I, Homeowner

Well, I did it. I bought a house. In one fell swoop– well actually several swoops of a lovely pen in the rendering of an increasingly illegible signature– I became a member of the landed public. Or as the Maestro would say, the landed gentry. Not sure how PC that is. And for a few short days, I'm also a landlord (technicalities and such). Wow. Doesn't take much for one's entire world to shift.

While I don't advocate such behavior, I have heretofore been able to remain blissfully ignorant of things like bond initiatives, school boards, property taxes, gentrification, homeowners associations— all manners of things. This is gonna be one hell of a steep learning curve. There is now a real price to pay for not paying attention, rather than the moral/karmic price previously exacted.

And since all of this is happening against the backdrop of the beginning of student school (the Music place) and teacher school (the Baptist place–replete with my first ever faculty meetings), not to mention a fairly busy performing schedule, your Yankee Hobbit is apt to "go dark" again for a while. Fear not! Lo, I am with you, even when I am silent.

If you're in Houston (or Austin, for that matter), come and check us out. Lots of upcoming opportunities:

September 7, 7:30 p.m.
Ars Lyrica Houston: Mad Women. Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 812 Bagby. www.arslyricahouston.org

September 16, 11 a.m.
Morning Worship, St. Philip Presbyterian Church, 4807 San Felipe, Houston, TX 77056

September 21, 8 p.m.
Col Canto: Freundliche Vision - The Songs of Richard Strauss. Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Blvd (@ Greenbriar), Houston, TX 77005. www.colcanto.org

September 22, 12:13 p.m.
Yankee Hobbit turns 40!!

September 24 - 30
Conspirare: Threshold of Night. Concerts as follows, more info at www.conspirare.org

Monday, September 24, 2007, 6:00 pm - Choral Conversation at The Crossings (Dinner and open rehearsal)
13500 FM 2769, Austin. Tickets: $25 *Please note: Deadline for purchasing tickets is September 19th.

Thursday, September 27, 2007, 8:00 pm (Choral Conversation at 7:00 pm) - Tickets: $30 General Admission, $15 Youth
University Presbyterian Church, 2203 San Antonio Street, Austin.

Friday, September 28, 2007, 8:00 pm (Choral Conversation at 7:00 pm) - Tickets: $30 General Admission, $15 Youth
St. Martin's Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th Street, Austin.

***Saturday, September 29, 2007, 2:00 pm - Tickets: $20 General Admission, $10 Youth
St. Philip Presbyterian Church, 4807 San Felipe, Houston***

Sunday, September 30, 2007, 2:30 pm (Choral Conversation at 1:30 pm) Tickets: $30 General Admission, $15 Youth
St. Martin's Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th Street, Austin

October 1 - 5
Conspirare Recording Sessions, Troy Savings Bank, Troy NY

October 7, 5 p.m.
Bach Society of Houston: BWV 205, Aeolus Appeased, Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2325 Rice Blvd (@ Greenbriar), http://www.bachsocietyhouston.org.

October 26, 8:30 p.m.
Melissa Givens, Doctoral Recital, Dudley Recital Hall, University of Houston, Entrance 16 from Cullen Blvd (from I-45). Works of Bolcom, Scarlatti, Barber, Wolf, Chausson, Strauss and others. Free.

November 4, 5 p.m.
Ars Lyrica Houston: Love and War. Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 812 Bagby. www.arslyricahouston.org

November 16 & 17, 8 p.m.
Austin Symphony Orchestra: Bach Magnificat. Riverbend Centre. www.austinsymphony.org.

December 31, 9 p.m.
Ars Lyrica Houston: Clandestine Classics (New Year's Eve Gala Concert and Auction). Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 812 Bagby. www.arslyricahouston.org

A few of my favorite things

Deep sigh. I am moving. I hate moving. If all goes according to plan, I will be moving into my very first house. But regardless, thanks to the rampant capitalism of inner-loop leased real estate, I will be moving from my abode of 4 years. That rampant capitalism thing was not actually the impetus for the home buying thing, but merely a confirmation that the time had come.

Anyway, I am going through the apartment trying to have as little stuff to move as is Divameg-ly possible. A statement in which the Organist will find great humor– seeing as he played a significant role in the last two moves. Alas, he is geographically and temporally unable to reprise his starring role.

Anyway again, I find myself having to fight the urge to keep some things I really have absolutely no use for, simply because people I love gave them to me. My Mom would say, get over it! And I'm getting better. Probably another one of those maturity attacks. Somehow I doubt my loved ones center the measure of my affection on the stuff I've given them– with rare exception, thank you Maestro.

[NOTE: So I'm reading the above paragraph the next day and it reads badly. The aforementioned rare and notable exception is a good thing, and refers to a recent conversation about a particular gift. This is one of the drawbacks of late-night stream of consciousness writing.]

