Today – a puzzle

March 30 – How are you feeling today?

This is always a question laden with so many layers that I don’t really know where to start. Physically, I am feeling fine. I am dealing with the normal Spring-time crud that comes with my allergies. My eyes are watery. My throat is scratchy. There is always phlegm to deal with. I don’t feel bad….I just feel normal. Normal for me, at least.

How am I feeling today though? I’m a little all over the place. I’m feeling a little insecure. Things were said that have me questioning what I’m really supposed to do. I’m excited about potential opportunities on the horizon that were presented today. I’m thankful that I seem to have finally figured things out moving forward with my online classes. I’m puzzled over a message I received. I’m emotionally spent even though I just had a very relaxing weekend. And that’s just what I can come up with off the top of my head. I don’t know that I want to expend the energy necessary to go any deeper into my feelings at the moment.

As you can see, I’m a bit of a puzzle and a jumble at the moment. I don’t know what the answer is. Truthfully, I’m not really sure that I even know the question! So I’m just going to enjoy another of these amazingly addictive chocolate chip cookies (What in the world is the secret ingredient, Christi?!?) and shut my brain off for a little while. I think it’s time for some mind-numbing video games.

Hits and Misses (Mar 22-28)

Here’s a look back at the week that was….

HITS

• I thoroughly enjoyed finishing my audiobook that traveled with me across the country earlier this week. Julie Andrews’ memoir Home was certainly not what I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a charming account of her childhood and the beginning of her career, including Broadway premieres of My Fair Lady and Camelot. What I especially enjoyed were her comments about vocal technique and the importance of solid vocal training. I had to rewind the audio when she mentioned singing the “Polonaise” from Ambroise Thomas’ opera Mignon. I made my way to my computer that evening and found a recording of her performance on YouTube.
• Now that classes are being taught entirely online at Wayland, I got to experience some real successes in the first week of teaching. I conducted several piano lessons by Zoom and had a lot of fun. Was it perfect? No. I wanted to reach out and touch a few of my students and could not. But I found that I was choosing my words much more carefully to accurately convey my meaning. I was also very lucky to participate — perhaps stealthily observe is a better description — a watch party hosted by opera workshop. Students and faculty (me included) watched a production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle streamed by the Metropolitan Opera. While they watched, students held a running dialogue about the production, stage craft, plot development, and singing technique. I was fascinated by the learning that was happening — without anyone really realizing just how much they were learning. Suddenly, my entire outlook about what could be accomplished in a virtual classroom began to change. I don’t want to teach this way for the rest of my career, but I am certainly willing to explore what I can share with my students in a non-traditional manner as we get through our current national dilemma.
• After several sleepless nights over Spring Break trying to figure out how things were going to work in my classes, it was nice to get to see students virtually and in person this week. As much as they can frustrate me sometimes, it is always good to be reminded that they are truly the reason I do what I do. I miss having them around more than I care to admit….and I think I’ve let them know that more than a few times this week!
• I almost forgot to include this point in this week’s HITS. I received the official announcement this week that I will be promoted to the rank of Associate Professor beginning in Fall 2020.
• I decided to start watching a new series after playing a recital on Friday afternoon. (By the way, playing a recital in a virtually empty hall so that it can be live-streamed it a weird experience. I don’t like playing in a room when the house lights are up and I can see the few people sitting there. It’s strange!) On a whim, I started watching All-American on Netflix. How have I missed this series? Is it not well received? I’m finding the storyline fascinating and I am officially sucked in. Now I just have to make sure that I’m getting other things done as well and not just bingeing away on too many episodes. (By the way, I did a search on how to correctly spell the verb above. Apparently, both with and without the -e are acceptable, but ‘bingeing’ has become preferred. It doesn’t look right either way to me!)

