The Day I May Have Eluded Death, Again

"A very difficult day of driving. But after 14 hours of traffic madness, at last, Butch Barbie and I have made it to Arizona. Now, at 6:10 pm, I still have about 4 hours or so left to drive."

October 18th, 2017

That was the text I included when I posted this picture on Facebook. There was a reason I included these details, this time window, but as is often my behavior, I didn't say what was going on.

You should know that I can detect dangerous people from miles away. Really. It's one of my super powers. I have several of those, by the way.

I took this picture while a man that I know for a fact, was stalking me. I think he started following me on the interstate. When I pulled in at this rest stop, he pulled in a few seconds later and parked right next to me. When I got out of the car and headed toward the restroom - and about 3 seconds after I stepped up on the curb - so did he. 

Neither of these things is necessarily odd - it was a rest stop and people get out of their cars and head toward the facilities - but I overtly noticed him when he parked. It felt all wrong and my brain yelled louder and louder at me the farther I got from my car.

So I stopped short, turned around, walking back past him, went to my car and got Butch Barbie. I decided to avoid the restroom. I knew that if this guy had targeted me, that I shouldn't leave sight of my car. It's not uncommon for these men to compromise your vehicle so you are stranded on the side of the road at some point.

I grabbed Butch Barbie, stood up, and looked toward the facilities; I wasn't surprised to see that he also did not go into the rest room but stopped to take a drink from the fountain. When he stood up, he turned around to "survey his surroundings".

I took Butch Barbie and walked to the railing you see in the picture which was about 40 to 50 yards in front of my car and 30 or so feet beyond the picture location. I leaned on it, as many were doing, and looked out at the vista. He then walked from the fountain, staying quite close to the side of the building, up to the railing himself, but about 20 feet away from me. I wondered how to shake this weirdo, so I decided that I would behave somewhat normally for a few minutes and see if he would leave on his own.

Well, he didn't leave the railing the entire time I stood there. So I walked back in the direction of my car, and a couple of seconds later, he too, left the railing. I worked to keep him within my peripheral vision. I stopped at this raised concrete planter thing and decided to have a photo shoot. This enabled me to pose Barbie and take pictures from different directions and angles. He had stopped and leaned against the building behind me. I was definitely his target.

Since there was no question that I had become a target, when I took the photos, I made a big show of doing so, garnering the attention of quite a few travelers that were also there, and having a few friendly back and forth comments. I would be remembered for being here and just maybe one of those people noticed him leaning against the building behind me. I was making it difficult for him without him realizing I was being deliberate about it.

When I finished, I headed back to my car, as did he. I got in and locked all the doors. The rest stop was really busy, people were walking on either side of my car to get to the restrooms, but they were coming and going with their own agenda and were not noticing this guy. But even so, I knew he wouldn't do anything with all of these people around. 

Since he was parked right next to me, I assumed that if I left, he would follow me. I had plates that were from a state that was in my rearview mirror, so it likely seemed pretty obvious to him that I was not headed home.

In the photo, you can see the length of the shadows (you can even see me) - it was late afternoon. Most people don't tend to drive as long of a day as I do, and a logical assumption would be that I would be stopping for the night fairly soon, either at my destination (unlikely because it is a fairly empty stretch for many, many miles) or a hotel - although I wouldn't be. 

I wondered what actions I should take. I didn't want him to know I was on to him (people like this do NOT like to be outed and can become more determined), so I decided to look busy. The first thing I did was to overtly deal with my phone and start talking on speaker in an animated way, smiling and acting like I hadn't noticed him at all. I told my friend what was happening. The guy didn't leave.

I stayed on the phone with my friend and I opened Instagram. I was scrolling but still talking with my friend giving constant updates on the situation; still smiling and being animated. I knew that as long as it remained daylight and the rest stop remained busy, this would work for a while. I never looked his way, or any other way other than straight ahead.

