Mark is on his way here from Raleigh. I can't wait to see him. (I am such a goofy ass.) I have his birthday presents here waiting for him--two framed 8x10's (one of him at Holden Beach--a truly arty photo, if I say so myself--and one of the two of us from July), some flannel pajamas, organic dates, and some pretty blue tumblers. (He said he needed cups.) .....

I have to go--he's already in town, and I have to go back up to my apartment. More later...

Feeling better today. I just had my first headshots done at the campus Publications Office. I hope they turned out okay--I may get to see them this afternoon.

Last night I actually did something social--I went to the house of one of the other grad students and watched the season premiere of Buffy. It's an interesting show--kind of gross, but that's a stupid thing for a Six Feet Under fan to say. (Speaking of which--what gives with the Emmys snubbing my show? I mean, I know they don't mean anything, but still.) It was nice to talk to people. I think I'm actually putting myself out there more. Good for me!

(For most of you it must sound silly for me to talk about not having a lot of friends--but I do have some anxiety about making friends, and I always think people are "talking about me". As if people actually cared about what I do, when they have they have their own lives to worry about! This isn't high school, for God's sake! But I still want people to like me, nevertheless.)

You know what I just thought of? If Nick and I were still dating (which in itself is a very funny and weird thought!), today would be our 8 year and 7 month anniversary. That's 103 months. Isn't it strange that I just thought of that?

Well, I have to go eat lunch (overpriced Wendy's salad) and learn some music (I've already read through 30 pages of Figaro--only 45 more to go, and then memorization!), so I will sign off. Just wanted to let you know I haven't fallen off the Earth...

I felt it was necessary to post today--even though I have an upper respiratory infection--in order to prove my detractor wrong (she knows who she is! :>). I'm lucky that it hasn't affected my larynx. No, actually, that's because of all the hard work I've been doing to prevent this thing from creeping down from my sinuses. Lots of water, lots of rest, and honey and juice. (Sorry, Dr. Atkins, but I know what to do when I get sinus symptoms.) So anyway, I had a good weekend despite it all. Friday night we had a really nice (and expensive!) dinner with Mark's boss and his wife. Mark, of course, downplayed the dressiness of the event, so I didn't even know I was underdressed until I saw him put on his blazer--at which point it was too late. Well, nobody said anything, anyway. Saturday we went to this new mall in North Raleigh (can you believe there are 5 or 6 HUGE malls within 8 miles of Mark's house? And I'm not even counting the strip malls), and Sunday we went to BB&B, where we finally found a black duvet cover for Mark's futon. I bought some floor pillows, so when I have people over there's something to sit on. (I am prospectively hosting some sort of party on October 10th--the day before Fall Break. Wish me luck.) Anyway, I have to go home and have soup and take a nap (can you believe I have choral rehearsal tonight from 7:30-10? RIDICULOUS!), but maybe I can write more later.

Today is a good day. (I hope I'm not jinxing myself...)

I stayed up late last night (Mark and I were on the phone for over two hours--he spends all day listening to other people, and sometimes he just needs to talk--and I had a French quiz to study for), so of course I did not want to get out of bed (when is that not the case?). I rolled out sometime after 8:30, made it to the Park-und-Ride by 9:40, and slid into my French class with several minutes left to review my ubiquitous index cards. I proceeded to ace the quiz (I think I'm just good at languages--it's not as if I put all that much work into it), and Elena and I had lunch at UNC-G's version of the SUNY-Binghamton mini-mall. (Though surprisingly, there are no Greeks in white baseball caps and party pants there...I think they hang out in "The Caf".) I was pleased to find that what seemed like a very large salad cost under $3. Then I went onto the Internet to do a little research on The House of Yes, which I saw a few minutes of on WGN last night. (Interesting--though I wish there were more Parker Posey and less Tori Spelling! How on earth did that talentless walleye-girl ever get into an indie movie?) After that I made some phone calls--turns out my refund check is legitimate, and I most certainly can switch from a commuter parking pass to an evening (P&R before 1pm) pass--all to the tune of $400 in my checking account. Rock! That's an entire month's rent. Then I tried to give blood--but there was over an hour's wait, and I have to meet with my accompanist at 3pm. So I will do that another time. And now I've finished my French homework--so all that's left to do is work on some songs (more French!) and that aforementioned 75 pages of Herr Wolfy. And at 4pm I'm going to see some of my Op Shop classmates perform their scenes. So it's kind of a fun, low-key day.

