market lamp

Market Lamp

April 2008

My iTunes: Monica's Waltz from Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium

Really, I was going to go to bed early tonight. But then I opened my "Pictures" folder and, well, I got sucked in to the world of photo editing once again. I think it was a successful detour, though, don't you?

I am a traveller at heart. I love to travel. Especially in Europe. One of my favorite photo blogs to visit is a daily photo blog for Zurich. Richard's images are always stellar, and almost always black and white. It's been a while since I posted a black and white image, so today I set out to do so, inspired by some of his latest.

This was a shot I had taken when I went to Bath, England. I was on the second floor of a little coffee shop across the street from the market. I thought this lamp had some potential, so I snapped a few frames before finishing my coffee. When I first came back to edit the image, I was disappointed with what I had taken. Somehow it just didn't fit what I had imagined when I framed the shot. So I put it away. I stumbled across it again, but this time I have Photoshop on my side. So, with a little help from CS3, a bit of midnight oil, and some inspiration from Anna's use of diffuse glow, I played with it a bit and all of the sudden -- it was exactly what I had pictured!

I wish all my photographic endeavours were this successful...

...and if you're wondering about this piece, yes, it is another operatic aria that I'm working on. Quite difficult, but very beautiful. And I get to hit a high Bb!

cascading flowers

Cascading Flowers

April 2008

My iTunes: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy

I suppose even though Project Green is over and done with, it doesn't hurt to have some green in this next image. I didn't want to use it for Project Green because it's not all about the color green. But now I can use it!

I like how the flowers fall gracefully out of the flower-box, almost cascading down the side. I think the purple and green look nice together, and I like the duality between the background and foreground -- the background is brown and flat and the interest lies mostly in its texture, but the flowers are delicate and three-dimensional, and the reason your eye sees them is their color.

I think this music is quite fitting for the image -- very relaxed. I recommend Debussy to anyone interested in piano music.

Now that I've surfaced for a post, I must return to the dungeon of the to-do-list... let me just say it's rather challenging playing catch up when you've been functioning at half-speed or less, were out for a week, and not are still not fully back to your usual self.

guinness and green

Guinness and Green

April 2008

My iTunes: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Well, I guess my attempt at not posting after midnight is failed today... But I've been up late working on papers and research, listening to Harry Potter a bit, and thought that I'd take a break and post this.

This is the last post for Project Green. This is another image from the archives, from when I lived in London. (I'm not a particular fan of beer, but having beer from a tap in London make us some fond memories of mine!)

No, Guinness beer is not green! This cup served as a make-shift vase (which I love!) for some flowers at my friends' house. I think most people tend to look at the flowers themselves and don't pay attention to the vase, and certainly not to the stems. I really liked this view, though -- I thought it had a lot of character. Now looking at the image, I like how the blues and purples of the background bring out the yellow-green of the stems.

Well, I should head to bed now. I have a lot to accomplish tomorrow -- practice piano, mail thank you notes, run to the library, work on finances, research apocalyptic imagery on medieval tympana, write a paper on a reliquary of the True Cross said to once belong to Pope Innocent V, write a paper on Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong, meet with my professor to lay out plans for the third course of study I'm attempting, stage the second half of the scene from Copland's The Tender Land with my partner, have rehearsal for Opera/Musical Theater Workshop, meet with my group about a medieval art presentation on Tuesday, lead Bible study, and stage the aria portion of Copland's The Tender Land. Whew... I'll definitely be needing tonight's beauty sleep!

sunny day

Sunny Day

April 2008

My iTunes: La Donna e Mobile from Verdi's Rigoletto, sung by Luciano Pavarotti

Sorry for missing yesterday -- it was a full day and I didn't get a chance to post. I am no longer staying with the folks and am back at home for the rest of the recovery.

Once again, this is an image from the archives. But each time I post an archival image, I do some original editing with each image. I like the composition of this one a lot and have wanted to play with it, and Project Green gave me the excuse! I wish the weather were like this today -- yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, but today looks all hazy.

