I'm Heated... But Not Literally!

My heat in my apartment is out... AGAIN! What, you say? It couldn't possibly be out again. Alas my friends, it is. Out like a gay man on Broadway. That's how out it is.

I think that my heat has been off longer than it's actually been on. We're rounding on count #9 for the heat to be out, and #3 for different maintenance men.

Supposedly it was going to be fixed during the day today... we shall see. It always makes me a little nervous when there's strangers in my apartment. Good thing I don't have anything valuable in there. I have my iPod in my pocket, and my computer at my side. And all my Coach purses are already packed away.

I can't wait to get out of my place, where hell freezes over.

Rehearsal - Work - Nap

Well, rehearsals are going pretty well... OK so we hit a little hitch yesterday with the orchestra. You can't hear the choir at all. Other than that, it went swimmingly. Tonight we will get a new arrangement, and hopefully all will be dandy.

I'm struggling through my day trying to keep awake. I'm using every method possible. Eight cups of coffee along with 2 Mountain Dew's and a slap to the face, dousing my face in cold water, sticking myself with needles, and propping my eyes open with toothpicks. All the usual stuff.

Nothing is working! The coffee/Dew has only made me a narcoleptic with spontaneous seizures, and the cold water makes me look even more like death, and now I'm bloody from the needles and I have splinters in my eyelids from the toothpicks.

I feel like I'm permanently trapped in the Salvador Dali picture with all the drooping clocks. My eyeballs are resting atop my desktop barely able to peek up at the brightly lit computer screen.

Will anything save my from my fatigue? I suppose that I could stop burning the midnight oil playing with my new gadgets, but they're too fun, so that's not an option...

However! Despite my lethargy, I will be animated and full-steam-ahead for the performances. Funny how that always works out that way.

Pocket Conductor

There is the cutest little man ever! He's directing our Israel in Egypt concerts. His energy is only surpassed by his love of music. When he directs, you can't help but get caught up in the music. He's so expressive without being distracting. It's a realy great honor to sing for him.

He has many ways of expressing himself. Ali wrote down some things that he said, but they were just classic. As odd and off the wal as they were, they still made complete sense. One of those times where you laugh because his analogy is so random, yet you couldn't have thought of a better way to put it.

I tell you folks, this is going to be a great concert.

Despite these gruelling long rehearsals every day and evening this week, it'll be an amazing performance each nights.

Christmas Come Early

It's Christmas come early! Or my graduation present come 3 years late, but in any case...I'm so excited!

My new MacBookPro came the other day!! Now I can actually set use my new iPod that's just been sitting on my desk! Wahoo! We got a bunch of those rebate offers, so along with my purdy new laptop, I got a trendy little messenger bag, and a 3-in-1 printer-copier-scanner. We looked at the reviews for it, and apparently it really sucks at scanning... but who cares?!? It was all free! *with about 83 mail in rebates*

Just thought I'd share my exciting news, since that's all I could think or talk about for the past 3 months. Now I shall go into hiding to play with all of my fun new toys. Yippee!!

Home Alone

My room-mate has moved completely out. I feel torn about the situation.

On one hand, I will miss having my Kevy around. It will be very empty without him. There will be no more:
~clothing critiques
~cleaning parties.... (well, obvs I'm OCD and there will still be cleaning parties, but now it's just going to be a cleaning party for 1)
~belting out show tunes at random times
~new furniture, kitchen items, glass-ware, decorations, or anything Michael Graves
~fun times with Kevy as my roomie

On the other hand, I'll love being able to go home and actually relax... if I still remember how to do so. For those of you that know my room-mate, he's a little intense.
I won't have to worry about:
~leaving my knitting or magazine out for the time I step away for a minute. I can just leave it there, and it will still be there when I get back!
~not using our kitchen table that's been permanently set for 10 months. Yes friends, I have a kitchen table that was set for 2, but was not to be used. Soooo many questions about that one.
~getting bolted and chained out of the apartment every Saturday morning
~feeling guilty about not continually buying new things for our-already-completely-furnished apartment
~double permit parking in the lot, or arguing that it's my turn (after 6 months)
~having certain friends over
~be able to go to bed without being pressured to go out for a drink, movie, or shopping

I'll miss him, but I think I'll hang in there. *wink wink*

Another Opening, Another Show

Well folks, I haven't had a performance since February 19, and I didn't see ya'll there. So, here's your chance at redemption (in more ways than one).

I will be performing at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts again. This performance is something everyone should see. Vocal Essence is performing Israel in Egypt with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. You can order tickets online or call 651-291-1144 to order from the box office.

Israel in Egypt is an amazing choral work. It's an oratorio, which makes its impact and drama heightened. An oratorio is basically an opera, but without all the staging. You can read the libretto in the above link. (It looks long, but it takes about 1 minute to read.) It's a powerful piece of work. Each time I sing it, it stirs something inside. Here's a few clips.

I think that it's very fitting to perform this in the season of Lent. It's a performance that everyone should attend.

Rachel Rejected

Well folks, I heard from my first graduate school (NCSA). It was a short and sweet... NO. I figure this letter is something to keep forever... but I threw it out quicker than old chicken. It is my first rejection letter from a school. Luckily I didn't have any from undergraduate applications, so it's high time I started getting some now! I just hope that I'm not 0 for 2. Otherwise, I'm pretty much screwed.

