I SWEAR I Am Alive!

OK, whew, the teachers strike has ended. Hopefully things will start calming down at work now. I was really getting the lifeblood sucked out of me every day. Who know a strike could be so stressful for someone who's not even involved in it??

Anyway, I wanted to shoot off a quick blog on a weird incident at chorus the other night. I know you know this line from a song: "Pardon me, boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?" Well, we're singing that song. This guy in chorus raises his hand and says that especially nowadays, the term "boy" is pejorative. As in racist. Half the chorus nods. The other half, like me, shakes their heads in disbelief. That's a classic song and a very well-known line...you can't just go and change it!

But they did anyway. Now we sing "Pardon me, sir." And it sounds absolutely weird. Besides, I think changing such a well-known line like that just brings even more attention to the fact that it used to say "boy." And then people start to think about it and realize the word must have been replaced because there was something wrong with it. So how is it fixing anything by putting in a new word?

Not to mention that our first performance is next week, and I don't think half the guys are gonna remember to say "sir" instead of "boy." Habit.

Anyway, back to the last few minutes of the grind...then off to mega rehearsal with the small group. Hope to write again soon! (BTW, you can find my concert dates at www.blackhawkchorus.com, under the "performances" tab, and at www.specialblendgroup.com, under the "shows" tab.)

Yes, I Am Alive

But I was promoted two weeks ago and haven't been able to do much blogging since stepping into the new position. I am still at the same office, but I am now the editor of the paper. This means I spend a lot of my day fielding (even more) weird phone calls and tons of ranting letters to the editor, in addition to the new influx of spam that my account receives daily because of a new work e-mail group I've been added to that is advertised on our Web site. Throw into the mix the fact that we have a huge teachers strike going on here, and voila, you can see why I haven't been blogging. I'm also in the process of planning a wedding, attending rehearsals twice a week, squeezing in workouts where I can and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life. On the plus side, the work day does go by faster. And I'm on a normal 9-6 schedule, which I love.

Oops...I just remembered I have to take some stuff to Salvation Army across the way before I head out to visit my mom and then go to choir. Hope everyone is well!