2006 update...

So far, January has been practically tropical here in the Triangle; a warm wind was blowing all day yesterday. We've been able to go out in t-shirts and sandals from time to time, which makes winter seem very short - in fact it doesn't feel like winter at all...

The holiday doldrums are breaking; though I ended up enjoying my time alone very much, it's nice to have things start up again.

Monday night I was sitting happily in the back row with the creamy-sounding young basses in the Duke Collegium rehearsal. Last night I brought the inspiration from that experience to Triangle Jewish Chorale rehearsal and spent two hours trying to get my lovely singers aligned and in tune as we worked on Salamone Rossi's Hashkiveinu.

This morning Rey Ramirez's Spanish Conversation class recommences; I look forward to the show-and-tell my fellow classmates bring. This afternoon Jane Filer's painting class begins. I'm not sure to get all the painting paraphernalia - currently spread entirely through the kitchen - into portable form, but wow, a painting class with the woman who painted this! It's a New Year's Resolution in action.

At midnight Zed's plane is supposed to arrive, depositing him, his filthy clothes, and hopefully a lot of interesting stories about his "Birthright Israel" trip. All we got from him while he was gone was this email:

Right now we're in Ramat Rachel Hotel in Jerusalem, it's really nice.

So far the only bad thing is that its been raining lots and lots and lots, I was especially sad about this at the Galilee which looked so gorgeous...

We have a lot of actual political arguments, but I think it's for the better!

At least I knew that he'd gotten there, and wasn't still wandering around JFK airport looking forlornly for his trip leader...

Tomorrow night "Rise Up Singing" class starts up again. It's ideal: lots of good people come to my house once a week and sing for an hour and a half while I bang away happily on the piano. Sometimes I even learn a new tune. And I get paid!

Sunday, Sheva Zucker's Yiddish class will begin. I've tried to teach myself Yiddish many times by reading Uriel Weinreich's College Yiddish. Maybe my mistake was to leave this to late at night - I fell asleep in the middle of a chapter many, many times. Hopefully Sheva and my classmates will keep me awake.

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