Mini-marathon, of a sort
So Friday night, Mr. 42 and I went out to steak night at the pub. Herb butter made with arugula and hops is my new favorite thing. It was good to see pub friends and eat delicious food and drink amazing beer!
Guess what I did on Saturday?
NOTHING.
Okay, so I slept in, took the dogs to the beach, had an excellent shower, read a bit of the New Yorker, and opened my story file at least twice. I think I also ate some things and goofed off with Mr. 42. But mostly, nothing. This was the first nothing day I've had in months, and hoo boy, it was nice.
Especially since Sunday was pretty busy. I woke up early and tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 7am, I made it to church in time to gather my things, vest, and get my music in order before we started rehearsing. Everybody was so happy to see one another after summer hiatus, despite the early hour. Fr. J even came over and joked at us, "What's with all the levity?" We sang a lovely service (Prayer of St. Richchard of Chichester at offertory, Stephanie Martin's O Sacrum Convivium at communion), then I drove a carpool of choristers over to Liberty Station, where one met family for lunch, one bought fancy stationary and joined us for coffee, and LP and I grabbed coffee and lobster rolls (om and nom).
We only had an hour and fifteen minutes for lunch, but we used our time well and got back to church a few minutes before downbeat on our non-retreat retreat, which was basically a three hour rehearsal during which we sight-read a bunch of really pretty music and then did a complete run-through of the Faure Requiem, which we'll be singing in early November. Most of us have sung it before, which helps. But it was funny--we did it last, and the final movement is "In Paradisum," which is vocally challenging for the sopranos, as it's an extended soli section during which one must maintain absolutely pure tone and beautiful phrasing. And if I may say so, we nailed it, even at the end of five hours of singing. It helps that the last time I sang that movement was with a quartet with the Catholics, so I know it quite well. For all that it was five hours of singing and I felt pretty limp with exhaustion at the end of it, I felt so relaxed and happy and looking forward to spending the evening with Mr. 42. It's been a while since I've sung that much for a while. I mean, I've had tons of rehearsals and singing engagements this summer, but most were fairly short singing-wise (the 2-hour super-Evensong excepted) and long on waiting around.
I got home at about 4pm and collapsed for a short amount of time. Mr. 42 walked the girls and said, "We should head out soon if we're planning to eat in Old Town before the play tonight at 7."
"Wait," I said. "How did you know I wanted to have dinner in Old Town tonight?"
He sort of shrugged. "That's just what I thought we should do."
I laughed. "I even made a mental note to tell you I wanted to go to Casa Guadalajara for dinner when I got home but completely forgot. That'll be okay, right?"
And it was. Even though it meant I had to cut short a conversation with my folks (sorry, folks!).
We ate early enough that we didn't even have to wait for a table, which is unheard of because Casa Guadalajara is VERY popular with tourists, as it's huge and has wandering mariachis and brightly-colored paper flags hanging from the ceiling and servers in Mexican costumes of dubious authenticity. But it serves as a reminder that some tourist stuff is popular because it's really fun and good, and we had a super meals, huge margaritas, and enjoyed some delightful live music (including a mariachi version of "Despacito") and meandered over to the Cygnet Theatre to see the marvelous Ro Boddie in Every Brilliant Thing, a one-man, audience-interactive show about a man describing how he dealt with his mother's suicide attempts when he was a kid, listing every brilliant thing he can think of to give her reasons to live. It was sweet, but the opening featured the protagonist losing his childhood dog, and I couldn't stop the tears, which kept flowing thorughout laughter, music, joy, wonder, heartbreak, and various other brilliant things. I had my doubts about audience participation, but it was well done and made the audience part of the story in ways that invited the audience to be part of the "confessional," and not put them uncomfortably on the spot. Roddie was a magnificent leader in this story, and while I'm still processing what I saw last night, I was deeply moved by it.
Today is a fairly busy week. Brahms rehearsal tonight. Game of Thrones Live tomorrow. Church choir rehearsal Thursday. Master Chorale retreat (i.e. long-ass rehearsal) on Saturday. Morning service and Evensong on Sunday. I still have a midweek evening free, so it's not BUSY busy. I'm also hoping to hear this week whether or not I'm on the roster for French Baroque chamber concert that I really really really really want to be in, since the first rehearsal for it is during the retreat. So fingers crossed on that. I'm also hoping to get some research on my sshg_giftfest story done so I can break out of my current ennui. I have an idea for this slightly complicated thing I'm in-world building, but I want it to be both funnier and more profound, if that makes sense. I have ideas.They just need to be more organized so the thing can manifest in different ways throughout the story and possibly be tied to this other slightly complicated other worldbuilding thing. GOALS. I HAZ DEM.
OK. Off to accomplish a few things. I do neet to notify my faculty that I'll be out of the office tomorrow afternoon (but not necessarily that it's for my other job. La!). I've obtained parking passes for tomorrow and have a pretty good idea of where I'm going, which will hopefully help. Hopefully I won't get lost and be late for the thing I'm taking attendance for. (Again. La!)
