bayside pier

Bayside Pier

May 2008

My iTunes: Love Song by Sara Bareilles

This is the edge of our pier. I spent many a summer on this pier doing everything from fishing to swimming to napping to picniking to sunbathing. It's starting to show its age now, and it splinters something dreadfully. I think it's still picturesque, though. But my favorite part is all the memories that it holds.

Today was an unscheduled day, meaning I didn't "plan" anything, other than starting to pack for Philadelphia (which I haven't quite started yet). I ran a few errands earlier, went to the movies with my mother (we saw Made of Honor -- it was quite a fun movie, but my goodness are tickets expensive these days!), did my physical therapy exercises, and have watched all three original Indiana Jones movies while getting some work done on the computer and putting together a packing list.

While running errands this afternoon, I found my favorite mini-series (Christy) on DVD for a bargain. Christy is based on the book of the same name by Catherine Marshall. Yes, we share a name, but I started going by Christy after reading the book and watching the movies. It is one of my favorite books of all time, and I think the movies are excellent as well. Even though some of the movies are not based on the book, I think they remain perfectly true to the characters of the novel. The casting was wonderful, too. Kellie Martin is a delight, possibly my favorite actress -- and she, like me, was an Art History major (at Yale). Even though Tyne Daly doesn't match the physical description of the Miss Alice character in the book, she plays a perfect Miss Alice in all other respects. And Stewart Finlay-McLennan may be nearly as old as my father, but MAN is he a hunk! (The accent doesn't hurt, either.)

But I've procrastinated long enough... it's time to start packing!

running shoes

Running Shoes

May 2008

My iTunes: Fleurs Promises by Poulenc

Although it seemed full, today (or technically yesterday) was pretty relaxing. The only negative part was getting two shots -- now my arms are sore. What started as lunch with a good friend lasted until I left at 10:45... it was quite a nice break from the usual stresses of life.

Tomorrow shouldn't be too busy -- I have physical therapy at 10:00, might make a quick run to the library, then will hang out with another friend in the afternoon. Since I'll be running to warm up at PT tomorrow, I thought I'd post this shot of my running shoes. I seem to be running through life at near-break-neck speed. I need to remember (as some of you have rightly pointed out) to slow down sometimes, even if I don't take off my proverbial running shoes at least I can take a breather...

Well, after my voice lesson today and talking with my teacher briefly about graduate school and career paths, I have a few things I'd like to research before hitting the sack.

neighboring fence

Neighboring Fence

May 2008

My iTunes: Aida by Verdi

Technically you could call this the neighbors' fence since it borders the edge of their property. Most fences try to keep people -- not water -- out, but this one is a little different...

Short post tonight... It's been a long day and I am meeting a friend for coffee bright and early at 7:30 tomorrow morning, so I need my beauty sleep. Coffee will be a good way to start the day because it will be busy: coffee at 7:30, doctor's appointment at 9:00, voice lesson at 11:00, then catching up with a good friend afterward. And believe it or not, that's been edited and cut down from the original plan...

sycamore tree

Sycamore Tree

May 2008

My iTunes: Add to the Beauty by Sara Groves

I think I'll take a break from pictures of crabs (although once I can get my hands on the recipe, I will gladly share it, per Robert's request). After taking pictures of the crabs before eating them, I went outside and took some pictures of the sycamore tree. I love the bark of these trees -- great texture and monochromatic variations.

I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie this afternoon as a treat for Memorial Day. It was better than I had expected -- I won't ruin the plot line for anyone, but the one brief scene near the end made me roll my eyes. I half expected a booming voice to say, "And this, children, is how Indiana Jones obtained the Millennium Falcon and became Han Solo." But overall, better than I expected. The originals are still better, though.

And now, off to do my physical therapy exercises before bed...

crabs and old bay

Crabs and Old Bay

May 2008

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

As I had suspected, some of my readers who are not from the Baltimore area were not familiar with Old Bay. Sadly, I have found that it is not well known outside this general area. It's a glorious spice for seafood, and even has its own website. I have a hard time believing people from Baltimore who say that they don't like Old Bay. I feel like it's some one from the earth saying that they don't like oxygen. Practically blasphemous = )

So, I had to post another shot of crabs and Old Bay. This is from before we cooked them, which is why they are blue rather than red. My great-aunt has the perfect recipe for steaming crabs, of which Old Bay is an absolutely necessary ingredient.

crabs

Crabs

May 2008

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

Happy Memorial Day (and Happy Birthday to Lacey Lichi!) I have finally broken my camera out and took some pictures today. Once I started snapping, I found it hard to stop. Needless to say, I'll be posting some of the images over the next few days. By the time we finished cooking our crabs, it was hard to take pictures. I took a few before diving in.

