The End of the Begining...The Middle!

I am now officially done with my freshman college classes. Wow does it feel great!

~Singing Ginger

Finals

2 muffins, 1 yogurt, and 2 bottles of water.........free on meal plan

1 Blimpie Turkey wrap.........$5.95

30+ hours of studying in the study lounge........sanity

Being able to yell out your frustration during finals week along with the rest of your residential college peers during the midnight scream......priceless

For somethings there is your parent's money, for everything else there are study buddies.


~Singing Ginger

My Adventure into the Subculture

Hehehehe! Here it is! My new piercing! In the case you were not familiar with my former piercings the one with the sun earing is part of my first set, the one directly above it was done about two months ago and the one with the ring in it was the special pierce described in the post below. The one directly across from it, on the ridge of my ear is my new rook piercing! Isn't it beautiful? I love it. It didn't even hurt as bad as I thought it would, though according to Sam (previously mentioned as "Roomie") it bled quite a bit. Speaking of Sam, she has a tattoo! Isn't it purty? It was quite the day of serious delinquency. We got up and did about an hour and 40 mins of hard core studying for our big final tomorrow and then set off for the parlor. Made a quick stop at the book store to return our texts and get enough money to be able to be delinquent and we were ready. Sam went first since she had to make an appointment. Got the tat sketched out and went to the back room. After some preparatory stuff Sam laid out and the nice man got to work. She said there were a few moments of slight ouchyness but that on the whole it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. In case the picture isn't clear enough; it is a peace dove on her lower left back. You can't really see it but it is holding a green olive branch. Sam's explanation for this tattoo is that she has "had enough war in my life, and now I want a little peace." I think it is amazing and I can't wait to get mine!
I love the simple elegance of the lines and how it doesn't look muddied up or over done. That is sort of how i want mine but different subject. Okay, coming back from the tangent; so after Sam was all done up and bandaged we went back up to the front and I started to fill out the paper work for my pierce. The nice guy who did my industrial was the piercer on duty for today (which made me really happy, because he is an older gentleman with gauges and a lot of experience) and we talked about the details and went back to his little piercing room. For anyone who is considering getting work of this nature done make sure stuff is clean before you go in. This guys room was very much like a doctor's, examining table with the scruntchy paper included. He showed me the sterilization strip on all the tools he was going to be using (if the place you are going to doesn't do this, unless it is a lobe pierce, don't follow through) and laid me down on his little table thing. Five cotton q-tips, two pen marks, one haggle over angle and about 15mins later and I had this lovely new hole punched through my ear. Oh such good times! Well, now that the delinquency is done for the day, time to go back to studying. Much health and happiness to all.

Hoping my Dad still loves me :)
~Singing Ginger

Hot Topic Girl

Alrighty, so today was a day of much awsomeness. After getting off of work (which lasted too long and was just plain horrible) the Roomie and I decided to go mall hopping for a bit. So we jump on the bus and ride to the mall. We shop around for a little bit, I buy some jewelry and clothing, she buys a shirt for work and treats me to diner, and then get on the bus to go back home. While on the bus I ask if she would mind if we stopped of at the local tattoo shop because I want to get one of my more recent piercings checked out as well as a high quality ring earing for my cartilage (I try not to buy cheap mall stuff for anything but lobes.) So I pick out the ring and then accept the offer to get it put in for free (because i have big sausage fingers and can never get it in right.) I come out and my Roomie has a huge grin on her face.

Roomie: "I am making an appointment for Sunday!"
Me: "Appointment for what?"
Roomie: "For my tattoo!"

My roommate is getting a tattoo on Sunday and i am so freaking excited. Both of us were jumping around and just getting all giddy in the shop. This is something she has wanted for a while now and now she is going to get it! So of course since she is getting a tattoo on Sunday and since I want to come anyway, I too will be getting some work done. Don't worry rents (yes, my parents read my blog) it won't be tattooing, I am well aware of the consequences for that one, but I would like to inform you (out of respect) that I will probably have more holes in my head the next time you see me.
It is at this point that i would like to take a little time to talk about how and why I am addicted to piercings.

