"I want to go home!"

I would seem that there is no joy in Mudville, or rather, in the Ardennes... actually based on this week's weather, either name could probably be used...

It's Wednesday, day three of Nettine, our oldest boy's week-long stay at the Chateau owned by the commune's schools, and we were overjoyed to actually receive two letters in the mailbox from him this morning.

Imagine our surprise when we opened them to find these two letters.


Obviously we were struck forcibly by the message, especially considering our excitement at opening the first two letters our son has ever sent us by post! However, on further consideration, I wonder when he wrote them? Perhaps on the very first day? At the latest they were completed yesterday morning, from the postmark. Perhaps tomorrow will bring news of a different sort? He has two more self-addressed stamped envelopes in his pack, and I hope that he uses them as well, and that the wind has changed...

As well, it should be remembered that Malcolm is a huge Gordon Korman fan, and may be playing a little joke on us by quoting Korman's 1982 novel I Want to Go Home! He certainly loves to pull pranks, and to make reference to books, movies, jokes, etc. I hope that is the case, and from certain details ("Dear Mom", "Love Malcolm!", and the direct quote "I want'a go home!!!") I suspect that he's tapping into that particular role. At least I hope so.

More to come later on this, I'm sure, and I hope the news is better.

Today is cold and wet, and Maggie has the sniffles and a cough, so we're making a big pot of chicken (or possibly turkey; it was sold as "osso bucco volaille", which is simply "poultry") soup with leeks and carrots and shallots, garlic, a few peppercorns and chilis for bite, and some noodles, topped off with a dap of italian pesto and a few fresh basil leaves.

* * *

I had a whale of a sing yesterday morning, working through quite a few pieces, both old and new. These included:

• a first look at the "tuba mirum" from Mozart's Requiem
• "Hai gia vinta la causa", the Count's aria from Figaro
• "Come Paride vezzoso", Belcore's aria from L'Elisir d'Amore
• my own first workthrough of Papageno's "Suicide Aria" from Die Zauberflötte
• "Lieben, Hassen, Hoffen, Zagen", Harlequino's aria from Ariadne auf Naxos
• "O, Nadir", Zurga's aria from Les pêcheurs de perles

... and a little bit of Handel's "Why do the nations" from Messiah to finish off. Needless to say, I seldom sing through so many different pieces at once, unless I am actually in an opera or preparing a concert, but yesterday I felt wonderful, after taking a couple of days off from singing.

The old opera singer's adage has two parts: the first is that there are only five days per year when you are in excellent voice; unfortunately the second part is that you don't have gigs on any of those days! Still, I'm really enjoying the opportunity to sing every day, and to not have the stress of my day job to tense me up and tire me out. My voice is definitely feeling good from daily practice, in the mornings when my energy level is at its best. It really is necessary to sing your audition pieces through every day, so you can do them well whether you feel good or bad, if you are calm or stressed, if you are sick or healthy, or at a moments' notice.

I have a choral rehearsal here in Brussels to attend tomorrow evening to meet a conductor, and arrange for an audition as a soloist. I will warm up, go there early, and take along my audition pieces just in case he asks me to sing right away, but I suspect he will be occupied with his rehearsal.

I've also contacted some more concert organizations here in Brussels; the three main opera companies have indicated that they will contact me when auditions can be held, so I can't do much on that front. Instead I will concentrate on the concert groups until I hear back from the opera companies.

Our friend Keith Boldt just moved to Köln, just a short distance away, and one of the closest German cities to us. He is pursuing his career as a tenor, and I'm very interested to hear how he's doing. The German system for hiring singers is a bit different here; they tend to hire people for the entire season, and I may have to have an agent to get work there, but my calls should be done soon. The audition season there is at the end of October but if I don't want to miss it I have to call them now.

Tonight we are visiting our good neighbors across the street, who have two daughters around the same age as our two boys. In fact the eldest is at Nettine right now with Malcolm, so it will be just the two youngest. Hopefully they will be missing their siblings enough to play peacefully together.