würzburg: no. 5

Last Würzburg post. Which may not technically be Würzburg since it was taken during the train ride. But we'll just say it's Würzburg. The sunshine was just gorgeous that day, which was a welcome change from the pouring rain we had when we first arrived in Amsterdam.

I made it to WV in a record 7 hours, including stops. Not entirely sure how that happened, because I didn't have the heaviest lead foot on the road. Not by a long shot. But it was nice once I crossed into WV and the speed limit went up to 70 mph! Tonight is my friend's masters recital, so we're stapling programs and such this afternoon and preparing a ton of food.

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iTunes: Bad Romance, by Lady Gaga (yes, I do listen to more than just Classical music on occasion!)

amsterdam: no. 2

This shot was another one that I snagged on my morning walk along the canal. I loved seeing the reflection of the houses in the water, and I love how the black-and-white brings out the various textures in this image.

People have sometimes asked me which I prefer, color images or black-and-white images. It's hard to say, and impossible to really decide. But I must say that I love the classic crispness of a good black-and-white shot.

Often, when I'm out shooting, I know as soon as I frame the shot whether I want it in color or in black-and-white. I always shoot in color, because I like the flexibility that the color data gives me in editing a photo to be black-and-white, but sometime I frame a shot knowing that it will eventually not be in color.

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iTunes: Sometimes I'm Happy, by Sarah Vaughan

new haven: part 2

I spent last weekend back down in Baltimore, and it was wonderful to be "home" again. I've missed the people who became family to me over the past few years, and it was really nice to see some of them. It was a whirlwind weekend, though, and sleep has not been a big part of my life for the past week or so. Last week was the big crunch to get everything done before the weekend, and when I was in Baltimore, the days were absolutely crammed with visiting people. Dinner with parents, grandparents, and my youngest brother, hair cut, opera night with Brittney, stopped by to see Rachel, breakfast with Kelley, visiting Betsy, coffee with Julie... Non stop fun! Plus doing some errands since I don't have my car with me in CT. I now have warm clothes (hooray for sweaters!) and shoes that will not make my feet blister and bleed every time I walk to class. Perhaps the best part was my voice lesson and then hanging out with the best three-year-old ever.

New Haven is starting to feel like home, too. Getting back to my apartment after a busy weekend was really nice, and I was glad that I had a home-made frozen pizza ready to pop in the oven before retiring to my wonderful mattress (which I missed when I was in Baltimore). Although it was "a dark and stormy night" by the time I arrived on this corner, this is "my corner." Thought it would be a nice shot to share.

Fall has officially arrived, and it's in the low 50's today. I'm curious to see how quickly it gets really cold and if it will be noticeably different than what I'm used to...

And now, back to the grind...
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My iTunes: Cara Sposa, Amante Cara from Handel's Rinaldo

new england visit: take 2.

Well, it seems as if my failure to post regularly has certainly cut down on the number of regular blog readers I have.  (Although I know a few of you know where I was visiting last week and aren't spoiling the surprise and "guessing" where!)

But here is a second installment.  The campus was really gorgeous -- I wish I had more time to walk around and take pictures, but I was in and out of meetings and classes during my visit, plus I was fighting off a sinus infection so I wanted to stay out of the cold as much as possible.

Another hint as to where I was: the abbreviation for the state in which the graduate school is located can be found in each of the pictures I'm posting.

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My iTunes: Sepia Panorama by Duke Ellington

morning mist

Morning Mist
October 2008

My iTunes: Casta Diva from Bellini's Norma

With the exception of last weekend when I was away on a conference, every spare second of my time for the past two weeks almost has been spent working on my seminar paper on nineteenth century grand opera in Philadelphia. This is the one that I spent a portion of the summer researching in Philadelphia. The first (and only) draft was due this past week, and I thought I'd be able to get it into a polished state, but I had some unexpected glitches with some performance data that resulted in me putting about 22 extra hours into one of the appendices. Currently, the three appendices that are finished add up to a total of nearly 100 pages. So for about two weeks, I've been up until 2:00 a.m. and up at 7:00 a.m. to work on it, which meant no time to blog.

In addition to that, rehearsals for Norma started this week, so I'm driving back and forth from Baltimore quite a bit. Rehearsal tonight was canceled (thank goodness!), so I'll have some extra time to work on this paper.

Last weekend I took a break for a conference and managed to grab a few shots. This was taken at the lake in the morning when the mist was rising.

