working out for Disney

Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
HouCuseChickie said:
As much as I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt for potentially being on the spectrum, that's a lot in 5 hours. I tend to get nervous in turbulence. That "We're Gonna Die!" probably would have sent me over the edge. At least you got home safely!
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Yeah, I had a bad feeling about him when he asked "Are we almost there?" 90 seconds after the wheels left the runway. No joke. When he said the "We're gonna die!" I said. "Oh my god! Stop!" very loudly. I wasn't worried about crashing but I was sitting at the window doing breathing exercises with a sick bag in my hand because I honestly thought I was going to be sick from the turbulence. Looking out the window usually helps, but it was just white clouds and lights flashing from the plane. I had no reference point, like lights on the ground, so I felt disoriented. The mother loudly starts saying it wasn't that bad, the pilots know what they are doing. I kind of felt she was doing it for my "benefit" because she was so loud. I didn't need a PSA about pilots and turbulence from her, she needed to keep her kid from shouting disastrous things.
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
HouCuseChickie said:
Other than that, I'm just trying to balance things with the girls. I chaperoned region choir auditions over the weekend and after 2 years of this, I officially hate how Texas handles these things. I know processes vary by state, but their methods are horrible for the kids. I'll try and avoid writing a novel, but it was like choir prison with improper warmup timing/allowances, uncomfortable waiting conditions, zero tolerance for practicing, zero tolerance for leaving the room outside of minimal bathroom breaks (not counting the bus ride and 6:45am warmup at our school--- we were there for 9.5 hours!), questionable judging practices, and a concerning approach to audition materials.
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What? So, you just sit in a room for 9.5 hours waiting for your turn? That sounds like a pretty sucky way to spend a Saturday. What concerned you about the judging practices?

That's really great about your sutures coming out. I hope you can get back to your bike rides soon.
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
Hello-

Checking in with a full body strength training workout. I wasn't able to get out for a stroll, as it alternates between rain and mist. I think today is the last day of this, at least I hope. 🤞

I haven't seen the cat since I have been back, but she's probably somewhere trying to stay dry. My guess is that her hunger will eventually win out and she'll be around shortly. I think she was last here Thur or Friday.
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Sans Souci said:
What? So, you just sit in a room for 9.5 hours waiting for your turn? That sounds like a pretty sucky way to spend a Saturday. What concerned you about the judging practices?

That's really great about your sutures coming out. I hope you can get back to your bike rides soon.
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Thanks! Just a handful of steristrips to reinforce things for a bit and then I'll be back to my current version of normal.

As for auditions, the conditions alone (including the grossly inadequate warmups) are a concern. They also play games with the audition materials. Instead of going in with set materials, they are given seven different sets of music to learn, but only one will be the audition. NJ always had set music for auditions. We weren't wasting time on things we'd never need nor were we being stressed out by intentional audition uncertainty. I also feel that the kids would do better in judging if they weren't held like that all day; however, I do have a couple of specific beefs with it beyond that which really calls the integrity of the process into question in my opinion.

(sorry for the novel)
  • My first beef is that Texas does a blind judging. I'm not sure if they do this to eliminate biases or reduce nerves, but the kids never actually face the judges. While I don't want anyone to be excessively nervous, this is performance art and being able to sing around others and in front of the eyes of an audience is critical. Face to face auditions say a lot about a performer's stage presence.
    • There's a girl from our school who is terrified of singing in front of other people. She won't even sing in class and barely sang a note in their fall preview concert. She seems to be OK singing for the choir director, but that's it. She was one of the kids that benefited from the blind judging this weekend. She actually did really well. On one hand, that's great and it should give her a boost of confidence. On the other hand, there's still no proof she'll overcome her fears to even practice around other kids. Why push through a kid who won't have the courage to actually sing?
  • My biggest beef is that all kids auditioning in a single voice part aren't competing against everyone in their voice part at auditions. I suspect they've done this to try and eliminate irregularities with judging biases and subjectivity, but I think the current method increases the risk of underqualified kids being pushed through to the next round. Subjectivity is just a fact of life with art.
    • The process in TX is to split the voice parts in half. So, if there are 100 soprano 1s, 50 are in zone 1 and sing for one group of judges and 50 are in zone 2 and sing for a separate group of judges. Supposedly, the zones are random, but everyone from our school (in each voice part) was in the same zone. The judges for each zone score the kids, but the zone 1 kid scores are never combined with the zone 2 kid scores. They just take the top 20 from zone 1 and the top 20 from zone 2.
      • While it's just an example- let's say zone 1 is stronger than zone 2. Zone 1 may have four singers with scores better than the top 20 in zone 2, but due to the strength of zone 1, they ranked 21-25 and are eliminated from the competition.
 
