Men--vain or illogical?

Why are men so damn vain? But before we ponder this, here's a GRE math question:

Marsha, a half-time student who works full-time, does not have a lot of free time. She told her friend Fred that she did not have time this weekend to do dinner, because she was studying for exams. Which of the following activities would Marsha most likely agree to, if Fred were to ask her to join him?:

a) A study-break that involved getting frozen yogurt on campus (~30-40 minutes)
b) a casual dinner at a Thai place (~1-1.5 hours)
c) formal sit-down multi-course dinner (3+ hours)
d) dinner and concert or opera in the city (~6-7 hours)
e) Going to see the Ring cycle

But to return to the question of vain men who think d is the answer. . .

Ok, it's not that I'm not interested in you. But I have too much going on right now to have the energy to pursue this. People really don't seem to understand this. Really it baffles me, b/c my gender seems to get the whole "sorry, I'm too preoccupied to hang out right now" thing. I sure as hell get it. If someone-- friend, love interest, etc. told me, "hey, I'm going to be busy these next few weeks and might not have time to hang out much", I'll call or email to check up on them-- maybe invite them for a quick tea or something, but otherwise, give that person space, until they are done with whatever they need to do. But guys. Eh. Why do you people not get it? Also, if I don't have time to do dinner with you, why, why, why do you think I have time to go see a 3-hour opera with you? In the city? Really. I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR GENDER. Because you're not the first guy who has done this-- which might mean that I'm being too subtle. But I think I told you very point blank, that I'm going to be preoccupied till my classes are over and that I'd have more free time mid-June-ish (which is now a lie, b/c now, I'm scrambling to move).

It's flattering and endearing and all, but I just don't have the time/energy for this right now. And ok, maybe I'm also slightly not as into it either, b/c if this were Mr. Guy-I-have-a-mad-crush-on, I'd try to find some time. For dinner, though. However, as I've mentioned, I'm juggling school and work, am trying to move in less than a month and now, I'm sick and miserably behind (to the point that I'm blogging). And we've already established that my brain cells can only handle two things at a time and I'm currently doing 3.5.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful or curmudgeonly (though of course, we all know that "I don't mean to do X is a signal that X will happen. . ..), but I don't understand how we went from "Sorry--I'm kindof tied up for the next few weeks till mid-June; but I'll have much more free time to hang out and stuff once classes are over" to "Wanna go do opera and dinner in the city with me?" If I weren't dealing with a move, and the end of the quarter and finals and final problem sets, then the answer would probably be a yes. But I tend to be very one-track-minded about my time and things that need to get done (studies, learning choir music, etc.) and get protective about my time, especially the more people pester me about it.

Or maybe I'm commitment-phobic, b/c he was fine when he was just another dude in my Tai Chi class. (Note: it may or may not actually be a Tai Chi class. But this internet is a small world, thanks to the power of Google, so if I write Linda's Pole-Dancing Studio, there's probably a higher possibility of someone in my class actually landing here. So pole-dancing, Tai Chi. . . it's all the same. Oh, except the partnering up thing doesn't quite work with Tai Chi. Hmm. Well, no matter. Just humor me.) We partnered up a couple of times and got along, so we exchanged emails. I should've figured out then that that was a sign of interest. Again, it's not that I wasn't interested in him, but if I'm taking classes, I hate that I'm like this sometimes, but the class and learning the material pretty much trumps everything else in my life--including even work.

Anyway, he asked me out to dinner a few times, and actually, each time, I legitimately couldn't, either b/c I already had plans or 3 out of the 5 nights a week (1 night a week, we go to the Tai Chi class, which leaves me one night a week to leave open for dinners, etc.), I actually have to work really late, to make up for the time spent in class. Then weekends? I hate when people start asking me minute details of my schedule, but I can honestly say that most weekends I've spent 80 percent of it working on school work. One weekend I played in a BANG, which meant staying up till 3 a.m. every weeknight to finish enough of the problem set so I can play guilt-free for six hours, and another weekend, I went out of town to see my friend's newborn, and 2 of the weekends, I helped a friend who was moving into her new house--but other than those aberrations, my life revolved around problem sets and exams. But I didn't want to keep saying no, so I finally had coffee w/ him one evening after Tai Chi class so I could tell him I'm-not-not-interested-but-I've-got-too-much-going-on-right-now; why-don't-we-revisit-this-in-3-weeks sort of thing. I thought he finally got it, b/c the every-other-day emails finally stopped. But no. I don't have time for a local dinner, so now, I suppose I have time to go to an opera and do dinner beforehand in the city.