I'll be doing a bit of shooting tomorrow with Melody & Jake's wedding! I hope to get back to regular posting soon, but between paper, rehearsal, and photo editing, I might be lucky to find time to sleep...

by the lake

By the Lake

August 2008

My iTunes: Come Away with Me by Norah Jones

I grabbed this shot down by the Farm Museum when I took a walk the other day. I love taking pictures of reflections in water. I like the burnished, fall-feel of this with the editing. It reminds me of how the trees look like they're burning in the fall. Although with a little help from Photoshop, that same effect can be achieved in August...

black and white skyline

Black and White Skyline

June 2008

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

I seem to be posting several images of the Philadelphia skyline -- living in a high rise gives me the opportunity to get some unique angles on the city, so I'm exploiting it for all its worth. This is a shot I took at dusk from the 25th floor (the "pent house") a couple evenings ago. Since I've been posting a lot of red lately, I thought I would abandon color completely and go black and white.

In other news, I've given up on frying pan tea and purchased a hot pot. I love it -- making tea is so much easier now!

But now I really need to get some work done. I've been bumming around all morning and now it's already 1:30!

philadelphia panoramic

Philadelphia Panoramic

June 2008

My iTunes: Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Since I did a nightscape yesterday, I thought I would take advantage of the profusion of windows and post a panoramic today. This is not a large panoramic -- I typically use about 60 pictures for a full 360* view, but this only includes 15 pictures. It's hard to appreciate when it's so small, so I suggest clicking on it to see it in the widest possible form your browser screen will allow.

Tonight a bunch of us girls went up to the top floor a little before sunset. We found a piano (which was severely out of tune) and sang through the book for Phantom of the Opera. It was quite fun -- I fell in the love with the music years before I started taking voice lessons, and it's neat to see how I've progressed from hardly being able to hit the notes to being able to land all of them comfortably. All due to my amazing voice teacher (must give credit where it's due)!

And now I need to do a bit of research, read a few chapters of one of my books, send a few emails, study music theory, and get things together for tomorrow. (Thank goodness for the new blogger feature of scheduled postings -- It's only 9:55 as I write this, but I can set it to be tomorrow's post!)

bright lights, big city

Bright Lights, Big City

June 2008

My iTunes: Goodmorning, Baltimore from Hairspray

Greetings from the 13th floor! Yes, this building actually has a 13th floor -- it doesn't go 10 - 11 - 12 - 14 - 15. I'm not sure what that means for the rest of my stay in Philadelphia, but thankfully I'm not superstitious. (Thank goodness, because I even graduated high school on Friday, May 13!)

Anyway, I made it safely to Philadelphia. Driving in the city reminded me of Baltimore, so I thought I'd listen to the soundtrack from Hairspray. I finally got the internet to work and was going to curl up with a big mug of tea -- my voice teacher gave me a gift certificate to her favorite tea place, Upton Teas, when I had surgery because she knows I love tea and I brought my new teas with me -- but wouldn't you know we don't have a microwave? We have a refrigerator, freezer, oven, and stove, but no microwave. I feel like I'm living in the 40's. I tried hot water from the tap, but the tea just doesn't steep like it's supposed to. Perhaps tomorrow I'll invest in a kettle. Between studying and being in the archives, I hope I'll have some opportunities for picture-taking, so stay tuned for more from Philly!

Well, I'm off to ice my back and take my meds -- I seem to be having an adverse reaction to my sutures and my incision was slightly infected. One just fell out, so I probably should clean up the incision. Perhaps I'll skim through one of my books on American Opera before hitting the sack.

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!)

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.

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!

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...

cityscape

Cityscape

March 2008

My iTunes: Je Veux Vivre from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette

I'm getting an early post in today, just to be sure it's up! We have rehearsal tonight starting at 6:00, so it'll be a full day!

This is a shot I took just before going into New York City through the Lincoln Tunnel a few months ago. I liked messing around with it in Photoshop and just used it in a presentation I put together for a group here on campus. It reminds me of Heroes, the TV show.

big ben and parliament

Big Ben and Parliament
September 2004

My iTunes: La del ciel nell'arcano profundo from Rossini's "La Cenerentola"

I was FINALLY able to upload a picture. I think that blogspot doesn't like the original one I was trying to upload because I am still unable to upload that one, but was able to get this one into the blog. This is an old picture (almost 4 years old!) from my first time in London in September of 2004. It's a shot of Big Ben and Parliament at dusk from the top of the London Eye, which is located just across the Thames.

Hopefully I won't have any more trouble with uploading pictures...