This semester is flying by, but man has it been crazy!! Between classes, extracurricular, work, and attempting to find time for a social life, I’ve hardly had time to sit down and write. Anyway, I’ve noticed this semester that more and more of my projects and classroom presentations are being posted online. Not only am I uploading blog entries to the black board website, but I’m also making websites and uploading projects to blog sites. I’ll put a few of the assignments here to give you an idea of what were doing in classes:
For Mass Media and Society, the class created a website featuring several links to our different areas of study. It actually turned out to be pretty cool. Check it out at http://massmediaandsocietyattemple.wikispaces.com/.
I created this blog site for Introduction to Media Technology. I can upload all of my projects to be viewed on YouTube and from the blog. The site is at http://taylorduscha.wordpress.com/.
I made this website for my Cyberspace and Society class. It looks a little outdated but I think the website ended up being pretty cool. It’s at http://astro.temple.edu/~tub54651/index.html.
Adding an online aspect to the classes not only makes it easy to complete work outside of class but it also makes the projects fun and more modern. Well, thats all for now. Back to my homework and studies. Till next time,
Sorry I haven’t updated in long while (and thanks for the reminder Mom!). Midterms got insanely hectic and this semester is proving to be much busier than my previous ones. Classes are going pretty well, especially since the insanity of tests, quizzes and various projects has passed for now. I’m as good at working under pressure as the next person, but with everything due within a week or two of each other it can be a little nuts.
Besides all of the classwork I’ve been doing, I have been pretty busy with extra curriculars as well. A couple friends and I were extended bids to the honor’s fraternity on campus called Phi Sigma Pi and we are currently in the midst of our initiation semester. I never really thought that I would be involved in any type of Greek life in college, but I’ve really enjoyed my initiation thus far and I hope this semester works out! PSP is different from other fraternities on campus because it’s an academic organization and its co-ed. But we still have a lot of the same rules as other Greek organizations and of course we have bigs and Greek families. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know everyone thus far and I’ll definitely keep everyone updated on the different events we’ll have going on this semester!
My Big David and I
My "family" within the fraternity, the Broad Street Bullies
Even though I’ve been spending a lot of time getting involved on campus, I’ve also had sometime to get out into the city as well! Last weekend some of my friends and I got tickets to go see MIKA at the Electric Factory. If you don’t know MIKA, he’s an eccentric pop-artist from England and he has an awesome stage performance. The show was great and he sang all of my favorite songs from his new CD, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, and some of his older songs too. I didn’t have much of a voice for a couple days after the show, but it was totally worth it! Hopefully, I’ll get to see some more shows at the Electric Factory soon.
Halloween’s coming up so my roommates and I are going to go out and find some costumes this weekend. Still haven’t figured out what I’m going to go as, but I’ll get some pictures as soon as I have everything together! Well, thats all for now. Till next time,
Finally the end of another long week. Classes have been going pretty well, but the workload is definitely starting to increase. More late nights and more papers than ever, oh the joys of school sometimes. Still, I try and find time to get outside, especially now with the great fall weather.
I’ve been using my bike a lot to get around campus and to other places in the city, but its fun to ride around the city and just enjoy the sights. Philly has a lot of bike lanes and paths that a great for that and drivers…well they’re getting used to bikers. It can be a little difficult to share the roads, but if you’re smart about it, it can be a fairly simple transition from paths to Philly streets.
A study just recently came out saying that Philadelphia is one of the Top 10 biggest cities for biking commuters, even larger than NYC and Houston. Biking in general has significantly grown in the Philadelphia area, increasing awareness, support for bikers on the roads, and more blogs and websites about urban cycling. One of my favorite sites is http://blog.bicyclecoalition.org/ because they have great links to maps, info about bike safety and forums about cycling in the city. Definetly check it out if you want to start biking in the city or want to bring a bike with you to school.
I am sure you’ve figured out by now that I am something of a theatre fan! Lucky for me, Philly has a ton of venues for performances so there’s always something new to see somewhere in the city. During the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to see a couple of shows that I really enjoyed.
The Philly Fringe Festival has been in town since the 4th and it always brings some new and interesting shows with discounted tickets for students. Last year, I saw In Conflict at Temple featuring alumni and current theatre students. The show was amazing and actually ended up being performed off-Broadway in New York. This year, my friends and I went to see an improv group called Tongue & Groove. The show was entirely based off secrets that the audience wrote down at the beginning of the show, so each performance was different and tailored to the specific audience in attendance, which made it really interesting and really funny!
