about this song 3

I have posted previously about how I sometimes feel the need to record piano arrangements when they pop into my head, lest I forget them. I had another musical muse moment a week ago and finally recorded it tonight.

Like the others, this is just a "demo" and not something I'd call finished. However, it's an idea and certainly listenable. I've arranged a medley of several traditional Christian folk tunes: Holy Manna, Down in the River to Pray, and Beach Spring.

As before, I'll tip my hat to the likes of Ms. Line, Mr. Hayes, and Mr. Brickman.

Manna River Medley

plus 9! (or 12)

Lately it seems like this blog is more about the new roller coasters I've ridden this year... and today's post will be no exception. Last weekend, the Stu/Laurie clan and I trekked over to Indiana to visit Indiana Beach and Holiday World. I would compare Indiana Beach to a "mini-Geauga Lake." Holiday World is much larger and features a sizable water park. In fact it's so sizable that I spent more time walking barefoot on concrete between attractions than actually being wet. And yes my feet ached the next day. However I was good with the sunblock and suffered no pinkitude.

In any case, I added nine coasters to my count between the two parks, for a total of 83. Three of them made it into my Top 10 Wooden Coasters list, which just reiterates how severely lacking Cedar Point is in that department.

I neglected to mention previously that we also made a day trip to Lakemont Park near Altoona, Pennsylvania several weekends ago to ride the world's oldest operating roller coaster. Yes, it's mostly a nostalgia ride, but it's also interesting to see how they were made back then; and it isn't without its minor thrills. Lakemont is also home to another woodie that made my Top 10, the Skyliner, which doubles as outfield decoration for the Blair County Ballpark.

In other news, despite this being The Year of the (Theatre) Hiatus, I have agreed to sub for some rehearsals of FPAC's Into the Woods. The Fairmount Performing Arts Center runs a children's theatre camp, and I am now serving as Assistant Music Director for this production. In addition to covering two rehearsals a week when the Music Director (my friend Mike) can't be there, I will be conducting the orchestra the evening of July 19th. Plus a little bit of money and getting to meet new people. The usual story.

Since I have gotten a pretty significant amount of coastering in already this year, and I normally avoid the parks in July, I don't feel bad about this break in the hiatus. And it still leaves my weekends free (which are already booked with other stuff). Besides, I'm pretty close to using up my vacation budget, so aside from a few Cedar Point trips later in the season, I'm not planning anything big. It's not even July yet and my Cedar Fair pass has already paid for itself.

I'll also mention in passing that I've lost 20 pounds since early April by way of healthy eating. Walking around all these parks probably helps a bit too, but I'm mainly watching calories and portions. After the first week or so of being hungry all the time, my body has adjusted itself to expect less. It's also saving me a bit of money on food, which is a happy side effect, considering the job situation.

garden luncheon at The Hickories

It looks like we're in for some great weather this weekend, and if I weren't busy organizing and reading IRS publications regarding my new-found so-called 'business' (i.e. self-employment) and making life choices at the moment, I'd rather like to get out and enjoy it somehow. One way will be tonight, when I'm going to Cedar Point with some friends for CoasterMania, featuring "exclusive ride time" on Magnum and Raptor after the park closes (exclusive to however many people are doing CoasterMania).

Tomorrow I will be playing my digital piano on the porch of The Hickories as part of their "Spring Luncheon and Historic Tour" fundraiser. More information can be had at the Historical Society's website or perhaps in this brief from The Morning Journal, which includes a snippet of an email I sent to the columnist.

I guess that's all for now.

new milestone

Best birthday ever.

As I mentioned in my last post, Stu, Laurie, and I took my birthday off work to go to Cedar Point. The lines aren't too bad this early in the season, but because they opened later this year the schools have fewer weeks in which to squeeze in those end-of-the-year field trips. My birthday usually occurs during Math & Science Week, so there are always quite a few students there.

