Happiness so strikes!

So, today I had an appointment with Dr. Morris. I wasn't very happy to go visit him, for, you know, it's been 3-3.5 years now, and I'm kind of fed up with oral apparatuses in general. My appointment was at 10.30 am, and because school was out today, the office was super-busy. So, at 11.something Morris finally approaches me...

And what does he say?

He says I'm ready to get the braces off!!!

I jumped and rejoiced, amusing likely all present at the office, but I believed (and still do) that I had every right to be utterly psyched.
Next Tuesday, half of the metal will be removed. The remainders are coming off the Monday after.

I am so very excited and happy and yayefied!!!

No braces = life improvement. How, you ask? Well, if you have to ask, you've obviously never had to wear braces.

1. No more pain.
2. No more food stuck in between the braces.
3. Better tooth brushability.
4. Increased number of toothbrushes spared/ toothbrush conservation.
5. Less conductivity of electricity.
6. Less gum sensibility.
7. (*Sings*)"No more tears, no more suffering, no more fears as we cross into the light!"
8. Better unstickability of chewing/bubble gum/candy to braces.
9. Less weight to bear.
10. Probability of flags getting stuck to teeth lowered.
11. Mouth liberation.
12. Better singing capabilities (once the braces are off, he can't put anymore elastics in!!!)
13. I could go on forever, you know.

But I really need to do some homework and a few other tasks as I return to school tomorrow, unfortunately.


^.^ *dances* The braces will be removed!!! Weeeeeeeeeee!!!


"On a Wonderful Day like Today"
by Matt Monro

On a wonderful day like today
I defy any cloud to appear in the sky
Dare any rain drop to plop in my eye
On a wonderful day like today

On a wonderful morning like this
When the sun is as big as a yellow balloon
Even the sparrows are singing in tune
On a wonderful morning like this

On a morning like this I could kiss everybody
I'm so full of love and goodwill
Let me say furthermore
I'd adore everybody to come and dine
The pleasure's mine and I will pay the bill

May I take this occasion to say
That the whole human race should go down on its knees
Show that we're grateful for mornings like these
For the world's in a wonderful way
On a wonderful day like today

On a morning like this I could kiss everybody
I'm so full of love and goodwill
Let me say furthermore
I'd adore everybody to come and dine
The pleasure's mine and I will pay the bill

May I take this occasion to say
That the whole human race should go down on its knees
Show that we're grateful for mornings like these
For the world's in a wonderful way
On a wonderful day like today

Ready

Wow! I cooked something two nights in a row!!! I'm extravagantly proud. While the first attempt to produce something edible last night was successful but didn't taste very good, today's result was far closer to what I wanted it to be. Yesterday, Jessica came over to work on chemistry. We didn't exactly do as many chemistry problems as we had hoped to because we decided to cook some pasta. I called my mom to obtain instructions to make the sauce. Mind you, it would have turned out great if we'd used the right kind of Pomi. We used the type that has bits of whole tomato still in it as opposed to the utterly liquefied type. Nonetheless, the pasta was edible. Too bad that the sauce wasn't very rich.


Today I craved rice like crazy. I didn't want my grandmother's normal recipe although it is good; I wanted "rice in white" with lemon in it. So, I made it, and I'm satisfied with the results. I should have added one more lime to it for it to be perfect for me, but I think that, for a first time, I did well. My grandmother initially wanted to help me, but when she began criticizing my every move, I became highly irritated and kindly told her I could do it myself. I know that was still slightly mean, but it was my rice, you know?

I find that I have developed a habit for eating rice with chopsticks. It just doesn't seem logical to me to use anything but chopsticks to consume rice with anymore.


Anyhow, I am ready for college now.

1. I can do my own laundry.
2. I can cook rice, pasta, eggs, grits, French toast, and microwaveable foods.
3. I am a fond PS2er.
4. I can iron clothes effectively.
5. I can fix some electrical circuits.


I am capable of other things, too, but that seems like a pretty good essentials list to me. Don't you agree?


Well, on that note, I need to go clean up and, if I ever finish winnowing the general disaster in the northeasternmost direction of the house (my room and bathroom) into place, do homework.

Sajonara!


Oh, song! Almost forgot. Er, well, I'm listening to it now and I really like it, so


"It's My Life"
by No Doubt



It's funny how I find myself
In love with you
If I could buy my reasoning
I'd pay to lose
One half won't do

I've asked myself
How much do you
Commit yourself?

It's my life
Don't you forget
It's my life
It never ends (It never ends...)

Funny how I blind myself
I never knew
If I was sometimes played upon
Afraid to lose

Oh, I'd tell myself
What good do you do
Convince myself

Oh, It's my life
Don't you forget
Oh, It's my life
It never ends (It never ends...)

