Ohio Light Opera 2014

What a summer it's been! What a FUN summer it's been! What an EDUCATIONAL summer it's been! What a PRODUCTIVE summer it's been! What an AMAZING summer it's been!!!

Trying to take advantage of every opportunity, every relationship, every hour and every day can sometimes be overwhelming; especially when so much is packed into so little.



This was my schedule for the summer. Two services a day is quite exhausting when done on a regular basis. Add to that: personal practice both morning and/or night, Insanity workouts, random sport activities, regular late night gatherings, and it turns into a whirlwind of nights and days and days and nights boosted by caffeine, cat naps against the scroll of my violin in the pit during dialogue, and a steady stream of danceish movement and energy to propel you forward and infuse the music with sparkle (a reference to the seemingly only adjective known by the recording director)!

I LOVED IT ALL! Truly I did. There were ups and downs. In exchange for the days and nights of blissful happiness were the days and nights of tears in the pillow and loneliness quote surfing.



Personal growth, personal enlightenment and any kind of change never gets easier no matter how much you want it and do it. But the results are always worthwhile and I'm happy now that I'm stepped back from the picture that was the Ohio Light Opera and see the changes; physical, mental, and emotional that I achieved, began and continued. It's so hard sometimes to see the bigger picture when you're placed in such a small environment.



That little blue dot was where I lived for a while. Everyday I'd walk to either the music building or the Theater or both to practice and rehearse. It wasn't the best of situations since there was no kitchen(ette) but there was a micro fridge that I commandeered for myself and a small microwave and I had a juicer with me so it was manageable for a few months. Unfortunately, what wasn't manageable was the "maintenance". There's a few pictures below of the walls that were removed and the ceiling being torn down. The men working said it was going to get even worse. I simply can't imagine it and I never went back to see.









I won't include the videos that made it impossible to exist due to the extremely loud noise factor. No one besides those being paid to work there should be required to hear that!

They did move all the residents of this dorm to another newer and much nicer dorm for the last two weeks of the summer. I was very grateful for everyone who helped make it possible. It truly was in their self interest to help me maintain my sanity because I'm already crazy, who would dare survive if I was insane?!, outside of during my Insanity workouts of course :)

This summer I enjoyed my hand at T25 for the first time. After sitting still for three weeks, watching far too many documentaries on any number of random topics to occupy my time and let my sprained finger heal enough to continue with semi normal daily life, I joined the kind cast members at the gym who let me start mid way through the summer. Since I hadn't done any activity for a while it wasn't fun breaking back into the workout routine but after a week my body started to respond again and soon T25 became, dare I say, boring? I continued it but when we moved into the new dorm there was a nice facility with air conditioning and a big projector screen and a sticky vs. slippery floor and I didn't have to ask anyone to unlock it or not workout on the weekend because the gym was closed so I followed my addicted heart and body back to Insanity. I was very fortunate to have two wonderful people join me every day and we had a great time digging deeper and screaming and shouting and huffing and puffing and sweating everywhere together. I will sincerely miss my Insanity workout partners :(

A random interesting Wooster fact: there is an unhealthy saturation of skunks. I saw them everywhere, nearly walked on one as I cut through some brush one night (I have quite the long jump when necessary I discovered), sadly shut my window one day while one was nesting just underneath it not 2 feet below, crossed the street to avoid one strolling down the sidewalk one evening, and grew accustomed to the smell as a random odor that was just a part of my daily life.

That's as close as my phone's zoom goes and I wasn't getting any closer in person!

