Just before Christmas break, I'd say it was actually about 3 weeks before the break, while pondering, praying, and practicing, I discovered a new posture in my throat that had much to do with the position of the back of my tongue, which completely changed the quality, size, feel, and ring of my voice. It is still my voice and I still sound like me, but a much improved me.
This new posture felt like the "ng" position I had read about on David Jones' "The Singing Teacher" website and which my first voice teacher at BYU, Evan Davis, in 1974-7 had tried to teach me using an exercise on the word "hungee". It opened my throat on the front (anterior) side and felt like the back of my tongue moved forward to allow my epiglottis to stand straight up like Dr. Arden Hopkin had told me about a few years ago. With this my voice sounded deeper and brighter, ring"ier" and LOUDER (and more "operatic" as my accompanist put it) than ever before. This result was reminiscent of what I had heard Clayne Robison talk about with his statement of "So long as the breath is right, DEEPER is BRIGHTER!" It seemed to solve all of the "problems" I had been having with my voice.
It felt/feels like I was making much more circumfrant (is that even a word?) space at the collar of the larynx than ever before, which called to mind the 6:1 ratio and the widening of the collar of the larnyx that Ingo Titze and Johan Sundberg wrote about in their voice science books, which Arden Hopkin had also brought to my attention. I found this space by thinking about all of these things along with trying to make sense of Stanford Olsen's comment about how I was pulling back on the position of my jaw while singing. When I showed Stanford in December what I had found, I made the observation to him that it sounded so dark to me, but his comment was, "It doesn't sound dark, just more complete." Not so amazing was the fact that with my tongue moving forward, I was no longer tucking my jaw back against my neck. Stan also told me to watch carefully in the mirror and to beware of my [a] vowel. When I did, it helped to make the things I was discovering more consistent.
I worked on it some over the break, but have spent still more time with it since coming back to school and have found that the way I think about this sensation has modified as I have worked on it. At first, there was the mental position of needing to just give the back of my tongue permission to move that far forward and hump up in the middle to allow for so much more space in the oropharynx. My tongue in this position, when I allow it, actually touches my top back teeth on the sides at times and at first it seemed my tongue wanted to hang forward out of my mouth (luckily I've gotten that under a little better control). My thoughts then modified to a second tier where I would think of allowing the opening of my throat to move towards the front and sides of my body horizontally, not just vertically (high soft palate and lowered larynx), which took care of my tongue position without my having to think about it. (Thinking about its position can tie anyone's tongue up in knots). And lately, while continuing to pursue this vocal posture, along with looking for and discovering the optimal register balance for a smooth transition into my lower voice, I have been aware of a sensation that feels like the internal anchoring of my larynx to my chest (literally). This has reminded me of the work I did, again with Arden, on finding and developing my "primal" sound and feeling what I termed at the time the "settled larynx." I still think this term accurately describes what it feels like for me because it works best when I identify the position and engagement of the sound in my lower voice and then, while maintaining the position I find there, move upwards in pitch and hang on to that sensation. Hence, "settling" the larynx and letting it ride in that settled place
But the difference now lies in how open my throat feels. It reminds me of a comment I heard of, reportedly by Marilyn Horne, when she was asked what it felt like to sing and her response was, "It feels like throwing up." With my throat this open, it does feel just like that. I also find I mustn't and don't need to release this very open position or the register engagement much at all until several notes past the secondo passaggio. Only when I get to the notes just before what I lovingly refer to as my tertio passaggio into the upper extension do I feel it necessary to release much at all, though I'm sure there is some gradual modification on the way up (logically there has to be), but I don't have to be conscious of it until the highest locus. There is a very unique strength and distinctive quality ("chiaroscuro") that comes into my voice when I get the balance of registers right in the lower register and when that sound appears I also find that the aforementioned tongue/throat posture is also there and vice versa, when I assume that throat posture, the right sound and balance seems easier to achieve.
The benefits of this new vocalism are plentiful. In addition to the already mentioned "deeper and brighter, ring"ier" and LOUDER" immediate results, I have found it much easier to achieve a more unified tone quality and ease of accessibility into my lower register, whereas before I was having trouble for some time in getting my voice to even phonate through the primo passaggio. I can also hear a distinct increase in lower partials providing a "richer" quality to the tone and what's really exciting is that it doesn't impact the range of my voice. If I was doing something really funny (read: wrong), that would not be the case.
None of this is automatic for me yet, but it is getting easier and not nearly as awkward as at first. I still have to think hard with very focused concentration on maintaining this new vocal posture and more energetically engaged lower voice through the lower passaggio and upwards, but it is coming and, with time, it will be "the only way I know how to sing."
Friday, February 8, 2008
Spring Semester Info & Musings
Things are going well here in Tallahassee. We are a month into the Spring 2008 semester. January was a hard month for me emotionally. When people asked me how my Christmas break had been, my standard answer was, "Too good! It was so good I didn't want to come back!" It just gets harder and harder each time to say goodbye to my husband. Though I continually miss him tremendously, I think I'm moving past the low spot I found myself in after Christmas. What's helping is that I'm getting immersed in the preparation for my upcoming recital that will be held on April 10th, 2008. This recital fills one of four recital requirements for my doctoral degree: 2 solo, 1 lecture, 1 large ensemble (orchestra or opera). Then it will be 1 down, 3 to go!
