Some beautiful pictures from the Bend Film Festival where Laundry and Tosca screened here.

A pastor from National Presbyterian Church used a few stories from Laundry and Tosca in a sermon, found here.

Carl Franzon wrote up a beautiful piece musing on some of the lessons he gleaned from the documentary Laundry and Tosca back in 2006, and I never even linked to it. Here’s an excerpt:

Each of us is called to something, to a vocation. Some may see Marcia has merely having a dream and following the dream. Or, we may choose to see it as her call from God. It is a calling that we live out in our family, our work, our church. It is not always easy, but when we follow that call, then the heartaches and bad days will seem small in comparison to the rewards, even if we don’t see the reward until we are told “well done, good and faithful servant.”

I am still not a big fan of opera, but I am a fan of Marcia and the folks who put together this film, a powerful story of call and following the call.
If you want to purchase the movie, visit the Fuller Seminary Bookstore.

Thank you for the kind words!

Laundry and Tosca continues to connect with people. Here are a few success stories from the last few months:

• Trinity Church Boston screened the film as part of its Reel Theology series in March.
• Eric Kuiper from RedNow mentioned the impact of exploring vocation in Laundry and Tosca in his review of Man On Wire, another incredible documentary from the past year.
• Back in August 2008, Cathy Barsotti led a discussion following a keynote screening of the film at the Reel Dialogue Conference in Sydney, Australia.

Thank you to those of you who make these special screenings happen. It’s wonderful to see the movie continuing it’s powerful mission of touching people’s lives…

The daffodils are up!!!  Spring has sprung in Oregon and I couldn’t be more excited to see all this color.  In a matter of 48 hours, trees went from completely barren to bursting with pink blossoms.  So far, the azaleas, camellias, crocus, daffodils, and hyacinths have all returned.  Pretty soon we’ll be loaded down with lilacs.  I guess winter is really over.   Having grown up in Southern California where there really is only one season – hot, dry and smoggy – getting used to watching the seasons come and go is truly an amazing experience I will try never to take for granted.  Today I wish you blossoms!!

My pastor is one of my heros. John Stumbo from Salem Alliance Church is a man in his 40s who runs marathons for “fun.” (Okay, well that’s a special kind of sickness! HA!!) John has recently survived 77 days in the hospital due to a mystery illness that even 100 different diagnostic tests has been unable to fully identify. John came within a hair’s breadth of death on several occasions, but is now back at home beginning a very long recovery process. John is in intense therapy relearning how to do everything including swallowing and speaking. One of the losses this illness has cost John is his ability to speak and sing with ease. He says he never realized how much of his identity is tied to his voice – how he speaks, preaches, sings, laughes, whispers, etc. I had never even considered that our voices are so deeply embedded in who we are. And for singers even more so. John loves to sing and says his inability to do anything but croak out a few notes is embarrassing to him.  He says, however, that God does not evaluate our praise on the quality of the voice but on the condition of the heart.   What a valuable lesson to remember.

Had to share this little tidbit of information I just heard.  Apparently, way back in the early days of train travel, a train track was built high up in the Alps that connected the cities of Vienna and Venice.  However, the track was completed BEFORE it was known if a locomotive even capable of making the trip could be invented.  Now THAT is hope!

Just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that, as well as the DVD, Filmbaby has Laundry and Tosca availble for digital download, so you can watch it on your iPod or other electronic device.

Tell your friends!

In a recent magazine about music, I stumbled upon a quote that took me completely by surprise.  I don’t know to whom the quote should be attributed, but rather than moaning in agreement, it made me laugh out loud.   I have no clue why this little quote touches my giggle center the way it does, but I still laugh out loud every time I read it. 

“It’s the heart of being an ‘artist.’  When skies are blue, they are really blue;  and when they are gray . . . well, Van Gogh cut off his own ear.”

Maybe it’s a reminder that my skies are never really as gray as I might imagine, ’cause, well, both of my ears are still intact.

Laundry and Tosca is proud to announce that FilmBaby is carrying the DVD now and is available for sale. FilmBaby, as they describe it:

…is a haven for independent filmmakers and those that love independent film. We have a love for the intensity, honesty and integrity that comes from working on a small budget film.

Thanks to Jamie and everyone at FilmBaby for selling our little film! We hope this increases the exposure of Marcia’s wonderful journey and story.

Make sure to tell your friends that Laundry and Tosca is available for sale now.

In cleaning out and rearranging things in my desk, I came across some notes I had taken a few years ago while listening to one of my vocal lesson tapes.  During my lesson, Maestro explained how singing opera is much more athletic than most people realize.  In addition, I remember him telling me that muscle strength is very necessary, but muscle coordination is as or more important than actual strength.  He explained that our muscle fibers have memory and that memory only lasts about 72 hours.  After 72 hours, they very slowly begin to forget what we’ve worked into their memory.  Well, that goes a long way to explain why I need much more time than I expect to vocally prepare for a performance after an extended interval of vocal rest.  Oh, ”extended interval of vocal rest” actually means that I’d rather watch TV than go stand at the keyboard and sing scales for 45 minutes.  Summer vacation’s over and it’s time to get back to work.