Chinco #2

It appears that we beached on the Sun. Also, here's a giant Viking statue that we passed on a bike ride to the beach on morning.

Chincoteague

As one last pre-semester getaway, I went to Chincoteague and Assateague islands on a camping and beach trip. The latter is a reserve with marshes, beaches, and plenty of wildlife - wild ponies, egrets, herons, turtles, sandpipers. The best part of the trip was the morning "rooster calls" from the seagulls.

Ryan's Birthday

Last weekend my friend Ryan had his all night "Sweet 16 + 10" birthday party, which comprised dining, dancing, and style on the town with a strict dress code (it is Ryan after all). Indoor sunglasses were an obvious requirement. We started in Rockville, moved to DC, and finished in Rockville again.

Student Activities #2

Here's another photo from the fashion show and then a photo from my morning class, which is a portion of a Dadaist exhibit that we created.

Student Activities

Here are some photos from my course #2 (Say What?!?) fashion show. The students were given all of the lost and found items from last year's gov school plus some random supplies and had to work in teams to create a line of clothing that conveyed a theme that Sarah & I provided. The students ran the show - from organizing the runway and designing the layout of the black box theater to choosing music and an emcee. The themes were Hope, Power, Good versus Evil, and Happiness. You can see some of those themes in these photos.
The AC broke the morning of our show, which happened to fall on Teacher Rec Day (where specially invited instructors shadow their students) so it was literally hotter inside than outside.

University of Richmond

Free time here at the Governor's School is *v e r y l i t t l e* but I managed to get out and take a few photos several days ago. The first is the castle where I live. I also teach my afternoon class here. The second photo is the music building where all of our evening guest performances are held. The third photo is of the "secret garden" that is outside of my room. It turns out that I have one of the few basement rooms where the windows don't look out on concrete supports. My room is to the left of the garden in the photo.
Its difficult to capture how incredibly beautiful this campus is. I tried to take more photos but I can't quite get wide-enough views. Everything is amazing!

Funky Clavi

By a strange twist of fate, I bought a clavichord yesterday. A neighbor who is moving invited me over to look at some old piano music she wanted to get rid of, and while I was there she mentioned she also had a piano and a clavichord for sale. It was a great price, so I bought it. The clavichord is a precursory instrument to the piano and was popular in the Renaissance, Baroque, and classical eras, but gave way to the more versatile piano. It is similar to the harpsichord and virginal. Sound is produced by striking the strings with metal tangents and it is a very quiet instrument intended for chamber music.