within four days

--"Logorrhea" can be broken down into two roots: "logos" is Greek for "words" and "rrhea" means "free flowing". I find it ironic that "log-" seems to be more closely linked with "diarrhea" but that is OK; I respect the English language and all its idiosyncracies.

--The most recent challenger in the race for strange places to sleep:
Four stacks of six elementary school chairs.

[I wanted to lie down for 15 minutes or so before I continued working in my moms' classroom after school was out. However, I was exhausted enough to forget about the following: (a) I could roll off and smash my something on the linoleum, (b) someone could walk into the room and I would not be able to explain myself very well, (c) yikes. I was into a real sleep and it was my mother's "Oh, I didn't know you were still here," that woke me up. Yowza.]

--My quote of the day: "... great Italians like Jim Carrey, Mozart and Carlos Santana."

--I spent about 26 hours in the Tobes (and partly in the TDot) this week to rehearse with some kids' choirs at my moms' school. It was fun to do it because of the pressure I was under to deliver (this was our first rehearsal and the concert is 6 days away) and because of the freedom I had to call whatever I was doing my "best" whether or not it actually was. Now, don't get me wrong: I do not want to be deceptive. I mean that no one in the school plays piano so I get to be the authority which, I guess, means there is more I can get away with ... but that still sounds wrong. I want to do my best and I wanted to do better than I actually did but, given the circumstances, I could not do much else. Let me tell you: there is a lot of 1-5-1 business going on in my left hand. Amen to that.

--I wigged out during those 26 hours because of how exhausted I was from the past (what is now) 12 days of no sleep and high "stress" thanks to academia. On the streetcar to school on Thursday, I thought to myself, "How am I going to do this? How am I going to do this?" [repeat for 10 minutes] when the gravity of my workload hit me once again. For the record, I was facing two final examinations and one essay due ... well... to-day. The problem was that I could not figure out how to best divide my time and there was not one assignment that could afford to be slacked on (even slightly). I have been aware, during the past two weeks, that I need to insure my spiritual life is healthy during "busy" times like these for many reasons (chime them in, Sunday skool kids...). During that time at my sister & brother's place, I wanted to at least stay in the Bible and stay in prayer but I seemed to be too easily distracted and to only open the Book when I was on the streetcar or the bus because I couldn't be doing school work. In other words, God got my leftovers. Anyways, that Thursday morning, I found Psalm 20 (my habit of late has been to read one or two per day) and it calmed me down like nobody's business. My whole body sighed with relief.

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
..may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
..and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
..and accept your burnt offernings.
May he give you the desire of your heart
..and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious
..and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
..he answers him from his holy heaven
..with the saving power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
..but we rust in the name of the Lord our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
..but we rise up and stand firm.

O Lord, save the king!
..Answer us when we call!

When I arrived at the school, I rewrote the psalm, replacing every "you" for "me"/"I" (and every "your" for "my", etc.) so that I could read it and understand that it did apply to me. I carried that sheet around the school with me whenever I was heading to play or to practice so that, when other thoughts crept into my head, I could look at it and be told to chill owt. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. [I substituted "Christ's sacrifices" for "your sacrifices" and "your burnt offerings" for "Christ's burnt offerings" because I don't live under the law.]