# OT: How do you guys get to know each other?



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

This is off-topic, but I'm just curious. I've joined this forum not too long ago. I love it, and I've been very active here (as shown by my 600+ posts in less than two months). There are many interesting topics, knowledgeable members, beginners who are well received, no big egos, no fights, no trolls. It's been one of the most rewarding experiences in my long life of Internet posting (some two decades).

It's a moderated forum, which helps a lot. With moderators, it's a lot easier to curb the occasional nasty member who is interested in arguments rather than in friendly interactions.

I have limited myself to the discussion of the topic at hand; that is, opera, an art form I am entirely fascinated and obsessed with.

But this kind of thing always produces the familiar human aspects. When you belong to a community of any kind and you're linked to each other by a common interest (in this case, opera), there is no possibility, from a human standpoint, of just dryly discussing the topic and ignoring completely the personalities and the lives of other people here.

It's like in non-virtual life, when you gather a number of opera fans in a series of lectures or something similar. Soon enough people start to be curious about each other, and they establish friendships, engage in other topics of conversations, etc. After all, we're all humans, and our species is gregarious.

So, being new here, I don't want to step on people's toes and force the boundaries of the established parameters.

But I'd like to know more about how you guys handle this.

Are there off-topic conversations? Probably not, I haven't see any.
Does it happen in private message form?

Why *not* have off-topic conversations, by the way, as long as they remain the exception rather than the rule? When people are linked by a common interest, they may still stray from it from time to time (not too often otherwise the forum would not be the same) and comment upon a major world event, or a matter of personal life (like, for instance, a member here gets married or has a child or gets promoted or fired). One might say - but then, the person should rather join other boards that specialize in those matters. Not necessarily. Sometimes, rather than discussing a striking world event with strangers in a Politics board, people want to hear the opinion of the virtual/pen pal friends they know and trust from, say, the Opera forum.

Do you all get curious about your peers here?

See, I've been here for a short while, but I've been getting to know the people behind the screen names.

For instance, we have sweet Sospiro, such a gentle person. We have Sonata, eager to get to know more about opera as long as her duties as a young mom and wife allow her. We have mamascarlatti, a helpful, kind, intelligent woman from New Zealand (with stretches in Italy and Switzerland, and at least a couple of kids). We have Dark Angel, with an incredible opera purchasing power, plus an eclectic and encyclopedic taste. We have Elgarian, the witty, insightful, mature and polite member who is such a pleasure to read. We have jhar26, who has a calming and soothing personality, and a refreshing clarity. And our outstanding Wagnerian Philly_Chi something (I don't remember the spelling of the screen name). We have our impetuous and spicy Aramis and his colorful posts. We have World Violist and his fine humour;he's the member who is responsible for the fabulous UWP. And superhorn with many interesting contributions. And Herkku with delightful reviews. And so on and so forth, pardon me for not including everybody.

The bottom line of this post/thread is:

Do you all get curious about each other, or is personal information such a slippery slope that we'd better just discuss opera?

I've seen in other boards people start surveys with space for making someone known to others; of course, people usually take care of not revealing any really identifying personal information (these are, after all, anonymous boards).

But questions have arisen in general and appropriately vague areas such as:

What do you do for a living, in general terms? (e.g, financial services, sales, health care, housekeeping, student, musician, etc).

What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?

Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?

What's your own age group?

Where do you live (country, region)?

What other interests do you have besides opera and music?

What other musical interests do you have besides opera?

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?

What are your next goals in life?

And so on and so forth, any other general info you guys may find helpful in terms of getting to know each other and enriching the interactions.

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Anyway, I don't know whether there is space here for this kind of thing.

If there isn't, then this thread will die out, and I apologize for bringing it up, and will be happy to get right back to opera.

It there is, then I'd be willing to reply to my own questions and get the discussion going.

So, I'm waiting for feedback, from members and/or moderators.

:tiphat:


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I think we kinda yell at each other and find out stuff about each other as we go. There's a "Member's Chat" umbrella around somewhere, and that's supposedly where random chatting goes on, but there hasn't been a huge amount of truly "random" conversation going on there; mostly just talk about performance preferences, favorite recordings, etc. with favorite books being the furthest we get from music...

I for one would rather like to see some randomer chatting going on in member's chat, but I'm too cowardly/shy/whatever to do anything toward that.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> What are your next goals in life?


Too many questions! I'll get a nose bleed answering them all. So, I'll answer the most interesting one to me.

I really want to learn to play the harpsichord.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I like off topic chat myself. I know there's a general "off-topic" section, but I agree it's nice to have something like that for the sub-forum. So I'll bite and answer the questions 

1) As you know, I'm married. I have been for six years, in a relationship with my husband for 12 total. (my high school sweetheart)
2) My little boy is six months old
3) I'm 28
4) USA

5) I love to read. Before I became a mom I read all the time. Now it's hard to find the time! What time I would have spent reading I'm now using exploring opera. I will get back into reading though at some point in time when life gets less crazy! Other interests include watching hockey, playing tennis, kayaking (I've only done a little but I really enjoy it), general outdoorsy stuff, and cooking.

6) Other music interests: Progressive metal and blues, other classical music (I don't listen to it enough yet to give you specific TYPES of classical though) I love love love music!

7) Political: Moderate. I try to stay away from politics. I vote regularly, but I really can't stand politics quite honestly.

8) What I do for a living: I work full time as a physician assistant. Primarily family practice though I do also occasionally work in the emergency room as well.

9) Next goals: Well, I've just started hunting for a new job. Almost definitely it means leaving our current community since we're in a rural area and there won't be many job opportunities. This is a very challenging time because my husband and I both love the community. Hopefully in the long run we can at least get closer to our families so they can see my son more. We shall see though.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Well, I have to confess sometimes to being curious about the regular contributors on the forum. It’s a strange relationship, I definitely feel that the most genuinely interesting conversations I have every day are with people I know nothing about and who I wouldn’t recognise if I passed them on the street!

So I’ll share too.

I’ve been married for 17 years and have a teenager and an 8-year-old, despite my advanced age of 50. We started late. I also have 2 rabbits, 2 cats and the neighbour’s cat.

I’ve lived in NZ for 20 years but am English by nationality and grew up in France and Switzerland. I lived in Italy when I was working in marketing for a multi-national company (and how I hated that job) . Now I teach ESOL to migrants and refugees and love my work.

I love reading, knitting, hiking in our beautiful unspoilt bush, and cooking. I got a bit obsessed with Darwin and evolution for a bit but not so much now. But really my all-consuming passion is opera. My kids learn music through the Suzuki method so I’m involved with that. This also means that I send a lot of time listening to the pieces they are learning.

About 8 years ago I started learning piano as an adult but I’m really rubbish at it. I think too much, get uptight and my fingers turn into chopsticks. The plus of all this is that I can now read music and have a primitive grasp of music theory. I sometimes listen to other genres, mainly baroque concertos and Scarlatti sonatas. 

I’ve always been a bleeding heart liberal/Green much to the horror of my staunchly Conservative family. I love NZ because our fantastic political system means that even minority groups have some hope of representation.

My future goals are getting my kids to adulthood in one piece and finding discreet shelving space for my future opera DVD purchases.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Alright, I'll answer some questions... haha. Product of having something to do but not wanting to do it.

I'm a music student. Viola performance, if one can imagine that.

Single all my life, apparently. Weird amongst people my age (and older, I suppose).

I won't even answer the whole thing about kids.

