Don't Blow This Putt

 

Today is the first birthday I will have spent in the States since 2009 and there is certainly something to be said for being on your home turf.  Every other Sunday here at Blue Lake is the final day of each session, followed by a three day break for the faculty who are returning to teach the next session.  As such, many of my new found friends will be headed out directly after lunch and it wasn't exactly possible to plan some type of party.  Fear not, though… that's what Friday nights are for!

ANY chance to get away from the camp cafeteria is quickly taken and I was lucky enough to find the Hearthstone, a bistro in nearby Musekgon.  Let's just take a comparison of the two, shall we?

Blue Lake

 

 

Cheddar cheese soup with popcorn and cheese puffs (!) / pommes frites; roast beef, goat cheese, and grilled asparagus tartine

 

It really is hard to express how grateful I am for everyone who showed up… all 20 of y'all!  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the group, but someone was nice enough to get a shot of my birthday dessert.

That woman in the background was loooving the singing.  "They MUST be from that fine arts camp nearby!," she was overheard saying.

 

After dinner a group of us made our way to Putter's Creek for some good ol' fashion putt-putt golf and go-cart racing.  I'd love to offer some of the juicier quotes from the game but let's be honest… get a group of adults playing putt-putt and the evening is nothing but sexual innuendo.

One would think I was turning 12 lol 

 

  Lonel (Rodolpho): "We got a Bagger Vance up in here!" ;)

 

Strike a pose!: Tiffany (Musetta), Terrance (Marcello), Ele (our costume designer extraordinaire) and her adorable daughter.

 

Carole and Jolene: comment redacted by Standards and Practices

 

I lost by one point (and only took one McGonagall in the process)!

 

Michigan has been enduring a heat/humidity wave in the last week and ending the evening with a go-cart race seemed to be the most logical way of forcing a breeze upon ourselves, if only for five minutes.

Me, Andrew and David (our director).  From the looks of this picture it would appear I won the race!!! [Shut your mouth David, it's my birthday]

 

I am genuinely touched that so many people came out and apologize for those of you of whom I didn't get a picture.  Thanks to all y'all for a fab.u.lous celebration!!

 

Artist: Bob Baker / Album: Talking to the Ball

Big Brother

 

Along with Jesus and Beethoven, December is also the birth month of my brother, the very one and only second Matthew Bryson Roberts!!  On a recent Halloween post I shared my penultimate favorite picture of us; and, in honor of today, I share with you the ULTIMATE picture…  it pretty much sums up our dynamic to a “t” If I do say so!

J.D.: “Listen to me play a scale!!!!”   Matt: “Um J.D., can’t you see I’m working here?”

 

But let’s be honest: really, not much has changed over the years…

 

Joseph:  “Hai, gia vinta la causaaaaaaaaaa!!”     Dr. Roberts: “Um Joseph, can’t you see I’m working here?”

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Artist: Stevie Wonder / Album: Talking Book

Beethoven Day

 

Though there is no hard historical evidence proving that today is Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday… ye old fount of knowledge, wikipedia, informs me that it is the 16 that is typically celebrated as his date of birth. It’s been quite a Beethoven couple of months for me, actually:  I went to a performance of his 9th Symphony in September with my friend Rachel, and Jennifer and I recently saw Houston Grand Opera’s performance of Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio— a first for me!

SO!!! In much the same vein as my previous Bach birthday post here are a couple of my favorite usages  and machinations of Beethoven’s music:

 

The opening titles to one of my top favorite movies, The Fall (Symphony No. 7, 2nd Mvt.)

 

 

In my ongoing series to eventually post all clips from both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 (Symphony No. 5, 1st Mvt.)

 

And finally, since we haven’t heard from La Voce herself (Mizzzzz Renee Fleming), I figure now is as appropriate a time as any for a video of her singing an arrangement of “My Funny Valentine” set to Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata.

 

 

Artist: Andrew Lippa / Album: You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

Bicycle Race

 

I have mentioned before that I tend to shy away from birthday posts for friends and family… mostly because it sets a precedent and I don’t want anyone getting upset that I didn’t do one for them on their birthday.  There are rare exceptions, however, and they always come about rather circuitously.  So, behold the rube goldberg machine that is my mind:

Monday would have been Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday and Google celebrated with an animated homepage doodle yesterday (putting it off a day because Monday was Labor Day).  Watching it inspired me to make a Queen playlist at the gallery while doing some cleaning and the song “Bicycle Race” came on which then immediately made me think of my friend Heather, whose birthday is, wait for it… … … TODAY!  (The connection being that Heather and her husband, Bo, are avid fans of bikes).  Still following?

First, I planned on putting up the music video for the song until I actually watched it and realized it might not be exactly blog appropriate.  Nothing too scandalous, just nekked people riding bikes and all.  I opted instead for just the audio so enjoy and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATHER!!

 

Heather and I have been dear dear friends since high school and, along with the third part of our trio, Jamie, is basically the reason that I got through high school in Crockett.  Her house was like my second home (she was literally right across the street) and I am happy to count her among the elite of my friends… and you know how elitists I can be!  Also, she had a fan.tastic blog of her own called Lost in Drawers and I suggest you check it out.

So for a quick jaunt down memory lane here are a couple of pictures of us from her wedding a couple of years ago!

 

Artist: Queen/ Album: Greatest Hits I

Bonus!!  For those interested, here is the animated Google doodle:

Family Man

 

After our 12 hour bus ride from Germany to Paris and the 9 hour plane ride to Chicago I still had one more flight to catch until I was truly back in the homeland—Texas, that is.  My brother, Matt, picked me up at the airport in Dallas and I spent the night at his house.

