DFW Renaissance

After a hard year of working, now, at last we get to enjoy something I scoped out during the previous year: Denton’s summer activities, in particular, Denton Water Works Park.

The park offers five slides, a water play pool with fountains and sprayers, and a river pool for tubing, along with a lap pool and a shallow indoor pool with basketball hoops. And it’s clean and not too crowded. We have died and gone to swimming heaven, I suppose.  And another thing. With the youngest already almost eight, the supervision responsibilities of the mom have dropped, such that I can at last sit in a lawn chair and read a novel, of course glancing up every paragraph or two to make sure everything is all right.

College girl is here visiting over the summer and she has enjoyed the pool as well, as have the teenaged boys who needed something to break up the monotony of sleeping and playing video games.

I will be taking them to the library today, hopefully, to try to share with them my interest in summer reading. Although all through the winter and spring I’ve sat in front of the Netflix screen, watching movie after movie — mostly Bollywood and some Spanish language — I have to admit there’s nothing quite like the leisure of reading a good book. Especially when you’re sitting in the shade of an umbrella, watching your son squirt his sister with a sprayer as they splash around in the pool.

Denton Water Works Park: Five Stars

Margo and Bill Winspear Opera House, Dallas, March 25, 27, 30, April 2, 7, 10, 2011

Review by Dean Cassella, Ph.D.

The Dallas Opera’s fourth offering this season is a spirited interpretation of one of the Italian repertoire’s most beloved works. Rigoletto stands in the middle of Giuseppe Verdi’s great triad of middle works (the other two being La Traviata and Il Trovatore). The work is remarkable for its extraordinary abundance of melodic invention, and boasts some of the most well-known melodies in the repertoire.

The opera’s namesake, Rigoletto, is a jester in the sixteenth-century court of the Duke of Mantua. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire court (including Rigoletto) is morally dissolute. The libretto, based on a play by Victor Hugo, originally took place in the royal court of France, but the censors did not warm up to the idea of a head of state behaving so poorly, so Verdi had to change it!. In a nutshell, Rigoletto eggs the Duke on in his seduction of courtiers’ wives while he (Rigoletto) simultaneously tries to protect the virtue of his own daughter. The Duke eventually has his way with said daughter, and the plot is consequently set for a revenge.

Paolo Gavanelli as the dark, brooding Rigoletto

TDO has made an excellent choice in baritone Paolo Gavanelli for the lead role. He is an international star with considerable experience with Rigoletto (even starring in Covent Garden’s recent DVD). His voice is perfectly suited to the character, who flips back and forth between being spiteful and vengeful, and one that evokes tenderness and vulnerability. The character of Rigoletto also demands a high degree of acting from its singer. In this regard, Gavanelli shines equally as well; his waddling, gesticulations, and facial expressions appear contemptible and heart-wrenching in turn. His interpretation is not to be missed. His approach to the role is reminiscent of Cornell MacNeil’s, who can be seen in the classic Met DVD (with Placido Domingo as the Duke).

Texas Soprano Laura Claycomb as Gilda

Texas soprano Laura Claycomb (she’s from Corpus Christi!) is a promising young singer who, in the prima donna role of Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter, brings grace and charm to the part. She sings well in this production (especially in the second and third acts), but occasionally has trouble keeping up, volume wise, with the orchestra and other singers. In time, her voice no doubt will mature.

Dashing tenor James Valenti, who performed to great accolades in TDO’s 2009 production of La bohème, does a fine job as the infamous Duke. He gives rousing renditions of the perennially crowd pleasing numbers Quest’ o quella and La donna è mobile, arguably the two most readily identified melodies in the Italian repertoire. If you know only one melody from the Italian opera repertoire, it is the latter, so even the most freshly-hatched would be neophyte will get a thrill from hearing it live.

Basso Raymond Aceto and mezzo-soprano Kirsten Chavez make a great pair as the cold, ruthless assassin Sparafucile and his egocentric sister Maddalena. As one expects from a basso, Aceto has a commanding presence, both voice wise as well as physically. Chavez’ signature role is Carmen. This usually makes for an excellent Maddalena in Rigoletto, and Chavez definitely brings all the vocal implications and body language the former into this production. She and Valenti definitely work well together, which was evident in their duet (and the famed quartet) of Act III.

