Back to the Juice Room
So I'm at home in Renfrew now. I have been since last Saturday. A most shocking revelation on early Saturday morning, woke me and bodie out of bed and into action in a matter of minutes. Within an hour of waking to the phone, and mom's stoic voice, I had literally thrown together a suitcase, and was on a train home. Thank GOD that bodie was over that morning, because I'm positive I could not have held it together as well as I did, if she hadn't been there reminding me of things to pack, making me eat something for breakfast, booking my train ticket, and cleaning my kitchen for me. She was amazed at my superhuman effort of calling all these people to re-schedule work, lessons and dinner dates. Frankly, I was too. Mom had called on Friday night while I was eating dinner in the caf with robin and bode, and I had ignored her call. And not called her back that night, because we decided to stay up late playing MYST IV-Revelation. Anyways, one of family's closest friends, one of my mom's best friends from childhood, died on Friday morning. He took his life very suddenly, and as of yet we have no explanation for anything. We're going over to spend the afternoon with Anne, his widow today, and maybe she can give us some answers (there was a note left to "Family and Friends" that Anne said at that wake she wanted to show us) He was like another uncle to me, and a second grandfather for my nephew and nieces. Him and Anne came to church and then brunch with our family every Sunday morning. And would often just drop by for a cup of tea and some chat with my now homebound mom. Phil was a guy who we all relied on heavily. He was so kind and would do anything for you. He helped my mom around the house so much, especially when Dad's away for big meetings or conferences, or whatever. He basically did ALL our landscaping in the backyard this spring. They asked me to sing at the funeral on Tuesday morning. I agreed, and SHOULD have just kept it to a minimum, knowing how hard it would be for me..but I know that the Our Lady of Fatima Church Choir isn't the strongest, and I wanted to make the music GOOD, so I took on a lot more than I normally would for a funeral. And of course, I choked up quite a few times. I got thru everything, but afterwards at the luncheon, I"m pretty sure I was rather rude to some of the people who kept coming up to tell me my singing was beautiful, because I was OBVIOUSLY still crying and wanted to be left alone. Ah well. It's over now. He was cremated on Tuesday afternoon.
In good news..I DIDN"T stand tyler up for breakfast last week! haha! We stood eachother up. Woo.
Going now.
Jess
I'm going to work at 2pm, and then at 6pm meeting rachel, troy, bodie and a bunch of other people to go for Chinese Food somewhere, and then I assume back to Rachel and Victoria's place to play Apples to Apples. Should be fun. I need this distraction right now.
That last update is really only about one friend. Someone I have known for a while that, to me at least, seems to have dropped of the face of the planet. I wasn't trying to say I have no one, it just came across that way. It is hard for me to express true raw feelings and I only trust a handful of people to see me when I'm at my worst, and well I would have liked things to turn out better with this person. I had called and said I could really use just a walk or a talk or something, but....nothing, I hear nothing back. That fucking hurts, and now I'm beginning to think I don't know this person at all. Once upon a time I thought I knew so much. Like, we trusted eachother, but maybe not. Or did that friendship just fade into nothing? And if so..HOW? What did we do wrong? Why couldn't we make this work? Even after all this time, he's not really proving that he is someone I can count on. To all those people who have been there for me, I can't even begin to say thanks for the support. I am dealing with this better because I know that if I do need to freak out or vent I have you. So thanks.
And when I'm alone, when all I have is my own thoughts for company, I start to think. How do you begin to say goodbye to someone you know you'll never see again. How do you say all the things you want to say, should have said and will say when the time limit monster is leering at you over their shoulder. Screw that. it's already gone OFF. What's left? Is it worth even saying ANYTHING anymore?
I hate saying goodbye...
Jess
I need to say so much, but I don't know how. I'm concerned about hurting feelings, and having regrets, and getting caught up in the moment, saying things I don't really mean. This is tough. Really really tough. I've composed little ditties that would be my "dream replies" but I could never actually say them. Way too harsh. But then again, is honesty still the best policy? Such a grey area in this situation I think. (I can give more details if you ask on msn or something)
I need new motivation. I need a really awesome goal in life. Cuz I've kind of hit a rut and I don't know what I'm doing anymore. A lot of us are feeling that way right now..I know. Claire had a good idea: everything I do this year, I do it to get to the place I'm most afraid of going, but will eventually have to face. (so cryptic! I'm sorry everyone..but please..I'll fill you in, just ASK me) Everyday I must accomplish something that brings me closer to that place. That scary scary place. No more moping required. Just action. Drive. Focus. and NO MORE listening to depressing music. GOSH. Pump me UP Claire-bebe! lol
You know what? I can't do this on here. Frankly, I don't know anywhere where I feel safe anymore. But I've gotta go.
Happy New Year everyone! I had a great time, over for wining and dining at Robin's (she makes a killer G&T!!) with Bode, Will and Trevor, then quickly over to Elizabeth's and Corinne's for the countdown and to pick up Andre (ahah!) And then I meandered home, and was safely tucked into my bed by 2am! Woo! Now it's Tuesday, which means that I start class again tomorrow morning at 11:30am. ICK. Choir with bob again, at least this semester claire-bebe will be joining me. All in all, this was a fairly normal holiday season. I got sick with a terrible cold on the 23rd (which I am STILL battling), sang at Bode's xmas party in Ottawa, sang for a funeral in Renfrew, helped make the turkey dinner, babysat my nieces, hung out with old high school friends, and caught up on a lot of "reading for pleasure" (The Eragon books ARE good! Who wants to come see the movie with me soon?! Bode, you have no choice in this matter.)
Unfortunately today, I had an accident! claire, julia and I walked to the post office to pick up my packages from best buy (new lcd monitor, speakers (which julia described as "pure sex", mouse (which ROBIN described as "pure sex"), myst game, dvds, camera (which EVERYONE described as "pure sex"), 2MB sd card, etc.) and when we were walking back on St. Laurent I didn't look where I was walking, and went over on my ankle. We cabbed home, and then I was sitting for a couple of hours *winning* (accidentally) the MYST V game with everyone..and when i got up to try walking again..it HURT BAD. REAL BAD. So now all my friends are out at either Dieu de Ciel or L'amer a boire and I'm stuck at home with a package of frozen corn strapped to my foot. Lovely. (rob says the perfume reeks)
Alright, well here's my big troubles...forget a stupid sore ankle. I might have to either move next year..or find two new people to live with! AHH!! NO GOOD. I don't WANT to get new roomies. I LOVE the ones I have now! This is going to be so sad. It's already depressing me just THINKING about it. gah. Funny thing though..I put a little blurb up on the McGill classifieds this afternoon right after nora told me she'll probably be moving back to T.dot next year..and within like an HOUR, some random girl was calling ALREADY wanting to come see the place! WOW. Here's what the ad said:
2 flatmates wanted for next year!
5 1/2 apartment on Aylmer (between Prince Arthur+Milton) will have 2 bedrooms available for rent for next school year. Looking for two fun girls, who are not too loud, enjoy watching movies and cooking together, and want to share this apartment with me! I've lived here already for two years, but my two roomates are graduating and leaving me at the end of May! The rent is $1125/month for the whole place (split three ways we used to do it $385/month for the two larger rooms and $355 for the small bedroom). It has it's own washer & dryer, new full-sized fridge and stove, and extra freezer. I'll post pictures when I get my camera up and running. thanks!
BAH-HUMBUG. Let's not discuss this issue anymore. It's the big pink elephant in the room and I FEEL like ignoring it..
Thanks to Bodie for the lovely apartment present of the 2007 Sex and the City calendar! We've lately all become slightly addicted to that show. So much fun in so little time!
Ok, well I'm going to get some more of Robin's home-made iced tea! And watch some family guy volume 4, or the 2nd season of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" which I bought! HAHA
Juicy.
Claire asked me yesterday if I was depressed. Am I depressed? I can't decide. Of course I'm sad. I keep trying to tell myself that I shouldn't care though. I should be adult about this...we're all going to be leaving soon. It's a fact of life. Anyways, a la Izzie on Grey's Anatomy...I've been dealing with my so-called depression in an extremely delicious manner. BAKING. Lots of it. LOTS. 7 dozen ginger cookies. Skor bars, Ohio State Buckeyes (which as we learned last night..have NOTHING to do with Deer's pupils!) and today as soon as I go out and buy more chocolate chips and a 13x9inch pan, it'll be SQUARES! Lots and lots of squares. And apple nut muffins and more shortbread tomorrow maybe..My mom's sending me this box of sugar cookies stuff too...like decorations and good cookie cutters, etc. I'm excited. Maybe I'm not depressed...maybe this is just my way of getting into the Christmas Spirit...but really...I've never been this obsesssive before..Oh I don't know! I'm going for a haircut with Allison in a couple of hours..maybe that will cheer me up. And then tonight it's the panacea show at 1221 Crescent St. Pub again...and Nora's piano quintet is playing one of my all-time fav composers! SHOSTA-HO-BITCH!! WOOO! I'm THRILLED.
Ok. Gotta go..It's time to wake bode up so she can make me breakfast this morning! WOO!! I'll post pictures of the new haircut when I get back this afternoon!
ta ta!
Juiceeeeee!
Happy Birthday Tyler! I'm so very happy that you sat beside me on the bus all those years ago. Even though your knee jerks were rather annoying...
I'm also glad I was brave enough to come up to you at the Renfrew wrestling thing. You were SCARY!! (we've been through this already...I know..you're not "scary and jock-ish"...you're ***JOCK-FABULOUS***!!!)
Thanks for listening to all my late-night whinings, and trying to get me in to see my hero/the love-of-my-life GAROU that night at church!
Pity that you were such an expert ego-googler and had to find this little cache of mine to begin with...but since you're already here and have read and digested all the incriminating parts already...***GAH****..AND I've had my subsequent nervous breakdowns as a result...we're IN THE CLEAR!!
Here's a list of things I will attempt to do from now on....
1. I will not emasculate you through you little-boy's appetite for Polish food ever again.
2. I will never ask about you having PIE with any other man ever again.
3. I will therefore, not have the opportunity to *blush* at all your "over-shares".
4. I will bring "Tyler-You're FABulous!!" banners to all your wrestling tournaments from now on.
5. I will try to curb back my prejudices as the "musical equivalent of a racist."
6. Your "opera stalker" will try to stop talking to all my friends about her "hot/sexy/delightfully inappropriate wrestler" friend all the time..No guarantees though!
7. I will curb my use of "Ha." the unimpressed "ha". Singular. Cold. and distant. Disdainful even.
8. I will be pleasantly cheered up everytime I see you on the metro.
9. Amelia/Bodie, the "creepy blonde girl" from the Hip concert will HUG you and exclaim.."OH TYLER!! Hi!!!" next time she sees you ANYWHERE.
10. We will finally go to Amelio's and get you caught up on Lost and Smallville SOON.
11. I will make fun of you each and every time you put up a "deep" philosophical quote on your msn name.
12. I will awkwardly hug/molest all your future lovers from now on..
13. Damn. I wanted to try and make it all the way to 23..but I don't think it's gonna happen...
14. I will...
15. personally make sure that "Rational and Irrational Numbers" gets on the best-seller list.
16. I will..uh..
17. try to never bring you to a restaurant again where the waitress is such a dolt..that I actually have to ask..."Uhh...can we EAT?"
18. I will never
19. ever have a "surprise" for you in my bedroom that involves someone "six feet tall, buff, cute, between 18 and 22, and really really hung..." *BLUSH**GASP**
20. I will honestly try to become less of a Prude.
21. I will....
22. ....??? Any suggestions?
23. PHEW! Made it to 23!!
Woo! Ok. I've got to go and learn some Brahms songs now! Take care! Say hi to your hilarious family for me...what's that thing you guys say again.."Rub-a-dub-dub..thanks for the grub...YAY God!!...??
***********LLLOLLLLLLLLLLLL***** (oh lord.)
Juicy
I have absolutely nothing to say. I'm only doing this because B's been heckling me.
I'm getting tyler m's input right now. He suggests Carnies. Ha. Ok. so here's the story...as best as I remember it. His Uncle *****BILL**** is a priest and a rather irreverant one at that. He likes to give sermons which are funny...but in that way that kind of makes everyone uncomfortable...they're "laughing" with you...but at the same time rolling their eyes, and thinking.."Oh god..he did NOT just go there!" The 2 examples tyler gave were the sermon where he imitated (slash mocked...it's a VERY fine line) a Pakistani accent...and the one where he quite frankly likened Creepy old men carnival workers...aka "Carnies" to those nasty Gentiles/Samaritans/Non-Jews..
OH YES..which brings me to my next point..HAHAHA. Nora and Bode and I were sitting on my bed on Saturday night, eating the gross cheap chocolate from a dollar store Advent calendar. Nora and I were laughing because in this advent calendar there were these cheesy little pictures of reindeer and elves and stuff on the inside of all the little doors, and we were remembering how the "Advent" Calendars we used to get when we were kids...were like actually "Catholic"...and they'd have little Bible quotes on the inside of the doors along with your chocolate.. (* side note: well ACTUALLY, I just debated this with nora..I seem to recall MY advent calendars, which were religious themed, NOT having any chocolate at ALL..JUST the bible stuff..but Nora thinks that hers had both...so I dunno) But from all this...we established the fact that Bode is a GENTILE...or a Samaritan...We weren't really sure what those meant..
Tyler just cleared it up for me..."Gentiles are just Non-Jews...but Samaritans are the really BAD ones!" *LOL*. (ugh..I"m disgusted with myself for usage of those flaming homosexual stars..)
ANYWAY>..to the funny part of the story...As we were saying all this, I was suddenly hit by the memory of some song from my church choir days...that had the line "Gentile or Jew"...but I couldn't remember how the TUNE went.. Nora and I sat puzzling this for a second..and then OUT OF NOWHERE...Nora starts BELTING out the song...
"GENTILE or JEWWWWWW...Servant or Freeee...Woman or Man....NOOoooo MOoooooorre.........
One bread...One Body..One Lord of ALLLL...One cup of blessing which we bless....
And we...though MANY...throughout the earth...we are one body in this One LOOOORRD.."
I joined in after the first line..and words just magically came back to me all of the sudden..Nora and I got through at least two verses before we forgot the rest...all the while, bode is sitting there in SHOCK...with this priceless bemused look on her face...shaking her head...no doubt thinking..."Oh LORD...those crazy Catholics!"
OK. I'm done.
Bye!!
Juicy
The concert last night was AMAZING. Not that I'm a such an avid indie-rock concert-goer..so I can't honestly compare them to much..but in my humble opinion, (aside from Garou, who is in a VERY different league..) it was one of my favourite concerts I've seen in a really long time!! Their front-man Colin was really cute, in that total nerdy way! And the chic Lisa reminded me a lot of Julieanne K. They played almost all my fav songs except "I was meant for the stage" and "The Soldiering Life". And did this really funny dramatic re-enactment of "the Founding of Montreal". But yeah...that's not even the most exciting part of the night claire and I had.. BEFORE the concert, when were in line waiting for the doors to open in front of Metropolis, we witnessed this VICIOUS street fight break out between two homeless people. One of them starting kicking this black homeless guy, who had been singing really annoyingly..pushing him and swearing at him and stuff. And it looked like he was walking away..but INSTEAD he went to the curb and broke his beer bottle, and started to use it as a dagger thing. The other homeless guy (the white one), tryed to disarm him by kicking the bottle out of his hand, but missed, and they ended up shoving eachother into cars and shit, and the white guy got glass in his eye and his head split open with the broken glass. Someone in line behind us called the cops, and then it pretty much broke up. But there were still lots of death threats and vulgarities exchanged. It was seriously, the most violent thing I've ever witnessed in Montreal. In my little McGill Bubble, I rarely venture outside at night, and especially not to sketchy places east of St. Laurent..but that's where the concert was...so I kinda HAD to go there.
I came home that night, and had the scariest dream I've had in a very very long time. It involved my dad getting these two pet circus bears..and he somehow forgot to feed them one night, so they got all vicious and escaped their cage, and went out and started attacking people. And I saw all this in VIVID colour in my dream. I woke up and was TERRIFIED, and when I tried to fall back asleep, all I could picture was the ripped open carcus of this old man with a cane, that one of the bears had attacked and was eating. HORRIFYING.
Alright, I am not going into details on here, but anyone "in the know", knows EXACTLY to what I am referring. I am miffed. This is not a 'shout-out'..this is a SCREAMING YELL-OUT. But I have to go now. I am going to watch some smallville. BY MYSELF.
Juice
Every so often my psyche likes to remind itself that I AM in fact, a virgo.
Here are some of the character traits I looked up online:
The Virgo character is precise, refined, and a lover of cleanliness, hygiene and order. Conventional, with a rather reserved manner. They are usually observant, shrewd, critical, and patient. Virgos are undemonstrative due to a coolness in their nature. Very selective, and non committal in friendship, they prefer to keep relationships on a superficial basis.
Quietly reserved, Virgos are polite and soft spoken people. Unassuming, outwardly cheerful and agreeable, they can be sensible, discreet, wise and witty, with an understanding of other people's problems which they tackle with deftness. Virgos find their friends among those who can help them move up the social strata. They like to associate with achievers.
Their mental bend gives them the ability to analyze and solve the most complicated problems. Virgos have a wonderful eye for detail and often neglect the overall issues. Hard workers and conscientious, they are perfectionists with little tolerance for shoddy work. There is no place in their world for people who are footloose and fancy free.
On the negative side, Virgos have a penchant for turning molehills into mountains, difficulties into stress and cleanliness into obsessive behavior. Virgos are predisposed to worry and hypochondria. They can make themselves so useful to others, it often leaves them vulnerable to exploitation.
Being born on September 11th puts me squarely in the middle of the Virgo realm. My aforementioned "mood swings".. well, what actually happens, is that all of the sudden I get these GREAT URGES to CLEAN. Like, I mean, really REALLY clean. Obsessively, compulsively clean. Organize, file, dust, fold, colour-coordinate, make sure EVERYTHING is perfectly lined up. It's quite neurotic of me. And I'm really not sure where these moods come from..they just spring up, and I KNOW I have to take advantage of them. Because I am usually such a messy person, my room has this cycle to it. I stay messy for a couple weeks, then a Virgo mood hits, and I spend HOURS and HOURS cleaning. No breaks. No stopping me for ANYTHING. If for some reason I DO stop..I find it very hard to go back to work.
Tonight for example.. I got into a cleaning kick, and decided to tackle the kitchen/living room. I did all this...then did some random things in the bathroom, and decided my bedroom was next. But by then it was nearly 7pm, and I had wanted to go see the McGill Symphony Orchestra concert, which my dear dear roommate Nora was concertmaster for. I knew that if I left the apartment there was NO way I'd be up for cleaning when I got back...but it would have be HORRIBLE of me to not go to her big concert. So I comprised, and just went to see the 2nd half of the concert. And indeed, here I am, back at home after it's all over..and am I cleaning? NO. I'm blogging. I will not be cleaning for quite some time now, I imagine. These moods generally don't hit more than once or twice a month.
Even as a kid, I had this weird thing with my barbies, and cabbage patch dolls. They were all organized in my room, according to either age or profession or whatever. (I made up all these GREAT amazingly detailed life stories for ALL my dolls). And in the sandbox in my backyard, I absolutely hated it when any of the sand got outside of the edge of the box. I remember asking my mom one time if there was a way to like, vacuum up the sand that had escaped the confines of the box, and then empty it back in. I'm pretty sure she just rolled her eyes at me, and told me to go practice piano, if I couldn't stand the sandbox debaucle THAT much.
I also wanted to debate the fact that I apparently associate with "achievers". Do you guys remember all those silly times I would fall for the really really talented musicians? I think that was my virgo-ness coming out. Like look at C... or E...? I was into to them both HARDCORE..not at ALL cuz they were attractive...cuz let's be honest..they weren't.. but because they're geniuses on their instruments. I like to surround myself with talent like that. It's strange, eh? But I think it makes perfect sense. Kind of shallow of me, but I guess it's just the same as surrounding yourself only with physically attractive, beautiful people.
And another thing... the line about not getting along with people who are "footloose and fancy free". This makes perfect sense too. Think of how many times I'll get antsy when one of you is just so cavalier with school assignments, or getting to classes or rehearsals on time. I can't STAND it. Although, I DO think I've tried really hard to lighten up this year. I'll keep working on it...I promise!
Alright, I'm off to bed now! Going out with Nora's parents for breakfast tomorrow morning! Yay! Once again, great concert everyone! Nora your new shirt looked FAB! xoxo
Your perfectionistic playmate,
Juice
P.S. Just in case any of you were getting depressed... Got another email from Mom yesterday.. Here's what it said:
Subject line: Bakery Life Extended.
hi Jess just to let you know that the Land Owners Association has taken up cause of bakery so they will stay open for a while Love for now mom
ONCE again..all on one line..little or no punctuation or capitalization to speak of. Oh mom, how I do love you!
Just got back from Eli's band's gig at 1221 Crescent. It was a lot more crowded this time. There were a LOT of people dancing. I asked bode at one point if this was standard procedure: people dancing at their shows. Her response (priceless!) "Yeah..it's all Concordia people...and they're just weird..."
It was really funny looking at all the outfits people were wearing at this bar. I felt really kind of strange, dressed as I was, in blue jeans, a navy tank and a teal cardigan-like thing. Most of the aforementioned dancers were guys, kind of emo-looking, sporting sweatervests, vintage t-shirts and sports coats, the girls in those frilly "secretary" blouses, and with funky leg warmers, hemp jewellery and such. It was all so incredibly..Hipster. Or maybe just Hippie. We saw one guy there with crazy dreadlocks and a yarmulke on. A good time was had. Thanks for dragging me out Bode and Nora.
Last night was one of the most hilarious nights that I have had all year. It all started with bode coming over around 8:30pm. We ordered chinese, and watched LOST, then a REALLY creepy episode of Criminal Minds, where these three girls who are best friends, are kidnapped, and forced to kill one of the three in order to escape. Then Claire came home, and wanted to practice her dance routine for us. So I sat on the couch while she ever-so-sexily sashayed around the kitchen..with bode watching from the hallway. It was SOO wonderful! i never knew bebe could move like that! HAHA. Then nora came home, and we convinced claire to do the dance again for all three of us, this time all properly crowded on the couch, so everyone got a better view. Then Nora decided she wanted in on this dance party stuff..and went to her computer to find some Irish Dance music, to bust some of her own moves! After that I tried hard to put on the Swan Lake music, and get bode to go through her ballet positions...but she wasn't having any of it.. :(
Then we crowded in my room and for the first time in about a YEAR or two, OUT came the webcam, and we made a bunch of really hilarious videos. Bode realized that she really WASN'T going to go home this late, so she slept over, and this morning I attempted to do her hair. Gosh, I'm such a GIRL. I was like..instructing her how to shower with my "high-end" shampoos and "products". HAHAHA.
So I get up this morning, and there's this email from my mom with the subject line "Hi. Sad News"
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My heart started beating a little faster *thud thud..thud thud.* As is NATURAL, I thought she was going to tell me that someone I knew had passed away or something...Here's what the ENTIRE email said..
Renfrew Home bakery to close this Saturday no more buns for us have a good day love mom
All on one line. No punctuation to speak of. Not even a "hello daughter dearest," Then I saw she was online, and said Hi, and she told me how dad was in "Boston Cream Blues". The Renfrew Home Bakery was only like 3 blocks away from my house..two if you cut across this church parking lot, and the LCBO one too.. and they made the absolute BEST boston cream doughnuts I have ever had ANYWHERE. my dad LOVED them! He used to brag about them to everyone he knew..and everytime we went down to Welland to visit my grandparents, he'd bring them a dozen, cuz they fell in love with them too. They were seriously the PERFECT doughnut. And mom was having this love affair with the bakery's high-top buns. They really were quite scrumptious too. And now they are no more! It is indeed a day to mourn. Please remove your hats and cast your eyes downward for a minute of silence.
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Alright. That's enough now. Get AHOLD of yourself. A bunch of sissies I'm dealing with HERE. WIPE that SMIRK off your face! (Can't you see the possibilites of me as a sports coach of some kind?! I LOVE yelling at people! It would have been BRILLIANT!!)
P.S. my roommate nora got her hair cut at Salon Pure today. In total it took her stylist FOUR HOURS to do it..and she looks like a GODDESS.
Night night!
