Some thoughts about Owen

Hey everybody!

First of all - wow! 10 more days and then I'm done! Technically, I have a ton of work to do. True. But I am sort of taking the night off to relax some. I think it'll help me sleep more. :) And tomorrow I'm going to go get a pedicure and watch Dark Knight, cause I still haven't seen it yet. I'll finish my work, I promise!

In the meantime, I thought I'd tell you about my dorm.

I don't know how many of you have stayed in a dorm before. In my undergrad, I actually had a triple my first year, with bathrooms down the hall. Yeah. Not so great, to be sure. Owen (my dorm) is better. I have a single, and I share a bathroom with my suitemate, Nicole, who's really nice. The room is sizable, and I even have a chest of drawers, which is FANTASTIC. I love not having things in boxes all the time.

One of the first things I noticed about Owen was that they had these signs everywhere that said, "Reverse Osmosis Machine." I thought, "What? You're joking." Seriously - doesn't it sound like a joke? Yeah, I thought so too. But apparently it's this amazing water filter system that makes the tap water taste like bottled water. I use it everyday. It's weird, but hey, awesome, whatever.

The cafeteria serves okay food. Their Mexican is not so hot - for some reason, everything always tastes a little sweet. But what is hilarious is that there is constantly music playing. Music from the late 90s. Seriously. I have heard Hanson, Mariah Carey, Savage Garden, Spice Girls, Jewel, Hootie...all multiple times. They've also played more random bands like Primite Radio Gods and...some other stuff. It's fun, it's nostalgic - it's very random. :)

Okay, I think that's all. This next week I have 2 big papers and a final. Nothing really exciting this weekend - mostly work. Should be amazing. Keep me in your prayers!

10 days! See you soon!!!

My weekend

First of all, I had a super super time at my friend Angela's house this weekend! She blogged about it!

http://angsblogattempt.blogspot.com/2008/07/im-lizzing-my-bed.html

I got to experience what it's like to have kids. And may I say, wow, I had no idea it was so much work. A 2 year old being potty trained and a 4 month old? That is intense! :) But at the same time, while we (mostly Angela, I did a lot of sitting on the couch) were running around, I was having a blast. What adorable cute kids! They are so fun! (I definitely want kids. Just not right now.) :)

Angela and his husband were such great hosts too - I had amazing meals with Greek and Indian food, and I got to relax and laugh. We talked about politics too, which was fun - actually more fun than it usually is! :) They took me to church on Sunday. It was so nice to get out of my dorm and relax in a real house with couches and normal food. Thanks so much Angela - I'm so blessed to have made a friend like you here in Michigan!

In other news, things are insane. I will try to keep posting - I really haven't told you all about my dorm life here. But it's insane. So bear with me if I don't post for 7 days, like I did this past weekend. I'm trying!

Miss you all!

Country Music

In my research for my 15-20 page paper (on improvisation in middle school band and orchestra), I came across this paragraph:

"Disguised as a study on video dating, Zillmann and Bhatia (1989) exposed students of the opposite gender to tapes that showed male or female models who introduced themselves and then, among other things, confessed to love either classical, country, soft rock, or heavy metal music. In a control condition, no mention was made of a musical preference. Preference confession was found to exert considerable influence on the perception of the models. In the eyes of men, women who confessed to love classical music became more sophisticated, those who confessed to love heavy metal less so. In the eyes of women, men confessing to love classical music or heavy metal neither gained nor lost sophistication. They became less sophisticated, however, when confessing to love country music. Romantic attraction to the models was also influenced by the exhibition of musical taste. Allegiance with country music proved detrimental to the appeal of both men and women." (173-174, The Social Psychology of Music)


I rest my case.

Liz does not equal smooth

I am not smooth. I have never CLAIMED to be smooth. What do you mean, you ask? Well.

I'm the girl who runs into tables and knocks things over. I'm the girl who spills stuff on her shirt. I'm the girl who, when trying to be "smooth" around a guy who had just dumped her, managed to spill coffee all over someone ELSE. Yeah. I know. Impressive, huh?

Why bring this up, you ask?

Well, today a new chapter in the smoothness of Liz came into being.

Today, I went to class with two different shoes on.

