Favorites
Some of my favorite and/or most popular posts!
-
They’ll Know We Are [Human] by our LOVE
“They’ll Know We Are Christians” by Peter Scholtes; arranged, performed, and produced by Ashley Wagner. The initial sound clip is from the documentary “Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison,” recorded in March 1966 by Pete, Toshi, and Daniel Seeger, and Bruce Jackson. The inmates are from the Ellis Unit at a Huntsville, Texas, prison. The political, social, and emotional turbulence I felt during the fall of 2016 is what brought this (highly personal) arrangement into existence. I altered the lyrics (particularly from “Christians” to “Human”) because I wanted to convey a universal message. I appreciate your letting me share some of my experience with you this way. Please know…
-
NYC Studio Apartment Tour + Murphy Bed!
Happy #WeeklyWednesday! Today’s video is a tour of my studio apartment in NYC, featuring my Murphy wall bed, which has dramatically improved my quality of life!! I find videos like this interesting, fun, and helpful (especially when looking for tiny living tips, where every inch and item owned matters!); I hope you do, too, and thanks for taking the time to watch mine! Products in the video (none of this is sponsored!): Murphy bed – Expand Furniture MurphySofa Minima in Eco Leather IKEA Kallax bookshelf (complements the lines and finish of the Mimina model and is much less expensive than custom options) IKEA Friheten sleeper sofa: Giantex full-automatic portable washing…
-
An Analysis of Language Ideologies in Disney’s “Moana”
University of California, Irvine, 2017. Linguistic Anthropology. [Assignment prompt: Analyze language ideologies in a popular animated film released after 1994 and intended primarily for children. Reference Rosina Lippi-Green’s article “Teaching children how to discriminate,” in English with an Accent, 79-103. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.] “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor” Franklin Delano Roosevelt a Inspired by the remarkable voyaging heritage of early Polynesians and their mythology – particularly the shapeshifting, trickster demigod, Maui – Disney creatives, led by Ron Clements and John Musker, and a team of Pacific Island experts, worked for 5 years to craft Disney’s 2016 film Moana (Robinson 2016). Not only does Moana…
-
Disney Magic!
Wednesday, 16 November What it’s all about……both as a Disney performer and as the person I want to be – I’m grateful that I experienced it today. My weekly room-cleaning happened while I was in my apartment during a rehearsal break and the lady who came was really sweet. I continued to go over my music while she cleaned and we just chatted off and on. She really liked my humming, so I asked if she’d like me to sing something for her. I ended up singing a few songs and by the end, I think we were both almost ready to cry 😉 She told me it meant so…
-
On Human Dignity and Shared Experiences
I had afternoon tea yesterday. I had afternoon tea with a stranger. I met this stranger because I had afternoon tea yesterday at Patisserie Valerie, where tea is only served for two, in St. Pancras International Railway Station. Because the seating area at Patisserie Valerie is open to the rest of the station, I shared afternoon tea for two with a stranger who was asking customers for spare change. I shared tea because my heart was softened when the woman my stranger first approached shared some of her money with her and treated her with kindness; and because I am learning to listen to my intuition and to not be…
-
A picture is worth a thousand words; or, Rusty the Red Panda escapes from the National Zoo
It’s pretty much every performer’s dream to be the focus of a media frenzy (especially for something positive!)… I got to experience a bit of that this week, in a very unexpected and wonderful way. Walking home from a family lunch in our neighborhood, about a mile from DC’s National Zoo, we saw an extraordinary animal emerge from some bushes. I recognized him almost immediately as a red panda – one of my favorite animals at the National Zoo and one I had often admired at our previous home’s wonderful San Diego Zoo. What I couldn’t figure out is how he could possibly be just a few feet in front of us, alone, strolling down our…