Jessica
I had a terribly awkward time today, but then to make up for it.. after goofing off at school for a while, Nora and I passed the Elijah Wood/John Lennon-looking, Bjork lecturer guy in the hallway. I figured now was as good a time as any.. So I walked up to him and told him that I thought his speech was extremely interesting. And you know..flirted it up. Told him about my final paper thesis, (The Jealous Boyfriends of Opera: Otello, Wozzeck and Don Jose), which he thought was hilarious and brilliant; we joked about the musicology advisors, and I stroked his ego (asking for a copy of his dissertation to peruse...he said he'd get a copy put in the music library for me!) Twas a good time. Nora said I played it uber smooth. Haha. I just wish I could have been just as smooth in the earlier meeting I had had today. That went disastrously...just as I predicted it would. Ah well. You win some. You lose some.
Claire and I are going to see another friend's early music concert tonight at 8. Good dose of eye candy, if nothing else. Can't say I honestly look forward to an hour of renaissance music... BLECH.
Mom sent me an envelope in the mail today. She had let my nieces decorate the envelope with all these cute music note stickers. Quite adorable. But guess what was IN the envelope?!
........
My dad's co-worker Marie-France, somehow knew that I was a big GAROU fan..so she gave my dad this magazine that had this big article about him in it. And my mom sent it to me! Woo. Go mom. Such a SMART lady, she is. When Jer came over the other night, he was making fun of my Garou poster in the front hallway. He thinks that Garou's forehead is too small or something?! I think it's PERFECTLY proportioned.
What do YOU think?
Oh yeah! Also in the envelope.. Do you guys remember the big care packages my mom used to send me in first year? They used to always have like, seasonal decorations in them. Like I'd get one in October with Hallowe'en things, and one for X-mas and Easter. So this one had this funny black and orange garland with little pumpkins on it. I only wish the package had gotten here sooner, and Nora could have used it in her costume for the party on Sat. night when were stuck scrounging up random things to throw something together! Ah well, she looked damn hot anyway. Check out my newest facebook photo album Precarious Various for the impromptu photo shoot I forced her into that night.
OK. I'm going to rehash over the gong show that was today's meetings. and figure out how to do better next time. Also have to search around my mess of a room for my winter hats and mitts. 
Yah. you can see the mess in the background. It's a shame I know. Meh, all my best friends have just grown used to the maze that is required to actually get through the door. I'm pretty sure bode or claire could even do it blindfolded now!
Ta ta dear blog followers of mine!
P.S. Congrats tyler. You won.. AND managed to look "Jock-Fabulous" at the same time!
P.P.S. Best thing nora's said in a while..
J: Did you see Scrobin much at the party?
N: No. She was staying with her "Faerie Guild" most of the night!"
LOL.
Jess
Soooo...It is definitely past Juicy's bedtime, and perhaps I might even sleep on her bed tonight.. However, this has been an interesting weekend, to say the least. Umm. Haha.. .You don't have to type in "umm"..
On Juicy's behalf it was somewhat embarrassing. (I know you're reading this.) She called me while I was out the other night, freaking out about this conversation she was having with a certain wrestler. Apparently he knew about our little Chez Cora incident from 3 years ago...and his PARENTS saw us too. haha. What else were you freaking out about? Was that it? (Jess: Yah..)
And then, tonight he found some bones in her closet...her WORLD WIDE WEB closet. umm. Ok. He accused her of bringing a camera to last year's tournament, and she was actually rather offended.. Well, I thought he was just joking around..messing with her head..UNTIL...he sent a SURPRISING link. Which made Juicy dive into the bed, screaming...(and hurt her nose in the midst of all this, I might add) It WASN"T PRETTY. And an emergency phone call had to be made. She had honestly TOTALLY forgotten about that by the way. TOTALLY. However, in her defence...
# 1. WHO types in their name with the name with word SEX after it? What were you expecting to find, good sir!?
# 2. She was obviously giddy, and not in a sane state of mind while typing that whole message to her friend. Just joking around and being silly like she so often is. In FACT, I clearly remember that night. We had just moved into our new apartment in the ghetto, and Juicy was being all handy, and building these big shelves for our bathroom all by herself. She asked me balance one of them for her, and accidentally it somehow FELL on her, smacking her in the face. She swore like a sailor that night. It was scary stuff. So yes, in conclusion.. Her head was CLEARLY not in a good place when she was writing all that.
#3. C'mon now. He IS hot afterall. He should find this flattering.
Ok..that's it for your defence dear. On that note, I am very excited to actually attend this tournament on his personal invitation this year..unlike last year..which was...uhh.. a little painful. I don't know what to wear, because I just might want to seduce some OTHER hot wrestler at this thing tomorrow..but the weather's supposed to be brutal.
Toodleloo and Good night!
Claire!!
Why are some women (and to be fair, men) so darn good at flirting?! Is it a question of genetics? Or is it the environment in which they grew up? Are their formative years spent watching a pro-flirter in action? Is this some innate skill that a lucky few are born with? Not that I'm saying I'm envious of all those "natural born flirters" out there. I'm not. I like the way I do things...most of the time. Just some days I start thinking that maybe things could be a lot different if I had well, "better" skills in this area.
Honestly, I don't know the first thing about flirting. I've never been good with it. I'm the girl that stands off to the side and watches the women work their magic on everyone else. I am not a "do-er". I am an observer.... and then a blogger!
I blame it on the fact that I hung out with too many boys as a child. I didn't have strong feminine flirtastic role models when I was in need of this skill. My mom's not a bore..but she's by no means one of those people that is extremely comfortable working a room, or whatever they call it these days.
Instead of flirting skills, my grandmother and mother instilled something quite different in me. Useful yes. I can cook, bake, discipline and nag with the best of them! I nag especially well!! (Just ask my roommates! Hehehe) And tyler (the nephew) knows that I am one helluva disciplinarian. Iron fist I tell you. My polish grandmother is renowned in Renfrew for her baking..and I'm still waiting for my perogie making lesson...but last week when I was back home..I did get lessons from her in Bun and Bread making!! And HELL NO..not with a breadmaker. We're talking...hand-kneaded and let them rise on the top oven section of the antique wood cook stove that is in our kitchen.. They were SOO good. And I'm not trying to belittle these skills or anything..i LOVE that I know how to make a perfect pie crust (flaky and melt-in-your-mouth...but not too crumbly) but geez, you get to a point when you're looking at all the people around you who are snuggling up to their significant others, and suddenly it dawns on you.. You are verging on your mid-twenties. You are single. Your only marketable skills are some housewivish duties, and solfege. And you pay way too much for haircuts and beauty products...to what avail!?! In Jane Austen's day..we would be SPINNSTERS by now!
So yes, that's my story. Where do I go from here? Is it a lack of self-esteem that keeps you from flirting? To some extent, I would agree with this...but then there are days where I'm flying high on confidence..and still I am never overcome with the urge to "flirt" with someone. I'd much rather make someone laugh. That's what I DO do well. I can have my roommate Claire giggling over the smallest of things. In high school sometimes I swear my friends only kept me around because I was the "entertaining one" (ha! teen girl squad) I do well with lightening up tense situations, I get it from my dad. He's the master at this. He has a new joke for me everytime I see him. And he's got excellent man-flirting skills. OMG. I just realized something. I didn't get the WOMAN'S GUIDE to flirting...I somehow got enrolled in the MAN'S COURSE!!!
WTF..I always knew my dad was the dominant role model for much of my life..but GOSH...I picked up his FLIRTING techniques? That's just too much. GAHHH. So now what? Is there some way I can "re-femininate" myself? Or am I doomed to a life of only being able to attract other feminine minds??! I don't WANT to be in the "boys club"!! But everytime I try and make a conscious effort to be more "girly" in situations where flirting could be an option..I get all tongue-tied and stupid. Alas...I guess it's natural that I will continue to fail in this realm until some major overhaul occurs. But how do you even begin such a thing? Ok. That's enough of this. I have a book review to write. Much less interesting stuff...gay musicology! YAY!
Your man-minded joker,
Jessie..
STOP THE PRESS!!! I'm BAAAAACK. Claire and I just had an msn conversation pertaining to this update...I thought it was funny...and I made just a LITTLE BIT of sense in it! For your perusal, here you are:
J: I mentioned you in the update I just wrote! woo!!
C: lol
J: tell me what you think of it
C: it's hilarious so far... muaha
J: oh ok. it was funny you thought? I was laughing out loud here in the library when I came to the conclusion that I am actually a man-flirt
C: yup!
J: it had never even occurred to me before! But it's SOO true!!
C: you flirt with girls?
J: HAHAHA!!!!
C: hmmm
J: No. But I flirt with GUYS in the way that THEY flirt with GIRLS?so it doens't WORK on them?
OMG does that update make me sound like a lesbian? that's NOT the angle I was going for.
C: how does that work exactly...? Enlighten me while i shower
J: what's to enlighten?
C: how boys flirt
J: well, I only have the experience of how my dad flirts...which of course is not how every boy must do it...but my dad is pretty smooth sometimes.. (haha!)
C: haha oh my
J: he, I dunno...jokes with people..makes them laugh. makes them feel more relaxed around him, which then leads into deeper conversation?etcetera etcetera..
And it works on girls because they usually get kind of nervous around guys that they like.. They NEED to be relaxed before moving into the deeper waters of flirtation and the eventual ask for a date.. And I'm being SO sexist here.. cuz Of course Men get nervous around prospective mates TOO�but being a woman, I know that it effects US especially a lot. Does this make any sense at all??
C: yes yes! Juice, my dear man flirt! Haha!
NOW I'm done and out of here for good.
/J
I never understood why "they" (those mysterious upper echelons of the university bureaucracy) thought that students only needed a stress-relief reading week in the 2nd semester...are we not expected to study as much in the fall? Are we not under the same amount of stress in these months as we are in the dead of winter..?
Yes, I know all the arguments, they did studies where it showed that students get the most depressed and overwhelmed when it's freezing cold out, and we're not getting enough hours of natural sunlight outside, so we're even more tense..and so the reading week in February is just supposed to mellow us all out...and yes, maybe in my younger years here at McGill this worked...but now I'm suddenly graduating, and I'm faced with grad school applications and decisions, deliberations and auditions EVERYWHERE, and deadlines coming around every corner.. Soo many of my friends are completely fried. Coping with this just doesn't seem feasible right now. There's been lots of talk floating around of people just taking a "year off" to figure things out, and get audition stuff all prepared and in the best possible shape, so that we can get into the best possible schools..
I love this idea.. But also, after 22 years living with myself, I think I've got me figured out pretty well...I would not, I repeat, would NOT benefit from taking an entire year off. I would probably end up going back home, and just staying there..taking care of my mother, and watching my nieces grow up, and become "too cool" for their poor schmuck Aunt Jess.
It's unlikely that I would ever get up the courage again to apply for another opera degree. I'm really just not cut out for this lifestyle. You need to have a certain amount of "cut-throated-ness" in your blood..you really have to WANT this. And most importantly, you've gotta have the self-confidence to think that you might actually GET there. Without that..every audition will be pitiful, you'll walk out on stage, deliver your aria, and leave..no one will pick you out as a "memorable voice"...you'll be forgotten 10 minutes after the double bar line.
It's the people who are "go-getters"; the people that radiate that special kind of..well, I don't know what it is..."personality"??..that directors will hire, that colleagues will like singing with.
Lately I've been feeling like crap. Really really down on myself. It's a funk that I'd usually be able to shake in a couple of days..but it seems like this one has been hanging on since September! When dad was driving me to the Ottawa train station this past sunday, he suddenly starts with this little lecture for me..(I could tell he had been planning it for some time..and probably just waiting for a minute alone with me, cuz he KNEW i would start crying) It went something like this:
"Do you know what the term 'fight or flight' means?"
"Uh..kinda."
"It's that psychology term for the fact that humans can only do one of two things when they are faced with a opposition, or an enemy or a predator or something.. They can either stand and fight, or flee, run away in fear. Jessie, what they did to you this year with the opera was a terrible thing..but you just ran away from it. You let them walk all over you, and smash your confidence (oh god..I'm sititng in the library crying even as i type this..DAMMIT!) You are your own worst enemy. You drag yourself through the mud more than anyone else actually does. You let your imagination run away with itself, and convince you that you really can't survive, that you're NOT a good singer, that you DON'T deserve to be there.. but you CAN, you ARE, and you DO. You just needed to fight back. You needed to show them they were wrong. That it's NOT YOU who couldn't compete. You are really truly amazing and gifted young woman, your mother and I know this. You need to first remind yourself of this fact, and then go back to school today and DECIDE that you are no longer going to run away from this. You will go back there and give them something to talk about (isn't this a song lyric?). You can't just lie down and take all this crap...a lot of which is probably stuff you're just imagining too.. you need to prove them wrong. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"(sniff sniff) uh..yes dad."
Hmm. I remember a while back I was really surprised to find out that the coach for this wrestler I know, usually only has his athletes enter a tournament if he KNOWS they're going to win. At the time I thought it was extremely backward..don't you enter things to learn and grow as a competitor? But now it all makes sense. Wrestling and professional singing are surprisingly similar, you only get one shot to prove yourself. One match. One audition. If you're still reeling from the effects of a lost match from last week..guaranteed you wouldn't deliver your personal best the next time 'round. We all need to feed off the self-esteem we build up on "good days" and be able to channel it into our work on the next days. Now if only there were some way that you could have a bank of sorts...where you deposited all your good vibes, and could just withdraw it when you're having a super crappy day, and that would magically restore your spirits and you could go out and win again. If only it were that easy.
Bah. Humbug. I need to do some actual school work now.
Later,
Jess-ed, the depress-ed
Ok. Just going to do it. The paralyzing self-doubt will be KICKED IN THE ASS tonight. I am GOING to SING ON STAGE in front of real live people. And it's going to be GOOD. DAMN FUCKIN GOOD. I need to do this. Steffie likened it to a car crash...when you have a big accident you have to get out there and go driving the next day...or you'll be afraid of the road for the rest of your life..or in my case..the opera stage. But I'm just going to suck it up and get it over with. Yes. I can do this. Ok. Time to go get "beautify-ed"..(Ha! I almost typed "beatified" there...although that would be nice too!)
P.S. Bode. You are so classy. Can you please let me videotape it next time?!?!?!
P.P.S. Congrats on making it to the 2nd round Jer. You are a violin GOD...dess.
Juice
HA. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone...and I didn't! No names mentioned at ALL!
In other news.. Claire and I actually got an INVITE to a wrestling tournament this year! ha. Now we don't have to go and act as random crazy stalker girls! W00!
Bode and I have been spending a LOT of time together recently. I even was with her in the practice room tonight! I made my first sound on the flute...and got so excited!
Anothier thing I was really excited about was the "white" Indian dude I saw at the Pow-Wow I went to on Saturday. He really really looked WHITE!! Here, check it out for yourself! He was really kinda cute, but I was too shy to actually go and talk to him...what would I say anyways... "uhh...so..I like your headdress?! and your cool pow-wow dancing...!!??!" HAHA
I'm going back to the 'Frew tomorrow right after my Women in Music class to see Grady in a Stone Fence Theatre play that he's starring in! Should be exciting! Here are some quite amusing pictures of him! This the guy I've had a slight crush on since...uh...age like 11? And as kids we grew up at the cottage on Round Lake together. He taught me how to canoe and play checkers! and we'd stay up late at night around camp-fires, and then due to limited space at the cottage (it was a supremely "rustic" one, we'd have to sleep in the same double bed together...up until we were like 12 or so!! ahah. Aww. the good ol days. When I could sleep with him as much as I wanted! MWHAHA! *insert sly smiley emoticon here...maybe even the one with the tongue sticking out...*
Alright. Well, I'm off to pack. See everyone back in Montreal on Sunday night! Sorry I'm missing your hockey debut bodie! I really wish I could be there! hAH. The stick is NOT too short. And if ANYONE..blame the hot brazilian pro-shop guy...he really did seem confused by our requests!!
J-dawg
whats your name spelt backwards?
regnaleb annahoj acissej.
What did you do last night?
Watched waaay too much TV with bode. Grey�s Anatomy and CSI, and then 3 episodes of Smallville! Then got really over-tired and therefore hyper and couldn�t fall asleep till close to 2am.
The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?
Ha. Well it�s a tie�the movies �Akeelah and Bee? �Lucky Number Slevin?and the songs �Be my Baby?by the Ronettes and �Da Doo Ron Ron?by the Chiffons.
Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?
Gosh. Who comes UP with these questions?!
Last time you swam in a pool?
In my uncle Gary�s pool in their backyard�May 2006.
What are you wearing?
The �gape-y?nightgown, as bode likes to call it.
How many cars have you owned?
Me personally�none. My Family�uhh..like 7 or 8 over the years.
Type of music you dislike most?
Death Metal?
Are you registered to vote?
Yes. Go NDP!
Do you have cable?
No. Just a crappy old antenna to pick up CTV, CBC and GLOBAL.
What kind of computer do you use?
Not a MAC.
Ever made a prank phone call?
Yep. Of course.
You like anyone right now?
Actually�no. Sad as that is to admit.
Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?
No. I�m a big chicken.
Furthest place you ever traveled?
Austria.
What's your favorite comic strip?
Uh..I don�t really read them that often. For Better or Worse, is the only title of one I can even remember.
Do u know all the words to the national anthem?
In both official languages. AND in sign language!
Shower, morning or night?
Morning. First thing. Even before breakfast.
Best movie you've seen in the past month?
Bon Cop Bad Cop. Patrick Huard is SO sexy.
Favorite pizza toppings?
Pineapple. Black olives. Feta. Chicken and BBQ sauce. But don�t worry..not all TOGETHER at the same time!
Chips or popcorn?
No contest. Chips.
What cell phone provider do you have?
Rogers.
Have you ever smoked peanut shells?
Is this really something people DO?
Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?
Well, no, not as a contestant..but I�ve SANG in a lot of the Miss Renfrew Pageants!
Orange Juice or apple?
Orange all the way.
Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?
Bode and Nora. Eaton Centre food court.
favorite chocolate bar?
Right now it�s the sponge toffee one�what�s it�s called again? Crunchie? Yes. That�s it.
Who is your longest friend and how long?
Um. That�s tough. I guess maybe Kristen? I�ve known her since day-care, and we still keep in touch sort-of.
Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?
I really don�t like tomatoes that much.
Have you ever won a trophy?
Yep. Lots. for hockey, ringette, school science fairs, spelling bees, singing, piano, etc.
Favorite arcade game?
Pac-Man?!
Ever ordered from an infomercial?
No.
Sprite or 7-UP?
I�m not really partial to either�but I guess if I really have to choose�sprite.
Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?
No.
Last thing you bought at Walgreens?
I�m going to take some liberties and change that to Wal-Mart cuz we don�t have Walgreen�s in Canada�I was there with Bode on Tues. and I bought yarn and knitting needles!
Ever thrown up in public?
Not that I�m aware of.
Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?
Take the money. Love sucks.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Nah.
SPONGEBOB OR JIMMY NEUTRON?
Um. I really don�t know either�But the little bit of spongebob I overheard my nieces watching was REALLY supremely annoying�so I�m gonna go with the Neutron boy.
Did you have long hair as a young kid?
Damn straight. Down to my BUTT!
What message is on your voicemail machine?
�Hey you�ve reached Jessica! Leave a message!?#060;p>
Where would you like to go right now?
Home in Renfrew.
What's the name of your pet?
Poncho the macaw. But we don�t have him anymore.
What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it?
A Black MEC backpack..and a tan coloured messenger bag.
What do you think about most?
The Future.
Jess
This was not a good morning. Bode slept over last night, and I woke her up in the most horrible way. by SCREAMING bloody murder. She sat straight up, afraid that we had slept through the alarm and she had missed orchestra rehearsal or something...but in fact...it was nothing like that. It was my over-the-top reaction to seeing a foreigner on this site's message board this morning!! Yes. that's right. I screamed. Numerous times. So yeah..and couple that with that fact that the alarm went off and we were stuck with crappy french pop music instead of my ritual morning CBC news fix...and well, you're just ASKING for a grumpy Juicy.
(I'm listening to 105.7 Rythme FM all this week to try and win tickets to see Garou in concert in Montreal next week! Hahah. and it's KILLING ME...softly...with their songs..)
So yeah..I've been tuned into this station since Tuesday, when I found out about the contest...and I haven't heard the signal to call YET! In fact, in 3 days I hadn't even heard ANY garou songs....until...that's right.. THIS MORNING. at 9:40 am. I take ONE measly little bathroom break...and BODE comes SCREECHING out of my bedroom yelling "JUICE! JUICE! AHH!!! IT"S ON IT"S ON!! AHHH!!" (I'm pretty sure I owe my two roommates BIG time for all the noise this morning) So yeah...that's right. I MISSED the damn garou song to go PEE. FRIG.
So yes. It was an eventful morning. Loud. Obnoxious. And stressful. Just the way I like 'em!
Juicy
I went to dinner at Cafe L'Etranger last night with Tyler, then we went to the St. James United grand opening service thingy. On the hunch from Ty's friend Jeff, that GAROU was going to be performing there. And he WAS supposed to be...but I guess they decided to cancel his performance because they changed the ceremony so much, to be much more solemn and in remembranoce than the afore-planned "joyous" celebration because of all the craziness at Dawson College yesterday afternoon.
More later. But I have to go for my interview at the library now.
Jessica
Well. the big 2-2 is tomorrow. Bode and I were madly making plans this afternoon. We ended up deciding on dinner for 15 close friends at Le Commensal, this vegetarian buffet place on St. Catherines and McGill College. She even created a facebook event thing for it! haha.
So things are looking up slightly I guess. After a terrible start to my final year here at McGill, I think tomorrow will be fun and I can just forget about all the stupid political bullshit that goes on in the Music Faculty Voice Area every year...Long story short..I blew my auditions. And hence, was placed accordingly..
placed NOT in the opera program. But in choir..and not just in ANY choir..in the WORST possible choir. University fuckin Chorus. The choir for jazz majors who can't sing, and instrumentalists who don't do orchestra or whatever. it SUCKS. it takes this choir SO long to learn a piece of music. NO ONE can hold their own parts. It going to be torture. Not that I really WANTED to be in a choir with Julian again..but at least THAT choir gets to do some opera chorus stuff...they couldn't just take pity on me and put in that could they??! NO. bastards. all of em.
Alright. Enough ranting. I'm going to bed now I guess. Been kind of a lame day. I just lazed around, watched my favourite parts of the Garou DVD over and over again, cleaned my room a bit. Whined on the phone to my mom for a bit. Stressed about whether I really feel up to smiling a lot tomorrow when well-wishers come around.. I'll put on the brave face..it'll be ok.
Night!
Juicy.
I'm in a very pensive state right now. i've been reading over some old journals i kept back in high school. What crazy times. i just found the entry i wrote right after i first met james clark...here..I'll quote a bit..
"Really really amazing bass. I don't even know his name though, but he seemed really nice. i went up to him after practice and told him i liked his voice, and then asked him if he had any advice for vocal. perf. in university - and he told me that the best thing he could recommend was "to always remember that you're singing because you love to do it". He said that that's his whole approach to life."
Reading that again really struck me. Singing because I love to do it. That seems like a strange concept now. I've gotten so caught up in the whole university music school experience, and the perfection and great things everyone expects of me, that i had forgotten that i actually "LOVED" to sing once upon a time. I don't know if i can honestly say right now that i still do. That's a pretty terrible realization to come to, after 3 years and $50,000...do i still want to be here? I think i was explaining to someone a little while back that i ended up in music because it was the thing i was best at..that I liked the feeling the came with knowing i was actually pretty good at something...so this seemed like my one good avenue to follow. Maybe back then I subconsciously realized that i didn't love it either..
You know what i really don't like? People who HAVE to be right about everything. who HAVE to have the last word...and anyone who disagrees with them is just so obviously wrong. The people who self-proclaim themselves as connoisseurs, who know everything about everything...and if they have a gap in their knowledge...well, they'll just make something up, to fool you into thinking that they actually ARE smarter than you. You can walk into a conversation with them feeling reasonably confident and content, and leave it with an overwhelming urge to punch something. They belittle you. They make you feel like you have nothing worthwhile to say. Like everything you know is just not worth their time.
I can't rant that much though...cuz i've definitely been known to pull stunts like this...actually just this past week I got in a fight with my bro and sis-in law because i was arguing with my dad about scoring Euchre with either 2's & 3's or two 5's. Really stupid argument. i KNOw. but yeah..my brother pointed out exactly what i DIDN"T want to hear at that moment..how stubborn i am, and how i always have to have the last word. which, i will admit...is all true. but no one likes to be reminded of their faults...especially when they're already worked into a tizzy and ready to snap at anyone or anything that moves.. Needless to say...i stormed out, and took a bit to calm down. thank god for my mother. the one sane presence in my family. She always knows exactly how to deal with me when i get like that.
