Showing Off

I like to show off on my segway. I've always liked attention. Sometimes you're not quite sure what to say, though. I also try to be humble. I went to Blockbuster and had lunch at a nearby Chinese Buffet food restaurant today. Thank goodness my friend and I weren't followed this time. We did have fun. She wouldn't stop teasing me about how I liked to show off. I know not to let things go to my head, though. Showing off can be a dangerous thing if you're not careful. That's how I fell the last two times. I was so comfortable and having so much fun that I forgot to watch where I was going and fell.

I did get quite a few good reactions today. One old man was looking for recyclable items. He looked homeless. When he saw me on my segway, he said, "I wish I could have one of those."

One woman asked me a few questions about my segway. All the usual ones. How much does it cost? How far can it go? Is it powered by gas or by battery? (In case you didn't know, it is powered by battery and can go up to 20 miles. It costs around $5000 used.) When my friend teasingly suggested that she try riding it, I said no. It didn't matter, though, because the lady was afraid to try it anyway.

One man did look at my segway and say, "I want to ride that." I replied, "Got $5000?" He lunged back in surprise and disgust. "I don't have that kind of money," he said as I left him.

Another woman saw me and shouted out, "Cool, wish I had one of those." She said something else too that I remember being a unique response, but I can't remember what it was she said.

On our way back, a couple in a van slowly passed us. They rolled down their window. "Sorry, we're not stalking you or anything, we just wanted to see how that thing worked," they told us. They said they had seen a segway once before a few years back in a parade. We talked a few minutes more and then went on with our business.

Lastly, one girl told me that she had seen police using segways, but always wondered if pedestrians could have one. She always was surprised to hear that they're actually called segways. She thought that was just what the police called them.

Following the Segway

I went to blockbuster on my segway today. My roommate, Lindsay, followed on her bike. We had a good time, but the scariest thing happened (we actually laugh about it now). Some guys in an old van followed us back to the dorms. At first we saw them going the opposite way of us. Then, we saw them cross in front of us. We saw them a third time (I guess they like zigzagging) and when we got back to the college a friend told us she saw an old van behind us. We got back safely and reported the van to campus security. Maybe they were just trying to get a better look at my segway, but they looked very creepy.

On the bright side, I got a few good reactions to my segway. One little girl yelled out, "Cool" and "Sweet!" Another guys stopped me. He was walking his dog, and he asked a couple of questions. He wanted to know how far my segway could go. I told him that it can go up to 20 miles on a battery, but if you go slowly it will probably only go 10-15 miles. He thought that was cool and was surprised it could go so far. He aksed how fast it could go, I told him it can go 13 miles per hour but the fasted I've gone is 12.1 miles per hour. He said he saw commercials for segways when it first came out. I told him it costs about $5000 for a used one. The technology is still fairly new. He said he's never seen one except on TV. They are getting more popular. Some cities give tours on them. Police and security officers use them. I even saw a guy giving out information at a casino in Las Vegas on one once. Anyway, I talked to the guy for a while and petted his dog. He's originally from San Diego. He was very friendly. We had to stop talking because it was getting late and dark out. Considering cars and bumps on the sidewalk, I wouldn't reccomend riding at night. I do, however, have reflectives and a light that I can put on my segway if I ever need some light.

Gene Kelly on Roller Skates

Rainbows

I woke up this morning to twi beautiful rainbows promising a beautiful day ahead, even if it is hot outside and humid. Unfortunately I didn't get my camera quick enough, so I have no pictures of it.

"This is the Day the Lord has made. I will be glad and rejoice in it."

The rainbows seemed to promised hope and escape from the past. I have reason to rejoice in God's mercy and love today.

Segways vs. Bikes

I went on an adventure today. I went to Blockbuster to check out some videos. I went on my segway, followed by my two friends who were on bikes. We had a blast. I thought I'd do some comparing of bikes and segways. Segways are great! They go up to 13 miles per hour, although the fastest I've gone is 12 mph and I reccommend going only 10 mph at the most. Bikes can go faster, but typically don't go faster. My friends were a good distance behind me. Bikes are good for exercises, but you can run out of strength quickly. Segways can only go about 16-20 miles on a battery without having to be recharged, but you don't run out of energy until you get off the segway (at which point your back may hurt a little from standing so long.). Segways take bumps better than bikes, but bikes can go around bumps on the grass whereas segways will often not be able to go on the grass (if you don't have the x2 model that is. I have the i2 model). I've learned to take the bumps slowly, but not too slowly. If you slow down too much your segway will stall on bumps it could pass at a faster pace. You have to learn what kind of bumps you can go over and what kind of bumps you can't go over. You also have to learn to watch for big bumps and to stop very quickly at a moments notice if you see a bump at the last second. I've already fallen once from not paying attention. Look straight ahead when you ride. Lastly, I would like to point out that my friends have trouble making turns on their bikes as well as pulling hills. This is not as much of a challenge for those of us who have segways.

