Negative Excellence

I'm baaaack! Just kidding, probably not, there is No Time! Never any Time! :)

I said in my last entry that I thought this would be very different than undergrad...I was spot on. So much work!! After a trip home for some youth events a few weeks ago I am officially 1 week behind (by the end of today it will be a little more) in my reading. So, I have a lot of time to make up! (You may wonder then- "So why are you writing this?" Well, because I am in class and after a 16 hour day that started early this morning I need something to keep me awake)

One thing I am learning about here through a very awesome and unique opportunity I have, is negative excellence. Originally it is from a book called Margin but I learned about it from a person who is a pretty big deal on campus. We so often hear that it is about a balanced life, I have heard about that here a few times already, but he suggests that is is really about setting expectations for yourself and practicing negative excellence. So you prayerfully observe what are the "boulders" in your life that God want you to  focus on right now and then you make adjustments elsewhere, say no to things, and become ok with what others may think when you do. I got to talk to him over lunch this week since I was a little confused of how this played out practically in a few areas, and it was such a great time that met some of my unspoken needs in this time of discernment. What a blessing!

Here are a few other hints of things that have been happening:

• I have a "whole sister" here (that is what she calls me) that frequently quotes famous black philosophers and it is amazing. She is so much fun and a great person, so glad we are friends!
• I have the same schedule of a few other people and the sense of community that is forming is pretty awesome. We can study together, look out for each other, and inform each other- it is turning out to be something I will miss when classes change.
• Most Productive Mondays are really taking off! After a very busy weekend away for me and my roomie we decided to start Most Productive Mondays where we wake up early, work all day, leave no one behind, and (probably most importantly) we will run The Water Feature all day! It is catching on and a few more have joined us (to the point where we are going furniture shopping this weekend). Most Productive Mondays!!! Jingle forthcoming...
• My roommates are becoming some of my favorite people! Oh, so much fun...
• Alysa, one of my new amazing friends, is hilarious and so sweet and I am loving getting to know her as well....while studying ;)
• International worship is amazing and I am on a personal quest, supported by many others, to see that it happens more often! Sternly worded surveys have already been filled out and a letter is on the way!
• The food here has really gone downhill since week one. I need to find some new things to do for lunch here.
• NYC a little over a week! Hopefully things will be going well after Sandy, maybe we can do something to help when we are there?
• Did anyone see Parks and Rec? Ah, I love Ben and Leslie!

Back to School

Yep...school starts tomorrow...deep breaths.

First- I am in KY now and was greeted by this:

I am in the South now. Besides the accent and hearing y'all about 10 times on my first day the move went well. I only brought down one car load then bought the extra things needed down here. On my way to do this I discovered many awesome places that kept the song from Annie running through my head. "I think I'm gonna like it here!" Here are some of the places within 20 min of me now: Target, Kroger, Jimmy Johns, Qdoba, Captain D's, Sonic, Chik-Fil-A, and when I got to the mall there was a J. Crew and an APPLE STORE!! What what! I feel like I am back in civilization now! That is when I drive about 10 min...there is not anything within the "city" limits.

Another positive of the move is the new rooms: very spacious, laminate wood floors, large closets and lots of storage space. Even better then the room set up however is the fact that I am not using all the storage! I have slimmed the possessions down so it is just wide open, uncluttered space! I have started a bedtime routine where I put everything that has a place away before bed with the hopes that this will not only keep my room clean and beautiful but that it will become a habit before the craziness of school kicks in. (I have been reading the Joy of Less this month and am loving the first section about Philosophy...I will be rereading this regularly. I highly recommend it. It is easy to read and convicting when you need to feel the urge to purge.)

Now onto school...I am SUPER nervous. I was going stir crazy this weekend just wanting it to start already because I was getting so anxious. See in undergrad I did not have to work super hard to get a 4.0 because school comes pretty naturally to me so just a little effort goes a long way. I have a feeling this will be vary different and I am getting nervous on whether or not I can hack it. The second reason for this feeling is the fact that it is almost exclusively reading and writing- my two weakest areas. I have never been gifted in the area of writing and my papers start to get real sketchy when they are longer than 3 pages. The Reading? During orientation a professor said that the average will be about 400 pages of reading per day..WHAT!?! Today I literally fell asleep reading 5 pages...5. This is going to be rough. I may be investing a large chuck of change in getting a comfortable but non reclining chair because reading on the bed will NOT work.

So, classes start in less then 12 hours and I have high hopes for my personal growth and development while I am here and am sweating (literally) the school aspect of this whole thing. Pray for me. If I am not completely swamped with work or, the much more likely, if I am procrastinating my mounds of work I will try and keep you updated a little better...but we'll see....no guarantees.

Updates

A few updates for you who are interested:

The Voice: The fantasy league is over and I WON!!! There were only two of us and the trend of us having the same number of contestants continued to the end and my final person was Juliet Simms who placed higher than my brother's Tony Lucca. BAM! Cannot wait for next year! (However anyone see an overwhelming male skew in the last few weeks? For example going down to 2 per team there were 2 girls and 1 guy left on each team and America voted all the men safe...what?!? That is sad really. I went on all episode about this travesty and received some consolation overall when Juliet at least made it to the finale.)

