Eureka!

Finally the bits and pieces of my reading to "teaching composition" are coming together in my head, and I'm lookin forward to start writing my paper on it tomorrow. I have to do 25 pages for the 2 of january. 25 pages in 21 days - shouldn't be a problem to me... but still, tomorrow is not a moment too soon to start!

I went tangoing for the first time in ages (like, three weeks or so) tonight, and I had a blast! Actually, I only had two sets of dances, but I managed to
1. be invited to dance with a stranger
2. meet a stranger who was a good dancer (same stranger)
3. meet friends who had noticed I was missing last weekend
4. see a fantastic show from our local tango heroes
5. dance with a tall guy
6. get a compliment for my dancing
7. had some nice eye contact

So all in all, I couldn't possibly have had more of an ego boost, had I stayed another two hours. So I left at 10.45, after two sets of dances and watching the show.

Got to sleep now, my boyfriend will be asking me to accompany him to breakfeast in about six hours and 25 minutes... yikes!

I just discovered a - to me - unknown instrument - the hang drum. Check it out, here with a bass clarinet. Browse through related videos to see nice, loong hang solos.

Election time

I'm truly exited about today's election in Denmark. We might be getting a new, red government (if we're lucky).

Still my life goes on, I enjoy my three jobs
1. conducting my amateur choir
2. singing at church
3. being a substitute teacher

And still, I haven't been studying enough, and it is just about to come back and hit me in the face, hard.

I just put a lot of nice music on my iPod, so I'll be tapping my foot to Prince, MJ, Erykah Badu, Depeche Mode and the Beatles while trying to study.

My courses in Rhetorics

I've just begun following lectures again, and it's two courses at the institute of rhetorics, the last two courses in my minor before I have to write my masters in Musicology. They're called
Rhetoric and practical philosophy
and
Teaching Composition (in writing)

I took the Composition one before, but failed to write the 25 page paper to finish the course formally. Didn't read much the last time I followed it, and what I read I didn't understand very well.

So here I go again.
Luckily, it's the same teacher and exactly the same list of sources to be read, and it seems that the bells of understanding are starting to ring the second time around. Of course, that only goes for the texts I have actually read.

Last week, at the first lecture in "teaching composition" I felt really depressed about being back. The majority of the class are Rhetoric Majors, so they have about four more years of immersion into the subject than I. So I feel a bit "behind" the average student in the class.

Today was more encouraging. It turns out that there are quite a few teachers from our equivalent of high schools with years and years of experience with teaching. They make a fine counterpart to the rhetoricans, practical versus theoretical. And now I'm not the only one not understanding the customs of rhetoricans.

And I actually understood every word of what was going on!

(that goes for the 80% of the time where I was actually paying attention. Good thing is, I was inspired into distraction, so I was taking notes to my thoughts when I was mentally absent to the class)

Horray! I hope it goes on this way.

More will follow about my other course.