Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Stuff, and TMI Tuesday #183

Dad Update! He was supposed to go to Billings Tuesday to get his pacemaker re-zapped. Surgeons want to wait for a month so that his other surgery has healed more. They seem confident that it won't run down on him before June. Seems to me that they're cutting it close.

I've opted not to get into the gory details about him, other than he's got a tube in his gut with an automated vacuum pump. When it's moving gunk, it looks sort of like a Twizzler...
The opera went quite well Saturday night. The orchestra played well, the soloists all sang well, and everyone was happy. But the thing is about THREE HOURS LONG. Add in a 15-20 minute intermission, and it was well after 11 PM before it got over. Then the tear-down.

My position with the symphony is operations manager. I take care of the orchestra stuff. The sets, props, furniture, etc. for the opera should have been handled by someone else. It wasn't. It was somewhat thrown together, and no one made arrangements to return any of it after we were through with it. The best way to describe it would be to use a word that rhymes with 'clustertruck'. In any case, we got it all taken care of today, and officially, the 2008-2009 season is history. As soon as I get the paperwork taken care of...
Not that I care one iota, but did you realize the NBA playoffs have started? Another crock o' crap that I don't care about.
Some pretty good questions for TMI this week!


1. Marriage and children aside, what has been your greatest accomplishment in life? - I think it would have to be graduating with my Master's degree. Not something that my parents thought I needed, nor helped pay for. But they were supportive. It was something that I did on my own. Possibly as great, though I didn't realize it at the time, would be the number of former students I taught that have continued on with their music into adulthood. Many continue to play, and a few have become music teachers, as well (I warned them not to do that if they wanted financial independence...!). I'd like to think that the greatest accomplishment hasn't yet happened.
2. Aside from healthy and happy children, what is your greatest ambition for the future? - At this point in my life, I'd say waking up in the morning is a great ambition. Seriously, I'm not sure that I have any particular ambition. Geez, these questions are beginning to bring me down...
3. If we were to enter your real name in a search engine, what would we find? - Wow. I had to check. A couple of references related to my symphony job. Some articles in the local paper (no, not the arrest records). Mention in an Indian business magazine (2nd to last article at this link). And, for the first time, I've seen mention made of two others with my name!
4. Who is the most famous person you ever met (not just in the same room as, but actually spoke with)? - Does having a running conversation with James Taylor in between songs from the fourth row count? Probably not... I've had the pleasure of talking with some big-name jazz musicians (partied with a couple of them), and squeezed Alison Krauss' butt, but probably the most famous would be meeting Buzz Aldrin last summer. Or maybe meeting Vixen or Dana or any of the Indy kids later in the year...
5. Parents aside, who is your biggest hero? - Not big into heroes (though Buzz certainly fits the bill). I'd have to go with my grandfather on my mom's side. Hard working, well liked, respected in the community, and a heckuva nice guy. Died about a little over 15 years ago. Still miss him.
6. Someone once worked out the sexual version of Six Degrees of Separation - Celebrity A slept with B, who slept with C, who slept with D, making as sort of connection between A and D. Are you connected to anyone famous through six or fewer bonks? - I would have absolutely no idea.

You should go check out the other TMIers!

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