To my visitor from France

I'm so glad that you're enjoying my blog - so much so that today alone you've logged nine different visits, one had 8 page views and another had 5. What is it about my posts on Nancy Storace that has you so fascinated that you would return so many times in one day? If you really want to learn about her here's a link to my website on her life and career with loads of information. But that's not exactly what you're looking for, is it? Twice now you've tried to outclick on my link to my "So Faithful a Heart" blog. (So sorry mon petit chou, but you have to be invited to read that blog, and I don't think I'll be inviting you any time soon. You'll just have to wait until the book is published.)

In the meantime you might enjoy this. (I know you love Mozart.) Va te faire foutre, connasse!

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It's not us, it's everything around us

I'm in a place in my novel where if you put 18th century clothing on these two characters and put them in Nancy Storace's dressing room at the Burgtheater in Vienna in the late summer of 1786 it would fit perfectly.

The world is filled with such tragic stories of star-crossed lovers. The only things that change are the names, clothing, times, and places. The story remains the same.

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A Window to My Soul

I've done it again. I've created another new blog, this one being of a more personal nature, a place where I can go to express my own journey, my spirituality, my hopes & fears, and my coming to terms with my life experiences. I invite you to come over and take a look!

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"Liberal": It's not a dirty word

lib•er•al

Pronunciation:
\ˈli-b(ə-)rəl\

Function: adjective

Etymology:

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin liberalis suitable for a freeman, generous, from liber free; perhaps akin to Old English lēodan to grow, Greek eleutheros free

Date: 14th century

1 a: of, relating to, or based on the liberal arts barchaic : of or befitting a man of free birth2 a: marked by generosity : OPENHANDED, a liberal giver b: given or provided in a generous and openhanded way, a liberal meal. c: AMPLE , FULL 3obsolete : lacking moral restraint : LICENTIOUS 4: not literal or strict : LOOSE, a liberal translation: BROAD-MINDED ; especially : not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms a: of, favoring, or based upon the principles of liberalism bcapitalized : of or constituting a political party advocating or associated with the principles of political liberalism ; especially : of or constituting a political party in the United Kingdom associated with ideals of individual especially economic freedom, greater individual participation in government, and constitutional, political, and administrative reforms designed to secure these objectives
synonyms LIBERAL , GENEROUS , BOUNTIFUL , MUNIFICENT mean giving or given freely and unstintingly. LIBERAL suggests openhandedness in the giver and largeness in the thing or amount given, a teacher liberal with her praise. GENEROUS stresses warmhearted readiness to give more than size or importance of the gift, a generous offer of help. BOUNTIFUL suggests lavish, unremitting giving or providing, children spoiled by bountiful presents. MUNIFICENT suggests a scale of giving appropriate to lords or princes, a munificent foundation grant.

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Kindness and gratitude returned three fold

The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge. The blog "Leisha's Random Thoughts" has translated the story.

It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband when the airline representative informed her that she wouldn't be able to check her luggage without paying a 100 surcharge:

When it was finally Mary's turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
"You'll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway", the man behind the counter said.
Mary had no money. Her new husband had traveled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
"I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions", says Mary.

As tears streamed down her face, she heard a "gentle and friendly voice" behind her saying, "That's okay, I'll pay for her." Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?

Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man. He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.

She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

Who was the man?

Barack Obama.

Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at the airport may be the next President and has voted for him already and donated 100 dollars to his campaign:

"He was my knight in shining armor", says Mary, smiling.

She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.

Mary even convinced her parents to vote for him:

In the spring of 2006 Mary's parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.

And Obama replied:

In a letter to Mary's parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped 'United States Senate, Washington DC', Barack Obama writes**:
'I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I'm happy I could help back then, and I'm delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States senator'.

The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

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The history of leap year

Leap years are years with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. Leap years are necessary because the actual length of a year is 365.242 days, not 365 days, as commonly stated. Basically, leap years occur every 4 years, and years that are evenly divisible by 4 (2004, for example) have 366 days. This extra day is added to the calendar on February 29th.

However, there is one exception to the leap year rule involving century years, like the year 1900. Since the year is slightly less than 365.25 days long, adding an extra day every 4 years results in about 3 extra days being added over a period of 400 years. For this reason, only 1 out of every 4 century years is considered as a leap year. Century years are only considered as leap years if they are evenly divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, 1900 were not leap years, and 2100 will not be a leap year.

