Latonia Moore on getting started in opera

This is from a panel last week at The Dallas Opera where Latonia Moore is cast as the lead in Aida.  We were in Pattye's studio together and we were in that opera chorus of Pagliacci together.  It was a grand time.  Richard Burke (playing the killer clown) kicked a metal bucket across the stage once and we thought it would decapitate someone in the audience.  Good times.



Good on Latonia for getting the recognition for her spectacular instrument and for being such a wonderful performer and musician.  I'm hopeful I can make it out to Dallas in the next week or so for one of the three remaining performances.





You can buy tickets to see Latonia in Aida here.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love and chicken-fried bacon.

Amen.



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Breathtaking handiwork from a Russian artisan

Pretty lady with beautiful hands.  No idea what she's saying or even what her name is, but it's a great representation of what looks like the Irish lace method to me.  I'm besotted with this type of handiwork.  Dunno if I'll ever have time to take a crack at it, but I appreciate the art and the skill this takes.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: all better

My happy, sassy, flouncy puppy is back on form. Matter of fact, all 3 of my lovelies are in fine fettle. But they dislike the sudden cold. Poor lambs!


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An actual three-dog night.

First cold night of the year and right now it's 33 degrees. I busted out the electric blanket ( thanks, Mom and Dad!) and set it at 80% for about an hour before bed. At bed time, I turned it down to 40% so I'd have some heat but not have to turn on the house heater. Saturday will be in the 70s, after all. The pups darted under cover and did Nary a whit of their usual bedtime tussle. I awakened at 4am with all three pups on top of the covers, pinning me under, and I was hot. Turned the blankie down to 2 and they are back under it. Nice to have the warmth boost at first, but one hates to go overboard. Plus, I sleep better when it's not uncomfortable to have my little furballs snuggled up.

Life is sweet. Winter is a favorite, because it's happy time for cuddling with my little pack.

Wheeeee!


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Glad (if expensive) hosannas.

4th time in 2 months, Miss Mochi is at the vet's office. Caught her chewing on the wire from a champagne bottle top, but half was missing. One xray later, no metal inside my little goober girl. Whew, and oucher$.

Still. Worth it.


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crocheting my balls off

Did I mention I'm crocheting some?  I'm using the time while I listen to audio recordings of my professor to do some pretty simple crochet.  This is just repetitive expanding rows, so it's easy-peasey, but this particular floss works up beautifully.  It's a variegated color by Yarn Bee and I've been getting it at Hobby Lobby.  This color is Kathmandu.  Plus: sequins!

Ooooh!  Sparkly!

This is going to be a shawl and I think I'm making it for myself, because I really messed a part of it up and I couldn't expect someone else to wear that on their back, now, could I?

...and miles to go before I spiel.

Sorry for the light posting/content of recent times.  In truth my schedule is woefully overpacked.  You might think I could have carved out an hour for bringing my blog up to speed during a 2 week vacation, but to do so would be to have a wrong idea: my vacation was packed with doing things like studying and trying to put my house in order prior to my big surgery, and no small amount of stress.

Work has been a bit rodeo these 6 days I've been back.  I'm hopeful that this is just a temporary thing-- it's been the most stressful ever.  A few hours back on the clock last Monday and I suddenly noticed the reappearance of a knot between my shoulder blades that I didn't miss during my two week vacation.  *le sigh*

A week ago I had a major exam in A&P II, but prior to the test, I got up early and took all 3 pups to the vet with the assistance of a rather under-the-weather Himself. [His turn with the vet the following day revealed he was more sick than the furballs. :( ]  I had to run off from the vet's office to class to take my test and to say I performed poorly grade-wise would be an understatement.  I am hopeful I can still pull a B in the class, but I've utterly revamped my study methods, including now meeting at least once a week with a study partner.   I'd love to blame my poor test performance on the very real concern for all my sick puppies, including the two-footed version, but I can't afford to give myself a pass.  Oh, and I will will will take at least 15 minutes every day for my guitar.  I'm progressing well on that score, but have missed more days than I've hit recently.

No belly dance this month, but hopefully for a few classes in November.  Or maybe not.  I have some wonderful plans to see dear friends at home and out of state in November, so that will no doubt set me aright. :)

Keep in mind the fact that I watch NO television-- my TV doesn't even get a channel, as far as I know.   I feel like I'm rushing from one thing to the other, and that there is little down time.  On a happy note, Sunday I had family mewvie night and Himself and the pups all curled up with me on the sofa to watch Dark Shadows (LOVE!) and the Fifth Element.  It was nice to just veg for a change. 