Yesterday was the first day I really felt back to being myself. I had a two-hour vocal master class in the afternoon, and one of the other voice students sang the piece that I'm listening to. It's very catchy, and even if you're not an opera lover or familiar with it at all, you might recognize the tune. It is so wonderful to get back into singing! It was the first time I had really been able to attempt to sing in nearly 3 months. The last time I had a truly decent voice lesson was February 6, and now that all my respiratory ailments and my back troubles are over, and can start singing again! Hopefully I'll be able to get myself back into shape for the performances I have this weekend and the audition on May 10!

And once I have my full range of mobility back (which will be another couple weeks), hopefully I'll be able to put up some new pictures and let the archives rest for a while!

through the woods

Through the Woods

April 2008

My iTunes: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

No, I did not go trapsing through the woods to get this shot with my post-surgery back! I admit, I pulled this one out of the archives. I'm following everyone's advice and resting, which means no trips through the woods for me! I'm on my second audiobook and enjoying the pampering I'm getting -- I've never known my brothers to be such cheerful servants...

I thought this would be a nice addition to the Project Green theme everyone is working on. I remember the day I took this shot was much like today -- gentle breeze, warm sun, but not too hot. I'm looking forward to enjoying more of this good weather. JC's blog post for today also reminded me of this shot.

I've decided I'm going to try to get to bed a bit earlier, so I hope I will not be putting up the day's post at 12:03 in the morning anymore... We'll see how long I stick to this conviction.

kermit the frog

Kermit the Frog

April 2008

My iTunes: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Carletta's blog inspired this photo -- she had the song, It's Not That Easy Being Green on her blog. One nice thing about being here for my post-surgery recovery is that we have this old, Kermit the Frog puppet. Project Green was the first thing that came to mind.

Surgery went well -- thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! My nurses were especially wonderful. The pain the morning before surgery was the worst it's ever been, though, and taking pictures was not the first thing on my mind, so no hospital pictures for Project Green. Sorry, all -- maybe next time!

I'll be recovering for a few more days, and will hopefully still put up some pictures!

constant shade of green

Constant Shade of Green

April 2008

My iTunes: Marionette by Jars of Clay

This is one of my favorite portraits I've taken.

Meet Constance. We lived together in London. I took this on the Tube in Camden Town when we were waiting for the next train to come.

Surgery is today. Starting at midnight, no food or drink. I'm not nervous about the surgery, more so about dealing with the pain up until surgery as I travel to the hospital and wait to be checked in. Since standing is now horribly painful, the whole idea of waiting in the waiting room scares me more than surgery...

Wish me luck, and thank you for all your prayers! Not sure if I'll be posting tomorrow or not.

poetry

Poetry

April 2008

My iTunes: Rewrite This Tragedy by Sara Groves

Installment number two for Project Green -- these were some books that I found at an antique shop last year. I like seeing books like these on shelves. There is something appealing about seeing a bunch of books that all look the same, but knowing that upon closer inspection they aren't all exactly alike.

My favorite of these books is probably The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. I read them in high school years ago and enjoyed them a lot. I'm not a huge fan of poetry, though. I think it's rather odd that I'm not a poetry fan because I love music and art so much. Liking poetry would make sense, but thankfully it isn't a prerequisite for liking art or music! My appreciate for poetry increases when it is set to music, though. I like some of the German poetry that is the inspiration for some of the art songs that I have studied. But poetry for poetry's sake is something I have yet to learn to appreciate.

I've added a new widget to my blog that I rather like -- it's an iTunes widget and there are a variety of options that you can have to customize its appearance and what it displays. I have it set to display the names of my favorite artists.

1 day until surgery!

creeping ivy

Creepying Ivy

Apri 2008

My iTunes: You Are the Sun by Sara Groves

How ironic can you get -- I decided yesterday that this week I would do Project Green, and can you guess what project Anna has started? Yes, Project Green! So, I will be joining her this week in trying to find green to share with you!

I thought this image would be a nice one to start with. I really like the look of ivy, especially when it climbs around the windows of old houses. Unfortunately, I didn't find this great place State-side -- it's an old image from when I lived in London. Since I can hardly get out of bed right now, I really can gallivant around looking for green things, so the pictures this week will be pulled from my stash.

2 days until surgery.

sunday necessity

Sunday Necessity

April 2008

My iTunes: Bubbly by Colbie Caillat

Robert had a great comment on yesterday's photo -- coffee isn't just a Saturday necessity... it's also a Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... He inspired me to post a similar shot today. He has posted some really great macro shots lately -- take a peek!

