Sing Me to Heaven

Tonight, the Chicago Chamber Choir started rehearsals for our fall concert series. The concert is titled Sing Me to Heaven and features songs about, you guessed it, death.

Non-religious folk such as myself have a very different view of death than what you'll find in every song on this concert, and yet I was deeply moved by the beauty, sorrow, and hope held in these settings. And I wasn't alone: Throughout rehearsal, as we all took our first look at the music and tried to find our way through notes and rhythms and lyrics, distracted by our sight reading, many choristers still found themselves teary-eyed or outright crying, moved by the solemn message in this mournful music. I was particularly distressed by this passage from John Tavener's Funeral Ikos:

But whither now go the souls? How dwell they now together there?
This mystery have I desired to learn, but none can impart aright.
Do they call to mind their own people, as we do them?
Or have they forgotten all those who mourn them and make the song:
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

I don't know why it is, but in all the sad songs about death and mourning our loved ones, the joyous proclamations about going to Heaven in glory, I'm most affected by this passage. The idea that, when our friends and family leave this mortal coil, they might forget about us, is unspeakably sad and upsetting.

I'm not sure what that says about me.

Mark your calendar: Sing Me to Heaven concerts take place November 11 and November 16. On October 18, CCC's rehearsal will be open to the public. If you're in the Chicagoland area, please join us! I promise it will be more fun than this post.

The Truth

Well, it turns out I'm a better liar than I thought. Only Pop-pop divined the true lie. (And he's had years of practice.) Let's take each item one at a time, shall we?

1. Super hearing -- you better believe I have it. And you should have seen the giddy otolaryngologist when he gave me the news. He was beside himself! (I seemed to have gotten extremely lucky in this department. As Aunt Bobby noted, people with OI are prone to otosclerosis and thus poor hearing, but I managed to dodge that bullet.)

2. The ability to predict the twins' troublesome behavior -- please, friends. I wish. I know lots of parents claim to have this sort of skill. But let's be honest. No one has psychic powers. What we do have is a sense of dread when suddenly things are too quiet and we're not entirely sure where our children are. Unfortunately, that red flag doesn't fly until after the misdemeanor is underway.

3. Alton -- you bet your patootie Airan and I would have named a boy-child after Mr. Brown. The other boy name in hot contention: Enoch. Yes, if we'd had boys, they'd most likely have been pummeled on the playground every day. Good thing we had girls.

Success in the Kitchen

An entire week of successful meal planning!

Day One: Anne Glamore's Bulgogi

Loved it. It reminded Airan and me of a restaurant in Greeley, Hunan, where we used to dine far too often in our college days.

Day Two: Sauteed Salmon Steaks with cous cous and tomatoes (prepared mostly by Airan)

Good and good for you. And Sophie ate it like it was candy, which shocked us all.

Day Three: Anne Glamore's Bow Ties with Peas and Prosciutto

I don't do peas. Otherwise, this recipe was great. And half of my kids devoured it. (I think Evie's on a hunger strike.)

Day Four: Anne Glamore's Pork Lo Mein

Delish, and so easy! Thanks to Lady and the Tramp, Sophie loves to eat anything that looks like spaghetti. However, Evie's hunger strike continues. I'd like to get my hands on some real lo mein noodles and try this one again. The vermicelli was good, but I think authentic noodles would be even better.

Day Five: Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone
(from Cooking Light, September 2007)

Delicious, but it took forEVER to cook. Oh, and as far as the twins are concerned, this is "mac and cheese." Shhh.

Day Six: Rachel Ray's Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss per Anne Glamore's suggestion

I liked it, although I think I like this chicken piccata recipe better. Rachel's was probably easier and faster, and the family seemed to think the two recipes are equally good.

Tonight, it's back to chili-cheese tator tots.

What I learned from this week's adventure:

1. Meal planning is smart! And not that hard!
2. I need new knives in a bad way. (And someone has a birthdaycoming up...)
3. When planning meals, remember to plan side dishes as well. Oops.
   

Now I'm working on next week's menu. Any suggestions?

Two Truths and One Lie

Mr. John Scalzi suggested a Weekend Assignment that sounds like fun. I'm going to play along. I invite you to join in.

Two truths and one lie about me:

1. According to my otolaryngologist, I have super hearing. I hear things at least 10% to 15% better than you do. Deal.

2. Speaking of super powers, I am now a believer in some sort of psychic prescience. Since attaining motherhood, I now have the ability to predict (but not prevent, sadly) when the kids will get up to no good.

3. Had the twins been boys instead of girls, one of them would surely have been named Alton for my favorite TV chef, Alton Brown.

Can you sort fact from fiction?

Candidate Match

Here's an interesting way to compare your views on the issues with those of the current '08 presidential candidates. The results might surprise you.

http://www.dehp.net/candidate/index.php

Thanks for sharing this, Dad.

Urban Living II

While out and about today, the girls and I drove through this scene, which is playing out just a few blocks from our home:


Ah, city living. We can still hear the helicopters.

Collapse

Yesterday, the twins identified every nerve in my body and them played them like harp strings. They stomped on my attempts to placate them, laughed as I struggled for patience, screamed when I tried to convince them to take a much-needed nap. They ran rampant all through the afternoon, screaming and tugging and needing and crying and OH MY GOD I swear I was a heartbeat away from shipping them off to military preschool. By the end of the day, we were all a bit worn out.

Dennis4President

I've been struggling to find a Democratic candidate for president who I can support. When it comes to the front-runners, I don't like any of 'em. You have to go pretty deep in the field before you find candidates who seem to be truthful, honest, upstanding people with smart ideas about how this country should be run (which says some pretty sad things about our democratic process). Once such candidate is Dennis Kucinich. I don't think Kucinich has much of a shot at even making it to the top three, which is a tragedy. He has a lot of great positions about withdrawing from Iraq, access to health care, legalizing gay marriage, and abolishing nuclear weapons. Even if he isn't a viable contender, I think we need to be listening to what Dennis has to say. Dad, you're right -- Kucinich seems to be the only candidate who's telling the truth.

See for yourself.

In the Kitchen (Barefoot Optional)

This is my favorite dinner:


Cheese night. We get three different cheeses (in this case, manchego, brie, and roquefort -- mmmm), chop up some apples, throw together some garlic crostini, and call it a meal. Back before we had kids, we used to do this all the time. In fact, before we had kids, meal planning was always an extremely casual affair. We always had ingredients around the house for our staples: burritos, chili-cheese tator tots, pasta, and grilled cheese sandwiches. More often than not, we'd have cereal for dinner and call it a night. Or we'd eat out -- we did an awful lot of that.

Now that the kids force us to think about eating nutritionally balanced meals on a regular basis (like, three times a day! What's up with that?), I've been trying to get us into the habit of planning a week's worth of meals and shopping accordingly. This is what all the smart moms do (like Rug's Bug), and it's time I got on the wagon.

Just in time, the oh-so-smart Anne Glamore at My Tiny Kingdom shared four of her family's favorite recipes and instructed her readers to get organized and embrace meal planning. I do as I'm told. I've assembled everything I need to make Anne's four recipes (and a few more), and I'm looking forward to my new foray into organized cooking. I plan to report back on my great success, hopefully with pictures of my culinary accomplishments. Stay tuned.

Doubting Teresa

You guys know I can't resist an article like this. Now I have even more admiration for the woman.

Found at Fark.