I'm also taking a French Literature Survey course (the one they told me after my diagnostics I needed to fill the gap in my knowledge). These two activities (recital and lit class) eat up all 9 of the credits for the semester that my Grad Assistantship affords me: 4 cr - voice lessons, 2 cr - recital coaching, 2 cr - recital performance, and 1 cr - French Lit. I told someone the other day, "If I had more to do, I'd get more done." So, I'm looking for and finding different ways to structure my practice and rehearsal and study time so that I actually do get the important things done. It's weird to not have an external structure imposed (read: somebody else telling me where I'm supposed to be and for how long each day), so an internally imposed structure becomes even more important. I'm learning...
I'm also taking a French Literature Survey course (the one they told me after my diagnostics I needed to fill the gap in my knowledge). These two activities (recital and lit class) eat up all 9 of the credits for the semester that my Grad Assistantship affords me: 4 cr - voice lessons, 2 cr - recital coaching, 2 cr - recital performance, and 1 cr - French Lit. I told someone the other day, "If I had more to do, I'd get more done." So, I'm looking for and finding different ways to structure my practice and rehearsal and study time so that I actually do get the important things done. It's weird to not have an external structure imposed (read: somebody else telling me where I'm supposed to be and for how long each day), so an internally imposed structure becomes even more important. I'm learning...
I'm really excited about my recital repertoire. The first half of my program is all Franz Liszt in three different languages: 4 French, 3 German, & 1 monster Italian. The second half is the song cycle "To Be Sung Upon the Water" by Dominick Argento. This cycle has 8 songs which I am falling in love with, I have to say. It is written with very clear 20th century compositional techniques (don't roll your eyes...) that are entirely palatable and soooo accessible because they seem so tonal -- EVEN the 12 tone row song. It's pretty amazing. I'm learning some very important things about my voice too that I'm sure people have been trying to tell me for some time, but they are finally all lining up in a very different sensation in my throat. I'm grateful for the time to focus on "finishing" the training of my voice; that's "finishing" in the sense of refining and polishing or making something that is already good even that much better, though I do wonder sometimes why it has taken me so long to figure these things out. But then I remember, that it has happened in just the way God intended it to be, and I'm really fine with it all.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Update from Florida
This is just a brief update on my doings here in Tallahasse. I started it last week, but it needed some tweaking before publication. It was an email in it's original form, so I've made it a bit more general for the "masses" so to speak, in some cases, and a bit more fleshed out in others. I hope it starts to give you an idea of what life in school is like for me, at least a little bit.
Dennis is doing well and taking care of Mom in Rexburg, the 4-plex, and anything else he can make mischief with. ::giggle:: Most recently he installed an invisible fence around our property to keep Cassie, our mini-schnauzer dog, ON our property. Next he has to train her about how to respond to it. We talk to each other over the Internet with video calls through MSN Messenger. Technology is wonderful even if it sometimes takes a 1/2 hour to make the connection work. He's coming to visit me next month for my birthday in about 3 more weeks. We're both looking forward to it. YAY!!
My classes are very interesting. I'm taking a German Lied class focused on Schubert, where I'm learning much about Schubert and his precursors. It's fascinating to hear the progression of the musical relationships and I really enjoy the format of the class. In addition to the lectures on the lives and music of one new composer each class period, we also get to sing to each other! I was assigned to be the first to sing for the semester. I guess they thought that because I was older and had so much more experience, that I wouldn't mind going first, and they were right. The song was "Rastlose Liebe" by Johann Reichardt. I had never heard it before, but I did know the Schubert version on the same text, so it wasn't too hard. Next, I sang "Der Wachtelschlag" by Beethoven. It was a little more difficult, but not too much. It was much harder for my accompanist, but she did well. The skill level of all the students here is VERY high, especially for the post-graduate degrees. The standards for entrance ensure that. My next assignment is to sing a piece by Schubert called "Epistel: An Joseph von Spaun, Assessor in Linz" and it's a doosey of a farcical, humorous/dramatic aria-like song on text that says "So why haven't you written us?" There are several sections to it: a big recitative, a lyrical melodic section, and then a fast coloratura section with 3 high-Cs! I guess it's my own fault. I asked the instructor to challenge me. ::grin::
I'm also taking a class in Vocal Forms. It's a Music Theory based class that is expanding my vocabulary beyond AB, ABA, AABA, and through composed, though every thing beyond that seems to be some derivative therefrom. It's a hard class mainly because it assumes much about the student's comprehension and understanding of basic and advanced Theory. I'm doing okay, but there are some vague and seemingly undefinable contextual terms that I can't quite get a handle on, e.g., just exactly how this teacher is using the word "phrase" in a very specialized way that seems to be synonymous with "musical sentence" that is very specifically made up of "segments" which he also call "phrases" that come in packages of 2+2+4 (referring to "phrase" or "segment" length in measures) or some multiple thereof. ::gasping for air, then continuing in fast speech:: Then there's the concept of musical "periods" that is made up of at least two of those phrase packages that are connected in either a contrasting or parallel manner. (Aside: I wish I could really understand what a "Bar Form" is...) Other than that, the Theory part I'm fine with. The teacher's mind is BRILLIANT, but he has trouble slowing it down enough to complete a sentence. So, it seems like he's mumbling most of the time. It makes it pretty hard to follow what he's trying to illustrate in his lectures. Add that to the constant struggle with the technology in the room (he's a technophobe) and you've got some real communication problems. The man's been teaching for 31 years (he told us that), and he really does have a lot to offer. It's just up to the students to find a way to coax it out of him. He's great one on one, but rolls his eyes when I ask for the seventeenth time about just exactly what HE means by the word "phrase." ::giggle::
The Vocal Area Coordinator waived my Vocal Pedagogy requirement, but I'm sitting in on the class anyway. I still have to include that number of credits on my program, but I can take some other class to fill them instead of Vocal Ped. I'll probably fill them with credits for German or Czech or...!) I think it's this teacher's first time teaching pedagogy, and I know exactly what he's up against, so I'm just having private study groups with individuals, as they ask for it, to try to help as best I can.
