there's more to life than this

Ok, so I'm finally past the Japanese midterm. I'm sure I passed, but ever since my sensei got it into her head (and blabbed it aloud in class) that I am a good nihongo student, I feel obliged to do as well as humanly possible. We'll find out the results on Thursday.

Somehow I neglected to mention the Hindustani Classical concert I went to last Friday (or anything else from Friday evening's activities, for that matter). I find this omission a bit unbelievable, considering that it was a near-religious auditory experience. The sitar was indeed mesmerizing, but what had me craning forward in my seat in awe, wanting to jump out of my chair and onto said seat and jump and yell for joy was the amazing amazing tabla player. I kid you not (ok, it probably had something to do with pre-cycle hormonal imbalance, but whatever) -- the guy had me almost in tears with disbelief at the deity flowing through his fingertips. The place shoulda been packed, but I think a lack of publicity was to blame for a half-empty hall -- then of course, there were the noticeable number of college kids who snuck out during intermission, worried about the concert cutting into prime drinking time. By the end, tho, those who remained stood in admiration and ovation, clapping our brains out.

I then sauntered over to the student art opening/garage rock party happening at the student center -- a stark contrast indeed to Hindustani heaven. The art was largely unmemorable, with the exception of a large piece of irregularly shaped canvas decorated with the (female) artist's blood. The band that was playing when I arrived were your typical college cover band, attempting to do Velvet Underground justice, then launching into NIN and other godforsaken covers. The final two bands were both friends' o' mine, but a combination of poor sound engineering and drunkenness made the visual aspects of the show more interesting than what we could actually hear. The last band in particular had imbibed enough to act like human bumper cars -- there were several dispersals/dismantlings of the drum kit, with the final and apparently painful dive the singer took into the drum kit and drummer, guitar still strapped on. Ouch. Soon afterwards it was declared 1 a.m. and campus safety turned us all back into pumpkins.

Drama of the day: the nutritional nightmare my life has become. A pint of Soy Delicious Peanut Butter Zigzag does not a balanced dinner make. Stomach is so hurty now.