I sound my barbaric... YAWP!

Yes, yawp. Another great word courtesy of Walt Whitman.

So, I didn't go to USADance Nationals (which were also this weekend - you'll recall what a blast I had last year in Baltimore with RH), but this weekend was tons of fun. It was the first weekend in maybe a month and a half that S and I got to spend together, every hour of it, from Friday evening to this very, humid, rainy Monday morning!

A balmy, breezy, lovely Friday evening was spent in the company of L, E and C at L's house. We came bearing Char Grill burgers, and plans were made to watch movies and play board games and cards - but we spent most of the night chatting (with a few hands of poker tossed in there). S was presented with an hilarious deck of vintage playing cards featuring about 50 nude and, in many cases, unfortunately-proportioned women (a couple women were featured on more than one card). L had found the deck at her grandmother's house. Bahaha!

We woke up late on Saturday, which was one of the most beautiful days so far this year. We sat happily in the bright kitchen making faces like this: ^_^ while eating Cheerios. Then I listened admiringly to S as he sang a Samuel Barber solo and went through parts of I am Untranslateable (which I'll explain in a second), a very... Odd. Piece of music. Then, we drove to Durham and spent the afternoon at the Museum of Life and Science! Ah, the butterfly house. After going through the museum and wandering around outside for awhile, we went to the butterfly house. I stepped inside and was instantly surrounded by flitting pairs of these spiraling little insects of all shapes, sizes and colors. There were tiny green and yellow birds, too. Fresh fruit was placed on a pedestal, and butterflies would land there to have their snacks. Chrysalises (pl?) of maybe 30 species were collected by staff and painstakingly attached to strings in a special hatching area.

Then, it was off to dinner at Red Hot & Blue, napping and more practicing at my place, and then my parents invited us over to watch the UNC/Villanova game - I slept through most of it, against a pillow propped on S's chest. ;) Bah @ UNC!

Yesterday was busier. We woke up early and made our way to the church where S is the choir director, for their Palm Sunday service. Then, out to lunch with S's family, and to his parents' house to work on taxes and nap with abandon. I was concerned; even after sleeping soundly for two hours, trying to regain consciousness was like trying to drag myself from the depths of a tar pit. I was exhausted. We went back to Raleigh, had sushi at our favorite place, and then crashed in the early evening on my bed, listening to the birds sing and the wind blow through the oaks in the courtyard.

I went with him to Duke at 7:30 PM to sit in on the rehearsal for I am Untranslateable, a 4-movement piece written by a graduate student there, written for a 4-part men's choir, cello, clarinet and another instrument (violin?), all backing a tenor soloist (Steven). The premier for the piece is this Friday. Although the lyrics of the piece are based on the works of an American poet, the choral work (and some of S's part) is intended to be stylistically Georgian, which was so fun to hear. I just perched myself on a chair in the back of the studio and made faces. I was amazed at the choir's lack of skill; my ear training is better. They spent much of the rehearsal fishing for pitches. S was in his element and looked the "brilliant tenorish" part (wild hair + 5 o'clock shadow + formal clothes combo) - but, he's getting paid to be the soloist for a reason; the choir dudes are not.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I'm frustrated. I haven't heard back from the 3rd potential flute teacher I've contacted regarding private lessons (the 1st two were too busy performing and couldn't accept new students), nor from the one piano teacher I've e-mailed. I am so eager to apply myself to something creative, I can barely stand the delay. I need to satisfy something important that all of my physical activity just can't touch, and I'm eager to get started, especially on the music theory part of it.

I need to "get the hell out of my comfort zone," as M (my Bikram instructor) says. Oh, and because the Bikram studio is going donations-only, I can now afford it again. :D

If I don't get my new work desktop delivered today, I'm going to sound my barbaric yawp. I can hit way higher than the B flat above middle C, and it ain't pretty.