Approaching almost being nearly 20 (18)

Location: Eastern United States (I hesitate to say Kentucky, as I have a rather British-inflected accent for no immediately apparent reason and find it very difficult to do the stereotypical "Southern" accent, though I can pull it off on occasion.)

Hobbies: Books, nature videos/books, Monty Python, MythBusters, religion (though I don't tend to subscribe to any one in particular), reading about weird philosophical concepts, etc. along those lines.

Other musical interests besides opera... Opera is close to my periphery, to be honest, as many here know. Predominantly (within "Classical" music) Renaissance, Baroque, and modern music (bits of late Romantic thrown in for good measure). In more mainstream music, I like Simon and Garfunkel and that sort of thing (guilty pleasure being the Hollies).

I utterly despise politics from the depths of my soul (it's still up for debate whether I in fact have one). There's nothing quite like turning on the TV and seeing one commercial after another ramming another politician while cleverly avoiding saying anything about the politician who "approves this message." It's one of the few things that really get me.

Next goals in life... get through school with some moderate amount of success and possibly change to a composition major or something. I dunno, really.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I'm not an opera fan, but it's no harm in answering these questions.

I am in the education/admin sector but am currently changing my career (doing postgraduate study).

I'm single, no children.

I'm in my mid 30's.

I live in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, Australia.

My main other interest besides music is gardening. Even my reading is mainly centred around classical music, but I find it hard to get through books about anything else (I started reading Camus' novel _The Plague_ more than two years ago, and still haven't finished it!). I'm also into languages a bit, I studied Chinese Mandarin for 3 years in the late '90's, but I've forgotten most of it.

As I said, I'm not really into opera. My favourite genres in classical are chamber and solo piano or organ. I also enjoy orchestral, choral and lieder. My favourite era is C20th-21st. I like going to concerts across a wide spectrum of genres and styles in classical.

Politically I'm in the centre, but tending towards the left. I'm not really interested in religion or politics, these are the things that tend to divide humanity - great music, literature and visual art are things that (can?) unite us & understand one another's cultures in a deeper way.

My goal is basically to get through this degree, which is something I'm also quite passionate about, and change my career...


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

I retired from the 40 hour per week non-music related drudgery 4 years ago. I have been a professional musician for nearly 50 years as a church organist & recitalist. I began that musical career at age 12. 

In my spare time, I help Frederik Magle (whom I met recently in Denmark) with the administrative tasks here on Talk Classical and Magle International music forums. 

I'm male, and married ... have been for a total of 35 years. 

We have 3 sons, ages 23, 27 & 31 ... they all have flown the coop years ago 

I'm 62 years young. 

I reside in the USA - Arizona high desert.

I like to bowl, watch golf, surf the internet.

Although I am not a die-hard opera fan, I do have an appreciation for some opera, like Tannhauser, La Boheme and the like. My other musical interests lie with classical organ mostly ... and some light rock from the 70's. 

Politics make my blood pressure rise, so ... no comment there 

My next goals ... hmmm ... spend more time practicing and composing. There are dozens of musical themes wandering around in my head - I need to get them down on paper. 

Kh


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Almaviva said:


> We have World Violist and his fine humour;he's the member who is responsible for the fabulous UWP.


The UWP will be very interested to hear that. Very interested _indeed_.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

OK, great, apparently the thread took off and people were courageous enough to post info about themselves, including an administrator (which makes me feel it *is* OK to start this kind of thread), yay!

So now it's my turn.

What do you do for a living, in general terms? I'm a medical doctor.

What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation? I've been married to a wonderful woman (who also likes opera, yay!) for one fourth of a century.

Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they? Two, a daughter who is in law school and a teenage son who is a sophomore in college.

What's your own age group? I'm 53.

Where do you live (country, region)? Southeastern United States.

What other interests do you have besides opera and music? Fine wine, gourmet food, world literature, languages (of which I speak four and understand a fifth), sports (American football, ice hockey, soccer).

What other musical interests do you have besides opera? I will listen to and attend concerts of symphonic orchestras but no other subgenre of classical music gets my attention like opera does. I tend to get bored with stuff like baroque music and chamber music, and require the stimulation that a full orchestra can provide. I mean, this is what happens most of the time, but with exceptions - sometimes I do get into other classical subgenres like lieder, violin sonatas, etc. - but the interest just doesn't last as long as my interest for opera. Besides classical, I love jazz, latin jazz, bossa nova; used to like vintage rock-and-roll (but it's been a while since I've listened to it), and occasionally I'll listen to older ethnic/national music like fado, Piaff or Brel, samba, tango, stuff like this. 

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person? Definitely liberal. Even though I share with others here the disgust for the state of our politics, I do participate a lot, to the point of helping in political campaigns.

What are your next goals in life? After I see my kids through the end of their education, I plan to just enjoy my older years with my wife, doing the things we like to do, traveling around. I'm quite satisfied with the way things are right now; I love my job, love the place where I live, and I don't foresee any big changes - should continue to do what I do until I can (I don't see myself truly retiring, I'll probably just slow down professionally, take longer vacations, and so on).


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

OK, I'll bite:

What do you do for a living, in general terms? After working as a manager of orchestras in the UK for 27 years, I set-up my own classical music management consultancy in the summer of 2007. I now look after some of the country's leading chamber ensembles, including a string quartet, a quintet, a percussion quartet, a brass quintet, a piano quartet and clarinet/violin/piano trio and a flexible mixed ensemble of between 4 and 11 musicians. I also now have two leading jazz musicians I do some work for.

What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation? Living with my wonderful partner. We're both heterosexual.

Do you have kids? Never wanted to go there! I'm too selfish and value my independence. And there are already FAR too many human beings infesting this planet.

What's your own age group? I will be 53 in 9 days' time. My partner is 24 (yes, I'm a cradle snatcher - or is she a zimmer-snatcher, I don't know!).

Where do you live (country, region)? Sussex coast, England, UK

What other interests do you have besides opera and music? Isn't opera music (you said opera AND music)?? I'm no opera buff, but I have a thorough and exhaustive knowledge of orchestral and chamber music from all periods (it's my job to know, after all). I also love many other types of music, such as prog rock, jazz, fusion and film music.

What other musical interests do you have besides opera? I love good food and drink (my partner is a chef!), travel and exploring Europe (and also sometimes further afield). And I have an insatiable hunger for trivia. I know more useless facts about unimportant things than anyone I know. Sad!

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person? At heart I am a moderate Socialist. I abhore the greed and power-lust that under-legislated Capitalism always creates, just as I abhore countries/societies that do not care for their people (I'm afraid the 'American Dream' seems more like a horrific humanitarian nightmare to me!).

What are your next goals in life? The same as before - to try to convince lazy and cloth-eared people to open their ears to a WIDE range of wonderful music. And to take the best of what is out there to those who will listen.

Religion: None. I am an atheist who abhores equally all mass, organised religions. It's just SO silly!

There, that's me!


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

At the age of 15-ish I built a telescope, and on looking through it for the first time, I had a kind of epiphany. Certainly it was life-changing: I spent the next few years working towards a life of research in astronomy.

Some years later I realised that I'd made a mistake: that what I'd really wanted to find out about was not how the universe worked, but how we relate to it. So I abandoned scientific research, took a science-teaching job, and bought a set of paints and brushes and some books on art. Five years later I realised that I was never going to be any good as an artist, but I'd learned an enormous amount about how to look, and particularly how to look at art. Pursuing the consequences of that has absorbed me for a lifetime, though along the way I spent some time writing computer games and doing archaeological research in my spare time (my scientific education came in handy, there). My teaching job was fulfilling in its own right, and it enabled me to earn a living and to feel I was making a useful contribution, but from a personal point of view its primary purpose was to provide a base for all the other stuff.

