Tending the sick

I am sick.
Quite sick.

It is also quite yucky (as you might infer).

As a vocalist, this sort of thing is highly intrusive and disruptive to the daily routine.
Do we have a few tricks up our sleeves? Some.
Is it mostly just a combination of every trick ever? Yes!

The tools of the trade are as follows

Humidifier: Preferrably one that steams or mists. By your face. All the time.

Dayquil & Nyquil: Taken as often as the box will allow. Every 4hrs should do it.

Vitamins: Currently I am taking twice a day a multivitamin, vitamin c, vitamin d, and zinc.

Tea: Throat coat with honey.

Cough drops: Even if you're not coughing, they'll sooth the savage throat. =D

Ice Pack: An ice pack on my neck sooths both my headaches, and the fever. 'Little Women' teaches us that we can draw the fever away from the head using ice packs up top and keeping the feet warm. I don't know if this is true...But it made me feel better in any case. Also...I guess it didn't really work in 'Little Women' as Beth died anyway. Um...yeah.

Chloraseptic: When the cough drops just aren't doin' it, turn to the throat spray. Numbnumbnumb...

Nettie Pot: This lovely little contraption is available at your local Target. It's a little plastic tea pot lookin' thing that you fill with water, and then mix in a packet of baking soda, salt, and I don't know what (the packets come in the box). You tilt your head parallell to the floor, and (bear with me now) poor the concoction through one nostril, where it will flood your nasal passages and come out the other side. Flip and do the other nostril. It's pretty disgusting to watch (and experience) but it does a good job of flushing the stuff out of your head and down the sink.

Tissues: A lot of them. Oy...so many.......

Now go forth! And fight thy illnesses!
Cheers

*Blargle...*

Is the noise I make after I have finished excercising.

*dies*

On the bright side; 8lbs in 2 1/2 weeks and no sign of stopping.

Take THAT chubs!
*glares at offending belly*

Mahahahah!

Cheers.

And now for something completely different!

And HAPPY!

I would like to introduce you all to Darren Criss.
He is awesome.

Some of you may be familiar with Darren from his work as Harry Potter in 'A Very Potter Musical' (named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the top 10 viral videos of 2009).
Or you might know him from a small recurring role he had on the show 'Eastwick' (now sadly cancelled...=(

But if you don't know him yet...
You WILL!
Because 'A Very Potter Musical' is catchy, smart, funny, well-written, and well-acted.
Link below. =D =D
http://www.youtube.com/user/starkidpotter?blend=1&ob=4

If you ARE familiar with Darren from AVPM, you might not yet be familiar with another facet of his super-coolness.
And that is his youtube page...
...Where he covers Disney songs.
Because he's THAT kind of awesome.
Check it out!
The Ducktales cover is particularly fun. =D
http://www.youtube.com/user/Iclemyer#p/a

Today I discovered another part of Darren's online persona, and that is his myspace page.
On this page he has posted some of his original works, which I must say, are quite good.
Why this man doesn't have a recording contract yet is beyond me.
The original compositions tend to be on the easy listening/alt rock side of things.
Like....If Jason Mraz and Pearl Jam had a baby. A baby with moppy hair.
Check out 'The Muse'. It's my fave.
http://www.myspace.com/darrencriss

That is my good deed for the day.
And just because I love you all and want to make your lives easier....
Here is one of Darren's disney covers, embedded so you don't even have to link to enjoy his awesome. =D

Irony

I write a post about how I worry too much about offending people with the truth.....
and then worry that I may have offended people with this post.

*palmtoface*

I think something in my head just exploded.

*shakes head*

Nice Cinderella, kind good nice, kind good nice.

I am a nice person.

You know how I know?

It seems like everyone else in the world says whatever the hell they feel like, whenever the hell they feel like saying it.

When other people are in a bad mood, the world shall suffer the consequences.

When other people are pissed at someone, they tell them to their face.

Other people get to be visibly annoyed with those around them.

I am a nice person, because I have the restraint not to.

If I am annoyed with you, I won't show it.
If I am mad at you, I probably won't say anything.
And if I am in a bad mood, I will get quiet, which is about the only way you will be able to tell.

That is why I am a nice person.

