College is over?

Okay, not officially until I graduate next Saturday, but today was the last day of classes in my undergraduate career. Weird. It is just hard to imagine it all being over very, very soon. I am filled with a mixture of thoughts and emotions and find myself in a constant swirl of reminiscence, as memories of the past four years flash in and out of my focus. It is just strange.

Sang on recital hour this morning. :) I sang Q's piece that he composed for me, and I think it was a hit...the big question was, "Wow, how high was that?!" haha! It went quite well...my high E-flat was actually E-flat plus a little. haha! Oh, well. Once it's out, it is what it is. ;)

Chapel Choir spent part of our final rehearsal singing at the fountains on the plaza, and then, the university president was handing out ice cream!! Yum! Gorgeous day AND ice cream?! :)

Went to see my friend Anthony in Rent tonight with my friends Haley and Kate and a few others. Anthony was fantastic! The rest...well...  I practically have the Bachelor of Music now, so I believe I hold at least some musical authority, right? haha! ;)  But oh the laughs and commentary that Haley and I share! Superaffenturbospitzengeil! :) Then, there's Kate and I practicing our fencing skills assessment exam with pens while we waited for the show to start...and the ladies behind us staring at us like we were insane! Oh, yes!

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The overwhelming smell of lilacs wafting through the air as the breeze rushes past. :)

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...when I am running late or in a hurry, and as I approach the crosswalk, it turns to the little walking man sign. :) It's like a nonstop flight to your destination (which I've probably only had ONE of my entire life!)...but walking. haha! ;)

Penultimate day of classes...

And...singing on recital hour tomorrow morning!

Espresso and Sarcasm

That's what happens and or necessary when there are only a few hours of sleep propelling you through the day. haha!

Monday, I woke up early to call the secretary at the Mozarteum in Salzburg only to find out that she is only in the office in the morning. Do you know what that means?! That I now have to call in the middle of the night my time. I just laughed at the ridiculousness of it.

After that "revelation," I set off to tackle those videos of me singing English art songs for my poetry class...that I was supposed to do right after Iolanthe. Oops! ;) That was a disaster!!! I had so many things I was going to accomplish that day...and the entire day was spent on that one project. My favorite. Long story short:

Going through 5 different people to borrow a video camera for this project: nearly impossible...and will take 5 hours of your day. Pack of mini DVDs for the damn camera (even though you only need one!): $20. Blocking out the time to accomplish the task: 1 hour actually means your entire day. Crossing the project off your to-do list: clearly, not actually priceless.

I must send a huge thank-you to my friends Mark and Courtney for helping me out and dealing with the nonsense and laughing at it all with me. Honestly, there is not much more you can do than laugh when life is ridiculous as mine is. Gotta love it! ;)

The worst part, though: my poetry professor hasn't even looked at them! So why did I bust my butt to get them done? Regardless, they are done, and I don't have to stress over them anymore!! Really, all I have left to worry about this semester (aka the next few days) is German, but I can handle that.

After that whole day of turning in circles, I got sucked into Google searches until 2am. Funny how it works that you go on to look for one thing and spend hours. haha! I set an alarm for 4am, so I could make my Skype call, and that nearly scared the bejeebies out of me when it went off. I have to admit that my German is not too bad in the middle of the night. haha! Anyway, at least the secretary was in the office.

Then, I went back to bed...only to be woken up a few hours later by the heating/cooling maintenance man...I forgot that he was coming Tuesday morning. That must have been a sight for him to see...hair everywhere, glasses askew, pjs, and the living room still scattered with papers, pencils, and books from the night before. Oh, well! haha!

Needless to say, the day was governed by espresso, absurdity of the delirium created from exhaustion, and keeping moving so that I didn't mess up my normal sleep time. So...I cleaned the entire apartment INCLUDING most of my room! It was much needed. (And shower drains = disgusting!)

"Senioritis" has struck me this week, the last week of classes. Good that it held out so long, bad that I still have things I need to get done. :-/  Slept for 9 1/2 hours last night, and feelin' pretty good. Now, if I could just get some confirmation about whether or not my registration in Salzburg has been accepted, I could book those plane tickets... ;)

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Finding this video via another that Joyce Didonato posted on her blog:




I think Katie and I should recreate this! haha! ;) Superaffenturbospitzengeil! (My new favorite German word...it means something along the effect of: That'd be awesome!)

