Our "community" chorus is now going to be called The Brattleboro Concert Choir. For those of you who have actually heard us, you probably have a good idea why this is the case. For years now, our "community" chorus has far surpassed itself in professionalism, talent and dedication to challenging performance material. Plus, we have these amazing soloists who, though honored to perform with us, won't list their performance with the Brattleboro Community Chorus on their resumes due to the negative connotations that one word has. To most of the rest of the music world and music fan world it just screams "amateur." That is definitely not who we are as an ensemble anymore. We are a community, we are all local musicians who don't make a living at singing. And the word community generally means lots of positive things, which is why our director had resisted this change for so long. But we have had so much good training in the ensemble with guest artists and our fantastic director, that the connotation of amateur/community ensemble just doesn't fit anymore, not even slightly.

So, I am proud to announce our name change to The Brattleboro Concert Choir. I hope many of our will be able to hear us in the early winter when we do another Russian piece. Dates and exact piece information I'll have in September. Stay tuned. . . :)

Letter Box
Reformer.com

Wednesday, May 21
Garden flowers aren't yours for the taking

Editor of the Reformer:

As I type, my anger this year is not nearly as intense or long lasting as it was last year. Last year, my flower thief took my Queen of the Night black tulips. Those are my favorite flowers. The ones taken this year (so far) were two of my white tulips. They were swiped in broad daylight as well. It strikes me as rather bold to take someone's flowers in broad daylight. So I find myself wondering, why my garden and not the surrounding ones? Their tulips are just as tempting, just as colorful, if not more so. Is it that my garden seems more impersonal, not belonging to a person? Is it that it seems that no one lives at this house and the flowers are lonely? Is it that perhaps the flowers are speaking to my thief? Crying out "Please! Take me out of here!" I really must wonder if perhaps my flowers just don't want to be here. Because I certainly want them here, very much. I am greatly saddened again that someone would do this.

And to address my thief directly: Someone does live here who works very hard to make those flowers live and grow. Leave them be. You can visit them anytime you like. But leave them here.

They are mine to toil over. Not yours to take.

Jodi D. Clark,

Brattleboro, May 5

To all of my dear friends who are mothers or fulfill mothering roles in their lives. You are in my thoughts today. Thank you to all of you for all you do. The world is a more loving and loved place because of you.

I wrote another letter to the editor. I'm going to put cayenne mixture on the rest of the tulips. I am going to put some sort of ironic yet warning sort of sign in our front yard. I'm not going to warn them about the cayenne, just that this is not a public flower picking garden, so lay off. But something wittier. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm happy to consider them.

This time, they only took two of my white ones. So, I'm pissed, but not as livid as the last time. They had accidentally uprooted one of the bulbs in their messing picking, so I think that probably scared them off from taking anymore. But it does make me wonder, why? Why my flowers and not others on this road? There are plenty of other folks with tulips, white ones, even. I just don't get it. And the whole business makes me sad as well as angry. In my letter to the editor, I postulated that perhaps my flowers call out to passers-by, crying to be freed from the tyranny I place on them by being confined to my garden. But honestly, with the care and love I give them, I am quite certain that isn't the case. Perhaps I just care too much?

Hello Chorus Fans! Here are the details on our next lovely concert!


A HEAVENLY EXPERIENCE AWAITS
Two of the most extraordinary pieces of French music, the Poulenc Gloria and the
Durufle Requiem, will be performed on Sunday, May 18 at 4 p.m. at Persons
Auditorium, Marlboro. The ravishing soprano of Junko Watanabe combines with
jubilant chorus and the extravagant orchestration of Francis Poulenc to make the
Gloria a work of fireworks and romantic lovliness. The Requiem of Maurice Durufle
is a profound perfect work of infinite spirit, a doorway to the sublime where
mysticism meets humanity. The Requiem features the incredible beauty of soloists
mezzo soprano Jennifer Hansen and baritone Thomas Meglioranza.


Tickets for the concert are $18 ($12 for students). They are available from
Community Chorus members and at the Brattleboro Music Center. For more
information contact the BMC at 257-4523.



Celebrate the return of spring and the abundance of life with the BMC Community
Chorus on May 18!

This is the other ad using a different portion of the same piece. RIP, Martyn. I'm glad your music is still out there.

