Paul’s “G”odiva Spot

Here are seven factoids that I am learning about NUOVA:

1. It is possible for one person to stress another person out only after five minutes…I shall not say who! 

2. The directors probably sit up in a studio watching us through video feeds, rubbing their hands in glee when a singer has a melt-down, saying out loud, “they’re learning something…YEAY!”

3. One can either bite the bullet and absorb as much as one can while here, or explode.  Only those two options exist!

4. Every now and then, someone may randomly wear pigtails!

5. This process is teaching me that I was born to sing opera and that I had more reserve energy than I thought…and I did not need to be in a chocolate induced glee-filled high to find that out!

6. Mrs. Mattress-Winnebago constantly amazes me as she has more energy than ALL of us put together!

7. Cooking is my catharsis.

Moi

P.S.  I made four chocolate cakes last night, all from scratch, and I intend to make icing and ice two of them tonight!

Now I know this is not Factoid Tuesdays, as today is Friday, but here are seven things I am learning about my Nuova room-mates, Jiminie and Casper:

1. They both become instant temperamental divas when I try to get them up in the morning!

2. They have two left ankles when it comes to domestic stuff

3. Jiminie loves to blame MOI for the fact that he still does not know how to use the shower knob properly to actually get hot water!  Hence, he shrieks, screams, and shivers when exiting the bathroom!

4. I have become Mr. “MOM” to both of them

5. Casper, once he is out of bed, catwalks his way to the bathroom like a supermodel on a runway

6. Casper always has that look on his face like he is trying to figure out the most efficient way of turning me into Monday’s rotisserie ham roast in the backyard, without much resistence from MOI! 

7. Both Jiminie and Casper are bottomless pits when it comes to food…and desperate enough to eat my cooking!

Moi

Hello all!  And greetings from Edmonton!!!  This is my first time to Edmonton and I have to say that I like it!  It is a clean city (compared to Toronto!) and it is a nice distraction to the desperate pace of life in the big city!

I am here at Opera Nuova getting ready for four performances of Street Scene by Kurt Weill, where I will be playing yet another heart-bleeding, gut-wrenching, slobber-riddled character (named Sam, in case you didn’t know it yet) who spends 99% of his stage time moping about!  How attractive!  Well, this character seems to milk a lot of sympathy from the audience, and everyone loves him.  HEY!!!  Maybe I should mope about whining everyday and be the defeated, misunderstood, gasping artist carrying on about how lonely I am…

AND SPEAKING OF LONELY…Casper, Jiminie and I had a most interesting experience our first few moments in Edmonton!  Actually, this is really Casper’s fault, but I digress.  We had all just arrived in the city and no sooner than we make it to the Superstore, Casper gets hit on!  By whom you may ask…?  You will have to ask him about the details, but let’s just say it was very much unwanted attention from someone who is also very lonely (and we are sure of this because the person said this at least nine times in our conversation, while trying to get our numbers!), and Casper was wistfully and gleefully clueless as to what was going on, while I was squirming in my shoes, trying to find a non-rude way to get us a hasty stage right exit.  You want more info? E-MAIL CASPER!!!

It so happens that the three of us (Casper, Jiminie and I) are all being billeted together!  We are staying at the home of a MOST WONDERFUL lady by the name of Peaches!  She has a wonderful home, where we have taken over the basement.  She has two fat cats named Chubbs, and Povey-2!  Povey-2?  Yes!  Two in one!  Anywho, these two fabulously flabby felines are both full furballs!  They shed on everything!  Even in my cereal!  Don’t ask.  Povey-2 is my little friend.  He is a big poofball with meaty porkchops for legs.  He waddles about parading himself like the proud prize turkey on a vegan farm!  Whenever I come home, he comes to me and makes three attempts at jumping up on my bed, always failing at the first two attempts!  The other one, Chubbs, is shy and keeps to himself mostly.

And I have become the ‘mom’ of the three of us.  I get the boys up in the morning, fix all our lunches and dinners, and I always seem to intuitively know where everything is…even Jiminie’s tuque!

So there you have it!  So far so good, and I am still sane!  More to come!

