The Aviary

Things:

- The power went out at my house this morning, 5 minutes after I woke up. It had not come back by the time I left for work. Disruptions to my breakfast routine make me unreasonably cranky.

- This weekend is concert weekend for this session of choir, which meant that last night was our dress/logistics rehearsal. It was, as ever, a nightmare. My choir is full of intelligent, competent people who, when faced with the prospect of having to line up in order and walk into a room, completely abdicate every bit of sense they ever had. My choir director, knowing this, had prepared slips of paper for each of us to write down the names of the people we're standing next to in line. We practiced lining up at the beginning of rehearsal and then again 2 hours later. 85% of the choir had already forgotten what to do. 2 hours later. This happens at every concert and, as part of the 15% capable of doing something that is managed daily by hundreds of second graders, never fails to fill me with rage.

- Yesterday, I started rereading Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, which I read several years ago and which popped into my head earlier this week. I remembered really liking it and it remains excellent. Last time, I didn't do any looking into the author's other books, but I have this time. A) None of my libraries have any more of them, which is a shame. B) I am unreasonably charmed by how many of the synopses of Mr Household's books include the fact that the protagonists of his thrillers have inexplicable lowlevel psychic bonds with various animals. What a hilarious and weird thing to put into so many otherwise (I assume, given the one I've read) fairly realistic rooted-in-the-real-world thrillers.

Things:

- The spring choir session has started! I usually enjoy the spring session more, because there's more variety in the music we sing (it doesn't all have to be Christmas-related or -adjacent). This session, most of music looks like it's going to be pretty good, which is nice.

- My library is switching to the web-based version of its library software starting in February, so we're all practicing with it now. The switch isn't really going to be that difficult but none of the keyboard shortcuts I know are going to work any more and I resent having to move the mouse more. I resent almost any time I have to use a mouse rather than the keyboard, really.

- I've started doing a thing where, instead of getting up in the morning and dinking around on the internet for an hour before breakfast, I'm getting up in the morning and reading a book instead. I like it, though it does mean selecting some of my reading specifically for qualities like "readable when I am not quite awake yet". More difficult books are for later in the day.

- It's not a morning book, because it's an audiobook, but I'm currently listening to the second volume of Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong and it's great. You can tell that the novel was originally serialized because there are occasional slightly awkward recaps of the story so far, but the serial nature gives the story one of its greatest strengths which is that there Always Something Interesting Happening. Whether that something is a long kung fu demonstration, a tense political scene in which Genghis Khan's generals are challenged to fight a leopard, or the dramatic reveal of somebody's relative that they've thought was dead for years, it is Interesting and it is Always Happening. I have some slight quibbles with the translation (why are you literally translating people's names?) and the audiobook reader (who consistently mispronounces the word "gallant") but in general I really enjoyed the first volume and the second seems like it's also going to be amazing.

So, when we started this choir session in September, we were told that there was no expectation that we'd be performing in December. That made a lot of sense - everything has been changing all the time, group singing is definitely not the safest thing you can do, and we were being very cautious. I was fine with that - I like performing, but it's the least important part for me. Just getting to sing with other people was enough.

Then later, the board and the director decided that we would have a small culminating "event", possibly in person and possibly over Zoom. Then definitely in person, but just a small gathering: no ticket sales, just family and friends, by invitation only. Very casual, no need to wear formal choir clothes. This is already a little weird but again, fine.

But as we've gotten closer and closer to the "event" (we're still calling it that, definitely not a concert), it has grown increasingly concert-like. Now there's risers involved, and clothing guidelines (no jeans, not all black, "something festive"), and a call time for the choir an hour and a half before the "event" starts.

So now I have a not-actually-a-concert tonight, on a Monday evening. And what we have now is an "event" that combines the worst part of participating in a concert - scheduling stress*, dress codes, figuring out how to eat around performance times, that terrible thing where we are a group of adults who cannot at all retain or follow instructions about how to walk onto the risers - with a pint-sized audience.

All this, to sing a program 7 songs long. One of which rhymes the words "giving" and "thanksgiving", which ought not be allowed.

