a big
happy birthday!!to my sister, (and sometimes blogger!), Kathy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
meanderings
for a morning...a brief conversation with a fellow teacher about the Bob Dylan documentary on PBS, has led me on a quick (I should be doing schoolwork), but fascinating journey. I'm not a big Dylan fan, so I didn't watch the program when I clicked across it last night (I went to bed instead), but I thought I would check out the website. it led me to this page:
from there I went to several other sites, including John Jacob Niles, a name I was familiar with but knew nothing about. I hadn't realized that he had written several of my favorite songs, including Go Way From My Window, which I learned to love from the Zaninelli arrangement I have sung several times; and also this site about Pete Seeger. I found this quote on the Seeger site:
something to think about...Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Violence
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. "
music news
pretty cool...a couple of bits of music news. first, Bob has asked me to sing at the annual Peter, Paul, and Mary Christmas Concert at Carnegie Hall with the New York Choral Society. I haven't gotten a contract yet, but he says it's all set, so, on December 10th, I'll be back at Carnegie for a performance of Ramirez' Navidad Nuestra! it will be especially neat since Eric K. Brooks will be there, too. he's a fellow Counterpointer, and a great baritone and friend. and even better is that fact that the concert is happening at all. it means that Mary is well enough to be performing again, and that is fabulous news! I'll let you know more as I know more.
also, next March I will be the tenor soloist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Haydn's Mass in Time of War. pretty heady to be performing with Sanford Sylvan as the baritone in the quartet... as well as Jonita Lattimore, soprano and Mary Westbrook-Geha, alto. you can see a bit more here: Vermont Symphony Orchestra. scroll down to Masterworks Concert IV.
ok, I'd better get the day started. another Voices performance in Lyndonville tonight. have a great weekend!
a quick link
this morning...from an online friend (thanks, polémique!):
busy Voices weekend, so I'll see you next week!
not sure
what to say...several moments of somewhat profound feeling today. both pleasant and disturbing. it was great to have the boys over last night, after spending the day with me at the Voices rehearsal and opening night. the show was wonderful last night, and nearly equally as good today. last nights' audience was exceptional, and the kids fed off of that energy. really great. todays' show was great, too, but the audience wasn't in it in quite the same way. very appreciative but not as involved. but that's good for the cast, too. anyway, it will be a great run over the next few weeks. looking forward to it. the show will just get better. my three boys really enjoyed seeing it for real last night. glad they could be there.
this morning was the first church service of the year, and it went well. a small but solid choir, and a good service, though it was hard being there. too many thoughts come to mind, too many memories. too many explanations...
a small moment of serendipity following church. I had noticed a tire was low on the van before church, so I parked near the air tank at the gas station across from the church, thinking I would fill it up after church. then I realized I didn't have any cash, but, what do you know? someone had just filled a tire, and the pump was still running, with plenty of air left for me to fill my tire! gave me a nice smile on my way home. (I know, I know, but it's the little things...)
ok, I already talked about the Voices performance this afternoon, so onto the evening. I stopped at Quiznos on the way home (I had never gotten anything there; it's a sub shop), and brought the sandwich home. very tasty, and I caught the end of the US Open, or whatever big tennis match was on today. Federer beat Agassi. pretty exciting. also did my usual web stuff, and had Dr. Who going on in the background on the CBC. it was one I had seen, so I surfed and watched.
following that, a documentary came on. it was about Roméo Dallaire, who was the leader of the UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1993-1994. an amazing and humbling story. how blind we all were to what was going on. and yet another example of how the media, and our government, and we, ourselves, have let ourselves be caught up in things that don't matter. (this was the same time as the OJ Simpson debacle) we have so much to learn. I struggle that I haven't saved the world, and feel so helpless to have much effect at all, to see what this man went through in his effort to stay true to humanity is awe-inspiring. I will look for his book, Shake Hands With the Devil.
time for bed. have a great week.
thought I'd better
say hello...this will be quick, since I should be heading towards bed, but it has been a while. keeping very busy, which is good, though now that school has started I think I have more time at home than I have for a while. strange how that works. but Voices opens this weekend, here in Barre, and then every weekend from now until the middle of October. school meetings, etc., also figure into the mix, and church starts up again this weekend, too. whoosh. there goes time.
the boys and I managed to squeak in an overnight on Sunday, since Monday was a holiday. so we went to Burlington, where I bought some new sneakers, and we hit Pizza Putt again for another round of lazer tag. very fun. I also got a new vcr/dvd player, and picked up a couple of used dvds, including Mary Poppins, which we watched while eating supper. always good. Dick Van Dyke is so great.
okay, there is definitely a lot more to write about, but it will have to wait. I'll pick up the boys tomorrow immediately after school, to take Chellis to his physical therapy appointment, and then we'll come back to the apartment for supper. not sure what we're having...
have a great week.