Am cleaning up my computer files, and found the following quote:

"An opera begins long before the curtain goes up, and ends long after it has
come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my
life long after I've left the opera house." Maria
Callas

True about any type of performing - it lives in your blood and takes a lot more work than it appears to the general public.

7 Keys To Doing The Right Thing | My Super-Charged Life

Ok - this piece is really about ethics in the workplace, but what struck me this morning was how much this can also apply to my work with the Beck Diet Solution.

For those of you who don't know, The Beck Diet Solution is based in cognitive behavioral therapy. Given my push to be responsible for my own well-being, it makes complete sense. Little changes have been easier for me, although I will admit my most difficult adaptation is not eating while standing up. I love to cook, and sampling has always been part and parcel of how I go about it - a dash of this, a dash of that, let's try a little more garlic - or does it need more of something else? I've never been one for being totally accurate, but I will for the sake of becoming aware about what goes in my mouth.

Interesting news for the day: Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is being turned into an opera, by La Scala of all places. It'll be interesting to see what they do with it, but we'll have to wait until 2011. In the meantime, here's a humorous response in the Science section of the New York Times:

The Aria of Prince Algorino

The satire doesn't reflect my feelings about the project - I haven't seen it yet. I just enjoy the creativity that went into this piece of humor.

30 million stimulus payments already sent; where's yours? - MarketWatch

Well, that answers my question. Sigh. Note to self: always do direct deposit...

30 million stimulus payments already sent; where's yours? - MarketWatch

Welcome to OrganicEarthDay.org!

Very cool. This site doesn't cover all organic stores, but you can plug in your zip code and come up with a place that sells organic produce (etc). It mentions Earth Day specifically, but it looks like this page will be up permanently. One can hope!

Welcome to OrganicEarthDay.org!

I have been in need of a good laugh lately, and rediscovered Victor Borge on YouTube. I needed this....



I'd forgotten how truly brilliant The Muppet Show was with their guest stars. Time for a revisit!

My Last Lecture | PARADE Magazine

I just finished reading this article in our Sunday paper. My childhood dreams:

1. To be a writer like Jo March or Laura Ingalls Wilder

2. To help others - an influence of my grandparents. For a while, I wanted to be a physical therapist.

3. I loved singing and dancing to the old LP cast albums my parents had collected: ok - that's a work in progress.

More to follow.

In the meantime, if anyone reads this: what are your childhood dreams?

iLearn - free learning site!

I'm always on the lookout for free learning sites, and while wrapping up a challenge on iVillage, I discovered this portion of the site:

iLearn

There are courses on Small Business, Finances, and Better Living.

On a totally unrelated note, as I was perusing audition notices, I gradually became aware of a rather large turkey standing on the back deck railing and peering at me through the window. Managed to snag a picture of it and hold the puppies up to see a real live turkey up (very) close. Belle, despite being about 20x smaller than said turkey, lived up to her alpha dog status by attempting to lunge at this monster through the window to defend her kingdom. (It flew off - You go, puppy girl!)

Next Elvis Costello Album Will Use Vinyl Download Format | Listening Post from Wired.com

More on the vinyl front. I'm sitting here imagining a future with nice big librettos in opera LPs - somthing I miss. The booklets in CDs are ok, don't get me wrong, but if you haven't seen the beautiful booklet with Rossini's Siege of Corinthe LP (with Beverly Sills), it just doesn't compare.

Next Elvis Costello Album Will Use Vinyl Download Format | Listening Post from Wired.com

The Lonely Note: Vinyl vs. CD: An Analog Revival in a Digital World (Part 1 of 3)

I read this interesting note on loneynote.blogspot.com about a resurgence in vinyl recordings. I had to do a double-take, simply because my family thinks I'm crazy to have saved about 100 LPs from the dumpster at the local classical radio station's sale when they switched over to digital. Caveat: itt's in multiple parts, so don't miss any of it.

The Lonely Note: Vinyl vs. CD: An Analog Revival in a Digital World (Part 1 of 3)

Make a Wish List of Financial Goals ∞ Get Rich Slowly

Make a Wish List of Financial Goals ∞ Get Rich Slowly

Here's an article from another good personal finance blog: Get Rich Slowly. It's all on setting personal goals. My overall goal: to become a better steward of all the riches God chose to give me.

Short term goals:
Move to NYC.
Pay off all debts by the end of the year.
Invest in an iPod and microphone for lessons.

There will be more to add, but for now, back to work. I'm getting ready for the NETCs in March (the application's gone in, but I haven't heard back yet.) It'll be good to spend some time with Kate and Jana - and hopefully fit in a trip to Trader Joe's. I hope TJ's gets to Syracuse! (Same with Whole Foods - all these great businesses ignore the fact that there are *lots* of people north of the GWB in this state.

UniLang Community :: Main Page

UniLang Community :: Main Page

I've only done a brief perusal of this site, but it looks too handy to ignore. I'm always on the lookout for language sites, and found this one through one of the personal finance blogs I've taken to reading.

IPA Source - International Phonetic Alphabet Transcriptions and Translations of Opera Arias, German Lieder, French melodies, and Italian songs

IPA Source - International Phonetic Alphabet Transcriptions and Translations of Opera Arias, German Lieder, French melodies, and Italian songs