Opera At Its Best//How to Keep Your Mind (and Creativity) Awake When Not Much Else Is...

It is past 11:00 at night and I'm tired.  Quite exhausted. Last night I spent two hours outside in six degree weather brewing with Dad. Running a hose in the middle of winter is not the brightest idea, you guys, especially if you spill it on yourself. I'm pretty sure I gave myself a cold, and Dad managed to make his worse, but hey, when else do you get to use wort coolers and new fancy schmancy burners? We have a Bavarian Helles in the fermenter now, and while he insists the olive green color will depart from the beer, I think it looks rather more like some strange health concoction full of kale as apposed to beer.
Seeing as all my nights this week have been assigned various tasks (my one free evening this week, Friday, I just auctioned off to the highest bidder, a.k.a. my aunt and uncle who need a babysitter.), which leaves precious little time for schoolwork. Two tests on Friday, interviews to conduct, and stories constantly in need of being written are on my agenda, not to even begin mentioning music practice. This second half of the semester seems to be waving goodbye to the procrastinator in me as I run faster and faster out of time. Never fear, however, for I shall always find ways in which to procrastinate. There are a few ways I keep myself alive when all other people have reasonably decided to turn themselves in to bed.
I shower all the time. This sounds silly, but thousands of drops of water cascading down your face every day force you to have some cognition. Sometimes, the water and steam even act as natural headache remedies, and who doesn't need that? Showers are also a perfect excuse to apply a facial, put on somewhat attractive clothing, or even just get out of bed.
Over the course of this semester I've been making a homework playlist of sorts, which is really just a compilation of my favorite operatic works (with a few Dworak and Wagner orchestral suites thrown in as well). There's something about reading Plato or about translating Latin whilst listening to opera that makes you feel rather classy, not to mention the fact that your family will soon begin deciding upon your location by asking from which direction the falsetto notes are drifting.
Baking is another one of my therapeutic whims which strike me in strange and inconvenient places. My current craving is for a ham, noodles, and peas casserole I loved when I was seven, and for a cold noodle salad, which I've never really liked until this moment. There have been many nights these past few weeks where I've had to stop myself from making crepes at midnight, or even drinking a batch of iced coffee at one in the morning.
I've often had the tradition of reading for pleasure every night before bed, after all the rest of my schoolwork has been completed, however this seems to have been abandoned for a world of ever luring projects and many, many inaugural addresses which must command my attention.



I now must turn in and stop writing things that come from nowhere. I'm sharing with you my homework playlist, and I'd love to hear what you listen to while studying, and any tips you have for staying awake!
xx