Silence Aloud » People

College Years, Life Transitions and Professional Skill Development

sophie smith — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:10:00 +0000

From the time students reach their junior and senior years in high school they have already reached the initial major life transition phases. And while many people will argue that they have in fact already experienced a great deal of transitional phases , and this is true, the difference is that they are now entering into their adult years.

The decisions they make from this point on and the transitions they go through will determine to a large extent the direction their life leads. And while decisions about boyfriends , girlfriends, sports, summer jobs and even college choices are some of their top concerns, there are some important additional considerations that can benefit them in the coming years. Fortunately, Southwestern resources can help with decision-making and will present opportunities students may otherwise not know exist.

One of the most beneficial choices a student can make for themselves is participating in a summer intern program. Southwestern Company and similar organizations are excellent at matching student needs and interests to the right company and product. This is an excellent way to make money and some important professional skills are developed in process. And the transitional period these years represent are augmented by solid professional skill development. And the additional income that is gained will go a long way in helping to finance school.

College Years, Life Transitions and Professional Skill Development is a post from: Silence Aloud

Bethesda Schools and Science

Manhattan and Fame

sophie smith — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:10:00 +0000

New York City offers thrills that few cities can even hint at. With the millions of people scrambling every moment for a piece of the pie, and there are lots of pies in the city, it’s a very exciting place to live. It’s much easier on the nerves, however, to visit there, since one can simply enjoy all that the city offers, including the luxurious five star hotels. Manhattan also offers an extended glimpse into a level of high society that is legendary for a reason.

It’s a constant rush, and for tourists, the energy is a wonderful thing, and can even be relaxing. For anyone with any pretenses to fame in the city, it is extremely inviting, and often tempting to see if one’s talent might rise to the top in this crucible.

But it’s also very challenging, and perhaps it’s especially challenging for those who have more to lose. That might sound like a justification to feel sorry for the rich and famous, but for talents like Alec Baldwin, it’s a tough business. He makes Manhattan his home, having grown up in Amityville, a sleepy beach town where dreams of making a big splash were a big part of his youth.

He is, by all accounts, extremely successful, having nurtured his enormous talent to rise with his good looks to become a very desirable actor on film, television, and on stage. During the rise, he married actress Kim Basinger, and they had a daughter, Ireland. After the couple split, the relationship became one of the most difficult tests of his life.

Basinger fought so he would have limited access to his daughter’s life, an action that he calls “parental alienation,” and something he’s tried very hard to overcome. The phone call in 2007 made it to all the headlines, and last year he accompanied her to the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards where he won for 30 Rock for the third year in a row. It seemed to be settled, but more events this past February suggest that it’s still a relationship that will haunt him.

It’s one of the biggest challenges of being a star, where your personal life sometimes becomes fodder for sensational stories, but learning to live with complicated relationships can be a lesson for everyone.

Manhattan and Fame is a post from: Silence Aloud

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The Kampong in Miami

sophie smith — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:55:38 +0000

At the southern end of Coconut Grove, you’ll find hidden away The Kampong, one of the oldest landmarks in Miami, Florida. One of the cities more celebrated citizens, Dr. David Fairchild, named this property adjoining the waterfront, after a Malaysian word for village. It’s easy to overlook, if you’re driving fast, so it may pay to slow down and take a look for the sign for this National Tropical Botanical Garden, the only only Congressional-chartered tropical botanical garden on the mainland (there are four more located in Hawaii). There’s also a gigantic Banyan tree which marks this historic spot, behind a wall of limestone. This is a site that’s known not only for its natural beauty, its public education outreach, or its scientific research; it’s known, too, for the history, which begins as far back as the 1876, where a man named Jolly Jack Peacock made a deal with the Duke of Dade, or J.W. Ewan, selling the property for fifty dollars.

Ewan grew fruit and pineapple trees, then later, in 1892, sold the land to the first female doctor in the area, Dr. Galt Simmons, and she built a pine wood and limestone barn, a structure that still exits at the botanical garden. In the 20th Century, in 1916, David Fairchild became the owner of the land. Fairchild worked for the US Department of Agriculture as the Chief of Seed and Plant Introduction, and in that capacity he went around the planet and collected twenty thousand varieties of plants to bring back to the United States, and some of these have been planted at The Kampong. It was Fairchild who was largely responsible for introducing America to a number of fruits found elsewhere in the world. He even introduced California to the avocado.

On The Kampong, then, you’ll find an incredible array of plant life. There are hundreds of trees on the property, including the Buddha’s Hand, which is sacred tree in Southeast Asia, and an African Baobab. But the history of the place is not restricted to plant life alone. Fairchild’s wife, Marian, happened to be inventor Alexander Graham Bell’s daughter. Her sister was the wife of Gilbert Govesnor who was the National Geographic Magazine’s first editor. The Kampong saw visits of the famous, such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, as well as Alexander Graham Bell.

Today, the site is partly a research organization, allowing students to explore different types of plants for which they might otherwise have to travel the world to find. If you’re in the Miami area, staying in one of the great places the city offers its own travelers, then you can visit The Kampong, too. You may take a self-guided tour, simply by calling and making a reservation. There’s a fee of ten dollars for adults and five dollars for students, and its free for those children under the age of six. Call here to find out more: (305) 442-7169.

