Orchestral Magnificence

The Symphony.

It's always a big ordeal.

We're late, and there's an unforgivable spaghetti stain on my button down.

I never get food on my clothes, except when I don't want to.

I have to change, again.

My tie doesn't match, from gold to blue to gold again.

Run to the car, thirty minutes to go thirty miles.

We barely make it, the doors are closing.

One of us misses to first piece, it was forgettable anyway.

Finally, we're all inside, and the solo floats over a dark cloud.

I know it's good, but something is missing.

Now I'm bored, and the soloist goes off.

The final piece begins, and it starts off well enough.

But now it begins, I hear birds chirp.

I see green hills and a fantastically magnificent world.

A battle ensues, but the protagonist prevails.

The town celebrates with bright major chords,

and the piece climaxes with my mind.

Music to the Masses

I volunteer at Primary Children's Hospital up by the University of Utah as a part of the music crew. Every Saturday I spend an hour performing for the patients and their family and friends. When I first arrive, I climb the stairs to the piano on the third floor and take in the emptiness of the waiting room. It was intimidating at first, singing in front of an empty room with the occasional passer-by. I take out my sheet music and begin to sing. I usually stick to a pretty light repertoire, including some Disney and maybe a little doo wop.

Then the most fascinating thing happens. As people walk by, maybe just employees or other volunteers but patients and visitors as well, they start to hang around and listen. The room starts to come alive. Instead of the sterile, empty room seen before, there are people conversing, listening, and filling the room with an aura of warmth. Parents would point me out to their children and they'd smile joyously and with such intensity that it's impossible for my not to smile back. The coolest aspect of this experience, however, is that this transformation was sparked by a very simplistic Art form: A Capella music. I chose to use photography as my creative medium journal response mostly because I was extremely inspired by the view that I had witnessed while driving through the mountains. The sun glowing behind the mountains gave them an aura that seemed to spark life in them, giving me the same inspiring feeling I witnessed while volunteering at the hospital.

Chick Flick? I Think Not.

This past weekend, I was dragged along by my sister and girlfriend to see "Eat Pray Love" in theaters. I had no intention of paying too much attention or even staying awake through the entire thing, but I was pleasantly surprised at the film. Despite less than mediocre reviews and sub-par performance by one Julia Roberts' love interests (James Franco), "Eat Pray Love" took me on an emotional pilgrimage from New York City to Italy, India, and finally Bali. Roberts' character used an aspect of each place to find herself and be able to love again, after her marriage failed and she couldn't find happiness in anything she did.

The most interesting aspect of the film (in my opinion) was the lighting. The shades of yellow used in the film paralleled the emotion extremely well, and really played aesthetically to me. In fact, it inspired me to write three Haiku's representing the three healing motifs (eating, prayer, love).

*Caution: I've never written poetry in my life*

Walking down the street
the warm air contrasts my face
full of emotion.

Sitting on this rug
far from the stress of the world
I reflect for me.

Seeing you love me
and having found my center
I can love at last.

Greek Madness

Tonight I was invited to the Greek Festival in downtown Salt Lake City where I
experienced the Greek culture like I never have. The first thing I noticed was the music. Wave
after wave of sound hit my ears without mercy, and the sound actually increased as I walked
further into the building's huge interior. All around me were tables set up with authentic Greek
food, clothing, jewelry, etc. . . It seemed as though the entire Greek population and culture in
Salt Lake City (if not all of Utah) had transported itself inside of this one building for the
weekend. On top of the food and merchandise, there was much music and dancing, with the main
attraction being the many Greek dancing troupes putting on one to two hour dancing concerts
for passing crowds.

I was able to see the final dance troupe of the festival, with third row seats and a great
view of the action. Of course, the speakers happened to be positioned right in front of my seat in
front of the stage, and the music was extremely loud, almost to the point where it hurt. The
dancing, however, was magnificent. There were rigorous men dances contrasted nicely by
vivacious women ones. Then the sexes would join for a very traditional dance with some couples
mixing it up. I decided to take a couple of still shots that both represent the lively atmosphere
and intensity of the experience.