Fruitbasket Syzygy

divine4thray @ 2005-09-25T12:34:00

2005-09-25T19:34:46Z

You are a
Social Liberal
(61% permissive)

and an...
Economic Moderate
(43% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Centrist

Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

the last few days

2005-08-09T23:27:56Z

I live for the internet right now because, on my ibook, it's my 14" window to LA. I have only 3 more days until I fly out, but I would go tonight if I could (though the packing job would be pretty rough). I should be selling a bunch of Cutco before I go-- both to have that money and to distinguish myself as a branch manager candidate for next summer. Branch managers get to run their own Cutco office for a summer... part of me really wants to do that and part of me really isn't so sure that I do... but it's a good idea to keep options open. But, I can't even focus long enough to get the appointments lined up.

I leave Saturday. I would love to see you. Give me a call.

work

2005-05-24T03:05:25Z

i apologize to anyone trying to get in touch with me to hang out in the next week. i'm working every day this week through sunday.... i hope i get off reasonably early at least one of those days but i'm not sure. things will get less hectic after this week and i can't wait to see y'all.

success!

2005-05-12T17:22:08Z

aural skills II, here i come! i've never been happier to take 8am/9am classes in my life. so next semester is totally settled. now i just have to figure out the rest of my years. right now i'm thinking i want to have my music major, a religion minor, and a recording arts minor. i'd like to make the religion minor a major but i'm still seeing how creative i can get with credits. for right now, victory is sweet! :)

10 days until home.

switch off

2005-05-12T00:42:43Z

so i am done with finals and moved out of my dorm. right now, all my stuff is taking up an entire corner of the RO house living room. i'm kind of spinning just because these basic things that i've grounded my life in-- classes, my room, the people i live with-- all that is done. i'm sitting here on a couch that i don't really have to go home from just idling away the afternoon. bizarre.

goodbyes are so surreal. the goodbyes in the dorm are especially so because you're never quite sure when it's the last time that you'll see the person. there are several people i had a heartfelt goodbye with only to see them by chance a few hours later. i haven't been able to help starting to think about who are the people this is probably the last time i'll see them in any meaningful context; it's depressing to know that certain friends will just drift away.

i talked with my parents last night. they had read my response to their email prompting the discussion about my academic career... status is that they were impressed by the argument i had laid out in my email and for now we have a peace in which they will pay for one extra unit of classes, allowing me to settle my class schedule except for one thing. so here is my probable schedule for next semester:

arabic 2 (a class in which i need to apply myself more than i have in arabic 1)

CORE 101 (i'm not really sure what this class is about... it's a GE i have to take and apparently this one is easy. the description points to a class about nothing in particular but with a pretty kickass reading list)

the origin of human species (an anthropology course that somehow satisfies my science requirement... i'm considering taking it pass/fail so i can pick and choose what i actually care to learn in there)

music theory 2 (confirmed by an email yesterday in which my professor said i got an A on my placement exam :) )

aural skills 2 (this is the one i'm not sure about... the guy said he'd email me today to let me know if i did well enough on my test but no word so far)

creating musical theatre (this is the same class with jason robert brown i took this semester... i learned a ton and it's a great opportunity both to learn from one of the best in his field and be on a first-name basis with him should i decide i want to try to break into writing musicals)

and that'll do it. it'll be a busy semester but i really like my schedule. after the fall, i only have a diversity class to take and i'm totally done with GEs... sweet. i'm also thinking about adding a recording arts minor. other possibilities a religion major/minor and maybe a middle east studies minor. i think i'm going to go figure out how all that fits in my schedule. bye.

this isn't a bad test, to be honest

2005-05-11T06:37:05Z

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to obedience and warmth.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

divine4thray @ 2005-05-03T02:33:00

2005-05-03T09:33:07Z

reply and i'll tell you something i like about you.
afterwards, SPREAD THE DISEASE by copying & pasting this into your own journal.

divine4thray @ 2005-05-03T01:19:00

2005-05-03T08:22:09Z

i can't find my nunchucks. i have not entirely given up hope that they're just somewhere buried under a mound of clothes, but you can imagine my distress. those things are $12 worth of heaven.