I could see him occasionally covertly glancing in my direction with my peripheral vision, and after about half an hour, he was adjusting his sitting position frequently and looking perturbed. After about 45 minutes, he started his Toyota and left. At that point, I waited about 10 minutes and then posted this picture with the current time and expected time of arrival at my destination.

There was an exit coming up within a mile of where I was, but there were no services and nothing for miles in either direction on that road. I was concerned he may have exited and would be waiting for me to pass under to get behind me. Or even be driving slowly so I would pass him on the interstate. Although I checked every time I went under an overpass to make sure he hadn't just selected one farther down the road and was following me, I never saw him again. 

I drove at a good clip hoping to arrive sooner than expected.

Once I reached Phoenix, I was in thick traffic with an insane number of lanes. I changed lanes quite a bit. By the time I was on the other side of Phoenix, I felt fairly sure he thought I had become too much of a liability. I was out of his preferred "territory" which was clearly defined as vast empty spaces.

Once I returned home, I looked to see if there were women who had gone missing in that area. And yes, there were. It had been going on for about 4 years, at that point. All were traveling in the same direction as I was, and all were last seen somewhere within the last 15 miles before that rest stop.

When I say that I have magical abilities, THIS is one of them. 

Being very aware of your surroundings and, more importantly, the people (mostly men) in them, and trusting your gut will serve you well. Stay alert and get into a safe place, often your car, and lock it. Get to a location with other people, preferably a lot of other people. If you're being followed, don't leave your car unattended. If you're on the move, keep moving until you reach a safe place, like a police station or fire station, stay in your car, call 911 and tell them you are in the parking lot in your car.

If you have a feeling at all, no matter how small or how silly you might think it is, trust it! The worst that could happen if you do, is nothing at all.

Food Safety Is Even More Important Now Than It Has Been

Back in the Dark Ages, when I was becoming a chef, if you wanted a job in food service of any kind, regardless of the establishment, you were legally required to take a course in food safety given by the state. Afterward, you had to take and pass a test that literally included everything in the course to obtain certification. 

Most food service establishments paid for your course, your certificate, and laminated state pictured ID card, which you received after successful completion. To ensure that you always had your ID card and hadn't forgotten it, the cards were continuously kept under the cash drawers of the registers for the entirety of your employment to ensure that they could prove employees were certified when the inspectors came.

Apparently, this is no longer true anywhere in the US anymore. Let me know if this is still a thing where you are.

I mention this because I shop curbside. Having someone else select my food is a necessary evil that I have had to learn to accept; and it hasn't been easy. 

The duties associated with the position of "shopper" varies a little from place to place, but at its' root, this person walks up and down the aisles and fills your order. This position is entry level and people do not tend to stay long, either through promotion (those people hold this position the longest), or because they are no longer employed there. It is a revolving door of personnel and I am thrilled when I see someone more than once.

When you order your food online, in addition to notes you can make for every individual item, there is a "notes" section where one can say something general to the shopper. In that section, order after order, I thank them, wish them a lovely day, and instruct them my to make sure that they pack the raw meat separately from ALL other food. 

I also realize that if they require direction to pack raw meat separately, then they are also likely not turning the plastic bag inside out over their hand to handle the raw meat during the selection process, while subsequently doing the rest of my shopping. Fortunately, most of my food items are in packaging.

This is also why I don't order fresh food that one would typically eat without cooking. You can't wash cross-contamination of this kind away under the faucet.

Even still, a couple of weeks ago, I risked ordering an apple. I haven't had one since lockdown began and Autumn usually makes me want an apple occasionally. And even though my note about packing separately was there, they put my solitary apple in with the raw pork. This meant that I had to cook the apple to eat it, which wasn't at all what I wanted.

In the past couple of decades, food safety oversight at production and processing plants has been greatly reduced, and now, even more so. So while there will be times that we can't avoid illness because of that fact, we can avoid a lot of it by adhering to food safety rules.