Men. Sigh. Why are you people so damn illogical?

Bad Audience Manners. . .

This time, I was the one guilty of the transgressive behavior.

So a question to all you performer types. Suppose someone wants to attend your recital, choral concert, etc., but a)he/she doesn't have the energy to sit up, sohe/ she wants to listen lying down in one of the pews, and b) about halfway into the second part of the program, the person's energy is drained to the point of needing to leave in the middle of a piece.

Would you rather that someone like that just stay at home and not bother coming to your performance?

That probably would've been the sensible thing to do.

I don't normally go to concerts when I'm feeling, well, dizzy to the point of needing to lie down and not being able to make it to the end of the concert. But a)I have not been able to go to a single classical music performance since last holiday season, b)my friend was performing in this concert, and c) I thought some Haydn choral pieces in the reverberant Memorial Church would be a nice way to wind down the quarter. Also, this might be the last concert I might be able to attend of his, and he has always been a loyal audience of our concerts. So I went.

The place was barely full, so there were many many empty pews. Thus no one gave me odd looks when I occupied half a pew and lay (laid? layed? er, I think it's lay. . .) down.

The program was Haydn's Schöpfungsmesse and Missa Brevis. I was hoping that they'd perform the Schöpfungsmesse first, and then I could leave during intermission. But no. However, it turned out for the better, since I haven't heard the Missa Brevis before, whereas I've performed the Creation Mass before and so was familiar with it. However, I haven't heard it live in years.

The MB was lovely, except that the stuttering/hiccupping during the Gloria made my pew vibrate in such a way that it exacerbated my dizziness. Generally, though, I'm not a fan of the Brevis format. We've sung the Britten version (which has an awesome but ominous-sounding organ line) but I'd rather hear each line separately.

After the intermission, I stayed for half of the Schöpfungsmesse. I mean, I would've stayed for the whole entire thing, if my body hadn't suddenly rebelled and crashed. I found the next least disruptive entrance (loud brass, fortissimo section) and tried to exit as quietly as I could.

* * * *

I spent the next 2.5 days in bed, completely out of commission, so in retrospect, I probably should've stayed home, even though I don't necessarily regret going.

Trying to downsize, but blogging instead

What does one do with a beloved instrument that one no longer plays--an instrument that one has had since 14 and has been sitting and collecting dust for the past few years?

I guess the sensible thing to do, if one is contemplating downsizing is to get rid of it. But I feel like part of my soul would be going with it.

And so I'm doing the un-sensible and babbling about it in this anonymous introspective medium to see if I can sort out my thoughts. In other words, procrastinating from doing what I'm supposed to be doing--which is to figure out a grand plan to downsize.

I went through a box of old music hoping to get rid of some of it, but failed. The Wolfhart, the Suzuki volumes, the Carl Flesch scale book, the Barenreiter scores of Bach concertos, the used book of easy Telemann duets that I got in a small market in Debrecen, the Palestrina and Bach scores I got with the intention of playing w/ S, the piano book for the third beginning piano class I took one summer at Stanford, b/c in order to stay on as a research/course assistant, I had to take five units worth of classes. . .

This is the problem with "packing" up boxes from one's past--you end up spending more time unpacking and unraveling and very little actual packing ends up getting done. (Especially if you decide to blog about it in the midst of doing this.)

And how did a few sheets of music here and there add up to several boxes, I wonder.

Speaking of boxes, I should get back to the task at hand. (Yes, I have ADD.)