At some point I discovered that although I couldn't express myself effectively in paint, I could write. I started writing articles for magazines and academic journals, and that's been my main creative outlet for the last 30 years - though if I could, I'd swap all of it in exchange for the ability to paint.

I've loved Elgar's music since I was 16, and although I now listen to a wide range of music, Elgar is the only composer that I think of as an old friend - as a companion through life. I'm married with two children, and for many years I've owned a beautiful acoustic guitar which I play intuitively, by ear (rock/pop/folk), and with no theoretical understanding of music at all, but with a sort of pseudo-fluency that sounds better than it really is. And I feel overall, looking back at everything so far, that I'd expected to have a better understanding of life by now than in fact I have. I think life is utterly baffling. All my reading, listening, thinking and looking has led only to a progressively deeper agnosticism (in the religious or philosophical sense). The longer I live, the less I seem to know.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Delicious Manager said:


> Isn't opera music (you said opera AND music)??


Opera is also music but not just music (see my sig).

Hey, by the way, where is my sig? It used to show. I'll try to fix it.

OK, I don't know why the signature shows at times and doesn't at other times, so in any case, to make sure it's there (although it's possible that then it will show twice) I'll copy and paste it here since it does explain my idea:

*"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)*


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Sonata said:


> Well, I've just started hunting for a new job. Almost definitely it means leaving our current community since we're in a rural area and there won't be many job opportunities. This is a very challenging time because my husband and I both love the community. Hopefully in the long run we can at least get closer to our families so they can see my son more. We shall see though.


 Wow, Sonata, you work full time, raise a six month old baby, and still find time to listen to opera! Nice to know you're a PA. Good luck in your next job.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Elgarian said:


> At some point I discovered that although I couldn't express myself effectively in paint, I could write. I started writing articles for magazines and academic journals, and that's been my main creative outlet for the last 30 years - though if I could, I'd swap all of it in exchange for the ability to paint.


Very interesting. This explains why you write so well.:tiphat:


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I quite agree with WV that increasing knowledge about other members comes naturally in time, without any special efforts. But since I have nothing better to do I shall fill this questionnaire, especially since I had a honour to be mentioned in first post. 


What do you do for a living, in general terms? I'm absentee. 

What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation? I'm secret lover of Anna Netrebko and used to be in relationship with Johnny Depp before. 

What's your own age group? I'll turn 19 in one and half of month. 

Where do you live (country, region)? This information is always avaiable in my profile. I live in north-east Poland, city called Białystok where wisents are my neightbours. 

What other interests do you have besides opera and music? None that would be equal to these. But I'm interested in other forms of art that are able to give me something that music does. 

What other musical interests do you have besides opera? Erm, non-operatic classical music? And jazz. 

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person? Conservative. 

What are your next goals in life? To click "submit reply".


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Elgarian said:


> The UWP will be very interested to hear that. Very interested _indeed_.


I know; I read that little thing about myself organizing the UWP and I thought to myself, "Self, you really don't want to be _known_ for that, do you? Not with the UWP running around tracking peoples' mail?"

Good news is, my unwatched count currently equals 1, no more, no less, and I intend to eliminate that blemish upon my record within the next couple of days.:tiphat:


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Reading these accounts people are giving is very interesting, even heartwarming, but there's something that worries me. Here we are, actually _inviting_ people to talk about themselves freely, sometimes quite intimately, and already we have two derogatory comments about 'organised religion'. For some people here, their personal religious standpoint (I include atheism in that) may be the most important thing in their life; it may be the thing above all things that they value; the thing above all things that helps them to cope. And none of us can know best about how other people should go about living their lives.

Please, can we make a real effort to avoid religious intolerance in this thread? There's no faster way to spread misunderstanding and lose friends, and it's _particularly_ important to avoid it because of the personal nature of the invitation to people to contribute here.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

_What do you do for a living, in general terms? (e.g, financial services, sales, health care, housekeeping, student, musician, etc).
_
Wage slave.

_What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?
_
Single heterosexual.

_What's your age group?
_
49

_Where do you live (country, region)?
_
Belgium

_What other interests do you have besides opera and music?
_
I'm a big tennis fan.

_What other musical interests do you have besides opera?
_
Other types of classical music, jazz, pop/rock, etc.

_Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?
_
I don't really like those type of labels because I don't think that anyone is 100% this or that, but I'm on the left side of the political spectrum on most issues.

_What are your next goals in life?
_
Making it through another day I suppose.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Elgarian said:


> Please, can we make a real effort to avoid religious intolerance in this thread? There's no faster way to spread misunderstanding and lose friends, and it's _particularly_ important to avoid it because of the personal nature of the invitation to people to contribute here.


I second this. This is supposed to be a thread to get to know each other etc. and while religion is a factor, I doubt bashing religion is going to do anything in that direction.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Elgarian said:


> Reading these accounts people are giving is very interesting, even heartwarming, but there's something that worries me. Here we are, actually _inviting_ people to talk about themselves freely, sometimes quite intimately, and already we have two derogatory comments about 'organised religion'. For some people here, their personal religious standpoint (I include atheism in that) may be the most important thing in their life; it may be the thing above all things that they value; the thing above all things that helps them to cope. And none of us can know best about how other people should go about living their lives.
> 
> Please, can we make a real effort to avoid religious intolerance in this thread? There's no faster way to spread misunderstanding and lose friends, and it's _particularly_ important to avoid it because of the personal nature of the invitation to people to contribute here.


You're right.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Aramis said:


> I quite agree with WV that increasing knowledge about other members comes naturally in time, without any special efforts. But since I have nothing better to do I shall fill this questionnaire, especially since I had a honour to be mentioned in first post.
> 
> What do you do for a living, in general terms? I'm absentee.
> 
> ...


Secret lover to my Anna, huh?
I hope you're such a *secret* lover to her, that she doesn't know it herself.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Elgarian said:


> I think life is utterly baffling. All my reading, listening, thinking and looking has led only to a progressively deeper agnosticism (in the religious or philosophical sense). The longer I live, the less I seem to know.


Oh yes. Sometimes I'd like to be 15 again when I knew everything and had an answer to everything, or at least I was convinced I would soon.

The only advantage of knowing practically nothing is that there is always plenty to learn and find out, and that makes life worth living.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I was born in Herstmonceux in Sussex which has a beautiful 15th century castle to its name



but I grew up in Uganda. Have spent most the rest of my life in UK but did live for a couple of years in New Zealand.

I currently live in Staffordshire & am proud to work for our local authority in the Education Welfare Service (child protection, behaviour & attendance etc).

I'm interested in nearly all sport (not boxing though) but especially Formula One & have had some fantastic times going to races mostly in Europe but did go to Sao Paulo in 2006. I've spent hours on F1 message boards & they are intimidating places. I developed a thick skin & learned how to ignore offensive posts. I have to say in this forum I've not needed my thick skin at all.

I love travelling and it's so easy now - 'click' hotel booked; 'click' flights booked 

As to the more specific:

_What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?_ My husband died a few years ago & I now live on my own.

_Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?_ My only child, my cherished son, died of cancer when he was 11.

_What's your own age group?_ Too old to be lusting after Joseph Calleja.

_Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?_ Left of centre but not really involved in politics but I do always vote.

