It's official!

I spent much too long this morning waiting to see an advisor (confluence of mis- and non-communications), but eventually I got myself all signed up for classes for the fall!  The book list is already on line, so I ordered all my books, too.  (I was pleasantly surprised to see that I already own the book required for the Stage Make-up class.)

Unless a discussion with someone in the Theater department causes me to rethink, I'm going to be taking Acting I, Technical Theater, Fundamentals of Movement, Fundamentals of Script Analysis, and Intro to Stage Make-up.  This semester is gonna be so much fun!  

Now for Plan B

I finally heard back - the university doesn't have a space for me in this fall's class.  (The Chief wondered aloud how many transfer student spaces went to out-of-state students, who of course pay higher tuition.)  Not what I wanted to hear, of course, but at least now I know how to plan.  Tomorrow I'll work on my application for the spring semester and send my draft community college schedule to my contact in the university's Theater department to see how many of the classes will transfer.  Depending on her response, I'll get myself signed up and start back-to-school shopping. :)

The university has an arrangement with local community colleges whereby you can get university credit for community college classes.  I'll start looking into that tomorrow, too.

I'll have to commute a bit further, then deal with transferring if and when the university sees fit to admit me, but at least I'll still be going back to school.  The Chief has offered to buy me a Cinderella lunchbox in honor of the occasion. :)

Any day now...

Now that we're into mid-July, it's getting harder and harder not to check my email almost compulsively for something letting me know whether I've been admitted for the fall semester.  Yep, "wait" is still a 4-letter word.

Zucchini 1.2

The first zucchini plant died pretty definitely, so Wednesday the Chief and I put in a new one.  He took some scrap lumber and built a frame to create the mound they recommend when planting zucchini.  He also had me filter the dirt going into the hole to make sure there were no grubs.  We filtered  2 or 3 cubic feet of dirt and only found a few grubs, but at least those grubs will not be attacking the new zucchini plant.

It's probably much too late in the season to be planting zucchini, but hope springs eternal. :)

At least we don't have to worry about keeping it watered.  With all the rain we've been getting (25 of the past 36 days), I'm more concerned that it doesn't get washed away!

Not the fabric I meant to buy

The Chief and I took a day trip to Amish country on the way to a birthday party last weekend.  He wanted to look at furniture, I wanted to look for fabric for that cloak pattern I bought.  I did find some Christmas-red wool, but at $21 a yard, I decided to keep looking.  I wasn't really surprised to find that, this being quilt country, 99.99% of the fabric on offer was quilt fabric.  In one such shop, the Chief ran into Irene, a Mennonite quilt saleswoman par excellence.  She had him helping her peel back quilt after quilt in a big stack, told us the name of each pattern, pointed out all the features (different types of work, "every stitch sewn by hand") that made them special.  Funniest was that she kept warning us that if we didn't buy this or that quilt, someone else would.  She got to the Chief; we walked out of there with not just one but two quilts, when we weren't planning to buy any!  However, he did show his own shopping skills by asking if we could get a discount, since we were buying two quilts.  We didn't get the markdown he asked for, but we did get one.

We stopped at one last fabric store on our way to our hotel, where the Chief picked out some flannel for another pair of flannel lounge pants.  I also bought some lavender dotted cotton to use for the mock-up for my first Regency dress.  I figure if my maiden effort goes together reasonably well, I'll end up with two dresses - the practice model and the "real" one. :)

Getting a little ahead of myself

I'm already starting to costume myself for a Christmas caroling group I haven't even auditioned for yet, and which only asks women to provide a "Victorian" blouse.  I checked their website, decided they're going for a vaguely Dickensian look, and the hunt was on.

The first pattern I ordered, which arrived yesterday, was Folkwear #205, the Gibson Girl blouse:





I also ordered Butterick 5266, for the cloak.  I may or may not ever get around to making it, but if I want a mid-19th-century cloak, I've now got a pattern that will suit admirably.  (However, I'd probably change the closure to something a little less labor-intensive than all those tabs.)

 

But the purchase I'm most excited about is the one no one will see.  It's a corded petticoat (worn in the 1830s-50s, before the invention of the hoop, to make skirts stand out and achieve more of a bell shape), much of which is handsewn!  It just arrived today.  I'll need to add a small extender to the waist but that's a trivial adjustment, and MUCH quicker & easier than sewing one of these from scratch! Because it's used and has a couple of tiny spots near the waistband, the price was eminently reasonable.


Now all I have to do is come up with an audition recording to submit and hope my voice is what they're looking for.  If so, I'm already half dressed! :D

Amusing recipe instruction

The Chief sent me a link to a lamb dish that I plan to try sometime soon.  The recipe happens to includes prunes among its ingredients.  In reading over the directions (I'm learning to do that before diving in, to avoid starting something that's going to take a lot more time than I have), I saw this instruction:  "assess your prunes"!  They want you to see if they look a bit dried out, but the wording makes me chuckle, as if they're undergoing some sort of medical or other inspection.

