Queen’d Out

Concerts (and the choral year) are done. And I’m glad to put a pin in it all.

The Queen concerts went… well. They seemed to be very well received by the audience. We had lots of production and good soloists and drag queens and dance numbers. So it all worked.

It was just unfortunate that the chorus was a little hackneyed. Many folks didn’t know words or music and some had issues with the choral-ography. And by the concerts the conductor had kind of given up and was just trying to keep things together so he didn’t conduct a lot of cutoffs so…

So from my perspective it was all kind of sloppy.

But it’s done, and Friday nights performance was seven(!) seats from being sold out. So that’s all good for the chorus. And many of the chorus members seemed to have fun with it all, so I’m happy for them.

Now I can focus on Pride and the rest of summer. Biking. Getting fit. Visiting parents. And getting ready for our new director in the fall.

(He’s ever so dreamy!)

P.S. we do have one other event– singing the national anthem at the Twins game on July 9th or something. A minute and a half of work, and a free twins game? Don’t mind if I do.

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Furr-iday

Because I know you want.

All of these guys have something in common…..

What could it be……

Yaaaaas Qween!

The Twin Cities Gay Men’s chorus Pride concerts are this weekend. And they feature the music of (you guessed it) QUEEN!

And this fat bottomed gurl is excited! Mainly excited to get them done and put a pin in this season.

Since the departure of our director after Christmas, the remainder of the season has been a bit challenging. We’ve had to navigate two different fill-in directors, with two different styles. Two different management techniques. Two different sets of expectations. Two different visions. And two vastly different concerts to prepare and perform.

Last concert was our angry protest social injustice concert. Heavy topics. Guest singers. A Guest conductor. And while it all came together in the end to be an exceptional concert, it was a bit of a rough go.

And now we embark on our lighter fare “rock concert” of Queen music.

The director for this one has been very “hands off” from a programming standpoint- leaving all the production to committee and other volunteers. And much of the music detail to us section leaders.

You know the phrase about “too many chefs”? Well….

We have drag queens. And dancers. 10 different soloists. And bike riders. And cowboy hats. And props (vacuum cleaners). And the scrim. And lighting affects. And choral-ography. And spoken word radio play interaction. And…

Well, It’s a lot.

I’m hoping and praying that this concert comes together (as they all seem to do at zero hour) but tech r hearsay was a goat fuck and right now this concert has a bit of a disaster vibe to it.

So that’s why I’m mostly anxious to just get this one in the books and get ready for next season.

With our new director.

About whom I’m very excited.

(He and I have already become friends on Facebook and are chatting via text on our phones).

Anyway- wish us luck this Friday and Saturday. Or if you’re in the twin cities, come out and see us as a kickoff for your Pride week!

My wrist is ready for the concert– and Pride.

Clap Back

I’m getting really fed up at work.

The conservative environment is just really getting me down. With Chump in charge, the racism, sexism, and stupidity is just getting out of control. I’ve taken all I can and I can’t takes no more.

So I’ve started to clap back.

Like this morning when in our meeting someone said jokingly, “Beat it like you’re married to it.” Most of the guys laughed.

I looked at the one woman in the room and said loudly, “Oh hey Rhonda- and how are you doing?”

The laughing kind of stopped then.

Or when the group of white men at large much was bashing DeNiro for his Tonys comment and saying “show some respect!”

I said, “You don’t have to respect the man– Respect is earned, not given. In fact other presidents have said as much.”

Which then got one guy to start saying that Obama wasn’t disrespected this much.

I looked at him squarely and said “He and his wife were disrespected every day for 8 years. Whites called for his lynching. They called her an Ape.” He started to argue and I said, “hell, I sat in a meeting and one of our VP’s called Obama the N word, so don’t talk to me about disrespect.”

There wasn’t any more talk then, because two of the other guys were in that meeting and know it to be true.

Or like when the room full of white men started bitching about how the Minneapolis police wouldn’t be doing sting operations for marijuana anymore because they found out it was only targeting blacks.

So I piped up and said, “Well, I bet you money the police never targeted the white college kids of Frat Row at the U, but they sure as hell focused downtown. And all that police effort to bust people for dime bags. We just need to make the shit legal so we can tax it and make money.”

There were some half hearted “marijuana is a gateway drug” arguments. To which I brought up the fact that there wasn’t evidence to support this AND alcohol was a bigger problem what with DUI’s Ana all (two of the people in the room have DUI’s).

I may have also tossed out that at least there are proven medical benefits to marijuana, and hemp fiber can be used for all sorts of goods and it saves old growth forests.

