December 2009 12 of 12

The semester’s been crazy, so I haven’t updated in a very long time.  Nonetheless, here’s my December 2009 12 of 12.

9:37 a.m. Let's hop in the Way Back Machine, shall we, and start our Saturday morning with an episode of Saved by the Bell. This was the episode where the students switched places with the teachers and administration. Ah, Kelly Kapowski.

10:11 a.m. Hopped online to order one of Xan's Christmas presents. The yearly fee for Amazon Prime: TOTALLY worth it.

10:15 a.m. Our little Christmas tree. Cute, huh?

3:13 p.m. I got WAAAAY behind in my grading toward the end of the semester. Here's the sea of papers in which I almost drowned.

3:56 p.m. Staying hydrated is just as important during the winter as it is in the summer.

5:07 p.m. Our new blu-ray player can stream Pandora...wirelessly. It's pretty kick-ass!

6:58 p.m. Grading is done! This is the stack of papers that I graded this afternoon. As you can see, it's taller than BOTH my gradebook and my pen stacked on top of each other. Yikes!

7:03 p.m. As a reward for finishing my grading, I play IMPLODE!, an addictive little game in which you try to demolish various structures. I accomplished my goal of getting A+'s on every level. Go me.

7:26 p.m. After beating IMPLODE!, I play MGMT's "Electric Feel" on the bass. Man, I love that bass line.

9:24 p.m. Making the Aural Skills 3 dictation final key.

10:15 p.m. Getting directions to a party.

10:49 p.m. It was an "Edward Fortyhands" party. I decided to go "Christopher Twelvehands." Hooray, beer!!!

Bonus pic: Oreo cuteness!

October 2009 12 of 12

In all its glory, my October 2009 12 of 12, with pics taken using just my iPhone.  It’s good to be back.

9:01 a.m. Good morning, world. Thanks, Christopher Columbus, for discovering America and subsequently providing us with a day off.

9:32 a.m. 43 degrees outside. Not cool, Mother Nature. Not. Cool.

11:54 a.m. In the elevator at school, headed up to my office to get some work done.

4:35 p.m. Grading Friday's Uninflected Interval Quiz. Fun times.

5:37 p.m. While taking a break, I beat a Hard level on GeoDefense Swarm.

5:47 p.m. It's a GD Swarm two-fer! I beat another level just 10 minutes later. It's a good day, indeed!!

6:31 p.m. In the elevator, headed home.

8:34 p.m. Grading part-writing. Yup, that's four-voice writing on notebook paper. This is the kind of crap I have to try to decipher every day. Ugh.

8:52 p.m. Making some delicious chianti braised beef & rigatoni. God bless dinner-in-a-bag.

9:45 p.m. For tonight's entertainment: F.R.I.E.N.D.S Season 4.

11:00 p.m. Some hot chocolate to cap the evening. Delicious!!

11:33 p.m. Getting ready for bed, about to brush our teeth with the Sonicare. Xan's being silly.

BONUS PIC: Oreo with her new toy, Swan Valdez.

July 2009 12 of 12

9:07 a.m. - Good morning, blogosphere.

9:31 a.m. - My earring fell out the other night and I only just found it this morning.

9:36 a.m. - Pre-shave, mid-haircut, and lookin' rough! (Man, my hair grows a lot in one week.)

10:15 a.m. - Post-haircut/shower/shave. Note the "reinstalled" earring.

10:55 a.m. - A little DD coffee (OK, a large one) helped get me to campus before 11 to grade and lesson plan for tomorrow.

11:43 a.m. - The new-and-improved office desktop. Dual monitors is the only way to go.

5:20 p.m. - I returned the Pre (pictured earlier) and got a new iPhone 3GS. (Thanks for the photobomb, Mike!)

8:24 p.m. - New phone, meet the old phone.

8:55 p.m. - Mike brought over another electronic peripheral that should help launch our rockstardom.