Segwaying to the Movies

So, a couple of days ago I went out on my segway again. No falls this time. I brought a friend with me. She biked, I segwayed. We went to the movies to see Harry Potter 5. I'd already seen it, but she hadn't. Anyways, we had a blast. Let me tell you, crossing traffic and segwaying with the traffic when there are no sidewalks can be quite a suicide mission, but we go there alright. I had a few good reactions to my segway. One person yelled out, "Hey, where can you get that thing?" Not thinking, I told her Indianapolis. If I had had more time I would have said glidemarin.com but I kept segwaying on so I didn't slow down to think or to talk to the woman. I talked to an old couple about my segway later on. That was fun. Old people are so cute! I didn't think they would like my segway so much. I supposed the elderly probably didn't like new technology. Well, they liked it, but I don't remember what all we talked about. My friend who was with me remarked about how cool the lock for my segway is. It is made specially for the segway and is very strong. The hard part is finding a bike rack. Considering how many bikers there are around her I'm surprised there aren't more bike racks. Bikers like to smile at me. It's fun because they often give the right of way to me. Some rowdy kids in their pimped up car yelled after me and honked. I think it meant, "Awesome thing you got there," but I couldn't make out what they were saying over their loud music. The midwest is not nearly as conservative as you think. There are boomers everywhere. Anyways, I also got a "cool thing" remark on that trip as well. My only complaint is that the thing that goes over the spare battery for the key and the place where you plug the charger in is broken. It won't stay on. I think the magnets that held it together broke. No worries, though. It doesn't mean the segway won't work.

In other news, I went roller skating with a friend yesterday and had a blast exercising! My segway couldn't take me, though. I had to find a ride.

I'm Going to be Published!

Dear Harmony,
Congratulations on hitting the big time your very first month in college. Your review of the Martin book will be published this December in the winter quarterly issue of CHURCH LIBRARIES. Your other review of the Martin book will be published in the Christmas issue of THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATOR.
So, you've cracked two national magazines in your first half-month of being at Taylor Fort Wayne. I see a very successful future ahead for you. Keep up the good work.
Dr. Hensley

Segways and Polo

From: AOL NewsCategory: News
In San Francisco, they're putting a new spin on an old game. It's polo without the horse. Players are using those high-tech stand-up scooters called Segways to buzz up and down the field. (Sept. 17)

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Prince Caspian

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/09/17/exclusive-the-chronicles-of-narnia-prince-caspian-official-o/

Some short lessons and fun reactions

Two days ago I went out on my segway and I didn't fall. For once in my segway career, I did not fall! You see, segways can be safe and fun if you ride them the right way. Just don't get so comfortable that you forget to pay attention to where you're going! I did pick up a few new lessons, however. First of all, do not try to go too fast when riding against the wind. If the wind is blowing against you it can throw you off balance if you're not careful. Second of all, takes bumps slowly. Third, wear Off or some sort of mosquitoe spray to keep bugs off of you, especially if you go out in the evening. Speaking of bugs, you might want to wear safety glasses and go a bit slower when riding your segway near a river or some body of water. Bugs like to hang out near water in mass quantities. I learned this the hard way, hitting tons of bugs at once. I leaned my head forward a bit when I saw them coming so as to make them hit my helmet instead of my face. In the end, however, the bugs came off of me as the wind blew them away. Several actually flew away themselves, unharmed. Lastly, I learned that, while it is a stress reliever to go out on a segway on your own, it is a lot more fun to go with some friends. I try to get some of my friends who like to go biking to go with me. It's nice to have someone to talk to. Just don't fall from turning around to talk to them.

I did get a few nice reactions. I can't remember them all now, but some teens commented that my segway was cool and another woman said, "I like your thingy." So far no one has lectured me on how walking is healthier, although I have gotten a few strange looks. Some bikers look at me with a questioning face as if they wanted to say, "Why do I have to exercise to get places? Why can't I have a segway too? I hate that girl because she can have one and I can't." One man gave me one of these looks before smiling the other day. I think my favorite reaction, however, is when bikers genuinely smile at me and nod their heads as if tipping their hats (or helmets) off to my cool contraption. Of course, even cooler than this is when people on motorcycles or in trucks honk at me. Some teenagers who obviously thought they were something yelled something out, but I couldn't understand them over their loud music.

Cool Video

The Mile

So, I walked a mile today for my health/PE class and let me tell you, I'd take a segway over walking anyday if I have to walk more than a mile!