The Kampong in Miami is a post from: Silence Aloud

Hiking in Arizona

sophie smith — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:23:02 +0000

Last December, my son and his family traveled from Oregon to visit us in Phoenix, Arizona. Since my husband and I live in a very small condominium, we put them up at a very luxurious hotel that Arizona offers. They came at a great time, the weather was perfect, so we decided to do some hiking close to home. The only time in Arizona that’s bad to hike is in the summer, but that doesn’t seem to stop newbies from trying, even though the temperatures range from 90 degrees in the morning to 112 degrees mid-afternoon; we’re always hearing reports on the news that someone had to be rescued off a hiking trail due to heat exhaustion.

But, even in the winter time, a hiker needs to be cautious, we always carry plenty of water with us, actually we purchased these backpacks called Camelbak that holds about a quart of water, which you can sip through a tube that comes around the back and over the shoulder. We also bring sunblock, sunglasses and a hat. We made sure that my son and his family was equipped just like we were, we didn’t want to end up on the 5 o’clock news as having to be rescued.

We took them to Squaw Peak Trail, it’s located in north Phoenix. While we were hiking, we saw plenty of people jogging up to the top and back down again! This really amazed my son, as he and his family could barely make the trip at a leisurely pace. My 4 year old grandson, who has been raised to be a man and do things on his own steam, actually hiked most of Squaw Peak all on his own, then Grandpa, feeling sorry for the tyke, gave him a piggy back ride. Once on top of Squaw Peak, there is a great pay-off for all the hard work, a spectacular view of the valley.

This was my sons first visit to Arizona, and he and his family really loved it. They might even consider moving down here, but we told them to come visit us in mid-summer, then they get a true taste of desert living.

Hiking in Arizona is a post from: Silence Aloud

Cellist Pieter Wispelwey at the Lincoln Center in New York

sophie smith — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:46:02 +0000

Pieter Wispelwey is a world famous cellist and will be performing at the Lincoln Center in New York City later this month. He was born in 1962 in Haarlem in the Netherlands. This Dutch cellist was exposed to great music and received strong training at an early age. His father was part of a an amateur string quartet that practiced in the Wispelwey’s home which gave the young Pieter regular contact and exposure to musicians and rehearsal and practice structures. Later he would have lessons in Amsterdam with Dicky Boeke and Anner Bylsma as well as Paul Katz in the United States and William Pleeth, who also taught the young Jacqueline du Pre, in the United Kingdom.

During his formative years, Wispelwey fell in love with Renaissance music, both the Italian and English madrigals, as well as the German Lied. These genres remain to be a constant source of inspiration for the acclaimed soloist. He lives in Amsterdam and performs with companies, other musicians and by himself all over the world. He was the first cellist to receive the Netherlands Music Prize, which is awarded to outstanding musicians who demonstrate extremely excellent skills and promise.

Wispelwey has preformed at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Chatelet in Paris, just to name of few of the major international venues on his resume. In 1990 he completed a recording of the Bach Cello Suites with Channel Classics and he received high critical acclaim for his performance. This has led to his being able to record with them his own choice of repertoire material. He is known for his comfort with a modern cello as well as a baroque instrument with either four or five strings. He will play with gut and steel strings on his contemporary instrument. Wispelwey’s performance at the Lincoln Center will take place on Sunday night, January 24th. The audience will be composed of New York residents as well as guests from the boutique hotels New York.

Cellist Pieter Wispelwey at the Lincoln Center in New York is a post from: Silence Aloud

Home of Idols

sophie smith — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:53:36 +0000

If you check into a room at one of the hotels Greensboro has available and then get out around the town, don’t be disappointed if you don’t see Chris Daughtry he is more than likely on tour. You could have luck if you check his touring schedule but the American Idol is as busy as one can get with an outstanding career. This guys didn’t win the actual American Idol contest but to many he is the biggest winner of the season. Everyone who watched the fifth season of the famous television music competition knew he would be a big seller out in the real world and he is.

He was given a deal with RCA Records right after he was eliminated from Idol. The band is called Daughtry and the first album was released very quickly. When it hit the shelves it sold more than a million copies in five weeks which earned it the title of being the fastest selling debut rock album of all time. By the ninth week of its release it became the number one album on the famous Billboard charts. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Rock Song for his hit It’s Not Over. He is the third best selling artist to come from the American Idol machine falling behind Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood who are amazing in their fields as well. Chris went from working at a car dealership in Greensboro North Carolina to an audition for American Idol in Denver that changes his life and made his dreams come true.

Michigan as a state has had some other amazing musicians who either were born there or grew up there. Some of these were also contestants on American Idol like Clay Akien, Fantasia Barrino and Bucky Covington and Kellie Pickler. Others became living legends such as James Tayor, Randy Travis, Ronnie Milsap, Andy Griffith, Roberta Flack, Charlie Daniels, Tori Amos and John Coltrane. Maybe if you spend some time in the state you will get an understanding of their perspective and how they contributed to the industry of music.

Home of Idols is a post from: Silence Aloud