The friendships I made this summer have been such a blessing in more ways than I'm sure any of them know. I've adopted two little sisters, begun a very open and honest friendship with someone that I would never had expected, had some really clarifying and serious talks with another friend whom helped me self inspect without even realizing it, formed a fast and surprisingly close bond with a ray of sunshine that always brightened my day and I only hope that I brightened their's as much. I met a wonderful friend who inspired me that there is a possibility to continue pursuing your passions and dreams and love what you do. I know I follow that path but sometimes it feels like I'm trapped in a dark room with no doors or windows from which to escape. This friend told me stories and taught me lessons about maneuvering through life's changes and curveballs. I hope to keep in touch and learn so much more! In some way, each and every person in my life this summer taught me something: taught me things about myself, things I like, things I don't like, reminded me of old times and introduced me to new ones, and reminded me once again how fleeting life is and how each individual is unique in their own right. I wish I could have spent more time getting to know more of the people this summer, but with schedules, housing arrangements, and personal time, the minutes danced by and I couldn't keep up. I did work hard this summer trying to learn everyone's name, where they are from and who they are. I didn't get to every body but I did get to know many on many different levels and I'm so grateful to each and every one that spent their precious time with me. As I travel, grow older, and learn more of life, I increasingly have become aware of time and it's invaluableness.

Still, there were so many great times playing Cards Against Humanity, watching Whose Line is it Anyway, drinking wine out of boxes in plastic cups, winning beer pong (with the help of my fabulous doubles partner) so not drinking near enough beer, sitting on wooden chairs or sweaty couches and chatting with any and every one about any and every thing; learning, absorbing, sharing, teaching.

Here are a few pictures with just a few people from this summer. Smiles abound and for that, I am one happy girl!  :-D


One of the only pictures from the numerous parties. This was the rep open party, meaning no more rehearsals! Just play away :)

The two bow tie sporting champs for the Fourth of July concert! Don't we look smashing?!?! 

On one of the few days off, a few of us managed to hit the road and attend a free festival in Columbus. It was so much fun and even included 45 minutes of contra dancing!!! WOOT!!!  Nothing better than fun in the sun :)

Enjoying a local favorite at the Wooster Brewery with a couple of the non Pirates of Penzance folk.

Occasionally we had the energy to sneak in a fast dinner between shows and one of my favorite restaurants is/was TJ's. They had quite a variety of vegetarian options that made me a very happy diner...the company wasn't bad either :)

 

Oh, the fun to be had toward the end of the season when you get a free evening. Splitting the second best barley wine I've had with a friend at my other favorite haunt in Wooster, The Spoon! Yes, they did pour the barley wine into tasters...legal issues regarding bathroom quantities was the explanation I received...

I also did some fun mountain biking at a good single track called Vulture's Knob just a few miles west of Wooster. One would never guess such a trail existed in close vicinity to the tiny town. But I was thrilled and rode it several times. Here are a few pictures and one video that doesn't capture the 12 foot rutted drop into a 90 degree turn but until I can get a GoPro it's the best I have.

After our last romp in the woods, jk, but my mountain biking buddy was a great gift to have this summer!



The one thing I missed the most this summer was dancing. Prior to arriving in Wooster, I had written in all the dances for the summer and emailed myself dance websites. What I'd failed to see was that all the dances were cancelled during the summer months, even in the bigger cities like Cleveland. I was crushed and tried to learn to lead ballroom so as to dance with one of the orchestra girls a bit and that worked somewhat, but I'm just not a good ballroom lead yet. I did get one night of blues dancing at a dorm party where I requested blues music and then wrangled others into dancing blues with me :)  But no contra was had. I hope to remedy this very soon in Atlanta! My soul needs some good contra dancing. Really, the world does revolve around it if you didn't know. And if there was a job as a professional contra dancer...but being a dance gypsy is the next best thing.

Supporting my dancing friends from afar in their Guinness record breaking attempt.

So until I save enough money to join my dance gypsies friends around the country and sometimes parts of the world, I'll have to settle for the next best thing ;-)  Keep reading to find out what that might be and look for another post in the next few weeks with more details!

I didn't travel much around Ohio while I was here, but I did make it up to Cleveland for one overnight when I had the next afternoon off. It was a wonderful time seeing the nightlife of Cleveland a little bit and then walking around downtown the following morning.

A fun night and a beautiful day celebrating my upcoming gig in Cleveland. Somehow I found myself walking down the street, basking in the sunlight singing, It's a Lovely Day Today...not sure how that happened :-p

The last happy Ronda face is to celebrate not just a wonderful summer but a wonderful future for the next six months at least.

