babydramatic_1950

I had an LJ account about 9 years ago and although I made some friends there who are still friends (!) many of my experiences there were not happy. I wrote a lot about not being happy; having discovered a passion for classical singing at the age when most singers retire, trying to break into an "inner circle" of singers who all had the same networks and experiences, not being able to, really, and then being excoriated for writing about being sad, all of which was very toxic and certainly didn't help me feel better about myself or become more grateful.

I am still singing, better than ever, at the age of 68 the center of gravity of my voice is about a minor third higher and I've gained some extra notes! All doors are still closed (my last audition was for an outfit that charges people to sing through operas from a book in someone's living room; the role went to a "real" singer who was going to perform the role somewhere) except, ironically, for the church. I say ironically because I was raised as an atheist. So I am an unpaid church soloist and choir member, and get to mingle with lovely people who are supportive of each other, something I was not getting from the virtual world of singer's forums. I am not going to any more auditions. If I am Jonesing to sing opera, I now know of a few nursing homes and senior centers where I can put on recitals for the price of a pianist. This makes everyone happy, and I hope I can inspire someone as I am now not much younger than some of the residents in those venues.

Otherwise I am a caregiver to my former partner (who is still the love of my life). She is 84 and bedridden, and has dementia. Every day with her is precious.

I have currently joined this community so that I can write for LJIdol. That was a part of my previous LJ experience that I was very happy with and proud of.

I don't have a lot of free time, because I still have to do a little editing here at my laptop to earn a living, but there's always time to write!

(And I see here, typing in Rich Text, that I don't have to do the kind of html coding that I used to sweat over, and which took me weeks to learn!) Here is a link to a Youtube video of me singing "Mon Coeur".

https://youtu.be/VowfOkA6C3w