I've been a crab-lover almost all my life. I have a picture of myself at the age of 2 sitting at this same table, wearing nothing but diapers, mallet in hand, and going to town on my first crabs. It was hard to choose just one picture for today, so they might resurface this week...

Crabs MUST be eaten with Old Bay. As a Marylander, or a "Balti-moron", I am a firm believer in Old Bay. There's no point in eating crabs without it.

zip line

Zip Line

May 2008

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

Well, I may not have taken pictures last week, but when I was there a year ago I did take pictures (the weather was much better). This is a shot I snapped of a friend going down the zip line. I was hoping to do it this year, but as you can see you hit the water on your lower back. I think my surgeon and my physical therapist would have killed me.

It's a short post tonight -- in between moves my room looks like World War III and I need to get back to cleaning.

westminster

Westminster

May 2008

My iTunes: Say So by Free Chapel

I'm back from my week away, and guess what: I didn't take a single picture! I'm slightly disappointed, but things just didn't work out. First, there was the problem with the weather -- while I had gorgeous weather driving up and back, the whole week was cold and rainy. I could have dealt with cold, but my camera really isn't a fan of being rained on. Then there was the schedule. While my time away was relaxing, I spent nearly eight hours a day manuscripting passages in Genesis. Not exactly conducive to photography, but all the talk about the beauty of creation made me want to go out and see it through the lens! Hopefully the weather will begin to cooperate soon and I'll be able to go out, camera in hand.

And hopefully this week won't be so full that I won't have time to take pictures. I leave next Sunday to spend three weeks in Philadelphia doing an undergraduate research fellowship, and I have a lot to do to get ready: unpacking from this past week, organizing everything from moving out last week, packing for the three weeks in Philly (I am determined to get some good photo sessions in while I'm there!), finishing all the required reading, starting to look through preliminary research (aka more reading), hopefully getting some graduate school research started, and catching up with a few friends. And of course physical therapy and a voice lesson! If I'm lucky, a little sleep would be nice as well. I hope that one day my life will not go at such a break-neck speed. Or maybe I should say back-breaking? = )

Just as a quick update, my back is doing well. I've started physical therapy, which feels great -- I can finally move again! I'm only supposed to sit for 30 minutes at a time, but that's more than I was sitting for the past two months or so. Apparently my back is rejecting the stitches, though, and one or two have already come out. I'd post a picture because I think it's fascinating (and since I can't twist around, the only way I can really see my back is if I take a picture of it), but I don't want to offend the squeamish...

Also, the grades for the semester were just posted today -- I made it through with flying colors. I'm quite pleased with how I did, especially given all the health issues I struggled with!

Finally, I heard back about the audition -- they don't have any spots open for sopranos for the next season. I'm fine with that and wasn't expecting to get anything anyway; I'm just thankful for the audition experience and I really look forward to trying again! I still plan to be in the two operas in the fall, though -- it will just be as a supernumerary again rather than as a chorister (which will probably fit better with my schedule anyway).

out of town

I will be out of town for the next week, taking a much needed break. I won't have internet access and thus will not be able to put photos up as usual. I thought about scheduling the posts ahead of time, but didn't have a big enough chunk of time to devote to preparing the posts a week in advance. But the good news is I will be able to take pictures this week, even if I'm unable to post them. So next week I'll be putting up some new work! I hope to post again on May 24, but we'll see how rejuvenated I am.

The other piece of good news -- I finally finished my semester today. Finals ended Thursday and I just finished my big paper about 10 minutes ago and emailed it in, so I am officially done. With all that happened this semester, it's a miracle that I made it through...

I look forward to seeing everyone's pictures when I get back and to posting the shots I'll be taking this week. I just pray for good weather...

if only I had...

If Only I Had...

May 2008

My iTunes: Elektra by Richard Strauss

...a large triple mocha from Costa Coffee (my favorite coffee place in London).

As I'm sure you've guessed by now if you're a regular reader, my life is very busy... hence I was not able to post yesterday. I had an art history final, then physical therapy, then packing, then a music history final, then down to D.C. to celebrate being done with finals by going to see Elektra at the Washington National Opera. My voice teacher had two tickets she couldn't use, so she gave them to me -- as if I wasn't already forever in her debt for teaching me to sing and helping me discover my love of music, then she does things like this! (She's just so wonderful and I am so blessed to have her in my life!)