I'm celebrating a new job that will not only take me and my violin to India, but also Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand! Six months of travel and performance in Asia!! I can't wait. Here's to more fun stories, more fun pictures, more fun friends :)

I will post another entry with more information of India and my upcoming job. This post was to reminisce of the recent summer and I hope you enjoyed reading about my memories as much as I enjoyed remembering them.

The beginnings of NY NY

I've performed the song, famously sung by Sinatra, many many times...New York, New York.

Until today I'd only visited once and didn't see many of the sights or do much touristy. Didn't even stay very long in fact.

This trip is not much different. I'm only here for a few days and I'm not forking over lots of dough to go party and live the high life, but I am getting to visit old and new friends alike, see a few sights, and walk lots and lots and lots :)

I arrived at LGA this afternoon and lugged my suitcase, violin with attached 25lb music bag, and carry on around NY to visit a couple of friend already.

Now snug as a bug, I'm happily content in another wonderful friends home and a very comfy bed and after a nice long chit chat to start catching each other up on our lives.

These next few days should be busy, exhausting, and most importantly, FUN!

Tomorrow is all about more friends, more food, and contra dancing. You thought you wouldn't read about contra dancing in a NY entry, but you were wrong :)  I go contra dancing any time I can and after researching ahead of time I discovered that I would be here for a great dance and that is tomorrow night!!

Then it is a day of sight seeing with more friends, partying with even more friends, catching up with all the friends, and collapsing before joining my next cruise ship on Monday.

Whew, I'm feeling tired just writing it all down. I suppose I should since I've been up for 19 hrs straight and that is on only 5 hrs of sleep the night before. But I'm also excited and eager to go out there, meet people, visit places, try things, and just live life.

The music of my life

Since I'm a musician for my livelihood primarily, I figured that some of you out there would like an update as to the music status of my life.

Currently, since the cruise industry is petering out on the string group realm, I'm revamping my efforts and heading a different direction. No, I'm not quitting cruise ships. There will still be lots of stories, lots of pictures, and lots of exciting, fun, and entertaining adventures. But just not yet.

I'm currently making ends meet here on land performing with the Arkansas Symphony in Little Rock and staying with friends.

That is, except for this month. This month I'm working at a retail store in Texas that I have worked for in previous years during the holiday season. Turns out they really needed me this year so it's been nice to have been a blessing to them and to be able to help them out during their time of need.

However, despite all warm and fuzzy feelings, I'm working in the retail business hours a day and that leaves very little time to work on my new venture.

I'm really looking forward to the middle of January when I'll be back out on the road again, staying at hotels and performing with the symphony. It will give me the time I need to really buckle down and work on this new project.

This new project I keep mentioning is a new show. So if all works out for me, you'll see me on the main stage next cruise instead of in the show lounge. There is a lot to do and I'll keep you abreast of my progress as I move along toward that end.

Right now, I'm at the very beginning stages. The concept and vision is already clarified and initial research is nearly complete. I'm hoping by the end of January, I will have all the research done and be in the process of procuring all the necessary music that I don't already own. Then it will be practice time and continued research and tweaking time. During this process I plan to start a crowd funding site. So if you're interested in helping me reach my goals you can watch for updates as to when that site is officially started and donate to my project.

Until that time, I'm happily busying myself here in Texas, trying to keep warm :-)  Glad it's not a snowy, white, and wintery Christmas here. Looking forward to more performance, more music, and more stages. If you'd like to come hear a concert in Little Rock, please let me know ahead of time and I'll do my best to procure you a free ticket to the show.

Thanks to one and all for supporting the arts.

It's what makes my world go round.

Fabulous Friends in Friday Harbor

Today has been quite the day, but yesterday was wonderful.

In a not too rainy Vancouver I got to enjoy lunch with friends, and go shopping at my favorite thrift store chain, Value Village. Of course I walked out with less money than I walked into the store. But I only bought things that I will definitely use and needed to replace and one gift for my mother :) Then it was a lovely dinner at a delightful pub before a late night of chatting and book reading.