So here is a food safety guide that you can open in a new window and slide to your desktop to share with whomever you think needs it.

Have You Ever Wondered Why They Don't Teach Kids To Write In Cursive Anymore?

Cursive was born in Italy and then spread all over the world.

Not by chance the word cursive comes from the Latin "currere" - that which runs, which flows - because thought is winged, runs, and flies.

Writing in cursive means translating thoughts into words; it forces you to NOT take your hand off the paper.

A thought-stimulating effort that allows you to associate ideas, tie them together, and to put them into relation to create a thought in written form.

Of course cursive has no place in today's world, a world that does its' best to slow down the development of thought, to stuff it.

And no, it's not a coincidence that they tend to use it less and less.

Because it was compact, elegant, clear writing. Because it connects neural pathways that are only connected in this way. 

And because AI cannot read it.

That "AI cannot read it" is a happy thing. It was unplanned, and subsequently has been eliminated from schools since AIs' introduction. Writing at all, is being taught less and less and when it is, only to a rather rudimentary level. With pictures, emojis, and emoticons being pressed upon us and easily adopted by the populace, (since most cannot read above a 4th grade level already) reading will also go the way of cursive and print writing.

Not writing in complete words, and also using words in an opposite manner from their real meaning, are all part of the planned systematic "dumbing down" of the masses. Soon, there will be no writing and then, no more reading.

Emoticons, emojis, and pictures (especially photoshopped and AI generated ones), are being substituted and promoted as PROGRESS. They are not progress, they are a huge step back hundreds of years.

Oppressively making sure that most people were not allowed to learn to read and write has been used throughout history to control people by what they are allowed to know. Just as the arts are being taken away (and systematically have been since the 1980's) because they require a person to think creatively and make decisions.

It's frightening. And it isn't an accident, happenstance, or coincidence, that they started targeting the preschool/kindergarten ages in the 80's. They started at the lower ages so that most would never experience it. Those kids, and the ones behind them in age, grew up and matriculated and are the adults up through early middle age now. The privileged few, whose parents could afford the time and money to get their kids "lessons", are indeed a minority. 

And it isn't a coincidence of the rise of privatized soccer in the 90's, a pay to play fad that was pushed hard at the very young and directed what extracurricular funds parents had into that expensive funnel, instead of the arts. It wasn't long before there was a plethora of high cost - high time commitment - privatized team sports activities that were pushed hard upon children. Knowing, of course, that kids want to do what their friends are doing.

Now look where we are. It's already happened. We are in it. The youth, with the natural attitudes they have always had, are being told they are educated, when all they have been taught to do is pass standardized tests of things Mega Corp wants them to regurgitate. They then go on to the "for profit" colleges that do the same because they have made having a college degree a needless requirement for almost all jobs that are not in the customer facing jobs of the service industry, to accrue debt they will likely never pay off. So now, when they are told anything in just the right way, they glom-on, thinking in the way they were taught, and ignorantly lead the oppressive fascists to their goals.

Humans are group oriented tribal creatures and activities that teach independent, creative thinking like the arts, humanities, logic, common problem solving, and philosophy, at their core, facilitate connecting with, and understanding other people. 

Our new world is about isolating and dividing people. 

Look deeply into the motives of people (regardless of their jobs or titled positions) who are against, or are detractors, of activities that teach independent, creative thinking like the arts, humanities, logic, common problem solving, and philosophy - Things they want AI to do FOR you.

Do those people support the regime? Do they benefit from the new world order? Is their work and/or wallet greatly benefitting from AI? Are they incredibly wealthy? 

As always, Follow The Money.

Haircut Day

My hair has always had a very defiant mind of its' own.

Until I was about 18, I tried compromising with it by letting it grow to my butt and held it back with an elastic band. My hair is very plush (described as a fur pelt on more than one occasion), and therefore very heavy when long. It took more than a day for it to dry in those days. The weight of it kept it somewhat managed but a huge pain with which to deal. And, full disclosure, as a short person, not a good look for me.

