Wake me when it's over

So, we're supposed to turn our clocks back an hour on Saturday night. Great! An extra hour of sleep! But do you know what it also means? One more extra hour until the election is over! Instead of turning my clock back one hour, can I turn it forward until November 5th? That would be great!

Seriously...I voted last Saturday. I don't need to hear any more campaign/attack ads, listen to any more political calls (not that I answer them anyway...yay for Caller ID), or get any more crap in the mail. I just want it all to go away!!!!!

That being said, I am going to step on my soap box for one brief moment...something very rare is going to happen here....I am going to say something political. I'll say stuff like this around my family and coworkers, but I tend to keep my mouth shut in other situations. I don't like to pick fights. But I have to say the following:

Socialism destroyed Russia...and Hitler was a good public speaker, too. Doing your homework means looking at History. There's a reason I was a History minor in college. We have to learn from history if we're ever going to learn from past mistakes and be better people.

Just sayin'. I will now go back to keeping my mouth shut to avoid confrontation. Thank you and have a nice day! :)

Early Morning Phone Calls = Rude Awakenings

So my cell phone rang this morning at about 5:45 am. What the heck?! When the phone rings that early, you expect an emergency, right? So I stumble out of bed and try to dig my phone out of my purse. It was dark...my phone was buried...I didn't make it in time to answer. I checked to see who it was. A Utah phone number, the same one that had called me last night when my phone was on silent. I can understand calling me once, having dialed the wrong number. But to call again at 5:45 am? Are you freaking kidding me?! The weird thing is that I had another missed call yesterday from a Colorado number with the same last 4 digits. Odd... If I find out they were political call, I'm going to be seriously pissed! I voted last Saturday. I don't want to hear anything about the election until it's over!!!!!!!

I'm not going to call the numbers back. I never call back on a missed call unless it's a) someone I know or b) they leave a message. I did try to look up the numbers on Google. For $15 (per number) I can find out who called me. Uh, no thanks! I don't need to know that bad! But if they call back today....I'm answering. So beware!!!!

A "Little Women" Preview

You may have already known that I am doing a production of "Little Women" with Up in Lights Productions. We will run the show the middle of November. I just got some of the promo photos today, so here the two that included me:





I look really evil!!! Well, Aunt March isn't exactly the nicest old lady in the world. My make up will look way better than that, now that I've learned how to put on "old age" make up. (Thank you, Ashley!)

Come see the show! November 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23rd at the Rialto Theater in Loveland!
www.uilproductions.com

"Perform Service"

So...Shauna and I were driving in her car today and all of the sudden, there was a beeping sound and her little display screen said "Perform Service." Now, it really meant that the car is due for an oil change, but we thought it was pretty funny. What kind of service should we perform? We get told all the time at church that we should do service. We do service projects, etc. But when the car gets in on the act and tells us to perform service, that's just weird!!! Next thing you know, the car will be reminding us to do our visiting teaching and read our scriptures!!!

Google Yourself!

When did the word "google" become a verb? Just sayin'.

Have you ever googled yourself? Have you done it in a way where you really can find yourself? If you put quotation marks around your full name, it'll come up with more specific references. If you also include the town you live in (not the state, but you can try that, too, if you want), also in quotation marks, you can narrow it down even more! It still throws in other random stuff. Here's what I found out about myself today:

*I'm 39 years old and I live in Ohio. (Uhhhh...no.)
*I donated something to the Loveland Concert Band raffle (Oh, wait...that is me!)
*I went to Loveland High School. (HA! Me again!)
*I wrote a book. (Nope.)
*I am Judy's daughter and a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Vocal Performance. (Yep, me again!)
*I wrote a letter that was printed in the People Magazine "Mailbag". (Yeah, that was me, too. They edited down my letter to make me sound like a crazy stalker. Not so happy about THAT!)
*I came to Falcon in 2004 (Yes, that's me again!)
*I'm a trustee for some trust. (Nope, not unless someone forgot to tell me something)
*I'm apparently some sort of R&B singer, or something. (They got the singer part, right. But I DON'T do R&B)
*I made the Dean's List at St. Ambrose University. (Well, I don't go to school there, and I've never made the Dean's List anywhere.)
*I was in a Rodeo Pagent. (No way, Jose!)
*I was born in Tuskagee, Alabama (No...but I did visit Alabama once for about 36 hours.)
*I played Vittoria in The Gondoliers. (Hey! Me again!)
*I'm married to a guy named Tim and live in Warrenton, OR. (Noooooooo....)
*I placed 1st in an event in a track meet at Abilene Christian University. (I don't do track. I only run when chased.)
*I'm an Amateur Radio Operator in Tucson, AZ. (Not the last time I checked.)

