Yay this week's over!!

And I've been talking about going to bed for, like, three hours...sigh...but I really needed to waste some good, valuable time!!!! I handed in big things and feel better...I have nothing big until finals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was no one at the K. tonight. (20 people instead of the usual 60, or however many, no clue) First time ever, I think, I didn't stay for Benching (singing) because my voice had gotten sore in Services and I was tiered...not that I've gone to bed!!!

At lunch Lauren said " Anyone want to go out on the pond?" So seven Parsonites took out two canoes and three kayaks. I went with Lauren...I have finaly set foot on the island!!! She might be a Crewbie, and Crewbies might have muscular arms and so are strong paddlers, but there the common skills end. Just because you are on Crew does not mean you can steer. I ended up steering the most...but I had to majorly compensate because I'm not as strong as her at all! Once we had gone upstream a ways we beached ourselves and got out. My brilliant HP (House Prez) decided to wade out into the water to get some river glass she'd seen. The river might be more of a brook, and slow moving, and shallow, but it is cold! With much using of the paddle to poke the ground in front of her, and much flailing at the coldness, she ventured out finally. Slowly, one by one, we followed. WE've got some photos on digital cameras of us all out in the middle of the river. It wasn't so bad once your feet and legs numbed enough, though eventually the rocks covering the bottom really began to hurt our feet...but there were seven of us wandering around staring into the water!!! We probably looked silly. People coming back downstream had to paddle around us!! There were two classes out so at first we didn't have enough life jackets. It was so much fun...for over an hour in the early afternoon!!!! I have pretty glass and samples of these red rocks which were all over? They look like bricks?

I have a concert tomorrow...my parents are coming...I see them a lot. I 've been talking to my dad with Skype because it's fun!!!! But I couldn't bear to go to bed too early on a Friday..I was going to go find someone to hangout with...but got trapped by my computer...oh, and I called Jess...she didn't have that much to add on to her interesting Blog posting. Kim (next year roommie) asked one girl about her cool chair and I asked Leah about her carpet...we're trying to figure things out for next year. (And we get to arrive early as HONS.) Glee Club members also have to arrive several days early to learn Convocation music. G'night. We're almost there....yay summer!!!! (It seems too soon, and I'll miss school friends...but I can't wait to get home!!!) Two weeks, or less!!!

Oh, Phantom...some of my favorite bits...
"Duuuun...dun-nun-nun-nuh-nuuuun..."
"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came..."
"Think of me, think of me waking..."
"...I used to dream he'd appear..."
"But his voice filled my spirit with a strange sweet sound..."
"Say you love me every waking moment, turn my head with talk of summertime..."
"...try to forgive, teach me to live..."
"You have brought me, to that moment when words run dry..."..."When will the blood begin to roast, the sweeping thought burst into bloom, when will the flames at last consume us?"
"Why make her lie to you to save me?"

Yay!!!!!!!