I had a great time participating in Project Yellow last week. (It's really helped in keeping my mind off the pain, too!) I really enjoyed having something specific to keep an eye out for as I either had my camera out or as I skimmed through photos I've taken in the past. I enjoyed having a bit of continuity from post-to-post as well. So, I think I will experiment (at least for a little while) with starting some projects of my own. We'll see how closely I can stick to it... sometimes I find it challenging to stay within the established parameters, especially if I find a great shot that is unrelated to the project theme. But I think I have a solution: I'll try to stick to the project during the week, and on weekends anything goes! If the mood strikes, perhaps I'll join in on some of your projects as well!

So, after today I'll have to come up with a good theme idea. Places, things, colors, shapes, compositions... But for now, it's the weekend, and anything goes!

In other news, I thought it would be fun to post a list of the blogs that you, my readers, have created. It's been great seeing everyone's creativity, and not just visual creativity but "literary" as well! I've included that new list on the side of my blog. I'll periodically check to make sure it's up-to-date with a list of my (current) regular visitors!

3 days until surgery.

saturday necessity

Saturday Necessity

April 2008

My iTunes: Non So Piu Cosa Son, Cosa Faccio from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro

Well, I made it to the wedding, and I guess you could say I made it through the wedding. I tried to sit down for the ceremony (the only place to lie down on the floor and still see things is in the aisle, and I wasn't going to do that), but the rest of the evening was spent lying on the floor in the back corner.

My friends were great -- they kept bringing me food and coming over to sit with me. They insisted on dancing a slow song with me, so I stood on the dance floor and they danced with and around me. It was really fun and I'm glad I could say that I danced at my friend's wedding. We we able to get pictures with the lovely bride, too.

A few of the guests kept coming over to chat and to check on me as well, and one of the servers was really sweet -- she even gave me a hug when I was hobbling out.

For those of you who know me and how obsessively I'm attached to my camera, this will say a lot: the pain was too bad to take a single picture. And the sad part is I could have gotten some really unique shots -- it's not too typical to have wedding shots taken by someone lying flat on the floor! Oh well, perhaps I can snag a shot from a friend and post it another time.

I thought this opera would be fun to listen to after the wedding last night -- the English translation of the title is The Marriage of Figaro. This is one of my favorite songs, sung by the mezzo-soprano pants role, Cherubino, about his undying love for love, which he will proclaim to all the world, and if none will listen, he'll tell himself.

But anyway, after getting back from the wedding last night with a splitting migraine from the lights (they're not designed to be starred at from below), I decided to let myself "sleep in," which means try to go back to sleep every time I wake up with pain. I'm still in bed at the moment, and I'm thinking this old image is exactly what I need right now -- coffee is a Saturday necessity!

4 days until surgery.

looking through the glass

Looking Through the Glass

April 2008

My iTunes: Prendero Quel Brunettino from Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte

Do you like the slight pun of this picture's title? I thought it would be fun to do a play on words with "Through the Looking Glass"!

Anna has joined in a new project starting by Mark -- Project Looking Through. Check out some of his images here. I can't promise I'll stick to it the whole time, but I did catch this picture. I like it in black and white because you're less distracted by all the colors and can focus more on texture, and on the fact that you're looking through a glass and the perspective becomes distorted and fractured.

I really like this song -- I find the melody is quite tuneful and catchy. Really, I just have a soft spot for Mozart's operas. It's one of my goals in life to see each one performed. This is one of his comic operas, also known as opera buffa, and the entire thing is quite entertaining. In this song, the playful Dorabella is persuaded that there could be no harm in a little flirtation, and surprisingly, Fiordiligi, the more "uptight" of the two sisters, agrees. They decide who will pair off with whom, and each picks the other's original suitor. It's a great opera!

Today was my first day without ibuprofen. It was horrible. But not as horrible as I was afraid it could be. I was able to get out of bed, but standing and walking are extremely painful. I've ended up cancelling work for tomorrow, which will be the beginning of three weeks off... I have a wedding to go to tomorrow evening, and it should be interesting to see how I hold up -- wish me luck!

5 days until surgery.

view down the wall

View Down the Wall

April 2008

My iTunes: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Movement II by Mozart

This is one of my favorite pictures. I can't really pin point why I like it so much. When I took it, it didn't really grab me as anything special. But the more I look at it, the more I'm inspired to look and reflect.