Ok. enough for now. i'm going to go make some hot chocolate and pretend i'm still a carefree kid again.
jess
I couldn't sleep last night because I had visions of the game COLLAPSE running through my head, and of a certain terribly annoying co-worker yelling..."CLick faster! CLick FASTER!! AHH" That game is crazy addictive. I NEED to beat it. Kind of like that Fly the copter game we all used to play in first year, and how we would post our latest high score on our msn display names. hah. what dorks we all are.
Speaking of dorks...did anyone see the episode of So you think you can Dance last night? I LOVED that hip hop routine that Benji and Travis did together, where they were dressed up like geeks, falling all over eachother and everything. Wasn't it BRILLIANT?! I was actually laughing out loud and that one! Something that VERY rarely happens when I'm sitting alone watching tv!
It's my niece Jessie's birthday on Saturday. She's turning 7. I still didn't figure out what to get her..any suggestions? And oh my gosh, it's one month and one day away from my 22nd birthday. SHIT. I don't LIKE getting old anymore. It used to be so cool when we were like, 11-17. Now it's just a nightmare.
My brother and Tammy got back to Vancouver safe and sound. Apparently they saw an old family friend Sue Cavanaugh in the Ottawa Airport as they were getting ready to leave...She was flying to Regina for a family reunion or something. I love it when freak coincidences like that just come outta the blue. My mom was also telling me that she's really glad that I didn't go to Austria this summer...cuz I would have been flying back to Canada today, and probably would have had to go through Heathrow in London...just when all this craziness with the alleged bomb thing is all happening. That could have been really awful.
'Til next time....folks..
Juice
Apparently I've made that exact same remark TWICE already to my co-workers, and they've all had a good laugh on my account...I really do believe those two sound good together though...much better than myopia and "hyperopia"...BOR-ING!
But yeah, dinner at Santropol with Dian and Brandon and Trev was great last night. I think I've inspired Brandon into playing the Barber Cello concerto..which one day I had hoped to hear Christian play...but now that he's gone...looks like Brandon it is! We were talking about xian last night, and how even when he does a "hack job" on a piece, it's STILL boy-genius musical material...cuz really...it's CHRISTIAN! oh dear...the prodigy worship has GOT to STOP already!!
Alright. back to work...boooo
Jess
Claire and Nora aren't here anymore. so I've got the apt to myself...not cool though. I'm terribly bored and lonely. Here's something funny! Pictures of the Garou concert in Sherbrooke! Can you find me!? I"m in at least 2 of the pictures! Woo!
Brandon and Dian are here today, to look for apartments for him. I think we're all gonna meet up for lunch or dinner or something..
Quote of the day.... It all depends on if you know reich from wrong" ~ from Adolf in Blunderland...a BBC radio broadcast transcribed into a book that we catalogued into Rare Books last week!~
gtg.
juice
I have many many things to be happy about in my life right now.
My brother and Tammy are arriving from Vancouver any minute.
I just got back from my second Garou concert in Sherbrooke this morning.
I'm taking all next week off of work to spend with my family...yeah, that's right ..my WHOLE family ALL together in ONE province..for ONCE...this hasn't happened in SO LONG. Honestly, I can't remember the last time both my brother and sister, my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and most cousins were all in one province...
I touched Garou's extremely cute guitarist Jean Beno�t!
I've amazingly somehow (??!!) gained a friend's confidence in record speed (ee!!), an acquaintance who I hadn't spoken to for about a year...yah that's right...you all know who I'm talkin about..
I'm going to get to spend an entire week playing with my nieces and playing Bridge and slangteasers with my parents, and going kayaking and swimming and just getting super relaxed and out of this stressful and lonely big city.
It's only 5 more weeks till I can next see Garou in concert in Gatineau!
MY ROOM and APARTMENT IS CLEAN!!!
My hair is finally starting to grow back long again...
On the other hand however, there's some shitty-ness in life too...I would find it odd if I DIDN'T have the bad to even out all the good stuff..
but for the sake of not pissing off my dear, dear reading audience, I won't bore you with my numerous complaints. Let's just tease you a bit, and say that they fall into the category of issues with "people" rather than "situations" or "events". ooo! Got your *spidey senses* tingling with that one I bet!!
Alright. I'm going to do a bit of "tidy-up time..tidy-up time" (sung to the tune of Frere Jacques)
"Juicykins, the Generous." (Yes Ma'am, that IS an official title...you can put it on my stationary.
That was a caption from a photo in a book we found today. It was picture of a tornado that formed over water. great stuff.
Jess
1. What are you listening to right now?
The White Stripes- Jolene.
2. What song makes you sad?
The Beatles � Fool on the Hill
Mov�t 2 of the Elgar Cello Concerto. Just cuz of that Hilary and Jackie movie.
3. What is the most annoying song in the world?
God. I don�t know. That stupid Humps song by the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Your all time favorite band?
The Beatles
5. Your newly discovered band is?
dunno.
6. Best female voice?
Montserrat Caballe.
7. Best male voice?
Garou.
8. Music type you find yourself listening to most?
Stuff my dad always played when I was a kid.
9. What do you listen to, to hype you up?
Beethoven. Finale of Symphony 9. and oh yeah��Get Low��lil jon and the eastside boys�blame bode for that one!
10. What do you listen to when you want to calm down?
Classical, probably slow Mozart stuff.
11. Last gig/concert you went to?
Garou in QC.
12. Band you find yourself listening to the most right now?
The Beach Boys, just cuz I found an old mix cd of theirs my friend Brian gave me back in like, grade 10!
13. Most hated band?
?
14. Song that makes you think?
The Beatles � I am the walrus..
Thinking GOD�what were they ON?!?!
15. Band that you think the world should love as much as you do?
The Beach Boys.
16. Coolest music video?
I don�t really watch them.
17. Music video with the most babe watch?
Not applicable. LOL but that Eric Prydz video claire has on her comp for the MTV exercise video thing is pretty damn soft-core-ish
18. What do you play/would you play in the bedroom to spice things up?
Oh, clearly, a little soul music. Marvin Gaye. HAH. There�s also this really hot opera aria from La Wally.
19. Can you play a musical instrument?
Piano. Clarinet, very poorly. I suck at cello. But I WISH I was brilliant.
20. Ever been in a mosh pit?
Yes. Not my cup of tea.
21. Are you in a band?
ha. Not even.
23. Ever dated a musician?
Yup.
28. Do you wish yourself that you were a musician?
I am one. Take THAT.
29. Best chick band you know of?
The Dixie Chicks? I dunno�.!
31. Last song that you heard on the radio/cd...etc...?
On the radio...well on cbc it's mostly just talking..but I think I heard an excerpt of the Paul Simon tribute concert
32. What do you think of Classical music?
Divine.
33. What do you think of Country music?
As long as it�s not that overly-produced modern crap, it�s got real soul to it. Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Lucinda Williams... see, no one should hate all country.
34. What do you think of Death metal?
I can definitely live without it.
35. Last BIG band that you saw live?
Garou.
36. Are you a groupie?
Well yeah..I�m a member of Garou�s Gang! HAHA
37. Do you listen to music in foreign languages?
Quite a bit. French and German mostly.
38. What famous musician would you like to fuck?
Garou. If you knew me, you wouldn�t have to ask.
39. Worst concert moment?
6$ water bottles with Loryn at Edgefest back in Ottawa.
40. Funny concert moment?
Watching all the crazed fans at every concert I�ve ever been to.
41. Sad concert moment?
When Garou sang �Quand je manque de toi� about his daughter�I was starting to cry!
42. Best local act you can think of?
Oh, I don�t know. As my co-workers like to tease me, I really don�t know any Mtl bands�is Garou �local�? haha
43. If you were a musical instrument what would you be?
Cello. All sensuous and wonderful.
44. Do you listen to the radio?
Good ol CBC.
45. Do you watch music TV?
No.
46. Do you follow the music charts, like the top 40?
Never.
47. Have you met any famous musicians?
I think I did as a kid with my dad at concerts�I really don�t remember anyone in recent history�unless you count opera/classical people..
48. Are any of your friends/family/etc. musicians?
Too many to name.
49. Song that best describes your feelings right now?
hmm. i'm stumped. I feel kinda nervous right now...what's a good nervous song?
50. Song that describes your life?
Hmm. Tough question.. I�ll have to get back to you on that one..
51. Do you know the names of all the band members that you listen to?
I think so. Wait, I don�t know all the names of Les Cowboys Fringants. I guess I better get on that.
52. Does a musician�s physical attractiveness play a role in the music that you listen to?
In Garou�s case�certainly. I'm shallow like that.
53. What famous musician do you want to marry?
Isn�t it obvious by now? Garou�
53. Favourite movie sound track?
Wayne�s World.
55. Any musician pet hates?
Like a person? I don�t get it. Is that supposed to say �pet peeves�??
56. What do your parents listen to?
Dad�s got the best music taste ever. He listens to and owns EVERYTHING. It�s great. Mom, well, she just listens to whatever�s on..
57. What are you listening to right NOW?
Bach Cello Suites, as played by Rostropovich, I think this is the 2nd one..maybe the Sarabande?
58. Do you wear band etc T-shirts?
Not very often..
59. What do you think of people who do?
Um, it�s fine. I don�t really care.
60. What music sub-culture do you feel like you belong to?
uh..well, there�s not a whole of lot of classical music loving 20-somethings�so can I make that my sub-culture?
61. What song is stuck in your head right now?
Papa Oom Mow Mow- The Beach Boys.
62. Do you sing in the shower?
Nope.
63. If so, what? If not, why not?
n/a but if I DID�it would probably be stupid kids songs..
64. Would you rather marry a musician or be one yourself?
Be one.
66. How important is your partner�s taste in music to you?
Not too important. I�m used to not knowing anyone with the same musical taste as me. Just so long as he doesn�t play anything outrageous or ridiculous when I�m around.
P.S. WHAT partner are you speaking of, exactly?!
67. Hanson moves in next door to you, do you go introduce yourself, or do you arrange to beat them up?
Ha. I�d call bode and robin, they�d want to meet them FOR SURE.
68. Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, you dig?
I dig. Just not the drugs. �Use HUGS not DRUGS�. I had a t-shirt as a kid that actually said that!
69. Do you cook to music?
Always. Dvorak and Brahms are great for cooking. Don�t ask me why.
70. Do you sing in the toilet?
Um, that�s awkward.
/J
1. Are you in a relationship?
Nah. Nothing romantic like that.
2. Are you currently fighting with anyone?
Not if you don't count my bratty nephew Tyler.
3. Where do you live?
MONTREAL; McGill GHETTO baby!
4. What is your favorite candy bar?
hmm. tough question...right now I'm partial to wunderbar, and crispy crunch, but these things fluctuate!
5. Favorite thing to do in the summer?
SWIM! catch up on reading I didn't have time to do all school year. Travel.
6. Been in a fist fight?
ha. Not since I was a kid and got really really angry at this girl Tina on the Beachburg hockey team for charging me. We both got penalities..Me for "Un-sportsmanlike conduct" and her for "charging".
7. What was your least favorite subject this year?
History of Jazz was HARD. plus...the lectures were POINTLESS, so I hardly ever went..
8. What was your favorite subject this year?
German Poetry Class! aka the "Power of Song" with Paul Peters!
9. Current top 5 favorite songs.
Le temps nous aime - Garou.
Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante - Bizet, from "Carmen"
Der Sturm - Shostakovich, from "Romances on Alexander Blok Poems"
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson, but the Alien Ant Farm cover is pretty good too!
In the Ghetto - Elvis
10. Last time you drank alcohol.
Not for like a year. But I think I did have a bit of a breakdown about 6 months ago after getting a really crappy mark on a history essay, and finished off some bizzarre apfel liqueur Panthea left in the apartment.
11. Name something that's on your mind.
It's really hot outside. I want to go swimming in a bit. I'm supposed to plug in my new computer to try it out while I'm home, but it's such a big hassle, I really don't feel like doing it. This bra is incredibly uncomforable. I wonder if our new fridge got delivered yet. Or what about my new dresser? Shit, I have a lot of cleaning to do before my brother and Tammy get here in 10 days.
12. Something you regretted recently?
Telling my brother I just "wanted" to go see Garou on Wed.July 26th, which gave him the option of saying that he didn't "want" me to go...when instead, I should have just said I "HAD" to go, that I had already bought tickets and everything...then he wouldn't be able to guilt me into not going.
13. When is your birthday and has it passed yet?
September 11th. Yeah. go ahead. Pity me.
14. What school do you go to?
McGill University, SHOOOOLICK school of music.
15. Where do you wanna be right now?
Schlern, Italy.
16. What are you doing right now?
Filling out this bizzarre little survey and absently listening to Tyler's tv show "That's So Raven". Eating some toast with nutella on it.
17. Something embarrassing that happened to you lately?
Getting kicked out of Chez Ashton in QC.
18. Something recently that made you really happy?
Seeing Garou in Quebec City. Making EYE contact with him! Recently reconnecting with an old acquaintance I hadn't heard from in years.
19. What are your favorite colors?
Blue. Purple. Light green, like that sage-y colour, not Lime or anything.
20. Reading anything?
Crossroads of Twilight - Robert Jordan. And I really wanna get the "Straight Talk from a Gay Jock" book. It's written by the guy who's created the Outgames!
21. What is your favorite outfit?
Well, this changes a lot, but right now I like my Moto capri jeans, turquoise new shirt I got at the Bay a couple weeks ago. the black and turquoise scarf worn as a belt. Some random pair of dangly earrings.
22. Favorite drink?
JUICE. Iced tea comes a close second. But I also really really love hot chocolate, with a candy cane stir stick, which slowly melts, and then you have yummy mint hot chocolate!
23. Favorite food?
perogies. chocolate. my mom's pineapple quiche.
24. Where is your second home?
Renfrew? what does this question even MEAN?
25. Last time you went to the doctor or dentist?
Friday morning, when I got my stitches taken out at RVH.
26. Currently listening to?
Garou's new album.
27. What does your bedroom look like right now?
Well, right now I"m waiting for a new dresser to get delivered, and set up, so there's clothes EVERYWHERE. It's a really terrible situation. And yeah. the queen size bed is in the far corner with it's red duvet cover and MOUNTAIN of pillows. (I think i've got like 10 of them on there now) the curtains on the window are red, there's this red scarf thing, hung on the wall to sort of look like a butterfly or something...some people see a bra when they look that it...but they're weird. There's my ballerina and photo mobiles. the black bench that gives claire gangrenous bruises. The big wooden bookself that desperately needs nora to come back and organize it. my big desk, covered in papers I have to sort. what else? I dunno. I think this is detailed enough for now.
28. Favorite movie?
oh gosh. so many. The Princess Bride, the harry potters and Lord of the Rings, La Grande Seduction. Dr. Strangelove.
29. Last movie you watched?
Parts of Notre-Dame de Paris with bebe.
30. Do you have braces?
Yeah. I did from grade 6 to the middle of grade 9. In other words..my formative adolescent years. GAH!
31. Do looks matter?
To some extent. but not that much. I tend to place TALENT above everything else. haha. Those who know me well will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!
32. Do you like your life?
For the most part. At the moment, absolutely, but these things can change so quickly.
33. Best friends?
my roommates, bodie, Trevor, Aaron in SK
34. Favorite place(s) to shop?
Basically anywhere in Montreal...just cuz it's SO much better than what I grew up with for selection in RENFREW~ But I really do enjoy Urban Outfitters, and I die for cool bookstores!
35. Bad quality about yourself?
ProCRASTINATE me!!! I'm also a little bit neurotic sometimes...
36. A good one?
I have an infectious laugh I guess. Some old lady told me I had a beautiful smile yesterday updown.
37. When was the last time you went shopping?
This afternoon went grocery shopping with my parents...does that count? If you mean shopping for ME, last wed. on my lunch break, I ran to Athlete's World to get new flip-flops.
38. What is your favorite breakfast?
St.-Viateur bagel, chai latte, hard-boiled egg.
39. Ever physically hurt anyone?
Nothing serious. I'm not really a violent person. Except when I get REALLY REALLY angry. Then I tend to kick stuff around, and swear a lot. My friends in high school used to tease me about "anger management" issues.
40. Have you ever thought you were in love?
Yes.
41. When was the last time you cried?
Thursday night, on the train ride back to Ottawa.
42. What did you do 5 nights ago?
A long and wonderful evening: got off work at 5pm, then Claire and I took a lovely walk up to the Plateau. Returned my two Mission Impossible movies to Movieland. Checked out some sweet little boutiques, a PET store.. with "love the Dove". haha! Got some scones at Provigo. Then walked back, and watched "So you think you can dance" and was in bed by 11pm...a super late night for me! teeheehee.
43. When was the last time you went out to eat?
Thursday at lunch, my co-workers Aaron, Brody and Kristen, and my roomie Claire and I all went out to M.A.C.E.'s aka, "Secret Sandwich" and a couple days before that, Claire and I went to "Mazurka". Good times.
44. Have you ever called a teacher mom?
My mom IS a teacher!
45. Favorite summer vacation?
Schlern last summer with Mike. Numerous childhood summers spent at the cottage on Round Lake.
46. What are your nicknames?
Juice. Belange. Bebe. Jessie.
47. How many friends on myspace do you have?
Don't even have a myspace.
48. How many profile views do you have?
I wish this was talking about your actual profile, as in "how many times have people looked at the side of your face."
Do they even count profile views on facebook? That's the only site with those things that I actually use..
49. Last time you went to the mall?
Last Wednesday.
50. Are you thinking about somebody right now?
A certain wrestler whom I am terrified to call.
51. Who was the last person to text you?
Claire, my roommate.
52. Do you smoke?
Nope. That would just be foolish, silly rabbit!
53. Who was the last person you texted?
Either Claire, or David Berry.
54. Who was the last person that called you?
Trevor? Mom?
55. Who was the last person you called?
Claire.
56. What color is your hair?
It is dark brown, with golden-y summer highlights right now.
57. Does anyone like you?
I certainly hope so.
58. Do you think you might be getting with someone sometime soon?
HA. Yah. me and Garou. I'll propose marriage on the online chat next week. And who knows where it'll go from there!
59. Look to the left, what do you see?
the living room, with the TV, Tyler's lego and k'nex crap all over the floor, a box packed with stuff I want to bring back with me to Montreal. A strange family portrait thing on the wall, taken like 7 or 8 years ago. It's funny cuz I have essentially the same haircut (little below chin length) in that photo too!
60. The right.
The big scary Indian picture on the wall of my house in Renfrew. A bookshelf filled with tyler's toys and books and games...sometimes I think he's even MORE spoiled than I was! and that's just ABSURD! My piano. A couple of coffee table books: something about hockey, something about puppets, and something about Firesign Theatre.
61. Do you like yourself?
We get along. I like myself a LOT better than I like some other people.
62. Are you closer to your mother or father?
Father when I was a kid. Mother, now.
63. Favorite feature of the opposite sex?
Hot facial stubble! and people with blue BLUE eyes.
64. Name the last person you hung out with?
My nieces Jessica and Theresa. If you mean like a person my own age, I guess it's not really fair to say my roomate claire, so...Trev and I went out to Breakfast last weekend! I'm a big hermit, yes I know.
65. Last time you took pictures of yourself?
HA. At the Garou concert. Claire and I modelling hats in Simons.
66. Last time you went skinny dipping?
hmm. don't think I've ever done it..
67. Are your lips chapped?
No, they are exceedingly healthy. I have this thing with carmex lip chap.. I can't go anywhere without it.
68. Gotta crush on someone?
Aside from Garou, right now, no, not really. A few "fond curiousities" but that's about it.
Now wasn't THAT fun!
xoxo
Jess
So Claire and I made a pilgrimage to Quebec City on Monday to see the Garou concert on Les Plains d'Abraham. It was BRILLIANT. we were SO close to the front. and both of us made EYE contact with him! Can you BELIEVE it? I'm still slightly shaking at the thought of it. it was just too good to be true. He's SUCH a great stage performer. I NEED another garou fix. Next concert is the night my brother and Tammy come into Mtl though, and the concert's in Trois-Rivieres, so i'm not sure that I can really skip out on meeting them and go see the concert..that might be too mean. but I can't lie...I'm thinking seriously about it..*evil grin*
ah god. tyler's got me using stars and emoticons everywhere now! make it STOP!
I am SO tired. I still haven't caught up on all the sleep we missed on Monday, while we were staying up all night in various fast food joints around the city...first it was the chi chi Burger King on the Grand-Allee, then the McDonald's on Rue St.Jean, then the Chez Ashton right around the corner, where that drunk guy kept falling asleep over his poutine, and the workers had to keep trying to wake him up...and then around 3:30, we walked back to the train station, to find that it didn't open till 5am, so we had to go to ANOTHER chez Ashton, until then..well actually wait, first off Claire made me sit with her in a random bus shelter stop thingy across from "Edifice Jean Lesage" HA! and we belted out random songs from the Sound of Music. Yes, that's right. at 4am on Tues. morning, I was in Quebec City singing "Do mi mi..mi so so. re fa fa..la ti ti" *LOL*(embarrassed at that use of more stars..)
Alright. Back to library slavery..
Jess
P.S. New facebook photo album with Garou pics!
Catalogued a LOT of Nazi books today. This is disgusting: We have a note a whole bunch of the cards that says.. "Copy bound in the green morocco binding intended for ownership by a high-ranking Nazi official."
WHY O WHY does MCGILL have so many of these?!?!? My only solace is the fact that these books have lain forgotten in the deep annals of Rare Books, and likely we're the first people to be even looking at their records in years...at least I hope this is the way it is.
Going to defrost the fridge now. Wish me luck! This could get gross and gritty!
Juice
I got ragged on my "neighing" laugh at work this morning. That's what prompting that quote from co-worker Aaron. HA. They all think I would make a terrific voice actress. Well...possible career change? I don't think so.
So I'm bored on my lunch break, decided to make a list, for posterity's sake (ooO! Princess Bride!!) of the things I want to buy with my next paycheque..
Harry Potter 5 DVD: Deluxe edition
Ty already has the regular edition at home in the 'frew...but it doesn't come with all the special features..so i NEED this version!!
Harry Potter Scene It! TONS of fun to be had! Need I say more?
Matt&Nat handbag! Either the "Eckhart" or "Toyko" bag, in purple or green..aren't they PRETTY...and VEGAN!
Smallville Season 5 DVDs! Cuz you know that I've watched all the other season's episodes like more than twice each now...
Tannhauser- Bayreuth Staatsoper Version from '93 Sexiest overture EVER!
Hottest little digital camera ever...
Alright. Back to work now! gah. lunch is already over and I haven't even ate yet!!!
J
Wow. It's crazy when stuff comes out of NOWHERE and just changes your whole outlook on life. It's like being smacked on the side of the head or something. I recently had a "friend" just throw something in my face for no apparent reason. I really don't know why they felt the need to share this particular piece of information with me. Honestly, I'm flattered that they think I can be trusted, and they consider me a confidante. but when it comes right outta left field, it often takes me a few days to just wrap my head around it, and adjust accordingly. Due to the sensitive nature of this revelation, I can't really say very much on here. But if you're very VERY interested, I could elaborate one-on-one in a discreet fashion, if you so desire. But not here. Not now.
Went and visited Bode and Robin at RVC yesterday on my lunch break with Claire. Twas awesome. I hadn't seen robin, in oh...a couple MONTHS. how pathetic is THAT. and well, it's always a pleasure getting to see the loverly Bode fresh out of bed! hah. They saw my beautiful red eye. They were appropriately disgusting. [BEST TYPO EVER!!! should be "disgustED" as b pointed out...but hell, I like it better THIS way!!!] Bode told me, "Thank god you have native squinty eyes...." GREAT> always KNEW they'd come in handy SOMEday!!!
Alright. Back to cleaning! YAY! My new computer got shipped out from the valley yesterday. Should be here in a couple days! w00t. i can't WAIT. finally an end to that piece of crap thing from first year! And ooooo..my brother and tammy will be here in 20 days!!
Jucie
Friendships are a lot of work. Too much if you ask me. I liked it much better when we were little kids, and you were friends just because you saw eachother at school everyday, and played together at recess. You didn't worry about staying in touch, or scheduling "play-dates" or anything...you just went with the flow...
Life was great back then. I was home this weekend, and hanging out my nieces, aged 6 and 8. Their lives are so carefree and fun! They just go to school everyday, then come home and PLAY! no, homework at this time of the year. They don't worry about fading friendships, or what will happen if they don't talk to someone for couple days...things just seem to work themselves out at this age. For instance, Theresa and Jessica just moved into the house my mom bought for their family right across the street from my house, and so they had to switch elementary schools.. They have probably lost contact with all of their friends from their old school, but it doesn't seem to bother them one bit! They have found new friends at Our Lady of Fatima, and all is swell in the world. now if this were me, now, at age 21, I would be trying desperately to cling on to those old friendships, and not being able to move on with my life..what changes in those 14 years that makes us so unable to adapt to change as quickly? Someone got any words of wisdom for me? bodie??
