time left in flagstaff? 15 days.
what a ride...literally. we're getting ready to hit the road back to atlanta for the summer of watching the world cup from the pool. got kind of a different strategy this year. when we came to flagstaff, we threw everything into a budget truck and towed the car. this time, we're using a moving company to move most of our stuff to philly, and we're taking the car (filled with junk) to atlanta.
packing the car will be a challenge. so far we're taking the folding bike, a guitar, a guitar amp, jenny's clothes, my clothes, food, water, a flashlight, my makeup, a bottle of knob creek, and most importantly...the frisk.
as you can see from this photo, mr. frisky has a moving house. he was not terribly excited about that situation...but hopefully he will like the second trip a little better, seeing as we're a family now (as opposed to before when he had only lived with us for a few months).
we've got a few auditions in philly...jenny and i are auditioning for the philadelphia singers, and i have an audition with the philly opera chorus. not to mention jenny is and will be making trips up there to wrangle some serious musical employment.
crazy to be on the move again.
Showing posts with label flagstaff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flagstaff. Show all posts
4.21.2010
3.22.2010
no whammies!
well it's done...mostly. stingray and i just got home from an extended vacation to los angeles and philadelphia. it was a much needed break from jenny's grad school existence and my coffee shop non-existence. hanging out with friends in sunny california can really help to knock the edge off of an exhausting, sneaux up to your eyeballs, arrgh winter. new babies with tired mommies help you to see the future. which for us, seems to be philadelphia.
>one never really knows exactly what's in store when they move to a new city and take on a new role. kind of like hitting the button in press your luck. one square is $4,000 and a spin, another is a sneaky whammy (whatever the hell they are) waiting to take all yo' cash. you never know until you hit that button. it's also important to frame moving in the right light in your mind. "certainty" about any new place can be disheartening when eden turns out to be oz (the bad oz with the scary mean trees)
flagstaff has been a wonderful place in many ways. we got married, jenny got a masters, and i got career direction (quite an achievement). however, it also contained the most insane winter we ever want to go through (twice), the creation of the new latin phrase 'pawdiemrapeh',and the infamous horse dance. so, am i being a glass half empty guy by putting this picture next to the flagstaff section? i mean, dear god it's insanely beautiful. we had a beautiful, friend filled wedding. and yet, it's been so difficult on so many fronts right now it feels like a big fat whammy.
philly has lots of promise. we are planning on auditioning for several music groups, hope to start trying for kids, and will love to root for the most awesome football team ever from day one! and we'll officially be moving there sometime in august. and hope to nail down the time frame once jenny accepts a job (which is kind of tricky...but shows some promise already in march). she'll be teaching again, i'll be gigging and preparing for grad school (hello temple)...so there are lots of things to look forward too. hopefully we'll do it right. join or die!
>one never really knows exactly what's in store when they move to a new city and take on a new role. kind of like hitting the button in press your luck. one square is $4,000 and a spin, another is a sneaky whammy (whatever the hell they are) waiting to take all yo' cash. you never know until you hit that button. it's also important to frame moving in the right light in your mind. "certainty" about any new place can be disheartening when eden turns out to be oz (the bad oz with the scary mean trees)
flagstaff has been a wonderful place in many ways. we got married, jenny got a masters, and i got career direction (quite an achievement). however, it also contained the most insane winter we ever want to go through (twice), the creation of the new latin phrase 'pawdiemrapeh',and the infamous horse dance. so, am i being a glass half empty guy by putting this picture next to the flagstaff section? i mean, dear god it's insanely beautiful. we had a beautiful, friend filled wedding. and yet, it's been so difficult on so many fronts right now it feels like a big fat whammy.
philly has lots of promise. we are planning on auditioning for several music groups, hope to start trying for kids, and will love to root for the most awesome football team ever from day one! and we'll officially be moving there sometime in august. and hope to nail down the time frame once jenny accepts a job (which is kind of tricky...but shows some promise already in march). she'll be teaching again, i'll be gigging and preparing for grad school (hello temple)...so there are lots of things to look forward too. hopefully we'll do it right. join or die!1.28.2010
happy 10
this picture was taken just outside pay 'n take (our favorite bar in flagstaff) on new years eve, 2010. seemingly just above our heads you can behold the flagstaff new years pine cone. there are lots of lights on it...and they dropped it down to street level during the countdown. this being our last year in flag, we needed to see this at least once. the biggest problem was the temperature...about 13 degrees. we went outside at about 11:50, and once the countdown was over...10 was here...and we headed back inside for more celebration!
about 6 hours later, my last living grandparent (grandmother to be exact) passed away in monroe, la. viva was born in 1919, and lived 90 years (give or take). 'memaw' (some say 'mee-maw, some say 'meh-maw...not sure who's right) had been close to death several times in the past 5 years...so it was hard for me to believe she was gone. i didn't get the message until 10am or so the next day and then we scrambled to find a plan to get down to monroe for the funeral.