Then at 18, I had it all cut to what was considered a questionable, yet still generally acceptable, shortness for the time; around 5 inches long. 

I was happy to have short hair. The day I cut it I celebrated. I felt better and it was so much easier to wash and dry. But it became free to express itself in whatever way it desired. Stylists shuddered and different cuts were attempted.

Within the year, I cut it down to 3 inches, making me feel even better. But its’ social acceptability rating became very low and it was even more difficult to manage. At this length, my sentient hair made Will Wheaton’s bed head look positively tame. 

I fought with my hair daily for about a decade at that length. I would guess that I might have had a “Good Hair Day” about once a year. Getting busier and busier, I had little time for the hair fight, bought a hair trimmer, and buzzed my head. 

One of the very best decisions of my life.

Years later, as an experiment, I grew a very long mohawk in the mid-2000's. It was EXTREMELY high maintenance and I mostly kept it in a pony tail. When I performed, I ironed it and let it fall down on the sides of my head. No one could tell that I was mostly bald; even up close.

I became quite done with this after about a year and a half and went back to sheering myself like a sheep, leaving the top 1/2 inch and the sides with stubble. 

Even at 1/2 inch, my hair looks longer due to the sheer plushness and the fact that my hair grows straight forward from the follicle. There is no upward “towards the sun” action.

My hair has currently achieved about 2.75 inches length on top, 2 inches on the sides and back, and is a NIGHTMARE.  

I hear the whirring of the Wahl calling my name. 

Mealtime Phone Use Has To Stop

I just read this article:

http://m.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/07/14/why-you-should-really-seriously-permanently-stop-using-your-smartphone-at-dinner/

What I think I find most interesting about this article, is that it is only being written now. Back in 2004, I was sitting in a rather upscale restaurant in Atlanta, GA with a friend. The table next to us was set up for 10 people and when they arrived, they all got out their phones. For the entire duration of their meal, they were on the phone.

There was no conversation among the people sitting at the table after their initial greetings and before their goodbyes. I walked up to them and asked them, as they were walking out the door, if they called the people with whom they had just had dinner, when they were out with the people with whom they were on the phone tonight. They gave a little chuckle and left.

This is now a decade later. Most people don't even want to *talk* on the phone anymore. Between screening calls and texting, voice on voice action rarely occurs. I think that the technology is only an enabler to a much larger social issue.

Autumn In America

Ah, Autumn. It's my favorite time of year.

Spending the season here in the US. I was scheduled to be in the UK from September through the new year, but health issues have forced me to remain close to doctors. I am hoping to be able to make it to London by the second week of December.

The temperature isn't particularly cool this year. September gave the impression of a very early Autumn with temperatures dropping. But in early October, the temperature rose a bit and it has remained rather moderate... until the past 3 days. It is finally starting to feel like Autumn.

Regardless of the moderate temperatures, I have been enjoying the traditional foods of the season. I can't seem to get enough pumpkin into my system. A problem I welcome every year.

Nature naturally fluctuates. It cycles in small ways and in large, not only in temperature trends, but in every way. This year, one could say, is "the year of the mouse".

The mouse population is especially large this year. They are everywhere. The hardware stores can't seem to keep a supply of traps on hand. From a distance in the large hardware stores, you can always see a cluster of folks standing in front of the shelf that has the vermin eradication products.

I live next to an open land space, so my property has its share of this years' mousey trend. They are big, they are fat, they are brave, and they are sassy.

I am lucky in the respect that, unlike so many others this year, they have not invaded my house. This may be due to having an abundance of food sources outside. But they are everywhere on my property and completely unafraid of me; which is a little disconcerting.

They are, however, quite fearful of the hawk and owl population. I think the natural predators have been much more successful than I have been in reducing their numbers. I know this because most mornings of the week, there are fresh owl pellets on the deck to greet me. My level of joy regarding their assistance is somewhat tempered by the disgust I feel when I clean up the pellets.

