Pilot

Some days it feels like I have no life.  Other days it feels like I have way too many lives, all vying for my complete attention and each feeling somewhat unsatisfied.  I suppose my life, or lack thereof, doesn’t change much from day to day, it’s just my perception of it.  For instance, yesterday I was not considering becoming a blogger, and yet here I am at 11:05 pm on Labor Day 2010, sitting at my computer in a “Mountain Dew Throwback”-fueled dither, typing away and trying to take stock of things.

And how did it come to this, you may ask?

Yesterday evening I attended a party with my family.  It was a reunion of sorts, with members of the church choir I sang with for several years in Washington, DC before I moved to Baltimore.  At the party I broke the news to everyone that not only was I going to be in New York until Thanksgiving, singing with New York City Opera, but I was not going to be coming back at all.  Instead, my wife Simone and I are moving the family up to Vermont, back to where we both grew up.  We were told “Good Luck,” and “Don’t Go.”  I heard “We’ll miss you,” and “You’re crazy,” but above all I heard three words from everyone in attendance.  “Keep in Touch.”

Keep in touch.  Huh.  What does that mean anymore?  My father writes long, handwritten letters to an extensive list of friends he’s had for decades.  My youngest sister Carolyn, who just turned sixteen, probably isn’t going to get back to you at all if you don’t text her.  Does keeping in touch mean linking my foursquare account to my twitter feed, so that you can all see how often I go to the grocery store?  (Already done, by the way…)  I suppose that keeping in touch, for the most part these days, means facebook status updates and the occasional e-mail or personal message for those times when posting a link on their walls really won’t cut it.  In fact, I was ready for that to be the case.

But then I thought again about the people at that party.  Most of them don’t use facebook.  The ones that do certainly don’t use it as their primary means of communication.  So what to do?  I don’t have the time or desire to hand write forty letters a month, nor do I want the only time these people hear from me to be two lines in a holiday card every December.

And then it really hit me.  I’m not just leaving behind the people I sang with years ago.  I’m leaving behind the people I sing with NOW.  I’m leaving behind my friends from grad school, and my church choir.  I’m leaving behind the opera chorus and all the neighbors on my street.  How can I possibly keep in touch with those people too?

Hence, the blog.  Now, as far as I can tell, there are two things people want to hear from me about: what I’m up to singing wise, and what hilarious things my children have said or done lately.  In fact, it is these two very facets of my life that are pulling me in different directions at all times.  I plan to dedicate some of my blog entries to my singing career.  I will indeed be in New York very soon, and there will be much to share I’m sure.  I also plan to dedicate some of my entries to my family, and my children.  Ruby is turning 3 and a half next week, and Edward is five months old and already getting into trouble.  I have no doubt that they will be keeping me busy for the rest of my life.

I hope that this blog will allow me to “keep in touch” with the many friends and family that I have all over this country and rarely get to see.  I also hope that this blog with help me to make sense of the two lives I lead and maybe provide me with some clarity after the fact.  I hope it will be much funnier than this entry.  I hope it will be better written.  I hope it gets better every time.  But mostly I hope that you enjoy it.