Sunday, April 27, 2008

• New, News, Gnus.

  New  -  adj.   Of recent origin, production, purchase, etc.; having but lately come or been brought into being
  
  New describes a lot of things right now.  New is the video camera that I now own.  New is a computer system that I have been very involved with configuring for APU over the past 6 months and will be for the future year.  New is a growing relationship with a wonderful girl that I met under very unlikely circumstances.  New is my courage to try unfamiliar things.  New is my resolve to put some of my bad habits to rest once and for all.
  
  News  -  n.  A report of a recent event; intelligence; information
  
  My life is also full of news.  My sister was just re-baptized into the Christian Orthodox church.  I went to the service (my second time at her new church), and though it was a little different than most churches I've attended, she's found a place that she seems to be calling home.  This, if you know my sister, is a big deal.  News is that on Thursday I'm playing piano for a show in Monrovia.  I will have no rehearsal- just talking through the score with Robby, whom I am replacing for a single performance.  Other news involves the fires above Monrovia/Arcadia/Sierra Madre.  They were spreading very quickly today, and watching it makes one feel utterly powerless.  News is that on a walk today with the aforementioned girl, we passed a place that looked familiar.  I said, "Huh, that looks like where Jay and Faith live, but I don't remember."  I then spotted a man on the stairs, and said, "Hey, Jay!"  He invited us in, gave us Orangina, and we spent some time talking with him, Faith, and a few of their other guests. 
  
  Also in news is that my boss, Daniel, is leaving the UG Registrar's Office to pursue a rapidly growing career as an all-around musician.   He told me a few days ago, and I couldn't concentrate on anything else that day, because I realize the impact he has had on me through the years.  Daniel and I are very similar in many ways, and very different in many ways.  We are both musicians specializing in voice, piano, arranging, conducting, and technology.  My first semester at APU I was scared out of my wits, and he was kind enough to help me along in little ways.  He was Al Clifft's student conductor in UCO, something that I always wanted to do.  He was a tech in our music computer lab- one of the few that was well respected by his fellow students.  He accompanied the choirs at Covina High School for a time.  He took music jobs that seemed way over his head, only to find that God was faithful in bringing him things that he was just equipped enough to accomplish.  He took a step of faith and applied for a job in a registrar's office, an unlikely place for a musical talent of his caliber.
  
  In all these areas, I've followed his lead in a way.  I've had the honor of bringing encouragement to several UCO newbies, I conducted for Al and Rod in UCO for years, I became a music lab tech (much because someone I helped in the lab said, "Wow, you're like the next Daniel Semsen!" and I was honored), I played piano for CHS, I have taken (and survived) gigs outside my alleged skills, and I've now worked in the UG Reg Office for 11 months.
  
  I've looked up to Daniel for 7 years, despite how mean I am to him most of the time.  When I beat him in the weight-loss competition, when I trounced his record in the crowd-counter speed competition, when I pointed out his spelling errors and laughed at him for the Reply-All email that will go down in history, I did so out of love.  Daniel has inspired me to do well as a student, a working musician, and an administrator.  I continue to secretly look up to him, even though I make fun of him to his face.  Daniel, you will be sorely missed in the quadruple-wide UG Reg trailer, and I pray TONS of blessing on you and your family during your newest chapter of awesomeness.
  
  
  Gnu  -  n.  Stocky, oxlike antelopes of the genus Connochaetes, the silver-gray, white-bearded C. taurinus of the eastern African plain and the black, white-tailed C. gnou of central South Africa: recently near extinction, the South African gnu is now protected.  Also called wildebeest.
  
   
  
  
  These are gnus. ^^  They are watching... always watching...
  
   
  

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