10:31 p.m. - The Cubs' Sean Marshall pitched to one batter, played right field for one batter, then pitched to another batter. All the switching around gave some needed excitement in an otherwise uneventful game.

10:40 p.m. - The Cubs' Reed Johnson makes a great catch in left field--while stumbling--to keep the Cards' lead to 2 (although replays showed he may have trapped the ball.) The effort was all for naught, however, as the Cubs went on to lose 4-2.

10:50 p.m. The obligatory Oreo pic.

May 2009 12 of 12

I apologize in advance if you fall asleep before making it through my day.  Boring doesn’t even begin to describe it.

8:42am - I don't teach on Tuesdays, so it's my chance to sleep in. At this time yesterday, I was wrapping up my first class.

8:43am - Good morning, Oreo!

8:53am - Oreo watches intently as one of my neighbors brings her dog, Diesel, out for his morning business.

9:09am - Fueling up for the gym.

10:11am - The entrance to the UML Campus Recreation Center (CRC).

1:52pm - A view of my desk at school, as I write my Theory 1 final and chat with Marty.

2:45pm - A shot of the Merrimack River as seen between two buildings on campus, shot on my way to drop off receipts for a reimbursement.

3:57pm - Going over an error-detection exercise that will be used as part of my review in Theory 2 tomorrow.

4:44pm - Makin' copies. Apparently, I forgot how to use the zoom on my camera.

5:17pm - A little Chopin and Mozart to end my day at school.

6:31pm - Enjoying a beer with dinner.

9:09pm - Watching the Cubs beat the Padres.

I promise that my next 12 of 12 will be much more exciting.  I’ll be in Germany; so the way I see it, at the very least, it should be scenic!

Cave canem

As Oreo and I got in elevator this morning, there were two elderly women already in the car.  Oreo got excited, as usual, but did her best not to go crazy and dutifully sat when I asked her to.  One of the women in the elevator then remarked that Oreo “looks vicious.”  Oreo vicious?  Really?  Seriously??  The way I see it, Oreo couldn’t be less vicious-looking if she tried.  You be the judge:

Beware of the dog: she'll cute you death!

Easter 12 of 12

Happy Easter, everyone!

9:23am Bundled up on to take out Oreo. It LOOKED like Easter outside, but it sure didn't FEEL like Easter.

9:24am Yup, you're reading that correctly: Bright sunshine and 35 degrees, with a wind chill of 25 degrees. Like I said, it LOOKED spring outside, but it in no way FELT like spring.

11:09am Just before going into the church for Easter morning mass. Notice the lovely Easter wreathes on the doors and the fresh haircut.

12:24pm The beautiful Easter decorations in the church.

2:48pm Giving Oreo a long overdue bath. She was great--very calm and relaxed in the tub.

3:36pm Loaded up the dishwasher with a week's worth of dishes. I use a lot of dishes when I don't eat out. Plus, I'm lazy.

6:25pm Grading some Theory 2 papers. Ah, the deceptive cadence: one of my favorites.

8:20pm Oreo hanging out in front of the fire.

8:30pm Watching the Brewers' Ryan Braun bat in the bottom of the first inning. God, I hate that guy.

9:53pm Done with grading, I record the grades in the gradebook.

10:36pm iShoot for the iPod Touch is made by "Naughty Bits." (Mike, that one's for you. BITS)

11:34pm CUBS WIN!!

March 2009 12 of 12

It’s been a couple of months since my last 12 of 12.  But I remembered this month…and what a day it was!

7:42AM  I don’t teaching on Tuesday or Thursday, so I slept in today.  Only until 6:30, however, because I had to drop off my car to get my oil changed and get the SRS light checked out.  Little did I know it would end up costing me much more than I intended to spend.

7:43AM  Oreo’s used to the morning routine by now.  She got in her bed in the kitchen without me even having to tell her.  Note the look on her face that says, “OK.  Fine.  Leave me…again.”

