L'ospitalita` all'italiana all'Opera.

This is a pleasant aspect of PDX Opera culture. Our GD is of Italian descent and really embraces the hospitable nature that is often attributed to central and southern Italians. As a result, we have a lot of functions that involve food and drink; or maybe it's just that we incorporate food and drink into so many functions.

I have mixed feelings about the commestibles at company events. I enjoy consuming them, but I dislike preparing and serving them. Guess who frequently prepares and serves at  opera  events?

How to remedy the role I play in an upwardly direction . . . I know the job I want, but I am not doing anything in a way that would recommend me for the position.

Back to the opera's hospitality. I really do attribute this to Cristo. He can be curt and dismissive, but he is also warm, generous, and welcoming. He likes to mingle with his employees at company parties. He espresses himself easily and humorously. When I first met him, he reminded me of Jon Stewart: the nose, the accent, the mannerisms. I really wanted to laugh, but I had the common sense not to.

He questioned my interest in the position I sought. I don't think I understood that "coordinator" basically meant secretary or assistant. Add to that my desperation to get a job with health insurance and a living wage, and the Artist Coordinator job looked like an oasis in the poverty desert.

Now that it is almost 2 years, I have got to change my position. I have to move up or move out. I just am not sure exactly how to go about it with the most chance of success. If I wait too long, the fact that I have a Ph.D. will mean very little. I could put together a plan for Peter. Propose to bring in 10 new camerata members in the first month. Speak to a bunch of organizations, write a bunch of grant applications,

Murder at the opera

I don't know much in real life about crime, criminal procedure, or slang. I read detective novels and watch police shows on TV, so I can get along in expressing the ideas of a crime scene. How about a series of opera novels: Murder at the Opera, Romance at the Opera, BDSM at the Opera, Larceny at the Opera, Flagrant Disregard for Recycling at the Opera, The Bicycle Brigade at the Opera, Pimpin' My PR Coverage at the Opera; Animals at the Opera, The Hierarchy of Homo- and Heterosexuals at the Opera, L'ospitalita` all'italiana all'Opera.

I have written ten possible works. I shall choose a title and construct a work based upon it.