On Yelp

I'm trying to drum up more Voice Students, so I've put together a Yelp page. I figure it can't hurt? If you have any experience with me as a teacher and would like to contribute a testimonial, I would be most grateful.

On Dressing Well

I often come across images of men that I think dress particularly well. Ryan Gosling caught my eye today.



Now really, Cannes is the only place to pull this off, but I think he does it quite well.

On my new Grey Suit

I ordered this suit, this weekend.



It is from J. Crew, where I mainly shop because Michelle Obama does. Just kidding. Kinda. The truth of the matter is, this was the best place I could find a suit with a modern cut that was actually affordable.

I'm hoping this is the perfect suit for summer wedding season. I have a few weddings I'll be singing in and a wedding I'll be attending, so rather than donning my funereal black suit, I hope to lighten things up with this guy.

On a Diploma

Look what came in the mail yesterday.



Kinda crazy, eh?

I have a Masters Degree. With Distinction!

It seems real now, I suppose. I mean, I'll probably never be asked to show anyone this piece of paper but actually having it in my hands makes me feel like I truly did complete the task. Before, I felt like I was just telling people I did.

On the places you'll go

I had a well received concert yesterday with the William Ferris Chorale at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. When I walked into the chapel, I was reminded how unbelievably beautiful it is and immediately took my iPhone out to snap a picture. Which got me thinking again how odd it is that I have ended up spending so many hours in this somewhat magical churches. It's weird, right? How we end up in these places in our lives. I said to one of my fellow singers that I find it odd that in my life I keep making my way to Rockefeller Chapel in Hyde Park to sing. I have no connection to that place, but work and life keep bringing me there.

Today I was looking again at the picture and began to thumb through other iPhone snaps I've taken of different churches I've been singing at in the last year. I thought I'd share.








It is both weird and amazing.

On Moleskin Journals

Scott inspired me the other day because he bought some red moleskin notebooks to write in for work. I love a good moleskin journal. I always have and now they make them in great colors and so many different sizes. One for every occasion. So, on my way into a meeting the other morning I realized I didn't have anything to write on and feeling inspired by my observation of purchase, I bought myself a couple of these little guys in blue!

Admiring they're color, shape and style I began by writing the date in the top right hand corner. About midway through the meeting, I looked at my notes and realized in disgust how terrible my handwriting is. It is really bad. So, I tore the page out that I had been writing on and proceeded to try and again, writing more neatly. Well, three quarters of the way through the meeting, I tore out that page as well. The thing about moleskin journals? They're not meant to have their pages torn out.

But you know what, this is why I never was a successful journaler. I hate my handwriting. I've tried to improve it, even considering penmanship classes or something, but the truth is that you learn how to write when you are young and rarely does this get better as we get older. Usually, it gets worse. Plus, I mostly type now.

It my fit of frustration with regards to my beautiful moleskin and my lousy handwriting, I have purchased an iPad. Just kidding. But I'd like to pretend it would be a legitimate excuse to do so.


Both celebrate simplicity and practicality, but one costs a lot more...

On Inspiration Friday

On a proper backpack

Now that I'm out of grad school and carrying around fewer books and my laptop less frequently, I've been on the hunt for backpack that is a bit smaller, yet still hardy. I have a couple backpacks, but generally they are two big and/or awkward for my daily lunch, sweatshirt and maybe one book. I'm all about the backpack, because it is the only realistic way for me to transport things while riding my bicycle.

A couple of weeks ago Scott forwarded me this little number.

It immediately caught my attention. A bit pricey, but simple, classic and hardy. It would hold a laptop but also wouldn't be too bulky if I just had a couple of small things in it. Well, turns out this was a collaboration with Duluth Pack and Inventory and was subsequently sold out. Sooo, I did some research on Duluth Pack to see what the lowdown was on these bags.

Turns out this is a standard bag for them (with a few modifications by Inventory) and it is also available (less expensively) through their website. Here's the one that caught my eye.



Additionally, the company has put together these videos that showcase their bags and also have other videos that show the process of the bags being made.



Which by the way, this is a fantastic marketing technique.



Yesterday, while I was contemplating this purchase it occurred to me that my best northern Minnesotan friend might in fact know this brand. When I asked dear Mary about it, she groaned. Was another element from her remote Minnesotan childhood becoming chic? Weren't Uggs enough?

Well, the answer Mary is yes. When I get this bag in the mail and wear it all abouts Chicago, you'll know it to be true.

On Communicating Well

I generally think I'm a good communicator. In fact, it is something I pride myself in. I think there are two primary contributing factors to this. First, my father was both a teacher and a minister so he lead by example and made a life practice of getting a clear message across. Secondarily, I'm a musician and performer, so when one gets in front of an audience it would be a shame if one did not communicate well.

With this in mind, it seems like I am at a point in my life where all areas seem to point me in the direction of guiding others in how to get a message across. Actually, scratch that, this isn't just about others, but I'm attempting to do a better job of this on my own behalf as well. Let me explain both.

With regards to work, one of my primary duties is to communicate important information to students. If for some reason, I don't do a good job of this and they miss the message then the implications can be significant. As an academic advisor, students depend upon me to help them find out what they need to know. Therefore, my work life lately has been consumed with the question of what it means to communicate a clear message to 18 -24 year olds particularly in a world that incorporates new and social media. See, I'm 28. I'm not that far from this demographic, but the bottom line is that I didn't grow up with it and they did. It is what they know and we have to take that into account when crafting our message.