Granted, the shoes do look remarkably similar:

http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/saucony_training_shoe.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/somebear/2340708720/

But the best part is that I had a presentation today, so I dressed extra carefully with a new shirt, earrings, the whole works. I did my presentation (for an hour and a half) with my friend Angela, walking around, la dee da. Then I took a break, and looked down, and gasp! Two different shoes. Seriously. It's a little sad. Gotta be honest. Although I am very grateful I did not do that at school - I would never hear the end of it from my students. I got teased enough after I ran into a tree branch last year and ended up with a big scab on my forehead.

On the plus side, I got a 52 out of 50 on my theory midterm. I sang songs in German AND Latin today. Does that make me smooth?

No? Just nerdy.

I can live with that.

4 down, 3 to go!!!!

Wow, can you believe it? I have officially been here for a month. A MONTH!!! That's insane. I have spent a month of my life living in a different state. No, it's not a huge thing. But yet it is. And I think I should celebrate it. Don't you? Maybe I'll buy myself some ice cream later. (that's a problem - so often my rewards involve food!) :)

But I would like to recognize my month o'Michigan with a list of stuff that I've done since I've been here. Some are insignificant. Some are bigger. (I'm also trying to avoid working on my research paper, because hey, who wants to do that?) They are not ranked - or even in chronological order. They're just as things come into my head. So, hopefully you enjoy. If not, hey, not really my problem. :)

1. did all the stuff to get here by myself - getting my 70 lb. suitcase, finding a taxi, paying the taxi, checking into my room, setting up my room, etc.
2. carried a printer from the computer store to my dorm (and got honked at in the process)
3. saw fireworks in the capital of Michigan - off a river!
4. listened to a pretty good community college band (and I have experience with bad ones, let me tell you)
5. went to a minor league baseball game
6. ate vegetables with almost every meal
7. got taken out to eat a lot, by very nice Michiganders
8. learned how to show where East Lansing is on my hand
9. REALLY appreciated driving
10. had an adventure getting to a church that I never found...walking past sketchy trailers with people staring at me...
11. stayed constant with my quiet time
12. gotten a phone call EVERY DAY from people back at home - you guys are amazing!!!
13. started actually calling people from here too (thanks Becky ;) )
14. used a laptop for the first time
15. discovered Heroes on Netflix
16. improvised on an instrument that wasn't my main instrument
17. practiced clarinet - for fun.
18. played a carillon (and heard a great concert!)
19. walked in the rain in short sleeves
20. visited 2 different churches and a Bible study by myself
21. got a new passion and excitement to teach improvisation
22. encouraged people who were thousands of miles away
23. bought clothes in another state!!!!!!
24. saw the moon through a telescope
25. gone to the gym 3 times a week for 3 of the 4 weeks (ha!)
26. saw 3 new movies
27. made some new friends!!!
28. went to a barbeque by myself
29. seriously racked up the phone minutes

and...
30. missed all of you - a lot.

There are probably things I have missed in here. Many of you know might know what they are. I am currently fried in the brain, so I'm having trouble remembering. I was sort of hoping for a "wow! I didn't know Liz did that!" list. But most of these I think I already talked about. Oh well. It's good for me, anyway!

Now for laundry and research. Should be an exciting afternoon. Miss you all!!!

Lots of work!

Yep, still have lots to do. Many pages of papers to write. I have found some sources for that 15-18 source paper, so that's good, right? :)

I also went shopping today, and bought stuff. Some new shirts and a bathing suit, woohoo!

And I saw Mammia Mia. It's really cute! However, I don't like what they did with the Colin Firth character. He will always be Mr. Darcy to me.

That's really it. Nothing too exciting. Sorry, Southern California. I miss you a lot!!!

Too much work!

So, apparently I'm in grad school. The first 2 (3) weeks were pretty low key - not much work, which made for some boring times. :( But now, all of a sudden, I have a ton of work to do. Research paper with 15-18 sources, philosophy of music ed paper (10-12 pages), presentation for 3 hours next week...plus all the little reading and writing stuff on top.

Woohoo! Liz is busy!!

On the plus side, it's raining again. I love the rain!

Miss you all back at home. Hope things are awesome.

Breaking News

There is a Pita Pit in East Lansing.

Plan your trip now.

Thanks for the prayers!