_What are your next goals in life?_ To keep lusting after Joseph Calleja.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

> (I don't see myself truly retiring, I'll probably just slow down professionally, take longer vacations, and so on)


That's great. One of the doctors I work with just now retired....at the age of 83. And I think the only reason he did fully retire was because his wife's health is diminishing so he wants to be more available to her.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> Sometimes I'd like to be 15 again when I knew everything and had an answer to everything, *or at least I was convinced I would soon.*


That was it, wasn't it? The expecting to _sort stuff out_ sooner or later. And then we realise that the stuff we thought was sorted wasn't really sorted at all; and there seems to be even more unsorted stuff than we ever thought there was, and so it goes on.

I take my comfort from Socrates, who discovered himself to be the wisest man in Athens because everyone else thought they knew something, whereas _he_ knew that he knew nothing. But it's a bleak sort of comfort. Still, I've sometimes wondered if there's even more wisdom to be had from knowing _even less_ than nothing. If we get stuck, we could always have a go at that, Natalie (he said, brightly).


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Elgarian said:


> Still, I've sometimes wondered if there's even more wisdom to be had from knowing _even less_ than nothing. If we get stuck, we could always have a go at that, Natalie (he said, brightly).


Now my brain hurts.

I think I'll just stick to knowing that I know practically nothing.

I used to comfort myself with the thought that when I died I'd somehow go somewhere and know everything, but even that belief is now denied to me.


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## karenpat (Jan 16, 2009)

I'll join in - I find it difficult to "get to know people" in online forums too, especially when it seems like everyone else already know each other....

*What do you do for a living, in general terms? (e.g, financial services, sales, health care, housekeeping, student, musician, etc).*
Art history student at the moment, but trying/hoping to be a successful painter
*
What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?*
Straight & single

*What's your age group?*
25

*Where do you live (country, region)?*
Norway

*What other interests do you have besides opera and music?*
Art (obviously), making jewelry and other crafty stuff, watching TV, reading
*
What other musical interests do you have besides opera?*
Singer-songwriter & indie, different kinds of folk music, semi-classical music like film scores

*Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?*
I really don't want to get into politics, I don't even know what my opinions are most of the time. But I'm a convert Catholic so probably a little on the conservative side.
*
What are your next goals in life?*
Finishing my bachelor degree in art history and trying to get my foot in the door with as many exhibitions/galleries as I can


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

karenpat said:


> trying/hoping to be a successful painter


What sort of painting, Karen?

*Oops *
Sorry - just spotted your website so I can find out for myself.

*Later*
There are at least a couple of images that will haunt me this evening:

_And She Waited._ It's a disturbing composition, with the top of the face cut off like that, but the effect seems to be to draw the eye back down to the cup. That's the most 'pregnant with meaning' stirred teacup I've seen for a while! And there's something weird going on with the newspapery (collage?) area - it throws the perception of depth out of kilter, and again forces the eye back to the hand and the spoon. And the finger against the face does the same, and so does the strip of pale grey on the left. There's no escaping that hand, that spoon, and that cup.

_Through Tears_ I wonder if my initial (and probably superficial) impression would be sustained in the presence of the actual picture, but this makes me think of late Turner. But setting that aside, it's unsettling, sad, mysterious, and beautiful all at the same time.

Fascinating. Thank you.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Now my brain hurts.
> 
> I think I'll just stick to knowing that I know practically nothing.
> 
> I used to comfort myself with the thought that when I died I'd somehow go somewhere and know everything, but even that belief is now denied to me.


I, on the other hand, know EVERYTHING.

That is, on those days when I forget to take my psychiatric medication.

Just kidding.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> _What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?_ My husband died a few years ago & I now live on my own.
> 
> _Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?_ My only child, my cherished son, died of cancer when he was 11.


Sorry to hear that, Sospiro. But it's admirable that even though you had to face tragedy, you found meaning in life helping others through your job.:tiphat:


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

karenpat said:


> Art history student at the moment, but trying/hoping to be a successful painter


Judging by your web site, your work is very beautiful. I'm sure you'll be successful. Then we'll be able to say - "Hey, I know that painter from the Talk Classical opera forum!"


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

*OK some personal info*

Male, age 54, live in Cincinnati Ohio USA

Own a small business
Financial services 10 person office, very flexible for my free time

College degree as a designer and upon graduation worked in Chicago for 10 years as designer (not enough money) learned the fine art of partying all night and working next day since bars are open till 4-5am

I have huge collection of rock/metal music that I still listen to all the time
Nearly as large a classical music collection
Only a relatively small but fast growing opera collection

Raised catholic but as soon as I moved out from home stopped practicing any formal religion......

More liberal than conservative in social and political issues

I was hoping to retire by now but stock market last 10 years has not cooperated in USA (1990s was great), have many hobbies & interests to pursue, would not miss 9-5 work for 1 second

Besides music & opera
I love collecting high end audio & video equipment, stocks and investing srategies, sport cars, movies especially sci fi, Starbucks and coffee houses in general, collecting swords and misc battle gear, sports especially college football, exploring the vast internet (like here)


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

sospiro said:


> I was born in Herstmonceux in *Sussex which has a beautiful 15th century castle* to its name
> 
> 
> 
> but I grew up in Uganda. Have spent most the rest of my life in UK but did live for a couple of years in New Zealand.


Oh you had me there for a second.......

I thought that was your summer estate and we could all come there next summer and stay in the guest quarters, stroll the gardens after dinner and watch opera in the evening 

Did you stop in and see Mama S for a spot of tea when living in NZ..........


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

DarkAngel said:


> Oh you had me there for a second.......
> 
> I thought that was your summer estate and we could all come there next summer and stay in the guest quarters, stroll the gardens after dinner and watch opera in the evening


I reckon this would be a perfect place for Alma's convention. It probably even has a banqueting room for the champagne and Fledermaus event.


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## Enjoying Life (Aug 2, 2010)

Elgarian said:


> Reading these accounts people are giving is very interesting, even heartwarming, but there's something that worries me. Here we are, actually _inviting_ people to talk about themselves freely, sometimes quite intimately, and already we have two derogatory comments about 'organised religion'.
> 
> Please, can we make a real effort to avoid religious intolerance in this thread? There's no faster way to spread misunderstanding and lose friends, and it's _particularly_ important to avoid it because of the personal nature of the invitation to people to contribute here.


Could you please explain what you mean by "two derogatory comments" and describe how they were intolerant.

One comment was that they thought organized religion was "silly". I don't think the opinion that something is "silly" is derogatory. That is just how religion strikes that person and is a quite valid opinion.

In fact, it I think it is intolerant to stop someone from saying that. If you want the freedom to say that religion is important then we need to let others have the freedom to say they think it is silly.

If we want to get to know people we need to be open to what we will find. I hope we don't have to censor our comments so much that we wipe out our differences. That would defeat the whole purpose of this thread.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I reckon this would be a perfect place for Alma's convention. It probably even has a banqueting room for the champagne and Fledermaus event.


Damn. I had booked this one already, and pre-paid for it. If we change the venue, do you think they'll give me a refund?










I don't know, since we'll be changing, we might as well go for something a little bigger, like this (their ballroom is not bad):



















You know that my first idea was this one, but it turns out that those bummers from the Orchestral Music forum had already booked it for their convention:


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Interesting thread. 

I'm afraid I can't contribute much (I'm in the Top 10 Most Wanted List of criminals down here).