Also...just need to add a second gratitude to this post...

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Gilligan's Island Season 3 Episode 4: "The Producer"



Um...THE best episode EVER! All I have to say is Gilligan singing Hamlet: The Musical. haha! (The fun starts at time marker 12:18.) ENJOY! ;)

Surprise!

Tonight at SAI, I was awarded the Sigma Alpha Iota Scholastic Award! One senior is given this award for academic and musical achievement! Didn't expect that, but it was very exciting! :)

Bittersweet

Now entering the final week of college classes. Wow. College is nearly over? These four years seem like a blur, yet a lifetime...and an amazing one at that! I have become ridiculously nostalgic and sappy lately. Blech. haha! And the finality of it all is starting to set in. However, it is time for the next step in my life's journey. :) Exciting...even if it is scary.

Friday was my last Chapel Choir concert! Pretty crazy! It was 3 hours long! It always is...there are 17 seniors, I believe, this year, and each one gets a note card. Mine was a bit like this:

Samantha is graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She is a member of Phi Beta Delta International Scholars Honor Society, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity. This summer, she will be traveling, once again, to Europe for auditions, a little adventure, and continuing her pursuit of visiting the 1000 Places to See Before You Die. Then, she will become a professional fencer...while singing soprano. hehe! ;)

So appropriately ridiculous. haha! It was a weekend filled with events and minimal sleep, of course. Shopping with my friend Carolarolyn for Katie's bridal shower, my friend Cam's senior recital, an evening at Katie's, laundry, church, coffee from Cosi's, Katie's bridal shower, tackling some of that procrastinated German homework, and SAI tonight...senior commitment ceremony and a pizza party! ;)

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Cute dresses. :) Carolyn picked out this adorable teal sundress for me when we were shopping for Katie's bridal shower. Target = awesome store! Shopping for a graduation/Katie's rehearsal dinner/Austria audition dress with Tiffany sometime this week! (Huge dress sale at Macy's!!) Yay!


Also...my friend Kelly just posted this video, so I thought I'd share it. I have such talented friends! :)

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Drinks, bruschetta, and chocolate cake with Dina, Katie, and Caitie @ Giuseppe's! That's all I have to say! Best times! ;)

Undergraduate Symposium Day

Presentation is finally over!! Apparently, it was a success...Samantha, the perfectionist, seems to just keep recalling all the dreadfulness in my speech. I hate public speaking! I mean, I don't necessary mind doing it...I do it all the time, and I am fairly decent at it...but it doesn't change the fact that I do not enjoy it very much. I am pretty much just mad that my musical examples decided not to work after I spent HOURS last night working on it. (I actually had a little soprano fit while I was laying on the floor with my laptop, muttering obscenities, and occasionally chucking a CD that had decided not to burn across the living room floor. Alexa seemed to find it amusing...and then my FULL glass of water tipped over on the coffee table, soaking me and the floor beside me. I just laughed hysterically...another one of those sitcom moments! haha!)

Despite the technological malfunction, things did go quite well. Glad it is over, though. The funniest part is that I was so scatter-brained the hour or so before my presentation that I nearly left my apartment without the presentation, itself! That would have been a much bigger disaster than just the musical examples disappearing.

Other than Symposium today, not a whole lot to tell. Just been chugging along on finishing up my schoolwork. Oh, and my back is in pain...another typical Samantha story...on Monday in Poetry class, I fell out of my chair. In my defense, the chairs we have are on wheels, and my chair decided to continue to go backward when I didn't. Then, PLOP, I was on the floor. It wasn't a far drop, and it didn't hurt; it happened so fast that I could not tense up. However, I awoke extremely stiff and very sore on Tuesday morning, and currently, any stagnant position is not cool. Ouch. :(

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The weather was beautiful and practically perfect today, and for lunch, the university had a lovely picnic out on the plaza. Plus, I got to be dressed up pretty clothes all day! :)

WARNING: Don't get crystal doorknobs.

They may be pretty, but they are nothing but trouble! My apartment has these lovely, antique crystal doorknobs on the doors. The one on the bathroom door, in particular, is quite a nuisance, as it often got stuck at the beginning of the year. We finally set it so that the door closes but never latches, so that neither my roommate or I got stuck in there anymore. Then, there's the issue of when the latch decided to slip...

