I never blog from school, but I’m taking five minutes out of my tech period to tell you a story.

We held auditions for a solo in my sixth grade choir this morning (“I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan), and a little girl who had never had the nerve to audition before raised her hand to try.

She stood up, I started playing, and she got through the first two lines, visibly shaking. On the second half of the solo, she stopped and broke down in tears, holding her music up to her face. It broke my heart (and many of the other kids’ as well). I leaned over the piano and hugged her, and all the 12-year-olds in the room applauded for her and shouted encouraging comments (“Good job, Kasey,” “That’s OK, Kasey,” etc.).

It made me realize that I’ve been in this circus so long — singing solo in public since elementary school — I sometimes forget how difficult it can be for others. It would be very much like making me do an algebra problem on the board in front of the class (I’ve been there, and believe me, it made me want to barf). Easy for you, difficult for me.

The lesson here is that I need to make it a habit to look at the world through the eyes of others once in awhile, too. Empathy, ja? We could all use a little more of it. At least I could.

Happy Finkday!

J’ever do something, then wish you hadn’t? Carp.

As you might guess, the tide is threatening to go out with me in it. Rehearsal was a bit stressful last night, as a couple of weak links on the music end kind of peed on the whole evening. That, and a few other things. But hey, tonight is a  new night, and I know we’ll get lots done. We only have 90 minutes to slap this thing in shape before Saturday’s tech rehearsal, so everybody’s gotta be on their best game. ‘Specially me. Oy.

Next day off: Saturday, 2 April. Awesome! I hope all yall’s week is going well. BoomR, going to Manila I see??

Fink, back underground

Is the earth just getting old and creaky? Can a planet exist forever? Stasis is anathema to humans, surely, but what about non-human life forms? What about Earth? How can this latest disaster possibly be a healthy change?

I know that, in order to bring about the new, old things must die away. That “old things” are innocent people by the hundreds, and before this is over, likely thousands, is hard to grasp. I know, it’s happened before and it will again, somewhere else. And while I don’t want to go all Kushner or have a religious/ethical debate (because let’s face it, anyone who thinks he has a definitive answer is delusional), I must say I am at a loss to come up with a reason why babies must be swept away by a 50 MPH ocean wave.

The best we can do in these situations is our small part to help. I urge you to do that today, as I am going to. It is no understatement that life is too short, and that at any moment, everything you love can be gone. I plan to hug everyone a little tighter this weekend.

FO

…when you can’t go back to sleep for a two-hour delay, and you don’t feel like working?

Why, PhotoFunia, of course.

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Rat Fink, Rat Fink. What a donkey.

But hey, you know what day it is. Time to relax and enjoy the weekend.

How fitting for a rambling treatise. I’ve been up since 3, and it’s Wednesday morning. I hear ya, Paul Simon. (Although I didn’t rob a liquor store last night.)

I must confess that there is much on my brain as of late. Yesterday was quite the crazy 24 hours. I had a refreshing epiphany in the morning about a personal issue, but a disappointing near-meltdown in high school choir. I met with a small group of wonderful, hard-working music parents, then spent some time in text messages with two devastated basketball players after a crushing six-point loss in an important tournament game. I learned that 350 tickets were sold in one day’s time for Dinner Theatre, then came home to find that the VA is screwing around with the Thriller’s tuition reimbursements. (I hate money, truly.) The highs and lows — I experienced all and sundry yesterday.

Ya know…life has a funny way of sneakin’ up on you when you think everything’s OK.

*sigh*

It’s a melancholy morning. My brain is full of unfinished business; kind of like my rehearsal schedule. This will be a day of getting things done. Cleaning out cobwebs, both personally and professionally. Do you ever have days when you think it’s probably all you’re going to be able to do to put one foot in front of the other? What do we say on days like this? Mama said there’d be some, fo sho. But it doesn’t make them any easier to slog through. Yes, I ended a sentence in a preposition, and you know what? I care not. There is chocolate in my school bag. (Thanks Meg!)

Maybe I’ll have some coffee. You know, I’ve had probably ten cups of coffee since New Years Day. Pretty awesome, eh? Now if I could just do that with the chocolate…

I know what I really need, and that’s a good dose of the Js. Seeing them for an hour on Sunday was not enough. Dinner Theatre, Dinner Theatre: you steal my grandchildren from me.

Eleven more rehearsal days, and I’m still waiting to stage one of the numbers. Innat fantastic? Because of the tournament game last night, I had to cancel rehearsal. When I made the announcement, one of the cast members said, “Yay.” I’ll leave my subsequent reaction to your imagination.

But hey, the week’s half over and we’re on the way to Finkday. A good sign indeed. I hope you’re well, my fiends.

FO