But 1600 and 2000 were leap years, because those year numbers are evenly divisible by 400.

Julius Caesar was behind the origin of leap year in 45 BC. The early Romans had a 355 day calendar and to keep festivals occurring around the same season each year a 22 or 23 day month was created every second year. Julius Caesar decided to simplify things and added days to different months of the year to create the 365 day calendar, the actual calculation were made by Caesar's astronomer, Sosigenes. Every fourth year following the 28th day of Februarius (February 29th) one day was to be added, making every fourth year a leap year.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the calendar with the rule that leap day would occur in any year divisible by 4 as described above.

(Source: About.com)

It is interesting to note that had we adopted the Lunar calendar, which is based on Moon cycles, (and is feminine), rather than the Solar calendar, (masculine), an invention of the Romans, we wouldn't have a problem of odd days, our months would divide out evenly--each having 28 days--and we wouldn't have a "leap year".

But when has anything having to do with men ever made sense?

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What to wear...?

Tomorrow is Ville's annual Halloween costume party and I'm stumped as to what I'm going to wear. I've gone as a pirate more than once, and I have my gorgeous 18th century gown, which is impressive, and everyone loves it when I wear it, but it's heavy, cumbersome, retstrictive, and uncomfortable.

Any suggestions?

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Out of my dreams...

I've been having some interesting dreams lately, extremely symbolic, and containing some unusual animals. A few weeks ago it was baboons, and last night I had a dream that I was standing next to a very gentle, giant turtle. I reached over to feed it some lettuce and it looked directly into my eyes.

I looked up turtles in the dream interpretation dictionary and it says that they are symbols for good fortune and opportunity. Interesting...

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In the mood for Chili!

It's mid October and the temperatures are dropping so I decided to cook the first pot of chili of the season! YUM!

Chili is one of those comfort foods that most everyone loves, and every cook has her/his own way of making it. Of course, growing up in Oklahoma, the only chili that I have ever known is TexMex style with dark red kidney beans, lots of beef, tomatoes, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, chili powder, and just the right seasonings. I don't like mine too spicy--just warm enough to allow it to linger until the next bite. (And yes, I've had that crap that they call "chili" in Cincinnati. That's NOT chili. I don't know exactly what it is, but it's certainly not chili. It's more like a weird, thin, sweet, spaghetti sauce seasoned with cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, and allspice. Bleeeech!) I like to serve my chili with cornbread, Fritos, or tortilla chips, and top it with lots of cheese.

As I type this, I can smell the tantalizing aromas as my chili simmers on the stove downstairs... I wish it was tomorrow night already!

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Who is this person?

I go to check my site meter and find this person who keeps coming to my blog by using the following search words:

when will you realize the inner waits for you

Uhh...I'm not sure what you're looking for, but I think it's a phrase from Billy Joel's song, "Vienna Waits for You" and the line is "when will you realize Vienna waits for you", NOT "the inner waits for you".

One learns the funniest things by checking out their site meter.

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Do I look like a ladybug?

From the beginning of our friendship, Steph gave me the nickname "Wanze", which means "bug" in German. I wasn't sure why she chose this nickname for me, but it seemed very familiar, and it felt warm & endearing, and thus, became Steph's preferred term of endearment for me. Through the years Steph has continued to use this name, but she's the only person who has called me "bug" until this morning.

Today, my boss, Grace, called me "Ladybug". It must be true. I'm a bug.

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Seven Things

Steph, The Incurable Insomniac tagged me so I'm supposed to tell you seven things about myself that supposedly you don't already know. I'm also supposed to tag seven people, but I don't have seven of my readers that Steph hasn't already tagged, so I'm only going to tag one.

1. I grew up in a very conservative Southern Baptist home, I graduated from a Southern Baptist university and married a minister. I was married for 18 years before divorcing in the spring of 2000.

2. I appear to be very conservative and "conventional", but don't let my conventional exterior fool you. I have some not-so-conventional thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and experiences regarding life.

3. I love history and politics and love to engage in discussions of both with people who are so-inclined. Steph loves history as well, but hates politics so I generally reserve my political discussions for Lauren. However with her being gone to France, I'm not sure who I'm going to talk politics with now.

4. I'm one helluva Southern cook.

5. I'm not afraid of using words like "hell", "shit", and even the "f" word, when the situation calls for it.

6. I'm an extremely honest and up front person. I hate playing emotional and mental games with people and when others try to do so with me, I refuse to engage. I grew up in a home where honest communication was stifled by such emotional and mental mind games and I have been determined that as an adult I would not carry that into my home or damage my children and other relationships with such.