SiriusXM: So you know how I praised this style of radio a few weeks ago...I am very grieved to report that I have lost it. My free trial suddenly cut out Monday while I was driving. Sad day.

TV: For those of you know me I am a huge fan of good TV and I am really excited that all my shows are coming back next year- Parks & Rec, Parenthood, Castle, New Girl, Up All Night. Also in amazing Downton Abby news: there might be a movie! And Maggie Smith is supposed to be staying!! WOO HOO!!

So You Think You Can Dance has also started!! I am already disappointed by how quickly they are moving through the auditions and how they only highlighted 6 people per city, and there was barely any classic Tyce. On the positive side- DANCE IS BACK AGAIN! I am so excited that SYTYCD is back and that I got so see that adorable 2 year old dance. Soooo cute. (poor version below)

School: Last but not least I am happy to report that I not only made it into my #1 school for my masters but also received a full tuition scholarship!! YAY ME! This means I have to move to Kentucky- but I am not really sad about that but actually really excited. I hear it is beautiful and there are more things to do than here in this small town (not really a huge accomplishment). This worked out amazingly! I am so blessed!

Music Monday: fun.

When the fun. CD came out a few years a go I was about to buy it on the band name alone because I thought it would be a CD of fun music. As I thought about it more (and saw some of the people buying it) I thought the bands name might be a more ironic or sarcastic title, especially with that period on the end. I know, I over think things sometimes, especially when I am given ample time and opportunity to do so. I am here today to say that I wish I would have bought that CD, because fun. is a fun band. Ever since we almost saw fun. live I have been listening to their latest album even more than before the festival. I also have recently bought their first one Aim, Ignite and cannot wait to travel tonight while listening to it.

I know that some are loving their mega hit "We Are Young" and some are not big fans (and if you listen to top 40 radio you have to be getting tired of it by now) but the rest of the album I would say is better than this catchy single. The best song has to be the title track on their new album Some Nights. It is upbeat, you can sing along and dance around- great stuff. The 30 sec clip of this song is what made me buy their new CD, and both Cece and I were excited that we at least got to see this song live. In honor of that take a listen to a live version I found, although it was better when we saw it ;)

The whole CD is full of unique tracks that are great for dance parties in your room are a road trip car party. The founder and lead singer, Nate Ruess, has got a great voice behind him and some songwriting skills. My former coworker at Finders was a big fan of his old band The Format and would play one of their CDs all the time when we worked together. I remember liking it but now that I know it was his old band I may need to try and track down a copy. Some of my other song faves include: "One Foot," and "Carry On." I have a feeling they are going to keep getting better and bigger and I am excited for more!

New Releases to Check Out:

• Best Coast - The Only Place (I highly recommend it- great summer album just like the last one!)
• Beach House - Bloom
• Jacob Jeffries Band - Tell Me Secrets
• Ryan Shaw - Real Love
• Santana - Shape Shifter
• Newsies Original Broadway Cast (there has been some confusion on release date but it is awesome!)
• Already came out but still awesome: Rufus Wainwright - Out of the Game

On the Horizon:

• Paul McCartney - Ram remastered special edition
• Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
• Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Here
• Yellow Submarine being re-released on DVD (we got so many requests for this at Finders)
• and of course...KIMBRA - VOWS!!! NEXT TUESDAY!! Check out the cool ally dancing below:

Sweetlife 2012

Two weeks ago, while on vacation with my fam, I went to the Sweetlife festival in D.C. with Cece. Here were some highlights: (Which means no talk of food because we stayed put in our awesome seats for most of it and it was really expensive. Also, no pics of A$AP ROCKY who was horrible...it is like putting a "$" in your name is a curse or something.)

We got there a little late, then had to wait in the will call line, so we missed most of fun.'s set. It was disappointing because in the will call line (and when we finally got to see them) they sounded awesome and seemed to be putting on a great show. I think they just made it on my "Live list", or the running list of people i want to see in concert.

I have no clue who these two are. They played in-between the horrid A$AP set and before Fitz but were not on the official set list. It was a DJ with her Mac and turntables and a violinist shredding her bow in an awesome combination that I would actually want to see again (I am not a huge D.J. concert fan). I wish I knew who they were, cuz they were cool.

Fitz and the Tantrums put on one amazing and energetic show (just as I expected). They knew how to get the crowd going, how to perform, how to dance and with their music being great in the first place it made for a fun show that defiantly won the crowd over. (Including Cece) I would recommend everyone go and see their live show- it is a great time.

Finally- there was the Shins. Even though I already have tickets to see them in June I was really looking forward to them. They did not disappoint. They sounded great and played the hits, and by hits I mean the songs I like...which is just about all of them.

Performance wise they were as I expected them to be-classic band performance with no dancing, crowd hyping, guitar smashing or stage dives. They just went up there and played, talked to the audience some, but the focus was defiantly on the music and fitting a ton into their hour and fifteen. I am excited to see them again with Jenah because their music is amazing and I could listen to them everyday. (Also quick shout out to the new girl in the Shins- she looked awesome and sounded awesome too. Girl Power! Sorry...there was a Spice Girl reference in New Girl so it has been coming up a lot this week.)