Thanksgiving is much later this year and has made the month feel longer. I like that. I love Thanksgiving; a holiday that is about cooking fabulous food, eating it, and having serious leisure time for 4 days. It's all about reading, playing computer games, watching movies, and napping in front of the fire. It very well could be the smartest thing America has going for it.

On Thanksgiving Friday, I get my Christmas tree and I start listening to, and singing, Christmas music. But until then, it's Autumn. :-)

Brighton

  I am in Brighton, England. 

  At long last I have made it over the pond and I am here to sing!

  I am here for the Brighton Early Music Festival, also known as BREMF. I am singing with a few different ensembles in an even larger number of different concerts.

  I arrived on September 15th and have rehearsed with all of my ensembles. Although the festival takes place in Brighton, the rehearsal venues vary from London to throughout Sussex and span a good part of the Southern coast.

   The festival is the second largest of its' kind and is quite spectacular. The main festival begins on Friday October 26th with the Tallis Scholars with "The Field of the Cloth of Gold - Celebrating a Great Treaty" (pg.5) 8pm at St. Bartholomew's Church and culminates with the International Baroque Players with the BREMF Singers with our "Celebrating Coronations -And a Diamond Jubilee" (pg.16) performance on Sunday November 11th, 7pm at St.George's Church.



  In one of the larger extravaganzas, we will be recreating a "1589 Florentine Intermedi" (pg 10) complete with aerial dancers at 5 and 9pm on November 3rd, 2012 at St. Bartholomew's Church.

Download the entire brochure or view it online.

The Insanity of the Chick-fil-A vs. Gay Marriage Brew-ha-ha

While I am typically not a political activist, I am aware of what is really going in the world: not the spin Big Business and the news media want me to think about. This article was long but I thought that this excerpt hit the nail on the head in a way that people should notice.

The Chick-fil-A Distraction

Thursday August 2, 2012

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Editor of NaturalNews.com

The entire Chick-fil-A fiasco, you see, is a total distraction to keep your hearts and minds occupied while the banksters steal your future. While you're debating the merits of chicken sandwiches versus gay marriage, you are being depopulated with GMOs, chemtrails, vaccines and medications. Your money is being eroded by the Federal Reserve. Your rights are being stripped away by Bush, Obama and whichever globalist puppet occupies the White House next. And believe me, the global controllers don't give a hoot whether you're gay or straight. You're all getting raped, Sandusky-style, regardless of your sexual orientation.

You are all being enslaved, day by day, hour by hour, into a system of total mind control through television programming, subliminal messaging, fabricated news broadcasts and chemical poisoning. You're being inundated with fluoride, radiation, medical imaging scans and food additives. You're being programmed to behave like a robot; to emotionally respond like a five-year-old; to react in a pre-planned manner engineered by the agenda-setters.

You are being lied to about the power of your vote in the upcoming election (all the important choices are already made for you). You are being taught to live INSIDE the box while thinking you're so hip, trendy and cool that you must be outside the box. You're told you can change the world but then you're shoved into a system of runaway consumerism that traps you in a cycle of financial dependence from which you can never escape to accomplish much of anything that really matters.

You are being spoon fed this story on Chick-fil-A (and everything else) precisely because the newsmakers don't want you to have a spare moment to think about the REAL stories that matter: Vaccines are laced with stealth cancer viruses. Statin drugs cause dementia. Virtually all foods are mineral deficient. Vitamin D halts cancer. Consciousness grants you free will. You are a conscious being with unfathomable power if you would only awaken from your slumber.

While you and your neighbor bicker about Chick-fil-A, you're all being equally raked over the coals by the system, get it?