I mean, singing in a group is still very good and I'm glad I get to do it but man, tonight I would rather not.




*A 5:30 call time on a Monday night, really? Am I the only one in the reduced choir who isn't retired/working from home?

...honestly, it's entirely possible that I am.

At choir tonight, I had one of those weird situations where someone gave me a very nice compliment but it was, unfortunately, a compliment that is completely untrue. I'm never sure how to deal with that.

One of the people who sits near me was talking about how she likes sitting near me because I have a strong voice and usually am one of the first people to get the part done - "You're an extraordinary sight singer."

Y'all, I am abysmal at sight singing. I am the worst. Instead, I have a very good ear and a happy facility for memorization - if I hear my part two or three times and get to sing it on the third one, chances are I will have it down.* And by the time we get to the concert, I probably won't need the sheet music anymore, which allows me to watch the director better.

So one is torn between refusing a compliment and then bragging about the things one is actually good at, or accepting a compliment that's very wrong. It's difficult.




*Also, I'm a first soprano, so I can always always hear my part at the top of the chord. Having been a first soprano all my life means that I am incapable of singing any note but the top of the chord, because first sopranos are the equivalent of that one kid who gets through high school without ever having to study and then has no good study habits in college. (I was that kid also.)

Choir rehearsals started tonight for our spring session. We are doing the Haydn Creation, which is the story of Genesis as sung by a choir of angels and looks like it's going to be pretty fun, even if it is one of those pieces where the soloists get all the really cool parts. I'm enjoying it so far.

But you know what I really want to sing? A giant dramatic choral work based on my creation myth. Because how awesome would that be? It would be totally awesome, that is the answer.

( Here is a brief retelling of the Norse creation myth for those who may not know it. )

That's a pretty great story, right? I mean,the beginning of Genesis is pretty cool but it doesn't have giants or building worlds out of bones or primordial cows. You could make a hell of a big orchestral chorale work out of that story. A basso profundo soloist for Ymir, a mezzo or an alto for Audhulma, a bass-baritone-tenor trio for the son of Bor (the tenor* singing Odin gets at least one aria to himself). It opens with a loud wordless dissonant chorus that represents the primal chaos - women as fire, men as ice, opposing lines - that gradually resolves into the still peace of the Ginnungagap. The chorus sings the flood too, and then they sing behind the trio as they build with Ymir's body. Then there's a final triumphant choral movement describing the awe of the first sunrise over the new worlds. (Yeah, I know, we didn't cover Sunna and Mani. Whatever, artistic license.) It could be amazing. Someone should write that so I can sing in it.

(And then they should write something about the creation of Ask and Embla, because that is my favorite myth. And there should be at least half as many chorale works about the Ragnarok as there are requiems - "an axe-age, a sword-age, shields will be cloven, a wind-age, a wolf-age, before the world's ruin." Who doesn't want that set to music?)

Basically, sometimes, I would like to sing impressive chorale works that aren't about Jesus.







*Yeah, the tenor. Hjarrandi, the Screamer, and Jalk, the Gelding - Odin should be sung by a tenor.

Things:

- Okay, so, I've been really terrible about actually posting of late. And that topic-a-day meme is going around again - I'm not doing that, but I am making a little resolution to post at least something every day in December, and we'll see if that gets me back in the habit of regular posting.

- Today was my first day back to work after my vacation. Which was great, btw - I had several days of doing nothing whatsoever, which is really lovely once in a while. I did some knitting, caught up on some tv (Gotham is ridiculous, but I kinda love it), played some computer games. And yesterday, I went to visit my sister and watch weird old musicals with her. We watched Yankee Doodle Dandy (which marks the first time I've ever actually seen a James Cagny movie), There's No Business Like Show Business (my first Ethel Merman movie), and 42nd Street. So that was cool. Megan has decided that next time we do a movie marathon together, we're going to watch Footlight Parade and Gold Diggers of 1933. Which is something to look forward to. Megan is great fun to watch movies with (when we're getting along) because we watch them in a very similar manner - we both talk all the time during the movie, we're both okay with rewinding several times if we miss something, we both like the subtitles on - and it's always better when you're watching with someone else like that. I like to discuss a movie while I watch it and so does she, but no one else in our family really does. (We both also do this while watching tv, but we usually have very disparate taste in shows, so it's harder to find one we agree on. Eventually, we're going to have to have a Flash marathon together, if only because it's a show we both watch.)