Another reason for going during the work week is that Stu and Laurie can leave their daughter in daycare like any other workday, and now that her mom lives nearby, she could pick up Chloe and allow us to stay at the park later.

The temperature should have been a "RealFeel®" high of 67, but in fact got up to 75 by afternoon, with very low humidity. Warm enough to be comfortable, but not so warm as to require shorts and thus an extra 10 minutes of sunblock application. Which is exactly how I wanted it. :)

We had dinner at Famous Dave's, which was new for all of us, and feasted on some awesome BBQ ribs. Stu and I have both lost 13 pounds over the last six weeks by eating healthier and limiting calories, and even though we designated today as exempt due to the 'holiday,' we really didn't do too badly. Plus we did a ton of walking around the park.

However I do intend to do badly when Stu and Laurie take me to The Melting Pot next week as my gift.

The topper for the day was that I got to ride the Jr. Gemini, which means I have now ridden all 17 roller coasters at Cedar Point! To ride, you must be between 36-54 inches tall or be accompanied by a child. Since I didn't start riding until I was in 8th grade, and have not since gone to CP with children old enough to ride it, I could never get this credit.

UNTIL YESTERDAY!

The park was mostly filled with adults and teenagers, so the kids' areas were pretty dead. There was no one in line for Jr. Gemini, and the ride hosts looked rather bored. I went up and asked if I could ride, and one of them said I needed a child with me. Laurie and I whined that it was the only coaster I needed to say I've ridden all 17, and pointed out that there was no one in line. The other ride host heard this and let me on! When I was done, I thanked them again and said it was the best birthday present EVAR! [sic] (Duh, I should have mentioned it was my birthday during the negotiations. Oh well.)

I did the 'family' birthday stuff on Sunday, and got gift cards to Target, Giant Eagle, and Guitar Center (which is going toward the purchase of a stool for my digital piano). Plus, my mom made an orange-Kool-Aid-mix-flavored cake, served with orange sherbet. Mmmmm.

As birthdays go, this one ranks toward the top. However, I now only have one year left to Get My Sh!t Together Before I'm 30.

and another month goes by

April felt like a 'nothing' month and flew by admirably, yet here we're over half way through May already. One might think that my life would slow down and take a breath now that I'm not doing any shows, but one would be illy misinformed.

I might as well begin where I left off with my last post. Sadly, my cold did not give a reprieve before Kings Island's opening day, but I still had fun. Diamondback was incredible. So much airtime, and so smooth. I added that and two other rides to my coaster count, but since Chloe still isn't a fan of roller coasters, I couldn't get the credit for Little Bill's Giggle Coaster. It looks like it will be yet another year before I can claim my Jr. Gemini credit and officially say I've ridden all the coasters at Cedar Point as well. *sigh* :)

I would upload some of the pictures I took at Kings Island, but frankly they aren't that great. Instead, I would direct you to Coaster Image, which has far better photos of Diamondback than the ones I got.

The following weekend I saw an awesome production of Godspell at Olde Towne Hall Theatre, and helped Stu build some simple stairs on the back of his house. That's right. Physical labor. Handiwork. Who am I?

Today was Cedar Point's opening day, which had a little less impact since Kings Island broke the winter amusement park fast a month ago. I was debating about going because of the weather forecast, especially since we will be going again Tuesday for my birthday, but I ended up going by myself anyway. I got in early with my season pass and rode six coasters plus Skyhawk in about five hours. Not too shabby. I left mid-afternoon, just before the rain hit.

Tomorrow, my nephew is being baptized, and I'm godfathering. As it turns out, I'm also playing the piano and organ at church, because our organist fell and broke her arm.

The rest is just little things here and there: historical society annual meeting program, a wedding jazz band gig, and now possibly a coaster mini-trip for Memorial Day weekend.

The BIG news is about my job. Without getting too bogged down in the details of how this came about, the short version is that by the end of May, my company will be closing. However, our company's primary client is a music publisher in Florida, who reimbursed my company for the cost of employing me. Basically, now that money will come directly to me instead. I will be a full-time, self-employed graphic artist (freelancer).

