Why the melancholy, you ask? Because the lease is up on my apartment in two weeks and I have to leave Gradschoolville for the summer because of my extreme and dire lack of moolah. So I guess it's better to go home (well, first to Hickville for a couple of weeks) and live rent-free while working a stupid crapjob then have to pay rent and work a stupid crapjob, right?

Yeah. Cry me a river. I know.

So here it is. The list to end all lists. Here lies the knowledge naive little Mangofarmer acquired by leaving home for the first time, doing something with her life, and going to graduate school (and I'm not talking about book-learnin' either).

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN GRADUATE SCHOOL

-Well, this of course is prior to the fact, but I learned that it IS possible to decide to go, and make all the necessary preparations therein, to school in two weeks. TWO WEEKS. Maybe I'll go back and link to some of those entries (late July-ish). I was definitely going insane. I accept that I'm a chronic procrastinator, but that was ridiculous. But dammit, I did it.

-Having your very own apartment is fun. But it can get really lonely, especially those first few nights.

-Whomever said graduate school was easy did not take ethnomusicology.

-I really need a rich uncle. Everyone here seems to have a rich uncle that bought their instrument for them.

-I really REALLY need a new flute. Well, I knew that beforehand, but actually starting graduate school with a student model flute only solidified that fact.

-Orchestral auditions suck, even if they are for rinky-dink community orchestras. There is always going to be someone there that's better than you.

-Football is a lot of fun to watch when you aren't in the band.

-It is possible to get very bad heat exhaustion in November.

-Ramen noodles with peas. That's all I have to say about that.

-It is really hard to find an open place to pee at 3 AM.

-Therefore, I learned that you really should pee before you leave the party for the IHOP, especially if the IHOP is on the other side of town and you can't make it to that bathroom.

-I have learned the evil necessity of a credit card with a high enough balance so as to allow for cash advances to pay rent. That is bad. That is very bad.

-Capriccio Espagnol is a wonderful piece. As much as I hate flute choir, I think if there were a flute choir arrangement of the second movement, I would totally want that played at my wedding.

-Oh yeah. I really REALLY hate flute choir.

-As cool as Dr. Flute Teacher is, she can be very blunt. And honest. It's a damn competitive world out there. I might not get anywhere in it. But that won't stop me from sopping up every once of instruction I can get.

-The buses here really suck. Maybe that's why everyone looks at me funny when they ask how I got to the grocery store. Sheesh.

-I love Gradschoolville with every ounce of my soul. I had that moment of revelation sometime in January- I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I felt like I was truly happy.

-Flute players are generally a wonderful bunch of people (especially the flute players here). But I really don't enjoy spending long periods of time with them.

-Grading music history quizzes is fun! But I kinda wish it paid more.

-Jesus? Yeah, he was in my trunk when I got back from Tijuana.

-Playing in the pit for an opera kicks your ass, but actually is a lot of fun.

-Eleven hours straight of playing flute in a day actually is manageable, with a great deal of concentration.

-In Minnesota, people are named Marge and they like to go ice fishing.

-Sometime in December, I was handed a piece of music. Upon really looking at it about a month later, all I could say was, "Shit, this is hard." That was Mangofarmer stepping outside the comfortable box of her flute playing. But was it ever worth it......

-Therefore, flute and marimba duets are wonderful, and

-The marimba player who handed me that piece of music, one Nice Drummer, in particular, is wonderful. Would I have found that out had he not asked me to play on his recital? I don't know. I don't want to think about it. *sigh*

-Did I mention that I love Gradschoolville? So much so, that the thought of leaving, even just for the stupid summer, really sucks. Yeah, I'm pathetic. Blah.

****************

There you have it. I may add more things when I think of them.

Although extreme boredom has led me to do nothing but eat like a pig all day (well, I did actually watch Conan the Barbarian- my prayers to the gods of cable television were answered :-D), I'm going to go have some ice cream and continue sulking. Have a lovely evening everyone.

P.S. How long do you wait to hear from someone before you should start worrying that they are in a Mexican prison? Just curious.

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