Annapolis, MD- The US Naval Academy

Sooooo...it rained ALL weekend. I went on an 8 hour bus trip...that is...8 hours EACH WAY!!! We had to leave sooo early both times that I was able to go to sleep easily and daydream nicely...I tried to read, but I didn't finish my short little book (and I didn't accomplish anything else) until this afternoon...I hate when they put on movies...because you can't escape the sound, and while I can ignore the pictures I can't concentrate with a movie blasting in my ears...so I'd give up and watch the movies half-heartedly. So, what did we do? We went to the Naval Academy to sing with the Men and Women's Glee Clubs. ---I just got interupted by my roommate coming in and now I need to tell her all about it.---There were lots of good looking young men in white shirts, pants, belts, hats and shoes!!!! It's pretty amazing...and for the rain they had stylish black raincoats. They have a beautiful campus, modern buildings mixing wonderfully with older ones...it all looks government-like...the style. They are on the water and there are lots of bridges!!! And now they are coming to visit us next weekend. I have never heared a full orchestra play G&S...the Overture to HMS Pinefore is amazing with the strings...and "We sail the ocean blue...and our saucy ship's a beauty...." is an amazing thing to hear an all male chorus of strong voices sing...especially when they are students at a Naval Academy!!! Hearing them sing Wagner's Pilgrim's Chorus, which is slow and quiet was wonderful...I could listen to it forever. It was even better in rehersal without the words...it was sooo sweet and gentle on a hum. I got to stand in front of the tenors, because they were in back of the Soprano's...and I love hearing the tenors!!! Also...our hotel, which I think the Academy paid for, had big rooms with livingroom areas and kitchenettes!!! We had an interesting incident this afternoon at the rest area trying to go in for lunch...we walked across some benches single file to get around a puddle...people with flip-flops went through the water..I didn't because I have a bandaid on because I stubbed my toe on a cobble at the Academy and my toe was bleeding (not badly, but bad enough to need a bandaid at first, and it hurt enough to want to protect it.) ... oh, yes, before our rehersal on Friday Dane, Molly and I did a little Shabbat singing. On Saturday we also felt like singing and did Havdalah...using the light for a candle, hotchocolate mix for spices and my raison instead of wine...all done sitting in the middle of Dane's hotel bed...we were sitting in a circle holding hands and singing when the pizza some girls ordered showed up...I think the pizza delivery man might have given us funny looks for our "Koom-bi-ya" moment (which I can't spell....so sound it out please.) One girl had home work so the three of us, and another girl joined us later, went to the vending room and sat on the floor to sing rounds..and three part songs. It sounded sooo good and echo-y and we could tune easily and I could sing strongly enough because the room amplified the sound!!!! Other girls kept walking past and doing double-takes to see us sitting in the room. (There was a door with a window.) So I have now been to Maryland...and a Naval Base, at that!!! Some of the Seniors got to stay with Officer's families and eat good food. We got to see the amazing dinninghall...it is really big!!! Oh, Smithies...and Smithies in Chorus. The boys kept asking us if it was true that Smith was 60% or 70% or 80% or 90% gay...and girls kept trying to trick boys into thinking they were, or saying things like "How do you know that I'm not?" The boys ended up asking if there were any Straight Smithies. Girls kept repeating among themselves..."Don't ask, don't tell." Oh, clash of cultures!!!! Our motto at Smith could be: "Ask and tell." Oh, dear... I love my school..but it's a bit nuts...that's probably why our house t-shirts, which I did not buy, say :"We don't need balls, 'cuz we've got nuts." And they have a picture of a squirrel. We have plenty of Squirrels on campus...and on occation...squirrels in Parsons House!!

Strawberry Shortcake w/ Passover Roll

Yeah...Laurel and Katie were eating dessert, and I decided to have some too, but on a Passover roll. The three of us hungout at Laurel's, pretending to get work done. On my way over I stopped at the top of the hill and took pictures of the view, and the sky, and the clouds, and the sunset, and the ponds, and the farm!!!!!! I need to go, I'm going back to school...will send mom back with my snow pants and I'm bringing the fan back to school. Must study for French test and do Latin...I've gotten lots of reading done and relaxed this weekend but have not done longterm stuff or Monday's HW...only Tuesday's because Monday's sucks.

Tevye the Dairyman

I couldn't decide whether to come home or not, but then I decided to. The Morehouse guys are back from Georgia, but I'm just have to miss their visit...and I think there was going to be a party in the Penthouse. I'm reading Tevye the Dairyman by Sholom Aleichem for Text and Tradition...Katie is mentioned, and me, and Mike, and Ryan, and Laurel and the other daughters...Yente, Jess, is mentioned, but is not the matchmaker (the matchmaker is male)...and I'll say more later because Katie just called...

"Olim erat parva puella quae in silva habitabat."

So begins Little Red Ridinghood in Latin: "Once there was a small girl who lived in the woods." Which has no connection to anything.

Anyway....it's Passover. Daphne, Ilana, Kate, Molly and I brought food from Cutter-Z. back to the house and ate dinner, sang the four questions, sang Dyanu, ate matza, told stories of how we all celebrate the holiday and called it a Seder!!! (And Daphne brought dessert: a chocolate bar.)

