it would have been pretty darned impossible to prove that I didn't walk out of the store with that Tshirt at some later date. So hooray.
Our windO concert was last night in the PAC. I'm sure I've mentioned before that both our concert and the wind ensemble's concert was completely dedicated to the music of Eric Ewazen (a composer from Julliard). He flew in to SLO from New York on Wednesday and was present at both our Wednesday and Friday rehearsals as well as the concert itself. Working with the actual composer of the music was a new and unique experience; I enjoyed it. Mr. Ewazen is a very amicable man. He gave us lots of suggestions without ever talking down to us. So yay. The concert itself went very well; I was completely thrilled. It was one of the rare instances where the best performance of the music actually happens at the concert instead of in a rehearsal. The little solo/soli thingy Singh and I had at the start of "Hymn for the Lost and the Living" wasn't flawless, but was about as good as anyone could have hoped for. And I personally thought Singh and I had never played "Celtic Hymns and Dances" better. As for the windO trumpets playing the bugle parts for windE's performance of "Legacy," it was a blast! We got to stand up in the balcony above the stage, all spotlighted and everything. And at the end of the piece the audience gave a standing ovation without it even being the end of the concert! Ahhh...it felt so good to be halfway competent at a concert! So excited...so excited...
After the concert was the much-awaited end-of-the-year party at the Chop house. I had, of course, been debating all week over whether I wanted to go or not. I was given the option to go with Rosalie and Heather for coffee and/or frozen yogurt, and that was an appealing choice because I haven't really spent much time with either of them lately. But I decided in the end that I would rather go to the party and have a horrible time then to not go and to spend hours worrying about whether or not I should have gone. Besides, I could have a good time, right? So off to the Chop house I went. When Courtney and I arrived I found the party to be very different from the one I experienced a few weeks ago. There were a lot more people there, and the people who threw the party went all out. There was a DJ and a disco ball and a bar inside and another bar outside and people at the door charging to get in...the whole shebang. I won't bore you with all of the details, but suffice it to say that I found it very much easier to enjoy myself at this party than at the others. For one thing, having more people there made me feel like just one in the crowd. I could do/not do what I wanted and not feel pressured (as much). For another, there were a lot more people there whom I know and with whom I could carry on a conversation. So that was exciting. As far as alcohol goes, I had a strawberry daiquiri and a shot or two of peppermint schnapps (as part of a Chop tradition...toasting and whatnot). I don't think it was a whole lot of alcohol, but I'm pretty sure I could feel the effects of it anyway. I was a little woozy walking around...so I sat on the couch for a pretty good while. I don't know if I had had enough so that other people could tell that I had been drinking; you'd have to ask Courtney. I decided I had had enough partying for one night at about 2, so Courtney drove me home in my car, which she drove back to the chop house so that she could take other people home in their cars. (She and I drove back there this morning to retrieve my car.) I was asleep about fifteen seconds after hitting my pillow.
I really don't like that I had stuff to drink at the party. I'm fine with beer and wine...in time...but I don't think I'll ever want to drink other, stronger liquor. I know I was only slightly tipsy and nowhere near "drunk," but I absolutely hated the feeling. I don't have a problem with other people drinking, but I hated not being in control. I hated having to rely on someone else for a ride home. I hated not feeling responsible. (Not that people who drink are necessarily irresponsible...drinking just isn't good for me personally.) I'm sure a large portion of those of you reading this are thinking that I need to learn to "let go" a little more, and you're certainly entitled to your opinion. But I have my own set of values, which I have seen lately being warped and compromised by what everyone else thinks is good and right. Well this is one instance where I'm not going to let that happen. I'm Josh Parker, and I don't drink. If that makes me a dork/a square/a loser/whatever the hell you want to call it in someone else's eyes, then fine. Think that about me. At least I'm sticking to what I believe in. At least I can be satisfied with myself.
Okay...well after that I think I'm good for blogging for now. I really hadn't planned on all of that coming out here. But so it goes. I'll talk to you all soon.
Carpe diem,
Josh
mood: there's something in the back of my mind I can't put my finger on that's bothering me
music: Abba's "Dancing Queen" as sung by Rockapella
location: dorm
Please forgive me if the following entry isn't the most well-organized and coherent. There are a few distractions that will be keeping me from concentrating, namely Kevin and his quarter-past-eleven-on-the-night-before-finals viola practice. I'm drowning it out (no offense to Kevin...he's a good player, but he is practicing and not playing) with some iTunes, which will probably just distract me further. Add that to the fact that I only have scattered stories to tell you and...well...just give me a break with the writing, okay?
So class ended last week, and finals start (for some) tomorrow. I personally have my digital design final on Tuesday morning, my two math finals adjacent to each other starting at 7am on Thursday, and my circuit analysis final on Friday. I'm coming into all of them with good grades, and thus the amount I'm worrying about them is minimal. I will say that each of these finals is 35% to 40% of my grade, so I can't really blow them off. But I figure that since I've done well on midterms then I'm likely to do well on finals, too. So that said, I haven't had a whole heck of a lot to do this weekend. Lots of sleeping in, reading, running errands, and playing some classic Goldeneye 007 on N64. It's good to be a little bored every once in a while, but I am looking forward to coming home and finding a job.
