On Etsy Today

Thank-you to Rockology3 for featuring me in her Etsy treasury today:

In the Shop...

Designed a new header/banner, one that matches the blog's. It's much nicer looking, though.

I also have a couple of new prints from NY up. Check them out!

New York, New York

This past weekend, we sang at Carnegie Hall. (Remember the last entry? If you haven't read it, go on. I've explained the details there.)

The performance as a whole- the entire trip really- was a little surreal. How many people are fortunate enough to count this among one of their life experiences? To, though part of a large group, stand on one of the world's greatest stages?

Not everything progressed smoothly, however. During the performance, an audience member's phone went off. Not once, not twice, but at least five or six times. As we were singing onstage. Now that's blatantly disrespect of the highest degree. I have reason to believe a number of us were ready to bash heads.

As if that weren't enough, we:

-had two members of the chorus end up

in the hospital on the departure days (there and back)

-were delayed as a result, and did not make it to the CBS studio where we were scheduled to sing, nor could we make another performance stop days later

-were held at the US-Canada border for nearly an hour

-experienced multiple mechanical problems with the charter bus we were riding

It all made for a very interesting experience. Quite decidedly, I would acknowledge it to be one of the most valuable of my life, well worth all the time, expense, and energy.

Check out another (and rather better) take on this whole deal by a fellow blogger.

Look out for more NYC photos next week! All the over-publicized tourist-magnet locations, yes, but I returned with a good number of shots with which I was very pleased.

Amelie Soundtrack

Courtesy of friend Ian, here is a streaming playlist of the hauntingly beautiful Amelie soundtrack. Enjoy.

We're Goin' Places

Last spring, we, as in our choir, participated in our usual festivals. We, for lack of a better term, owned. The reprotoire that year consisted of the some of the most beautiful choral music I have ever had the fortune to perform. If you have never heard Sergei Rachmaninoff's Bogoroditse Devo, look it up. It is much more impressive in person, certainly. Not to sound smug or anything, but I have felt that our performance, our interpretation, sounds far... well, superior to many others'. Never have we felt such deep emotional connection to our music. When we sang this piece in particular, some of the audience became moved to tears. We were moved to tears.

So in May we took a road trip down to the Heritage festival in Cleveland, which hosted not only choral but instrumental groups. And there we did more than well. There were not many other ensembles present at the time we were there, but we received the highest score. One of the judges, in fact, specified that he had never or only once given a higher score in his (approximately) fifty-year career. As a result, we have earned a spot in another gathering to be held this spring, when the nation's best high-school choirs convene under the direction of one Dr. Eph Ehly.

In Carnegie Hall.

There are no words to express how honored we all are. Most would have been awed to sit audience in that famed hall. We are to take part in a performance. Many who dream of getting to Carnegie deserve it, yet never reach the stage. We are no world-class symphony, no legendary musicians, but we are going to be there. We are going to stand on that stage, and we are going to sing.

Skywatch No. 12

I biked out to catch this sunset over a cornfield a couple of days ago. Cold, but nice. I ended up with a nice set of pictures... I might pull a few of them out for another Skywatch.

Well, I Wish I Were That Good.

Recently, as I was browsing around for formal gowns, I happened upon this classy number. I'm normally not one to be enthralled by hours and hours of clothes-shopping, but this one really caught my fancy. It's just... elegant.

Now, as it just so happens, I'd bought this delicious crinkled/pleated fabric some years ago in this spectacular blend of lime and celery green (I've spent a great deal of time messing with the white balance, but to no avail. This is as close as I can get the color). It's nearly the exact same material as the skirt portion. Now that I have inspiration and an actual use for the fabric, I think I'll have a go at it. As the only sewing machine I am in possession of is currently dysfunctional, well, let's just say this'll be one heck of an interesting experiment.

A Sunrise

It's finally been getting to that point where the sunrise starts its subtle glow in the early hours in the morning again. I still wake to a dark sky but by the time I leave it doesn't feel quite so... desolate, for lack of a better word.

Where I live, most plants haven't budded sufficiently to make it look like it's spring, though it officially has been for week or so. However, the improving weather, in conjunction with the onset of spring break (meaning a week off classes starting today) has put everything in a considerably better light, personally. 

Traffic- Feedback Please!

Traffic analysis tools have become very helpful in determining what sort of things people are looking for when they visit. Please help me by leaving some feedback. I'm not going to beg for attention, but the more you let me know about what you're looking for, the better I'll be able to adapt. Now:

I've noticed that most of you who arrive on Darkglow come from one of three places:

1. Google searches for craft-related items, mainly paper mache. You usually end up here. I'm impressed that I show up high enough on the results to be getting so much traffic for the same thing, but is this single post what you need? Should I expand? Are you disappointed by the content of the rest of the site, most of which has little to do with what you searched for?
2. Skywatch. I enjoy participating, although those posts cater to a narrower audience. I've noticed that if you came from Skywatch, you've only ever commented on Skywatch posts. Does this mean you read exclusively for it? If the posts relate to something else, do you just not read it at all?
3. Facebook. Okay, if you came from Facebook, I probably know you, and you know me. It'd be nice to have some honest feedback. Would you return? Is there anything you are particularly interested in that you'd like me to write more about?

Skywatch No. 10

Still experimenting with night shots. Maybe it's just the inexperience of an amateur speaking, but I find it extraordinarily difficult to focus on a dark sky. Either way...

I still prefer my last night sky photo though.

The night is bitterly cold, but clear, which is what counts. I went out with the intention of shooting the stars; there's something to be said for the less-oft-photographed night sky. Instead, I became distracted with the moon. The moonlight is surprisingly bright- enough to light landscapes under longer exposures- but that's a project for next time.

Here Comes the Sun

The weather is beautiful today. Sunlight, fifty-seven degree high, melted snow, the finally-visible greens of conifers and hardy mosses, the whole deal. Even the insects, birds, and squirrels are out. This is the only "nice" day, per say, for the time being. Spring, we must continue to tell ourselves, begins this month. 

Daylight savings time also begins this weekend. I find it unfair how it always occurs just when it's starting to get a little light in the morning. For those of us who are forced to rise at six, it's often a relief to be able to recognize mornings as being mornings (as opposed to the middle of the night) when looking out the window. 

Also, I am not a fan of post-daylight savings time beginning-Monday mornings. Just thought I'd share.

Remember to adjust your clocks.