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jaalaWell, not quite. Just as I was feeling jubilant about surviving all of my exams, I realized that I have to write four concerts reports (on concerts seen as long ago as October) for my flute professor by Friday. Sh-t.
Anyway, I finished exams! Somehow, I made myself get up at 6:30 this morning for a bit of individual work before I met a study buddy at the library. So that was nice: sleep and cramming! To my surprise, I felt more competent during this exam than I expected.
In an attempt to be social, I signed up for a "class" (actually less than 10 people) dinner at a restaurant after the exam. Problem is, nobody noticed I wasn't writing in the same room as most of the others, so I missed the announcement that presumably was made and I had no idea when and where to go. By the time I'd figured it out and walked to the restaurant, they were leaving. Ah, well.
Not wanting the evening to be a complete waste, I decided to go see this, starring this guy. (His Charles Dickens character is rather stately, less swishy than the Shylock character, judging by that clip. Also note the Student Opera star.) I am always fascinated by actors who can pull off one-person shows. His no doubt carefully researched Victorian oration and acting style suited the text well. I thought he showed particular skill at playing sympathetic female characters and using dialects, though some of his bratty children (and other less sympathetic characters like ditzy women) bordered on irritating. The Englishwoman sitting in front of me was startled to discover after the curtain call that in real life he speaks with a run-of-the-mill Canadian accent.
Oh, yes. When I told my physiotherapist on Tuesday that it feels like there is pain in the actual "bone" of the spine, I suspect it may have impelled him to take drastic action. I did the usual walk on the treadmill for 15-20 minutes; I'm getting good at reading a magazine article while walking at top speed. Then he applied several layers of thick tape to my back to make it impossible for me to roll my shoulders forward. Would have been nice if my descriptions of being unable to function due to pain had perhaps inspired some of the treatment I usually receive for pain and tension...
He told me to wear it "as long as you can stand it" (he's fairly macho and a teeny tiny tad bit sadistic), so it's still there. I think I now have a better awareness what it feels like not to roll my shoulders forward, so that's good. Unfortunately, I tend to over-compensate by squeezing my shoulder blades together. So I also have so-sore-it's-gone-numb pain in those muscles between aforesaid shoulder blades and no effective way to stretch to relieve the tension because all the exercises I've been taught put painful pressure on the tape. Writing a 4.5 hour exam on Wednesday (including computer work where I had to switch my view constantly back and forth between a too-low computer screen and sheets of paper flat on the desk) without the ability to bend much of my back gave me a seriously sore neck too. I'll be in tip-top condition for my long-awaited flute lesson on Friday! (I planned to practice tonight but decided I couldn't hack the extensive and painful stretching and the endurance test. This is discouraging.)
"But this is technical stuff. Must bore the pants off you."
Anyway, I finished exams! Somehow, I made myself get up at 6:30 this morning for a bit of individual work before I met a study buddy at the library. So that was nice: sleep and cramming! To my surprise, I felt more competent during this exam than I expected.
In an attempt to be social, I signed up for a "class" (actually less than 10 people) dinner at a restaurant after the exam. Problem is, nobody noticed I wasn't writing in the same room as most of the others, so I missed the announcement that presumably was made and I had no idea when and where to go. By the time I'd figured it out and walked to the restaurant, they were leaving. Ah, well.
Not wanting the evening to be a complete waste, I decided to go see this, starring this guy. (His Charles Dickens character is rather stately, less swishy than the Shylock character, judging by that clip. Also note the Student Opera star.) I am always fascinated by actors who can pull off one-person shows. His no doubt carefully researched Victorian oration and acting style suited the text well. I thought he showed particular skill at playing sympathetic female characters and using dialects, though some of his bratty children (and other less sympathetic characters like ditzy women) bordered on irritating. The Englishwoman sitting in front of me was startled to discover after the curtain call that in real life he speaks with a run-of-the-mill Canadian accent.
Oh, yes. When I told my physiotherapist on Tuesday that it feels like there is pain in the actual "bone" of the spine, I suspect it may have impelled him to take drastic action. I did the usual walk on the treadmill for 15-20 minutes; I'm getting good at reading a magazine article while walking at top speed. Then he applied several layers of thick tape to my back to make it impossible for me to roll my shoulders forward. Would have been nice if my descriptions of being unable to function due to pain had perhaps inspired some of the treatment I usually receive for pain and tension...
He told me to wear it "as long as you can stand it" (he's fairly macho and a teeny tiny tad bit sadistic), so it's still there. I think I now have a better awareness what it feels like not to roll my shoulders forward, so that's good. Unfortunately, I tend to over-compensate by squeezing my shoulder blades together. So I also have so-sore-it's-gone-numb pain in those muscles between aforesaid shoulder blades and no effective way to stretch to relieve the tension because all the exercises I've been taught put painful pressure on the tape. Writing a 4.5 hour exam on Wednesday (including computer work where I had to switch my view constantly back and forth between a too-low computer screen and sheets of paper flat on the desk) without the ability to bend much of my back gave me a seriously sore neck too. I'll be in tip-top condition for my long-awaited flute lesson on Friday! (I planned to practice tonight but decided I couldn't hack the extensive and painful stretching and the endurance test. This is discouraging.)
"But this is technical stuff. Must bore the pants off you."