The show got amazing reviews. The plot is loosely based on Sophocles' writings about Elektra, the daughter of Agamemnon, who desperately wants to kill her mother and her mother's lover because they murdered Agamemnon upon his return from the Trojan war. In the end, Elektra goes insane with hatred and revenge right after her brother, Orestes, kills the two murderers. It was really interesting to see how the opera fit with the time in which it was written.

I am coming to love Strauss -- the longer I listened, the more I liked it. It was really interesting to think about the way that the opera related to the time in which Strauss lived and composed and to see parallel ideologies. The set was really interesting -- it seemed like a blend of modern and 1920's. My favorite part of the set was a massive double-sided mirror that moved on its hinges, and the lighting really struck me as well. The singers were great, especially Christine Goerke, who played Chrysothemis. Susan Bullock really portrayed the character and insanity of Elektra well.

It was the perfect way to end my finals and take my mind off the stress of the past few days. (I found out Wednesday night that my housing fell through again and I'm once again homeless...) The dissonance and drama of the opera was a good way to take my mind off things.

look for joy

Look for Joy

May 2008

My iTunes: Steal Me, Sweet Thief by Gian Carlo Menotti

Today is a long day, and I'm reminding myself to look for joy in the midst of how busy I am. I had my piano final and my voice jury this morning, several meetings this afternoon, read a book that one of my exams tomorrow will be based on, officially declared my third major, signed up to take a voice lesson for credit, and moved half my stuff out of my house.

Tomorrow, I have to pack the rest, study for my last two exams tomorrow, finish writing the massive paper, go to physical therapy for my back, and drop of transcripts. BUT as a reward for finishing all of that (and the semester), I am going to see Elektra at the Washington National Opera tomorrow night! My voice teacher had two tickets, so I'm bringing my friend Catherine. I'm very excited, but am losing my motivation to do work... I'm going out for coffee tonight and will be talking with my future land-lord/friend about logistics of moving in and such. Hopefully the caffeine will help.

be cheerful

Be Cheerful

May 2008

My iTunes: Welcome to the 60's from Hairspray: Original Broadway Cast

Today was a good day. I woke up to find some encouraging posts on my last blog post: I am now one of Lacey Lichi's "photography blogger buddies" (her pictures of people, especially children, are some of the best I've ever seen!) and Robert mentioned me as one of his favorite blog sites (his macro shots are stunning, and I love seeing pictures of his beautiful daughter, Lily). It made up for having to take an exam today, which ended up being much easier than I had anticipated (which is good because I couldn't actually motivate myself to study very much).

I started packing today. I probably should have started sooner considering I have to be completely out of the house by 1:30 on Friday, but with my back issues I needed to wait until friends could come help me. The most difficult part is deciding what goes into storage for 2 months and what goes with me for the next two months.

Tomorrow I have my voice jury. Most music students hate them, but I really look forward to them and am sad when they're done. I get to perform three pieces before a panel of professors, including my own voice teacher, and will be accompanied by a professional pianist. During my voice lessons, my teacher accompanies me, and I look forward to juries when she can watch me perform and not have to look at music. I really look forward to seeing how much I've progressed between each jury. Last time I made quite the jump, but I'm not sure how I'll do this time given that I was hardly able to sing for almost 3 months because of my back issues. I'll be quite sad when my juries are over. Because I will be out of town for four of the next six weeks and my teacher will be on a cruise the following two weeks, I may only have one voice lesson between now and mid-July :( I think I may go into withdraw...

believe in miracles

Believe in Miracles

May 2008

My iTunes: What a Curse for a Woman is a Timid Man from Gian Carlo Menotti's The Old Maid and the Thief

This is one of the pictures in one of the two inspirational sets that I donated to the silent auction. I feel like it looks like it came right out of Hallmark, but I promise it's not a stolen image! This is one of the many shots I took when I was at the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Absolutely and stunningly gorgeous. With the exception of adding words, this image is not even Photoshop-ed.

I picked this image for today because I think back on everything I've accomplished today and it feels like a miracle. In the past 24 hours, I chose a topic for my final paper, completed the research, wrote 11 of the 15 required pages, edited a friend's paper, had a meeting with a professor, outlined the next steps in setting up two massive research projects, readjusted my schedule for the fall slightly, and practiced piano.

