celebrating people I admire

I'm going to see one of my childhood icons perform next June!

Monday: I went to the SUNSCAD candidates' forum, which more or less didn't happen, as only one of two candidates showed up.

I then called Dal counselling services to see about setting up an appointment. Turns out, you have to set it up the day of if you want an appointment at the Dal campus.

I spent the rest of the day doing school work. That evening, one of Lynn's kids posted a photo on FB, with a caption talking about all that Lynn has been through in the last year (long story short, a lot) and wishing her a happy birthday. For most of the years that I've known Lynn I've looked up to her (those feelings gradually materialized over the first five or so years), and every so often something will come along that will remind me of said admiration (the best part is that she didn't do anything special to earn said admiration--just live her life and play the violin awesomely) and make me think about how lucky I am to know her. That caption was one such trigger, and I then went in search of awesome music to match my mood, which threatened to overwhelm me. Besides, I wanted to celebrate Lynn's birthday. Here are two of the pieces that I listened to:





These are not the recordings that I rocked out to that evening, though: my source was CBC Music, which is only available in Canada. This is the album that I listened to. If you're reading this in Canada, you can listen to it here on CBC Music. While the only-available-in-Canada factor sucks, it means that both Canucks and non-Canucks get to listen to Kristin Chenoweth's Glitter and be Gay, and who can argue with a voice like that--especially when its owner is so funny.

Tuesday: More schoolwork and prep for Wednesday.

In the evening, the Festival for Better Education arrived at its final stop, which was NSCAD, having marched to all the schools in Halifax and heard speakers at each one. Max Haiven and Sarah Trower (SUNSCAD president--this is her second year in that position) spoke at NSCAD, and I went to that part of the festival.

Wednesday: Once again, it was my group's turn to take the rest of the class through the week's chapter. Afterward, we each had an individual meeting with Adrian. I called Dal again and tried to set up an appointment for Thursday. No such luck. My meeting with Adrian went well--I had some questions, and I wanted to get a second opinion on the white balance of some of my photos (it's one of those things where one number can mean the difference between being too green or too magenta, and I can go back and forth and just about drive myself nuts trying to get the white balance just right). We ended up setting up an appointment for Monday to have a look at my images on the computers in the Photo Dept. computer lab.

Part of the afternoon was devoted to open studio, the other part being taken up by a guest speaker, Alan Griffiths, founder of Luminous Lint.

There was a GA that evening, but it was one of those times where a GA morphed into an info session--I don't even think quorum (four per cent of the student body--in NSCAD's case, that means forty students) was reached. They talked about the violence in Elsipogtog First Nation and what has happened since (neither the aboriginals nor SWN has budged) and about the bus trip some NSCADians took to that First Nation. Since hearing about the violence, I'd been trying to find out how it started, though I stayed away from news sources like CBC and CTV (some sources can be more than a little racist toward First Nations peoples). No such luck, so I asked at the GA. As I'd suspected, the violence was started by SWN trying to force out the protesters (typical, sadly). The closing of the Seeds Gallery was also discussed (SUNSCAD exec has had a really difficult time getting info as have the students in general--ahem--and SUNSCAD's phone calls haven't been returned). The drawing studio and woodshop on the first floor of the Granville Campus have been rented out, which means that classes were moved half-way through the semester, which is a big no-no. Some students have lost access to lockers and student work has been damaged. In other words, one major mistake after another. The higher-ups and those doing construction in NSCAD should know better. This is an art school, which means that there's artwork that students have laboured over for hours. Stuff that was done for school assignments, and I don't know how much of it had yet to be marked. Have any of the people who've done these things stopped to think about how much that would suck?? Okay, I'm done.

Thursday: I called Dal counselling once again, this time looking at setting up an appointment at NSCAD (one of the Dal counsellors comes to NSCAD every Tuesday). I got an email later that day with a time that was available, which I confirmed.

I spent the rest of the day doing work on my project.

