Could've had it all...

I made a snap judgement about this lady:



Rolling in the Deep - Adele



I just didn't love her right at first. I have now revised my opinion, as she is sort of like Alanis Morissette crossed with Aretha Franklin. And let's face it-- that's pretty badass.


She is just the kind of angry girl music that I like. Mostly the kind that says exactly what happened to me (and anyone who listens to it feels that way, too). She also does some happy type songs (though, they're still kind of bitter [which I like]):


I'll Be Waiting - Adele

Sorry for the somewhat iffy quality on that last one...


Anyway, she does a sad kind, too. I just really like all of her music. The whole album. Not many artists get that particular praise from me. Worth the purchase on iTunes, for sure.


Someone Like You - Adele


I love her voice; both singing and speaking. And her fake eyelashes. And her cool hair. Here is a really interesting video talking about her meanings behind every song on the album and little snippets of all of them. Kind of a long video, but very cool.

Seriouly. How pretty is she?


Enjoy!

Television

I think I have some significant OCD tendencies. I wish they'd migrate over into my room cleaning habits, but mainly they stay in the part of brain that likes watching television.

I like T.V. I watch a LOT of T.V., actually. At any given time, there are between ten and fifteen shows that I'm watching weekly and trying to keep up with. Thank God for Hulu, right? I'm 2 episodes away from being finished with Mad Men, which is good, because my OCDness cannot be sated until it's done. Oh, Mad Men...

Some people are enamored with him.




I'm enamored with her.


(well, really more her, though this photo is better)
{or better still, this one. How frickin' gorgeous!!}


Anyway, I really want to start watching Friday Night Lights because it seems very much up my alley, but it's all on Netflix. I know that this seems like a boon (and eventually it will be), but right now, if I watch the pilot..... I'll be sucked in. I'll have to watch ALL OF THE EPISODES until I'm caught up. And thank goodness it's on Hulu or I'd never keep up, but oy. I need a break from my T.V. so I can get back to the important things in my life.

::ahem::

All Will Be Well

- I have a whole blog about changing and new leaves and whatnot that I am really excited to write about but just can't write today because all of this other garbage happened. The changey-change blog will come down the pipeline next week probably (as this weekend is occupied primarily by learning Elvira in Don Giovanni before rehearsals start on Monday. EEK. -

Well, today started relatively normally, but it cascaded downward until lunchtime when I applied for a private collegiate loan to pay for this semester (since my school didn't have money for me [which baffles me, but what are you going to do]) and I was pre-denied. Not just regular denied, but pre-denied. Thanks a lot. I didn't want to finish school, anyway. So I went to the school to actually talk to some people and basically, I have no options to get help from anywhere. I will just have to pay for the semester as it happens (which will be ridiculously difficult). I am literally signed up for 1 credit hour because all I have to do is write my paper and do my recital. This whole business is WHOA frustrating.

Blech. I am sort of feeling like this:



garfield minus garfield


But I have to tell you all of that mess so I can tell you the story of right after I got in the car to go to lunch. (Warning: We're about to get a little Jesus-y)

At this point in my day, I had applied, been pre-denied, was on my way to the bank to deposit a paycheck (that is basically already gone to bills) and then go to the school to address my situation. This is one of those times that I am not really as worried as I should be about my personal impending doom. I get into the car and my CD player picks up right where it left off when I got to work. This song:


All Will Be Well - Gabe Dixon Band


...

All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself,
All will be well.
You can ask Me how but only time will tell.

The winter’s cold,
But the snow still lightly settles on the trees.
And a mess is still a moment I can seize until I know,
That all will be well.
Even though sometimes this is hard to tell,
And the fight is just as frustrating as hell
All will be well.

All the children walking home past the factories,
Could see the light that’s shining in My window as I write this song to you.
All the cars running fast along the interstate
Can feel the love that radiates
Illuminating what I know is true
All will be well.
Even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself
All will be well.
You can ask Me how but only time will tell.

Keep it up and don’t give up
And chase your dreams and you will find
All in time.

...


Full lyrics here

It started in the middle of the song, so I only wrote down the lyrics I heard from the time I left the parking lot at work to when I turned off the car at the bank. I also added some capitalization because at that moment, it wasn't an ambiguously hopeful song for me. This was literally something God was saying to me. It sounds kind of out there and spiritual-y, but I really believe that. How else could such a perfectly worded promise audibly speak to me at exactly the moment I needed it to? I mean, the CD started at exactly the most perfect spot in the song. Say what you will about coincidence and yada yada, but that's my God. The God that lets me do incredibly stupid and irresponsible crap just so I won't do it anymore (because He totally knows just keeping me from doing it in the first place will never allow me to learn to be a big kid). The God who helps me in little ways so I can help myself in big ways. The God who sometimes says what he needs to say to me through my car CD player. My God is hilarious, clearly, and draws inspiration from any and everything (*cough cough* Transformers *cough* [He also appreciates that I am a big nerd])


That's my God, alright. He's a funny Guy, sometimes, and He's got this whole wacky (read: awful) situation (among many MANY other things) under control. So I'm just going to let Him get this one. He would, anyway, but it makes me feel better when I know I don't have to worry about it.

