Over-Qualified

Yesterday I was part of a singing contest at the CKC in Sweet Lake City (where I follow singing lessons).

It's my first year and this is my first contest. So I signed up.

I want to improve my technique, so I try to sing songs by women that vocally intimidate me, like Christina, Whitney, Beyonce, Mariah.... 

So for this contest my teacher suggested I sing 'Beautiful'. Great song, but the bridge is killing. I did my best at the contest, hit some interesting off-key notes and at times sounded like a kettle with boiling hot water, but apart from the bridge, it went well, so I was pleased.

Today I got the call..... They kicked me out of the contest.

(They brought it as subtle as they could, and hoped I understood, which I did.... still do...)

See, before you start singing, they ask you how long have you had singing lessons (since September) and do you intend to go pro (well, more like continue what I'm doing, but work on my technique).

So after hearing me, they decided that as I was more or less pro already, I was out of balance with the other contestants....

Hmmm....

I didn't really enter to compete, I just wanted to challenge myself, so I don't mind not getting the chance to 'go to the finals'. It's a compliment really. I mean, I was worried that I wouldn't make the next level due to the awful notes I hit in the bridge....

So initially I was cool with it.

But now that I've had 2 glasses of Grappa, and watched 2 episodes of Gilmore Girls (feeling a lot more honest), I do find it a little shame.

I guess if you can't test your abilities at the school where you're trying to grow, (some kids had 5-6 years of singing lessons...) it seems the only option is to throw your face on tv and compete with people that are trying to be famous... A bit too grand scale for me, with way too many side effects that I'm not too keen on.

Guess I'll continue practicing in my classroom.

Just for the record, I hope to one day sing:

-'Listen' from Beyonce

-'You Put a move on my heart' from Tamia

-'One moment in time' from Whitney

So after 'Beautiful' that's what I'm going for.

If you have any suggestions for challenging songs, let me know.

I'll diligently and silently work on them in my classroom.

Kind regards,

A somewhat sad Nyjolene...

(Time for 3rd episode of Gilmore Girls.... then 'bed'... need to be on time for work tomorrow)

A month later...

.... never did mention if the bread was good.
(It was!!!!)
I didn't make 6 loves, just 2, and it was really good.
Really filling too.

It was my intention to repeat this bread-making success last Sunday at Billekens-Fennema Residence, as I had been informed that there's a pretty good bread baker there.
But when I got to the Hague (don't ask how, the trip was disastrous), and had settled a little (changed diaper, fed hungry baby and had a cup of tea), we decided that a stroll to the private Billekens-Fennema Garden Complex was a better idea.
(Why bake bread when you can relax in the sun & watch friends plant carrots & onions & clean out weed & such).
It was perfect. The garden is bigger than I imagined, and filled with all kind of plants & flowers & strawberries to be (wild & tamed). There was even a plant that smelt like Maggie (the weirdest, never heard of it before).
There's still lots to be planted & maintained & grown, but it looks 'lived in'. Like a home you've just moved into, you're still working on, but already feels cozy.
We (Deyora & I) enjoyed watching them (Bart, SophieB & Liels) work away while we sat in the shade, humming & relaxing.

As much as I'd like to bake bread there one day, I really look forward to spending an afternoon in their garden again.

Baking Bread...

There's something satisfying about it...

My cousin called me the other day from Ireland.

She mentioned that she'd just finished baking bread.

I (stupidly) asked... "with a bread machine?"

"Bread machine?? No Man!" was the very Jamaican accented reply.

I couldn't understand how she did it, she's got 3 very active boys and a full time job as 'something in architecture'... dunno exactly, but buildings become very interesting and artistic when she speaks about them.

Anyway,

turns out she bakes 6 loaves of bread every Sunday, for her family.

No buying bread, no bread machine, just good old fashion kneading by hand, every week...

Respect....

So I asked her to give me the recipe...

"Recipe?? was the very Jamaican accented reply...

