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My Blog is Stupid

My last post didn't post and I doubt this will either:

Here it is:

Elders Quorum Trifecta or Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire & You're Playing Hitler in an Opera?

Well, it finally happened; after six months of not having a calling at church (did some small "assignments" dealing mostly with music) I am now (as of Sunday) the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency. So, after being the 1st Counselor in Alaska and the President in Arizona (getting out of that calling a small consolation prize for having to be uprooted from the homeland thanks to Uncle Sam) I've now completed the trifecta. I had a brief moment of panic when they called the then current EQ Prez to be the Ward Exec. Sec. two Sunday's ago in Sacrament meeting. This lasted until the Stake was in our EQ meeting later that same day and called a new president... and then stopped. "What no counselors?" thought I. So, the worrying began anew, but admittedly to a much lesser degree as I didn't know this guy from Adam. Well, then the phone rang.... and the rest is history. (Why couldn't they just have called me to be the Primary Chorister? I love that job and have already been it in four wards.) Of course, this always comes at the perfect time, as this semester, though I am only taking 11 credits instead of 13, is much busier and demanding than the fall. (Hence the fire analogy above.) This is mostly due to opera workshop..... Speaking of opera workshop we are doing two shorter operas "Down in the Valley" by Kurt Weill in which I was double cast as Thomas Bouche (double cast meaning I'd perform the role one night and another guy would perform it the other night) but I declined it due to time constraints, so I am just doing the chorus. The other opera is "Brundibar" in which I play the title role and am basically a representation of Hitler. The opera was written in a concentration camp and originally intended for children with its animal characters, etc. The role/music is fairly easy but I do have a (spoken) monologue at the end. I even have to grow "the mustache" for the role. Of course, I won't cut it that way until the day of the performance and then immediately cut it off after the final performance (playing tuba with a mustache is annoying). So, Dad, any acting advice you wanna float my way? The performances are scheduled for the 18th and 19th of April. Hopefully, I'll get a video recording of the performance so that everyone has a chance to point and laugh at me :-)

Elders Quorum Trifecta or Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire & You're Playing Hitler in an Opera?

Well, it finally happened; after six months of not having a calling at church (did some small "assignments" dealing mostly with music) I am now (as of Sunday) the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum presidency. So, after being the 1st Counselor in Alaska and the President in Arizona (getting out of that calling a small consolation prize for having to be uprooted from the homeland thanks to Uncle Sam) I've now completed the trifecta. I had a brief moment of panic when they called the then current EQ Prez to be the Ward Exec. Sec. two Sunday's ago in Sacrament meeting. This lasted until the Stake was in our EQ meeting later that same day and called a new president... and then stopped. "What no counselors?" thought I. So, the worrying began anew, but admittedly to a much lesser degree as I didn't know this guy from Adam. Well, then the phone rang.... and the rest is history. (Why couldn't they just have called me to be the Primary Chorister? I love that job and have already been it in four wards.) Of course, this always comes at the perfect time, as this semester, though I am only taking 11 credits instead of 13, is much busier and demanding than the fall. (Hence the fire analogy above.) This is mostly due to opera workshop..... Speaking of opera workshop we are doing two shorter operas "Down in the Valley" by Kurt Weill in which I was double cast as Thomas Bouche (double cast meaning I'd perform the role one night and another guy would perform it the other night) but I declined it due to time constraints, so I am just doing the chorus. The other opera is "Brundibar" in which I play the title role and am basically a representation of Hitler. The opera was written in a concentration camp and originally intended for children with its animal characters, etc. The role/music is fairly easy but I do have a (spoken) monologue at the end. I even have to grow "the mustache" for the role. Of course, I won't cut it that way until the day of the performance and then immediately cut it off after the final performance (playing tuba with a mustache is annoying). So, Dad, any acting advice you wanna float my way? The performances are scheduled for the 18th and 19th of April. Hopefully, I'll get a video recording of the performance so that everyone has a chance to point and laugh at me :-)

Another Semester in the Books

Well, another semester has come and gone. Will they ever end? Fortunately, there should only be two more left. My grades finally posted today.

4.0 Baby!

Maybe someday my family will get me back for good!

Prop 8. What the Heck?

This Prop 8 stuff has gotten out of hand. The people have spoken. Get over it. I just find it interesting that a greater percentage of the African-American population voted for this than did the LDS population. Why are the LDS people the primary target?

I was on a Braves message board the other day and there was a thread about it even on that site. Unbelievable! Then I read about a website that has been posted that lists persons or businesses that donated money in favor of stopping gay marriage in order for people to boycott/not patronize their businesses, etc. However, if a site was posted on the web that listed all the businesses/persons that were in favor of gay marriage and advocated boycotting them; oh my, would that be an issue!

Here's a quote from an article on Time.com that sums it up best:

"It's really awful," says Frank Schubert, campaign manager for Yes on Proposition 8. "No matter what you think of Proposition 8, we ought to respect people's right to participate in the political process. It strikes me as quite ironic that a group of people who demand tolerance and who claim to be for civil rights are so willing to be intolerant and trample on other people's civil rights."

Gas less than $2 a gallon!

I never thought I'd see this day again, but there it was: $1.97 gas. The apocalypse must be upon us. My wallet/bank account is happy and I can now divert that money towards more important purchases, like chewing gum. Fill 'er up!!! (I hope to have a photo soon, because who knows how long it will last.)

Johnny on the Spot

Well, today was interesting at church to say the least. But I guess it really starts a few weeks ago at Stake Conference.

A few weeks ago at Stake Conference I ended up running the choir and singing solo for the Priesthood Leadership session (surprise, using the song I was going to use for the adult session) and then sang for the Adult meeting later that Saturday evening (an impromptu rendition of "I Stand All Amazed" in which the pianist made up the accompaniment on the fly and we never rehearsed).

Then yesterday, Linda and I went to the Nashville Temple and an older brother there said "Good Morning, Brother Howe". I didn't recognize him off-hand and he said he remembered me from Stake Conference. So, okay, thanks.

Well, today the Temple President and his wife spoke in our ward, and that's when I realized oh, that guy is the guy from the temple yesterday. Oh, he's the temple president. Then, the unexpected happened.

"Before I continue my talk I'd like for Brother Howe to come up and sing Hymn number 247."

Uh, what?

I made my way up to the stand and my pianist from Stake Conference is the organist in my ward and we briefly chatted about what we were going to do. I flipped through the book and read the title "We Love Thy House, O God". It was then that I realized I was not familiar with this hymn in any way. Thankfully, it is short and I told her (Sis. Tanzy) that I needed the whole intro to learn the melody. So, away she went and I guess the rest is history. Nothing like sight-reading in front of 300 people.

I wasn't able to talk to him after the meeting, as they hurried off to go speak at another sacrament meeting. On a side note, they(President and Sister Sager) gave outstanding talks and come to find out that he was recently the bishop for President Monson's ward. I wonder how that Recommend interview goes. "Do you sustain..... uh, yourself as......"

I'm not sure whether having your Temple President know who you are is a good thing. Maybe he can hook me up with MOTAB or something... ;-)