I don't know why it took so long -- I had this idea last summer and now it is February -- but here it is, we had a first rehearsal of our new Balkan women's choir. It was so great! And I'm riding high and celebrating that this is off and rolling, and, well, I picked some great voices, and this is not going to suck at all ( Read more... )

I just can't let that last entry keep sitting on top like that. So here's the other shoe: all is well ( Read more... )

Not for me -- for my mom. She just called.

• Her car got broken into and some stuff was stolen out of it (not valuable stuff, but important things like her teaching materials and a portable CD player).
• Her sister-in-law, my aunt Jeanne, who has been sick for quite some time, has been declared "terminal." She's in the hospital with days left to live. ( Read more... )

In the upcoming week I will be auditioning about 18 women, to find voices for a Balkan women's singing group. Tomorrow will be most of them. And all I can think right now is: holy shit ( Read more... )

Ok, here's the long-overdue update on what's shaking in my world ( Read more... )

I'm pitching my cause tonight. Check out the craigslist ad. Know any girls with fabulous pipes? Whether they've done Balkan or not -- pipes and musicianship are what counts. Send them my way ( Read more... )

I love to travel, and I've never lost my fear of flying. What a trade-off. I can't wait to get off that plane. I feel like I need to tell everyone that I'm about to fly, in case anything happens. But I need to fly a lot. I need to travel, I hate being stuck in one place, I need to get out there. I saw an ad in a magazine (don't remember what for) ( Read more... )

I've recently rediscovered the music of the Comedian Harmonists, thanks to my boyfriend whose vast musical taste and repertoire overlaps mine in the strangest places... The Comedian Harmonists are six men who sang and were hugely successful in in-between-wars Germany. Their music is sweet and funny and melancholy and upbeat and just unbelievably ( Read more... )

A couple days ago a friend and former co-worker called me from his job at Microsoft. How would I like to be a project manager for his group? No interview necessary. He works with our former mutual manager who also remembers me and is fine with me coming on board. So do I accept ( Read more... )

Of course I'm sad, shocked, angry, disappointed. You all know why. I won't go into details ( Read more... )