Greetings, Internet! Hope everyone’s staying as safe and sane as possible. This week, the Mets are back (!), my advisor gave me lots of scholarship to read as I revise the chapter I submitted (of course, it’s all in German), and I’m really digging vocal lessons. Daily summaries below!

Day Three Hundred and Eighty-Six (4/2/2021)

• My mother and I ran some errands, which included a side trip to the chocolate shop with the best caramel latte. #priorities
• Vocal practice! Guys, I can hit the high notes in “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana.” I’ve covered it before, but I took it down a key so I could sing it without sounding awful. But now I can sing the Auli’i Cravalho version. Karaoke is going to be (more) epic.
• My advisor got back to me about my first chapter. He said he liked it, and odds are we’re going to have a chat about it in the next week or two. Something tells me that within that time, I will have to read the German article he recommended. It will be super useful, I’m sure, but I read German embarrassingly slowly.
• Total times outside: Fifty-Six!
• Currently feeling: I have so many plans for what I want to get done tomorrow, to the point where I’ve forgotten to watch “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” from this week and last week. Definitely falling behind on the pop culture. #teamtimeturner
• Currently looping: “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana.” I can sing it now! Ahh!!

Day Three Hundred and Eighty-Seven (4/3/21)

• Did the FES cycle. I’m like three episodes away from finishing season two of “Titans.”
• Lesson prepping.
• Practiced some guitar and vocals. Feeling ambitious (vocally) for a cover I’d like to do (provided I have time to record/film).
• Had plans to get through the article for this week’s reading group, but then spent nearly an hour getting through other people’s YouTube videos. Note to people who post more than once a week: I am only watching one of your videos per week.
• Currently feeling: I’m putting together a list of things that need to get done by Monday evening, and oof, I’m behind. #teamtimeturner
• Currently looping: Disturbed’s cover of “The Sound of Silence.” It showed up on a Spotify playlist, and I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to listen to this cover.

Day Three Hundred and Eighty-Eight (4/4/21)

• Happy Easter to those who celebrate it! My parents came over for an Italian dinner (which they brought, because I still haven’t mastered how to fry eggplant. Also, my oven is broken).
• Missed a group vocal lesson, but the lesson stream was posted online, so I watched it. And then practiced for an hour. And then got too ambitious and might have overdone it. Ow, my vocal cords.
• Grading! I shall upload the grades tomorrow. Sometimes I need to sleep on them to make sure I haven’t been too harsh/generous. Although I think my students have improved generally, so I don’t think I’m being too generous?
• Currently feeling: I did not have time to record today. Whoops.
• Currently looping: Live performance of Hans Zimmer’s “Time.” This piece feels almost transcendental, it is so good.

Day Three Hundred and Eighty-Nine (4/5/21)

• Did the FES cycle. Finished season two of “Titans.” And now I wait for season three, whenever that may be.
• Music lesson! Learned how to program delay.
• Teaching meeting! Followed by uploading grades.
• We have Mets games now! Oh, Gary, Keith, and Ron, how I have missed thee! Also, DeGrom left with a two-run lead and the Mets blew it to hell in the eighth, so, happy baseball!
• Currently feeling: Baseball’s back! I mean, yes, it came back last week, but now that the Mets are playing, it’s actually back! Huzzah!!
• Currently looping: Nightwish’s live rendition of “The Phantom of the Opera,” featuring their original singer. Their bass player (who plays the Phantom here) is that perfect balance of intense and creepy here (and omg, his range is incredible).

Day Three Hundred and Ninety (4/6/21)

• Did some recording for a cover (after about half an hour of vocal work). I still need to record two more tracks and I’m not sure I can get that done by Thursday. We shall see.
• Went outside for some groceries (and, of course, a matcha latte).
• Precept! Everyone’s tired. Also, my father decided to call me mid-precept and I heard the phone ringing on my laptop through my headphones. So if my students thought I was distracted, I was. Because my immediate facial response mid-sentence was, “DO NOT CALL ME DURING PRECEPT UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY.”
• I have a stye. Ugh. Time to throw out my concealer (it was kind of sort of expired) and mascara (which isn’t three months old yet, but I’m not taking any chances).
• Did reading for my reading group for Thursday.
• Attempted to audio mix what I recorded, but again, I still have to do two more tracks.
• My advisor got back to me. We’re meeting tomorrow. And now I need to adjust my alarm to wake up earlier to get PT done in time to meet.
• Total times outside: Fifty-Seven!
• Currently feeling: Continuously overbooked, and continuously doing it to myself.
• Currently looping: Nightwish’s “Last Ride of the Day” performed live.

Day Three Hundred and Ninety-One (4/7/21)

• Accidentally woke up an hour early. This ended up being a very good thing.
• Did the FES cycle.
• I heard a weird crash in my apartment, only to find nothing had fallen down. This is the second time this has happened in over a year of living here. Unsure whether I should be concerned.
• Meeting with my advisor! The good news: he liked my chapter, and gave me lots of German scholarship to follow up on. The not-so-great news: I have another chapter proposal/outline/something due in early May, with a full chapter draft due two weeks after that.
• Office hours! It finally happened – a student is displeased with their grade. I need to send them an email.
• Recorded the last two tracks for the audio for tomorrow’s cover. The question: Can I record the video and get it up at some point tomorrow afternoon?
• Finally opened my package from The Chocolate Room. I am a sucker for chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs.
• Precept!
• Audio mixing! Really working on a self-imposed deadline here.
• Currently feeling: If I only have one student who is displeased with their grade, I think I’m okay with that.
• Currently looping: Evanescence’s “Going Under” live performance from 2016.

Day Three Hundred and Ninety-Two (4/8/21)

• Called my father to wish him a happy birthday! Then called him later in the day to tell him that Aaron Rodgers was hosting “Jeopardy!”
• Recorded the video for my cover of Paramore’s “The Only Exception” and then posted it. It was quite a scramble to get it done.
• Dashed out of my apartment to get a matcha latte. It was such a gorgeous day, I had to go outside, and I can’t go outside just to go outside. There needs to be a plan. That plan usually defaults to matcha lattes.
• Therapy! Trying to tone down my workaholism to take breaks and see friends who have been fully vaccinated once I’m finished with my precepting obligations.
• Graduate reading group! Few things are better than discussing some awesome scholarship with brilliant and delightful people.
• Vocal exercises!
• Answered the email from a student who was dissatisfied with their grade. Well, it was bound to happen. Added a line that if they want the professor to have a look at it, that could be arranged.
• Total times outside: Fifty-Eight!
• Currently feeling: I found out that one of the English teachers from my high school recently passed away. I never took a class with him, but he always treated me like one of his students. He was the most delightfully snarky person I knew at Stuy. And, as a member of the English department, he was one of the teachers who was totally okay with my post-injury self crashing the English department to eat lunch as I fled my peer-filled cafeteria. He was young. I’m in shock. The world just lost a bit of its sass.
• Currently looping: Sara Bareilles’ “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me” from the musical “Waitress.” It’s equal parts sweet and kind of alarming.

Thanks so much for reading! Stay safe, wear a mask, and go get vaccinated!