So, things, as of right now, are looking up. :) Yay! Sort of a rough morning - I do find it hard to make friends sometimes. But! But! This weekend I got to go to a barbeque at a friend's house from my music theory class (uh, what an ugly sentence). That was really fun - met some more people, laughed a lot...and they even offered to give me a bike! Sweet! The hikes will no longer be so long!

And this evening, I went to a post-graduate Bible study! YAY! Everyone there (all girls) was really nice. We just kind of hung out, ate brownies (yum!), talked. But they were really friendly. It felt so good to be with people who share my beliefs. So I think I'm going to go to that - and I begged them to invite me places, so that should bode well for my social calendar while in Michigan. :)

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement and prayers while I am away! I miss you so much - you are making a difference in my life!

Superior?

So which is better, California or Michigan? Here are some reasons for both (at least based on my own limited experiences):

In Michigan:

Gas price - $4.04 a gallon. No joke.
Weather - they have it.
Less people.
A great public transportation system (as long as you know where you're going - and you know
there's a story there!)

In California:

Weather - we don't have it, but at least it's the same all the time. Good? Not sure.
Lots of fun things to do all the time.
Liz has her car.
The people!

Huh. I must be tired. Can't think of anything else for either right now. I must go read. Have a great day!

Midwest Slang, Part II

Okay, this isn't slang, but it is unique to Michigan.

For those of you who don't know your geography (like me), the state of Michigan is shaped like a hand. (Go check out a map and see for yourself!)

People here, when asked where they're from, will hold up their left hand and point to it. No joke - I've seen people do it. They even joke about it, like "Then there's this person from the thumb who showed up..."

I don't know how we would do this with California. Our whole bodies would have to be the state! "I'm from the knees..."

Bizarre.

What is practicing?

So, I kind of view this blog as "thoughts from the mind of Liz." Much of my mind is taken up with music stuff. Since most of the people I hang out with now are not musicians, I sort of see this as a place where I can explain the inner workings of a musician. Interesting? I think so. You may not. That's cool - go read someone else's blog. :)

Practicing. If you have not played an instrument, you may not be familiar with this very unique task of musicians. Practicing involves locking yourself in a room and staying there, for an extended period of time. While in that room, you work on things on your instrument (or voice, I'm not being exclusive here) that need to be fixed. You may play two or three measures (aka short bits) of music over and over with this awesome tool called a metronome, which taps out a speed for you. Slowly you speed up the passage until you can execute it with ease and confidence. You may work on scales or patterns to familiarize yourself with a particular key, like C# major. You may aurally (using your ears) transcribe a solo from a famous jazz piece to your own instrument. You may pound the piano and test yourself on intervals (see earlier post in June). But the point is, you're locked in a room, by yourself. For a long time.

During college, I ranged in practice time from 1 hour to 4 hours. (Yes, I really did have a term when I practiced for four hours a day. I was AMAZING!) The practice rooms were located in the basement of Schoenberg Music Building, all really close to each other. This allowed for some social interaction to happen. People were always going into each other's practice rooms bothering each other. Many a good conversation was had over a piano, while your instrument gathered dust in the corner. So, we made it social, even though it wasn't, really.

One of my favorite things about practicing at UCLA (and at any music school in general, really) is walking around the halls of the rooms. You can hear all sorts of music going on all around you. For example, this morning after I practiced my violin, I heard a VERY loud baritone singer practicing intervals with fairly good accuracy. I also heard someone playing one of my favorite Bach Inventions on a piano. At UCLA there was a period where EVERY piano player was learning "Rhapsody in Blue." That was neat - it's a great piece anyways, so to be surrounded by it was really fun. Other people had practice routines that never varied. One guy named Axel Schmidt (from Europe) had this same routine he did every day. For some reason we were always next to each other in rooms. So I was very used to him - and he probably got used to my long tones with crescendos and decrescendos.

Okay, I'm done! Thought I would write about it. It may be useful to you, or not. Whatever. I am going to the gym now. Have a great day!

Love you all!

Liz

Bats in the Belfry

So today was an adventure. I mean besides classes, reading, the gym, dinner, lunch, etc. I got to go to a carillon concert!