Wake up, people. Stop eating MSG and processed food chemicals. Snap out of your hypnosis and see the real world for a change. Get off those psych meds! You are a conscious, powerful being with the gift of free will. You have the power to change the world. And not by eating a stupid chicken sandwich, either. You're far more valuable than that if you'd only stop allowing yourself to be a willing pawn of the global controllers.

Get the poison out of your body. Detox. Eat superfoods. Get your brain back. And then fight for liberty. Rage against the system. I don't care if you're straight, gay, bi, tri, trans, drag, sex change, tried-it-once, "experimented in college" or whatever. Clear your head and fight for liberty. Our collective future is being crushed by the corporate-government fascist system. Time is running out for food freedom, farm freedom, free speech, internet freedom, medical freedom our Bill of Rights and much more. We don't have time to mess around with chicken sandwich distractions and moronic anti-boycotts that serve up food poisons like some sort of weird Jim Jones final chapter.

Practice authenticity. Tolerance. Liberty. Compassion. Nutrition. Clear-headed thinking. Truth-telling. Humility. Gratitude. Ethical behavior. Spirituality. Prayer. Meditation. Gardening. Creativity. Innovation. Progress. You were granted life by a Creator. You honor that by making your life one worth living.

Learn more

The Art of the Sing-Along

I receive a newsletter from a ukulele guy named Ralph Shaw. He write newsletters that are often thought provoking. I thought I would share this months offering:

The Art of the Singalong

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last great group of singers was the World War II generation. They kept the rickety pub pianos vibrating with song and laughter well into the 1980s. But since the pubs were renovated and those cranky pianos cast out along with the battered cigarette machines and charred lampshades we turn our heads only to discover that those old songsters are mostly gone. Some survive, but the ones that do are now into their nineties and unlikely to gather for a singsong at happy hour. As each one passes away so do more memories of that generation's great moments. It was an age when every event was marked with music.

Sure, there are still a few places where one can stand around the piano with like-minded veterans of song - perhaps to croon hits by the likes of Vera Lynn, Bing Crosby or Al Jolson - but they are rare now. One example is Vancouver's Billy Bishop Legion. Their regulars still drink pints and sing songs every Friday until midnight when they all link arms for the final medley. Their pianist, Bea Blackwell, has played an almost unbroken line of weekly singalongs and annual Remembrance Days for many decades.

One obstacle to the modern singalong is that even amongst those who can or would like to sing there is no common repertoire. Let's say we had an opportunity to get together and sing - what then? How would we choose the songs? I can imagine much vying over whether to sing Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Ragtime, Rockabilly, Reggae, Religious or Rap.

The demise of the family piano is also partly to blame for the decline in singalongs. Once it was the family's entertainment system but now the piano's place has been taken over by the large, black, rectangular void known as the big-screen TV.

Thoughts of all this came very strongly to me recently when I was booked to visit the family home of a prospective client. Her brother had mentioned me to her. She told me,

"My father is going to be ninety years old and he loves to sing and I can't think of a better birthday gift than a family singalong. I hear that you lead singalongs and even do house calls."

This was a misunderstanding and I could see how she had come to this conclusion. Yes, I have been known to entertain in people's homes and yes, I do lead a monthly ukulele get-together, essentially a singalong for strummers. However, a family singalong with people I'd never met was a new idea for me. But I liked the concept and went with it.

Right away I realized that with an age difference of eighty years between oldest and youngest, deciding what to sing would be the first puzzle to solve. My solution was to suggest to my client that she create a songbook especially for the occasion. I emailed to her a number of song suggestions from my own repertoire. Armed with these songs, plus additions of her own, she came up with a selection of ditties. Hopefully they'd cover the tastes of everyone at the party. The book she made was spiral bound and had a picture of her dad on the front. She sent a copy for me to work with.

Before too long I found myself, in the hour before dinner, standing on a fireplace rug leading a boisterous family singalong. It struck me what a rare privilege this was. The ukulele had taken the place of a piano but the unique feeling that comes from a group of voices singing happily together was still there. In unison we crooned, amongst others: Blue Moon, For Me and My Gal, With a Little Help from my Friends, Rubber Duckie and a song with particular meaning for me: Edelweiss.

