All the things in the title of this blog post are music.
I hate that there aren't words that can accurately describe how I feel about music. Listening to it, making it, analyzing it, experiencing it in any way. Music is why I'm here in this world. Music is why I am who I am. I owe my life to music, which is just fine with me.
I just listened to Natalie Dessay singing Lakmé's Air Des Clochettes. That's the inspiration for this particular moment of musical bliss.
And really, that's all I have to say right now.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Oh Queen of the Night
I've been listening to recordings of the arias for the Queen of the Night from Mozart's The Magic Flute. Though the first aria is far less commonly known than the second one, the moment at 3:13 is amazing. The second aria is far more popular, but no more demanding.
Also, it's my birthday and junk.
Also, it's my birthday and junk.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Quick update
So. Gondoliers. It's going! After getting a very poor start myself, I've become the leader of the pack of sorts of the men in the chorus. Which is kind of sad, considering the level of work I've done. Oh well -_-
Life is all right, though sodexo (the company that employs me at the dining hall) has been giving me scheduling conflicts left and right. I have to sacrifice a bunch of time that I would spend with dear friends who are visiting this weekend, but I get to work 8 hours on saturday. Wonderful.
But! On the plus side, I'm driving up to chicago tomorrow to spend the day in the Art Institute with an art major friend of mine, Theresa. She's a real artist's artist, and I want her to help me try to get the full experience.
Also, I have a new musical obsession: Jay Brannan. Listen and enjoy.
Smooches!
-Joe
Life is all right, though sodexo (the company that employs me at the dining hall) has been giving me scheduling conflicts left and right. I have to sacrifice a bunch of time that I would spend with dear friends who are visiting this weekend, but I get to work 8 hours on saturday. Wonderful.
But! On the plus side, I'm driving up to chicago tomorrow to spend the day in the Art Institute with an art major friend of mine, Theresa. She's a real artist's artist, and I want her to help me try to get the full experience.
Also, I have a new musical obsession: Jay Brannan. Listen and enjoy.
Smooches!
-Joe
Thursday, June 25, 2009
21 days later...
Not too much has happened, but here's a quick rundown before rant-a-licious thinktype:
1. Dan and Bahia got married! It was a wonderful service for a wonderful couple. I was overjoyed to perform Lullabye (Goodnight my Angel) by Billy Joel, and I made people cry. It was great.
2. I've worked around 10 meal shifts at saga (my campus's sole dining hall) and I'm starting to really get into the swing of things there. It's hard work, and so not worth the pay, but I'm milking the free food for all it's worth (free food whenever there's a meal being served).
3. I'm taking voice lessons and Alexander Technique lessons with Dr. Moham
(whose headshot is recent as of 2 weeks ago). She is PHENOMENAL and half of why I haven't left IWU for less expensive pastures.
4. My apartment and roommate, Monica, are pretty fantastic, though our air conditioning is being a pain.
So life is pretty dang good. I have a lot of free time, which is a stark and enjoyable contrast to the entirety of the previous 12 months of my life. I've been shuttling back and forth between Oak Park and Bloomington quite a bit, since my schedule changes every week and I often have several days off at a time.
When Dan and Bahia got married, I really started to wonder about family: my standing within my own family, the creation of new family, the destruction of old, and how we build a landscape of people around us apart from our blood relatives and how for some, these friends mean more than our genetic relatives. What does "family" mean anyway? Can't a family just be those who are closest to you? I have friends I've known less than 3 years and I can honestly say that they're as close as siblings to me.
And what about a traditional family? Is that something I'd even want? A significant other and kids, a house somewhere safe and nice, a dog and a cat and a big kitchen where I'd make dinner every night and live the 1950's ideal... Nah, not for me.
But we're so programmed to want it anyway, aren't we?
Sometimes I wonder just what the world would be like if we could learn to separate the worlds portrayed by TV, movies, etc. from our own, and to learn that one ideal isn't necessarily our own. Would we have less biology majors trying to be physicians just because they think that's the best career?
On another note...
Randy is one of the adult full-time workers in saga who works in the dish room, and he and I shared an interesting conversation while scrubbing dishes a few days ago. Randy is a humble man, missing his two front teeth, and has been working his particular job for a number of years. He's a sweet man with a die-hard love of optimism. I casually called myself dumb for not realizing something small while clearing trays, and he told me that he doesn't like that word. Randy doesn't believe that anyone truly is stupid. I say that I'd agree, that nobody is truly stupid, but those who we'd label dumb just say and do illogical and ill-informed things. Randy agreed. He went on to say that he strongly dislikes judgment and that he gets flak from his family and people in his life for his optimism.