I was walking home with a co-worker tonight, and they overheard me calling Claire to see if she was going to be home for dinner. And they thought that was really "cute". I guess that we share meals, and are all close like that. Maybe it's different for girls. And for girls who are room-mates and good friends too. I just thought it was natural. I remember my mom always calling my dad's office when i was a kid to find out if he was going to make it home for dinner or not. I guess it kind of just got bred into me. meh.
Alright. I'm going to make some dinner now. Trying to decide between House and How to get the guy...two shows on TV tonight, at the same time..grrr.
Juicy!!
Today I catalogued a book that described itself as "bound in high grade materials which are sturdy, vermin-proof (!!!) and water resisting...they can be cleaned with soap and water." HAHAHA Vermin proof!?! who would want to 'clean' they're book with soap and water?!? I know I go home every night to wash my books! ahah!
ok. going now! ta ta!
juice
I'm tired. Claire and I stayed up watching this ridiculous show last night. Something about "how to get 'the' guy". it was really funny. Needless to say...claire and i will be spending more time at Bookstores! ha. oh man we're hurtin'...
Does anyone use the phrase "that's whack!" anymore? I didn't think so. oo. Trev and I are supposed to go see Wozzeck this week i think. He hasn't gotten back to me on what night though. I hope we're still going! I was so proud of my essay on that play for German poetry class. Such a good one!
Alright. I need to go find some breakfast something er other... bodie i MISS you. GET BACK HERE NOW!!! ugh. I was talking to my brother and tammy on Sunday night. geez. it's only 6 weeks till they get here! massive room cleaning and re-arranging has to happen in there somewhere. holy mofo. this is going to be stressful...
xoxo
juice
Yeah, so i have just a couple minutes before I have to head out of here and head over to the stupid clinic at Guy-Concordia. I went to Berri-UQAM and finally got a student metro pass last night. Then went to Archambault, and had a good chat with Ashley Becker in the scores section. fancy this..we were both looking for the EXACT same score..Britten's cabaret songs...which archambault doesn't HAVE. Damn them. So now I have to order it online...but I seem to have "misplaced" my visa...so I can't do ANYTHING yet.
ok yeah. I'm outta here. This office is oppressive. and hot.
Juice
So this is the card my dad got for my mom's 59th B-day this year. I get a kick out of it. It's a joke. No, he's not actually dyslexic. That wouldn't be something to laugh about, now would it?!
Anyone from the Valley should know where Flat Road is. It's that road that comes off of Hwy 132, and goes into the heart of Dacre. It's where some of my old friends used to live. Loryn and Shannon, notably. It's about a 30 minute drive outside of Renfrew, but anyways last night, for probably the first time in oh...5 or 6 years, I drove on Flat Road. And yeah. it's the bumpiest road EVER. SO many potholes and crap. DESPERATELY needs some re-paving. GAH. I thought were probably reached 2 feet in the air that one bump we went over at 95 clicks an hour!
We were going out to this Murder Mystery Dinner Party at the DACA Centre, as a benefit for the Cancer Society, as my cousin Westley died a few years back from it. So each year, his family puts on this awesome murder mystery party, and they're always a lot of fun and a good chance to see a lot of family, that I don't get to see all year round when I'm off in Montreal. I must have gotten HUNDREDS of hugs last night, some from people I didn't even know I was related to!! But anyways, I decided after all that, that I am going to make a family tree book for my dad's side of the family. My mom's side already has one, but seriously, I'm really lacking for knowledge on my dad's side. Basically, I know either on one side or the other, I'm somehow related to about 75% of Renfrew's population, but it just gets really confusing as to HOW. A book would REALLY help. So I went out today, and got a software program that's supposed to help you put together a family tree. I'm pretty excited. It's going to be my summer project!
In other news, I think I've pretty much decided to stay home with my mom this summer. My bro and his wife are planning on coming out from Vancouver to stay with us at the condo for a week, and I'd much rather not have a full-time summer job at that point, so I can stay and hang out with them. Plus, for godsakes...I DON"T LIKE WORKING.
OH MY GOSH. St. Joe's musical GODSPELL was SOOOOOOO good. I was so impressed. Seriously, I went in there preparing to be bored, and not at all moved, and I left with tears in my eyes and constantly humming tunes from the show! SUCH good music! haha! I'd forgotten how much 70s rock opera music ROCKS!! GO NOW and Download some stuff from the show, or just ask me on MSN, and I can send you some stuff. It's SOOO catchy!
Alright, I'm helping ty make mom's birthday cake now...gotta run!
Gosh, Laura and Josh's wedding this Sat! Wow! that time sure flew past!
Juice
Thanks to Julia for that FABulous compliment! Nutty. I like it!
As N & C know however, I am also an incredibly difficult roommate, and terrible terrible person. Just filth. The lowest of the low. And I laugh when I'm uncomfortable...which just happens to be A LOT.
Third year's done. Summer is gonna suck. No prospects. No life. Many books. Many movies. Uber tanned. Melanoma, anyone?
Now on book 10 of the Wheel of Time. Have the sudden urge to play some Rachmaninoff. gosh, I probably can't even do that anymore...could i ever?!
We as a household (Jer, lovingly included) listened to my George Martin "In my Life" album, which is basically a whole bunch of random celebrities doing Beatles' covers...i.e. Jim Carrey singing "I am the Walrus", Goldie Hawn with "Hard Day's Night" and get this, JEREMY'S DAD, aka Sean Connery...on "In my Life". Solid album. Thanks dad, for "allowing" me to pilfer it..
Going to bug Claire, and drown my sorrows in the ice cream we just bought at the dep. (ps...they DO sell bacon at the dep! who woulda thunk it!?)
J-dawg
Bode and Trevor came over last night, and we played Scene It, (the movie version) and there's this question catagory where they just show you terrible terrible synonyms for the movie title, (like "The H2O Young Man"= The Waterboy, and one of bode's favourites.."The Quick and the Terribly Angry" for The Fast and the Furious..) We had a real hoot with that catagory. And then Bode, Nora and I watched CAMP (only my, oh FOURTH time watching it in one month!) YAY for super cheezy, budget films, made (as bode pointed out) solely for the enjoyment of girls and gay men! Woo!
During Scene it, we came up with a list of movies that we need to rent, either cuz we haven't seen them, or just one of us hasn't seen it, or whatever...but there's the list...
The Full Monty
Magnolia
Steel Magnolias
Basic Instinct
Blues Brothers I and II
The Royal Tenenbaums
Flashdance
The Hurricane
A Fish called Wanda
Almost Famous
Oh GREAT moment when Bode doubted me on this one question, which I guessed was E.T. and I was RIGHT...and then the next question, I just randomly guessed M.A.S.H. and she was like "Nah..but wouldn't it be funny if you WERE just right again?!" AND Youknowit. SCORE 2 for Juice! It was brilliant.
Our apt. is infested with ants. Gross. I was having a hard time falling asleep last night, worrying about them crawling into my mouth or nose while I was asleep and couldn't fend them off. (Yes, I know! I'm a hypocrite. We made fun of Nora for this SAME thing, not a week ago!)
Holy shizzle, only 3 more studying days till my exam?!?!? That's no good! I haven't accomplished even HALF the work I thought I would have by this point. Oh GOD. I'm such a terrible student.
I AM, however, a wonderful voice student. I had my last lesson with Stef today, and we went through my choice of English song cycle for my final exam next April...Britten's 4 Cabaret Songs. He loved them. I love them. Get me to play them for if I haven't already.. they're kinda jazzy, fun numbers, which I liken to that Hello Rico song that I did on my last recital, except these aren't crazily contemporary and atonal. Britten did good. Real good. Stefano was like, "I should have expected something like this from you!" HAH. I guess I like "FUN" songs. But why shouldn't I? So often everyone's recitals are filled with total drab opera arias and obscure art songs, in languages no one understands, and yes, I know it's our job as performers to MAKE everyone understand...and I TRY, i really do, but it's just SO much more gratifying to see the expressions on their faces when they're laughing and actually DO get what you're saying! It's one of my favourite feelings up there when I'm singing. You're connecting with them, and they LIKE you! They really really LIKE you! haha. In conclusion: always end your recital with a piece in ENGLISH.
I"m gonna go make some breakfast now and then i guess head to the library. gah. Not looking forward to that...ugh
Juice
P.S. BODE, I'm still giggling and smiling at inopportune times! When will this END?!?!?
There is nothing sexier than a man that's good with kids. Except maybe a blue eyed guy that also happens to have extremely expressive eyebrows and is good with kids. Wow. Just saw the latest episode of Smallville. Season 5 episode 18. It was the first episode Tom Welling actually directed as well. Really good one. He was looking after this girl that they took in as a foster care case, and he was just SOo good with her. She hadn't spoken a word since she was three, and he brought her out of her shell, and really made her feel loved. It was brilliant. not to mention also incredibly attractive... He's such an amazing looking man. geez. it's almost too much to watch.
So went to church tonight with the rents..it's Holy Thursday. I haven't been to church in wow, like since Christmas. I'm turning into one of those Catholics I used to make fun of. It was weird being back in a church, and chanting all those prayers and responses and everything. Each time I go back, it just seems so "cult-ish" to me. But I do understand why so many people take solace in it. I just don't think it's for me anymore. I grew up, and had my eyes opened somewhere along the way. And as comforting as it is to have that yummy incense smell permeating throughout the church, and to have a guaranteed support group there for you; and man, I'd love to buy into that whole forgiveness for your sins thing... but Catholicism just doesn't do it for me anymore. Gosh, I hope my mom never reads this. My grandmother much less, it'd break their hearts..but that thought alone can't keep me guilting myself into a religion I can't take seriously anymore, can it?
I had an awesome time hanging out with my nieces tonight. Tyler was at wrestling practice at the rec centre, and so I went out to turn rope for the girls to skip with. It was really really nice. I haven't been so happy about being home in a while. They're growing up so fast, I can't believe how mature they're getting. It just seems like yesterday that i was feeding them in a high chair!
Alright. it's after midnight. No meat today. It's Good Friday. Yeah, to hell with it. I'll humour the old traditions...just for this last weekend.
Juice
Heading back to the 'Frew for Easter in just a couple minutes. I just wanted to freak out about the awesome night I had last night for a bit. Went for dinner with Mike and Austin. Then back to their apt, where we were supposed to be just "introducing" me to the computer game Oblivion for like, an hour or so...but of course, it turned into a 6 hour marathon of the game. SWEET. I LOVE it when stuff like that happens. I do believe I've found my myst replacement. Now if only mike didn't live so far away, i could just go play on his BEAUTIFUL computer like every day. Man. that would be the life. hmm.
I packed this morning, but I really feel like I'm forgetting a lot of necessary stuff..Oh well, I guess I can just buy stuff at home too.
Ta ta! See everyone next week. Happy Easter!
Jess
So the opera scenes concert went well last night! I even got a hug from DIXIE, and a half-one (shared with emily) from JULIAN! HAHA. that made my night. All in all, I'm SO glad it's over. Oh yeah! group hug with Nick Masters last night too! I almost forgot about that one! thanks to everyone who managed to come! Slash, as if DB showed up. that was really cool! And I"m a super fan of the new girlfriend. She seems really nice. Why oh WHY did they have to come to the FRONT ROW though. man, that was distracting..
so here's a really funny part from my book that i THOROUGHLY enjoy. I reread it like 4 times, and it made me laugh each and every time!
"Lady Deira's sniff spoke volumes. "A woman wants a strong man, stronger than she, here." Her finger poked his chest hard enough to make him grunt. "I'll never forget the first time Davram took me by the scruff of the neck and showed me he was the stronger of us. It was magnificent!" Perrin blinked; that was an image his mind could not hold. "If a woman is stronger than her husband, she comes to despise him. She has the choice of either tyrannizing him or else making herself less in order not to make him less. If the husband is strong enough though..." She poked him again, even harder. "...she can be as strong as she is, as strong as she can grow to be. You will have to prove to Faile that you're strong." Another poke, harder still. "The women of my family are leopards. If you cannot train her to hunt on your command, Faile will rake you as you deserve. Are you strong enough?" This time her finger drove Perrin back a step.
Am I strong? Am I a "leopard"? I'm pretty willful and stubborn, I think, but if anyone ever takes me by the scruff of the neck...i WILL NOT be impressed!
Alright. breakfast now. then class at 1:30.
Belange
And by "our" and I mean, mine. Singular. Actually. I do have 2. Revert to plural. My sweet sweet visa cards. Which since I seem to have the only one in my entire group of friends (yes, excluding Jeremy) inevitably everyone finds a use for it somehow. Whether it's paying last minute cell phone bills, or take-out food orders, or clothes online, basically my Visa is just one big WHORE. Letting herself be used by whoever wants her. I wonder if anyone ever thought of naming their child "Visa". I mean, if it weren't such a famous soul-sucking name already, I think it would make a nice girl's name, don't you?
Went to the Edith Wiens masterclass yesterday. She was pretty cool. I'm not sure if I actually got that much out of it, but she just seemed so full of life and passion, that it was hard not to be a little bit inspired. I was sitting with this guy who had a picture of her headshot from like 50 years ago...and I SWEAR..she looked exactly like a Barbie Doll! And she's aged very gracefully, so now I feel like she could be a Barbie Doll Grandmother or something. All blond and pretty with the pink lipstick, you know what I'm saying?
In other exciting news...Emmanuel talked to me yesterday! I wasn't even sure if he remembered my name! haha! But yeah. I caught him in the hallway near bode's locker and we had a little chat. It made me feel very special...HA. Do you guys remember that "card" from first year? From the Mozart Duo Concertante concert? AHAHAHAH. And I think some people even made a webcam VIDEO of it, until I came and DISRUPTED THAT. Oh man. the crazy things we do when we're infatuated! I told you how he thanked me for that right?! like THIS year. I got an email from him, being like, "didn't you give me a card 2 years ago after fred and i played the mozart SC? thanks" WOOOO (rick flair style...just for YOU, claire.)
OK. I got an extension on my last history paper...praise the lord for Lloyd Whitesell. I'm gonna go read my "Best of Europe 2006" book now, make some plans for what I want to see this summer!
Juice
NEW POLL Tell me your "embarassing" band..
Bode is over. Nora, her and I have taken over Claire's room. We're eating out take out Just Noodles food, and nora's trying to unsuccessfully manage her "carb options" (read=GROSS FAKE) peanut butter and an apple and sort of "cracker-like substance", but she keeps dropping the knife on the floor.
I'm doing this update on bebe's laptop. Once again, a "safe" computer. Why are all these things centering? I'm trying to get bode to come over here to and look at my html coding to see if i did something wrong...
Have a concert on Monday, and a paper due exactly one week from today. Our Fidelio trio is being a BITCH. Nick and Meara are great. I just suck. and can't sing lower harmony in this piece. It's going FINE in the quartet piece where I sing under Emily!!! JUST DANDY. Oh, the story of my life.
Bode fixed me up. Now the title and all my rambling before makes no sense. Meh.
We were just having an intense discussion about bloggers, and if you should really judge them based on what they say in their little online ditties. Nora says yes. bode says no. I say....maybe? depends on the person and the "tone" of their blog I guess. For example: my blog, and bode's are mostly non-opinion based...we just blab on about what's going on in our day to day lives. not too much real substance.. occasionally I'll come out with some sort of deep philosophical thought or question for mankind..but that's really not my style. Whereas this other person we know, has a blog where it seems that EVERY update is extremely opinion based and very...well, how shall I put this nicely? uhh...IN YOUR FACE...it's like: HERE's my opinion. I'm right. You know nothing if you don't agree with me. I sometimes get the feeling just reading it, that I'm being "condescended to"...(yah, i know that's not right, shudup) that this person is smirking silently at my pitiful attempts to understand their sacrimonious preaching from the soapbox. You know what I'm saying? ouch. that was harsh.
I mean, bloggers in general have to be kind of extroverted people. You're putting personal stuff up where ANYONE can see it. Like ANYONE with a decent google search and your name. That's ALL they need. But I dunno. I think for those people who are very forward on their blogs, that maybe we can "judge" them to a certain extent but for people like Bode and I who just blather on for no reason...I really "hope" people aren't judging me based on this. Otherwise i guess i'm coming off as an extremely ditzy, judgemental bitch with large grammatical errors and run-on sentences galore. phew. I'm glad YOU'RE not thinking that..
J
In the music library right now. I much prefer updating on "safe" computers like these ones, cuz I can be SURE they won't restart in the middle of my typing and erase EVERYTHING..I remember that happening to Bode last year in my old RVC west 2nd room, and she was SOO angry. I think that was one of those nights that we played MYST till crazy hours of the morning. Oh those were the days....I really miss myst. And RVC..just a little bit. Ok ok. Enough nostalgia...
I just went to late lunch with mike at Chez Cora, and he just informed me that we only have a week and a half of class left! AHHH. oh man. for some reason, I still thought there was like a whole other month. SHIT. I am soo behind in 20th Century Opera class. well, at least my exam for that isn't until April 25th, so I have a good 3 weeks to catch up and figure something out. OH SHIT. that means my paper is DUE for that soon too. OH LORD OH LORD. DELIVER ME.
Title of update refers to the fact that I'm going to see Claire's piano ensemble play this cool Shostakovich piece today at 5, and then at 8 I have to go see Bode, Robin, Nora and Jer play in the Matt Brown orch. concert at Christ Church, and they're playing a Wagner piece.
I just talked to Sean Waugh, he got some SWEET roles in SOLT in Toronto this summer! I'm soo happy for him! It's about time he started doing opera stuff! Wooo! He's gonna blow everyone away when he auditions for McGill opera next year. I really hope we get to sing something together next year! And NOT the Early Music "opera"....which as Rachel, Aidan and I discovered..is NOT an OPERA at ALL. in the LEAST. like AT ALL. It's "glorified chorus". I was joking to Rachel that the whole set will just consist of risers for the freakin chorus. and Aidan was like "We should all just audition together as a trio!" HAH. I"m liking the sounds of that.
Ok. I'm gonna go learn some MUZAK now. later darlings!
Juice
I got my official letter of acceptance today for the AIMS in Graz Festival which means: YAH BABY! I'm going to Austria for a whole 6 weeks this summer! Oh gosh! I mean, I always knew they'd let me in, and I had already been telling everyone I was for sure going...but it's nice to just get the "official" acceptance finally! AND I was awarded a scholarship too! SCORE. So now I just need to get all my hostelling plans with Maureen settled, and we're OFF. So so far the summer plans go something like this...
Thurs. April 13: Go home to sing for the Easter Masses in Renfrew.
Tues.April 25th: Last Exam here in MTL (History of 20th Cen. Opera)
Friday, April 28th: Go home to visit the 'rents.
Sat. May 13: Laura Rice and Josh Imbleau's Wedding in Renfrew!
Mon. May 15: Return to Montreal and PACK PACK PACK.
Wed. May 17: Flight to London.
Then for the next six weeks Maureen has us planned to trek all over western europe. Cities include:
London, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Munich, Hanover, Salzburg, Vienna, Rome, Verona, Venice, Nice, Pisa, Florence, etc.
So yeah. should be a good time. We'll be hopefully meeting up with Graeme and Rasmus in there sometime. and our old friend Gudi from Vienna, offered to give us the full tour with "viennese flair"! haha.
Tues. July 4: Arrive in Graz
Sat. Aug. 12: Leave Graz. Train back to Verona to see an opera in the Arena thingy. Then flight back to London.
Tues. Aug. 15: Flight from London back to Montreal...and We're at Home Base once again! Phew.
It's gonna be one helluva whirlwind trip. One helluva truckload of money too...gah. let's not think about that part..
OK. I'm off for Breakfast now. Claire requests my presence in the kitchen. It's the day after her birthday...I better humour her.
Where is my family?! I've been trying to call mom with the news all morning, but there's no answer...
Juice
Ah. It's been a whole freakin month? WTF. where did Feb. go? I'm stressing stressing stressing SOOO badly. I haven't had a good night's sleep in over a week. I have to get this recording into the AIMS in Graz Festival ASAP. Mike is sitting here with me in the library right now, watching me do this update. he's "impressed" with my mad HTML SKILLZ! HAHAHAHA. So I'm a big dumby, and thought the auditions in Toronto were THIS sat, March 18th, but turns out they were actually LAST month. Wow. I feel like a loser. Ok. I saw cute guy today. Sooo infatuated. Mike and I are gossiping about other singers now. SO much fun. I love doing that. I'm such a bitch. I'm also very fragmented tonight, aren't I? I think i just need more sleep, and more Robert Jordan. Mmmm. Rand Al'Thor. Such good books. Gosh. I can't seem to make a sentence of more than 3 words tonight. Gosh. GOLLY GEE. That's IT. I'm going home. screw this library shit. I'm outta here.
Juice
I'm really not in a great mood. I just finished making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They were good. Mimi and Claire enjoyed. I'm trying to get myself psyched up for this next paper I have to write for 20th century opera class. I really wanted to do it on Poulenc and his Dialogues des Carmelites, but it turns out 2 other people already want to do that same opera and composer. Which sucks. Cuz i've already done a bit of research on it. Not a whole lot, i mean, it's not too late to start over, the paper's not due for another 3 weeks...but ooo I WANTED that topic. and yes, here's me throwing a childish tantrum... I DON'T like not getting what I WANT. Only-child syndrome. Leave me alone.
The cool thing about this paper is that our prof said we could experiment with the format of it if we so desire. He suggested a "novelette" (i.e. short story), obituary, or letter to a friend (i.e. Alma Mahler or Kent Nagano) THOSE were his EXACT examples of "friends"! HAH! Does no one else find that as funny as me??!
This I like. I like very much. Because I'm a terrible paper writer. I always feel way too confined within the close boundaries of essay format. I remember showing a couple paragraphs of my essay to a friend last semester and he remarked that my style was "disarming, informal, yet informative and effective." HAh. thank goodness for MSN message histories! I was complaining to him how much I hate writing papers and how I DETEST sounding so stalwart and old-fashioned. I just can't seem to MAKE myself type like that....so I always end up sounding overly cynical and/or informal. It's a problem. He explained to me that in poli sci, they're taught to be all the things I detest so much. And so unfortunately all creativity gets sucked out of you by first year. His advice was good though. He told me to stick with my style, that he was sure the teacher would find it "refreshing".. Damn straight baby. I got an A- on that first paper in the class. and an A on the 2nd...and the teacher's comment was the BEST: "An extremely well-written, thoughtful, and powerful essay. Congratulations."
Alright. I'm gonna go catch up on some reading now. Yay! home in only 4 days! Woo Renfrew. I'm actually starting to miss you...
Jessica
So just finished watching the 4 hour long Earthsea movie with Mike. It was ok. Not at ALL following the books. But meh. I didn't mind that much. I think Mike was rather miffed though...especially at the end when Sean Ashmore and Kristen Kreuk KISSED. that was ToTALLY uncalled for!
Last night I finally convinced bode to watch "The Tenth Kingdom" with me. 7 hours of straight movie watching, then she slept over. Then I brought her coffee in bed this morning. Damn, i'm a good hostess. Someone oughta gimme a medal or something....I'd take some chocolate...yes, that would be fine.
Alper and his girlfriend veronique are here visiting for the week. Which means Jer is staying with us. Yay! It's like a slumber party!!
HAH! Oh YEAH. I made my roomates and bode and mike watch that old home movie I found. So embarrassing. So so so embarrassing. but it's really super funny. My favourite lines include...
Jessie: "Whatcha doing daddy?"
Dad: "What do you think I'm doing?"
Jessie: "You're trying to "movie camera" me..."
and me running out of Round Lake shrieking, (yeah, I was shrieking even back then..) "I FOUND A CLAM! I FOUND A CLAM! AHHHH!!"
Bode and claire think my 16 year brother from 1990 was hot. HA. That's so disturbing to hear. And yeah. they all LOVED my dance routines. Bode's like "Juice, you've sure got stamina!" Yeah, that's right. I dance for like 40 minutes straight on that video! And yeah, I'm a little bit innappropriately seductive, for a 5 year old at least. HAHAHA.
yes, i know this is a super lame update. I actually didn't have anything at ALL to say. I was just bored, and didn't want to go to bed at 10:30 on a Saturday night just yet...
Juice
Ha. It worked out fine. Everything is back to normal, and A-OK....I think.