secondly, i was really honest today... it's sad that i have to have my honest moments on facebook. i am a sad man. without nunchucks. who is going to sleep now so he can get up early and do at least a little work before he goes to the beach to pound one more nail into the coffin of his rapidly sinking gpa.

an extra thought

2005-05-01T20:57:10Z

a comment at the party last night got me thinking... i don't take enough chances. i let pretty much all of them get away while i'm caught up in my own insecurities. what a waste.

at least i have good music to listen to in my solitude.

weekend update

2005-05-01T20:45:01Z

i love spring in california. it's just gorgeous and brings my mood up. i keep giggling to think that i nearly went to school in california. well, not really giggling... more manly than that... chuckling. chuckling manly-ly.

this has been a really great weekend. all my finals stuff feels far enough off that i don't feel the need to do any work (though this will absolutely slay me about mid-week) so i've just been having fun. on friday we had absolut a cappella, an a cappella competition worth $300... we did really well even though we only placed 3rd. there's a school near us called mt. sac that just do incredible a cappella and we lost to two all-male groups from there.

i didn't have too much time to be sad about losing thed competition because half way through the competition i left with some people to go to the gabriel mann cd release concert. which was a great concert. y'all should check out gabriel mann, he's an LA piano rock guy who also produces much of the a cappella scene in socal. but he's really good.

after that, i stopped by my friend's apartment party... it was ridiculous as usual. this was a jungle-themed party with, besides all the jungle decorations you might expect, literally 1000 balloons bouncing around. the popping was annoying after a while, especially in my sober state, but the effect was still pretty cool. especially the "balloon room" that was filled about halfway up.

last night, after a day of kindofsomewhat cleaning my room, i went and saw two plays in the coffee house by my dorm, both really good. i love college where great events only cost $5, if that. then it was off to a birthday party at the RO house (for one of the bajillion emilies i've met here). it was a pretty small party but a lot of fun; it was the first party i've been inspired to get really drunk at in a long time. i'm still mad that some random person stole the pinata though. for real, who does that?

and, drawing near to this weekend's end, i went with kevo today to check out a hot tub this guy was giving away to see if we could take it to the RO house. the thing turns out to be 8x8x3 feet and about 800 lbs. that basicalle means we would need a crane to move it... so no hot tub for RO :( . we'll still get a hookah, though. and we'll always have each other.

RO senior send-off concert tonight. 'twill be sad... but at least i get to say nice things about kevo. and he'll be around next semester.

p.s. i bought nunchucks yesterday. don't piss me off because i can go all ninja on your ass now.

photo ipod

2005-04-27T04:15:53Z

so, i don't think updated about this, but just before spring break, my ipod was stolen. i'm really reluctant to shell out another couple hundred bucks to get a new one, so i'm going to go this route. if y'all are interested in getting a free photo ipod, click the link... even if you're not, if you sign up for the stamps.com offer, it costs you nothing to cancel, helps me, and takes a total of about 5 minutes. i need 10 people to do this to get the ipod... thanks for helping me out guys and if you go for your own, good luck!

Click this to painlessly help me.

p.s. i was pretty suspicious of this but it's legit. my friend made a site explaining it all that i will post once i get it from him again. thanks, guys.

hahaha

2005-04-24T01:36:51Z

this is the best dumb blonde joke ever

out of the mists... (warning: this will most likely end up being long)

2005-04-17T20:34:56Z

CATEOGIRZED FOR EASY READING

THE MUSICAL
updating is posssible the worst use of time i could choose right now but i really feel like it for the first time in i don't know how long. actually, i take it back, playing super mario world for 11 hours like i did friday night is the worst possible use of time i could choose, so this is a stroke of genius by comparison. phewph, i've justified myself. let's do it, livejournal.

