absence makes the heart grow

and then you wind up with a whopping case of cardiomegaly. (Sorry, I'm in a relatively sour mood today.)

I haven't been blogging because I've been working on outside writing projects with looming deadlines. Now that the first drafts are done, I have a few days to wait for feedback. Back to the blog!

Last night I attended my theatre's annual Board and Staff Dinner, held at the production facility a couple of miles away. That building houses our scenic and prop manufacture shops, prop and costume stock storage, the paint deck where scenery is painted before it's loaded into the theatre, and the offices of most of the staff in the production departments. I love that kind of facility, and this was the first time I'd been to the one this theatre owns and uses. We were assigned tables, and I wound up having the chance for extensive, very pleasant conversation with several staff and board members I knew slightly. So, though I didn't want to go in the first place, I wound up having a good time.

Similarly, earlier this week I attended a concert by the John Alexander Singers, the chamber choir that forms the core of Pacific Chorale. They did a lovely mixed program in the acoustically friendly basilica of the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. (Yes, swallows, etc.) Another singer from my section in P. Chorale had a spare ticket and was friendly enough to offer it to me. Though my usual desire after work is to go home and stay home, off I went to an evening of lovely music and good fellowship. They sang Allegri's Miserere, which I had only heard on recordings before; a contemporary minimalist piece called "Rothko Chapel" (which renewed my wish that I had visited the actual Rothko Chapel when I lived in Texas), and a Palestrina mass. Which sounded like every other Palestrina mass, but I like Palestrina so that's ok. It was beautifully sung.

The moral of these stories is... if I don't want to go to a social engagement on a weeknight after work, I should probably go. My instincts are off.