tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11 2007-05-14T21:00:53Z John's Blog Movable Type 3.31 tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.148 2007-05-14T18:37:42Z 2007-05-14T21:00:53Z

And finals week is here. Wednesday was reading day, and I attended a late night review session with my Musicianship professor which included free pizza, Cheetos, soda, and cake. My Musicianship final was then Thursday morning. I've also had a...

John View image View image View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.147 2007-05-10T20:14:32Z 2007-05-14T21:04:05Z

Finals week approaches, I near the deadline for my 20-page CC paper, I need to write a 4-6 page paper for the inernship, the oratorio performance is on Saturday, and this weekend I'm out of town for my brother's confirmation....

John AAHHHHH!!!!! But it's alright, it'll work... right? Here's a humorous picture that I took of a place which I walk by on the way to my internship site for the Lutheran Leadership program: View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.146 2007-05-01T20:02:05Z 2007-05-01T20:16:53Z

There was a really interesting interfaith lecture/discussion this week about the Baha'i faith and the persecution in Iran on Tuesday led by a very intelligent follower of Baha'i, which may have been the highlight of the week. Also there was...

John View image And a close-up: View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.144 2007-04-23T06:10:34Z 2007-04-25T04:10:06Z

This week has been hectic, mostly involving writing the beginning of my CC 20-page essay and preparing for the premier performance of "Innocence: A War Oratorio" by VU's own Dr. Friesen-Carper and Wangerin. That piece, which is an hour-long oratorio,...

John View image View image View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.142 2007-04-23T06:01:06Z 2007-04-23T06:10:10Z

Aside from frantically finishing Moby-Dick this week, not much stands out except for the amazing jazz concerts (it was Jazz Week on campus). I was really impressed by the Jazz Ensemble, which I had not previously heard, and the Faculty...

John Moby-Dick this week, not much stands out except for the amazing jazz concerts (it was Jazz Week on campus). I was really impressed by the Jazz Ensemble, which I had not previously heard, and the Faculty Jazz Trio was a delight as always, but then the addition of trombonist and shellist Steve Turre to those two concerts and the Mingus Big Band concert just blew my socks off. Very fun, a good time indeed. I did not take pictures at the concerts, because I am a good audience member and a non-flash picture just wouldn't have come out, but here I have a picture of the even larger amount of snow that we got this week, as ridiculous as that sounds. View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.138 2007-04-09T05:46:36Z 2007-04-09T05:57:55Z

Yay Holy Week! Very busy, especially for us Kantoreans who sing at four services, four days in a row, at least three of which hit the two hour mark, in addition to all the rehearsing time that goes with all...

John Very busy, especially for us Kantoreans who sing at four services, four days in a row, at least three of which hit the two hour mark, in addition to all the rehearsing time that goes with all that. Yowza. At least I can rest assured that the Easter African Bush Elephant didn't forget me amidst all the confusion, for I was endowed mightily with chocolates and sundry sweets abundant. And . . . it snowed this week. Yes, snowed. Quite a bit. It was all flurries, but it was certainly surprising, especially on the morning when there was actually settled snow on the ground when I awoke. By the time I was ready for the day and outside, quite a bit of it had receded, but this picture is at least proof that there indeed was settled snow one morning: View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.137 2007-04-02T02:38:51Z 2007-04-02T03:12:14Z

This has been a positive week overall. A couple things were cancelled, and my ability to get good sleep surprised me. I've made it just past page 300 in Moby-Dick, which is big for me (I'm on schedule!!) and I've...

