Little-known facts, Part 1

I often need to get in touch with my non-musical side. It’s right up there with my feminine side. People ask about hobbies, but I’ve never been sure that I need any regular hobbies, since my real job is so enjoyable. I do love getting outside and seeing beautiful scenery, but beyond that, I’m happy to practice and study. Enjoy some more tidbits with my compliments:

-- I couldn’t care less about the altar. I want to climb into the steeple!

-- I love funeral homes. Any time I visit one, I ask for a tour. I actually very nearly forsook the organ some years back to go into funeral directing. It is a dual attraction: the fascination with the industry and a tender heart for the grieving.

-- Chocoholic.

-- I hold a Private Pilot certificate (aka pilot’s license). That was my graduation gift to myself when my doctorate was completed. I am certified to fly anything with only one engine and fewer than 200 hp. I am not instrument rated – I find the ground too interesting not to watch, and I take no chances with weather. But maybe someday, just to be a better visual pilot.

-- I’ll take hiking and mountain biking, please. Whenever possible.

-- I was a Southern Baptist at birth in 1968.

-- I come from a family of Ford owners. When my father died, he still had every car he had ever owned, except the very first one, all Fords and Lincolns. I have bought three Fords myself, and I finally own the right combination of high clearance and drive-train that I want and need. I will not buy another car until the current one dies and falls into at least 2,739 pieces.

-- I played for Gene Tierney’s funeral.

-- My favorite place on earth is Big Bend National Park.

-- I love visiting graves of the rich and famous. A few I’ve visited: Rachmaninoff; Bernstein; Col. Sanders; Bert Lahr; Frank Morgan; Conway Twitty; Presidents Washington, Grant, Wilson, Kennedy, and Johnson; my father.

-- I was confirmed in the Episcopal church in 1990.

-- I have not subscribed to TV service in years. Movie rentals are much cheaper and more interesting.

-- I am a conservative dresser but a liberal everything else. I wear coat and tie to school and to church. I would like to wear a tux when I perform on the home turf at ASU, but the new stage lights are too hot.

-- I was a pet owner for one month. It didn’t work out. The carpet couldn’t take it any more.

-- I love to mow grass. I detest pulling weeds and planting.

-- I have been on Presbyterian payrolls since 1995.

-- I act just like my father and my maternal grandfather. When you meet me, you meet them, God rest their souls.

-- Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Christmas Eve is my favorite service. Four days from today!

-- I wish you a blessed Christmas.