Okay, I’m going to do it…. NaBloWriMo – Day 1.

So I originally titled this post, “I’m going to try…”. But then I kept hearing yoda’s voice o my head, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

It might be bonkers for me to attempt to post once a day in what will be a very busy month – tech starts next week, I have 2.5 show and a vocal recital to work on this month. (The 0.5 is a shortened adaptation of a show that I’m already doing.) The kids still have the full slate of activities. There’s Thanksgiving.

But I love the idea of old fashioned blogging. And it’s so much fun to take a walk around the internet in November visiting all the thoughts and ideas and images that other people are putting out. And yes, maybe there is a sense of FOMO and wanting to be a part of it all. So I looked at my calendar and started plugging in ideas for posts, fitting in shorter ideas for the busier weeks, and it doesn’t look impossible. Ambitious, maybe. Not impossible.

So I’m going to start one day at a time – as evidenced by the fact that this post is on day two – and lean into writing posts on my phone in the gaps of time I do have. Maybe things won’t be as polished. There probably won’t be as many pictures. The posts will certainly be shorter.

Also… I’m absolving everyone from the responsibility of leaving comments here. I love getting comments and that sense of community, but – there are a log of blogs to read in November. So… if something I write inspires you, I’d love to hear it, but I think we all realize that sometimes… nothing needs to be said but a big “heart” or “thumbs up”.

So here we go….

Day #1. Shall we start with introductions?

I’m Diane. In live in the Washington DC area and I work primarily as a stage manager in opera. I also do other stage management gigs when offered and I also do supertitle work. (Supertitles are the translations that flash across the screen above the stage during operas or concerts. I do titles work for a series of vocal concerts.)

I would say I’m employed full time seasonally. There are weeks when I work 10 hours and weeks when I work 60 hours. There are also weeks I work 0 hours. It really depends on where I am in my season. And I should say by “work” I mean “paid work.”

There are a lot of other things I work at in life. House, laundry, cleaning – none of that very well. And we do have a bi-weekly cleaner. And then there’s the kids. We have three kids. I usually refer to them by age on this blog. They are 12, 7, and 5 right now. Everyone likes to tell me they are well behaved. They certainly are in public.

A lot of my mental energy is also spent thinking about what we eat and how to feed everyone when we are all on different schedules. I do a lot of meticulous meal planning. Or at least I try. Some weeks it’s toast and box Mac n cheese.

I also like to spend time writing here and reading and idly scrolling the internet, visiting museums and taking long walks outside. I write the occasional haiku and paint the occasional picture.

And then there is the Husband, who is amazingly supportive and holds down the fort as I’m off doing opera. He’s a super hero in a dad’s disguise.

I started this blog as a pandemic project. I liked reading blogs and would always leave long tangential comments, so I thought maybe I should find my own space to write long tangential comments. It’s been a lovely outlet, and I also love that I’ve found other blogs to read and that people from those blogs come visit this corner once in a while.

For more about me, here’s some more “get to know me” things to read (as if you need more to read during NaBloWriMo):

– you can read my guest posts on Elisabeth’s blog and Engie’s blog.

– Backstage mishaps.

– 20 fun facts about me.

–Twenty Hats I’ve worn.

Anything else you want to know? I’ll do an “Ask Me Anything” post if anyone has questions to ask me! Ask questions in the comments, or here.

Welcome November!

12 year old is full on tween. She has startlingly human moments but also moments when I want to crawl into a ball and not emerge for six years. I suppose those moments are very human too. She likes basketball, musical theatre,

7 year old is my little old man. He has an incredible imagination and loves nothing more than to sit and read. He’s also into