"There's no recipe, love, you just bake it as is family tradition...."

Now I must say, my dad and my sisters used to bake bread...

But I hadn't.

The whole kneading thing put me off.

I'd tried it an odd time after I'd left home, but it didn't 'double in size' no matter how long I left it to rise, was rock hard and, well, not worth repeating.

So I asked her to pass on this tradition verbally so I could give it a try.

Off by heart she passed on the ingredients, amounts and how to do it...

Ok...

So I looked at the piece of paper with the notes I jotted down, for a few days,

then brought myself to buy the ingredients so I could bake it with Easter...

Didn't....

And so, tonight, after putting D to bed, and kissing my hubby goodnight (he needs to wake at 3 am, poor thing) I went into the kitchen, and started to bake...

Kneading the flour into dough is a very intense process!

The amount of flour in my bowl was daunting.. (my bowl was way too small and I'd used my biggest) so I split the dry ingredients, then added the 'luke warm' water and just pushed my hands in the gooey sticky stuff, trusting that at some point it would stop sticking to my hands and actually start looking like something I could knead.

Thank God the structure changed, and I was able to knead it on the table.

It was a great feeling! Really working the dough, and letting your mind drift while your busy.

It was fun! and not half as difficult as I remembered.

So now I'm gonna let it rise over night (I vaguely remember someone saying that leaving it that long is no problem).

Tomorrow I hope it has risen and then I'll knead it again and bake it.

I really hope it tastes ok... but even if it doesn't,

I'll soon try again, till I get it right.... the experience was too fun to leave as a one timer.

Iron Man...

Oeh yeah baby :D!

This film was a win,win,win compilation all round!
For one, it was a great film! The story works, it was entertaining and not too serious.
Secondly, it was Marvel! that alone would make me want to see it.
Thirdly.... Helloooooo Terrence!!!
And last but not least.... My reason for watching Ally McBeal (After Ling, naturally), Robert Downey Jr..... Hubba...
The great thing is, he doesn't over do it.
He doesn't do a Hugh Jackman, (who kinda overworks the I-didn't-put-much-effort-into-looking-this-hot- look), but still you watch the film and you melt!
I don't go for big muscles, but in the odd scene, here and there.... Check Out The Arms!!!! Hubba...

I'm not a Gweneth fan (at all!!!) but even she was cool in the film.
And a tiny fun suprise, Leslie Bibb from Popular was in it!
(Popular= weird Ally McBeal-like series that I used to watch when it was on tv)

I'd seen the film in the cinema in England last year, but I had a terrible stomach-ache and was unable to really enjoy it. As my hubby hadn't seen it yet and wanted to, he bought it, and we watched it together.... Yep... a keeper...

I'm reading again!

Lots & lots....

I've started this vampire series (Marked, Chosen, Untamed... ) by mother and daughter Cast.

And it's soooo much fun!

I tried the whole Twilight craze, but after browsing a few pages, I decided that it was as terrible as Outlander (who wrote that again SophieB?)...

Not my style. I'm thinking of checking the film, but only cause my sweet SophieB saw the film, then desperately ripped up a brand new GQ magazine to swoon over actor's face every time she opens her locker. And even though our taste in books is as close as black and white, our taste in men is more or less the same.

However the book 'Marked' caught my eye, so I started reading.

It's young.... the main character is about 17, but I won't let my kid read that book at 17 lest she gets any crazy ideas about love, lust, men and such....

It's a fun read. And even though the vocab is a 2008/2009 version of clueless (not a problem) and just about, not as bad as Gossip Girl (a problem), I want to know how it all ends.

So, while I'm waiting for 'Hunted' (part 5 already!) I'm reading a biography of Ella Fitzgerald.

Superb! The person who wrote it is really interested in who she was, recognizes her brilliance, but doesn't turn her in to a goddess (like they turned Louis Armstrong in to a god in a biography I was (therefore) unable to finish, and like Gandhi turned himself into a Saint-from-birth-tainted-by-this-wicked-world-and-it's-sins in his autobiography, which I was therefore also unable to take seriously or read for more than a few chapters.)