Anyway the third, one of the things I have no intention of getting rid of is technically detritus. It's a scrap of paper I ran across when I was going through our old 8mm films. Being the time before labelers and Post-its, folks were left to leave notations on actual paper. This actual paper is a "label" my Dad made for the film of my 3rd birthday party (this is actually not a shameless plug for my still-upcoming big 4-0 next month, just a coincidence. Really.).

Even before he died in 1992, one of my favorite things about my Dad was his handwriting. It was clean and elegant, always legible and completely identifiable as his. He always printed, never wrote in cursive. He could of course, and would do it as a parlor trick for his kids, who got a huge kick out of its femininity and non-Dad-ness.

Another thing he was great at was calligraphy, which he taught himself to do. I would spend afternoons and evenings in rapt attention as he got out the inkpots and quills and set to intricately scripting who remembers what in Old English and Zapf-y fonts. Friends and groups would ask him to do fancy stuff for special occasions.

Dad was also into woodworking, and could use a router (I guess that's what would be required) to carve those same beautiful fonts into wood, creating very artful albums and keepsake boxes.

Finding that scrap of paper was a wondrous gift and window back into one of the many lovely moments from my childhood. Of course, the films were great too, and eventually I had them turned into video for the family Christmas gift. The kiddos had a blast seeing their Moms and Aunties at their ages and younger.

Besides that scrap, one of the mementos I have of Dad's calligraphic talent was the announcement he made for my sophomore recital. It was a joint recital with my roommate. He was unamused when he realized that he had misspelled sophomore (like father, like daughter), but it was already printed and we weren't about to recall or redo it (like father, like daughter). The universe kept spinning, of course.

Here's a peek at some of my treasures:

It's a Woman's World!

Welcome to all the new girl-babies in my life (and one boy-child)! It has been a bumper crop this summer. All of you have been wanted, prayed for, fretted over and eagerly awaited. We thought some of you would never come! But here you are. I know how happy you have made your parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and other villagers, and we villagers are happy to have you and your parents in our lives!

First and middle names only and drum roll please...

Lauren Malone, July 16 at 5:14 p.m., 7 lbs 6 oz, 20 in. - Gainesville, GA
Kathleen Madelyn Boudica, July 18 at 5:06 p.m, 7 lb, 2 oz; 20.5 in. - Houston, TX
Isaac Alexander, July 23 at 10:58 p.m., 8 lbs. 8.8 oz. - Houston, TX
Rachel Kathryn, August 7 at 3:19 p.m., 6 lbs, 11 oz. 19.75 in. - Lubbock, TX

Wow! You mamas have been busy. And dads too!

It's interesting, these four babies are from parents I claim as friends from almost my entire span of adult life. One is the first child of one of my dearest college friends. One is the first child of a woman I have sung with for the last several years. Two are the children of good friends I never would have met, but for treasured friendships with the amazing people who introduced me to them.

And there are more coming. There are at least two friends of mine ready to pop as we speak.

My mom recently asked me if I had any desire to have children of my own. I carefully considered her question and said no. It is not for lack of a maternal instinct. Anyone who knows me well will tell you I have a "mama streak" a mile wide and I'm not afraid to use it. But I have never felt that desire, that "ovary twitch" as some of my friends call it, to birth my own children.

As one who is (or at least, has been) gifted at burying deep feelings and/or denying fairly primal desires, I have occasionally doubted the veracity of my assertions. But nothing, not poring over all of the baby pictures I have been sent, visiting the babies in the hospital, not even the wondrously enjoyable play time I got to spend with my kiddos in Buffalo has made me feel vacant, or unfulfilled or desirous. I like that sense of certainty.

I am fast approaching 40 (44 days and counting), which I believe was what prompted my mom's inquiry. There are a lot of things I have been evaluating as this milestone approaches. I have been deciding what works in my life and what doesn't. What I have that I need and what I don't have that I want.

Yes, the Project has been part of that process. More on that later. Ultimately, getting this degree is part of that process. I am (deep shudder) in the process of buying a house. More on that later too.

I don't even think that my lack of a procreational desire has anything to do with my persistent singlehood. While the traditional progression is nice, if I truly wanted a child, I'd have one by now, with or without a partner. I dated a guy with a kid once, and I was ok with the idea of stepmotherhood. The older I get, the more likely the prospect that a man I marry would have his own children, for whatever that's worth. I'm way ok with auntiehood. I love that to pieces!

Of course, all this is well and good. The last chapter on all of this has yet to be written (there's always a news story about an ill-advised sexagenarian pregnancy). But I feel safe in saying that babymaking is like (insert honorable but not always desirable pursuit here): great idea, just not for me.

As for the Project? No releases, but no rehirings either. I have been in a travel- and way funky schedule-induced holding pattern. Fear not. Progress is just around the corner...