BLAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!
Jul. 29th, 2005 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
candylandIt has been an uber-long week, let me tell you.
Vixie and I went to a conference this week. It's called ICDA--Iowa Choral Directors Association. We got to go on scholarship (which means that we've got room and board in exchange for a small amout of work and a large amount of opportunity). Well, we found out when we got there that the dorm we were staying in didn't have air conditioning. For those of you who haven't been following the Weather Channel, we've been having record-breaking heat indexes here in the good ol' Midwest.
So here's what we've got: RECORD-BREAKING HEAT + NO A.C. = ...you do the math.
But the conference itself was a ton of fun. Great people, both student and professional, and a TON of great information. I learned a lot. My favorite session was definitely the one about what traits make up a "perfect" director. The guy who delivered that presentation talked a lot about piano proficiency. It was hilarious, and we got a lot of good ideas from it. Great time was had by all.
So yesterday, we breezed out of there early to get back to campus for the first of our two music camps, the Show Choir Camp. Vixie and I are working as counselors, along with J-Mack and a couple of other people, Bobby and Jasmine. Well, last night we got our key, and then went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Oh yes, before I forget: You WILL see Charlie. You WILL enjoy Charlie. We love Charlie...
Anyway, today I've been running around, trying to learn dances and stuff envelopes and fun shit like that. It's been okay. We're doing what's called Skit Night, too. Everybody's been assigned a different musical, and they have to act it out in Mime, so the others can try to guess it. It's gonna be fun, I think. My group got an easy one--we scored with Guys and Dolls.
But my irritation of the moment (it doesn't help that I haven't slept much this week, either) is a couple of the counselors. Vixie is all but buried under nothing but office work. I've been assigned to a director, so I'm not really around to help much. But there are Jasmine and Bobby...who haven't done a damn thing, truth be told. And they can't seem to get it through their heads that Vixie needs some help.
I was just talking to them, and Bobby was actually complaining that he was soooooooo tired (oh, poor baby *rolls eyes*) and that they were going to be up until "like, two AM" which is probably going to be true for the rest of us as well, but we'd better not try to make him work before noon (Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?!?), and he was whining that he and Jasmine had been told that their job was to babysit the dorm (which is bullshit, in my humble opinion--if they're there, they should be pulling the same duty as the rest of us), but the directors had been making them do other stuff too--back-breaking tasks, like sharpening pencils, stuffing envelopes, and painting a few dowels to make canes. But here's the kicker: he was saying that he didn't see why they should have to do this if they're not getting paid for it.
I could not hold my tongue. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Bobby, if all you're doing is 'baby-sitting the dorms,' then you're really doing a hell of a lot less work than the rest of us, who are teaching voice lessons, learning dance moves, shepherding kids from place to place, and doing more office work than should be legal, and you're still getting paid the same as us. Quit complaining." He shut up pretty quickly.
I don't know what our director was thinking when she hired two counselors to baby-sit the dorm. Last year, that was simply one of the communal jobs of the counselors as a whole, and we did it in addition to helping with rehearsals, doing office work, and whatever else came up. And Bobby's attitude just pissed me off. God forbid you actually, I don't know, WORK!
*sigh* I'm okay now. The rehearsals are fun, and one of the dances in particular is really cool. The kids are sounding great, and Skit Night tonight should be great. Here's hoping!
Laters,
~ Me ^_^
"Everything you see is eatable. Even I am eatable...but that is called cannabalism, my dear children, and it is frowned upon in most societies."
- Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (you WILL see the movie...)
Vixie and I went to a conference this week. It's called ICDA--Iowa Choral Directors Association. We got to go on scholarship (which means that we've got room and board in exchange for a small amout of work and a large amount of opportunity). Well, we found out when we got there that the dorm we were staying in didn't have air conditioning. For those of you who haven't been following the Weather Channel, we've been having record-breaking heat indexes here in the good ol' Midwest.
So here's what we've got: RECORD-BREAKING HEAT + NO A.C. = ...you do the math.
But the conference itself was a ton of fun. Great people, both student and professional, and a TON of great information. I learned a lot. My favorite session was definitely the one about what traits make up a "perfect" director. The guy who delivered that presentation talked a lot about piano proficiency. It was hilarious, and we got a lot of good ideas from it. Great time was had by all.
So yesterday, we breezed out of there early to get back to campus for the first of our two music camps, the Show Choir Camp. Vixie and I are working as counselors, along with J-Mack and a couple of other people, Bobby and Jasmine. Well, last night we got our key, and then went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Oh yes, before I forget: You WILL see Charlie. You WILL enjoy Charlie. We love Charlie...
Anyway, today I've been running around, trying to learn dances and stuff envelopes and fun shit like that. It's been okay. We're doing what's called Skit Night, too. Everybody's been assigned a different musical, and they have to act it out in Mime, so the others can try to guess it. It's gonna be fun, I think. My group got an easy one--we scored with Guys and Dolls.
But my irritation of the moment (it doesn't help that I haven't slept much this week, either) is a couple of the counselors. Vixie is all but buried under nothing but office work. I've been assigned to a director, so I'm not really around to help much. But there are Jasmine and Bobby...who haven't done a damn thing, truth be told. And they can't seem to get it through their heads that Vixie needs some help.
I was just talking to them, and Bobby was actually complaining that he was soooooooo tired (oh, poor baby *rolls eyes*) and that they were going to be up until "like, two AM" which is probably going to be true for the rest of us as well, but we'd better not try to make him work before noon (Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?!?), and he was whining that he and Jasmine had been told that their job was to babysit the dorm (which is bullshit, in my humble opinion--if they're there, they should be pulling the same duty as the rest of us), but the directors had been making them do other stuff too--back-breaking tasks, like sharpening pencils, stuffing envelopes, and painting a few dowels to make canes. But here's the kicker: he was saying that he didn't see why they should have to do this if they're not getting paid for it.
I could not hold my tongue. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Bobby, if all you're doing is 'baby-sitting the dorms,' then you're really doing a hell of a lot less work than the rest of us, who are teaching voice lessons, learning dance moves, shepherding kids from place to place, and doing more office work than should be legal, and you're still getting paid the same as us. Quit complaining." He shut up pretty quickly.
I don't know what our director was thinking when she hired two counselors to baby-sit the dorm. Last year, that was simply one of the communal jobs of the counselors as a whole, and we did it in addition to helping with rehearsals, doing office work, and whatever else came up. And Bobby's attitude just pissed me off. God forbid you actually, I don't know, WORK!
*sigh* I'm okay now. The rehearsals are fun, and one of the dances in particular is really cool. The kids are sounding great, and Skit Night tonight should be great. Here's hoping!
Laters,
~ Me ^_^
"Everything you see is eatable. Even I am eatable...but that is called cannabalism, my dear children, and it is frowned upon in most societies."
- Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (you WILL see the movie...)