City of Brotherly Love

At last Spring’s annual auction for The Washington Chorus, I was the winning bidder on a live auction item which included a hotel stay in Philadelphia, concert tickets to a performance of the Philadelphia Singers, and a tour of the city with the group's musical director, David, who was a guest conductor for TWC last year. Well, I finally cashed in on the prize this weekend.

KB and I headed to Philadelphia on Saturday. Our trip started at 11:30, as we left my house with plans to stop for lunch along the way, arrive at the hotel around 3:00, check in, then go meet David at a rehearsal he was running for an upcoming performance of Mahler 8. We opted for lunch at Friendly’s, which offered tasty food, but horrific service, as is often the case at Friendly’s. If it weren’t for their Reese’s Pieces sundaes, I wouldn’t set foot in any of their restaurants again.

We got back on the road and arrived in Philly to find a Phillies game about to start, and us in the middle of stadium traffic. Once through it, we made it downtown to get stuck in even worse traffic. We spent close to an hour trying to cross just a handful of blocks to our hotel, avoiding Obama and Hillary demonstrators in the streets, as well as the buses that brought them to the city throughout the week. I left a voicemail for David, saying we weren’t going to make it to his rehearsal, and asking him to call when he was free, so we could make alternate plans. He called a few minutes later and we arranged to meet him in our hotel lobby at 5:00.

KB and I checked in, went to our room to drop our bags and clean up a bit, then back down to the lobby to meet David. He greeted us warmly and off we went on a walking tour of the city.

We walked many blocks, past beautiful historical and architectural sights, enjoying David’s educated and witty commentary about the city. Without a doubt, he offered more fascinating insight than you could expect from the best guidebook or any professional tour guide.

We decided to break at a quaint Belgian pub, where we sidled up to the bar and each chose a beer from their extensive selection; 325 options, to be exact. We talked for a few hours about all things musical: David’s involvement with Curtis, Mannes and the Philadelphia Singers, The Washington Chorus’ extensive search for a new conductor, what KB and I can do as singers to get work as professional soloists, etc.

Now, my closest friends are well aware of my...um..."fondness" for conductors. It all started with John DiCostanzo, my conductor for The Mikado at ONU. It continued with Harry Davidson, the conductor I studied with at the University of Akron. But my fondness hit its peak with David. How could it not? He’s a brilliant conductor with a great sense of humor, and his endearingly crooked smile certainly doesn’t hurt matters. I’d be lying if I said this fondness didn’t motivate me in a small way to bid on this very item at the auction last year.

So there I was, sitting next to David, enjoying a fantastic Belgian beer, laughing, talking like old friends, his hand occasionally resting on my arm to emphasize a particularly vital bit of a story. Then, it happened.

As David talked about his insane rehearsal schedule, bouncing back and forth from Philly to New York every week, KB said, “I don’t suppose you have any pets with that schedule.” David replied, “Well, my partner has a cat and a bird....”

Wait. Did he just say partner? As in life partner? As in... he's gay? At that point, I realized David’s lips were still moving, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying, and everything around us went kind of fuzzy. Okay, so of course I had my suspicions. I mean, how many unmarried, good looking, successful musicians in their 40s are straight? I knew from experience that the odds weren’t in my favor, but I decided to be optimistic for a change. It’s not that I expected to live happily ever after with him by ANY means, but it was fun to live the fantasy, if only for a weekend. Somehow, I managed not to fall off my barstool and pull myself back into the conversation, but the word "partner" was still echoing in my head.

We finished our beers and headed back out for a bit more sightseeing before returning to the hotel. We said our goodbyes for the night and KB and I thanked David for the fantastic tour, then headed up to the room to freshen up before going to a late dinner at Caribou Café (a recommendation from David). As you might suspect, KB and I had a lot to discuss; we talked and laughed about the day’s events over dinner and into the night.

On Sunday, KB and I went out for coffee, then enjoyed a leisurely stroll and lunch at Reading Terminal Market. We returned to the hotel, dressed for the concert, checked out, then walked to the Kimmel Center to meet David. He gave us our tickets, we chatted briefly, then KB and I thanked him for his hospitality before saying goodbye.

The concert opened with Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 (“Kaddish”). It included narration by a holocaust survivor that was painfully stirring. Thank God for the tissues in my purse. The second half of the concert was a Korngold symphony, but we opted to leave at intermission. We both wanted to hear The Philadelphia Singers, who performed only during Kaddish, so we were ready to get on the road and head home. Which we did, arriving at my place around 6:30.