I have such great friends, who listen to me whine and complain and over-analyze everything sooo much. And I'm so glad they're not sick of me yet. WOO. way to go guys. Team Juice's success is as much your win as mine. hah. Bode yes, we do win this round. 100%...go team! HAHA
Juice, restored to her happy state!
Well, today STARTED well....and then quickly crashed and burned.
I got a very sweet email from this guy I've never "really" spoken to, well. i KNow him. just not quite a friend, yet. But yes. He just randomly emailed me to tell me how good Candide was, and how much he enjoyed watching me on stage, and how fantastic my acting skills are! HA! SCORE BAR. And then Scrobby responded and agreed with him. So that cheered me up a bit. but then...disaster struck.
I was talking to another guy friend on the phone, and he happened to let it slip that someone we mutually know of, was saying some stuff about me, that well, was not cool. So of course, I got myself all worked into a tizzy. and went over to see ANOTHER different friend, in hopes of confronting them about about the other person who had been saying stuff about me. (sorry this is so damn confusing...but if you're reading this, you probably already know the whole story anyway..) But that was a terrible visit. I chickened out of saying anything till the VERY end, and then had to come BACK after I had already LEFT, and try and do it, and by that time, i was already starting to tear up, and so it made it seem like it was a HUGE big deal to me. When I was under the strictest advice to play the whole situation off like it didn't bother me at all... So yeah. and then i JUST LEFT> I ran away. Now things are left at the most AWKWARD state possible. and I really think a friendship has been irrevocably ruined here. (Shut up, I know I'm being over-dramatic, just humour me, will ya?)
So yeah, I suck. Life sucks. And so does the stupid loser who started gossiping about me in the first place. AH. Somebody wake me up. This has got to be just a big bad dream...
Juice who misses a simple life back in the "frew...
Yeah, that's right. I've fallen in the trap of quoting "Candide" at every available moment. That's what HAPPENS when you're stuck hearing the same dialogue repeated EVERY night for MONTHS. So opening night KICKED some royal tush last night. It was great. the energy was high, and everyone got so into it. I had such a blast! I think I've got a bunch of friends coming on Friday night. So that should be an awesome time too! It's always so much more fun, when you know you have someone out there in the audience cheering for you.
I was talking with Josh last night, who LOVED the show, and I was telling him how glad I was that this was going to be all OVER soon. and he asked me if I really hated opera that much?? but no. I do not. It's not even that I don't like this production. Because I honestly have to say it's one of the funnest I've ever done. The music has even come to grow on me... Oh Lenny! You Jewish, Jewish man. But it will just be so refreshing when I have my life back. what life? Juice, who are you kidding. you have no life. This is true. very true. But well. I'd like to actually be able to get to bed before 1am for once in a couple months, and I'd like to be able to wake up in the morning in time for my german classes. And I'd like to be able to just sit and chill with my roommates, I haven't eaten a proper meal at home for over a month now! And I'd really like the time to clean my room. and do actual laundry. And catch up on some reading.
Oooo!! This is cool! I discovered last night down in the dressing rooms that dreamy Nick Masters and I share good taste in fantasy novels. He saw me reading my Robert Jordan book, and was like..."Wow! I don't know too many girls that get into those!" Then we proceeded to trade stories and thoughts on them for like half an hour. It was AWESOME. There's so few people that I can talk to about those books, and they're SO addictive, that when you actually MEET someone, you're both just DYING to gush to eachother. This is mine AND nick's 2nd time trying to plow thru the whole 12 (roughly 15,000 pages) book series! hahaha! Such nerds. I know I know. don't laugh.
I had a really terrible dream last night. About facebook. and Tetris. I dreamt that this person I know updated their profile and said all these really terrible things about me, and was like publicly making fun of me on Facebook! I woke up and right away ran to the computer to check that they HADN"T actually updated. It was such a relief to see that indeed they DIDN"T hate me, and think I'm the most annoying person in the world. Then my dream also had this part where I was in like a tetris COMPETITION of some sort..and I just kept on getting the yellow squares, and NO other shapes, and so I couldn't DO anything. and it was piling up so QUICKLY, and i got all stressed out, and started crying, and then I couldn't see the screen cuz my eyes were full of tears. It was TERRIBLE. This is what I get for playing so much tetris on my cell backstage. Nightmares if I ever heard of one...
Ok. gotta get ready for schoolie now!
Juice
It's my cousin Francine's 19th birthday today. Oh lord, she's legal in Ontario now. wow.
I really don't like corsets. They make life so difficult. My baroness dress for the Candide show is SOO gorgeous, but i really can't move or breathe in it. Like seriously people, how am I supposed to die convincingly of a slit throat, if I can't even fall down properly in the thing..??? and then in the end scene, we have to bend down to "make our garden grow"...and I have to do this really weird thing to keep from falling over, cuz i can't bend at my waist AT ALL. and I think I have this really pained look on my face for that whole scene. AH.
So just a quick thought on stereotypes: there's this person I know, who well, I really didn't get to know well until recently, but i always knew WHO they were. and well, from afar, I always imagined they'd "be" a certain way. i figured they'd strut around knowing how hot they were. I dunno, I guess that's just the behaviour I've grown to expect from highly attractive people. But it turns out, this person is COMpLETELY the opposite. They have this pathetic kind of hunched shoulders, always looking at the ground kind-of-walk, and are too shy to ask someone out. I mean REALLY! Even I have more self-possession than this poor person, and that's just SAD. If we're all products of our upbringing, what does a person have to go through to end up like that? I mean, I thought I had a hard childhood, always being teased cuz I was the "ethnic kid" in the class, or cuz i was a major tomboy or whatever.. but someone THAT attractive and smart and funny and everything? what are THEY teased about? ARE they teased? What has made them so sad? or maybe it's not a question of what MADE them sad....maybe we're all just chemically, biologically wired to BE a certain way, no matter if we were born in the harshest war torn country, or the plushest palace in paradise. meh. I'm done philosophizing now. Off to sing! Come see Candide! I promise you'll laugh your ass off!
Juice
So I've been watching the World Juniors now for a couple of days, and was reminded of this article I was reading in my dad's Hockey News magazine. It was called "99 Reasons to Love Hockey Again" and this one, number 14, was my favourite reason:
#14) Bobby Orr's end-to-end rushes. To see Orr's rinklong dashes was to witness greatness, the lasting images of an era. Single-handedly, he changed the way defensemen played the game. Imagine the talent a guy must have had to win the scoring title as a DEFENSEMAN.
There was nothing like watching Orr swoop behind the net, chop-chop-chop up the ice, pause as if he were looking for an outlet pass, dipsy-doodle over center, slide right, angle left, put his left-hand down to ward off the stick of a futile checker while controlling the puck with his right, push toward the slot and somehow flip home a goal.
Then, best part: He would skate back to center ice amid the uproar, seemingly embarrassed by what he had done. No Viking-one-hand-raising-holding-the-stick-banshee-cry-celebration. No body-slamming the glass. The guy was good. The guy was classy. The guy loved the game.
Now, sorry for this being such a hockey rant, I know only Robin may appreciate this...but here are some more of the good reasons, in my humble opinion...
#27) The spray of snow, especially when you're sitting really close to the glass.
#28) The clean, solid, open-ice, teeth-rattling body-check after which both players get up and immediately skate to the bench.
#33) The uniform, exasperated "Ohhhhh!" of the crowd when the home team just misses.
#56) Shot blockers. And you thought goalies were crazy. Imagine willingly dropping in front of a 95-mph slapper with less equipment than a goalie. Ouch.
#61) The perfectly executed power play, which features all five players on the ice touching the puck while running the opposing players around like dogs chasing a stick.
#62) The pretty goal. If you've seen one, you know what I mean.
#76) Playoff traditions. Growing a beard until your team loses. Raising the Stanley Cup in celebration. Being allowed to own the most recognizable trophy in the world for a day or two.
This is GREAT...# 80) Player quotes after games. "One period at a time. ...One game at a time. ...Backs against the wall. ...Do or die. ...110 per-cent. ...We have to dig deep. ...All lines are delivering. ...When you put the puck on the net, good things happen. ...We have to find a way to put the puck in the net. ...There are no easy games in this league. ...On any given night, any team is capable of winning."
Wow. that took me so long to type all that out from the magazine. Gah. Alright. Going to watch Lost now with the fam-damily.
Later!!! W0ot! New Years in Mtl this year!!
HOLD THE PRESS!!! I have something to add! I just remembered to go searching for my dad's VARIOUS mix tapes!! HEre's what I found:
"Gregarious Various"
"Precarious Various"
"Nefarious Various"
"Holy Varios, Batman!"
"Various and Variouser"
"Various & Vicarious"
"Son of Various"
"Hilarious Various"
"Various Revisited"
"Strata-Various"
"Serious Various"
"Return of Various"
"The Bride of Various"
"Curious Various"
Juice
Bah. It's noon on Christmas Eve. We're running incredibly late this year, and we JUST finished putting up and decorating the damn tree. For godsakes. NOT a pleasant experience, Tyler kept on changing where I'd originally place an ornament. AH. GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!
So yeah, I wanted to share about the awesome hockey game experience I had last night! So my dad invited me to go to a Jr. B hockey game with him at Renfrew's Mat-e-way Arena, and the game started at 8pm, so dad always likes to go watch the warm-up, so we left our house at like 7:15, and got to the rink at 7:25pm, the warm-up just starting. We go to our regular seats, (yes, my dad has "regular" seats) and notice that the Renfrew team only has 10 skaters out there warming-up and NO goalie. The other team, Arnprior is looking good with TWO goalies and like 17 skaters. The warm-up finishes, and STILL renfrew has not had a goalie on the ice warming-up. Dad's starting to get worried. So 8 o'clock comes, and the Arnprior team is all standing at the gate waiting to get on the ice. They all go to the bench, and the ref's come out, and the Renfrew team has not yet made an appearance. One of the linesmen goes to the renfrew dressing room to find out what's up. Turns out that the Renfrew goalie has been held up because of bad weather driving here, and so the game is being delayed until he comes. The guy comes on the intercom thingy and apologizes, saying that they expect the goalie "any minute" now, and the game will begin as soon as he can get on the ice. Well...."any minute" turned out to be AN HOUR!! At NINE o'clock, after just sitting there for an hour and a half with my dad in silence, the Ref finally decides that Renfrew will have to either forfeit the game, or start playing without their goalie. So on we go. The game starts, and they manage to defend the empty net for 1:07, then Arnprior scores. Then lo and behold, the whistle blows, and ON comes our goalie! FINALLY. He's completely cold, hasn't stretched or had ANY practice at ALL. But manages to make some truly spectacular saves in the first couple of shots. And then Renfrew pulls it together, and we score twice in like 3 minutes. Now it's 2-1 for us. So I won't give a play by play (as much as I know you'd like that) but it was honestly one the most exciting games i have seen in quite some time. The final score was 8-6 for Renfrew. Including one last amazing empty net goal with ONE SECOND remaining in the 3rd period, cuz Arnprior had pulled their goalie, trying to tie it up. It was RIDICULOUS! Anyways yeah. Funny thing. My dad does this thing, it's like a personal commentary for me or something. It's just like he's coaching them, but just from the stands. It's funny to listen to him sometimes. But yeah. His favourite expression last night was "C'Mon Boys! Take your MAN! Take you MAN BOYS!" HAHAH! I had visions of Queer as Folk "hockey style" dancing in my head! But of course he only meant that the defensemen should stay with the player they were checking, you know. after you clear the puck from them, you still have to stay with them, so they don't get past you and set up an assist or something. Well anyways, that's my hockey story. It was really funny to be back there. I used to go to those Jr. B games with Courtney every weekend, and had massive crushes on several members of that team (Andy McDonald and Jason Bailey, to be precise) when they were MY age! ahah! Now, those boys are all like between 16-20. They all looked so YOUNG and LITTLE!
OK mom wants me to go help her do baking now.
Merry Christmas All! Claire I miss you! I need a massage PRONTO!
Addendum to the previous post, something kinda sort of a little bit funny happened at church tonight. Father Mac was doing the Prayers of the Faithful, and he was like "and let us pray especially for the poor, the lowly, and the disadvantaged..." but what I heard was...."the poor, the lowly, and the spanish". And I was like huh? The Spanish? What do they have to do with anything? Then I finally clued in. And felt dumb. The end.
Jessica~
LINK OF THE DAY!!! Messiah Organist on Crack...
Thanks Tristan and Trevor for this. It made my day. It never stops being funny does it?!
YAY! Semester one is DONE! Submitted my last Aaron Copland/Emily Dickinson paper this morning! Many thanks to Claire for reading it out loud to me again! ahah! More topless massages for you in 2006! Wooot. And oh yeah, you're GONNA ROCK your piano exam tonight! Sorry your "bouf" didn't turn out better!....I tried...I just suck at doing hair, and plucking eyebrows apparently! LOL! Hahah! One more thing. This is great. Tyler M. says LOL in msn conversations! Isn't that funny!?! I don't think I've ever had another guy say LOL to my before! Well, maybe Trevor, but he doesn't count!
Jewsssss
Wow, third update of the day. The things I'll do to get out of writing that history paper..!! So I was reading some old emails Trevor and I had back in the summer before we came to McGill, and this one particularly stuck out. In it, he composed a new bio for me. I think we were doing a concert or something, and i wanted my bio "jazzed" up for the program! Check it out!
Joose: here is your newly composed bio. It's rather long, and I think that some NAMES would help a great deal. You can edit as you wish.
-Texas - eeeee!
Ever since she was a small child squeking out "opera arias" from her high chair during the breakfast hour, Jessica knew that Almighty had touched her with his little finger and told her to sing. She has remained true to using this gift that God has given her, and hasn't stopped making music since. Beginning her voice studies with Sr. Joan Pecore, Jessica was soon singing in her church choir regularly, and later years would see her move on to sing with the Valley Festival Chorus (now in her 7th year!) and achieve a soprano position in Mrs. Barbara Clarke's renowned Ottawa Regonal Youth choir. Jessica now takes voice lessons from Ms. Charlotte Stewart of Nepean and even though her 94.5% academic average could have dictated a sucessful carrer in a much more reliable, economically positive course, Jessica took a chance, remained true to her art and with the help of her parents, Frank and Joan, she will be a student of the renowned Faculty of Music in Montreal's McGill University attending with a close friend and soulmate (who shall remain nameless in the context of this biography!). And in addition to her vocal accomplshments, Jessica has also achieved her grade nine piano; (RCM) however, Poncho, her pet macaw, doesn't allow her sufficient practise time due to his squawks of cacophonous protestation. If vocal performance doesn't work out for Ms. Belanger, she would only be too glad study music history, to realize the supreme influence of her own history and theory teacher, Greg Hartley. Jessica also has a passion for languages, and although she admits her English grammar is quite poor, her French grammar c'est extrordinaire and someday, after proper study, maybe her German will be as well. Jessica had the esteemed chance to meet the American "wundersoprano" Renee Flemming in person last year and with the help of her friends and the Lord God, she hopes to be the heir of this great diva's angelic voice.
You like it? It's rather long, but that's alright I suppose. Better too much information than too less!
I'm giving Dian your letter tonight. Very good!
I have to go, I'm at work!!
Bye!
- Soulbro -
HAHA!! I enjoy the part about "her 94.5% academic average could have dictated a sucessful carrer in a much more reliable, economically positive course" best! Seriously guys, what ARE we doing in MUSIC!?!?! Fools, all of us! And "however, Poncho, her pet macaw, doesn't allow her sufficient practise time due to his squawks of cacophonous protestation". That was great! I remember all those times Trev would be trying to practice at my house, and Poncho would be freaking out SO much. And at that point, I think his cage was like, right beside the piano!
I don't know why Ttrev felt the need to bring GOD into it so much, wow, was that offensive to anyone? I'm sorry! But yeah....gah...........AWKWARD!!!!!
Gotta go talk to my old friend Lucie Wade from BURNSTOWN now! Yay! Getting back in touch with old OLD Friends is the greatest thing EVER!
Juicykins
So I've had a request to explain just exactly what my facebook photo album "The Son of Various" refers to. So here's the story, folks...
Basically, I am my father. I know that sounds strange, but in very many respects, I am my father's daughter. Our sense of humour, temperment, and well, most obviously, our "ethnicity" (haha) are one and the same. Each day I find myself saying things more and more like "Whoa, I just sounded exactly like my father there!" or "Wow, that was totally something my dad used to say!" (Ask my roommates, I KNOW they've heard me proclaim this many a time.)
So, the Son of various. Back in the day when we used to drive a silver grey Ford Tempo, which only had a tape deck (woot) my dad used to make these kick-ass mix tapes to listen to on long drives. Now, I'm serious here, my dad was the mix-tape KING. They were SO good. And he had SOO many of them. My mom used to get pissed, cuz they'd be EVERYWHERE in the vehicle. And my dad used to have this thing where he'd give them all "album names" with the word "VARIOUS" worked into it somewhere. And he had this little native arrow-head looking symbol thing he'd draw and call them <<<:FBI Studios:>>> (which, of course, if you've ever met my dad, refers to his "Renfrew Rumble" wrestler nick name of "Frank Belanger, Indian". AHAHAH!!
As a child I really clearly remember this one road trip him and I took all over Ontario one summer. We must have been on the road for like a month or something. We visited his old friends in Timmons, Sudbury, Orillia, Toronto, Welland, and yeah. I forget where else. I was probably like 8 or 9 at the time, and I remember feeling so special, because I got to sit up in the front seat with him, on this big trip. And it was just me and him! No mom, and no Tyler in the picture yet. And we listened to music, oh did we ever. SOOO much music. I think we got through like 40 of his mix tapes in that trip! (I TOLD you he had made LOTS!)
And we had this game where he'd quiz me on titles and band/performer names. Before long I just learned to memorize everything on all of those mix tapes. And I could answer rapid-fire. I always felt so smart when I'd get the right answer, and I could tell he was so proud of me. So anyways, back to the point. The album titled "The Son of Various" was my all-time favourite. It had my favourite song at the time The Drifters: Under the Boardwalk on it! haha! What a funny favourite song, eh? "Variousity" and "Various and Various-er" were also really good ones. I think there was even one called like "The Various You Never Knew" or something like that... ahah! When I go home for Christmas on Sat. Dec. 17, I'm going to raid his collection and take down all the names, cuz he was really quite clever with finding new ways of getting "various" in there!
And that's my reason for the album title "the Son of Various", just a little nod to the ol Pops. Hope that explains it clearly enough!
J-dawg.
So Julia turns 20, and makes the best remark EVER in our msn conversation this morning. Here, I'll paraphrase..
I was talking about how this person was wearing a funny outfit in a picture...
Juice with the mad MS Paint SKILLZ (and if you don't know what that screen name refers to..well, it's probably better left that way!): "Man, that outfit is pretty ridiculous, did you see it?!"
Scrulia: "Yeah, but somehow he can pull it off..."
Juice: "Man, he can pull ANYTHING off"
Scrulia: "Including your clothes, right?"
Juice: "HAAHAHAHAH OH MAN! That was PURE BRILLIANCE Julia!!"
Scrulia: "*rim shot*... thank you, I'll be here all week. Remember to tip your waitress."
Lord! Wasn't that a great little snippet!!! I'm sure the majority of my readers will know EXACTLY to whom we are referring! HAHA. That makes it even better, doesn't it?!
Ok. I'm off!
Juice
Yay, history of Jazz exam is OVER! Now I've just got one more paper to write by Thurs. Claire's piano recital to attend, and then I can go home!
Aaron Copland is really pissing me off. You'd think there would be a whackload of sources about him out there, but in doing this paper, I've found that in reality, there's surprisingly few. So depressing. Well, ok. Clark and Lana have FINALLY slept together on Smallville. Haha! Sorry, to spoil anything for anyone, but it's just such an exciting event!
I'm so incredibly happy right now. I was looking through my friend Karen's facebook photo album, and came across a picture of my old friend Kate Dickson! She's from Renfrew too, we used to go to daycare together, and were best friends from like the ages of 3-6, then we went to different schools, and lost touch. But yay! Now thanks to Karen, I've found her again. and now I have her on my msn list! I can't stop smiling. Things like this are the absolute greatest. Wouldn't you agree?
Boo wu. I miss my "Native Pride" and "Juicy" hats...They MUST be back in Renfrew.
Going to meet Trevor to practice our stuff for the xmas concert now!
Juice
I am so terrible. I have an exam tomorrow. An easy one, yes. But I should STILL be studying. I don't know what the hell I'm doing, making plans to go skating today! Ah.
In other news, went to the old port last night, for the first time in SO long. Claire and I figured we hadn't been there since August of 2004! Can you believe that! LAME-O. But yeah. i never realized there was a rink down there. I seriously hope I can still pull off this skating thing though. It's been like at least 5 years since I tried skating. but playing hockey and ringette for 10 years before that should help, right? Just please don't let me fall! Please oh please. Speaking of falling....the most scary moment happened on Thursday. I fell in the bathroom, and scared the crap out of my roommates, cuz i kicked the chair, and hit my head on the washing machine, and apparently the noise was like "the end of the world" as claire so aptly phrased it. I'm still a little sore...
Ok. I gotta go get some freakin breakfast. and force claire to get out of bed and go practice..
Juice!
| Your Seduction Style: Au Natural |
 That's because you're a natural at seduction. You don't realize your power! The root of your natural seduction power: your innocence and optimism. You're the type of person who happily plays around and creates a unique little world. Little do you know that your personal paradise is so appealing that it sucks people in. You find joy in everything - so is it any surprise that people find joy in you? You bring back the inner child in everyone you meet with your sincere and spontaneous ways. Your childlike (but not childish) behavior also inspires others to care for you. As a result, those who you befriend and date tend to be incredibly loyal to you. |
I think that's fairly accurate...hah. at least i hope it is. MWAHA.
| All American Kid |
 You were well rounded and well liked in high school. |
| You Should Get a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) |
 You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker. |
Juice
LINK OF THE DAY!!! What a great idea...
BLATANT BRUTAL RIP-off of BOde. Yes I know. I have no shame. BUT CHECK THIS OUT GUYS. IT"S AWESOME!! I'm going to have to show it to Julian Wachner, and see if something can be *DONE* about this at MCGILL!!! YEE!! Not quite as funny as Bode's "two chinese students"... but we get our kicks where we can eh? Kudos to my friend Danielle from Ajax for the link!
Alright. So I had an AWESOME lesson today! And now I'm scrambling around like mad trying to find someone to come see Dame Edna with me this weekend, cuz Trev just bailed on me. BOO.
Ok. Later all.
Jess
OK, So my semi-final singing exam recital is on Monday, Dec.5th at 7:30pm, in Clara Lichtenstein Recital Hall in the Strathacona Music Building, of the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, 555 Sherbrooke Street West, Room C-209. BAH. So there. You have no excuse to get lost. Man. That leaves me less than a month from today to pull this shit together. Think I can do it. Better freakin be able to do it.
Louise and I (my accompanist) tried the Weinzweig songs for the first time on Friday night....oh MAN. SOoo much fun, but LORD, they're a BITCH to put together with piano. SO much counting. GAH. They're gonna be AWESOME when they're all ready though! I'm so excited for them! HAH!
And I had this awful dream last night that this other clarinetist in the school came up to me, and was like "So I just got assigned to play your Schubert with you..." and I was like, "What?! NO! Graham's playing it with me!" And she got all offended, and angry, and it was a BAD SCENE. AHHH. Not a cool dream! NO NO NO.
I was bored last night after practicing, so guess what I did? I hung out in my dress! ha! I just felt like putting it on, trying to get comfortable in it. Figuring out how best to sing in it. That scarf's a tricky deal, it is. I may not be able to wear it...It kept falling off my shoulders when I'd make a hand gesture. We'll see. Bode STILL hasn't seen it! It's been like 10 days now since I got it, and she STILL hasn't come over to see it. Whoa. That means I, myself haven't really seen her in 10 days. Awkward.
It's all Siegfried's fault. If I hadn't been all cooped up writing his stupid paper, things would be better. DAMN YOU WAGNER. Ever since that day last Wednesday where I watched 10 straight hours of Wagner opera, I never want to see them again. SERIOUSLY. I WAS IN PAIN. It was terrible.
OK. I'ma gonna go-a make-a some-a breakfast. Does that sound italian? HAH.
Juice
WAIT WAIT. STOP THE PRESS! I have something to add! MAN. I'm addicted to SMALLVILLE. DAMN you DAVID BERRY. Getting me hooked. He's been lending me his Smallville australian DVDs that will only play in my computer, and now I NEED my Tom Welling fix! SUCH a gorgeous gorgeous man. He's married. Boo. He's part-native apparently! YAY! I want to meet a guy like Clark Kent. frig. Superheroes just don't exist anymore eh? Well, that's it now. I swear. I really am done posting. I just wanted to make sure you all knew about my Smallville addiction..
