Tag: singing

A decent mix

Today, the whole energy thing was definitely lessened from yesterday. It was still a draining day by the end – technically, the next morning end – but it was much improved as a whole and had much more low energy times for me. I got to go to Church, spend some time in the backyard on my own, and even relax alone and nap on the floor for a little while before dinner. There were, of course other things that happened, too, but these low-energy events made all the difference for me today, and I was and am still very grateful for the gifts of them.

I’m also grateful for the great Tex-Mex dinner and margaritas we had together as a family – siblings and in-law and fourth cousin once removed, as we were – and the time we spent at the country western bar afterward together. I even danced with a few people, and my family danced with each other, too, and we all had an actually great time. Then we discovered the little side room with karaoke, and dove into that for a while before going to stand and talk in the parking lot for another twenty-ish minutes before going home hours after we had planned to end the evening. So, I’m not excited to be going to bed after two AM right now, but I’m grateful for the down time I’d had with myself during the day that helped me to enjoy the other stuff better. And I’m really grateful for the piano my man kept for me, and that I was able to play it for a while after the cousin and I got home around midnight, and I was able to let out what I needed for that pent-up stress of having been around quite so much energy for the past two days. It really helped, and I’m now able to go to sleep for real, instead of just physically. I expect to sleep quite well tonight, though I must be out the door by 10:30 in the morning. Short night, but good sleep, here I am. Let’s do this.

Thank you, God, for this day. Keep my man safe, please.

Oh! I’m also grateful for the exercise I did today, as well as for the wonderful time I had selecting Mexican art stuff with my man through the phone in the middle of the day. The former was just plain good for me, and the latter was a total blast (though, it did make me miss my man all the more, he is just so amazing and loving and caring…).

P.S. Thank you, God, for this beloved man. I love him so much, I am filled with your love and gratitude, having him in my life. Thank you for this immense blessing. As mentioned, please, keep him safe. In your name, I pray. Amen.

P.P.S. I got sunburned on my back from the outside time, so, that’s a little bit of ouch all over right now…

Post-a-day 2023

Shake it

Tonight, we celebrated my mother’s birthday in style by attending a Shake Russell concert. We had dinner at a deli/restaurant nearby beforehand, and ended up two tables over (in a nearly empty deli) from Shake and his wife and fellow musician as they had dinner. My stepdad, who had never been to a performance before tonight, mentions after about ten minutes, “Isn’t that the guy?”

My mom and I, both confused, turn around to see whatever man he is indicating behind the two of us. Sure enough, it is Shake Russell! After a few minutes of silliness, my stepdad then tell us how, since he’s never been to a performance and doesn’t know the album covers, he recognized Shake.

‘I recognized him from the bag of coffee on the counter,’ he told us. At one point, Shake had sold some coffee that they’d named “Cowboy Coffee” after the song by the same name, not actual cowboy coffee (Listen to the song, and you’ll have a reasonably accurate description of true cowboy coffee. :P). And the coffee bags had had a sticker of Shake Russell’s face on the front. Thus, my stepdad recognized him as the Cowboy Coffee guy. 😛

We shared this information with Shake and his wife later, and they both chuckled at it. It was a great and silly little moment, to be sure, and I’m so glad it happened.

As usual, the performance was spectacular. Yes, they did play “Cowboy Coffee”, though before he’d known about my stepdad. My stepdad loved the performance and the music, by the way. He really enjoyed the music and lyrics. At the end of the performance, still on stage, Shake wished my mom a happy birthday (again, but on the microphone this time) as he closed out the night.

It was a great, great performance and night.

To top it off, as we were walking out of the building, my mom’s phone started buzzing. When she answered, she smiled and started chuckling. She put it on speaker for us to hear, too. As she phrased it afterward, it was three, good-looking, buzzed young guys, singing to her – my brothers and my man singing her “Happy Birthday” during their guys night. It was a hilarious and wonderful end for the night. I’m so glad they did it. My mom always sings for everyone else, but not many ever sing for her. That meant a lot just to me. It seemed like she really appreciated and enjoyed it, too, though. Thanks, boys!

And thank you, God, for a lovely night for all of us. I wished my mom a great birthday at the end of our call earlier today, and she replied with, “You, too,” just as we were ending the call. So, I sent her a text thanking her for wishing me ‘a happy your birthday’. Thank you, God, for actually giving me that happy her birthday. We all ended up having a very happy her birthday. So, thank you. I love you. Thank you for all this love around me today and tonight, from all directions and in so many forms. Thank you. Help us all to sleep well and sufficiently tonight, please. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023

The Opriest of Operas

Or the oprarest, if you want to be British about it…

Tonight, we saw Tosca, which is by Puccini. It was great. As our family friend said, the tenor really did steal the show. He was spectacular. Spectacular. And, given how great the lead and the other main supporting roles both were, that’s truly saying something. They were all awesome.

