My horoscope today says this
"Stimulation is good. Expose yourself to something new and feel a reawakening."
Little did I know my "new" would be a broken bone
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Setbacks
So in my attempt to get myself in better physical shape i've been doing several things. Trying to eat better, not drinking adult beverages, and staying active. Well, the staying active part was the part that I was having the most fun with. I would get out and walk the city. Or I would go play racquetball, my favorite sport ever. Anyway, I went over to play today and was blessed with this tasty little treat.
That Ladies and Gentlemen, is my 5th metatarsal bone in my right foot (at the bottom). It's broke.
The timing couldn't be more perfect either. I'm in Chicago working on my Master's degree. The dorm is not what I would consider close to where my classes are. I was planning on driving home to Ohio this coming weekend. I'll be moving into my home in about 4 weeks. I've got a lot going on, and now this has happened. So much for being active.
I will say that I am thankful that I am surrounded by individuals who care a lot about me and waited in the emergency room until I was done. Ben and Chris are my two favorite roommates of all time. I wish I had them during my undergrad.
This is my first broken bone. It was an experience. I am just thankful that nothing of a bigger magnitude happened.
That Ladies and Gentlemen, is my 5th metatarsal bone in my right foot (at the bottom). It's broke.
The timing couldn't be more perfect either. I'm in Chicago working on my Master's degree. The dorm is not what I would consider close to where my classes are. I was planning on driving home to Ohio this coming weekend. I'll be moving into my home in about 4 weeks. I've got a lot going on, and now this has happened. So much for being active.
I will say that I am thankful that I am surrounded by individuals who care a lot about me and waited in the emergency room until I was done. Ben and Chris are my two favorite roommates of all time. I wish I had them during my undergrad.
This is my first broken bone. It was an experience. I am just thankful that nothing of a bigger magnitude happened.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Transformers and Yolk
Went out to watch Transformers last night. Heard many things about it from people that I respect their views on movies and such so I wasn't too sure what to expect.
I loved it! It was awesome! We caught it on IMAX so it was really big and I feel like I need to watch it in a regular theater, but I had an absolute blast watching that movie!
This morning, we all went down to Yolk to eat
For those that aren't familiar with this fine establishment....you should be. Go eat there this weekend if you can! Great breakfast food!
Decided to not go to the Diana Krall show. Instead, we are going to a drum and bugle corps show in Naperville tonight. Should prove to be a good time as I haven't been to one of these in several years. I should be able to provide some excellent pics from that upon returning.
I loved it! It was awesome! We caught it on IMAX so it was really big and I feel like I need to watch it in a regular theater, but I had an absolute blast watching that movie!
This morning, we all went down to Yolk to eat
For those that aren't familiar with this fine establishment....you should be. Go eat there this weekend if you can! Great breakfast food!Decided to not go to the Diana Krall show. Instead, we are going to a drum and bugle corps show in Naperville tonight. Should prove to be a good time as I haven't been to one of these in several years. I should be able to provide some excellent pics from that upon returning.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
My conducting
Check out my awesome conducting skills. Seriously, not much going on here, this class is incredibly BORING.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Mariachi Concert
This evening, the four of us decided to attend the Grant Park Symphony Concert in Millenium Park. It was HOT!! However, most of the music was extremely enjoyable and we had a good time.
Millenium Park has so much to offer but my favorite part is the Pritzker Pavilion. An outdoor concert venue that is simply amazing. Here are some pics.
This is above the lawn portion of the pavilion. Not sure if it is coverable or not for rainy days....but who knows. It has speakers hung throughout for excellent sound production.
This is part of the stage believe it or not. It is very decorative. I was not able to get the whole thing in the shot from where we sat but hopefully, I will get a farther shot to share.
This is a shot of the stage. As you can see above, the decorations from the pic above continue to the stage. So maybe that kind of gives you an idea.
This was the highlight for me. The Mariachi group is called Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlan. They sounded awesome!! It truly was an amazing experience to see a group like this in person. The latino people around were constantly screaming out and yelping, just like you would think of a typical mariachi concert. It was fun.
We have our first Graduate Ensemble Concert tomorrow night. We are playing Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland. Truly an impressive piece. Feel free to watch below:)
Millenium Park has so much to offer but my favorite part is the Pritzker Pavilion. An outdoor concert venue that is simply amazing. Here are some pics.
