Perpetual Calendar
Archives
The Baby Page
Our Weblog
About Me
Home

My friend Ellen came over today with little Dexter, so there wasn't a great deal of accomplishment going on, which is good because it spares you from reading another entry about housework.

Instead, I could talk about how I'm coming down with a cold. It sucks a little; I'm stuffed up and my throat is scratchy. But if I take good care of myself and stay home and drink lots of fluids I don't think I'll get much worse. I'm not sure if Delphine will let me do any of that; I've never had a baby and a cold at the same time before.

I have a list of topic ideas for journal entries written down here, and one of the topics is "singing". I don't think that's enough for a whole entry, but maybe a couple of paragraphs.

So before Delphine came I was taking singing lessons. In October of 2002 my voice teacher took time off because she had a baby, but then she took me on for a few more lessons in December and January so I could prepare for the Royal Conservatory Grade 6 vocal exam. I took the exam and got 88%, which is really pretty good, and then stopped with the lessons because my teacher stopped teaching.

I was going to restart lessons this September, but didn't because I have neither the time nor the money to take them. I'm not sure that I'll ever restart, but I expect I will, maybe when the kids are in school, or later. I don't want to abandon singing altogether, even though I'm pretty sure I'll never make anything of myself as a singer. It takes more than talent to be an artist, I have observed, and to be a singer requires hours of practice, thousands of dollars spent on lessons and sheet music, lots of auditions, persistence, and self-confidence. I'm willing to spend the money, but not so much to practice, and I certainly wouldn't put in all the effort it takes to become known so I could get work.

A while ago Blake and I looked at a photo exhibit that was being run in our local Starbucks. The pictures were pretty good, although of the twenty or so shots that were on display, I was only really impressed by a couple. The others, had I taken them, I would not have exhibited. But that's not the important thing; the important thing is that the artist didn't just take the pictures, she developed them, she framed them, she found a place to exhibit them, she transported them there and hung them, she had cards printed up, she priced the pictures, and maybe sold one or two or more. It's all very well for me to sniff and say "I could take a better picture than that" but the point is, even if I did, I wouldn't do all those other things that would ultimately result in my work hanging in another person's house, bringing them pleasure every day. It takes so much more than talent to be an artist.

All this is, of course, neither here nor there because I have no desire to be an artist of any stripe. It's just something I've noticed.

I've been thinking a little about what I want to do when I grow up. I anticipate two further careers for me, or perhaps two phases of one career. The first will be when the children are in school; I would like a part-time job which is quite flexible. I expect it won't be very high paying or prestigious, but a little money and a little responsibility would be nice. The second career will be after the children are out of the house, so about eighteen or twenty years from now. I expect it will involve some further education, and I expect it will be quite satisfying, because by then you'd hope I know what I want to do with myself.

I think my strength is administration and management. I hate that word "administration" because it makes people think of being a secretary or office manager, and I... well, I'm a snob and I don't want to be a secretary or office manager, I want something a little more intellectually challenging. I'd like to do some kind of project management or something. I'm not sure how one goes about getting a job managing stuff, but it's not something I need to worry about for another few years.