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nyykiIt's bbenn a while since I've updated my journal, and the reason is simple. My computer horked up a lung and finally died. I knew it would happen in time, as it has been sputtering and wobbling, especially when it's warm outside, for about three years. The replacement machine didn't like a win95 operating system as it was too new to have proper drivers for it in that rather old operating system, so I had finally take the plunge and upgrade to XP, thereby resulting in a big reinstall session for all my software. Since Live Journal isn't the most blind friendly sige on the net, it's taken me a while to get things working again.
So, with that said, it guess it's time to update my readers on what's going on. This may be a long entry, so grab a drink.
As most of y'all know, my life right now is centered around school. Now that the fall semester is past us, I am down to thirty eight hours to complete my degree, and a minimum of three semesters if everything goes right. I pulled a 3.83 GPA for the semester, with an overall grade point of around 3.74. I'm especially pleased with the "a" I got in Music History I, as that is the single hardest class in the entire music department.
It was a different semester for me, as the change of instructors and my different classes and change of instruments resulted in me having no teachers I'd had before. The change of the teachers for the Jazz program has resulted in a very different program, and it is good in some ways, not quite optimum in others. However, it is a fresh feeling, and the new instructors are definitely trying to revitalize the program. One of the unending challenges for jazz at UTA is the performance venues -- Irons Recital Hall is great for solo voice recitals, solo instrument recitals, and other small format group performances, but it is far too live for large groups, and it's a really poor room for Jazz unless the performers are really good and very restrained. I remember hitting anashiko in the room and being very surprised that it drowned out trrumpets, the piano, and just about everything else. The new Jazz faculty had the bright idea of holding our Jazz combo concert in the band hall, with round tables and a lit stage area with the band shell behind us, and it really was a far superior option. The concert was SRO and one friend of mine told me that the only thing missing was cigarettes and alcohol to make it feel like a real jazz club. That will most likely be the venue of choice for jazz concerts in the future. Both the teachers are trying really hard, as well they should, since they're only interim instructors until the big search next summer. They both want the job.
I'm now officially a voice major, at least for this next semester. They still have concerns, but I hope to allay those with solid progress next semester.
I lucked out. While doing the pawn shop crawl with friends, I happened on a serious deal on a real Hammond organ. Three hundred bucks. I could turn around ansd sell it for about fifteen times that on ebay if I wanted to, but I like it too much to let it go. It's nice to be able to hit one switch and play, instead of the complex dance I have to do to get the keyboard rig alive and kicking.
I have four students. We've started training on metaphysics and paganism, and the lessons are going well so far. This incarnation of the lessons is a lot more intense than the ones I've done in the past. the homework for the first one was to write down their personal view of how the universe works, identifying what they have accepted without question, what they've really tried to figure out, and be ready to discuss it. That resulted in a two and a half hour conversation. It's interesting being in the teacher role again, as I firmly believe that the single best way to learn is to teach others.
I'm making great progress in learning how to be blind. I can actually walk to campus by myself and find the places I need to go, though I still have a minor problem finding the University Center all the time. i've got some good routes figured out, too, for other places, which seem convoluted but actually are pretty simple for me. I've found that I navigate a lot more by hearing than most people -- I always knew I was at the end of University Hall when the echoes changed.
I'm up to the letter "H" in Braille, and I'll start "i" and '"J" on monday. Reading Braille normally is out of the question -- playing congas has killed the pressure sensitivity on the pads of my fingers. I have to use the tips of my fingers to read it, which the Braille Nazi's don't like. They can deal with it.
I am still single, and I find myself thinking that I will be for the foreseeable future. With some of the situations I've faced in the last year, I feel like the universe's Pinata when it comes to relationships, and I can definitely empathize with Charlie Brown and his eternal quest to kick that damned football. I want to have a T-shirt made with charlie brown standing there with an uzi, next to Lucy's bullet riddled corpse and a shot up, deflated football, with him saying, "Sometimes it just gets to be too much..." Either that, or a T-shirt with Calvin beating the crap out of Lucy with a bat while Hobbes and Charlie Brown split her lunch.
For those who know me personally, I'll just say, "Life is probably about to get to be a really big problem for the roommate" and leave it at that for now. Not that I see the roommate much anymore, as he's almost always gone. Since I tend to only live with someone for about six months to a year before I start to contemplate their death, it's probably time for a new roommate anyway.
The holidays have been rather nice to me, as I have gotten a lot of the stuff I've asked for. Of course, I maintain a list of over three hundred CD's and over one hundred and fifty DVD's, so there was a lot for my family to choose from. Since I have a buddy that gets me really good deals at Barnes and Noble, the gift card I got for there will be especially nice.
All in all, life is just moving along. I am still, amazingly, in good spirits, which I constantly get told is amazing in light of what I've been through in the last year and a half. After all, losing my sight, getting robbed four times and having to move, and then having to learn how to get around and fightingg with the university to get things cleared for me to get a degree, well, that tends to really ruin your day. But somehow, I manage to keep plugging along.
