Vocolo. . . wha?

Tis DW this week with the first installment from my temporary home in the land of salty lakes and mormons.

So before I unleash a barrage of pictures upon you all, I should probably take at least a minute to explain what it is I'm doing here.  I'm currently taking part in an extended summer certificate program called the Summer Vocology Institute put on by the National Center for Voice and Speech.  To answer the question that no doubt just popped into your head, vocology is the science and practice of voice habilitation, especially as it pertains to those who use their voice professionally. 

The primary instructor for the SVI is Ingo Titze, a voice scientist from The University of Iowa who has been involved in an incredible amount of research in this area.  The course for the first block is "Principles of Voice Production", and given the name and the instructors background in physics and engineering is unsurprisingly technical.  Chapter topics range from the enticing "Fluid Flow in Respiratory Airways" to the alluring "Biomechanics of Laryngeal Tissue", and of course I await with bated breath "Fluctuations and Perturbations in Vocal Output".  

In all seriousness, however, I have already learned a great deal, and what wasn't new acted to reinforce topics from speech science and other courses I've taken in the past.  It's also been fun to view professional vocal production through an incredibly sciencey (it's a word) lens.

The workload is hefty, covering a chapter of that anything-but-fluffy material each day, with daily homework, and a test a week.  But given the hellish spring semester we all faced as first year SLPs it really doesn't seem to bad.  Especially considering it's only a single topic to focus on.  So, I've been trying to use the spare time I have to make new friends, and explore the town a bit.  And now begins the picture barrage!

The first thing I saw when I got off the plane in Salt Lake City was a strikingly familiar site.

Apparently there are a handful of these in various airports around the country, who knew?  Wikipedia apparently.

The similarities ended there.

what are those strange lumps in the distance?

The lumps get closer . . . ominous

The light rail made it an easy trip to my new home . . . in the dorms of The University of Utah.

yeah I never thought I'd be back to this.

a mite nicer than my old dorm.

The student center right by where we live complete with dorm style dining commons.

 To be completely fair apart from the bed and the fact that it didn't come with any kitchen supplies besides a stove and a fridge, this is a far cry from my split room dorm at Iowa.  The buildings were part of the Olympic Village back in the day, and each apartment has 4 private locking rooms, two bathrooms, a full size kitchen, and an odd and slightly dysfunctional living space.  The campus however is pretty picturesque.

if only you could hear the gajillion magpies screeching their cacophony.

lots of cute old buildings, that may date back from the original Fort Douglas, now just a few blocks down.

The ped bridge leading to the light rail and the rest of campus

more pretty

You can barely make out my dorm back up in the distance

The music building where most of our classes are held.

So you may have noticed in that second to last picture that the dorm seems tucked right back up in the foothills.  Yeah, this campus is completely built on an incline and it is also pretty isolated from the rest of town.  The 1.5 mile walk from the dorm to the music building features a 300+ foot elevation loss, a trend which continues for another mile or so toward the downtown area putting my home at about 650 feet above city center which is already a respectable 4300ft above sea level.  Needless to say my legs were mad at me most of last week for all the walking/running I did.  But that didn't stop me from making it down town to see Temple square.

The Joseph Smith Memorial Building, I think it's a hotel.

the mothership

they sure do like their white stone and ornate details

A mormon monument . . . a mormonument?

featuring some very unmormon-like symbols

I also took some time last weekend when studying for a test to lounge around outside at Liberty Park, which was delightful.

Well said placard . . . well said.

The view out of the park with the town off into the distance

just a lil' greenspace here.

If only the park had a good natural backdrop

a lil' panorama for a lil' lake

On the walk back to the light rail I happened upon an old rail station which had been converted into a mall.

I even got a little baking in, in the name of a potluck this coming Saturday.

a flour in the desert

Lastly, it was one of the girls in the program's birthday this past Tuesday so we went to a free outdoor big-band / swing dancing concert they were having downtown.  While the days may be hot and dry as a bone, that makes the nights near perfect and bug free.  The only thing it was missing was a dance inhibition removing beverage . . . silly Utah.

the bandshell complete with natural spotlight

Some of my new friends who graciously allowed me to kneecap them repeatedly while dancing.

Ok, with that I should get back to some school work, as I still have some headway to make this eve.  

Thanks as always for reading, and don't forget to feed the fish!

DW