I also like this picture because it reminds me that God knows of all the beauty in His creation and delights in showing it to me. What an amazing thought it is to know that He created such magnificence as this, but He delights in me far more. That gives me such a sense of peace and contentment when I think about my busy life, knowing that He loves me for who He has created me to be, and not for everything that I do.

Do you believe in miracles? If I stop long enough to look at the course of my life and everything I have gone through, my answer is a resounding YES.

(...and I have to squeeze a musical comment in here -- I am fast becoming a die-hard Menotti fan. English is his second language, but the lyrics to his operas are phenomenally poetic and tantalizing. The music is full of rich dissonance in what I might classify as a neo-Romantic sense. The Medium was the first of his operas to which I was introduced, and The Old Maid and the Thief is the second. Next on my list is The Consul, in which my voice teacher sang the role of the Secretary. Wish I could have seen it/heard her!)

bournemouth lamp

Bournemouth Lamp

May 2008

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

Short post today: I am studying for finals and trying to write this massive paper.

venetian bridge

Venetian Bridge

May 2008

My iTunes: Fleurs by Poulenc

The is the last of the three images from Venice that I donated to the silent auction. All the pictures seem to have done well: this set went for $27. The black and white set went for $22, the first inspirational set went for $16, the other for $22. It was fun to hear how people liked my images.

In other news, my audition today went as well as I could have expected. I don't think I made a fool of myself and I think I made it through with composure. It was a very stream-lined process without any chit-chat and I felt like I was in and out before I knew it. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing and I felt a bit lost, but the process was pretty simple and I'll know what to do next time. I think of this experience like my first master class -- an unknown quantity presenting a challenge that will be something I enjoy once I get my bearings. Overall, I think it was a success and I feel very proud of myself! I look forward to more auditions!

venetian street

Venetian Street

May 2008

My iTunes: Violon by Poulenc

This is possibly my favorite of the pictures I've donated. Even though Venice is gorgeous and it seems like it would be impossible to take a bad picture of Venice, it can be hard to get a really nice shot. There is an "unnamed" place that I visit relatively frequently that had bare walls for a long time and they recently put up some pictures of Venice. While I'm happy to see the large expanses of blank wall covered, you can tell the pictures were not taken with a photographer's eye. I wish they had taken me up on my offer to give them some of my photos...

The auction ends tonight at 5:00, so I can post the results with tomorrow's picture.

Yes, this is another of the three French songs that I am starting to work on. After tomorrow's audition that is. I am feeling much more nervous than I'd like to let on, which is a strange feeling for me because I don't get nervous very easily. 2:40 p.m. tomorrow seems to have snuck up on me since surgery.

And speaking of surgery, I can sit down! I was so busy running errands yesterday that have been put off for a month that I didn't have much time to sit and I completely forgot to mention the good news yesterday! Thank you all for your prayers! Sitting is more wonderful than I remembered!

the grand canal

The Grand Canal
May 2008

My iTunes: Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant by Poulenc

This is another fresco, but not like the one I posted yesterday. This is fresco-a-la-Photoshop! I thought it would be a nice segue.

Over the next eight days, I will be posting eight images that I just matted and donated to a silent auction to raise money for one of the groups on campus that I am very involved with. I'm actually donating nine photos, one of which is the picture of the lamp that I posted a few days ago (see it here). They will be packaged in sets: three are "frescos" from Venice, four are inspirational, and two are black-and-white shots of different lamps.

My good news of the day: I may have reworked my long term schedule so that I will be able to graduate on time AND have all three majors, with honors. I've spent the past few days talking to the bursar, the registrar, my advisors, a few professors, and the vice president of finances. It's been a long process trying to figure out how to manage my desired course of study, but it may work. I have to take two classes this summer, will get credit for the research fellowship I was awarded, will finish two classes from this semester that I just added, and teach myself a good amount of aural skills. It seems like a lot, but if I can accomplish that, I can potentially save myself $10,000. Here's hoping I can do it all.

This is one of my new songs. It's from a gorgeous series by Poulenc, of which I happen to be singing three. I accidentally stayed up until 1:00 last night working on pronunciations with my friend, Caroline, who is from France. Funny, but I've been "accidentally" staying up late a lot recently due to getting excited about school work. That seems rather unusual...

faces

Faces

May 2008

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

Writing about museums in my last post made me look through some of my old images from museums in Europe. It's difficult to photograph in museums sometimes, usually because of the low-lighting and no-flash-allowed, and the "no cameras" rule is difficult to work with as well...

