So what’s the Deal with this group anyway? I’ve been singing in choirs for XX years (I ain’t saying a number that big) and this one is different. A big pile of different. Yeah, having Susie driving the bus is a big part of it but there’s more to it and I set out to give that a heavy thinking…

• We take our music very seriously but we don’t take OURSELVES that seriously. A full-on voice-part-wide disaster is met with laughter and the effort to get it right the next time (instead of a gasp from the masses or whispered ridicule).
• Thanks to the…um… unique nature of some of our warm-ups, we’re not afraid of being silly. This is never a bad thing and carries over into the parts of a rehearsal that can get a little weird.
• There is NEVER a chin raised to facilitate looking down a nose at someone who may be struggling to match pitch. Ever.
• We understand that the hard work we do translates into concerts that are fun because we’re prepared and ready to rock the risers. Everyone has the forward-thinking mindset to get through (yawn) sectionals and beating-on-the-same-phrase-over-and-over because the eyes are on the prize.
• No one is holier than thou. Not the Board, not Susie, not the section leaders, not nobody. Yeah, there are leaders and followers but there’s no separation into who’s more important than whom. We just don’t roll that way.
• Within the masses there’s a small, beating heart that’s always there. From time to time, when we really need it, she pokes her head out to ground us (yes, Ka’anohi, I’m talking about you). Whether it’s gathering us together before a concert or a well-timed “Holy macaroni!”, she’s the Kumu who calms the waters.
• I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve gone through an entire rehearsal without a no-holds-barred laugh. And I could hold a beer in that hand at the same time.

An unrelated note from the land of blog spam…THIS one is awesome, a response to an entry ABOUT spam. It had a link to a bogus site where you could buy non-existent research papers. Dude ain’t a fan…

“The the next time I read a weblog, Lets hope so it doesnt disappoint me as much as that one. What i’m saying is, I know it was my replacement for read, but When i thought youd have some thing interesting to say. All I hear is often a few whining about something that you could fix in case you werent too busy searching for attention.”

Snort.