Three Firsts

#1 - FIRST SINGLE ROOMATE IN COLUMBUS:

Today I am moving out of Burke and Julia's and in with Curtis Hebdon. Curtis and I were in the same ward (The Colony) at BYU for about a year and a half. It was a surprise to see him my first Sunday at church several weeks ago... turns out he's starting his first year of dental school here at The OSU. He's been selectively searching for a roomate to help subsidize his mortgage payment (his dad bought him a town home here), and it looks like I was a good candidate. So here you are... my first single roomate here in Ohio:

(btw, he was Buddy the Elf for Halloween this year)

#2 - FIRST FULL SELF-HAIRCUT:

My first haircut in Ohio cost me $20. It was nice, they even shampooed my hair and everything. But say I learned to cut my own hair and instead deposited $20 each month into a retirement account (IRA, etc) invested in a good growth stock mutual fund (S&P 500, etc) for the next 40 years (until I was 65). Assuming I earn a conservative 8% return, compounded monthly, I would have SAVED (40 yrs)x(12 months)x($20 per month) = $9,600 in haircuts and EARNED $60,686 in interest for a total of $70,286!!! So take a look at my little money maker and tell me what you think. Is it $70K worth looking like this?:


#3 - FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH EXPERIENCE

Rebekka, a new friend from the ward, invited me to the semi-annual "Choral Evensong" event at a the Trinity Lutheran Seminary. It was really cool. Their ~200 capacity chapel was filled with people, was dimly lit, and had a tall, narrowing wooden ceiling, allowing for great acoustics. I wanted to find a picture of the inside of the chapel, but this was the only picture I could find of the place:


The program started with a 30 minute prelude with piano, oboe, organ, and cello soloists each performing works by Chopin, Bach, and some other old guys. Then we all sang hymns together (standing) with organ and orchestra. This also included a few scriptural readings and response singings (where the minister would sing/chant a line and we would sing/chant a response)

Then the choir and orchestra performed Hayden's Mass in D Minor (Nelson's Mass). I really enjoyed the music, but it was also interesting for me because I knew most of the words from singing random mass songs in children's choir (Kyrie, Gloria, Qui Tollis, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Dona Nobis Pacem). The actual mass portion of the event lasted about an hour and included 4 talented soloists that sang together with the choir, or separately on occasion. The soprano soloist was my favorite.

After the choral presentation of Hayden's mass, the minister said a prayer and we did a few more response singings, then ended with a strong hymn called "Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart!" THAT one was my favorite. It was musically powerful by itself, but when you throw on an organ and full orchestra, wow! Not used to singing hymns like that in church.

The last line of the program stated "The greeting of peace may be shared by all", which apparently means that when the minister invited us to do so, we all turned to our neighbors, shook hands, and said "Peace be with you". I'm not sure I put the emphasis on the right syllable, but tried to do my best, as these were foreign words to me.

Overall, it was a great experience. Really cool. Now I'm looking for a really awesome gospel/black choir church to attend some time. :)