Smooches to All!
Mun42
Guess what I did on Saturday?
NOTHING.
Okay, so I slept in, took the dogs to the beach, had an excellent shower, read a bit of the New Yorker, and opened my story file at least twice. I think I also ate some things and goofed off with Mr. 42. But mostly, nothing. This was the first nothing day I've had in months, and hoo boy, it was nice.
Especially since Sunday was pretty busy. I woke up early and tossed and turned until my alarm went off at 7am, I made it to church in time to gather my things, vest, and get my music in order before we started rehearsing. Everybody was so happy to see one another after summer hiatus, despite the early hour. Fr. J even came over and joked at us, "What's with all the levity?" We sang a lovely service (Prayer of St. Richchard of Chichester at offertory, Stephanie Martin's O Sacrum Convivium at communion), then I drove a carpool of choristers over to Liberty Station, where one met family for lunch, one bought fancy stationary and joined us for coffee, and LP and I grabbed coffee and lobster rolls (om and nom).
We only had an hour and fifteen minutes for lunch, but we used our time well and got back to church a few minutes before downbeat on our non-retreat retreat, which was basically a three hour rehearsal during which we sight-read a bunch of really pretty music and then did a complete run-through of the Faure Requiem, which we'll be singing in early November. Most of us have sung it before, which helps. But it was funny--we did it last, and the final movement is "In Paradisum," which is vocally challenging for the sopranos, as it's an extended soli section during which one must maintain absolutely pure tone and beautiful phrasing. And if I may say so, we nailed it, even at the end of five hours of singing. It helps that the last time I sang that movement was with a quartet with the Catholics, so I know it quite well. For all that it was five hours of singing and I felt pretty limp with exhaustion at the end of it, I felt so relaxed and happy and looking forward to spending the evening with Mr. 42. It's been a while since I've sung that much for a while. I mean, I've had tons of rehearsals and singing engagements this summer, but most were fairly short singing-wise (the 2-hour super-Evensong excepted) and long on waiting around.
I got home at about 4pm and collapsed for a short amount of time. Mr. 42 walked the girls and said, "We should head out soon if we're planning to eat in Old Town before the play tonight at 7."
"Wait," I said. "How did you know I wanted to have dinner in Old Town tonight?"
He sort of shrugged. "That's just what I thought we should do."
I laughed. "I even made a mental note to tell you I wanted to go to Casa Guadalajara for dinner when I got home but completely forgot. That'll be okay, right?"
And it was. Even though it meant I had to cut short a conversation with my folks (sorry, folks!).
We ate early enough that we didn't even have to wait for a table, which is unheard of because Casa Guadalajara is VERY popular with tourists, as it's huge and has wandering mariachis and brightly-colored paper flags hanging from the ceiling and servers in Mexican costumes of dubious authenticity. But it serves as a reminder that some tourist stuff is popular because it's really fun and good, and we had a super meals, huge margaritas, and enjoyed some delightful live music (including a mariachi version of "Despacito") and meandered over to the Cygnet Theatre to see the marvelous Ro Boddie in Every Brilliant Thing, a one-man, audience-interactive show about a man describing how he dealt with his mother's suicide attempts when he was a kid, listing every brilliant thing he can think of to give her reasons to live. It was sweet, but the opening featured the protagonist losing his childhood dog, and I couldn't stop the tears, which kept flowing thorughout laughter, music, joy, wonder, heartbreak, and various other brilliant things. I had my doubts about audience participation, but it was well done and made the audience part of the story in ways that invited the audience to be part of the "confessional," and not put them uncomfortably on the spot. Roddie was a magnificent leader in this story, and while I'm still processing what I saw last night, I was deeply moved by it.
Today is a fairly busy week. Brahms rehearsal tonight. Game of Thrones Live tomorrow. Church choir rehearsal Thursday. Master Chorale retreat (i.e. long-ass rehearsal) on Saturday. Morning service and Evensong on Sunday. I still have a midweek evening free, so it's not BUSY busy. I'm also hoping to hear this week whether or not I'm on the roster for French Baroque chamber concert that I really really really really want to be in, since the first rehearsal for it is during the retreat. So fingers crossed on that. I'm also hoping to get some research on my sshg_giftfest story done so I can break out of my current ennui. I have an idea for this slightly complicated thing I'm in-world building, but I want it to be both funnier and more profound, if that makes sense. I have ideas.They just need to be more organized so the thing can manifest in different ways throughout the story and possibly be tied to this other slightly complicated other worldbuilding thing. GOALS. I HAZ DEM.
OK. Off to accomplish a few things. I do neet to notify my faculty that I'll be out of the office tomorrow afternoon (but not necessarily that it's for my other job. La!). I've obtained parking passes for tomorrow and have a pretty good idea of where I'm going, which will hopefully help. Hopefully I won't get lost and be late for the thing I'm taking attendance for. (Again. La!)
Smooches to All!
Mun42