And before everyone starts cheering about being one's own boss and making one's own hours and deducting every breath of air from one's taxes, let me tell you it's really not that rosy. I will essentially be doing the exact same work I did before. I might have more opportunities to work from home, but in practice I doubt that will work since I often need immediate collaboration and feedback from my boss and our editor with these projects. (Plus it's just easier than having to drag a bunch of folders and papers home when I need them there.) The main savings for the Florida publisher is that we'll be moving to a smaller, cheaper office space. What had been our printing/production department will become its own separate company in Elyria, run by our production manager. They will still do a significant amount of printing for the Florida publisher as well.

Aside from the annoyance of having to pay estimated taxes every three months, and having to keep track of a hell of a lot more expenses so I can deduct them (whereas previously I just took the standard deduction since it was way higher), another fun aspect is that I will be losing my group health insurance. I can't get COBRA, because the company will cease to exist, and along with it, our health plan.

I started emailing and calling around. A friend of a friend works at Medical Mutual, but she said I couldn't get SuperMed One (their insurance for individuals) because I'd had cancer. I called an insurance agent my minister knew, but the best they could find was Golden Rule through United Healthcare, which wanted me to be in remission five years before they'd give me a policy at all, and even then, it wouldn't cover anything related to the cancer. Aside: I will have been in remission four years this coming July, and have a CAT scan scheduled for then. The CAT scan is made up of three parts and usually comes to about $3500. So... yeah. The next best they could find wanted me to be in remission seven years.

After that phone call is when I really started to worry. Schutze, one of my college roommates who now works for Social Security, called me and we talked for a bit. He suggested I call United Healthcare (my current provider) and ask about "continuation coverage." Apparently those were the magic words, because that indicated I could still be covered for six months if I paid the full premium. Continuation coverage, apparently, is the mini-version of COBRA for companies with fewer than 20 employees (so "COBRA" wasn't even the proper thing to be asking about). Our bookkeeper and I kept reiterating that our company would be closing entirely, but UHC insisted I could still get coverage anyway. Hmmm.

Then I started reading more about it on their website, and realized that the ARRA of 2009 would subsidize 65% of the premium, so I'd only be paying 35%. Which is hilarious because I currently am paying 50% of my premium, with my employer covering the other half. So I'd actually be paying less for health insurance! The hitch, of course, is that it would only last six months, so in December I'd be scrambling to find coverage again.

(Aside: I've also since learned that the average employee contribution for health insurance premiums in the area is about 15-17%, as opposed to my 50%. Some of my friends have jobs where they pay nothing at all. No wonder people think COBRA is "so expensive"; for me, it would just have been double what I was already paying, but for those folks it would be a significant change, especially when combined with losing one's job.)

Anyway, the continuation coverage gave me a sigh of relief, although in the back of my head I was still skeptical that I would be able to get it since our company was closing entirely (why would it be different for mini-COBRA than regular COBRA?). In the meanwhile, the publisher in Florida who will be my primary source of income, discovered that I qualify to go on their United Healthcare policy so long as there's no gap in coverage. Again I would have to pay the full premium, but I would have similar coverage as I do now. And it would have the advantage of being steady, regular insurance (and group insurance at that), rather than expiring after six months.

So yeah. What a difference a week makes. And what a bunch of screwing around. I know some folks like to believe the uninsured are only poor people and minorities, but that's not the case for me. Apparently it also includes self-employed cancer survivors.

As I said, Florida is going to pay me what it used to cost to employ me in Grafton, so that will include the portion of taxes and health premiums that my employer had been paying. That means my net income really shouldn't change, but now I'll be able to deduct mileage and whatnot on my tax return. Plus, I will no longer be paid by the hour; I will be paid 1/12 of that yearly gross figure each month. Hypothetically this means I can take more vacation time so long as my work gets done, but much like "working from home," I highly doubt that will happen in practice. I still intend to keep track of my hours and vacation time in a spreadsheet, however, just in case any questions arise.

