Sunday, May 22, 2011

The State of the Vera Address

Clearly, you've noticed that I'm posting again! Here is the State of the Vera address for May 2011.

School:

I'll be done with my biology track very shortly. I'm still loving my time at PCC. My biology instructors have been lovely. This summer I'll be taking a distance learning Human Development class. It'll be my first distance learning class, so I hope I'm capable. I still turn into a blithering mess when confronted with a term paper, but I have to write one every term and I'm getting better and better. I have probably a year left before I start to apply to Naturopathic schools.

Work:

I'm still doing inventory and database maintenance at my job, worked in to two vet tech shifts a week and one and a half reception shifts a week. I've gotten really, really efficient at keeping things together, but not being there every day, things still fall through the cracks. My shifts are long and I always come home exhausted.

Music:

About the same time I started to look for a place to make music, Kendálin found me. I've been attending two rehearsals every week and most of them have felt self-indulgent and fun, like going for a hike up a deserted mountain, or spending an hour in the hot tub. The other women I'm singing with are pretty spectacular and we're making some kickass music. I'm very much looking forward to our coming concert in Salem next month.

Home:

My apartment is still a lovely place to live, but I occasionally fail to take care of it for a week at a time. Right now, there are marauding piles of laundry that threaten to eat my cats. I keep track of what days I put effort into cleaning, but they are still few and far between. I moved my computer out into the main room and that has helped me keep things straighter. One of these days (when I have free time?) I ought to go through my stuff and get rid of things I have no use for.

Family (near and far):

My far family is all wonky. My dad moved out last November and has been living in an apartment near his work. Mom still lives at home with the cat, but travels a lot for her musical group Russian Duo. I don't talk to either of them enough. Dad visited earlier this year for a weekend and we had a great time driving around in the hills. Mom will be here for our college reunion next month.

My near family just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Since my last address, two new family members have been added since Megan and Beth both had a baby. The Monster Palace started a new tradition of family dinner on Sunday nights and it's been pretty excellent. I'm so grateful every week to have somewhere to go for a few hours where everybody supports each other and celebrates each other. And eats delicious food.

Spirituality and Sanity:

A few years ago in a State of the Vera address I declared that I had my depression licked. Right now, I find that hilarious, but I am certainly less depressed now than I was then. I can only attribute that feeling back in 2009 to some decisions that I had made about taking greater control over my destiny. I've been implementing that plan since then (with varying degrees of rigor) it's been paying off. The current form of the plan is to find things that fulfill me and do more of them, while phasing out things that don't fulfill me. It's so simple, right? And yet it's so hard to do, with all the feelings of should and should not.

Friday, May 13, 2011

sumer is acumen in

Thursday was one of those nearly perfect days. I had a little extra free time and a little more leeway between scheduled obligations, so I didn't feel as rushed as the past few days. I had skipped dinner Wednesday night, so I started off the day with a less than stellar mood, but then I remembered that my mood is directly effected by how recently and how well I've eaten, so I was able to address the problem.

I had plenty of time to hang out on my porch in the sun before class. I cleaned up my apartment a bit. After class I had a great workout, followed by a lovely walk and snack with my lab partner. I chatted with my new neighbor a bit. And on my weekly Dekum House date, we did some bike brainstorming. Nothing feels too big to handle. Hooray for Thursday!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

all hail alma mater

Somehow a Vera from the past signed me up to sing some very silly music at our college reunion this summer. Tonight was the first rehearsal. It will be a breeze, and hopefully lots of fun, but it was made all the more absurd by the fact that I was wearing scrubs and texting Monica, who was at a baseball game, with fake information about the sport.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

the promised announcement

I've spent the past week on twitter saying vague things about auditions and singing and a band, so I suppose I ought to say a little more about it. I promised myself that I would wait until things were settled before I said anything "official" about it, but it looks like the actual settling is a long way off. So here goes:

A few weeks ago I started looking for a new chorus. It's been long enough since I sang regularly and I'm starting to feel the hankering again. I sang at Rob's church for Easter and that reminded me how much I love to sing formally. The last chorus I sang with started out feeling semi-professional, but by the end of the season it felt very amateurish. Maybe I'm spoiled by the stellar choirs I've sung in since high school, but I really want a group of people who are serious about music but have fun making it.

Out of the blue two Tuesdays ago I got an email from Shawn, with whom we sang on the Christmas performance afternoon. Their musical group Kendálin is lacking a lead singer, would I like to audition? Thus began a whirlwind of strange scheduling, phone calls, and joyous singing. So I got the email on Tuesday and then spoke on the phone with Shawn and Tasha on Thursday. After work that Saturday I went to their house (mercifully halfway between work and home) and they fed me dinner and taught me a bunch of their music. And on Sunday afternoon I went to rehearsal with the full group.

They had me arrive late so they could talk some things over with the group, so I got there after the group had been playing for a while and had to insert myself into the space. I was so nervous my legs were shaking uncontrollably. I really hope I sang well, sing I couldn't hear myself over the other instruments. They had me playing the harmonium a bit which allowed me to sit.

Almost immediately afterwards I got an email asking if I would be interested in getting together with another singer to check blending. So Wednesday night after work I bopped back over to Shawn and Tasha's house and sang rounds by Libana, early music, and Balkan music for a while. Today we had another of those sessions, but much, much longer. I was completely pooped by the end, but also invigorated with all the music.

It is so utterly refreshing to sing sing sing! I haven't had quite enough time for homework and alone time in the past two weeks, but oh! the music! It's like teenage Vera has poked me through time to remind me of all this music that I love.

The plan as it currently stands is for me (and the other singer) to sing with the group for the upcoming Salem World Beat concert in June. After that, who knows what will happen? This just means that for the next two months I get to sing amazing music with fabulous musicians. This is going to be great!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Alle Psallite

And another thing that keeps me sane: singing with other people and sounding good as a group.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

correlation is not causation, but

I started going to the gym for a variety of reasons. Along with feeling better physically, I found that I slept a lot better and was generally more content. And then I skipped a week of exercise. I lost sleep, got depressed and anxious, and felt like life was spiraling out of control. I went to the gym today and did very light exercise and it's as if all the bad effects are completely reversed. Note to self: go to the gym regularly.