And I've asked myself
How much do you
Commit yourself?

It's my life
Don't you forget
Caught in the crowd
It never ends (its my life)

It's my life
Don't you forget
Caught in the crowd
It never ends (It never ends)

Oh, It's my life... (oh its my life)
Don't you forget... (don't you forget)
Caught in the crowd... (caught in the crowd)
It never ends (it never ends...)

Congratulations! You're Elrond!


Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla


All right, fine. This one's truthful.


However, I really wanted a Legolas, so although I did not get that result, I'll post his marvelous picture on here anyway!


Congratulations! You're Legolas!


Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I took a test online linked off from a friend's site, and here are the general results. I think it's relatively accurate. I didn't purchase the more in-depth description as I think it's a waste of money to pay for somebody to tell me what I already know.

Yout temperament is Idealist

Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are rare, making up between 25 and 30 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.

The Four types of Idealists are:

Healers (INFP) | Counselors (INFJ) | Champions (ENFP) | Teachers (ENFJ)

Being there a major manner of butt kicked by Honor Choir...

Wow. Wow. And wow. Honor Choir this year was absolutely awesome. In my five years of attendance at Honor Chorus, this year was by far the best, and the best director I have ever had in my choral life directed it. Seriously, this guy was amazing. For starters, he had a gorgeous voice, but that's besides the point. It was Dr. Alan Raines, currently conducting at GA State University. He was just marvelously and entirely enraptured by the music and conveyed his feelings in such a fashion that caused us, the singers, to be captivated by the beauty of the harmony and melody and the message we were delivering and the importance of the music, and it was just an extremely fulfilling experience. Rogers once said that the space between the singers and the listeners is sacred ground; I now fully understand that concept. It is so relevant that one places his or her entire self into the music to properly give the listener the message, and it is unbelievable how many listeners out there will, in turn, become infatuated with the music and be profoundly touched by it as it comforts them and carries them through pain and strain and enlightenment and joy.


Dr. Raines went mad during rehearsal to make us understand the music. He would sprint across the room and jump and hum and dum and rattle and shake and scream- he would do just about anything necessary. All the while, he was entirely polite and treated us with respect, which was something that I greatly appreciated. We opened rehearsal by running through the music, and though I had believed that the music in itself was beautiful, I thought it sounded rather dead. He changed this to the opposite end of the spectrum in less than 24 hours. Oh, I can't wait to get my copy of the recording. All the music was wonderful, and I don't think I've sung with so much emotion and meaning in a very long time.

To top that off, I learned some German. "In Stiller Nacht" was a difficult piece, I will have to say, but I am pretty sure that we pulled it off really well. I really hope so, but my mom said that we sounded absolutely great, and she does not give compliments very quickly, so I take it that we did. Mrs. Bizarth said that this was the best Honor Choir concert she'd heard in a few years.

The repertoire consisted of "Hallelujah, Amen" by Handel, "In Stiller Nacht" by Brahms, "O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose" by Clausen, "Order My Steps" by Burleigh, and "In Dat Great Gittin' Up Mornin' " by Hairston.

On "Hallelujah, Amen," we practiced with "diggy dum"s to get the buoyancy of the piece going, and we wound up keeping it that way for the concert because it sounded good. The only actual words we sang were "and in songs divine harmonious join" and "amen, hallelujah" at the end. Dr. Raines was hilarious. He stepped on stage and said, "I don't normally like to begin a concert by speaking, but I thought I should inform you that although the program states that the first piece we will be singing is "Halleluja, Amen", we will actually sing a diversion of the words to old English for you. The words are "diggy dum", "diggy" meaning "hallelujah" and "dum" meaning "amen". Thank you." He said all this with the most solemn expression and maintained it as he approached us, even though everyone else broke out into laughter. It was great.

"In Shtiller Nacht" was very difficult but very rewarding. After lots of work on that, we were able to sing the full song in German. It was very intense, and I am now deeply in love with the song and have acquired more knowledge about Brahms and German in general. As a matter of fact, after the concert my mom and I stopped by Publix, and after she bought some beer, Warsteiner, the bagger boy asked us how to pronounce the word, and I was able to tell him the correct pronunciation. That, of course, lead him to question me on my German background, and I simply answered that I'd just learned a song in German. ^.^


"O My Luve..." was just beautiful. We all sang our hearts out, and I'm sure one could tell. The song makes me melt, and we had some really awesome guys in the choir this year, particularly the basses, and the guys' "solo" section almost made me cry.
Side notely, I finally met Hinkle, as the Northgate folks lost their bus for a reason that is still unknown to me and had to ride with us. "Do you know Stephanie Ward?" "Yes" "Are you Hinkle?" "Yes, how'd you know?" Frankly, I don't know how I knew. I just had a feeling he was Hinkle; I knew he was in choir and in my grade, and although there were other NG guys in my choir, he just looked like a Hinkle. He seems like a really nice guy.

