Vive la France???

So Sarkozy won... I was pulling for Segleone, but I'm not surprised.... The New York Times had this to say about the inauguration to come:

Mr. Sarkozy officially will assume office ten days from now, a few hours before Mr. Chirac’s mandate ends. In a formal meeting, Mr. Chirac will hand over the secret codes for France’s nuclear weapons.

There will be a 21-gun salute; the Marseillaise will be played.

The President of the Constitutional Council will read the results of the election. The Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor will make Mr. Sarkozy Grand Master of the Order.

Codes to nuclear weapons and the Marseillaise. How festive. "Grand Master of the Order"? Sometimes I forget that the American political circus is nothing compared to the French one. Also... who let the French have nukes? Sacre bleu!!!

Random Evening Thoughts

No Easter plans. Or... my Easter plan is to write my analysis paper for German Lieder and read at least 75 pages in Fast Food Nation. Evan invited me to a family gathering, but his mother has bronchitis, so that fell through. It's silly that although I'm not even Christian, the idea of not being with people on Easter is depressing. I'm so envious of people who have family close by. That will be me soon. Most days I can't get to Munich fast enough. Tonight, I look forward to it so much that it hurts. When I'm alone, I realize how separate I am from my environment, here. I've half-left it behind, already. I feel like I am subjecting myself to a variety of illusions, so that I don't go completely disconnect in these last couple of months. People are still in awe when I tell them what I plan to do. I guess it's out of the ordinary, but I can't imagine doing anything else and not going mad. Alles gute zum Ostern.

Random morning thoughts

I went to bed around 3:30am last night, but got up at 7:30 for my 9:30 class, because I like having mornings to myself, and theoretically not rushing. I probably will, anyway, because it's 8:45, and I have yet to shower. I'd like to go to a coffee shop and not order anything, just sit and read. Ate my typical hangover breakfast: 2 eggs, toast, coffee, even though I'm not hungover, just operating on 4 hours of sleep. Oops. I wanted to write an entry last night about how I am losing respect for the New York Times. Maybe I still will. It sort of started with a comment Kate made about how they write a lot of articles about current trends, but aren't that up to the minute with their news. This whole Clinton/Obama "feud" makes me want to scream, because 99% of it is entirely media-created. On both NYT and BBC News, there were articles about how Obama's fundraising rivals Hillary's. Thank you, Respected News Sources for needling and creating drama that ought not to exist for another 12 months. Sure, none of us can wait for a new president, but I can sure as hell wait for primary season. Democrats are so embarrassing.

Organic mac and cheese is not as good as the "real thing"

Writing on a Friday night, because god knows I haven't better things to do. I'll be housesitting for a professor in my department this weekend, which should be a nice change. The point is for me to get to know his dog, as I will have to walk him on stage during Street Scene. When I told Prof. Cole about this, though, he was a bit skeptical about his pooch's performance capabilities. I don't recall the dog's name, so he will hereafter be referred to as "Pooch." Other than that, I have to spend 4 hours in a mall this weekend observing. Watching consumer whores and taking notes. Might also buy a pair of jeans. I'm not sure I think much of this "anthropological experiment." I already know what kind of people inhabit a shopping mall. I'm just too insecure to go for the dicier alternative of a liposuction consultation. But again, I know that in their eyes, every part of me including my big toe is too fat.

In other news, I found a Van Cliburn CD at Rainbow Records for $5. It's really good. I played it on the radio. I think it's time to put this blog entry out of its misery, before it goes on any longer.

One unsuccessful practice session later...

I've been vocally tired, ever since I had 5 or 6 late nights of drinking in a row, not a lot of sleep, and that whole day at the protest. Of course, I took a day off from practicing, and have gone back to my usual more moderate drinking habits, but despite that, I've not really quite recovered. Anyway, after a day off from practicing, I went back to singing at least an hour a day, despite feeling tired, and it's been kind of spiraling. I am ready for my recital, which is in two weeks. I don't need to be flogging myself, but I'm afraid that if I don't keep this inertia, I'll lose something. But no. I just need to chill out. I will be FINE.

Today is really cold... 18 degrees, wind chill of 1. Brilliant. Low of 10 tonight. I'm going swimming after Chorale, I think. I probably won't get a cold, just from walking from the gym to my house. I'm so excited about Chorale today. And classes tomorrow. I'm a complete dork, but the idea that tomorrow, I'm going to start learning things puts a smile on my face. Ooh, German Lieder! Anthropology! French! German! Opera! I miss the chaotic life. Tomorrow, I have class from 9:30-10:20, and then without a break from 12:30-10pm. Hardcore learning time.

I'm also kind of obsessed with Poe's "Haunted" CD, and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

Protest, schmotest...

I'm going to a protest in DC today, against the War in Iraq. A kind of spur of the moment decision, made at 2:00am. I'm doing it because I've felt rather ineffective and out of touch, lately. I have to admit- when I see a news article about Iraq, it's not the first thing I jump to. "Oh, another 50 soldiers were killed. Terrorist bombing outside Baghdad. Haven't I seen this headline before?" It's not a good state of mind. I am quite certain that escalation is not the right thing, any more than going to war there in the first place was. I do think the United States has a financial responsibility to fix this thing, but that our presence in Iraq is no longer really effective. So once we leave, then what? It will break down into civil war, or they might pull things together. The second option is less likely, but I honestly don't think that there is much that the US or anyone else can do to avert civil war, as the region has been so destabilized. Delay it, yes, at the cost of American lives and resources, and for what? So the politicians can go a little longer without saying they were wrong. I don't think anyone has a particularly happy scenario envisioned for what will happen after the US pulls out. I'll be curious to hear what my fellow protesters think, or if they have any better ideas than mine. That's another reason I'm going... just to listen, to see if anyone has anything new to say. I've been protesting this war since before it began, and a lot of the arguments, though still valid, ring a bit stale in my ears. Times have changed, and if you want to be successful, you have to adapt to where we are now, not just chant the same old slogans.

Another reason I'm probably so keen to go is that I've been feeling sort of guilty lately, because I am realizing that I am maybe not as screamingly liberal as I was four years ago. And it's not because my opinion has particularly changed. I'm probably better informed than I was. But like most learning processes, I have also learned that I don't know the half of it. I have also learned that I am not a crusader. I do what I can, without going immensely out of my way. I have priorities in life, and changing the world is not currently at the top of my list. So I'm hoping that doing this will make me feel like I haven't quite lost my fighting spirit.

In addition to the war, I will also be protesting bad poetry, wearing my snazzy new toothpastefordinner shirt- "Bad poetry/ oh noetry."

It's a stereotypical Scottish morning. Blustery, gray... 9:15am, and the sun is still nowhere to be seen... it has probably mostly risen by now, but it's behind sheets of cloud and rain. Too bad, because I actually woke up early enough today (around 8:20ish) to see a nice sunrise, if it hadn't been raining. Dreams have been troubled, lately. Not nightmarish... just unsettled, as if some little voice is reminding me that I have not really dealt with all of my demons. The problem is, I don't really know what I am supposed to do. Are we supposed to slay our demons, or come to peaceful terms with them, accept them in our lives, and move on?

On a completely different note, check out these two pictures:



The former is a British politician, Gordon Brown, who is supposedly in the running for prime minister. How scary is that...