After the daily scratch of the belly and gargle of the mouthwash this morning (not to mention the feeding of the hungry beast within and clothing myself) I walked into a beautiful, white hallway on the second floor of Manhattan School. I was surrounded by a gaggle of my peers, all equally anxious about what the day was to bring and who we would meet. In true musician-like fashion none of us had received anything resembling a schedule. "Does anyone know what the hell is going on?" was my meek and humble question to the dapper gentleman next to me. "Hell no. This is a hot mess", he replied. And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you find your gay man friend.
It was so refreshing to be around people who truly and deeply love the same thing you do... MUSIC. Every single friend or acquaintance I have made is so down to earth and personable. Musicians can be the greatest friends to have because nothing is off limits, laughter is mandatory and life is lived openly and freely. Every now and again you get your musician/singer who is a total pain in the ass. I haven't personally met any diva/prima donnas yet but I've heard rumor of a few. I'll steer clear.
For the placement audition this morning I sang "She Walks In Beauty" with lyrics/poem by Lord Byron and music by my grandfather, Nicolas Flagello. It was so appropriate for me to sing that in so many ways. My grandfather walked these halls years ago and now I'm walking them today. Simply by being here, in this crazy-wonderful city, this magnificent school, with these incredible people, I am walking in beauty just as I suspect he did. Oy! Now I'm all verklempt.
Peace, Love and Beauty,
Geni
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
WOWZA!!
At this moment in time I am sitting in my dorm room in the fantastic Manhattan. HOLY CRAP PANTS! I'M HERE!! The school is beautiful, the dorms are new and clean and everyone I've met so far is just as excited to be here as me. One block up from where I'm sitting (second star to the left) is the famous Riverside Church where MLK Jr. gave sermons. Directly across from me is the tomb of Ulysses S. Grant. Our neighboring universities are Columbia and Barnard and a mere skip and a jump away is the great Broadway.
HOLY CANNOLI, BATMAN! ROBIN IS ABOUT TO LOOSE HER MARBLES!!
2 feet away from me there is a practice room where I will be rehearsing (after my nap that is) the pieces I'm going to perform for the art directors tomorrow. It's not an audition but more of a placement thing so the directors can see where you are in your progress and what type of repertoire you have. To show off a range of pieces, I've decided to sing "The hours creep on a pace" by Gilbert and Sullivan (which is somewhere between musical theatre and opera. It's a comic piece about a girl who doesn't know whether she should marry a sailor for love or another suitor for money), "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine" (a classic from Show Boat), "Danza, Danza fancuilla gentile" (an Italian art song) and a classical English piece but I haven't yet decided which one.
Music and hyper-excitement aside, this morning I was in Rhode Island. I cannot express enough what wonders the sea does for the soul. I was only there for about 48 hours and I feel completely cleansed and rejuvenated. I could have spent weeks on that beach burying my feet in the sand, letting the sun kiss my face and filling my lungs with the magnificent scent of salt water. I immediately regressed back to my 5 year old self when I saw the waves rolling like thunderbolts across the water. It wasn't very long before I dove into the water with reckless abandon...and then realized it was FREAKING FREEZING...wonderful, blissful, joyous...but FREEZING. All the same, I swam, I rode the waves and I felt at home.
Huuuum. I'm kinda jonesing for a NY slice of pizza. Look out world! Here I come!
Peace, Love and NY!
Geni
HOLY CANNOLI, BATMAN! ROBIN IS ABOUT TO LOOSE HER MARBLES!!
2 feet away from me there is a practice room where I will be rehearsing (after my nap that is) the pieces I'm going to perform for the art directors tomorrow. It's not an audition but more of a placement thing so the directors can see where you are in your progress and what type of repertoire you have. To show off a range of pieces, I've decided to sing "The hours creep on a pace" by Gilbert and Sullivan (which is somewhere between musical theatre and opera. It's a comic piece about a girl who doesn't know whether she should marry a sailor for love or another suitor for money), "Can't Help Lovin' That Man of Mine" (a classic from Show Boat), "Danza, Danza fancuilla gentile" (an Italian art song) and a classical English piece but I haven't yet decided which one.
Music and hyper-excitement aside, this morning I was in Rhode Island. I cannot express enough what wonders the sea does for the soul. I was only there for about 48 hours and I feel completely cleansed and rejuvenated. I could have spent weeks on that beach burying my feet in the sand, letting the sun kiss my face and filling my lungs with the magnificent scent of salt water. I immediately regressed back to my 5 year old self when I saw the waves rolling like thunderbolts across the water. It wasn't very long before I dove into the water with reckless abandon...and then realized it was FREAKING FREEZING...wonderful, blissful, joyous...but FREEZING. All the same, I swam, I rode the waves and I felt at home.