Another Fall - Still on My Feet

So I'm beginning to wonder if I ever really needed a segway. I'll certainly use it to get my money's worth and enjoy it in the process, but did I really need it? No, but I wanted it and I got it and I love it. But I fell for the second time today. I went to the movies and got there and back with one bar of batteries still left. To use up all of the batteries would amount to somewhere around 14 miles. I went 11 miles today. On my way back I hit a curb and the segway thew me over and I hit by left elbow, the left side of my face, and my left knee. My gloves, which luckily I was wearing today, kept me from any scratches on my hands. My elbows are fine. I have a few scratches on my face and a fat lip. My knee is cut fairly bad. I don't mind. It hurts a little, but I should have been paying better attention. My pants were ruined from new found holes, but I got right back up and kept on going. This is a surprise to me. When I was younger if something hurt me I would reject it forever. This is why I don't know how to ride a bike. This is also why I am always reluctant to go driving in a car again. I do not seem to have this problem with my segway. The segway is a little banged up, as am I, but I'm not afraid to get back on it and I do not think a few falls here and there are any reason not to buy a segway. I'm sure my mom is laughing her pants off right now. She fell on the Angel Island tour and got a fat lip from it. I laughed at her then because I thought I would be the one bad at riding a segway and that she would be good at it. Look at me now! I got used to the segway and then I fell. There's a lesson for you: don't get cocky on your segway and don't get too comfortable; something can always happen. I guess God was teaching me again that I need to stop being so high and mighty and give Him an eye. One of my faults is that I like to brag a lot. Here's another lesson for you: watch out for branches. I got hit in the face by some tree branches today, thus the scratches on my face. When you finish laughing at me, here's another funny fact. I got new pants in the mail today from my mom. Ironic, isn't it, since this afternoon I ruined one of my older pairs of pants. LOL. On the bright side, I got lots of nice reactions today, even after I fell. So much for not bragging. A few people honked at me, others said "cool." I think the best response was when a woman said, "There's one of those electronic things!" Someone else asked me if it was fun to ride and I replied, "Yes, even when you fall."

Pictures of Yesterday's Segway Adventure

On the Road

On My Way

Lindsay, a friend of mine, trying out my segway. She enjoyed it more that it looks.

Picking Up After a Fall - A Segway Adventure

There are many new things I am learning about my segway. First of all, do not try to talk to people behind you while riding your segway, or at least be very careful when doing so. Second of all, my segway does not go nearly as far as I supposed it able. Third of all, it is easy to go down stairs, but very difficult to go up stairs, while riding a segway. Lastly, take bumbs slowly and when you have people on bikes following do not slow down or stop or they may collide or fall. I learned all these things on my segway adventure this evening.

Two friends and I set off on our way to a nearby park with a bike path. They were on bikes and I was on my segway. I took the bumps of the sidewalk fairly slowly, and it worked out fine. In fact, I got to full speed today, which is about 12 miles per hour on your average segway. I did at one point slow down too much and one of my friends fell over and scratched her hands. She got right back up on her bike, however. Little did I know that she was foreshadowing my own fate.

On our way back, I turned to say something to one of my friends. I began to feel myself lose my balance. Strangly enough, the segway did not make its usual warning sounds and vibrations. Realizing I was losing my balance, I attempted to get off the segway, but tripped on it and fell over onto the nearby grass. My segway began to roll around as if it were going to attack me. It stopped after a few seconds and I was fine. My wrist was a little sore, but I got right back up and onto my segway again. No damage done, and I did not even have my gloves on (just my helmet - but that does not mean you do not need gloves - I'll be sure to wear them next time). My friends did freak out a little. One swore never to try out my segway, but the other said it made no difference, she was just concerned about me when I fell.

I still love my segway and I'll keep using it. Why do we fall? So we can pick ourselves back up again. (This is according to Batman Begins). I still think a segway is a great means of transportation. I only find trouble finding time as a college student to take it out and explore. I did notice that the battery on my segway was halfway down at only 4.5 miles distance. This means I can't go as far on it as I would like to. I think it might be because I weigh more than the average person (well over 200 pounds but under 300). So if you are within 200 to 300 pounds, do not expect to be able to go a full 20 miles as expected/promised by dealerships.

The trip was full of fun reactions. Some people just looked at me and smiled. Others said "cool" and asked me where I got my segway. I think the reactions are the best part of having a segway. Although I hope people I know here in the midwest do not think of me of the rich girl from California. A segway is cheaper than a car.

I'll post pictures of my adventure tomorrow.

Maria Callas

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070910/ap_en_mu/people_maria_callas

Upon reading this I thought I would post a paper I wrote last year on Maria Callas.

Behind the Diva in Maria Callas

Maria Callas lived the life of an operatic character. Controversy followed her everywhere. There was her temper, there was her relationship with her mother, there was her marriage, affair, and divorce, and there was her voice. To the press and her audience she upheld her confidence, but behind the diva stood a lonely and wounded woman. She was sensitive but ambitious. The lack of love in her life made her bitter. She became notorious for being difficult to work with. She wanted revenge on those who hurt her, but at the same time wanted them back in her life. Her emotions clashed and she incorporated them in her music. “Her genius was that, although she was interpreting, she made her audience feel that she was creating” (Stassinopoulos xiii). The slightest move of her head conveyed an emotion. “She exploded the concept of what beautiful singing means: Is it pretty sounds and pure tones? Or should beauty evolve from text, musical shape, dramatic intent and, especially, emotional truth?” (Tommasini).