Friday: More homework, including fiddling around with the white balance of another set of photos for my project and starting this week's reading. I also bought my first Neil Gaiman book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. However, I had yet to find out just how poor I am right now. It was worth it, though, as I've heard nothing but good things about Neil's work and I'm a huge fan of his wife, Amanda Palmer, to whom Ocean is dedicated (insert fangirl squeal here): "to Amanda, who wanted to know." In fact, it's thanks to her that I wanted to read the book and have been waiting since said book came out for the waiting list to get down to a manageable size in the NB and Halifax library systems. I checked this evening, and said waiting list is finally down to the single digits in NB (eight holds, twenty copies), though as of today all twenty are checked out/in transit/on hold.

That day I discovered that the CBC Music holiday streams, Seasonal Favourites and Classical Holidays (my favourite), are now available, and I've been listening to the latter stream almost nonstop ever since.

Saturday: I continued the reading (though not without having to do battle with the NSCAD proxy server, which was cantankerous even at school--there may have been more than the allotted twelve people on the server), and Mom ordered tickets for both of us to see Raffi in June. When I was a kid, he was one of the musicians whose tapes I played endlessly, and I still have many of his songs memorized, which will come in handy when I see him live (OH, MY GOD!!!!!!!).

When I was little, I didn't think about what he was doing for the world (not surprising--I was a kid). Once I became a big kid, though, he kind of got shoved to the back of my mind, and I didn't listen to his music quite so much. But a year or two ago, I rediscovered him and learned about what he's been doing through his organization, Child Honouring, and my respect for him is now so high it's probably sitting on Mt. Everest. I'm a fan once again, but my appreciation for him has matured: I love his music, yes, but I also admire what he's doing to make the world a better one for kids. If you happen to stumble across this, Raffi (as this is a public blog, you never know who's going to read it), thank you for the music and for everything else you've done. Can't wait to see you in June! As the concert's in between the date when I finish at NSCAD (the last teaching day is April seventeenth) and my birthday (July eighteenth), I'm treating it as a graduation and early birthday present. Thanks, Mom!



If you listen to only one of his songs, make it this one (referenced in the above interview). Fans like me--those who grew up with his music, are now in their twenties and thirties and who've perhaps passed their love for his music on to their kids--are known as Belugagrads, which is a reference to this song. And yes, I still know many of the lyrics.





This is the title track from an album that I used to play a lot (I probably still have the tape somewhere):



When I listened to this song Saturday night, I recognized the melody from somewhere else, but couldn't place it. I went over the melody in my head on the way home and turns out, it's the tune from Arkansas Traveler.





I admit that as I was choosing videos for this post, I was singing along. Yes, I do still have many of the words memorized--which will come in handy when I go to the concert.

Sunday: I finished the reading and edited photos for my APC project. At this point, I'm simply tweaking the colour and contrast--starting on Wednesday I'll be working with the images in Adobe Premiere.

we're thisclose to the end

This week was the peak of the stress, but at last it's all over. It was one of those weeks where, if I were taking eighteen credits, I probably wouldn't have slept much.

Monday: We met at the Atrium at Saint Mary's University and then went to the university's data cave. Afterward, we went over to the Granville Campus and worked on our projects.

Tuesday: Welcome to the busiest day of the semester. I met with Anna at Port at ten that morning to go over my final piece for her class and then headed up to Granville where I worked on my paper for Obsolescence until my meeting with Bernadette to discuss my change in plans. When I initially split my course load, I split it twelve credits in the fall and six credits in the winter. Bernadette told me that because I'd be a part-time student in the winter, I would only get loan money for tuition--not other expenses. She advised that I split it nine and nine, which means doing all my history credits in the winter.

Afterward, I printed the test strips for my final for Reconfigured, which was my first time printing on matte paper EVER. This particular paper is about two or three times thicker than the regular Epson Enhanced Matte paper that both NSCAD and NBCCD stock.

Wednesday: I spent the afternoon doing everything that I needed to do that didn't get done on the weekend or Tuesday.

That evening we again split into groups and critiqued each others' work and then could leave. After class, I went to Staples to talk with them about printing my final project, which is a brochure of my work. I'm printing on legal-size paper in colour and double-sided (none of which I can do in the Photo Dept.).