My life is so exciting.

...ahem.


So I have a haircut on Tuesday!!! This is breaking news, people.

The thing is, it kind of is breaking news, as I haven't actually gone someplace and had my hair cut in over 3 years, probably. It may have been longer than that, but I know for sure that I have been cutting my own hair for at least that long. I am in the process of booking this lovely lady to take some new headshots, and my best friend's wedding is September 12, so I think that actually getting my hair cut by someone other than myself is a good plan.

The big question:


What am I going to do with it??



I want to keep the length. It's probably to the middle of my back and I like it that way. There are some layers, as my very sophisticated method of cutting it has just been to flip my head over after I have washed it and cut it straight across (If you're ever feeling adventurous, it actually gives very nice layers. Don't cut too close to your head, though... it can be very frightening...). The way it is now is basically a grown out Jennifer Aniston. Cutting it shorter in my fashion gives it a Friends-ish Jen-Cut.


Anyway, I don't want it thinned (because it's super thick and it's awesome [that's what she said]), I don't want it colored (because I haven't before, and I like low maintenance), and I don't want too much cut off... I am not sure I will even be able to tell a difference.


Suggestions welcome.

"Let me get that for you..."

(via le love)

sexy.

To clarify, Sassy Ginger, this is "sexy" (potentially because I'm "concupiscent" {look that shit up. trust me.}) as opposed to "smushy" so it's ok to post.

This is great!

So I'm going to do a short post today, because I feel like the rest of my day is too busy with sales training at Victoria's Secret (woo woo!) and paying my electric bill in the 30 minute break between THIS work and sales training to think about anything but playing on Gchat and eating my pasta I brought in for brunch (? {it's 10am. I don't know what kind of weird mealtime this is}). Anywho, I think this song is so catchy (not like Poker Face catchy, which, thanks to LiLu, I can NOT stop listening to {not sure if this is a good thing}), that I wanted to share. Also, isn't she so frickin' gorgeous? She seems to me to be one of those girls you would want to be friends with. Lots of famous people don't have that appeal, but she sure does.






Can we be friends, please?


She is the "She" portion of She & Him. Here's that catchy song I told you about:



I Thought I Saw Your Face Today - She & Him

Things on my mind

In no particular order:

-I waste an inordinate amount of time at work just putting off stuff I know I can do later.

-Wheat Thins are so good. Even the Reduced Fat kind.

-My life the next week or so is going to be greatly determined by a friend of mine: Jeremiah. He should be calling me this evening sometime to let me know whether he wants to switch presentation days with me in our Vocal Pedagogy class. If he does:

I can take all of the next 3 days to prepare for the Naftzger Competition I have this weekend

I will have an entire week to prepare MY presentation for said Vocal Ped. class

I will have to give that man a bottle of booze of his choice for saving my butt, and likely my sanity.

-I am glad for this guy and his recordings of the early Italian songs I need to get memorized for said competition. I am listening to them on repeat to hopefully ingrain, at very least, the melody in my subconscious. Watch one of his videos. They're quite good; easily the best recordings of the songs I needed.

-Somehow I missed the "Kelli O'Hara is giving a benefit concert in OKC" memo. She sang someplace here on the 18th and I had no idea. She is so fantastic live, and I have only gotten to see her once. Color me irritated.

-I want to quit biting my nails. I have tried before, but I cannot kick the habit. I know all the tricks and suggestions and helpful tips, too. I guess too much of my wayward energy goes into that for it to be ok to let go of it. That can be added to my Summer Self Improvement Regime (more on that later).


Ok, it's time for me to order some toilets (and faucets, bidets, toilet seats, sinks... if it is a fixture in a bathroom, I'm ordering it (did I mention I work at a plumbing rep company? Haha))Nested parentheses! Agh!

But I can't post without media of some kind, so here is the Richard Strauss I'm also trying to memorize (Wiegenlied, sung by Renee Fleming; sorry the recording is so quiet):






Poetry by Dehmel:

Träume, träume, du mein süßes Leben,
Von dem Himmel, der die Blumen bringt.
Blüten schimmern da, die leben
Von dem Lied, das deine Mutter singt.

Träume, träume, Knospe meiner Sorgen,
Von dem Tage, da die Blume sproß;
Von dem hellen Blütenmorgen,
Da dein Seelchen sich der Welt erschloß.

Träume, träume, Blüte meiner Liebe,
Von der stillen, von der heilgen Nacht,
Da die Blume seiner Liebe
Diese Welt zum Himmel mir gemacht.


English trans. by Emily Ezust:

Dream, dream, my sweet life,
of the heaven that brings flowers.
Shimmering there are blossoms that live on
the song that your mother is singing.

Dream, dream, bud of my worries,
of the day the flower bloomed;
of the bright morning of blossoming,
when your little soul opened up to the world.

Dream, dream, blossom of my love,
of the quiet, of the holy night
when the flower of his love
made this world a heaven for me.