Merry Christmas, Readers!
First, today is Christmas Eve, and in Oklahoma we have snow. Six to eight inches of snow has fallen today, and there is no sign of it ceasing. Unfortunately, snow in Oklahoma invariably means that ice shall be present on the streets after the snow has melted, which will not happen for a while yet.
On Christmas Eve it is my family's tradition to drive to my aunt and uncle's residence and have a Christmas feast, but because of the inclement weather, which is worse this year than my father ever recalls it having been previously in his lifetime, we have reappointed our celebration, and we have scheduled it for my birthday, which is this Sunday. This is an interesting fact since my birthday has not fallen on a Sunday in many years, if ever, because of the saving grace of the modern Gregorian calendar, that being the concept of the leap year, which affects my birthday's chances of happening on a Sunday. I shall be twenty then, and I shall be afforded the excellent opportunity of celebrating Christmas with my family upon my birthday. Is there truly a better gift to receive than such that I have just described?
I anxiously anticipate tomorrow morning, for I long to see our family express their love to each other by presenting gifts to each other in commemoration of Christ's birth and His divine gift of salvation for mankind. I am grateful for the blessings that God has most graciously bestowed upon me, and I thank Him for all that he has done to provide for my family this year. His exceptional providence towards us has been monumental, and it is difficult to imagine my life and continued existence without it.
I also am ingratiated to the people with whom it has been my pleasure to acquaint myself through the various means I have at my disposal. In this first year of blogging I have found people who have given a part of themselves to me without reservation. I have met Chelsea, Kim, Leah, SarahB, Rae-Mae, and Samantha, who have all opened themselves and their lives to my scrutiny and inquiry, and in the process of this, they have become acquaintances who have developed interest in my personality, and they have taught me so many new things about opera, broadway, and, most importantly, life. I hope that I have given them something adequate in exchange for all of this that I have had the immense pleasure of receiving, and I pray that I have been a perfect gentleman toward all of them. When I first began blogging, I could not have hoped for better people with whom to fraternize. I pray that God may continue to bless them this Christmas, and I enjoy their blogs invariably.
In news concerning opera, the Met is considering reviving Franco Zeffirelli's [classic, flawless] production of Puccini's Tosca next season for reasons contrary to what may be assumed by those who have heard that critical acclaim is less than expected. Although they will not retire the new production, I hope the decide to revive Zeffirelli's production. I was able to see the new production on television recently, and while the singing was rather good, the production just did not seem to flow. It seemed that they were shorthanded on props, and the set seemed too large and devoid of details. I did not like the "jump" at the end, either. Their use of frozen motion at the finish seemed to leave something undone for my taste. I have not seen their former production of the opera, but it could not be any worse than I thought this one was.
In other news Julie Andrews, whom an adoring public, of which I am a part, thought could no longer sing, is giving a concert next year in London's o2 arena. I want to see footage of this event on YouTube, and if it is as good as I expect it to be, I hope she will release a new CD. I read this in my local newspaper recently, and I could not believe what I had just saw. Does anyone wish to speculate about the possibility of a tour? I would definitely like to attend that concert if it came my way. What do you think she will sing, and will it sound as good as we remember her voice had sounded before her debilitating throat surgery? I hope she sings some Broadway standards, and I have my reservations, but if only for the sake of memory, this will be an event to remember.
For your enjoyment I now offer some videos to help us celebrate the season in song.
I thank all of your for perusing my posts, and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas!
-Tyler.
On Christmas Eve it is my family's tradition to drive to my aunt and uncle's residence and have a Christmas feast, but because of the inclement weather, which is worse this year than my father ever recalls it having been previously in his lifetime, we have reappointed our celebration, and we have scheduled it for my birthday, which is this Sunday. This is an interesting fact since my birthday has not fallen on a Sunday in many years, if ever, because of the saving grace of the modern Gregorian calendar, that being the concept of the leap year, which affects my birthday's chances of happening on a Sunday. I shall be twenty then, and I shall be afforded the excellent opportunity of celebrating Christmas with my family upon my birthday. Is there truly a better gift to receive than such that I have just described?
I anxiously anticipate tomorrow morning, for I long to see our family express their love to each other by presenting gifts to each other in commemoration of Christ's birth and His divine gift of salvation for mankind. I am grateful for the blessings that God has most graciously bestowed upon me, and I thank Him for all that he has done to provide for my family this year. His exceptional providence towards us has been monumental, and it is difficult to imagine my life and continued existence without it.
I also am ingratiated to the people with whom it has been my pleasure to acquaint myself through the various means I have at my disposal. In this first year of blogging I have found people who have given a part of themselves to me without reservation. I have met Chelsea, Kim, Leah, SarahB, Rae-Mae, and Samantha, who have all opened themselves and their lives to my scrutiny and inquiry, and in the process of this, they have become acquaintances who have developed interest in my personality, and they have taught me so many new things about opera, broadway, and, most importantly, life. I hope that I have given them something adequate in exchange for all of this that I have had the immense pleasure of receiving, and I pray that I have been a perfect gentleman toward all of them. When I first began blogging, I could not have hoped for better people with whom to fraternize. I pray that God may continue to bless them this Christmas, and I enjoy their blogs invariably.
In news concerning opera, the Met is considering reviving Franco Zeffirelli's [classic, flawless] production of Puccini's Tosca next season for reasons contrary to what may be assumed by those who have heard that critical acclaim is less than expected. Although they will not retire the new production, I hope the decide to revive Zeffirelli's production. I was able to see the new production on television recently, and while the singing was rather good, the production just did not seem to flow. It seemed that they were shorthanded on props, and the set seemed too large and devoid of details. I did not like the "jump" at the end, either. Their use of frozen motion at the finish seemed to leave something undone for my taste. I have not seen their former production of the opera, but it could not be any worse than I thought this one was.
In other news Julie Andrews, whom an adoring public, of which I am a part, thought could no longer sing, is giving a concert next year in London's o2 arena. I want to see footage of this event on YouTube, and if it is as good as I expect it to be, I hope she will release a new CD. I read this in my local newspaper recently, and I could not believe what I had just saw. Does anyone wish to speculate about the possibility of a tour? I would definitely like to attend that concert if it came my way. What do you think she will sing, and will it sound as good as we remember her voice had sounded before her debilitating throat surgery? I hope she sings some Broadway standards, and I have my reservations, but if only for the sake of memory, this will be an event to remember.
For your enjoyment I now offer some videos to help us celebrate the season in song.
I thank all of your for perusing my posts, and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas!
-Tyler.
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