Maria’s unique acting made her stand out. Like a magnet, she drew everyone to herself. She could sing badly and everyone would still love her. For a time she could sing almost any part written for the female voice. She took lessons from well-known voice teachers. She had it all, even a jewelry collection that was hand made for her performances. It was all these artificial loves that filled the days of Maria Callas. She worked hard to get to the top. Due to her myopia, she had to memorize the stages. This also forced her to focus on her music and drama more because she could not rely on a conductor. Being a perfectionist, she obsessed over her parts. She would spend several hours practicing just one gesture of the hand. At one performance she tripped and fell, but stood back up and continued the rest of the opera without anyone in the audience noticing she had sprained her ankle.

Much of Callas’ determination came from her mother. Her grandfather was a well-known tenor in Greece. His singing gave her mother, Evangelia (also called Litza), her dream to become an actress. Litza failed to achieve her dreams, but she passed her desires and ambitions to her two daughters, Jackie and Maria. Jackie played the piano and Maria sang.

Maria found acceptance in music. Five years younger and less attractive than her sister, she knew rejection at an early age. Her birth on December 2, 1923, in New York City, was not received joyfully. When they had lived in Greece, Litza and George Kalogeropoulos had a son, Vasily, who died at an early age. Litza expected another boy and mourned the birth of her new daughter. Four days passed before she agreed to nurse Maria. Eventually, the babe was christened Cecilia Sophia Anna Maria Callas. Litza reluctantly took Maria in, but continued to reject her emotionally until the discovery of her voice.

When Litza saw Maria’s gift, everything began to revolve around developing her daughters’ talents. Despite money problems during the Great Depression, she forced George to pay for piano lessons. Receiving little love and much discipline from her mother, Maria pushed herself just as hard as her mother did, hoping to earn more affection.

Family division made life harder for Maria. Litza told the girls their father was betraying the family by cheating on her. Maria, stressed, began to overeat at an early age. Her weight problems would follow her for most of her life.
Maria was a lonely child, left by herself for many hours a day while her sister attended school and her mother suffered her bouts of melancholy…. At school she felt awkward, her eyesight – even with glasses – troubling. She was significantly heavy and shy. She made few friends and never knew in what emotional state she would find her mother upon returning from school. Her greatest joy was to sit quietly and listen to the few records they had on the gramophone (Edwards 12).

During junior high school, Maria played roles in school shows, gaining short periods of popularity. This “crystallized in Maria’s mind the vague notion that singing was the only way out of her despised obscurity” (Stassinopoulos 12). For what her mother had withheld, she had found a lesser substitute.

In 1934, neighbor John Eriksen, a chorus member at the Metropolitan Opera, offered to give Maria free singing lessons. He wanted to help Maria relax her voice and warned Litza that pushing Maria too hard could damage her voice. Litza continued to push her daughter. Maria’s vocal range and power expanded, but, as Eriksen predicted, the extra effort would take its toll on her voice later in life. The rest of her teachers would teach her the right singing techniques, but Maria would still push herself too hard. Her dreams of getting to the top fast would ruin her.
Certain that Maria was a child prodigy worthy of Shirley Temple treatment, Litza dragged Maria to competitions, but no offers came. Litza felt America had nothing in store. Convinced that glory days awaited them in Greece, she packed her bags. Maria, age 13, had just graduated from junior high.

Once in Greece, Litza pushed Maria harder, making her sing for anyone who would listen. Maria hated singing on demand, but all the work paid off when Maria auditioned with Madame Maria Trivella, a teacher at the National Conservatory in Athens. Maria sang the “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen, an opera about a gypsy who plays with the emotions of a soldier. “Madame Trivella was stunned… by the young woman’s dramatic delivery of the aria; her seeming ability to understand Carmen’s passion.… The amazing thing was the way she used her eyes, her hands, the stress on certain words and phrases that brought the aria suddenly to life. This was something innate, truly felt, which the majority of hopefuls never achieved but that a great diva must possess” (Edwards 21).

Trivella would teach Maria how to avoid singing from the throat. At the National Conservatory, she studied languages and operatic history. She took the extra work as an opportunity to avoid home, never eating with the family and studying whenever possible. In 1939, at just 15, Maria sang the role of Santuzza, a woman whose lover leaves her, in Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana.

