Day #21

Yay I get to sleep in!!!...wait, nevermind it's storming!  Of course up at 7am without fail!

DAILY VOCAL PRACTICE SESSION #16

     30 minute warm up as per lesson.  Vissi d'arte, O mio babbino caro, Summertime.  My voice was weird today, but sure if it's the weather or tiredness, but I didn't like how I sounded...not sure what the problem was.  But the good news is, I am starting to be able to correct a lot of the things I was doing wrong before so I am improving.  Still having a problem with being under the note on many occasions, it's a placement thing - maybe me being a bit lazy with the breath.  Not sure, but I need to correct it; it's unacceptable.

KEYBOARD SKILLS #12

     G Major - two handed scale and "The Can-Can" (from workbook)

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #21

    The most brilliant idea EVER!!!!  Put protein powder in your muesli (yeah it took me 4 tries to spell that right!). Thank you Dominic for that idea.  Funny, I used to put it in my oatmeal, but stopped...why didn't I think of that?  This was my dinner!

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

If you don't know who this man is...you SHOULD.  He's so on point I love his perspective! This is the current book I am reading.

Day #20

Had been feeling a bit out of sorts all day, but I did as much as I could:

VOICE LESSON WITH PROFESSIONAL COACH #3

     Actually enjoyed my lesson today, I felt as though I had made some good progress on my own and it showed.  Natalia was pleased with my work, but I still have a long way to go - the pressure she places on me is relentless.  We went over Vissi d'arte and Batti, batti.  She said I was doing better, but of course not amazing..."it's hard job, if easy everyone do it" in thick Russian accent.  When I walked into her apartment, this is what I found.  Simon looking very guilty (notice the torn paper in the background).  He loves singing with me and because he was out he gave me an extra special "hu-llo" greeting LOL

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #20

      Breakfast of champions...I am quite repetitive, but it works for me.  Keeps me full for a good portion of the day.  I hate feeling hungry/lightheaded, it's the WORST!!  Went to the movies though and had some Nerds...gotta have something bad at the movies!!

BODY CONDITIONING / FITNESS SESSION #13

     Gym time!!!  light warm up on the treadmill, abs of steel workout provided by Jake (Scorpion king - some people say you don't really need ab workouts...well he's got great abs so I'll do what he's doing thank you!).  3 sets x 15 reps of leg exercises plus 5-6 pull-ups every 2 exercises and dips at the end.  My legs are going to be amazing whether they want to or not!  I ran across this picture of me when I was sick almost two years ago.  I had started retaining water in addition to the weight I put on from the steroids.  I am so proud of where I am now.  I've come a long way and I will be more conscientious of what's going on with my system...can't take it for granted anymore!

I had been sedentary for months and I had lost so much muscle in my legs...it was all fat and water.  Oh my look at my fat face!!!  Yeah there's a term for it, it's called Moon-Face LOL Can you imagine the anguish I went through with the fact that I was employed based on my looks and looked like that.  My superiors treated me so kindly - they just wanted to see me get better, never did they threaten to fire me or anything negative.  They were great!  I think this is also the reason why when I feel a little under like a cold or something, I man up and work through it.  I know what it's like to REALLY be SICK...some little bug has nothing on what I can live through!

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

Day #19

It poured rain all day today which made it a great day to be LAZY!!!!  I am also realizing that theory is much more time consuming that I remembered and it's definitely not easy to get back into it. BUT I did do some today although I have not finished chapter 6, which I have been on for like a week already :( 

DAILY VOCAL PRACTICE SESSION #15

      30 minutes warm up as per lesson and standard current repertoire (Zerlina, Alleluja, La Danza).  Tomorrow at work I am going to try to go through the score again to make sure I am looking at all the recitative parts for Zerlina...there are way more of those than arie it seems LOL.

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #19

      Breakfast shake and 1/2 cantaloupe.  For evening snack, while I was watching Game of Thrones, I had veggie juice (celery, cucumber, cabbage, beet, apples)

BODY CONDITIONING / FITNESS SESSION #12

     60 minutes P90X yoga track.  Ugh, didn't feel like doing it but now of course my back feels pretty good.  Also got a nice stretch on the hamstrings, which always are sore the day after legs at the gym.

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

Day #18

Didn't get any practice done today, but still had some good stuff happen.  Spent some time on Theory, but I am so slow at this stuff it takes me forever to do one exercise...gotta get those wheels cranking again!

LIVE PERFORMANCE VIEWING #1
     Kyla and I went to see a reading at Tisch of a play called "IYOM" by a second year MFA student, Lou-lou Igbokwe.  This was an all black cast that had Jeremiah, my old roommate, in it.  It is the story of a girl who has a traumatic experience and how the family copes.  It is well written - the focus of the first act is the development of the family dynamic between the Mother (Ruth), Father (Essien), daughter (Zacky), Grandma, and Zacky's friend, Steven, who is their neighbor and the son of the Father's boss.  The play opens with the introduction of Zacky and you see her doing "magic" and is a bright child; this is quickly contrasted to present day Zacky who is hardened and also saddened with the death of her Grandma.  The parents are emigrants from Nigeria and as the story unfolds we see the pressures by her Mother to be a certain way (for tradition) and the eventual molestation by Steven at the end of the first act takes away her "magic".  Zacky's savior is her Grandma who takes the time to talk to her and is Zacky's confidant.  Zacky's inability to communicate with her parents and the fact that she is sent away to school leave her empty, feeling emotionally abandoned and as if she doesn't have a "home".  At the end of the second act we see her confronting Steven at the wake, to no avail, and trying to reconcile with the parents, who it turns out knew what happened.  Grandma told them and although they had to continue on with their lives for their livelihood, was thus the reason for her being sent away (to protect her).  Although they cannot undo what's done, a new understanding is formed and it's left with the assumption that they will all move forward together.  In the flashback scenes, the Grandma's character had beautiful, yet sometimes heart wrenching, moments; one in particular as she explained to Zacky why she had to leave Nigeria - if nothing else this play effortlessly depicts the struggles that ensue when we feel the need to live up to expectations placed upon us.  
     When I agreed to watch this to support Jeremiah, he didn't tell me the premise and I was so glad.  I had an honest reaction to what I was seeing and it was such a well written script I now just want to see it staged.  There is well thought out character development and the topic is one that happens so often, yet nobody talks about. It was also nice that although it was a reading, the actors (for the most part) had a good connection with the characters, which made the story-line and emotional content easy to follow.