I don't quite think that Randy has told me all that there is to tell about these discussions, but a simple man can really bring you back to the basics of humanity: equality. If Randy can understand and regularly implement the basic principles of equality in his life, can't we? I'd rant about racism, economic inequality, liberalism, conservatism, christianity, judiasm, baha'i-ism, islam, Iran, Iraq, politics, oil, the arts and gay marriage, but you've probably heard it all before, and in words more eloquent and better-informed than I can give you.
I find myself wanting choir again. Badly. Desperately. And it gets me thinking about why. I'm sure I love the music, but there has to be something more. The essence of collaboration, the creation of beauty, the joy of reaping the rewards of hard work, but most of all being an integral part of something undeniably successful. Co-choir is pretty darn good, and without question it's due in large part to Dr. Ferguson, but to really be an essential part of what comes as close to a religious experience as I've ever had is amazing.
I want it.
I need it.
It's why I'm paying $40,000 a year to stay in Bloomington.
It's worth every penny.
Hugs, lolcats and too many links,
Joe
1. Dan and Bahia got married! It was a wonderful service for a wonderful couple. I was overjoyed to perform Lullabye (Goodnight my Angel) by Billy Joel, and I made people cry. It was great.
2. I've worked around 10 meal shifts at saga (my campus's sole dining hall) and I'm starting to really get into the swing of things there. It's hard work, and so not worth the pay, but I'm milking the free food for all it's worth (free food whenever there's a meal being served).
3. I'm taking voice lessons and Alexander Technique lessons with Dr. Moham
(whose headshot is recent as of 2 weeks ago). She is PHENOMENAL and half of why I haven't left IWU for less expensive pastures.
4. My apartment and roommate, Monica, are pretty fantastic, though our air conditioning is being a pain.
So life is pretty dang good. I have a lot of free time, which is a stark and enjoyable contrast to the entirety of the previous 12 months of my life. I've been shuttling back and forth between Oak Park and Bloomington quite a bit, since my schedule changes every week and I often have several days off at a time.
When Dan and Bahia got married, I really started to wonder about family: my standing within my own family, the creation of new family, the destruction of old, and how we build a landscape of people around us apart from our blood relatives and how for some, these friends mean more than our genetic relatives. What does "family" mean anyway? Can't a family just be those who are closest to you? I have friends I've known less than 3 years and I can honestly say that they're as close as siblings to me.
And what about a traditional family? Is that something I'd even want? A significant other and kids, a house somewhere safe and nice, a dog and a cat and a big kitchen where I'd make dinner every night and live the 1950's ideal... Nah, not for me.
But we're so programmed to want it anyway, aren't we?
Sometimes I wonder just what the world would be like if we could learn to separate the worlds portrayed by TV, movies, etc. from our own, and to learn that one ideal isn't necessarily our own. Would we have less biology majors trying to be physicians just because they think that's the best career?
On another note...
Randy is one of the adult full-time workers in saga who works in the dish room, and he and I shared an interesting conversation while scrubbing dishes a few days ago. Randy is a humble man, missing his two front teeth, and has been working his particular job for a number of years. He's a sweet man with a die-hard love of optimism. I casually called myself dumb for not realizing something small while clearing trays, and he told me that he doesn't like that word. Randy doesn't believe that anyone truly is stupid. I say that I'd agree, that nobody is truly stupid, but those who we'd label dumb just say and do illogical and ill-informed things. Randy agreed. He went on to say that he strongly dislikes judgment and that he gets flak from his family and people in his life for his optimism.
I don't quite think that Randy has told me all that there is to tell about these discussions, but a simple man can really bring you back to the basics of humanity: equality. If Randy can understand and regularly implement the basic principles of equality in his life, can't we? I'd rant about racism, economic inequality, liberalism, conservatism, christianity, judiasm, baha'i-ism, islam, Iran, Iraq, politics, oil, the arts and gay marriage, but you've probably heard it all before, and in words more eloquent and better-informed than I can give you.
I find myself wanting choir again. Badly. Desperately. And it gets me thinking about why. I'm sure I love the music, but there has to be something more. The essence of collaboration, the creation of beauty, the joy of reaping the rewards of hard work, but most of all being an integral part of something undeniably successful. Co-choir is pretty darn good, and without question it's due in large part to Dr. Ferguson, but to really be an essential part of what comes as close to a religious experience as I've ever had is amazing.
I want it.
I need it.
It's why I'm paying $40,000 a year to stay in Bloomington.
