Memory Lane

I took a little trip down “memory lane” yesterday. Since I moved out of my parents’ house nearly six years ago, my old bedroom has gradually turned into my dad’s office. My mom, who barely uses the room, has been on my back about going through certain things to thin out the clutter and make room for… more of my dad’s crap, I guess. Nevertheless, I thought I’d begin what will be a lengthy, but rewarding process. While cleaning out shelves full of old notebooks from grade school through undergrad, I discovered some literary GEMS. Here, I share with you some of the highlights (bad grammar, ALL CAPS, and misspellings included):

8^th Grade History Notes

On Richard Nixon’s VP Choice:

“His VP – Spiro Agnew – Nixon’s ‘hatchet man’ Picked on anyone who were hippes.”

On President Gerald Ford’s wife:

“…his wife Betty – 1. Had cancer, 2. Addicted to pain killers, 3. ALCOHOLIC!!!! She took care of it. She founded the Betty Ford Clinic.”

On the construction of the St. Louis Gateway Arch, in which I argue with AND contradict myself:

“Construction started in the late ‘50s. 100s of tons of concrete. First death—tearing out an elevator a man got his arm cut off. 13 would die. –NOBODY DIED BUILDING IT.”

From a Research Paper on Racism, in which I don’t mince words about former Cincinnati Reds Owner Marge Schott:

“Marge Schott called those baseball players the 'n word' because she is a bigoted nazi.”

Student Teaching Journal

In addition to all the class notes, I discovered an old journal from my undergraduate student teaching experience. We were encouraged (but not required) to write in it daily about our experience. I kept at it for a whopping THREE WEEKS…probably a testament to how much I’d mentally checked out of the whole experience later in the semester.

On leading choruses at Quincy Junior and Senior High School:

Today at the Junior High was rather uneventful. I basically patrolled the room while the boys worked on a skit with their own group. I have no idea what skits have to do with choral music, but Kathi Dooley must think it’s important. It was the same old crap at the High School today, though Paul Shelor had me teaching part of a piece with Mixed Chorus. This group really challenges my patience at every turn. It makes teaching them the music so difficult and asinine. Someone ought to force these people to visit a prison. It would give them a preview of their life… especially if they don’t shape up and listen to authority and be accountable for their actions.

The entries weren’t all bad. My writing was far more positive on the days I was teaching with Sarah Guilford, a teacher like no other!

Crappy Poetry

Oh! And I even found first drafts of some crappy four-line opera-themed poems that I wrote for Poetry Class at QU:

The Coloratura Soprano

[first line uncompleted] / Soaring through melismas and back / Yet no one takes me seriously / ‘Cause I sound like a birdie on crack

The Dramatic Soprano

She shrieks and screams and shouts / To get up on the boards / She’d be perfect to sing Brünnhilde / But someone should stifle her cords

The Mezzo Soprano

Us mezzos get the saucy roles: / Gypsies and old maids and witches / But we always get upstaged / By those haughty sopranos – those bitches!

Yup...a good chunk of this probably wasn't nearly as funny to you as it was for me...oh well :)

Sheepishly catching up

Hello, my friends. It seems that I just cannot seem to stay faithful to the things that actually bring me joy (like this blog) and get reshackled to the things that bring me trouble (like my car—which ain’t so kaput as I’d stated in the previous entry, but more on that later). Nevertheless, here’s a rundown of the more eventful happenings in my life since last I put keystroke to blog.

UAO

So, at the end of January I auditioned for Union Avenue Opera. They’re doing The Pirates of Penzance, La fille du régiment (Daughter of the Regiment) and Пиковая дама (aka The Queen of Spades or Pique Dame). It wasn’t an easy year to bring in an aria for a prospective role I’d be right for. There are, however, a few tenor comprimarios in Pique Dame. Thus, I figured I’d go into the audition to show off my Russian skills with a ready-learned Tchaikovsky art song (“At the Ball”) as well as a Gilbert-Sullivan piece (“Tit Willow,” which I had to learn anyway for the party scene in Die Fledermaus). Not the most perfect audition repertoire, but I had to have something.

