So here I am to rain on the party. Both of them, come to think of it. Folks, I am so truly exhausted of hearing the following inane statement that it’s all I can do to not start physically screaming and banging my head against the nearest available wall (at this point I am not fussy). Here’s the cause of my head-banging headaches lately: “It doesn’t matter whom you vote for. Just vote!” Actually, folks, it really does matter whom you vote for. And if in fact you are one of the apparent multitudes of Americans who show up to [...] Read more »
On Living in Washington, D.C., Or How not to Become a Royal You-Know-What While Sojourning Here
I currently live in Washington, D.C., the capital city for many of America’s elected officials, and a city viewed by most Americans and many foreigners as one of the most powerful in the world. Unfortunately, as is almost always the case with (perceived) proximity to power, it also appears to be a capital place for those whose ratings on the self-determined personal importance scale rank well off the charts. A few suggested survival tactics for those who live here but who don’t want to start absorbing the air of self-importance that is apparently carried in the very water might be [...] Read more »
On Life, Death, and Handel’s Messiah
Ever since I first heard it, I’ve had a torrid love affair with Handel’s Messiah. The affair came relatively late—true love for me in this matter did not hit me until college, when as a university freshman I had the opportunity to hear and perform this magnificent choral work for the first time. I fell immediately in love. A short time later in my college career I heard a pop-music version of this great work of art and promptly fell head-over-heels into blind infatuation. I say “infatuation” because apparently I had no, er, balance in how I went about my [...] Read more »
It’s Good to be the Queen (To be Your Unlucky Subject, Not So Much)
Queenliness. The word brings so many thoughts and images to mind, doesn’t it? The color purple, the reign of royalty, power by birthright or marriage, impeccable behavior, fabulous clothes, tea time, fairytales, adorable little girls in Halloween costumes…the list goes on and on. It is a word alive with associations and historical allusions…a word that captures the imagination and fires up the subconscious with its twin associations of both benevolence (“the good queen”) and malevolence (the queen gone rogue, or “the wicked witch”). And then again, the term might also reference women of a more ordinary sort who perhaps think [...] Read more »
Any Thoughts on the Quirks of Living in the Washington, D.C. Area?
I’m working on a post about the truly interesting, strange, bizarre, wonderful, and just plain ordinary aspects of living and working in Washington, D.C. In particular, I’m focusing on the behaviors, character, habits, and quirks (hilarious, heartwarming, pathetic, or otherwise) of our residents at large. (Perhaps another way to put it would be that it’s a critique of our common humanity, or sometimes the lack of it thereof.) Any current or former residents of the greater Washington, D.C. area, feel free to weigh in with your contributions/rants/suggestions/appreciations on either the topic I’ve already mentioned or anything else you want to [...] Read more »
Four Favorite Words of Self-Appointed Moralists Everywhere
“I told you so.” Could it be that our level of human maturity is shown not in our ability to say “I told you so,” but rather in our power to restrain ourselves from saying it? Treating adults like they need a sermonizing morality lesson whenever they make mistakes, misjudgments, or errors of any sort shows a basic lack of respect for the human dignity of others. Among other things, it reveals some unfortunate assumptions which the Tolders (my personal term for those fond of firmly intoning “I Told You So” at every opportunity) are making not only about the [...] Read more »
And the winner is….Georgetown! (For entitled behavior, that is)
If you need a happy pick-me-up at the moment, or if you want to feel assured of the essential goodness and fuzzy warm intentions of humans everywhere, you may want to stop reading now. For those of you who feel the need to participate vicariously in someone else’s snarkiness and complaining, feel free to keep on reading. So yesterday I attempted to find a parking space in Georgetown/Washington D.C. (Natives of D.C., stop laughing at me, please…I can’t help it that I prefer to be an optimist, or a Pollyanna, or high on weed…okay, okay, so I’m none of those [...] Read more »
The Ubiquitous “They”
“They” say that… “They’re” all doing it these days. “They’re” all wearing them that way this fall… “They’ll” be upset if… “They” think that it would be best if… Who are these undefined, unnamed, ubiquitous, nebulous despots who control almost every aspect of our lives? Ever since I was just a teenager, I have instinctively disliked the controlling and manipulative “they.” Somehow the contexts in which I often heard this term made these ill-defined “they” creatures seem so cowardly. “They” ruled from the shadows, preferring murkiness and semi-darkness to the light of day. “They” defied explanation, and if folks who [...] Read more »
“God” Is in the Details. (Or So They Say.)
I sometimes wonder about this. A lot, actually. I often suspect this statement is far less about a Deity’s involvement in details and much more about the human tendency to micromanage. Oh, don’t get me wrong. The finishing touches of a sewing project or the final editing on a written draft can make all the difference between ho-hum and terrific. And I strongly suspect that the so-called “details” in a surgeon’s work can daily mean the difference between life and death, so I’m certainly not dissing the details, by any means. Rather, I’m wondering about our tendency to focus on [...] Read more »
In Which Houses of Worship Are Encouraged to Buy Quality Espresso Machines in Order to Retain Excellent Employees
So…. this is the first time I’ve owned up to this matter in public. I guess it’s because I’ve been too busy furtively slinking behind potted plants and open doors whenever I’ve seen the Rector walking down the hall or anywhere else within 1000 feet of me. But then again, I probably don’t want to broadcast the fact that I apparently singlehandedly sent a music director packing simply by being a church choir member who showed up without coffee one fateful Sunday morning…and the rest is history, as they say. This story begins quite early on a rather recent Sunday [...] Read more »
On Sleeping with the Tenors at Choir Retreats, or Why You Should Always Bring Your Own Snorenz
On a recent church choir retreat, I very nearly had to chuck an innocent person out of their bed so that I could go sleep with a tenor. Now don’t get me wrong…as a monogamously married woman, this was not about hanky-panky, although it sure might look like it. In fact, it really wasn’t even about sleeping…it was about snoring, or rather, other people’s inability to sleep with new roommates who snore. But I digress…maybe I should start at the beginning? So there I was, happily minding my own business well after midnight down in the central living-area lounge, buried [...] Read more »