It's worth every penny.
Hugs, lolcats and too many links,
Joe
Friday, June 5, 2009
Hello again, blog. How've you been?
It's been a month and... 6 days. Awesome. A testament to the previous month, I guess. Updates:
1. I dealt with more stress than I expected, and also found out that A) I want to continue studying art, and B) my ceramics professor has been one of the largest sources of stress and negativity in my life since coming to IWU.
2. My contract with ORL (the Office of Residential Life) ran up this past saturday at 1:00 PM. I am no longer an RA.
3. I recieved 3 separate misdiagnoses from IWU health services to a mystery ailment during may: A cold, a bad cold and finally, seasonal allergies. After my symptoms worsened, I went home for a day to see the family physician, who informed me that I had a respiratory infection. 3 weeks and one bottle of antibiotics (and countless doses of tylenol) later, I'm fit as a fiddle.
4. I moved from my tiny closet room in Munsell to my subleased apartment over the course of about 8-9 hours, and I only had help moving two items: a fridge and a tower fan. The fridge not because of weight but sheer size, and only up one and a half flights of stairs (helped by my roommate's boyfriend), and the tower fan because he just grabbed it. I'm very proud of my self-sufficiency there.
5. After said moving, I came home and will be here for a week.
6. When I return, I'll be coming into my gainful employment for the summer: working at IWU's dining hall, serving people using our campus for conferences.
7. I can sing a B flat in full voice! And it didn't sound like death! Two half-steps higher than I previously believed. Hooray for my bari-tenor existence.
So yeah. That's the big stuff shortened down into 7 points. As usual, I'm beginning to idealize the upcoming months (and semesters) far beyond what their reality will be, and I'm working on combating that urge. I do know that this summer will be FANTASTIC in terms of my vocal development, since I'm taking two separate sets of lessons with my voice professor (private lessons: she lives in-town [note to self: email her to set up lesson times]). Work will probably be a bitch and a half to get used to and to gain footing, but I plan on getting through it.
TANGENT! My random musical obsessions: Andrew Bird, Guster, Vampire Weekend, Duffy and Dvořák's 9th Symphony
FURTHER TANGENT! I've seen Star Trek 3 times now, and it's fantastic. Checkov is adorable and my favorite. I've also seen Up with my dear friends Sara and Maggie, which was undoubtedly the best decision of my past few weeks, as Sara bawled during the movie (appropriate) and all three of us made fools of ourselves laughing raucously during the showing (also appropriate). Do yourself a favor and see Up no matter who you are, and if you enjoy action movies at ALL see Star Trek. Forget what you think about it, just go see it.
EXTRA FURTHER TANGENT! This blog is probably pretty boring if you don't know me. A recent comment my brother made to his to-be sister-in-law: "I like your blog because you write about interesting things." Jealousy. I mean, I set up this blog to be self-indulgent crap, right? So would I be doing my original intention an injustice by changing the content of my blogging to cater to more viewers? For that matter, who cares? I don't expect anyone to really read this blog anyway, so what does it matter?
Back to relevance. Wait, what relevance?
Smooches,
Joe
P.S. STEPHANIE NUDELMAN IF YOU READ THIS, I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T SPEND TIME WITH YOU THIS MAYTERM AND I WILL ATTACK YOU WITH THEATRE-MAJOR-ANNOYING LOVE THE MOMENT I SEE YOU!
1. I dealt with more stress than I expected, and also found out that A) I want to continue studying art, and B) my ceramics professor has been one of the largest sources of stress and negativity in my life since coming to IWU.
2. My contract with ORL (the Office of Residential Life) ran up this past saturday at 1:00 PM. I am no longer an RA.
3. I recieved 3 separate misdiagnoses from IWU health services to a mystery ailment during may: A cold, a bad cold and finally, seasonal allergies. After my symptoms worsened, I went home for a day to see the family physician, who informed me that I had a respiratory infection. 3 weeks and one bottle of antibiotics (and countless doses of tylenol) later, I'm fit as a fiddle.
4. I moved from my tiny closet room in Munsell to my subleased apartment over the course of about 8-9 hours, and I only had help moving two items: a fridge and a tower fan. The fridge not because of weight but sheer size, and only up one and a half flights of stairs (helped by my roommate's boyfriend), and the tower fan because he just grabbed it. I'm very proud of my self-sufficiency there.
5. After said moving, I came home and will be here for a week.
6. When I return, I'll be coming into my gainful employment for the summer: working at IWU's dining hall, serving people using our campus for conferences.