My voice lessons take up 4 credits of my maximum 9 credit load paid for by my assistantship. Can you believe it? That shows what a premium they place on it in this program. I'm really enjoying working with Stanford Olsen, but it has taken a while for me to get my voice back in shape well enough to really starting singing like I want to. It's coming though. He's introduced me to some music that I'm having a lot of fun learning. It's a Handel aria from Rinaldo called "Parolette, vezzi e sguardi" that has much coloratura work. He calls it "a bone that Handel threw to the subrette." That's ME! It sits well in my voice and will be the opener for my Diagnostic Recital that will be held on Nov. 14th.
I will be receiving my research and writing topic this coming week for the paper that I must submit before my diagnostic recital will be heard. They want to see if I can do those things: research and write. Most likely it will be something on French Literature because that's what came up lacking on my timed written diagnostic test that I mentioned in my last post. Yes, it was a timed test, which I haven't had to take for 20 years or so. Soooo, my skills in taking tests of that type are rusty, I admit. The French section was the last on the test and I simply ran out of time before I could write an "essay" on each term that I was supposed to define. Oh well. I'll get better at these timed tests with practice, besides, I was planning on taking the French Literature course anyway.
What I really enjoy though is when I get to teach my students. I have a couple that really need help getting into their head voice: one of whom must rejury at the end of this semester or she will be kicked out of the school of music! (Aarrgghh!) She's supposed to graduate with her BA in Music in the Spring. If she doesn't pass this jury, she won't graduate. There's not much compassion exhibited on her behalf by the faculty here. They assume that it's her own fault or lack of "talent". As I work with her, I believe, at least so far, that it's because nobody ever diagnosed the real problem. All her jury sheets just keep talking about bad intonation and opening the throat, but not one of them suggest that the problem could be her inability to access her head voice. They just failed her last jury and that was that. There is a nod to the fact that she's been with three different teachers since she came and that her last one wasn't really very good, but it's still the student's fault for not learning what she was supposed to. So, I guess that's why I'm her teacher this semester. I know what to do to help her and we've begun, but time will tell at the end of the semester whether it was her fault before now or the lack of good teaching that she wasn't allowed. I hope I can make a difference for her, but she does have to do her part.
Well, there it is. An update from Florida, even if it wasn't so brief. Stay tuned for more...!
Dennis is doing well and taking care of Mom in Rexburg, the 4-plex, and anything else he can make mischief with. ::giggle:: Most recently he installed an invisible fence around our property to keep Cassie, our mini-schnauzer dog, ON our property. Next he has to train her about how to respond to it. We talk to each other over the Internet with video calls through MSN Messenger. Technology is wonderful even if it sometimes takes a 1/2 hour to make the connection work. He's coming to visit me next month for my birthday in about 3 more weeks. We're both looking forward to it. YAY!!
My classes are very interesting. I'm taking a German Lied class focused on Schubert, where I'm learning much about Schubert and his precursors. It's fascinating to hear the progression of the musical relationships and I really enjoy the format of the class. In addition to the lectures on the lives and music of one new composer each class period, we also get to sing to each other! I was assigned to be the first to sing for the semester. I guess they thought that because I was older and had so much more experience, that I wouldn't mind going first, and they were right. The song was "Rastlose Liebe" by Johann Reichardt. I had never heard it before, but I did know the Schubert version on the same text, so it wasn't too hard. Next, I sang "Der Wachtelschlag" by Beethoven. It was a little more difficult, but not too much. It was much harder for my accompanist, but she did well. The skill level of all the students here is VERY high, especially for the post-graduate degrees. The standards for entrance ensure that. My next assignment is to sing a piece by Schubert called "Epistel: An Joseph von Spaun, Assessor in Linz" and it's a doosey of a farcical, humorous/dramatic aria-like song on text that says "So why haven't you written us?" There are several sections to it: a big recitative, a lyrical melodic section, and then a fast coloratura section with 3 high-Cs! I guess it's my own fault. I asked the instructor to challenge me. ::grin::
I'm also taking a class in Vocal Forms. It's a Music Theory based class that is expanding my vocabulary beyond AB, ABA, AABA, and through composed, though every thing beyond that seems to be some derivative therefrom. It's a hard class mainly because it assumes much about the student's comprehension and understanding of basic and advanced Theory. I'm doing okay, but there are some vague and seemingly undefinable contextual terms that I can't quite get a handle on, e.g., just exactly how this teacher is using the word "phrase" in a very specialized way that seems to be synonymous with "musical sentence" that is very specifically made up of "segments" which he also call "phrases" that come in packages of 2+2+4 (referring to "phrase" or "segment" length in measures) or some multiple thereof. ::gasping for air, then continuing in fast speech:: Then there's the concept of musical "periods" that is made up of at least two of those phrase packages that are connected in either a contrasting or parallel manner. (Aside: I wish I could really understand what a "Bar Form" is...) Other than that, the Theory part I'm fine with. The teacher's mind is BRILLIANT, but he has trouble slowing it down enough to complete a sentence. So, it seems like he's mumbling most of the time. It makes it pretty hard to follow what he's trying to illustrate in his lectures. Add that to the constant struggle with the technology in the room (he's a technophobe) and you've got some real communication problems. The man's been teaching for 31 years (he told us that), and he really does have a lot to offer. It's just up to the students to find a way to coax it out of him. He's great one on one, but rolls his eyes when I ask for the seventeenth time about just exactly what HE means by the word "phrase." ::giggle::
The Vocal Area Coordinator waived my Vocal Pedagogy requirement, but I'm sitting in on the class anyway. I still have to include that number of credits on my program, but I can take some other class to fill them instead of Vocal Ped. I'll probably fill them with credits for German or Czech or...!) I think it's this teacher's first time teaching pedagogy, and I know exactly what he's up against, so I'm just having private study groups with individuals, as they ask for it, to try to help as best I can.