But that's not all!

I also read a thriller!!!! Haahahah Finally!

It's a chick-lit murder, with no real investigation, or gory blood scenes, just 2 nosy lady-friends trying to solve a murder case. (Kinda like Rita Mae Brown, but without the cats).

It's called Death By a Dryer (as I said, far from serious, but much fun to read!) By Simon Brett.

Oeh, and I almost forgot..... (here it comes)

I read a fiction book..... in fact, turns out it came from SophieB's section, so that makes it a romance book (but not half as terrible as Outlander hahahaha)

So I actually enjoyed a romance! Who would have thought.

It's 31 Dream Street... can't remember who wrote it... it was a reject without a back, so after I read it, I threw it away... but it was entertaining!

As soon as Hunted comes in, I'll drop Ella and continue my vampire story, but after I've finished that, I'll try another thriller/chick-lit, or who knows... another fiction/romance book...

A message from Canada

My grandma called!
Totally out of the blue.
Well, not totally.
She'd called my big sis, as she's just had a son, and then asked her for my number and called me too!
It was so cool to hear her ask: "How is Carmel doing?" As I'd named Deyora after my grandma (Carmel). It was really great speaking to her.

Almost 6 months...

Time really does fly.
Our little girl is nearly 6 months old! It's been an interesting 6 months.
I've grown & developed so much in these passing months, it's really insane.
It's been an ongoing challenge to find harmony in so many chaotic changes.
It's true that the moment you have a child to take care of, everything changes.
Your character, your relationship, your time and how you spend it...
How you look at 'problems', your morals... Pfff... Everything.
Not to mention the ongoing changes your child goes through.
Just today, we discovered that she can sit, without help (and then ungraciously fall over onto the bed). She's very into snuggling on the couch and she's only just started eating different fruits & veggies.
Every new stage is still 'scary', but we really are a team of 3. We all see things differently in the beginning, (trust me, 'Little Miss' has a very clear opinion on things), but then we work it out together, we find this 'new rhythm' to life that works, until the next fase pops up.
It's intense, but 'dealing with it' makes me feel very capable & somewhat in control of things.
It's like I know there is this note to every aspect of my life and it's an ongoing challenge to create a beautiful song with all those notes & the instruments at my disposal. So far I'm liking the sound of things (disregarding the few 'off' notes I've heard along the way).

Writing of music, that's really been my thing these last few weeks.
I'm sorting out all my CDs plus all the music I have on the computer. On my free evenings I copy all my CDs onto my computer, then listen to them, deleting songs I don't like anymore, and putting the rest on alphabetical order by song.... Very much a 'Nyjolene Neurotic Project' but it makes me happy.

A friend of mine once gave me all the CD's Stevie Wonder ever made in mps form. I never took the time to listen to everything, until now. That guy has a way of hitting some interesting notes when he sings! You can also 'feel' his journey through music. He has truly explored all kinds of creative worlds. Not everything is my thing, but it was great to hear.
There was this song: Come Back As A Flower (I think that's what it's called), he doesn't sing it, I think his daughter does... not sure, but it's soooooooo pure. I never knew I had that!
Then I'm also checking my hubbies music in the process, just so I don't miss any good stuff.
He has a lot of funky songs by musicians I've never heard of, that are great to listen to.....
But he also has music that is ... well... to put it mildly, not my style.
He has some heavy metal music in his collection that my brain can not handle for much longer than 2 seconds, tops. I'm sure there's some great artistic music somewhere in between all that noise, but I simply can't find it.
Anyway, some songs I've loved forever, all of a sudden don't do much for me, and I throw out, and things I haven't heard in ages, gives me pos. goose bumps when I hear it again.
Now listening to Bilal: All That I Am. Delicious groove, feel good vibe, mind blowing notes...
One of the few songs on his album that I actually kept...