what was your major in college? do you wish you could have studied something else?

       sure, it was a question from a couple days ago, but i just saw it because i'm hip and up to date like that. and even though most of you know the answer already i'm going to answer it anyway then just keep on rambling like i usually do because i can. english with an emphasis in fiction creative writing and an incomplete minor in linguistics because i'm a "see things through" kinda guy. hm. i really am, though. sometimes a little too much. do i wish i'd have studied something else? sometimes, yes. i liked science, too, and i'd probably have a better chance of a salaried job right now had i gone that route. and i almost did music, but that probably would have been even more stupid (for me). but i don't regret my choice, and i'm glad i finally finished it. but i've been wondering "now what?" for a bit too long and it's getting rather frustrating. i like spontaneity in little things -- not big things.

       i wrote the ending to the first chapter of this historical fiction/fantasy that i've been working on. no, the chapter's not done -- just the ending. haha. i'm probably not too far from finishing the chapter, but i also started this thing -- jesus, i just looked it up -- almost a year ago. and i had had the idea for a while before that, turning it over in my mind. yeah, i did the bulk of what i have now during nanowrimo last year. i had started a little early and posted the prologue on tenebra_ruo at the end of october (ha, the 24th -- my favorite day). don't bother clicking on that link, i think only two of you will be able to see it. it's not much to see anyway -- things have changed since then. wow, that kinda threw me. that's really sad. sure, i have bits of the second and third chapters going, but just that after a year? that's pathetic. but -- i write best when that's all i'm doing. if i could take a year, not have to worry about anything else, and just write -- i'm sure i could finish it. they should do grants for nobody writers working on the next great american novel and give them loads of cash so they can live and work on their writing, all in the name of bettering society. or something. i wonder if i could do some fundraising, get some art investors who don't expect a return other than perhaps a signed copy of the finished product. anyone know anyone? hm?

       got kinda off base there. anyway, i wrote this ending. and i really liked it. seriously tugged my heartstrings and got me all excited because it's a little bit of a cliff-hanger. and now none of you will be able to read it because i'll be way too self-conscious and scared because i'm proud of it and i'll be crushed if you don't like it. especially you critics out there. and i've already decided to write under a pen name that none of you will recognize. so .

       first day back at the grocery store tomorrow. so pumped.

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What is your favorite kind of ice cream? Why do you like it?

       dude. this is the most important question ever, and one of my favorites to ask people. i have many favorites: chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough, dulce de leche, coffee, and raspberry. but my all-time favorite would have to be peppermint stick ice cream, and unless i make it myself i only get it at christmas because it's seasonal. mmm. i love it.

       what's your favorite?

       p.s. home for the weekend and not much xanga-time, so i apologize to those i'm needing to keep up with. i'll be back soon.

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As a child, what was your favorite book? Have you reread that book since your childhood?

       easy. the chronicles of narnia. we used to get the scholastic reading program fliers every couple weeks or so. at the time i didn't know what the story was, but i wanted it so bad. i was always allowed a book or two from the flier, but this was a big one and a little more expensive so i had to reserve it as a birthday or christmas present (don't remember which). i was so excited when i finally got it. i tore through them, then read them all again. don't know how many times i've read them since, but a fair few, and i'll still pick one up now and again and spend an hour or two on it. doesn't take me nearly as long now as it used to. those were the books i'd stay up late into the night reading with a flashlight under the covers.

       other childhood favorites included "the little engine that could," "tuffy the tugboat" (when i was really small), and i very much enjoyed the boxcar children series, or at least back when they were still written by the same author. also about a hundred million others that i can't remember at the moment, or i can and don't want to go through all of them.
  
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do you play any musical instruments? what do you play?

       many of you who have read this blog in the past know that i play a few instruments. the whole "mercurialmusic" screen name thing might also be a clue, but you never know. anyway, i'll admit that in a way i'm whoring myself out with this post because i'm trying to increase my post count for the reason that that tiny little "true" badge would look damn good next to my name. anyway, on with the answer: yes, i play musical instruments. i've had formal training with the piano on and off since i was around five years old, with teachers ranging from my grandmother to a semiprofessional teacher during high school to performance courses during my freshman year in college for work toward my music minor. whilst i was still in high school, my little brother was coerced by my parents to learn an instrument; he chose the guitar. when he began to give up after a handful of lessons i happily relieved him of his musical burden and proceeded (extremely slowly) to learn on my own. being busy and having sensitive fingertips i also postponed my guitar study until a year ago when my parents purchased a beautiful new fender acoustic/electric for my christmas present. progress has remained slow, but the fingertips are no longer a problem because i have wicked callouses from picking up the violin during my freshman year in college (and let me tell you, violin strings are much worse). i'd always wanted to learn violin and a girl in my dorm (who played violin) had always wanted to learn piano, so we exchanged lessons. that didn't go very far (i've since taught others with varying success), but during my sophomore year (now at a different college) i purchased a violin (the loan on which was greater than the loan on my car ) and completed two semesters of study at the music/arts institute of independence under marc abelson, a violinist for both the trans-siberian orchestra and (def leppard? i'll have to check this, but i'm too tired now to remember which band it was -- for some reason pink floyd also comes to mind). during my junior year in college i received some lessons on the drums (didn't take too well to the set but i was killer on the practice pad ) from a former university of missouri drum major. less traditionally considered an instrument, but my most favorite of all of them, is voice. i'd always been in choirs throughout school and even sang in the church choir (with a few solos, i might add), but i finally worked up the nerve to ask for formal training during high school. i began under a qualified teacher at the school, but he didn't quite understand my voice (once upon a time i had a three octave range -- my keyboard has five) so i was referred to dr. ican'trememberhisname at william jewell college (fine arts college in the kansas city area), and at $60 a pop his lessons were well worth it. i've sung in six different languages (that i can think of), but my favorite song that i did for him (and the best, in my opinion) was "music of the night." no, tasty, i won't sing it for you. from there i received a full-ride scholarship for voice and academics to columbia college (you're thinking of columbia university), a private school about 4 blocks away from where i'm sitting now. and in my rambling and much-too-long way, i believe i've just answered that question.   

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