A Snapshot: Wintertime in Hi X

"High Expectations", the high school varsity choir I sang in during my junior and senior year of high school, was a cornerstone of my teenage life (the others were probably Oinkari and the AP Nerds social group).  Hi X could get particularly hectic in the wintertime, since much of the group's tour funds came from singing carols for office holiday parties or private gatherings (often paid for by Boise High parents who knew the group could use the money.)  Ah, yes, my first foray into the entertainment business...

One particular vignette I remember with fondness was a cold morning in December, when a few of us Hi-Xers decorated for Kandor (a home and gift shop in downtown Boise) for Christmastime.  Ashley Dunbar's mom worked there, and we did it as a fundraising opportunity for Hi X. We had to get there really early in the morning (5:30?) and downed several cups of coffee from Kandor's free carafe to help us wake up.  I think Gregg was there, or some other boy I had a crush on because I remember being really excited to go down there, despite the ungodly hour. 

A typical week in December would see us trying to balance a heavy homework load, sometimes sports, and Hi X gigs.  I remember, several times, pulling on black tights as fast as I could while driving a stick shift car, brushing the lint off my Hi X dress, praying to the Gods of Professional Appearance that the dress would be relatively wrinkle-free as I stepped out of my car, and trying to stay on pitch in an a capella group when many of us were battling winter colds.  We somehow always pulled it together, though, even though I would get death glares from the director when I showed up in the nick of time to mouth the opening words of "Fum, Fum, Fum." To her, early was on time, on time was late, and late was unacceptable.

dappled

I walked down the driveway of my new house today, and am beginning to think it's maybe what I like most about the house. We're at the back of the lot, so to get to our house from the street you have to drive down about 200 ft of driveway.  I was barefoot, walking to get the mail.  The trees overhanging the driveway made the sunlight show dappled onto the pavement.  I am in the quiet, peaceful, sidewalk-less North end, with horses across the street and a hiking trail up the road.  I'm going to start growing tomato plants tomorrow because the patio and yard outside of my bedroom gets direct, hot southern light all day long.  It is beautiful.

shirt ideas

Still very rough drafty, but fun!  The shirts are kalimotxo-themed, with the nicknames of our koadrila written on each of the coke bottles (I found a sweet coca cola font online for free). Designed using Adobe Illustrator and the input of the Gavica sisters.

onward and upward!

I just finished my last NFRU household today for the Census.  I didn't love the job, but it gave me some good people experience, like how to have doors slammed in your face, how to deal with reluctant respondents, and how to navigate weird neighborhoods.  Plus I had to practice my Spanish, which was really great.  Hopefully there will be more Spanish opportunities ahead.  I'm searchin....

ahhhh, employment

In the last few weeks more than ever, I'm wishing that I had a standard 40-hr/week job ONLY because it is so hard to prove my earnings without one.  Because I live hand-to-mouth, or at least that's how it appears on paper, I have to compile several different sources in order to justify my meager earnings.  Questions like "attach a recent pay stub," or "take-home monthly earnings" make me sweat because the answers to those questions for me are so long and complicated!

the end of an era

LOST's finale reminds me of some papers I've written: I start out the paper bringing up creative ideas, intriguing back-stories and compelling mysteries for a few pages.  Then I realize I'll have to double or triple the page count in order to satisfactorily answer the questions I've posed, and, being too lazy and probably on my 6th Starbucks doubleshot and 2nd hour of sleep, decide to just go ahead and wrap it up.  I quickly funnel the loose ends into a shitty "well see, you should really think about that and be good humans, and what if it is all a dream, meaning of life blah blah" catch-all ending, and pass out with my head on the desk.  So you see, ABC writers, we're not that different.  My professors were probably just as let down as SEVERAL MILLION VIEWERS are right now.  Not a big deal.

¡Deséame suerte!

Today is officially the day where I start making use of my degree.  I took a job with the U.S. Census, and under "languages spoken" in the application, I entered Spanish, because a) it would help me get the job, and b) I actually do, on some level, speak Spanish.  It is very very entorpecido, rusty, but how am I going to brush up on it again if I don't practice?  This will be the right combination of pressure to perform and not actually mattering too much in order to get me to do it, I think.