Guest conductor Pietro Rizzo (who, like Valenti, also made his TDO premiere in the aforementioned La bohème) does an especially fine job of bringing out the strings. This is especially evident in the opening scene, which no doubt was meant to sound like a small chamber orchestra at a court ball. Rizzo’s pacing was a bit sluggish in the first Act, but really picked up in Acts II and III.

The sets were designed by Dallas native Michael Yeargan, and center around a huge painting of a countryside on the brink of a storm. The painting breaks up into concentric sections which stretch back into the stage, thus rendering space available for various platforms and props throughout the show. It is a successful design that works to particularly great effect during the prelude to Act I. Here, the smallest center section opens up to a scene of Rigoletto getting dressed in his jester clothes. This is, no doubt, a direct allusion to Canio, the vengeful clown in Leoncavallo’s I pagliacci, whose great solo Vesti la giubba is sung in such a setting.

It is hard to imagine getting too much Rigoletto, and this production is worth seeing. It is also somewhat timely, because Fort Worth Opera is doing Il trovatore this summer, and TDO has La traviata on the docket for next season. So if you have never seen Verdi’s three greatest operas, you now can do so in less than a year’s time, without ever driving more than 45 miles! Next up: Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

Margo and Bill Winspear Opera House, Dallas, February 11, 13, 16, 19, 25, 27, 2011

Review by Dean Cassella, Ph.D.

TDO’s third offering this season is French Romantic Charles Gounod’s popular Romeo and Juliet. This production is well worth seeing and could serve well as an introduction to the world of opera. Although the general advice is to start off opera neophytes with works from the Italian repertoire, a genuinely noteworthy exception would have to be Bizet’s Carmen. Since that work falls squarely in the late-Romantic camp, which includes lush, recognizable melodies and a lurid subject matter, the beginning opera listener can easily warm up to it. Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet could easily stand in for Carmen on this account (sans the lurid subject matter). The music sounds like a cross between Bizet and Verdi, and is extremely accessible and at times the melodies are strikingly memorable. The story, which is drawn from the Shakespeare play, is a perennial favorite with which most high school and college age students are familiar. Consequently, listeners in these categories can follow the libretto without much ado.

Veteran Shakespeare director Michael Kahn made a very smart move in visually presenting, during the Prelude, the moment at which the Capulet and Montague families discover their dead progeny in the Capulet tomb. This creates a tragic overtone to the cheery optimism of the first acts, and also creates an effective ring composition of sorts with the last scene, wherein Romeo and Juliet die together. Since the opera ends at that dramatic high point, the final scene of the Shakespeare play would be otherwise missing. Yet in a sense we have it here.

Without question it is the two lead roles that drive the work, and TDO’s choices are clearly up to the challenge. New York tenor Charles Castronovo and Russian soprano Lyubov Petrova prove to be near ideal as the star-crossed teen lovers.

Castronovo and Petrova shine as Romeo and Juliet

Both possess very powerful and graceful voices that are up to the task of carrying over the exuberant conducting of Marco Zambelli (see below). In addition, they are both youthful and attractive enough not to cause suspicious glances among some members of the audience. This works especially well at the beginning of Act IV, the “morning after” scene in Juliet’s bedroom, wherein the audience is treated to—or subjected to, depending on how one perceives such things (!)—the couple’s post coital bliss that comes close in spirit (if not in technical practice) to naked opera.

Act IV of Gounod's *Romeo and Juliet*

The costumes and sets, staying squarely within an early Italian Renaissance vein, are extremely effective in evoking the period in which the story takes place (i.e., fourteenth-century Verona). The mock-ups could easily pass for fifteenth-century Italian church architecture (especially the work of Brunelleschi in Florence–if you have been there, you will know what I mean). The set for Act II, i.e., the “balcony” scene, has to be one of the most beautiful in recent memory, and richly conveys a romantic ambience, with ivy literally overrunning the walls. Petrova and Castronovo are really at their best in this act, and beautifully interpret the requisite duets.

Genovese conductor Marco Zambelli makes a fabulous debut with TDO here, and brings an assertive power to the orchestra, while still ably handling the light touches that are a characteristic of French Romantic opera (ala Bizet). Let us hope that we see more of him in the future.

All in all, this is a thoroughly decent and all around satisfying production. My eleven year old daughter accompanied me to the show. She enjoyed it a lot, especially the acting ability of the two leads whom, she felt, effectively conveyed the personalities of their characters. She did say, however, that she enjoyed Don Giovanni at the beginning of the season better—but perhaps an eleven year old is bound to say that, isn’t she?

