Today I...March 20th

Today I...

...remembered I intended to post to my blog tonight about 10 minutes ago.

...am sharing this recording of the Kyrie from Haydn's Lord Nelson mass with you. The recording, as you can see if you click on the 'more info' tab below the video, is by the Hungarian Radio Chorus and the Nicholas Esterhazy Sinfonia. The reason I am sharing this with you is because it is one of my favorite choral pieces. My Sweetheart had me listen to it what seems like eons ago at his place in Toronto and I instantly loved it and I fell in love with it all over again when I found the same recording he has on YouTube by one of my favorite ensembles, The English Concert directed by Trevor Pinnock. You can never go wrong purchasing an album by the English Concert, especially if they are directed by Trevor Pinnock , whether it is exclusively orchestral or if the choir is included. Their interpretations are picture perfect and to make things even better, they also typically record with Deutchse Gramophon, an excellent and usually affordable label. This is the point at which you can tell I worked in a classical music department in a record store and would go back to working in one in a heartbeat if I could make a decent living that way. I love my job, but I love music more. What can I say? I started listening to classical music on my own at the age of about six or seven and never looked back. I like a little bit of everything in music, but classical, sacred and choral music is like a drug for me. Leave me without it for too long and I suffer from withdrawal symptoms :o) Anyhow, I tried to find the English Concert recording for you on YouTube, but failed. These guys are as close as I could get and they do a pretty darn good job, but take it a tad too fast for my liking.

...am scandalized by how long it is taking iTunes to download two albums for me, the Haydn mass and Haendel's Water Music (both by the English Concert)

...am happy to report that I survived the Feast of Saint Joseph largely unscathed yesterday. I left work at 9:30 P.M. with a pounding headache and very, very sore feet (I sat for all of an hour and a quarter in an eight hour shift), but dealt with being in charge for the evening fairly well. I made sure I had personnel everywhere, had all the escalators reversed when the Basilica was full beyond capacity and managed to hand my keys over to the father of one of our boy choristers so he could open up the infirmary when his son began throwing up in front of the locked door without throwing up myself. I can handle blood and all sorts of icky stuff very well, but am a total wuss when it comes to people tossing their cookies. Hopefully this will leave on its own when I have children one day, otherwise my Sweetheart will be up a creek!

...was only mildly surprised when I realized my feet were still tender from last night when I put on my shoes this morning. Apparently an eight hour rest wasn't enough.

...groaned when my boss informed me that I would be giving he and the superior general of the Holy Cross order a tour this afternoon at 3:00 P.M. and proceeded to get myself a mocha Frappucino from Starbucks during my lunch break to give myself the necessary boost to get the job done.

...am very curious as to how, exactly, my Sweetheart his colleague E got themselves to Port Au Prince today. My Sweetheart was getting up at 3:00 A.M. to get himself to the airport on time for they supposed 6:53 A.M.  departure, but when I checked on the flight this morning when I got up, I was dismayed on their behalf to see that the flight had been delayed to 9:00. A very tight situation since their connecting flight to Port Au Prince out of Newark was leaving at 10:03 A.M. Anyhow, their flight out of Montreal, if they stayed on that flight, ended up leaving at 9:30 A.M. and landing far too late for them to catch their connecting flight, so the only thing I can imagine is that they tried to get on another flight to Newark or another flight to Port Au Prince out of Montreal. Who knows...I have yet to hear from my Sweetheart, but I'm guessing that he just might be asleep right now, having crashed after a far too long day of chasing down flights. I can't help but smirk while thinking of this. My Sweetheart is the champion of flight cancellations, delays and lost luggage. In the seven years we have been together, I have seen him have his bags lost by different airlines three times and have significant flight delays or cancellations that he has had to get himself out of at least four if not five times. Fortunately, none of these occurred while he was traveling with me. What can I say? I must be a lucky charm, he should travel with me more often :oJ