The Beginning

With lots of clumps and clatters my roommate finally arrived! She's absolutely PERFECT for me and I'm in for an entertaining semester!

That's her down there being silly in at the bottom, and above are three of her friends who I've been getting to know over the past couple days.

Shante, the first one on the left has a photographic memory. She thinks she developed it in preschool where she spent all of her time doing puzzles, but since her brother has it too, although he hasn't recognized it yet, I think it must be innate. I guess eyes must need a lot of space for that talent because God gave her beautiful ones with plenty. She is a vocalist and is majoring in song writing. That's where all the money's at because rather than being drug behind the changing fads in style like the stars are, the song writers are leading it.

Noslen from Memphis, my roommate, has a lot on her plate right now because not only is school starting and she's heading up a club (a really cool one for disabled people) so she has to meet with the president of the school and stuff, AND she's working as a DJ, but she's also in the middle of "sewin' God for makin' rats" because Henry ate her hot chocolate packates. Noslen's hot chocolate is a precious resource. Her instrument is piano :) and she's a Contemporary Composition and hopefully an MP+E major (music production and engineering). That's a very competitive field and only about 50% of the applicants are accepted. I say about because the other MP+E major I talked to said that only 300 MP+E students were accepted and 3,000 applied. But he seems to have collected his stats on a year when every single non-entering student was majoring in MP+E. (he had already been accepted) Noslen has lots of questions about "where I come from down in Ayriona" so we have lots to talk about.

Above her stands the quick and intuitive violinist Jennifer from NY. Noslen and Jennifer were also classically trained, and while Noslen has expanded, Jeniffer started to and wound up back in classical. She hopes to get a job in a Hawaiian Symphony Orchestra for a career after she gets a masters in Anthropology or languages in Europe. She and Noslen took me on a four hour review of R+B, and a little bit of hip hop, history essentials from Marvin Gay to Usher. (Rhythm and Blues - a style like Hip Hop but mellow and without rapping) We dabbled in Soul- including some old school music videos of Al Green - Funk, Techno and disco, but I'm still a bit of a rookie for all that. Noslen say's I'm just beginnin' and I'll be a solid black woman soon.

To the right of Jennifer is Lindsey who I haven't really gotten to talk to in person but all that's ever said about her is "she's toooo sweet" - which is meant in the best way - and also that she's the queen of jazz. She's also a vocalist but I don't know what her major is.

Jennifer drew a picture of me with angel wings :)!

Yesterday was Sunday and I woke up early (9:00 comes fast when the bed time's after 2) and entered the snowy wonderland outside my dorm.
It was SO beautiful and felt warm because there was so little wind. I walked through the thick and gentle snow to the Old South Church where I was given breakfast because of being an hour early, and then joined 20 Seniors for a knitting club :). Come to find out it was a Church of Christ with AMAZING Jazz music and a Gospel choir, but there were also lots of costumes (funny robes for the preacher and other people), some Bush bashing from the pulpit, and I didn't track with half of what the speaker said. He didn't mention God until the closing paragraph.

I think I'll go again next week just to do some knitting and hear the real minister, but I'm looking forward to looking around more. After that I went to the old public library

and wrote letters and in my journal for 4 hours in this little alcove: I love sitting there because it is in a passage to the BEAUTIFUL Sir Aurthar room

which so everyone who comes out looks inspired. There are more places to try though, so I look forward to that! I think it'll become my Sunday tradition.

Hopefully I'll practice today, and spend some time with my new homies. Come to think of it, their provably my first.

(a practice room)