Next up: Verdi’s Rigoletto (one of my personal favorites!)

I can be surrounded by a sea of people and still feel all alone… Then I think of you.

(Austin, A Cinderella Story)

Cheesy lines from teen comedies aside, there is something to this loneliness business. The simplest definition – the state of being alone, in isolation from others – does not seem to measure up the scope of magnitude of the feeling. Furthermore, the state appears ubiquitous – every human has experienced the feeling (or so it appears to me, after much observation). It can take many forms: simply being by oneself, as in an empty house; feeling rejection, perhaps even in a crowded room; the state of not being understood, and being unable to make what one feels are worthwhile connections with others. Physical, social, and emotional isolation are all evoked in one word. Furthermore, the situation can be found in the reverse in a number of ways – what is the opposite of being alone? Telling a well-received joke to a whole room? Being held by someone you love? Getting a letter in the mail?

I suppose the common factor is feeling a sense of disconnection from those around you, in which case being “out of the loop” could be as bad as physical isolation. However, even a perception of having someone with you, or imagining such a thing, can be as effective as someone’s actual presence. The last time I flew on an airplane, I texted a friend before take-off. He sent me wishes for a safe and peaceful flight (anyone who knows me knows that the latter is a tall order). So, when I was up in the air, I imagined that he was sitting next to me. This was, perhaps, not as good as if he actually had been, but it made a difference. Similarly, the other night I was feeling down, but had to take a shower and go to bed. A friend I was talking to online said that he would be there (that is, at his computer) for a while. Just knowing that he was there, and I could theoretically talk to him, was a peaceful feeling. This feeling is the opposite of when, say, you are trying desperately to get a hold of somebody and their phone doesn’t even ring, but goes straight to voicemail. The perception is that they are unequivocally unavailable – even though they may listen to your message at any minute. Likewise, while my friend may actually have logged off for the duration, and only returned when I came to check my computer, it wouldn’t have mattered.

I suppose this turns into the perception v. reality issue, and the “things are not as bad as they seem” argument, which leads to the fact that we are capable of forgetting our connections to others (among other things: see previous post for discussion).

I will leave with two final anecdotes. To say I was lonely in my first semester of college would be the understatement of the year. I was around people all the time, but having failed to connect to any of them yet, it didn’t matter much. That first year was a struggle in more ways than just social isolation. My mother used to tell me that I needed to be strong and get through for my future patients. In this case, the feeling of isolation was lessened by consideration of future connections. I needed to remind myself that I did have links to other people – friends and family in other places, at the minimum. I had this long brown sweater (which I still wear on occasion). It had a loose thread that irritated me as it was always catching on things in my pocket. I cut the thread off, and tied it around my wrist to remind myself that while I might feel out of balance and all alone, I was connected to others – just like the string was a piece of the sweater, I was a piece of something larger. It it silly, but it gave me comfort, in a time when I was lurking around at the bottom of the emotional totem pole.

And there finishes another rambling post.

You can be a great student and still have an unbelievable ability to not learn from your mistakes

Seriously. This has been me all weekend. Some things happened. They were not pleasant. I was disappointed. But the great part is that I was surprised. Really? Like you had never had that happen before? Like it hadn’t happened a million times already?

So why is this? Why do we find ourselves repeating the same mistakes, building up the same expectations, and thus finding letdowns in every corner? Naivete? Leaky memory? Denial?

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that I was probably in denial about things. The actual thought was “I bet I am in denial about ten things. I wonder what they are?” (Then I thought about it for a while. I still haven’t come up with anything. Also, ten was an arbitrary, round number that sounded reasonable.). However, denial is not an effective state. It’s like procrastination. It serves no purpose. There is a net negative result. Why not just face it, and buck up, and get on with your life?

Well, that would require…

1. Admissions of fault in self (lame)

2. Admissions of fault in others (not as hard, but perhaps more painful)

3. Admission that the world is not as you want it to be (difficult)

4. Admission that, in this lifetime, certain things may never become what you want them to be (darned unlikely)

5. Admission that, in this lifetime, you may never experience certain things that you desperately desire (asymptote is approaching impossible)

6. Admission that, in this lifetime, you will almost definitely never get certain things you want really bad. And have wanted for a long time. And it would be so great. And so easy. But…basically, not going to happen. Get over it. (impossible?)