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Aramis said:


> Where do you live (country, region)? This information is always avaiable in my profile. I live in north-east Poland, city called Białystok where wisents are my neightbours.


Bialytok is quite pretty, for a Polish city.

Have you ever had wisent steak? They get very tough when over cooked.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Damn. I had booked this one already, and pre-paid for it. If we change the venue, do you think they'll give me a refund?


No, no don't change the booking, the food'll be better in France and I can have Pouilly-Fumé with my dinner.

Cripes, I love NZ, but I really miss places like that (and Pouilly-Fumé).


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> No, no don't change the booking, the food'll be better in France and I can have Pouilly-Fumé with my dinner.
> 
> Cripes, I love NZ, but I really miss places like that (and Pouilly-Fumé).


Pouilly-Fumé is good. But the new Sauvignon Blancs from NZ are not bad either.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Enjoying Life said:


> I hope we don't have to censor our comments so much that we wipe out our differences. That would defeat the whole purpose of this thread.


I think most people here understand that no censorship is being suggested, but merely a little thoughtful self-restraint and mutual respect: the kind of self-restraint and respect that would be natural among friends with widely differing tastes and opinions, but drawn together by a common enthusiasm, as here.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

> Have you ever had wisent steak? They get very tough when over cooked.


So now we know why you are "in the Top 10 Most Wanted List of criminals down here".


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Enjoying Life said:


> Could you please explain what you mean by "two derogatory comments" and describe how they were intolerant.
> 
> One comment was that they thought organized religion was "silly". I don't think the opinion that something is "silly" is derogatory. That is just how religion strikes that person and is a quite valid opinion.
> 
> ...


I think what Elgarian was saying was not exactly censorship. Basically he said that bringing up incendiary topics and attacking others' positions on them is not exactly the best way to make friends, while self-restraint and mutual respect are better alternatives.

For instance, from accross the pound and in other boards, Americans and Brits have always engaged in an endless discussion about American football and soccer. Americans think that soccer is boring with its low scores and tied games, while Brits think that American football is boring with its many interruptions. These discussions usually go nowhere, and neither side will convince the other. They turn out to be big bandwidth wasters. On the other hand, when people want to strike friendships accross the pound, it's often a lot more productive to say something like "although soccer is not for me since I favor more offensive-minded, high-scoring games, I can understand that people who grew up with it and like the tension and suspense of defensive-minded, low scoring games will feel rather differently about it, and that's fine, different cultures will like different things."

So, it's OK to say how someone feels about religion, but it is not very productive to say it in a manner that puts others down. I believe that this was the spirit of Elgarian's contribution.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Almaviva said:


> So, it's OK to say how someone feels about religion, but it is not very productive to say it in a manner that puts others down. I believe that this was the spirit of Elgarian's contribution.


Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Thanks.


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

To answer some of the questions: I am a 59 year old attorney married to a very talented lady (soprano/piano). We live about 90 miles west of the loop in Chicago so we get in for concerts now and again, but no longer do season tickets for the Lyric.

I started collecting rock, folk and blues at 14; added classical and opera at 18. After all those years of collecting LPs, RTRs, cassettes, VHS, CDs and DVDs I have a fairly extensive collection (including 500+ Live Grateful Dead concerts). I tend to get hooked on my hobbies from competing in triathlons and playing Raquetball (both eventually dropped as my joints started to go), golf (on and off due to aforementioned joint issues), wine (more drinking than collecting at this point due to advancing age and backlog of wines a point) and reading.

But music, especially classical, has remained a constant in my life. Work, yoga, trying to learn French, a good book, lots of music, sharing a bottle of wine with dinner 3 or 4 times a week and an occasional round of golf is a full life.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Rangstrom said:


> To answer some of the questions: I am a 59 year old attorney married to a very talented lady (soprano/piano). We live about 90 miles west of the loop in Chicago so we get in for concerts now and again, but no longer do season tickets for the Lyric.
> 
> I started collecting rock, folk and blues at 14; added classical and opera at 18. After all those years of collecting LPs, RTRs, cassettes, VHS, CDs and DVDs I have a fairly extensive collection (including 500+ Live Grateful Dead concerts). I tend to get hooked on my hobbies from competing in triathlons and playing Raquetball (both eventually dropped as my joints started to go), golf (on and off due to aforementioned joint issues), wine (more drinking than collecting at this point due to advancing age and backlog of wines a point) and reading.
> 
> But music, especially classical, has remained a constant in my life. Work, yoga, trying to learn French, a good book, lots of music, sharing a bottle of wine with dinner 3 or 4 times a week and an occasional round of golf is a full life.


This all sounds like lots of fun, Rangstrom (except the part about the joints, but it comes with the territory).:tiphat:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I agree with Socrates.

I knew everything when I was 17 & now I know I know nothing. I can boil a mean egg though.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> I can boil a mean egg though.


Hardest thing in cooking. Trying to get the balance between perfectly runny yolk and perfectly solid white. I'd rather make a soufflé any day.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I've never felt like I've known everything. It's just a ridiculous thing to think. And after reading Buddhist stuff, I've begun to realize that I know nothing... maybe I'll be the first on the forum to know less than nothing?

...

Hmm... but nobody tell me that when I do get there, because then I'll know something.:lol:


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

World Violist said:


> maybe I'll be the first on the forum to know less than nothing?


Looks like there's a race on.

We need to devise a suitable test - for example, a test with 10 questions in which it's possible to get _more than 10_ wrong. Then we need a suitable badge we can wear when we graduate from the UKLTZ (University of Knowing Less Than Zero). All to be achieved while dodging the UWP. I tell you boys and girls, it's not easy being an opera fan.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Elgarian said:


> Looks like there's a race on.
> 
> We need to devise a suitable test - for example, a test with 10 questions in which it's possible to get _more than 10_ wrong. Then we need a suitable badge we can wear when we graduate from the UKLTZ (University of Knowing Less Than Zero). All to be achieved while dodging the UWP. I tell you boys and girls, it's not easy being an opera fan.


Since *I* graduated from the much better UKE (we beat the UKLTZ guys every season in college football), I do know *everything.* I mean, almost, I know everything except how to dodge the UWP.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Almaviva said:


> Since *I* graduated from the much better UKE (we beat the UKLTZ guys every season in college football), I do know *everything.* I mean, almost, I know everything except how to dodge the UWP.


It's ok, not knowing that has given you not only the knowledge that you don't know, but also the knowledge that you failed that part of the course. So it all evens out. 

I second the notion of having a test of 10 questions etc. I vote that our everything-knower devises that test, for anyone who knows everything ought to be able to. :devil:


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

World Violist said:


> I second the notion of having a test of 10 questions etc. I vote that our everything-knower devises that test, for anyone who knows everything ought to be able to.


Well I'm not so sure. Let's think this through logically. The only person qualified to make such a test must be someone who already knows less than nothing - which means, in this specific case, someone who _doesn't know how to make it._ Furthermore, it would be helpful if it were someone who could cure the headache I feel coming on.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I do know that all this is very funny, so I've failed in advance too.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> I do know that all this is very funny


Well really. Here we are, pushing at the farthest-flung boundaries of human ignorance to bring you ultimate endarkenment, and you think it's _funny_? I'll tell you how serious this is. I have it on good authority that World Violist left uneaten a small piece of stale cheese sandwich in order to work on this problem. That's an indicator of how seriously _he's_ taking this. And Almaviva is rumoured to be thinking about finishing off his glass of cabernet and _getting out of his chair!_ Yes, that's what it's all come to.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Elgarian said:


> Well I'm not so sure. Let's think this through logically. The only person qualified to make such a test must be someone who already knows less than nothing - which means, in this specific case, someone who _doesn't know how to make it._ Furthermore, it would be helpful if it were someone who could cure the headache I feel coming on.


