Alas, a Lamb!: Time Keeps On Ticking, Ticking, Ticking... [2012/12/01]

...into the fuuuuuuture. (What? You don't occasionally get the urge to title posts after Steve Miller Band songs from the 70s?)

Anyway, ducklings, today marks the day on which there are only approximately seven more days of schooldays. Or yesterday did, I guess, since I'm writing this at 2 am on a Saturday, but no matter. The point is: classes end during the upcoming week. More to the point: HOMEWORK HOMEWORK HOMEWORK HOMEWORK.

And, you know, other end-of-term things. Like my performance for Beginning Taiko, which was tonight and was AWESOME. Because taiko is awesome.

[Under the cut: That performance in greater detail, my new thesis-writing regimen, and adorable animals. Oh, and something odd?]

Okay, so I was just checking the "pending comments" section, which is always a good time, when I stumbled across something which didn't look like a typical spam comment, and which caught my eye because it actually used my name. And, even more weirdly, it was from some dude named Spencer (who has a twitter and a facebook for his "SurveySpencer" business, which may or may not mean he's a real person...) telling me I'd been featured in something called the National Student Blogger Awards?

Which was weird, okay, because honestly, ducklings, I'm pretty used to the idea that only my family and the occasional brave visitor read my blogs. Also because they don't actually mention A) how the bloggers were chosen or B) what the survey size was (I'm assuming there was some kind of survey, given that it's a survey site and all). Here's what they said about me, though:

For a bird’s eye view of what today’s college students experience on a day to day basis, then Sasha’s blog posts are for you. Her razor-sharp posts are full oh humility and honesty (and more than a small dose of humor).

What do you think, ducklings — does it sound like me? Not that it really matters anyway, because in the absence of more information I'm just going to assume that it's a fluke or the fault of one of my relatives or something. Mostly I'm mentioning it in this post because A) I just saw this thirty seconds ago and I'm still incredibly bemused by it, and B) my parents will probably be happy.

(Oh, gosh, ducklings, in half a year I'm no longer going to be a student blogger. Isn't that a strange thought?)

Anyway, moving on! THE CONCERT. THE CONCERT WAS GREAT. It was technically listed under "Music From East Asia," since it featured the Chinese Music Ensemble, Korean Drumming (Beginners and Advance), and Taiko (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced), but let's be real, ducklings, we know who the biggest badasses in that concert were, and it was... well, the intermediate and advanced classes, honestly, since they did some INSANE stuff that was really cool. And Chinese Music Ensemble, featuring Previously Mentioned Housemate Natalia, sounded really nice! And I didn't get to see Korean drumming, unfortunately, but I bet they were really great too.

But I had an awesome time! I think we sounded pretty good, too, although I can definitely count at least two moments where I screwed up the dynamics, despite reminding myself of them at least ten times before the show. So it goes. But yeah, this class was really kind of an amazing surprise; I almost wish I'd started earlier in my Wes career, so I could try to make it all the way to the advanced course, but then what if I hadn't gotten into it and hadn't been able to take a taiko class this semester? That would have been a crime, surely. So I'll just go for the intermediate class next semester and hope to god I get in.

Unfortunately, I have neither video nor photos; one of my friends took photos, but I haven't asked her to send them to me yet, and I sort of... forgot to ask people to record it, which my mom is sad about. But I think it might have been taped by Wesleyan, so hopefully I'll be able to get her a copy at some point. Anyway, if you want to have an idea of the drums and the space we were working in, I DO have a photo of a recital from years past:

We were dressed pretty similarly, all in black with folded bandanna headbands, but our drums were set up vertically rather than diagonally, in an inverted v with the peak towards the back of the room.

So that was today. Other than that, I've been (unsurprisingly) trying to get a lot (a LOT) of work done, which has been... interesting. For the sake of productivity I've essentially given up the internet: I'm only allowed to look at fun sites during meals and right before bed. Otherwise it's a no. Obviously, sometimes that results in me either breaking my rules or taking very, very long meal breaks, but for the most part it seems to be working? Ish? Maybe? Tonight I gave myself a teeny tiny break, because it's Friday, but it's back to the grindstone for the rest of the weekend. I need to actually get stuff written; as much fun as the research is, I need to do something productive with it.

I'm thinking of making a sign for my wall that says "It's cool, you got this shit." Or possibly just "I GOT THIS." Actually, if I remember next week, I'll try to get pictures of the thesis stuff in my room — the timeline on my wall and the giant piles of books all over the place.

...I'm getting tired. I'm going to close this off with some pictures of adorable animals and hie myself off to sleep. Good night, ducklings! See you next week for a recap of my friends' dance recital on Sunday, Winter Formal on Monday, and, oh yeah, more homework!