Winter and Hell Week

Winter is definitely here! I have been flying to other parts of the country where the temperatures are much lower than ours and where they are deep in snow or rain, so I try to keep things in perspective but it is chilly. No more shorts and t-shirts for a while. Sweaters and long sleeves shirts are coming out of the closet. Today the weather is overcast and gray although yesterday we had blue sky and sunshine. The temperature this week will not go over 63 degrees with lows in the 40s. Not really California heatwave. We get so used to the usual hot and beautiful weather, that when the temperatures drop, we feel as if all of a sudden it is below zero. The drop between daytime and nighttime is very noticeable though, and you better prepare if you will not be coming home at the end of the day before going out. Layers, they say, layers...


Yesterday was the official start of our "Hell Week". A little ironic in the 45 degrees weather. I spent the whole day with my iPod listening to our songs and trying to finally learn the lyrics. The concerts are this coming weekend and by now we should all be "off music". I have been having a hard time with this show. Either I am getting old and cannot learn as easily as I used to, or I just cannot "bond" with some of the songs. I will go with the latter!!! There is one song that I just do not like at all so I was having trouble memorizing the words. There are others that are just hard for some reason. The lyrics do not really tell a story. They just seem to be a random collection of words (I am sure they are not, but that is how they come out)and this makes it hard to recall what is coming next. But yesterday I guess all this non-stop listening paid off a little. In the shower I caught myself singing 2 of the ones I was having the hardest time with. Well now I know the words but after last night rehearsal I still have some trouble spots with the notes. My location within the Chorus does not help me either. I am seating on one side next to a singer that I never hear so I cannot rely on him for help, and on the other side and behind me are other sections (2nd Tenors and Basses) which I hear plenty. It is hard not to take their notes when you are not sure of yours and all you can hear is theirs. I guess I need to work a little more on my music between now and Saturday. I was overall happy though because I was in panic mode after last week rehearsal and realizing how much I did not know. Last night I was definitely confident enough and as our Artistic Director always say, "if you are going to sing the wrong note, at least sing it loud and clear so we can fix it"!