Then last Thursday, I had the opportunity to go see Chicago: The Musical performed at the Academy of Music. I never miss a chance to see a show there because the theatre itself is beautiful and the performances are always well done. My friend Geoff and I saw the show’s national tour, featuring one of Geoff’s friends as Miss Mary Sunshine and Jerry Springer as the sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn. The show was great (of course!) and afterwards we met some of the cast members and I was within a few feet of Jerry Springer! That would probably have been more exciting if I actually watched the Jerry Springer Show or knew anything about him, but it makes for a cool story I guess…
Thats all from me for now. Check back soon for pictures from my bike trip around the city. Till next time
Welcome back to my sophomore year here at Temple! I am really excited for some of my classes this semester, but it has been a challenge getting everything organized and ready for the new school year.
Since I last wrote, I’ve moved off campus and now live with a few of my friends about 15 minutes away. To get onto campus quickly and do my part in Temple’s green effort, I’ve started biking onto campus and around the city. I’m really enjoying riding around and I was actually surprised by how easy it is to get different places in the city by bike.
The one downside to biking is that when the weather is bad, much like today, biking becomes a lot more challenging and its usually easier to just walk onto campus. It’s on days like these, with torrential rain and gale force winds (ok, maybe not that strong) when I am really glad that I invested in a pair of rain boots.
I think that rain boots are the newest fashion trend on campus when the weather is lousy. Lots of girls have adopted the trend of the skinny jeans and rain boots which is both practical and really stylish. It keeps your jeans from getting totally soaked throughout the day and with all the cute colors and prints you can get rain boots in, they can really accessorize an outfit. My boots are pretty simple, black with white polka-dots, but they go with almost anything and look really cute as I’m running to get out of the rain!
Just a friendly piece of advice. I’ll be putting up pictures from my bike adventures, so be sure to check back soon. Till then!
So I’m pretty sure by the end of this semester, I will have written more papers than I have ever completed in the entirety of my education. Ok, that may be something of an exaggeration, but it has been a lot to manage with the end of the year coming and social events and such.
But even with everything going on, I did manage to have some fun this week. On Monday my friends and I took the night off and went to grab dinner in South Philly. My friend recommended a smokeless barbecue that she had gone to before. I had never been to a restaurant like that, but I was pretty excited to try it and it turned out to be a lot of fun! You actually cooked the food at your table. It was a really awesome experience and a lot of fun to cook and to eat.
Eating at the restaurant
Cooking our own food
Later in the week I finally made it to the Prince Street theatre to see Cabaret. I’m sure I’ve mentioned how much I like live theatre enough, so I’ll just say that the show was awesome and the cast and crew did a stellar job with the performance. Well, that’s all from me for now. I need get back to the never ending pile of homework that has somehow accumulated in the past two weeks. Till next time,
Its been a pretty hectic week thus far. Most of my course work is really starting to pick up and I have to be sure that I space all my assignments out. If not, I end up being really stressed at the end of the semester with all the papers and exams due around that time. But even with all of the homework and studying going on, you still have to try and fit in sometime for fun.
Last week I had my first official Philadelphia cheese steak! I know what you’re thinking: How could I have survived this long in the city without one?!? I honestly have no idea, but I finally trekked down to Geno’s to try one. It turned out to be really good, but I can’t pass final judgement on which place is the best yet. I have heard a few people swear by Pats, and I really want to go try a cheese steak from Ishkabibbles.
Geno's Cheese steak
On Sunday, my friends and I took a break fro studying to enjoy the war weather. I grew up in a pretty rural area, so whenever the weather is nice at home, we usually walk to a local park or just hangout in someones back yard. Its not as easy to find a place to hang out in the middle of the city, so we had to get creative. We ended up deciding to go to Old City and had a picnic near Independence Hall.
Independence Hall
It turned out to be a great idea! We walked around some of the historical landmarks, had a picnic on the lawn, and then walked around the city. It was so nice to be outside in the war weather. One of my friends couldn’t get away from his homework, so he brought his textbooks with him and I helped him review for Neuroscience. I couldn’t really pronounce any of the scientific terms, but I think it helped!
Helping a friend study.
The weather was so nice, that we started to walked around the city and ended up going from Old City around 5th street to Rittenhouse Square Park over on 18th. I had never been to this park before, but I’ll definitely be visiting it again. There were so many different people walking around and enjoying the warm weather and several of them were toting adorable dogs! It made me miss my puppy at home so much, but I really enjoyed finding a new place to enjoy the spring weather in the city.
Some of my friends at Rittenhouse Square Park
My roommate and I enjoying the spring weather
Well, I have to get back to studying for exams. Hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather! Till next time,
I could not be happier that if finally feels like spring here on campus. The weather is finally a little warmer and everyone just seems to be in better spirits. I don’t really know what it is about spring that just puts people in a good mood, but I’m just glad that its finally nice enough to pack up my sweaters!