A very enjoyable, very memorable weekend.

Land that I love

Last night, I attended an Ohio Northern University Alumni Dinner at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in D.C. There were about 80 alums in attendence and the only people I knew were KB and Marty Cosgrove, which was perfectly fine by me. The food was great, the wine was flowing, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Afterwards, the three of us headed home via the Metro. As we approached the Metro platform to wait for our train, we heard a loud voice shouting from the opposite side of the platform. It was a black man "preaching" about race and the upcoming election. We couldn't make out a lot of what he was saying, but were able to catch a few key words: white people...enslaved the black man...Obama...hate for the white man. Marty said he wished he had a sermon prepared that he could preach back at the guy. I said, "Well, we could sing something." KB liked the idea as well, so we spontaneously started singing God Bless America.

We were a little shy at first, but by the time we got a few lines into it and found people looking our way with smiles of approval, we really let 'er rip. An older gentleman sitting on a nearby bench took his hat off and placed it on the ground at our feet.

By the time we finished the song, the preacher's train had come and gone, but the people standing around us applauded our performance. As the gentleman picked up his hat, he thanked us and said, "That was just great!"

From the Mind of JD

An email I received from Jonathan earlier this week:

Subject: I dreamed a dream...
Sorry I didn’t call you this weekend, I meant to, but now I’m glad I waited to say hey, because I have dreamed the greatest dream that I have ever dreamed or could ever hope to dream, and I have to share it with you, because you’re the only person in the entire world who will get how wonderful this dream was!

To begin, this dream was a culmination of at least two things that have happened recently, being (a) my discovery of the release of the new Elizabeth and (b) me hearing Ian McKellen perform passages of King Lear on NPR.

So in this dream, I’m following Jean-Luc Picard (oh yes, probably because Patrick Stewart played opposite McKellen in X-Men), who is flying a highly-powerful and experimental ship, the Schnitterbahn (not to be confused with the Texas waterpark, but I want to say that there’s a fair ride by that name). McKellen was captaining the Enterprise in Picard’s stead, but it was an elaborate rouse to seize control of the Schnitterbahn. McKellen killed most of the crew of the Enterprise (thank GOD!) and threw down the gauntlet to Picard by smashing up the Schnitterbahn and demanding a surrender. Picard evacuated the failing Schnitterbahn, whose crew included my sister. In a dramatic moment, Picard delivers his (apparently) last captain’s log, of which I only remember, "The Schnitterbahn is spent, her defenses weak." After finishing, Picard sets the transporter to put him on the bridge of the Enterprise only briefly enough to hand-deliver a note to McKellen with only two words written on it, "Single combat." OMG, I have chills. Picard sets the Schnitterbahn to self-destruct so that whether or not he is defeated, McKellen will be. At this point, the actress who played "Bloody" Mary in the first Elizabeth appears (love her, great comedic actress in the Absolutely Fabulous series), but with Cate Blanchett’s voice. She implores (love that word) Picard not to destroy himself, of which I only remember, "Whatever wrongs you may have known, whatever ills this world has delivered upon you, know this..." It was at this point I woke up, realized that I woke up, and screamed, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" I’ll never have that recipe again! I'll never know what happened to Picard! Cate's words of absolution will never be heard!

Okay, back to boring reality! Later!

I was laughing so hard, it turned into tears and two co-workers stopped by my office to make sure I was okay. Thanks for sharing, JD!

In Memoriam - Rosie Williams

A very sad day.

Rosie Williams was one of the kindest, sweetest, and quirkiest people I have ever known. I always looked forward to my piano lessons with her while I was in college and I never would have survived the harrowing piano juries and Tuesday afternoon recital performance had it not been for her encouragement and inspiration.

I vividly remember one particular lesson with her. We were working on a problematic section of a piece I was studying. It wasn’t that it was technically too difficult for me; I could play the pitches well enough. But it just came out sounding mechanical without any emotion behind it.

After considering the music and the situation for a minute, Rosie said to me, “Have you seen Schindler’s List?” I didn’t know where she was going with this line of thought, but I replied, “Yes.” She continued,” Do you remember the scene with the little girl in the red coat?” How could I not? Then Rosie asked me what I remembered and, specifically, how it made me feel. After sitting quietly and considering it for a few minutes, Rosie softly said “Make this section feel like that.”

I played through the challenging section again, only this time, it was effortless, expressive, and perfect. When I got to the end, I realized I was crying. And so was Rosie.

God Bless you, Rosie.

Pants!

