Singing for my supper

To start at the end instead of the beginning... June 29, 2012 brought some pretty awful storms to the region. Our area was one of the worst-hit, with trees down pretty much on every block; we consider ourselves beyond lucky that neither of the two big elms in the front yard came down on our house and that we suffered no material damage.  Still, no power for 4 days and 16hrs - during a 3-digit heatwave - is a whole lot of not fun (and, at writing, some people are STILL waiting to be restored nearly a week after the event).  Short version: never underestimate a thunderstorm, and if your weather channel ever says the word " derecho ", check your insurance policy, hunker down, and make sure you have somewhere to go after the fact.  Every bit as bad - or worse - than a hurricane, and more like tornado damage. Earlier in the month, our daughter graduated middle school and moves on to high school in September. When did THAT happen?! Last time I looked she was a cute littl...

We didn't go far out of town, but one of the beauties of Scotland is that from the major cities you can be away from the city and into rural countryside in a matter of minutes. Callander/Killin used to be one of my favorite "get away from it all" spots when I was working in Scotland and living with the family in Glasgow, and - thanks to the glorious weather (we're still marvelling at the 50+-degree temperatures and true sunshine that we had for 95% of our visit!) and a cousin with a car, we had a magical day out on this trip, including not only a quick stop by my former haunts, but also getting to see a couple of the minor lochs, a very castle-y castle and a celebrity Highland Cow - all within an hour's drive of central Glasgow. Bliss. Loch Earn Even in the depths of midwinter, the countryside is staggeringly beautiful. FWIW, this was about 3pm - may have been warm, but the sun still goes down early in the frozen north.... Doune Castle Edinburgh Castl...

The University Yup, blue sky. In January. Kelvingrove Art Gallery (organ recitals - in the art gallery - most lunchtimes) The Burell Collection, in the idyllic grounds of Pollok Park Pollok House (The tilt-shift feature of my Canon s95 saw a lot of use this trip...!) One of the themes of the entire visit: Muckle Coos (aka Highland Cattle). The prizewinning herd at Pollok House are known around the world

Nearly thirteen years. Since I left the UK I've had a baby, established a career, and watched my life morph from what was more-or-less still a student lifestyle to that of boring (but stable!) suburbia. I've been re-assimilated into my birth country and had the luxury of living near my parents and getting re-acquainted adult-to-adult. I've learned to accept and enjoy the higher standard of American living, embracing the 24hr supermarket with open arms, and have grown to consider firehose-strength water pressure a constitutional right. I've even started thinking of Chipotle as our "local". Still, within minutes of landing in Glasgow, it felt like being back home. Now, granted, I never lived in Scotland (although I did work there and spend extended time there), so perhaps the changes of 13 years weren't as obvious to me as they would have been in London or Manchester, but even with that in mind, there was that sense of coming home and, frankly, of never ha...

As mentioned in yesterday's post, I was one of the lucky 15 invited to join David Hobby on an "advocacy journalism" shoot (definitely a case of being online on the right day at the right time and thus responding before he closed the opportunity!!). The landscape and architectural subject matter is very different from the kind of thing I usually shoot, but I really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to stretch my legs and, of course, work with Mr Strobist himself, David Hobby, the genius behind www.strobist.com . Other than the fact that I have little experience with this type of photography - most of what I do involves people in relatively controlled environments rather than buildings or fields and at the whim of nature's light! - the most intimidating part of the day was that we had to turn over our unedited files to David. The protocol was for us to shoot - jpg, no less (I always shoot raw if only as a CYA measure!) - mark the ones we liked b...

