A return to the ordinary?

Not quite, I'd say. In all things, I'm a sucker for peer pressure. Or even pressure from non-peers on occassion. Undergraduate pressure gets thrown in there once in a while.

I auditioned for the Fordham production of The Vagina Monologues earlier this evening. I was exhausted, and I was pretty far down the list, which meant a long wait, but at least I can say I did it. Most importantly, I don't have to go to bed tonight kicking myself for not having gone to the audition. Usually, that's what gets me... regrets of things I didn't do for one dumb reason or another. Well, none of that this time, because I did it. I was given four or five different monologues to choose from, and I couldn't decide which one to do for the audition, so I went in there and let the pannel pick... they chose "The Angry Vagina," which I'm sure is pretty self-explanatory. It was a funny monologue, I guess... there has been better writing in the history of the world, but whatever. After that, they asked me to read a second monologue, a quick little ditty called "Cunt." Again, it was what it was, and I did it. We'll hear back at some point soon, but I'm not holding my breath. In other words, I don't have any kind of dire emotional commitment to this one. Still, it might be kind of hilarious, yes? For me to do a show again would be a good time... if not, there'll be others, no doubt. At least I did the audition. Yeay for me.

On the topic of peer pressure, I was talking to a few folks about singing and trying to get my stuff heard, trying to get myself recognized, etc. I was told by just about everyone that I need to start wearing makeup... not because I'm hideous, but because it's simply what's done. If I want to be - and look - professional, I need to wear makeup on a daily basis from now on. I don't know about every day, but I don't suppose it would hurt for me to have some makeup on hand, at the very least, and maybe eventually wear it now and then. So I went to Sephora (oh, yeah... I went in, and they didn't throw me out or anything), and some woman did my makeup and told me what to buy. I told her I needed something simple, and she heard me... I got a powder that serves as concealer, foundation, and powder all in one, some cream eye shadow that looks good even when I'm the one applying it to my face, and some goofy lip gloss stuff. I also got the other necessaries... brushes, blushed, mascara, eye liner, bla, bla, bla. All in all, I think I'm set. Now, the big question... will I actually wear this crap? Let's just say that, given the money I spent on the experience, I'll seriously consider it. Or at least I'll try.

I did manage to have a return of sorts to the way things were before the break... I had my first recording session of the new year today. Jeeze... it's about time. I'd really missed Craig, and he missed me... we have a sacred bond, and it's beautiful when we share ourselves with one another. (Insert soundtrack of tweeting birds and soothing harp music here.) Yeah, yeah, it was good to be back, and we got some work done, mostly polishing things we left undone over the break. The fruits of our labor are now posted on my music site (for the curious, it's www.emilymcspadden.com), so I can feel like I'm still doing things that are conducive to getting this damn album cut and done. In the meantime, I have to pick and choose where to perform over the next couple of weekends, then put that on the site as well... for now, I'm perfectly happy with baby steps. I'll just keep recording (I have a new song in the works... finally... that Craig seems to like so far, so that should keep me busy for a while), and we'll see how things go.

And if I was getting at all relaxed on the academic front, I've just received an email from Dr. Sherrod, the head of the Applied Developmental Psych department. Apparently, they've finally gotten around to discussing my status in regard to my masters thesis, and he wants me to come in and discuss it, along with what possibilities exist for me where transfer credits are concerned. If they choose not to accept my thesis from University of Dallas, I at least get 8 credits transfered, and that's at least something. If, on the other hand, they do accept it, that means up to 30 credits... big difference, I'd say. Anyway, I'm a little nervous... thank goodness for all this free time I've got to relax. Seriously... my sleepless nights, despite the lack of sleep, are actually quite relaxing. Oh, yes... things are most certainly back to the "ordinary"... time, once again, to hurry up and wait.