Further, I work in a music school. This makes me ask the question, how are we equipping music students to be musicians in the 21st century? How we communicate with them and how we teach them to communicate with others... I believe this is vital in education.

That is why I am making such strong push to evaluate best practices and really apply them to my own life. The truth is, a strong message will communicate for you, but how we choose to make it available is another story.

So of course these leads me quite selfishly to think of myself and how I am communicating my message of who I am as a musician, an artist and possibly as a person.

This is filling my thoughts. I will elaborate more later.

On Inspiration Friday (Tuesday?)

On The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hey Ya'll,

I heard about this movie on NPR and I was a bit hesitant because although it seems to be all the international rage, it didn't seem up my alley.

Well, Linsey, Scott and I went to see it on Friday and boy was I wrong. It has stuck with me ever since. It is incredibly graphic and not for the faint of heart, but if you enjoy a good murder mystery thriller (In Swedish!) you'll love this movie. I really cannot stop thinking about it.

I just dread the day when they do the American remake starring .... ?? I hate to even speculate.

On that guy who cries

Given my recent post about the Marina Ambramovic exhibition at MOMA, I found this to be quite fascinating.

How many times have you sat with Marina so far?

I think today was number 14.

When was the first one?

The first one was March 11, two days after the opening.

Why do you keep coming back?

I think Marina’s piece has a very strong magnetism. It’s hard to explain but it’s almost like you feel this force, it draws you in, like a magnet. Sitting with her is a transforming experience—it’s luminous, it’s uplifting, it has many layers, but it always comes back to being present, breathing, maintaining eye contact. It’s an amazing journey to be able to experience and participate in the piece.

Also, I love meeting people in line. I’ve met a lot of people and have made a lot of new friends, many of them artists, but really all sorts of people. I keep in touch with them and we e-mail constantly to talk about our experiences. It’s like a little community of people who come to participate in the piece.

I noticed in a number of the photographs recently published online that you’re crying in many of them, and I saw you cried today. What about the experience elicits that emotion from you?

She almost acts as a catalyst. She presses the button that makes you feel all these emotions and feelings. I think through the concentration and the focus, plus the energy of the audience, it creates this movement within you. It’s very subtle the way it happens. Maybe it’s just an image that pops while I’m connected with Marina. Let’s say it’s an image of someone I love deeply, and then this creates the emotion, the tears just come out. Most of the time it’s tears of joy. You’re just being and thinking about somebody or something that’s important in your life. And then just acknowledging this person or situation and moving on into being present because yeah, the tears come, but I don’t want to cry for the entire sitting. I want to move on and continue to be with Marina, to be present.

You seem to have developed a very deep connection with her work. Can you talk a little about why?

Something I was very interested in is that she said she’s not interested in doing anything she’s not afraid of. I find it fascinating that she has to do something that she’s afraid of all the time, but she’s done it over all these years, and she gets over the fear, she goes over the fear. I don’t know how to explain, it’s almost like she flies over the fear, the danger, the risk… and I love that. It’s all about taking risks, and going beyond, and pushing the limits. I like these words that she said: “Who sets the limits?” I’m not saying it right, but it’s a very profound phrase because we think we can only go so far, but she’s teaching us that we can go beyond what we think we can do and I love that about her.

It’s interesting how in a city like NYC where everyone’s always rushing about, people will stop and wait and kind of be displaced in time in this piece.

I think that’s a really important aspect, now that you mention it. Because, yeah, we’re always like, “I have to do this, I have to do that.” But when I come here, I don’t make any plans because I know I’m going to be here and I don’t care what time it is. I just let go and forget about it. Sometimes we’ve been there for so many hours on line and you don’t even notice it, it’s like “Oh, how come it’s so late?” You don’t feel time anymore. Time stops, and there’s just this energy.

On my Mother

She's the best woman on the planet. Simple as that. On this mother's day I'm reminded how lucky I am that she is my mom.

On things in the mail

Each day this week I've come home to my mail box somewhat anxiously as I've been waiting for a two new cards from my bank and a card from the Chicago Transit Authority. A couple of weeks ago I thought I lost my wallet. Well, I did lose my wallet, but it was returned to me. In the meantime I had shut off all my cards and ordered new ones. This process seems to take forever and I'm still waiting to receive one of them, but yesterday I discovered two fun things in my mailbox.

First off, let me preface this by saying rarely in my life have I said much positive about the Chicago Transit Authority. I think like many government run agencies, it is pretty much a mess. Chicago Transit overall is ok for a major city, but the CTA is just in general about as pleasant to interact with as the post office. That being said, I received my new "Chicago Card Plus" in the mail yesterday. Check out how it came:




Inside the envelope was a faux paper wallet that contained the card. I didn't show this, but the wallet unfolds to an instructional poster. Talk about a quick way to win over a boys heart. Send me a well designed package and I'll forgive the two weeks it took to receive. I think it is terribly cute and clever. Well done, CTA.

Second, remember my shout out to those red Collegocity bags? Well, look what I got!




Thanks, Mary!