7 weeks from my surgery.  I'd like to get the beadboard up on the ceiling in the second bedroom before then.  And. And.  And.

I obviously enjoy (on some level) being overly-busy and rushing about quick like a bunny, but I'd like to feel that I'm in a state of choice about being an agent of chaos. More soon.

Monumentally bummed about the demise of Big Tex.

Apparently, he is toast.

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Cool, moist nose report.

Puppies slept well and Chuy didn't do the zombie thing and waking up today there are no dry, warm noses, so I'm relieved. I'm also happy I didn't have any veterinarian of Dr. Moreau dreams, which is a relief. That lobster/kitten from Tuesday night will haunt me. Longtime. Ew.
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Sick puppies

All three have kennel cough. Chuy is by far the worst. I took them to the vet before class yesterday and got them on prednisone and antibiotic. Just woke up and Chuy is laying there like a zombie, eyes open. I hope he doesn't have pneumonia. I'm scared. :(
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Update: All pups are much improved this morning. :)

Heeeeeere's SPLODEY!

Here's the prototype as dispatched by Ambulance Driver at the first Blogorado in November of 2009, and here's my monstrous creation to commemorate that strangely delightful occurrence.  Well, delightful for everyone except AD and his poor Dodge pickup, but if you're gonna make an omelet, and all that...  Call me Frankenphlegm.  For some strange reason, that chilly night on a dark country roadside in Colorado was a unifying experience, and something unexpected that really drew us together in an enduring and surprising way.  I really think the group is all the more close for that.  Ambulance Driver bore up manfully, considering his truck had just been ganked by the poor beast, and we stood around cracking jokes and huddling for warmth in a show of solidarity as he set to collecting the meat with aid of a sawzall and about a dozen large knives proffered by the helpful bystanders.  Jokes were cracked.  2001: A space odyssey was referenced in movement and music, and lewd discusson of tracheae was undertaken.  Good times. 

Spitting image, right?  you would swear these bucks were twins as the resemblance was uncanny.  The antlers on mine went a bit wobbly/wonky, but I forgive them.  I am particularly proud of the craftsmanship of the cigarette.  Next time I make something to explode at Blogorado, I'm going to not start on it 4 days before I hit the road for seekrit location and maybe it will be a little less wobblesome and a little better-hewn.  At the end of the shooting day on Sunday, we put a little rubbermaid container with about a pound of tannerite in a hatch at the back of Splodey's mount.  Fittingly, it was Ambulance Driver that made Splodey go splodey.  Poetic, that. :)

As I was making Splodey, I sent Mom and a few friends photos of my progress.  Mom kept saying he was so cute that it was a shame to blow him up. The way I see it, the fact that Splodey was temporal and marked for death really took the pressure off.  Every angle and curve didn't have to be refined or strainings at perfection.  This was basically a growed-up, high velocity pinata and not something to be hung in the Louvre or the Smithsonian.  Yes, it's goofy.  Yes, I should have spent that energy studying instead of this, but I'm glad I did it. I think he was really cute, and he made a lot of people laugh. I call that a good time investment.

Now what will I make next year?  Thanks to lovely but shy spokesmodel Mrs. Sci-FI for holding up the doomed beastie for the photo. 

I hope to get my after report on Blogorado up on or before the coming weekend.  For now, school is a whirl and work continues apace. I do hope to be back on track with my daily posts quite soon. 

I LOVE this woman!

My vote is on the plump sassy lady from Dallas.  I grinned the whole way through this video.

Sunday, Puppy Sunday: the cutening!!!

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Jaw surgery blathery

So here's a video of a version of what needs doing on me choppers.  I don't think they'll remove any teeth but there will be the segmentation and repositioning of the bones above my upper teeth.  Yes, it's gruesome to ponder, but totally amazing, too.  There are videos of the actual procedure on YouTube if you are curious and would enjoy seeing that sort of thing, or if you would enjoy torturing yourself with that sort of thing.