9:03AM  I rearranged my office again (for the 7th time…literally).  I’m trying out a new floorplan, with the desk against the wall.  It really opens up the space and makes the office seems quite big.  (And yes, that’s Optimus Prime on my wall.)

9:27AM  My new dry erase/cork board combination that I hung up on my wall this morning.  Now I can write and post notes to myself without having to scotch tape them to the lovely cinder block walls in my office.

10:16AM  The view from my desk, while grading papers and listening to Pandora.  Man, I love Pandora.

1:31PM  Taking a break from grading (and waiting for the Honda dealer to call me about my car), I practice a little piano.  I’m playing the celeste part for Copland’s Lincoln Portrait.  If you look closely, you can see that it’s very simple part that oscillates on an E major chord for 10 measures.  Ah, my kind of accompanying.

2:56PM  The Honda dealer STILL hadn’t called me.  I was getting frustrated.  They called me about 15 minutes later to tell me that my car needed a new battery, and that it would be done in an hour and cost me more than initially quoted.  Great. 3:14PM  Finally having a timeframe of when I’d get my car back, I scramble to finish my lesson plan for Theory 2: cadential and passing 6/4 chords.  Fun times.  (You can really tell it’s my office by all the U2 posters on the walls.)

4:12PM  I run to the duplication room in hopes of picking up my Theory 1 Proficiency Exams before the Honda shuttle picks me up, only to find out Arlene left early today.  Great.  So I rush back to the Music office to try to make copies there, only to find that it’s closed early, too.  This is the view of the office from the outside of my mailbox.  I go into school on my off day and stay much later than I should, while others who normally work later than I leave early.  The irony of the whole afternoon was not lost on me.

4:46PM  The Honda dealer finally picks me up and drops me off to get my car…8.5 hours later!!

4:48PM  What was initially going to be a $30 oil change ended up costing me nearly ten times that much.  All to get the stupid SRS light to shut off.  It took the service department almost nine hours to figure out that my car needed a new battery.  *SIGH* I miss Proctor Honda in Tallahassee.

4:51PM  I’m finally back in my car.  Notice how the SRS light isn’t on any more.  Not bad for $300.  Ugh.  What a day.

BONUS:

11:40PM  The way I see it, regardless of how crappy my day went, it ended nicely, with my packing for FriendFest 2009 Part a in DC.  I’m driving to visit Mike, then going to Houston to see Xan and my parents.  And, yup, that’s a Guitar Hero guitar, packed and ready to rock!  Bring on the Expert level!!

Happy Birthday, Oreo!!

Today is Oreo’s unofficial first birthday, ‘unofficial’ because I don’t know exactly what day she was born last year.  I know it was sometime in late January or early February, so I figured February 4th was as good a day as any.  I’ve had her for almost 10 months now, and I can’t imagine how empty my life would be without her, especially since I’ve moved up to Lowell.  Granted, getting up early to take her out in near-zero temperatures is not loveliest task to complete, but it’s a small sacrifice.  Here’s to many more birthdays in Oreo’s future!

In other news, I just found out I’ll be presenting at the IASPM-US Conference in San Diego at the end of May.  Woo hoo!  So, that’s makes two conferences in two weeks in May…I feel like I’m having deja vu, seeing as I did a conference tour two years ago.  No road trip for me this time, though, as the U2 Conference is in NYC from May 13-15, and the IASPM Conference is in San Diego from May 29-31.  Even though they’re two weeks apart, ain’t no way I’m driving to California from Massachusetts.  The way I see it, I’ll probably spend as much on gas and hotels along the way as I would on a plane ticket, so I’ll take the convenience of flying.