So, that's about it in a nutshell. I have a lot of other details I could relate, but they're not that important, and so I won't bore y'all with them. I do plan to be here more often, posting updates and also the occasional musing. Be well.
So, with that said, it guess it's time to update my readers on what's going on. This may be a long entry, so grab a drink.
As most of y'all know, my life right now is centered around school. Now that the fall semester is past us, I am down to thirty eight hours to complete my degree, and a minimum of three semesters if everything goes right. I pulled a 3.83 GPA for the semester, with an overall grade point of around 3.74. I'm especially pleased with the "a" I got in Music History I, as that is the single hardest class in the entire music department.
It was a different semester for me, as the change of instructors and my different classes and change of instruments resulted in me having no teachers I'd had before. The change of the teachers for the Jazz program has resulted in a very different program, and it is good in some ways, not quite optimum in others. However, it is a fresh feeling, and the new instructors are definitely trying to revitalize the program. One of the unending challenges for jazz at UTA is the performance venues -- Irons Recital Hall is great for solo voice recitals, solo instrument recitals, and other small format group performances, but it is far too live for large groups, and it's a really poor room for Jazz unless the performers are really good and very restrained. I remember hitting anashiko in the room and being very surprised that it drowned out trrumpets, the piano, and just about everything else. The new Jazz faculty had the bright idea of holding our Jazz combo concert in the band hall, with round tables and a lit stage area with the band shell behind us, and it really was a far superior option. The concert was SRO and one friend of mine told me that the only thing missing was cigarettes and alcohol to make it feel like a real jazz club. That will most likely be the venue of choice for jazz concerts in the future. Both the teachers are trying really hard, as well they should, since they're only interim instructors until the big search next summer. They both want the job.
I'm now officially a voice major, at least for this next semester. They still have concerns, but I hope to allay those with solid progress next semester.
I lucked out. While doing the pawn shop crawl with friends, I happened on a serious deal on a real Hammond organ. Three hundred bucks. I could turn around ansd sell it for about fifteen times that on ebay if I wanted to, but I like it too much to let it go. It's nice to be able to hit one switch and play, instead of the complex dance I have to do to get the keyboard rig alive and kicking.
I have four students. We've started training on metaphysics and paganism, and the lessons are going well so far. This incarnation of the lessons is a lot more intense than the ones I've done in the past. the homework for the first one was to write down their personal view of how the universe works, identifying what they have accepted without question, what they've really tried to figure out, and be ready to discuss it. That resulted in a two and a half hour conversation. It's interesting being in the teacher role again, as I firmly believe that the single best way to learn is to teach others.
I'm making great progress in learning how to be blind. I can actually walk to campus by myself and find the places I need to go, though I still have a minor problem finding the University Center all the time. i've got some good routes figured out, too, for other places, which seem convoluted but actually are pretty simple for me. I've found that I navigate a lot more by hearing than most people -- I always knew I was at the end of University Hall when the echoes changed.
I'm up to the letter "H" in Braille, and I'll start "i" and '"J" on monday. Reading Braille normally is out of the question -- playing congas has killed the pressure sensitivity on the pads of my fingers. I have to use the tips of my fingers to read it, which the Braille Nazi's don't like. They can deal with it.
I am still single, and I find myself thinking that I will be for the foreseeable future. With some of the situations I've faced in the last year, I feel like the universe's Pinata when it comes to relationships, and I can definitely empathize with Charlie Brown and his eternal quest to kick that damned football. I want to have a T-shirt made with charlie brown standing there with an uzi, next to Lucy's bullet riddled corpse and a shot up, deflated football, with him saying, "Sometimes it just gets to be too much..." Either that, or a T-shirt with Calvin beating the crap out of Lucy with a bat while Hobbes and Charlie Brown split her lunch.
For those who know me personally, I'll just say, "Life is probably about to get to be a really big problem for the roommate" and leave it at that for now. Not that I see the roommate much anymore, as he's almost always gone. Since I tend to only live with someone for about six months to a year before I start to contemplate their death, it's probably time for a new roommate anyway.
The holidays have been rather nice to me, as I have gotten a lot of the stuff I've asked for. Of course, I maintain a list of over three hundred CD's and over one hundred and fifty DVD's, so there was a lot for my family to choose from. Since I have a buddy that gets me really good deals at Barnes and Noble, the gift card I got for there will be especially nice.
All in all, life is just moving along. I am still, amazingly, in good spirits, which I constantly get told is amazing in light of what I've been through in the last year and a half. After all, losing my sight, getting robbed four times and having to move, and then having to learn how to get around and fightingg with the university to get things cleared for me to get a degree, well, that tends to really ruin your day. But somehow, I manage to keep plugging along.
So, that's about it in a nutshell. I have a lot of other details I could relate, but they're not that important, and so I won't bore y'all with them. I do plan to be here more often, posting updates and also the occasional musing. Be well.