This is above the lawn portion of the pavilion. Not sure if it is coverable or not for rainy days....but who knows. It has speakers hung throughout for excellent sound production.
This is part of the stage believe it or not. It is very decorative. I was not able to get the whole thing in the shot from where we sat but hopefully, I will get a farther shot to share.
This is a shot of the stage. As you can see above, the decorations from the pic above continue to the stage. So maybe that kind of gives you an idea.
This was the highlight for me. The Mariachi group is called Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlan. They sounded awesome!! It truly was an amazing experience to see a group like this in person. The latino people around were constantly screaming out and yelping, just like you would think of a typical mariachi concert. It was fun.
We have our first Graduate Ensemble Concert tomorrow night. We are playing Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland. Truly an impressive piece. Feel free to watch below:)
Nessun dorma
We played this aria from Puccini's opera Turandot in college and I fell in love with the song. Then I heard it with lyrics and thought it was awesome. THEN, today in conducting, I learned what the whole thing is about. It was pretty awesome. It really struck me today, something no lyrics have ever done. I thought I would share the Italian lyrics and a video of the performance by Pavarotti on here. Enjoy!
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun saprà!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
vincerò, vincerò!
If you want to know what it means, just look it up:P
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che tremano d'amore
e di speranza.
Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò
quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio
che ti fa mia!
(Il nome suo nessun saprà!...
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)
Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All'alba vincerò!
vincerò, vincerò!
If you want to know what it means, just look it up:P
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Trumpet lesson et al.
Since I'm blogging so often, you can look at my previous ones on the left hand side. There are certainly some interesting pictures in some of them.
So i'm taking lessons from my first female trumpet teacher ever.
She is so supportive of my playing problems I've always had. She is incredibly articulate on what she expects from me. Rather than simply playing something and saying "ok, now play that way" She plays with me and I am able to change my sound through that. I could hear myself getting better as my lesson progressed today.
I started practicing (something I would rarely ever do in college) this past week out of fear of her kicking my butt. Now, I want to practice to show her I am capable of progressing in my playing skills. I'm thinking private lessons teacher is going to be in the upcoming school year:)
Speaking of upcoming school year, I need to get cracking on my Master's Project. Hopefully I can get a lot of research done over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep it updated.
I can't believe it is going to be Wednesday of week 2 already. This summer is flying by already. The first couple of days dragged, but we're in the flow now and before I know it, I will be coming back home and moving in to my house.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
So i'm taking lessons from my first female trumpet teacher ever.
She is so supportive of my playing problems I've always had. She is incredibly articulate on what she expects from me. Rather than simply playing something and saying "ok, now play that way" She plays with me and I am able to change my sound through that. I could hear myself getting better as my lesson progressed today.
I started practicing (something I would rarely ever do in college) this past week out of fear of her kicking my butt. Now, I want to practice to show her I am capable of progressing in my playing skills. I'm thinking private lessons teacher is going to be in the upcoming school year:)
Speaking of upcoming school year, I need to get cracking on my Master's Project. Hopefully I can get a lot of research done over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep it updated.
I can't believe it is going to be Wednesday of week 2 already. This summer is flying by already. The first couple of days dragged, but we're in the flow now and before I know it, I will be coming back home and moving in to my house.
That's going to be a lot of fun.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Racquetball Day 3
Today was the third day I played Racquetball with Miles. He is starting to beat me. I think my head is still in a different place and that's why I couldn't play up to par. Or maybe he's just better than me. Hopefully it's the latter.
We usually get in about 3 games every time we play. Play one right handed, then we switch to a game of left hand (which can be devastatingly hard) and then finish up with a game of right. It's a lot of fun. I have certainly missed it a lot since college and it helps to get me active and not laying in bed watching TV.
I've been trying to make better choices with my life lately. Trying to consume better things, trying to be more active, giving up the things that were unhealthy. It's difficult right now but i'll come out a better person because of it.
I don't have nearly as much homework as I had last year. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The bad is that everyone else seems to have a bunch and they are working on it a lot so I have no one to hang out with at times. But I get by. Trying to make the most of this summer.