7. I can sing a B flat in full voice! And it didn't sound like death! Two half-steps higher than I previously believed. Hooray for my bari-tenor existence.
So yeah. That's the big stuff shortened down into 7 points. As usual, I'm beginning to idealize the upcoming months (and semesters) far beyond what their reality will be, and I'm working on combating that urge. I do know that this summer will be FANTASTIC in terms of my vocal development, since I'm taking two separate sets of lessons with my voice professor (private lessons: she lives in-town [note to self: email her to set up lesson times]). Work will probably be a bitch and a half to get used to and to gain footing, but I plan on getting through it.
TANGENT! My random musical obsessions: Andrew Bird, Guster, Vampire Weekend, Duffy and Dvořák's 9th Symphony
FURTHER TANGENT! I've seen Star Trek 3 times now, and it's fantastic. Checkov is adorable and my favorite. I've also seen Up with my dear friends Sara and Maggie, which was undoubtedly the best decision of my past few weeks, as Sara bawled during the movie (appropriate) and all three of us made fools of ourselves laughing raucously during the showing (also appropriate). Do yourself a favor and see Up no matter who you are, and if you enjoy action movies at ALL see Star Trek. Forget what you think about it, just go see it.
EXTRA FURTHER TANGENT! This blog is probably pretty boring if you don't know me. A recent comment my brother made to his to-be sister-in-law: "I like your blog because you write about interesting things." Jealousy. I mean, I set up this blog to be self-indulgent crap, right? So would I be doing my original intention an injustice by changing the content of my blogging to cater to more viewers? For that matter, who cares? I don't expect anyone to really read this blog anyway, so what does it matter?
Back to relevance. Wait, what relevance?
Smooches,
Joe
P.S. STEPHANIE NUDELMAN IF YOU READ THIS, I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T SPEND TIME WITH YOU THIS MAYTERM AND I WILL ATTACK YOU WITH THEATRE-MAJOR-ANNOYING LOVE THE MOMENT I SEE YOU!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Life moving on
So. I'm done with sophomore year. This is pretty uneventful.
Cool.
Currently, it's mayterm break, a 6-day period without classes where the seniors are getting ready for graduation, and ORL staff members stick around on campus to help out with some little things. Said little things are done.
And I.
Am.
Sitting around for all it's worth.
Also, Wii Fit is awesome.
And I'm visiting Dan and Bahia tomorrow! Huzzah!
I can't wait to sing more. I've had a bad head cold for the past few days and my voice has been shot. We'll see how that goes.
But now that the stress of finals week is over, I'm really getting back to the happy Joe that's always been here.
Smooches,
Joe
Cool.
Currently, it's mayterm break, a 6-day period without classes where the seniors are getting ready for graduation, and ORL staff members stick around on campus to help out with some little things. Said little things are done.
And I.
Am.
Sitting around for all it's worth.
Also, Wii Fit is awesome.
And I'm visiting Dan and Bahia tomorrow! Huzzah!
I can't wait to sing more. I've had a bad head cold for the past few days and my voice has been shot. We'll see how that goes.
But now that the stress of finals week is over, I'm really getting back to the happy Joe that's always been here.
Smooches,
Joe
Sunday, April 12, 2009
RECITAL
So. Next spring ('10) I'll be performing in a junior recital with Emily Hopkins! EXCITEMENT ENSUES!
Basically, it came down to Dr. Moham's (my voice professor) word on whether or not I'd be ready to do it. It's a real question because I've only taken lessons for just under a year now, and I haven't been singing in general very much at all until the past two years of my life. I'm fairly underdeveloped as a performer, and it's sort of on the fence on whether or not my voice will be ready to do it.
But tonight Dr. Moham gave us the OK and we're gonna freaking DO IT. The date won't be set until maybe a month before winter break, so just keep it in the back of your minds.
Oh, and here's a duet that we'll be singing. Get excited.
Lots of love and oh-by-the-way-my-jury-is-tomorrow,
Joe
Basically, it came down to Dr. Moham's (my voice professor) word on whether or not I'd be ready to do it. It's a real question because I've only taken lessons for just under a year now, and I haven't been singing in general very much at all until the past two years of my life. I'm fairly underdeveloped as a performer, and it's sort of on the fence on whether or not my voice will be ready to do it.
But tonight Dr. Moham gave us the OK and we're gonna freaking DO IT. The date won't be set until maybe a month before winter break, so just keep it in the back of your minds.
Oh, and here's a duet that we'll be singing. Get excited.
Lots of love and oh-by-the-way-my-jury-is-tomorrow,
Joe
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