One of the next steps along my path towards the 4-year (maybe 5 year?) goal is to get some experience writing for chorus. I particularly want to get some experience writing for womens chorus. I've been listening to a few things.... if you like, you might enjoy these:

Here's a selection from Kim Andre Afneson's "Magnificat" that I've posted here before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym4sH9VaHbU

This absolutely lovely Magnificat by who??? Isabella Leonarda (1620 – 1704). It's wonderful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFAUae8DRh4

I'd never heard of her, so I looked her up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Leonarda

Anyway, a Magnificat is the end goal, but I'm not ready. Meanwhile, I've been binging on some contemmporary choral writers.

Eric Whitacre; Lux Arumque

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5_LSBuPwXs

Cloudburst

https://youtu.be/0Zqp0OpzMAI?si=xQjO5gcoHkjsJ-vi

Ola Gjeilo

A Dark and Luminous Night

https://youtu.be/1q8TGE6xRRg?si=2wCKRDpAf4smjhH6

Hardangerfjorden from "The Road"

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eric+whitacre+lux+aurumque

What pushed me to start though, was stretching in the gym and listening to a pop song about dreaming about being in Spain. So I've taken a first stab at writing lyrics. I honestly don't know how I feel about these, but here goes.

=========

I Dream of Caledonia

I dream of Caledonia,
Where the forests meet the sea.
I dream of Caledonia,
From Dunoon to sweet Dundee,
With the lochs so blue, and the forests green
As far as you can see.

I dream of Caledonia,
My homeland calls to me.

I dream of Caledonia,
Of the rising of the hills.
I dream of Caledonia
Where the circling hawk does shrill,
Cry out and call this heart of mine
To wing me homeward, bound.

I dream of Caledonia
My homelands hallowed ground.

I dream of Caledonia
Of the mountains dark and sheer,
I dream of Caledonia
In the summertime of the year;
Of her springtime flowers and her winter snow
She calls to me, and I must go.

For I dream of Caledonia…
I dream of Caledonia…
She calls and I must go.

============

We shall see.

*nods*. He was a very cool guy.

cool .

*smiles*. I have a million. Weird and funny. If something weird doesn't happen while I'm on vacation, then we must not have gone on vacation. *Laughs*.

Residence - Living Room
Wanda nods, stretching a little and standing up to do so.

"That was some marathon!"

She chuckles a little, before looking over at Tony with a sort of ... half-shrug.

"Hard to say. It's also possible they come up with things we've never even heard of before."

She'll look back to you with a small nod.

"Yes please. And hopefully the short way back."

Via portal. She grins and then looks to Tony once more.

"Thanks for the snacks and all.

... But yes, another trip back sometime soon. We have a lot of data to go over in the meantime. And I'm also curious what else there is there."

She'll look back at you with a smile.
And assuming you grant her wish, even if she has to bat her eyelashes a little at you, we'll hop back through a portal to return home for the night. Some strange dreams probably in store for us given the marathon of movies we just watched.

(lp)

*smiles*. My grandpa was great. Spent hours identifying rocks with me in the back yard

Looks in before bed

Smiling at your fun stories…childhood memories

out

looking in

Underground Clubs
Of the faces around here, he spots a few telltale signs of gang symbols. He's worked on them all. His clinic was neutral ground and he denied no one, as long as they followed the rule. He'd patch anyone up, but no weapons and no military cyberware. He won't attach something that could kill someone. A few rare exceptions. Free. She reminded him of Sara. He felt compassion for the situation. Everyone has lines they might cross for certain reasons. The people he spot across the way aren't patients of his. They're cybered up to the gills, and not his work. The types that come out at night. The ones that dwell in the underground and dredged spaces of the foundation of this city. He'd keep his distance. Not his biz.

I see

Wring

*laughs*. At least I didn't wrong it's neck. My grandma did that, and my mom yelled at her because I saw it. And honestly, I couldn't figure out what she was doing!

Residence - Living Room
"I think so too."

But she yawns now. It's late. It's been many hours. That was a lot of movies, even if they are relatively short.

"But it's probably about time to call it a night for now."

Or morning

???

On a long ago vacation in Maine, I was climbing on rocks at the shore to retrieve a six-pack we had left in a tidal pool to keep cold. When we left it there, it was easily reachable, but the tide had come in and now it was a bit treacherous. When I was bent over, reaching down for the beer, a wave snuck up behind me and knocked me off the rocks on which I was standing, on to some other rocks that were less friendly. The result was a substantial gash in my thigh, that bled profusely. As my leg was already wet from landing in the water, the blood spread quickly all over my leg, making it look much worse than it was. As we did not have sufficient first aid supplies to deal with it, the decision was made to take me to the ER at the local hospital. While our car was parked nearby as the crow flies, my inability to fly meant I was going to have to traverse a narrow path up a 50 foot cliff to get to it. I found that as long as I didn't focus too much on the appearance of my blood-soaked leg, the climb was manageable, and we were off on our way to the hospital where I didn't bleed to death, needing only butterfly bandages rather than stitches to close the wound.

Motherplucker

*smiles*. I always had a soft spot for the critters though. Except the snakes. They scared me.