We usually get in about 3 games every time we play. Play one right handed, then we switch to a game of left hand (which can be devastatingly hard) and then finish up with a game of right. It's a lot of fun. I have certainly missed it a lot since college and it helps to get me active and not laying in bed watching TV.
I've been trying to make better choices with my life lately. Trying to consume better things, trying to be more active, giving up the things that were unhealthy. It's difficult right now but i'll come out a better person because of it.
I don't have nearly as much homework as I had last year. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The bad is that everyone else seems to have a bunch and they are working on it a lot so I have no one to hang out with at times. But I get by. Trying to make the most of this summer.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Exchequer
Tonight Ben, Chris, Mary Kate and myself all went down to our favorite restaurant in the whole city to get ourselves prepped up for week 2:)
And just exactly how did we prepare ourselves for another grueling week of graduate classes?
With one of these bad boys! Chicago pizza is amazing. This evenings toppings included Sausage and Green Peppers. It was great.
We took our typical train ride back to the dorm.
All in all, it was a good Sunday. Got the traditional Exchequer in:)
And just exactly how did we prepare ourselves for another grueling week of graduate classes?
With one of these bad boys! Chicago pizza is amazing. This evenings toppings included Sausage and Green Peppers. It was great.
We took our typical train ride back to the dorm.
All in all, it was a good Sunday. Got the traditional Exchequer in:)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday
Today I needed to get out of the awful dorm room to get my mind off of some things. Couldn't think straight enough to get any homework done so I decided to go downtown with my friend to just catch some sites of the city. We decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium and I really enjoyed seeing the things I was able to see. We then walked for a good hour or so before catching the train to come back.
Mary-Kate and myself at the Chicago Bean! What's the Chicago Bean you ask? Well,
This is the Chicago Bean. A pretty sweet attraction I must say...no pun intended.
While I hadn't taken any skyline shots yet this year, this one comes from the exit of the Shedd Aquarium. The tower formerly known as Sears can be seen on the far left.
This was one of the last things we saw in Shedd Aquarium. It is a huge (HUGE) Snapping Turtle. He was sitting there on this rock in the water with his mouth open. Many people thought he was a rock sculpture because he remained motionless! Needless to say, I had to convince several passersby that he was indeed real and why he was doing what he was doing. It's one thing to see this kind of stuff on TV and it's completely different to see it in real life. It's amazing how this turtles tongue looks like a worm. It was really cool.
Penguins. They were so much fun to watch.
Penguins swimming in the water. I got to see one dive in. It was pretty funny watching them hop around on the rocks.
This is a fine specimen from the Ohio region...oh wait...That's me getting my picture next to the otter sculpture. Ironically, I was wearing my Otterbein Alumni t-shirt this day. Seriously folks, this was not planned in any way.
I found him!!
This Starfish looked like a toy. I thought the picture came out pretty well:)
The jellyfish seen here were amazing to look at. They would swim around and the lights would change their colors. Too bad it was in the middle of a line and I had to move along otherwise I would've gotten several more pictures of them.
They even had Monkeys here! While they didn't do a whole lot, I still want one.
These two fish were talking to each other...or making out....I couldn't tell which.
This fish was HUGE!!! The picture does not do him justice by any means!
This is one of the first guys we got to see. He had sharp, pointy, nasty little teeth.
All in all, I had a great time attending the Shedd Aquarium.
We got to see a number of different things throughout the aquarium (including Beluga Whales, Sea Otters, River Otters, Sea Lions, Dolphins, Lobsters and several other creatures) but I was not able to get solid pictures of everything.
All in all, I feel that I had a productive day of sight-seeing.
Upcoming sights for me to see will be:
The Tower formerly known as Sears
The Taste of Chicago (starting next weekend)
Grant Park Symphony concerts
Jazz/Blues Clubs
Rattlesnake sausage from Hot Doug's Sausage Emporium
Several Chicago style Pizzas
Mary-Kate and myself at the Chicago Bean! What's the Chicago Bean you ask? Well,
This is the Chicago Bean. A pretty sweet attraction I must say...no pun intended.
While I hadn't taken any skyline shots yet this year, this one comes from the exit of the Shedd Aquarium. The tower formerly known as Sears can be seen on the far left.
