Overdue Update

I've gotten out of the habit of updating my livejournal regularly, and keep meaning to get back into it, so here goes. Though this is nearly a month late, the end of 2009 offered some opportunities for reflections about the events of the past year.2009 was full of activity for me, including some important milestones.On the "hard knocks" front:I lost my feline soulmate, Athena, in March after 18 years. Athena had a good life, was very much loved, and knew she was loved. I was fortunate to have her with me for so long. She was one of those rare creatures from whom I felt complete, unconditional love. Not a cat to be stingy with her love, though, Athena seemed to like just about everyone she met and was a great favorite at Vet's offices where she charmed anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her. She could out-stubborn just about anyone, but never held a grudge. She was not a cat who could sit calmly on one's lap; she would put her paws on my shoulder and demand my full attention. Athena was a cat with a capital C-A-T, a true larger-than-life personality that was impossible to ignore. I still miss her very much.I overstressed my knees in March while dancing in an opera, only to find that I've always had rotten patellar tracking due to my femurs being rotated slightly in, and after 40 years it finally caught up with me. I'm still not back to where I was and I begin to despair of being able to do some of the activities I used to take for granted, like strenuous hiking and running. I'm still working on exercises to help work around the problem, losing weight, and doing non-impact activities like swimming. It's getting better, but I'm impatient.On the writing front:I wrote three short stories for TNEO, wrote one flash piece, and started several currently unfinished projects. I also did revision work on my novelette, For the Love of Trees, but have really only gotten to the first third of it. I wrote the libretto for my chamber opera, "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" in late 2008 but composed the music in 2009 in conjunction with a wonderful composer, Meredith Gilna. I directed a performance of this at the Indy Convergence in February 2009.I sold two flash pieces, "The Mouths," and "The True Story of How I Became Real," to Hypersonic Tales. But more importantly, I started submitting stories instead of sitting on them. I racked up six rejections in 2009 and have two pieces I submitted in 2009 still under consideration. That may not seem like much, but it's more submissions on my part than all previous years combined.Related to writing, I moderated TNEO, the Odyssey alumni workshop, which was lots of work but very rewarding. TNEO is something I look forward to every year and won't miss one if I can help it. I get so much out of the critiques and just being around other people who take improving their craft seriously.On the teaching front:I continue to teach voice at Earlham College, the music magnet program at Broad Ripple High, and privately.In fall 2009 I added an exciting new teaching project. I proposed a course for the first-year seminar program at Butler University, where Stephan teaches, and got hired shortly before the start of the semester just when I'd assumed that the course was probably not a "go" because there was not sufficient enrollment to justify hiring an additional instructor. The goal of the seminar is to learn to write, communicate, and think critically about the self, the community, and the world while studying a topic in the instructor's area of expertise. In my case, this means the performing arts! The title of the course is "Good vs. Bad: Morality and Outcome." Last semester we read and watched multiple versions of the Cinderella and Carmen stories (ballet, opera, novels, musicals, flamenco dance, etc.), comparing and contrasting the iconic "good girl" and "bad girl" characters while learning about things like how to construct a thesis. I enjoy getting to combine my knowledge of writing with my music performing background and working with some bright students who are turning out to be very good writers.On the performing front:I've got so many other things going on that I didn't do a ton of performing last year, but I was in the chorus of The Pirates of Penzance with Indianapolis Opera and did some solo work in Bach cantatas at Christ Church Cathedral, in addition to my regular church singing.On the travel front:Stephan and I started the year with a trip to L.A. to visit his son Dan who moved there. It was great to see Dan and get to spend some time in not-too-cold California! We had a nice trip to West Virginia with my family in May, and then a big combined TNEO/Northern New England/Montreal/Worldcon trip in late summer. Stephan and I gave a presentation on our ballet, "The Willow Maiden," at Worldcon and showed some footage.On the personal front:Stephan and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary and 15 years of coupledom. Our new cats, Freya and Narvi, celebrated their first birthday.Emma graduated from college and my mother turned 70, for which we had a great big semi-surprise party.I lost 18 pounds and discovered that this wasn't as hard as I thought (thanks, Weight Watchers).I decided to get a tattoo and worked with a wonderful artist, Laura Black, on coming up with a design.I changed a tire all by myself (ok so that's not a huge milestone or anything, but every time I've had a flat before, some helpful person came along. It's nice to know I'm capable of doing it all by my lonesome).That's most of the highlights of 2009. This year I need to work on revising more manuscripts and submitting them, keeping the weight off, getting my knees better, and getting rid of half the junk in my closets! Oh yeah, and updating livejournal every once in a while, preferably with something short and witty or newsworthy instead of big monster posts that cover lots of topics.