Audition time!

Today we had our auditions for the volunteer chorus for the Carmel Bach Festival. My wife and I like to take the first slots, but amazingly, a friend of ours managed to grab the first one moments before I got through to schedule the appointments. Still, positions two and three aren't bad.

We met the new chorus master, Andrew Megill from Westmister Choir College in Princeton, NJ. I had worked in the kitchen at Quad Club with some of the students from WCC when I was in college, so had some familiarity with the institution beyond mere reputation.

He is quite a personable fellow, and we had a nice time talking with him. The auditions themselves were pretty difficult - considerably more so than the equivalent ones last year. Still, we got through them OK and have the rest of the weekend free from the stress of preparation.

The warranty must have expired!

I need to go back and look at my user manual - I must have come with a 50 year warranty. Now that it has expired, little (and not so little) things are going wrong. As I was having my biennial physical exam, my doctor apologized for keeping his finger in my nether throat for so long. He wasn't sure, but something felt a little odd on my prostate and he recommended I see a urologist. The urologist was impressed that my regular doctor had noticed anything, because it was very subtle. However, he agreed that there seemed to be some hardening down there, and had a biopsy done. That showed that in fact I have a small area of prostate cancer.

As you can imagine, that was not welcome news. It is not life threatening and is very treatable. However, my options both have unpleasant possible outcomes. Surgery to remove the prostate will completely take care of the cancer. It will be gone, with no danger of it spreading. However, there is a 50-70% chance of impotence afterwards (not to mention a 3-10% chance of incontinence!)

Radiation therapy is pretty good these days, and the data show that it is just as effective 15 years out. Unfortunately, they don't have data beyond that. The doctor indicated that if it were he, he would opt for the surgery. Then he added "I think..." The problem with doing the radiation is that if ends up not being effective, surgery is no longer an option, and the only treatment would be hormone therapy which would basically eliminate libido.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't!

I have not decided what to do yet, but will talk to the radiation oncologist before choosing which option to take.

Needless to say, I have had better days.

Of happiness the very pith...

There is a tradition among the online Gilbert & Sullivan community "Savoynet" of getting together when possible and singing through as many of the operettas of that wondrous duo as possible. For simplicity's sake, these gatherings are known as "QWERTYIOP"s. The first ever US West Coast QWERT took place yesterday, and I was fortunate to be close enough to attend.

It was prompted by a visit from a pair of British Savoynetters, returning home after a cruise to Hawaii. People turned out in force to meet the delightful couple, and the group managed to get through four (count 'em, four!) of the operas: Patience, Iolanthe, Yeomen of the Guard and Pirates of Penzance. My wife and I managed to get there in time to participate in all but the first one, having had churchly duties in the morning. We even brought along a photo of D'Oyly Carte tenor Philip Potter (seen above as Nanki-Poo) for its place of honor on the piano - something that is de rigeur at a QWERT for the simple reason that there was one at the very first such gathering.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and some of the voices were truly outstanding. Whenever someone stumbled over a phrase, the 30 or so singing the chorus parts would chime right in and help put the soloist back on track. There is nothing quite like the G&S commuity!

Tempus fugit!

Over halfway into January already... Hardly seems possible.

The New Year's Day service at the Episcopal church was interesting. Other than the six of us who were serving, there was one parishioner! Our priest decided it would be best if we all sat up in the choir, and so the service was intimate and lovely. I did one of the readings, and played the bandura to accompany my wife as she sang "I wonder as I wander." The sermon was more of a group discussion than a lecture, and it ended up being one of the more spiritually uplifting services I have attended in quite a while!

Our sons visited for a couple of days during the week between Christmas and New Years - one from the east coast and one from the Bay Area. It was nice to spend some time with them. It is difficult to do so at this busy time in their lives, so every moment is greatly appreciated. The oldest needed to go to Santa Barbara to meet up with his girl friend for the return to New Jersey, so my wife and I decided to make a night of it by staying at the Ballard Inn in the Santa Ynez Valley. It is a lovely B&B, with excellent food and even a little wine tasting.

Then last week our youngest daughter came to stay for a few days during her winter break from Berkeley. She even came to church with us on Sunday and she and I played flute and recorder on Bach's "Sheep may safely graze" while the choir sang. It was a real pleasure to make music with her.

Things are gradually returning to normal as vacations are over and the new year quickly ages.