7. The love of my life is female, but I am not a lesbian. Figure that one out.

The person I am tagging is Lauren, at Dear World.

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Into every life...

Yeah, I know, a little rain must fall. But sometimes it's just damned inconvenient and a pain in the ass. Last night, Steph and I took Lauren to Tulsa for an interview with a representative from St. John's College and then out to dinner with my dad and his wife. The drive there was pleasant enough, although Steph really wasn't feeling well, and had been in an irritable mood earlier, (Tylenol III works wonders in such instances).

The interview went well, and Steph and I were so proud of our girl, who looked so professional and smart all dressed up in her suit and heels. She was articulate and intelligent, and we sat at a nearby table and gloated like only two proud parents could. Afterwards, we met my dad and Mary at The Olive Garden in Utica Square Mall, and had a really great time with them. After we got into the car and started pulling out of the parking lot, however, I realized that things were not all right with the car. It has been giving us indications for several months now, that a belt was going out, but we've just not been in the financial position to take it in and have it looked at. We thought, mistakenly, that we could keep nursing it along and that it would be okay. Well, last night, in the middle of the highway, just out of Sand Springs, it died. It just died.

Fortunately I was able to coast the car onto the shoulder and call my dad on Lauren's cell phone, and he came out to get us. Much to Steph's dismay, we had to leave the car sitting on the side of the road, near an overpass outside of Sand Springs as Dad drove us home to Stillwater.

There is a silver lining on this rain cloud, however. Micah has graciously offered to drive out with Steph to Sand Springs and get the car, tow it back with his truck, and if it is truly the engine belt, fix it. And if we're lucky, it will cost us a tank of gasoline, the rental price of a U-haul tow dolly, the cost of an engine belt part, and a couple of beers. Ah well!

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Okay, this is too cool

Steph and I have just come home from an evening of dinner out and shopping, something that we've not been able to do with one another for a couple of months since Steph has been so swamped with this huge web design project. Anyway, while we were out, we saw an outfit, a puce skirt and top that I couldn't pass up. Now that I'm working as a front desk receptionist in a real estate office, I need some nice looking clothes so I felt justified in buying it. But even more exciting is the fact that I have dropped TWO SIZES in the last two months!

This is a picture that Lauren just took of me wearing my new outfit! I'm starting to get a waistline again! Hooray!!!

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Kindness and Patience make all the difference

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I Corinthians, chapter 14, verses 4-7

It has always struck me as odd and hypocritical that those who boast the loudest about their "relationship with the Lord" can be among those who are the least patient and kind. Such would be the case for my most recent former employer, Dr. "JD". Here was a man who boasts of how active he is in his church, how he teaches a junior high boy's Sunday School class, and talks to his patients about how "the Lord" created us, and yet he is one of the most impatient, unkind, boastful, arrogant, and rude human beings that I have encountered in a long time.

I have a new job now. I work as a front desk receptionist/secretary at a local long-established realtor's firm and the difference is like night and day! There isn't even any comparison. It's an office of mostly middle-aged women, all with various backgrounds and experience. Some are regular church-goers, I'm certain, but none of them broadcast their "faith in the Lord". All are successful realtors, and depend on the work I do to keep them successful. I have been there on a three-quarter time basis (8:00 to 3:00) for just under a week now, and I already feel like "one of the girls". From day one I felt accepted, needed, valued, and welcomed. They have been patient and kind with me while I am in the learning phase. They don't have unrealistic or demanding expectations. They treat me with consideration and respect, and as a result I am learning the job much quicker and easier. In less than a week I have shown excellent progress and I am gaining speed, accuracy, confidence, and skill by the day. I never feel nervous or jittery, never feel as if I'm going to have a panic attack, and no one has ever made me cry, (and if they did, my office supervisor, Denise, would rip them a new one). The days seem to fly by and I find, for the first time in a long time, that I really enjoy my job. I can thrive in such an atmosphere.