i guess the place to start with what ran my life for the past two months or so, the school of theatre production of anything goes. we had our performances last weekend and the weekend before that to add up to a total of 10 performances--more than i've ever done before. as we went through the run, i began to get a taste of what it might be like to be a professional actor--to come in everyday in the early evening and just start getting your makeup on, to see your castmates as coworkers, to become so attuned to the rhythm of the show. it was really cool and i could definitely see myself doing it as a career. maybe not forever but for a while.

anyway, i've hung up my sailor suit for the last time and we had a couple cast parties since then of varying levels of debauchery. my favorite one was last night at the director's house, a beautiful house in west LA... it was a whole bunch of us in a jacuzzi and playing charades in the living room and watching grease (the director is kelly ward, he was putsie in grease) and enjoying some nice wine or beer (depending on preference) and reminiscing about early '90s pop songs... it was just a great time. mind you, the party involving the strip game was fun too but there was such a gezellig feeling last night (gezellig is like cozy).

it makes me have doubts about my resolution not to try out for the musical next year. i mean, to do it again would be crazy--it consumes everything else in my life. but there's that niggling part of me that says it's worth it. i've met some great people through it and it's a pretty intense bond to have built something as big as we did together. i mean, these were the people who were there while i tried to tap dance and i didn't scare them off!

now, in post-musical life, i'm trying to get through the rest of the semester. i had to present a shortened version of my research paper on albee's "the goat" at a little undergraduate conference this past week that actually went surprisingly well. i had been pretty sure that i would crash and burn horribly and that the follow-up questions would feel like being squirted with boiling water continuously but i kind of enjoyed myself. of course, now i have to almost double my page-count to turn it in to my teacher tomorrow (which is why updating is a great idea right now).

REGISTRATION AND PASSION
i also registered on friday... kind of. the only classes i'm definitely registered for right now are a GE and arabic 2. that's 8 units out of an anticipated 18. because i've decided to major in music, i'm trying to test into sophomore theory so i'm not behind and i have to take the challenge exams before i can register for those classes. i'm also auditioning for the choir program here; my friend is in the chamber choir and they sound really good so i hope i get invited to that group. i also want to be in it so i can watch how the director works and apply some of that to directing RO. anyway, my audition is may 3rd; hopefully low bass power will come through for me.

i'm planning on taking the jason robert brown class again. it's been really good this semester even with all the other craziness going on and i think it would kick ass to have that forum to produce music when i'm really digging into studying music with theory class. the more i think about it, the more i think i really want to focus on writing music. i look at all the cool classes and just get really excited about taking them. i need to brush up my piano skills because i feel like i can delve more deeply into musical ideas the more i can do when i sit down at the piano. that's the other thing i want to register for next semester. there's so much opportunity here... i get giddy sometimes thinking about all the things i could do.

and then i remember the conversation with my parents i'm going to have to have. we kind of started the clash this semester when i told them i was signing up for theory and aural skills... they really don't want me to major in music. they want me to be intelectually broad, to resist the temptation to specialize and focus in too soon. i don't know how to explain to them how i get wrapped up in music. it's passion. i don't know how to convince them of that, that i'm not just doing it to be cool or because it feels easy... it's something i care about, that i have a fire for. that doesn't happen in my lit classes. i like literature and enjoy talking about it but i don't really CARE about it in the same way. and who knows? maybe i'll change my mind later and decide it's not right for me (though i don't see that)... but right now i feel called to it. i think a lot of it is a mental shift that in some ways even i'm still making. in high school, music and theatre were electives rather than core classes. i identified more with the electives than the core classes but i still recognized the two categories. both i and my parents need to get past that artificial boundary and just see music as a path of study equal to english or math or philosophy. it will work out, i think... but i dread having to have it out with my dad. my mom will see my point of view but my dad is pretty stubborn about this stuff.

so many comments....

2005-02-04T01:35:32Z

that last entry was beautiful... between mell, brian, and my responses, i have never felt so comment-loved, even if there's a lot of padding.

ok, so life in LA these days.

i have taken the reins of power as musical director of RO. i kind of suck at ir right now but i have to assume i'll eventually get better. i actually did a really good job tuesday night when i went over to the house early for fajitas and had 4 or 5 shots of tequila before rehearsal started. no joke, i think it was the best rehearsal i've ever run. resultant plan of action: get RO to pick up the tab for my alcohol as a vital group expense.