So Claire and I had a little adventure today! She attended her first ever sports tournament/match of ANY KIND here in MONTREAL! And it wasn't even supporting MCGILL! aha! We went to a Concordia Wrestling Tournament! It was pretty far away. A good 25 min. ride on public transit. Then we finally got there, and went into the wrong building...."Hello Loyala High School for Young Men?!?!" haha! Finally found our way into the Concordia gym and had such a great time! Oh man!!!! And I got to talk to Tyler M. (whom I haven't seen in like 5+ months) after he finished winning gold in his 82kg weight class. It was amazing. I'll never forget how much sweat was dripping off him! It was like a RIVER!! But oh man. Loved every second of it! What an attractive man. HAH. now THAT"S an understatement. Whoa, is this too risque to put up here? Meh. I don't care. Pretty sure only my roommates, and bode are gonna read this anyway...
So alright. I just emailed Rev. Dan at Trinity/St.Andrew's church in Renfrew to ask if we could have our annual "Jessica and Friends Christmas Fundraising Concert" there on Dec.21st...once again, as bode would like to point out...on the night of the Winter Solstice! HA. Last night I was reading some of the archives from last year, and there's one hilarious post where I mention bode's joke about having a concert on the winter solstice, and how she felt we should be performing some sort of ritual sacrifice or something...like maybe....a viola?! HAHAAHAHAHAHAHaHAHAHA Does no one else find that as funny as me?!?!?! AAAA!! A VIOLA!! MUAH.
We were trying to figure out which charity to donate to this year. Last year it was Renfrew Food Bank and the Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa. Bode thought the Cancer Society. But I feel like they get a lot of money already. I dunno though. Anyone got any strong opinions? My dad wanted the local TV station to video us this year too. I think he said he was going to call them on Monday and see if that was a possibility. That would be cool eh? Then i could send the videos to all those random people who have never heard me sing properly! Like my grandparents for one, or Austin in BC, or my brother (well, he KINDA heard a weak version of me at his wedding..I made him cry, I guess that's good enough eh?) RObin's mom taped it for us last year. And we have this AWESOME post-concert footage where we all take control of the camera, and go around interviewing eachother, and zooming in on interesting audience members at the reception afterwards. it was great. HA. Scrulia, you reading this? Next time you're over, we should watch it.
WHOA> a PUMMELING delivered by Ottawa last night. oh WOW. 8-0 win over TOronto. That was a supreme humiliation. DAMMN. Go Sens GO! And the Habs won too!! My dad will be thrilled.
K. gonna go make me some hot chocolate! Sound yummy? Mom even bought me the kind with the cute little mini marshmallows in it. MMmmm.
xoxo
Jessica, who loves hot wrestlers
NEW POLL What TV show are you currently addicted to?
NEW pictures of a WHOLE bunch of Random stuff!
A man's sexual choice is the result and the sum of his
Interesting eh? So yeah. better get back to that research. UGH. So I'm gonna update the poll I think. Just haven't got any good ideas for a question...hmm.
Wait, can we just remark on how clean my room is right now? We went on a huge cleaning trip of the apt this week, and yeah. I'm thrilled. I can see my floor! hah! And my desk is all organized! Wow. I'm so proud of myself. If only my mother could see it now...
Awesome orchestra concert last night! Amelia Jacobsson played the Elgar Cello Concerto, and then the McGill Symphony Orch played Dvorak Symphony # 8 slash 4. (we're still in intense debate about what to actually call it! hehe) Amelia wore this awesome pink dress, and as Robin so aptly put it, "She was like "symphony orchestra Barbie!" HAHAHAH! SOo true. But great. Yeah. My friends Dian and Jesse, came down from Ottawa for the night, and David from my German class came too. Dressed in canary yellow. HAH. Twas a fun night. Mind you, got a huge headache later on, and had to try and fall asleep while 10 friends were yelling through a game of "Scene it!" in my kitchen. It's ok guys, I understand COMPLETELY. I"M SO loud when we're playing games! Remember poor Tahreen always having to come and tell us to shut up in First Year RVC!? So I'm gonna go watch a smallville episode now. Wagner is just holding no interest for me right now. bAH.
BYE! Love,
fundamental convictions. Tell me what a man finds sexually
attractive, and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life.
Show me the woman he sleeps with, and I will tell you his
valuation of himself. ... He will always be attracted to the
woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman
whose surrender permits him to experience - or to fake - a
sense of self-esteem. The man who is proudly certain of his own
value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the
woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer -
because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense
of an achievement, not the possession of a brainless slut.
(Ayn Rand 1957, 489-490)
Juicyyyyyy
So there it is. I'm 21. Great. Not pleased. Tired. Waiting for my parents to get here. Trying to convince myself to smile. Jer just called for nora. Didn't even remember to wish me Happy B-day or anything. Bastard...he's going DOWN. Alright. I"m outta here. Today sucks.
Juice
So today's the day. I'm heading back to Montreal finally. Gotta do all my last minute packing soon, my bus leaves at 3:49pm. I'm meeting up with Josh tomorrow to hear his ARCT piano exam program, and quiz him on the ear training aspects. Should be a blast! ha. Trev's still got my bonsai. I hope he's ok!!! Alright. gonna put up some new pictures in the family and friends section.
later
Juice
OK. I"m pissed, just generally pissed off at the WORLD. And I'm stuck in stupid little Renfrew, so NONE of my friends are here, so I can't even call anyone to scream on the phone for a bit. FUCK. UGH!!!!!! What IS IT with people and NOT returning things? I mean seriously, especially after you remind them to do so, like 40 times!! How much more am I expected to PESTER?!?! And i HATE pestering!! HATE HATE HATE IT!! And I NEED to see my friends PRONTO. If I have to deal with my parents and tyler for another week, I may just rip out all my hair. I CANNOT do this whole group-travelling vacation thing we tried to do for that trip out west. NEVER AGAIN. It BLOWS waaay too much. Alright. And I'm pissed off at other things, too sensitive to mention on here. Ask me if you're that curious...can't promise I'm going to tell you the truth though...
Juice
So we're BAAAACK!! For a couple days of relaxing and laundry-doing before we go to the condo at Logos Land this coming Sat. Italy was insanely beautiful, I spoke MUCH more German than Italian, lay in fields of EDELWEISS, and sang my little heart out! Met some really sweet people, and I especially miss Corey, from Texas, my little "YEEhAAAAW!" cowgirl, and Nina, a violinist from Orlando. We played lots of MONOPOLI!! (Italian version of Monopoly, with real EURO dollars!) hey, did you know that they have a Euro 2cent coin!! in ADDITION to a one cent!!! and they don't have quarters! But they DO have 20 cent coins!
Joel's wedding was soo lovely. I LOVE my new sis-in-law, Mrs.Tammy Daley! I got there last Tuesday after 24 hours of straight travelling time, and was sooo wiped. but got a quick couple hours of sleep at Joel's apt, and then began my sisterly duties of helping Tammy do whatever last-minute wedding stuff needed to be done. I made the coffee favour things, helped picked out lingerie, tied seemingly endless bows, and drove all around vancouver shopping for this stupid RIBBON!!! But I LOVED every second of it. I got to know Tammy a lot better, and her family is super cool too. I"m going to miss having meals at her parents place! So then Joel and Tammy bought me this really nice red dress for singing at their wedding. Which was a big success, by the way. Got lots of compliments, and made numerous people cry! HAH! Then joel made this really cute speech about me at the reception, which almost caused ME to cry, but I held it in...to keep up appearances, you know...
Met my sort-of, not really at all, cousins from BC. Austin's actually thinking of applying to come to McGill Med School. And so yeah...I've gotta go make some breakfast for me and Ty now.
Later!
Juicy!!
Wow. Can you believe how quickly June passed? I'm writing my final exams for Theory and Musicianship TOMORROW~~ And then leaving for a month in ITALY the next day!! CRAZY! i'm attempting to pack right now. I think my bag is too heavy...my parents are driving down to MTL today, and they're bringing a weigh scale from home, so i can see just how overweight my bags are! I'll probably have to leave some of my clothes at home. BOo. They're bringing an AIR CONDITIONER TOO!! THANK THE LORD...it's 35 f*ckin degrees here today!!!
Alright. gonna go now.
Jess
Yeah, that's right. I"m procrastinating. By fooling around with this site, instead of doing my MUTH 311 homework...so SUE ME! BAAAAH. jer is gone to Cleveland now. Hope Ohio doesn't suck as much as Manitoba! MWAHAH. Sorry jer, i couldn't resist the cheap shot, you weren't even here to defend yourself!
So awesome brunch this morning. Josh came over and I made an awesome, scrumptious feast! We were both SOOOO full afterwards! could hardly move..owwww. Now I'm supposed to be analysing Messiaen's "Abime des oiseaux" from The Quartet for the End of Time, but I'm stuck...I can't figure out where the rhythmic augmentation is happening!! I emailed my singer friend Aidan, to see if she knows what she's doing...let's hope she does!! otherwise..I'm screwed royally. This assignment is worth 15% of my final grade...DAMN summer courses SUCK.
Alrighty then. I'm gonna go make some dinner. And finish off that stack of dishes. eww...gross. I hope they're not molding or anything..!!!!!! (AH!!)
HAPPY FATHER"S DAY DADDY!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!! XOXOXOXOXO
JEssie
Bode's cleaning up her site, and deleting links of her friends who don't update their sites anymore...and I just wanted to make sure I didn't get "purged" along with all the rest of them! I don't have much to say. I'm in montreal...alone. it sucks. I don't like living alone. I want everyone to come back NOWWWW!! I would also really like my bed NOW. Stupid BAY has kept me waiting a MoNTH now just for my damn mattress and frame. GOD.
I leave for Italy in less than 2 weeks. It's actually only like 10 days from now. MAN. I'll be on another continent from all my friends in 10 days. CRIKEY. Well, no. i shouldn't say that. I'll have Mike, and Sylvain there with me. That should be ok. I'm actually really excited to see mike! i wonder how his Italian courses have been going... alright. I'm gonna go clean up a tad, Josh is coming over for brunch on Sunday morning, and it can't be a COMPLETE pig-sty here. Oh mAN, I miss Claire's awesome dish-washing skills!! I miss you Boeuf Boeuf!!!
Juice
Bodie was complaining that I don't update enough....so this is JUST FOR YOU muffin-bear!
I HATE MUSP. I hate the burning smell the front element on our stove has been making lately. I hate not getting perfect on tests and assignments. I hate living alone. I hate being lonely. I HATE chocolate ice cream. I HATE stale food. I hate stinky(insertyouknowwhichinstrument here)pants!!!!!
I LOVE Bode's website! (my suck-up of the day) I love strawberries. I LOVE the song GET LOW from bode's playlist on my compy.."AHH SKEET SKEET MOTHERFUCKER!!!" HAHAHAHAAHHAHA I love Elijah Wood. I love cherry cheesecake. I LOVE tulips. I love David Cubek's way of saying "One". I love Monty Python.
Slash, can we just freak out here for a second?! Who the hell voted for me getting MARRIED first on Bode's website?!? What the HELL is going with that?! Last time I checked I was tied with Chelsea for top spot..MAN. People, who ARE you? Do you even KNOW me?! I AM NOT getting married anytime soon! I ASSURE you. I'm rather disturbed by this all. Me no rikey!!!
Alright. done ranting. Gonna meet Jaime for some coffee now. TA TA!!!
CAn't WAIT for Robin and Bode to come up here next weekend!
Mrs.Juice _________ (??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?)
Link of the Day: Star Wars III Movie Website
NEW POLL What's the best tourist attraction in MTL?
YAY! Star wars this weekend! I'm psyched. THink i might go see it in Renfrew. Depends if Christian wants to go here in Montreal....would you believe that that boy has NEVER been to the Paramount...the only theatre he's ever gone to was Parc. What a sheltered boy. He's got a really sweet apt. though. CLaire, Julia and I brought him cookies the other night and got to see it. It's very "sterile". All white walls and cupboards and such. I told him to paint it, but he seems to like it better that way. meh. none of my business. Take care all
I feel like I haven't had a good night's sleep in a month, damn this damn alternating between the bed and couch every night with Claire. It's SOO not good for our bodies.
Well then. There it is. I really have nothing else to say. I want to say more. But frankly, my rambling is complete for the day....
Juice
So I came home this weekend to sing O Canada for the big Senior National Wrestling Championship. It went well. I met this guy, Tyler that I had met on a bus last May. He had wanted me to give him piano lessons. It was odd. Oddly odd. I have two mid-terms tomorrow. Should suck. God I hate Musicianship. I'm so terrible at dictation. I might even have to hire a tutor next month for it. oh LORD. ALright. gotta go get packed up to go back to Montreal now. Later!
Jessica
So yeah. Exciting plans for today...right now there's a cake in the oven that I just finished putting together, I'm waiting for bodie to wake up, so that we can go get some breakfast and run to Les Ailes to get the Clinique bonus offer! then later this afternoon, Christian invited us all over, to hear him play the 6 Bach cello suites. I'm bringing the cake, and the cookies Bodie, Robin and I baked last night. Oh lord...only 3 days till my Italian exam. in that case, only 5 days till I'm done this semester forever! Aw great....summer school starts in like 12 days. well, at least I have this new apartment to look forward to. I've been looking at paint chips thingys on the internet, and I think I'm gonna go with some sort of green light sagey colour for my room.. yes yes.
While I"m thinking of it..congrats to my friend jeremy gabbert, the violinist! He played in CMC yesterday and made it to the Nationals!! W00t. but he's not actually gonna go...cuz he's in Ohio doing a YAP at that time...but Robin's going! She made it to nationals on harp too!! Man, I have such talented friends!
Alright then. I'd better go see if this cake is done....don't wanna burny burn it!
Juice!
ALL SKEET SKEET GODDAM!
this is the quiz i got juicey to do. now she's gonna do my eye makeup for fun hmmm. RIGHT? J??
BUCKEY NAKED.
 | You scored as Hermione Granger. You're one intelligent witch, but you have a hard time believing it and require constant reassurance. You are a very supportive friend who would do anything and everything to help her friends out.
Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com |
and we all like to see ass and titties.
/b
Bonne Fete cher Trevie!! Hope your day is awesome! Dinner was soo much fun last night. We went to Provigo and bought yummy food, then back to his apartment where he made the most scrumptious dinner I've had in sooo long! oh MAN, that dessert was INSANE!!!
NEW PICTURES!!! check em out! They're from the adventure Bodie and i had at the Botanical Gardens last weekend. I think it was Sunday we went, maybe Sat. They're awesome! And it was such a perfect day weather-wise! Alright, i gotta go grab some lunch with Claire-bebe. Ta ta for now!
So I just went over to Nora's place tonight and helped her create her own website... I'll link to it later here..and now I feel all guilty for not having updated in like 6 years...
So mom came up to Montreal this weekend to see our Verdi Requiem concert and chill out with me. It was AWESOME! She totally cleaned my room and did all my laundry, and bought me new clothes, and two extremely expensive pairs of Birkenstocks! W00t go mom!!
Claire's in my room now, lying on the couch bed, and I'm trying to repair her decrepit little IBM thinkpad. I think it's working...at least I hope it is. I seriously don't believe it was possible to do any MORE damage to this little beast though....so ROCK ON.
Anyhow, school's wrapping up for another year. Wow, this one went by so much faster than 1st year. All my exams are clustered right at the end of April. One on the 26th, 27th, and the last one on the 28th. Then I have a couple days to move out of RVC FOR GOOD, and into my new apartment on Aylmer with Claire and Nora, and get settled. Then it's SUMMER courses time! BLAAGH. I'm sad that Sean Ferguson won't be teaching me theory again. Man, he was such a good teacher! And he's part Native too! Take THAT! hAHAH.
Bought my plane tickets to Italy last night, as well as my one for the flight to vancouver for my brother's wedding. I"m super glad that's over and done with. I'm flying on Air France, with one stop-over at Charles-de-Gaulle. Should be neat. Alright. I'm outta here. Claire's comp needs me!
Juice
So oh man, tonight at dinner, I was having this piece of toast, and it got caught in my throat, and SCRATCHED the hell out it! OH LORD it hurt, and I couldn't cough it up, cuz I had other food in my mouth, and was sitting at the table with Julia, Claire and Deb...so I just had to keep swallowing, and everytime it moved, I could actually FEEL it like, ripping pieces of my larynx apart. GOD...
So I'm going home to Renfrew for easter weekend tomorrow, to take care of my mommy dearest, with her broken arm and everything. And oh yeah! Tomorrow is Claire bebe's 20th b-day! WOOHOO!!! And oh yeah! MORE exciting news, so it looks like Bodie and Danielle might actually be living together next year! isn't that AWESOME! yay! I LOVE matchmaking! ahah
So gave celliott my aria music for "morro, ma prima in grazia" today. Hopefully we'll get to play through it after easter sometime. I think it might be really fun! I haven't worked with a musician who's not a pianist in such a long time!
Ok, I gotta go review my part for the really long gregorian chant, the exultet, that I have to sing at OLF church on Saturday night vigil mass. later everyone!
Juice
HAH! TEN POINTS to Jeremy!! (shudder, oh god, listen to me, I sound like bodie...BAHHHHHHHH!!!) So if you haven't heard this story about Jer's amazing line to Christian this afternoon, you better damn well listen! This is AWESOME!!
Christian had nora and Jer over to his new Rez caf for lunch, and basically bought them food on his meal plan card, and yeah, as they were leaving, Christian was doing his whole polite good-bye thing, and Jer was like, "Oh man Christian, thank YOU for that...we're so coming back again for this...we're like raccoons, or Jehovah's Witnesses, or something.....once you give us something, we'll always keep coming back for more and more!!!!!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH LOL
isn't that AWESOME!?!?! I Thoroughly enjoy that line! HA! Anyways, I'm off to bed now. Ta ta for now ladies and gents!
Jess
I'm going to pick up Maureen at the train station tonight at 11pm! W00t. this is after the orchestra concert tonight. Good luck to all my friends playing in it...Bodie, Robin, Jer, Nora and Christian. Bodie had a really bizarre thing to say last night on the phone...and she's gonna kill me for putting it up here, cuz she planned it as her update for her website..but I won't steal ALL your glory bode, at least I'm giving you credit here...meh.
So her theory is that boys suck so much, and make life so stressful and annoying, because it's nature's way of controlling the earth's population. HAH. It KIND of makes sense...in that weird, "oh bodie" kind of way. Well yeah, I've gotta run to the Opera Board and pick up my letter of recommendation right now. BLAAAGH.
Later! Juice
Link of the Day: NEW POLL!
Hey all. just a quick update before I start cleaning my room for Maureen's visit this weekend!!!!! (happy HAPPY Juice) It's the New Music Festival here in montreal this week. Hurrah! I have so many concerts to go see! LoRD. there's the CME concert tonight, and then I think the Stravinsky is one of these days, and orchestra conerts on both Fri. and Sat. nights. And trev wanted me to go see the NAC play, but I don't remember when that concert is supposed to be...maybe sunday????
Well yeah.. About to do something completely rash and probably foolish today, i think most of you already know what I'm talking about....but if you don't.....well. That's your own fault. MWAHAHA.
Wish me luck everyone. I'll tell you how it goes. OoooooOOO.. this is pretty cryptic, isn't it?!
Juicy
oh dear god YES, it's READING week! I can finally BREATHE, and relax, and catch up on sleep and reading and everything else I've been neglecting in Montreal! OH YEAH!!! Man, I'm watching my audition video for the Schlern Festival in Italy...not so hot. I sound very strange. I never knew that I really sounded like that. maybe it's just the tape quality. But I really don't like the way i sound. That's not good. hmm... oh well, I've got to send it anyway. It's so strange. There's some definite parts where I like sing in quarter tone vibrato, or I go for a high note, and tense up, and end up going sharp or something. It's so fucked up. Anyways. just wanted to bitch about that. I've got to go to my spa appointment now. later!
Juice
I find it so funny that the verb we use to describe the process of copying cds, is "burning". so great. Thanks for the Phantom of the Opera post on the Message board Karen! ha. So yeah, I'm at the music library. here's claire...
hihi. good times at the library! i'm taking a break from practicing; my right pinkie is feeling "stretched out." i'm working on my Prince Igor part for 2 pianos, by Borodin. it turns out that Prince Igor is an opera, not a ballet as i had suspected. jessica's back!
Hey. I just missed Jer. Dammit. He was talking with Bijan, and then I saw bijan, and he said that Jer had JUST left, so I ran out to the elevators, but alas, it was too late. Hmm. i wonder if his recording thing worked out. I helped him record his Bach sonata and Sibelius concerto on Denise (his teacher's) mini-disc player this morning, and then he came here to try and get it transferred onto CD. Alright. the burner on the comp has just decided to fuck up and be stupid. So I'm LEAVING it. and going to a new compy. Talk to y'all later.
Jessica
God SHAVE ME! That's joke my dad used to tell. Ask me about it, if you're really that intrigued. Man, it sure has been a long time since I've updated this mother-father. I've got new pictures to put up too...but I'm on Nora's computer right now, so i'll have to do it later when i'm at home. My big brother Joel sent me a really nice pic of himself that he wants on the family Section! i'm so excited for the wedding this summer. YAY! Oh man though. Today was an awful day. i called everyone I knew, and basically no one was home, I think I scared the crap out of Christian. I called him twice crying. He even called Nora, to tell her to call me cuz he was worried about me. LORD. how mortifying. but oh well. Anyways. I've gotta go hurry nora along. We're trying to get to Robin's for 10pm to watch the OC with her and Nicole and Jer.
Later
Juicer
I don't know what it is, but for the last two Thursday nights, I have been unable to sleep, like, at ALL. Last week, I had to actually miss my Friday morning Italian class, cuz I was so tired in the morning. Strange..I just want to fall back asleep!! But my mind is running in circles, i can't get it to calm down. It's almost like I drank 3 larges expressos or something, which I definitely DIDN"T.
So it's that time of the year again...BLAGH...Apartment hunting, here we come. So far I've found 2 possibilies, but slight problem....they're both 4 bedroom apartments....and that's not really a problem with me...I like having that many people around, I'd never be lonely! But Claire thinks it may be an issue, living with that many people. I dunno...I'll see if I can bring her around. These places both sound so nice!
Oh yeah! PARTY tonight!! W00T...numerous parties actually. Carole, April and Anna are having one, my friend Martin is having one, AND it's Nora's b-day celebrations! AND...here's my favourite part...THE MATT HAIMOVITZ concert! So psyched for this! But man oh man, I'm gonna be passing out by 11pm, if I don't log some decent hours of sleep tonight. Geez. Ok, I'm gonna try again.
One more quick thing before I go... bodie and I were discussing this last night.... does anyone know why they tell Raoul in the Phantom of the Opera, to keep his hand at the level of his eyes, when he goes down into the dungeons to rescue Christine? I'm still not making sense of that one!!
BYE!!
JOOSICA BRAND JOOSES, err..JUICES
So Nora's finally 20 today! And Jer's competing the McGill concerto competition string preliminaries tonight! Good luck Jer, and our other friend Christian too! This weekend should be fun! We're having cake and such for Nora on Friday sometime. And then I'm going to the Matt Haimovitz and Kyoko concert in Pollack at 8pm. Then after that's over, we're all going to Vocalz, this kareoke bar on Crescent...sure better than her original idea to make us all hike up the icy cold Mount Royal with her! HAHA! No CHANCE that was gonna happen! And I think our friends Carol, April and Anna are having a party on Fri night too! Wow, so much to do this weekend. Alright, I'm heading off to my lesson now. ta ta for now
Juice
So just got back from a double feature with Claire-bebe...We saw Meet the Fockers and then Oceans 12 at Paramount. Which means I didn't accomplish all my history readings....damn. I'll get up early tomorrow morning and do them before choir i suppose.
Been obsessed with myst and riven lately. these computer games Celliott introduced me to. Well, actually, I had read the book a long long time ago...so technically he didn't "introduce" me...but yeah. We beat myst in a total of 3 days...and about 30 hours I'd estimate. It was pretty hardcore. Now we're on to the sequel "riven"....much more difficult, and even more confusing....Christian's played it...he's our only hope.
Getting more used to my contacts. They're getting kinda dirty though...i hope my mom sends me my new pair soon. I think Dr. Dewey's just gonna give them to her. At least I hope he will.
I think my jaw problems have returned. DAMN THEM!!! grrr.....I must be grinding my teeth at night again. ...stress-triggered I suppose.
