Gratitude 286

Putting together/wearing artsy outfits. :) I don't know why, but this seems to have become my "creative outlet," but on days when I have to work, I don't get to do this...so there end up being days like today when I spend two hours getting ready...while I should actually be doing something productive. haha! (I seriously need to get a life apparently!)


Recording in one week! Eek! Excited, nervous, anxious. Just want it done and done well. :) For now, I am just trying to keep the voice under control and even. (Not that you probably cared to know, but the sinus drainage has caused a flare-up in my LPR. Awesome. Another thing to try to counteract. Why do I have to be a hot mess health-wise?! It's the graduate school application curse!)

I'm ready for a big move in my life. It's time. There comes a point when you need to step beyond your comfort walls. It has become something of a normalcy in my life to do that, constantly push those boundaries. Without that, I would not be who I am; I would not grow. There's also something to be said that once you travel, life is never the same. And the yearning to travel, again, is always within you.

I've been thinking a lot over my trip this past summer. How I miss the lifestyle I had those two weeks. How I've been longing for all the things you hate about travel while it's happening: airports, rushing from gate to gate, lugging around your suitcase cursing yourself out for still packing too much, not knowing where or how to get from where you are to where you need/want to be, wearing the same clothes...yet again, another shared room in a hostel, ambiguity...  The curiosity of what marvel could be down the next winding, cobblestone street. Sipping wine at a cafe while people-watching. Practicing (aka fumbling through) my broken knowledge of the languages. And how I feel I probably didn't embrace my time abroad as fully as I could've/should've. Silly anxiety, I know. I've been so lucky to travel as I have. It sucks, though, to have no idea when, if, or how the opportunity may arise, again. (I'm clearly addicted to travel! I need my fix!)

However, a new American adventure awaits me. Chicago? Boston? I don't know which it will be. That's God's choice once those recordings are posted to the schools and the outcomes of whatever auditions I may receive. Que será, será...

I'll leave you with a few fun things I found today:

 

AND...Lady Gaga was mentioned in this month's issue of Opera News. Yes, I've seen it with my own eyes. In an article written by Brian Kellow, he says, 

"'Diva' has become one of the most misused and over-used words in the vernacular, but I'm about to give in and accept it, just I've damned near given in and accepted the horrible use that's made of "hope...fully" and "access," everywhere from the conversations you overhear at your corner bar to the anchors; desks at CNN. The word belongs most correctly to the pop world - is there any question that Lady Gaga (who has one of the best voices I've ever heard) embodies divadom more completely than anyone currently working in opera? (Yes, Miss Gheorghiu - I see that your hand is up, but I'm not going to call on you.)..."