Sunday, January 24, 2010

Re: AE Application

Hello, Janice.

Today is a good day for an update, I think.

Since I completed my application, I have started training in the complex Piper Arrow at Air Center One.   I have flown 6.9 hours in this plane with an instructor.  Going to a new instructor is always interesting <grin>, but this young man is sharp and organized and focused.  He and I have completed nine hours of ground school.  We did a lot of work on aircraft systems, which has always been my weak spot, and I feel like a new person in that regard.  I will be happy to do my CFI work with him.  We are keeping it all in sight.

We plan to do some more dual flying to tighten up maneuvers, and I am planning a long trip.  We will make it as soon as we get VFR weather.   We plan a 2-hour flight out in the afternoon and start our return during the night with a few extra takeoffs and landings, which will satisfy the dual cross-country requirements and all of my aeronautical experience requirements.

After that, it's mock-oral with Eddie and we call our examiner.

The upcoming weather looks a lot like last week:


and THEN, the next round of storms comes in.

I don't see much chance of taking that long VFR trip, but if it happens, I'll let you know. Maneuvers and oral prep is my focus right now, and I actually feel like I'm in a good position to get the most out of the work I'm doing. It's intense and satisfying.

Thanks for your consideration.

Maggie



blog  http://randomlight.blogspot.com

========================================================

And what is Evil 

but Good 

tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

--Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931


Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Fwd: Singing is the Gift, Discipline is the Way, and Making Music is the Art!

The work of Music educator Don Collins continues. 
I LOVE this man, even though all I know of him is one book: Junior High Music (is that the name?  I'll have to make sure it's still around here. ). 

I am copying an email here so I can find it when I need it.  


 

1. Cambiata Vocal Music Institute of America has a new name, a new home, and a new director:

 

Cambiata Institute of America for Early Adolescent Vocal Music

College of Music, University of North Texas

Dr. Alan McClung, Director

You will hear soon how being under the auspices of UNT will provide great opportunities for early adolescent vocal music educators and church musicians (see the March issue of The Choral Journal).

 

2. Our founder, Dr. Don L. Collins, was inducted into the Arkansas Music Educators Hall of Fame, a great honor for this one who has devoted his life to the advancement of early adolescent vocal music education.  An article that appeared recently in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette follows:

 

Professor Emeritus Inducted into Music Educators' Hall of Fame

by Fred Petrucelli (Contributing Writer)

 

He has always been exuberantly talented, and his exposure to the arts that put him in league with musicians, composers, authors, and the like, has shaped who he is today.

 

   

Don L. Collins also has navigated a bicycle with style, often seen zipping around the University of Central Arkansas campus on his way to teach memorable classes – choral music education one of his best.

    

Collins, Professor Emeritus of Choral Music Education at the University of Central Arkansas, is basking now in the glow of an award he recently received – induction into the Hall of Fame of the Arkansas Music Educators Association, presented in recognition of his outstanding support and contributions to adolescent music education.

 

People who recognize his abundant skills were not surprised by the award, for during a span of 40 years the primary emphasis of his professional career, since he completed his graduate work at Florida State University in 1970, has been to support and promulgate educational principles that would keep young men singing as their voices changed during puberty.

 

"Sadly, many young men stop singing and never return to music-making during this period," Collins said, "and this is from my perspective one of the most detrimental occurrences in their lives."

 

He suggested that "few human characteristics bring more joy and satisfaction to makers and hearers than sharing a song.  This is true with every culture on Earth, and I have approached my commission in this arena with an evangelical zeal over the years, publishing music that young people can sing with success and ease."

 

His virtuosity has attracted young listeners in presentations about how to approach the changing voice – writing books and articles in professional journals and maintaining a Web site with helpful articles for music teachers and church music leaders.  All these things demonstrate his empathy for the changing voice.

 

He talks warmly of the time in 1979 when he founded the Cambiata Institute of America for Early Adolescent Vocal Music.  Here he prepared means to help those who worked with young singers whose voices were changing.  The institute is now a subsidiary of the College of Music at the University of North Texas.

 

Collins thanks his many years of rigorous classical training and exposure in the arts for bringing research that has resulted in the publication of several books, one of his most enduring being his textbook, Teaching Choral Music, the second edition released in 1999 by Prentice-Hall and used today in music education methods classes in colleges and universities throughout the United States.

 

He founded and was conductor of the UCA Chorale and Bel Cantos (a madrigal and show choir) and conducted the University Chorus at UCA.  He also was founder and conductor of the Arkansas Boys Choir, which received national recognition for performances around the country.

 

Call him verbose if you will (he has a commanding voice that he uses effectively in classroom situations) because his energy and enterprise show up when he describes his work.

 

The Collins mystique is wrapped up in work he has done as an active writer, composer, editor, and arranger of publications released by more than half dozen houses, including the well-known publishing firm of Prentice-Hall, Inc.

 

Educated in Texas, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in voice from Wayland University and a Master of Music degree from New Orleans Theological Seminary, after which he served as a music specialist in Florida.  He arrived at UCA in 1970 and immediately because a large presence on campus, handling music education programs in addition to teaching classes in graduate and undergraduate studies.  He left UCA in 2007. 

 

He is known in the music industry as an arresting artist who is uninhibited and who delights in revealing different presentations.  He is inspired by many things; well-traveled, well read, well-versed in music and other art forms; many of these endeavors serving as inspiration point for his essence.

 

He continues his work at breakneck speed today during a period called retirement.  But retirement has no meaning for him except to give him choices.  And he chooses to keep pursuing work that gives him satisfaction and joy.  From his spacious home on Bruce Street, a few blocks east of UCA, the Collins orbit continues to swirl as he turns out music for young singers.

 

Collins is married to the former Peggy Ann Smith, an organist, pianist, and music educator.  They have three children and six grandchildren.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

IZZE Sparkling Grapefruit Drink

Really good! Comes in a glass bottle. I got it at RiteAid. Along with a bag of Riceworks Gourmet Broen Rice Crisps. Non-junk junk food heaven.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Pita bread recipe

Video of making pita bread. Looks easy.

Hummus

I made hummus twice this week, and it was really good. Just in case the recipe disappears, I'm pasting it here. The link to the full article is above.

1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

When the Morning Comes

I like this. I am a little bemused, but since I LIKE marching band, in spite of that fact that it makes absolutely no sense, but it's really worthwhile. How can it be? It is.