These are some pretty blue and purple flowers I saw around campus this past week - signs that spring, stubborn as it may be, is on the horizon. (I took these photos with my phone, so apologies if they aren't the best quality.)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Spring is coming, it is, it is!
Even though it snowed yesterday, the sun was shining today, and spring is on its way...it has to be!
These are some pretty blue and purple flowers I saw around campus this past week - signs that spring, stubborn as it may be, is on the horizon. (I took these photos with my phone, so apologies if they aren't the best quality.)
These are some pretty blue and purple flowers I saw around campus this past week - signs that spring, stubborn as it may be, is on the horizon. (I took these photos with my phone, so apologies if they aren't the best quality.)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Happy Pesach!
I may be only half-Jewish, but I can still celebrate Passover! I'm going to the Vassar Jewish Union's seder tonight with a friend, and I'm excited because I haven't been to a seder in years. I really hope they have matzoh ball soup! If you need a refresher on the Passover symbols present on the seder table, watch this great video someone sent me:
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Kelli O'Hara master class
Sorry I haven't been writing much - there hasn't been much to write about! Spring hasn't quite decided whether or not it's ready to come out and play (high of 46 today with rain and snow showers...) but yesterday was a very exciting day. Kelli O'Hara, a fabulous Broadway performer and also a very great person, came to Vassar to do a performance and master class! She starred in Light in the Piazza and South Pacific, so you might know her from either of those shows, among others. She's a very sweet, open person and has a beautiful voice. And she's six months pregnant!
She began the event by performing for 40 minutes, about 6 of her favorite songs, including one from each of the shows I mentioned above, and one that her friends, two songwriters, had written just for her. It was a hilarious song about a country singer who wants to be an opera star (O'Hara herself grew up in Oklahoma and sang country music until she went to college and studied opera, after which she moved to New York and began doing musical theater). She explained to the audience why she chose each song and performed them all flawlessly - it was so surreal to see a professional Broadway performer on a stage in the music building that I've sung on many times myself.
After the performance, she conducted a master class in which she worked with several students from the music department on theater songs they had prepared. She worked to break them of habits like flailing their arms or making fists while singing, and emphasized the importance of motivation in a song. She was very funny and kept the mood light and the audience entertained throughout. I couldn't stay for all of the students' songs, but I stayed for most. It was such a treat to see her live at Vassar!
This is South Pacific performing at the 2008 Tony Awards - O'Hara doesn't come in until about halfway through, but the whole clip is great!
She began the event by performing for 40 minutes, about 6 of her favorite songs, including one from each of the shows I mentioned above, and one that her friends, two songwriters, had written just for her. It was a hilarious song about a country singer who wants to be an opera star (O'Hara herself grew up in Oklahoma and sang country music until she went to college and studied opera, after which she moved to New York and began doing musical theater). She explained to the audience why she chose each song and performed them all flawlessly - it was so surreal to see a professional Broadway performer on a stage in the music building that I've sung on many times myself.
After the performance, she conducted a master class in which she worked with several students from the music department on theater songs they had prepared. She worked to break them of habits like flailing their arms or making fists while singing, and emphasized the importance of motivation in a song. She was very funny and kept the mood light and the audience entertained throughout. I couldn't stay for all of the students' songs, but I stayed for most. It was such a treat to see her live at Vassar!
This is South Pacific performing at the 2008 Tony Awards - O'Hara doesn't come in until about halfway through, but the whole clip is great!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunny Florida
From March 12th-17th, I went to sunny northern Florida with a few of my friends to visit our friend who lives there over Spring Break. We lucked out with beautiful weather, and even got a little tan. Now that I'm back in cold New York, I'm looking back on my pictures and looking forward to warmer days...
View from the porch of the beach house
Path leading down to the beach from the porch
Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, the first European colony in America
View from the top of the Castillo
The beach house
We were also lucky enough to be in Florida just in time to see NASA launch a shuttle into space!
View from the porch of the beach house
Path leading down to the beach from the porch
Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, the first European colony in America
View from the top of the Castillo
The beach house
We were also lucky enough to be in Florida just in time to see NASA launch a shuttle into space!Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Le Petit Prince
When I was in Italy in the summer of 2007, I bought a copy of The Little Prince in Italian and struggled my way through it with an Italian-English dictionary. (I had studied Italian for a year at that point.) I had read it when I was 11 years old, but it meant so much more to me as a young adult than as a pre-teen. I decided that I wanted to collect it in different languages, and buy it in the language of each new country I traveled to. That soon expanded to asking my friends to buy it for me when they traveled to different countries. Since I, along with most of my friends, spent a semester abroad in the fall of 2008, I amassed quite a large collection in a short period of time. The rule is that either I or a friend has to buy it for me in a foreign country - no internet or international bookstore shopping allowed!
Here are my copies of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince in 19 different languages - about half of which I purchased myself.
Here are my copies of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince in 19 different languages - about half of which I purchased myself.
Top: Italian, Venetian dialect, Bolognese dialect, Neapolitan dialect, English
Top: Hungarian, Chinese, CzechBottom: Serbian, Russian
Top: Welsh, German, TurkishBottom: Gaelic, Dutch
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Dancing around the World
Some of you have probably heard of, or seen youtube videos of, that guy who dances all of the world. Today in one of my classes a professor brought him up and showed us one of his videos. I think I had heard of him before but never really watched a video all the way through. He dances with people from countries all over the world - he started out doing this with his own money, then was sponsored by Stride gum. Here's one of the videos...it's great!
On a completely unrelated note, did you know that Sleepless in Seattle is going to be made into a Broadway musical, expected to come out sometime in 2010? Here is the NYTimes brief about it. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that...we'll have to wait and see.
On a completely unrelated note, did you know that Sleepless in Seattle is going to be made into a Broadway musical, expected to come out sometime in 2010? Here is the NYTimes brief about it. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that...we'll have to wait and see.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Wintersong
I just found this great music video through my friend Jackie. The animation is so sweet, and it's very appropriate for the snowstorm today, especially because it leaves you with hope for springtime. Enjoy!
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