With World War II on its way, Maria had to change teachers. Trivella came from Italy, and the Greeks mistrusted all Italians. Maria auditioned at the Athens Conservatory for Elvira de Hidalgo. De Hidalgo did not expect much from her, but her mind quickly changed. “Before starting, Maria turned her face away. Then, as the accompanist played the opening chords, she pivoted, head high, facing front, eyes wide, hands slowly rising from her sides. There was an electric moment in the room when Maria began to sing” (Edwards 30).

De Hidalgo enabled Maria to expand her range and helped her develop the tools of her voice, both dramatic and musical. Their relationship enforced Maria’s habit of categorizing others as good or bad. Litza turned into more of an “evil stepmother” and de Hidalgo turned into a “fairy godmother.” Maria developed most of her habits with de Hidalgo. De Hidalgo “lent her the full scores that she could not afford to buy, and Maria, in order to give them back as soon as possible, would memorize them” (Stassinopoulos 23,24).

In 1941, the Germans took Greece. Years of hardship followed in which Maria’s singing kept her family alive. Soldiers who liked her voice provided food. When the Germans searched her home for fugitives, she started to sing and the soldiers forgot what they were doing in order to listen. During the civil war that followed, Maria would hide with Litza, with little to eat, while rebels besieged Athens. These war years were not all hard times, however. In 1942, she took the place of the leading soprano in Tosca, making her the youngest Tosca in history.

Along with an end to the war years came a renewed resentment towards Litza. Callas hated her mother because she hated living in Greece. One thing was not renewed, however: The Athens Opera, with which Maria had sung during the occupation, would not renew her contract. Maria returned to New York and reunited with her father. She auditioned for many companies, but found no offers. No one had heard of her fame in Greece. In 1946, she found refuge in Eddie Bagarozy and Louise Caselotti. Caselotti gave her singing lessons and became Maria’s agent along with Bagarozy, who wanted to revive the Chicago Opera. They would open with Turandot, a forgotten Puccini opera with an oriental twist on The Taming of the Shrew. Maria played the title role. “At the age of twenty-three she had managed to capture both the imperious coldness and cruelty of the Oriental Princess and the fire and sensuality that are burning underneath” (Stassinopoulos 47). Unfortunately, bankruptcy ended the endeavor.
Maria found her next job with Giovanni Zenatello, who needed a soprano for the title role in La Gioconda at the Verona Festival in Italy. In Verona, Maria met Giovanni Battista Meneghini, her future husband. He had “a manner that conveyed interest, a certain sophistication and an aura of success” (Edwards 69). Maria threw away Bagarozy and Caselotti for Meneghini and soon won the role of Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde at La Fenice, in Venice. She had a month to learn the part. Maria suddenly found herself booked at opera houses all over Italy. Part of that success came from conductor Tullio Serafin, who conducted Gioconda and many more of her successful operas. Maria later commented that he “taught me, in short, the depth of music” (qtd. in Edwards 72).

The ultimate turning point in her career came when she performed the title role in Norma, in Florence. The role required a wide vocal range and demanded much from the leading soprano. In this kind of a role, Maria was invincible. “Maria was the first coloratura [lyric soprano of high range]… to sing the high notes dramatically, not merely as ornamentation, nor to display her ability to sound like a trilling bird, but to stress the meaning of the words that landed on those notes and so integrate them into the dramatic line of the story” (Edwards 85).

While playing Brunnhilde in Wagner’s Die Walkure, Maria was asked to replace the soprano who played Elvira in Verdi’s I Puritani. She alternated between the two operas, practicing Puritani during the day and performing Walkure in the evening, switching from one character to another in just moments.

As her career improved, Maria became depressed. She wanted Meneghini to propose. He always accompanied her, but nothing more. Her wish came true and they married on April 21, 1949. Maria would later say in an interview with Hy Gardner, “It was as though God sent him to me, because I was very alone and he really was always with me since then and was everything to me.” Although Meneghini dined and wined Maria, he used her money to do so and gave some of her money to his own family, as well. They were happy, however, and Maria contented herself with the role of housewife. Meneghini at least appeared to love her and was the first to show affection for her as a person.

Meneghini booked Callas internationally, from Naples to Buenos Aires, and worked hard to schedule her in the famous Italian opera houses. She found national approval in Mexico City and had her first solo bow, but Meneghini seldom accompanied her and she missed him. When he playfully suggested that she give up her career, it reminded her of her goals and ambitions and drove her onward. She lost over eighty pounds between 1953 and 1954.

In May of 1953, she performed in Cherubini's Medea, one of her greater roles. In Medea, the title character is a headstrong woman abandoned by her husband. Maria Teresa Filippi Abriani, who sang in the chorus, was amazed by Callas’ singing. When the chorus left the stage, she stood watching, forgetting to leave with the chorus. “I remember when she arrived as Medea,” she said in the documentary Passion Callas. “She’d come down those stairs to that chariot. She’d sing: ‘Io Medea!’ That was something! She looked like a giant.”

