Stream of Conscience

Yeah, yeah,  I missed a day of NaBloPoMo again.  I was actually working on a post yesterday (on my adorably cute little pink netbook) while waiting for an appointment.  I even found a WiFi connection, but it was a private business, and I was reluctant to piggy-back off them.  So I just wrote the post offline with the intent to transfer it later in the evening.

Yeah, that never happened.   It’s probably a good thing, because it was nothing more than an internal debate about whether to return to  the chorus rehearsal I went to last week.

My counselor was all over me about returning to the chorus.  It sort of irritated me because I’d finally gone, but apparently the fact that it wasn’t particularly enjoyable wasn’t enough.  She says I need to give it until… December.  December?!?  Good grief!  Isn’t that changing the rules in the middle of the game?

Anyway, being the irrasible person I am, I didn’t go.  Had the counselor not been so emphatic about it, I probably would have gone.  But the little kid rebel in me surfaced.  So there.  :þ   I know, real adult of me.

Oh, and on top of everything else, I have a pimple on my eyelid.  And it hurts!  And it’s making my grumpy.  And the weather is crappy. 

Last night I finally did something I’d been planning to do for a year and a half.  And in the middle of a severe thunderstorm, no less.  I went to a chorus rehearsal.

It’s been quite a saga.  I was all set to go at the beginning of 2008 when I broke my foot.  By the time it had healed, I’d forgotten about it.  Then last summer I tried again.  But I got lost trying to find the rehearsal site.  Over the course of the past year, I’ve managed to come up with a ton of excuses; because getting out and meeting new people is hard.

It was a good time to join.  The chorus, a Sweet Adeline’s chorus, had finished its competition (they came in second) and was starting new material.  And while I thought about using the weather as an excuse, but to paraphrase Nike, I just didn’t.

It wasn’t as joyous as I’d hoped.  In my “try out” the director told me I should sing bass (2nd alto).  For someone who’s always sung 2nd soprano (and 2nd soprano is the “lead” in Barbershop/Sweet Adelines), I was disappointed.   But her reasoning wasn’t so much that my voice is low, as I have a wide range and could actually hit notes that some of the basses can’t.

I did try the bass, but it doesn’t feel comfortable for most songs.  The two gals I stood next to told me I had a great voice and seemed to be doing very well.  But when I mentioned I wasn’t comfortable and might change, they told me (quite enthusiastically) that bass is the best part.  They said a lot of singers start out as leads, but eventually move to the bass section.

The good news is people move around all the time.  And I did better than I expected.  (And I got a few complements, which is always nice.)  For now, I’ll stay with the bass.  It’s probably a good place for me since it’s been over 20 years since I’ve sung “formally.”  It’ll allow me to get my vocal folds chords back in shape.

And who knows.  Maybe I’ll ask if I can redo their website.