That's all folks...

... and thus ends another wonderful semester at UMR.

Finals are over. The reactor design final was the most difficult test I suppose I have ever taken, but I think I did well. Today's Molecular ChE exam was cake with extra icing. No problem at all...

Unfortunately, fortune did not shine upon the American Literature CLEP exam... I did almost exactly as the CLEP study guides predict - a person with a year of college literature should answer half the questions correctly - but apparently it isn't enough for UMR, as I needed another 5 questions to pass. People, that exam was VERY difficult. Oh well, despite this it was worth the try... Thanks to Jaired and Leon for lending me that itty-bitty review book, and no thanks to the College Examination board for the pathetic online study guide.

I move to Kansas City tomorrow, start work Monday. YEAH!

This is QM, going to have some fun before the packing begins, signing off...

Look ma, we're on TV...

I just got back from the Collegium Musicum's first ever television interview and performance! The Wynds (recorder) and I had a nice opportunity to play a few pieces for the Rolla Public Access Channel on the Wake Up Rolla show, kind of like Good Morning America, just a lot smaller. Again, we're trying to make the community aware of what we are doing and come to Madrigal Dinners. The recorders played wonderfully, as usual, and I played so-so, but at 8am what can you expect?

One final down, two to go... Yesterday was Process Materials, and I think I will pull off an A in the class provided I didn't do something exceedingly stupid on the fourth problem. Today is Reactor Design, which will be tough, but I'm prepared.

So... It all started with this redhead with brown eyes who I would do anything for... and the rest is just history! ;-) I don't want to say too much about it, but since she mentioned us, now it's my turn...

Recording tidbits...

I had a very nice talk with John Francis of KUMR today about recording tips and strategies. We listened to some flat recordings along with the Collegium CD we produced a few weeks ago. He really liked what I did with the trombones, recorders, and guitar - hardly any suggestions. He did have some very good things to say about how I could improve my singers mix. For instance, creating a totally isolated reverb track is a good way to control reverb. Never thought of that! I'm not entirely sure about how that will work with Pro-Tools, but I think I know how it can work.

We also talked a bit about copyright laws and recording commercial discs. I want to begin doing that sort of thing but I still have some barriers to overcome... Lookout world, I'm on the way!

We're on final approach... watch your vector...

So here's a quickie short post about the coming week and a half...

I turn in my final linguistic humor paper tomorrow morning, assuming all goes well in my meeting with Professor R. On Thursday I have my music history 2 final, as well as finishing my Unit Operations Lab with a final report. Friday is cake, just a couple of classes and a research meeting.

Then I'm effectively home free until the next Wednesday, because my only three finals are on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! Wow, a FOUR DAY WEEKEND!!! So I'll be spending time at home before finals and the KC move... You can bet that CuppaJo will be a big hangout for me next week...

On another note... I think that all you bloggers need to stop being so lazy and post at least once a week. Just let us know what is going on in your life for goodness sakes! Post your thoughts, events, random musings, whatever, just do something... It's fun to hear what's happenin'...

Isn't that Funny? Part 2

Well whaddaya know, hard work does pay off! I found out today that my linguistic humor paper won first place in the UMR 3rd Annual Writing Contest in the Humanities Research Paper category! Yay!

So I received a cool-looking, framable certificate, a $25 gift certificate to the bookstore, and a copy of the 2004 Winning Essays book that the UMR Writing Center prints every year. (However, the book won't be ready until next semester.)

To see this stinkin' awesome paper, click here.

Haha, what a joke... By the way, my Chet Atkins paper is almost finished, expect it to be posted in about a week. I actually decided to use some of the material in my previous blog post in my conclusion. I figure that this paper is about as personal as a humanities paper can get, so why not include personal points?

There are only two weeks of school left, then I'm off to work in KC! I am really excited about the prospects of working with Honeywell again, as well as seeing some old friends. I'll be living with former-CCF-worship-leader James Bruce in his house, a little north of where I lived last summer. I'm looking forward to not having my work follow me home every night. Holy moly that will be great! I'll be working on a full-length classical guitar album over the summer, I am purposing to practice more than I ever have before. Of course, I will also be preparing for the EIT, GRE, and for grad school stuff. I also will be doing a lot of reading and goofing off. Busy? Yeah, it will be fun.

This last week has been fantastic! God has been so good, so faithful, so forgiving. Praise be to God the Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives new life day by day and continues to pour his blessings richly upon us!

Focus...