New Opera Fans

When I decided to introduce my Arts group to opera, I wasn't sure of the response I'd receive. Most people were interested and open minded, eager even, to learn about it. After a pre-opera homework assignment, which I used to see what, if anything, they knew and thought about opera, we began. I started by showing the Gilligan's Island episode, The Producer. (That's the one where they perform Hamlet-the Musical.) Two of the melodies are actually from the opera, Carmen. Then we watched those 2 songs from the opera itself. My patients were hooked. Since then we've had two more meetings-watching Act 1, then Act 2 of Carmen, starring Jonas Kaufmann with Anna Caterina Antonacci in the title role. I'm thrilled as my group loves it! They are soooo in to it. One is mad at Don José, "How could he leave Micaëla for Carmen? Carmen makes him do bad things". Another is trying to figure out if Escamillo is a bad guy (whereupon another patient commented that Carmen was a bad girl) and that if Carmen leaves Don José for Escamillo, Don José "will be really angry". I can't wait til Monday, when we'll watch Acts 3 & 4. I can't wait to see their reactions!

Pinterest

I have a new addiction-Pinterest. So what is it? It's a virtual pinboard that lets you save and organize things you find on the web. You can also see other people's interests and repin their ideas onto your own boards.  According to the site itself, "Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests." Pretty cool. I've discovered new recipes and posted things of my own. I get a kick when people discover my things and pin them to their own boards. At the moment I have 15 boards (topics, if you will) and 7 followers (subscribers, you might call them). A good portion of the fun is checking other people's pins and following them to other people and so on-you never know what you'll find and that's part of the adventure. At the moment you need an invitation to join...but if you can get one, grab it and check out this great site!

Learning

I love to learn. I've always said that if I was independently wealthy I'd just keep going to school. I have so many varied interests as well. Time, however, is a bit of an enemy. It seems all I do is sleep, work, take care of the kids, and run errands. I haven't crafted in a while-although I have a few projects I need to start. However, I've decided to take 2 classes. In February I'll be going to the New York Wine & Culinary Center to take a one day class to learn how to make chocolate truffles! I've also applied to take part in an online writing course: Kiss Me or Kill Me: Writing Cozy Mysteries 101 for Romance Writers. Linda O. Johnston, a favorite author, is teaching the course through the Orange County Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. I admit...I'm not a romance writer, but I read them, and I'm looking forward to learning.

Psychiatric Journals

The Chief of Psychiatry at work graciously loaned me some of his journals. I enjoyed reading articles from The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry at work last night. I even did the pretest and posttest about 2 articles for CME (Continuing Medical Education). Since I'm not a physician I only got a certificate of participation, instead of the CME credit, but I got 100% on the test. So what articles was I tested on? Long-Term Effects of Preventive Cognitive Therapy in Recurrent Depression: A 5.5-Year Follow-Up Study and Current Prescription Patterns and Safety Profile of Irreversible Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors: A Population-Based Cohort Study of Older Adults.

Negativity on Fanpop

I've just had my second "negative" experience on Fanpop. Not bad since I've been on there a year. On two of my quiz questions a person wrote a comment intimating that my answers were incorrect-"ludicrous", in another one that person wrote, "u suck". Talk about being childish. First of all, if you're going to complain, get your facts straight. I was correct in my questions and replied giving links to the proper answers. Secondly, if you are going to voice a concern over a question, do it in a polite manner-don't use chat speak and resort to calling someone names. It's possible the person making the question made a mistake. I would readily admit it if I had, but I was not in the wrong. At any rate, I commented on both questions, adding links to prove my veracity. I also sent a message to that person to make sure my comments were read. Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered-but I'll try to enlighten the ignorant. When you get something, especially something so insignificant, wrong, just own up to the fact that you didn't know it and you just learned something new.

Paranormal

I've always been interested in the paranormal. Ghosts, psychics, ESP, all these types of things pique my curiosity. I have a good portion of my library devoted to the subject and I have many versions of tarot cards and other forms of divination. I love to read about the subject, nonfiction and folklore-not horror stories. In fact I'm currently reading Ghost: Investigating the Other Side by Katherine Ramsland. I've even encountered a ghost myself, while in college (and no, I wasn't drinking at the time). I also have an interest in Utopian Societies and religious revival in the mid 1800's. The Western New York area, especially around Rochester, was, in fact, known as "the burned-over district" because of the waves of religious revival that passed through the area. Both Mormonism and Spiritualism were born near Rochester, NY.

People have studied paranormal phenomenon for ages. The Society for Psychical Research was founded in England in 1882 with an American Branch formed in 1885. Nowadays there are many reality TV shows featuring ghost hunters, Ghost Hunters, Most Haunted, and now Paranormal State. Personally, I like Ghost Hunters. The lead investigators are actually plumbers-who know all about weird noises! I enjoy the subject-although I'd be scared silly if I encountered another spirit; I think I prefer the research to the actual discovery! I was thrilled to see a Paranormal Spot on Fanpop. (You knew the Fanpop plug was coming, didn't you?!) I added a ton of great links, but no one's rated them yet. Dang! So, if you're interested in the paranormal, check out my links on that site. If you really like them, join Fanpop and rate them! Thanks, and may you only find good spirits!

A Stickie!

It's the little things that make me happy-I just added a stickie from Care2 to my blog. Every time I play it, it makes me laugh. And how perfect for this site! It took me quite a while to figure out how to do it-but hah-I did it. I still haven't figured out how to add my avatar or other icon to my profile, and everything's still posting an hour ahead, but, little by little, I'm learning and figuring things out.