As we sang of the alpine flower that greets us every morning and whose snow-white petals we urge to blossom and grow forever, I found myself thinking back to past singalongs in my life. Many of the participants are no longer around but I suddenly remembered them clearly. Along with an almost painful ache of nostalgia came a barely remembered sense of tender belonging; a nearly forgotten feeling of warm togetherness that I'm sure used to be more commonplace. My memory suddenly felt sharper and richer thanks to the words and melodies of the songsmiths whose strange powers have the ability to conjure up long neglected senses and recollections.

Every November 11 we are reminded of the phrase: "Lest we forget." As we remember the lost, the brave, and the good let us also spare a thought for the humble singalong whose very presence in our lives gives us something to live for.

© Ralph Shaw 2011

Reflections on Halloween

Halloween on the Plaza 2011- Taos, New Mexico

I typically do not celebrate Halloween. It has never really interested me, even as a child. All of the hoopla of dressing up and going door to door talking to strangers and lugging around a bag of candy (which I would not be eating) seemed pointless and others' interest in it was truly perplexing to me. Everyone I knew ate candy pretty much when they wanted all the rest of the year and with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, they would all be getting their fill of treats everyday anyway.

As I got older, the general public interest in Halloween seemed to wain quite a bit and I didn't really give it too much thought. Then suddenly, seemingly overnight, it was an extravaganza. Seasonal stores cropped up and everywhere you looked there was much ado about the preparation for, and participation in, Halloween.

Since there was so much excitement surrounding this event, I made an attempt to join in the festivities. I am not anything, if not a true believer in celebration and frivolity. In the beginning, friends would have costume parties and for me, that was pretty fun. But everyone I knew lost interest in the work of party planning when it was so much easier to just go out and party. I tried this, but I just couldn't get into the crowd scene.

Well, over the years since I have gained a few appreciations for the historical origins of the 2 holidays that reside back to back, but I still have no interest in dressing up or eating candy. :-)

Vacation 2011

I have been in Santa Fe for exactly one week.

This is a close up of a giant bronze moose sculpture entitled, "Shoshoni Monarch" by Rebecca Tobey. I love her work. She shows at Vantana Gallery on Canyon Road.

It has been the most beautiful weather. Right away, I connected with a local Early Music soloist, quite by accident, at the seafood counter at the downtown Whole Foods. We were both eyeing the extra large shrimp and I made the obligatory "oxymoron" comment. Andre', a tenor soloist who has sung with The Santa Fe Desert Chorale (as well as many others), studied in Austria and his mother tutors people in German. He totally delightful.

I have been taking it easy and doing my best to simply relax.

I only just realised last night that I could have been blogging about my adventure: the lovely blue skies, the surprise snow and freezing temperatures on Thursday, the fantastic art. So I decided to get cracking!

A Chill Is In The Air

It's true. It's actually cold.

Not cold like Winter, but still...

My heat has kicked on everyday this year; and I literally mean, every day.

Oh, sure, we have had exactly 4 days of actual heat (over 90 degrees) since our year began. One of them occurred the first week of May. The other 3 have been separated by weeks. We have also had 4 days of truly warm (78 to 85 degrees); one in March and one in April. The other 2 each placed beside a hot day.

We have had a few days of mild (60 to 69 degrees).

Otherwise, it has been chilly to cold. And until about the second week of July, there has been virtually no sun.

I waited for the weather to change before I planted my garden. But it never really happened.

This makes 3 years in a row that there has been tons of rain, clouds, gray days and no real Summer.

Don't you just love Climate Change?

Spring Is Here?

It's hard to tell.

It's still cold and, for the third year in a row, we are having an immense amount of rain. It is dark, gloomy, and very wet.

This makes feeling the passage of time considerably harder and makes deadlines rush up on you in a startling way.

