Well, it's been another thousand years or so, but here's a ✨𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒 𝓊𝓅𝒹𝒶𝓉𝑒✨, because I've been up to some interesting stuff.
First, I had the honor and privilege to perform a role in a new chamber opera about Mary Anning, the paleontologist. I was lucky to be referred to the composer by my Boston Baroque friends, and I got to sing the role of Molly (Mary's mother) in the prologue, then the role of Elizabeth (Mary's friend) for the remainder of the opera. The role of Mary was sung by my good friend and colleague Aurora from Boston Baroque, and another Boston Baroque singer, Daniel, played the role of Doctor Buckland. The composer, Jon Mitchell, was a delight to work with, and by the end of the show, I had gifted trilobites to folks to commemorate such a fun show.
It's not often that I get to take part in something that sits at the intersection of two of my pretty specifically nerdy interests (in this case opera and fossils), so it was an incredible opportunity. We presented the opera in Franklin, MA, on the afternoon of Sunday, June 9, to a full crowd. The ladies at the venue were even kind enough to let me eat a dinosaur cookie from the bake sale during my break in Act II. It was a tremendously fun time and I'm so glad I got to be involved in it!
The next even remotely noteworthy thing is that the morning of Monday, June 10 (yes, the morning after the opera), I went back to the hospital on my own terms and got a total abdominal hysterectomy. I've dealt with a lot of regular pain in my life, and this was something I had been seeking for a while. It turns out I had endometriosis in addition to the fibroids I already knew about, so although the surgery was pretty intense, I am so excited to live my life free of that pain going forward. Really exciting to be doing things for my health to actually make my life better and not because it's life or death!
Here's a gallery of pictures from the chamber opera if you're curious
Your photo captions are hilarious to me.
I hope your surgery recovery goes smoothly. ♥️