And on another note, I don't comprehend the infatuation that everyone appears to have, up to this day, with Shea Henley. I saw him there. He was wearing shades at every single rehearsal-even the dress rehearsal. He removed them for the concert, and I didn't think his eyes were very pretty. I did compliment him on his hair, and although he returned the favour, he still seemed like a bit of a jerkoff to me. The guy standing beside him had saliently beautiful blonde long hair-- even my mom noticed it from the audience, and he stood on the last row. He, too, however, seemed as though he were a jerk. I stood on the second to last of five rows of risers.

On "Order My Steps", we had an awesome soloist. It was a soul piece, and it sounded awesome. Katrina, the soloist, just absolutely kicked a major one. She was unbelievable. The solo involved improvising, and though I'd initially considered trying out, I realized that I'd best leave that to a black girl. Surely enough, Katrina was a large, African American girl, but no one could have done a better job than she did. It turned out that she was the daughter of an ex-nurse of my grandmother; we learned this after the concert. I had talked to the girl during rehersal, and she was very nice.

Although I had initially hated "In Dat...", I came to love it once Dr. Raines taught us how to spice it up. There were two tenor soloists in that piece, and they, too, did a phenomenal job. The piece in general kicked butt.


I sang beside a half Italian girl named Carmela (students are organized by height every year), and she was a fun person to sit by. I got a kick out of it. Of course, once on stage, Alto II's had to stand by me as I was at the end of the Alto I's, and the girl that sang on the other side of me was rude, obnoxious, and added in way more slides than anyone should ever be allowed to ruin music with. She sucked and switched parts according to whichever suited her best at the moment, but oh, well.


I'm so excited. I think I'm going to email the director since I never really got a chance to speak to him because everything was so very rushed.

I didn't get left behind this year, either, and when I thanked Ms. Bizarth for that, she responded with a good, hearty laugh.

It was really eye-opening as far as the passage of time is concerned to watch the younger choirs perform. They were very good, but I couldn't believe I had been there once. It's a strange feeling one gets when he or she stops to think about how far he or she has come.

Initially, I felt really odd about being back at Honor Choir, for Honor Choir is where I essentially met Trey my freshman year. There, I had finally identified the dude with the staring problem at football games. It was just so strange to realize that we had priorly been at the same exact locations (even away from the performing art center) and I had become so honestly infatuated with such an immature guy. I was so stupid. However, these memories were not necessarily bad, for a change. I wasn't depressed because the music made everything worthwhile, and I realized that it's time to be mature and finally really forgive Trey once and for all and move on. I feel a lot more peaceful at the mention of his name than I have felt since the fiasco of a situation that existed and ended in heartbreak.


I am very ready to crash, not having slept enough for a week and having to get up tomorrow and do endless amounts of homework, so I leave you with a song.


"In Stiller Nacht"
Johannes Brahms

(Accents are not in place due to the fact that I'm tired and don't feel like messing with that right now.)


In stiller Nacht, zur ersten Wacht, ein Stimm begunnt zu klagen,
In still of night, oh awesome night, a lonely voice is singing,

der nacht'ge Wind hat suss und lind zu mir den Klang getragen;
The evening breeze among the trees, to me a sadness bringing.

von herbem Leid und Traurigkeit ist mir das Herz zerflossen,
Throughout my life of pain and strife, my heart is ever broken

die Blumelein, mit Tranen rein hab ich sie all begossen.
The blossoms rare weep in despair, for thee in love a token.

Der schone Mond will untergahn,
The friendly moon has gone too soon,

fur Leid nicht mehr mag sheinen,
No more for me aglowing,

die Sternelan ihr Glitzen stan, mit mir sie wollen weinen.
The stars once bright are dark at night, their tears with mine are flowing.

Kein Vogelsang, noch Freudenklang man horet in den Luften,
No singing bird aloft is heard, his joyous song is taken,

die wilden Tier raurn auch mit mir
Wild creatures mourn alone, forlorn,

in Steinen und in Kluften.
Among the rocks forsaken.


Or two... Clausen wrote the following for his wife. I would melt if anyone ever wrote something like that for me- wouldn't you?


"O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose"
Music- Rene` Clausen
Lyrics- Robert Burns


O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June.

O my Luve's like a melodie that's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou my bonnie lass so deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still my dear
'Till a' the seas, 'till a' the seas gang dry.

I will luve thee still my dear,
While the sands of life shall run,
'Till the seas gang dry, my dear,
And rocks melt with the sun.

As fair art thou my bonnie lass, so deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still my dear,
Tho' it were ten thousand,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.