It's Drew's Fault

OK, so I've been getting Facebook invitations recently from other old folk like myself... and Adaptistration pushed me over the edge. (Not that Drew is an old guy...)

Well, I'm now on Facebook, immediately wondering if it was a good idea. I sat down for 15 minutes to create a profile and dump my address book to see who I should contact, and now 2 hours have passed. Those of you who have the addiction are laughing at my expense, I'm sure.... how could I not have known? Ah, but I thought I was strong...

I'm leaving in a few days on the audition odyssey, so perhaps this will give me something to do while hanging around all of those baggage carousels.


So Why Do You Want to Be an Opera Singer?

I spent a chunk of yesterday reading the "Statement of Career Goals" documents that were a required part of the Wolf Trap Opera Studio application. Now I feel sad, old, wistful, cynical, and heartened, all at the same time.

The sheer unadulterated yearning that many of these folks have for a lifetime in music and a career on the stage is staggering. Some of them throw in the random qualifying statement ("I don't want to be a superstar, just to make a living at what I love..."), but the overwhelming sentiment is pure lust for an operatic career and optimism that such a career will come to be.

Of course, what else could one put in such a statement? We're silly enough to ask for it, so the applicant had better appear to be committed to the dream. (My son is working on his college essay, so I'm familiar with this scenario.) But I get the feeling that a lot of these folks aren't just saying so; they really believe it. I'd quote some of the documents, but in doing so it would seem as if I'm mocking them. And I'm not. I'm just gobsmacked by the intensity and sincerity of it all.