You've had this pair of gloves this whole time...?

Wanna weird out a New Yorker?  Walk by one on the street and give em a big Mid-Western smile and "Hi, how ya doin?"  They look at you like you just slapped them over the head with a big bag of weird and stare at you for a few seconds like you just ate a booger.  I love this town!!!

So I was on the subway heading downtown one day and all of the sudden 6 kids jump on the train like they're gonna steal everybody's money... but instead they start doing break dancing to an 80's boombox.  This 8 year old kid was doing the dopest break dancer moves ever!  Only in New York can you see a Mariachi band and a break dance troop all for the cost of 1 subway ride($2.50). I was rushing to meet a friend for a drink and I had to show up a half hour late because I had to see this black dude do a flip or 10 kids standing side by side.... on concrete  WHOA!

Starting to get cold in the city!  Whoo hoo.. not even Halloween yet and I'm already excited about Christmas!!  Speaking of which... I need to get organized and come up with some sweetness for my costume.

So... I have this amazing future sister-in-law that has this incredibly talented amazing family that I got to spend the weekend with cause they live near NYC.  Her sister lives in Manhattan and is a VP for the fashion designer J. Mendel.  I walked by Lincoln center and saw that it was Mercedes fashion week.  Then I was like HOLD UP WAAAAIIIIIIT snoop dogg style and said I wonder if I can get in because of my future sister-in-laws sister.   Dude.... she took me to an exclusive party at the Gramercy Hotel with nothing but beautiful models, open bar, and gay men!  BAH AH AHAAAA.  It was incredible!  I got a picture with Monsieur. J. Mendel  himself.

On a nerdy note-  I saw opening night at the MET with Anna Netrebko and Steven Costello in the production of Anna Bolena.  The singing was hit or miss.  There were some really world class moments though.  The production was great.  The ending was super epic.. but I'm not gonna ruin it for anybody who might still wanna see it.

Tomorrow, I'll be competing in a voice competition called Opera Index.  This one's cool because you have to be recommended by opera professionals and they pick based on your resume AND they give lots of money.  I'll be competing against singers that are much older and have a lot more time in the business than I do, but I'm thrilled to compete at this next level.  It's the reason why I moved to NYC instead of taking a job in Arizona for a year.  

Tomorrow night, my friend is taking me to my first show on Broadway.  She won't tell me what it is but I'm super excited.

Next time you're in an elevator, walk in and stand the opposite way as everyone else with your nose touching the back wall.... dare you.  

Excuse me Flo....

My first days in NYC

So... I picked the 10th anniversary of September 11th to be my first day living in NYC.  Great idea Dan!  In the past, flying has NEVER made me nervous.  Honestly though, I was trippin'.  BELIEVE that I was looking around for any yahoo's trying to cause trouble on my flight from Chicago into the city.  It would have been a jump over the seat with a Missouri Monkey punch like POW!  Despite my hope that a terrorist would even TRY and act out on my plane... nothing exciting happened.

My first day in Manhattan was BANANAS!  I explored all over Manhattan to see what kind of trouble I could get into.  Wall St. has always been on my bucket list so there I went to see what all the commotion was about.  The streets were flooded with people speaking dozens of different languages.  Most people were either a part of a tour group or stock brokers chain smoking cigs looking stressed out...

Next was time square... between all the lights, the dressed up crazies, smell of pizza and grease, I knew I could call this place home.  Then for something completely different... I went to Columbus circle and went into some really nice shops, ate a peach overlooking the park, eavesdropped on some people with crazy NY/long island accents, then moseyed along my merry way.

I went to a memorial service for those who had passed on 9/11/01 at the trinity Episcopal church downtown.  The choir was excellent and the orchestra was decent.  The horns were playing on period instruments with no valves so everything was out of tune.  That's hard to do, understandably so, but I just can't enjoy "fracking" all over the place.

Ok, so I met a girl.  Actually, I wasn't even into the city yet.  We met in Chicago before boarding.  She had the long beautiful hair, fashion forward, the whole bit.  She looked like a "Southern Bell" and I was right, she's from FL. There were these psycho babies screaming and running all over the place.  She was obviously looking at the munchkins thinking... Oh... my... God.  So I smiled and said, I wish I had 3 just like em.  And that was the beginning.  She told me to save her a seat cause we were on a Southwest flight.  The flight flew by so quickly.  We talked the whole time.  Our first date is Wednesday... I'll let you know how it goes.


Girls are like phones.  They love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected....


Peace OUT foolz!  Uhhhgg... did I hear a 9er in there?

My journey

For the past year, my suitcase and honda civic have been what I call home.  Since June of 2010, I have lived or visited the following places for my work:  Central City, CO, Louisville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Naples, FL, and San Diego, Santa Barbara, CA, San Marcos, TX, and Springfield, MO.  So many of my family and friends think my career path is crazy.  They all make jokes about how I'll call them on a random Tuesday and say, "Hey, driving through St. Louis... wanna grab dinner?"  Then just as quick as I came, it's time to leave.

Why did God give me this passion to pursue classical music?  Opera of all things!!!  If you told me this would by my career when I grew up I'd have said, "You're a wackadoo!"   Often I think, If God gave me a different gift about which to be passionate, I'd run towards it as fast as this gangly body would take me.  However, a different passion is not my situation.  My dream is to make music at the highest level with the greatest musicians across the world.

My next challenge may be the most difficult of anything I've encountered yet, moving to NYC.  On September the 10th, 2011, my home for at least a year, will be New York, NY.  A place where dreams are made or broken.  The number of obstacles I'll face will always be uncertain.  However, I know one thing that is for certain: I will charge them head on, with courage, commitment, and passion.

Wish me luck!

"Am I afraid of high notes?  Sure I am, What sane man isn't?"  - Luciano Pavarotti