- Alas, the heating situation in the Kingston library has not improved while I was gone. When I got to work this morning, it was 49 degrees and when I left at one for my shift at Bainbridge, it had just hit 60. Too cold.

- My Christmas concert is next week, which seems entirely too soon. I think it's going to be a good concert, though. Our big piece is Z. Randall Stroope's Hodie and it is the most Star Trek-sounding piece of choral music I've ever sung. I can't wait to sing it with the instrumentalists.


And now, bed!

This morning is our first rehearsal of the Verdi Requiem with the orchestra. So far, it is pretty awesome. Even if I can't hear the singers next to me during the Dies Irae.

The horn player in front of me keeps his phone on his stand and plays Candy Crush during pages-long rests. The guy next to him isn't wearing any shoes and hasn't been for the whole rehearsal. Instrumentalists are so interesting.

So, this is the weekend of the Bainbridge Chorale Winter/Christmas concerts and yesterday we had two of them. We do a family concert, which is a slightly shortened program with added songs performed by the Bainbridge Island Young Singers, and then we do our full program in the evening.

Which is totally fun, but is also 3+ hours of standing pretty much still* and holding a heavy music folder so that you can see it and the director at the same time. So that's pretty exhausting.

Still, the concerts went really well. And today I only have the one.






*I mean, I move a good bit while singing, but it's almost all hips-and-torso-based movement, and not my feet or legs. Because that could potentially make noise on the risers.

Well, our first concert went really well and I totally rocked my solo, because I am made of awesome. 8)

(Sometimes, I do not believe in being modest.)

Now I just have to do it again tomorrow.

I did, indeed, rock my solo audition. At least, I think so, and the director said I have a lovely voice, and several other people told me they thought I did well. So I think I have a pretty good chance.

Hopefully, we'll find out next week. ::fingers crossed::

Two things about today:

1) Today was the first rehearsal for the spring session of choir. We are doing a really odd program this time, with half of it being stuff by Beethoven and Brahms, and the other half is all Broadway. I am mentally subtitling the second half "Sara's Adolescence: the Concert." We are doing a medley from Les Miz. We are doing a medley from Phantom. We are doing Memory from Cats (because of course we are). We are doing a piece from Newsies. Seriously, if we swapped out the Wicked medley for one from Jekyll and Hyde or Rent, it would completely be the soundtrack of my teenage years. It's kinda fun but also kinda ridiculous.

There are loads of solos in the Les Miz medley. I want all of the Fantine solos so bad it kinda hurts. (Once, I had to write one of those ridiculous What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up essays for school. I totally wrote it about how I wanted to sing the role of Fantine on Broadway. That is obviously not going to happen but I will accept singing the role in a community choir medley as a consolation prize.)



2) So, I am currently reading Grettir's Saga. I am about 60-some pages in and it's pretty awesome. So far, there have been shipboard battles, shipwrecks, people making up poetry to mock their enemies, guys fighting a bear, the hero single-handedly fighting off some 12 berserkers, and the hero fighting a zombie inside a gravemound. And a random person in a throwaway genealogy named Ivar Horse-Prick. Yes.

And! So there's this guy named Thorgeir. This other guy, named Flosi, hates Thorgeir for complicated Icelandic reasons so he sends his servant - Thorfinn - to kill Thorgeir*. Thorfinn ambushes Thorgeir in the dark, hits him in the back with an axe, and then runs away, assuming that Thorgeir is dead. But Thorgeir is not dead - the axe actually hit a big drinking-flask Thorgeir was wearing on his back. So he gets called Thorgeir Flask-back. Later, Thorgeir and his buddies get in a fight with Flosi and his buddies over who owns a certain beached whale**. Thorfinn has actually climbed up on the whale and Thorgeir comes up after him, says "Here is your axe back," and cuts off Thorfinn's head.