Spring means taking afternoons to hang out with friends on Beury Beach. When its sunny out, you’ll see kids stretched out all over the beach doing homework, playing various instruments, or just hanging out with friends. I was spending some time on the beach on Tuesday and their were a couple of students out trying to get people interested in their new juggling club by doing demonstrations. A couple of kids even set up a tightrope between a couple of the trees. I was considering giving it a try, but knowing my sheer dislike of gravity, I decided against it.
I can’t actually hang out on the beach today, due to classes and such, but a couple of my friends are out there and they sent me some pictures of their day. Here’s what Beury Beach looks like in the spring time.
Students enjoying the warm weather
Well, I’m off to catch a couple of rays before this beautiful day is over. Till next time!
I am really ready for spring. I love snow, but wet cold dreary days are seriously unmotivating. I’m ready to retire sweaters and jeans and am ready for skirts and flip-flops. But even with the crummy weather, there’s still fun stuff going on around campus.
Tuesday night my friends and I went to see the Temple theatre production of Caucasian Chalk Circle. It was a really interesting play that showcased several talented Temple students and allowed them to not only show off their acting skills, but their music and singing skills as well.
The show's poster
Temple’s theatre program is really diverse and offers students the opportunity to participate and observe several different kinds of shows and theatre performances. A few weeks a go the production of Seven, a hip-hop operetta, finished it’s run to rave reviews and after Caucasian Chalk Circle, some of the theatre students will be participating in the musical Cabaret, being performed at the Prince Street theatre.
I am a huge fan of theatre, as I’m sure you can tell from my past entries, and I love the opportunity to experience new and different forms of theatre. With the great theatre program here and all the various performance groups and theatres, Philadelphia is a great spot for theatre fans to study. Well, that’s all from me for now. Till next time!
This past week has been INSANE! There was so much going on right after break, but I had a lot of fun and was glad to be back in Philadelphia. Break was very relaxing and quiet, but I was ready to get back to school and all of the stuff going on.
On Monday, I visited a senior center with my classmate Phil and led a book discussion on the novel The Soloist. This was part of the One Book One Philadelphia project I wrote about before and I was really glad to have the chance to discuss the novel with another generation of readers and see their interpretation of the novel. The book club we discussed the novel with had a lot of insight into the novel and brought up some really good points that I had never considered before. In the novel, the author discusses how racism effected Nathanial, the main character who is dealing with homelessness and schizophrenia. The racism that Nathanial faced when he performed at Julliard in the 1970’s wasn’t highly emphasized and I didn’t really think much of this detail, but some of the members of the book club emphasized it and related it to personal experiences they had faced in the 1970’s. It was an eye opening experience.
I would highly recommend this novel.
Wednesday proved to be a little hectic as well. I am the co-treasurer for a new club on campus called the Temple Film Collective. The club works to make short films, generally 10 to 15 minutes and we are currently working on our projects and are trying to get some type of film festival together by the end of the year. A few weeks ago the club decided to have a bake sale to raise money for our projects, which proved to be a little more difficult than expected. We were finally able to get everything together and Wednesday night a couple club members and some of my friends in my residence hall got together and started baking like crazy. We ended up getting more than 70 packages together and sold them all the next day on Liacorous. I’m really proud of the club and all that we were able to achieve during our first fundraiser.
Thursday nights are generally when my friends and I go to the Reel on campus and this week was no exception. This week’s film was MILK and I was particularly excited to see it because I missed it in theatre’s and Sean Penn recently won an Oscar for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in the film. The movie was provocative and moving, and leaves its audience with a lot to think about and consider.
An amazing film
I had been looking forward to Friday all week because my friends and I had been planning on going to the Pennsylvania Ballet Company’s performance of Cinderella. Now, I know that the ballet’s not exactly the coolest thing around, but before you write it off, consider giving it a try. The show was amazing and the cast was insanely talented. It was my first professional ballet and I know that I’ll be going again soon! Well, that was it for my week, a little crazy at times, but definitely a lot of fun. Till next time,
-Taylor
My friends Geoff, Thu, Ryan and I at the Academy of Music before the ballet!
For Mass Media and Society, the class created a website featuring several links to our different areas of study. It actually turned out to be pretty cool. Check it out at http://massmediaandsocietyattemple.wikispaces.com/. 
I created this blog site for Introduction to Media Technology. I can upload all of my projects to be viewed on YouTube and from the blog. The site is at http://taylorduscha.wordpress.com/.
I made this website for my Cyberspace and Society class. It looks a little outdated but I think the website ended up being pretty cool. It’s at http://astro.temple.edu/~tub54651/index.html.
