dream law

Hey All! Much like last week, I am writing to you from the comforts of our couch. Unlike last week, Brenda isn't here to keep me company. I'm happy to report, however, that she is safely back in Germany and has begun rehearsals for La Traviata. It sounds like the first two days of rehearsal went well. The opera opens on Saturday, October 8th. If you care to learn more about the production you can do so here.

Over the weekend I went to St. Paul to visit our friends, Dan and Whitney. I was only in St. Paul for 24 hours but we made the most of it and had a great time. On Saturday night Whitney and I went to Minnesota Opera's production of Così fan tutte. Dan sang in the chorus of the opera, and he had a lot of stage time. It was a beautiful production of a great opera, and I highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in or around the Twin Cities.

I should probably think about getting some sleep. You'd think that sleep would be a great chance to stop thinking about law school, but I keep having law school related dreams. My dreams tend to relate to whatever issue I read about in the homework that day. So tonight's dreams should contain riveting discussions of what constitutes consideration in forming an enforceable agreement, and the obligations, or lack there of, of a bystander in saving another person's life. Uh oh, did you just fall asleep? Sorry about that. I have that affect on people these days.

Until next time, have a great week!

We have a couch!

Hey All! My homework is done, my wonderful wife is sitting next to me on our new couch, and I just poured myself a glass of Malbec - life is good. Brenda got back from New York late Saturday night. Her time in New York was very productive. Brenda recorded a CD while she was there and worked extensively on her next opera role. Now that she's back in Iowa, we're enjoying each other's company as much as we can before she flies back to Germany on Friday.

Brenda's parents came down to Iowa City for an overnight trip yesterday. Brenda showed them around town while I was in class, and then I joined them for dinner last night. They seemed to really enjoy the two vegetarian restaurants they tried in Iowa City - The Red Avocado and theFair Grounds Coffeehouse.

Law school has been very busy, but I think I'm doing a good job of keeping up. It's hard to tell, though. For most of my classes my entire grade is based on one test at the end of the semester. I guess I'll find out if I actually know what's going once the classes are over.

I had better get back to spending time with my wife. I hope you're all having a great week and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!

city lights

Hello all! Another week has gone by, and Chad is swamped with homework, so I'm taking over the blog for the week! However, we realized it was blog day a little bit late, so this won't be a spectacular post. :-) BUT! I have pictures! Oh yes, I know you love pictures...

I'm in New York right now, taking lessons to prepare for my upcoming role in La Traviata and also recording a CD of songs by the composer Lowell Liebermann, whose opera I performed at Juilliard five years ago! It's so great to sing his music again, and I can't wait for the disc to come out!

I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis with Drew, and as Chad told you, we did lots of fun things, including my first trip to the huge Renaissance festival in the area. I've never seen so many nerds in one place. It was a beautiful thing.

And now, PICTURES! Have a great week all!

Holding my beautiful niece Beatrice

for the first time!

Drew and Bettina at the Renaissance

festival. Oh yes, they wore costumes.

Happy twins at the apple orchard!

Taunting and feeding the goats at the petting farm

at the apple orchard.

Drew made friends with the donkey.

That's a big ol' chair.

Dining al fresco at the Minneapolis restaurant

Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge.

Dan and Whitney were with us! And a mask

friend was too...

High school buddy Lara and the twins in a Minneapolis

pub called Merlin's Rest. It had a British theme,

so I felt right at home. ;-)

fair maidens and gallant knights

Hey All! I'm cutting my blog deadline a little close this week; I have nine minutes left before Tuesday is officially over. Anyway, my wonderful wife got sick of me studying all the time and decided to go visit her sister. Brenda arrived in Minnesota yesterday and has already been to a renaissance fair and been apple picking. Not at the same time, of course. Jousting is strictly forbidden in apple orchards. At least I think I read that in one of my law books. All of these laws start to run together.

The happy couple together again.

This past weekend Brenda and I went to my home town to spend some time with my family. While we were there Brenda got to meet our beautiful 7-month-old niece, Beatrice. Brenda also spent a good part of the weekend working on the songs she's going to record next week in New York. Brenda will be working on La Traviata while she's in New York, too. It should be a whirlwind trip.

Once Brenda gets back from New York we'll have almost a week together before she flies to Frankfurt. We spent last week (when I wasn't in class or studying) trying out different restaurants in Iowa City, going to movies, and getting settled in our apartment. We still need to hang up photos and put away a few pots and pans, but the apartment is starting to shape up. Brenda is going to look for some furniture at Ikea while she's in Minnesota so hopefully a couch is in our future. As it stands, one of us can sit in the recliner in the living room while the other sits in the bean bag chair. It makes cuddling up to watch a movie challenging.

Well, it has been Wednesday for almost 30 minutes now so I had better wrap this up. I need a decent amount of sleep if I want to stand a chance of understanding what is going on in class. I hope you're all having a great week!