My first set of piercing came as an exchange of services. My mother didn't want me to suck my thumb any more and I wanted to be able to wear earrings. The deal was struck and off to Claire's we went. Add: one to each lobe = two lobe. The second one came rather randomly when walking around the mall with my mother and simply asking, "can I get my second one?" she said yes, and another trip to Claire's ensued. Add: one to left lobe = three lobe. My third pierce is my most precious, and is the most important one for me. I received my first cartilage piercing in Canada over memorial day weekend of the summer before my junior year. I got it done with one of my best friends, Mo, and we each got one. A couple of weeks later she was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and she died in December of 2007. Throughout her treatment she kept having to take the earing out and was worried it might heal over, it never did and we matched till the day she died. Add: one cartilage to right side = four. The next two piercings happened only this year. I decided I wanted to be rebellious after entering my first year of college so i went to the local tattoo shop and got what is called an industrial done. An industrial is when two separate piercings are done in the cartilage part of your ear. Then a metal pole is slid between the two and secured with two bar bell bearings. Add: two cartilage to left side = six. My last, and most recent two, were done with my friend while at a mall. It was the anniversary of Mo's death and Megan (I am giving up on the nickname thing, it was fun, but now it is just stupid) and I decided we would go get some holes punched in our heads to commemorate an amazing friend. You have to understand about Megan and I; we both have the exact same perspective when it comes to things like piercings and tattoos, they are amazing and addictive. Megan received her second set of lobes and I received the third on my left lobe and the second on my right. Add: two lobes = eight piercings altogether. My next desired piercing is called a rook. It is done through the long ridge on the inside of the ear and also requires two separate holes. Add: two cartilage = ten piercings. Notice how I stick with my ears a lot? Part of this is because I don't like scaring the other part is that I am a bit of a chicken and like sticking to what i know. If I were to venture onto other parts of my body it would likely be: eyebrow or nose.

There is something amazingly primal and exhilarating about getting pierced. It is a rush and a total adrenaline shock to the system. I see it as an art form, and one of the oldest known ones at that. Adorning yourself with jewelry is one thing, but integrating that jewelry into yourself is a whole different experience. Mixing the flesh with the metal and the pain with the amazing feeling of conquering that pain. It is taking two natural elements and combining them. Lastly, I like shinny things, and the more holes I have the more shinny things I can put through them. If you know what I mean, then you know what I mean. If you don't then chances are no amount of explanation is going to help you with that.

I am so excited. I hope you all can be excited for me too. :)

Think outside the box,
~Singing Ginger

Dancin in the Street!

This is how I feel right now:


Chant for the day:
(To be done while doing the cabbage patch as well as the running man)

Last day of classes, last day of classes!

What a happy day. Now the real studying begins!

~Singing Ginger

I Like Making Lists

O goodness! It is so close to the end of the year i can almost taste it. It is times like these when a couple of things start to click through my brain, slowly but surely. First off would be a new year's resolution type dealio. So for this year I have a whole new list of things I am gong to try and accomplish either over the summer or for next school year:

-Avoid drama...at all costs. As previously stated I am a big ole drama magnet (look at the second post i wrote for explanation.) I am done with it! I have too much going on in my life to deal with other peoples drama! Obviously there is a certain drama quota that all people must accept to have friends at all; my friends deal with some of my drama and I would hope they trust me to deal with some of their's. Lately my "drama quota" has been like a fat kid in a doughnut shop; I have been taking in way too much and it usually ends with some sort of emotional throw up. The big thing though will be avoiding my own drama. Normally this wouldn't be that hard but next year poses a slightly more difficult challenge in the form of Cake...my ex. I will have a separate post about this later, since it is a long story and I don't feel like going into it right now.

-Become more healthy. This does not mean skinnier, this does not mean lose weight. I am done with all that crap, I am done with thinking that that is what I need. I am curvy and I have hips and thighs and boobs and I would not trade them for the world. Sure it would be nice to be able to lay out in a bikini without worrying about what I look like, but maybe that just isn't in the cards for me, and I need to learn to deal. I am going to be big for the rest of my life and I can be healthy at the same time. The other part of this goal is getting some of those around me to accept this as well and let me make my own decisions about my health. You know who you are and i love you forever.

