summer in the city

Now that I am living closer to center city, I have been doing a lot more walking than I used to.  I used to have to bike to downtown from Temple, but now I pretty much live downtown.  It’s great.  If I want to walk to Temple from where I live now, it only takes around thirty minutes.  If I want to walk to center city from where I live, it takes about 15 minutes.  Biking is still preferable for me, but my roomates do not have bicycles.  Quite possibly my favorite part of where I live is the roof access.  One of my new favorite things to do is watch the sunsets from my roof while reading a good book.  I also love watching thunderstorms, but I decided that the roof is not the best place to be during storms.

Currently I am looking for another job near where I live so I can pay the bills.  There are some coffee shops I am applying to, restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, a gelato place, and who knows where else!  I am confident that I will find a job soon.

That’s all for now I suppose.  Happy July!

talking to the animals

I decided to take some pictures at the Bell Tower one day, and one of my squirrel friends decided that he wanted in on the action…

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That’s my adventure with Mr. Squirrel. He seemed to be enjoying the photo shoot just as much as I was!

Temple squirrels know no fear.

Manayunk, Malvern, and Music. Oh my!

Quick update on the Philly summer living…

On Friday evening I left work on my bicycle, and I did not stop pedaling until I got to Manayunk. When I get the urge to go for a long bike ride, I usually go with it.

On Saturday morning I woke up really early to take my Praxis II exams, which are exams that I am required to take if I want to teach. They were a piece of cake.

On Sunday, I relaxed at my place and did some personal meditations. One thing I have noticed this weekend is that songs have been popping into my head more frequently than they used to, and the songs that pop into my head have been strongly connected to what is going on in my life. It’s pretty cool!

Coming soon, I got some great close-ups of Temple squirrels that I will be posting.

crossing borders

I traveled to Mississauga, Canada this past weekend.  I traveled there with two of my closest friends, and when we got there we met up with people from all over the US, Canada, and even England!  It was a weekend of exploring, discussing, and philosophizing.

We traveled by buses.  We took the Bolt bus from Philadelphia to New York, then the Neon bus from New York to Toronto.  I love how easy it is to travel when you live in a big city.  We lucked out on the way back and got a ride from our friends who were driving to Delaware.  We arrived in Toronto at about 5:30am on Friday, and we had many hours to explore the city.  What a beautiful city!  Very clean, very friendly, lots of coffee shops .  During the rest of the weekend, we did some hiking, some indoor mini golf at a place called the “Putting Edge”, some karaoke, and LOTS of talking and learning.  I am continually amazed at how much I can learn from other people when I keep an open and curious mind, and I am even more continually amazed at how much I can learn from myself when I open my mind a bit.  Time for pictures!

I grabbed these pics from my friends, I am sure they will not mind!

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I have been experiencing technical difficulties with posting my pictures. Here is a link to the photo album —–> Canada Trip

whew!

I had quite the moving experience last night.  I think I set a world record.  I got off of work at 5:00, went back to my place and started packing everything I own, and moved it all to a new place downtown in a matter of 5 hours.  Two hours to pack it all, three hours to move it all.  I used a Phillycarshare Dodge Caravan, which is a great car for moving big stuff.  I fit two dressers, a large bookcase, a mattress, and all of my groceries in there at the same time.  I only had the car for three hours, so I really needed to move quickly.  I parked and locked the car in the Phillycarshare spot with five minutes to spare!  Whew!  It was a close call.  Now I live right near the Art Museum and Fairmount Park, and I could not be happier about it.

If that isn’t exciting enough, tomorrow I will be in Toronto!

change?

This is a call out to my frequent blog visitors, and I am assuming/hoping that I have a few.  Do you think it is about time for me to change my blog header image? or do you like it as it is?  Leave me a comment if you have a preference either way.  I have not gotten much feedback about my blog recently, so I would really appreciate your input.  And if you are wondering who exactly I am asking for feedback, well…if you are reading this, then I am asking you!

Thanks,

Cory

moving

I have been living on and around campus for the past three years, and at the end of the month I will be moving away from campus.  I lived in the residence hall “1300″ for two years, and I have been living in a row home off of Broad Street for the past year.  Living within a few blocks of the music school has been convenient, but I am ready to move downtown.

Next month I will be moving to the Fairmount/Art Museum area.  I will be living with people that bring an incredible amount of joy to my life, and I could not be more excited to move.  Last night we all met at London Grill for some fries, some wings, and a whole lotta of philosophy.  When it came time to leave it was pouring outside, so we decided to get drenched by going to the playground nearby and then by biking a few miles to get home.  It turned out to be a great idea, especially since my bike needed to be washed!

junior year = DONE

I just completed the most intense semester yet for me.  It was so intense that I nearly forgot about my blog!  But I remembered it, and here I am.  Final exams were easy like usual, but the essays are what get me worked up.  I officially ended the semester yesterday when I dropped 6 pages of essay goodness into a box at the school of education.

Amidst all of the school work, I managed to explore more of Fairmount Park, hear my favorite local band Erronious Krunk, and record background vocals for a hip-hop song called “Underdog” by Thee Phantom.

As for the summer, I will be working at the Welcome Center on campus every day for the next two months, then I will be delving in to my marching band job more towards the end of the summer.  Insert a trip to Canada somewhere in there as well as constant excursions into Fairmount Park.

As for now, time to relax.

end of the semester.

The spring semester messes with my mind every year.  It moves slowly in the beginning, then speeds up like crazy as soon as April hits.  In like a sloth out like a cheetah.  I suppose the weather change helps contribute to this.  I also now how to make myself really busy at this time of year.  Please refer to the following list of things that make Cory busy this Spring…

1.  I am currently singing in the Temple University Concert Choir, the Temple University Graduate Conductor’s Chorus, the Philadelphia Singers, and I will be a ringer for the Philadelphia University choir this weekend.  At the end of the month I will be travelling to Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Singers to perform La damnation de Faust with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I also might be singing on a recording for a hip-hop artist who wants some choral background voices.

2.  I am the assistant for the Temple Music Prep Children’s Choir, and we are gearing up for some performances.

3.  I have been teaching music classes in an elementary school this month with a group of Temple students.

4.  I am taking a lot of writing intensive courses.  I am writing multiple papers every week.  (I only wrote three papers total all of last semester)

5.  Have I mentioned anything about singing yet?

6.  I am taking a lot of education classes.  These classes beg a lot of attention, since this is my intended profession.

7.  I work a few hours every week in the Welcome Center.

8.  I have friends too.

9.  I play piano and sing sometimes.

10.  I use my mind a lot.  I like my mind.

I am managing to have a lot of fun in the midst of all these rehearsals, projects, papers, and work.  It is hard to imagine life after college, but I still have another year left…then the search for a school to teach in begins!

down by the riverside

Although I prefer my bicycle to my legs when it comes to transportation, I went for a walk all around the city with a great friend one weekend and took some pictures of the Delaware River.

That’s the huge one that separates PA from NJ.

The Walt Whitman Bridge in the distance

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The one and only Benjamin Franklin Bridge

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I seriously do not know what we would do without these bridges.  It would be enormously difficult to get to the shore without them. Thank you bridge builders!