It's rather like a visual metaphor:

Life is a path, and you can't always see where you're headed. You just see pieces of the journey, and when you look at things up close, it might not even look like you're going anywhere, or that you're even on a path. It's tempting to keep your eyes down and just watch your feet as you walk, but if you look up you see the beauty all around.

But at the same time, it's the imperfections of the path that make it unique and almost beautiful in itself. If it were clean and sterile, it would be boring and lack luster. Each twist and turn, each crack and cranny adds a little spice. When you take time to stop and smell the roses, you see that each and every part of the journey is different and unique.

So, get out there and enjoy life. Every little bit of it.

maryland avenue

Maryland Avenue

April 2008

My iTunes: Vienna by Billy Joel

Now that Project Yellow has finished, I feel like there are so many more things to take pictures of! This is a shot I wanted to post before, but I got caught up in Project Yellow. This is along my favorite place to park in Baltimore near the Lyric -- Maryland Avenue. Before the opera, my parallel parking skills were not too bad, but now I feel like a pro. I can whip my car in and out in seconds, coming within 2 inches of the curb without hitting it with my tires. But parallel parking on the left is much trickier than you would think...

I like the almost exaggerated nature of the linear perspective here, and how the picture seems so symmetrical but actually isn't. In a way, the two sides are opposites -- on the left are machines capable of motion that come in a variety of colors, and on the right is the bridge which is completely stationary (one would hope) and impedes motion with the white, colorless wall.

I believe we will be starting a new project shortly, but in the meantime I'll keep putting up images.

7 days until surgery -- one week to go!

marbles

Marbles

April 2008

My iTunes: Vedrai, Carino from Mozart's Don Giovanni

Well, I believe today will be the last installment of Project: Yellow. Thanks, Anna, for starting the trend and to everyone else for following on and being a great little community of post-ers and comment-ers! Check out some of Anna's pictures, and she has a collection of links to the nearly 70 people who have joined in on this project!

I thought I would close with a timeless shot -- marbles. I played lots of different games with marbles as a child, and my grandmothers and great-grandmother used to tell stories about how they used to play with marbles when they were little. Marbles just don't seem to change, and they come in all different colors -- including yellow!

This song is one of the first arias I ever sung. It's quite fun and very catchy. I find myself singing it randomly while doing the dishes or folding laundry or typing up a blog post... I need to start getting into high gear to get ready for my audition. I have to work on my Italian diction, my sight singing (that's going to need a lot of work...), and my audition pieces: Black Swan from Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium and In Uomini, In Soldati from Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte. Wish me luck as I practice and prepare for 10 May!

THE END of PROJECT YELLOW

8 days until surgery

daffodils in D.C.

Daffodils in D.C.

April 2008

My iTunes: Bianca e Falliero: Cielo, Il Mio Labbra Ispira

I made it down to D.C. and back safely yesterday! I was definitely in pain by the end, but it was totally worth it. I took my grandmother down with me -- she hadn't been to an opera since she and my grandfather were dating in 1941! After driving to D.C. and living in London, I felt completely comfortable (mentally, at least) getting down there -- it's funny what you can get used to; I know some people wouldn't have gone just because the transportation aspect would scare them. But me, I'm such an opera lover that I won't let anything stop me, even extreme pain from a severely herniated disc!

Before the show, my grandmother and I had some time to kill, so I snapped some pictures of the yellow things that caught my eye, then we sat in the Starbucks down the street. A lot of the cast came in and got coffees before the show. Now that I'm "in the opera scene," I recognized a lot of them. A good portion of them were in the opera that I was just in. The funniest part was that one lady walked in whose face look very familiar and I thought she might be my teacher's mother. Turns out, I was right.

The show was amazing -- the cast was just phenomenal! Vivica Genoux played a stellar Falliero and her coloratura was stunning; Anna Christy was quite the rising star as Bianca and sang her full range effortlessly -- I even heard one woman refer to her as the new Kathleen Battle (quite the compliment if you know opera); Daniel Mobbs was a great hit as Capellio and his baritone voice was superbly cast for the part. I know I'm slightly biased, but my favorite was Kyle Engler (my teacher) -- had the part of Costanza had a good aria or two to give her a chance to show off her voice, I think she totally would have stolen the show = ) Sung with ease and finesse, her mezzo-soprano tones were rich and warm and seemed to fill the whole auditorium. Overall, it was an amazing performance!

