Roque’s Weekly Review for 07/17/19
I have had a memorable week. Last Thursday, I got to perform three songs at a wedding for friends of mine. This has been in the works for months. I composed new arrangements for the songs, and I’ve been fine-tuning them a whole lot. I used most of my sound equipment and my faithful keyboard that I have had for years. It was a magical day, and I loved singing for the happy couple. Then, last Friday, I joined some friends of mine at the Ascend Amphitheater in downtown Nashville to see one of my favorite bands Young the Giant perform. I got to hang out with people I adore,…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 7/10/19
Another week has passed through this warm and misty summer we’ve been having here in middle Tennessee. I go for long walks in our hollow. I read books and cuddle with my cat whenever possible. We do not have the sounds of cars rushing by, honking horns, and airplanes forging paths out into the sky. Instead, we have the lengthy discourse of birds, the mating calls of frogs, and the song of wind simmering through the leaves of trees. I acknowledge all of this as often as I can because I am sincerely grateful for this music that surrounds me. Speaking of music, I’ve spent the last few days making…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 7/3/19
Welcome to another weekly review!! Here in middle Tennessee, summer is in full swing. There’s sweltering heat, long days when the sun rises earlier and sets later, when you cannot seem to drink enough fluids to stay hydrated, and cannot shed enough clothing to stay cool. Summer is a big time for me to be outdoors. I go for walks out on my half-mile long driveway and along our creek and spend lots of time on our deck taking in the sights and sounds of our woodland view. This week, I wanted to feature one of the biggest activities of mine during warm weather. I love to ride my bicycle.…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 6/26/19: THE PRIDE EDITION
Happy Pride Everyone!! As a queer person of color, I wanted to do my part to celebrate everything that this month represents for LGBTQ people in the United States. Pride celebrations have come a long way since they started a few decades ago. Big cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Fransisco have HUGE pride festivals and parades, and it also warms my heart that small towns like Cookeville and Murfreesboro in Tennessee have their own big celebrations. This week, I wanted to premiere one of the short films I made earlier this year. It is a profile of a long-standing LGBTQ activist and organizer both in middle…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 6/19/2019
I have had a lot to do since last week’s review. My summer is just flying by. I spent a few days in the Nashville area helping my mom with her big annual yard sale. We sold a bunch of stuff and donated a ton of items to Goodwill. It actually felt great to get rid of so much. Many items found good new homes, and my mom had less stuff to deal with. This week I wanted to showcase more photography. I live out in the country of middle Tennessee, and commonly seen around these parts are barns. Yes, barns. They are large and imposing structures that look like…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 6/12/2019
Well, it’s Wednesday. Thanks for stopping by to check out another update from me. I have more photography to feature this week, but this time I have photos I took during last weekend’s road trip to Asheville, NC. I loaded my car with stuff on a rainy Friday morning to head east. Most of the drive was on a highway, but I decided to take an alternate route once I hit the mountains past Knoxville. This detour took me through long and winding country roads. I passed through sleepy small towns tucked deep inside hollows and out-of-the-way places. There were aging barns and old wooden homes that seemed to lean…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 6/5/2019
These summer days are so full of light and warmth. I have been taking the time to rest my body and care for myself. I drink plenty of fluids, rest when I am tired, and make time for my cat. I have also been getting acupuncture treatments to help with sinus, allergy, and congestion problems. I want my body to feel rejuvenated. I also have a good bit of creative work this summer with my photography, film editing, art, and lots of music on my piano, cello, and ukulele. This week, I wanted to feature a couple of works. Check out something old and something new . . . Featured…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 05/29/2019
I am currently on my summer break. For a while, I had planned to take a couple of summer classes, but I decided to give myself some time off instead. My upcoming fall semester will be my last semester as an undergraduate, and I’ll just do all of my work then. For now, the days have gotten warmer. The afternoons are longer. My cat falls asleep by my side while I read a book. It is a stark contrast to the frenetic schedule I had over the last school year. FEATURED WORK This week, I wanted to share some more of my photography from last school year. One of my…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 05/22/19
Thanks for swinging by for another weekly update! My life is so different when I’m not in school. I feel like I went from living in a cramped outhouse to a spacial palace in the woods. I’ve been playing lots of music, reading books, napping, cleaning up around the house, and cuddling with my cat. FEATURED WORK This week, I want to continue unpacking some of the work I did over the past school year. I want to share one of the short films I made for my Single Cam II class. This is a class that focuses more on film making as opposed to live television operations that use…
Roque’s Weekly Review for 05/15/2019
Yes, it has been a while since my last update, but I am back to a calmer and regular schedule now that my spring semester is done. I severely underestimated how busy I would be. I would like to spend the next few updates unpacking much of the work I did in school for all of you, my dear friends and readers, over the last year. Here are some highlights from my college work: I produced and directed 8 short films during the spring semester. I took over 2500 photographs for a basic digital photography class in the fall. I learned how to develop film and process photos in a…