I got home quite late last night to find all the lights and the television on and Alexa nowhere in sight. She was tired before I left, so I figured she would have been long asleep when I got back. Then, I saw the bathroom door closed, so I assumed, "Oh, she must be in the shower. It's pretty late for her, though." I hung my keys on the hook and heard, "Sam! Help me get out! I am stuck!" The latch had slipped AND the doorknob had fallen off and was subsequently laying on the floor on my side of the door. Trying not to laugh because it really was a very serious matter (yet still extremely funny!), I eventually got the doorknob to go back in and unlatch the door. Apparently, she'd been in there for 3 1/2 hours!, so basically this had happened right after I left! Poor girl! She was pretty distressed.

We were in tears from laughing hysterically today about it, though! Our friend Haley said that that is the kind of thing you see happen in a movie but not in real life. Well, Alexa and I could have our own unscripted TV sitcom and would provide a lot of entertainment to people because stuff like that happens to us all the time! We are Laverne & Shirley! haha!

Also...I must send a "BRAVI TUTTI" to the cast of Little Women, especially Alexa, who played a magnificent Josephine March. :) I sat in two dress rehearsals and went to both shows...3 of those times, I was in complete sobs when Beth died. I know it is going to happen...it is one of my favorite books and stories, and yet, it gets me every time. And that song, "Some Things are Meant to Be," does not help the matter either! (I didn't cry all four times because I was sitting beside Alexa's dad during one of the performances, and we were too busy snickering at the little girl in front of us that kept hiding her eyes every time there was kissing. haha!)

Watching that show, I realized just how much I, myself, am like Jo. I was chatting with Chad today, and he said, "Yep! Stubborn...check...strong-willed...check...independent...check...short-tempered...check..." haha! So true.

I was walking to the campus center this afternoon to check my mail, and I saw that there was a blood drive going on. For about a split second, I thought that it might be a good idea to go donate...and then I thought it probably isn't the most ideal time for me to pass out, again...nor do I ever want to pass out, again! haha!

Undergraduate Symposium on Research presentation tomorrow afternoon! "The Phenomenon of Vocal Vibrato."  Eek! I will be happy when it is over...it was not a smart life choice to agree to doing this. I hate public speaking! I mean, I do it...no big deal...but I do not enjoy it.

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Alexa's mom came over yesterday evening and brought us a yummy dinner and cookies! :) She cooked for like 20, so some friends came over in shifts, and we ate, chatted, visited, sang, laughed... 

My Friday Night

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Lounging on the sofa in pj pants, knitting, watching movies, and sipping a glass of red wine whilst eating dark chocolate-covered cranberries = a practically perfect way to relax at the end of such a very stressful week. Life is pretty good. ;) 

Today is Thursday, which is like a Friday, but not really.

That's my friend Isaac's favorite saying, and I have now stolen it. It's been a terrible, horrible, very bad, no good week, but it is nearly over...and hopefully with it goes the frustrations! haha! As Spamalot puts it, "Always look on the bright side of life!" ;)

Chocolate consumption is up. New cell phone is now sufficiently bejeweled! (My case came in the mail today.) It is 100% bedecked in silver rhinestones. hehe! (As Daddy said, "BLING BLING!" haha!) Watched the final dress rehearsal for the conservatory's production of Little Women...my roommate Alexa is playing Jo!...and sobbed sufficiently over the death of Beth. It is one of my favorite stories...I know it is coming, but it gets me every time! Took a million pictures for Alexa. And now for a glass of wine to relax a little.  

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Alexa's mommy also came and watched rehearsal tonight and showed up with a frozen mocha frappuccino for me. It made me smile after such an exhausting day. Thank you, Joy! :) She is such a sweetie.

Tomorrow is Friday...which is definitely a Friday.  :) Besides Little Women this weekend, I am hoping it is a mostly uneventful weekend. I need to rejuvenate and refresh myself before I confront next week...which will be a good week. :) 

In honor of National Poetry Month...

living is moving on and up
it is giving in and giving away
the right things at the right time
all it takes is the courage to do it
knowing and believing in the divine timing
of your days
you are new
only when you have released...
       totally...the old
you must not stay on the same level of being
there always is another way to awareness
grow         change         become
the strength you need deep within
will rise to the surface...join consciousness
and bring your transformation
ask for newness
call upon your forces
display your courage
accept the change
believe in your right
to have it

                ~diane westlake

Jet-lagged without ever leaving Ohio?

