2007 - A Congressional Odysey

Happy New Year! I hope this new blog finds you well and keeping to your resolutions. We’re having a hot day today – 37 degrees = 98.6F = body temperature. Jackie and I took a walk up to Flemington to do some errands and came back covered in sweat (not Jackie as she doesn’t sweat). I think we’ll enjoy the rest of our day in air-conditioned shelter.

Haven’t had much to write about lately. I’m on an extended break from teaching, performing, and studying. But the studying starts again tomorrow. It will be nice to see some of my classmates again. There are a couple that I don’t look forward to seeing, like “4th Dimension Jacqui,” and “Pigpen.” But I guess they add to the dynamics of the class in their own annoying way.

There have been a couple students who have had lessons over the break. I’ve enjoyed that because they come to my house, which is how I’d prefer to teach anyway. I hope to teach solely from home next year. In the meantime, I’m introducing a new “Theory/Music Appreciation” class for my students to take from my house – I’m hoping it will be a success.

The Melbourne Opera Company will have its first ever subscription season in 2007, with Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, and The Italian Girl in Algiers. We supposedly start back in February with Butterfly, but in typical MOC style we won’t know the dates until a week before rehearsals. Still, it’s the best gig of my life. Opera is food for the soul.

Our trip to the States has been booked! We arrive in Chicago on April 4th at 4:00pm, likely very jet-lagged. We have a stopover in Tokyo for 24 hours on the way. But I’m tentatively planning a gathering on Friday, April 6th from 8:00 onwards at Henry & Wanda’s on 6th Street in Racine. Everyone is invited. I’ll send more “formal” invitations closer to the date.

We stay in Racine until the 21st of April. If any out-of-towners would like to see us, we’d be absolutely thrilled. Racine is a 2-hour drive from Chicago, and a 45-minute drive from Milwaukee. Since we will be looking after a youngster during our visit, we may not be at leisure to drive down to Chicago. But we can always work something out so let us know if you want to make the trip!

Lachlan has finally been offered a permanent position with the Melbourne Trading Post as a graphic designer doing ad layouts. He’s pretty happy about that, as now he will have paid vacation – just in time!! The commute is awful, but the job is decent.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t made any political commentary for a long time. I’ve been silent out of respect for some of my friends who happen to be temporarily insane (Republicans). But now that the dust is starting to settle, I just want to proclaim my sheer joy in the results of the November elections. Even though the bonehead in chief insists on escalating the war in Iraq against the wishes of the American people, I now have hope that my country will slowly begin to heal from the damage of the last 6 years. Good on ya, Nancy Pelosi! It takes a good woman to clean up a big mess.

That’s all folks! Hugs & laters…