John Moby-Dick, which is big for me (I'm on schedule!!) and I've only got 120ish pages to go. (Yay!) So that's all good. Holy Week is coming up, which means that the Kantorei will have a LOT of singing to do at services, which should keep me busy. Also, the Liturgical Institute is coming up on campus soon, I'm not sure when off hand, but that will include the first premiere performance of Dr. Friesen-Carper's and Wangerin's new hour-long oratorio, "Innocence: A War Oratorio" about the slaying of the innocents in the Bible. So, musically, I'll have my hands full learning all my parts. Construction on campus is getting exciting as workers move up above the basement level and start steel work for the first floor, and as trenches continue to be dug and filled up again all across campus. Here are some pictures of the mess and progress: View image View image View image View image View image View image And here's a picture of a banner that has been up around campus for awhile now, which I find to be offensive and the opposite of inviting. The image of the "Crusader" mascot, shaking his fists, and the words "Our Valpo" below it. "Our Valpo, not Yours," I think to myself. Of course, I do not speak for the university, and viewers may make of this banner what they wish. View image ...And that's all, folks! Until next week, - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.134 2007-03-26T00:59:07Z 2007-04-02T02:37:50Z

This week was exciting because it was the week of the Indianapolis peace rally / war protest, which I've been working on recently with Partners for Peace, which was the group that did most of the planning for the event....

John View image This is Harold Donle, an great speaker from Indiana Veterans for Peace who MC'ed the event: View image This picture is of Scott and Libby, who are basically the P4P presidents and who spear-headed the event to a great extent: View image Here are some of the other speakers: View image View image View image View image This speaker, Vince Emanuelle, is a war veteran of the current Iraq war who now is a college student. He told the detailed story of the first time he had to shoot and kill someone in Iraq. He must have been the most moving speaker, and after getting through his story with some clear difficulty, he and Mr. Donle (a Vietnam War vet) embraced. There was many a wet eye in the place. View image View image These are pictures of the vigil, in which each of the Indiana soldiers who have died in the war thus far were commemorated. The line (which was doubled up to fit everyone) was too long to fit in any one picture, but here are a couple pictures that were taken by someone I found in the crowd (I was in the vigil). View image View image And this amazing little girl, who must have been in something like 6th or 7th grade, was at the protest by herself, and told me that the man who I represented in the vigil (Spec. Nicholas R. Idalski) was a good friend of her older brother. I was very inspired by her, and shared a story with her about my friend Sean, whose brother and only sibling died last year in a car wreck, and now Sean is in military training, so his friends and family are praying for an end to the war. Here is her picture: View image If there are any further questions about the protest, I'd be glad to respond to any comments. - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.132 2007-03-17T23:46:57Z 2007-03-23T16:43:30Z

Besides discovering that Genesis are on tour, and might regroup for a reunion tour with the original band next year (WHAT?!?), this week has been pretty quiet and productive. It's always hard to do work over break, but I've kept...

John WHAT?!?), this week has been pretty quiet and productive. It's always hard to do work over break, but I've kept myself pretty busy during the long days home alone (parents at work, brothers at school, and friends at school). Of course, there has been time for family reunion, including a nice dinner out yesterday evening with the whole family. It's been a very nice break, but it's getting close to being time to be back. I'm pretty excited about the rest of the year, especially my second seven weeks seminar in CC. I chose the Moby-Dick class; the book of the same name arrived here on Tuesday. I've spent a nice portion of my spare time reading it, and I should be a good quarter of the way through it by the time classes start on Monday. (Yes, I'm a slow reader...) So, here's a picture of me with my book, hanging out at home: View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.131 2007-03-17T23:25:52Z 2007-03-23T16:36:24Z

Break! Complete release from scholarly responsibilities (at least for this first week), sleep, and restoration. (Okay, that was a little overblown...) The Florida trip was amazing -- both demanding and leaving plenty of time for relaxing and kicking around the...

John View image View image View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.130 2007-03-17T23:06:23Z 2007-03-23T16:30:32Z

Finally -- the last week before break! And it's insane!!! I leave with the Kantorei on tour to Florida on Friday (iyay!), early in the morning, so that means that I have to write my CC paper before that, comparing...