No, not impossible: just requiring a redirection of focus. And this can be done. But it seems to me that over time, we slip back into the old mindset. Suddenly, we have a brilliant idea! Oh, it’s going to be perfect! I’ll just _______ ! Why didn’t I think of that before? (You have.) And I’ll do it! (You did.) And now everything is a disaster! (It was.) Why didn’t I remember? (No clue.)

And it will be again? Maybe I should litter my house with sticky notes: Do not work that job, Do not call so-and-so, Do not call anybody when you are feeling such and such, Do not write that down in a letter…

Reminds me, isn’t the definition of insanity supposedly doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

But what if you honestly forgot? And what if…what if it would be so great?

(The author is a work in progress).

It’s a  question that’s all over the net now, the latest comment I’ve seen on the subject a blog post from a private school in Pittsburg entitled “Why do we teach Mandarin at Sewickly.” As I noted some time back, Nicholas Kristoff claimed that students should be learning Spanish for practical reasons … and I find myself yet again scratching my head. Apparently the whether and which question of foreign language study is fertile ground for blog posts.  Meanwhile, if you’re interested, this post on why you should study Latin, written at great length and detail by a professor of classics at Middlebury College, is in its constructions a lucid argument for the effectiveness of Latin as a tool for developing rhetoric. In a related post, Eleiva at Chronotopia discusses whether the modern subject-based university courses should replace the traditional surveys of English (or American) literature.

It seems to me that over all, each language has reasons for its study, and the problem comes when a school has to make a decision about which languages to teach, based in practical concerns such as providing a series of courses and finding teachers who can teach them.  In an ideal world, all students and parents could choose the language that appealed most.

Or perhaps not. We’re moving again into the region of how schools should choose curriculum for the students, as in fact they have to. We cannot, in a universal public education world, envision a  flower garden of potential topics and our students moseying through, picking the blooms they fancy most … I have a bad feeling that many of my second graders would opt right out of math if they could, and this would be to their real detriment. We have to create and promote a group of courses that satisfy student’s needs — of course, what we define those needs as is part of the question …

A couple of weeks ago I responded to the claim by some education reformer that we’re teaching subjects students no longer need. Of course the problem here is that education is not about “subjects students need.” It’s about developing the mind, body and spirit of a precious human being who will need various ideas and practices, both social and cognitive, to prosper.

The big problem comes when we evaluate the skills students may need not based on what is to their greatest benefit, but through the lens of our society’s most prominent values, which are, unfortnately, largely monetary. Skills students no longer need are skills, like foreign language, which don’t make money — and the foreign language advocates like Kristoff and the Selwicky blogger who claim there is economic benefit directly from foreign language are going out on a limb that opponents may just decide to saw off.

Students should study foreign language because it gives them the perspective to see how grammar and rhetoric work, and, by extension, how society works. Further, they need to reflect from a distance about a society and its strengths and weaknesses so they can conceptualize our own society in the same terms and realize that we are capable of improving or damaging our wellbeing as a people.

For example, we train many, many engineers, and what these workers need is not better engineering skills to get more wages, but more perspecitve on how society works so they can agitate and pursuade their compatriots and government to run more accountably and efficiently. As more effective citizens, they will be able to participate more ably in democracy and make sure that goals such as good use of municipal resources and fair distribution of wealth are realized, and in this way help themselves and their families much more than by taking an extra semester of applied sicence, skills which they might well learn after employment anyway.

These advocacy and societal organizational skills are developed by the liberal arts and in particular foreign language. Eleiva’s survey courses, meanwhile, will likewise develop these overviews and understandings of society that people need to have to support free thinking and free living.

The rush to stop students from thinking like free people has been going on for a while. As many have known for decades, for centuries, the philistines are not at the gates, they’re inside. When someone suggests that we should teach practical topics, instead of say, how to think clearly and be free, I wonder if they’re one of those who expect to benefit from students’ not knowing how to argue on behalf of themselves and what they and their families need.

Dean is fond of saying that only at elite private schools where the children of the rich are educated are the liberal arts still protected and safe from elimination. This should give us pause. If our free education is giving students “skills they need” instead of “skills to be free” whose interest is really being served? And who’s really going to profit from all these work skills anyway, the students or the people who employ them?

To preface this post: oh, yes, there is a list.