April 5th begins the rehearsals for Purcell's "Indian Queen". I am the alto soloist and I have quite a bit of music to learn. Actually, I am almost there with the getting the music into my body aspect; that's never really an issue. The real issue here is memorisation. I have to memorise all of this!

I can't remember the last time I actually had to memorise my music. I know that I often do memorise, just from working intensely on a piece, but I always have the comfort of holding the music in my hands during the performance; even if I never look down at it.

My music, although incredibly familiar and becoming more and more polished, is not yet memorised.

But there is still a couple of weeks before the first rehearsal. :-)

Back to Work

Christmas has, overall, been fairly relaxing and like most people, I have not wanted to return to the impact of the daily routine. So even though I love to sing more than life itself, I wasn't necessarily thrilled that it was again time to return to having my time rigorously scheduled.

Rehearsals began for me on Monday. Fortunately, the group was pretty chill and the rehearsal went well without any stressful or tense moments. We read through several pieces, tried a few different keys and voice assignments, and have found 4 pieces that we know we would like on our next concert. I was asked to solo a Ciconia piece and I am hoping to solo (duet or trio) a couple more pieces (as yet undetermined) from the Cyprus Codex (compiled ca.1413 - 1422). I'm sure people will make proposals of pieces they'd like to do via email throughout the week and we'll read through those next Monday.

Tuesday evening, I go through the process again with another ensemble.

There is also daily voice work and practising other instruments. So much to do while the Christmas holiday continues.

Mid-Autumn

Friday November 16th, 2010

I can hardly believe that it has been 2 months since I posted last. Time gets away from me so easily.

I have been practising a lot more lately. I feel like I have really gotten into a groove with organising my practise schedule, and I am getting so much more done every day. However, in getting so much more organised, and therefore busier with my real life, my internet presence has suffered my limited on-line activities. And while I believe that a strong internet presence is important, I believe that actually living more life and reporting less is better than living less life and reporting more.

I have been investigating the Early Music scene in Europe more and continue to prepare for my extended trip there next Summer.

On Sunday November 7th, Coro had a lovely concert of the music I discussed in my last post. In addition, I performed a duet, "Qui N'a le Cuer" and a trio, "Aspre Fortune", both from the Cyprus Codex (compiled ca.1413 - 1422). I was not only extremely excited to be able to perform these 2 pieces, they, having been 2 of my favorite pieces since I first heard Ensemble P.A.N. perform them, but my own performance was extremely well received.

We will be repeating this concert on November 28th in West Marin.

Today, I have the first rehearsal for a "Messiah" performance. I will be the alto soloist.

7:30 pm

Friday, December 10th

Our Lady of Peace

Santa Clara, CA

I Have Returned!

Friday September 17th, 2010

After a couple of months away from the blog, I have returned!

The rest of my Summer was a busy one indeed. After my vacation in Santa Fe, I returned home to continue with appointments with my dentist and ENT. I had several visits with each. My teeth have been cleaned, dental work done, and I now have braces. I have had a tonsillectomy and have pretty much recovered.

Both the dental and ENT work were done to improve my appearance and general health. Both of which are important to my career.

Last week, I returned to rehearsals with Coro. I had received lovely e-mails from members of the choir while I was in the midst of all the medical and they were glad to see me upon my return. We had an excellent rehearsal.

This concert set includes:

Guillaume Dufay (August 5, 1397? – November 27, 1474)

"Missa Sine Nomine"

"Ma Belle Dame Souverainne"

"Alma Redemptoris Mater"

Johannes Ockeghem (1425-1497)

"Alma Redemptoris Mater"

"Salve Regina"

Antoine Busnois (c. 1430 – November 6, 1492)

"Votre Beaute/Vous Marchez"

3 different Kyrie's

Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377)

"La Messe de Nostre Dame"

I think that I am doing a couple of pieces, as well. :-)

Keep you posted on that.