Jonathan sent me an e-mail today in which he mentioned the Queen of the Night's aria from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. He mistakenly called it "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meine Hosen." The actual title/first line of the aria is "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen", meaning Hell's vengeance is in my heart. What he wrote translates to Hell's vengeance is in my pants.

I will never stop laughing.

Blink And The Weekend's Gone

I can hardly believe the weekend is over, but since it's already lunchtime on Monday, I guess it's true.

Friday evening, my folks had their Christmas open house. The house was beautifully decorated and became even more festive as friends and family arrived. There were about 80 guests in all, touring the house, talking, laughing, eating, but not eating quite as much as Mom had planned. If I calculated correctly, we should finish the leftovers sometime in Spring 2009. But no matter, it was a fantastic time for all and reaffirmed the fact that I have a wonderful family and they have wonderful friends.

Saturday, I returned home in time to join KB, Ann, Chris and Conrad for KB's birthday party at Sakura. Afterwards, we returned to KB's house for cocktails and board games. As it was KB's birthday celebration, she got to choose the games. First on her list was Tabloid Teasers. In short, it's like Balderdash, but with tabloid headlines instead of definitions. Each player fills in the blank of a tabloid headline, then all headlines are read aloud, including the real one, and the players vote for the one they think is real. Everyone was very creative and we had some good laughs. We then played two short rounds of Family Feud, until we realized it was 2:00 AM and our beds were calling to us.

Sunday, I delighted in sleeping as late as Ernie would allow, then took him for a long walk, did some chores around the house, and treated KB to a birthday dinner at Bertucci's.

And now it's Monday. I get the feeling the rest of 2006 will be gone before I know it.

Being A Girl

WARNING: Boys should read the following post with caution, as they may be confused or grossed out by it. Girls should exercise caution as well, but only because they may hurt themselves by laughing too hard.

Friday afternoon, I was having an early dinner with KB, when we somehow found ourselves discussing the first time we got our periods. My story wasn’t too exciting. (I woke up with it one rainy day and got furious at my mother when I found out she had told my dad and my aunt that, "Mandy was finally a woman.") KB’s story, on the other hand, had me laughing so hard that I was crying over my dinner.

KB explained how, after she had woken up with her period and tried to conceal the evidence from her mom, her parents took her to Hills and stood there in the feminine hygiene aisle for what seemed like hours, contemplating every available product. As any young girl would react at the thought of passersby figuring out what they were doing there, KB was completely mortified, snapping, “Don’t talk to me,” at her father, who innocently tried to reassure her.

When she was sixteen, she decided she was old enough to graduate from pads to tampons. Like many young women who venture into this new territory, she figured she’d just follow the instructions. How difficult could it be? Well, for those of you who’ve never read the instructions included in the box of tampons, or for those brave men who’ve continued reading to this point, here’s what you’ve been missing.

Understandably, KB couldn’t figure out what this picture was supposed to represent. Her body didn’t look like the cartoon cross-section of the woman shown in the instructions. So now what?

Then, she remembered back to that day in fifth grade when the boys went into one room and the girls went into another for The Talk. KB described the teacher who led the girls’ talk as “the most mannish woman EVER.” KB vividly remembered this she-man talking about tampons, throwing her foot onto a chair, and standing there, miming how a tampon should be inserted.

So, that’s what KB did. She threw her foot onto the toilet seat and went about trying to imitate what she remembered from the she-man’s demonstration. Sadly, she was not successful.

Okay, enough was enough! At her wit's end and more determined than ever, KB decided it was time to pull out all the stops. Once again, up went the foot, and this time, out came the hand mirror. And, finally, success!

Thanks for sharing, KB!

From The Mind Of JD

This morning, I received the following e-mail from JD, who recently joined Blockbuster Online and added Xanadu to his queue:

Subject: I have seen the face of God...

...and he is called Xanadu! OMG! I was COMPLETELY hysterical last night to find Olivia Newton-John waiting for me in my mailbox. Picture it, Fort Collins, last night...

...leg warmers...
...roller disco....
...Electric Light Orchestra...
...a Muse...
...a starving artist...on roller skates...desperate to bring his dream of a roller disco to life...with the help of a crazy old coot (Gene Kelly)...and a daughter of Zeus (Olivia)...(gee, I hope that I'm not ruining the plot for you)...

It is genius beyond genius! Actually in truth, it was more like an hour and a half of eye torture followed by about ten minutes of truly spectacular! The finale was unbelievable! Must see!

I will never stop laughing.