Chicago in SF

Cardinal Nights went to see Chicago in SF last night. 

My musical theater class also went!

It was a wonderful night at the theater!

Mom visited me!

Mom came a couple of weeks ago and we went to the football game together :)

Maia and I visited the Beach House

I had to go "work" at Disneyland for a day

November 8

Cardinal Nights is launching a loyalty program. Students who come to the most events get special perks. The first one was a fully paid trip to Disneyland for the students who went to the most events last year. As staff, we got to go as well. It was incredibly fun and I am so blessed to have this job. 

Here is a video of our travels in addition to the pictures:

https://stanford.app.box.com/s/y7ps18nxkkfxh1nsvp9l

"It's a Small World"

John and I

Dumbo

The castle

Splash Mountain. I was the lucky one to sit in front and get totally soaked when it was getting dark and cold outside.

The number one thing my boss said I had to get at Disneyland.

Star Wars!

Iron Man

At the Dream House

First ride of the day was Space Mountain

I really really wanted this picture with Rafiki

Getting on the bus at 3am to leave for Disneyland

Classes - #3 PWR 2

PWR2: All that Jazz: The Rhetoric of American Musical Theater

I am taking a class about Musical Theater!
I am taking a class about Musical Theater!

I am taking a class about Musical Theater!

I am thrilled! My homework (feel free to join in) is to watch:

OKLAHOMA!

West Side Story

RENT

I love getting to talk about musicals. And I have been doing some "extra" work outside of class. Basically, I get so excited talking about musicals that I go home and watch Mary Poppins, Pippin, Legally Blonde the Musical, Singing in the Rain, and Annie Get Your Gun. I am planning to watch Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, The King and I, The Music Man, Chicago, Hair, Phantom of the Opera, Next to Normal, and Anything Goes. 

Feel free to add your suggestions!

......... at some point I will have to actually write my paper for the class as well. 

Classes - #2 Art History

Art History 1B: History of Western Art from the Renaissance through the Present

For those of you who do not know: I took an Art History class in high school. It was my favorite class with a wonderful teacher and we went through the entire history of art in the world in one year. I was fascinated by seeing historical trends in art. I loved the memorization and ability to identify different works and museums became my favorite stops in every city I went to. I simply thought of this as a passion, something I would enjoy. I knew I wanted to take more classes but I thought it would end there. That was far from true. After my summer internship and this class, I want to make this a much greater part of my life. 

The description for this course is as follows:

This course surveys the history of Western painting from the start of the 14th century to the late 20th century and our own moment. Lectures introduce important artists (Giotto, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Goya, Manet, Matisse, Pollock, and others), and major themes associated with the art of particular periods and cultures. The course emphasizes training students to look closely at - and to write about - works of art.

However, the class is absolutely so much more. I was so excited about the class that I started the textbook readings two weeks early. The textbook readings are the homework I look forward to doing. But its a textbook that is not much different from what I had in high school. What is incredibly different are the lectures. Professor Nemerov moved to Stanford last here from Yale. I cannot say much more other than his lectures are a form of moving poetry that are so inspiring and beautiful. He makes every piece of work speak not only for its own time in history, but what they mean to us now. 

Professor Nemerov's lecture on Botticelli's Birth of Venus brought me to tears. He names this the first true "work of art."

I did not stop laughing during the lecture on Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, whose lawless imagination is captivating. 

One of our most recent lectures was on Rembrandt. Rembrandt was a Dutch painter in the 17th century. Professor Nemerov connected his works of art to the aspirations of Anne Frank. The Anne Frank house, where the Frank family was in hiding is at 263 Prinsengracht in Amsterdam, not far from the Rijksmuseum, where many of Rembrandt's paintings are. When Alison and I visited Amsterdam this summer we were moved by both of these images: Rembrandt's paintings and the movie star pictures on Anne's wallpaper in her room. It would take longer to explain what he said about these images, but the connection itself is what I find wonderful about his lectures. The ability to see art across centuries and people. 

Every week, in addition to lecture, we have section that takes place in Cantor Arts Center, the museum on campus. Here, we get to see the works up close and feel the effect they can have. It is so important to experience the art in person, in a gallery. We are also required to write our two papers on works in the museums near by. I wrote my first paper on Nicolas Regnier's St. Sebastian Attended by the Holy Women (shown below on the left). We also later looked at it in section as an example of a work influenced by Caravaggio (Conversion of St. Paul is shown below right).

  

If you want to simply hear the way Professor Nemerov speaks about art:

Check out his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Anderson Collection at Stanford:

http://youtu.be/JpeOuSBhhY0

Or watch his "First Lecture" at 2013 New Student Orientation:

http://youtu.be/HMhfosHWh9Y 

I was there in the audience during his First Lecture. It is a lecture for the entire freshman class in Memorial Auditorium during our Orientation to Stanford. 

Classes -- #1 Ten Things

Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design
     Taught by Michael Shanks this class looks at the history of design through the close exploration of ten things. The website is here. Although an 8am lecture (no students thought this was possible) the material is very interesting. Professor Shanks looks at the "things" in very different and nuanced ways to describe their significance. So far we have explored a prehistoric hand axe (humans as cyborgs), pyramids at Giza (the machine and function of management), ancient Greek perfume jar (looking at cutting edge design in its earliest state), and a medieval castle (the nature of military function). In the future we will be looking at a Wedgwood teapot, the electric light bulb, Eddie and Joan Hall's Bentley, the Leica Rangefinder IIIc, the computer mouse, and Gordon Murray's city car. Our project in the class is to think of an 11th thing and speak about the importance of its design. I will be working with my lovely roommate, Maia.

The Blog

I am really going to try my best to keep writing about the great events I get to go to. I realize that blogging is also a way for me to organize my photos and have memories of all the great experiences I am a part of here on campus. So I am going to keep it up! :)

Rally is BACK!

New year, more rally gear. 

The best Stanford traditions come with the craziest costumes you can think of. Here is one of mine from last week. You can't see my pants, but they were some really patterned leggings I love having for yoga. 

#GlitterNedNation 

Party on the Edge

One of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far has been the planning and execution of Party on the Edge at Cantor Arts Center on Thursday, October 2, 2014. 

I spent my summer as the student engagement intern at the museum and my big project was planning this annual student party at the beginning of fall quarter.

I was really working on reinventing the party. It was the first time a student was working on it and I wanted to get that student flavor into the party. I created a survey to find out what students wanted. It was really important to get the student perspective, especially on food. We added lights, DJs, more give-aways, and the favorite student foods. 

The party is a celebration of the arts so we gave students the chance to make some art. Here you see students creating Jackson Pollock t-shirts to take home with them. 

We had performances from a diverse range of student groups from acapella to hip hop. 

The party was a HUGE success! In previous years we have had around 1500 students and this year we had 2700 students roll out! It was amazing.

Here are some pictures of the party (it went throughout the entire museum):

Afterwards I was pretty satisfied but also exhausted from being at the museum from 1pm-1am that day.