John insane!!! I leave with the Kantorei on tour to Florida on Friday (iyay!), early in the morning, so that means that I have to write my CC paper before that, comparing Day's The Long Loneliness with O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away. I might be up all night Thursday, but I'll get it done. Meanwhile I need to survive a Theory midterm and pick my second seven weeks seminar for CC from several equally interesting options. The seminar that Mr. Olmsted gives on Moby-Dick stands out to my English major side, but it's really a tough choice. - >< Here's a picture from the beginning of the trip, a sign of refreshment after a rather dismal entry: View image ]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.128 2007-02-27T06:45:30Z 2007-02-27T07:08:37Z

This week was a crescendo. The week began pleasantly enough; the fog on Monday was nice and gave an ambience of soothing calm to the campus. Here are some pictures: View image View image View image View image The weekend...

John View image View image View image View image The weekend was what was brutal for me. Saturday ended with some fun, in that the power went out and that led to the gathering of some six of us in my room for conversation while the hall went mad in a nocturnal flashlight frenzy. However, this was also an impediment for the colossal amount of work (mostly CC reading -- The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day) which I knew awaited me, and which consequently occupied my day on Sunday. After lunch, the only breaks I allowed for myself from my intensive work time in the library were for supper and the Calmus Ensemble, an a capella vocal quintet from Leipzig, Germany, which was AMAZING. I bought a CD and had the ensemble members sign it. Then it was back to the grind, and I ended up leaving for my room when the library closed at 1:00 and continuing my work in my dorm room. I only slept 3 and a half hours, and so I enter the last week of school before spring break... - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.124 2007-02-19T05:17:50Z 2007-02-19T05:51:44Z

It's been a wild week. The past several nights I have received only about 4-5 hours of sleep (last night this was my own fault, and I'm kicking myself for it -- I stayed up playing Monopoly with a few...

John The Violent Bear it Away). however, I could achieve little more than a hadful of pages in an hour's time because I kept falling asleep (not at all because the book was boring [it isn't] but because I was so tired), so I returned, frusterated, to my room and took a nap. I got up in time for the 3:00 2-hour Kantorei rehearsal for the Transfiguration Vespers, and then sang in vespers at 5:00. I grabbed some food with Ethan around 6:30, and finally reaturned to my dorm, where some 70 pages of O'Connor, a workbook page for Music Theory, and some Composition homework awaited me. I've been fighting a cold since Thursday, and my throat hurts. The O'Connor and Theory are done, but I don't think I'll be prepared for my voice and composition lessons tomorrow. Now that I've ranted (which perhaps was not to the greatest benefit of those viewing this web page), I should say that the week has been a productive one overall, and although tired, I'm not so upset as I may sound. I am, however, surprised that this kind of week still comes from a 16-credit schedule (as opposed to last semester's 20 credits). Here's a picture to lighten the mood. This is one of the kids in my mom's first grade class this year, holding a frog or toad. It reminds me of what my parents say was the first thing I did when, as a 4-year-old, I stepped out of the car and into the driveway of our new house in South Haven, MI. I saw a toad (the first I had ever seen), picked it up, and began squeezing it and showed it to my mom. She took it from me and let the poor, bedraggled thing limp away. View image And here's a picture of time, which hasn't been too kind to me lately: View image - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.121 2007-02-10T21:54:13Z 2007-02-12T05:43:47Z

This has been a week of highs and lows. There was some stress involved in getting two applications in -- one for an RA position for next year, and one for a summer job working as an RA for a...

John love PG music!!!). And today (Sunday), I've managed to get everything on my to-do list done, which is both exciting and unusual. This is a picture of the remnants from the Chinese New Year Dinner/Concert: View image and this is a picture of the International Dinner program: View image My roommate is sick and has almost no voice... I'm still holding out, for now.... - ><]]> tag:www.valpo.edu,2007:/admissions/blogs/johnl//11.118 2007-02-07T00:46:42Z 2007-02-07T01:03:20Z

Sorry this is pposted late -- it's been busy. I discovered that going home for the weekend is very difficult. Getting everything scheduled, getting my essay written on time, getting sleep, etc. can be tough. It was a success overall,...

John View image Driving back from Michigan was difficult, due to white-out conditions and a slick road, but it sure was pretty. Here are some pictures I took of the snow: View image View image View image -><]]>