It is certainly not the right time of the month to write this blog but I felt a need! Not quite sure what "the need" is but I am assuming that it will come to me before long....
I hope the weather where you are is as glorious as I am having at the moment. As I write this I am looking out to a bright blue sky with just a few fluffy white clouds dotted about. And it is incredibly mild with the promise of really hot weather to come over the next couple of days. All I can say is "bring it on"! I am so sick of the disappointing summer that I need to see some more sunshine before the rot sets in and it becomes autumnal and cold.
Here is a question for everyone. Why is it that when I am not looking for something (like a long black skirt so I look nice and presentable for singing The Messiah in a couple of weeks) I see lots of them, but then when I actually need it I can't find one for love nor money? It might have something to do with being a trifle picky, but I don't want something that is going to cost me a fortune as I only plan on wearing it once or twice!
I haven't told you about The Messiah yet have I? Let me enlighten you. I sing in the local theatre choir and we have a fun time singing songs from mostly musical theatre. We have a great crowd of about sixty and we sing with gusto if not expertise! I love singing and it is a great pleasure to be able to sing things secular rather than sacred. However I digress.... Before the end of the summer term we were asked to participate in the singing of said Messiah for the Heart of Kent Hospice. I have never sung it and so with the encouragement of my friend who is in exactly the same boat, we decided we would give it a go. So we paid our five pounds for the privilege and waited with trepidation. Three weeks ago we started the first rehearsal. I can't say that it went according to plan! The conductor asked how many had ever sung The Messiah and out of a choir of 200 plus, ninety five percent put up their hands. That didn't bode well for the rest of us! In fact, I would go so far as to say that we have been virtually ignored! That week I very nearly gave up. Everything went straight over my head and I couldn't follow the music at all. It doesn't help that I can't read music, but I can usually follow where I am supposed to be. If any of you have seen a score for The Messiah you will understand what I am saying - some of the music looks more like a thick black line until you peer at it and see hundreds of notes all vying for the same space! By the time I had worked out where I was and then dropped down to the next stave people were already sing the next line, and as for trying to follow when I had to turn the page - to say that I was demoralised is probably the understatement of the year! However, perseverance must be my middle name because I decided that I would continue in the hope that it would get better. And it has. That might have had something to do with me changing from sitting right next to the sopranos and moving more into the middle of the altos. I have nothing against sopranos, in fact I used to be one, but trying to learn a part with them singing top something or other in my ear is not conducive to good learning. I couldn't hear a thing! Now I am feeling a lot more confident, especially as all the ladies I am sitting with have told me, quite matter of factly, that if I can't get a part I should just mime it! I really didn't expect to hear that from seasoned choral society members! So,with just three more rehearsals to go I am enjoying it immensely and not half so worried as I was. As long as I am not put in the front row I shall be fine. I shall tell you all how it went next month.
I have been reading some of my friends and family blog posts and theirs are wonderfully full of creative tasks with great pictures. Mine is just words simply because I don't have any idea how to get a picture on it! What an admission. But hey! I never said I was clever, and what sort of pictures would I put on here anyway?
That's enough for now; I need to go and do something really mundane like the washing up (or something much more exciting, if I can think of anything else to get me out of doing it!) so I will see you when I see you and don't forget to comment just so that I know people really are out there.....
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