-Be more girly. I am going to try to get in touch with my feminine side next year/ this summer. I think I am going to try and do a hippie-fem thing. I like hippies and I think it is more my thing then any other fem version. I love being a woman, why not show it a bit?

-Be more honest. In no way does this mean I am some sort of pathological liar, I'm not; but there is the occasion when I can't deal with either dishing or taking the truth so i bend around it a little bit so avoid awkward confrontation, hurt emotional fallout and general not-so-happy feelings. This is how I tend to deal with things, I need to learn to not rely on this method so much. Especially when it comes to things I know won't have very many consequences and it simply makes me feel more comfortable to fib about it. Don't you dare send those judgmental looks through the screen! You know you do it too!

-Do the reading even if i don't have to. I am a bright person, educational wise, things have always come relatively easy for me. This has made me slightly lazy when it comes to school. The program that I am now participating in requires close to 100+ pages of reading a week, and at this point I have simply stopped reading altogether. This has had little to no effect on my grades, which is kinda cool...but sorta not. I need to read these things, even if I can grasp the concepts without doing so. In the long run it will be better if i learn how to muscle through it and get the work done. I am going to try and craft this goal after my awesome roomie, who works her tail end off and is all the better for it. :)

So thats about all i can think of right now. I need to finish up some work i have for a presentation tomorrow anyways. Hope you all have a wonderful night, and a bright sunny morning.

Ciao Bella
Singing Ginger

Italian in My Shower Pt. 2

Apparently my suite mate's crazy friend would put Italian dressing in my shampoo bottle. Yet another one of life's great mysteries solved.

Night
Singing Ginger

Italian in My Shower

Someone put Italian dressing in my shampoo bottle...what the heck? Who does that?

Happy Bathing,
Singing Ginger

It's My Party...

Okay so I am 100% ripping this idea off of my roommates blog. I fully admit that I am being a huge copy cat right now and that this idea is totally unoriginal and that I submit to her superior creativity. I think that would be enough by way of saying that she did this first and I thought it was cool so i am ripping it off. :) Thanks Roomie!

Things I want for my birthday:



Music: CD's preferably within the following genres: Irish punk rock, jazz, blues, that weird type of music that is from August Rush where the guy pounds on guitars, chilled out music, indie stuff.


Books: Good ones...yeah thats pretty much it.


Gift cards to clothing stores: Gap, Old Navy, Urban Outfitters, or any of the hippie stores downtown (Orchid Lane, or any place the sells flowy skirts)


Tattoo: this is my stretch gift because I know that powers beyond on control (*cough*Dad*cough*) have prevented me from getting this until I am 20. This is okay and I know we have a deal and all (he isn't very strict when it comes to anything else so i don't mind waiting on this one) but hey, if he wants to move up the date I wouldn't mind!

Webcam: I have decided that since my computer does not have a built in one, and because I have one friend in the army in Korea, one friend (Roomie) who lives in the NC and I won't be able to see all summer, and because I plan at some point or another to take at least a semester abroad that a webcam might be a good idea at some point.


Juno the movie: first off, I do not give a flying %$#@ if you think I am some sort of poser indie person for wanting this movie. I thought that the dialogue was amazing, I thought the comedy was dry and witty and I just think that Ellen Paige and Michael Cera are stupendous...so take that.



Crepes: so every year my mother asks me (usually a day or so before my birthday) what I would like for my birthday dinner. My usual answers are: her absolutely amazing flank steak or her unstoppable pesto pasta (no, seriously....you WILL NOT find a better pesto sauce.) This year I am going to be a little bit different, because this year I have remembered before hand what I always say i am going to want and then forget about; my Mother's breakfast crepes. Normally this is just a Christmas thing (she makes them once a year because frankly if you use the recipe more than that everyone in the family will die of some sort of heart blockage thing) but i am hoping that I can get them for my Birthday dinner/ breakfast this year as well. :) Love :) Because who doesn't?