Moi

Nuova is just around the corner for me.  There are moments when I am terribly excited about it and moments when I feel so deflated and depressed.  I guess I have been attending quite a few summer festivals and programmes where I get to perform major roles, only to not have much come of it.  I guess there is a part of me that is afraid of sticking my neck out yet again, making all this effort and for very little return.  Who knows!  I guess this is one of the many frustrations we all go through as we travel the road of being an opera singer.

And to add insult to injury, I am sure you think all is well, until life comes in and throws a huge rusty crescent wrench into the porridge!  My landlady, bless her pointy little head, has given me notice to vacate.  Of course the first thing I thought was, “what could I possibly have done or not done that could have caused her to not want to renew my lease?”  Then when she told me that she is doing this because her first tenant, who had moved out, called to see if he could get his room back, she, instead of asking me if I could match to new rental rate she was asking, told him yes, and then announced to me after the fact that I must vacate.  Well, so much for being the nice, sweet lady I thought she was.  But no bother.  I am not going to argue what my rights are, and I know I have some.  I am just going to leave.  I have lived long enough to know that many times, instead of seeking justice, and even revenge, God says that we are to leave that alone and let Him handle that.  He reserves vengeance and jeaslousy for Himself.  And He is entitled to, as He is God.

I had a great uncle who, at his funeral, it was said of him that his favourite saying was, “time will tell.”  The more I see things happening in life that are unfair, the more this statement becomes more real to me.  Many times, we do not need to waste the time even seeking for justice, and just let life run its course.  I am not saying that we must never seek justice.  We are entitled to enforce our rights especially when they are being violated.  But, I believe that there is a time and place for everything under the sun.  Besides, what goes around, comes around.  That statement has more truth in it than I can say!

So, I am off to Opera Nuova in Edmonton to sing a role with them this summer…the role of Sam Kaplan, the 20-something Jewish lovesick puppy with his heart plastered all over his sleeves!  Remember Sam?  So, I guess you will all hear from me again once I am there and settled.  

Moi

Now I know the predictable people (Rossweisse, Beryll, Otis, and the whole lot of you!) are about to pull out your teeny, tiny violins and play “Our hearts break for you!”. However, I am not for a moment going to let that stand in my way. I am going to whine, so make with the cheese already if you want to.

My excitement about going to Nuova in Edmonton is fizzling fast! To date, I do not know with whom I will live when I get there, and this is beginning to concern me a bit. But also the fact that here I am, at school, all by my lonesome, spending my time learning music, and I am all alone! I do not like that. I remember even the days I was in Winnipeg over the summer. Every now and then, I would run (smack-dab) into someone, usually knocking them over. Once they are safely on the ground, I manage to get a conversation or two out of them before they get up, brush themselves off and run away. I also remember one or two people who would even find me, and we might go somewhere or do something. I do remember even more fondly the days when a group of us would go off on our outings. And then there were those I had to back into a corner and (jokingly of course) tie them to something stationary to get them to sit (or stand) still long enough for me to go on my diatribes and empty every bit of distress from my bosom…much to their constipation…(*BIG GASP!*)…but that’s for another time.

Ah yes! There was the Brandon Day (*VOGUE!*), where Melvin taught us a Jewish dance, and Steinbach Day (*WOOHOO!*) where we all linked arms and went skipping daintily to stunned motorists across the street in the town square. There was also the “Pancakes and pigtails with Moi” evening, and the various movie nights…I miss those days sooooooo much! I also miss being dragged off by Otis to the lair of Rossweisse, where we would play board games and eat home made pizza…and I would get many chances to take Otis outside for a good trouncing!

I am however, looking forward to the RETREAT! RETREEEEEET!!!! 2007 in July. It will be different this year, for reasons that will soon become desperately obvious, in one form…or another! I shall say NO MORE!!!!!

I just miss you guys!!! Yes, even those of you used to running away from me too!  Which is why I am going to such desperate extremes to make you stay in touch with me. Remember I have no shame so there is almost nothing I won’t do!!!!! Notice I said ALMOST!

So here I am (*gasp*) all alone….*whine* WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! Somebody please call me, or e-mail me soon, or I am liable to wilt, like a rose blasted by the hot winds of the desert!!! (*breath*).

