Tuesday, February 28th
It's leap year and so tomorrow, we have a 29th of February. Something that is of little interest to most other than Savoyards with a deep interest in the future of Fredric with the pirates. The last few weeks have been fairly uneventful. Tommy and I had a week in WV and KY with my usual circuit with the mine workers. The weather in the mountains was fine and the whole thing was fairly uneventful.
The major project of the moment is the Opera, Carmen which is currently in rehearsal. Both Tommy and I are in the chorus. It opens on the 16th so we have just over two more weeks with this puppy. The principals are all in town and in good voice. Nothing too complex with the staging yet but we've only done Act I where the men are all bored soldiers hanging around the town square.
I'm doing a panel on LGBT people in academic medicine for the med students at noon today. Things have come a long way over the last 25 years. Let's keep the ball rolling.
I'm starting pre-production on the show I am directing this summer '42nd Street'. It should be fun. The more I look at it, the more it seems like 'Kiss Me Kate', the sequel...
Tuesday, February 7th
Where did the last month go? Into the Whorehouse, that's where. We put 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' up in about three and a half weeks and had a highly successful two week run. The reviews were great, the performances superb and we essentially sold out the run. It was a lot of fun to be part of and I learned a good deal about timing and scene work just being on stage with a bunch of old pros. I must have held my own as I got some very nice compliments from folk who don't dish them out very often.
Tommy got drafted into doing wardrobe and wigs for the production and everyone looked great on stage, even in the horrific fashions of the early 1970s. I cannot say that I will miss my powder blue polyester leisure suit. (See photo).
The next thing on deck is Carmen which is in music rehearsal now and goes into staging rehearsals in two weeks. The music is a lot of fun but my sung French diction leaves a lot to be desired and I will have to pound at the lyrics some next week when I am off in West Virginia with the mineworkers.
Work continues to drive me crazy. The less said about it, the better at this point. All I can do is white knuckle it and hang on while whatever happens, happens. Perhaps more details later.
Wednesday, January 4th
The holiday season has come and gone and I have survived yet another round of dinner parties for in-laws, our annual trip to Hooters on Christmas Day for dinner (it's one of the few places around here that's acutally open), New Years Eve parties and our annual holiday open house. The house is still tarted up as neither of us has had the energy to take things down and pack them away yet. That may take until Valentines Day.
I am now in the throes of rehearsal for 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'. I am seven years older than the last time I did the show and dance numbers are now taking it out of me. Time to get back to the gym and try to punch myself back into a semblance of shape. The show opens on the 19th so we have about two weeks to get it all ready. It's starting to come together and should be a lot of fun. I have the worlds ugliest powder blue polyester leisure suit straight out of 1974 as a costume. It's a look that won't soon be forgotten.
The University is coming back to life after its usual holiday torpor. I have a bunch of projects that I need to take care of but the pile on my desk isn't too large currently so I should be able to stay fairly caught up.
Happy New Year! Let's hope the Mayans weren't right.
Friday, December 9th
I know I should write more frequently but most of what's going on at the moment I can't really write about. Some of it involves Tommy and he's an intensely private person so I can't really write about that. Some of it involves work and I've been whining about those issues for nearly twenty years now and will likely be doing so for another twenty until I retire as the American health care world remains oblivious to reality. Some of it involves family and aging parents and that seems too much like busman's holiday.
In terms of things I can write about, Tommy finishes both degrees at the end of next week and, after six years will have a BM in music education and a BS in speech pathology. I'm not sure what comes next. He's trying to decide between job and speech pathololgy grad school. A lot of that will depend on accepatances and the market for music teachers locally as we can't pick up and move.
I've been off from things theatrical this fall for various reasons. Supposed to pick up again in a couple of weeks when I go into rehearsal for 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'. I'm playing the mayor. Not sure what other bits I'll have yet. Music rehearsal has also begun for Carmen which performs in mid March. I've got a bunch of French to learn over the holidays.
We're having a low key holiday for various reasons. We're postponing our usual holiday open house till some other time for various reasons. Still planning on putting up the Christmas trees though and having some smaller groups of folks in. I trotted up to Seattle for a weekend last month to check out the senior family members so we aren't going for the holiday. We do plan to be up there this spring as the annual geriatrics meetings are there this year.