So, bad news for me with a missed opportunity at Fletcher Opera Institute. And bad news for Abbie. (Sorry I won't be out east with you, but you might not be there either!)

Good news for the rest of my friends and fam. I'll be here to fulfill your every need... and by fulfill your every need I mean, move back home with my parents because I'm po'!

Still waiting on the University of Minnesota. Let's hope they don't have the dreaded "cap" again ! Or else I might have to run off on a cruise ship and join the other sea-bound performers.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I hope that you're all out drinking green beer today! (Well, except for JB.) Or that you're wearing green if you're Irish. Or getting kisses.... I'm not sure how the last one came about, but if someone knows, please tell!

As for me, tonight I will be at Keagan's Irish Pub. Me... hanging out with all the Irish. I think I'll blend in. I almost look Irish. South Korean ---- Irish, it's practically the same.

So sláinte to the Irish!

And geonbae wihayeo to the Koreans!

New Things!

I got a new hair cut.



16 inches gone.



I absolutely love it.

My Ghetto Life

Like any good suburb kid, I would spend the day pretending I was from da hood. How fun it was to speak, act, and dwell in the ghetto.

Oh, who am I kidding? I do live in the ghetto, my heat has been out no less than 8 times this winter, and my little Geo Prizm got vandalized, and our neighbors aren't exactly upstanding citizens. It's always pleasant to walk down the hall and hear babies crying, people yelling, and smell something of an unknown origin.

Here's our pimpin' ride that we took to school everyday.

We liked to play basketball after school. The grocery cart we stole from the homeless man on the corner worked great for the hoop! Talk about innovative! After we got done shootin' some hoops, we liked to cool off on the boat.
This is the treads I almost got instead of the Mazda3. It was a tough call though.

Here's my favorite shirt, and a good rule to abide by.

I hope that gave you insight into my childhood. It was a fond one.

A Loved Player

A sad loss occurred yesterday, Kirby Puckett passed on. He was a great baseball player and had a vitality to life about him, that I never imagined him changing in any way.

Like many, I had all 8876179 different baseball cards of him. He made up the majority of my baseball card collection. Hmm, I wonder what happened to that shoebox... In any case, he was a huge part of my childhood baseball memory. He will be missed.

Possible Narcolepsy

I went over to the parents to have dinner and watch an "exciting" award show. I think that this is the first award show (minus the Tony's) that I've actually planned to sit down and watch. It wasn't my choice, but my parents (and by parents, I mean my Ti-Vo addicted mother) really wanted to watch it, so I succumbed. I suggested that we play a game, or do something fun during it, because usually the awards aren't so fun.

Last night reminded me of why I don't watch those ceremonies. The beginning 5 minutes was quasi-enjoyable, but then it all went downhill from there.

All the speeches seemed so long and lame. Nobody seemed excited to win, except the schmoes that won best song for the hardships of a pimp. The audience looked like they were bored out of their minds, and I think they kept saying, who is that? There were so many B list stars and under, that they showed Keira Knightley for like 80 hours! Not that I don't love her, and think she's amazing, but good gracious!

The interviewers were as talented as slugs. They had no interesting questions to ask, they made everyone feel uncomfortable, (including the viewers) and I wanted to punch them in the face to stop the pain.

The dresses were interesting to watch for about 2 seconds, then... not so much. Some of them were just hideous, nobody looked outrageously beautiful, or hideous. Everyone just played it safe. Although Naomi Watt's dress was particularly hideous. What was she thinking? It looked like someone gnawed on her dress. Not to mention with the rouching around the waist made her look like she had love handles the size of Antarctica.

Needless to say, with all the excitement going on in the award show, I was passed out on the couch circa 8:30pm. It was that amazing. I think that I'll just stick to my Tony Awards, and save myself the torture.

Trivia At Keagan's

Well folks, I finally went to Keagan's trivia with the Fraters. They're one of a kind, and prized at Keagan's. Prized so much in fact, that they were declared the losers in a tie, because they increased the bar's revenue by adding a couple of guests to sit at their table. Poor saps.

The added guests put in their two cents, but only to be shot down. They would've won if they had just nodded and wrote it down. So, not only did they end up in a tie situation for not listening, they lost the tie because of their added companions.

In any case, it was fun to see familiar faces again, and catch up with Janelle. Fraters, next time take heed.

Mauer Married?!

I was in a jewelry store the other weekend, and I came across a rather juicy bit of information from a buddy. He told us that Joe Mauer was in there the other day to order a ring. He didn't tell us what kind of ring he ordered, nor did we ask, but he purchased a ring none-the-less.

If that ring turns out to be a diamond, it will be a very sad day for all the ladies of Minnesota that have gone to many a game to gaze adoringly at the handsome catcher. I swear that's not why I go... I'm a Twins *cough cough* (Mauer and Cuddyer) *cough cough* fan, through and through. Even if it doesn't turn out to be a diamond ring, I don't think that little Joe Joe is buying a ring for his mother or sister, so it's just a sad day all around.

I share with you the information that I know, disheartening as it may be.

Hi My Name Is

Slim Shady. Barf. No. I'm kidding.

My new car has a name. I have settled on The Rachel Express.

I'm keeping the "Train" theme, but altering it. So, the pickle is regected 80 million times over. Sorry Shyestviolet and Hammerswing, it was just never meant to be.