*sigh* i wish.

i've also started rehearsal for Anything Goes. the main thing this has taught me in the first week is that i am a truly atrocious tap dancer. i get so befuddled when they run through a routine that i tend to just sort of walk in the general direction of everybody else as they're dancing. occasionally i raise my arms in a classy way (showmanship is half the battle... right guys? right?). tuesday, however, was a singing rehearsal and i felt a lot more comfortable with that. it's always fun to be able to use my low notes for a new group; being a vocal freak has earned me a place in many a musical director's heart. tonight there is a party for the cast after rehearsal so everybody can get to know each other. this will be a bit of a drinking-intensive week between tuesday, tonight, and whatever mischief i get into this weekend but i'm really looking forward to it.

the one thing that sucks about the musical is that it conflicts with both kung fu and ninjitsu, the two martial arts i'm interested in taking out here. i'll start again next semester but as it stands now i'm not doing any cardio exercise, which is no good.

i went to an awesome retreat in the mountains two weekends ago on which my friend taught me the basics of bo staff. i think that's my favorite weapon because it's the one most likely to be there in real life should you ever need one. there is photographic evidence that i bared my bottom while playing a mexican bingo drinking game from the same trip but it was a lot of fun. i promise that my life does not revolve around alcohol... it is, however, a vallued supplement. i also played several games of ping pong (sober) and that was fun because i haven't played in forever. i think my favorite thing from the trip was sledding (it was actually snowing up there, which is a trip). they had this kind of lame slope called "suicide slope" for sledding that my friends and i found a bit disappointing so we went in search of greener... er, steeper pastures. we spent a good hour or two carving out a path to sled down so it would go extra fast and gave it a little ledge to fly off of at the end. i ate more snow than i would like to admit and my clothes got really wet but it was awesome.

i got angry the other day when i thought my friend was trying to broadcast my most embarrassing moments to as many people as possible. it turned out to me a misunderstanding but it was kind of bizarre because i pretty much never get angry. failing to have said anything of note, we move onto a non sequitur:

i love my creating musical theatre class. i revised my song and am bringing it into jason tomorrow for criticism... this is so cool that i actually get to do this.

i made up my schedule of the classes i plan on taking for the next 3 years (per my parents' request) and it's a much tighter squeeze than i had anticipated. i'm going to be taking LOT of music classes with a smattering of other stuff (to complete a theatre minor, learn arabic, and try to keep my parents happy by taking a lit course or two).

i had best get to musical rehearsal. farewell, lj world.

divine4thray @ 2005-02-02T16:42:00

2005-02-03T00:41:56Z

[If you read this, even if i don't speak to you often, you must post a memory of me. It can be anything you want, it can be good or bad, just so long as it happened.]

Then post this to your journal. See what people remember about you.

p.s. i would totally update about my life right now if i weren't so desperately in need of a nap.

who would ever have thought i would post something like this but....

2005-01-05T06:04:15Z

FIGHT THE FUCK ON! that game was ridiculous. USC, national champs '04!

adding my two cents...

2004-12-31T02:56:37Z

1. Pick a band and answer only using the band's song titles: Ben Folds (Five)
2. Are you male or female: Fred Jones Part II
3. Describe yourself: Mess
4. Your best piece of advice: You've Got to Learn to Live with What You Are
5. Describe your last relationship: Battle of Who Could Care Less
6. Describe your last crush: Underground
7. Say something to someone you have a crush on: Regrets
8. Say something to an ex: Gone
9. Say something to someone who hurt you severely: Fired
10. How do you feel right now: Still Fighting It

i might do a billy joel one later for the hell of it... but not right now.