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Taking some time to heal

I'm not one to give up on anything, nor am I one to say "die", but there comes a time when one realizes that it's time to throw in the towel. My new job did not work out, not because I didn't like the work, not because I wasn't learning and doing well, but because my boss was such an arrogant, impatient, abrasive and abusive jerk that I went to work every morning with knots in my stomach, and came home ill. I have been in such a state for the last two weeks that I have hardly been able to function. At first I thought it was me, and that I just needed to buck up and get with the program. He seemed great at first, but as time progressed I began to see a different side of him, and yesterday, when he flew into a thither over a minor mistake that one of the receptionists made, and then proceeded to rip the heads of every other staff member off and shit down our necks if we so much as looked in his direction, I knew that things in that place were not cool. I came home for lunch in tears and proceeded to announce to Steph that I could not take this any longer, and then I had myself a quiet little panic attack. My heart started pounding, I couldn't stop crying, I could hear the blood "whoosh" through my ears, I was nauseated, and I had a raging headache. Steph called Ville over at Express Personnel and told her that I was not going back in for the afternoon and explained why.

This morning, very early, I called in sick to Express Personnel. Today I plan to see the doctor to get a note telling them that I cannot continue at that job and why. It's not worth my health. Ville has already re-opened my files and is looking for a new job for me. In the meantime, we're doing well. We now have steady income coming in from Steph's web design work and at least for a couple of months we're going to be okay until Ville can find something else for me. And while she's looking, I'm going to take some time to help Steph with this current web project as well as do some healing things for myself, like finish this book about Mozart that I got for my birthday and learn to play my new guitar!

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Mozartballs to be featured at the Okie Blogger Roundup

Okay, I admit it... I had to swallow hard when Steph announced to me only a few minutes ago that it was official that Mozartballs would be showing at the Okie Blogger Roundup on September 23rd. I'm a little nervous about this one!

I apologize for the lack of entries over the last couple of weeks. I have been stressed and exhausted during this period of training and getting settled into my new job. I like the job, but it is a bit stressful and demanding at times. I'm starting to settle in better now and I'm feeling a bit more confident. I've also been busy building my two new My Space sites. One is my own personal My Space site, and the other is one that I've created for Nancy Storace. They've been a fun, creative diversion for me.

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One of those days

It's been one of those days when I haven't done too much. Well, actually I've done a lot. I vacuumed the stairway and the entire downstairs, cleaned spots on the carpets, cleaned our bathroom, dusted the living room and our bedroom, and cleaned the kitchen. So I guess I've done a lot more than I give myself credit for.

My musical feature for today is one of my very favorite Mozart works, and is considered one of Mozart's very finest operas. The role of Zerlina, almost surely, was composed for Anna Storace, as she was slated to return to Vienna in 1788. However, due to the escalating war with Turkey, Emperor Joseph could not afford to pay her the salary she demanded and contract negotiations fell through. It is unfortunate, for Anna would have made the perfect Zerlina!


Today's musical feature is Mozart's Don Giovanni, K. 527

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Wrung out, literally

Last night Steph and I went to the Chamber Singers' end-of-the-year party at conductor, Mark Lawlor's home and we had a great time! This is an intelligent, articulate, and artistic group of people who enjoy good food, good wine, good conversation, and good music and we enjoyed every moment we spent there. However, after we returned home, both of us were hit with a terrible case of what we call "the bads". It hit me first and then a couple of hours later, Steph. Both of us spent the better part of all night in the bathroom, with poor Steph so miserable and distended that she couldn't breathe. We're thinking we had some kind of an adverse reaction to something we ate, not that it was bad food, but that it had something in it that didn't agree with either of us. So this morning I had to call in sick from work so that I could recover and re-hydrate after the night's onslaught.


Today's musical feature is Mozart's Six German Dances, K. 509

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Asthma

I hate it. I never had it as a kid, but instead, had my first asthma attack on the night that Nathan and I came home from the hospital after he was born. The doctor told me then that it was "trauma" induced due to the emergency cesarean and the stress of Nathan's being sick when he was born. And since I've moved back to Oklahoma, it has only gotten worse.

Spring and fall are my worst allergy seasons, therefore my worst asthma seasons. Whenever I have an attack, it feels as if I'm being stabbed multiple times in the back. If I move or try to breathe, it only gets worse. One of the worst attacks I ever had came a few years ago when I came down with bronchial pneumonia after my master's recital. It was the middle of the night and I felt like I was having a heart attack. It scared poor Steph nearly to death.

So far, this asthma season has been worse than I've had in a few years. I had an attack last week that kept me home from work. Today, I'm feeling very tenuous, like if I move too quickly, it's going to hit. There are little twinges and hints that it's there, as if there's an evil monkey on my back, poking and teasing, just letting me know he's there. The little jerk!

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