MISSES

• On Tuesday, I drove to the airport in Lubbock to return my rental car and pick up my personal vehicle from long-term parking. Things were going quite well until I got to the machine that would take my payment. I don’t know if I was sleep deprived or simply having a blonde moment, but I failed to notice that the slot to insert the ticket was not where my credit card was supposed to go….until I realized that my credit card was stuck and I was not going to get it back. I choked down my embarrassment and dialed the number of the helpline posted nearby. An airport employee arrived on the scene fairly quickly with a grin on his face because he knew exactly what I had done. Thankfully it wasn’t too difficult to fix and the gentleman assured me that I was not the first person to have ever made this mistake. Still, I just wanted to pay the meter and get out of there before I screwed anything else up on that day.
• Wednesday morning got started with a bit of excitement. After my morning shower, I was greeted by the annoying shriek of the apartment’s smoke detector. Apparently, the steam from the shower set the alarm off — although this has never happened before. I’m not a morning person anyway, so I certainly don’t want to deal with such loud noises if I can avoid it. I examined the smoke detector to make sure there were no signals that the battery needed attention. No flashing lights. No quiet chirps. Thankfully there has been no additional outbursts since that morning, but I am being much more cautious about keeping steam away from the sensor.
• After a bad Wednesday morning, I was certain things could only get better. The day was going fine until I taught a piano lesson that afternoon. I was working with a new student that was referred to me by another teacher in the area. Because of social distancing, we were going to be working virtually instead of face-to-face. Everyone understands the current situation and is rolling with the punches. I asked what method book the student was using and was happy to discover that I had the materials on hand. Or at least I thought I did. As the lesson started and the student began playing from page 10 of the book, I immediately realized I had an old edition and would have to wing my way through this lesson. That’s never a good feeling! Thankfully, this student was a good sport about it. We had a good laugh and got some work done. As soon as the lesson was over, I began the process of getting the correct music ordered!
• After Friday afternoon’s recital, I was very tired and my arms were quite sore. So I decided to take Saturday off entirely. No playing. No typing. It was a very good decision for sure.

Hits and Misses (Mar 15-21)

Here’s a look back at the week that was….

HITS

• Spring Break meant that I got to head to the Geriatric Ward for a few days. It is always good to spend some time with my parents. There is always laughter in the air and good food in my belly! For that, I am incredibly thankful.
• With the break, I also had the opportunity to watch a few things that I don’t normally have time for. Watched The Metropolitan Opera’s production of Turandot on PBS — OUTSTANDING! — as well as the movies The Brothers and On the Basis of Sex.
• I received a couple of gentle nudges from friends to consider uploading videos of hymn arrangements as the nation began to deal with fallout from COVID-19. I looked for every excuse in the book not to, but I kept coming back to it over and over again. I don’t know how long it will last, but I have enjoyed making the videos and have gotten some positive feedback from friends who are watching. If nothing else, the music helps me to stay centered and focused on what is really important.

MISSES

• Early morning air travel is the pits! You would think that I would eventually figure out that getting to the airport well before the sun comes up is not going to be a good recipe for a positive first day at home for me.
• Nothing is quite as calming for my stress level as seeing a notice that if you were at Lubbock Airport the day before (which I was!) during a certain time (which I wasn’t – WHEW!), then you need to contact the state health department for possible COVID-19 exposure. Just what a natural worrier needs to hear!!!!
• It was a sad day when it was announced that Wayland’s planned 2-week online session had been extended to the end of the semester. I was ready to get through two weeks of classes entirely online without too much stress. After all, we would return to class in a few weeks and be able to fill in gaps that might have occurred. I know it’s going to be all right and we’re going to get the job done. I just have to get my brain in the right place and get going. I allowed myself to bellyache for a week during Spring Break. Now it’s over and I’ve got work to do! Here we go….
• With all the fears over the coronavirus swirling, I ended up renting a car and making the drive back to Plainview. As much as I enjoy a good road trip, this is not one that I had hoped to make. We will just see how soon I turn around to make the return trip back to the Geriatric Ward.

Childhood Heroes

March 17 – Who were some of your childhood heroes?

My childhood was probably not the most normal. Because of a fairly sizable age difference between me and my siblings, in a lot of ways I was raised as an only child. I didn’t enjoy sports. I was not mesmerized by Hollywood icons. I didn’t know who they were honestly. I lived a rather sheltered life in 1970s Arkansas.

So as I begin to think about my childhood heroes, the list is relatively short…and more than a little odd. I was a big fan of cartoon super heroes. I reveled in the adventures of Spiderman, Superman, and Batman. I liked that they fought on the side of the right and always won while saving the world from imminent destruction.