But if a person knows nothing, he wouldn't be able to make the test because he doesn't know how to make it, and, generally speaking, one can only make something if either 1) he knows how to make it, 2) he doesn't really, but pretends he does and succeeds by a fluke, or 3) it's a total mistake because he doesn't know what he's even making. Total mistakes aren't that common, which is what it would take to make this test. Therefore, it's preferable that someone who _formerly_ knew nothing and for some silly reason decided to learn everything make this test. Since that's even rarer than a total mistake, I think the next most preferable method is to have someone who knows everything make it, because said person who knows everything must know how to make a test that has the possibly of scoring negatives.



Elgarian said:


> Well really. Here we are, pushing at the farthest-flung boundaries of human ignorance to bring you ultimate endarkenment, and you think it's _funny_? I'll tell you how serious this is. I have it on good authority that World Violist left uneaten a small piece of stale cheese sandwich in order to work on this problem. That's an indicator of how seriously _he's_ taking this. And Almaviva is rumoured to be thinking about finishing off his glass of cabernet and _getting out of his chair!_ Yes, that's what it's all come to.


I dunno about cheese sandwiches, but I have left many a meal uneaten mulling over this problem. And lost sleep too... though that might just be the result of being a college student.

Point still stands, though. This is a very deeply serious matter.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Elgarian said:


> Well really. Here we are, pushing at the farthest-flung boundaries of human ignorance to bring you ultimate endarkenment, and you think it's _funny_? I'll tell you how serious this is. I have it on good authority that World Violist left uneaten a small piece of stale cheese sandwich in order to work on this problem. That's an indicator of how seriously _he's_ taking this. And Almaviva is rumoured to be thinking about finishing off his glass of cabernet and _getting out of his chair!_ Yes, that's what it's all come to.


OK, since I know almost everything except how to dodge the UWP, let me teach you something. Even if it could be designed, the test that you have proposed would still be useless for a new person approaching it, because the person would have to fail 11 questions out of ten in order to confirm that he or she knew less than nothing. However by doing this he or she would only have proved the ability to circumvent this complex logical problem - the person would *know* how to fail more questions than those asked, therefore the person would *know something* (how to fail, etc), showing that this person is not the one we're looking for. The test is also useless because we don't need it. We have already identified such a person. By proposing the test without thinking it through, you have already showed to us that you know less than nothing. You don't know how to devise such a test - that is, you know nothing about it - and you also don't know that the test itself is useless - that is, you know even less... than nothing about it.

PS - Cabernet, etc - What I'm really thinking is that in a few minutes I'll leave my home and head to the concert hall where I'll be seeing maestro Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra (Mahler's 6th). Since Gergiev is the person who discovered my Anna, I have some special fondness for him.

PS-2 - Back from the concert - I loved it. I posted about it in the Symphonic Works forum.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

Ok... if anyone interested. I'm about 30 to 35, staying in the region where English spoke as second language aka. Singlish, Indolish, haven't practise any Thailish or Vietlish... Working as designer and any art that required computer, including music.

Listen to classical music in order : the string quartet, the violin concerto, any other concerto except piano, the baroque, and any other thing.

Oh.. and I like that fermented drink, like the Shiraz, and Zinfandel from the so called new world. Too bad, I am now in the area where it is tooo expensive to get.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Almaviva said:


> you have already showed to us that you know less than nothing.


Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I would like to say what an honour it is to receive this award. I say that I would _like_ to say it; but of course, as the nature of the award implies, I _don't know_ what to say. So I'll just say less than nothing, and leave it at that. So please consider all this unsaid, and subtract an extra few words from the total at the end just to be sure.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Just posting on this forum and taking part in the occasional discussion you do pick up peoples character and also general random personal facts they may post.
But ill answer the questions anyway. 

What do you do for a living, in general terms? (e.g, financial services, sales, health care, housekeeping, student, musician, etc).

I am student who is still living with his parents. in the last year of my A Levels, so will leave home soon! 


What's your own age group?

Im 16, turning 17. Got into classical music during the GCSE course and have been seriously involved since.

Where do you live (country, region)?

I live in East Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. I have also lived in SW London for 11 years and was born in Chicago. I love life in Amsterdam a lot!

What other interests do you have besides opera and music?

I love the sciences, and hope to study Physics & Philosphy, but biology is also an option. Generally i love intellectual things, with an interest in literature, science, music, politics and history. I also feel strongly about enviromental issues.

What other musical interests do you have besides opera?

Just generally what people know as classical music but also modern art music.

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?

Extremely liberal. Here in the Netherlands, the party I support is GroenLinks or 'GreenLeft', possibly the most progressive party in the country with an emphasis on building a social, fair and green economy.

I see enviromental issues such as Climate Change and Biodiversity loss as more important social issues than immigration or the economy, and so my support is largely based on their policies concerning these issues over anything else.

What are your next goals in life?

Right now im working to get the best A Levels I can and to get into the university courses i hope to.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> OK, since I know almost everything except how to dodge the UWP ... you *have *already *showed* to us that ...


Oops, add another thing to the limitations of my vast knowledge. It looks like in addition to not knowing how to dodge the UWP, I also don't know grammar.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Rather than re-state the items that can be found in my member-profile... 
I thought I'd instead add five things you might not know about me:

***I'm left-handed
***(psst): _Aramis_, _karenpat_ (and mamascarlatti's family), 
you have company on the right-of-center portion of the political spectrum:tiphat:.
***My degree is in Geography (Area Studies)
***My wife's major was Music, my minor was Political Science- but her interest in Classical Music is less than what is once was- and she's become more fascinated by Politics. I, on the other hand, continue to be riveted by Classical Music, and am not as interested in Politics as I once was. 
***Actually, I sort-of fell into Political Science as a Minor- some fine-print prevented me from getting a Minor in International Relations, as I originally intended. My next highest concentration of course-work was English (with an emphasis on Literature-study).


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

I'm on TC a lot, but I haven't posted much, which has started to make me feel a bit odd/voyeuristic, knowing stuff about people who know nothing about me. So maybe I'll start posting more now.

I'm a college sophomore (music major) and don't really do anything "for a living"; I still live parasitically off my parents. However, I do bring in _some_ money by working in the campus dining halls, and also in the music library, which is much more enjoyable.

No husband. No kids. Fortunately. I'll be twenty next month.

And I only just realized this is under the opera heading. I know little about opera, relative to other genres. My favorite operas are all by Britten. But I'm going to the opera this weekend, actually, for only the second time in my life! I'm very excited even though this is going to put me behind in homework and I don't know what I'll wear.

Goals: perform the Copland clarinet concerto next semester, learn to sing passably (just started taking lessons this year), analyze Britten's _The Turn of The Screw_ (Musically, I mean. People have already done all kinds of literary and Freudian silliness with it. Or at least with the James story on which it was based.)

Other potentially relevant information: I adore Mahler. I am slowly working my way through the La Grange tome on his life.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Meaghan said:


> I'm on TC a lot, but I haven't posted much, which has started to make me feel a bit odd/voyeuristic, knowing stuff about people who know nothing about me. So maybe I'll start posting more now.
> 
> I'm a college sophomore (music major) and don't really do anything "for a living"; I still live parasitically off my parents. However, I do bring in _some_ money by working in the campus dining halls, and also in the music library, which is much more enjoyable.
> 
> ...


