I attended my first choral concert in the DC area last night. A friend of mine from the Senate is in the Congressional Chorus, and she was performing in her first major concert with this group. The concert was entitled Rediscovering Treasures and the chorus was scheduled to be singing American choral works from the Library of Congress (only in DC, right?), so I was extremely excited to attend.
A carload of us ventured to McLean, VA to see Christie perform. Luckily we left extremely early, because we detoured not once, not twice, but three times on our way to the venue, nearly died trying to get on the interstate, ran into the G-20 summit motorcade, and almost got stuck in someone's private drive. The 12-mile *road trip* proved to be our main excitement for Saturday night, as the concert itself was a slight let down.
Okay, it sounds mean of me to say, but I had really high expectations. From the information on the Congressional Chorus website about try-outs, annual fees and repertoire, I assumed this group was quite a professional chorus. And for $25 per person, I don't think expecting a fabulous performance was too far fetched. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I went to support Christie and hear the group. However, I realized that my voice training (amateur as it may be) has led me to a different style of singing. With a Luther alumnus as my initial voice coach/high school director and singing at a college known for its opera program, I'm used to a full, rich, well-tuned sound. Although I may never have been the strongest singer in these groups, I'm not used to hearing anything other than what I now realize to be great music. This concert took me back to my high school freshman year women's choir days.
Though I'm sure many of the individual members of the Congressional Chorus are fine singers, as a whole, they have room for improvement. If you aren't a singer yourself, please ignore my jargon for a moment...but the consonent placement was all over the place, the audible gasps for breath support were horrendous at times, and a handful of members were overly animated at all times. I tried to keep my cringes at a minimum, and at one point, I was tearing up while trying to hold back my laughter (reacting to the animation of a baritone in the front row). If I were a member in this group, I definitely would not have wanted to see myself sitting in the audience. Apparently I am a stuck-up choral critic, and I had absolutely no idea! And when my friend, Christie, asked me about the performance, I just couldn't lie. She didn't seem offended by what I was saying, as she genuinely wanted to know what I thought, but I do feel somewhat guilty for being disappointed.
In thinking about my strong reaction to this concert, in addition to my frustration of singing hymns from a few centuries ago at mass, I realize that I miss the music exposure I had while at Simpson. Even after my days of Chorale, I still had Immersion with Bridget and/or Rach by my side each week. Although I know that time has come and gone, I am doing my best to find new such things that bring me joy. Last week I attended Frontline with Elizabeth, and I was ecstatic to find out that it was so similar to Immersion. We sang familiar contemporary Christian songs and the message was delivered in the same manner, all that was missing was communion and a few sending songs. So I look forward to attending this service with Elizabeth in the future, and I hope it provides my music fix!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Post-Election DC
The 2008 Presidential Election was highly anticipated and extremely long awaited. The Iowa caucuses seem like ages ago, and I didn't think Election Day would ever come. Living in a "tri-state" area, with one of the most crucial swing states (VA) included, led for crazy amounts of campaigning. While consuming one poll result after another, I didn't know it was possible to reanalyze a political race so many different ways or so often. This was a truly historic election, and I am very fortunate to have taken most of it in while in the nation's capital.
My co-workers and I all made educated guesses on the election outcomes. We each guessed how many electoral votes the president-elect would receive, as well as the number of Democratic gains in both the Senate and the House. I guessed conservatively, in hopes that all of the talk about Dems sweeping were over exaggerated. I am a firm believer that overly partisan politics is harmful to our nation, and as long as the "us versus them" mentality rules, I'd like to keep the number of Rs and Ds relatively equal.
In order to avoid getting too political (as I know not all of you are big followers), I'll finish by telling you how I took in the results on election night. I met up with friends at a bar on The Hill a little after 6pm, and we were standing shoulder to shoulder in the line of traffic. People were decked out in their suit and ties adorned with "I voted" stickers. I felt a bit left out being stickerless after absentee voting in Iowa, but I was extremely glad to take in the results in the political center of the country. The constant pushing was annoying at first, but I realized that it was all just part of the experience of being on The Hill on Election Day. With that attitude, I loved every minute of being at Cap Lounge.
My friends, however, weren't enjoying the atmosphere nearly as much as I was, so we headed off to another bar. The line to get in at Cap Lounge was at least 35 people long, and the guys at the front of the line cheered as we walked out the door and counted how many of us there were as we walked by to determine how many of them could now get in. It was a little crazy, but I would have been equally excited to go inside if I had been standing outside in the rain too.