we ended driving from flagstaff to monroe (spending 40 plus hours driving and 34 hours actually in louisiana), a crazy idea but much cheaper than flying. the whole family was there, and that doesn't really happen anymore. come to say goodbye to the unquestioned head of my mother's side of the family.
my biggest memories of memah are from the early '80's. our family was living in new orleans, and we often made the 4 hour drive to visit memaw, aunt linda, james, and debbie up in monroe. we spent lots of summertime there, and i also remember katie and i staying at memaws house for weekends during the school year (to give mom and dad some alone time).
we weren't really close. she was a very forceful person...with a very certain idea of what you should do with your life. during her later years she mellowed out a bit. but i never really had a chance to know her.
the one thing memaw and i shared was a love for the saints. we watched many games together in her bedroom (which was the living room of her house) and often when we spoke on the phone, the saints came up in our conversation.
maybe the saddest part of memaw's dying for me is she missed the saints being in the superbowl by 4 weeks. i know she would laugh now if she could see...and we would ponder the way the saints would blow the game against the colts. we both loved the saints...and i loved her.
about 6 hours later, my last living grandparent (grandmother to be exact) passed away in monroe, la. viva was born in 1919, and lived 90 years (give or take). 'memaw' (some say 'mee-maw, some say 'meh-maw...not sure who's right) had been close to death several times in the past 5 years...so it was hard for me to believe she was gone. i didn't get the message until 10am or so the next day and then we scrambled to find a plan to get down to monroe for the funeral.
we ended driving from flagstaff to monroe (spending 40 plus hours driving and 34 hours actually in louisiana), a crazy idea but much cheaper than flying. the whole family was there, and that doesn't really happen anymore. come to say goodbye to the unquestioned head of my mother's side of the family.
my biggest memories of memah are from the early '80's. our family was living in new orleans, and we often made the 4 hour drive to visit memaw, aunt linda, james, and debbie up in monroe. we spent lots of summertime there, and i also remember katie and i staying at memaws house for weekends during the school year (to give mom and dad some alone time).
we weren't really close. she was a very forceful person...with a very certain idea of what you should do with your life. during her later years she mellowed out a bit. but i never really had a chance to know her.
the one thing memaw and i shared was a love for the saints. we watched many games together in her bedroom (which was the living room of her house) and often when we spoke on the phone, the saints came up in our conversation.
maybe the saddest part of memaw's dying for me is she missed the saints being in the superbowl by 4 weeks. i know she would laugh now if she could see...and we would ponder the way the saints would blow the game against the colts. we both loved the saints...and i loved her.
1.21.2010
sneaux!
the snow we've been waiting for has finally arrived. all week at work, we've been hearing about the major downpour coming thursday and friday. well, wednesday night dumped about a foot on us...and it's been coming down all day today with no signs of letting up. supposedly tomorrow and saturday will be full up as well. can't wait to see what that looks like.
seriously this is a bit too much for me. being from the south, my idea of "sneaux" is a dusting on the corner of a roof on the absolute coldest day of the year. so when i go outside, i have to bundle up with 8 different layers of goretex, fleece, wool, and a sense of adventure.
here you can see the path i dug to take out the trash today...as well as the general whitening of every surface in sight. at least jenny has no school, and i'm off of work. so, i guess, bring it on!
12.31.2009
goodbye 2009
hard to believe it's 2010. there are still a couple of hours left before it's official here...but really it's hard to imagine. think back to what people must have felt back in 1910. now that seems so long ago. there were no planes (for the most part), no television, no internet. our lives have changed so much!
i'm happy 2010 is here. lots of crazy adventures happened in 2009. the best was our wedding. those few weeks were the best weeks of my life. i also got to do 3 opera roles...and be conducted by jenny in one of them. lots of fun.
this picture is a picture of the winslow theater in winslow, az. you're looking at the beginnings of a stage...in front of a movie screen. it was, until a few weeks before our show there, a working movie theater. apparently there was some kind of drug craziness there or something, and the place was shut down.
we went on to do two performances of amahl and the night visitors in this space...and boy was it a show. the stage was painted black, stars were hung up on the walls, and music was made. not sure menotti would have been terribly pleased with us. as with every show, there were good and iffy moments...but in the end i was glad we took part.
now we're putting away 2009 like we put away amahl. they are both done. onward to a new year and hopefully many more tuneful performances!
i'm happy 2010 is here. lots of crazy adventures happened in 2009. the best was our wedding. those few weeks were the best weeks of my life. i also got to do 3 opera roles...and be conducted by jenny in one of them. lots of fun.
this picture is a picture of the winslow theater in winslow, az. you're looking at the beginnings of a stage...in front of a movie screen. it was, until a few weeks before our show there, a working movie theater. apparently there was some kind of drug craziness there or something, and the place was shut down.
we went on to do two performances of amahl and the night visitors in this space...and boy was it a show. the stage was painted black, stars were hung up on the walls, and music was made. not sure menotti would have been terribly pleased with us. as with every show, there were good and iffy moments...but in the end i was glad we took part.
now we're putting away 2009 like we put away amahl. they are both done. onward to a new year and hopefully many more tuneful performances!
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