I actually did find myself a few more times, along with a lot of other wierd stuff! It's fun to see what's out there...and who has my name!!! :)

The Drowsy Chaperone

This show is one of the most ridiculous shows I've ever seen! AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!! The premise is just, well....genius! There's this guy called "Man in Chair" who tells you all about his favorite musical from 1928, "The Drowsy Chaperone." He plays the record (yes, record) and the show comes to life in his apartment! It's hilarious! He interjects his commentary, joins in the scenes, etc. Crazy? Ye.? Entertaining? DARN TOOTIN'! Holy cats, this show is funny!

I've wanted to see it FOREVER! I was in NYC 3 weeks before it started previews. I have pictures of the outside of the Marquis Theatre, with all the posters up. But alas, I never made it back to NYC to see the show. But I finally saw the tour yesterday! And I did get to see one of the original cast members. Georgia Engle is touring, playing the incredibly daffy Mrs. Tottendale. She's amazing! I want to have that much energy when I'm her age. How old is she? Wait...what? She's only 60? I thought she was older than my parents. Oh, well.... But the biggest thrill of the day was that Jonathon Crombie was playing the Man in the Chair. Hello!!! Gilbert Blythe from the Anne of Green Gables movies?! He's really good!!! We met him at the stage door after the show... and yes, I was "that girl" at the stagedoor. I couldn't help myself. I geeked out. I'm sorry!!!!

One thing I liked about the set was that it started out in the apartment. As the show started coming to life, the apartment stayed the same. But gradually, the set changed...adding more and more pieces of the show's set as the scenes went on. By the end, the only thing that remained of the apartment was the stuff on the procenium and the chair, lamp, & record player. Then after the curtain call, the apartment reappeared, in it's entirety. Loved it! The more we got into the show, the farther we moved from reality. That's how theatre should be!!!!!

Anywho..."The Drowsy Chaperone" is amazing! If you get a chance, see it! It's an hour and 40 minutes PACKED with laughs! They recreated a cheesy 20s musical, but with the added flair of today. I loved it! It's a love letter to musicals...specifically a love letter to musical theatre fans. How could I NOT like something like that?

Haunted? Yes. Scary? Psssssh...

I went to the Fritzler Corn Maze in LaSalle tonight. I had never been to a corn maze before, mainly because I have really, REALLY bad allergies. I thought I'd probably die in the middle of the maze and they'd have to airlift me out. But I decided to suck it up and go tonight. I've been managing my allergies since I was 12, so I took a couple of precautions. Turned out alright, mainly because it wasn't windy. Just cold, which is probably better.

Anyway...we went through the haunted side. I learned very quickly, that if we hung back just slightly from the group in front of us, the people would jump out and scare them. I would be tipped off by their screaming and not react. Plus, there's a definitive swishing sound that dried corn makes when you go crashing through it. That's your sign that someone is coming. So no screaming for me!

You get through the main part of the maze, and then you get to the really haunted part, called Scream Alley or something like that. You have to wait forever to get in, but it's worth it. Very cool stuff in there. Did I get scared? Nope. I'm a jaded theatre nerd. I know how they do it, I know it's safe. Why scream? It just encourages them. I don't want to be their prey.

So what did scare me? Well, the fake fog they used in one part was not the dry ice-based fog that is common in theatre. It was the silicon based kind that is VERY VERY BAD FOR YOU!!!! I was scared because I breathed some in. I was also disturbed by the number of people I heard yelling and screaming. That is SO BAD for your vocal cords. I could just hear the nodes forming. ACK!!! I will admit that I jumped when the next to the last chain saw guy jumped out at us. He literally came out of nowhere (I didn't hear the tell-tale swishing), and he jumped at us and not the people in front of us. But I didn't scream. I just went "Whoa!" and flinched. The best part of the whole thing was when we were in the spinning room with the chain saw guy. When the spinning stopped and we were waiting for the door to be opened, I said "Hey, a branch fell off my neighbor's tree into my yard. Can you come take care of it for me?" LOL!

So that's the way to do a haunted corn maze or haunted house. Don't take it seriously! It's not real. It's probably very disappointing for the people running it when I'm not screaming my head off, but that doesn't mean I wasn't highly entertained. I had a great time! And I didn't destroy my vocal cords in the process!! Yay!

Well, now I don't know what the heck I am

What the Fach?! No, I did not just swear. Geez, people.

From Wikipedia:

The German Fach (pl. Fächer, literally "compartment") ([ˈfɛçəɐ]) system is a method of classifying singers, primarily opera singers, by the range, weight, and color of their voices. It is primarily used in Europe, especially in German-speaking countries and in repertory opera houses.