I know, what's a carillon? Basically, it's an instrument in bell towers that plays songs. It's set up like a piano (with keys set above the "white" keys like the black keys on a keyboard, but they're all made of wood), with foot pedals like an organ. MSU has one, and every day at noon someone plays a solo on it. And for the entire summer, they have guest carilloners come and play recitals. So I went!

I sat out on the lawn on a towel (cause I don't have a blanket, ha). There were actually a lot of people there, scattered about on lawn chairs, blankets, and some just on the grass. The performer played a lot of great stuff. He started with Handel's Royal Fireworks Suite (which I played in an orchestra in high school) - so fun! My students even played a movement of that this year! He also played some Irish and English folk songs like "Morning Has Broken" and even the Habanera from Carmen! Wow!

Afterwards, we got to climb up inside Beaumont tower, where the carillon is located.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont_Tower

There another guy demonstrated the carillon for us. It was so cool! You hit the wooden keys with your closed fists, really bizarre. Then he let people play it! I got to play it! He had sheet music, so I picked "Simple Gifts" in Bb and went off. It was fun! Afterwards this lady complimented me on my playing. She thought I had done it before. (guess my 9 years of piano lessons paid off, huh?) I also got to look at the bells that make up the instrument. Some of them weigh 2.5 TONS! Really cool. I also talked to the guy who performed. He was nice - asked me about the fires in CA after I told him where I was from. He also said he had callouses on the sides of his hands. Is that weirder than my thumb callous? You tell me.

Hopefully, when I get back, I will post videos and pictures and all sorts of stuff. That way you can get an idea of what's been going on.

Love you all!

BTW, Beaumont Tower is "the" main building on campus - like Royce Hall at UCLA. It's pretty cool. And it's right next to the music building, which makes it especially awesome!

P.S.

My hair here is a lot bigger than at home, because of the humidity. That's impressive, because I have a lot of hair at home too - but here it's much more expanded. Good thing? Not sure...

Michigan Weather (Part I?)

Hey everyone,

What's up? I thought I would discuss the weather in Michigan. Not sure I should be writing this now, after only 2+ weeks here, but hey, I'm going to do it anyway.

So far in Michigan, I have experienced 2 big rainstorms, 1 day of just raining in the morning, some rather cold weather, some really hot weather, and some beautiful weather. What a variety! In California, the forecast for the past two weeks has been hot. (I am guessing a little here. But I don't think I have too much chance of being wrong.) Instead of the exciting variations I have gone through, I could have experienced 2 weeks of sunny weather. Blah.

Having been raised in SoCal, I am used to sunny weather. We get it for what, 40 weeks of the year? To be honest, I'm a little tired of it. I like the variety I'm getting here! Of course, having only lived in SoCal, I am not exactly experienced in the ways of crazy, true Michigan weather. I have had numerous people tell me that if/when I experienced true craziness, I would repent and gladly come back to CA, rejoicing in the 70 degree sunshine. But to be honest - at this point...I like it here! Variety is the spice of life, right? And even if I fear change in my own life, I can handle different weather. I LOVED scraping (sp? scrapping? that's not right...) the windshield when I was here in February! I know, Liz is insane.

Don't worry, I miss CA. Mostly for the people. Not the weather.

BTW, if I change my mind about the weather here, you'll hear about it. :)

Cell phones

So, I thought I was going to go over my minutes in my plan. Obviously, I've been talking on the phone a LOT more these past two weeks - at least an hour a day or so. With my wimpy 450 minutes a month plan, I was concerned - only 75 minutes left for 5 more days? Lame!

But, I called Verizon. And I have 1500 bonus minutes for resigning. They last for 2years. Sweet! :)

God is good - all the time.

Fourth of July in Michigan!

Hey everyone!

Hopefully, you've all had a safe and enjoyable 4th wherever you may be. Thought I would tell you what happened here, in the Midwest.

Woke up early, did some quiet time and then organized my finances. God is good, I still have money left over from last month despite all the spending I had to do to prepare for this trip! Hallelujah! Hung out, and watched episodes of Heroes on my computer. Decided I should check out the show a couple of days ago. It's kind of scary, but good - I like it so far. :)

Then I went to a free bbq that my dorm (Owen) was putting on. I had made a resolution to myself that I would go up and introduce myself to people - "put myself out there," so to speak. So I did. I ended up meeting a bunch of physics undergrads who are here for a research summer program. (Can you imagine doing a summer program where you do research in physics the whole time? Blech!) But they were really nice, and a group of girls was going to the pool. So I went along.