Don't remind me!

The Chief happened to mention today that I should be hearing in the next 2 or 3 weeks whether the university accepted me.  I really could have done without the reminder, as it just makes the waiting that much harder. :(

"Bad singing day", but productive voice lesson

We worked on both my audition pieces today.  "Mandoline" was challenging because, despite warming up, the voice was working hard to do what I wanted.  Even putting it down a whole step didn't help.  "Vouchsafe, O Lord", which sits a little lower, wasn't quite as bad but still an effort.

However, I still managed to make some technical progress:  I suddenly consciously realized the difference in "feel" between the way I've been breathing and taking a proper breath, using my sides & back; and I actually felt how activating the zygomatic arch frees up my sound.  My teacher was pleased with what we accomplished technically, even if I was having what she called a "bad singing day".  It's always a good sign when your teacher lights up; means you're actually achieving what she's trying to get you to do. :)

Good for my ego

Got a Facebook message this afternoon from one of the women in the first production for which I did hair & make-up, nearly 2 years ago.  She's producing a play that'll run this fall and wanted to know if I'd design hair & make-up for it, or even audition for it (nine roles for women 40+!).  It's quite far - probably 25+ miles one way - but more importantly, it opens a week after Mattress does, so no way.  When I offered to send her names of other hair & make-up people, she said she was looking for an excuse to work with me again. Given that I didn't really work with the cast that much - came to a couple of rehearsals, then worked with them during Tech Week through Opening Night, then didn't show up again until strike - it is very good for my ego to realize that I managed to make such a good impression on at least one cast member. :)

A few notes on last Friday's concert

Last Friday I sang in a benefit concert that R organized.  Six women (5 singers and our VERY gifted accompanist), so R had all of us wear black dresses.  I had a great little vintage number, which I took to the run-through to get some opinions on which jewelry to wear with it.  Unfortunately, the zipper broke when I went to put it on.  I mean really broke - a few zipper teeth broke off.  Vintage, remember, and this was obviously the original zipper.  Yike!  I ran out and made an emergency purchase of a back-up LBD, in case the local dry cleaner's tailor couldn't replace the zipper in time.  Fortunately, the tailor came through for me (and replaced the silver zipper with a black one - even better!) so I could wear my smashing little vintage number.  Good thing, as my Plan B dress was the very same one R was wearing!

We had fun singing, the program had a good variety, and the audience seemed to enjoy it.  I was even sounded out afterward by someone prospecting for potential Ms. Senior (neighboring state) contestants!  I had a good chuckle over that - I NEVER considered entering a beauty contest!!!  The Chief thinks I should consider looking into our state's program once I hit 60 (the minimum eligible age).

Waiting...

Still waiting to hear about my university application.  The closer it gets to when I can first hope to hear, the harder it gets to wait.  In the meantime, I've already drafted a class schedule for Fall 2015 at the community college, just in case.  Eager, much? ;)

I'm also waiting for a choral acquaintance to get back from vacation.  He's got a recording studio in his basement and is willing to help me make my audition video.  Once he gets home, recovers from jetlag, and gets a chance to check his calendar, he'll give me some dates for a recording session.  Then I can work on lining up an audition accompanist.

So many things to juggle to make this happen!  I need to find out how long he needs to refine the video after the recording session - don't want to rush him to meet the application deadline!  I may want to schedule my rehearsal(s) with my accompanist fairly close to the recording date, to maximize the time I have to learn and polish my audition pieces, or maybe I should have two rehearsals, spaced a week or more apart, so I can work on any suggestions in at least one lesson before the 2nd rehearsal.  The timing of all these will determine how much time I really have to work on these pieces.  Gonna be a busy summer!

Tomatoes! Zucchini?

The Chief made sure I noticed last night that our 2 little cherry tomato plants have tiny little green tomatoes on them!  Fingers crossed that they'll produce like crazy!

The surviving zucchini plant is doing well, too.  I just hope I don't find out, oh, this fall that zucchini are supposed to be planted in pairs so they pollinate.  (Sister3 learned that last month when she bought blueberry plants at the farmers' market.)

Benefit concert

A theater friend has organized a small concert with silent auction as a fundraiser for a local charity.  She's invited me and a few other women she's performed with to sing and has lined up a wonderful accompanist as well.  She has asked all of us to wear black dresses so she can call this an LBD benefit.

We've had individual rehearsals with the accompanist, and we had a run-through yesterday with all of us.  The program has a very interesting assortment - broadway, opera, G&S, cabaret - lots of variety, well presented.  I just hope people come!  (I'm nervous about that only because I live far enough away from the church hosting the concert that none of my church choir, for example, would want to go.)

