Fall

I must say that Fall is probably my favorite time of year as far as the "outdoors" goes. It will come as no surprise to most of you that the outdoors and I have never really been the best of friends-- we're more like the two guys that pass each other in the hall and offer the ritualistic head nod in acknowledgment that, yes, the other one exists and, yes, we each can see the other. We may even occasionally toss in some unintelligible noise-- symbolizing an even greater trust. But the fall, for some reason, always seems to be the mediator between me and the wild, untameable outdoors. Maybe its because normal people stop playing sports-- leaving the practce of that terrible habit to the hopelessly addicted (yeah... the ones who shoved me into lockers in 6th grade). Or maybe its because the temperature is ideal, calling for a long sleeve shirt and pants-- which coincidentally happens to be my favorite attire. Or maybe it's purely psychological nostalgia, after all, that is when musical practices in high school were hitting their peak, and my internal clock could have oriented itself to that. I don't know, and frankly I don't really care! But whatever the reason, I love it! The cooler weather, scarves and light jackets, brightly colored mountains, the soft satisfying *crunch* of leaves under your feet... they all contribute to the overall feeling of serenity. Serenity which, truth be told, I really really need in this crazy college life of study all day and half the night (speaking of which, did you know there are TWO 5:00?!)

This particular fall has been less eventful than I would have preferred; however, there have been a few odd developments that are worth mentioning. For example, I seem to have developed an odd respect and fascination for art. I know! Me, art? Not that I've ever been opposed to the practice; however, I've never been one to really spend much time analyzing a painted work. If it was pretty, good, if not, bad. Symbolism was only interesting if it was obvious enough that I didn't have to think too hard about it. However, now it seems that trying to decifer possible meanings is more entertaining.

Now before you get to worried about this new splash of culture, it is worth noting that I don't think a ripped apart fridge that has been glued back together and stuck on a dead chicken qualifies as art. Therefore, my actual definition of art remains the same: If I can do it, it isn't art. Anyway, you can click on either of these two paintings to make it a lot bigger and more interesting. Feel free to ponder!

Not Art.
Just wanted to make sure we're clear on this before we move on. Ok, got it? Good.

Exciting development #2: I'm actually starting to get my voice back. If you look back to a post I had about 6 months ago (I've only got about 8 posts, so that shouldn't be too taxing of a task), I mentioned having all but lost the ability to sing. Well, having joined the BYU Concert Choir, I've been able to start the retraining process and I'm pretty darn excited with the results! That's not to say that I'm back to where I once was, control is still somewhat of an issue, but there is a smidgeett of light out ahead. What does that mean? It means I should eat celebratory ice-cream (which really is what anything means when I want ice-cream... which is always). We had the pretty rocking awesome experience of singing with the BYU Orchestra and the Kings Singers in concert a few weeks ago and I think it was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time (even though we only sang with the Kings Singers for about 15 min.).

There are other things that are worth mentioning... but frankly I need to start studying for the two midterms I have this week. If I don't, I guarantee I'm going to fail! So goodbye fall. I'll miss you and see you next year. *sniff* *sniff*

Although now that I think about it...