Huuuum. I'm kinda jonesing for a NY slice of pizza. Look out world! Here I come!
Peace, Love and NY!
Geni
Saturday, May 22, 2010
What a day this has been..
It is one of the greatest feelings in the world to walk into a room and have it explode in laughter, happiness and love just by you being there. It is also one of the greatest feelings in the world to jump up and down while being hugged so tight you can't breathe because you're embracing one of your sassy, gorgeous Italian aunts you haven't seen in forever. Even better than that? Not being able to sit down for 20 minutes because you're spending so much time jumping up and down,hugging and loving each additional family member. Most find this exhausting. I, however, feel energized.
I have only been in New York for 2 days and already I've done things and seen things that I never thought I would. Get your mind out of the gutter, it's not that. Today (well I guess yesterday since it's about 2 am here), within a span of 12 hours I have 1) Seen a rainbow ring around the sun. 2) Shouted my heart out at a roller derby tournament. 3) Had an incredible dinner with an Italian man who doesn't drink (he is, indeed, an enigma) and finally 4) found my new drink of choice at an Irish pub.
1. Rainbow ring around the sun? WHAT?
You heard me. You know how sometimes the moon has a ring around it? It's usually incredibly beautiful but sometimes a little spooky? Well this was just like that but instead of the moon it was the sun and instead of a ring of light it was a rainbow ring. The reason i was able to see this was not because I was stuck inside an air conditioned room in hot AZ. No. I was on a SAIL BOAT on the Hudson river. A SAIL BOAT!!! Thank God! I needed my boat fix like Richard Simmons needs to shake it. And you know what? Being on that boat with the wind blowing through my hair, the smell of salt water in the air and looking at a rainbow ring in the sky was the greatest "sign" I ever could have been given. I'm on the right path, I'm doing the right thing, I know where I'm going.
2. ROLLER DERBY
My cousin ,Annie (aka: R. Sovertits...think about it), is a kick ass roller skater. Not only does she skate but she gets to expel some anger in the process by, ever so gently, beating somebody up. Don't worry, it's all very controlled and regulated but oh so BAMF. While her team unfortunately did not win this evening, we all most assuredly had some fun. I'm looking up the local roller derby team as soon as I get back to T-Town.
3. Italian senza alcohol?
That's right! This Italian man does not drink alcohol but instead has his strawberry juice (virgin daiquiri) and plays DD for everyone else. He's not a random guy, he's my Zio Pino. He, my aunt, her friend and I all had a fantastic dinner tonight which included (but was not limited to) stuffed clams, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed artichokes, marinated clams, shrimp, muscles, little potato bites of heaven etc. Seriously, I think I'm going to move here just for the food.
4. My new drink?
An Amaretto sour. Tastes like a Shirley Temple except with booze. Bellisima!
Peace, Love and Sailboats,
Geni
I have only been in New York for 2 days and already I've done things and seen things that I never thought I would. Get your mind out of the gutter, it's not that. Today (well I guess yesterday since it's about 2 am here), within a span of 12 hours I have 1) Seen a rainbow ring around the sun. 2) Shouted my heart out at a roller derby tournament. 3) Had an incredible dinner with an Italian man who doesn't drink (he is, indeed, an enigma) and finally 4) found my new drink of choice at an Irish pub.
1. Rainbow ring around the sun? WHAT?
You heard me. You know how sometimes the moon has a ring around it? It's usually incredibly beautiful but sometimes a little spooky? Well this was just like that but instead of the moon it was the sun and instead of a ring of light it was a rainbow ring. The reason i was able to see this was not because I was stuck inside an air conditioned room in hot AZ. No. I was on a SAIL BOAT on the Hudson river. A SAIL BOAT!!! Thank God! I needed my boat fix like Richard Simmons needs to shake it. And you know what? Being on that boat with the wind blowing through my hair, the smell of salt water in the air and looking at a rainbow ring in the sky was the greatest "sign" I ever could have been given. I'm on the right path, I'm doing the right thing, I know where I'm going.
2. ROLLER DERBY
My cousin ,Annie (aka: R. Sovertits...think about it), is a kick ass roller skater. Not only does she skate but she gets to expel some anger in the process by, ever so gently, beating somebody up. Don't worry, it's all very controlled and regulated but oh so BAMF. While her team unfortunately did not win this evening, we all most assuredly had some fun. I'm looking up the local roller derby team as soon as I get back to T-Town.