My voice lessons take up 4 credits of my maximum 9 credit load paid for by my assistantship. Can you believe it? That shows what a premium they place on it in this program. I'm really enjoying working with Stanford Olsen, but it has taken a while for me to get my voice back in shape well enough to really starting singing like I want to. It's coming though. He's introduced me to some music that I'm having a lot of fun learning. It's a Handel aria from Rinaldo called "Parolette, vezzi e sguardi" that has much coloratura work. He calls it "a bone that Handel threw to the subrette." That's ME! It sits well in my voice and will be the opener for my Diagnostic Recital that will be held on Nov. 14th.
I will be receiving my research and writing topic this coming week for the paper that I must submit before my diagnostic recital will be heard. They want to see if I can do those things: research and write. Most likely it will be something on French Literature because that's what came up lacking on my timed written diagnostic test that I mentioned in my last post. Yes, it was a timed test, which I haven't had to take for 20 years or so. Soooo, my skills in taking tests of that type are rusty, I admit. The French section was the last on the test and I simply ran out of time before I could write an "essay" on each term that I was supposed to define. Oh well. I'll get better at these timed tests with practice, besides, I was planning on taking the French Literature course anyway.
What I really enjoy though is when I get to teach my students. I have a couple that really need help getting into their head voice: one of whom must rejury at the end of this semester or she will be kicked out of the school of music! (Aarrgghh!) She's supposed to graduate with her BA in Music in the Spring. If she doesn't pass this jury, she won't graduate. There's not much compassion exhibited on her behalf by the faculty here. They assume that it's her own fault or lack of "talent". As I work with her, I believe, at least so far, that it's because nobody ever diagnosed the real problem. All her jury sheets just keep talking about bad intonation and opening the throat, but not one of them suggest that the problem could be her inability to access her head voice. They just failed her last jury and that was that. There is a nod to the fact that she's been with three different teachers since she came and that her last one wasn't really very good, but it's still the student's fault for not learning what she was supposed to. So, I guess that's why I'm her teacher this semester. I know what to do to help her and we've begun, but time will tell at the end of the semester whether it was her fault before now or the lack of good teaching that she wasn't allowed. I hope I can make a difference for her, but she does have to do her part.
Well, there it is. An update from Florida, even if it wasn't so brief. Stay tuned for more...!
FSU or Bust!
This is a remembrance journal entry to help me keep track of the highlights of our trip from Rexburg, Idaho to Tallahasse, Florida by way of Oregon.
We set out from Rexburg on July 24, 2007 much later in the day than we had wanted. It was hard to get everything done I wanted to do because I knew I was leaving for at least 4 months. Nevertheless, we finished packing the car and got away from the house about 7:00 pm or so with Dennis driving, me in the passenger seat and Dennis' mom tucked into the back seat amid hanging clothes, other paraphernalia, and boxes of music for Florida.
Things were going very smoothly as we made the turn West at Pocatello to head for Boise where we had arranged to spend the night. About a half hour outside of Pocatello, as the sun was setting at twilight, I was reading something on my lap when Dennis called my attention to some deer off to the right of the road. I looked up and saw straight ahead an adult deer in the middle of our lane, not off to the right side where Dennis was looking, but straight ahead. I didn't have time to do anything but scream something like "Dennis lookout!" if it was even that intelligent.
By the time Dennis saw the deer in the road we were already at impact. The poor deer was hit in the hindquarters by the car's left front fender and headlight which whipped his head around and into the driver's side door denting it in and popping the door open. We learned later that the deer was thrown then completely off the road into the center median strip, but we were much more concerned at that point with the damage that had been done to the car. Dennis let the car slow as we took an exit off the freeway that was immediately available and we came to a stop with the engine smoking as we turned right off of the top of the offramp to American Falls.
By this time it was about 8:30 pm. There was nothing to do but call AAA and see if they could come get our car and tow it to an auto body shop for repairs and to see if we could make it back to Pocatello ourselves for the night. Shortly thereafter, a couple pulled up in front of us who stopped to see if we were alright and if there was anything they could do. I was already on the phone to AAA and the woman of the couple did a great job of asking questions and making suggestions to try to help me think straight and make decisions while I was on the phone because, as you might imagine, I was a bit unnerved by the accident.
