this is one reason for not many posts lately...

I'm intense on three big projects right now, and they are taking a lot of time.

I'm doing a two-day workshop Aug. 4-5 that takes a lot of planning. As a matter of fact, I discovered long ago that a 6-hour workshop usually takes between 48-60 hours of planning and you can't do it all at once. With this one being two six-hour days, that means 96-120 hours of work. It's one reason I'm so expensive when I do this kind of work.

A friend has a recital of his music coming up two weeks later (Aug. 17th) and I volunteered to do the publicity, press, and program for it. He's premiering a one-act opera-in-progress for the first half of the program that is really exciting.

It's an opera of Saki's (H.H. Munro) short story Sredni Vashtar. If you've never read it, you're missing a treat. It's barely three typed written pages in length and has so much symbolism in it about the changing of the guard between Victorian & Edwardian England and the struggles of being a colonial power beginning the slide from its zenith. You can find the complete short story here.

I'll be posting information about the concert closer to the date. It's in Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University in Chicago, if you're from around here. Oh, it's also gratis, though we do ask for a goodwill donation for the singers who give of their time and effort.

And, of course, the third thing is my work with H.E.D.A.C. I was recently voted onto the Board of Directors and elected secretary. We are in the planning right now for our big Annual Fundraiser in September. Also, 12 of the communities down in Honduras are in the midst of building the fences around their schools with money that has been donated. Fences are needed to keep the animals out, and I don't mean wild animals. I mean the goats and chickens and cows. See, it is very different in other parts of the world.

oh, yeah, as a result of this, i've started learning Spanish. ¡Hola!

Yes... here comes the pitch...

if you look on the right-hand side of the site or click on the link above, check out H.E.D.A.C.'s website and dig into your pockets. The kids will be very happy to accept your help through a donation. You can send a check or use Paypal. The only thing I ask is that you include my name (Mike) on the check or donation. We have to keep track of donation sources for accounting purposes, as I'm sure you know.

wow! this was a long post to tell you why i haven't been posting as much lately...

Hasta luego...