My Final Glass of Whine (I Promise!)

First, more on the weather. Here's a photo of the weather conditions on my iPhone yesterday.



Which leads me to a new whine. The home button on my iPhone stopped working. Whaaaa!! Whine!!! The home button is the only way to get out of an application and back into the main screen where you can enter apps. It's also the only way to take a screen shot... so this is a photo of the page. And now in order to switch apps I have to shut the dang thing off and then back on again. Apparently this is a covered problem under the warranty, and the warranty lasts until September, so I have a few weeks to haul myself to the nearest Apple retailer (about 45 min away, WHINE!) for a diagnosis and hopefully a replacement phone.

The next is a smaller whine.

No matter what the weather next week, I won't be going to see Nathan Gunn and Michael Fabiano sing in Central Park. That happens to be the very same day that Husband is defending his PhD thesis. He's been working towards this degree and indeed this day for a long long time. Plus Alex's summer music lessons start that day. So in spite of what some people may think, without question Husband and Child do come before Nathan Gunn and any opera, even free opera. Can you just see it, "Hi Husband, congrats on your defense, ok, I'm off to NYC, see ya..." Not in a million years.

Final whinish thing.

Had one of those voice lessons today where I just couldn't get my air up. I get mad at myself which of course makes it worse. I know what I need to do - get the air up and have the voice be on top. I know I can do it. I just want to do it consistently. It can be so frustrating sometimes.

Whines

This morning's forecast from the National Weather Service:

RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES OF AROUND 100 DEGREES ARE FORECAST FOR TODAY AND NEAR 100 DEGREES FOR WEDNESDAY. THE HEAT INDEX SHOULD RISE TO BETWEEN 100 AND 105 DEGREES BOTH AFTERNOONS.

And so on. Air quality alerts. Hazy, hot, humid and cranky.

I do have a voice lesson on Wednesday afternoon. Luckily, it's inside in an air-conditioned environment.

In other hot and hazy news, the local opera company's summer season starts this month. I recall going to rehearsals for Traviata in weather like this and I admit I'm not sorry to be missing that. I also recall that no matter how frigid the seats in the auditorium were, the stage was always hot, hot, hot, and it was no joy running around backstage sweating like mad in layers of long-sleeved, high-necked costumes.

Anyway, I still haven't purchased tickets. The prices have gone WAY up!!! $59 for the cheapest tickets in the small theater and $35 for tippy top final balcony row in the big theater. If they are also selling $15 standing room tix for the small theater I'll go see Don Pasquale there. Otherwise I'll probably get the $35 ticket to see Don Giovanni and skip D. Pasquale and Faust. Although someone recommended I go see Faust because the wife of this guy who was in a band that I used to go see when I was in high school is one of the leads, and it would be fun to see him and say hi. My friends and I hung out with them a bit so he might remember me, although I doubt it. I'd have to go opening night, I assume, and look for him in the lobby during intermission? Yeah, exactly. Not really a reason to go. However another singer in Faust was in Rape of Lucretia and Lucia from last year, and he was great in both. Scared the heck out of me as the brother in Lucia, if I recall.

Don't know what to do. Last year I managed to see all three productions for $15. I had final dress tickets for Mikado, got free tickets for Lucia because they hadn't sold enough and wanted more bodies in the house and I happened to be in the right place at the right time (ie, the lobby after Mikado) when they were collecting names for the list, and then I bought a $15 standing room ticket for Abduction. Don't think that's going to happen this year. *sigh* Whine, whine whine.

A Disturbance in the Force - Where I WON'T Be

I don't want to put the National Weather Service out of business so I'll stop pasting the forecast here. Needless to say, the entire area is under a winter storm warning. Here we're getting snow and sleet in the evening, turning to all snow after 10pm, just when I'd be driving home. They're predicting 6-10 inches tonight and an additional 3-7 inches tomorrow!

In Baltimore the snow and sleet is expected to start shortly after noon and continuing. They're under a winter storm warning starting at 2.

Based on all this, which is caused, by the way, by an upper-level disturbance across the deep south, I realize, reluctantly, that I'm not going to Baltimore today.

I know I've been writing about not going for the past few days, however I have secretly been hanging on to a shred of hope that the weather forecasters are all exaggerating because they have nothing better to do. I have lost all hope (cue: dramatic swelling music) and will be stuck at home while Mr. Gunn does this thing 2 hours from here. Unless it's canceled.

Weathered Plans

Well, this Baltimore adventure is not looking good right now.

Local forecast for tonight:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR
NORTHERN DELAWARE... NORTHEAST MARYLAND...
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY...SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY
AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TONIGHT.