Welcome, and do post more! What is the opera you're seeing this weekend?


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Welcome, and do post more! What is the opera you're seeing this weekend?


Lucia di Lammermoor, in Seattle.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Meaghan said:


> Lucia di Lammermoor, in Seattle.


Well, it's a *very* good one. I hope you like it. Pay attention to the spectacular sextet, and the famous Mad Scene.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Well, it's a *very* good one. I hope you like it. Pay attention to the spectacular sextet, and the famous Mad Scene.


Thank you, it was a wonderful performance! The part in the mad scene where the soprano and flute are in unison sounded like it would have been incredibly difficult to get perfectly together, but they pulled it off beautifully, and that mix of timbres was very eerie. It was one of my favorite moments of the opera.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Elgarian said:


> UKLTZ (University of Knowing Less Than Zero).


Sorry for the disruption from Lucia, but I just had an idea... for aesthetic purposes, I vote we change the order of the letters slightly so it spells KLUTZ. It looks so much more orderly, poised, and generally well-balanced this way, don't you think?

Or have I just made a complete and utter blundering fool of myself (or what's that other word... hmm... can't seem to remember...)?


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## Listener (Sep 20, 2010)

What do you do for a living, in general terms? - I survive by the generosity of my parents. Have had a few short term jobs. Longest was as a social studies teacher in El Salvador for 5 months. Would like to be a scriptwriter. Most interested in comic writing, but also movie and television writing. Meet with a friend once or twice a week to work and discuss collaborative projects.

What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation? - Single all my life, and usually believe that I always will be. Heterosexual, though ultimately that is irrelevant.

Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they? - Sometimes I think I'd like to have kids, though there is the question of how to feed them.

What's your own age group? - I'll be 28 in a few weeks.

Where do you live (country, region)? - Washington State USA. The eastern side, different than the picture most people have of Washington.

What other interests do you have besides opera and music? - Scriptwriting, history (have a BA in history) politics (was totally obsessed with it for several years where I would read articles and listen to internet radio for several hours everyday, eventually became unbearably stressful) science fiction (especially space opera such as Star Trek and Babylon 5), and an developing a growing interest in health and fitness (mostly through weightlifting, nutrition, and meditation)

What other musical interests do you have besides opera? - Mostly into early music (especially baroque) guitar music (especially Rodrigo and Villa Lobos), big band jazz (benny goodman, glenn miller) some techno (love Rob Dougan, wish he would do more stuff)

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person? - The terms liberal and conservative are almost meaningless today. I lean toward libertarianism/anarchism. In the past I've supported several candidates outside the mainstream Ron Paul, Kucinich, Gravel, Nader.

What are your next goals in life? Have success with writing. Have a relationship someday. Improve my health.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Listener said:


> Single all my life, and usually believe that I always will be.


Yikes, keep your head up...


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Air said:


> Yikes, keep your head up...


Not to mention other body parts.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

perhaps we are (almost) all (including myself) too lazy to properly fill out our profiles


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Oooooooooooo, I'm glad this was bumped, as it was posted at a time when I was absent from the forum for a while, so it's good to see some more personal connections with people. I do like to know as much about other forum participants as possible, which is the main reason I enjoy threads like the Atheist thread - not for the arguments, but for a window into others' personalities and ways of thinking.

Anyway, seeing as this seems to be a good repository of personal information, as I'm not one for looking at profiles (they're usually empty!), and would like to see more off-topic, personal discussions in the future, here are my answers to the original questions:

*What do you do for a living, in general terms?*

Well, I'm a just-yesterday-21-year-old student of medieval English language and literature, but I haven't actually been at university for nearly a year now, as I've been struggling with a genetic disorder called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 - it's given me a considerable number of hormone-secreting tumours, resulting in three operations (so far), ridding me of half my pancreas, all my parathyroids, an adrenal gland, and my pituitary at some point in the future!

*What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?*

Gay and in a relationship with a guy currently studying music in Melbourne.

*Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?*

No, and I have no desire to have any in the future. Although I'm conceited enough to think I'd be a great father, I don't want to invest such a large portion of my life into bringing up kids.

*Where do you live (country, region)?*

Born in the north of the UK, brought up in the south. Currently live in the rural east, but, when at university, I'm in Oxford.

*What other interests do you have besides opera and music?*

As anticipated by mention of my degree, I _love_ literature, and am fanatical about all things medieval, but also about the Romantic movement. By extension, I also adore writing, and have written for a number of student newspapers, along with messing with various forms of fiction in my own time.

*What other musical interests do you have besides opera?*

Well, I enjoy opera, but I'm actually very unexposed to it in general. Everyone is no doubt aware that I have professed an undying allegiance to Brahms and Dvorak, but I don't listen to anything outside the realms of classical music.

*Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?*

Liberal atheist, with an emphasis on socialism and 'green issues'.

*What are your next goals in life?*

To get my medical condition under control, especially if it turns out that I have cancer; return to university; finish my degree; do post-graduate medieval study; and make a living out of poetry and composition, no doubt with teaching on the side!


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## peeyaj (Nov 17, 2010)

I'm conflicted whether I'll answer all of the questions.. Nice thread, btw..


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Above you can see something of the place where we live. We live close to the dunes of the North Sea. Just to tell something more about myself: I studied Architecture (in Eindhoven), Philosophy (Jewish Philosophy & Aesthetica in Amsterdam, Theology (in Prague). My job? Taking care of an island parish. There is a BBC program which bears the name 'an island parish'. Yes, it is idyllic and we're enjoying it very much. The parish is not too big and the Texel people are very amicable. 








From my 17-18th I listen & collect Classical Music. The items I bought are _le crème de la crème _ from the ones that I borrowed from the local library. I've just a while ago seen Abraham. Dutch libraries are also fine on DVDs, so there are also some films to watch for the cold winter nights.
My wife was born in St Petersburg, but she lived a long time in Moravia, Czech Republic. We often return there, because of our daughter who lives there (in august we hope to become grandparents). We also visit London quite often, because of our son. At home we speak Dutch, Czech & English to each other. Since a few years I've taken up photography as another hobby. I already mentioned my interest in architecture. I finish for now with a panorama of flowerfields.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

*What do you do for a living, in general terms?*

I manage a 45 people research and development department in a large multinational company. We develop improved catalysts for oil refining.

*What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?*

Married for 11 years, known her for 12. She is a successful professional artist from Shanghai, who has been invited for international exhibitions.

*Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?*

We opted out. Neither of us is particularly fond of children.

*Where do you live (country, region)?*

Almere, Flevoland, The Netherlands. Used to be sea until about 1970 or so. Now the sixth largest city in the Netherlands.

*What other interests do you have besides opera and music?*

My main hobby is photography - as a gifted amateur (not my description). I don't care at all for the equipment technical side, but artists tell me I have a good eye for artistic opportunities/themes. And I maintain blogs on art and other things. I used to play chess and bridge at reasonable level, but that took too much time to keep it up.

*What other musical interests do you have besides opera?*

Is it too late to say I just noticed that this is in the opera forum? I am not crazy about opera, although I tried. My main interest in classical music is orchestral, chamber music, and songs. Outside classical music, I like progressive rock, art rock and classic rock. And smooth jazz.

*Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?*

Centre-liberal in European terms, which is probably close to communist for the USA. :devil:

*What are your next goals in life?*

Retire early (possibly next year), also triggered by a heart attack late last year. Start managing my wife's career.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Polednice said:


> Oooooooooooo, I'm glad this was bumped, as it was posted at a time when I was absent from the forum for a while, so it's good to see some more personal connections with people. I do like to know as much about other forum participants as possible, which is the main reason I enjoy threads like the Atheist thread - not for the arguments, but for a window into others' personalities and ways of thinking.
> 
> Anyway, seeing as this seems to be a good repository of personal information, as I'm not one for looking at profiles (they're usually empty!), and would like to see more off-topic, personal discussions in the future, here are my answers to the original questions:
> 
> ...


:tiphat:

What an amazing story! You have such determination, I'm sure you'll succeed in beating this dreadful disease. I envy the young people who will benefit from your life's experiences.

Good luck.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

sospiro said:


> :tiphat:
> 
> What an amazing story! You have such determination, I'm sure you'll succeed in beating this dreadful disease. I envy the young people who will benefit from your life's experiences.
> 
> Good luck.


Thank you very much  I like to think I'm hard-headed and resolute, and have only really wavered during one very unhappy, unexpected hospitalisation, but the trick is to have good friends and family (which I most certainly do!), and to be able to tell a cocky surgeon when he's done something wrong


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

*What do you do for a living, in general terms?*

I go to school.

*What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?*

I'm currently single.

*Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?
*
No

*What's your own age group?
*
I'm 18

*Where do you live (country, region)?*

I live in northern Norway in a town called Bodø.

*What other interests do you have besides opera and music?*
*
I enjoy reading and baking.

What other musical interests do you have besides opera?

I listen a lot to symphonic and large chamber music. Most of my concert-going consists of it.

Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?

I am a social democrat, pointing towards the socialist end of the spectrum.

What are your next goals in life?

To be happy with the choices I make, especially those about my further education.*


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

May as well add my two cents' worth!

*************

I'm ************. I'm second-generation German; my mother was born in ********* Germany. The love of opera (and classical music in general) comes from her. She was always listening to opera either on the radio or on LPs when we were kids. Unfortunately, I didn't learn to speak German as a child, but studied it when I was in college. However, there was much of the German culture I did absorb then, and I'm grateful for it.

I'm one of those infamous baby-boomers *********.

******** I moved back to **********, a city with a rich musical and cultural heritage of its own. There is a strong German influence as well, with approximately 60% of the city's residents tracing their ancestry back to Deutschland. ******

My interests besides opera and music include reading *********, historic preservation, and history in general. I enjoy Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti mysteries, and am about halfway through Jeff Shaara's "_Gods and Generals_," which looks at four of the leading officers who fought at the Civil War battle of Gettysburg.

Although I grew up with classical music, I went through the usual rock and roll stage when I was in my pre-teens and early teens. So I still like to hear Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles, Supremes, Monkees, and other groups or individuals from the '60s/early '70s. I also like the music of Stephen Foster and have a wonderful recording of his songs by Thomas Hampson.

My politics have generally been centrist, owing to the fact that I can usually see some validity in arguments on both sides of any given issue. I did support Barack Obama during the last presidential elections, and I still support him. And, since we've just started to observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I would have to classify myself as a Damned Yankee! *******

**********my goals in life are fairly modest. I long ago reconciled myself to the idea that I was never going to write the Great American Novel. There are some local organizations I would like to become involved with again, *************.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

*What do you do for a living, in general terms?*

I do research in advanced technologies for electric and hybrid vehicles (batteries, ultracapacitors, and fuel cells) at a US university.

*What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?*

Married for 25 years to a violinist. She no longer plays professionally.

*Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?*

I have a 22 year old son and 18 year old daughter (cellist in music school).

*Where do you live (country, region)?*

California, USA

*What other interests do you have besides opera and music?*

I love sports (basketball, US football mostly but many others to a lesser extent). I am a physicist and have an intense curiosity about reality. I read voraciously about a wide variety of topics (science, philosophy, religion, politics, economics, music and art).

*What other musical interests do you have besides opera?*

I grew up listening to rock and soul (Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, Rolling Stones, etc.) but have gradually transitioned to classical pretty much exclusively now. I have only listened to several operas, but I expect that will change in the near future. I adore many composers, but Mozart is my true love. One of the main reasons I came to TC was to "learn" if possible to like modern music. What a pity it would be if the last 80 years or so (plus the next 30 years) gave me little musical joy!

*Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?*

I am a liberal or progressive.

*What are your next goals in life?*

1) I would love to learn about and appreciate more classical music.
2) I am on the board of a non-profit organization that assists low income individuals and families with short term problems. I would like to spend more time helping this group and probably expand my efforts to other such groups.
3) Learn, learn, learn always!


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

> One of the main reasons I came to TC was to "learn" if possible to like modern music. What a pity it would be if the last 80 years or so (plus the next 30 years) gave me little musical joy!


Hows that coming along mmsbls?


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

emiellucifuge said:


> Hows that coming along mmsbls?


I expect it will be a lengthy process. I've been a member here for just over a month, but there is already interesting progress. I requested suggestions for Ligeti, and Air suggested his books of Etudes. I had heard some of Ligeti before and was most definitely not interested (I could not really finish any of the works I listened to). The Etudes were interesting and in some cases even very lovely. I found myself wanting to hear them again, and I expect that I will eventually purchase a CD.

I have periodically listened to modern pieces that others here have really liked, and although I still struggle with much of the music, I can see a change in my response. Maybe the biggest change I have noticed is in early 20th century music - Shostakovich and Prokofiev. I liked Shotakovich's Piano Quintet and parts of his Piano Concerto #1, but everything else I heard was not enjoyable. Now I find his PC #2 quite enjoyable and his symphony #5 very beautiful in many places.

There's hope! I don't know if I'll ever like modern music as much as pre-20th century music, but if I can at least get excited about certain modern composers and continue to find a few gems here and there, I will be thrilled.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

@mmsbls: This is off-topic, but I couldn't find the Ligeti thread--have you listened to his 6 Bagatelles for woodwind quintet? It is in a rather more accessible idiom than he is generally known for, and is very interesting and enjoyable music, imo.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

*What do you do for a living, in general terms?*

I teach guitar lessons, I have approximately 40 students. Most of these lessons entail teaching rock music. I have one classical guitar student ( I wish I had more).

*What's your marital status / relationship status / sexual orientation?*

Just got out of a relationship that lasted 14 months last December. I work with this person so its been a little rough, but not too bad we are ammicable. I plan on being single for a while. ( I am male and straight)

*Do you have kids? If you do, in what age groups are they?*

No. My ex girlfriend has a kid though he is four.

*Where do you live (country, region)?*

Canada - just outside of Edmonton AB

*What other interests do you have besides opera and music?*

I am interested in spirituality, meditation, esoteric knowledge, the human spirit, what happens after (and before) this life. Aliens, the pyramids, advanced technologies. I am also very interested in nature and many different forms of creative expression/artwork.

*What other musical interests do you have besides opera?*

I play a lot of classical guitar and some rock, and a touch of country and jazz. I occassionally perform in friends and aquaintances projects.

*Politically, are you a more conservative, or a more liberal-minded person?*

'Do I vote for the puppet on the left, or the puppet on the right? Wait the same guy is holding both puppets!' -Bill Maher

Not very political but I suppose my ideologies would lean towards the left.

*What are your next goals in life?*

Go back to school. Most likely this year, but I am making that final decision within the next week or so. I'll either complete my Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology, which I have already started, or switch majors to music. Decisions!


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