I was looking at this today, during one of my "really bored" moments. I have said for quite awhile that I am a Lyric Mezzo Soprano. But after reading the following, I'm not so sure:

Mezzo-soprano and Contralto Fächer
Koloratur-Mezzosopran

English equivalent: Coloratura mezzo-soprano
Range: From about the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C

Description: Found especially in Rossini's operas, these roles were written originally for altos with agility and secure top notes. Today they are often played by mezzo-sopranos and sometimes even by sopranos. At times a lyric or full lyric soprano with a flexible voice will assume the roles as written while a true coloratura soprano will sing the same music transposed upwardly to a higher key.

Roles:
Rosina Il barbiere di Siviglia (Gioacchino Rossini)
Angelina La Cenerentola (Gioacchino Rossini)
Romeo I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Vincenzo Bellini)
Orsini Lucrezia Borgia (Gaetano Donizetti)

Okay...that's close. My range is a bit wider than that. (C below middle C to D flat above High C...just over 3 octaves). I like singing Rossini. Una voce poco fa is actually the only aria I have completely memorized. (I'm lazy.) So, then I look further down and see this:

Lyrischer Mezzosopran / Spielalt

Range: From about the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C
English equivalent: Lyric mezzo-soprano

Description: a lyric soprano's instrument in a lower range; the resulting sound is less piercing, more lachrymose and kind of sensitive. The voices are so similar in fact that many lyric mezzos with strong extensions to their upper vocal registers make the transition to singing as sopranos at some point in their careers.

Roles:
Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Octavian Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)
The Composer Ariadne auf Naxos (Richard Strauss)
Arianna Arianna (Claudio Monteverdi)
Dorabella Così fan tutte (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Carmen Carmen (Georges Bizet)
Dido Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell)

That's closer, and that's Lyric Mezzo. I can sing Dorabella & Carmen. But then, I looked further down and saw this:

Dramatischer Mezzosopran

English equivalent: Dramatic mezzo-soprano
Range: From about the G below middle C to the B two octaves above middle C

Description: Dramatic mezzo-sopranos have ranges very similar to a dramatic soprano. The main difference is the endurance and ease in which the two voice-types sing - a mezzo will concentrate singing most of the time in her middle and low registers and will go up to notes like high B-flat only at the dramatic climax. Consequently, many dramatic mezzo-sopranos have success in singing some dramatic sopranos roles that are written with a lower tessitura.

Roles:
The Sorceress, Dido and Aeneas (Henry Purcell)
Dalila, Samson et Dalila (Camille Saint-Saëns)
Amneris, Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)
Eboli, Don Carlo (Giuseppe Verdi)
Azucena, Il trovatore (Giuseppe Verdi)
Ortrud, Lohengrin (Richard Wagner)
Fricka, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre (Richard Wagner)

Umm...that's more me. I don't sing high consistantly, but I have a high B that comes out of NOWHERE. It's crazy. I don't think I'm technically a Dramatic, because my voice isn't that heavy.

Crap, I don't know what I am. I think I'm going to stick with Lyric Mezzo. It's not like I'll be singing at the Met any time soon...or ever. LOL!

FREAKING FROST!!!

If there's anything I hate about living in a climate that hosts all 4 seasons, it's frost. Frost on the windshield of my car. Sometimes it scrapes right off, but not today! It was the kind that apparently has glue in it. I scrape and scrape, and all I do is take the top layer off. I ended up driving to work today with my windshield about half covered. I had to lean over to the right just to see (when I was the driving east and all the sun was beating down on me.)

Ack! I HATE SCRAPING MY WINDOWS!!!! I HATE FROST!!!!!!!!!

Umm...say what?!

I am preparing to vote. I am educating myself. Right now, I'm printing off a sample ballot for my precinct. This is going to help me know just exactly what I need to be studying.

Well, I started to look down the list of presidential candidates, and I got quite the surprise! McCain, Obama...yeah, yeah..a bunch of other people....wait. WHAT?

I kid you not:

Charles Jay/Dan Sallis Jr.
Boston Tea

Yes, they are running for the Boston Tea Party.

*SNERK*

then there's blah blah blah, a bunch more candidates, and then Ralph Nadar. I think he's going to run every time until he dies. Poor guy.

Ah, and here we are at US Senator. I can write someone in. I think I'll write in the following name: Joseph P. Emmons. That's my coworker. He wrote himself in already when he voted. I figure I can give him that crucial 2nd vote.

Okay, now I'm going to whip out my magnifying glass and try to read all this stuff for the amendments. I need to figure out how I'm voting and the print is really small. I might go blind trying to read this!!