It turns out that this couple were members of the LDS church, in fact he was the Elder's quorum president of their ward, and they offered to let us stay at their house that was only about a quarter-mile from where we were stopped. On top of that, their brother owned a collision repair shop in Pocatello, where we ultimately had the AAA tow truck deliver the car. They were wonderful to take us as complete strangers into their home, to feed us, and soothe our worries; it was quite a remarkable thing to discover there are truly Christian people still out there attending to the wounds of the Samaritan on the side of the road.
The next morning this wonderful woman fed us and took us back into Pocatello to see to the car, contact the insurance company, and rent a car so we could continue on our trip to Oregon for Dennis' Warr Family Reunion. While we were taking care of the car at the repair shop, Dennis received a phone call from our neighbor who had agreed to care for our cat while we were away. She was crying and said she had some bad news. Our kitty had been killed in the street the day after we had left. It was a big double whammy after hitting the deer and crunching our car. Once we had taken care of the insurance claim details for the car, found a rental car, and transferred our suitcases into the rental car, things actually calmed down a bit thereafter. Insurance paid for the repairs on the car, but no one can replace Sammy, our cat.
We drove past Boise that day and on into Oregon stopping for the night in Bend and then to Coos Bay where we stayed for the days of the reunion. The Reunion was lots of fun as usual with a horseshoe tournament and good food and a raffle to which everyone brings something to contribute, the proceeds of which go to defray the costs of organizing and funding the reunion. The Warr's really know how to throw a party that appeals to all ages and all types of people.
After the reunion, we had originally planned to travel on down the Oregon coast into Northern and Central California to visit with some friends and family. However, the accident forced us to reconfigure our plans. Instead of driving down the coast, we had to head back to Pocatello to return the rental car and pick up our newly repaired vehicle. So, we decided to travel South from there through Utah, dropping Dennis' mom off at his niece's home, who was taking care of her for the rest of our trip, down to St. George to stay a couple of days with some friends, and then West again to Southern California where we would be visiting with my daughter, Katie. I spent a lot of time while in St. George and Palm Springs on the phone trying to nail down a place to live in Tallahassee for myself and my new roommate that I'd met via email through FSU. It's a hard thing to do by long distance in a place you've never been before. My cell phone bill for that month was $290 because of it!
We spent a week in the Palm Springs area relaxing and enjoying Katie's company and getting to know her boyfriend, David, who is an Executive Chef at a very posh Pasadena restaurant. The
four of us rode on the gondola to the top of the highest mountain in the area. It was much cooler up there than the 102-5 degree heat down in the valley. As we were driving to Palm Springs in Katie's car (because mine was still packed to the gills), Dennis and I sat in the back seat and I was able to exact some revenge on Katie in role reversal when I said to her, "Are we in Palm Springs yet?" She laughed so hard at that I thought she might split. Then she got me back when we stopped for ice cream at a Dairy Queen. She and David went in to get the cones and when she returned, she said back to me, "Here you go, kids!" and Dennis said to David, "Thanks, Dad!" It was most amusing and we had a lot of fun laughing about it for the next couple of days. We also went to a very fancy restaurant and had a blast talking about how good the food was. What a fun time it was!
One of the places we visited while in SoCal was
our old house in Pasadena. It's had a fresh coat of paint and a new fence over the driveway. You can see that the front windows have been replaced as well, so it's looking well cared for, but it will always be the house where my children grew up. While there, we were also able to reconnect with some old friends from my Southern California performing days and get caught up on all the news of those lovely people whom I miss alot. We also saw some of Dennis' family that he hadn't seen for several years and to go to one of the new LDS temples there where we discovered that I had left my recommend at home in Rexburg!
We left Palm Springs on August 9th bound for points East, stopping really only to see the Mesa, Arizona temple and the inside of a couple of Motel 6 rooms, before making it to Dennis' brother's house in Houston, Texas. A couple of musings about impressions of what we saw as we traveled through Texas: I would never want to live in El Paso, I didn't know there was an area called the "Hill Country" in Southeastern Texas that is so beautiful with rolling hills and forests of oak and walnut trees, I wasn't aware that the Texas air was sooo humid, and least impressive of all is that I couldn't believe that people could be so filthy. I was picking up and cleaning up for the rest of humanity, it seemed, all along the way. I would like to think that people in general have enough pride in themselves and care about others who might come behind them that they would leave a place better than they found it. That was a disappointment for me, but then, that's just me; just ask my kids!
We stayed in Houston with Dennis' older brother, Steve, for a couple of days, playing games, watching movies, eating good food, and cheering him in his pole vaulting (he has a pit in his backyard that is visible in the background of the picture). Steve is #2 in the World for polevaulting for his age group. It's pretty impressive
that he can still get up over that 10-foot+ bar at 65 years old. Quite a feat that! Dennis also got to ride on Steve's lawn mower tractor and had fun(?) mowing the lawn in 95 degree heat and 98% humidity. I was happy to stay inside in the air conditioning and read my Music History text preparing for the exams I would have to take my first week at FSU. We had a good visit with Steve and I enjoyed getting to know him a little better. It was unfortunate that his wife, Kathy, was in New England while we were there, but her plans had been made long before we know when were would be coming through Houston.
