I got a job! Hurrah!
I got a job as a singer! Hurrah!
With Vancouver Opera!
Next year, I will be traveling to hundreds of schools around BC singing the part of Prince Tamino in a condensed version of The Magic Flute!
I am so very excited. I couldn't tell anyone for a few days, I had to keep it "under wraps"... But of course, I told my parents. Here is an excerpt from my conversation with my father:
"Dad! I got a job!"
"You already have a job"
"I got a job as a singer! I'm going to be in the Vancouver opera Touring Ensemble next year!"
"Will you leave the Passport Office?"
"Probably"
"Oh no, you can't do that. That's a great job!"
"But I'm going to be living out a dream!"
"How much money will you make?"
"Oh, about the same as I make at the Passport Office."
"Is that gross, or net?"
"I don't know"
"Well, you should find out...Remember to keep all your expenses. We'll have to develop a tax strategy. By the way, why haven't I received your tax return."
(I have of course omitted the sections where dad tells me he's proud of me and that he loves me. They are not nearly as amusing. )
This sort of reminds me of the time my dad told his mother that he got a new job as a superintendent of schools:
"Ma! I got a new job!"
"So"
"I'm a superintendent!"
"How many buildings do you look after?"
Now please remember that my grandmother was a Polish-Jewish immigrant who smoked 3 packs of Du Marier king size a day... SO you should read the preceding conversation with this in mind.
Anyway, because I couldn't tell anyone about my news for a few days, I decided to rent the Ten Commandments to keep my mood up. I love this movie. It is tawdry, it is sensational, it has got everything, including one of the best lines in all of moviedom (Nefretiri: But Moses, I am Egypt). I remember watching it with my grandmother. She would cry. I remember watching it with my mother. She would laugh. I just ogle Yul Brynner. Incidentally, the setting for the Magic Flute is also in Egypt, and Tamino is a foreign prince. So maybe he is Moses? If you ask me my religion, I will tell you I am Jewish. But really, I believe in Cecil B De Mille.
And I am ready for my closeup!
In the words of Seti, so let it be written, so let it be done.
3 comments:
shady pines, ma
we are both odd. There is no even.
Congratulations, Ben! That's fabulous news.
I've been reading your blog for a couple of months now... I save it up like a delicious treat, for those days when I have a few moments to savour it. You're the most amazing writer, which of course comes as no surprise whatsoever.
Ah, Tamino. God bless the child... I never did understand how he could burst into (love)song based on a cameo necklace portrait of a girl. But now that I think of you singing it, it occurs to me that maybe he's singing about the necklace, not the girl. Free the pretty thing from its evil captors! Draw your sword!
And more importantly, enjoy singing Mozart... one of life's great pleasures.
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