As I mentioned in the last post, this one will have two pictures -- I can't resist sticking in the picture of Kyle and I from after the show = )

taxi

Taxi

April 2008

My iTunes: Nacqui all' affanno from Rossini's La Cenerentola performed by Vivica Genaux

So after looking through the recent posts of a few other bloggers who are doing Project: Yellow, I started thinking about what I subconsciously associate with the color yellow. Have you ever seen the children's flashcards that teach them colors or numbers by showing them something familiar? Yellow would be something like a banana or a taxi. I didn't have any bananas lying around, but I did find this picture of a taxi.

I snapped this the last time I was in New York City. I had been zooming in to take a picture of something farther away, and this taxi drove by. I just pointed and clicked and hoped something came out. This is what I got -- lucky me!

I'm planning to take my grandmother down to Washington D.C. to see Washington Concert Opera's production of Rossini's Bianca e Falliero. My favorite opera singer (who also happens to be my voice teacher) is singing the role of Costanza, and I'm really excited to hear her perform. I've been to her jazz performances before, but opera is her true specialty. The cast also includes Vivica Genaux, who sings this recording I'm listening to on iTunes, and Daniel Mobbs, who played Mercutio in the production of Romeo et Juliette that I was just in. I'll bring my camera with me to D.C. and see if I can find some yellow things to catch my eye. (I might follow Anna's example and put up multiple pictures tomorrow; one for project yellow, and one of my and my teacher at the opera!)

10 days until surgery.

side of the road

Side of the Road

April 2008

My iTunes: This Time by Jonathan Rhys Meyers from the soundtrack to August Rush

First off, let me say how excited I am that I actually have people reading my blog now! It seemed to happen overnight. I went from getting the occasional comment from my faithful reader in Philly to getting 12 comments on my last post! And the number of visitors has broken into the thousands! Thanks for visiting, and for commenting!

Since several people commented on yesterday's photo that Project: Yellow inspired them to take pictures of the lines on the road, I thought this would be a good image for today. I was actually in my car when I took it. I don't remember where I was going, but I had the windows down and the music up, and as I glanced out the window as I was driving, I thought, "That looks like a good picture." So I pulled off to the side of the road, whipped out my camera, and got this.

I like the composition and the two different axes of emphasis. It reminds me of Hagia Sophia because of the dual axes and the way that your eyes are drawn upward to the heavens. But only an art historian would make a connection between a rural landscape of a cornfield and one of the most majestic pieces of architecture known to man.

As for the latest news on my back: surgery is scheduled for 23 April, and I am not allowed to take any ibuprofen for the entire week preceding... I'm not sure how I'm going to survive that week, seeing as right now I'm taking narcotics and 800 mg of ibuprofen four times a day just to bring the pain down to a manageable level. Without medication, I have a hard time walking. We'll see how things go... The 23rd can't come too soon for me.

11 days and counting...

parking space

Parking Space

April 2008

My iTunes: Trumpet Concerto in Eb composed by Haydn

Here is a little bit of yellow that some of us might see -- or even look for -- everyday without realizing it. It's not too often that we get this close of a look at it, though, and if we're bending down like this, it's usually to check our tire pressure... unless you're doing a series of blog posts with the theme of Project: Yellow.

Okay, I admit, it's an old shot and I wasn't taking it specifically for Project: Yellow. There's NO way I could get down at this angle right now, at least not without excruciating pain from my herniated disc. BUT, I did re-edit this shot and made the yellow a bit more punchy. However, were I able to get down at this angle, I would absolutely do so for a picture.

yellowed spine

Yellowed Spine

April 2008

My iTunes: Piano Trio in G Minor, Scherzo by the Ravel Trio (composer by Clara Schumann)

I thought I would combine my ongoing "Project: Yellow" theme with my spine saga and take a picture of a yellow spine of a book. I know, it's a bad pun, but I thought it was kind of funny.

flower bucket

Flower Bucket
April 2008

My iTunes: Waters of the Earth by The Ravel Trio and Kyle Engler

Another installment for Project: Yellow. It took this shot the same day that I took the one I posted yesterday. A friend and I went to a sunflower farm with her 3-year-old daughter. It was quite fun, and I got a lot of good shots. Some of them have appeared earlier, and now they are resurfacing again as springtime weather tries to emerge in Maryland.