And got my first really bad sunburn of the season. It will not be the last.

I like these girls - they're really nice, funny. They're young (21 or so), but I can handle it. One of them, Shawna, is my age, even though she's an undergrad too. So that's nice.

In the evening the 5 girls (Shawna, Amy, Anna, Holly, and me) took a taxi (called Big Daddy Taxi - no joke) to Lansing. It's the capitol of Michigan. MSU is located in a suburb of Lansing, called East Lansing. Wow. We sat in a park and played cards while listening to the community band play patriotic songs. It was so Americana it was funny. Saw the fireworks. Pretty good stuff. Lots of pretty lights and loud noises.

What is funny about Michigan is that after the big show was done, people are still shooting things off. All over the place. So you could look in pretty much any direction and see sparklers, or even big fireworks going off. We saw one guy put a pretty big firework in a coke can. Not sure that was the safest thing, but hey. We walked a while, and took a cab back.

I decided to call it a night after that - I'm tired! Plus I have homework to do. Not right now, but hey. Tomorrow.

So that you for your prayers! I have a group of people to hang out with! Tomorrow night we're going to a Lugnuts game - it's the farm team for the Toronto Bluejays. Should be entertaining!

Love you all! Talk to you soon!

Spiritual Warfare

(in the life for Liz...for Dani) :)

So we all know that spiritual warfare is a huge part of our Christian walk. Satan is constantly trying to get us down, take us out, make us ineffective as Christians. What does he like to do? What is his modus operandi (or M.O., for you military people)?

First, he gets us alone.

Then, he takes us out.

So...right now, I'm basically alone, people wise. Not really, because I am slowly making acquaintances (sp?) and friends here in the music building. But in terms of having people around me who REALLY KNOW ME, who know my struggles, my lies, whatever, and who support me in my life - I'm basically alone here. How the heck did you do this, Becky?

Today, I was practicing my violin. Nothing too special, just the stuff from my violin lessons at home. And I started hearing in my head (disguised as my own voice, of course), "What are you thinking? You can't teach jazz! You're a classical musician! It'll be too hard - best to just stick to what you know."

I recognized this for what it was, and said, "Well, yes, it's going to be hard, and yes, it's going to stretch me, but it will help me grow as a teacher and a musician. I think the kids are really going to enjoy it. I'm going to do it."

Seeing that THAT route didn't work, Satan tried something else. "Man, it's hard, huh? This is basically a commuter school for masters students. You're not going to make any friends here. Even the people you walked to class with aren't really interested in hanging out with you. They didn't even want to go to that concert with you tonight. What are you going to do for 4th of July? Hang out by yourself and watch fireworks? You're lame."

At which point I said, "Yes, it's difficult to make friends here. Yes, it's going to take some time. No, I don't know what I'm going to do for 4th of July. But that doesn't mean I am not valuable, worthwhile, or interesting! I am a great awesome person, and I can make friends. I just need to find the right venue."

And I also said, "God, help!"

So, if you can, please pray for me. Satan has got me alone, and he wants to take me out. Little does he know that I have been able to encourage people in SoCal even though I'm in a different state! (actually he does know this. Probably why he's stepping up.)

I'm off to read, eat lunch, and read some more. Maybe go to the gym. We'll see. :)

Love you all!

awww....

Liz misses her friends! Today was the first day that I wanted to go back to California. I don't really miss the place - actually, the weather today was basically SoCal weather. Hot, dry, blech. But I really miss my friends! (not that I didn't miss you before, of course!) So - wanted you to know - you're in my thoughts.

Community here is a bit hard to come by. Coming off of Fuel, it seems very odd not to have a ton of people around me, ready to have all sorts of adventures. So, if you would, please pray for me, that I can get connected to community. A church would be awesome. Or the music major community. (that one is hard - lots of people driving from other parts of Michigan to take these classes - not a lot of people staying on campus, actually.) I really appreciate your prayers.

And of course, you can let me know how I can pray for you! My email is lizthomson82@gmail.com. I would love to pray for you.

I miss you all!