Yes.....everyone who's been to grad school knows what point I'm talking about. It's the point in the semester when the novelty of new classes starts to wear off.....when the sleep deprivation sets in......when your brain starts making bizarre connections. Take for instance my experience in a rehearsal I was running the other day, when I was looking for the word syncopation, but instead my brain came up with the word hemitollah......which I can only guess is a combination of hemiola (slightly related......maybe?) and ayatollah (no clue how that got in there). Not only that....but suddenly, it was the ONLY word I knew for a good five minutes.

I'm trying to get ready for flute master's comps.....which is problematic at best. I mean....how do you try to prepare for being asked anything your committee thinks you should know about music? I have a study guide for the flute portion......I have a weekly music history study session with one of the other ethnomusicology students, and I'm trying to teach myself form and analysis. Add that to the fact that I don't want to schedule anything else (trad recital/masterclass) until I know when those are (I only need one more prof.....hopefully I'll get someone by wednesday). Sleep has become more optional than normal, but if I can get past that huge hurdle without falling down and killing myself, I'll feel a lot better about life. My dear flute professor and I were having a conversation, during which I admitted I was rather sleep deprived. She looked at me and said, "But Mac, why are you sleep deprived?" At which point I sort of dissolved into manic fits of laughter. My roommate is great at lightening the mood, especially during those several-hour-long study sessions, when she suddenly decides to try and make the milk that's in my cereal try to come shooting out my nose by clucking like a chicken (which at 1 am is pretty damn funny).

Trying to keep school in perspective and appreciate how far I've come from the musician/student/professional/person that I was when I got here two years ago. It's a hard task sometimes, because I tend to lose the forest for the trees (as my mother used to say). Practicing classical flute more because I have voluntarily entered a competition in early Nov, and I'm slightly worried that it'll affect my trad playing. I did feel very comforted when Dharmonia told me that I would know which path to take musically when (if) the time comes to choose. I should probably attempt to take a sanity day on Saturday and just get out of town......but probably not until after midterms.

Need to run and grab a practice room before all of the marching band kids grab them after their rehearsal. I leave you two great political T-Shirts......

Here and Here.

Peace, Love, and Tunes, (and sanity)


Mac.