Paul Krugman, in his email newsletter, always ends it with a ‘musical coda’, a video of a song he wants to share, maybe related to the email content, maybe not.
This is mine today.
And who is this adorable bear conducting? His name is Ben Palmer. *makes notes to google-stalk him later*
Anyway, the dams have been busted: the trial is over, it’s now warm enough to go outside and enjoy it, and I did not get cast in Sweeney Todd. This last bit is sad, but VLOG is using a very small cast. I thought my audition was fine, actually, and many talented friends of mine also did not get cast (although other talented friends did). So, sad face, but nothing I can point to to say I did it wrong. It could have been better, of course, if I had, oh, I don’t know, worked with a voice coach and a movement coach. That seems a lot for a community theater production.
Anyway, my ego got a little shored up when, during all that waiting, I got asked to come in to sing Counsel in Trial by Jury for the local G&S Society’s Feb meeting. That’ll be fun, no rehearsal, just show up (it’s this Wednesday) and do it. I haven’t sung through that role since 2000 (I did it at the Toronto T2K event where we did all the operas in 2 days) and, wow, it’s high for a bass-baritone. They’ll just have to deal with my faked high G. Fun fun role, I’m looking forward to that. (I was reminded that in my ‘maybe I’m an opera singer’ days, two of my English-language audition areas were “My Friends”, which I did for the Sweeney audition, and “With a sense of deep emotion”, which is the Counsel’s aria.)
So a large block of time I was reserving for rehearsals has opened up, and I’ve been mapping out what the year might look like now. First of all, clearly I need a ‘cookie’ to console me, and to reward myself for getting through the trial and the cold spell. The ‘cookie’ is looking more and more like a weekend at Disney World, and if that happens, it will be in just a few weeks. I’ll fly down on Friday, come back on Monday, have two days of parks. Of course I’m already stressing out about ‘doing it right’, that is maximizing the experience for minimal money and effort, until I catch myself and remind myself that we don’t grade ourselves on vacations. I tend to do what planning I do (minimal) late in the game, unlike Mr. C, who researched everything and had the schedule in a spreadsheet months ahead of time. I did enjoy riding on the back of his work, but my lackadaisical method works mostly OK. Especially if I view this quicky Disney trip as a scouting trip for future visits, perhaps with friends.
I can also reschedule that writing retreat I cancelled, and that off-season Jersey Shore week I want to plan (as writing research) and I’ll also be doing a writing research trip in May that piggybacks off a G&S event in Baltimore. So that’s pretty cool. (snarky voice in my head points out that, once again, I’m delighted to do anything writing-related except actually sitting down and writing)
And Dad and I might go on a trip this summer, and I’m eyeballing a men’s retreat at Easton Mountain around Labor Day, never done anything like that before, and maybe fall visits and of course, the holidays.
I’ve been watching the Olympics, of course. Last time around (for the Winter Olympics), I signed up for some streaming service so I could watch events at my leisure, and then they ended up removing the events like three days after they happened. That was unhelpful. This time I’m DVRing everything, and then working my way up from the bottom for what interests me, and will probably delete most of it later. Of course, I get spoiled on results by social media, etc., but it’s still fun to watch. All the ice skating, of course, but I also like the ‘flying through the air’ events like the snowboarding half-pipe and the skiing “big air”. And other events are entertaining to catch at least some of. And remembering the eternal questions like, “I know how people get started on skiing and ice skating, but how do people find their way into luge or skeleton?”.
Oh, I actually got my large aged ass over to the ice rink this weekend. I think I’m going to actually start actively planning and try to go at least twice a week, and once I remember how to do the stuff I’ve already learned, sign up for a class or, better and more effective, work with a coach. My fear is always, as a heavy man with back problems that often manifest as leg and knee problems, that I’ll get on the ice and it just won’t happen any more – my leg will just give out, or the back or the body will just go ‘nope nope nope’. But I did just fine on Sunday – I did a tentative three-lap run, then got off to tighten my laces, then a 4-lap run, then a 5-lap run. This takes longer than you think, when the rink is crowded with a thousand people, half of them kids, and many who just don’t know how to skate, so can wipe out in front of you at any minute. I’m definitely going to start going to the coffee club/adults-only sessions next week (both of my local rinks have them). They’re mid-morning during weekdays, but I can adjust my work schedule if there are no meetings during the time slot. I’m excited! Just to be moving again, and perhaps start the weight loss again. (I’m down about 25 pounds from last year, but am at a plateau.) And skating, once you’re reasonable comfortable with the basics, is just such a joy.
Oh, forgot to mention. I’m not the sort of person who tracks his own following on social media, but I do post on both Bluesky and (now) Threads and for some reason this post on Threads:
grabbed eyeballs and over 100 people have liked it (so far) and quite a few people commented. No idea why that happened, but neat! (Welcome, new readers!)
At home, I’ve just been getting home stuff done and getting my taxes together.
Last night was a fun cooking adventure. I’d saved a NY Times recipe for ‘chicken piccata pasta’ and gathered the ingredients and had scheduled it for last night. Took the chicken of the freezer in the morning, no fear. But when I started preparing, I realized that for some reason, the package of chicken had about twice as much as I needed, so quickly had to pull out my ‘baked chicken breast’ recipe and use that for the other half, since the chicken was already defrosted. (Now I’m realizing I could have probably just put it in the fridge and cooked something else with it tonight, but I panicked.) I’m not yet (and maybe never) a facile enough cook to turn on a dime, and I did quite a few things ineptly. But both the dish I’d planned and the baked chicken breasts were done in about an hour, and the pasta dish was really tasty, and the kitchen wasn’t as much of a disaster as I thought it was, when I came back to clean up later. The leftover pasta is for a later night this week, and the baked chicken breasts are in the freezer, probably to be pulled out to be thrown on salads when it’s warm, or for those recipes that seem to think you have cooked chicken just sitting around ready to go. So… good for me.
Next recipes to try: a pierogie soup recipe from my niece, chicken curry (which is basic, but I’ve never done it), and probably another batch of chili.
I shall return to the trial reporting soon. Of course, I still haven’t responded to the Christmas cards that need letters back, and it’s halfway through February, so let’s just say ‘soon’ can be kinda fuzzy.
The Toast Point Page 