Gosh, I just feel nostalgic and confused and content and frustrated all rolled into one.

I’m living in Peoria for the summer. This is both a good and bad thing. I like it so far, but I have yet to buy my own food or even pay rent yet.

 It’s like I’m actually having to grow up, but in a really good way. I’m able to take time to hang out with the dog that lives with us now, I have TIME to myself to relax, READ A BOOK, maybe even work out? Who knows. I feel like I’m just now realizing that there is actually life after college. I’m learning more about myself, too: how I stay organized (or not…), how I deal with people, how I live my life according to myself, not according to a class schedule and a calendar.

I’m spending my summer here working for the admissions office, as usual. I’m also being compensated for being part of the Peoria Bach Festival Chorus. The Bach Fest is a kind of new thing in Peoria, and Dr. Jost runs it, and he asked me to sing, and since I don’t do much else BESIDES sing, I figured why not? It’s a good chance for exposure and an opportunity to read some new literature.

In addition to that I’ve got a couple of gigs lined up with After Hours, the barbershop quartet I recently joined. We also just WON the collegiate contest for the Barbershop Harmony Society competition for the state of Illinois. This is a big deal in the barbershop world! If you’re bored, watch our videos. The first link is the semi-finals, and from the semi-finals they pull 10 finalist quartets. The 2nd link is our finals competition video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ2YxXSgyHs <— Semi-Finals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuJeh_X1a7Q <— Finals

I’m the one on the far right (duh). We also came in 2nd overall out of all the quartets that competed, which is also a huge deal. Moral of the story: we’ve got a lot of gigs lined up, which means money for food this summer!

*sigh* I guess at this point I’d describe my mood as “cautiously optimistic”- I’m not sure what exactly this summer has in store, but I’ve got some things lined up which could make it a lot of fun. Don’t worry- further bulletins as events warrant

Cheers,

Kevin