Which, after yesterday's 103-in-the-shade (no joke), felt positively balmy. Mishmash, in bullet points: Long but beautiful drive north - armed with some great audio (how wonderfully easy it is with mp3 players!), I took the long way around both to avoid traffic and to enjoy a more scenic route, which I most certainly did - clinging to the interstates or the main routes with their endless vistas of strip malls and fast food it's easy to forget how beautiful the US landscape can be, and the semi-rural route I travelled was definitely the right choice. Settled in, got the internet up and running, and now getting down to business... Costume fitting: Neither purely in period, nor purely not, but a wonderful pan-national-pan-period-couture style that immediately adds ideas for character. It's great to have seen the costumes so early on, too (I don't start staging until tomorrow) because it means I can factor that in as we start to rehearse. I finally tracked down a bicyc...

continuing in the same vein it began. Oy. The snowstorm which is passing over the Northeast has sadly snowed out my concert weekend - we made it through last night's performance of Messiah , but this evening's planned concert was a non-starter with 2-ft of snow falling overnight. I know, I know - in Minnesota, Alaska or even parts of Pennsylvania and New York this wouldn't so much have caused people to slow down, but down here in the officially-but-not-really South everything falls apart at the first hint of white stuff from the skies. Of course, this causes more than inconvenience to a musician: most gigs are "no play, no pay", so when something like this happens that's nobody's fault and legally "force majeur"... the cancellation takes the fee along with it. Totally understandable from the presenter's point of view, but still not good news! It's hoped to proceed with tomorrow's afternoon concert, but there's no way of knowing ...

... that until this week I didn't even know was there. Ok, so it's not exactly the Pacific (or even the Atlantic coast), but it's got sand, tides and saltwater, and is only about 15 minutes from home! We had a good time. (click image to see slideshow)

Yes, I know - it's January. It's supposed to be cold. But in the 10 years I've lived in this state, I don't ever remember it being THIS cold THIS consistently for THIS long. Not much snow, just day after day of sub-freezing temperatures and a hefty windchill. Brrrr! But life goes on, however chillily (is that a word?!). The colleges start back next week, so we'll be resuming our routine - I can't say we always like the imposition of an external schedule but by the same token it does gives some structure to our generally hectic lives, and that's not such a bad thing. Now, would somebody please turn the solar heat up and give us a few days of pale sunshine to get ready for the inevitable ice storms of February?!

Taken on Thanksgiving day, a chance capture when I spotted the frozen leaves while outside clipping herbs for the turkey. This piece of ice fell off its perch and shattered into smithereens seconds after the shutter was snapped. I am, to say the least, delighted by the outcome! First Place Winner, Dgrin Challenge #13 "Clarity or Diffused" Iced Foliage

but I managed to grab this. (Yes, that IS a rosebud. In November.) I call it "Survivor"

Is it really nearly Labor Day?!!? I'm still trying to figure out where the year has gone! My head is still in Holiday Mode - we still have this week before our daughter is back to school, and my husband's and my own teaching schedules still have two weeks before they're under full sail, thus we're trying to make the most of these last free days particularly since the weather has cooperated and been atypically pleasant for late August in these parts. It's often brutally hot and muggy, but has this year been surprisingly low-humidity and "only" in the 80s, thus encouraging lazy BBQ evenings outside, capped off by watching the Olympics, continuing to marvel both at the miracles which the human body can perform, and also renewed acceptance that singing is far, far, FAR more like an athletic pursuit than an artistic one! I can't say I'm 100% nose-to-the-grindstone just now ::cough:: but , like the athletes, the Work Of A Singer Is Never Done (I don...

So, the ankle recovered enough to get through the performances with the help of some tightly wrapped sport tape, and I'm happy to say that the first two of the weekend's four shows went very well. We're finding a real "rhythm" for it - always one of the challenges with anything comedic, especially where the shape isn't entirely dictated by the music itself - and even with audiences of varying responsiveness, it's going well. That said, this last week has been harder than I expected. My husband was asked at the last minute to run a music camp, so he was completely off the scene busy with that, and our daughter had a week off from her own summer activities (while many of her friends were busy elsewhere) meaning that this was the "I'm boooorreeeeeedd" week where she didn't have enough to do and consequently wanted lots and lots of Mommy Time. Given that I was nursing my injury and not moving very fast, it was hot, and the prospect of...

Yesterday: 80 degrees Monday: Snow showers