As if this week couldn't get too much worse: I now find that as of now I am homeless for next year. Guess I should get working on looking for somewhere to live.

word verification

One more note to my readers:

I've hoped that I wouldn't have to use the word verification on my blog, because it can be annoying to leave posts when you have to take the extra time to type in the word verification, but unfortunately I've been having a lot of trouble with spam comments over the past few weeks. They have been posted by various "people" and usually say something like "Please see here." First, I think it is terribly rude to post such things on private blogs. I for one do not use blog comments for direction in my shopping preferences, and I don't wish to advertise their junk on my blog.

If whoever has been leaving these posts, I respectfully request that you cease and desist immediately. In the meantime, I have enabled word verification in the hopes that it will deter them from posting such inconsiderate comments.

But for my faithful readers, or for new visitors, I love reading your comments -- please continue to leave them!

yellow sunflower

Yellow Sunflower

April 2008

My iTunes: Birds in Flight by The Ravel Trio and Kyle Engler

A friend of mine has a photo blog that I frequent and has been doing "Project: Yellow" as a theme for her pictures for the past few days. Unfortunately because I have been dealing with health issues with my back, I haven't been able to join her in posting for the past few days. But, I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon and posting this.

The latest on my herniated disc: I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday and will most likely be scheduling surgery.

The song I'm listening to was performed yesterday by The Ravel Trio and Kyle Engler. Kyle is my voice teacher and she occasionally joins the trio, of which her husband, Daniel Lau, is the pianist, as an accompanying vocalist. The group mostly performs classical music, but some jazz as well. They recently have been performing a series of songs by women composers. They commissioned Dotti Anita Taylor to write this song specifically for them. This woman is quite musically talented and is a pianist, flautist, vocalist, composer, and poet. And she is a math professor. I've really enjoyed what I've heard from The Ravel Trio, and I always jump at the chance to hear my voice teacher sing. Check out their website: http://www.raveltrio.com/

whack!

Whack!

April 2008

My iTunes: Depuis Hier... Que Fais Tu, Blanche Tourterelle

So this isn't exactly an artsy picture, but it's one of my favorite from the cast party tonight. We'e doing a re-enactment of one of our favorite scenes, dubbed "The Street Scene" according to the stage manager, where Stephano (played by the talented Stephanie Woodling) slapped my butt. The funny thing is that I didn't officially meet Stephanie until we took this picture, after she had touched my tush countless times = )

catherine

Catherine

April 2008

My iTunes: The Mermaid's Song by Haydn, performed by Anne Sofie von Otter

My apologies for not posting since Wednesday. The pain has actually been a bit worse, and I've been feeling pretty out of it since Thursday.

This is a shot I took of my friend, Catherine, who I roped into being a supernumerary with me for the opera. It's been great spending time with her! She is so photogenic -- I want to do a photoshoot with her sometime. Looking at her smiling face just makes me happy.

make-up

Make-up

April 2008

My iTunes: Notte E Giorno Faticar

I'm posting from the opera once again, so I figured I'd use another opera shot. It's inbetween acts and I have about an hour before I'm in another scene.

I like this shot because it's almost black and white but there are the shades of pink, and the whole composition is based (accidentally) on circles.

mirror, mirror

Mirror, Mirror

April 2008

My iTunes: Lakme: Sous le dome epais, "Flower Duet" performed by Adriana Kohutkova, Denisa Slepkovska, Johannes Wildner, & Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra

As promised, a non-opera picture and posting. This is, once again, an old picture from my time in London. I like the juxtaposition of the mirror with the brick wall. They seem to embody so many opposites: vibrant and monochromatic, clean and dirty, front and back, inside and outside, flatness and depth... I guess that is part of the appeal for me with this image.

This song (which has quite a long name) is a pretty well-known duet. It's absolutely gorgeous. Two of my friends were rehearsing it yesterday and my voice teacher was working with them on it, and when she opened up and sang an example, it was like the whole world stopped to listen. I love watching her conduct and direct. It's like watching a master at work. She is a total inspiration and has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard.