In which I discover that Manitoba does not have the thickest topsoil in the world

January already, you say? The end of January? Time does fly...

After a too-short but wonderful trip to the east coast to see friends and family I was home in California over break. I didn't do much, which was exactly what I wanted. By the end I didn't want to leave the safety and comfort of home, but as I was flying back to Toronto I remembered how lucky I am to be in school studying something I love. When one takes the time to stop and count one's blessings, it is amazing how many one can find.

Back in Toronto, school started up with a vengeance. Most of my classes are the same; no more French or Spanish, but with the addition of Italian. We've already had one master class for the ADV program, a repeat of one we had in the fall with Wendy Nielsen. It was really interesting and helpful to have the chance to work with her again, and she once more gave both fantastic individual coachings and a public class on Friday. I'm making some recordings for summer programs in a few days so I went over some of the repertoire I'll be singing for that (some Schubert, Wolf, and Messiaen). In my Concert Repertoire class (taught by my voice teacher, Monica) we're now studying Fauré's song cycle "La Bonne Chanson." I wasn't familiar with it before but I'm so glad we have the chance to delve into it now; late Fauré is so satisfying to sing (and is fascinatingly chromatic and different).

We're also in the thick of music rehearsals for Calisto. Last night there was a bat squeaking around in the rehearsal room, Mazzoleni Hall! Somehow this led to a protracted discussion about bats and then California and then agriculture, and I was informed that Manitoba does NOT have the thickest topsoil in the world! Apparently it's in this former marshland area north of Toronto.

What else novel to report? A furry denizen, Paulie the polydactyl cat (kitten)! He is seven months old now, I think, but about as big as a fully-grown cat. He is rather rambunctious. He enjoys playing games and trying to be as annoying as possible, and he has amazing paws. And a lopped-off ear. He is also dangerously cute, which makes up for him rattling toys about in the middle of the night and attacking your feet when you try to walk across the kitchen. He is quite wonderful. Zenith takes the cake, of course, but that's no surprise...

Since returning I've made some pretty tasty bread (a pain de mie) and, just this evening, some molasses-almond-walnut-dried fruit granola and some chocolate chip banana bread. Recipes to follow, but a picture of tonight's efforts for the moment:

And now I shall delve into something girly and discuss bras, which may alienate a portion of my readers. Sorry 'bout that...

Today on my bike ride home I stopped in at Secrets from your sister because I ride past it every day, and because I'd noticed they had a big "sale" sign in the window. It's a bra shop and I knew I'd heard something good about it in one of the free Toronto magazines or something, so I figured I'd stop in. Turns out that, though it's not in the nicest of neighborhoods and is situated across the street from a discount store that's lit up like a circus, it is priced WAY out of my league. The bras run from about $120 to $190 and the sales rack didn't have anything in my size. Despite the fact that I arrived with my backpack, lunchbox, and biking gear, they were surprisingly friendly and took the time to fit me properly even though I explained that I probably wouldn't buy anything. I've known for some months that I've been wearing the wrong bra size, but unfortunately I also discovered that my band size isn't made by most bra manufacturers. It turns out I need a size 30 and I guess there isn't much of a market for anything below 32. I didn't even know that sizes below 32 existed until I measured myself a few months ago and was confused by the numbers... consequently I'd been keeping my eyes open for bras with a size 30 band but hadn't even seen any in any stores since then. Anyway, though I didn't buy anything, the salespeople at the store were very helpful and very kind. It was a strangely empowering experience, and I felt more comfortable there than I have in most stores I've wandered into in Toronto--and I wasn't even wearing a shirt. And people were poking me. Now that says something! Hopefully this will also serve as a reminder to those of you that haven't been recently fitted that... you're probably wearing the wrong bra size! Because apparently most of us are! Including me! So, you might want to see if there's another friendly place like this in your area and get yourself properly sized up. So to speak.

And, as a coda to this disjointed post, then I went to Economy Fruit and the Economy Fruit Lady was back! She had been gone for a long time and I was despairing a bit, but I am so happy that she has returned.