2006 October « femtique

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femtique 9:40 am on October 31, 2006 | 10 | # |

I’d have to say that the Texas Renaissance festival was really awesome, but the camping experience we had was attrocious. The reason I say this, is because it was cold as hell (my teeth were chattering two nights in a row), and I was racially discriminated. Yes people — I was racially discriminated.

I had finished watching the Renaissance Festival at the end of the day, and there was this guy who came up to me and said “Whoa! An afro! How cool! I haven’t seen one in ages” — now, this happens quite frequently, and I have no problem with people admiring my afro (tee-hee). I let him touch my hair, but then he caressed my face in an intimate way that I would only allow my husband to do.

Later that night, Kris and I decided to take a walk. No one wanted to say hi to us, and every time I said “hi”, people rolled their eyes and snickered at me. Okay, but that’s not the worst part. The worst part I have saved for last, is that I saw this guy again while Kris and I were trying to get some free food. I said “Hi there, it’s me — the woman with the afro!”. As I proceeded to shake his hand, he slapped it out of his way. Then about 10 minutes after that, he went on a 15 minute talk about how he didn’t have a problem with race, because he’s colorblind, but then he said this out loud in front of about 10 people right in my face: “When I first saw you with your afro, I thought ’she looks like Halle Berry or Janet Jackson and I’d like her to suck my dick’ “. Yes ladies and gentleman, you read this correctly. Not only was he racist scum, but he was sexist too! Oh, goodie.

When I got back to camp, I cried my eyes out for the violation that he had done to me. Kris was right next to me at the time when the discrimination occured, but he didn’t say anything for fear that there would have been a fight, and he didn’t want either of us hurt. I was pissed off at first that he didn’t defend me, but later I understood all too well what he was talking about.

Other than the racists that I had to deal with (that’s only one of the stories), the Texas Renaissance Festival was a lot of fun. I’ll be uploading pictures when I get home tonight from work.
femtique 10:18 am on October 27, 2006 | 1 | # |

Thanks for the tip and coverage Rachel. Click here to view Rachel’s post about it or click here to watch the video.
femtique 10:32 pm on October 26, 2006 | 5 | # |

I don’t have too much experience teaching vocal lessons (I’ve only done it one other time), but I’m not too shabby. I’ve always been a performer, but rarely a teacher. Ha, I’m too shabby on the performance part since though since I really suck at acting all together.

I am a decent technique instructor though. When I mean technique, I mean training the individual to sing in the bel canto style. I have had four instructors teach me (actually six). Out of the six, I feel that three were excellent (and prominent). I’ll save the details of the professors for another day.

The whole reason why I even bring up voice lessons is because I’ve been giving voice lessons to my best volunteer’s sister for a month and a half. The voice lessons she would have had to pay for would have costed $60 for a half hour. That is absolutely ridiculous. No public school should charge that much money for private voice lessons. I’ve discussed this with several colleagues of mine at the Moores School of Music here at U.H., and their mouths dropped when I told them that it was that much. Suffice to say, they weren’t pleased. Neither was I, and that’s why I teach her.

My student’s ethnicity is Mexican / Ecuadorian. She claimed that she was tired of rich white girls at her school who could afford the private voice lessons outstaging her. Hell, I’m tired of rich white people thinking they can buy whatever it is that they want out of life and snicker at people who can’t. I wanted to make a difference and show those upstarts that being white and having money isn’t everything; that they could never afford the lessons that I’ll be teaching for free.

My student has a lot of talent, and a lot of potential. Her voice is light-blue in her tone with a sprinkle of ebony. In the vocal world, we refer to a person’s vocal timbre often in colors. Light-blue represents a lighter voice with some depth. The dashes of ebony signify the dark and rich tones in her voice that are sparse, but do exist.

She not only wanted vocal lessons, but wanted to prepare for a senior recital next year in March. I agreed to coach her. One of the songs we picked together at the music library is called “A Mi Madre” (To my mother). She picked a Spanish song, because she was tired of speaking in every other language of every other ethnicity except hers. I completely understood. I always complained years ago that the songs I sang were always dead white male composers, not black composers or women composers. One day, I just ended up picking out some music from black composers and that was the end of that.

The poetic idea of “A Mi Madre” is:

Everything morning and every night, mother, you give me kisses. I fear that one day you will no longer be here to give me your tenderness. I pray that God will never allow me to be without your kisses.

The composer is Fermín María Álvarez (1833 to 1898):

He was well-known as a composer during his lifetime, excelling in song composition. In fact, his songs are considered the “Spanish leider” of his era, utilizing sensitive text settings, expressive piano accompaniments, lyrical and romantic harmonies. Álvarez was attracted to the finest Spanish poets — Bécquer, Balaguer, Manuel del Palacio, Trueba and others.

Álvarez published “A Mi Madre” in a collection of nine songs, entitled Recuerdos de España – Album de Canciones Originales con Acompañamiento de Piano. This song was composed in 1870.