I found a website www.gog.com that allows you to download computer games from ages past for relatively cheap and I am playing my way through the Gabriel Knight games of the 1990s. I'd forgotten how relatively well written they are. When I'm done with those, I'm going to replay the Phantasm games which I remember enjoying years ago as well.
Wednesday, November 9th
Fall is here and the weather has changed. There's a nip in the air and the leaves on the trees are turning and are truly spectacular this year in their yellows, oranges and reds. Must have been something in the climate or rainfall as I don't remember it being quite so vivid most times in the past.
Not a whole lot of excitement going on around here. Tommy is in the last phases of his internship and will graduate in about six months. And there was much rejoicing. I took my boards and have yet to hear but feel like I probably passed based on how much of it I felt like I knew. We shall see. We've both been homebodies most of the last couple of weeks, working on little projects of one kind or another. He has been teaching toddler music classes and is working on the church Christmas pageant. I'm trying to get the last few bins and boxes of stuff in the house organized.
We've been out of rehearsal for a while so we've actually had a chance to see other people's shows. A very good production of 'Sweet Charity' (which despite it's fabulous score is just not a good show) and a reasonable Lippa 'Wild Party'. We also judged the annual Trumbauer drama competition for high schoolers this past weekend and may help judge the state finals in a few weeks if the scheduling stars align.
Work is crazier than ever as the clinical operation is transferred from one University entity to another and I have to, once again, justify the existence of geriatrics. I've been doing this for two decades now and I wish they would just leave us alone.
I'm off to Seattle on Friday for the weekend to check up on various family members of the elder generation. Busman's holiday. Back on Monday and then Thanksgiving descends followed by my usual run to WV and KY. Busy November.
Friday, October 14th
It's not been a terribly exciting couple of weeks. Most of the spare time has been spent with Internal Medicine board review materials. I have nearly plowed through all eleven subjects (General, infectious disease, dermatology, rheumatology, cardiology, pulmonary/critical care, endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology, hematology/oncology and neurology) and take the test on Wednesday of next week. If the test is on all of the esoterica I once knew, I'm sunk. If it's skewed to make sure that I am not killing people by doing stupid things, I may be OK. It's just been way too long since I've had to know or use a lot of these things. I look at the review questions and wonder where is the choice 'refer to specialist'? It's a smart doc who knows what he doesn't know.
All the usual craziness goes on at work. More and more budgets are being cut back leading to more and more circling of the wagons to protect territory and perquesites. I'm still trying to find some realistic budget numbers for my areas but all I ever get are spreadsheets made up out of whole cloth. It's times like this when I feel that Don Quixote really is my role model.
Tommy is half way through his internship and well on his way to finishing up both degrees. What happens next is, of course, up in the air as the entire state of Alabama's education system collapses in underfunding.
And don't even get me started on our lovely new immigration law. The best adjective I can come up with for it is 'Wicked' but 'Immoral' and 'Nasty' are right behind.
Tuesday, September 20th - Princeton, West Virginia
I am off on one of my usual treks to Appalachia working for the United Mine Workers. A day in Princeton, a day in Beckley and a day in Pikeville, Kentucky. Nothing very exciting about this trip. It's gray and drizzly and I've spent ten hours reviewing case management plans for elderly folk living up in the hollers. More of that tomorrow and the day after.
Not a whole lot going on at the moment. I am plowing my way through the MKSAP internal medicine board review course on line so I have a prayer of passing my internal medicine board recertification test next month. I'm about half way through and it's kicking my butt. It's just been too long since I've had to know most of this.
It's been wet and stormy around here. Tropical Storm Lee came through Labor Day and dumped eight inches of rain on the house. For the most part, we were leak free. Some of our improvements seem to have helped.
Nothing on the theatrical front until after board exams. Should be returning to the boards sometime after the holidays.
UAB is considering raising funds for an endowed chair for me which would be very nice if it comes to pass. If anyone has a spare half million or so sitting around, let me know. It's tax deductible.
