Just a quick placeholder post before I head to the office. So much going on over the last week or so, some of which I’ll cover in detail later. I won’t actually bullet these, but they’re basically bullet points.

My buddy Marc discovered three cut songs from Iolanthe in the British Library! We’d always known the songs existed, but no one had ever had the music for them. They were included in the collection of D’Oyly Carte material, but had been misfiled. Now we have a flurry of G&S fiends recording them, which is very cool.

I saw a production of Sweeney Todd! One that I’d wanted to be in! (*sigh*) It was really great!

I flew down to North Carolina to visit my dad (and my brother). Dad moved into assisted living last month and I wanted to see what that looked like and help him with whatever. Bottom line – it’s an excellent move. More about that whole thing later.

(and I found out while I was there that Charles’s brother passed away)

Drove up from NC to Baltimore for a “BaltiQWERT”, an amateur singing party of Gilbert & Sullivan, and also “SWOG” (Sullivan without Gilbert). Saw and hugged many friends. I sang the role of the robber Sancho the Lion in The Contrabandista (fun!) and also reprised Grinder from The Zoo. (and there was a recording made of one of those Iolanthe lost songs, although I wasn’t involved in it)

Came home in time for one day back at work, followed by our first opera rehearsal, reading through Bastien und Bastienne and Le 66. We had to find a replacement baritone for B&B, but he’s really great, and both casts (soprano/tenor/baritone) are excellent. Judging from the readthrough, we have a great base from which to build a show.

Tuesday was Rich’s funeral. I’d hung onto the car (and dealing with parking, even for two days, was a royal pain). Tessa came out to JH and we drove to Tappan, actually not a difficult drive at all. The funeral was lovely and appropriate, and included taps and the flag, since Rich was a veteran. Saw and hugged my family, will get caught up soon. (I still haven’t actually had a chance to find out exactly what happened. I gathered it was a ‘one morning he didn’t wake up’ sort of thing. He was 76.) Tessa and I had a local lunch, then I drove her home and finally got rid of the damn car.

Yesterday, cleaning lady visit and cardiology appointment (all is well). It was also Charles’s deathiversary (and isn’t that a clunky word), so took myself out for a reflective dinner that was really lovely, actually, and involved lamb chops, which was a pleasant novelty. For both Rich’s funeral and yesterday’s dinner, I wore my own wedding ring, the ‘wedding gift’ ring (sapphires and diamonds) and also his wedding ring on a chain around my neck. Another pleasant novelty.

Today, work at the office, eye doctor visit, and BB66 rehearsal (I have to play piano for staging rehearsals, but it will be fine I’m sure). And finally, a half day tomorrow and a loooong weekend where I can get caught up and reset.

So I’ll revisit some of these in detail later. I should have some time this weekend.

Happy summer, everyone!