I've been on a bit of a roll, and I actually see it as a possibility that I will finish the piano-vocal version (draft) of my opera this calendar year. I'm actually aiming for before we head to Winnipeg on the 24th, but that's a bit tight.

Don't get excited... there's still a lot of editing, orchestrating, more editing, and a paper to write before I'll be able to submit, but pulling the story and musical elements together into something cohesive will be an exciting accomplishment.

Speaking of that work, I'll go do it now :)

I'm gonna blame my return to blogging (though 1 post is hardly an official return to something that was a daily habit for years) for my recent return to my super late-night schedule. Last night I was up until 4am and woke at noon.

My schedule had been relatively normal, waking up in mornings on most days, but with 3 days in a row of not working until the evening, I'm back to my old ways ;)

The real reason I've been up so late is that I've been making real progress on my opera. I'll be honest, I've been stuck for about 6 months on how to END it. I'd worked all the other scenes, but I finally had nowhere else to go. All that time of thinking of possibilities and never being happy with them must have done some good, because now I'm excited about the ending. I'm moving things all around to make it work musically and have been really enjoying this work for the last 2 or 3 days. I'm sad to say that feeling (about the opera) had been missing for a while.

In any case, I'm excited about the work right now, so I won't waste any more time on here blogging, but I just wanted to let you know things are moving right along.

I dare say I might have the piano-vocal version done this calendar year. Seeing as that was once my plan for the summer (hey 4 months ago...), that would be mighty fine!

Michael Reviews Things: Life Since 2012

So, I'd pretty much given up on this blog.... and the only reason I qualify it with 'pretty much' is that every once in a while I'll use the search function at the top left to look up things and people from my past. Nice little jaunts down memory lane. Well, not always nice, but jaunty nonetheless.

So updates....

Health is okay - same as always. I've been having arm tension issues, which is nothing new, but they flared up intensely in the summer and I've been inspired to find new ways of dealing with the tension.
I could be a better diabetic, but I have no real complications and it doesn't interfere with my daily life, so that's a win. This last few years I've been swimming weekly, going to the gym somewhat regularly, and my husband is getting me to eat better.

oh ya...
So I don't even know if I came out online, but ya... super gay here :)
A few years ago, I met an amazing man named Héctor who loves me more than I could have ever imagined, inspires me to love more deeply than I could have.... yada yada yada, we got married in July, 2014. 4 months in - married life gets a top-notch review!

I'm still writing my opera.... go visit the website for some info if you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm in the 6th year of my DMA, so I need to get it done - and it will happen before the spring. Basically, I don't want to have to do more paperwork to file for an extension!
Also, reading my blog history about how much I talked about not getting stuff done, and procrastinating.... it reminded me that while I was writing about them... the stuff actually did get done - so maybe this blog will help inspire me!

The reasons I've slowed on my opera progress are because of my satisfying and sometimes exciting work life:
I'm teaching about 10 students, which is a good amount without being too much.
I'm playing piano for about 16 hours of ballet classes a week. The pay isn't glamourous, but it's idiomatic work for me. I think of it as my office job where I show up, do my work, and then go home. When the opera and other compositions invade my brain space all the rest of the time, it's nice to have some 'down' time. Also, it keeps me creative.
Art Song Lab is doing great. We're accepting applications for our 5th year right now, so go apply!
Aside from the ballet stuff, I also play a few concerts a year, so I'm becoming known as a performer in and around Vancouver.

Anyhoo, at the moment, I'm feeling like I'll start posting again with some mild-to-moderate regularity, so we'll see how long that lasts.