long overdue

I have a whole lot to say, but I'm afraid if I start I won't stop.

And tonight I'm too tired to create verbal order.

But somehow I managed to ignore all of October, and now half of November.

Here's to breaking the blog fast.

Selfish thoughts

"For me there is only the traveling on paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, breathlessly."
--don Juan

Lately I've been confronted with the subect of selfishness. Any excess of this particular social trait is probably the most immediate repellant for me in any given situation. I admit that we all possess some aspect of it -- we must to function as individuals, especially as artists. But I've sadly found an overwhelming amount of just plain selfish ways of life in most of the world around me. Perhaps it's the Greatest American Trait, or the trend of the 21st century, or perhaps it's part of the human DNA structure as a whole. However it works, it puts a serious strain on an optimistic view of life and really inhibits my willingness to create a truly close friendship with many people. I am all too often preoccupied with internal discussions between selfishness, selflessness, and self-consciousness, and where the lines exist between them all.

Do we as musicians exist in a life of service to the art, service to the people, or service to ourselves?
Do we as people exist in a life of service to the earth, service to other people, or service to ourselves?

...The greatest contemplation of the purpose of life, eh?

Fall!

Today showed the first signs of my absolutely favorite time of year...
...FALL!!!

Scarves and hot chocolate, here I come!

Oh, technology

New MacBook Pros with built-in cameras are neat.

Chick Flick

I signed up for Netflix a couple days ago. Got my first two movies today -- The Holiday and Dune. (So I'm getting a little girlier these days but I still like my sci-fi.)

So tonight I curled up on the couch by myself in my sweatpants, with a nice raspberry ale, and watched the first one.

In the last two hours I've determined two very important things...
1. Despite the serious chick-flick rating, The Holiday isn't too bad of a bad movie.
And...
2. Jude Law is one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet.

Summary of the moment

Luciano Pavarotti died yesterday. I feel oddly mournful and despite my moderate distaste for opera I really feel like downloading some of his stuff on iTunes.

Oregon State got rocked by UC last night. I was there, sporting my Bearcat colors proudly. :)

Yesterday was my friend Jenn's birthday (Happy Birthday!!). I really suck at keeping touch and especially calling people, so I made myself momentarily proud by actually calling her (even if I did just leave a message). I tend to avoid calling when I'm not feeling real great, and the last year or so was a tough one. When times are bad I don't want to barrage someone with my woes, but I don't want to lie and say everything's great either. And the more time that goes by, the more social anxiety kicks in. I know that's just a lame excuse, but it's true. But at least things are looking up, and getting out of Oregon for some time will hopefully do good things. Basically, I really just need to proactively work on the lack of calling. Not calling is not cool.

I need to build a compost container. I randomly picked up a little book while I was in line to check out at the Bookstore a couple days ago (Composting: An Easy Household Guide), but once I got home and read it was highly disappointed. It only discusses how to use purchased containers (what to compost, not compost, etc) and says nothing about building your own. Super lame. Time to spend some time on google, methinks.

Music history placement test coming up - 8am Monday. (That's 5am PDT remember.) Ugh. Oh yea, and I recently realized that school starts half a week earlier than I thought - September 19. Who the hell -in the collegiate world- starts classes on a Wednesday?? Especially on a quarter system... Weird.

I'm worried I might be getting a little sick. Not cool. Must be the gnarly Cincinnati water. Seriously guys, even with a Brita filter...ick. Eugenians have no idea how good they have it.

Greetings from the Sity of Cin

I saw that in modified window sticker form a couple days ago... (univer)SITY OF CIN(cinnati). Good times. :)

So here I am. Three and a half days were spent in the cab of a big yellow Penske truck with Aaron, Simon (the cat), and Pierre (the beta fish), with my little red car in tow, and all parties survived. Actually, the trip out went rather quickly, as did the past week of living here.

After arriving afternoon of the 28th (Tuesday), the majority of the week and Labor Day weekend was spent either unpacking the bazillion boxes of shit I brought with me or hanging out with Aaron and his family. I even experienced the Baker Family Reunion (Aaron's mom's fam) and discovered my hidden talents at a game called Cornhole. (No joke, look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornhole_(game) .)

My new apartment is pretty sweet (pictures coming soon!). And today I walked to campus and got my practice room key, my BearcatID, and reserved a locker. Oh yea, and I bought my first official UC t-shirt because.... tomorrow Dad Jester and I are going to the UC/OSU (as in Oregon St) game. Woo! Before the game I'm hoping to practice a bit, run some errands without getting lost, and further the settling-in process. I have to say, I'm more "moved in" and unpacked here than I think I ever was in Eugene (weird), mostly thanks to the amazing zeal of Aaron Jester despite my lack of motivation.

Alright, so this turned out wordier and more expository than planned. It'll get more exciting, I promise.

farewells

Saying goodbye is hard.

There are people that I enjoy spending time with on a regular basis.
There are people that I wish I'd spent more time with while the geography was convenient.
And there are people with whom I spend little time with in the present, but they remain very dear to me no matter what.

I am so sad to be moving away from all of you.
(And please help me keep our connections current...we all know how much I suck at returning emails/phone calls. It's rarely personal, I promise. :)

Endless respect, appreciation, and love to you all.

hello world

Ta-daaa!

Well, here it is. The new blog. A new site, a new name, a new me. Okay, that's not all true... but it's the newer me. This blog officially marks the transition from Eugene to Cincinnati and the start of something very different. Okay, that's not all true either, since...I'm still in school. But this is the first big move away from the west coast and probably the last degree for Erica the Perpetual Student.

In just a few years, I hope to use the above blogger name in real life. But for now...here we go, kids...