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
Sans Souci said:
Yeah, I had a bad feeling about him when he asked "Are we almost there?" 90 seconds after the wheels left the runway. No joke. When he said the "We're gonna die!" I said. "Oh my god! Stop!" very loudly. I wasn't worried about crashing but I was sitting at the window doing breathing exercises with a sick bag in my hand because I honestly thought I was going to be sick from the turbulence. Looking out the window usually helps, but it was just white clouds and lights flashing from the plane. I had no reference point, like lights on the ground, so I felt disoriented. The mother loudly starts saying it wasn't that bad, the pilots know what they are doing. I kind of felt she was doing it for my "benefit" because she was so loud. I didn't need a PSA about pilots and turbulence from her, she needed to keep her kid from shouting disastrous things.
Click to expand...
Speaking from experience, assuming this kid was on the spectrum, getting them to stop shouting or saying something is usually easier said than done, especially if they're in the middle of a fear response cycle, like it sounds like was the case here. It's basically like having a bigger, much more verbal toddler in the middle of a meltdown; there is no reasoning, just an attempt at containment. Believe me, I've clamped my hand over my brother's mouth before in an attempt to get him to stop saying inappropriate things...it unfortunately doesn't work; he just gets mad at me and then repeats what he was saying. 🤦‍♀️ On a not-inappropriate but just annoying note, yesterday he talked about parking garages for twenty minutes straight. I don't think I want to see or hear about parking garages ever again.

I would have been more concerned about the kicking of the seat and watching stuff without earbuds had I been this kid's caregiver. That's the not-okay part.
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
HouCuseChickie said:
Thanks! Just a handful of steristrips to reinforce things for a bit and then I'll be back to my current version of normal.

As for auditions, the conditions alone (including the grossly inadequate warmups) are a concern. They also play games with the audition materials. Instead of going in with set materials, they are given seven different sets of music to learn, but only one will be the audition. NJ always had set music for auditions. We weren't wasting time on things we'd never need nor were we being stressed out by intentional audition uncertainty. I also feel that the kids would do better in judging if they weren't held like that all day; however, I do have a couple of specific beefs with it beyond that which really calls the integrity of the process into question in my opinion.

(sorry for the novel)
  • My first beef is that Texas does a blind judging. I'm not sure if they do this to eliminate biases or reduce nerves, but the kids never actually face the judges. While I don't want anyone to be excessively nervous, this is performance art and being able to sing around others and in front of the eyes of an audience is critical. Face to face auditions say a lot about a performer's stage presence.
    • There's a girl from our school who is terrified of singing in front of other people. She won't even sing in class and barely sang a note in their fall preview concert. She seems to be OK singing for the choir director, but that's it. She was one of the kids that benefited from the blind judging this weekend. She actually did really well. On one hand, that's great and it should give her a boost of confidence. On the other hand, there's still no proof she'll overcome her fears to even practice around other kids. Why push through a kid who won't have the courage to actually sing?
  • My biggest beef is that all kids auditioning in a single voice part aren't competing against everyone in their voice part at auditions. I suspect they've done this to try and eliminate irregularities with judging biases and subjectivity, but I think the current method increases the risk of underqualified kids being pushed through to the next round. Subjectivity is just a fact of life with art.
    • The process in TX is to split the voice parts in half. So, if there are 100 soprano 1s, 50 are in zone 1 and sing for one group of judges and 50 are in zone 2 and sing for a separate group of judges. Supposedly, the zones are random, but everyone from our school (in each voice part) was in the same zone. The judges for each zone score the kids, but the zone 1 kid scores are never combined with the zone 2 kid scores. They just take the top 20 from zone 1 and the top 20 from zone 2.
      • While it's just an example- let's say zone 1 is stronger than zone 2. Zone 1 may have four singers with scores better than the top 20 in zone 2, but due to the strength of zone 1, they ranked 21-25 and are eliminated from the competition.
Click to expand...

It seems like they would get a better variety of singers if they mixed the voice parts. I understand why that is your biggest beef. I feel for the girl who won't sing in front of anyone except the choir director, but I know that is an untenable situation as she gets older. I was in the percussion section through 5th gr to 11th gr and I wouldn't play solo in front of anyone. It made me so anxious. I refused to audition to see which chair we'd be in. Because I refused to play, I was always last chair. At least I never had to worry about anyone challenging me for my chair. 😂 The only downside was my grade took a hit. But I knew college admissions wouldn't care if the rest of my grades were good and I wasn't majoring in music. Obviously, if I wanted a career in music, I would have pushed myself more to get over my performance anxiety, but I knew I wasn't. Ironically, my senior year, I made myself try out for a musical and that involved me singing in front of a few people. I can almost feel the relief still when I was done with that audition.
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
StarWarsGirl said:
Speaking from experience, assuming this kid was on the spectrum, getting them to stop shouting or saying something is usually easier said than done, especially if they're in the middle of a fear response cycle, like it sounds like was the case here. It's basically like having a bigger, much more verbal toddler in the middle of a meltdown; there is no reasoning, just an attempt at containment. Believe me, I've clamped my hand over my brother's mouth before in an attempt to get him to stop saying inappropriate things...it unfortunately doesn't work; he just gets mad at me and then repeats what he was saying. 🤦‍♀️ On a not-inappropriate but just annoying note, yesterday he talked about parking garages for twenty minutes straight. I don't think I want to see or hear about parking garages ever again.

