(no subject)

[felicula]

So, this past weekend was another busy one.

Friday May 9 was notable in that I received my very first "I'm interested in making friends too" message from someone via OKCupid. Sure, I am as wary as the next person on that site, if not more. So far, exchanging emails has been positive. Given time, the making friends part may actually come to pass. Funky.

Sunday May 11, we went back to First Universalist since it was RE Sunday and Aidan wanted to participate. That was generally cute, aside from the girl who talked about friendship as it relates to her 300-some friends on Facebook. I felt bad for her that she did not have a deeper sense of what friendship could be.

Afterward, mechanchaos, Aidan, and I decided to wade into the crowds at the Lilac Festival. We parked at MCC as we usually do. This time they had yellow school buses in the the festival instead of city buses. Damn, that ride was bumpy! Let me tell you, it is no mean feat to ride on a yellow school bus through road construction with DDD cups... OUCH! I was wearing a sweatshirt, so I pulled it tight over my built-in slinkies to try to keep them from screaming at me.

This year I was determined to see all the arts and crafts folks. I had forgotten how much I dislike wading through crowds. Some of the booths were well worth it, but many barely registered to my interest. Trying to stay together as a family and still move through the rows efficiently was a challenge.

We had planned on having lunch at the festival, but what you get for your money did not seem worthwhile. All three of us split a $5 fried dough, and that was it. I keep thinking that carnival treats should be $1 each. Does that mean I'm getting old?

Instead, we decided to go to Romano's Macaroni Grill for dinner. Good thing mechanchaos called ahead. If we had just gone, the wait would have been an hour and a half. Instead, we were seated right away. What a nice outing for Mother's Day. :)

Monday May 12 was the start of the Week of Doom before the RWCC concert. On my plate for chorus: two dress rehearsals, one regular rehearsal, and one small group rehearsal. I thought that I would have more of a role in setup since I joined the production committee, so I tried to get there early for the first tech rehearsal. It seemed that the stage crew had setup well in hand. It was not until the end of the rehearsal that I realized just how grateful I felt not to be setting up too. Again, if I was in better shape it would not have been as draining. (I think...)

Tuesdays are my night out, and May 13 was no exception. That rehearsal seemed to drag. If others were as worn out as I was by the tech rehearsal, then I shouldn't be surprised that we weren't as energetic as we usually are.

The Druid meeting this week was at S's house. We're starting to figure out who's doing what for the Midsummer ritual. K's working hard to nudge us toward protogrove status. We settled on a name for ourselves, though I'm hard-put to remember whether it's The Protogrove of the Shining Valley or The Shining Valley Protogrove. I like the sound of it either way.

Wednesday May 14 was the first small group rehearsal with the lead guitarist. I am glad we had the vocal parts pretty solid before it. Adding in the lead guitar was akin to making a remix, but with living, breathing people who can get thrown by the changes. Whether or not it was apparent to the others, rolling with the changes threw me a bit.

Thursday May 15 was the final tech rehearsal before the concert. Some things had come together nicely, others were shaken up at the last minute. My feet were screaming at me by the end of the rehearsal. It scared me to think that the shoes I planned to wear would exacerbate the fatigue of standing on the night of the concert. I left the rehearsal knowing I still had at least two songs I needed to work hard at memorizing. Yikes!

Friday May 16 I found out that my Mom, who I knew was planning on coming for the concert, wanted to stay over at our apartment too. Uh oh, I needed to clean... lots. Somehow, between the three of us, we got this place presentable by early enough on Saturday for me to feel like time was dragging its feet before it was time for me to head to Hochstein.

Which brings us to the big day, Saturday May 17. I had sung in a couple chorus concerts at First Universalist in the past year or so, but the last time I was on stage outside of a church setting was SUNY Oswego's production of Carmina Burana in (I think) spring of 1998. Before that, the bulk of my singing was with the Chamber Singers of the Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart. I think my biggest regret over the years is that I let my anxiety stop me from pursuing a major in music.

In any case, I was nervous: nervous enough to be a ball of emotion and adrenaline Saturday morning. Cleanup did little to burn it off.

I am glad I took the time to warm up at home. In the bustle of sound checks, we did not get a chance to properly warm up as a group. I was shocked to find that my range is inching lower again. I got down to the A that is three half-steps below the octave below middle C. Whee! That makes three octaves to my range these days. I intend to keep up with vocalizing over the summer so I don't lose that again! Anyone want to come sing with me?

Anyhow, the performance itself was fun. I was nervous enough that mechanchaos could tell from his seat in one of the first few rows of the center section. If you asked me Saturday after the concert, I could probably give you a list of about 50 things that I screwed up. (Yes, I am a recovering perfectionist.) Thankfully, I have forgotten most of them already.