I took this on my last weekend living in London; I went with a friend to the Sunday morning service at Westminster Abbey, and afterward we walked around the Abbey and looked at some of the smaller side chapels.

One of my favorite things about this image is how each person is looking somewhere different. This was just a very small section of a large painting (possibly a fresco, but I can't remember the exact setting). Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a picture of the plaque to see what the story is about or when it was made, but my educated guess is that it dates to somewhere in the Middle Ages before the Renaissance. Art at that time was very flat and two-dimensional, and in diptychs and triptychs (two- and three- panelled altarpieces) from that era often had the angels arranged much like these people: very close together, overlapping, and without a clear sense of three-dimensional space.

I hope you learned a little something about art history, but enough of that for today. I'm getting ready to go to my follow up appointment after surgery and see if I'm allowed to sit down again! I sure hope so!

looking down

Looking Down

May 2008

My iTunes: Don Quichotte a Dulcinee: Chanson romanesque composed by Maurice Ravel

As promised, I've moved away from the photoshoot pictures. But this is still a shot of yours truly. (I've never had so many pictures of myself -- it makes me feel rather egotistical!) Tomorrow we'll branch out to other subject matter, I promise! I thought it would be fun to just change perspective momentarily.

If you're a people-watcher, you may notice that everyone walks a little differently. Some saunter, some shuffle, others glide. Some look up, some look down, and some can't seem to stop moving their head around. I tend to hear things like, "If you look down when you walk, you're insecure" or other such psycho-analysis. I'm not sure I agree. I think there is something to be said for occasionally looking at where you ARE. In America, everyone is so concerned about where they are GOING that sometimes we forget to live in the moment. We forget our grounding and our roots. We're always moving and never standing still.

This shot reminds me of others I've taken in my travels, usually in museums, and especially those in Europe. Everyone is so busy looking at the artwork, they don't notice the character of the building itself, and no one ever notices the floor! But the floor often has a lot of character. I think the floor in the Vatican museums is my favorite -- it's all tilework, some imported from Ostia Antica. Maybe I'll dig up one of those pictures.

I took this picture a couple weeks ago when I was in Romeo et Juliette with the Baltimore Opera Company. My guess is that most people would find the floor ugly, but I think there is a lot of character and maybe even beauty in it. No other floor is exactly like it -- it shows stains and marks of so many productions, each one telling a different story.

This is the first song in a gorgeous cycle of twenty songs by the 20th century composer, Maurice Ravel. Ever since reading Don Quixote for half of my "Great Literature of the Western World" course my first semester of college, I've hated the book. The professor was so obsessed with Don Quixote that I think he was becoming Don Quixote -- he even had a figurine of the character that he brought into class every day and would say, "Now don't I look like him?" The funny part is that he was right. It is the first book (and hopefully only book) that I've ever hated. The only way I made it through was by reading it in Spanish to entertain myself. I never thought I'd be able to stand anything connected with it. These songs are so beautiful that they may have redeemed Don Quixote in my mind.

I feel like I have accomplished a lot over the past few days. I wrote eight papers and only have one left. I'm hoping to spend the rest of this week preparing for my audition on Saturday. I hope I can teach myself how to sightsing between now and then. I have a performance tonight that I'm looking forward to. I'll be singing In Uomini, In Soldati from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, which I am also preparing for the audition. Wish me luck!

cheerful

Cheerful

May 2008

My iTunes: Dreamer by Bethany Dillon

This may be the last post from the recent photoshoot. We'll see how busy I am tomorrow and if I can get any new shots.

The performance last night was wonderful! I had so much fun singing on stage and I know my voice teacher was really proud of how I did. I had several professors come up to me afterward and say what a great job I did and how I looked like I was having fun. My grandmother came and was practically bursting at the seams with pride. The best comment I got was from the head of the drama department, who said that I have a "perfect voice" and said that I should try out for some of the drama opportunities. Overall, a successful performance I think! I'm a bit sad that it's over. But now I can really spend time preparing for the audition on Saturday.

Robert has been commenting on my To-Do List, and I agree with him -- I don't know how I find the energy. Grace of God I suppose. When you don't have an option other than to get things done, somehow they get done. (He is also doing a really fun alphabet series on his blog -- check it out!) This is the song that plays on his blog, and I find myself just leaving his blog up to hear the song. I really like it a lot, and it seems to reflect a lot of thoughts I have about myself and my life. "I am a dreamer."