After leaving Houston, we made the journey to New Orleans. I had never been there before and I wanted to see what everyone says is so exciting about the place. We also wanted to see for ourselves the remnants of the Hurricane Katrina damage. We were told by the front desk attendant at the hotel where we stayed that they had had 5-6 feet of water on the inside of the ground floor of the hotel and that they were making repairs and renovations, but that it was a slow process. He told us that the people made homeless by Katrina, whom they had allowed to come in and stay for free on the upper floors, had done more damage to the rooms than anything Katrina had done. Like I said, I was disappointed in the actions of people along the way. I don't understand why anyone would be so disrespectful to a place that was offering them help for free. The room that Dennis and I stayed in was one of the better ones and we saw the holes in the wall and the broken window and stickers on the headboards as evidence of what the attendant had said. Not good!
The night that we were there, Dennis and I went to the French Quarter and walked around just to see what all the hype is about that place. The food and architecture was wonderful, but beyond that I wasn't too impressed. It's mostly bars with LOUD music, XXX nightclubs, and souvenir shops. There was only one club that had a band that was playing some good, standard, tasteful, and tuneful Blues that we couldn't go into because there was too much tobacco smoke and alcohol. What a shame! So we stood outside the door for as long as our legs would let us, then moved on. After about 2 hours of mostly checking out the souvenir shops, I was done. I had seen all I wanted to see of the French Quarter. I still don't really see what all the hype about fabulous New Orleans is about, but then I'm not into indulging myself in all the "pleasures of the flesh" anyway, so this is not surprising. We left the next morning determined to reach Tallahassee by day's end.
From New Orleans, we headed East through Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia into Florida. We took a side trip to the Gulf Coast and saw first hand the many seaside homes and businesses that had been damaged and even destroyed by Katrina. This was so sad. These were beautiful big homes that were boarded up and every other one, it seemed, was for sale. I'll bet you could buy a fixer-upper there for a good bargain price, even if that "bargain" price is probably still in the millions just for the land. We stopped just for a few minutes to walk in the fine, white sand, pick up a few seashells, and to put our feet in the Gulf water. I was amazed at how warm it was! It was as warm as bath water! I'm told that it was so warm because the area had been experiencing unusually warm weather for the past couple of weeks, but I've never felt ocean water that warm in my life. What an experience!
We finally made it to Tallahassee on August 15th. The apartment we had settled on was called the Castle Apartments and seeing as my last name is CASTLE-Warr, it seemed like it was meant to be, especially since it was the only 2bd/2ba apartment that was available for the price range and area of town that we were looking for before Sept. 1 and that because someone had had to cancel their lease! Boy, am I glad that we weren't homeless for two weeks. Thank you, God! That was a fitting end to quite a saga and I'm very grateful that we made it to our destination without further mishap after the deer episode. We had a great time on our trip and made lots of memories to last a life time. I'm looking forward to making more memories with my brother Ron and his wife, Debbie, who only live about 3 hours from Tallahassee in Columbus, Georgia. What fun there is yet in store!
We set out from Rexburg on July 24, 2007 much later in the day than we had wanted. It was hard to get everything done I wanted to do because I knew I was leaving for at least 4 months. Nevertheless, we finished packing the car and got away from the house about 7:00 pm or so with Dennis driving, me in the passenger seat and Dennis' mom tucked into the back seat amid hanging clothes, other paraphernalia, and boxes of music for Florida.Things were going very smoothly as we made the turn West at Pocatello to head for Boise where we had arranged to spend the night. About a half hour outside of Pocatello, as the sun was setting at twilight, I was reading something on my lap when Dennis called my attention to some deer off to the right of the road. I looked up and saw straight ahead an adult deer in the middle of our lane, not off to the right side where Dennis was looking, but straight ahead. I didn't have time to do anything but scream something like "Dennis lookout!" if it was even that intelligent.
By the time Dennis saw the deer in the road we were already at impact. The poor deer was hit in the hindquarters by the car's left front fender and headlight which whipped his head around and into the driver's side door denting it in and popping the door open. We learned later that the deer was thrown then completely off the road into the center median strip, but we were much more concerned at that point with the damage that had been done to the car. Dennis let the car slow as we took an exit off the freeway that was immediately available and we came to a stop with the engine smoking as we turned right off of the top of the offramp to American Falls.By this time it was about 8:30 pm. There was nothing to do but call AAA and see if they could come get our car and tow it to an auto body shop for repairs and to see if we could make it back to Pocatello ourselves for the night. Shortly thereafter, a couple pulled up in front of us who stopped to see if we were alright and if there was anything they could do. I was already on the phone to AAA and the woman of the couple did a great job of asking questions and making suggestions to try to help me think straight and make decisions while I was on the phone because, as you might imagine, I was a bit unnerved by the accident.
It turns out that this couple were members of the LDS church, in fact he was the Elder's quorum president of their ward, and they offered to let us stay at their house that was only about a quarter-mile from where we were stopped. On top of that, their brother owned a collision repair shop in Pocatello, where we ultimately had the AAA tow truck deliver the car. They were wonderful to take us as complete strangers into their home, to feed us, and soothe our worries; it was quite a remarkable thing to discover there are truly Christian people still out there attending to the wounds of the Samaritan on the side of the road.
