Well, I've done it

I've written my first piece of short fiction. It's not bad, if I do say so myself.

Our professor talked about how you can start a story with one idea, and the story takes on a life of its own. A common statement after you finish is, "This isn't the story I wanted to write." Mine isn't the story I thought I would write, but thankfully I didn't have expectations for how it would turn out. My editing group will go over it on Tuesday in class. Here's hoping. We went over one today for a guy who really did a great job. There was a lot to talk about, but not a lot to change. It was good.

In other news, I got mad at myself and at my director in choir today. We get called up for individual testing on all of our pieces, and I got called for the hardest one (eight- count 'em- eight part harmony. It's absolutely beautiful, but hard to hold down your part. Especially when you're singing all by yourself against seven other voices). I sang through it pretty well, albeit with kind of a crappy voice because I think I'm getting a cold, until the second to last measure, where I sang a fourth down when I should have sung a fifth, and consequently hit the wrong note. I recovered on the last measure. Our conductor then asks us individually if we think we deserved to pass or not. I said yes, except for the very last part. As soon as I said it, the whole choir (not kidding) immediately chimed in that I had done a great job and should let myself pass. When it quieted down, the director said to everyone, "I'm retesting her anyway." I've never seen people actually stand up against a director for one person, but it happened. It was cool, but it doesn't diminish the fact that 1) I could have done better and 2) I have to retest. That's always intimidating. Especially when everyone else in the room didn't think I should have to.

That aside, it's been a nice day. Gorgeous weather, am getting a decent amount of work done, and got a chance to chat for a few minutes with many of my friends (Casey in Red Square, James in Red Square at a different time, Chris in the dorm, Jacob at lunch time, Corina after choir, etc). It's good to randomly bump into people who are happy to see you.