Just because I don't update doesn't mean I don't read comments. I do check regularly. But this is the first time I've logged in in.......probably a few months.

So: to keep you busy in case you don't know-

I: got engaged
Was in three school shows this fall semester
Wrote three ten page papers and revised each during at least one of the above mentioned events
Made surprisingly good grades for being so busy
Am liking Greek a lot
Am looking forward to next semester which might be busier than this last one
Is so happy to have my Fiance beside me for Christmas
Is hoping to see snow before the end of the week.
Loves the old 'Miracle on 34th Street'.
Hopes all make 2010 a great year.

Being on the alpha club has many benefits, and also some drawbacks. Some of the great benefits is being about to help others and have a great excuse for doing so without appearing creepy. Well, for the most part. But have been involved in the Freshmens' lives quit a bit since saturday. We helped them all move in to their new rooms, and got to point them the right way. Monday all day we were shepherding the freshmen through orientation and answering questions along the way. We had a great period to talk about devotionals, and the male alpha's got to talk about the devotionals and even lead a short one. Monday night we also got the opportunity to be involved with the fifth presidential inauguration at Florida College. My job was making sure parking went down smoothly, which, among all my other parking jobs, this one was the easiest. And I believe that has a lot to do with the crowd who was coming. Tuesday resumed freshmen orientation, and a great singing and devotion in the evening. Today I await my shift to wait for stragglers to sign up for chapel seats or get parking decals. By now most of that is done. My duties for freshmen end today for opening week. later in the year there will be more opportunities.
Now for drawbacks:
Lack of sleep,
Exhaustion,
Lack of first two days of social time.
Other than that, its great! And the benefits of meeting so many freshmen I wouldn't have known is very worth it.

Now on to my education.
As you may or may not know, I was in the position two years ago to take some classes at FC. This allowed me to take several courses that I needed, including English, history, and humanities. This also meant that I took freshmen bible. So in my freshmen year, I was taking sophmore classes, and this year I would be taking upper division classes. This means that I have a few more options open to me. I have been officially a Music Major for nearly two years now. But I began to consider other options when I was limited in my music education in this program. I didn't even think about changing majors until this last summer. I asked my adviser about graduating in three years. It turns out I could graduate in three years with a Bible degree or a Music degree. I have thought about the Bible degree, but always wanted to music to be my academic focus. And I never considered graduate school either. But then I considered that I could graduate in three years, and use the forth year for a masters degree. This really became a possibility when I considered that the classes I could take would be more focused in what I want. And I found that I could take all the music classes I wanted to and still do the bible major. So, after much deliberation (and trust me it took me a long time to decide) I have switched to Bible Major. Of all this I find it the most remarkable feat yet that I was able to walk out of Mr. Moore's office alive. My schedule has changed slightly, but not too much. I will be taking:
Greek,
Biblical Research,
John,
History of Music,
Marriage and Family,
Chorus.

I will be busy for sure, but will be as involved with campus life as much as possible. I'm off now to do my duties to Alpha club.

One last week of summer. And then, finally, back to school with schedule and friends. I've been sorely missing everyone this summer. I don't have a plan for this week other than clean up. Clean up my room and my waxen mess. I am nearly finished on my wax project. I'm not sure what more to do with it, its as I envisioned it. I haven't gotten quite as many hymns as I wanted at the beginning. But I'm sitting on 13-14, with a few more possibly this week. I'll fill you in on schedule when I know for sure what is. I don't have anything else to say......... I'm really looking forward to getting things restarted. Looking forward more to seeing all my friends. And even more: to see her :)
I feel like a nap.

*What should I do with my life?







