Kathleen is back...

yikes! Now I really have to learn the music. I totally did not learn that music like I wanted to before she left 5 weeks ago!

Kat told me she dropped out of Traviata...bummer. I guess she's too stressed out about her new job. Need to get the words on cards by next week, and then there's all the H&G stuff I have to memorize.....

It has arrived, it has arrived!!!!

Finally!
And I am now messing with it....:P

Fedex sucks ass!

My ipod nano presumably arrived yesterday but I never received it. After many frustrating phone calls Fedex admitted that they lost the package. Of course they don't like the term "stolen", which is what I suspect happened. And I had to contact Apple and they said they will look into it and send me a replacement if they determine its lost on transit. Goddamn it, the thing was already in Pasadena too.

And my macbook, still stuck somewhere in Suzhou China. What the fuck! Have no clue how the ipod made it into the US (even though I didn't get it) and not the laptop. I just hope those imbeciles don't lose that too.

Disneyland

Since the toad is quitting his job today we decided to make a last visit to Disneyland on saturday. It's a little silly considering that he worked there for 4 years and I've only been there for a total of 3 times. Still I wanted to have a sort of last hurrah visit. It was incredibly hot so there weren't too many people there (relative speaking of course) so Eric and I were able to get on the rides pretty quickly. I got a little burnt. Right now my shoulders and part of my back are a little red. Ah well. And with the money we saved on admission I bought myself a yellow mickey mouse tee :P

My new computer....now I can't wait for it to arrive! And I get an ipod nano for free too! But I'll give it to Eric. After all, I already have a mini and a video, so keeping the nano just seems a little ridiculous. 

Grendel

Went to see the World Premiere of Grendel tonight. I'm still not sure about the whole modern music thing, but Eric Owens was great, and Denyce Graves was awesome, having to sing such low notes that I swear she was in chest voice half the time. The dancing is superb and the effects are wonderful. Grendel even sang "fucking lunatic" at one point. Never thought I'd hear that in an opera ever. And having no idea of the Beowulf legend I really quite enjoyed myself. Glad I got the tickets early cos apparently the opera is sold out.

Denyce Graves is fantabulous as the Dragon 

More Computer Woes...

After 3 chat sessions with Dell representatives, it was determined that I don't have a hardware problem after all. Bah. They suggest I reinstall windows.....bah, this stinks. That macbook is looking better by the day...

Computer woes and others

My computer is dying. Well it crashed the other day and would not boot up. After consultation with T and S they agree that there is probably an issue with my motherboard. I did eventually managed to get it up and running again and it seems to be doing well now, but the little incident really freaked me out (at that moment I didn't actually have all the data back up) and I am once again in the market for a new laptop. I am trying to decide if I will stick with the Dell or go MAC. After all, everyone knows that Apple makes the coolest computers. And Q told me that Apple's new Bootcamp will allow me to run windows on a mac, so I can still run my windows specific programs. Sounds intriguing, I must look into this. I was just so not planning on forking out a grand for another computer just yet though, with the Lauridsen weekend costing me a lot of money and since Kathleen will be returning soon I will restart the lessons and they cost an arm and leg. Plus the toad will me moving to NYC in a month and then I have to pay double rent. Ugh, financial woes runneth over. I have that summer teaching gig that will help bring in extra money, so at least that would help.

It's interesting working with kids on the H & G. One of the kids got cranky today and I really didn't know what to do. And I have a 7 year old who is having some trouble with the music, though I am not too worried cos I think he's just young, but I have to pay extra attention to him and sing in his ear. Some of the music is starting to get tricky and I have to start working on it a little at home.

The Opera Concert went really well. I don't think I have enjoyed a concert that much for a while. Unlike the Messiah, the focus wasn't so much on refined singing with a beautiful light tone, sort of like the frosting on a cake. Instead I get to sing like an opera singer, which is what I am anyway, so I felt that I was able to put my training to good use! Also I got to belt out high Bs and Cs, which you never get to do singing oratorios, masses and the such, esp if you sing second soprano like me.

EHD's new book

I got a free copy!