Thats pretty much it. Jewelry is also always a safe fall back (I like earrings.) One last item that I would like to solicit is something I am not even sure exists but it could be pretty easily found out. Gift certificates to either Splash of Color piercing and tattoo parlor in East Lansing or Lucky Monkey piercing and tattoo shop in Ace Duece, I can pretty much promise that I am not going to use these to get some sort of hidden tattoo but I might get another piercing sometime in the future in which case it would be nice to not have to pay for it all (they get pricey.) I also like the jewelry that is sold in both of these places.
Might add onto this list, and will probably post more about life later today when I am trying to procrastinate from the uber big load of homework I have to do. :)

Be Happy,
Singing Ginger

Marginal Poetry

I wrote this poem in the margins of my Borderlands, Refugees and Diaspora class.

I wore my tank top today
With pride I bore my freckle covered shoulders to the world and had no shame
The sun served as my sleeves
As the wind rushed over my suffocating neck
I wore my tank top today
With my bright orange bra showing through
As if to say to the world
I simply don't care what you think!
I greeted my fellow tank toped sisters and brothers with a knowing smile and a bounce in my step
Today I put my tank top away
Because my skin is crawling with memories a million showers will never wash clean
Because his searing hands have burned my skin in ways the sun never could
I put away my tank top today
Because the paths his fingers forced into my skin are filled with undeserved shame
Because the epidermis I once proudly presented to the world
Was not strong enough to protect itself against the diabolical hands of a perverted mind
I put away my tank top today
And wrapped myself in a strong hold of turtle necks to fight off even the slightest glance
I blended into the background
Because it was my fault for standing out
I silenced my voice
Because when I said "no" it didn't seem to matter
But tomorrow my tank top may again emerge
I will take back my tank top
For my turtle neck wearing brother and sisters
Who don't know how to wear their tank tops any more
Who hide in fear from bare shoulders and exposed skin
I will put my tank top on to let them know it never was, nor never will be their fault
In a world full of judgement
I will put my tank top on and take back my voice

Okay so i know this is starting off as a slightly more depressing post, but it was either this or talk about cancer (I went to Relay for Life last night) and I wanted to post this. Part of the reason I did was because other than school work and various social activities; I volunteer at our campuses Sexual Assault Center. I work with sexual assault survivors both at the hospital (for those who come in to get a "rape" kit done, which is now called a forensics kit for those who don't know) as well as through a help hotline. For obvious reasons this is not something I am going to be able to vent about on here a whole lot, but I wanted all three of you who read this on any sort of basis to know about how much this means to me.
So as not to leave you in a morose state; the drag show yesterday was fabulous! I must say that i think, other than musical theater, this is now my new favorite form of entertainment. Everyone should go to at least one drag show sometime in their lives. Sabin, the head drag queen, is amazing...nuff said. Going out to dinner with the rents in a few and then sending a bunch of crap back with them in attempts to make head way into the move out process. The room looks like a total pit right now, but what else is new in my life?

Hugs and Sunshine,
~The Singing Ginger

> Two Weeks Till Freedom!

So you know that your job really sucks when you actually consider "accidentally" cutting yourself on a serrated blade to get out of work, but i figured the pay check would be worth it.
On a slightly lighter note I WON FRONT ROW CENTER TICKETS TO AVENUE Q YESTERDAY! Oh it was so wonderful. I went in and entered the raffle and got pulled and ended up sitting in row AA seat 15. There was not a better seat in the house. I must say that it was slightly more raunchy than I expected, I had heard the sound track so I knew what i was in for but my goodness! There is just something about puppet sex that gets me squirming in my chair. It was so good to see a show though, its been way too long. Theater, simply put, is the cherry on the top of a sweet life. It wasn't so bad looking at the cute actor who played Rod and Princeton either. Oh men who can sing, you make my life that much happier.
Hung out with my choir peeps afterward and o the craziness that ensued! Good conversation, crazy dancing, some jammin' on random instruments and lets just say I forgot how fun kissing was. :) Made me happy, which was good because I have been in sort of a funk lately, I think mostly due to the "light at the end of the tunnel" feeling I am getting this close to the end of the school year. Its so nice outside and i am looking forward to the drag show tonight. Yes, that is right I am going to a drag show, the last one I went to was awesome so I am hoping for as good if not better performance tonight.
Time to go take a nap. I staid up way too late last night. Hope everything is coming up roses!

