Today Chris and I went to visit our friend Philip in Lancaster. I’ve never been there, and I especially wanted to see the Amish (or Mennonites, or PA Dutch) as they interact with our car-driving, machine-fabricated, lightbulb-burning, electricity-consuming world. We saw several horses trotting along, pulling buggies of both tourists and bonnet- and beard-sporting locals. Here’s a video!
Apparently there are horse-hitching posts! And they don’t lock their horses either – I wondered aloud about whether horse/buggy theft would be a concern, but all I got was a laugh from Chris and Philip. One of the buggy’s owners came back, and as she assembled her ride, two things caught my eye: her footwear, and the sliding front windshield of the buggy.
Along our travels we stopped by a farmhouse for homemade root beer. Chris is evidently fond of root beer. Here he is purchasing it from the stand, which was at the end of a long driveway onto the farm property. They also sell dresses for $10…but I don’t think any were my size!
Fortunately, we did plenty of shopping at the outlets =)
Yesterday I discovered a podcast series featuring renowned Broadway actors, directors, composers, you name it. The podcast is one of several produced by American Theatre Wing, and they’re all free!!! Anyone who is interested in the workings of theater, from just about any aspect – be it costume design, stage engineering, playwrighting, composing, or just plain old acting/singing/dancing – will find this resource to be an enormous wealth of information. The episodes definitely feel very educational and PBS-like, geared toward people who want to study theater. On iTunes, try this link.
I woke up this morning with the intention of doing some science reading. I usually allow myself some pleasure reading as I eat breakfast – catch up on the news, that sort of thing. Somewhere along the way I came across a post (this one, specifically) that made me reconsider the utility and value of a highly interactive blog. My old one enabled some limited interaction, and more importantly it helped me learn a lot about how databases can be used to display content.
But in terms of facilitating communication on the World Wide Web, it was nowhere near as sophisticated as, say, Wordpress (which I’m using, since I use it for web development too). So, approximately three hours later, I have now set up the platform within my site. It’ll take some work to merge the archives, but yay, here it is!
Gillian, Amy and I first crossed paths at an audition for Guys and Dolls. I remembered Gillian because she was an awesome dancer, and I remembered Amy because she had a beautiful legit soprano voice. (Nothing about me was memorable except perhaps being a nervous wreck. And being Asian, that makes me stand out in the theatre world.) I think that audition was one of the first for all of us; we were just starting to get into this thing called musical theatre. To be fair, Amy had plenty of experienc…
This weekend has been sweet I still have to study for an exam tomorrow, but it’s been sweet.
I’ve always wanted to try that restaurant in Rittenhouse Square called Friday Saturday Sunday. Well, my birthday was last week, but I was too busy getting rocked by school to celebrate, so Chris took me to FriSatSun last Friday. It’s a cozy, romantic little place, not too trendy or loud, with great food — I loved it. I had the crusted tilapia and he got the duck. For dessert, …
Today, my first math homework was due. I am taking Engineering Mathematics (ENM) 510, Foundations of Engineering Mathematics I. Whereas this class would be too easy for my Applied Math grad friend Yan, I can’t make heads or tails of the stuff sometimes. To make matters worse, I shamelessly procrastinated on it and didn’t really start until about 8 hrs before it was due. Oh, I had looked at it earlier, and it seemed impossible. As of this morning, it still seemed impossible.
Last night, I had my dinner. Then I had a pint of ice cream. Then I had a stack of Pringles — which I normally don’t eat, but these were “screamin dill pickle” flavored, packaged in a lime green canister, and my curiosity got the better of me.
Today, I feel blah, as if digesting all that unhealthiness sapped me of all my energy. So here I am, resolved: I will stop eating excessive amounts of sweets and treats, start running again, and hit the gym. The Penn gym is prett…
Now that I’m ready to talk about it, I might as well blog about it: Prescott and I ended our relationship earlier this summer. It was difficult and rough, but it was time. We were together off and on for seven years; in that time, even when we were apart, I don’t think we belonged to anyone but each other. I spent over a quarter of my life with that boy, I grew up with him in those seven years. He made me cry, he made me laugh, he drove me insane at times. But I always loved him, and…
A few weeks ago I decided to work toward getting back into theater. I found an audition for Jekyll and Hyde about an hour away, and I figured it would be a good one on which to test the waters again. To my surprise, I got a callback for Lucy, the female lead originally played by Linda Eder. No way on this earth do I have a voice like hers. People who know me would peg me for Emma (the more wholesome soprano) rather than the vivacious and intensely vulnerable prostitute Lucy. But I sang…
Today, Kara and I went to see The Rock Tenor, a concert of five vocalists performing medleys that blend rock anthems with everything from Puccini to Les Mis. It is an AMAZING show. The vocalists are incredibly talented, thrilling to see and hear. The soprano, Morgan James, trained at Juilliard, and damn it shows! And another one of the vocalists, Alex Keiper, went to school here in Philly at UArts. She dances around like she’s having a blast, and she’s adorable Plus, the two bac…