Night night...it's time I got some decent sleep
Love Juicy
Oh it's good to be back. Montreal, how I missed you. With your convenient shopping, your bounteous Tim Horton's and all my friends within reach...hurray. I had one hell of a ride back here though.. everything that could have gone wrong on that day, last sunday...DID> It was freezing rain so my parent's couldn't drive me. the bus was delayed. The bus finally came and took over 4 hours to make a 2 hour trip from Ottawa. I got car sick in the bus from reading...ACH. it was like I was sitting in a four hour death trap. BLAHGG!!
But yeah..all that's over now. Classes have resumed and yeah...I've got a pretty decent schedule this sem. Not too much. Just takin 'er easy, (as they would say in dirtier parts of the Valley! HAH)
I just booked my recital in Clara for the end of the semester...As of right now, it at 2:30 on Monday April 4th, and it'll only last like 45min-1hour. I"m not singing much at all...I just need the performance practice cuz I'm not doing any sort of perf exam at the end of this term.
Trev and I are exchanging Xmas presents finally tonight. Wonder what he got me!? hmmm.. My contacts are starting to bother me...i think I'm gonna try and take them out now.
oh yeah! HAH! Nora made some sweet-ass soup and had me and Bode and Jer over for supper last night! It was so cute! And then we went to robin's and watched the gold medal game. OH MAN that was a sweet victory...I can still taste it! MWAHAH
Myst is getting in today!! I'm so excited to play it! We've all become addicted to the CSI comp games...they're AWESOME!! aND i think bodie finally got her ORIGINAL nintendo hooked up today...OH GEEZ we're going to waste sooo much time on that thing..
BEEEEAAAAMMMMMM! Just talked to Josh on the phone....HE HAS A 4.0 AVERAGE right now!!! OMG...can you believe it?! I guess i can though...I ALMOST had that last year in my first sem....3.98 to be exact....all cuz of that stupid MUSP!! grrr...Ok. I've really gotta go now..this is waay too long of an update...Boo-YAH...pissed that I still haven't seen you-know-who yet...ach
JUICEEEEEE
So here we are. 2005 already! Hopefully things will start looking up this time 'round. I don't really have any resolutions or anything...nah.
Kinda excited though..my big brother is getting MARRIED this summer, in July, and the whole fam-damily is going out to B.C. for the ceremony! And yeah. Can't WAIT to get back to Mtl! Gotta clean my room, then Bodie and i are just locking ourselves in front of my comp and playing my new CSI and MYST computer games!! And got my iRiver HP320 MP3 player finally! So excited to try it out! I gotta majorly get serious about practising this semester. I don't have a singing exam to do at the end of this year...but I'm gonna do just a private recital, rent out Clara, and have my friends and family there. Kinda like bodie did last year. That would be neat. OK. I gotta go.. I want my mom to make some pancakes for me... later
Jess
Gone to visit my grandparents, aunts/uncles/cousins in Welland, ON. Be back in time for Maureen's party on the 28th! Have a great weekend everyone!!
Juice
HAH. Oh dear...I can't seem to get that tune of Bodie and Scrobin singing "Hark the Herald Angels (Angle Dance) with those funny-as-hell lyrics! Oh man! It's been an AWESOME Xmas so far!! I got the LoTR III Special Extended edition! Woot! And Tyler and I are watching the DVD of HARry Potter 3 right now, after finishing a round of the Harry Potter Trivia Game: Prefects Edition! AHAHH. Soooo nerdy. Anyways yeah...I'm off. HAve a great day everyone!
Juice
Hey all. Ok, so the Renfrew concert is over. Thank GOD> it went remarkably well actually. We raised almost 800$ for the Renfrew Food Bank and the Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa. T'was super uber fun! Erin Joyce, Bodie and RObin's Cellist friend from Ottawa came and joined us at the last minute, and yeah...good times. So yeah. Got the Christmas Tree up last night, and decorated it this morning. I"m really impressed actually. Usually we just get it up on Christmas Eve day. This is pretty damn early for us!
Tonight all the girls from High school are going out together. We were originally planning on going to the Prior sports bar....but now the weather is really crappy, and i don't know that Kenope's gonna want to drive to Arnprior in freezing rain. So maybe we'll just stay in Renfrew and go to Finnegan's. Alex and Fraser Holmes have their cd release party there tonight, and I kinda wanted to go see that. I used to play with them both in the Blues Guys band at St. Joes.
Anyways yeah. I've gotta go watch some more Harry Potter with Ty, my sister Sarah, and my niece Theresa.
Later, Jessica
Random thoughts today. Just got back to MTL, to write my very last exam, for that stupid Indian Course. It's gonna suck big time. Dad had to dirve me to Ottawa to catch the bus cuz something happened and we missed catching it in Renfrew.. boo...talk about a good way to add extra stress, to an already fuct up day. Sooo excited for Bodie's party tomorrow night!
Random thoughts: Visine. Sam Crenshaw, Doublestuf, Blueberries, Pecans, "A medium cafe macho with extra testosterone" inner tubes. Leeches. Lego Knights.
THat's all folks.
Messy Jessie.
So yeah. My joyous event of the day...I was able to get my contacts , yes, BOTH of them, into my eyes in under HALF AN HOUR this morning!!! I am SOO proud of myself!! WOO! Go Juice GO! Ok, I've gotta go watch the movie "elf" with my nephew Tyler now! Oh yeah...MORE exciting news...
Trevor gets to compose a piece for the CME!! Crazy eh?!?! YAY! Go Trevie! I"m so proud of him! And the concert will be in Pollack hall too!!! Isn't that neat! I hope he puts a harp part in for Robin!
Ok. gotta go now.
Juice
Whoa. Sorry everyone. Didn't realize it's been over a week since i last updated. Terrible Juice.. Bad girl. Ok so yeah. Got home on Sunday night after taking the train home with Robin and then going to see Stuart Maclean at the NAC with my parents! OH MAN! he was soo good! I LOVED the story. Bodie went to the matinee performance that same day and loved it too. So yeah, then came back to Renfrew, driving through a snow storm, and went right to bed. Then yesterday, I had an eye doctor's appointment, and GUESS WHAT!!!???? I got myself CONTACTS!! Now, I don't really need contacts all that badly. I'm not really blind, I just sometimes can't see things that far away. I rarely wear my glasses at all. Usually just for copying notes off the board in class (but usually I'm a super keener, and sit near the front anyway, so that's not a problem...) or for driving or stuff like that. But at the last Mahler concert in Sept. I had a hard time seeing the conductor, cuz the choir was behind the huge orch and everything, and so then I realized, that some day, i'm going to be singing opera, and I'm going to have to be wearing contacts, so I might as well just get them now, and get used to wearing them while I'm young, right? So last night....the most painful experience....took me over TWO HOURS to get them both out!! I was sitting there jabbing at my eyes and randomly screaming out in pain for OVER TWO HOURS!!! My mom got through episodes of both Law and Order AND CSI, and i MISSED them BOTH. I had to call Trevor TWICE to get him to calm me down, and assure me that I wasn't going to die if I had to sleep with them in..
I don't really want to put them in this morning. I"m not going to yet.. maybe after lunch I'll attempt it. I just really don't feel like spending another 2 hours in agony tonight. Oh well. the Price of Beauty as Aaron so wisely put it.
Umm. yeah. Renfrew's good. Getting super excited for our concert in just ONE week from Today!! w00T! Totally not prepared for my indian class exam on Friday. But I really really really don't feel like studying. Man, I knew this was going to happen. I should have just stayed in MTL and studied. Jeez.
Got a really nice email from Charles yesterday. I always did enjoy that kid. he was like "jeez Juice, you're so thoughtful.." for sending everyone cards like that. I just smiled smugly as I read it, and thought, "you're trying to tell me something New? Of COURSE I already knew I was thoughtful! AND kind, AND perfect!" MWAHAHAHAHA!! just "joshin" ya.
OK. Well, that's it for today. I want to go start reading my new novel, the prequel to the "DA VINCI CODE" by Dan Brown~! Later! post to the msg board with encouraging thoughts about contacts if you've got a minute! It would mean a lot to me!!
Juice with the blood-shot, dry eyes...
Just got back from a full morning of Christmas shopping with claire! It was great. We left at 9am, grabbed some breakfast and then bought numerous items. We both got our presents for our floor's "Secret Snowflake Gift Exchange" (how decidedly non-denominational!) tonight. Unfortunately, they decided to have the exchanging party when both Claire and I will be at the orch. concert...but oh well. It was fun. It got me into the Christmas spirit of giving! YAY! And I finally bought a tuque and a pair of matching mittens. I almost DIED walking to bodie's apartment last night, so i figured i should really get on that tuque situation and buy myself something WARM. Last night was fun. We just rented "the Terminal" with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones and watched it at Bode's apartment. Not too shabby of a movie. OK. I've gotta go practice a bit before my lesson this afternoon, and then get ready for the orch concert and party tonight at Meredith's! YAY
Take care all!
Juice
OH GOD OH GOD> We don't have a cellist. OH GOD> what am I going to do? OH GOD.
And my throat hurt a little bit when i woke up this morning. OH GOD OH GOD
And i just got off the phone with John Guzik, he called to see if I was still going to sing at Father Dowd's Xmas thing with the St. Pat's choir this weekend.. I told him I couldn't cuz I would be too busy with the Tanglewood audition. Feel slightly guilty...but not that bad.
Josh just came over and saw how terribly terrible messy my room is. Oh man. it's BAAAAD. he hasn't been over in a while, so it was a pretty big shock to him, seeing how clean I kept my room at the beginning of the year and all.
Finally done with MUCO, concert choir, Ital language and Italian diction! YAY! Now all I have to do is my History journal and exam, and my indian class exam. not so bad. no. not bad at all. I can manage with that. yes I can.
SUPER DUPER excited for the Orch concert on Sat. night! YAY! my friends are going to be playing Stravinsky's Firebird! i hope it goes well. And oh yeah. was at the CME concert last night. Went all by myself. Really good. LOVED the Schoenberg Kammersymphonie at the end of the program. it was Freaking AWESOME! and my 2nd time hearing the Lloyd Carr Harris String Quartet play the cherney quartet was awesome too. I really like that piece. That quartet dresses really well too. On the Tues. night concert they were all wearing black pants and "fall-coloured" shirts, and then last night all black with the red AIDS Day ribbon pinned to their chests. it was really "STUNNING". I wonder who their costume designer is?! (teehee) I really hope Celliott is reading this....HAHA...I still think it's really unfair that they get their own "name" though. Stupid talented people...they get everything....harrrumph...
Gotta go
Juiseeeeeeeeeeee
P.S. I think I'm losing my ability to speakie inglese....
Link of the Day: Tanglewood Site
Oh dear. oh dear. it just started to sink in how much crap i've got to get through this coming week.. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL WE GET BACK AFTER XMAS and I'll have some time to reLAX!!! God, I've got an early music concert tonight, that's going to suck big time...kinda like our Schutz choir concert did last night...whoa, that was a stressful concert. BLAHG!!! I thought I was gonna have numerous panic attacks during that little chamber choir thing of the "Nacket bin..." when we fucked up a couple times. OMG. OH well, I just have to make it through this next week, and then I can breathe SOOO much easier. 4 exams in the next 3 days, and then 2 the following 2 weeks, and then the Tanglewood audition tucked in there someplace... and then I"M DONE!!!
Bodie went to Kingston this weekend, and consequently, (or so she'd like to believe..) we did nothing. Robin didn't leave her house all weekend, and I had 2 concerts to get through, plus some massive sleep to catch up on. It's weird. I don't think I've gone an entire weekend without seeing Nora and/or Jer in a REALLY long time. It was kind of a lonely weekend. I got to see and hang out with other friends, i.e. Mike and Josh, but yeah....no Jer-Bear and NOooooorie and SCROBIN...aka "stubby arms"...no nora, that does not say "Shark a**s"!! AHHAAHHA
OK. I've gotta start studying for our last Instruments of the Orch test. YAY! HARP!!
Goooooood morning VIETNAM!!!! er...Canada, and my few viewers in the states! ha. Umm. Not much to say, I'm just updating for the sake of updating...
I slept for like 12 straight hours last night. Oh MAN that feels good. I got back from practice at St.Jean Baptiste for the Berlioz concert tonight, followed by some Thai food with Mike, Armine, Gaby, Austin and Corinne, and finally walked into RVC at 11ish. And fell into bed by 11:15pm, and then just happened to wake up this morning at exactly 11:13am! Sooooo good.
so WEIRDEST occurence EVER!!! My friend Paul Litterio, the horn player, finished his degree here at McGill last year, and is now doing his master's at some music school in the states..and so yeah...I sent him a Xmas card to the states, and at the berlioz rehearsal last night, some dude comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder saying "Thanks for the card Juice! That was super nice of you..." and i just assumed it must have been some guy from montreal or something, but when I turned around.....
IT WAS PAUL!!! Since it's American thanksgiving this weekend, he doesn't have classes, so he came up to Canada to visit everyone again!! YAY!! and this Berlioz concert was HIS idea! ISN'T THAT COOL?! He was the one who wrote the proposal for the piece and suggested it to Alain Cazes, the director of the Wind Symphonies. I find that really neat. Ok, anyways, I'm gonna run to brunch now, i'm STARVING. then I've got to do some serious practicing if I'm going to be ready for this Tanglewood audition next week. ACH.
P.S. there's some new Hallowe'en Pictures that my friend Joanne sent me! Check 'em out!
JESSIE
Link of the Day: NEW X-MAS THEMED POLL!!
So it's my friend Tracy (from REnfrew)'s 20th b-day today! YAY! Hope you're having a good day Trace! I miss you!!
So yeah, I've decided to take it easier on Wagner. I like him much better the second time 'round. We watched part of Tannhauser in Mo to Pu class today, and I since I had already watched it on my own, and knew what was happening plot-wise, I was able to concentrate more on the simple beauty of the music and all that. It was good. The man sure did know how to write a good melody every once in a while. HAH. I think prof. Huebner is in love with Wagner, well, at least a HUGE fan of his. It seems to me like the more "intellectual" you are, the more you'll like Wagner, you know what I mean? It's like it's "prestigious" or something to be a Wagner fan. I dunno.
Just got back from dinner with Mike Imbimbo. He had already gotten my X-mas card that I sent to his and Austin's apartment. WOW, that was fast...way to go Canada Post, I'm PROUD of you! HA He took me out for pizza after our masterclass tonight. I didn't sing for it. I should have, but I copped out at the last minute, and chose not to. BAh.
Bad chorus rehearsal this morning. I fuct up on the stupid "saul, was verfolgst du mich" piece and Julian had to tell me in the middle of the piece to just "stop singing" and then after rehearsal he was like "What are we going to do about that.....? tsk tsk.." It was really really embarassing. I felt so ashamed. I seriously think I'm gonna have to give my solo part to Gaby or something. I'm not going to be able to do it. I know this. I've known this from the start. I should NEVER have been cast as a sop. 2...I just can't sing that shit. ACH WEH. O LEIDE WEH.
Alright, I'm going to go to bed now. I'm so emotionally exhausted. I need to just get a life, and forget about people that are unhealthy for me. BAH. If you're unclear as to what the hell I'm talking about, you can email me for the scoop. Night folks.
Jessica Johanna
Talk about MANIC DEPRESSIVE CHARACTERS!! And then I was just getting so sick of Wagner's intense poetry NON-STOP for that long...like man, there's only so many times you can get away with saying, "O you are my life, my only reason for being"....before it sort of LOSES its EFFECT!!! That sort of thing, should ONLY EVER be said ONCE. ACH. Oh so yes, I'd better jump into the shower. I'm supposed to go shopping with bodie in a 1/2 hour. Her friend Kikay is coming from QUeen's today, and yeah....that's all I'll say.
Ciao per adesso...JUICE>
So just went out for dinner with Bode and Robin. That was fun. We always have such a blast together. Towards the end of the meal, I started getting really REALLY hyper...(you know how I get) so that just made the night even funnier! haha! We talked about our respective infatuations, and persian groups of men, and how robin thinks of me and Claire when she gets into the shower! HAAHAHAHAH!!! Wow, those can really be easily misconstrued if you weren't present for the conversation, can't they?! HAH! Meh, I'm gonna leave them, think whatever you want! LOL
Umm. So i'm done about 20 or so of my Christmas cards now. That's exciting. I might actually get them out EARLY this year! I remember one year back in high school, when I started mailing the cards out sometime in mid-January! ha.
So my debate of the day, is what the hell I"m going to sing as solo rep for our Christmas Concert in Renfrew....I will do Signore ascolta, simply because it's impressive, short and pretty easy for trevie to play...OH YEah...PLUS, there'a little Harp riff at the end of it that maybe Robin can do something with. And then I wanted to do Morro, ma prima in grazia, from Un Ballo in Maschera by Verdi, cuz it's with Cello solo, and I thought that might be really cool with Brandon, but we won't get anytime to really practice it together before the day of the concert, so I dunno if i wanna risk it. And then I'll probably do the mozart concert aria I'm currently working on. We'll see. Altogether those 3 pieces should take up over 10 minutes. So that's fine. And besides, this concert IS the JESSICA .....and friends....concert, and it IS in MY hometown, most of the audience will be people there to see ME (MWAHAH!) So if I go over my solo rep time limit by a little bit, well, Trev the master scheduler can kiss my ass. I'm doing it anyway. Whoa...sorry for that diva moment....
I"m gonna try and get this concert taped as well, so I can send a copy of it to my brother in Vancouver. I don't think he's heard me sing, since I was like 10 years old or something....so yeah. That should be cool. Alrighty then. I'm off to clean my room a bit.
Jess
I bought this scented oil aromatherapy dealy at the Body Shop in the Toronto Eaton Centre, and it came with Cranberry and Brandied Apples oils. SO bodie and I are burning the brandied apple one right now, and HOLY CRAP BATMAN it smells super sweet. Mmmmm.....My room is soo nice smelling! Umm. I don't really have anything else to say.....
HOLY CRAP...I seem to be a fan of that phrase tonight...I just finished pounding out notes with Rachel for like an hour and bit for our "Saul, Saul was verfolgst du mich" duet thingy, WHY AM I SO STUPID!!! WHY CAN"T I SING HARMONY?!?! AHHHHHH. It's sooo discouraging.... what the hell am I doing here at a MUSIC school if I can't even sing any kind of harmony?! I am physically incapable of singing a melody line underneath another soprano. I wonder what my teacher what would think if he knew his star little soprano has a mental block against singing harmony parts! Anytime I hear any sort of note that's HIGHER than what I'm singing, I automatically just jump to that part. It's RETARDED> OH MAN. Ok, I give up. I'm going to do my Mozart to Puccini class readings. Bode just said that I keep accidentally typing >>>....my response... "I kinda like it. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..."
Laaterz
JJJJJ>>>>>>>>>UUUUUU>>>>>>>I>>>>>>>>>C>>>>>>>>>EEEEEEEEEEEEE>>>>>>
There are the pics of Bill Graham!! They're UP UP UP!! Check it out peeps!! Woot!!!
Hey all! FINALLY back from the Concert choir trip to the T.dot w00t! Go Snobby choir McGill! Woohoo! All in all it was a good weekend, it had its ups and downs, i.e. me getting sick, and not being able to actually sing for a large majority of the weekend, or the fact that the final concert was brutally out of tune for the most-part....and the Ups...Hanging out with Rachel at her SWEET-ASS house in Rosedale and taking stalker pictures in front of Bill Graham's house...yes, that's right. Bill Graham, former Canadian Federal Defence Minister, and MP, lives two doors down from Rachel! SO we did some pretty hilarious things, like take one of his campaign pins and pose for pictures with it in front of his house and white picket fence, and then his CAR! ahaha! (I'll post them on here as soon as Troy sends them to me..)
And then there were the hilarious moments on the bus trip down where we were playing that game that Trev and I came up with on our many trips to O-town, the "Overpass/COW game!" haha! Soo much fun! I do believe that I woke the whole bus up though when I screamed hysterically "OMG, IS THAT A COW!!!!???" The bus driver even had to come on the intercom thingy and be like "Can someone make sure that that girl doesn't get anymore caffeine!"
Ok, so I'm going to start writing out all my Christmas cards now. So far on the list, I have 56 cards to write...man, at like 49cents a stamp, that's gonna cost me over 30$ ALONE! wow. sometimes I'm not even sure why I bother. I guess I was just always brought up in a house where my dad sends off hundreds of Xmas cards every year, to all his old buddies, and so it's something I just have an instinct to do. oh well.
Later
Jess, the sick....*cough cough, sniffle, sniffle...*
OK, so just got back from Celliott's little run-through for his OSM competition. Holy fuck that kid is good. Man oh man. I was physically sick to my stomach after it was all over. No seriously, ask my friends, I vomited TWICE! I don't know if it was cuz I got so involved in the pieces or what...but it was mad crazy. Jesus. Makes you wanna go practice right now....doesn't it? Wonder how long he practices everyday... faaaar more than I, I fear. Meh..we can't all be geniuses (genii?? spelling??) Got have something to use as the comparison right? Man, his vibrato was better than mine...and I AM A SINGER...who's supposed to have the most natural vibrato of ALL!
OK. Well, I gotta start packing for my choir trip to the T.dot. yay! Rachel Krehm's place! I'm bringing Wayne's world for us all to watch on the bus ride down there! I wish I had more movies on VHS to bring for the trip...all of mine are on DVD. all I have here with me in MTL on VHS is wayne's world, Impromptu (the Chopin movie) and some random pavarotti recital thingy.. boo
Alright. I'm off. Take care of my room well I'm gone ladies and gents! No wild parties without me. and NO, I repeat, NO sex in my bed! ~~LOL~~
Buh-Lange! (sung to a descending minor third, with the accent on the first beat!!)
Link of the Day: NEW PICTURES!!
SO yeah. I put up Dian and Bodie's pictures taken at the opera closing night on Sat. YAY! And there's some funny new pictures with Brandon in the Friends not in MTL section! Check it.
I've gotta run to Italian diction class now. And then I have a lesson, and then an early music ensemble coaching, and then Bodie is cutting my hair! w00t! I desperately needed a trim. but they wouldn't let me do anything to it before the opera was done. OK. I'm OFF>>>
Jessica
WOW. What a load off my back, I AM soo glad that the opera is finally over. Now I can finally start going to my classes on a regular basis and getting real amounts of sleep at night. HALLELUJAH! I'm excited for the Concert Choir trip to Toronto this week. My daddy and grandparents might come to the Friday night concert. That would be sweet. And Celliott is gonna be doing a "run-through" of his rep for the OSM competition this Tuesday night in Clara. Which is super cool too. Cuz I was pissed that i was gonna have to miss it.
heheh And it was SUPER COOL seeing Brandon and Dian again. We went to St. Pat's for church together this morning, and then my parents took us all out for brunch at Chez Cora. mmm...so tasty. I got "Les Crespelles d'erable" which are crepes stuffed with MAPLE BUTTER....mmmm.
OK. so I'll put the rest of the pictures from the opera and ones of Brandon and Dian up here as soon as I get them! YAY! New pictures! Always fun! I look quite ridiculous in all of them though, cuz I am sporting ridiculous amounts of stage make-up! meh..you gotta go what ya gotta do.
Oh yeah, one last thought. Does anyone else find it strange when you go out for a meal with someone and they order MILK to drink? Like not chocolate milk (which MAYBE I could understand...) but just PLAIN, white milk.....
I find that really odd. James Clark did it once, and then Brandon did it today too. hmmm. maybe I'm just neurotic.
LAter!
DivaJuice XOXO
YAY!!! Last night's opening night SHOW was Freakin AWESOME!! I didn't screw up once, and actually IT WAS DAMN GOOD! Everyone was really pleased with their performances! And a whole bunch of people came up to me afterwards in the East Lounge and gave some really nice compliments, I especially appreciated the french people thinking I was ACTUALLY French, cuz they said my pronunciation was so good! YAY! (that, and they put an accent over the "e" in Belanger in the program, so it DID really look like I'm french! BAH-HAA) So yeah...very happy with that. Olivier emailed me and said that he was sure I would be "stunning". Now, that's a pretty strong adjective, but all in all, I'd have to say that I WAS PRETTY DAMN STUNNING. Hah. Now I sound like a pompous bastard....well you know what??? I DON"T CARE>....I have been stressing about this f*#king opera for FAR TOO LONG....I WILL savour this victory....It's the only thing that justifies all those migraine headaches, sleepless nights, and missed classes. indeed. period.
So the only thing is that...I'm not sure if we can top last night's performance on Sat. night, when all my friends and family are coming...hmm...should be interesting.
