Somewhere on Azeroth

Last night around 3:00 in the morning, my character in World of Warcraft “Glyph” hit level 60. (the highest possible level) You might wonder why this event is worth sharing.

I'm a student, I don't have much money or time. Neither to my friends. Imagine a game you can play with your friends in that special time after homework is done, before you crash and get up for school. It's the cheapest, most effective way we can do something fun together a few times a week.

To most people, relaxing time involves watching reality TV and other stupid shows where you silently observe other people's adventures unfold. My vegging out time involves an interactive epic high fantasy adventure with computerized representations of my school and music friends. It's like living your own cartoon movie.

Dave, Rajat, Kevin and I went and killed some real tough monsters in a hazy hellish zone. When I hit level 60 they set off fireworks and we all got drunk. (virtually of course) Because, after Friday night's Kegger, I think some virtual drinking is better suited to the recoevery of our real bodies.

I've got very good friends that I can always count on to be there for me. It dosetn't matter if it's anxiety over my future as a young composer or a 20 foot winged demon trying to smash my face through a wall, they are always there for me.

Dave sent me this picture with a caption the day after my little victory celebration. We both started new characters at level 1. While we were playing, we were talking about how interesting the virtual sky looks, wondering about the artist who drew it for us. Here is the pic and caption, it made me smile.

"While one chapter in the life of a seasoned warrior ends, somewhere else in azeroth two friends stop to admire the night sky and contemplate where their adventures will take them..."



Thanks again, to all my friends.

COMPLEXIFICATION

http://www.complexification.net/

Soup Party 2!

Friday night I went to a soup party. I can't begin to explain how fun it was to go to a house where every table is covered in pots of soup. Not just half assed soups either, these were treasured family recepies or international delights created by great cooks.

Upon entry, we handed over our pot of soup, a little card with:

MEATY, VEGETERIAN, VEGAN:

NAME:

The whole thing went over very well. I got to talk to Professor Dedrich from CMU about 20th century organ rep, as well as his thoughts on the Horton Ritchey method. From what I understand, I'll be having some trouble in McGill.

SOUP PARTY!

Split Green Pea Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

* split Green peas.

* Water to cover peas

* chopped onion

* chopped celery

* diced carrots

* 2 bay leaves

* 1 smoked ham hock (ask the people at the store for this odd item)

* 1 teaspoon thyme (optional)

* water

* salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

I have never used a recipe while making this soup. I watched my mom make it when I was a kid, now I can do it. There are no precise measurements. This soup is VERY forgiving. Provided you don't burn anything and it involves carrots, water, ham, peas and salt, chances are, it'll be awesome. The rest comes from trying it, and seeing what you like.

1. Wash and drain the peas. Make sure they aren't yellow peas. That will take you down the road to French Canadian pea soup, which is infinitely inferior. As far as the amount of peas, some people like thick soup, others not. I like thick soup so I really giver' with the peas. At least ¼ of the pot you plan to use should be filled with dry peas.

2. Put the peas in a big pot and let them soak. You don't have to do this, but it seems to help the cooking later on. Turn the pot to high, start boiling, skim the foam, and stir occasionally.

3. Next, Cut up all your celery, carrots and onions. As many as you'd like. (Personally I like it heavy on onions and carrots, light on the celery)

4. Add the smoked ham hock to the boiling peas. Boil the peas and ham. Add the vegetables, bay leaf and spices. Keep boiling until all the stuff gets soft.

5. Pull out the ham hoc and let it cool. Grab one of those hand blenders and have at that soup until it's smooth. If you don't have a hand blender, go buy one, they are cheap and come in handy while making soup. Try to keep some orange carrot lumps. They are fun for unexplained reasons. Texture maybe?

6. Cut all the meat off the bone, dice it, and put it in the soup.

7. Balance out your flavors with salt, pepper and anything else you'd like.

If it's thick enough to spread on toast, after cooling, you did a good job.

University Roulette

The little white marble that represents many of my future activities was bouncing around quite a bit this year. It rattled around the UK, bounced through the southerns states, up through middle America and ping ponged between eastern and western Canada. finally the ball stopped.

And the Winner is!!!

McGill: Montreal

It was a very difficult choice. But, when I received the letter from McGill I was very happy. It's supposed to be the best school in Canada for music. Also, the city is rumored to be very interesting musically. One of the Three Canadian Schools with a truly international reputation.

The choice was hard. I'm giving up a lot of good offers. But, when I took everything into consideration, McGill was the best. I was fortunate enough to be in the position to factor scholarships offers, TA positions and reputation into my choice. Some of the hardest things I had to give up one were: a full scholarship to U of A and an offer from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Who cares about what I am passing up. I'm gonna focus on what I stand to gain from this incredible opportunity!

When everybody knows you are applying for masters schools, a lot of pressure builds up. I'm glad I dont' have to worry about that anymore. I am also VERY glad that I can focus on other things.