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #18

      After gym time I went to Marche and had some salmon...and a few things I probably shouldn't have had LOL but I think it was still a good meal...there's potato salad and couscous there as well

BODY CONDITIONING / FITNESS SESSION #11

     Intense leg workout plus abs and chin-ups!  I have been enjoying this workout - it hasn't gotten easy, it's gotten to where I can do a more intense workout.

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

if you don't want to put the effort into making changes in your life, it is because of fear...turn that fear into excitement!

Day #17

Today was another busy and productive day - didn't get everything done that I needed to but I still did well.  I also had an Italian lesson.  I have the self study books, but I just learn fastest by going to class. I always have been that way and it works for me so here I am.  The class is 10 weeks and it's an introductory class, which is important because there are so many RULES!!! 

DAILY VOCAL PRACTICE SESSION #14

     30 minute warm up as per lesson.  I went through a lot of rep today.  I feel like my throat is more open now than ever, which, of course, is what we want.  So now I kind of have to re-learn what I sang before.  Not completely but maybe just get use to the feeling of singing with this more open space.  It felt much easier and way less strained.  I was forcing the sound before and now it's much bigger and fuller.  Still supporting like crazy like I had been but the throat and neck is different.

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #17

    I had the shake and 1/2 cantaloupe for brekkie (that Aussie talk for breakfast) and my normal lunch of green beans and chicken with Red Hot.  That was where the healthiness ended for today...let's just leave it at that!

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

every day you deserve to feel special!!!!!

Day #16

So this evening I went out (finally) with the roomies to support a friend, Tim Garner, who put together an event called Musical Theater Mondays.  Tim recently came back from the States and had spent some time in NY so there was plenty for him to share.  We were also graced with the talent of a Wicked cast member, Dan Downing (I think that's the last name) and he sang (which was great) and did a Q & A period.  There were some give-aways at the end but I had to go to get to bed since I work tomorrow.  I didn't really do much else today...

DAILY VOCAL PRACTICE SESSION #13

     30 minute warm up and Zerlina...I have been trying to sing with a more open space in the throat and I was finding myself really out of tune today.  Hopefully that's because it's new and my muscles are getting used to supporting that.  I really wasn't happy with how I sounded.  It's ok though next lesson Natalia will have some new stuff to work with.

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #16

      Even with eating less at breakfast I am still full until later in the day.  But I did gorge on hummus and spinach/feta dip and shwarama at Blu Jazz...oh so good!

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

not sure if this is really an albert einstein quote, but it's genius!!

Day #15

Half way there!!! Yet even more lost and confused than ever.  If you don't sing opera - I cannot begin to explain the level of frustration that is involved with learning this technique.  Every time I think I am beginning to do something right, the flood gates open of things that I am doing wrong.  The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that if I keep working at it, slowly these things will correct themselves, but it's such a painstaking process.  And then if I think about it too much I still sound bad because I am tense.  I didn't pick this path, it picked me.  There is an undeniable drive that is dragging me kicking and screaming it seems LOL It's also frustrating that when I gondoliered at the Venetian Macau, people would say that I should be in operas and it would depress me because at this point even with all my practice and focus on getting better, there is not an opera company in the World that would hire me.  I just need to get better.  AND I don't ever want anyone to say that I don't deserve my success (and of course success will happen), like they do with Katherine Jenkins (even though I still think she's great).  So ahead I tread through the blizzard, unable to see 1 foot in front of me, just praying to God my food lasts and that my compass is correct.

DAILY VOCAL PRACTICE SESSION #12

     30 minutes warm-up as per lesson.  Repertoire Alleluja, Batti, Batti, La Danza.  These are all challenging pieces for me so yes it requires lots and lots of repetition...hopefully the roommates won't be too annoyed!

KEYBOARD SKILLS #11

     C and G scales, On Top of Old Smokey and The Can-Can (I don't know something out of my lesson book).  

HEALTH CONSCIOUS MEAL #15

     Ok os I really had this yesterday, but whatevs...love my fresh juice!!!

BODY CONDITIONING / FITNESS SESSION #10

     60 minutes P90X yoga...always great after gym workout on legs.  I actually did all the moving asanas AND I also did right angle pose with arms wrapped around leg and back...this is not comfortable and it's really the first time I've done it since I've been doing yoga again. Happy about that one - progress.

...DAILY INSPIRATION...

doesn't matter what I do I always try to do my best and give 100%.  Even when people around me don't, I never let them bring me down.  I just separate myself from them and continue on.  What concerns me is whether or not I feel I have done my best.  

I am never going to make everyone happy.