And in other news, I think I may have decided what I was to be "when I grow up." It's a long post, but I've written about it here.

And now, time for bed...

playful

Playful

May 2008

My iTunes: Tonight Ensemble from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story

Another shot from the photoshoot. I put a bunch of these up on facebook and this seems to have been quite the favorite. I must admit, it is a fun shot!

I have one paper left to write this weekend... I am proud of myself for how much I've gotten done! My brain feels like mush, though, so I'm going to take a break and watch the last episode of Tin Man, a modern reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz. Right after I work on a little sightsinging.

Wish me luck on the performance tonight -- I'm very excited!

fierce

Fierce

May 2008

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

This is another shot from our photoshoot the other day. My friend calls this one "Fierce!" It makes me laugh -- I feel like such a model! I think I'll post another image or two from the shoot and then move on to other things.

I have exciting photography news, though! A childhood friend of mine whom I've recently gotten back in touch with is getting married in July and asked if I could do her wedding photos! I'm quite flattered! I don't think it would be paid, but I'd be getting my foot in the door and would have something to show others in the future who are in the market for wedding photographers! It's times like these where I really wish I had a digital SLR... Perhaps one day my photography will be able to finance such a purchase (wishful thinking).

Unfortunately, this is not one of the songs I am singing, but I've had it stuck in my head for days. I have a funny habit of learning other people's songs from the opera workshop class, and this is one of them. I think it's quite pretty. And I ordered a DVD of the opera, starring Cecilia Bartoli, and it just came today. If I can manage to get the rest of my to do list done, perhaps I'll watch it this evening...

I came close to finishing yesterday's to do list. I wrote three of the five music response papers (I miscounted -- I had five, not four to write), wrote the outline for the music history paper, nearly finished the Don Giovanni paper, sent most of the emails that I needed to, had a conference with a professor, and even managed to rehearse for juries, the solo recital, the performance tomorrow night, and auditions! I had a tech rehearsal this morning and a performance to go to tonight, and in the meantime I'll try to write the other two music response papers, finish putting together my resume so I can have my teacher look over it, and write the paper on Paradise of the Blind.

Anyway, I'm off to conquer more of my list then...

upward glance

Upward Glance

May 2008

My iTunes: Mozart's Don Giovanni

This is another image from the recent photoshoot. It's not one I would submit for the audition because it's not done in the style of a professional musical portrait, but I do like it.

I have an ungodly amount of work to do in the next week. Today's to-do-list: write that paper of Duong Thu Huong's Paradise of the Blind, outline the paper on Don Giovanni, write responses to four different compositions by contemporary American composers, have a conference with a professor, put together a proposal for another conference, beg for mercy from my one professor to modify an assignment.... Most of it I don't mind, it's just the one monster assignment that I don't think I'll be able to do because of how much time I missed due to surgery.

Last night I accidentally stayed up until 3:00 a.m. "How does that happen?" you ask? No, I was not out with friends, watching movies, or listening to music. I was reading 14 books for my paper on Mozart's Don Giovanni and wishing that the 5-7 page paper could be 50-70 pages and that I could just take a whole class in Mozart's operas. I was having so much fun, I didn't realize how late it was. Yes, you can say it. I'm a big nerd. But in my defense, with the exception of working on that paper, I just want to look through the pictures from the photoshoot and to practice the pieces for my audition!

But now it's time to start chipping away at that list...

audition photoshoot

Audition Photoshoot

May 2008

My iTunes: Clair de Lune by Faure

Well, I didn't exactly take this image (it'd be a bit tricky to do a whole photoshoot of self portraits), but seeing as I did all the editing and that it's an image of me, I thought it would work for today's post.

For my audition, I have to submit at black and white 8x10 portrait of myself, so I asked my friend to help me. I must say, I am quite pleased with the images and quite jealous of her camera. I think this is the photo I will be using, but it was a close call between three different ones. We took a bunch of shots, not just ones that would work for the audition, and some of them look like CD covers! I told her if I make it big and become a famous opera star, she can be my personal photographer! (Fat chance of that happening, though...)

As the next two weeks or so get busy, I may or may not have time to go out and shoot any images (even if I am allowed to sit and bend), so I think I'll be posting a few more from the photoshoot in the coming days. I'd love to get your feedback on them!