HABITS
I began to write about my deepening depression:“Habits. My only recourse to escape the clawing boredom, the gray non-ness of my life, has been to break them—the little ones, for I haven’t the courage to break the big ones. So I plopped myself down in a field of...
COMPLAINTS
Unfortunately, It soon became clear the trajectory of my voice training with Mrs. Unruh was headed in the wrong direction. She was aging, distracted, and could no longer stay focused on our lessons. She would stop repeatedly to air a litany of complaints about her...
UPHEAVAL
Dear Ella, This is just a note. It’s too late at night to start a letter. I was just reading this list of funny names I copied out of the phone book one night at Arlen’s. It reminded me of the fun we had poring over the dictionary, and I thought I’d sent it along to...
ONE-MAN BAND
I would always feel conflicted about teaching, despite my love of children and the fact that there was an educator in my personality. I just wasn’t meant to be in a classroom. As an artist—in a broad sense of the word that includes singing and writing as well as the...
SECOND CHANCE?
Now that I was making a little more money, I made an appointment with the voice teacher—I no longer remember his name—of a beautiful soprano I’d heard recently. At his studio in San Francisco, sitting in a waiting room, I was able to listen in on the end of the...
CROSS-PURPOSES
My third year at Seven Hills School I was promoted to teacher at $5 an hour—and co-taught the five-day preschool, again with Karl. It was a rough start, though. As an aide, I’d heard the teachers around us complain that Karl’s kids were out of control, and I’d...