I don't mean, however, to give the impression that I've done nothing of interest over the past few days. So here are some highlights:
The bookstore had a phat 30%-off-everything sale on Thursday, and I went a little crazy. I bought myself four Cal Poly Tshirts, some Cal Poly gym shorts, a "Cal Poly Mom" sweatshirt and bumper sticker for Mom (as per her request), and a "Cal Poly Cow Tipping Team" Tshirt for Joanna. I also did some shopping for Father's Day...maybe at the bookstore and maybe not (tune in in a couple of weeks to find out!). I know...I went a little overboard. But the prices were good and I couldn't resist. Funny story though...as I was walking out of the bookstore I was reading over my receipt (the cheapskate that I am) and discovered that they had charged me for one too many Tshirts. So I went back in a got my $12 back. It was lucky that I looked over the receipt then, because it would have been pretty darned impossible to prove that I didn't walk out of the store with that Tshirt at some later date. So hooray.
Our windO concert was last night in the PAC. I'm sure I've mentioned before that both our concert and the wind ensemble's concert was completely dedicated to the music of Eric Ewazen (a composer from Julliard). He flew in to SLO from New York on Wednesday and was present at both our Wednesday and Friday rehearsals as well as the concert itself. Working with the actual composer of the music was a new and unique experience; I enjoyed it. Mr. Ewazen is a very amicable man. He gave us lots of suggestions without ever talking down to us. So yay. The concert itself went very well; I was completely thrilled. It was one of the rare instances where the best performance of the music actually happens at the concert instead of in a rehearsal. The little solo/soli thingy Singh and I had at the start of "Hymn for the Lost and the Living" wasn't flawless, but was about as good as anyone could have hoped for. And I personally thought Singh and I had never played "Celtic Hymns and Dances" better. As for the windO trumpets playing the bugle parts for windE's performance of "Legacy," it was a blast! We got to stand up in the balcony above the stage, all spotlighted and everything. And at the end of the piece the audience gave a standing ovation without it even being the end of the concert! Ahhh...it felt so good to be halfway competent at a concert! So excited...so excited...
After the concert was the much-awaited end-of-the-year party at the Chop house. I had, of course, been debating all week over whether I wanted to go or not. I was given the option to go with Rosalie and Heather for coffee and/or frozen yogurt, and that was an appealing choice because I haven't really spent much time with either of them lately. But I decided in the end that I would rather go to the party and have a horrible time then to not go and to spend hours worrying about whether or not I should have gone. Besides, I could have a good time, right? So off to the Chop house I went. When Courtney and I arrived I found the party to be very different from the one I experienced a few weeks ago. There were a lot more people there, and the people who threw the party went all out. There was a DJ and a disco ball and a bar inside and another bar outside and people at the door charging to get in...the whole shebang. I won't bore you with all of the details, but suffice it to say that I found it very much easier to enjoy myself at this party than at the others. For one thing, having more people there made me feel like just one in the crowd. I could do/not do what I wanted and not feel pressured (as much). For another, there were a lot more people there whom I know and with whom I could carry on a conversation. So that was exciting. As far as alcohol goes, I had a strawberry daiquiri and a shot or two of peppermint schnapps (as part of a Chop tradition...toasting and whatnot). I don't think it was a whole lot of alcohol, but I'm pretty sure I could feel the effects of it anyway. I was a little woozy walking around...so I sat on the couch for a pretty good while. I don't know if I had had enough so that other people could tell that I had been drinking; you'd have to ask Courtney. I decided I had had enough partying for one night at about 2, so Courtney drove me home in my car, which she drove back to the chop house so that she could take other people home in their cars. (She and I drove back there this morning to retrieve my car.) I was asleep about fifteen seconds after hitting my pillow.
I really don't like that I had stuff to drink at the party. I'm fine with beer and wine...in time...but I don't think I'll ever want to drink other, stronger liquor. I know I was only slightly tipsy and nowhere near "drunk," but I absolutely hated the feeling. I don't have a problem with other people drinking, but I hated not being in control. I hated having to rely on someone else for a ride home. I hated not feeling responsible. (Not that people who drink are necessarily irresponsible...drinking just isn't good for me personally.) I'm sure a large portion of those of you reading this are thinking that I need to learn to "let go" a little more, and you're certainly entitled to your opinion. But I have my own set of values, which I have seen lately being warped and compromised by what everyone else thinks is good and right. Well this is one instance where I'm not going to let that happen. I'm Josh Parker, and I don't drink. If that makes me a dork/a square/a loser/whatever the hell you want to call it in someone else's eyes, then fine. Think that about me. At least I'm sticking to what I believe in. At least I can be satisfied with myself.
Okay...well after that I think I'm good for blogging for now. I really hadn't planned on all of that coming out here. But so it goes. I'll talk to you all soon.
Carpe diem,
Josh
mood: there's something in the back of my mind I can't put my finger on that's bothering me
music: Abba's "Dancing Queen" as sung by Rockapella
location: dorm