Eventually, the New York Metropolitan Opera hired Maria to sing Norma. Things did not go well. TIME magazine published an article beforehand that portrayed her as an ungrateful daughter with a temper. Maria pushed these accusations aside, claiming that she respected her parents and that these things should have been kept private. In fact, on a few occasions, Maria had begged Litza to come to her side for support, but her times with her mother did not last long before she grew tired of Litza again. In Mexico City, she swore never to see her mother again.

New York did not hold much for Maria and exaggerated publicity continued to follow her. “A disagreement… over proposed repertory for 1958-59 ended with the diva's well-publicized ‘firing.’ Callas did not return to the Met until 1965, when she sang two Toscas, her final opera performances in the U.S.” (“Lucia di Lammermoor"). In 1958, Callas performed Norma at the Rome Opera House but took sick at the premiere and had to quit after the first act. Meneghini wrote a note of apology for her to read aloud on stage, but she did not read it. The press shouted stories of her diva attitude over a minor cold. Callas commented in her interview with Hy Gardner that she did the first act because she knew she would be criticized if she did not go on, but left when her illness worsened. She said, “I had to make a Callas performance…. Of course, I fight if I have my weapon, my only weapon is my voice – now, if I haven't got my voice, now, it's ridiculous that I fight.”

Maria would not let the critics or the hecklers in the audience ruin her. Jon Vickers recalled one of the performances at La Scala that he sang with her:
[I]t went badly for her. Many in the audience booed. Her next lines were, "Didn't I sacrifice my own mother for you, didn't I sacrifice my own father for you?" And then she turned away from me on the stage, looked straight out into the auditorium, spread open her arms and [sang], "I sacrificed it all, and instead gave everything to you!" You could have heard a pin drop -- the tension was incredible! (qtd. in Whitson)

More conflict was on its way. Once, she refused to do extra performances an opera company added on because she promised a friend she would go to a party. At this party, she met Aristotle Onassis. He wooed her and she gave up everything for him. Maria felt more like a normal person with him and divorced her husband in 1971. Onassis eventually divorced his wife, but not for Maria. He married Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of the late President John F. Kennedy, for political reasons.
After Onassis left, Maria stopped performing on stage and sang just a few concerts. In 1971, she gave a series of successful master classes at the Juilliard School of Music. Lloyd Schwartz attended one of the classes. He later recalled a lesson he found “most riveting.”

Callas was with a young baritone on Rigoletto's aria "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata" ("Courtiers, you cowardly and damned race"). Rigoletto, the Duke of Mantua's court jester, sings it when he discovers that his daughter has been abducted by the very noblemen he's been ridiculing mercilessly. He can barely contain his anger even as he abjectly begs them to take pity on him. Callas tells the student to sing the notes, but to forget about his voice. "Be like an animal when you sing this aria. This would be my version. I think that this should be a real animal that's trying to dominate himself. He's hating being obliged to beg them. Because it's his own daughter, so he's fiercely savage. . . . You're crying, but you hate the idea, eh?" Then she tears into the aria… with an uncanny mixture of ferocity and almost unbearable pathos…. "Who'd have thought the world's greatest Rigoletto would be a woman?" someone remarked.

Maria still had her fans, but her voice had been declining in quality for years, and she held high standards for herself. If she could not keep those standards, she would not perform. Her mother’s pushing, her own ambitions, and her choice in roles all had taken part in damaging her voice. Many of the superhuman things she did with her voice exceeded the ability of the vocal cords to heal. She ruined her voice by forcing it beyond its natural limits. She might have continued singing at a lesser level (less challenging music and a less challenging schedule), but the disappointments of life and the unwillingness to accept her declining ability destroyed her will. Without will and confidence, she lost the energy to meet the physical demands of the job as well as the energy to go on living life. There was nothing left to live for. Onassis was not there for her, she had left her husband, and her voice was gone. She wanted revenge on Onassis, but at the same time wanted him to come to her side again. Maria thought everyone had forgotten her and spent most of her time listening to old recordings of her voice. On September 16, 1977, at age 53, she died in seclusion, longing for the old times when her career was at its highest.

At the end of her life, Maria thought no one remembered her, but after her death, everyone remembered her. Although her talents established her fame, her story and her passions added fuel to the fire. Over one hundred biographies detail her life, along with several documentaries. The way she performed, the effort she put into everything she did, and the story she left behind made her the nonpareil, setting standards and examples for future singers. Maria’s life not only inspired her to sing, it inspired her singing itself as she used her circumstances to her advantage, drawing muse from her own feelings. Music consumed her life as she labored to conquer the opera world. Her loveless life gave her ambitions, and she accomplished them; but as she lost her dreams of love and emotional security, she lost her self. Her life had operatic twists and turns and a tragic ending, but it lives on as a legend.