Yes. This weekend yielded minimal sleep. An evening with my girls Katie and Caitie on Friday...those times are priceless. :) However, getting up before the sun on Saturday morning after probably only sleeping about 4 1/2 hours? Not a fan. But you do what you have to do sometimes. I had a two-hour drive to Oxford, OH with the one and only Chadwick for a singing competition. Oh the nonsense that ensued! haha! Favorite Chad/Samantha moment of the day:

Me: "If I was a superhero, I'd want teleportation to be my super power."
Chad: "Teleportation and invisibility."
Me: "You can only have ONE, Chad!"
Chad: (in a pouty 6-yr old face) "I can have two! ...I'm Chad."

Oh, Chad! I took 4th in my division. Not too shabby. ;) Not a win, but placing is always a good thing. I felt I sang really well. And it was good to get more audition experience if nothing else.

Sunday, then, I had a meeting in the morning to go over my presentation for Undergraduate Symposium on Research in a couple of weeks (not sure what possessed me to agree to that one...) and a Chapel Choir concert. Oh joy! haha. That did me in. Up for over 20 hours straight, didn't sleep too well Saturday night, and then had a full day of events. But I am strong and survive it all!

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I cannot believe I am actually admitting this (because my mother is going to read this and say, "I told you so" or something), but I am thankful for all the annoying times my mother went through the checklist in the morning...Did you brush your teeth? Yes, mother! Do you have everything you need? Yes, mother! Did you put on your deodorant? Yes, mother!

Why this now? Because I have to do the checklist myself now...and I almost walked out the door without deodorant on Sunday, BUT I caught myself just before. So, however annoying it was, thanks, Mom. ;)

Mozart makes me happy! :)

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Just a little bit ago, I was practicing this SWEET new Mozart aria that Lynn and I chose today for my pending audition at the Mozarteum. (Yes, I would be singing Mozart! haha!). The living room window was open a little to let some cool air in, and this little girl saw me, stopped, and yelled up to my window, "Were you just singing opera?! It's good!" I think that was just the highlight of my week. :) As Antonin Dvorak said, "Mozart is sunshine." :) 

How my life turned into an episode of "Grey's Anatomy"...

Easter break was much needed and fairly relaxing. Finally got to go home...the first time since the beginning of January. Xander is the biggest ham I have ever met...and as stubborn as his Aunt Sam!

Good Friday, however, wasn't so "good" for me, as I spent a fair amount of the morning and early afternoon chilling in the ER with a big, colored, and very gay male nurse named Herman. Why, you might ask? Well, a doctor's appointment Friday morning yielded a blood test order, which we subsequently went to complete at the hospital across the street. Bad choice number one. Ipod in hand, I sat to suck it up and let them fill the three vials. (This is something I detest the most.) About 30 seconds later, I was getting light-headed and trying to breathe deeply and let it pass. Two seconds after that, I fell asleep...or at least that's what it felt like. Apparently, I had passed out, smacked the floor, hit my head, and bit my tongue. What a scene the melodramatic Samantha caused! One minute, Josh Groban was singing to me, the next, one of the scariest moments of my life. I never want to pass out ever again! (Also...note: when speaking with the doctor, skip the part about Josh Groban singing to you...he thought that not only had I hit my head but that I was also delusional!)

Herman called me "Sunshine." Everyone kept asking what happened, like the girl that was just unconscious would know! Various machinery was hooked to me. They wouldn't let me pee until I consented to giving it to them in a cup, so they could confirm that I was not pregnant. (That would be the Immaculate Conception round 2!) Oh, yeah...and they took MORE blood to make sure I wasn't anemic. Yeah, that's brilliant...do it, again, and see if I can pass out one more time! In short, it was a whole lot of ridiculous. And not so much fun.

Other than that, break was good. Although, my head and arm and such are still bruised. I wanted to come up with a sweet story to tell when people saw the big bruise on my arm, but it turns out that the true story is actually quite funny...now. Certainly wasn't then.

Now, it is back to my last stretch of undergrad! Eek! Those big decisions are looming ever closer every day...

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The family got new cell phones while I was home. Yay for a full keyboard! It is pretty sweet. AND...my diva-style cover is in the mail...full out rhinestone-studded! "Bling bling!" hehe! ;)