And for Sunday:

Sunday: A slight chance of snow before noon,
then a chance of rain, snow, and sleet.
Cloudy, with a high near 38. North wind around 11 mph.
Chance of precipitation is 40%.
New snow and sleet accumulation of
less than a half inch possible.

Sunday Night: A chance of rain, snow, and sleet
before 9pm, then snow.
Low around 26. Blustery, with a north wind
between 11 and 21 mph.
Chance of precipitation is 90%.
New snow and sleet accumulation of
4 to 8 inches possible.

Then the Maryland forecast:

Sunday: A chance of snow and sleet before 1pm,
then a chance of rain, snow, and sleet.
Cloudy, with a high near 39. North wind between
8 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
New snow and sleet accumulation of less
than a half inch possible.

Sunday Night: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a
low around 27. Blustery, with a north wind
between 18 and 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
New precipitation amounts between
a tenth and quarter of an inch possible....

WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY MORNING...
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS
A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW...SLEET...
OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.

Like I said, it's not looking good... but if it's that bad, maybe the entire
event  will be postponed. So I'm sort of hoping that if I can't go, nobody can.
Somehow I doubt that the people who schedule and reschedule these things
will consult me before they make their decision. Perhaps the airport will make
the decision for them.

So either way, sorry Nathan, but I probably
won't be there. I know your heart is just breaking
at the thought.

Firebrand of Florence, on the other hand - I'll be there no
matter what the weather.

Finally, as a sort of addendum to this post, after pasting
the weather service report here, the formatting went
insane on me and my attempts to make the page
pretty have been futile.
Hopefully no one's eyes are going all wonky from it
like mine are.

One Problem Solved

Well, I probably won't have to worry about what to wear on Sunday.

Today's weather report from the National Weather Service:

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR

CENTRAL DELAWARE
NORTHERN DELAWARE SOUTHERN DELAWARE
NORTHEAST MARYLAND
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY
...NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY...SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY...EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA.

SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.
A STORM SYSTEM TRACKING TO OUR SOUTH AND EAST SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY SHOULD PRODUCE A ROUND OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION, ESPECIALLY FOR LOCATIONS AWAY FROM THE COAST. THERE REMAINS UNCERTAINTY REGARDING THE PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS AND THE EXACT TRACK OF THE SYSTEM, HOWEVER A MIXED PRECIPITATION EVENT LOOKS TO AFFECT PARTS OF THE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY.

So what does this mean for the roads? Glad I didn't pay for a ticket. Maybe they'll postpone it...

For those of you wondering what "it" is:

The 49th Annual Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Lecture-Performance: Nathan Gunn

Nathan Gunn, one of the most acclaimed and in-demand baritones performing today, will be the featured artist for Goucher’s 49th Annual Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Lecture-Performance, held on Sunday, March 1, at 7 p.m. in Kraushaar Auditorium.
Free tickets must be reserved in advance by calling 410-337-6333 or e-mailing boxoffice@goucher.edu.
In addition to his performance, Gunn has offered to do a Q&A session/lecture/ demonstration with interested Goucher students and faculty on Monday, March
2, from 9 to 10 a.m. in Merrick Lecture Hall. If you would like to attend, or if you need more information,
contact Kristen Keener at kristen.keener@goucher.edu or 410-337-6316.
For more information about Gunn’s performance and
accomplishments, please see www.goucher.edu/x29695.xml.

Out of Sorts

Voice lesson was canceled today because my teacher had something she needed to do tonight. I really do rely on my lessons for the psychological release I get, first because I tell her all the crap (and the joys!) of the past week, and then because singing just does that. Plus focusing on singing, losing myself in it, is therapeutic. It's a chunk of time that I'm not thinking about anything else, and it's quite refreshing.

So instead I went out for dinner with a good friend. We haven't seen each other without one or both of our kids tagging along in a very long time. It was great! She wanted to see recent Alex pics so I handed her the iPhone. She was scrolling through the photos when she came upon this one. She almost dropped the phone. Then she said in a serious tone, "Will you please email this to me?"
Of course I then invited her to accompany me on my Baltimore adventure this Sunday. She can't make it but I have a feeling she would if she could.

There is one problem looming for Sunday. Here, I'll paste it directly from the National Weather Service.:


Sunday: Snow and sleet likely. Cloudy, with a high near 37. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 25. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Yeah. Not sure what that means for the road conditions. Of course, that's local. Let's check Baltimore:

Sunday: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Sunday Night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Ok, that's not so bad.

Guess I'll wear my galoshes, just in case.

Today's Forecast

I really am going to paste the weather forecast here:

This Afternoon: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3pm. Partly cloudy, with a high near 96.

Well. That's the weather forecast.

Performance forecast:

Traviata #4 of 5 tonight. I forecast much sweating on stage, minor silliness backstage, standing ovations and runny mascara in the house.

And now, a musical interlude: