#120

Confession: Sometimes I deliberately put off blogging in hopes of appearing really studious to you guys. Or to make it look like I'm caught up in an exciting whirlwind of mind-broadening and horizon-widening activity, when in reality all I've been doing these past few weeks is eating, sleeping, going to school and reading.

Whew. Glad I got that off my chest :) I'm in the Presidential Lounge of the Texas Union now - a great study spot because it's perfectly silent. Sip your Frappuccino a little too loud, and you get shot dirty looks. But the lounge is also adjacent to the Union Ballroom, which is currently the venue for a dance rehearsal, so we've been made to listen to Lifehouse's "You and Me" three times so far... What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive... Not that I mind. I love that song.

This week I had to register for next semester's classes. I am a true nerd. Whenever the new course schedule comes out, I feel like a kid in the candy aisle, giddy with excitement. Which English course to pick this time? Which professor got the best ratings on pickaprof.com? What books are they teaching? I initially signed up for beginner's Italian on a whim (Spanish would've been the more practical choice) but later dropped it for Czech Literature, because I want to be able to say I've read Crime and Punishment. Also registered for The Social Dramas of Henrik Ibsen, because I got a taste of his works in NUS and really like A Doll's House. I only get to choose two classes next semester, because the other three are mandated by the UTeach program: Advanced Methods in English, Adolescent Literacy and The English Language and its Social Context. Not looking forward to that last one... I'm not big on linguistics.

Found a cool artist on etsy.com: Liza Corbett. So gorgeous. This is my current wallpaper, and I so want to buy this to hang on my wall. I'm thinking of taking a beginner's drawing class at Lasalle when I get back, or at the Austin Museum of Art next semester. I desperately want to get past drawing angels and flowers, but can't.

My pop song of the moment is Kylie's "All I See." It's so darn catchy! Original, acoustic, remix version... all good. Give it a listen and see if you don't find yourself tapping your foot.



Three weeks to this (Sorry Mom, I guess you were taking the picture):
Green curry, pineapple tarts and Pokka green tea around the best dining table in the world.

Shed some light on me please

Meiyan and I took a nice long walk to Stubb's last night to catch Feist in concert.The opening act was a Canadian dude named Hayden, who was pretty charming even though he seemed to be closing his eyes the whole time. He played the harmonica, which was nice. I really like his song "Bass Song." Check out his MySpace page.
He played for an hour, we waited an hour and then Feist showed up.







Gotta admit I left with mixed feelings. I had high expectations for this concert, and yet I didn't have as much fun as I did in Brandi Carlile's show last year.
Highlights:
1. Feist looked hot. She makes me wanna get bangs.
2. There was a very cool shadow-play thing going on on the projection screen overhead. Like a mini sideshow. Using a glorified overhead projector, a lady on stage used paint, stencils, light, prisms and her own hands to create a pretty scene for each song.
3. Feist stopping mid-song to take a cell phone from a girl in the audience who was CHATTING DURING THE CONCERT... gasp! After a minute or so, the girl realized the error of her ways and screamed, "I'm sorry, Leslie, will you forgive me?"
4. Her band members, who were clad in all white.
5. Opening with a haunting rendition of Honey Honey.
6. Her awesome performance of Sea Lion Woman, which gave me the chills.
Lowlights:
1. TOO SHORT!!! She played for a little more than an hour.
2. My fault: I didn't do my pre-concert homework, so I didn't know half the songs.
3. Where was One Evening, Inside and Out and Secret Heart?? Sad omissions.
4. Lack of audience banter. Hayden talked more than she did.
5. Standing in the same spot for 4 hours nearly killed my feet.
6. My pictures are all blurry!
Okay, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. I just really wished she had sung a few more songs... it seemed a little rushed.



***
Next topic: the Austin City Limits lineup! Check it out here. Again, a leeetle disappointing because I was hoping against hope that Coldplay would return this year (after headlining in '05) and others like Death Cab, Ben Harper, The Shins and Rachael Yamagata. But of course Coldplay's too mainstream for hip ol' Austinites. So I have mainstream tastes. I don't care. The list is definitely growing on me, though. Foo Fighters! I've loved Alison Krauss' voice ever since I heard her on the Cold Mountain soundtrack, so yay. And I've been checking out her stuff with Robert Plant... it's really good! And look: The Raconteurs! Erykah Badu! Tegan and Sara! Iron and Wine! The Swell Season (bet you're jealous now, Charles Lim)! and further down the page... Jose Gonzalez! I love him! And I have from now till September to check out the rest of the bands so I can plan my festival schedule. Let's hope none of my favorite acts clash.

Le Mot Juste

I know that lately I've been posting lazy excuses for blogs - weird videos of melting chocolate bunnies and updates on my grandma collection of quarters (40 at the moment) - and this whole week I've been itching to write a proper update. So here I go. The past two weeks have been real busy. I've been trying to finish up my 9-lesson quota for UTeach, the teacher preparation program I'm in. Since last Friday, I've taught a class of high school freshman (Sec 3's) simile, direct and implied metaphor, alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia and how to construct a poem from their favorite song lyrics. Sometimes the lessons go well, and sometimes not so well, but my cooperating teacher gives great constructive feedback and I'm learning a ton. The kids can be a handful, but mostly they're really fun to interact with. It's just great seeing their eyes light up when I show them a funny cartoon or when the whole class claps after they've recited their poem. It can be a drag taking the 'Dillo to the school three times a week, but every time I finish observing or teaching a lesson I feel good. I've fought it before, but now I know for sure that I'm headed for a career in education. Oh, fun fact: the school I'm teaching at (Austin High) is the alma mater of the Bush twins and Benjamin McKenzie, better known as Ryan from The O.C. Yeah.

Yesterday was 40 Acres Fest, the annual student-run festival at UT. Got a "peace-love-music" sign painted on my left cheek, while Daph, the face-painting enthusiast, looked slightly creepy with a flower on one cheek and a bloody gash on the other. We did this blowup horizontal bungee run thingy and because I don't know how to land properly, I now have a severe neckache/sprain. Ow. Hopefully it will go away soon. The Roots played at 40 Acres, but I decided to be a nerd and study with Kirsten at JP's Java. It's okay - I've got tickets to Feist and Kanye West+Rihanna+N.E.R.D.+Lupe Fiasco. Can't wait!

Been looking at NYC hostels and even the most spartan hostels are at least $35/person/night. Anyone know of people in NYC who might put my sister and I up for about four nights? We're willing to pay a small fee...
I'm also looking for a job from mid-May to end-June when I'm back in Singapore. I've applied to a few places but I still need more options. Help!

The Office is back this Thursday! YAYAYAY. Oh wait... I have a peer mentor meeting and then an SSA fund-raiser at Tap House, a bubble tea store. Crap. Will have to watch it online then.

I was feeling particularly bummed one evening this week. So I went to take a shower and saw a magazine lying face-down in my bathroom, displaying a commercial with two big words: Pure Joy. Immediately I thought of James 1:2 (even though I didn't know the exact scripture reference at the time and spent about ten minutes searching the New Testament for it after my shower): "2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..."
And because context is important: 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
How encouraging is that? You hear the words "pure joy" being used to describe luxury chocolates and exotic holidays (in this case, it was a brand of potato chips), but God's telling me to consider the hardships, the struggles as pure joy in light of the person I will become under His tutelage. I wanna be mature and complete, even though I feel so far from that almost every day. It was a dose of much-needed heavenly perspective for myopic little me.