The next morning this wonderful woman fed us and took us back into Pocatello to see to the car, contact the insurance company, and rent a car so we could continue on our trip to Oregon for Dennis' Warr Family Reunion. While we were taking care of the car at the repair shop, Dennis received a phone call from our neighbor who had agreed to care for our cat while we were away. She was crying and said she had some bad news. Our kitty had been killed in the street the day after we had left. It was a big double whammy after hitting the deer and crunching our car. Once we had taken care of the insurance claim details for the car, found a rental car, and transferred our suitcases into the rental car, things actually calmed down a bit thereafter. Insurance paid for the repairs on the car, but no one can replace Sammy, our cat.
We drove past Boise that day and on into Oregon stopping for the night in Bend and then to Coos Bay where we stayed for the days of the reunion. The Reunion was lots of fun as usual with a horseshoe tournament and good food and a raffle to which everyone brings something to contribute, the proceeds of which go to defray the costs of organizing and funding the reunion. The Warr's really know how to throw a party that appeals to all ages and all types of people.
After the reunion, we had originally planned to travel on down the Oregon coast into Northern and Central California to visit with some friends and family. However, the accident forced us to reconfigure our plans. Instead of driving down the coast, we had to head back to Pocatello to return the rental car and pick up our newly repaired vehicle. So, we decided to travel South from there through Utah, dropping Dennis' mom off at his niece's home, who was taking care of her for the rest of our trip, down to St. George to stay a couple of days with some friends, and then West again to Southern California where we would be visiting with my daughter, Katie. I spent a lot of time while in St. George and Palm Springs on the phone trying to nail down a place to live in Tallahassee for myself and my new roommate that I'd met via email through FSU. It's a hard thing to do by long distance in a place you've never been before. My cell phone bill for that month was $290 because of it!
We spent a week in the Palm Springs area relaxing and enjoying Katie's company and getting to know her boyfriend, David, who is an Executive Chef at a very posh Pasadena restaurant. The
four of us rode on the gondola to the top of the highest mountain in the area. It was much cooler up there than the 102-5 degree heat down in the valley. As we were driving to Palm Springs in Katie's car (because mine was still packed to the gills), Dennis and I sat in the back seat and I was able to exact some revenge on Katie in role reversal when I said to her, "Are we in Palm Springs yet?" She laughed so hard at that I thought she might split. Then she got me back when we stopped for ice cream at a Dairy Queen. She and David went in to get the cones and when she returned, she said back to me, "Here you go, kids!" and Dennis said to David, "Thanks, Dad!" It was most amusing and we had a lot of fun laughing about it for the next couple of days. We also went to a very fancy restaurant and had a blast talking about how good the food was. What a fun time it was!One of the places we visited while in SoCal was
our old house in Pasadena. It's had a fresh coat of paint and a new fence over the driveway. You can see that the front windows have been replaced as well, so it's looking well cared for, but it will always be the house where my children grew up. While there, we were also able to reconnect with some old friends from my Southern California performing days and get caught up on all the news of those lovely people whom I miss alot. We also saw some of Dennis' family that he hadn't seen for several years and to go to one of the new LDS temples there where we discovered that I had left my recommend at home in Rexburg!We left Palm Springs on August 9th bound for points East, stopping really only to see the Mesa, Arizona temple and the inside of a couple of Motel 6 rooms, before making it to Dennis' brother's house in Houston, Texas. A couple of musings about impressions of what we saw as we traveled through Texas: I would never want to live in El Paso, I didn't know there was an area called the "Hill Country" in Southeastern Texas that is so beautiful with rolling hills and forests of oak and walnut trees, I wasn't aware that the Texas air was sooo humid, and least impressive of all is that I couldn't believe that people could be so filthy. I was picking up and cleaning up for the rest of humanity, it seemed, all along the way. I would like to think that people in general have enough pride in themselves and care about others who might come behind them that they would leave a place better than they found it. That was a disappointment for me, but then, that's just me; just ask my kids!
We stayed in Houston with Dennis' older brother, Steve, for a couple of days, playing games, watching movies, eating good food, and cheering him in his pole vaulting (he has a pit in his backyard that is visible in the background of the picture). Steve is #2 in the World for polevaulting for his age group. It's pretty impressive
that he can still get up over that 10-foot+ bar at 65 years old. Quite a feat that! Dennis also got to ride on Steve's lawn mower tractor and had fun(?) mowing the lawn in 95 degree heat and 98% humidity. I was happy to stay inside in the air conditioning and read my Music History text preparing for the exams I would have to take my first week at FSU. We had a good visit with Steve and I enjoyed getting to know him a little better. It was unfortunate that his wife, Kathy, was in New England while we were there, but her plans had been made long before we know when were would be coming through Houston.After leaving Houston, we made the journey to New Orleans. I had never been there before and I wanted to see what everyone says is so exciting about the place. We also wanted to see for ourselves the remnants of the Hurricane Katrina damage. We were told by the front desk attendant at the hotel where we stayed that they had had 5-6 feet of water on the inside of the ground floor of the hotel and that they were making repairs and renovations, but that it was a slow process. He told us that the people made homeless by Katrina, whom they had allowed to come in and stay for free on the upper floors, had done more damage to the rooms than anything Katrina had done. Like I said, I was disappointed in the actions of people along the way. I don't understand why anyone would be so disrespectful to a place that was offering them help for free. The room that Dennis and I stayed in was one of the better ones and we saw the holes in the wall and the broken window and stickers on the headboards as evidence of what the attendant had said. Not good!