During intermission, my nerves ramped up even more. I'm really not sure why, since the small groups I was a part of had already performed and I felt solid on all the songs left. Aidan showed up in the room in which I was trying to chill out. mechanchaos came in after him a minute later. He told me that S and K, my ADF friends, were in the audience as well. By that time, it was a little late for me to go say hi before we needed to sit down for Bush Mango.

What can I say. I loved watching Bush Mango Drum and Dance perform. They were energetic and in fantastic shape. I would love to have half the stamina of these folks! I am grateful that the chorus got to be in the audience to watch them.

They were a tough act to follow for the rest of the choral program. Our energy level could not compare. Granted, a women's chorus and a drum and dance troupe are two very different animals.

I had planned on heading over to the after-party. mechanchaos wasn't originally that interested in it, but once he found out that dawnstar and kolys were going, he changed his mind. Here's where I was so, so grateful that my Mom was staying over. She was willing to take Aidan home so the two of them could crash and mechanchaos and I could unwind a bit.

The after-party was at a tea and noodle place just off Monroe Ave. I had never been there before, but mechanchaos and I have resolved to try to go again. They had a tasty selection of Asian appetizers for us. mechanchaos hinted that I need to relax by bringing me a glass of plum wine when he went to get something for himself. He was right. Between nerves and adrenaline, I was wound up way too tight. Before things wound down, I had a particularly nummy taro bubble milkshake. I doubt that was good for me, but it sure tasted good!

As people trickled out and the party wound down, mechanchaos and I were asked if we wanted to join a few folks at a local bar. I'm not typically one for bars, but I do like the idea of hanging out with people and getting to know them better. My curiosity and shyness were battling it out, so I asked mechanchaos whether he thought we should go or not. He said, "Sure."

I must admit it, it was actually the first time I had gone to a gay bar. Yes, I have been bisexual since before I was sexual, but I had never gone to a gay bar. I am much more likely to go to Vertex... Goth clubs were the first night spots I was comfortable with.

When we got there, the place was packed. There were people doing karaoke, and some of the folks I knew kept poking me in the hopes that I would go up and sing. I may not drink much or often, but I'm not a cheap date. I think it would have taken much more than I had to get me up there... It's funny. If it was a venue with which I was more familiar or songs I had prepped beforehand, I could have been more easily persuaded. Hell, I would have been more comfortable improvising something with live musicians than with singing along with a machine. As it was, I threatened mechanchaos with bodily harm (or at the very least: ice down the pants) if he put my name on the list without telling me. C pouted at me a lot over that. It was cute.

Since I know very little about alcohol in general and mix drinks in particular, I asked mechanchaos seemed to think it was amusing that C asked his permission to dance next to me. We stayed until after the last karaoke song was sung. (Not by me. Ha! They didn't get me this time!) mechanchaos and I were talking about it so much the whole way home that we sat in the car in the driveway and talked some more so that we wouldn't wake Aidan or my Mom up when we came in. Not that that stopped us from whispering at each other quite a bit after we did go upstairs. It was a very social evening, and a positive way to end the day even though I knew we'd be way too tired when it was time to get up and be host to my Mom before she went home.

We napped a good chunk of Sunday May 18, then had a nice visit from hbbtrbbtbcnbt and her two boys. Yay for social time! Yay for a clean house to have it in! I really need to keep this place tidy more consistently and have people over more often. I forgot how much I like having folks over.

So, now it's a new week. I'm still gearing up for ecwoodburn's and lite's wedding in (Holy Crap!) less than two weeks. Methinks June will be a calmer month than May. I need to find a way to keep singing, and not just in the shower or while doing laundry.....

Comments

[phoenixsong]

Holy crap indeed! I'm excited and terrified all at once. I couldn't tell you where the nerves were coming from, though. No idea. I think I've gone into that semi-happy-don't-care-anymore place. s:)

Yay for you and dawnstar and concertness s:) And the social time afterwards sounds nifty. Gay bars can indeed be fun -- the one I know of down here is also one of the few spots that does karaoke that doesn't involve major deposits for a private room.

[dawnstar.livejournal.com]

I'm sad I didn't get to go to the bar afterwards, but as it was, we'd kept Liam out about 2 hours post-bedtime (though he napped some during the concert and after-party) ... and I kinda didn't think I could get away with bringing a baby to a crowded bar anyway. :P

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can't imagine Liam would have been too happy. It was loud, and it was late. It was neat to get to hang out at the restaurant though. :)

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

Before this year, the biggest wedding I'd officiated was dawnstar's and kolys's. I get the feeling yours will be bigger. I think you've got a pretty solid, meaningful, personal ceremony assembled. Hopefully your families will recognize that!

[phoenixsong]

Uh, yeah, I think so too. Do you want to know how many people have RSVP'd, or would that make you nervous? s:)

[blackfelicula.livejournal.com]

Yes... ;)