We ended up going to my old stomping ground (Union Pub) to watch more results come in. Unlike Cap Lounge which was full of Dems, Union Pub had a great mix of supporters. No matter what the results coming in were, some people were cheering with excitement. I enjoyed the atmosphere at Union Pub equally as much as Cap Lounge on Election Day for this reason. Throughout the night I was thoroughly engaged with all of the results, and I was even coloring in my own map for the presidential race and keeping a tally of Senate races. This behavior could only ever be fully accepted in DC, and I absolutely loved it! However, my friends weren't nearly as engaged and all wanted to leave when they started getting tired. I was unfortunately en route to Bethesda when Barack Obama had secured enough electoral votes to claim victory as the first African American president-elect, but I did make it home just in time to hear both John McCain and Barack Obama speak. Each of their speeches were equally impressive and I'm glad I did not miss either of them!
If I thought for more than a second that once Election Day was over things would settle down, I was crazy. Talk of the transition team, possible Cabinet appointees, and inaugural plans have filled each day since the election. I'm not quite sure how everything will play out in the coming months, but I'm excited to be here! I was upset after seeing the crowds in front of the White House on election night, because I didn't even think to stroll by there. I did walk past the next day with Elizabeth over our lunch hour and construction of the inauguration stages was already well under way. The bike policeman patrolling the area informed me that it's tradition to start preparation the day after the election, and that they won't be finished until January 19. I can't wait to see how everything looks by then, and I'm hoping to take in as many inaugural activities as possible. I'll keep you informed!
I've got a few other experiences to share, but I find myself extremely tired even after having the day off. I hope to blog about them sometime very soon.
My co-workers and I all made educated guesses on the election outcomes. We each guessed how many electoral votes the president-elect would receive, as well as the number of Democratic gains in both the Senate and the House. I guessed conservatively, in hopes that all of the talk about Dems sweeping were over exaggerated. I am a firm believer that overly partisan politics is harmful to our nation, and as long as the "us versus them" mentality rules, I'd like to keep the number of Rs and Ds relatively equal.
In order to avoid getting too political (as I know not all of you are big followers), I'll finish by telling you how I took in the results on election night. I met up with friends at a bar on The Hill a little after 6pm, and we were standing shoulder to shoulder in the line of traffic. People were decked out in their suit and ties adorned with "I voted" stickers. I felt a bit left out being stickerless after absentee voting in Iowa, but I was extremely glad to take in the results in the political center of the country. The constant pushing was annoying at first, but I realized that it was all just part of the experience of being on The Hill on Election Day. With that attitude, I loved every minute of being at Cap Lounge.
My friends, however, weren't enjoying the atmosphere nearly as much as I was, so we headed off to another bar. The line to get in at Cap Lounge was at least 35 people long, and the guys at the front of the line cheered as we walked out the door and counted how many of us there were as we walked by to determine how many of them could now get in. It was a little crazy, but I would have been equally excited to go inside if I had been standing outside in the rain too.
We ended up going to my old stomping ground (Union Pub) to watch more results come in. Unlike Cap Lounge which was full of Dems, Union Pub had a great mix of supporters. No matter what the results coming in were, some people were cheering with excitement. I enjoyed the atmosphere at Union Pub equally as much as Cap Lounge on Election Day for this reason. Throughout the night I was thoroughly engaged with all of the results, and I was even coloring in my own map for the presidential race and keeping a tally of Senate races. This behavior could only ever be fully accepted in DC, and I absolutely loved it! However, my friends weren't nearly as engaged and all wanted to leave when they started getting tired. I was unfortunately en route to Bethesda when Barack Obama had secured enough electoral votes to claim victory as the first African American president-elect, but I did make it home just in time to hear both John McCain and Barack Obama speak. Each of their speeches were equally impressive and I'm glad I did not miss either of them!
If I thought for more than a second that once Election Day was over things would settle down, I was crazy. Talk of the transition team, possible Cabinet appointees, and inaugural plans have filled each day since the election. I'm not quite sure how everything will play out in the coming months, but I'm excited to be here! I was upset after seeing the crowds in front of the White House on election night, because I didn't even think to stroll by there. I did walk past the next day with Elizabeth over our lunch hour and construction of the inauguration stages was already well under way. The bike policeman patrolling the area informed me that it's tradition to start preparation the day after the election, and that they won't be finished until January 19. I can't wait to see how everything looks by then, and I'm hoping to take in as many inaugural activities as possible. I'll keep you informed!
I've got a few other experiences to share, but I find myself extremely tired even after having the day off. I hope to blog about them sometime very soon.