Take THAT Bembridge scholars!

Yeah, don’t fuck with a well-read, well-educated homo when you’ve worked his last nerve.

Money

Anyone who knows me knows that I am fairly frugal. Some might say stingy. Or parsimonious. I just look at it as being careful.

And it’s not like I never spend money– I’m just very choosy about it. Sure I have art. And my condo. And my FJ. And my bike. But that’s kind of it.

Other than these things, I don’t have a lot of clutter around. No “toys” or cars or a second home or cabin or anything. I don’t go on vacations very often. I don’t buy clothes (and when I do it’s from Marshall’s). I don’t go out to eat or to the bars.

I just don’t have many needs and very few wants.

I think it was growing up and seeing my parents fight over money. Or watching them struggle to figure out how to help pay for my college. Whatever it was, it has left me very money-focused.

When I got out of school I focused on earning money and paying off college loans. I never had fancy apartments or anything. I just saved and worked on debt. And if I couldn’t afford it, I didn’t buy it. Especially on credit. Hell, I didn’t even have credit cards until my late 20’s.

I have my 401k plan which I contribute to. I have my monthly checking which I strive to keep above a minimum balance. And I have my rainy-day savings– an account separate from my checking (not even same institution) that I put money into to be used if I lose my job or have some dire emergency.

So, imagine my dismay when I had to talk finances with my aging mother, and I discovered that she had gotten herself into a financial mess.

She has never been good with money, which was one of the factors for my parents divorce. But being in her own I thought taught her some responsibility. She worked two jobs, and I never saw her spend money frivolously. I Assumed she was doing ok.

Well, she wasn’t. At some point she remortgaged or took out a second mortgage on her house. So she’s retired and still owes money on the house. A house that she and my dad bought. In 1975. For what– like 60k?

Uggh.

THEN I find out she’s also amassed quite a bit in credit card debt. Which is just getting bigger and bigger because of the interest rates.

So most of her monthly retirement pension and social security has been going to mortgage and credit cards– which she can’t keep up with– leaving her very little else.

All of which she hid from me.

So you can imagine I’m kind of pissed.

And I’m freaking out a bit, because I need to take care of her debt. Which is going to completely wipe out my rainy day savings AND I’ll have to take some money out of my 401k.

And this only takes care of the credit cards, which we need to because of the interest rates.

I can’t even deal with her mortgage. (This one pisses me off most as either dad should have paid for it in the divorce settlement or she should have had it paid off years ago. And her monthly payment is roughly the same as mine, which means she made some really bad financial decisions along the way.)

At least she doesn’t have a car payment, thank god.

Once I eliminate her credit card debt, I can start formulating a plan for the rest of her bills, etc. and I foresee some difficult discussions ahead along with the cutting up of several, little plastic beasts.

Furry Friday

It is Pride month after all.

Dat ass, tho!

Can’t Catch a Break

If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.

Mom was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. She got out on some medication and feels much better already. So that’s really good news.

But dad? He had some reactions to the chemo and his health took a downturn. He had been doing really well too! I guess he’s been pretty sick but he didn’t tell me. They’re doing some transfusions today and some tests. So we’ll have to wait and see.

And then there have been a couple deaths.

A guy I was friends with on Facebook for quite some time was having some sudden health issues and he went into the hospital. The next thing I read is that he passed away.

Then a guy I sang with in chorus and was friends with had a massive stroke on Sunday. He passed yesterday.

This hasn’t been a great year.

Furry Friday

After a good beard, I favor a good mustache. These are good:

Mmmm.

Home

I picked up Phoebes ashes from the vet yesterday. So she’s home now.

The vet’s office made a lovely ceramic cast of her paw print:

I’m not sure where I am going to keep this, but keep it I shall.

I also opened my mail (finally, after the holiday weekend) and I had two cards from the vet’s office. One was signed by all the employees. The other was a separate card from my vet.

It was nice to get a more personalized message from her.

I also got a lovely note from my cat sitter. He loved Phoebe as she was such a friendly cat to watch.

I think yesterday provided some of the closure I needed. And now to move forward.

Balcony

So my balcony needed some planting this year. And some new chairs. (The past few winters had not been kind to my outdoor furniture).

This year my balcony color story is mostly purples and pinks.

So I got my herb planter going. And my corner planter. And I rescued my geraniums from last year and reported them outside.

And got a nice table pot of flowers.

And bought a new gardenia tree/bush.

The chairs I got for $19 a pop at Homo Depot. They’re pretty comfy and add a nice bit of color.