i am here

and so is my luggage

got home, ate some toast, went to sleep, as had been up for 23.5 hours

have now slept six hours or so, and am wide awake, although is still dark out

may try to kip for another hour before getting up

dentist today

urgh

how to tell you've been away from the states too long

1. you look to the right before stepping out into the street, and are almost hit by a car approaching from the left
   
2. you say 'sorry' instead of 'excuse me' when you need someone to move aside so you can get by
   
3. the money seems a little strange to you; like, it's okay that it's all the same color, but you find it frustrating that it's all the same size
   
4. you find a medium-sized moderately upmarket grocery store (dcfolk and those further south, think harris teeter) totally bewildering in terms of size and selection

i'm thinking of it this way:  just imagine how happy i'll be (for, you know, the first week or so) when i'm back to stay.  :-D

follow-up, now that grouchiness has diminished

so as we've seen (december 4, 'grouch grouch grouch', item 2), the iolanthe people only offered me chorus in their show.  i was waffling pretty violently on the question of whether to do it (gilbert and sullivan yay!) or not (big fucking letdown boo!); do it (don't want to burn bridges by seeming petty) or not (is the bloody chorus worth not singing the st john passion with the britten sinfonia?); do it (might be fun) or not (might very well be excruciating).  the chorus rehearsals will only be one a week for the first half-term, and then two or possibly three each in weeks 5 and 6, with week 7 being production; bach choir rehearsals are only one a week, but it's not possible to do both as iolanthe is on tuesday-saturday week 8 and the st john passion is on ... saturday week 8.

no need to mention that i have a 5,000w essay for one of my exam options due friday 8th week, is there?  no, no need.

anyway, was consulting with friend who did the sorcerer, and he more or less talked me into sticking to my original plan, which was to ditch the bach choir if i got a good part, but not if i didn't.  (and, i mean, there are two fairies that speak, and they didn't even offer me one of them.  memo to the gilbert & sullivan society:  we were really impressed, and we'd like to offer you a place in the chorus is actually an insult.  i know you didn't mean it to be, so i'm just letting you know.  what you meant to say was we were really impressed, but we're afraid we can only offer you a place in the chorus.)  but then off-hand, i said, shoot, if the standards for the chorus are as low as you're describing, would it even really matter if i didn't show up one day?  maybe i could do both!

i was mostly kidding, but then he said You know, seriously?  ... it might not.

so, long story short (i know:  too late!), i just sent this e-mail:

Hi Director --

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you -- crazy couple of days with traveling and whatnot.

The thing is this:  I  decided to audition for Iolanthe with the promise (to myself) that I'd give  up the Bach Choir for the term if I got a good part.  For the chorus, though,  I don't think I can see my way to running out on the St John Passion; I'm very sorry if that leaves you in a difficult spot.  The Bach Choir concert is  Saturday of 8th week, so I really can't do both -- unless for some reason you can use me for five performances out of six, in which case, sure, no problem.  OBC rehearsals are normally on Monday evenings; I'll have a more precise schedule when I get back to Oxford and the card that's on my desk.

On the off chance 5/6 of a chorus member is of any use to you, [answers to specific questions about dress sizes and things that she'd asked in a group e-mail on tuesday].

In conclusion, if I can help you out Tuesday through Friday, do please let me know.  Otherwise, I wish you the very best with your show, and I'll look forward to seeing it (on a night other than Saturday), and to working with you on something else in the future.  :-)  Thanks!

[signed]

i think that's appropriately non-bridge-burn-y, while still maintaining a solid hold on my own pride.

in other news, i picked up a sore throat from the dry air on the plane, and it has taken hold and won't let go.  i am Annoyed by this.