The night that we were there, Dennis and I went to the French Quarter and walked around just to see what all the hype is about that place. The food and architecture was wonderful, but beyond that I wasn't too impressed. It's mostly bars with LOUD music, XXX nightclubs, and souvenir shops. There was only one club that had a band that was playing some good, standard, tasteful, and tuneful Blues that we couldn't go into because there was too much tobacco smoke and alcohol. What a shame! So we stood outside the door for as long as our legs would let us, then moved on. After about 2 hours of mostly checking out the souvenir shops, I was done. I had seen all I wanted to see of the French Quarter. I still don't really see what all the hype about fabulous New Orleans is about, but then I'm not into indulging myself in all the "pleasures of the flesh" anyway, so this is not surprising. We left the next morning determined to reach Tallahassee by day's end.
From New Orleans, we headed East through Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia into Florida. We took a side trip to the Gulf Coast and saw first hand the many seaside homes and businesses that had been damaged and even destroyed by Katrina. This was so sad. These were beautiful big homes that were boarded up and every other one, it seemed, was for sale. I'll bet you could buy a fixer-upper there for a good bargain price, even if that "bargain" price is probably still in the millions just for the land. We stopped just for a few minutes to walk in the fine, white sand, pick up a few seashells, and to put our feet in the Gulf water. I was amazed at how warm it was! It was as warm as bath water! I'm told that it was so warm because the area had been experiencing unusually warm weather for the past couple of weeks, but I've never felt ocean water that warm in my life. What an experience!
We finally made it to Tallahassee on August 15th. The apartment we had settled on was called the Castle Apartments and seeing as my last name is CASTLE-Warr, it seemed like it was meant to be, especially since it was the only 2bd/2ba apartment that was available for the price range and area of town that we were looking for before Sept. 1 and that because someone had had to cancel their lease! Boy, am I glad that we weren't homeless for two weeks. Thank you, God! That was a fitting end to quite a saga and I'm very grateful that we made it to our destination without further mishap after the deer episode. We had a great time on our trip and made lots of memories to last a life time. I'm looking forward to making more memories with my brother Ron and his wife, Debbie, who only live about 3 hours from Tallahassee in Columbus, Georgia. What fun there is yet in store!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Wherever you go, there you are!
Well, here I am in Florida! Did I ever think I would live in Florida? No. I never thought I'd have reason to live in Florida, but Somebody else had something in mind for me that for a long time I didn't dare hope for. I'm still getting used to the idea that I am now a Doctoral student and in Vocal Performance at that, though at my age and stage in life I have learned that helping other people fulfill their vocal dreams is my new passion in life. So, rather than being in the fray and competing with all those young vocal career wannabe's, I'm focusing on how I can better help them get where they want to go. In other words, my focus is in Vocal Pedagogy as I begin working on my Doctor of Music degree at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
I am studying with Stanford Olsen, who is fabulous, but I'm hoping to learn by observation from all of the faculty here as much as I can, as fast as I can. (Yes, it's still me, even here in Florida, hence the title of this entry.) The orientation week and the first week of classes was rather overwhelming with so much information to assimilate (nothing new, right?), but my schedule is now settled and the initial "meet the new Grad Assistant" performances are out of the way. I passed both of the placement tests for undergrad level Music History and Music Theory (whew!) so I won't have to take any of the Remediation courses. The next hurdle is the written portion of my Diagnostic Exams of the first semester that are coming up this Wednesday, which I have no idea how to prepare for since they are testing me on stuff I'm supposed to already know. And after that I can really go to work to prepare for my Diagnostic Recital which will be on Nov. 14th.
Prof. Olsen and I have been discussing the repertoire that I will present for that recital, which will be more like a 20-25 minute jury (how do you like that! for all you BYU-I students out there that worry about having to sing one or two songs for your juries). I'm not complaining, mind you, because I'm loving being back in the role of student. I am, however, still trying to wrap my brain around everything that is yet to be required. I know, I know, just take it one step at a time, you would tell me, and I am...as best as I can.
I am studying with Stanford Olsen, who is fabulous, but I'm hoping to learn by observation from all of the faculty here as much as I can, as fast as I can. (Yes, it's still me, even here in Florida, hence the title of this entry.) The orientation week and the first week of classes was rather overwhelming with so much information to assimilate (nothing new, right?), but my schedule is now settled and the initial "meet the new Grad Assistant" performances are out of the way. I passed both of the placement tests for undergrad level Music History and Music Theory (whew!) so I won't have to take any of the Remediation courses. The next hurdle is the written portion of my Diagnostic Exams of the first semester that are coming up this Wednesday, which I have no idea how to prepare for since they are testing me on stuff I'm supposed to already know. And after that I can really go to work to prepare for my Diagnostic Recital which will be on Nov. 14th.
Prof. Olsen and I have been discussing the repertoire that I will present for that recital, which will be more like a 20-25 minute jury (how do you like that! for all you BYU-I students out there that worry about having to sing one or two songs for your juries). I'm not complaining, mind you, because I'm loving being back in the role of student. I am, however, still trying to wrap my brain around everything that is yet to be required. I know, I know, just take it one step at a time, you would tell me, and I am...as best as I can.
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