To listen to the entire song, click play on the audio player below or download this file on iTunes or any other podcast software. The example sung is not me, but another soprano.
femtique 6:36 pm on October 25, 2006 | 0 | # |

Nothing much going on in my personal life right now. Everything is fairly drama-free (thank goodness). However, we are busy and active at the WRC. On Tuesday, there was a pro-life rally held, and here is what I wrote to my volunteers on our basecamp:

Several volunteers and other patrons of the WRC came in today wondering what the WRC is going to do in response to the pro-life rally held today in front of the library and at the UC Satellite.

Personally, I am pro-choice, but I respect the values of pro-lifers. In no way shape or form do I believe that the WRC represent one way or the other. Every person in the U.S. has the option to pick and choose the values that they feel represents their identity. However, it becomes a problem when people impose their values onto others in complete disregard to their values.

I propose that some time next year, we hold our own rally. I think it should be centered around the idea that American women have the option to be pro-life or pro-choice.

The entire pro-life/pro-choice debate divides feminists, and this is not good. We need not work against each other, but work towards a common ground where we can feel free to express our beliefs without tearing each other up tooth and nail. I honestly believe that this is a technique used in our sexist male-dominated society to divide us. We should not fall into this whole “divide and conquer” trap.

Having a rally such as this will educate the public about their options in a peaceful yet powerful way. I am going to add this to the agenda of our meeting Nov. 1st. Which reminds me… I typed up the agenda today, and once Beverly and I finish it up, I’ll be posting it on our basecamp for download. Anything that you might want added on the agenda is up for grabs—just let me know in advance.

Okay, I’m about to hit the books. Like everyone else, I’ve had midterms, and I’m also working on a research project (go figure). I am looking forward to seeing you lovely ladies (and gentlemen) at the WRC soon! ta-ta.

What do you all think about this?
femtique 1:06 pm on October 23, 2006 | 3 | # |

My volunteer Bayan Al-Absy is in this video. Y’all gotta check this out. It’s excellent footage.
femtique 7:39 pm on October 22, 2006 | 0 | # |

I came across a documentary that aired on Oct. 18th about Net Neutrality. I’ve blogged about it earlier this year, and I’m here blogging about it again. Here’s the deal: should AT&T decide the future of the internet and what freedoms we will have? That’s right, I said “freedoms we will have”. Learn more about Net Neutrality and what you can do by watching the documentary “The Net at Risk” for free online now. Click here to watch it!
femtique 12:25 am on October 21, 2006 | 5 | # |

It’s 12:22 a.m. Earlier yesterday we went to TGI Fridays, and it was extremely delicious. I had chicken flavored with some sort of Jack Daniels sauce. Kris had a burger and a long island ice tea. To drink, I had the “ultimate mojito” — or so they call it. That mojito had me so tipsy I had to tell Kris that I would have to wait to watch Grudge 2 for another time. I just told him “Babe, let’s just go home and be with one another”. He then said “Waiter, check please!”. He knows what that means.
femtique 2:24 pm on October 20, 2006 | 2 | # |

Click here for more details. Debbie is a volunteer at the Women’s Resource Center. The link is to her blog.
femtique 12:30 am on October 20, 2006 | 6 | # |

Yes, I finally decided to design (or rather steal) a myspace design. I’ll work on it more eventually. It’s nothing too special. The style is called “vintage”, and I like it a lot. I found out my little brother got on myspace too (little punk). There’s no way I’m gonna be able to stop him. He put down that he was 17, when in reality, he’s 13. What a little punk-ass! LOL.

Here’s the link to my myspace page.
femtique 9:52 pm on October 18, 2006 | 8 | # |

I came across a fellow blogger of mine that mentioned that one of the things that a man wants in a relationship is a homemaker. Now, I honestly think that in a straight relationship (and any other relationship for that matter) this is quite dominating and sexist. It’s like asking the person you supposedly love “Honey, I love you to death, ((knee down, ready to propose…)) will you be my maid…erm, I mean wife?”.

Shit, now what kind of an expectation is that? I’ll tell you what kind of expectation that is — it’s a sexist expectation. It’s expecting a woman to happily accept sexist behavior in exchange for love. Wake up American women, don’t put up with this bullshit.

Now I’ve had entirely too many women tell me “Men can’t help it April, they’re just like that. We need to help them, and by doing that, we need to show them how it’s done”. Now, I’m all for that. Showing a man who does not know how to clean up after himself can be a helpful experience if the man is willing, but it is oppresive if the man continuosly expects you to show him. *Ahem* hellooooo?! Smell a crock of shit? I do, and it’s not pretty.

Numerous wifes, partners, etc. put up with this sort of situation … and it needs to stop. Love yourself enough to pull yourself out of a situation like that. You deserve it.

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femtique

Latest Updates RSS

femtique 9:40 am on October 31, 2006 | 10 | # |

femtique 10:18 am on October 27, 2006 | 1 | # |

femtique 10:32 pm on October 26, 2006 | 5 | # |

femtique 6:36 pm on October 25, 2006 | 0 | # |

femtique 1:06 pm on October 23, 2006 | 3 | # |

femtique 7:39 pm on October 22, 2006 | 0 | # |

femtique 12:25 am on October 21, 2006 | 5 | # |

femtique 2:24 pm on October 20, 2006 | 2 | # |

femtique 12:30 am on October 20, 2006 | 6 | # |

femtique 9:52 pm on October 18, 2006 | 8 | # |

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