In my later childhood, I was fascinated with the nighttime drama series Dallas. The wealth, the family feuds, and the good versus evil stories caught my imagination. This was the show where I probably found my first real hero in the character of Bobby Ewing. Bobby was the youngest of three sons — although the middle son had left Dallas because of conflict with the rascal, J.R. Bobby always seemed to be the most level-headed of the Ewing family and would ultimately stand up to those who were behaving badly and call them out on their poor choices. I liked to imagine what it would be like to be a Ewing and have Bobby as either a brother, father, or uncle. I thought it would be super cool to be with my hero on a daily basis.

Were there heroes in real life? Sure, but their influence was temporary. I was mesmerized by Eric Hayden’s success in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. I was a huge fan of Kenny Hinson of Southern Gospel music fame. But I never found myself looking up to firefighters or policemen with starry-eyed wonder like other children my age.

Strange heroes, I suppose. Or are they? I’d love to hear from some of you. Who were your childhood heroes? Share in the blog comments below.

Hits and Misses (March 8-14)

Here’s a look back at the week that was….

HITS

• The week started out normal. Boy, would things change before Saturday arrived! After a lovely performance by WBU choirs, I got to join family for pizza to celebrate Ryan’s birthday. I so enjoyed being with these people and chatting. Little did I know how much I would need this time of normalcy to recharge me for what was ahead.
• Two more successful recital hearings took place. One student really did not want to play — so fed up with the process — and the other was fighting off illness but knew that we just needed to get things done. Now moving ahead with plans to perform recitals via livestream without an audience.
• On Wednesday, I participated in mock interviews with WBU students. These were really fun and I enjoyed hearing these young people field tough questions about their professional qualifications and experiences.

MISSES

• COVID-19 has to be at the top of the list. As the virus continues to spread around the nation, the announcement we were all dreading came on Thursday afternoon. Following Spring Break, all WBU classes will transition to an online format for at least 2 weeks. It is inconvenient. It is frustrating. It is the right thing to do for everyone’s health.
• Just as I am beginning to work remotely, the keyboard I use with my iPad is finally giving up the ghost. It has been giving me trouble for a while now as I would have to “wake it up” in order to get it to connect. Now, there is no waking it up. It has become a gamble whether I will be writing using the keyboard or attempting to use the on-screen keyboard. I’m trying to be fiscally responsible and not make an additional purchase right now, but I’m not sure how much longer I can be productive this way. I’ll continue to monitor the situation and see what happens. Just be warned….if you see a Smart Keyboard flying out of my window at some point, you know I reached max frustration. LOL
• Daylight Savings Time is not my friend. I know it is only an hour. I know that I can go to bed earlier. Believe me, I am well aware. For some reason, it takes me FOREVER to adjust to time changes. I can travel between time zones and be just fine with a night of sleep. But change what my norm has been and I cannot function! I think it has something to do with the rhythm of light in my world. Now that I’m in by almost a week, I think I am finally getting into a groove again. Can we just pick a routine and stick with it, please?
• As much as I love to travel, I despise packing. Ideally, I’ll just have a personal wardrobe wherever I’m going. Yeah….that’s what I’m shooting for!

Unmentionables

March 9 – What do you like to wear to bed?

For my return back to a regular blogging routine that has been interrupted by travel, life, and stress, today’s prompt is rather personal. Who likes to talk about what they wear to bed? So this will probably be a rather short post, but if it will get me back in the habit of daily writing, I’ll play along.

What do I like to wear to bed? As little as possible. I prefer to snuggle under heavy blankets year round. I like the weight…it’s that simple. Now, get your mind out of the gutter, you dirty readers! I’m not going commando. That’s a little too much for me (and probably too much detail for you).

When I’m traveling, I tend to sleep in a tee-shirt and shorts. Growing up, I was a tiny little fellow (I know, what happened?!?) and part of the bedtime routine was putting on an ENORMOUS white tee. It was so big that I could pull my knees to my chin and the shirt was almost the right size to cover all of me. I’ve always been a restless sleeper. I do a lot of tossing and turning throughout the night. I’ve been known to throw a few field goal attempts into the backs of anyone cursed with sharing a bed with me. Now, I find that the tossing results in getting tangled in the tee-shirt. I wake up in the middle of the night just to adjust the shirt so I don’t feel as though I am being choked any more.

