Presentation links-

Penn video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj9JQTLouiY
Penn a cappella site- http://upenndischord.com/

Ingrid Michaelson site- http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/
Ingrid Michaelson MySpace/blog- http://www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=27114803368&subj=1232400791

Ingrid Michaelson video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJOzdLwvTHA

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On Thursday, I got to listen to a small part of Amadeus orchestra play the piece I composed for string orchestra in my independent project. I then got to hear my teacher and peers' responses to the piece and its performance. It was great to get feedback from others who have worked on similar projects.

However, not all composers are given the opportunities to hear their music played on real instruments, or in front of an audience, let alone an engaged and musically trained audience. I recently discovered that the music program Sibelius has a website which allows for musicians to not only find out about the composition program, get on a mailing list, read about newer versions of the program, but also publish their music online for other members of the Sibelius community to hear. Essentially, the program's website (www.sibelius.com) gives composers the opportunity to get feedback from other composers. Similarly, listeners benefit from hearing others' compositions.

It just seems so cool to me that I could post any compositions I've done in Sibelius onto their website, and find out what other users of the program think of it. This feature of the website can bring together students, amateurs, and professionals- basically anyone who wants to know what other people think of their work.

I don't know if I'll ever post any of my compositions online, but it's nice to know that as a Sibelius user it's an option.

xoxo,
Allie

What with all of the photo opportunities that senior spring presents, I've started thinking about what I'm really excited for when I'm posing with a group of friends after a concert or a long day on the lawn- I look forward to seeing these photos under "photos tagged of Allison by other people" on Facebook. I'd feel super pathetic about this, but I know that everyone else in the pictures feels the same way.

I can't remember the last time I saw a beautiful picture of a friend and didn't immediately think "That would be a stunning profile picture for Facebook!" I always scroll through new pictures that my friends post of me, deleting heinous pictures that I wouldn't want friends from my old school or kids from the Hopkins group to see. However, I'm careful not to be too picky about the pictures of me that are posted, because a small picture count indicates that I have a lacking social life.

I never really think about the Facebook applications other than photos- I don't really care about Honesty Box, sending Pokemon, Growing Gifts, etc. The number and quality of photos tagged of someone on Facebook gives some sort of indication about their social status. For example, looking at pictures of my Quaker-school classmates, there's a wide range. There are the girls with 1,000+ pictures from parties, dances, and other activities, and there are the boys with maybe 60 pictures taken at a chess tournament (I don't mean to be offensive- the latter describes my close friends!)

I think it's a little sad that an application on Facebook has become a social status. But that being said, I have a bunch of friends bothering me to put up some pictures that I took last weekend on my phone. Oops!

xoxo,
Allie

Sixteen hours until my senior recital, and I’m on vocal rest. I tell myself that it’s not as bad as my two weeks of vocal rest in October, during which I was required to reduce my talking to ten minutes out of the entire day, for fear that I would entirely lose my ability to sing. I know that this time my silence lasts less than 24 hours, but I can’t help but feel frustrated.

As a singer, my voice is my identity. But in addition to being a soprano, I’m a very talkative person. I love to vent, to give compliments and advice, and to say “I love you” to all of my friends on a daily basis. Gesturing at myself, forming a heart with my fingers, and pointing at the person of my choice doesn’t have quite the same effect.

Not only is this type of miming generally less effective than talking, but I’ve found that text messaging, instant messaging, emailing, and writing things down for my friends to read are all lesser means of communication than talking.

Tonight's reading has made me realize just how much of a television-freak "loyal" I am.

I rarely watch shows just as they're coming out on television. Instead, I download an episode on I-Tunes out of curiosity, and proceed to devour an entire season, until I'm caught up with the series.

My first obsession was "Desperate Housewives." The summer before Upper year, I caught scarlet fever and was quarantined to my room for a few days, and found myself spending a lot of time on my computer. After watching the pilot of "Desperate Housewives," I was hooked. I downloaded the entirety of the first season. When I was done, I downloaded and watched the second season. I spend over $80 on television that summer. I actually continued to watch the third season throughout Upper year, downloading the new episodes as they became available on I-Tunes on Tuesday nights after orchestra.


(http://torrents.mypiazza.eu/tv-shows/download-desperate-housewives-s04e13/ ,5/20/08)

As the show got trashier, I became less of a die-hard fan. Rather, I now watch the episodes on abc.com when I have some spare time and happen to be in the PACC.

My newest obsessions are "Greek," "How I Met Your Mother," and "Gossip Girl." I've never actually seen any of these shows on television, but I consider myself a huge fan. I'm around three episodes behind on "Gossip Girl," two behind on "Greek," but haven't missed an episode of "How I Met Your Mother." I own seasons 1 and 2 of "How I Met Your Mother," on dvd, I've seen episodes online, and I have a few from season 3 on I-Tunes.

I'm beginning to realize how sad my loyalty is. I'm always a little disappointed when I finally catch up with a television show. Knowing that I have a spare episode to watch when I'm bored, sad, tired, or am experiencing any sort of negative emotion is comforting.

I've found that being a busy student doesn't affect my status as a loyal, though, as much as the writers' strikes do. Nothing made me more depressed fall term than going onto I-Tunes just to realize that there were never any new episodes of "Greek" available for download.

That being said, sometimes I go back to the beginning of a television series and watch it as though it's a very, very long movie. Does anyone else do that?

xoxo,
Allie