Opera and Stray Chapstick

Tonight was the opening night of the IU Opera Theatre's rendition of Benjamin Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream." Supposedly the opera well-received by the audience, but my perspective is slightly skewed. I'm in the orchestra pit. Orchestra pits are a funny concept. It's like a bunch of musicians in a holding facility slaving away at their instruments for the edification of the singers. It's also funny to watch people come up at intermission and look down and point at us like we're the main attraction at the local freak show. It is cute though when I see some kid eyeing my trombone; I just smile and play the right amount of glissando to make their eyes as big as saucers. That part actually is fulfilling in a nerdy, philosophical, you-should-play-trombone-when-you're-older kind of way. But I digress, the opera in fact was a huge success. The whimsical costumes and virtuosic voices mostly likely would have made Ben proud. But opera is a funny thing. This only being my second opera to play, it's very fascinating to sit through the dress rehearsals. I mean, with so many humans being coordinated, it's only natural that "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" should come to mind. Opera is really nothing more than a three-ring circus with lots of singing...but the rich people love it thus the show must go on!

Anyways, the weather has drastically dropped here in south-central Indiana. The very instant that my lips were exposed to the 29 degree Fahrenheit Arctic blast, they freaked out. And this isn't good for a brass player who's in the middle of a series of opera performances. So I visited my local Kroger, and bought some Vaseline Lip Therapy. They didn't have the cherry which is unfortunate because I love it so much that I used to eat it when I was younger!! But I settled for the boring variety, and lathered up my lips to face the cold. But somehow between yesterday and tonight, I have misplaced that little treasure of a tube of goo, and my lips are really hating me for it. I have basically looked everwhere. I even went outside and tore my car apart just a few minutes ago to no avail. Who knows. I'll probably find it just moments after having purchased a replacement.

Well I'm going to go to bed. Not for the fact that it's 2:35AM, but because it just dawned on me that my life really is pathetic to the point where I have to lament about my chapstick. So I apologize for those of you who stuck with it and actually read this. I'll try to pep it up a little in the days to come and maybe be able to provide some decent material for you. As always, thanks for reading. Take care.