I went in and started with the Tchaikovsky. It seemed, to me, that it went over well with the audition panel. One of them asked me if I’d learned the piece especially for this audition. When I replied that I had previously sung it at a recital, they followed up by asking how I learned the Russian. I stated that the diction was self-taught, and the panelist replied by saying (and I paraphrase), “For having been self-taught, the diction sounds quite authentic to me.” I took it as a compliment. Russian is my weakest, most unfamiliar language.

Buoyed by such a compliment, I thought that I might be at least offered chorus in Pique Dame. Not so. I was offered choruses in Pirates and Fille, with a bit part in the latter. Honestly, I was seriously dejected over not being involved in Pique Dame, which seems like it’s going to be the “IT” show this summer, what with Tim Ocel’s involvement. (Really enjoyed working with him on Amahl!) I get it, though. Not everyone can be cast where they would wish, and one must accept that. So, less whining…more looking on the lighter side. I’ve always had a sweet spot in my heart for Pirates and with a director like Mark, it’s going to be silly, frivolous, campy joy onstage. Fille should have its charms, too…and if Jolly can make it even half as fun as the recent Met production, I’ll be happy to participate.

BIRTHDAYS

My niece turned 3 years old in February; my nephew 6 on the first of this month. Emily and Jeff decided to make this birthday extra special by taking them to Disney World for a week, with both sets of grandparents in attendance. I was invited to come along, but declined if only because I’m already taking off a substantial amount of time from work in June (…more on that laterz) but would have loved to revisit the resort, which I’ve not visited since 1993. The kids had a ball, and if that weren’t enough, they had a joint birthday party with all the neighborhood kids and family members a few weeks later. I hope that after all the travels, cake, presents and Mickey Mouse, they will come to appreciate how much their parents, grandparents and uncle love them.

CAR

Oh yeah, so my Dad and I learned a valuable lesson way later than we should have…and that is to NEVER take your car to its dealer unless you have no other alternatives. Why? They’re always going to triple or quadruple the cost of parts you could easily purchase at AutoZone, then screw you further on labor. If this weren’t enough, the local Ford Dealer did some shoddy work on replacing the Taurus’s heater core in January 2009, which caused all kinds of problems back in January of this year. Rubbing salt in the wound was the discovery that I drove 900 miles beyond the mileage allowance on the part-warranty. Could have had most of this nonsense COMPED!!!

A local, mom-and-pop mechanic shop was able to get my car back to drivable status until I can figure out what kind of car to replace it. So yeah…the assumption that my car was kaput? Not so.

MARCH MADNESS

You might think I’m referring to the annual hullabaloo over college basketball, but you’d be sadly mistaken. My personal March Madness was rehearsing two shows—Gianni Schicchi and Die Fledermaus—at once.

Gianni Schicchi was the third and final production of Gina’s current season, and I think it was apt to cap things off on the Hill, even if St. Ambrose Church is not the most Opera-friendly. Got to work once again with some wonderful colleagues—including my homeboy Charlie Martinez—as well as some new people. A very low-stress gig with the opportunity to go a little over the top on the acting side of things.

Die Fledermaus was Jolly Stewart’s final production at Washington University, involving several alumni, grad students and undergrads. In 20 years of the WU Opera, she almost always mounted productions of 20^th Century British and American works with the objective to challenge students’ musical and dramatic chops. Thus, we were quite surprised to find that she wanted to cap off her time at WU with an operetta completely out of the ordinary fare. However, Fledermaus is one of her faves, so it made some sense. As Ivan, Orlofsky’s very Russian valet, I had the honor of capping off the “midnight entertainment” in the middle of Act II with the “Tit Willow” song. It was also enjoyable to walk about in my Cossack and Stalin moustache/beard/eyebrows whilst speaking English in a faux-Russian accent, dropping all definite/indefinite articles and making sure to swallow every last L.

ITALY

My June trip to Italy with the UACC Chancel Choir is, as they say in pop culture, AWN. My plane ticket is bought. I considered that move a true commitment. I’ve found hotels in every city but Venice, and will soon acquire my Eurail pass. Looks like the dollar is getting stronger, too, so I won’t be so set back by the € exchange rate. The itinerary is 4 days in Rome (with a side-trip to Naples), then 2 days each in Assisi, Florence and Venice.

More on this as it approaches… and if you’ve made it this far, I salute you!