Well, dear readers, I am writing these here notes with the New Word. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I am writing these here notes with the New Word. You see, I had the Old Word and heretofore wrote these here notes in the Old Word, since 2011 when the Old Word was the New Word. But that New Word is now the Old Word and there is a New Word. Several weeks ago, whilst experiencing some issues on the computer, I called Apple Support and at some point the tech asked me if I had Office for Mac on the computer and if so was it 2011. I said yes, and he said that is no longer compatible with the new Mac OS called High Sierra. He strongly recommended upgrading to the New Word, the new Office for Mac. It seems that a lot of Mac users who have the Old Word have been experiencing problems. But I didn’t want to.
But yesterday I was having yet more problems – probably unrelated, but I finally decided to get the New Word. I made that decision around seven-thirty last night. I went to the Microsoft site, initiated a chat and discussed the various approaches. One could purchase Word 2016 for a flat fee, but with only two weeks of support, after which you’d have to pay if you had problems. Also, while updates would be available, upgrades to newer issues would not. The alternative was to pay a yearly fee for a whole different kind of thing – unlimited support, a terabyte of space in some kind of Cloud thing, and always getting the latest version. It was fifty bucks cheaper and only twelve dollars a month, so I opted for that.
Thus began the Ordeal of the New Word. We downloaded the new Office for Mac suite and that was relatively easy. At that point we were doing this stuff whilst on the telephonic device. She talked me through various things. Once it was fully downloaded, we opened it and there was the New Word. A bit different looking and I literally could not figure out where anything was or why my documents were opening up very small causing me to drag them to the size I’m used to. It took over an hour to get all that the way I wanted. It still looks a bit different, but I knew I’d just have to get used to it. Then I got the Old Word out of the dock. I got off the phone, hoping I’d have no new issues. But of course I did. After getting a few documents to the size I like, I closed them and reopened. And they opened small again – I did that several times, always saving, but always with the same result. So, I finally Googled and found the solution, which I never would have thought of – quite easy, though. You get your document to the size you like. Then you open a new document and get it to that size. Then you quit Word and relaunch and voila, all your documents open at the bigger size, so that problem solved. What’s not yet solved is, with the Old Word, whenever I shut down and relaunched, any documents that I was working on and which were minimized in the dock would automatically open. That isn’t happening and I haven’t figured out how. However, if you right click on the Word icon in the dock it has all your recent documents listed there so you just open from there. But I’ll do further research. So, much of my day and most of my evening was spent dealing with that stuff.
Prior to all that, I’d slept seven hours and got up at ten. Once up, I did all the usual morning things – answered e-mails, had telephonic conversations and began yakking with Apple Support. At three-thirty we had our first Kritzerland rehearsal, which was really fun, even though we only had three of our five cast members. First up was Daniel Bellusci – we ran his three numbers – Not While I’m Around from Sweeney Todd, a What If, and finally Monster Mash, which is really going to be funny.
Then came Robert Yacko and we ran his three – first The Brain from Planet X, which he does great, then The Mist from Dracula, then finally the novelty song Everybody Wants to Be Sondheim – of course my close personal friend Guy Haines did a recording of it with a wonderful orchestration by our very own elmore. Then it was Sophie Ullett, a newcomer to us. I didn’t know who she was, but Richard Allen, our MD, mentioned that Adam Wylie, who did a Kritzerland a few months ago, had a wife that sang. I saw some video and asked her to do the show and she’s just terrific and beyond that a delightful person – upbeat, fun, and with great energy. She ran her three songs – Who Killed Teddy Bear, When I Fall in Love, and Defying Gravity, all sounding great. Today Peyton rehearses over at the Group Rep an hour before we begin the Carol Christmas rehearsal. Sharon McNight will be with us on Thursday.
After that, I went to the mail place and picked up one package, did some banking, and then went and had a Cobb salad with ranch dressing. But I’d felt queasy all day and while the Cobb was good, I just made the decision that after giving this stupid Keto thing one week I was done with it. I think I may even have gained a pound rather than lost the eight that people brag about. Well, they’re either lying or delusions – no one loses eight pounds in a week, even if they eat nothing. These diets, whether Atkins or South Beach or this one are all shams. I was willing to give this a go just to see if I could shed some quick pounds, but the thing is on these kinds of stupid diets you don’t feel good – you feel logy and nauseous all the time and nothing tastes good or even if it does you feel nauseous an hour later. It also doesn’t do good things to your system.
So, I went to Gelson’s and celebrated with a piece of cake and a bagel and cream cheese. They were great. From here on in, I do what I know works – counting calories and exercise. That’s all that works. Eat what you want but just make sure stick to 1200 calories a day. What those calories are does not matter – if one day you want to have ice cream, cake, some bagels, all totaling 1200, then that’s what you do.
Once back home I listened to the second opera of Kafka’s The Trial, this one by Philip Glass. I’ve enjoyed some Glass but his minimalism gets tiresome after a while – his film music actually avoids that pretty well. But I’m afraid his take on this story doesn’t really work. The music is just repeated up and down the scale chords, his usual thing, with a bunch of singing of notes with no particular melody or point. It was certainly interesting to hear, but I really prefer the Gottfried Von Einem version, which I’m listening to again right now. And I have one more version to listen to. Oh, and I made a stop at Staples for more printer ink and four reams of paper in a box. A heavy box. And when I was lifting it out of the motor car, I seriously pulled something in my lower right back. I stretched it out pretty well, even though it was very painful. It’s a bit better now.
Today, I’m going to relax until it’s time to mosey on over to the Group Rep. Prior to that, I’ll eat and hopefully pick up some packages. At six, Peyton will run her solo and then her duet with Guy Haines. And at seven we start our A Carol Christmas journey.
The rest of the week is more of the same – music rehearsals, the second Kritzerland rehearsal, then our stumble-through, and then our sound check and show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, relax, eat, hopefully pick up packages, rehearse with Peyton, and then have our first music rehearsal for A Carol Christmas. Today’s topic of discussion: Who were the first conductors you were ever aware of – in classical music and musical theater – those names that you took notice of for whatever reasons? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, getting used to the New Word.