I have to say that the anxiety over the surgery has been a major distraction in recent times.  It's really difficult for me to hunker down and study as I should, but I've been making progress on that score in the past handful of days.  Macroeconomics is going well, and Anatomy could be better, but I'm on a production schedule with studies to ramp up in anticipation of the test coming up on Tuesday.  Wish me luck.

I've never had a big surgery other than wisdom tooth extraction, and that's relatively minor in comparison.  I'll be in hospital overnight, which is probably a good thing.  I'm toying with the idea of doing some before/after videos, because I couldn't find many open bite surgery vids from people who had the experience, and they were all from very young people.  As for physical appearance, there will be very little change in how the area around my mouth and jaw look, and it will probably not be at all noticeable to people even who are acquainted with me.

As to the survey of testimonials I viewed tonight, there are varying degrees of discomfort and food-through-a-strawishness.  I don't think my lower jaw will be cut & spliced at all, so that's one less thing.  I do expect a severe amount of bruising, even up to around my eyes.  My mouth-- well, that will be a mess afterward.

In the weeks leading up to the surgery I'm going to make up some good pork and chicken bone stocks and I'll eat that while I'm recovering to help knit the bone tissue.  It's pretty gross, but this will save my teeth hopefully for the rest of my life, as well as prevent the rheumatoid arthritis in my right jaw from advancing further due to misaligned bite.

My heart is buoyed by the fact that I googled my surgeon online and one search engine listed him as 5th top surgeon in the country for TMJ surgery and ranked first for jaw surgery.  It does help that I have confidence in him.  Yay.  More on this to follow.

Much to tell, and not much time to tell it.

Yes, I've lolled about a bit with wild puppehs the last couple of days, but seeing as I have so few days with no deadlines, I've not succumbed to the blogging urge.

I actually completely cleared 3 horizontal table-type surfaces Wednesday, which is a major accomplishment. I've got 1.5 left of those and then I can feel better again, and perhaps almost civilized.  Almost.

Ambulance Driver came through on his way home from blogorado Wednesday night, and I nearly passed out from laughing so hard.  Long story short - on Saturday he was denuded of much of his hair due to a pledge related to Kilted To Kick Cancer.  Saturday night I crocheted each him and Stingray a scrotal cozy to keep their defoliated parts warm.  I had to guess on the sizing, but one does what one can.  One misfortunate soul festooned his head with AD's (used) scrotal cozy, to his deep and abiding chagrin.   My time in Colorado was so filled with good feeling that the extra visit from AD was total bonus round.  With discussions regarding anatomy class, he told a story I'd never heard before and it was simultaneously awful and one of the funniest things ever, but not for the faint of heart. 

Good times with good friends.  Here's to many happy returns.

A very nice birthday

Had a wonderful brekky with all my dear blogorado fambly who sang happy birthday to me which made me happy-cry. Had a nice drive down to the Texas panhandle with Himself and aepilot_Jim where we are having a delish lunch at El Patron in Amarillo. Soon we pick up the freshly bathed pups. Oh, happy day!!!


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Splodey!

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Sunday, Puppy Sunday: pups of others, Butcher edition

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Blogorado update

I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I took off from Texas with no sensible shoes. I planned to wear some vibrams on the range, but it's wet and the vibrams are a no-go. Went to a local store and got some cheapie boots and I'm good to go.

Having very good times with the best of friends.

Puppies are reported to be having a grand time at a puppy day care place in Amarillo.

All is well. :)


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Remember this guy? I can rebuild him. Better. Faster. Stranger.

Best corn tortillas eVar.

La Tejavan in Amarillo. Yum.

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Antlers are done.

I made two cakes Wednesday night, studied several hours and I finished the antlers, which will be installed on the beast when we get to Colorado.  They are too long and fragile to stick on here.  He looks quite silly, which is as I expected.  Looking forward to showing you the whole thing in all his goofy splendor.

Antlers: check.

Splodey is coming along nicely.  Antlers and cigarette were the last bits to go together.  The main piece has its base coat of white on to cover the news print and today I'll be painting the rascal.  The antlers/cigarette will be dry enough for painting this afternoon.
Leaving for Blogorado after Anatomy class in the morning. WOO HOO!  I'm so excited.  But miles to go before I sleep.

IF I sleep.

A tiny taste of Splodey

Splodey was born to die.  He is marked for death.  He will be revealed and undone at Blogorado.  But for now, here's a little smidge of a photo from Sunday.   Poor lil feller.