After just over 2 hrs of sleep it was time to rise and get ready to leave today. I've learned to utilize coffee very quickly in the last few days. Had so many cups today I made myself sick, but I was able to stay awake on two separate hour and a half ferry rides as well as more than two hours of free time spent at terminals and bus stops and a 45 minute bus ride. At least today my travels weren't delayed for three plus hours and I arrived in Friday Harbor safe and sound and on time, although slightly ill and very tired. But I was super happy to see my friend there to pick me up and to go grab a nice beer and just enjoy having arrived in town.

Then it was time to go home :)  Spent the afternoon playing ping pong which left me super exhausted but dinner was delicious and rejuvenating and the company was more wonderful than could be asked. I'm so blessed to have such amazing and fabulous friends!  I'm so looking forward to spending the next few days with them and experiencing this area together.

Hormones: a difficult day

Hormones....I have some issues with them.

Yesterday was the third day in a row of contra dancing and boy was I out of energy. After dancing Thursday night and Friday night (and forgetting to eat much on Friday) I had nothing left for Saturday.

For a girl, known for her wild antics and enthusiastic dancing, I was saddened by having to sit out dances and reserve energy on most dances I did dance. It stole the smile from my face, the blood from my body, the energy from my legs, and the love from my heart. Several times friends came along and spoke words of concern since I was not acting my usual self, but even the process of saying, "I just had surgery" was all consuming to the point of tears.

Hormones...damn you.

In all reality I shouldn't be mad because technically, I'm not even supposed to be working out and exercising yet. It's been two weeks since the surgery, but rumor has it I'm supposed to wait a month. Now obviously, there are different levels to exercising and I'm sure the docs don't intend for you to not do anything, but I'm pretty sure intense multi day contra dancing marathons is on the list of donts.

Ah well, I'm here among friends, with live music, happy dancers, and good energy all around. I should not complain. I should be thankful to be here and thankful I can dance any dances at all.

Pep talk...pep talk.

Ok, so today is one more four hour dance session. I do not expect to dance all the dances and I will be exuberant in the dances I choose. Wish you all could be here. But by all means, since you can't, get out there and contra dance where you are! And think of me for just a moment while you're out there on the dance floor!! I'll be thinking of you :)

A short stay in Seattle

After leaving the NCL Gem, I flew to Atlanta, then to OKC and then to Seattle where I've been the last few days. I'm not usually here this time of year and after being here now, I'm ok with that prospect. It's the rainy season (yes, I realize that's year round in Seattle, but it's actually get wet rain during this season) and it's cold. I highly dislike cold. Right now I'm sitting in an enclosed room with two computers running and the thermostat set at 68 and wearing booties and a sweater dress and a long sleeve shirt underneath and I'm still absolutely freezing. I've been drinking hot tea but I think my red blood cell count is so low at this point that my body simply cannot sustain its own heat to my desirable temperature.

Irregardless of my internal and seeming external temperature, I am enjoying my stay in Seattle. I've been dancing and practicing my violin, researching and catching up on emails, eating and over sleeping, and failing to get together with all my friends like I should. I will soon change that though because starting on Monday it will become a friend frenzy. I'll run myself ragged again going from one destination to another, meeting for lunch, meeting for dinner and meeting for drinks. Don't get me wrong, it will be lots of fun and after I leave, so exhausted I fall asleep before the plane takes off, I'll wish I had more time to spend here and I'll do what I do every time I leave Seattle/Vancouver BC, and that is to promise myself that next time I'll plan more days to spend here so I don't feel rushed. It never happens though so I should take the hint and quit telling myself it will.

The other day I had a nice chance to walk (in the rain) for a few miles. In a brief interlude between the clouds the leaves were sparkling with color and the sun was shimmering off the rain beads. It was simply breathtaking. I only took one picture, but I was probably walking down the street in a daze because I couldn't decide where to look and which picture would represent the view best. In this scenario I usually just don't take a picture at all. But I did take one...see below.

Still more dancing and dining to come. Still more rehearsing and researching to do. Still more friends and folly to engage. And as always, I'll do my best to keep you updated :)