I'm a little sad about the line-up, only because my pieces (1 solo, 1 duet (from G&S' Patience), 1 trio ("Three Little Maids from School") are all in the first half.  Then no more singing for me!  However, there's plenty of great music to listen to; that'll have to console me. :)

I took my dress with me yesterday because I wanted some input on which jewelry to wear with it.  As I was putting it on, though, the zipper broke.  I mean, really broke, as in broken teeth!  (It's a lovely vintage dress and this is the original zipper.)  I plan to take it to the cleaner's tomorrow to see if their alterations person can replace the zipper by Friday.  The dress' bodice has a lot of shirring and a waist seam, though, so this would be even more problematic than a "normal" zipper replacement.  Yesterday I went out and bought a back-up dress.  Managed to find a Jones New York dress for just $20!  Not fancy, but it'll look great with pearls, so if I can't wear my first choice, I have a good back-up.

My husband, friend to turtles

The Chief & I were out at the cabin last week.  One day, as we were heading out to run some errands, we spotted something in the road.  Turned out to be a box turtle with its head stretched out toward the side of the road.  The Chief stopped and we waited while our reptilian friend made its way to the vegetation on the side of the road (more quickly than we expected).  Traffic coming the other way slowed to see why we were stopped.  One driver gave the Chief a thumbs-up when she realized why he was stopped.

We still wonder how that turtle is faring, hoping it hasn't encountered a less patient driver.

Free plants!

The newest addition to the garden - some hen-and-chicks.  The Chief & I set out for a walk - stopped at the post office to mail a few things, got coffee at the local "roasterie", and wandered about the neighborhood admiring people's gardens.  As we were a couple of blocks from home, we passed a woman pulling grass out of her rock garden.  She was also thinning the hen-and-chicks she'd planted there and offered us some.  We didn't have a bag, so I cupped my hands together and she filled 'em up.  I got them planted and am hoping they'll fill up some holes in the bed along the sidewalk so the weeds don't try to take over again.

Excellent judge of character?

... or too trusting for her mother's cardiac health?  The Chief and I sat across from a woman and her 2 little ones on the rental car shuttle on our way to the family graduations.  The 4-year-old, all curls & big eyes, was very chatty, which of course the Chief loved.  He didn't get to chat with her long, though, as it's only about a 5-minute ride.  Saturday afternoon, as I was waiting in line to board and the Chief was off searching for a restroom,  I spotted a familiar family.  Little Miss Curly-locks obviously recognized me, as she lit up and ran at me full tilt with her arms open wide for a hug!  Naturally, I couldn't disappoint the dear thing, though I quickly released her, not wanting to make her mother nervous.  The poor woman smiled a bit sheepishly and said "She's very friendly!"  I commented that the girl obviously recognized me from the rental car shuttle the week before, hoping to reassure Mom a little that I wasn't a complete stranger to her little girl.  That's a tough balancing act - you don't want your kids to be afraid to talk to people, but you don't want them to be too trusting, either.

That's this year's batch of family graduations

Three nephews are now graduated - congratulations, gentlemen!  V, I hope your freshman year will be a relatively smooth transition.  J, best of luck on your job hunt.  S, may your roll continue at your new institution in the fall.

First college graduation in the family

Today my godson received his B.A. (Classical languages), making him the first of that generation of our family to earn a college degree.  Beautiful day for it, despite a wind that sometimes had hats, gowns, etc., blowing wildly.  The keynote speaker gave an excellent commencement address, the transcript for which I hope will be available on line for future reference.  The ceremony closed with the singing of the alma mater, the cheer, and the fight song.  Great fun!

It was interesting to see what was the same as my graduation from the same institution, and what had changed (e.g., the fancy-schmancy electronic scoreboard, on which we saw J and his friend as they started into the procession).  I also couldn't help wondering what the commencement festivities are like at the institution where I hope to be enrolling this fall. :)

Had another nephew graduate from high school Thursday night.  He'll be attending his dad's alma mater in the fall - the other state university.  As I teased both him and his dad, I suppose someone needed to try to balance the distribution in the family. :D

The sparrows have figured it out!

A week after the Chief & I brought home the new bird feeder, the sparrows not only have it figured out, but seem to have claimed it as their own.  They're certainly the most frequent, and greediest, visitors.  The cardinals have stopped by to check out the feeder, but don't seem to stay long at all.  And the bird feeder seems to be making good on its claim to be squirrel-proof - the squirrels I've seen have contented themselves with eating what the birds drop on the ground.  Or maybe the sparrows have been "discouraging" the squirrels from poaching on the sparrows' territory... :)

The feeder holds 3 or 4 lbs. of birdseed.  The level wasn't moving much at all until last night; it's dropped quite a bit since then.  I wonder how long it would take the sparrows to empty it completely - if we go on vacation for a week, will the greedy little things empty the bird feeder long before we get back?

I was amused to see that a black bird in the raven/crow family had a different feeding technique than the sparrows, which park on one of the 4 perches and chow down.  This black bird would perch, take a piece, hop to the adjacent fence, and eat its morsel.  Then it would go back to the perch, take another piece, and go back to the fence to eat it.  It's taller than the sparrows, so the feeding hole is not at its beak level; maybe it's too awkward or uncomfortable to sit on the perch and eat.