[EDIT: 12:30]

1. Pick a band and answer only using the band's song titles: Billy Joel
2. Are you male or female: Piano Man
3. Describe yourself: It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
4. Your best piece of advice: Honesty
5. Describe your last relationship: Movin' Out
6. Describe your last crush: We Didn't Start the Fire
7. Say something to someone you have a crush on: Shades of Grey
8. Say something to an ex: Say Goodbye to Hollywood
9. Say something to someone who hurt you severely: Famous Last Words
10. How do you feel right now: Only the Good Die Young

I'M COMING HOME

2004-12-11T13:01:39Z

i am getting picked up to go to the airport in an hour and forty minutes. i am so excited. i kind of wish i had slept tonight but i guess i had to pack sometime. i would have packed earlier today but i had to write some music for a creative final project... it actually turned out pretty well for only spending a few hours on it.

after all that, i went to elections for officer positions in RO ( a cappella group) which was followed by a tree decorating party. a few notable things about this:
1) i was elected musical director for the coming year tonight by default because the other guy nominated for it didn't want it
2) i am very proud about this but i had a brief freak out period when i realized that my term starts not in august but this coming january... a shot of tequila relaxed me a bit... i'm still a little apprehensive about it but it's also kind of exciting
3) that was a really long #2
4) we swapped secret nondenominational holiday figure (read: secret santa) gifts and i got the coolest one! my friend elissa covered this shoebox in all sorts of pictures from these first 3 months with RO... it's awesome.

i've been playing with garageband a lot recently and i am beginning to really warm to it... it frustrated me a lot at first but that may be because i'm too dumb to understand the interface right away. i love that i can burn CDs of my own work... they're poor quality but i feel like i've done something after i have something i can hold that i did.

wow, i am so excited to get home... only an hour and a half before pick up now. i am going to crash like a mo on the plane. mos crash hard, in case you were wondering. by the grace of jesu, i have a direct flight so i don't have to worry about connecting like i did when i pulled this all-nighter flying stunt at thanksgiving. of course, that time was also with alcohol and it was a little disconcerting to still be drunk when i got to the airport... ah, memories...

assuming that i'm conscious when i get home later today ( i arrive around 4), i am going to get on the cell phone because after dinner with the family (again assuming consciousness) i want to start some joyous reuning. SEE YOU ALL SOON (in the next couple days in many cases, i know)!

earth=small world; or fucla

2004-12-04T20:05:34Z

first of all, let me say that as of 5am yesterday, I AM DONE WITH ALL NON-FINALS WORK FOR 2004. i love. yesterday felt so good because i didn't really have to do anything. my next academic obligation is on, hmm, let me see, the 9th. it still gives me tingles to think about.

what gives me even more tingles is the thought that i am rapidly approaching the day when i get to see all you lovely people again. 'twill be the best, have no doubt. i keep talking about it but that's only because i'm that excited to get home.

guess who i saw at the party i was attending last night. well, you can't actually guess since posting isn't really an interactive activity, so i guess i'll just tell you. i'm milling and mingling at a party a friend of mine and his flatmates (i heart british slang) were throwing which had christmas lights, a fireplace on the tv, snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, cotton as snow on the ground, blacklights which made my drinks glow like a magic potion.... ok, i'm getting sidetracked. i'm on my way to the bathroom and on the way there i pass this girl with a boa. i think two things: 1) cool boa 2) that girl looks kind of familiar... must have a face that reminds me of someone. i go to the bathroom.

...

that was the bathroom... sparing you the details. i reemerge from the bathroom and see this boa-girl again. our eyes meet and i realize suddenly that i am looking at sarah conn! yes, sarah conn, with lakeside boyfriend paxon in tow, and we partied together in california by sheer coincidence. i have to admit, we do both go to school in california so it's less of a coincidence but it's still pretty fucking huge because she's at a school about an hour away and there were a LOT of parties going on last night because today is the big rivalry game against UCLA.

