Stop the Presses!

Whoa.

I'm sitting here on my couch, watching the Boston Pops 4th of July concert on TV. This is slightly weird, seeing as how I live in Boston and could have simply gone to the concert. But I was out all day at a cookout with the Burns family (who lived up to their name by wearing very little sunscreen, but were very welcoming and showed it by making fun of me just like my own family would).

Hey, they're using real cannons in the 1812 overture! There are army artillery guys out there on the Esplanade firing away, in time and everything. Awesome!

I can hear fireworks from my window.

Both those statements were tangential.

What got me online was a series of close-ups of one of the trombone players with the Boston Pops. I played in orchestras with this guy in high school! I Googled to make sure.

So, mild bummer, watching a professional orchestra play, since that's the life I left behind without having seen the fulfillment of my aspirations. But now I'm not bummed; I'm a bit stunned. See, after Googling my old section leader, I decided to give my email one last check before leaving my laptop behind for a week (I'm going out of town to a dancey kind of theater camp -- have I mentioned that?). Not much to see in the Inboxes. But new in the Spam folder...

"House Team Notification"

I made it onto a student improv team! I had resigned myself to not making it this go-around. I was even appreciating how God wasn't rushing things, and had moved on and was looking forward to my life in other ways. Now I have to shift gears back. But I think I'll live :-).

A mild hiccup, because this is real life: I'll miss the first rehearsal because I'll be out of town. But I doubt I'm the first person that's ever happened to. Assuming they don't relieve me of my place because of this conflict, when I return I'll be gearing up to be not just an improv student, but an improv performer! Woooooooo! I'm not onstage with a world-class orchestra like my old colleague, but I'll have a different stage.

Hey, this means that those of you in the Boston area can come see me! Let me know if you're interested.

Neil Diamond and Sweet Caroline now.

Sweet, indeed.