Plus I'm starting to think about having a get-together at my apartment. If I invite people over, I'll be spending time with them! (The proactive approach works!) Drawbacks: my apartment is small and I don't have a lot of seating (though my mother bought me some sort of couch at a yard sale a few weeks ago--who knows when it'll get here?). So I'll have to open up the whole place (read: my bedroom), which means I actually have to go through some of the crap on the floor (mostly fabric and stuff from my desk at IKA) and put it in boxes. Then I plan to make some pillows out of Salvation Army sweaters (thank you, Genevieve!) and finally make little posterboard frames for those Botticelli postcards. After that, all I need to do is fix the hems on my curtains and find a place for that Star Wars poster, and I will be totally ready to entertain! I'm looking forward to it now. Now if only I could find the right evening...

Hi again. I am trying hard to do this whenever I can so Helen will link to me. I am such a dork! Anyway...

Wondering what "Contessa" means? It refers to Countess Almaviva from The marriage of Figaro by Mozart. It's, like, one of my dream roles. Guess what? We are studying the opera in my Opera Performance Techniques workshop, and I get to sing the Countess. Yay! Except that I have 75 pages of music to learn by the end of October (the scene I'm in is the Act II finale, which is perhaps the best opera finale ever written, but it is very long). So my naming of this webpage ten months ago finally seems appropriate...

I like being in graduate school, but there are issues: 1. I live by myself, which is good in a lot of ways, but it's expensive; 2. I've had zero luck finding a part-time job--I've been on a few interviews, but I can't work enough hours for somebody to actually hire me; 3. I'm lonely! Because I go out of town almost every weekend, I don't get to spend as much time with the other new grad students as I'd like. So now we're a month into classes, and everybody seems to be all friendly with each other--and I feel left out! This is not a new feeling, of course--I'm always feeling left out of the loop, it seems--but I just wish I could be more included. I guess I need to include myself. But it's a difficult thing to do. I have spent some time with one girl, who's in my French class as well as the voice program, but I just wish I could be more social. I don't know if I've been here long enough to complain...

Speaking of going out of town, this weekend Mark and I are going out to dinner with the publisher of his newspaper. That should be fun, but I'm a little nervous. I just hope I don't embarrass myself--or Mark!

Hey, it's me. I don't know if this page will work anymore--but if it does, cool. Since I have time to write again (and no longer have Big Brother IT people to regulate my web usage) I figured I would start posting again. For those of you who don't know: I have moved to ___________, and am a first-semester graduate student in voice performance at ___________________. Let's see if this works now...

Okay, I checked it, and it does. I don't really have much to write about, except that I miss Mark and stuff. (He lives in Raleigh, and though we do get to see each other every weekend, it is so difficult to leave him. I swear, it totally breaks my heart.) Oh, and that my lessons are going well, I think. I know this is supposed to be an adjustment time vocally, but it's still difficult. I think I had a Eureka! moment today in my lesson, though. Hopefully it will take. I have to sing today in my repertoire class, which I'm not really looking forward to--the song isn't ready! I'm still raising my larynx and forgetting to yawn! And the b-flat is yuck. Well, I've got three hours, anyway. Speaking of which, I have to get home and make lunch. Atkins Day Eight, and I still cry every time I see ice cream. Girl, get OVER it! Plus I have my period right now, so I'm craving junk food more often than usual. Boo hoo! If I can get through this, though, I guess I can do anything.