I would have been more concerned about the kicking of the seat and watching stuff without earbuds had I been this kid's caregiver. That's the not-okay part.
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My son is on the spectrum and has ADHD, I have been there with the 20 minute monologue with him talking at me about the most arcane and obscure subjects. 😂 The only reason this bothered me is because I was very anxious I was going to be sick in front of everyone and that fear made my stomach roil. I was in this vicious cycle. The first time he said something about getting into an accident. I was like, "OK." But then 10 minutes later, he shouted the "We're going to die." Even though I never thought our lives were in danger, it upset me to hear someone say that and another level of anxiety was unlocked. I blurted out the "OMG, Stop!" I never turned around to give looks. I never complained to his parents through the whole flight. If he had been talking loudly about, say, the Yankees, it wouldn't have bothered me. I just don't want to think about an aircraft crashing while I am in it. lol
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
Hello-

Checking in with an upper body workout and a walk. I haven't been using my lighbox and I can feel it. I usually start mid-August, but I was in my MIL's house. Then we returned and I had covid, then I went to AZ and you need to use it everyday for a few weeks for it to work. I used to naturally get up at 4:30-5AM, but lately I have been naturally getting up later. You need to use the box before the sun rises, so it's too late by the time I am awake. Since I had covid, I am sleeping more hours. I thought about setting an alarm, but my husband suggested maybe my body needs more rest. I still don't feel normal. I am not sick, but I am tired and my appetite is still not there. But that can also be from not using my box. I will try to start Monday. I'll see how I feel.

We are taking the train down to Washington tomorrow. This is our make up trip for when this place was a sick house at the beginning of the month. I keep reading horrific reviews at the hotel my husband booked. It's a Renaissance that's being converted into a Westin and some of the TripAdvisor reports talk about mice in the room. I can deal with construction noise for 2 nights, but mice running around my room? 🤢 No, sir. But my son is coming along and Saturday and Sunday are supposed to have beautiful weather.🥰
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Sans Souci said:
It seems like they would get a better variety of singers if they mixed the voice parts. I understand why that is your biggest beef. I feel for the girl who won't sing in front of anyone except the choir director, but I know that is an untenable situation as she gets older. I was in the percussion section through 5th gr to 11th gr and I wouldn't play solo in front of anyone. It made me so anxious. I refused to audition to see which chair we'd be in. Because I refused to play, I was always last chair. At least I never had to worry about anyone challenging me for my chair. 😂 The only downside was my grade took a hit. But I knew college admissions wouldn't care if the rest of my grades were good and I wasn't majoring in music. Obviously, if I wanted a career in music, I would have pushed myself more to get over my performance anxiety, but I knew I wasn't. Ironically, my senior year, I made myself try out for a musical and that involved me singing in front of a few people. I can almost feel the relief still when I was done with that audition.
Click to expand...

In theory, the best singers in each voice part's zone should make it, but the kids on the bubble are where it gets messy and the flaws in the process become evident. It also always bothers me when school music directors mark off for kids who don't want to audition and pursue bigger things in music. Some kids just want to be in band or choir without fighting for top spots. K's choir director requires all varsity level singers to audition for Region/All State without any consideration for who wants to do more with their voice and who really stands a chance. This approach is surely why Region/All State in TX has such a massive number of audition participants. Directors are bringing 30-50 kids per school vs. only sending their top performers/voices. I can only imagine the relief you felt when your audition was over. I firmly believe that not all singers/musicians are performers. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that either. Plenty of people love music and love to sing without any desire to be up in front of a crowd.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
HouCuseChickie said:
As much as I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt for potentially being on the spectrum, that's a lot in 5 hours. I tend to get nervous in turbulence. That "We're Gonna Die!" probably would have sent me over the edge. At least you got home safely!
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Sorry, I'm late with my response, but even someone on the spectrum can be told no. It's one thing to be anxious about turbulence or whatever, but things like kicking the seat or pulling on it, the parents should have kept him from doing that. We've flown numerous times and A really doesn't like the take-off or landing, and turbulence is scary, but he's never screamed that we're going to die, and we would never have allowed him to kick the seat in front of him or anything. That's unacceptable, on the spectrum or not.
 

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