Works Cited
Edwards, Anne. Maria Callas: an Intimate Biography. New York: St Martin's P, 2001.
Stassinopoulos, Adrianna. Maria Callas: The Woman Behind the Legend. New York: Ballantine Books, 1981.
Tommasini, Anthony. "Maria Callas: a Voice and a Legend That Still Fascinate." Serendipity. 15 Sept. 1997. New York Times. .
Maria Callas: Passion Callas. Dir. GéRald Caillat. DVD. EMI Classic, 1997.
“Lucia di Lammermoor." Opera News 71.7 (2007): 52-52. Academic Search Premier. 19 February 2007. .
Whitson, James C. "The Callas Legacy. (Cover story)." Opera News 70.4 (2005): 18-24. Academic Search Premier. 19 February 2007. .
Schwartz, Lloyd. "Class Act: EMI Releases Rare Set of Maria Callas At Juilliard." The Phoenix. 1995. The Phoenix Media/Communications Group. .
Callas, Maria. Interview with Hy Gardner. EMI Classics. 26 Feb. 1958. .

Ancient Jewish Tunnel Discovered

http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615637110x4311772157x4298164926/aol?redir=http%3A//news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/ancient-escape-tunnel-found-in-israel/20070909115009990001%3Fncid%3DNWS00010000000001

Weather Limits

As much as I love the cool weather, I hate that it's raining right now. It keeps me from going out on my segway and I'm dieing to go out and explore.

Some More Segway Pictures from Angel Island

Luciano Pavarotti Dies

I'm depressed!

http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615637110x4311772157x4298164926/aol?redir=http%3A//news.aol.com/entertainment/music/story/ar/_a/luciano-pavarotti-has-died-says-manager/20070905142309990001%3Fncid%3DNWS00010000000001

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_en_mu/pavarotti_reax

http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615637110x4311772157x4298164926/aol?redir=http%3A//news.aol.com/entertainment/music/story/ar/_a/luciano-pavarotti-has-died-says-manager/20070905142309990001%3Fncid%3DNWS00010000000001

Exercise on a Segway

I made a goal in my Fit for Life class today: to lose ten pounds by the end of the semester. I will do this by working out three times a week and eating healthier. With my segway tempting me, however, I don't think I'll get out for long walks very often. Actually, you'd be surprised how much exercise you can get from a segway. It isn't walking, but it's better than sitting on your butt in your car. You have to stand up straight the entire time you are on your segway and keep your knees bent at the same time. I guess a segway tests your felxibility and gives you small workouts in the arms and legs. After the first week of using a segway you'll be sore in more than one area, but it's worth it. A segway is fun and transportation in one. Add a bit of exercise onto that and you've got a good package.

Why I Bought a Segway

Pictures from the Angel Island Tour (Segways in pictures are not the same as my segway - I have the i2, not the x2).

The Students who don't do Anything

Cuz we're the pirates who don't do anything!

http://www.veggiepirates.com/

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/veggietalesthepirateswhodontdoanything/trailer1/medium.html

More like: "Cuz we're the students who don't do anything. We just stay at home and lay around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you we don't do anything!"

I love Veggie Tales!

Segway Reaction of the Day: A Long Adventure Resulting in a Terrible Sunburn

I had an interesting adventure on Saturday. I took my segway out for a ride and a friend decided she wanted to walk with me. We must have taken three hours to go about six or seven miles. I'm surprised she lasted. We called someone to pick us up because she was exhausted and my battery was past half empty on the segway (from going to slow). We both got sunburns as souvenirs from the trip.

Anyway, I got stopped twice on the way to our destination by curious onlookers. One asked me several questions about cost, mileage, etc. He mentioned that he used to have scooters, but his kids were getting hurt from riding them in traffic. He told me he had just sold them a couple of days ago. It was not the best thing for him to tell me. My destination involved going through several busy intersections where there are no sidewalks. Was this going to be a suicide mission?

Another man stopped me and asked me similar questions. He called his wife and son out to see my segway. It was the first time he had seen one in real life and he wanted to share the moment with his family. Can we get some ahhs from the audience at how sweet this was. Of course, I was only interested in how cool my segway is and how lucky I am to own it. I like to brag, although I try to avoid it because I know it's wrong.

About halfway to the destination we passed a skinny, old man who looked homeless. As we passed him by, he yelled out "cool toy!" I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little at that one.

Once we got to our destination a few more people ooed and awed over the segway. I'd tell them it's cheaper than a car and they'd wonder how much it was. One man asked if it ran around $500. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that it cost $5,000, not $500. But it's still cheaper than a car!

By this time my friend and I were tired. We sat and waited for our ride to come. When our ride came, more questions came plummeting my way. Of course, by now, I am the laughing stock of everyone who has heard of my adventure, which is pretty much everyone. But I had a good, interesting time, and my friend (and her mother, thank goodness) is not mad at me. She just swears that next time we'll get a ride and that she'll never go on a walk with me again. LOL.

