"Chautauqua: Emphasizing the importance of a contributory life."
In keeping with my new desire to back off a bit from trying to do everything, I had a slow day for me, but it ended out being VERY significant.
Our first Motet choir rehearsal was at 8:15 in preparation for the 9:15 service. We read through a bunch of music which I always enjoy. We picked an old favorite, "With a Voice of Singing" which is an old choral war horse. I sang this one back in the choir at St. James Methodist Church while in high school! In stark contrast to the three pieces we botched yesterday!
The service was nice and the preaching by Rev. Jones very good. I need to remember to take something to write on when I go to stuff. I can't remember the two gems that he said that I loved, but they will no doubt be in the recap which will appear in the Daily Chautauquan tomorrow, so I can pass them along then. Of course by then there will be more gems from tomorrow's sermon. I guess having too many gems is one of the crosses I will have to bear!
Today's "lecture" was actually an interview between Roger Rosenblatt and Jim Lehrer. Both of these men are hysterical. There were some gems in that one too, but I'll have to read them in the paper to remember them. I remember hearing Anderson Cooper speak when I was in West Hartford last May prior to meeting Joan to go to Nantucket. He was hilarious! It is so interesting to hear these really top notch newsmen, who show nothing but a serious attention to their topic on the air, but then turn out to be these really laid-back, irreverent, funny funny people. I plan to go home and begin watching Jim Lehrer regularly if my Direct TV has that station! The first question Roger asked Jim (who has written several novels) was, "What is the difference between journalism and fiction?" Jim Lehrer's answer was, "Fiction tells the truth."
After lunch I took my obligatory nap. There was the pre-requisite torrential rain at the time, so sleeping and then reading was the order of the day. At 3:00 I went to the wonderful little movie theater to see the World Premier screening of the almost final cut of a documentary called Heaven by film maker John Scheinfeld, who was on hand for questions since this was a Meet the Film Maker presentation. The topic started as a 44 minute special for the National Geographic Channel. It is now feature film length and features stories from around the world following individuals of the Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish faiths and their views of what heaven is. Very very interesting and worth watching for.
I am seriously considering the idea of being up here for the entire 9 week season next summer. And I'm seriously looking into staying in one place for the entire time to avoid the moving around. Denominational houses, while a terrific value, have limits on how many weeks you can stay there. Which would mean searching around and applying for a schedule where I move every two weeks or so, and hoping to get into the houses on the weeks I need. Today I answered an ad for an efficiency apartment which I will go see on Saturday. This would be MUCH more expensive than my current situation, but would be a great location, and what looks to be a really cute space. Now having contemplated that, I was beginning to wonder how I would swing that financially. Then I opened my email and found a message from Norman, our director of Choral Arts stating that they are making personnel changes, including the loss of our choir manager. Something about that message made me realize that I could save a bunch of money by not singing in the choir as a full member. There is a "guest chorister" status that allows me to sing some concerts and not others, as needed. I sent an email stating my intention to switch to guest chorister status. I'm hoping to still get to sing in the projects I really want (like the two concerts in Carnegie Hall in October!), but those won't be guaranteed. But I think it's time to wean myself from all that driving. This, as most of you know, is a huge decision. But it feels really right. I can still go to DC for my theater dates with Dave, and hopefully sing in a couple of concerts a year. But the money saved not being on the road, not eating out those nights, and not boarding Chester could go a long way toward getting me my apartment at Chautauqua.
Tonight's program was by a concert pianist who gave a spectacular program on the songs of the great American song writers: specifically George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and others. Anyone who knows me well knows that this is about my favorite thing in the world. He was on stage for 2 hours and had some wonderful vintage video of behind the scenes shots of the movie Wizard of Oz, vintage footage of Al Jolsen, and other gems of that era. I was in hog heaven.
Gotta hit the hay. I start every morning now (including this morning) getting to the farmer's market (5 minute walk) at 7 am to get my veggie pizza for my lunch, stopping by the bookstore to buy my daily paper, eating breakfast and getting ready for choir at 8:15.
And every once in awhile something happens to change the direction of my life. Like today. . . . . . I wonder what I'll do or decide tomorrow??????