A recent connection to my favorite artist inspired me to want to share his stuff a bit more. This is a commercial for Scottish spring water that uses Martyn Bennett's piece "Spree" from his impossible to find album, Hardland.

I have never read this sonnet until today. I rather like the encouragement of it.

SONNET 6
Then let not winter's ragged hand deface
In thee thy summer, ere thou be distill'd:
Make sweet some vial; treasure thou some place
With beauty's treasure, ere it be self-kill'd.
That use is not forbidden usury,
Which happies those that pay the willing loan;
That's for thyself to breed another thee,
Or ten times happier, be it ten for one;
Ten times thyself were happier than thou art,
If ten of thine ten times refigured thee:
Then what could death do, if thou shouldst depart,
Leaving thee living in posterity?
Be not self-will'd, for thou art much too fair
To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir.

Happy Birthday, Master Will.

Among the various work activities I've had going on lately, the one today was taking my kids to see Blue Man Group in Boston. I haven't seen that show in about 8 years. It was even more fabulous than I remembered. Part of this was due to our fantastic seats, arranged by the sister of one of the cast members who is a co-worker of mine. We were in the third row, which are splatter seats. (the goo that comes right at you seems to be banana puree from the smell). No small part was due to it being such a delight to see my kids in awe of what they were experiencing in the performance. They just ate it up, every second of it. I was just tickled I was able to bring them to such an event. The last two great parts were first, that they show itself resonates with me more now, having had lots of other theatre experiences and a bit more of a thoughtful mindset with me. The second was that we got to chat with one of the cast members afterwards and hear a bit from his point of view what it means to be a Blue Man and what the character interpretation is for him. The whole show is really all about connectivity with humanity, how we are all connected, how we try to disconnect ourselves through false connections or insincere connections and how we can reconnect in more positive, very simple ways. It's a brilliant premise and goes over quite nicely with a wide audience.
The way Ariel put it (our cast member who chatted with us afterwards), the Blue Men are at the vortex of a spinning circle which moves between being members of the whole group (including the audience), being shaman, being trickster/clowns and being heroes. All but one of those figures are allowed outsiders in our cultures. I could probably go on and on about symbolism, liminal figures, and all of the other metaphors that are in the show. But for now what I'll say is how very pleased I am to have seen this show with multiple new lenses.
As tired as I am, I love that is was part of my job to go see Blue Man Group with my kids.

More later on other things. . . :)

We don't have a name for it yet. But the new "rig" or computer is now safely on our desk and purring away.

Thank you to everyone out there who chimed in with great advice on how to handle our little computer crisis. It's been quite amazing to see just how reliant Jenn and I have become on that little machine for so many things. In the end (and we are not quite at the end, but almost) we decided to bite the bullet and get a new system. We had been thinking about getting an upgrade for a while, and this was just the signal we used to usher in our new era of new and faster computing. We ended up getting a new Dell tower. It has a 22 inch flat screen. It has all sorts of new bells and whistles, came with a free new printer, blah, blah. You PC purists will be appalled that we went with Windows Vista, though. I think, given what we do with it, it will end up being just fine. We use our computer as a photo album and stereo primarily, as well as our access to the internet. And that's really it, outside of the other little things we do, like birthday cards and keeping tabs on our finances. So, we'll let you know how it all goes. Staples has been awesome about helping us through the whole process. I want to commend their Brattleboro staff for being so helpful, honest and just very pleasant to work with.

I'll keep you all posted on how it all goes.

Part two. I was hoping there wouldn't be a part two. I thought that I was going to be able to solve a bunch of issues with various cleaning up proceedures. What happens instead is that yesterday, I get five blue screens in a row. Five. They all basically say the same thing and have lots of code numbers in the tech. part. The first one came up while online. The others at various times either while loading or after loading (which took almost 20 minutes) and then just suddenly crapping out into the blue screen.
I have NO idea what to do. Any ideas? Is my computer bound for the happy computing lands of beyond or is it salvagable? Anyone? Bueler?

