Piano Juries

Went very well, got a 9.6 out of ten. Well, actually, I got a 96%. I just made it out of ten so I would sound European. Not sure how that works. Don't ask questions.

I am proud of myself. For one thing, the strides I have made this semester are huge, like someone gave me seven-league piano boots. For another thing, I am starting to discover than I am a fantastic little performer. Sorry for the self-plugging folks, but if you didn't want to read about how great I am, you shouldn't have come to my blog.

There will be another blog tomorrow. I'm home and my budgie just got caught in my hair. Peace out.

Taking the train home

As those of you who know me probably know, although I have the Dewey Decimal system memorized and can tickle the ivories like nobody's business, when it comes to basic life skills, such as grocery shopping or talking to strangers, I'm pretty much useless. Oh well, people say. That's what new experiences are about, people say. You don't have to wait in line, the train is going to leave without you, kind strangers say as they run up to me where I am standing stupidly at the kiosk.

I took the train by myself, which was an experience. Among other things, I nearly missed the bus because of a water bottle disaster and SEVERAL people asked me if I had ever taken a train before. My chosen response was one of indignation: "Not by myself!!" Don't ask me if I've ever taken a train before! Just tell me where the damn button is so I can open the door and get off this glorified bus!

So! Since this blog is called, "Emily Does College" and is about what I'm learning in college,

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT TAKING A TRAIN
1) Call a car service. Do not try to take a bus to the train station, particularly if, as in Tacoma, the bus drops you across the street from the station, but the street is a highway, with no crosswalks.

2) Look around and try and figure out who is going to be on the train with you. Thankfully the train is less likely to have creepers than the bus, but I bet they're there even if I didn't see any.

3) When they say the train is coming in, don't sit around waiting for everyone to get up and go on the train. Get the hell out there and get on the train so that the conductor doesn't see you booking it towards the business class door and be all, "Coach class urchin! Get thee to the left!"

3 prime) I would recommend, if a lot of people are taking business class, to sieze the back of someone's coat and sneak on in. When they come to take your tickets, pretend to be asleep. If you're small like me you may even be able to get into someone's carryon.

4) Don't think the person sitting next to you isn't judging what you're reading or listening to on your iPod. I was.

5) Never be a train conductor. You will go mad with power and make passive-aggressive announcements over the intercom over how Amtrak now has trash cans in the bathrooms and so if you want to take a leak, please let's "all pitch in" and put the used paper towels there. All that made me want to do was not see the bathrooms.

And there's five and a half useful tips for taking the train. Happy Thanksgiving!

Floormates

I'm not friends of facebook with a lot of people on my floor. As a consequence I rarely hear their last names. I mean, that consequence is definitely worth never knowing which Twilight character M** is (probably Jacob) and seeing K***'s status updates which would no doubt leave me with a weird feeling in my stomach every morning. But it sort of leaves me in this universe like my entire hall is a children's show. Remember those children's shows where we would call the host by their first name like Steve or Joe or Lunette or whoever and didn't learn to respect adults by using their last names? It's like they're specifically a character and no last name is necessary because in the canon of the dorm, they're the only one. Whenever someone I AM friends on facebook gets a comment from someone on my floor it's like a window has been shattered every time I see their last name.

Snuggle Soirees

Rachel and I have done a lot of things since we got here, from stealing a traffic cone to becoming certified ministers in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but our latest adventure is the best yet: We are now Snuggle Soiree facilitators.

It started with this: http://www.cuddleparty.com/

Naturally we thought it would be beneficial and look great on our future resumes if we became cuddle party facilitators, but training costs five hundred bucks and requires one to actually touch other people. NO THANK YOU. So instead, we started our own company: The Snuggle Soiree. Cuddle at home with someone who says it's cool. Don't contact us. Congratulations! You are now a member of the SNUGGLE SOIREE!

Rules

1) You don't talk about the Snuggle Soiree

2) You don't ask us for help with your snuggling problems.

3) You snuggle with people who are a) legal, b) unattached or attached to you, or c) kinda hot and worth the possibility of an awkward icebreaker.

New Video Already!

I know, right. "Once a week," I said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b7839M7LNM

Emily Does College

I, being of sound mind and body, hereby present this fresh blog to the people of the Internet. The title is, "Emily Does College" and obviously is documenting my time here in Tacoma, at the University of Puget Sound.

So, number one, things about me and specifically things about me in college:

1) I'm a music major
a) I play the piano
b) I'm hoping to go on to a career in conducting
Dur, I'm a freshman. I'll probably graduate in three years because I have a lot of APs.
I really like art books and art history.

I'm thinking one new post a week. At least. I ramble a lot but most of the time I come off as what my high school European history teacher described as a "militant white chick." I'll try to limit that. ; )

It's November, I've already been here awhile. EMILY DOES COLLEGE HERE I AM!