My Academic Department is a Joke

Have you ever legitimately aced a midterm in 2 minutes?

I have.

My Sticky Situation

I have more men in my life than I know what to do with. Major oops. I don't know what else to say. OOPS.

My (Lack of) Diet

So here's the thing. I believe that I tend to crave what my body needs. Well, to an extent. No body really needs sausage McMuffins w/ egg. This is especially so during a certain few days every month...

Sorry if that's TMI.

Dinner today was some leftover pea soup, a bowl of shin ramyun, an avocado, a hard-boiled egg, and banana chips. Yea. I let myself go a little nuts. But I feel justified... I was just really effing hungry. At least none of that was truly horrendous! (Well... except for maybe the whole sodium majigger. Whoops.)

My Throne

Well... we had our second vocal master class today. I premiered my French aria, Stephano's "Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle." Singing it well totally made my day, especially since I've only been singing it for three days. Yes, three days. I am a music-learning machine. It will take a lot of work until I am happy with the whole package, but as far as a work in progress goes, I am loving it already! I think it's going to be a really strong aria in my repertoire-arsenal.

I also got to hear a number of the new voice students sing their numbers. Lots of selections from 24 Italian Songs and Arias. (Caro Mio Ben. Sebben Crudele. You know... the usual.) I'll admit it, part of me was nervous. They had introduced themselves so extravagantly, talking about how they've been singing for ages. It scared me. I've been formally singing for all of... one year. Even so, I've always been ahead of the curve as far as UCSD's undergraduate voice department goes. I spent last year duking it out with Chrissy over upper division professors. We know how that ended. But it really surprised me how threatened I felt by fresh talent. I was actually very worried that I would somehow end up second best.

But as the newcomers sang their songs, I began to relax more and more. It might be egotistical of me to think so, but I no longer feel threatened. There are some decent voices in the mix, but for all the agony I caused myself, no female voice to call my rival.

There was Michael Wu, however. He was incredible! But male voices do not worry me. He is one person I will never compete against for a role :)

I guess all the work I put in over the summer has paid off though! Repertoire-wise, I'm way ahead of Chrissy, what with two arias and four songs already under my belt just in the first two weeks of school. She's still getting wrong notes on stuff she's worked on all summer long. Even vocally, although she still has the edge in terms of maturity, I've definitely overtaken her in power and stage presence. I really need to keep taking good care of my voice. I've treated it well for about a week, and it really rewarded me today with a vocal vengeance. Range, dexterity, focus, I had it all today!

Also, I need higher aspirations. It isn't enough to be the top undergrad voice at UCSD. I need to push harder, stay diligent, and keep up with consistent improvement. Now that I'm discovering more and more of what I can accomplish with what I have, I am set on going out and being the best I can possibly make myself. I'm starting to realize that I may have more potential than I previously gave myself credit for...

My WANT!!!

Best. Wedding. Party. Ever.

Except I think I'd go for the Flash. Or Batman. Maybe Nightwing ;)

My Voicey Schtick

Today, I heard my former teacher, Stephanie, warm up to an A6. Awe-inspiring.

For the record, I'm still trying to stabilize my F#. Sometimes even my F.

I've realized that I really need to kick that cigarette habit of mine. The occasional drag doesn't seem to affect me, but after smoking my "breakup pack" and screaming karaoke every week, my voice has not been happy for me for the past two days. It's a little tired. And a little sore. Throw in the fact that I haven't been sleeping regularly, and that's a recipe for ugly sound. I'm surprised that I can still make sounds. Even when it doesn't feel quite right, I can still somewhat sing. It's nice to have that little bit of stamina.

ANYWAY... lots of stuff to work on. A set of Debussy songs, some Strauss, and a pair of arias (both pants roles, since my voice seems to be heading in a dramatic coloratura ish direction). Love it :)

My Newfound Anemia???

I've been a regular blood donor for the past 4 years of my life. So it came as a little surprise to me when I was deferred last Saturday for being a little under on iron, but it does happen once in a while, so I just rescheduled for today.

Well... guess who was low on iron again despite having had a burger for dinner and a steak/egg burrito for breakfast. I don't know what it is about my current state that is so different. I don't exercise half as much as I did when I started donating. I'm running on a calorie deficit, but that doesn't mean I'm not ensuring that I'm chock full of lean proteins, whole grains, fruits, and iron-rich vegetables. I've paid exceptionally close attention to that. And no, I'm not menstruating.

I'm going to give myself some more time and try again next week, but I'm not going to change what I'm doing. I really want to get to the bottom of whether these two instances have just been anomolies or if my new gym/eating habits have been screwing with my hemoglobin levels.

If I'm low again next week, I may re-think my approach to achieving fitness, and make some dietary adjustments.

FYI, I'm not really anemic. The reads I've been getting on my iron count have been too low to donate blood, but still in a healthy range. For those who are curious, the range of my iron levels have been between 10-12 g/L. Not low numbers in and of themselves, but in the context of my personal experience, definitely lower than usual.

It's not a big deal health-wise. 10-12 g/L is a good number to maintain. It's just that blood donation is a pretty integral part of my life, and it's something I would really like to continue doing throughout and beyond my journey toward a healthier me.