The Singing Librarian’s ‘To Do List’
My concert season is coming to an end, with one having been cancelled, one already over and two coming up this weekend, leaving only an excursion on 4th August to look forward to. This means that with no rehearsals, no studying and no Sunday School to prepare for, I have that strange and wonderful thing called time on my hands. But what am I to do with it?
Answer Reed’s questions. For the interview meme that all the cool bloggers are taking part in, don’t you know. I am still pondering a couple of the answers, and will hopefully post them tomorrow.
Move house. I’ve gone and got myself on the property ladder, only I’ve bought a dental surgery with three friends and we’re in the process of turning it back in to a house. We have knocked down walls, put in a new bathroom and ordered a new kitchen. We are now trying to extract a quote from a builder so that we can make sure the place doesn’t fall down and make it possible for all four of us to move in by the beginning of September, at which point I must have left my current abode. And there’s the small matter of packing everything up and transporting it across town…
Read. My pile of books to be read is growling angrily from the corner and demands to be reduced. So reduced it shall be. First is The Moonstone, my next book group book, which I really ought to have picked up long ago since The Woman in White is one of my favourite novels. Then the books that people have blogged about which I have subsequently picked up. The Lies of Locke Lamora, courtesy of Helen and The Night Watch, courtesy of Sol. Then, if I get through those three without getting distracted, the rest of the pile which ranges from Homer to Neil Gaiman, taking in Eco, Irving and sundry others in a bewildering mix of styles and genres.
Sing. I am determined to add some new items to the repertoire of songs I can sing. I may never perform them to anyone, but I’m sure it will be good for me. So I shall attack Jason Robert Brown’s ‘King of the World’ for power, Sigmund Romberg’s ‘Serenade’ for high notes and romantic loveliness, Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Marry Me a Little’ for drama and Lerner & Loewe’s ‘C’est Moi’ for comedy (if I can pull it off the way I’d like to), which is as about as diverse a range of songs as I can manage. I expect I’ll lose at least one of the battles and may well drive the neighbours insane, but the fight should be entertaining.
Breathe. I haven’t got much leave over the summer, but I shall try to spend at least a couple of days out in the countryside or on the sea front, going for a walk and then just sitting. Well, sitting and reading. I need to relax, enjoy this wonderful county, take in the air of the sea and the fields and switch off.
I think that should keep me busy.
The Singing Librarian Talks 
Ooh, I’m still raving about The Lies of Locke Lamora. I’m on the look out for the sequel now.
Your new house sounds so cool! When we moved a few years ago we didn’t hire a removal company and just did five billion trips across Sydney in the car. It worked out OK because we didn’t have much furniture… but hauling my books took several trips.
I hope you’re having a good summer.
I hadn’t realised your new house was such a project. Sounds fab indeed.
It’ll be interesting to see what, if anything, you make of the Night Watch when the time comes.
Project and cool and fab are all appropriate words! It’s a Georgian property with a 20th century extension at the back, so it’s all high ceilings, sloping window sills, creaky floorboards and beautiful fireplaces, with a wonderfully airy open plan bit (now that we’ve knocked all the stud walls down) at the back. It’ll be a fantastic place to live when we’ve finished.