Book Review : Oliver Twist

While driving the 396 hours from Philadelphia to Texas (exaggeration), my Mom and I decided to start off the new year right- by her reading aloud to me a classic novel. It's one that I'd heard of and been interested in for years, but had never bothered to pick up and actually READ, Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist." So as we were pulling onto our first major highway, Mom got out her Kindle and downloaded the whole book in about 2 seconds. It was pretty neat and she giggled with delight about how modern she's becoming.

This novel will go towards my completion of the Mini Book Challenge hosted by blogger Lazy Girl Reads. (See post on 12/9.) "Oliver Twist" will be my Something Old.

So. Did I like it? Yes.
Is it something I'll ever read again?  Yes, but probably only aloud to my children someday.

It's an old book, published way back in 1838, so the diction and writing style are old-fashioned. Amazingly, though, many of its deeper sentiments rang true with me and I was touched many times over with the moral of the story- Love One Another. Forgiveness, compassion and understanding are also pushed forward as things we all should aspire to.

Dickens did a wonderful job with the characters. Their descriptions make them so vivid. The villians make you cringe, the comic characters make you chuckle, and my oh my the good characters are almost too saccharine sweet. But that's why it makes a good children's book. It teaches valuable lessons and because the difference between good and bad is so obvious, there's no doubt for the reader as to which path she should take in her own life.

Two thumbs up.

Longview, Texas Thus Far...

Okay, so, it's been a while. BUT THINGS HAVE BEEN BUSY, I SWEAR!

No but seriously. They have. This is the first quiet moment I've had, or at least the first quiet moment I've had in which I felt like getting online to update my blog. Let's do it quick-style. Since my last blog I have:

* Flown to TX with Lully the cat. I gave her kitty xanex for the flight. She willed her eyes open and stayed awake the whole time we were in line for security, the whole time we waited at our gate, the whole time we taxiied... but just couldn't help herself and fell asleep right as we took off. Perfetto!

* Celebrated a happy and blessed Christmas with all sorts of family. It was hard being a vegetarian during the holidays (I'm still pretty new to vegetarianism), but I will admit, I cheated a teensy bit here and there. I also decided I'm allowed to eat any meat my step-dad shoots, because it's unprocessed and has led a happy life in the wild.

* Flown to Boston with Mom, celebrated New Years with my brother Ken and wife Linz, then trained it to Philly to get all my crap.

* Gotten all my crap into a very cute little U-Haul trailer and lugged it behind my poor dear Nissan Versa ALL THE WAY to Longview, Texas. Thanks be to the Lord for that nice little stop in Jackson, TN to see my sister Andrea and husband Scott.

*Sung at two different gigs in Longview - one was a Christmas Concert, and it was very well attended. The second was an exhibit opening at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts.

* Made connections with Opera East Texas director and will be singing at their next event, Pasta and Puccini!

* Gotten a day job with perfect hours - no nights or weekends!

*  Got my start-up kit and also started advertising my Music Pups Music Class..... (trying to figure out how to upload my flier's doc file here.....any help, void??)

* Been working on my fist aria of... 10?!?! Did I say 10?? Let's make that 8. Let's get real. But like I was saying, I started working on Caro nome. I've sung through it several times but never memorized it or truly worked on it in earnest.

So... It seems like I'm doing pretty well. I haven't started lessons of any kind, but I have been cooking with Ma. There. Now everyone knows everything.

Summer & Smoke, the opera

I wanted to quickly say how proud I am of my best friend, a fellow opera singer, Allyson Herman, for her amazing performance last night as Alma in Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke. More on that later...

*Later*

Yeah, Lee Hoiby is a satisfying composer. What does that mean exactly? Well, to me, Hoiby compositions are a nice balance of wacky-sounding music (strange tonality choices, changing meters, unexpected rhythms and harmonic changes, etc) and beautiful-sounding music (sweet harmonies, lovely orchestrations and dynamic changes).  Interesting fact: Hoiby is a connoisseur of fine wines. I wonder whether he prefers red or white....

I'd like to add a link here so you can listen to a recording, but Allyson says there aren't any. There's a DVD and Manhattan School of Music is working on their own recording, but it isn't ready yet. You can see opening night tonight though! And a matinee performance this Sunday.

2011 Reading

Here's one more thing I hope to accomplish in Tejas this next year, thanks to the Lovely LaToya Lewis. (Alliteration to the MAX, y'all!)




4 books, 4 qualifications, no problem.

MOVING!!!

Hey Void,

I'd like to try and keep track of this next year, I'm SERIOUS. It's going to be a big year for me, and I don't know if it will be big in a good way. *fingers crossing*

In a week and a half I'm going to move back home *jawdrop* to live with my Mom *gasp* in Longview, Texas *spew?*. There are good reasons for my doing this:

A. I save no money in Philly and therefore do not have weekly voice lessons, which I dearly miss. I also don't like to pay for applications, coachings, accompanists, trips to NYC, etc. It's shameful and I'm sick of whining about it.
B. My nannying position is almost finished anyway, so it's a good time to quit and start something new.
C. My lease is up in February so I may as well move.
D. I'm looking forward to some Mom and Dad time (but this may change after being home for just a week).
E. I'm getting the opportunity to start my own Baby Music Class and also to teach summer kid's choirs, both of which I feel I can excel at and will enjoy.

Here's a list of goals I'd like to accomplish while I'm home:

1. Take guitar lessons from stepdad Tim and more piano lessons from Mom.
2. Sewing lessons from Mom.
3. Start up a successful Music Class business and save around $9,000.
4. Add at least 10 more arias to my regular rep -  they must be audition ready.
5. Be in two shows around Longview - I don't care what kind. Straight play, musical, opera- I just want to stay involved in the theater.
6. Move to NYC (hopefully into Ally's apt - you can pray for this, Void, if you'd like) by March, 2012.

That's a lot of stuff to do, I know, but I won't really have any social life to speak of. I won't be able to waste my money on food and beer and nonsense. In a way I feel like I'll be starting over or turning a new leaf. I'll feel like I did when I first moved to New York to go to SUNY Purchase - motivated, friendless, and obsessed with controlling what I have the power to control - myself.

Wish me luck, Void! I'll keep in touch and let you know how things are going.

Here We Go

I got an email from my brother yesterday. Advice. Love. Tips. A two-year plan for me in outline form, even.


It made me want to cry, I did cry, and I know why. I'm not where I thought I would be right now in my life. I'm 26, I've done my schooling, I moved away from Mommy, and yet here I am riding a dead-end job, no serious boyfriend, and struggling to pay my bills. The worst thing about my life is that I'm not singing. Not really. And it's my fault. I never work hard enough. I'm never totally motivated to lead a singer's life. I don't spend my after-work hours practicing and filling out applications.


So. Now that I'm getting this out there, now that I've confessed my failings to "the void," I want the world to know I'm NOT a LOSER. I'm moving on and up. I must at least try... If I don't, I'll never know. I'm just getting started. It took a full year after graduating for me to get to this point, but... Here we go.


SO GO.




(Listening to: Au Revoir Simone)