7 days!

divine4thray @ 2004-12-02T18:56:00

2004-12-03T02:53:20Z

Which Family Guy character are you?

finals craziness

2004-12-02T04:37:33Z

how did it get to be the end of the semester? today was the last day of classes here. i'm really relieved in a way but it seems a bit sudden for the semester to just up and end. i will be so so happy to get home finally it defies description. i am home the 11th. i plan on sleeping forever, maybe try to make a little cutco money to get me through next semester, a couple musical endeavors, and of course spending absurd amounts of time with POLL QUESTION: WHAT DAY IS EVERYBODY COMING HOME?

i got a solo in my a cappella group last night. i am very excited. a super-cheezy eighties song. separate ways by journey. what's extra exciting is that we're doing the song at ICCAs, which is basically thebigdealforcollegeacappellanerds.com. there are some notes in the solo i can't actually sing but i think i fooled them. sneaky sneaky.

oh, weird. my roommate says sneaky sneaky. my roommate and i are merging.

it has been way too cold for socal here. as in in the 50s and sometimes even 40s at night. that is simply not acceptable because i didn't bring a jacket of any sort and at night a sweatshirt just doesn't hack it.

UPDATE: i just bought a fucla T-shirt. joy.

divine4thray @ 2004-11-24T11:19:00

2004-11-24T19:16:52Z

I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY SAD THAT I AM NOT HOME IN THE ATL RIGHT NOW!!!

for izzy

2004-11-11T10:05:13Z

hello all,

apologies for my extended absence from the lj community. i'll try to make this a good entry since izzy especially requested it.

my a cappella group is the best thing ever. it's pretty much my only musical involvement here and it feels like such a wonderful lifeline to hang onto. plus there are the parties. the fact that the group has a house is awesome for parties and i'm pretty excited that i'm going to live at the house next year. and the group honestly feels like a family... it's so amazing to have 16 automatic close friends. i think the group is sort of a musical coed fraternity sans any of the initiation bullshit.

here's the a cappella drama at this moment: we nominate people for positions of responsibility next week and i'm thinking of maybe running for musical director. i don't really feel ready to take it on but the way things are looking, there might be nobody better. i'm nervous/scared at the prospect of running rehearsals and all that but also kind of excited about the possibilities. i think i'm going to ask a couple of the seniors what they think about me running. i've started arranging pieces for the group, which is a step in the right direction. pieces arranged so far:
"where have you been?" by reel big fish
"you look so fine" by garbage

anyway, enough of this a cappella stuff...

oh, i am switching majors. right now i am a creative writing and theatre double major but, hopefully, come next semester i will be a music major and theatre minor. gotta get to that application...

i have LOTS of writing to do before the end of next week. i'm really uninspired to do anything remotely resembling schoolwork recently... i've been skipping some of my classes (usually the one at 8:30)... i've got to get on top of this stuff and finish the semester strong. anybody in a similar slump?

i have registration next week. i think i am going to take all gen ed courses so i'll only have one more to take next year. since science repulses me, i have been searching for the biggest joke class i can get away with for my science requirement. i have settled on a kiniesology course: "the science of human performance." it got a really easy rating online and it sounds like, from the description, the labs largely comprise doing push-ups, aerobic excercises and the like and noting how it affects you.

kung fu rocks my socks off. i always feel like i want to skip it before i go but i feel SOOOO good afterward. it also allows me to eat with impunity guilt-free (mmmm... cake and honeyed cashews).

i just yawned. god is sending me a message to go to bed. who am i to question divine mandate?

goodnight.

divine4thray @ 2004-10-20T02:32:00

2004-10-20T09:31:05Z

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

College Update

2004-08-22T23:53:04Z

here i am, in sunny socal. i kind of had my doubts at first but i think i'm really going to like it here. i'm starting to get to know people in my hall... well, my side of the hall anyway. there's seems to be this segregation between the two sides of the stairwell in the middle of the building.

i met my roommate and i really like him. he's obsessed with meat (really) and he's had many concussions in his time but he's really cool.

they had a concert last night for us with three acts. the first one was a shitty local band that was full of coldplay-wannabes from long beach. next was andrew wk and that was awesome... people were crowd-surfing all over the place and generally getting really into it. the closer was they might be giants and that was even better.... they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING live.

shit, another welcome week activity coming up... a play fair, whatever that is. it sounds up my alley. i hope everybody else is loving college or the end of their summer.