We are figuring out rooming and stuff for our Chorus trip to the Naval base in Annapolis to sing with the Academy...my buddy is my friend Caity.

As a pre-Passover meal, and as a Leah-is-too-lazy-to-go-to-get-breakfast-
and-needs-to-work-on-her-French-essay-meal, guess what I had for breakfast this morning....Mac&Cheese!!!!

Oh, and Laurel knows, but I forgot I hadn't posted it here yet....I got into Glee Club. (Glee Club is the upperclasswomen's chorus and harder to get into...though this year they're trying to replace people so maybe not...and they are better than the Chorus, but not this year...we might be beter this year.) ("we"= The Chorus...mostly firstyears and sophomores.) We had to do sight-reading and stuff in the auditions. I'll miss Deanna, but one of my closest house friends was just elected President of Glee Club for next year so I'll get to work with her...and Molly and others auditioned...my two Sop. I buddies did not audition..and I'll miss them very much.

I would like to start a Facebook Group: "I hate my rommate's music!!" But I am nice and won't...but I just had a moment when I was almost going to tell her to turn it off. (Instead of leaving the room and appandoning my computer or lying and saying I was working so needed it quiet.)

I signed up for classes today...Elementary Greek, Latin Prose and Poetry, The Adventure Novel: Not the Place for Women? (Comp. Lit.), and Intro. to Psychology-but it has a nighttime lecture and there is a class on Good v. Evil in stories (Comp. Lit.) at UMass that I'm investigating.

I'm so close to Public Safety that a girl is talkingoutside it on her cellphone right by the door and I can hear her.

We're singing March of the Toreadors so guess what's stuck in my head...we are actually running through pieces for the first time ever now and we preform them on the 22....ah!!! I love the Polovtsian dances from Prince Igor!!!

It snowed again, and other matters

It snowed, and I got to walk in it, and it wasn't that cold out, and the snow was sticking and I was happy. Room draw is tonight!!!! There's a strange guy dowstairs doing funny things to the piano and a strange car sitting out front...is our piano actually getting tuned???!!!!!!???? I have to stock up on cheese because the Kosher Line is only feeding us meat, and vegan stuff for Passover and I might just have to die. I can't wait though, we'll all be together for all meals for a week (us Jews) which should be fun!!!!

Edit: The Room Draw Verdict: I get the best double in the house with Kim, another HONS, and the third HONS, Dana, is across the hall. She is the only one of us to get a single after all that!! SO I get a big, sunny room and a nice roommate, not that I don't have a nice roommate now!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so stressful...I bought chocolate milk right after!!!!!!

It's Snowing!!!

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is, in fact, snowing on this lovely day of April 4th. Has nature got it wrong again? It has been rather cold and windy all day. Is nature trying to make up for the fact that we got very little snow this year? Stay tuned for more weather updates...and now, back to Leah's Home Work...you're listening to WILN, your New England Radio Station on this blustery Tuesday...