Monday, November 3, 2008
6 Foot Dorothy
This year marked my first Halloween as an "adult," as well as my first Halloween not in the Midwest. Because I lacked a houseful of odds and ends and personal transportation to the nearest Goodwill (apparently downtown Bethesda is too classy!), I was forced to order my first mass-produced Halloween costume. Due to my roots, and an intense love of my patten red shoes, I decided to go as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
I ordered what I thought to be a happy median between "Grandma Dorothy" and "Slutty Dorothy"...but was extremely disappointed upon trying the costume on and realizing once again that I am way too tall to be wearing generic-sized costumes. (Next year, I'm thinking of Fionna...the female ogre in Shrek.) The problem was remedied with a borrowed tennis skirt, but let's just say that "6 Foot Dorothy" didn't go by unnoticed.
In fact, I wasn't the only "6 Foot Dorothy" to make an appearance in the area. The Tuesday before Halloween, Dupont Circle holds an annual drag queen high heel race. Yes, that's right, a large number of (generally gay) men dressed in Halloween drag and high heels parade up and down the street for several hours strutting their stuff before sprinting a four block strip in high heels. The other "6 Foot Dorothy" (wearing the exact same costume as mine) was joined by a few friends to portray the entire Oz cast. Other highlighted costumes entailed about 20 Sarah Palin's (this is DC friends) and a handful of Victoria's Secret Angels (with bikini's and 8 foot wings). I love how confident men in drag are, and I was secretly jealous of a few of them for having better legs than me :) A few of you might have been completely appalled had you attended High Heel Race, but I am definitely considering it my most favorite Halloween tradition.
With Halloween falling on Friday this year, planning to celebrate wasn't a walk in the park. I decided Thursday night around midnight that I was going to get ready at my co-worker Elizabeth's in Arlington, as that's where a bunch of my kickball acquaintances were gathering. This meant packing up all of the necessities for my costume and taking them to work. Not such a big task for me, as I have become accustomed to loading up my bag and shipping out of Bethesda for 24-36 hour adventures, but the planning wasn't quite as simple for everyone else.
Several of my friends had nothing planned in the way of costumes, which required us to drive to the nearest shopping center and visit a Halloween party store (NEVER a good idea on Halloween night) and Target after work (driving in rush hour traffic). As you can imagine, this took a considerable amount of time. I'm usually a very patient person (and yes, I know you've read this before if you've been following my blog throughout my internship stage), but I was extremely antsy by the time everyone was finally ready. We arrived at the party around 9pm, 2 hours after its start time. Did we still have a good time? Of course. The night just could have gotten off to a better start (and ended better for several of my friends).
I ordered what I thought to be a happy median between "Grandma Dorothy" and "Slutty Dorothy"...but was extremely disappointed upon trying the costume on and realizing once again that I am way too tall to be wearing generic-sized costumes. (Next year, I'm thinking of Fionna...the female ogre in Shrek.) The problem was remedied with a borrowed tennis skirt, but let's just say that "6 Foot Dorothy" didn't go by unnoticed.
In fact, I wasn't the only "6 Foot Dorothy" to make an appearance in the area. The Tuesday before Halloween, Dupont Circle holds an annual drag queen high heel race. Yes, that's right, a large number of (generally gay) men dressed in Halloween drag and high heels parade up and down the street for several hours strutting their stuff before sprinting a four block strip in high heels. The other "6 Foot Dorothy" (wearing the exact same costume as mine) was joined by a few friends to portray the entire Oz cast. Other highlighted costumes entailed about 20 Sarah Palin's (this is DC friends) and a handful of Victoria's Secret Angels (with bikini's and 8 foot wings). I love how confident men in drag are, and I was secretly jealous of a few of them for having better legs than me :) A few of you might have been completely appalled had you attended High Heel Race, but I am definitely considering it my most favorite Halloween tradition.
With Halloween falling on Friday this year, planning to celebrate wasn't a walk in the park. I decided Thursday night around midnight that I was going to get ready at my co-worker Elizabeth's in Arlington, as that's where a bunch of my kickball acquaintances were gathering. This meant packing up all of the necessities for my costume and taking them to work. Not such a big task for me, as I have become accustomed to loading up my bag and shipping out of Bethesda for 24-36 hour adventures, but the planning wasn't quite as simple for everyone else.
Several of my friends had nothing planned in the way of costumes, which required us to drive to the nearest shopping center and visit a Halloween party store (NEVER a good idea on Halloween night) and Target after work (driving in rush hour traffic). As you can imagine, this took a considerable amount of time. I'm usually a very patient person (and yes, I know you've read this before if you've been following my blog throughout my internship stage), but I was extremely antsy by the time everyone was finally ready. We arrived at the party around 9pm, 2 hours after its start time. Did we still have a good time? Of course. The night just could have gotten off to a better start (and ended better for several of my friends).
All in all, it was a sucessful first Halloween away from the Midwest. While my DC friends were busy dressing up as Joe six-pack and hockey moms, I rocked the quintessential Midwestern girl costume. I love being out here, but I still haven't forgotten my roots!
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