~The Singing Ginger

Homosexual Puppets

(I swear I am not implying anything with the above picture...okay well maybe.) So while I should be doing about a million other things right now, things like opening a bank account, getting direct deposit for my job, working out, and finishing up my research project draft, I have decided that the best thing to do right now would be to talk to the abyss that is the internet...my priorities are so amazingly out of whack this close to the end of the year it is driving me nuts. I have been instructed to lay off with the spending of the money and what am I doing? Going to the most amazing musical about internet porn, closeted homosexuals, and how much life sucks when you are a Puppet. Avenue Q is like The Mumpets on crack and I can't wait to go. I have listened to the sound track about a million times and its going to kick some serious butt. At this point my only dilemma would be whether to go tomorrow with a couple of my class/ future floor mates, which means I have to be late for my rondeavou with Shags, Bike, Beans and Stallion. Or to go when Stallion brings The Divas (I am loving on all my little nicknames for everyone, I just thought you all should know that) this weekend.
So this blog was slightly interrupted when my friend Jeeves walked in (there has been about an hour between the first paragraph and the one I am writing now) after he left I realized something quite amazing, all the things I need to do, I can do online! This day, within an hour time span just became so much more productive. Oh the happiness! So this day is going so much better than how is started, I might even clean. Note about myself: I only clean when in very good moods or in horribly distraught ones. I was also thinking about getting the key to the music room and belting some out. There is nothing better than standing in a room with nothing else but a piano and yourself and letting everything that has been going on come out in one big, pure, gust of music. Its like nothing you have ever experienced in your life (unless of course you have experienced it.) Singing, when you are doing it right, is the purest form of expression. You don't need any tools, or utensils, its just you with yourself creating something that you always have and always will. Voice is the only instrument created by God. I love it. It's amazing. So when things get really bad or when things are going really well (funny how I tend to do the same thing in both situations) I sing. I sing if I am walking, I sing if I am sitting, eating, reading, anything. If I can't sing, I think about singing or I hum. It's my comfort and it's my peace.
HHHmmmmmmmm (sighing noise) today is nice.

~The Singing Ginger

Irish Pubs and Choir Music

Oh what a wonderful night! I know I have posted once already today but I figure I would again to make up for some sort lag I can see as only eminent in the near future (I tend to get bored with things sorta quick.) I had my first and last choir concert of the year tonight and other than the heinous shoes, uber girly clothing (I can occasionally feel like doing the fem thing, tonight was just not the night) and issuematic bra problem (I was wearing a bright green sports bra with an off the shoulder black top) everything went off without a hitch. It was actually really cool singing in a concert for the first time in such a long time. I forgot how much fun i have doing that. Flashback into the past time (plus a lil more background on lil ole me.)

I have been performing since age 8, which was the age that i did my first musical. Between that time and the time that I turned 18 I have worked on at least 20 different shows (both musical and non, but mostly musical.) Written three short plays that I've seen preformed on stage. Been a founding member of one of the most successful A Cappella groups in the state. Sung with one of the most successful choirs in the country. And have had numerous , what I like to call "little trained monkey" shows for my friends and family at various times when they feel in need of entertainment. I might sound really prideful right now, and probably even a little stuck up and arrogant but when it comes to my preforming career i have worked really hard and I don't have an issue telling people about it.
Here is where the much promised drama enters stage life. I figured since I loved to sing and preform so much that I might as well make it my career. I decided i would audition for musical theater programs around the country and become a star on Broadway. Don't get me wrong I am not delusional I knew it was a long shot and I knew it would take crap loads of work and time and effort and that when the sun went down I probably still wouldn't be were most dream to one day be. But I was going to try God damnit!
To make a horribly long story short I auditioned individually for 10 different schools. For those of you who are more shy of the spotlight this means getting dressed up for a music audition which usually includes three old looking people sitting in chairs behind a large and intimidatingly dressed table scrutinizing your every note as you try and warble out 16 bars of a ballad and 32 bars of an up tempo show piece. But at least you still have your dignity right...? WRONG! You change into dance clothing and are herded into a room with about 20 other people, like cattle, where you find that one of the old looking people is now standing in front of you. Dance audition, how bad can this be? She probably has an arthritic hip right...? WRONG! She can out step, out twirl, out tap and out kick you every day of the week dressed in jeans while singing your favorite musical's entire score an octave above where it was actually written. At least you don't have too much competition right...? WRONG! Each program I auditioned for took in no more than 20 people, this also means that half of those spots are going to be the incredibly flexible, incredibly gay guy that is out dancing himself next to you and making you look like an incompetent jackass. Each program auditions anywhere from 1,000-3,000 people a year which means that what you thought was your incredibly unique musical selection of "Where Ever He Ain't" from a little show called Mac and Mable has actually been heard by those old people behind the desk at least 20 times already, by people who parents could afford to send them to private voice lessons since they were in utero. They are probably skinnier than you are too...bitches.
So after all this I got wait listed at one school and rejected from all the others. Thus the end of my musical theater career. I guess that was all a long way of going about saying that i havent been on stage since I was in high school. It felt good to do it again, and it meant a lot to me.