Thursday: I met with NSCAD's registrar, Shawna, to discuss the changes in my plans. After my meeting with Bernadette, I'd moved the extra course that I was taking in the fall (Survey of Twentieth-Century Art) to the winter semester, and when Shawna and I went over my courses she was very happy with how I'd set it up and told me that I was "setting [myself] up for success." She agreed that my original plan of doing all eighteen credits in one semester would've been brutal (I'd been very worried about burnout). I came out of the meeting with a huge smile on my face. My graduation date is now officially Summer '14, meaning that a year from now I'll be doing my last set of finals and graduating with my BFA in Photography. It also means another year of reading about my shenanigans and adventures as a university student.

We spent the second half of class watching The Matrix. I'd found out a couple days prior when I'd met a classmate at OSAS that the final paper for Obsolescence was supposed to be 3,000 to 4,000 words long (Bob had made no mention of this). I only had 2,000 words (still a respectable number--and my longest college/university paper ever). I'd emailed Bob, and although he'd replied I wanted to talk with him about it in person, which we did after class. Afterward, I successfully found my way back to G-block from S-block (which has taken several tries that always ended in defeat, so this is a major accomplishment). I'm finally at a point where I feel reasonably comfortable navigating parts of the school that aren't G- or D-block (where Photo is). By the time I graduate, I should be completely adjusted to the maze that is Granville. The fact that all four of my classes are at that campus (currently--that could change, as was the case with Writing for the Arts, which was supposed to be in Granville until it got changed to Port) helps.

On my way home I stopped by the SuperStore to pick up stuff for the next day's potluck.

Friday: Yay for end-of-the-semester potluck brunches--and for meeting at ten instead of eight-thirty. One of my classmates--who was supposed to present last week, but didn't--presented, and we watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, which I'd heard about for years, but never actually seen. The episode? The Obsolete Man, of course!



Bob had brought a cake--with "Obsolete!" written on it. Us being photography majors, most of the class crowded around the cake, taking photos (because, honestly, how many times in your life are you going to see a cake with "obsolete" written on it?).

WftA had a potluck as well. Several of us (including me) read the journal entries that we had edited. You can read mine (about my journey from being a timid artist to one who's not afraid to use her art to stand up for what she believes in) here. When I was reading it, I couldn't help but think about how much it benefited from being read aloud. Anna told us tearfully about a couple of students who'd been raising funds for a new computer for her (her previous laptop was stolen).

In the evening, we had the closing of the WftA shows. I went home between class and the closing to eat supper and dump my backpack and then went back to Port. Here's the photo of my piece that I promised.

I spent the rest of the evening adding to my Obsolescence paper.

Saturday: Saturday is usually the day I spend at home, but this time I spent part of the afternoon at NSCAD, printing my final for Reconfigured and giving my final for Graphics a once-over. Once I got home, I spent some time cleaning my room and then finished off the Obsolescence paper--for real this time. The whole time, I listened to Die Walküre, and was reminded just how awesome that opera is (something I keep forgetting). I'm not a Ring-head, but Walküre is almost enough to convert me. Almost.



Sunday: Today I didn't have much to do. I finished the project that I'd photographed for the WftA show (sealing all those envelopes--I just have to mail them now), proofread the paper for Obsolescence, watched an episode of a New Zealand TV show that I've been watching on YouTube (The Secret Lives of Dancers, which is about the Royal New Zealand Ballet company) and read a bunch of the tabs that have been accumulating in Firefox since at least January (college/university = very little time to read).

Mom will be coming over on Tuesday to help me pack and then we're outta here next Friday.

Natasha Richardson--need I say more?

I've been debating about whether I want to post what I'm about to write, but I think I'll just go ahead and post this (no doubt a couple gazillian bloggers beat me to it--she fell on Monday, after all).

As just about everyone knows by now, Natasha Richardson (who's a member of the Redgrave clan of actors, and is married to one of my favourite actors, Liam Neeson) is in a hospital in NYC after an accident during a beginner ski lesson on the slopes of Mont Tremblant, QC. From what I've read, there's virtually no hope of her recovering, which I think is just unbelievably sad--it makes me want to cry right now. I agree with Holly Lebowitz Rossi at Fresh Living:

How are you reacting to this? For me, in addition to feeling heartbroken for Richardson and her family (who we feel we "know" because we know their theatrical work), I feel a tingle of anxiety. It's that "does no compute" feeling of, how can a person be laughing and talking one moment, and gone the next? How can a person be pronounced "ok" [sic] after a fall but reportedly be brain-dead less than 24 hours later?