However, that same family friend had informed us ahead of time that the production was great. He saw a final dress rehearsal of it the other week, you see. (He also is a musician by career, and has worked many years in classical radio, so he knows what he’s taking about with opera.) Apparently, Tosca is possibly his favorite opera and was the first he ever saw, working as an usher with his mom forever ago.H

He and my mom were messaging before the show tonight, as well as during the intermissions. He said specifically before the show started that Tosca was, ‘the most opera of operas,’ and, therefore, to expect a lot of people to die, as well as lots of drama.

As we hit the first intermission, he shared that the music ending the first act is his favorite and he has been singing it constantly since seeing the show recently. At the second intermission, the end of the second act, he said that he had started listening to a recording of it just after our show started. Ha! My man responded, “I’m listening to it, too.” (He has a lot of trouble staying fully awake at the opera, as we usually go weeknights, and, let’s admit it, it is Hard to stay awake at the opera when we’re sitting in a dark theatre, far from the stage, and we’re tired before the show even starts.) 😛

My mom sent a final message that, ‘Only two people have died so far, so I’m guessing the third act will be busy!’ He laughed at it, gave a confirmation of its accuracy, and then added, “‘Only two people have died so far,’ is the most opriest thing one could say”. We cracked up so hard right as the lights were going down. And he wasn’t wrong, not on any account. (This includes his ironic statement of its being a light little, family-friendly show with good moral values. It very much is not, and comically so at certain points.)

In the end, yes, just like almost all the other operas, death reigns, hope tries really hard with a really pretty and powerful aria, all the stupid people get what they had coming all along, everything is ridiculously dramatic, and the music is practically divine in how spectacular it is. Indeed, Tosca is very much the most opera of operas. Though, I now will hold this classification in mind for all operas I see, and determine if I can find an opera more opera than Tosca!

Post-a-day 2023

Talk about a blast…

This evening and tonight were awesome. Sure, the cooking started and ended much later than they were scheduled to happen. However, the enjoyment of one another’s company initially was awesome, and the merriment had after dessert was spectacular. We ended up calling my man’s grandmother for her birthday after my mom and stepdad left. Today was her 91st birthday, you see. My man has been learning to play the piano, and we had gone through “Happy Birthday”, with him playing the top melody and my playing the bottom’s chords.

But get this: All of my instruments are at his house now. So…, we pulled out the xylophone and recorder for my brother and my sister-in-law to play, and my step-sister, who actually is a singer, sang with all of our playing.

I tell you truthfully, it was absurd. It sounded and felt like a little kids’ beginner band performance. But how else could it have been when the person leading the main melody on piano not only counted off wrong but played all weird timing throughout the entire piece(!)???!!! So, on his, “One, two, three,” my brother came in on the three for the pick-up notes on the xylophone – correctly so. But my man didn’t start his pick-up notes until the next beat(!!). So, it was a rocky start. But he then kept holding notes longer than usual all over the place, messing with all of us. So, that was terrible, right? Well, we also had my sister-in-law playing on the recorder, which was actually not an easy instrument for her – though she is not very musically inclined in the first place. She topped it off, sounding just like the little kid on clarinet whose reed squeaks on all the main held notes at the beginning and end of each phrase.

It

was

spectacular.

Truly.

And then we played “Heart and Soul” on the xylophone, my brother and I, even though there weren’t quite enough notes on the small xylophone for us to play the whole thing, even with us inverted, melody down low and chords up top.

And then we had an awesome time in general, just goofing around and hanging out, enjoying being ourselves together.

Thank you, God, for this amazing night. Please, grant us all beautiful and effective sleep and rest tonight, that we awaken ready and able to pursue your will fully tomorrow morning. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Bedtime

Lying on the bed, we listen to “You’ve got a lover” by Shake Russell. It was not planned. I was just looking for a YouTube version to send to someone who loved it when we had sung it the other day. But I listened to the whole thing after sending it to her. We listened. And it was a beautiful bedtime meditation. Thank you, Shake Russell. And thank you, God, for such amazing creativity and talent and artistry and work to be shared with the world and with us specifically. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise be to God. And thanks be to Shake. Amen.

Now, go listen to it yourself: “You’ve got a lover”

Post-a-day 2022

Happy Birthday

Today was my mom’s birthday. For whatever reason, as we went to get her a plant and flowers, this song popped into my head from a cassette we’d had for my oldest brother – clearly something my mom had bought for him in the late 80s.

