I’ve been spending all my time lately at the opera. The only days we’re not rehearsing or performing are the days AGMA (the American Guild of Musical Artists) requires us to have off–essentially every seventh day or so. Not that I’m complaining. I’m more than happy to have all the work, and I’m learning new shows, having fun with friends,… Read more →
Category: Other
Claimjumper
For me, the holiday season begins when the leaves almost imperceptibly start changing color in October, when those warm, pumpkin-ish earth-tone appear in fields, supermarkets, and on the trees. In rapid succession we get Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and it ends with my birthday in January (what can I say? Nature saved the best for last). It also… Read more →
The Bellagio
So it’s come down to the wire again. Surprise, surprise: it’s four days before Christmas, and I haven’t done any shopping yet. To be fair, I don’t need to shop for many people. And thankfully, I can put off shopping for my family because I’ll be seeing them in person at the new year and can give them their gifts… Read more →
Taking It Easy?
Usually the holidays are the busiest time of year. For everyone, yes–but for me especially. Choral music concerts are a lot of it. The Messiah, the Pacific Chorale’s annual Christmas concert, the annual Candlelight concert at the Performing Arts Center, caroling, opera rehearsals, etc. It all adds up. But this year was going to be different. I skipped all the… Read more →
Bachelor Party in Tahoe
The House of Rapp is proud to present the Martha Stewart BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS® recipe for the perfect guys-only weekend: 1 bachelor – skinny, tall, able to eat 274.98 cubic meters of food in one sitting 7 friends – overworked and ready to get the hell outta Dodge 1 large van – Ford – operated at maximum velocity at… Read more →
Breaking and Entering
You know how when life gets busy, you sometimes wait until the last minute to do some time-specific thing which is really, really important? You know you shouldn’t procrastinate, but you do, so there is very little margin for error, right? And then something screws up your well-laid plans. My Juilliard application was ready to go, and it had to… Read more →
Met Debut
Have you ever had one of those perfect evenings? You know, the ones where you spend a couple of hours sharing great food with a small circle of good friends, just kicking back, talking about anything and nothing, and really relaxing? I had an evening like that the other day. You can always tell when you’re having one, because you’re… Read more →
Halloween, Irvine Style
My friend Jon Lagerquist and I have been discussing Halloween. Via e-mail, we’ve been trying to figure out what Halloween in Irvine actually means. Does it really exist? I’m not sure. I have been living here for about 5 years and have yet to have a single trick-or-treater come to my door. I don’t even buy candy anymore. We determined… Read more →
The Case for Impeachment
All this talk of polls is driving me batty. The polls say this, the polls say that. Why does it matter? The argument that the American people don’t want Clinton impeached is bogus and irrelevant. For one thing, the polls can be made to support any point of view. For example, a CNN/Time poll now shows that more people want… Read more →
A Year Later
It’s been a year since the the day the wedding didn’t happen, and I’m still alive. There were times, especially early on, when I thought I might not make it–but with the help of God and some great friends & family, here I am. I almost didn’t notice that it had been a year! But I was driving around the… Read more →