Cache of the Day - A Daughter Who Gives

BEFORE








My daughter Taylor has been growing her hair out for over a year so that she could donate her locks to "Locks for Love". This past Saturday was her day to get her tresses chopped off. Check out these pics to see the progression.
THE FIRST SLICE

HALF AND HALF

Taylor loves her new look and I am proud to have a daughter who gives.



A HUG FOR DAD










AFTER

Cache of the Day - Dance Recital

It's hard to believe that we work an entire year (we started last August) to perform for less than 10 minutes on stage, but it's true! Of course, the real fun is practicing every week, learning new dance steps, selecting our dance music and costumes, and other such preparatory events.

Okay, those of you who know me know that the REAL fun is the performance. The ideal situation would be to instantly know the dance and be able to PERFORM every week instead of PRACTICE. Unfortunately, you can't have a great performance without the practice, as I've found out. And given my decided lack of talent when it comes to dancing, I really need to practice more than those who are naturally gifted.


Taylor is just the opposite and would rather practice and NEVER perform. She has proclaimed herself to have Social Anxiety Disorder and thus doesn't like to even SPEAK to people much less PERFORM for them. Despite this, she had a FABULOUS performance, and felt that she did her personal best on each of her dances.

It was a long year and a long evening, but we had a great time.

Cache of the Day - In Search of Artsy Stuff

I don't think I'm all that snobbish or cultured, but I do like to pretend like I am! Thus, attending an opening reception for a photo exhibition and then viewing a film (which is VERY different from "seeing a movie") was quite an event this weekend.

This past Friday night my friend Deb and I attended the reception for this photo exhibition. Deb, an aspiring and very talented photographer (check her out at 8 Hours and a Lunch) knew some of the entries into this event, so we checked it out. While I don't know that much about photography, I was touched and amazed by the interpretation that the photographers - many of them classified as amateur - exhibited at the SOFA gallery on the Indiana University campus. What talent and creativity!

I especially liked the peanut butter blossoms, one of my favorite cookies, which they served, along with many cheeses, pita bread, and humus, and of course, fine wines. Very snobbish indeed!

Afterwards we attended - in the same building - a film ("In Search of Mozart")that I had wanted to see for some time. I discovered that it was playing throughout the U.S. while on a trip to Chicago and, upon further research, found out that this film - along the genre of a documentary - was developed as part of a celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. Deb and I "viewed" the film in this - shall I say "rustic" - auditorium. And yes, the film was LONG (Deb and I kept asking, hoping, praying for the "Requiem" to be featured, as we knew this film was staged in chronological order and the Requiem was Mozart's last work). But the INSIGHTS into Mozart's compositions were so compelling. Many experts - composers, conductors, historians, performers - provided interpretations on Mozart's works that I had never understood, or thought about, or explored. And these interpretations made the film incredibly worthwhile. Not to mention that it only cost $4 a person.

So we had a great night and had fun acting like cultural snobs. And we learned a bit too ("brain food" as a friend of mine describes it).

Cache of the Day - Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Although the celebration of Cinco de Mayo was HUGE when I lived in Southern California and Phoenix, and not so much here in Indiana ("What is this holiday again?", "What's it about?"), I've always appreciated the color of the celebration, with great music and wonderful food. And what a great excuse to get people together!

I must commend the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra for its focus on the celebration, which culminated in a concert of Latin and Latin-inspired music. Our featured soloist was Emilio Colon, who played, certainly with technical skill, but more importantly with a passion that only Latin lovers can display! I loved to watch him and often became entranced during his performance. Even more impressive was the fact that he wrote the music, a reflection of his escapades and memories of his youth.



I had a little celebration at the condo on Saturday night, complete with a full array of Mexican food and drink. Here is my friend Jackie with a margarita and me with a sangria. You should have seen our rendition of the Macarena after a few of these!

Cache of the Day - Working at a "Best Place to Work"

Last week Employment Plus received an award as one of the best places to work in the state of Kentucky (we placed 10th there for our size company), and yesterday I attended a banquet in Indianapolis where we received a Best Places to Work award for the state of Indiana (we placed 21 out of 30 companies there).

A lot goes into winning an award like this, but the primary criteria comes from a survey that our employees fill out about our company. Included in the survey are questions around benefits, recognition, opportunity, community involvement, and training.


Both events were great fun and we were very pleased with the honor!

Cache of the Day - Mixing Music and Movies

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The Bloomington Pops held an "Oscar Party" this past Friday night, and created a concert-going experience that touched all the senses. This is the way classical concerts should be presented! Listeners today will not tolerate sitting in an uncomfortable auditorium chair watching a conductor wave his or her arms for two arms, regardless of how beautiful the music may be.

Before the concert, the Pops held an invitation-only welcome reception at a different location. We walked in on the red carpet, and we were greeted by a starlet in the requisite gold lame ball gown. How fun!

The room was filled with music and movie lovers, so we had good conversation, plenty of wonderful appetizers, and bubbly cocktails. The reception was held in the History Museum, and it showcased movies of the past, as well as our claim-to-fame actors, such as Kevin Kline. The movie "Breaking Away" was of course featured, as it was filmed in Bloomington around the Little 500 Race.

The reception also had quizzes and other activities to participate in, such as "guess the starlet". A photographer was on hand to snap our shots in the director's chair.

The highlight for me was when a piano player sat down and started playing music from movies. I couldn't resist, and I stood behind her and started singing along. She invited me to sit down on the piano bench with her and we just performed song after song. My mommy and I used to always do this when I was growing up. We could do it for hours! Of course my friend Deb and my daughter Taylor and her friend quickly exited stage left. Might they have been embarrassed?

The concert itself was glorious, and included selections from "Pirates of the Carribean", "Breakfast at Tiffanys". and "Star Wars" (what a GREAT way to end the concert!!!). Imagine listening to a LIVE orchestra playing the score while you view one of these movies! This was the closest thing!
What a great evening and truly the future for classical concerts. More of this type of event will create a younger and more faithful audience (and more support and resources to keep the arts alive).