Scatterbrained

So many different snippets floating around in my mind right now that I need to blog about. I'll give you a hodgepodge for now.

The picture is from election day. A neighborhood coffee shop put out two tip jars. Needless to say, the music school community is a bit more liberal than conservative, so the Obama jar was significantly richer by the end of the day.

Brilliantly disturbing was the opera I saw tonight. Britten's Turn of the Screw, cast in a new light that fit beautifully. Flat out one of the best productions I've seen in my life - professional or not. I spent most of the evening with my mouth open, and I found myself reminding myself to breathe. The acting, the singing, the orchestra, the sets were all so tremendous. Usually, I'm enamored with one or two singers, clinging to their sound and wanting them to sing forever. Tonight, every single person but one had that effect on me. The one who didn't was an exception in the best sense. He was a high tenor who played Peter Quint, and he was so creepy in everything he did that I had a visceral recoil reaction to him. Just amazing. I don't want to spoil the concept by revealing it in case there's anyone reading this blog who still wants to see the opera, but I'll link to a review next week if I find one.

My current struggle is learning how to "be" and not "do". Given my propensity for making to-do lists, for creating a plan and sticking to it, and for wanting to "get it right", this whole "being" thing is proving harder for me than I'd like. I'll blog more about this when it's not 1 am. For now, let's just say that I'm working on letting go while still checking off the things I need to accomplish on my daily to-do list.

Well, I've had my chocolate, and I'm about to prescribe myself some Muppets before I go to sleep. I'm hoping those will prove sufficient antidotes to the opera tonight. Not sure I want the nightmares that the cast members have been dreaming for weeks.

~Hope