I went to Robin's apartment after the show last night to hang out for a bit cuz there was NO WAY I was gonna fall asleep with all that adrenaline pumping through me....and I didn't feel like taking off all my stage makeup, so when i walked in there...HAH! They said I Looked like a TWO-PENNY WHORE!! I was thinking more along the lines of a porcelain doll....but meh! Whatever works for ya! Doll...whore...
So yeah...Josh came to the show last night. I think he liked it. He had left this cute message on my MSN when I got back from RObin's last night. YAY. And Claire, this lady from my St.Pat's Church Choir came too! Except I felt bad, cuz I accidentally told her it started at 8pm, instead of 7:30, so I don't think she got to see the first half! booo.
Isn't it weird when people you see fairly frequently, but that you have never spoken with, just come up to you, use your name, and start talking to you? It always kind of freaks me out. Like for example, last night when we were all down in the dressing rooms during intermission, changing for the 2nd half, Nicolas Fortin (the baroque violinist) came up to me and was like "jessica, it is going very well, your aria went beautifully, etc.." (All this in his cute broken english French accent!) Now you see, I see Nicolas in the early music wing at least once a week, and last year he used to have coachings right before us, so we'd always see him as he was leaving his coaching and we were coming in.....I knew his name, but I never imagined he would know mine..So it was a little weird to just hear him speaking to me like we were old friends and complimenting me. It's like we just completely skipped over the "getting introduced" stage, and moved right along to the "paying compliments" one. HAH. He's so nice! and his demonstration of the baroque violin in our Instruments of the Orch class was actually really interesting! Him and Aleks make such a cute "early music" musician couple too!
YAY!! Dian and Brandon and my parents in 24 hours..well, maybe a little more... I AM sooo excited to see them!! W00T!!! Ta ta for now! Oh yeah...first masterclass with my teacher tonight. I'm singing "Signore, ascolta" from Turandot. Wish me luck!! It's my first chance to show off in front of my studio, and establish my reputation as THE soprano in the studio. HA
JUICEEEEEEEEE~~ I AM STUNNING!!!!
Ok, I think i may be in shock. I have to sing onstage, in front of a real audience tonight. Holy crap. Things are just not clicking yet. Oh man.
I applied to the Tanglewood opera program last night. The audition is in Toronto on Dec.8th, right around Exam time! ACH. And the stupid banff centre STILL hasn't updated their website with what the opera is going to be this summer, so I have NO CLUE what roles I'm supposed to be preparing. UGH. I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS PEOPLE! I just asked Valerie kinslow to write me a recommendation letter for Tanglewood. I think she likes me. Yes, she does. But hopefully her opinion of me hasn't changed since my botched dress rehearsal from Tues. night. Man that was terrible. I was so embarrassed. And I was so afraid that my teacher was going to be mad at me, but he was exactly the opposite, so supportive and kind. It was amazing.
So as of now, I have 20 people coming to see the opera on Sat. night. Holy crap. And my dad is sick, but he's still planning on coming. I hope he's alright. Claire won't be able to come until after the intermission, cuz she's got a piano lesson, and Olivier still hasn't "confirmed" with me yet...but whatever. And the cast party is at indiana's afterward! that should be fun. I still remember the cast party from Carmelites last year, where we actually made a profit selling slices of the pizza we had gotten delivered! ha. Jer, we have to go get our knives sharpened!! Woah, that was a random thought...
Oh yeah, one more funny thing. I was demonstrating my "Weeping willow" pose from the opera last night to everyone, and when i woke up this morning, Claire had drawn a picture of me on my whiteboard, and it was like "Juice, the best weeping willow in a corset, the opera has EVER SEEN!!" ahah! I thought that was priceless. So was last night, in general. Everyone came over and we watched/bawled our way through "What Dreams may come" and then goofed off making bizarre videos with my webcam and watching the MONSTROUS FEATURETTE, from the special features of the DVD, and OH YEAH, the alternate ending with the BIZARRE Sri Lankan SLEEP DEPRIVATION DISEASE!!! AHAHAHAHAAH ~! LOL> oh man that was hilarious! HAHAHA!
OK. I'm off to start warming up now! See y'all later!
P.S. HI TORI!!! haha
JUICE THE WEEPING WILLOW~!!
Georgeanne and I had a good chat last night. And we've come to the realization that boys suck. yes they do> except maybe gay boys and Jeremy. yes that is all.
Goodbye.
J~~
Hey all. OMG. Tonight's the night for everything to fuck up and have ourselves make complete fools of ourselves...CUZ it's 2 days till my opening, and the other cast opens TOMORROW! AHHH. and geez, Marnie, my double in the other cast, just told me last night, that she's SICK, and so it's a possibility that i may have to sing ALL FOUR SHOWS! Yes yes, exactly what I need. Especially when I'm already starting to convince myself that I'm getting sick TOOO! Oh man. I have to keep reminding myself that this is what I love doing. I LOVE OPERA. I love being on stage. I love singing. I love Opera....I LOVE opera...yes yes Juice...keep telling yourself that.
on a brighter note, my cellist friend Olivier from Ottawa (who played the Mendelssohn concert with me back in Sept. with the valley Festival) might come down for the Sat. night show! That would be so amazing. OK. I better run to Instruments of the Orch.
Jessica! XOXO
Hi. Can't update as long as yesterday's. I gotta run. or i'm seriously gonna be late for Italian, which I haven't been to in over two weeks. holy shit. I'm so screwed for the quiz on Wednesday. just wanted to say, check out the new pictures section! YAY! k. gtg
~J
OK wait, it's now 1pm on Nov.1st, and I"M BACKK!!!! I have to run out in an hour for Italian diction class and then the dress rehearsal of the other cast for the opera, but I added even more new pictures, of me in the Carmelites opera from last year, and a brand new NORMANDY section. haha! they were taking up too much room in my "just friends" section. OK. I'm gonna go take me a shower now. Later! WAIT WAIT> One more thing to FREAK OUT ABOUT!! OMG...I think Tubey, one of my bonsai trees, for those of you that don't know...is having LARGE ISSUES!! I think his root ball has become disattached to the bottom of his pot or something..cuz i can move his whole trunk FAAR too easily. I was almost crying last night when i discovered it, and he's sort of permanently leaning to the right. I AM SOO Worried~! I'll have to take him to the Bonsai Doctor STAT! and yes, stop your snickering, there IS such thing as a bonsai doctor here in Montreal! Sunny Monkey is looking ok, he needs some pruning. but I won't have time to worry about that until after the show. But please people, keep Tubey in your prayers!! i can't LOSE him! he's like my best friend!! hah! well, that's a BIT of an exaggeration. But I will be devastated if he dies on me.
Oh and we FINALLY finalized a date for the Renfrew "Jessica and Friends" Xmas concert...it's gonna be on Tuesday, Dec.21st (the Winter Solstice) at 8pm. Soo funny, Bode replied to my email this morning, and was like, "yay! Winter Solstice concert...maybe we should do some sort of "Ritual Sacrifice" or something...like maybe a viola..
HAHAHAH! Sorry, for those of you that won't find that funny...HAHAHAAHAHAH I cracked up hardcore. Ask Claire, she was actually SCARED by my hysterical laughter!
JUICE who loves her Bonsais
And man, what a revelation last night. Just too many swirling emotions in my head right now. I shouldn't say anything on here. If you're reading this, and you weren't there, so you don't know what happened, email me, and I'll give you the full story. Seriously man. Do I really have such crappy luck? JUST when you think you're starting to connect with someone...this kind of shit happens, and then... where are you left?
OH yeah! Happy news! Mom just bought the whole family tickets to go see Stuart Maclean at the NAC on Dec.12th! YAY! That's so happy! I LOVE the vinyl cafe. We always listen to it together as a family while we're eating brunch after church on Sunday mornings!! Post to the message board if you like the Vinyl cafe too! I'm curious to see how many of my friends even know what it is.. and yes, I'll forgive all you americans for not knowing....haha.
Ok, so I should explain the picture below. This is in homage to the fact that I just did something remarkable. And only Aaron and/or Sarah can be truly excited with me for it, cuz none of the rest of you will even know what I'm talking about...... I FOUND DJ RODIE!!!! AHAHAHAHHA!!! And I don't have any pictures of him yet, but this pic from "our fountain" in Old Montreal, from like July 2002, should bring back sufficient memories, Aaron! OH MAN. can you believe it? Oh the fountain. do you remember acting out WWII and the Napoleonic wars in it? I was remembering that the other day. Wow, we were such nerds. who DOES that?! I miss that dolphin. Last time I was in the old port and saw that fountain, the dolphin's weren't there!! it was very heart-breaking.
Ok ok, so I am a certifiable IDIOT. Man, what was I THINKING going to that party last night. OMG. I have an OPERA to do in just 3 fucking days. I AM COMPLETELY STUPID. When I got back last night, there was a little tickle in my throat. I am so petrified that this is going to mean sickness is just a few short hours. OMG. I am so stupid. I let my emotions get carried away, and was blindly dragged along to valentina's party, even though I TOTALLY KNEW BETTER!! I am a singer for christsakes. We HAVE no social lives, especially not 3 days before opening night of our operas. Holy shit. Somebody slap some sense into me next time I try to do something as stupid. Not that there will be a next time, cuz after people see how fucking much i suck in this opera, they will nEVER CAST ME IN ANOTHER ONE!!! AHHHH.
All in all, I'm still glad I went though. It was fun hanging with Georgeanne and mike and everyone. I"m so happy that my friends (Rob, Bode, etc.) like them. It's weird how I was able to bring those two separate groups of my friends together like that eh?
Hope Trev is having fun in Ottawa. I really want to go home to Renfrew. I miss my mommy so much. Oh man. It's cool that they're coming on Sat. night for the show though. But I'll be so stressed that day, it won't be a real visit or anything.
OK, so I should go. This has been one helluva long update. I'm gonna try and see if I can fall back asleep. I doubt it. But it's worth a shot.
Belange. (think it's time to resurrect that nickname from High school, juice is starting to feel a little over-used)
Link of the Day: NEW POLL!!!
Now let's say it all together....WE LOVE JUICE! WE LOVE JUICE!!
Oh man. Just had opera rehearsal for 3 straight hours! It's Finally starting to look and sound ok! I'm so relieved. oh man, am I ever relieved. I really REALLY didn't want to be completely embarassed in front of all my friends who are coming to see it....well, hah! it's not like I haven't done much more embarassing stuff in front of most of them...but you know what I mean..
There's still some wonky stuff going on in this one little duet thing I have to sing with ned though, I don't know what it is....but something just isn't clicking. Well, we still have 4 days before our cast goes on for opening night, Lots of time! ha! I love how non-chalant I still am about all this.
so Bebe joined a sorority. wonder if I'm allowed to put that on here? maybe not...well, she'll tell me if she wants me to take that down.. no biggie. And Josh is getting his hair cut today. Exciting! I can't wait to get my hair cut. The stage director said I was forbidden from doing anything drastic to my hair until after the show though...so next Sunday I am DEFINETLY doing something "drastic". I said I'd let bode cut my hair, but she's taking her sweet-ass time getting special haircutting scissors, so I may just have to take matters into my own hands.
So OH MAN> guess what's TOMORROW...t.m.' Wrestling tournament!!! HAHAHAHH! i can't believe it. I still can't decide whether to go or not....bebe and i are just debating. it would be a fun trip, simply because we don't get to see much of Montreal outside of our little McGill/RVC bubble. Meh. Ok. I'm sick of typing. I'm so not in the mood for this right now. The only reason i'm even updating is cuz Bodie was bitching at me this morning to update. So THERE. BLAAAAAGH!! I have to be this really happy little "nymph-like" character in the opera, all smiley and such, and unless I get some good amounts of sleep and relaxation in between now and thursday, I am SOO not going to feel like smiling. hah. I'll be the GRUMPY NYMPH!!
Ta ta Ladies and Gentlemen!
Jess XOXO
Link of the Day: Opera McGill Press Release
Trev went to the St.Pat's CD release choir party last night and got drunk. I should have gone, but I wasn't feeling very well, and I thought that I shouldn't put my health at any unnecessary risk until the opera was at least over. But I'm really quite sad that I didn't go. It would have been a lot of fun... (insert sad emoticon here..)
OK. Well, not much else to say. I now have like 15 friends coming to see the opera on next Sat. night. Hope I don't disappoint everyone too much. It's really kind of a weird show...
Hugs and kisses!!
Jessica Johanna
So um yeah.. not much to say. Watched a movie with Claire in my room last night. It was interesting, to say the least. I got scared, and wouldn't let Claire leave me alone in the room, cuz I was afraid I would have nightmares. Tonight we have our first run-through of the opera in Pollack Hall. Of course it's scheduled at the same time as one of my classes, so I'll have to skip muco! ugh.
Link of the Day: Orchestre symphonique de Montreal's Page
And so I got a good 11 hours of sleep, which was AWESOME, and what I totally needed. Ever since Saturday in Quebec City, and staying up ALL NIGHT, my body has been begging for more sleep. On that note, I should apologize to all for being so bitchy lately, I have no excuse other than that I've been way overtired. I'm Sorry!!
So we had our 2nd MUCO test in Instruments of the Orchestra yesterday....still not sure WHY I"M TAKING THIS DAMN CLASS!! Geez, for the amount of stress it causes me, just to get to see my friends...BLAHG! The test went ok, I guess. Lesage is a pretty speedy corrector, so I suppose we'll find out soon how we did. I got tickets for the McGill orch. concert on Sat. night. I have no one to go to the concert with though...boo. Claire is going on Friday night, and all my other friends are actually IN the concert...so I need to find someone to sit with...I don't mind sitting alone, but if I can find someone I know who wants to go, that would be 10x "funner"!!
Pissed about having to miss the OSM competition finals for that stupid Toronto trip! (Nov.10-14) Mind you, I'm very excited about staying at Rachel Krehm's house! But I really wanted to see all my singer friends do their thing, and Christian Elliott is playing in it too. Oh well. Another time. OK. I have to go meet Marie-Nathalie (the stage director for our opera) to go try on my corset..BLAGH. and dance shoes...DOUBLE BLAGH! See y'all later!
Ok, so I went to bed at 8:30pm last nigth, RIGHT after doing the Durufle audition. Which bob, seemed to think was beautiful, but which I KNOW I totally bombed. Anything below the e was pitiful, i tell you, just PITIFUL. Is that how you spell pitiful? or is it pityful? no..the other way looks better.
Juicy
Yes, that's right people. Be happy for me. Very very happy! I've wanted a real chest voice for SOO long. And I just had a lesson today, working on the mezzo solo from the Durufle Requiem, which hovers around a middle c most of the time, and I DID IT! And it didn't sound THAT bad! I'm very pleased with myself!
So Mike and I had an AWESOME time in Quebec City on Sat. My TEACHER IS SOOO GOOD. Holy man. I will never forget that performance. It was surreal. And then we went to the cast party with him afterwards and he bought us dinner! So sweet. And oh MAN, the soprano in that show just BLEW me away! As soon as I got back to Montreal, I started learning her big Act III aria, "Morro, ma prima in grazia" for soprano, orch, with (GET THIS!) CELLO SOLO!! It's SOO beautiful, and she had such a good control of her chest voice.
I"m watching the new DVD of La Cenerentola that I bought at Archambault the other day. It's really a big piece of fluff. Cecilia Bartoli is really funny though. I just don't understand how she can make such beautiful sounds when she distorts her face so much! Stefano would kill me if I ever sang like that.
Funny story about QC. haha! We went to Notre-Dame Basilica, or Cathedral, or whatever it is, and had gelato with us, and I accidentally spilled some gelato on the communion rail while we were lighting a candle for Georgeanne! haha! It was so funny! Oh man Mike, ASHTON"S DINER!! I cannot believe we were able to stay awake that long! haha
Ok. I'm off. talk to y'all soon! P.S. I"M IN LOVE I"M IN LOVE I"M IN LOVE! and Trev and I are patched up! W00t!!!
Juicyyyyyy~! XOXOXOXOXOXX
So it's been a rough week. I've had this headache for 3 consecutive days now. And it appears that my friendship with my soulbrother is now past the point of reconciliation. We've both hurt eachother deeply. We have a "meeting" scheduled for Sunday night, to see if we can talk some things out. But I'm not going into this with a hopeful attitude. I just don't think some things can be fixed. Maybe it's better this way. Who knows. It's just really sad, cuz this WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN WITH HIM. I felt secure in his friendship. It was never supposed to waver or die like this. But apparently, he's been holding back some anger for like an entire year now, and now it's exploded in both our faces. I'm not sure of anything anymore.
I think the people at opera are worried about me. They said I've looked pale and tired for the past couple of days, and I had to run out of rehearsal yesterday twice to throw up. WELL OF COURSE I LOOK TIRED>..I haven't had a decent night's full sleep in like a week. Just look at the TIME of this update....I've been up since 3am, crying in my bed, and then I finally couldn't take it anymore, and decided just to get up and do something productive.
People are being really nice lately though. Georgeanne is now officially my new favourite person. She cheered me up yesterday for a bit, and was the sweetest, kindest person ever! Her and Mike rock my world. Bodie came over for a bit before she left for kingston, and then jer, nora and Robin came over for supper and watched a bit of Notre-Dame de Paris with me. (DECHIRE!!!)And then Josh called and talked with me for a bit. And then i msn'd with Dian, Heidi, Esthere, and Tre-c. And Christian talked to me for a bit in the music building staircase. When I've got all these friends, who care for me, do I really need to bother with Trevie? Is all the pain he's causing me worth it? I have no idea.
Ok, so Bodie, hope you're having a blast at Queen's and whoever else is reading this...HI. hope you're having a better day than I am.
Going to try to fall back asleep before I have to get up in an hour or two to meet Mike at the bus station for our trip to Quebec City.
Yours, Juicy XOXO
Link of the Day: College Ste.Anne de la Pocatiere website
Where Aaron and I met 3 summers ago!! (and where Josh and I met this past summer....)
Betcha didn't know i still had that picture of you kicking around eh, Aaron?! haha! Oh....I Definetely do....Remember the Death of our hand puppets? that picture is the death scene of yours right now....
So yeah, it's Aaron's 20th birthday today. And he's stuck in China, where apparently they don't make very good b-day cakes. SO everyone go out and have some cake today, and think of Aaron lonely and lost in China! ahah! Man, we were just talking on the phone, and musing that it's so funny that Amy and trevor have met eachother.....seeing as how their only common link is US, and we haven't even seen eachother in such a long time. Man, not fair.
And....exciting news....the "romance of the Asian languages" is diminishing...and it looks like he might come back in JANUARY!!! in which case, i am TOTALLY going out to Regina SK, either this summer or sometime in the spring to see him again! He still has my Renee Fleming and Immortal Beloved DVDs, MUST get those back.
OK. I'm off to Italian class now! Wish me luck singing "Signore ascolta" from Turandot in diction class today! I'm really excited, but nervous, I haven't sung seriously in front of a bunch of people in a really long time! So......BYE!!!
Link of the Day: Opera de Quebec's Page
Where my teacher, STEFANO ALGIERI's bio is listed, cuz he's the lead in Ballo this weekend! Going to see it with Mike! Sooo excited~!
So yeah. I've got this HUGE tension headache, that just WON"T go away. All these people have tried giving me massages and such today, (Theresa and Josh I love you!) but nothing has really helped. If it doesn't go away by tomorrow, I guess I'm going to have to go to Emerg again. UGH. I HATE waiting in hospitals.
Got tickets for all my friends to come see me in the Baroque Opera today. So far, I think my parents, Jeremy, Nora, Robin, Bodie, Clairebebe, Christian Elliott, Trevor, Dian, Brandon, Josh and possibly Olivier are coming. That's pretty damn sweet. yay! I AM popular! haha.
OK. I'm gonna lie down for a bit, then Claire and I should practice that Durufle piece...aw dude. I don't want to audition for it...I'm so out of my league here..
BYE!!!!!!!!
P.S. If you're a person from Renfrew or somewhere visiting the site....POST ON THE MESSAGE BOARD!!!! I haven't seen or heard from you guys in SOO long!!!
Link of the Day: FLY THE COPTER GAME!!!
oh dude. See the new poll ASAP, and look at how genius that title was now! hah!Vote in the new poll. Claire bebe came up with the idea. Really though, I was looking at the results of the nutella one I just took down...and the majority of you guys like PEANUT BUTTER? what the hell is that all about??? From the large amounts of nutella you guys eat in my room, I thought it was a sure winner!!
So yeah, as of tomorrow, there's only two weeks left till opening night of the opera here at Mcgill. I am so freakin scared. Carmelites last year was a lot less stress. I only had like a couple lines to sing in that...and it's not like I have a huge part in this one or anything....but STILL...I have to DANCE in front of people, and somehow make it look GRACEFUL, oh man, you have GOT to be kidding me. So not happy about that.
Bebe said she wanted to be mentioned in this update. So here I am. Mentioning her. She's the greatest. I love having her just across the hall, to accost when I want someone to come play something on piano for me to sing with! And she's such a sweetie! aww..bebe!!
Ok, still can't get you-know-who out of my head. it's kind of starting to piss me off. I don't have time for this sort of thing. Definetly don't.
alrighty, I'm OFF! take care all!!
Link of the Day: Facebook
and by administrative, i really mean that it's Juice's web-design assistant Bode posting to show her how to set up a post with the date/time/subject heading. so there it is dear, and you can just copy and paste that everytime you do a new update.
i'm in juice's room right now, and she's sight reading some thing while i update her page for her.
it's thrilling.
anyway, that's it for now, juice do you have anything to say:
"I'd rather practise than study, i just wanna sing, i just wanna sing, i don't wanna sing in front of Christian though 'cause he's got perfect pitch and he's gonna ...not.... be happy with my voice. i don't wanna study! how about i just not do the exam. and i miss renfrew for some reason! and that's all i have to say. oh, and trevor and i have made up, what a happy day. oh, and could you pass me the tape? it's in the drawer beside you."
ohh juice.
.b
ps. check out the pretty thing i did at the top, just below the title!
.b
Welcome!
This is going to look like crap for a little while...but bear with me. I have limited amounts of time to devote to this, with all my studies and such..but yeah...eventually it might actually be something I'm proud of! I should first of all thank Bodie for helping me out so much already! Love ya "muffin"!
Here is a poem that I really liked.
"The Graves"
Father Hugo Muller
The chief did not answer you directly, Maitre,
he had too much civilization to do that --
To lash back with the same viciousness
that you displayed.
It's easy, Maitre, with your background, your
education
to attempt to show up an Indian who must use an
interpreter
-- you are not only a language apart, -- but more:
a thousand tears, a choked cry, a silence of
sorrow.
You did not have to dig your mother's grave
yourself in the dead of winter, in the awesome
silence of the bush did you?
You did not have to sit up that night
when Elizabeth became so ill
and worried all night and the next day
and into the long night ahead
when all of a sudden her flushed face became very
white
and very still
and very cold.
It was not your tears that fell on Elizabeth's
face
at that time when the cry of distress seemed
frozen in the still air.
It was not you, Maitre,
whose voice was heard that day
breaking when the hymn was sung and the prayer
said.
When your mother was buried, Maitre,
there was grief, certainly,
measured sorrow restrained by ceremony
and those who know what to do:
-- there was also the parish priest to soothe it
with the dispassionate majesty of the Requiem
-- there was the funeral director with his cool,
correct efficiency
and just the right touch of everything
and all of that was much comfort
and the labourers came after to fill in the grave
when you had already gone in the black limousine.
-- Have you every carried a dead girl, Maitre,
the cold, limp body in your arms.
Have you ever dug the grave with your own hands
have you ever knelt in prayer in the cold snow
under a powerless sun in the few hours' daylight
in the silence of the north,
your tears frozen when they touch the ground?
That ground is sacred because of those tears,
those bodies lying there
awaiting the resurrection of the last day.
But you would not understand, Maitre,
you think only of progress, and snowmobiles and
outboards
bringing benefits to those people who do not even
speak your language,
whose children you have never seen
whose eyes have never enchanted you
whom you have never kissed or carried or played
with
or prayer for
or buried.
You talk of progress and development to these
people that will never understand.
I pray that you will never have to bury your
children, Maitre
or have your mother's grave
flooded by progress.
I do not wish it on you,
I only wish
you would understand.
So yeah, that was from the book "Chief: The Fearless Vision of Billy Diamond" by Roy MacGregor, that I'm currently in the process of reading for my "Canadian Studies" course, or more colloquially known to all my friends as "that damn indian course". HA. I really liked it. very touching. I highly recommend the book to anyone who has some free time, it doesn't take long to read. It's only about 285 pages.
