This is going to be a long one.

The day after the second night in a row of 5 hours' worth of sleep, and it finally hits me. On a practice day, no less - pain builds character, right?

Speaking of pain and characters, core on Sunday was not pleasant, but it was extremely effective at kicking my ass, and every other muscle in my body. Two hours of switching between cardio and resistance training with 5 other guys who are all at least 50 lbs. heavier than I. I'd say the most fiendish exercise went something like this:

My partner (A) stood on a stack of floor mats about 3 feet off the ground, while I lay perpendicular to the mats with my shoulders against a pilates ball on the floor and my core elevated so that my body was parallel to the floor. I held an 8 lb. medicine ball against my chest, and, while looking straight up at A (about 6 ft. tall!), I tossed the ball up to him and he threw it down for me to somehow catch. I tried my best not to die, 20 times. And THEN we did it 10 times toward each shoulder.

The trebuchets were pretty bad too: In isometric sit-up position with my arms over my head, I caught a medicine ball thrown by my partner (K) and did a horrific sit-up with my arms over my head holding the ball, ending with me tossing it back to K. Rinse and repeat, 20 times.

As for the character part - core is so different from practice. No bowing, no "yes/no sir" no sifu this or that. Then replace all of the "sirs" with various desperate, pain-fueled expletives and add a profligate amount of dirty jokes, and you've got the social dynamic of core.

Afterward, I went to write an irate note to post on the stairwell door (something along the lines of "PLEASE do your emo chainsmoking OUTSIDE") and I could barely accomplish the small motor control necessary to form letters.

It was an eventful weekend! Friday night, I raced to gym it before meeting S, his parents and his brother N at the 7:20 showing of The Day the Earth Stood Still. The most entertaining part was the gaggle of teenyboppers weeping in the row behind us. ::gag:: Finally, Keanu has landed a role that is appropriate for his blank, passionless natural state. We went to Sushi Blues for dinner afterward, went to S's place to get his music (for Sat. rehearsal in Raleigh), and then went alllll the way back to my place and finally crashed.

Saturday, S went to chamber choir and master chorale rehearsal for about 4 hours and I had rare time to sit, pet cats and sip coffee in the sunshine. Then we headed out to his parents' house, where we were invited for lunch and to help set up the Christmas tree! Ahh, the smell of Christmas trees. When my sisters and I got "old" a few years back, my parents decided that Christmas trees, real and fake, are an unnecessary hassle. ::weep:: But, I love it at S's parents' house. The Christmas tree must have been drugged though, because all of us (his mom in a chair, bro on a couch, his dad elsewhere, and us in the downstairs bedroom) slept for the rest of the afternoon. When we woke up, it was time for S to get his tux and book it to Memorial Auditorium, and time for me to shower and get there myself. I looked pretty smokin'. :P

Ahh, the concert! I've been to a zillion and three concerts this fall/winter. My mom was late and missed the first song... But it was so nice. I have to admit that I went solely to see the professional singers and was ambivalent about the master chorale (140 voices), but there is something about such a large number of people all singing at once that's invigorating. They were accompanied by a brass ensemble. The chamber choir! They sang two motets that I loved. Loved! The choir (22 voices) sang them a cappella, and it was utterly, utterly silent in the hall. The very end of the 2nd motet consisted of the gentlest "alleluia" in a series of complex chord progressions, and the musical resolution that occurred between the "lu" and the "ia" was just fabulous. It felt almost as if a weighty existential question had been quietly and thoroughly answered in the fraction of a second between the two syllables. The whole audience sighed. A chill goes up my spine just remembering it. There is nothing like incredible choral music and the flawless execution thereof.

Afterwards, mom and I went out for expensive midnight Polish food with S's family. We had dessert (ahh! gingerbread with pecans!) and a few of our number weren't exactly sober by the end of the evening.

Hee. Sunday... Was core. And errands. And food and Starship Troopers.

...and last night was a successful culinary adventure! I was pretty grumpy last night and verging on headachedom, but I allowed S to convince me that we needed to go to the grocery store and get dinner accoutrements. We decided to make sushi rice, broccoli and sauteed chicken tenderloins in cream of mushroom soup. Yes, we're rookies, but we like healthiness too! It was spectactular and we sat at the table across from each other and made faces like this ^_^ while we chewed.