I gotta learn how to sing

Jon, a trombonist kid I chat with in the computer lab just played for an open mic in The Basement (the student pub) and he was singing all of these Simon and Garfunkel songs and I decided that I really need to learn to sing, because I want to be up there too. Plus, it's important for the programme and all that- but really- I want to sing in front of people and be all hip and cool like that.

Today I went to the doctor. Remember how London is an old city, and therefore never had much use for what we might term "city planning?" This means that at times it is nearly impossible to figure out A: where you are and B: where that is in relation to where you would like to go. I got very,very lost this morning and if it had not been for a kindly taxi driver and another kindly bicycle delivery man I never would have found the doctors' office- even with the help of the A-Z. It was just that confusing.

That being said- I like my doctor quite a lot. She is a young South-East-Asian woman whose name I don't remember. To no one's surprise: I have an ear infection. I'm to get ear drops and see her again in a week. There was a medical student there as well, so she got the opportunity to look into my truly weird and scarred right ear. I hope that was educational for her. The rest of my cold/virus is much better though.

The internet is a wonderful thing- I was trying to describe what a cholesteatoma was to Dave (composer, dinner club fellow) and so looked it up on Dictionary.com and here is what they said:

"A tumorlike mass of keratinizing squamous epithelium and cholesterol, usually occurring in the middle ear and mastoid region. Also called pearl tumor."

Isn't that the grossest description you can think of? I particularly like the word 'squamous' which isn't nearly as onomatopeic as it seems like it should be.

In medicine related news; I think there are at least 2 different viruses running through GSMD right now. Meredith and I both had the same syptoms- but Jo and Heather who were also feeling poorly had quite different symptoms. We were a bit lackluster today in Percussion Skills since so many of us were feeling under the weather. I've been camping out in pajamas all day and pretending that they are real clothes. I'm not fooling anyone.

Patrick- the missing flatmate- was cooking tonight and we had a good chat about various movement philiosophies: Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais in particular. I really enjoy talking to him about the process that the acting programme is taking and how that relates to the Leadership programme and how it is different. Good chats.

I just went and took a moment to listen to some more of the open mic in the next room. Currently there is a 13 piece band including electric guitar, sax, a violin section, a cello section, a complete horn section, and an assortment of acoustic and electric basses playing Justin Timberlake and Destiny's child songs.

It's so cool how many outside projects there are at this school. At Peabody there were maybe a few bands outside of the basic curriculum- Ash and Rowan (celtic) and No Signal (experimental chamber music, jazz, and stand up comedy) being important examples of that- but mostly people did what they were in school for and not much else. In contrast just about everyone here that I have talked to has some sort of side project going. At least one, if not five or six. People are also much less likely to be tied to one single instrument-I get the feeling that this is true across the board even in the specifically instrumental programmes.

In the foyer today there was a percussion concert during the lunch hour. The toddler music class had an overwhelming amount of interest expressed in it, it may be expanded to more locations if this many teachers are really available. At the "Open Call" meeting yesterday over 40 people showed up to hear more about the programme that brings the musicians and actors together. I spent yesterday in the library reading about commedia dell'arte, and every week I have a drum circle as one of my required classes. I chat with my flat mates intelligently about movement styles, and it is cool that I think Laban is a genius. Last night my flat had an impromptu Disney sing along in three languages followed by a bunch of christmas carols.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I couldn't have made a school more perfectly suited to me if I tried.