A couple people at choir asked me what I was reading and then gave me blank looks when I showed them the cover, so I had to explain how awesome Icelandic sagas are. I told them about all the awesome things listed above - they were very impressed by the zombie - and a couple of particularly awesome things from Njal's Saga - the decapitation-while-ice-skating battle, the wonderful bit about Gunnar's halberd being at home***. I haven't read a lot of sagas - just Njals, the beginning Grettir's, and part of Egil's Saga - but all the ones I've read have been totally badass.

(I have this sort of vague desire to make a sort of audiobook recording of at least one of them. I'm thinking of starting with Grettir's Saga, since I'm in the middle of it. Half the time, I think this would be totally fun and the other half the time it seems kinda ridiculous and also I don't speak Icelandic so my pronunciation of the names would probably be completely wrong. So I haven't done it yet, but I still sort of want to.)





*At least 60% of all the people in Icelandic sagas have "Thor" somewhere in their name. I am only 60-some pages into this saga and already there have been three separate people named Thorfinn. Fortunately, there's a helpful list at the back that reminds you which one each of them is.

**Driftage rights = very important in medieval Iceland.

***For those who have not read Njal's Saga (you totally should, btw):

Gunnar caught sight of a red tunic at the window. He lunged out with his halberd and struck Thorgrim in the belly. Thorgrim dropped his shield, lost his footing, and toppled down from the roof. He strode over to where Gizur and the others were sitting.

Gizur looked up at him and asked, "Is Gunnar at home?"

"That's for you to find out," replied Thorgrim. "But I know that his halberd certainly is."

And with that he fell dead.

I have to make cookies to act as refreshments for the choir concerts this weekend*, so I am baking.

Here is a true thing about me: given a cookie recipe that calls for 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon and ginger, I will inevitably say, "To hell with that" and throw in at least a teaspoon of each (especially the ginger) and probably some nutmeg and allspice. And spend at least a minute considering whether or not I want to add black pepper. (Not this time, but maybe next time.)

But no, really, what is the point of a half teaspoon of ginger? Everything could use more ginger.







*Am I irritated by the fact that the women are all required to provide cookies (and that it's implied that store-bought cookies will be acceptable but not preferred), while the men just have to provide cranberry juice and 7-Up? Yes. Yes, I am.** But, on the other hand, I get cookies out of it.

**Other things I am irritated about: the fact that the women were all encouraged during our last rehearsal to wear makeup at the concerts so that we "look healthy and alive" but nothing was said to the men, the fact that TTBB repertoire is inevitably more interesting both to sing and to listen to than SSAA repertoire, the fact that I was required to buy a (tacky) pearl necklace because it's been added to our choir uniform for women. And, slightly, the fact that we are singing so frelling much Christian music at our Spring concert, which you'd think could be at least mostly secular. But I supposed that last is the nature of the western choral beast and must be put up with.

Things:

- So, one of my coworkers has unexpectedly had to take some time off, so I am filling in for her. Which means that, for at least the next couple weeks, I'll be only working at Kingston, approximately 40 hours a week. As that's more hours than I normally have and I get paid more to work at Kingston anyway, this is pretty damned awesome.

- Penultimate choir rehearsal tonight. I haven't felt really connected to the choir this session - part of it is that I didn't do any singing over the summer and my range atrophied a good bit. I still haven't got it back. But I think the concert's going to be pretty good and hopefully the spring will be better. I'll have to find somewhere to sing in the summer to keep my voice limber.

- Dear patron, I realize that I am wearing my hair up in what would probably be most accurately described as a snood, but it's still not really cool for you to come up to the desk and say, "Wow, you look really Amish today." I mean, what the hell am I supposed to say to that? (Also, I look awesome in my snood, so there.)

- I am almost done with Christmas shopping! I have one more person to shop for, and some stocking stuff, but that's it. (I do have Christmas knitting left, though I am giving up on the hat for [name redacted] till after Christmas. [name redacted] gets a hat IOU.)

- I actually get off an hour earlier than normal today (since I started earlier), which is great. Of course, I have to spend that hour eating dinner and driving to rehearsal, but it's nice not to have to rush on my way.