This was one of the last things we saw in Shedd Aquarium. It is a huge (HUGE) Snapping Turtle. He was sitting there on this rock in the water with his mouth open. Many people thought he was a rock sculpture because he remained motionless! Needless to say, I had to convince several passersby that he was indeed real and why he was doing what he was doing. It's one thing to see this kind of stuff on TV and it's completely different to see it in real life. It's amazing how this turtles tongue looks like a worm. It was really cool.
Penguins. They were so much fun to watch.
Penguins swimming in the water. I got to see one dive in. It was pretty funny watching them hop around on the rocks.
This is a fine specimen from the Ohio region...oh wait...That's me getting my picture next to the otter sculpture. Ironically, I was wearing my Otterbein Alumni t-shirt this day. Seriously folks, this was not planned in any way.
I found him!!
This Starfish looked like a toy. I thought the picture came out pretty well:)
The jellyfish seen here were amazing to look at. They would swim around and the lights would change their colors. Too bad it was in the middle of a line and I had to move along otherwise I would've gotten several more pictures of them.
They even had Monkeys here! While they didn't do a whole lot, I still want one.
These two fish were talking to each other...or making out....I couldn't tell which.
This fish was HUGE!!! The picture does not do him justice by any means!
This is one of the first guys we got to see. He had sharp, pointy, nasty little teeth.
All in all, I had a great time attending the Shedd Aquarium.
We got to see a number of different things throughout the aquarium (including Beluga Whales, Sea Otters, River Otters, Sea Lions, Dolphins, Lobsters and several other creatures) but I was not able to get solid pictures of everything.
All in all, I feel that I had a productive day of sight-seeing.
Upcoming sights for me to see will be:
The Tower formerly known as Sears
The Taste of Chicago (starting next weekend)
Grant Park Symphony concerts
Jazz/Blues Clubs
Rattlesnake sausage from Hot Doug's Sausage Emporium
Several Chicago style Pizzas
First Week
So the first week has come and gone so quick. So many things have happened this past week my world seems to be spinning uncontrollably. My classes do not seem to be too terribly difficult so far. I am taking Vocal Mechanism (to help better teach my choir kids), Brass Methods, Band Conducting, and Instructional Design (my tech class).
I'm thoroughly enjoying my classes more and more as the sessions come and go. Choir is so much fun (ask me three years ago if I would have ever said that). Band is going to be more challenging this year as I am playing trombone instead of trumpet. However I am taking trumpet lessons and think I'm going to get my butt kicked by her (my teacher). It will be good for me.
Miles and myself have gotten into a good habit of playing racquetball every Monday Wednesday and Friday morning. My arms have been sore the past couple of days, but it is worth it because I am getting out and being active and having fun all at the same time.
The beginning of the Summer, many of us thought that this year was a bit less exciting than last year, but that wore off rather quick after we had some nights to all get settled in and reacquainted.
So here's to the rest of the Summer being a blast! Hope all is well back in Ohio for everyone.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my classes more and more as the sessions come and go. Choir is so much fun (ask me three years ago if I would have ever said that). Band is going to be more challenging this year as I am playing trombone instead of trumpet. However I am taking trumpet lessons and think I'm going to get my butt kicked by her (my teacher). It will be good for me.
Miles and myself have gotten into a good habit of playing racquetball every Monday Wednesday and Friday morning. My arms have been sore the past couple of days, but it is worth it because I am getting out and being active and having fun all at the same time.
The beginning of the Summer, many of us thought that this year was a bit less exciting than last year, but that wore off rather quick after we had some nights to all get settled in and reacquainted.
So here's to the rest of the Summer being a blast! Hope all is well back in Ohio for everyone.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Introduction
My name is Paul Waibel and I am currently taking classes at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois. I am working on completing my Master's Degree in Music Education.
I am currently in a music technology class working on integrating Web 2.0 capabilities in our everyday lives. It has been interesting so far but a little slow (but what technology class isn't). This has been a better one I have taken so far and I am looking forward to the remaining 10 classes we have:)
I will post on here often throughout the summer.
I am currently in a music technology class working on integrating Web 2.0 capabilities in our everyday lives. It has been interesting so far but a little slow (but what technology class isn't). This has been a better one I have taken so far and I am looking forward to the remaining 10 classes we have:)
I will post on here often throughout the summer.
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