i am so ready for this

strange things are happening to me

I guess I must be getting older. I've been doing weird things lately: dieting, going to bed early, reading the news, listening to talk radio, skipping parties to hang out with my family, collecting recipes, using coupons, wearing heels, etc. etc. etc. I'm even making my future a priority. I save money, I spend Friday nights in the practice room, I make timelines for grad school applications. Strangely, I think it's paying off. For the first time in a long, long time, maybe ever, I feel open. As in: open to the future and what it will bring, open to the people around me and what they have to offer, open to acceptance of life's contradictions, open to comfortably viewing myself as I really am. By no means do I claim to have it all figured out... I just like where this is going, that's all.

Other tid-bits you might be interested in:

• I played in the Undergraduate Honors Recital last Wednesday. I was really proud of myself for even making it into the auditions. The picture is of me all gussied up about half an hour before I went on stage. Can you tell I'm horribly nervous? Because I was. Thankfully, the performance went really well. Slowly, I conquer my demons.
  
• My birthday is on Sunday (hence this post about growing older). I'll be the possessor of twenty-two years. What an awful number -- I've always been a fan of odd numbers, and double digit evens is never a good sign.
• October is a fantastic month.
• I am going to Denver with one of my best friends, Dave, on the 24th. We're driving his moving van to his new apartment, and I plan to visit the campus of UC Boulder, a potential grad school, while I'm out there. This also may include visiting friends from Brevard -- hooray! I'll probably fly back on Sunday night. Speaking of which, did you know flights from Denver to Kansas City are scandalously cheap? We're talking less than the cost of gas. United Airlines, as much as I hate it, has come in good for something.
• I want to share my latest online addiction: Tastespotting.com. I literally check it as often as I check my e-mail, and bookmark at least three recipes every time. Oh, to be a foodie.
• This election and the current world-wide financial crisis, while sucky, are really exciting to me. I love feeling like I'm living in the midst of history (which may seem stupid and self-evident, but you know what I mean). I got my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday and I was pretty thrilled.
• I've been spending more time at home than usual as of late, and have gotten the chance to hang out with my roommates more, which has been very, very nice. I'm lucky to live with such pleasant people.
• One last thing. This photo.