amsterdam: no. 11

Meetings today. Short post. But more Amsterdam. Looks much nicer than here. We got more snow last night. And I am again reminded that my snow boots are not waterproof. Also discovered that they are literally falling apart. Perhaps it's time for new boots?

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iTunes: Der Glorreiche Augenblick, by Beethoven

amsterdam: no. 5

I like when cities have water and boats. And I like how open certain cities feel -- when the buildings are spaced out a bit and aren't too tall, and you can look up and see the wide-open sky. So I think I would quite like Amsterdam if I could spend more than 4 hours there. My first impressions weren't the greatest -- torrential downpours and jet lag didn't help -- but the next morning made up for it.

Courses have now started up for the semester, and today is full of meetings to discuss my choice of topics for comprehensive exams. A lot of people talk about how the process of taking qualifying exams is a horrible experience, but I am determined to look on the bright side. I think the studying process will play to my strengths, and as long as I work steadily and prepare well, I hope that the whole process could be a good, constructive experience. I've had a lot of fun brainstorming ideas for topics, and I'm curious to see which ones I end up doing. I have a meeting this afternoon about it and then a group meeting tomorrow morning, so I'm starting to narrow in on specific ideas.

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

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

amsterdam: no. 1

It's been almost six months since the last post, and I'm long overdue for an update. Such is the life of a graduate student, though. There is no sign of the work letting up anytime in the near future, but I'll attempt to periodically share a few shots from the archives -- hopefully with more regularity than I've been posting.

To start with: here is one of my first shots from my trip to Europe last summer. The first stop was Amsterdam, but because of hiccups in our travel plans and nasty weather as soon as we arrived, I didn't pull out my camera until the day after we arrived. We took a walk around the outskirts of the city, close to where we stayed the night before, before taking the train into Amsterdam. Don't you love the early morning light here?

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iTunes: Beethoven, Missa Solemnis

annapolis: take 4

As you may have seen from other pictures, there were a lot of ducks at the inner harbor when we went down to Annapolis earlier this week. My friend Marlene quite enjoyed lecturing the ducks on proper behavior. It was pretty funny to watch, but I managed to snap pictures anyway.

9 days and counting until this paper is due.
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My iTunes: Peter Grimes by Benjamin Britten

annapolis: take 3

Another shot from Annapolis.

Today I'm holing up and working on my massive paper. It must get done.
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My iTunes: My Tradi Quell'alma Ingrata sung by Solveig Kringelborn in the Metropolitan Opera performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni

annapolis: take 2

Another shot from Annapolis.  My friend Marlene might remember the ducks and the lecture she gave to them when we first arrived...

Lately, I've been having a hard time getting up when my alarm goes off.  When my alarm went off this morning, I thought that I was going to get up when I intended to for once.  The next time I looked at the clock, it was two hours later.  Good thing I'm on "break" this week.

Still managed to accomplish something today, though -- I found a fantastic evening dress for my recital in a few weeks.  And it was on clearance!

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My iTunes: Che Gelida Manina from Puccini's La Boheme

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...

pictures at the coffee house

Pictures at the Coffee House
September 2008

My iTunes: Je suis une enfant by Carla Bruni

Here they are -- I've just ordered 11x14 prints of each of these. I'll pick them up later today (because it's almost 2:00 a.m. on Saturday) and take them over to the coffee shop. I was there last night and the owners were really excited. I'll try to remember to take my camera with me and share a shot of the line up.

Now, time for bed!

after the storm

After the Storm
August 2008

My iTunes: Trumpet Concerto in Eb, Third Movement by Haydn

I have spent hours and hours trying to fix my computer. I guess the silver lining is that with so much practice reformatting my hard-drive, I've gotten pretty fast at it, but it is still a lengthy process. I reinstalled all my programs, re-uploaded software, re-downloaded TRA (they were so helpful!), did several system scans, spent hours working with restore iTunes, and now am to the point where I'm burning DVD upon DVD of back up files.

I guess you could say that I'm in the "after the storm" phase of this round of computer issues. Like with this picture, I'm trying to find little things to be joyful about, like the fact that I only lost 3 iTunes purchases instead of all 500+.

GREs went well enough -- I may not have to retake them, which would be a blessing. Surprisingly, I did better on the quantitative portion than the verbal, probably because I lost steam for the one verbal section. I like the instant scoring for the verbal and quantitative sections, but it will be a few weeks before I get the analytical writing scores.

Now I'm in the process of choosing pictures for the show on Thursday. I'm putting a few favorites into a set on Flickr, so if anyone cares to take a peek, I'd love some feedback!

Tomorrow is a crazy day -- I'll kick it off with move-in at 9:00, so I'm going to load up the car this evening...

jack

Jack
August 2008

My iTunes: My Girl by the Temptations

Meet Jack. He is almost one year old and one of the sweetest little guys I know. I was fortunate enough to have the afternoon free to spend with him and his family. I haven't seen them in a couple months and have really missed them -- his mother is like my sister. I played paparazzi and this is one of my favorite captures of the day. I love the little tear rolling down his cheek! I'll be posting more on my Flickr, if anyone cares to look at adorable baby pictures!

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...

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!

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...

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.

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.

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!

water light

Water Light
January 2008

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

This was a shot I took almost exactly one year ago when I went to Venice. It was my second time in Venice, and I must say that I enjoyed it much more in January than I did when I went in September. There were a lot less people and the back alley smells were not nearly as pungent. It really is a neat city, though. One of the only cities that I've visited that I think I could get really lost in. Often times you can see where you want to go, but have no idea how to get there because you are confined to the walkways (you can't walk on the water in the canals). I snapped this from out speed boat when we went to see an exhibition of Murano glass.

I may be limited in my postings over the next few days/weeks. I seem to be having computer trouble (AGAIN) -- I woke up this morning and my computer was over heating and smelled like burning. Just my luck. Hopefully I can get it fixed quickly, but I don't know... I bought it less than a year ago, so really it shouldn't be doing this... Anyway, wish me luck!