BENJAMIN!!!! (Making his blog debut)

The next morning all of us headed off to Kilgore for my granddaddy Dan’s 85th birthday partay!! My mom and aunt Brynda had been spending mucho tiempo getting all of the guest list, food, decorations etc. together and with over 150 guests it was no small task!  Bonus: It was held at Bodacious Bar-B-Q and I was able to get my first bbq fix for quite a while!

DE-LECKER!!!

 

One of the most amazing things about the party was that there were soooo many pictures of the birthday boy and his family and friends scattered about. Additionally, many of the tables had facts about the different decades in which Dan has lived.

Ah the ‘70’s… I remember them well!

 

A view of about 1/3 of the room.  (Also, I’m pretty sure the collective age of the group as a whole would overwhelm even the most advanced of computer processors!)

 

But what’s a birthday party without a cake, am I right?  Nancy and Brynda didn’t disappoint either with this three-tiered hunk of chocolate deliciousness.

Can we also notice how well the candy flowers on top match the ones on the tables.  Classy touch, Ballenger gals!

 

Mom and Brynda doin’ some cake cuttin’! (Two days back in Texas and I’m already abbreviatin’ my endings)

 

In addition to our two national flags—Texas and U.S.—there were also oil derricks (Kilgore was a huge oil town back in the day) and all of the colleges that Dan helped support over the years.  Naturally I cherry picked the Baylor and University of Michigan ones.  You know what that makes me?… … …

A BUM!!  An educated bum, but a bum nonetheless.

 

I’m not quite sure how he got a hold of it but Luke decided to change his allegiance from Texas A & M to the old maize and blue. 

 

One certain pair of pictures was displayed prominently on the “family” board:  The top one was taken at an airport when we were all younger and then the bottom was an attempt to re-create the first when we all went to London/Paris to celebrate Joyce and Dan’s 50th wedding anniversary!

 

The next morning at brunch we couldn’t help but take another group shot seeing as it has been well over 10 years since the last one! (With Joanie and the great grandkids thrown in for good measure!)

 

Before leaving the party everyone was asked to sign one of two pictures of Dan as a child… here they are!

 

HAPPY 85th GRANDDADDY DAN!

 

Artist: James Taylor  /Album: In the Pocket

PS: While we’re celebrating numerical milestones… this week I passed 20,000 views.  THANKS EVERYONE!!

Climb Every Mountain

 

For my birthday this last Friday the chairman decided to celebrate by taking the group on a hiking tour of the French Alps.  Okay, so maybe it was just happenstance that those two things occurred on the same day, but it sounds muuuuuch more flattering the way I put it.

As far as birthday cakes are concerned, I was fortunate enough to have TWO!  The day before during a rehearsal break I was walking around with some of the orchestra counselors and we stopped in a bakery to get some coffee.  Now, you must know that one of my favorite things in the world is merengue cookies, and this particular establishment had a, shall we say, birthday sized merengue I just couldn’t pass up.

Ummmm… HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!!!

 

Following are several pictures from the hike.  There’s not a whole lot to explain except that it was extraordinarily beautiful and a fantastic way to celebrate my 27th.

 

 

Orchestra staff member (and dear friend) Brian Dunbar taking in the scenery

 

We came across this shelter at one point during the hike:

Brian: What is this, Frodo Baggin’s house? When did the Shire move to the Alps?!?!

 

We stopped at a rest area for lunch and enjoyed this view while picnicking:

The rest area… we have the same birth year!!!

 

NATURE!!!

 

We also managed to find some fresh (albeit tiny) strawberries

 

On one of the trails there was a tree trunk that had been carved into a "throne” of sorts.  Now how could I pass a chance to sit in it…

Birthday King!

 

I mentioned earlier that I had two birthday “cakes,” the first being my ginormous merengue and the second when we got back to Villard-Bonnot for dinner:

Bon Anniversaire, indeed!!!

 

Artist: Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II/ Album: The Sound of Music

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

 

I have been lucky enough to spend my birthday these last two years on tour in Europe.  Last year, if you may or may not remember, was spent in Lubeck, Germany… where I started the day with a vitamin C filled shot of Fanta “Plus” deliciousness given to me by Sabrina.  Let’s look back on that moment, shall we?

NTP!!!

 

This year, the “demur,” brunette Sabrina thought she’d be a little more tour appropriate and surprised me with this buh-mazing deliciousness:

Sabrinta Clause is my new favorite mythical gift giver!!!

 

So here’s the back story on why this is so amazing.  Those seven years ago when I went to visit Mallory in Maastricht she not only introduced me to real Belgian waffles but to the heaven that is Speculoos cookies.  Originally made during the Christmas holiday season (the spices involved are cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg), they have become available year round in recent decades.  Up until a couple of years ago, however, you could only get your fix in the form of a cookie. 

 

As my host mother explained, there was an invention competition in Belgium and the winning idea ended up being a woman who created a Speculoos paste (like peanut butter) which then snowballed into a lot of other Speculoos flavored items, like the Cote d’Or chocolate you see above as well as…

ICE CREAM!!!!!

 

And yes… I did try every variety I could get my hand on.  The best, though, was when Vera brought out her Speculoos mousse/custardy deliciousness of a dessert:

I’m actually surprised there was even a chance to take this picture given how quickly I inhaled it.

 

What a fantastic early (and unexpected) birthday treat from Sabrina!!  Full disclosure, I am about a whole city behind on the blog and though I have just gotten back from spending my 27th hiking in the Alps you won’t be hearing about it until a bit later… next blog stop is Eberbach, Germany!

 

Artist: Princess J./ Album: Overnight Success