On extremely cold nights — especially when the electricity has gone out in the Geriatric Ward — I will snooze the night away in a pair of flannel pajama pants. Those aren’t as bad as the tee now, but I still find that legs ride up to my knees over the course of the night. I suppose I should videotape my sleep routine some night. It might make for interesting and comical viewing.

Hits and Misses (March 1-7)

Here’s a look back at the week that was…..

HITS

• How incredibly FUN to begin the week by performing with friends and colleagues. Plainview Civic Music Association sponsored “Soundscapes” on Sunday as part of their chamber music series at the Fair Theater. It’s always fun to share the stage with Anthony and Sandy….and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Kim play! Now….about that piano…..
• By midweek, I played the first of 3 recital hearings on my docket this semester. The rep had been prepared throughout the semester, so I had no fears about any movement the student would make musically. Our collaboration was solid and we were both familiar with the other’s part to be prepared for the inevitable false start. The hearing was a success…just in time for the next adventure.
• As soon as hearings were over, I hopped in the car with Anthony to begin making our way to El Paso again for a whirlwind (short) recruiting trip. This time, we were joined by Kim Hudson. I was particularly excited about this trip because I didn’t have to play. I simply got to talk to students and share about WBU. The drive down was filled with lots of laughter and interesting conversation. I am so thankful that I work with colleagues with whom I honestly enjoying spending time.
• After all of the school visits were done, the Three Musketeers headed to West Texas Chop House for a yummy meal before heading home. It probably wasn’t the best plan I’ve ever had — a luxurious meal right before setting out on a six hour drive — but we did it and I don’t regret it…..too much!
• After arriving home early Friday morning, I was zonked. I managed to head to the office for a few hours to get some things handled before the weekend. Then I headed home and declared the rest of the week a time for much needed rest. I loved every minute of it.

MISSES

• Throughout my life, I have been plagued with feelings of self-doubt. I know how debilitating it can be and hate to see it rear its head in the lives of my students. As I mentored students through some tough situations this week, I found myself getting angry with the people who had spoken such negativity into their lives. There is a difference between telling someone truths that they need to hear and disguising vindictive hate and destruction in what you are calling “truth.”
• While taking road trips in the late evening, I came to a sad realization. I’m not as young as I used to be. In college, it was no big deal to hop in the car after a long week, drive to Vegas for no purpose, get very little sleep, and return in time for class on Monday morning. Now….I have one late night (that was really not that late) and I feel like the walking dead for the rest of the day. I tried so hard to stay awake on the drive back so the driver would have someone to talk to….and I failed. I made it to about midnight and then I was OUT!
• On Saturday, I finally decided to venture out of the apartment for a while. I needed to do a little practicing — although I don’t know how much I actually accomplished — and then grab some dinner. I ordered a steak cooked medium well. What arrived at my table was still mooing! When I brought it to the waiter’s attention, he confirmed that it was indeed cooked to a medium well and proceeded to tell me there was nothing that could be done to fix it. I suggested throwing it back on the fire….and you would have thought I was an alien! Needless to say, that was not a pleasant dining experience for me.

Hits and Misses (Feb 23-29)

Here’s a look back at the week that was….just a few days later than planned…..

HITS

• The week started with a relaxing drive back from Denton. It was wonderful to sleep in, meander home, and have time to be alone with my thoughts.
• I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my WBU family at basketball games on Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon. It really is very special to sit with them away from our everyday responsibilities and just enjoy being together. They are very special people to me. I don’t take their presence in my life for granted.
• On Friday evening, the family went to support one of our own in WBU’s production of Lend Me a Tenor. The two male leads were outstanding and I was incredibly proud of both Alex and Edward. They did exceptional work in spite of the odds.

MISSES

• Poorly performing students can always be a source of frustration. In a week full of exams and lots of work, I did not respond well when a student told me they were simply “too busy” to devote their time to preparation. I might have raised my voice a little at the end of that particular exam.
• I finally managed to finish reading The Long War this week. That title perfectly described my opinion of this book. I thought I never would reach the final page.
• In the midst of all that was going on, I also sent progress reports to all of my private piano students. While I am tremendously happy with the work most of my students are making, there was one who had continually been a source of frustration all year long. He simply never applied himself and did not accomplish anything. This week, I made the hard choice to terminate lessons with him. It’s never a pleasant decision to make, but it is sometimes necessary.