So for the immediate future, I'm grateful to have A job and have the health insurance mostly squared away. Now I can get back to looking at my finances and figuring out where I can reduce expenses and/or increase income, in the hopes that I can actually put some money away in my Roth IRA this year instead of just breaking even. It could mean finding a cheaper apartment -- and my lease is up in June, so I need to decide quickly. I sure didn't need to waste a week of my time on top of that looking for health insurance.

catching up

It's been nearly a month since my last post, for no particular reason. In the almost three weeks since City of Angels closed, I've been struggling to remember what "normal" is, from what little I can decipher out of mid-November through January.

City of Angels was a truly great experience. Not only was it a fantastic production, but it was an excellent opportunity to push myself as a musician and singer. As I said before, the three-a-week rehearsal schedule was far less stressful than many shows I've done, yet we were just as productive (if not more so) because everyone was so dedicated to what we were doing. If the director was blocking a scene in one room, the music director was going over parts in another room, and still others were practicing along with the Broadway cast recording in another. I had a similar experience with Company last year at Cassidy Theatre, and I'm grateful to have been a part of such artistry.

Also, it's one of the very few (I'd almost venture to say only) shows during which I never got a cold at any time during rehearsals, the run, or immediately after closing. I did manage to get one this week though, just in time for the first coaster trip of the season. Hopefully I can shake it off, because the forecast for Kings Island looks good.

So what else have we missed since my last post? Amy King and I performed a violin/piano program for the Elyria Musical Art Society, featuring music from Tony-winning shows. Here are a few excerpts:

"Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific (1950)
"Rainbow High" from Evita (1980)
"The Tennis Song" from City of Angels (1990) — This one is neat because the song is a duet, so Amy played the male part as written but the female part an octave higher (and both octaves where they sing in unison)

Last week, I filled in as pianist for three Godspell rehearsals at Olde Towne Hall Theatre, which does not count as breaking my hiatus. However, three was the magic number to get me invited to any and all cast parties. :)

On Saturday, the Landeses and I had free tickets to the Lake Erie Monsters game. It's only the second hockey game I've been to, but I followed it pretty well. Unfortunately, the Lemmies played like a typical Cleveland sports team,* but it was a packed house so it was still kind of fun.

*No offense to the Cavs, circa 2005-2009.

Easter was spent in the usual fashion, with church in the morning and dinner that afternoon at Aunt Martha's. Although I don't like the taste of eggs, I do enjoy coloring them. This is a family tradition that is usually caught on film, but this would be the first Easter living on my own, so I made sure to shoot some video footage of myself coloring the eggs in my apartment (for dad's sake).


McCormick neon food coloring rocks.

I also did some minimal Easter-related decorating:


For lack of basket-shaped vessels, I instead made use of my martini glasses—for the first time—by using them to hold my stone eggs. I set these in various places around the living room.

Not even the staunchest War-On-Christmas Warrior can complain about this being called a "holiday tree": My aunt decorates it for Christmas, Valentine's, St. Patrick's, and Easter:



I have also updated my birdwatching page, which had been woefully out of date.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed early, in the hopes that I can stave off this cold before Saturday.

city of angels 5

I lied. There is one more episode of Call-Back, albeit a brief one:



So what did I do this week during my time off? Well, Monday night I saw local actress Kristin Netzband in a touring production of The Drowsy Chaperone at Stocker Center. Tuesday was the violin/piano concert with Amy King, which went very well. I might post some sound clips later. Last night I got caught up on laundry and TV shows I've been missing for weeks. And this morning I'm going in to work late so a Levin Furniture technician can get my magic table in full working order. (One of the drawers was broken upon arrival, then the replacement drawer they sent me had no holes for the handles. The handles which I had to remove from the broken drawer because the new one didn't come with them.)

