Chocolate!

Wow, very busy day yesterday, I was away from the computer for a big chunk of the day. I will post about it in a bit.

But first I want to post this link: Chocolate Deities!

These are AMAZING. I want some of them. I want lots of them. But then there would be the agony - it's chocolate, it should be eaten! It's art, it should be preserved!

I'm vaguely thinking about making an icon from a picture or two.

Music

Right, now let me try to catch up on computer stuff, take care of the kids, carry on several simultaneous online conversations, and write up this post.

So, last night was very busy, very musical, and very fun.

Maggie had Adventure Club, and Jamie and I went to the Cafe dinner. Karl met us there, and boy was I glad to see him, managing the kids alone is tiring. After dinner Karl collected Maggie from Adventure Club and went off to a friends' house, I was to meet him later.

Rather than just the usual choir practice, they now have the short Advent vespers service at 7. The choir had gone over the music for this once, the first week I'd come. (Well, once I think. I suppose they could have been doing it before then, I wouldn't know, would I?) The choir was apparently to sit in with everyone else and just be leading the music. By good example, I guess.

It was wonderful. It's very nice music, and the section where it's sung with two different parts by sides is just marvelous to sing. The music lifted me up and carried me along. It felt good.

And it was certainly a nice warmup for choir practice. After the short service the choir went up to the loft to practice for the big Maranatha vespers special service we're doing this Saturday. If anybody is in the area and would like to hear some lovely music, I invite you to it, let me know and I'll get you the details. There's going to be choir performance, handbell choir, I know we have a clarinet, a cello, and a violin playing - I think there may be other musicians, dunno all the details - and we're going to have an interpretive dancer.

I'd known we were going to have some sort of dance, there was mention of choreographed something, but I hadn't known the details. So the first thing we did was go through the details of how we were to sing the last piece of music, how many times through which parts, and then do it while this guy rehearsed his dance.

It's a guy dancing - very trim and fit, shaved bald head, apparently dancing the part of Mary in an interpretive dance on the Magnificat. Now, it could be that I am merely reacting to stereotypes, I'm sure there are plenty of male dancers who are completely straight, even ones who move like him. But honestly, part of my brain has been going "We are having a major musical performance that is going to be beautiful and incredible and the climax of this will be a gay man dancing the part of Mary. I love this church." (So forgive me for reacting with stereotypes, because it's funny, okay? I may be going to my own Special Hell, but I'll be giggling in the handbasket.) I wonder what he will be wearing. I was trying to watch him rehearse, read my music, and watch Victor's hands conducting, despite Morgan between me and him and she's taller. Whee.

The rest of the rehearsal went very well. I'd gotten there intending to tell Victor that I really couldn't do it, I should stay out of this performance because I'm just too new and unexperienced and I don't know what I'm doing. By the end of it I was thinking this is okay, I can do this. I got through most of one of the hard ones without a mistake! It helped that I made sure to get myself seated between Morgan and Marilyn, two of the strongest altos, so I could hear them, but I was doing a good job. As far as singing parts, that was my personal best. I was soaring with the music and enjoying myself thoroughly. I'm looking forward to Saturday.

I wish Karl could be there for this, but taking Jamie to this just would not work. If anybody else is interested in going, let me know.

And afterwards

So choir went late last night, about 45 minutes later than it should be - but I expect it won't be like that after the big thing Saturday. After that I drove out to Miles and Brandy's house where Karl was already with the kids. Kit, Kelly, and Sylver that we met early last month were over too, to watch Firefly, they're getting hooked properly on the series, yay. They'd seen Out of Gas before I got there, I came in partway through Ariel, and later after the kids had been put to bed with their sleeping bags in upstairs bedrooms, we saw War Stories. Miles has an enormous tv screen that is amazing to watch Firefly on. That was lots of fun. There was more fun conversation. It is great getting to see these people again. I want more of that! Lots more.

Imaginary meme

Heck, it was fun doing this for filkerdave and for kitanzi, so why not.

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want—good or bad—BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

Filk of mine

When I posted about the recent housefilk, and mentioned singing three of my own filks, two new, joyeuse13 wanted me to share them. So okay, I'm finally getting around to it.

( 'Admiral' Miles )

( The Alliance Unification )

( Admiral's Captain )

trimming

No, I'm not mad at anybody - just my flist page is getting a bit bloated, so I'm trimming. As I rarely f-lock any more, no big deal.

Okay... so officially the hurricane season is over... sorta

Weather Underground blog discussing this year's weather records

[John 'Bluto' Blutarsky] Holy shit! [/'Bluto']

(bkseiver will get and enjoy that last reference.)