Insomnia, pt. 2

Yesterday was the first day of the spring semester at UML.  I’m usually a bit nervous before the start of the new semester, and the two nights ago certainly was no exception.  I didn’t get much sleep the night before, about four hours, due to my mind’s inability to relax and also to a fear of oversleeping.  I had trouble falling asleep last night, too, again because my mind just couldn’t settle down.  Among the various subjects my mind contemplated were:

• The new semester: I hope I teach well and I hope my students are receptive to my methods.
• Relationships: past, present, and future; platonic, romantic, familial.  It was a long weekend, to say the least.
• The first six measures of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”: I’m using that as an example in class on Friday, so I transcribed it into Finale Sunday afternoon and haven’t been able to get it out of my head.  Along with…
• “Get On Your Boots,” U2’s new single: I’ve lived with the song for a week now and I can say with full confidence that I like it.  It’s a new direction for the band, which was their intent on this album.  I was reluctant to write about the song until I’d listened to it enough.  I have, and it’s a keeper.  Like the rest of the U2 fans out there, I’m very excited for No Line On The Horizon.
• The impending snow storm: I hope my tires don’t get flat again.  I’ve spent a pretty penny getting them changed; I’d really hate it if I had to through the hassle of changing yet another tire.  On the bright side, Oreo will have more snow in which to run around.
• Travel plans for Spring Break:  My mom wants to go to Vegas, Mike is hosting FriendFest ‘09a in DC, and I’d like to visit Houston again.  Three place, one week…something’s gotta give.
• My country ’tis of thee sweet land of liber…DAMN IT!!
• The Australian Open: Djokovic has all the talent in the world, but no heart.  I realize that court temperatures of 142 degrees are torture, but he’s a professional with adequate time to prepare for the conditions.  It’d be different if this was the first time he retired, but he’s developing a trend of quitting when he’s down.  Federer, the game’s gentleman champion and ambassador, even called him out.  Not a good sign, Novak.
• Nashoba Valley Chorale: I sang with them for the first time last night and the music was tough.  Of course, I was rusty, but a lot of the music was in French, a language I have trouble with.

So yeah, the way I see it, it was impossible for my mind to shut down while all this crap swirling around.  I’m not sure how well I’ll survive averaging less than five hours of sleep a night.  Here’s to an early bedtime tonight!

Click here for “Insomnia” (pt. 1).

December 2008 12 of 12

6:13am – The weather outside had been crappy for the past few days.  Today was no exception.  Little did I know it was going to affect my day so much.

6:47am – Since the weather had been so grey lately, I decided to dress brightly for the last day of classes.  All for naught, however…

6:52am – The view from my car’s driver’s side window.  The water from all the rain had frozen into a sheet of ice.  Lovely conditions, really.

7:20am – Driving HOME from school.  Yup, that’s right: driving HOME.  The severe weather had caused campus-wide power outages.  So much for the orange brightening my students’ day.  Note how the only lights in the picture are the headlights from oncoming traffic and the flash’s reflection in the windshield.

9:58am – UML’s text about campus closing finally reaches me…three hours late!

11:43am – Working in Finale, editing a portion of one of my finals I’m giving next week.  Mmm, part-writing.

1:47 – While preparing my first-ever batch of homemade chicken noodle soup, I decide to put on a little John Mayer.  I haven’t to listened to this CD in a while: I was reminded of how good it is.

2:58pm – My very first pot of chicken noodle soup.  It turned out pretty well.

6:36pm – While cleaning up the kitchen and making a breakfast casserole for the weekend, I pop on the DVD of U2’s 2005 Vertigo tour from Chicago.  It was a pretty good show, although I like the Elevation tour DVD from 2001 a little better. 

 

8:30pm – The breakfast casserole is ready to be put in the oven tomorrow morning.  Thanks for the idea, Mrs. Blessinger (I don’t mean Marty).

1:01am – Mike and play a three-game series of NCAA ‘09.  He tried a new team, Georgia Tech.  It was an ugly win: I managed to squeak out an overtime victory in game 3.

3:12am – After a long chat with Marty and finally taking Oreo out, I crawl into bed and read a few pages of Eclipse before passing out.