Because I can look ahead a the consequences of my actions and realize when something is not worth it.
If I yell at that person, they will say 'such&such', and I will say 'such&such', and there will only be a lot of yelling, and no result except tension and a rift that will last a long time.
I may enjoy the glorious euphoric release of finally saying what I really think...
But that feeling only lasts an instant.
The consequences of saying hurtful truths can last a lot longer than the good feelings.

So, much like Meg Ryan in the seminal classic 'You've Got Mail', I keep my mouth shut.

And I must say, that being a nice person in a world of people who don't quite have the same scruples...
Sucks.

I watch my friends and the people around me say whatever comes into their heads (beit truthful, hurtful, etc) and not have a second thought about it.

I guess what I 'm saying is...

Sometimes I just wish I could pack my conscience up for a day and say what I'm really thinking, just to get it off my chest.
If someone annoys me, hurts me, projects their bad day onto me; I just want to tell them to go shove it.
Pack up the remorse, avoid the consequences, and wallow in my own freedom until my fingers get all pruney.

So.....there.

But I won't.
*glares at Jimminy Cricket sitting in the corner*
*grits teeth*
Because I am a (reluctant) nice person.

Cheers Everyone!
And may you tell the truth to someone today.

Crisis of Self

Hello peoples!

The first week of classes is over and I have officially freaked out about 50X.
Currently we are calm, we are breathing, and we are functioning.

My classes are freaking me out.
Honestly?
I worry about how different I am from all the other grad students.
I just don't fit in.
One of these things is VERY MUCH not like the others.

Mostly it's how excited everyone is.
They're all, "WOOHOO!! I get to learn about Baroque modes and I'm SO excited!! It's aaalllll sooo interesting!"
And I'm all, *snore*

"OOOOOOHHH!!! I love French melodie!! I can't wait for us to talk all these French composers to death!!"
".......do I have to?"

"I looooooove using the phoenetic alphabet!! It's sooooo helpful I just can't, can't, can't live without it!"
"...I don't even remember the phoenetic alphabet. Because I never use it."

And every time they refer to us as 'singers' I mentally correct them and call myself an 'actor'.

I keep wishing I had just had the balls to be a theatre major.

I am absolutely terrified that I'm going to end up not getting performance jobs and having to teach *gulp* voice.
If I have to teach, I want to teach theatre.
Theatre, theatre, theatre.
I think I would actually enjoy teaching theatre.
I absolutely do not enjoy teaching voice.

Then when it finally does come round to acting.....I'm not dealing with theatre peeps, I'm dealing with singers.
And I miss the shorthand, and the challenge, and the trust.

.......I miss acting.

*sigh*

I just.....don't know what to do.

I feel so conflicted.

I have the tools to be an Opera Singer, but do I have the desire?

I'm just not sure.

And I feel like nobody is listening to me when I tell them this.
I want somebody to hear me and take what I'm saying seriously. I want someone to discuss my concerns with me in a reasonable fashion and help me come up with options.
I want to not feel like a fraud every time I step into a class.....

Grrrrrrrrrr....

*frustration*

In any case....I'm feeling better right now, and I hope it's not just because it's the weekend and I've been away from class for two days.

*sigh*

Things will get better.
They will.

Cheers.

When is a book more than a book?

I have just finished re-reading the Harry Potter series.
*curtsies to cheering crowd*
It was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed and cannot wait to begin again.

During the course of finishing Book 7, an incident occured which got me thinking...

I was reading during my lunch break at work and pushed right up until the last minute because I did NOT want to put it down.
As I was walking out of the lobby, I thought, 'Dang it! I had to leave right before the battle of Hogwarts!'
I stopped.
The phrasing struck me as strange.
'I had to leave'.

Where did I leave?
The lobby?
No....I wasn't talking about the lobby.
The table?
Nope.

I was thinking of Hogwarts.
I was thinking about the book as though I had been in it.

Was this something specific to Harry Potter?
No.......
When I thought about it, this was something all my favourite books had in common.

When I read them, I don't just read them.
I'm not just a casual observer.
The best books are ones that allow us to be part of the story.
Books where we find ourselves worrying over the characters, even missing them (not gonna lie. I miss me some Dumbledore).
Books where we find ourselves thinking things like, "I had to leave-"

Which leads me to my point:
When is a book more than a book?
In my humble opinion, the answer is:
When it makes us more than ourselves.

Now go read a book!
Cheers.