One must be seriously vetted before being placed on it.

Placement on the list is considered an honor. However, one’s status there is always probationary.

Therefore, there are two situations may result in expurgation: my finding something out about you that I did not know before, or you doing something repulsive enough that your qualification is dropped.

In order to better illustrate this concept, I will provide some examples.

1. Not being single. (The list is supposed to contain only those eligible through personal attributes as well as relationship status)

2. Not being interested in women. (…no comment)

3. Not being interested in me. (This takes a long time to be established, and is only done so reluctantly. One must balance the desire to maintain pride, etc., with the need to keep an accurate and reliable list of possible matches)

4. Having a psycho ex-girlfriend. (Violent stalker behavior is especially frowned upon)

5. Having an otherwise unsavory relationship history. (AKA it being discovered that you are a shameless philanderer)

6. Being too interested in somebody else. (See point #3, modify with the adverb “enough”)

7. Possession of: automatic weapons, a knife collection, nouveu riche parents (some cases), posters of teen pop stars (women in bikinis on your walls aren’t actually a huge problem…unless they are anime), too many cats, books written by Sarah Palin (humor collections excepted), more than a dozen shot glasses, a guitar you don’t actually know how to play, or political aspirations.

8. Credentials which do not turn out to match up well with initial appraisal, and together add up to a less-than desirable resume. (aka you are a slob, a drunk, a member of a cult, a holder of certain political views, an aficionado of intolerable music, a business major, and many others)

I don’t want to drag on. One can indeed prove their ineligibility by actions and words, as has been proven all together too many times. Please, if you desire a future with me, do not

9. Call me up to tell me about your latest conquest. (Big surprise: I don’t really want to know who you slept with last night)

10. Disappear behind locked doors with other girls while I am in the building.  (*Raised eyebrow*)

11. Tell me over coffee that you feel about me as you would about a little sister.  (Seriously?)

12. Show me pictures of your ex-girlfriend(s). (Yeah…bad plan)

13. Mention in passing your adventures at a strip club last week. (Ignorance is bliss)

14. Smell like cats. (I’d rather not elaborate)

15. Show up at a date covered in sweat. (Idem.)

16. Sing Taylor Swift songs with accurate lyrics. (The same would theoretically apply to other music of similar…unmanly caliber)

17. Let me see you without enough clothes on. (Seal the deal? …not every time…)

And no, I did not make up any of the last nine. But admit it – you’re not surprised.

One of my many bribes/creations.

I know that many of those reading this are going to hate me for saying this, but I tend to lose my appetite in response to stress, or other unknown factors, and when I do I carry concern that I will lose weight. I realize that this situation is just not fair. The maintenance of weight, I often insist, goes in both directions, each of which can pose a great struggle. I admit that refraining from eating is a very unpleasant business. Let me submit for consideration that forcing oneself to eat when not hungry can be almost as wretched.

Anyways, sometime before or during finals last semester, my appetite dropped. This was not surprising, and I consequently augmented my diet with such things as a plentiful supply of Oreos, to be sure that I kept my energy up. However, after finals ended my appetite did not return to its full force. I eat a lot, usually. A lot. Ask my sister, or anyone who spends a good deal of time with me. I like food, and I don’t usually like to go more than several hours without having it. So, when I flat out forget to eat, it is clear that something is amiss.

About two weeks ago, I began to take the drastic measure of forcing myself to eat meals even though I would rather not have. I put meager servings of each edible on my plate at dinner time, and pushed them around with my fork for a good while before I finally finished. One day, I made a cake. Not because I felt like eating it, but because I wanted something to do. It was Feathery Fudge (my favorite), and after making it, I left it on the counter for a day before I frosted it, and then took one piece up with me to my room. I did not return for more that afternoon. Do what?!

When I returned to Fort Worth, and to fending for myself, I realized that diligence would be necessary, lest, with no one cooking for me or watching over my shoulder, I should eat almost nothing. The first day back, I went to the grocery store – fueled by a single glass of orange juice, which was the only thing that entered my body on one of my worst days last month – and bought reasonable items. Canned sauce. Green beans (“I will steam them,” I told myself). Yogurts. Some milk. A box of granola that looked compelling. A bag of Clementines. Some spaghetti. That night, I made myself a small bowl of pasta, and steamed the beans. I put some olive oil on them. I ate it all. Ah, sweet success!

