7 Quick Takes Friday - symphonies, snoring, & suicide

---1---

 

Saturday night I went to a performance by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra called "A Whole New World," which featured cello soloist Wendy Warner. It was held at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall, and I have gone to other productions there sponsored by the Missouri State University music department, so I was not prepared for how formal it was! At least I wore khakis with a semi-dressy shirt...I think there might have been a person or two less dressed up than I was.... Oh well. Next time I'll know, this is the real deal!

 

The performance was terrific. I did not get a picture of the soloist, because they asked us to turn off phones, etc., but I did get a decent shot of the rest of the orchestra before the lights went down.

 

The thing that always catches my eye and my imagination at these things is the
shiny black stage floor and all the scuff marks in the back from its past productions.
...It makes me remember my own experiences on the stage...like in
my high school's production of The Wizard of Oz 16 years ago, in which
I played the role of the munchkin coroner and got to hand Dorothy
the wicked witch's death certificate and sing a four-line ditty in a
cute little munchkin voice!

 

A shot of JKH Hall as I drove away after the performance



I sat in the mezzanine between two older gentlemen. The one to my right was fairly chatty and made me feel very welcome. He was a "regular" at the symphony and this was his regular seat. I liked him. The guy to my left slouched over in his chair and slept through the first half of the program, even snoring at one point, with his beret hanging over his right knee. At intermezzo the guy on my right said, "Was it just me, or did you hear some snoring...?" I said, "Yeah, it was the guy on the other side of me!" He simply replied, "Yeah, he's a doctor, poor fella." I'm a little ashamed to admit my immediate thought was, "Retired doctor, I hope...." (He was quite old.)

---2---
 

Did you know I used to play the tenor saxophone? Well, now you do. I played it in my junior high band when I was in the 8th grade. That's it. But I was first chair (out of two players)! ;) I have always thought I would love to pick it up again...but things like lack of time, and lack of money, and lack of a place to practice have always kept me from it. I still think one day I will. Some other instruments I would be interested to learn are the piano, the banjo, the harmonica, and the steel guitar.

 

And all this speak of orchestras and my fascination with all things "fine art" brings to mind a scene from the BBC version of the movie Pride and Prejudice about what people used to consider "accomplishments" for women (for the main point of the conversation begin at about 2:05):

 

 

---3---
 

So, story of my life, I am late. Turning in my master's thesis, that is. I like writing. I love a finished writing/research project, and more often than not, I even do a decent job. But it intimidates me so much! And especially this - this is the culmination of the last five years of my life. What if I don't write the most perfect paper that has ever been written?! I know that is an impossibly high expectation, but I will feel disappointed if I don't knock it out of the park with this. Especially since the subject of my paper is one that is near and dear to my heart (pastoral care for family members of individuals who complete suicide). I have this paper, and HALF of another, MUCH smaller paper to do, and I will be finished with the work for my M. Div. You would think that would be motivation enough, no? Yeah. You would think. Buuuuuut instead, I'm blogging. O.o

 

---4---


 

I finished the A to Z blogging challenge for April. I successfully finished the challenge. That means I wrote 26 posts in 30 days, each one reflecting on a topic beginning with the next consecutive letter of the alphabet. (So I may not have finished my thesis this week, but I did finish something! And I even cleaned my house (...well...most of it)!) I am going to make this my Reflection Post.

 

I really enjoyed participating in this challenge. I "met" a lot of new bloggers and found several interesting ones to follow. Here are a couple I particularly like:

 

Random Musings From the KristenHead.

 

Questions Unasked and Unanswered.

 

I liked a lot of others, too, but these were probably my favorites. I also took part in a couple of extra smaller bloghops I found through other A to Z participants during the month and followed a few blogs through them, too. I gained 54 new followers through this challenge! Some people gained more, some less, but I think that is pretty good for a blog that primarily deals with God and theological reflections. That's a specialty not everyone cares to read in their free time!

 

So I loved it. And I hope to join in again next year. And in the meantime, I plan to continue to visit my newfound A to Z bloggers.

 

---5---

 

 

And since I am completely insane, I decided to join another month-long bloggin challenge to Blog Every Day in May, hosted by Jenni at "Story of My Life" blog. She provides a prompt and a link-up for each day, and if you skip a day, it's no big deal. That's my kind of blogging challenge (though I don't intend to skip any days)! So far, 2 for 2, I am current.

 

---6---

 

I still haven't made it to a Springfield Cardinals baseball game! I've been planning to do so for like the last 3 weeks, but it just hasn't worked out yet. With the weather cold like it is, though, I'm feeling more confident that more "springlike" (as opposed to sweltering, disgusting "summerlike") weather will hold out another week or two so maybe I can get to one while it is still enjoyable (I don't particularly enjoy sweating). 

 

---7---

 

I'm going to continue my habit thus far and close out this Quick Takes edition with a song. I am tired, though I am at work for the night, so I can't sleep. So...I will leave you with this wonderful Appalachian lullaby (at least, that's what I think it iperformed by Alison Krauss that I've been listening to on her album 100 Miles or More:











 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!