In Which I Thought Things Were Under Control
October 27, 2014
Sunday was a little more relaxed. Especially not having stayed late the previous night at the party. I finally had the energy to start writing again. Lunch was with Bhavish and Pearl, which was nice, and a good chance to catch up with them post show. Pearl was also enthused by her ability to consume multiple persons worth of food after not having eaten solids in a week (I blame the green smoothies). In the afternoon I read some of my birthday present from Abigail, “The Rosie Effect”. The book was delightful but I was a little disappointed that the setting had moved from Melbourne to New York and I missed home.
In the evening I noted that UberX was free, so Susan and I decided to take a jaunt into centre city for dinner (which was delicious). It was also a great chance to relax a little, get things of my chest and reflect on the start of semester with a good friend.
The next day was classes as per usual. Not much to report other than the fact that I was completely taken by surprise when Sudipto in algorithms announced that the midtern was scheduled for Monday a week later. Later that evening was rehearsal for choral society and then finally bed.
In Which I Begin Recovery
October 26, 2014
Today is Sunday, October 26, 2014 and the Glee Club show is over. Along with it, a somewhat difficult week, full of rehearsals and close contact with a lot of people both new and old.
The show turned out to be excellent. There were so many enjoyable numbers to sing, dance and perform and it is hard to pick out favourites. One number that stands out in a way is Bogoroditse Devo, a movement from Rachmaninoff’s all-night vigil that I had purchased for the club from a Russian music shop. Other than that, a performance of the broadway version of The Circle of Life was certainly notable.
I thankfully came off the show process with a few new friends and became closer to all the newmen as well. Special call-outs to a few people including the Penn Pipers (especially the newmen, Isaac, Danny and Bhavish) , and a few people from Penn Dance I had the privilege to work with and get to know better (Jane, Lihi, Smush, Kendra, Avalon and many more new friends!).
Penn Dance, our collaborators in the show were fantastic and performed some excellent dances to some excellent tunes. The Penn Glee Club Band upped their game yet again and I hold them in very high regard, both musically and as friends.
I ended the show feeling exhilarated, and even enjoyed the ‘strike’ process (clean up). The after party wasn’t quite my scene, so I left after a little time and enjoyed a good nights rest. Admittedly I was slightly wobblier than usual as I was climbing into bed, due to not having had sufficient dinner and then one celebratory drink with Pearl and Sam, the two good friends of mine from retreat.
Towards my research, I’m making slow progress in what I’m working on. I feel I’m working a little too slowly, however even a little progress while I’m doing my coursework is worthwhile. I’ll probably post explaining the whole process at some point in the near future.
In Which Things Are Complex
October 22, 2014
I won’t actually run through the next week or so. Things get wonderful and things get difficult. There are a lot of tears and a lot of happy moments. I make some progress on research and make some backwards steps elsewhere. When we resume our regular feature the Glee Club Show will likely be over, and the missing two weeks will thankfully be over as well.
Among the things I’ve learned this week are the difficulty of forgiveness, the value of close friendships and the ways that different people deal with things. Hopefully I’ll be a better person for it all.
As much as this post reads to be a little morose, the past week has been great too. It’s just harder to focus on those things!