According to someone I met at church yesterday I am the IT girl. I was telling a woman about my segway and about my adventure when she said, "oh, you have an IT!" She explained that commercials for the segway a few years back simply described the segway as the it factor that you need in your life. IT is coming. It will change your life. IT will change transportation technology forever. ETC ETC ETC. I thought about calling this blog "The IT Girl," but the name was already taken.

College Life: An Introduction to this Blog and to my Faith

If the following introduction bores you, please skip down to the paragraph that follows it for a more interesting read.

The name of this blog is "Segway'n Through College." I've given it this name because I own a segway which I have named Brooklyn. I bought the segway as a means of transportation for college as well as a means of stress relief. Right now I am taking a computers class which requires me to start a new blog as an assignment, so here is my new blog!!! I already have three other blogs at http://atthestudy.blogspot.com/ http://declarationphotos.blogspot.com/ and http://confabremarks.blogspot.com/. I will often post the same stuff on this blog that I will post on my other blogs. Still, this blogs has a specific purpose and that is college life, so I will be focusing on my segway adventures and my college experiences. I will often post devotionals and things I write for classes. Since my computers class also deals with ethics I will post my views and opinions on current events and popular trends and well as on my own interests.
I'd like to start with a devotional I wrote as I entered college. I also thought it appropriate because it starts out talking about computers.

Patience - Learning to Trust God's Will

Read Matthew 6

If you have a computer or use the internet, you know the meaning of patience. Every time you log on to your computer or onto the internet you must wait for everything to load. Every once in a while, your computer will freeze or your internet will stop working. Maybe your computer will just slow down so much that you cannot get anything done. You scream and yell at your computer. You want the problem fixed now, but only with enough patience and perseverance can you fix the problem. Sometimes you will not have the ability to fix the problem, especially if your entire computer system crashes.

Life is a lot like the problems you have with your computer. If your life system fails, you may have to start anew. God will swipe your slate clean. Other times you will pray to God to fix something right away, but you must have patience. Everything will not fix itself at once and God will not always answer your prayers the way you expect Him to answer them.

A lot of us focus too much on what we want when God says He’ll provide what we need. You may plan ahead for your future, but that does not mean everything will work out the way you planned it. God may throw a curve ball at you and when He does you will need to take it with the right attitude. The key is to remember that God is in control. No matter what, He is always there for you. He has a plan for you. When you get hit in the head it will hurt, but God will use that hit to make you grow so you will never get hit in the head again.

The Bible tells us to pray diligently and God will answer us, but the answers do not always come right away and often will come in an unexpected way. We must pray and have trust in God during hard times; having faith that God knows what is best for us.

God’s will, not ours, be done. I do not know how many times I have had to repeat this to myself. Patience and trust are not my fortes. Transferring to a new college, this year, I have allowed frustration to rule my heart several times. Coming from the fast paced city of New York, the laid back, often unorganized way of the mid-west has caught me off guard. I told the college months before school started that I wanted my own dorm room, but I did not get my own dorm room. A month before school started I found out that I would share a room with one Lindsay Smith. God forced me to deal with my own selfish desires and with the disappointment of not getting what I wanted. I prayed that God would change things. Then, I went into denial. I cried and whined. I wanted it fixed then and there. I had no patience at all and I did not trust God’s will.

My thoughts trailed back to a time in high school when I was assigned to a room, with a girl I did not like, at the school retreat. God opened up an empty room and allowed me to take the opportunity so I would not have to room with the girl I disliked so much. Now that a similar situation had occurred with my college rooming assignment I hoped God would do the same for me, once again. At the retreat I bragged about having my own room. Praying about my current situation, I realized it was wrong of me to brag and promised God I would not do the same if He gave me my own dorm room.

Coming out of my fit over not getting my own dorm room, I had a rude awakening. If I had gotten my own room, I probably would have bragged again just like I had bragged at my high school retreat. I claimed I wanted my own room because of my bad snoring, but the truth was that I was acting out of my own, selfish desires. I just wanted a space of my own that I would not have to share. I realized then that I just needed to put my faith in God because He is in control.

Looking back at my high school retreat, I wonder what would have happened if I had roomed with that girl I did not like. Would we have become friends? Would I have learned something from it? God gave me a choice and I chose to have my own room. From that experience, I learned not to brag. I wonder what God would have taught me had I rejected the extra room. Now that I have moved into my college dorm room and met my room mate I have no regrets. I love it here and I love my room mate. God knew what I needed, even if I did not. He has provided for me. He is in control and His will will be done. He will provide what I need, but not always what I want. He will guide me and teach me. As I pray, asking Him for a humble heart, He will show me patience and He will teach me His ways. I will depend on Him. He will show me that this is the day that He had made and I need not worry about tomorrow, for He is in control. I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 17:6 I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.

Exodus 9:16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalm 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills {his purpose} for me.

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.