Moi

OK! So I was thinking about going to the extreme and doing a striptease for you…and end it with my throwing myself, lock, stock and ham hock on to a hot grill in order to get you to leave comments, but I realized this morning, as I was moisturizing, and entertaining the thought simultaneously, that some of you might go blind!!!! So that is out the window!

So then, here is tactic # 2: REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY!!! I ABSOLUTELY FORBID YOU ALL to even THINK about commenting on my bloggie! You are NOT ALLOWED under ANY circumstances to do so!!! No no NO!!!! You cannot and you SHAN’T!!!!

There! How do you like THEM bananas????

Moi

Here are seven factoids I learned about ‘Sam Kaplan’ from Street Scene, by Weill:

As Sam, I am…

1. Jewish! And with the last name of Kaplan, that makes that desperately obvious!

2. A desperately lovesick puppy who wears his heart on his sleeves.

3. Nauseatingly polite and a helplessly nice…

4. About 24 years old. I have read one whole book everyday since I was 10, so I am pretty much a bookworm.

5. Desperately in love with the girl next door, Rose. And I hate it when she refers to me as her best friend! Though I adore her, she seems to gleefully ignore my interest.

6. Anxious to get out of the tenament I live in because I am so lonely, even with all the gossipping neighbours around!

7. A big WUSS!

Hey! Even wusses have their days too you know!

OK!  I triple pigtail DARE you all to RESPOND to me!  In fact, I bet you can’t!!!!! 

Moi

P.S. And I am NOT obssesed with pigtails, in case you think I am!

I am sure there are some of you wondering desperately to yourselves, “why is MOI not keeping his bloggie thingie updated?”  Well, have I got an answer for you!!!  It is really quite simple.  I am discouraged!

You are probably wondering why.  Well, you see, it is like this.  It is not enough that you tell me that you have visited the blog and read, but I need you to actually take the time to leave me a comment or three even if it is only just to let me know you were here.  You see, that encourages me to want to write more and share my thoughts with you.  This (even though some of you who are practitioners in the phyche and it’s ailings might call this ‘dysfuntional’) is a relationship of sorts, and one in which I would have hoped at least some of you cherish.

The simple truth is that I am growing discouraged from writing in my blog because I get little feedback from you.  I feel as if you only respond either when I guilt you into it, or whenever you have time to spare.  Now I am more inclined to keep my thoughts to myself. because it is so hard to pour one’s self out constantly and not feel attended to, or responded to.  I am an opera singer!  I need attention!!!!!  Now I am not just being the typical, run-of-the-mill temper-tantrum throwing, ‘divo want-to-be’ opera singer here…I do not fling myself off of balconies…well, only when trying to make a point…but that is for another time…THE POINT I AM MAKING is that I really do feel like we are all allowing our business (i.e. busy-ness) to be the excuse we can draw on to get out of putting in the effort that any relationship takes.  The truth is that we are only going to get busier than we are, so finding time is something we have to choose to do.  For those of you who are believers in Christ, just remember that God created us with a little computer chip that was factory-installed into our brains.  It is called a need for communication, and we are ALL beginning to SUCK at it!!  Just look around you!  Not to toot my own bagpipes here, but I AM TRYING HERE!!!!  When was the last time we checked our e-mail, and actually sat down to respond to a friend?  How many times have we said, “I’ll reply later…” or “I’ll get around to it…” or “HMPH!  He/she is such a drama prince/princess about this whole responding thing, I am just not going to pay any attention…” (*neck swivel, and snap*)?

So, my friends, I cannot talk to the wall all the time.  Eventually, if we do not take time to have a two way conversation, this bloggie will eventually dry up.  For some it does not matter, and that is OK.  But for those for whom this matters, I NEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE(*breath*)EEEHEEHEEED your responses!  I need to know what you are thinking…how you are doing…even if you think you have nothing to say…then say whatever jiberish comes out!  You know I am fluent in jib!!

And another thing.  If this entry has annoyed or insensed you to the point of telling me once and for all where I can shove my blog, then please let me have it!!  At this point, I’ll take anything…even a good trouncing!  No swear words though.  With a language like English, there are many other words we can use. 

So? Do we have a deal???  Hmmmm???

Moi

P.S.  Just in case you forgot, the ‘reply’ button is on the top left side of the screen of most e-mail pages…in case you for whatever reason didn’t know it!