*This does not mean that every comment will be given equal consideration due to the amount of gag answers there shall no doubt be. The life's ambitions of the writer are not dependent on the outcome of this survey. There is no life-time hurt or damage that will be done. If, however, advice is taken from any commenter, and it leads to the determent of the writer's life, then the commenter will be prosecuted. If the commenter's comment leads to a successful life however, the writer is not obligated to reward the commenter. If the writer likes the commenter then he likely will repay as best he can. If he does not like the commenter, then he probably didn't take their advice. This question should not be proposed to those under the age of 15, otherwise they will suffer stress and anxiety at a young age. WARNING: do not stare at the screen too long while pondering the question, studies in California have theorized that it may cause eye cancer. If you find that you have blinked more than five times in reading this, then you might consider spending thousands of dollars getting eyes checked, or just zoom in the screen. Do not attempt to cut any vegetables if you have not come to a solid conclusion to the answer, studies in history suggest that knives in the hands of uncertain and unstable people can be dangerous. If you are cutting vegetables while pondering this question then make sure to wear gloves, goggles, chain mail, and a heavy bike helmet. If you are handling a gun while pondering this question, make sure to use government approved safer guns, and safer bullets. Government logic would suggest that it will cause less harm to the shooter or the shot. The writer does not take responsibility for any injuries that may happen because of this question. Nor does the writer take responsibility for the toothpaste that may be wasted in your bathroom. blame that on global warming.

I have updated my music page. It has two new hymns (psalm 67 and 84) and ALL the old ones were revised. It has an updated layout that will probably be more fitting for more hymns. I currently still do not have shape notes, but may in the future. Shape notes for me and others are not crucial, but I realized that they help tremendously with medium stage music readers as well as sight reading. The best advice I can give is: for my hymns, the harmony is non-traditional. Many of the alto and tenor lines sound odd at first. The altos spend a lot of time around fa's and la's which can sound confusing. The bases skip to la's more often than traditional music. The melody is always fairly simple. I would suggest that you sing the melody through all the verses first. I want to heavily emphasize the words. I wrote the words to match very closely the sentiment and word order of their psalm. My goal was for a reader to be able to read the psalm and follow along with the lyrics of the hymn. In my opinion, it is not worth the distraction of the music if it takes away from the meaning of the words. I have provided midi files to listen to the verses and the chorus to get a feel for the speed and sound.

I considered the instructive criticism and suggestions given me upon my first editions of the songs. (thanks wayne. chapter two verse five of your comments was insightful). It is now improved but no where near perfect. I have put together a few of the changes that I made to the lyrics. I hope you will agree they are for the better.

First edition
Psalm 5 vs. 2

You hate all evil, and all wickedness,
and those who instill the will to oppress,
Destroy all those who give Your name offense,
But I worship you, and bow in reverence.

All evil you hate, and all wickedness,
and those who create the will to oppress,
Destroy all those who are evil right now,
But I worship You, and reverently bow.


Psalm 16 vs 3

I know You will not let me pass away,
For Your Holy One shall not see decay,
You bring life beyond what I can measure,
only in Your midst is joyous pleasure.

I know that You won't let me pass away,
Your Holy One shall be free from decay,
You bring life beyond all that I can see,
Within Your midst I shall joyfully be!


Psalm 1 vs. 3

He is like a tree that's planted by water
who brings forth good deeds and will prosper

As strong as a tree that's planted by streams,
He brings forth good deeds and righteousness gleans.



A note about psalms:
You may find it odd that every other line of the hymn changes audience. One line may address self, and the next God, and the next our neighbor, and next all nations. I did not smooth all these out in my lyrics because that is the way the psalms read. I try to make it obvious when the singer is addressing God by use of Capitol letters, (some of them I may have missed) but it is up to context and the singer's own understanding. These hymns are meant to be uplifting as well as provoking. They are meant to be sung to each other and to God, as all hymns should. I tried to leave the messages as personal as the psalmist does. Make sure to sing with understanding, I would encourage you to read the psalm first in order to know what kind of psalm it is.

Ephesians 5: 18-20


Again I am open to criticism and welcome constructive comments about new and old works. Let me know what you think.