After the show I went out with a couple of choir friends, for online paranoia purposes we will name them Roomie, Italian Stallion, Frat, Beans, Bike and Shags. We went to the pub and proceeded to talk about what all college students talk about...sex. It was fun and I got into quite the dramatic confrontation with Shags while using fake Irish vs. Scottish accents. I think I won but he might tell you different. The real learning experience of the evening was the discussion/ learning time that Shags, Bike, Beans and I had once everyone else had left. I won't go into details right now (for, lets be honest I have written quite enough for tonight) but suffice to say it has given me much to ponder over.

Until another day,
The Singing Ginger

Me

Okay, so now that I got that wonderfully dramatic entrance out of the way (you will find there are times when I just can't help but be wonderfully dramatic) let me tell you about myself in as many words that can describe me (there haven't been enough created yet), and as little words so that if you are some scary person you won't be able to track me down (no...seriously.)
My name is Claire and I am both a student of life as well as a university. I am amazingly fond of creating things which is really how this blog came about. It came to me by way of suggestion, by a person I am very much a fan of. A mentor of sorts we will say (thanks Dad.) One of my main passions is singing, thus the first part of the title of this blog. I am a redhead, thus the second part. I don't exactly know what i am going to do with this space yet. Right now I am just getting comfortable and starting to see exactly how things work around here, once this has been accomplished I can see no end to what fun things I can write about, in ways that give you the picture without giving you the titles (other than my name, and possibly the name of my dog, there won't be any actual names on here, again due to my internet paranoia.) I have a wonderful family you are sure to hear about, as well as a great group of friends and an irreplaceable roommate.
But the true entertainment should come from what my mother calls: magnetic attraction to drama. It is not so much that I like to create drama (really I don't, though I do end up creating it occasionally all the same) it is more my ability to attract people, with some subconscious look, or maybe provocative body language, who have so much drama in their lives they see no other option than to share it with me. It has been suggested to me that if I see them getting that look in their eyes, that "I want to share the deep and twisted secrets of my life with you" look, that I should simply put my fingers in the shape of a cross,and slowly back away while repeating "don't put that evil on me!" But me being the person I am, I can never seem to bring myself to it.
So there it is, the introduction to what is sure to be the dramatic ramblings of a singing ginger.

Inaugural Speech

Readers, friends, stumblers of the net! I come to you in the hopes that I can clear not only my own head, but might, in fact, be able to help sort out yours as well. I come to you with no certain promises, no proclamations of truth or even semi truth. I come to you with only what I have: a laptop and a voice. A redheaded wanderer of sorts seeking nothing but to enlighten myself while gracing this earth, for no reason other than enlightenment. I come to you with the drama of my life and ask only that you keep your judgments to yourself. I have little to offer by way of any sort of unique wisdom, nothing I say hasn't been said before in words much more graceful than my own. I am who I am and will offer no apology for that, much less any consequences that may come of it. If my words might find offense in your ears I will rejoice in the diversity of beliefs that is brought about in such contradiction. For no one will I silence my voice, for no one should you silence your own. Within these pages I do not expect to find any definitive answers, nor should you. I thank you for coming , and welcome you to stay.