Last Monday, I figured I would make myself a Nutella sandwich to take to school for lunch. Alas, that afternoon I returned home having only eaten a yogurt, and not the sandwich, the Clementine, or even the mini chocolate bar I had packed earlier. I marched myself to the kitchen, poured a glass of milk, and forced the sandwich down, or at least 3/4 it, after which point I had quite enough, and “accidentally” let Brise find and eat the rest of it.

Thankfully, that day I had also seen my doctor, who recommended an over-the-counter drug to help my “anorexia and nausea.” (And so I learned that the word anorexia refers only to loss of appetite; the eating disorder is properly termed anorexia nervosa). I was incredulous, but followed directions. That night, I ate out with a friend of mine. I called my sister – “this is good! I will have to eat a whole meal!” I did. The next day, I started diligently taking the medication before every meal. And, I have yet to skip one yet.

I still am not too keen on most things. I still have to be rather bribed, just like with the Oreos during finals week. With this in mind, I made a batch of pizza dough, and, realizing that I was more likely to be tempted by fresh pizza than frozen, and also realizing I lacked the fortitude to bake the whole batch of dough, placed it in the refrigerator. Since then, I have made myself several miniature pizzas, and have finished all but one in a single sitting.

So, I am improving: perhaps in the return to my usual routine, I found it easier to stick to the simplest of routines – three meals a day. I will continue my slow walk back to normal patterns, and remember the tactics I discovered in this battle for use in the next.

On a completely different note, below is Brise. I put the blanket over her back, and she decided to immerse her entire body – head to tail – underneath the thing. She hasn’t moved in several hours.

LOL.

I figured that it’s been a while. So, other than songs embedded using YouTube videos, I figure what would be good is photographs!

Minnesota was great.

My sister...is a martial artist, and a dork.

My sister's idea of decorations. Did I mention she's a dork? Oh, and I may have given her those Playmobil guys...

My family moved to Denton.

So there is a significant break in time because my mother had my camera all semester...here are our dogs. Bentley is my roommate's dog.

I made dinner for my friends on the last day of classes.

....and during finals week my roommate and I destroyed the cabana! Well, most of the bamboo siding.

Briseis took a load off during Christmas break. I was not so successful.

Vince's dog. This picture was not staged.

Note the hair

To say my break from writing has been a hiatus would be quite the understatement. However, I am still here. Still doing things.

I have some posts in mind for the future:

- how to get yourself kicked off the eligible bachelor list

- the beginning of the Great Medical School Search (and Application Process)

- and some good jargon-ridden posts about things I have learned in the past few months.

So, I’m moving along. The past six months have basically treated me well.  Over the course of the semester I…

-

• Finally achieved having some real, true, close friends at TCU.
• Turned multitasking and schedule-filling into an art, and somehow hung on through the end.
• Had to trim a 15 page paper down to 5 pages. Made full marks.
• Oh, and my parents moved out. Have lived on my own for almost six months.
• Taught my roommate the phrase “bass ackwards.”
• Discovered I can’t sleep when I am alone in a house all night.
• …Not even when I try to get over the fear dozens of times.
• Had to face the fact that I am still a hopeless romantic (albeit a wounded, dark, awkward, and lonely one) when I found myself buying Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, Pride and Prejudice, and Eat Drink Man Woman on DVD, all in the same purchase.
• Made some new friends. Managed to hang on to all the old ones.

And more recently (i.e since the middle of finals weeks) I…

• Lost my appetite.
• Became addicted to Grey’s Anatomy.
• Was on the UCI campus for the first time in over fifteen years.
• Caught up with someone I knew way back in the day, back when things were perfect (i.e 1999). New friend?
• Had my hair cut and colored for the first time in…a long time.

To continue in my disjointed manner, here are some songs that have been on the top of my mind lately:

Breathe (2AM) ByAnna Nalick
(“Life’s like an hourglass glued to the table; no one can find the rewind button now, so cradle your head in your hands”)

Broken by Lifehouse
(“I am damaged at best, like you’ve already figured out; I’m falling apart, I’m barely breathing”)

Parachute by Train
(“I’ll open up and be your parachute, and I’ll never let you down)

A Home by The Dixie Chicks
(“Now every day I wake again, In a house that might have been”)

The Chairman’s Waltz by John Williams
(“da, da, daa daaaa daaa….”)

Th’th’that’s all for now, folks.