This is how I feel after spending over 24 hours with my kids. It is difficult to imagine that it was about a year ago that we did this crazy Improv-a-thon to raise money for our program. We are going to see Blue Man Group with the money we raised last year. They are sooooo excited for that. They will get to meet with one of the cast members before the show as well. But yes. The tired is the kind that you get after being on such a long journey that you don't quite feel you are in the same part of the world anymore. And yet, you are. Mostly. As fun and grand this event is for the kids, I just can't do it this way anymore. I am feeling the old creeping in and saying, "Why are you doing this to yourself crazy girl?" Next year, I will get more sleep, have more adult chaperons, and have a place off-site for me to retreat to for a while for said "more sleep."
The other thing I'm noticing is a shift in the air, particularly today here on this little LJ friends page of mine. All of the entries are about fabulous things going on for people, whether they are small events, big events, or major life shifts. This is so warming and lovely to read and know. I think this means that spring really is here, not just in the weather, but everywhere. Thank goodness.

Just to give anyone out there who has been dying to hear the lovely chorus my wife and I sing in a big head start in planning to come and hear us. . .
Our concert date for this spring is Sunday, May 18th at 4pm at Marlboro College's Persons Auditorium. This is the one, the only, fabulous Brattleboro Community Chorus :)
We are singing two very fine pieces that I'm enjoying quite a bit: Durufle's Requiem (my favorite of the two) and Poulenc's Gloria. Both French. Both 20th Century. Both with full 40 piece orchestra that we are importing from all over the northeast. This means they are going to be guaranteed fantastic musicians. Our soloists are also going to be fantastic as is our usual practice. The tickets will likely be $15 for adults and $10 for students. But I'll keep you posted on that. I hope many of you will be able to come and hear us!

I was going to wait until after tomorrow to post, but I thought I would post at least a little bit now.

I went snowshoeing today. It was glorious. I went with Adam and Trevor. Adam, for those of you who don't know, is someone whom I've taught fencing to and fenced with for now going on 5 years. He knows the trails we went on back and forth. He has made maps of them. He has groomed and cut and dug and done all manner of things to them to make sure they are passable. More than passable, I would venture to say perfect, at least from my point of view. Trevor is his partner and a lovely man.

We tromped and tromped through the soft powder. I knew that today would be one of the last and only days like this. The sun was warm and lovely through the trees. Adam's dog, Shadow, a very boisterous border collie, was with us, bounding and playing the whole way. We rested for a while at what would have been a stone circle with a magnificent view of the local ski mountains. I only faltered a few times up some rather steep, yet short inclines. I'm a little sore, but it was such a great experience having our little adventure through the Marlboro woods.

or horrified? Not sure. Too soon to tell. But nightrunner42 , you got your wish. There will be a film about Ren. faires. And it stars Jack Black. And Cary Elwes is in it. And Lindsay Lohan. Yeah. I guess we'll see next spring.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034090/

This is a 5 question meme that my pal nightrunner42 gave to me. I like the questions very much. I'm really not sure I have as much time as I would need to ask more people their own 5 questions (as per the stated rules of the meme). But if there are folks out there who really would like me to ask them 5 questions, I will do that for them.

( Meme question answers )

"It is necessary for the heart of the one who speaks to rest itself on the heart of the friend who listens."
-Countess du Barry

I don't think I could have said it better myself. :) Happy Valentines Day to all of you, my dear friends.

My wife and I are in the "contemplation" stage of altering our computer situation. A lot of this depends on available funds, which may or may not be there. But we would love some input from those of you who have been through the process before. Here is what we have:

Dell Dimension 4400 with Pentium 4 processor from roughly 2003. It has a big screen, which is just big, but works fine. Everything else is just starting to slow down a bit. The sound system is actually quite nice and we tend to use iTunes for our radio/stereo system. We use the internet, email, and upload photos. We don't game except for the occasional solitaire or pinball. We would like to burn more cds, but the burning function of our CD/DVD ROM drive is dead. It takes a LONG time for the computer to start up. But once everything is up, it runs just fine.

We are curious if it would be better (more cost efficient as well as technologically smart) to upgrade what we currently have by purchasing a flat screen monitor and a new CD/DVDROM drive OR if we should consider a new tower or laptop. We are also looking to decrease our desk footprint a bit. But we can do that with the smaller monitor and rearranging our desk options a bit. Getting an Apple is not something we really want to do. So, just the Dell or other PCs.

majes, we would love to hear from you in particular since you have helped us with all of our previous computer purchases.

Thanks everyone!