Updates On My Life- Incase You Wanted To Know

I was voted in as a HONS at the house meeting yesterday...which was amuzing because the Sniors won't be there next year and could care less who is what as long as the meeting doesn't last too long...so they just started calling out names and nominating anyone to do things!!! It was amusing...that and trying to find people so we'd meet quarum(is that the word?) (have the percentage of the house there that we needed for the vote to count.) I also, spur of the moment, auditioned for Glee Club this afternoon. (I did OK...I'm not too good at some things, and my voice wasn't at it's best, but I hope I didn't do too horribly. I still don't know if I'd rather stay in the chorus one more year with Deanna or work with Jonathan in Glee Club (which has more prestige and is supposedly better than the chorus, but they are pretty equal this year I think.) So anyway...things are interesting...the rising Seniors started picking classes today...I get to next week. Room Draw is this Wednesday....I've started needing to think about Passover and where I'll eat when and what. I asked Rabbi Bruce, who was serving at the Kosher Line the other day, what we're doing for the first night of Passover, because there are two Seders and only for the second night will we have one. We can get placed with families or maybe do our own, or something and his family will have a couple of students...so to make a long story short...because, as I said, I do sometimes eat turkey, I could come to his house...that's what they are having. (Laurel, don't make a face at me because "...you eat just as much meat as I do and I don't call myself a vegitarian!" (Quote from Laurel to me a while ago.)) We went looking at rooms last night and I wandered around the annex for the third time in my life...it doesn't look or smell like Parsons...now I fear for my beloved house when they renovate in the near future. There are amazing rooms...smooth wood floors, fancey shaped windows, large rooms...there is a senior double which I'd love to live in if I had someone to room with. Already this year none of the First years I wouldn't mind rooming with want a double...all want singles. I want a big sunny room. Waaa. Oh, well...a sunny single wouldn't be too bad, I guess. We're all nervous for room draw. I'm number 139 out of my class. There are two girls ahead of me in my house, and four or five behind me...and then there are the people in all years who I don't know who might move into the house and take our rooms we want...you never know. Ah...I'm still feeling the adrenolin(adrenolyn...how do you spell it?) from my audition. Oh, right..that thing...does it start with an ''h"? Who invented it and why? Whatever, I need to go do it...I'll say the word...."Hhhooommeeewwwoorrrkkk" Yuck. Seriously...I like my reading...so I'll go do it. Oh, right, first...Verdi was amazing..huge audience, I was listed in the program as an alto, but I'm excited to be in it at all and I don't really care!!! There were...900 singers? I think we had more people there than in the chorus!!!!!!!!!!!! (Which is hard if you have such a big chorus...though I'm sure lots of family members were there.) Anyway....G'night.

Verdi

I've done a lot. Bell rehersal, bell concert, Verdi rehersal...now everyone is off at different dances and parties and I've been doing lots of stuff all weekend so I might just do home work...I could go somewhere...but I need work time...ah, I don't know. The rehersal was fun...we got coach buses just to go to Springfield. It's in a huge stadium with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and 600 singers, or whatever. I'll say more later, I think.

Later: Sorry, my roommate's friend was here and they were talking and I couldn't concentrate. It's so sad that ALurel's blog won't cooperate...for those who do not know, her writting is saved, she can edit it, but it won't post. It's weird. I'm sooo tiered that I only sortof mind not doing anything cool tonight. Instead I'm sitting around listening to Phantom and getting friend-sick. I need to get work done so I refuse to call anyone. "Say you'll share with me one love one lifetime..." I can picture us all sitting around Laurel's livingroom when I first saw Phantom!!

Horrors, upon horrors...I ran out of room in my writting notebook and I really need to write. Oh, well, I'll just have to live.

We had a Blue Berry Jelly incident with me, my roommate, her friend, my bed and her friend's coat...which ended in using many papertowels. I hid out in Kate Yohay's room...she went to a party in the Quad, but said I could stay. So I curled up on her bed with my French and let myself pitifully feel lonely...though I felt loved because I was in someone else's room which I don't do enough.

I'm scared to start Greek next year.

I did a good job in the HandBell concert!!!!

I can't wait for the summer...yet I'll never be at school with so many of the girls after this!!!! : (

I wanted to finnish a lot of my homework tonight....because then I could do course planning for the fall, though I really wish I were at a different school, but I think today was the deadline for UVM and I'd be miserable there after here...so I guess however bad this is, things could always be worse. I just want a group of friends my own age. Waaaa. Or, in other words, I really miss my friends from High School.

I hope the show went well at the High School! It's good I didn't go home if I'm worried about my work anyway...and I'm also worried about my sanity. But if I'm to be a HONS next year, and a HONJS (They voted me in the other day....Head of New Jewish Students) , Id better stay sane.

French, Latin, Greek, (Hebrew?)...what?

"Oh, what is to become of us?!!"-As usual Jane Austen says it best!!!!