In other news, only 29 days until Kings Island opens, with its new roller coaster, Diamondback! Some friends and I are driving down for the weekend. Meanwhile us poor slobs in the northern part of the state have to wait an additional month for Cedar Point. :-\

violin/piano concert: six decades of Tony-winning musicals

You may remember three years ago I took part in a Lenten violin/piano concert at my church ("Hosanna!"). Amy King and I are teaming up again in a program for the Elyria Musical Art Society. It takes place this Tuesday (March 17), 7:30 p.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Elyria. There is no admission charge and it's open to the public.

I've chosen songs from Broadway shows that won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Original Score in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000. As it happens, City of Angels won in 1990, so I'll get to plug my show at the same time. :)

The program includes

• Some Enchanted Evening (1950 - South Pacific)
  
• My Favorite Things (1960 - The Sound of Music)
  
• Applause (1970 - Applause)
  
• High Flying, Adored (1980 - Evita)
  
• Rainbow High (1980 - Evita)
  
• The Tennis Song (1990 - City of Angels)
  
• You Can Always Count On Me (1990 - City of Angels)
  
• Written in the Stars (2000 - Aida)
  and... just because it's my favorite musical of all time and the song makes for a nice closer...
  
• Prologue from Ragtime (1998).

city of angels 4

Obviously I've been too busy to post lately, but we have the third and final edition of "Call-Back" online now, so I thought I'd share it:



I did manage to get some things done at home last weekend, however. The last of the Christmas decorations are put away. I tore up and threw out the mountain of boxes and packing foam that came with the "magic table" (lift-top coffee table I bought), along with a couple other empty boxes I had stacked near the door and easily could have disposed of weeks ago. Took out the recycling, did three loads of laundry, cleaned the entire apartment for the first time in well over a month. And that's all thanks to taking last Friday off work. :) I actually got a full night's sleep three days in a row. I can't say the same for this week.

So yeah, the show opens this Friday night, and it's going to be good. At this point we're just tweaking and polishing. I'm very glad I agreed to do this show since, as I said before, not many theaters attempt it, and I have friends in the cast (and have made new ones, as usual). I'm a stronger singer than actor, so I was more engaged with the challenge of learning the City of Angels music than I was with learning how to act with Company last year.

I still plan to stick to my summer hiatus, but I hope to get back into the orchestra pit and possibly music direct for a while. Part of my wanting to be on stage was to get some experience from both sides of the piano, and see how other music directors work. I've done that, so I'd like to get back to the keyboard again soon.

pepsi decides to put the 'ugly' in 'fugly' 2

I discussed my dismay with the recent rollout of new "pepsi" (lowercase) brand logos, but was somewhat indifferent on the new Tropicana packaging. I wasn't crazy about it -- and I liked the previous design -- but I wasn't repulsed by it either. On the computer screen I thought it was fine and fresh, but once I saw it on store shelves, it seemed to disappear into the background.

I was more concerned that this coincided with eliminating the "low acid" variety of orange juice, which sat better with my stomach in the morning. Since Tropicana apparently provided the only low acid OJ sold at Giant Eagle, this meant I was no longer compelled to stick with that brand. I've since switched to Simply Orange, which makes a great orange-pineapple juice that's worth the extra 30 cents. Edited to add: According to their website, Tropicana does still make the low acid variety, but the four closest locations are a few Target stores scattered across northeast Ohio. Not really worth my time.

But I digress. Apparently, enough consumers were turned off by the new Tropicana packaging that Pepsico is reverting to the previous design. As Armin from Under Consideration says,

In terms of design justice coming down upon crappy design, this day is as big as it gets. Every year from here henceforth, on February 23rd, corporations should be allowed to take back a design mistake and repent... a branding Yom Kippur if you will.

Ha! Perhaps we can set up a hotline for marketing VPs to call: 1-888-OOPS-LOGO.