I have to admit that I'm rather obsessed right now--sometimes I check TIME.com what feels like a dozen times in ten minutes. Or at least I check whenever I see that the homepage is automatically refreshing--like now, at about 7:04 PM. No update.

But CNN does have a rather interesting article about how head injuries that start out small can get worse fast. It's well worth reading (now I sound like my father).

Speaking of obsessed, I watched The Parent Trap on YouTube today. I haven't seen that one in so long--my gosh, Lindsey Lohan was cute (x2)!

In much happier news, Friday is the first day of Spring (and it's the Pagan/Wiccan holiday, Ostara). I plan on really celebrating this year. So far my plans consist of simply going out just before dawn and watching the sun rise. I'll say my morning prayers at that time as well. I just checked weatherunderground.com and according to them Friday will be sunny with a high of +2˚ C (roughly 36˚ F). Happy almost Spring, everyone!

I *heart* opera

I feel like writing something, but I don't know what.

I was listening to the Met's radio broadcast this afternoon. This is my first season doing that and already I'm starting to get a bit sad about the end of the season. That may not be until April twenty-fifth, but I'm still feeling it. Today's opera was Rusalka by Dvorak, which is one that I'd never heard before. It's sort of a Little Mermaid-type story--click here for the Met's synopsis. It's also one of those where a main character cannot speak to another character (which also happens in two other operas that the Met performed this year: Mozart's The Magic Flute--Tamino and Papagino can't speak to Pamina as part of a test of Tamino's love--and Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice--Orfeo can't speak to Euridice as he's leading her out of the Underworld).

Tomorrow is the Met's 125th anniversary gala (which starts at 7:00 PM ADT/6:00 PM EDT and will be streamed live via Real Player) and according to a feature on the anniversary minisite called The Met by the Numbers, my favouritist (how third grade does that sound?!) opera, La Bohème, has been performed a whopping one thousand, two hundred and eight times! It doesn't say when the first Met performance was, but that's still really impressive. I can't help but think about all those hankies and kleenexes (I always cry at the end of that opera--it's so beautiful and terribly sad at the same time).

I just read down the list (which names twenty-five operas--coincidence?), and most of them are ones that I know at least one piece from (numbers are up-to-date as of today):

• *La Bohème (#1: 1,208 times; I know the whole thing)
  
• Aïda (#2: 1,103; the ballet music from Act III and the Triumph March)
  
• La Traviata (#3: 952; the overture and Libiamo)
  
• Carmen (#4: 945; anything that's in Suite #1 or Suite #2)
  
• *Madama Butterfly (#6: 830; I know the whole thing--though not back-to-front like I do La Bohème)
  
• *Rigoletto (#7: 821; Questa o quella and La donna è mobile)
  
• Faust (#8: 733; the Jewel Song)
  
• Cavelleria Rusticana (#10: 665; the Intermezzo Sinfonico)
  
• Lohengrin (#11: 618; the Prelude to Act III)
  
• *Il Trovatore (#12: 607; the Anvil Chorus)
  
• Il Barbiere di Siviglia (#13: 574; about half of it plus the overture)
  
• *Lucia di Lammermoor (#14: 580; all of it)
  
• *Die Walküre (#15: 518; the Ride of the Walkuries)
  
• Don Giovanni (#16: 510; all of it, particularly the piece that's featured in Amadeus)
  
• *Tristan und Isolde (#18: 455; Liebestod)
  
• Le Nozze di Figaro (#19; 441: the Overture)
  
• *Die Zauberflöte (#21: 392; the Met's Family Production, which is shorter than the original opera)
  
• Roméo et Juliette (#23: 322; the Balcony Scene)
  
• Otello (#24: 314; the Ballabile)

*Played during the 125th season.

Now, as to who'll actually read this list (besides me) is anyone's guess. Nonetheless, I feel an iTunes playlist coming on--which I'll burn to a CD. I don't have all of them (like Questa o quella, which I love; or Libiamo--although I have it on DVD).

So who's up for an opera-fest?

Guess I found something to write about after all.