Friday, September 30, 2005

whose line is it anyway?

loved the Drew Carey improv show by this name. i especially loved the props bit. you know they grab a huge prop and have to come up, in rapid fire succession, with situations surrounding the prop. great fun!
So I'm sitting in my office, proofing the season program, and my boss enters. I show her the cover, tell her what I don't like about it, how I'm going to change it and ask what she thinks. She holds the pieces in her hands, reflecting, contemplating, and with this amazed look of a lightbulb moment, looks at me and says she has a great idea. Then she repeats back to me exactly what I had just described to her as her ideal cover. I wait...no punchline. I'm confused...is she serious? She says, So what do you think? I, with a puzzled look on my face, answer, sounds great, isn't that what I just described to you? She pats my arm, says great we're on the same page and exits. Other than the cover, I saw no props. I don't think she was trying to be funny. Dej'a vous doesn't cover it. i'm still a little in awe of the swiftness by which I superimposed my idea on her brain to the point that she thought it was her original thought. I need to explore this power. maybe i could lower the price of gas, end the national deficit and keep congress from voting themself another raise. this could be good, but i bet that's what you were thinking...see I've been practicing already!!! ;-)

Monday, September 26, 2005

Art supporting Life

Verdi Requiem
October 22nd, 2005 at 8:00 p.m
Civic Center Music Hall

In memory of those who were lost in Katrina and to give hope to those who live, Canterbury is donating 10% of every individual ticket sold to this special performance of the Verdi Requiem to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. This timeless masterpiece filled with memorable melodies and suffused with honest human emotion captures the drama of the text and magnifies it through music. Verdi’s love of the theatrical makes this a work with universal appeal, keeping you riveted to your seat through the magnificent solos and the richly composed chorales. Performed with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, this is an enduring favorite. “This is a work of genius.” – Johannes Brahms
I'm proud to sing and work with Canterbury and if you've never been to a Canterbury performance, I can't think of a better reason to see us now. Check out http://www.canterburyokc.com/ for more information.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

hefner storm


hefner storm
Originally uploaded by gr8tfulg.
see what I mean.

what's brewin


what's brewin
Originally uploaded by gr8tfulg.
i love the sky, it's one of God's best canvases.

wine in waiting


wine in waiting
Originally uploaded by gr8tfulg.

wow


wow
Originally uploaded by gr8tfulg.
not sure how this happened, but this is the sky above Lake Hefner right before a fabulous storm hit. one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

I Pledge Allegiance

I've just heard on the news that the Pledge of Allegiance is illegal in California. Well excuse me! If the words--I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all--offends you, feel free to move to another country. Really, we won't make you stay. We won't make you say the pledge. I hear France is nice this time of year and it sounds like you'll fit right in.
But if you choose to stay, stop tearing apart the foundation of the nation whose freedoms you revel in. Stop shooting at the very freedoms you enjoy, stop invalidating the sacrifices made by thousands of Americans who provided them, stop tying up the court system with something that is so very assanine it should be embarrassing to you to litigate. If you don't want to say the pledge, fine, just keep your mouth shut, literally.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

it's all about your translation

i'm a singer. not just in the shower, i guess you could call me a professional. i have been paid on many occasions to sing a tune. i have sung in many languages, many styles and many venues. it's a passion and a privilege. i love it! i've never really thought about the fact that in the audience might be someone who actually speaks the language i consider foreign and yet, am singing. much practice, coaching and pronunciation go in to preparing a foreign language solo and by the time it is performed, i've worked on it a great deal.

however, having recently heard a norwegian children's choir sing Oklahoma (my state song) i came to the realization that my best effort may be comical to the owner of said foreign language. you see, these children were beautiful and practiced, very professional and when they broke out into...(and Oklahomans and lovers of Rogers and Hammerstein, feel free to sing along)...OOOOOOOOOOO-K-LAHOMA where the wind comes sweeping down the plain....they actually sang...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-Kay-lahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain...made sense to them.

makes me go hmmm...cause i might really not know the words. maybe the shower is safer...

Thursday, September 08, 2005

exploding printers and other adventures

well...i went to work today and discovered something i had never known before. when inkjet printer cartridges explode, they do it with style!! after leaking through the printer (and I do mean the whole printer!) it continued down my arm to my hand to the desk where it puddled a while before straying off the edge of the desk to the carpet. and of course, today's shirt color was WHITE!! not that the color would matter, the ink was BLACK!! flashbacks of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea came to mind when the giant octopus of a printer wrapped itself around me and thoroughly inked me. now I know how a rubber stamp feels. after yelling for help, grabbing said printer, tripping on trailing cables and power cords and running out the door, i gave it a proper burial in the dumpster. now i will find my copy of Black Like Me and read with understanding. can't wait to see what tomorrow holds, maybe three desperate copiers on a wire...