Hey, Michael!
It’s your birthday!
I’m in charge of the stars
and I’m here to say,
“Hey, Michael!
You’re the big star today!”
Obviously, my mother is not named Michael. However, since it was stuck in my head already, and she’s the one who’s bought Michael that tape in the first place, I felt it was appropriate. I sang the song to her for her birthday. And no, I didn’t even change the name. ;P
Happy Birthday, Mommy!! Love you!!
Post-a-day 2022

Puccini

Turandot is a spectacular spectacle – Puccini certainly got it right and did it well with this one, y’all. I almost cried twice, and then did cry near the end, all because of the music – it was so amazing. Robert Wilson’s visionary directing was spectacular in and of itself, yes. It was so fun and cool and amazing. But the music itself held its own… it was satisfying and utterly fulfilling… and, boy darn, was it good… Just wow…

Thank you, Houston Grand Opera, for this spectacular performance. And thank you, God, for allowing me to witness it… in gratitude, I pray. Amen!

P.S. One of the main characters suddenly had to step out (I believe it was today), and so another member of the cast played her physical role, while Juliet from the current production of Romeo and Juliet stood on the side of the stage with a music stand and in a black dress and sang the part. “Like no other,” the creative director said in his pre-show announcement, and it truly was. It was amazing on all accounts. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Amen!

Post-a-day 2022

Ricky Martin

“Mommy, it’s Ricky Martin.
And he’s dancing.
And he’s wearing a kimono.
And silk gauchos.”
“Picture, please.”
Tonight was the Ricky Martin concert after the rodeo. When the full sounds of “Livin’ la vida loca” burst forth from the darkness with sparkler flames and party lights, the place went wild, myself included. And then, he was singing… he was singing these words I had forgotten that I knew prectically perfectly – as perfectly as we could get back in the pre-Internet days, if we didn’t have a copy of the CD.
And then he was dancing on the parts where he had singing breaks.
I kid you not, not even halfway through the song, I had streams of tears rolling down my face, absolutely unanticipated, unexpected. I didnt even notice I was crying until I felt a downward movement of water on the lower half of my cheeks.
But, I suppose, it makes sense. That song and the period of my life that goes with my learning its words and notes so well, those were huge for me. I remember watching Ricky Martin on MTV when I was at my brothers’ dad’s house. I remember dancing around in the living room to this song in particular on multiple occasions. I remember trying to figure out what “mocha” meant, and how it connected to a skin color.
But I never once considered any possibility of seeing Ricky Martin in real life. Let alone hearing him sing or seeing him dance. It was so far out of the realm of possibility. Ricky Martin was, to me, more along the lines of history. He was like the president or Julius Caesar. He was a real person, but not one who ever would be real to me, not the way people in my life are real to me.
And, suddenly, years and years after his initial fame and my foundation of gratitide for him and his music, he pops up… and he is accessible. I get to see THE REAL RICKY MARTIN, right there… singing, dancing, doing costume changes (including a vest that was all lace on the back with a pair of pants that had half of a kilt-like skirt… and no shirt)… looking spectacular, by the way, and bringing to life a dream I had never even known to dream.
Gracias, Ricky Martin, for all you do and all you share with the world. And thank you for releasing that book entitled “Yo” that I originally thoight was in English, and so thought you were unexpectedly thug. That still gives me a good laugh.
And thank you, God, for this spectacular blessing. Please, guide me to be your love. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
(Still had to think about it!)

Goodbye songs and prayers

Sure enough, as expected but almost didn’t come to happen, I cried while singing to this one class in particular. Somehow, I got to the last three lines totally fine, but then got one clear look directly at one student, and fell apart almost instantly. I had to stop entirely, because I just could barely breathe and I was crying so suddenly and so intensely. We had a fun few moments of me learning to breathe again, and of our joking about how ‘You can’t do an encore, if it isn’t finished yet.’ I had one more line to go, and I was going to sing it! And I did. And it was wonderful. And I just love these kids dearly.

Thank you, thank you, Thank you, God and Universe for the blessing of this position this semester, and for the blessing that is and has been getting to be with these kids and be loved by them.

Post-a-day 2021

Ce soir…

L’opéra, l’opéra, l’opéra at last. After nearly a two-year delay, Houston Grand Opera has returned to the stage officially, and we attended our first show tonight. It was lovely. Also, it was Carmen, and I love the music from Carmen. Sure, the story and lyrics are still totally typical dramatic and repetitive opera, but, goodness, that music is especially spectacular. I’m a big fan. (And I had a fan that I used during the performance, when it was a tad too warm early on. Then Carmen kept pulling out fans and using them herself. However, hers were used very much in a sultry, seductive way, and mine was merely used to cool my face and neck.)

Thank you, Georges Bizet, for this wonderful opera whose success you never got to see or know (He died only three months after its debut, and the reviews were not so great at the time.).

And thank you, God, for this opportunity in my life, and this gift to the world.

Post-a-day 2021