3. Italian senza alcohol?
That's right! This Italian man does not drink alcohol but instead has his strawberry juice (virgin daiquiri) and plays DD for everyone else. He's not a random guy, he's my Zio Pino. He, my aunt, her friend and I all had a fantastic dinner tonight which included (but was not limited to) stuffed clams, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed artichokes, marinated clams, shrimp, muscles, little potato bites of heaven etc. Seriously, I think I'm going to move here just for the food.
4. My new drink?
An Amaretto sour. Tastes like a Shirley Temple except with booze. Bellisima!
Peace, Love and Sailboats,
Geni
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
"My bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."
3:45am. That's what time I have to get up tomorrow morning. And I am NOT, I repeat, NOT a morning person. Joy of joys.
While the early morning hour is not ideal I am thrilled to be going to New York tomorrow. I remember the moment I convinced myself to audition for this program and I am so happy I did. I won't be moving into my dorm at Manhattan School of Music until the afternoon of the 26th so in the meantime I'll be kickin' it with mia familia of the greater New York area. I will also be navigating the mysterious world of the Amtrak (or train for those of you who are not familiar) for a much needed trip to Rhode Island with my cousin. Living in a land locked state is painful sometimes. As soon as I see that beach I'm running towards the water faster than Elton John chasing down a sensible pair of platform glitter boots. But more on that later...
Most awkward thing I did today : Lift my suitcase onto my weight watchers (TM!) scale to find out the weight in order not to be charged extra at the airport. That mother was heavy!
Most boring thing I did today: organize seven years of vocal repertoire in various forms.
Most awesome thing I ate today: cheesy bagel with veggie shmear and turkey slices
That'll be all for now. In order to get my much needed 8 hours of sleep I should have been asleep 10 minutes ago.
Peace, Love and Economy Class,
Geni
Monday, May 17, 2010
To bravely swim where no fish has swum before...
I have been swimming all my life. My parents practically took me right out of the womb and plopped me into the ocean and said "swim, baby, swim". So thrashing amidst the waves and currents of life, I used my chubby baby arms and feet to support me, and swam.
So maybe the way I learned to swim didn't happen quite like that, but that's how I like to tell it at parties.
I am a Pisces and a passionate one at that. I love to swim, I love the ocean and I most definitely love those crazy swimming caps with tons of bright, in-your-face, fake flowers (I'm pretty sure my Grandma has about five). Though cheesy and perhaps contrite, I love life and don't apologize for it. I started this blog so that I could muse about life, love and travel and I plan to do just that.
From May 2010 through July 2011 I will be experiencing one of the most amazing adventures of my life, my senior year of college. During this year I will be spending a month in the boisterous city of Manhattan, singing my heart out at the Manhattan School of Music Summer Voice Festival. I will also be spending the months of February through July in Verona, Italy to finish up my Italian minor and happily spend my last semester of college. In between, in the great city of Tucson, I will be performing feats that are nothing short of epic...so stay tuned.
Originally, I wanted to use this blog as a way to stay connected to my friends and family while we are apart. Due to the high likelihood that the only family member reading this on a regular basis will be my Grandma, I will now use this blog as a way to organize some of the blessed chaos happening in my head while I am experiencing the wonder that is the world.
So stay sassy my friends and get excited. You're in for a wild ride. I mean swim.
Peace, Love and Calamari,
Geni
So maybe the way I learned to swim didn't happen quite like that, but that's how I like to tell it at parties.
I am a Pisces and a passionate one at that. I love to swim, I love the ocean and I most definitely love those crazy swimming caps with tons of bright, in-your-face, fake flowers (I'm pretty sure my Grandma has about five). Though cheesy and perhaps contrite, I love life and don't apologize for it. I started this blog so that I could muse about life, love and travel and I plan to do just that.
From May 2010 through July 2011 I will be experiencing one of the most amazing adventures of my life, my senior year of college. During this year I will be spending a month in the boisterous city of Manhattan, singing my heart out at the Manhattan School of Music Summer Voice Festival. I will also be spending the months of February through July in Verona, Italy to finish up my Italian minor and happily spend my last semester of college. In between, in the great city of Tucson, I will be performing feats that are nothing short of epic...so stay tuned.
Originally, I wanted to use this blog as a way to stay connected to my friends and family while we are apart. Due to the high likelihood that the only family member reading this on a regular basis will be my Grandma, I will now use this blog as a way to organize some of the blessed chaos happening in my head while I am experiencing the wonder that is the world.
So stay sassy my friends and get excited. You're in for a wild ride. I mean swim.
Peace, Love and Calamari,
Geni
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