God. Love. Light. Money. Darkness. Rock and Roll. Sex.

And that's what it's all about.

But, no, so, really, I'm in school now. I'm finishing a degree so that I can immediately leap into another degree, which will, in turn, automatically make me a for-real Hazzan.

Also, this year, I'm no longer the Music Teacher. I am a Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor. This has been helpful to me, although not one of my students is in the home stretch for the Big Day yet, so my skills as a tutor have yet to be proven. I'm getting so much better at sight-reading Torah and Haftarah trope because of it, though. And, while you may not care, this intricate little age-old artform is intriguing, and I am so happy that it is finally starting (starting, that is) to become second nature. I can spot kids on Saturdays on the bimah with no problem (or very little) at all these days. Almost like a real pro, eh?

And I've taken my truly Jewish-y original last name back, after the complete implosion of my marriage, so -- in a shul near you, perhaps as soon as a year and a half from now, we will be presenting to you, in all her hamishy glory -- Cantor Cindy Lynne Shapiro. I dunno. It just sounds right to me. Besides, Cantor Wall always sounded to much like "caterwall" to me. And that is not a pleasant aural image for a Hazzanit.

Long-standing issues have recently been resolved, and while it has created somewhat of an earthquake in my psyche, I am happy that the dust is settling, or the smoke is clearing, or some other ridiculous air-born metaphor. I can breathe! (There's that metaphor again.)

Lots of people think that I'm a shrewish crazy person now, but, for once, I don't really care. (I know that this is totally cryptic stuff, but, really, I cannot get into detail...) I don't care how I'm perceived. Well, I suppose I do, but not as much as I used to.

Oh, and, since my last post, I've lost 25 pounds. Not eating will do that to you. But I feel pretty good, considering.

I haven't done one bit of composing, but, since I'm in school again (who woulda thunk?) I'm writing quite a lot of papers and I like that. Because I'm a complete dork.

Back from the Dead

Well, let's see. It's been over six months since I posted. With good reason. Anything I had to post would have been too painful to publicize and would have put lots of people in jeopardy. At this point, major drama is over, and I can say with some assuredness, that my life is back on track. Life throws you... what? Rocks? Curveballs? Electric shocks? Hurricane Katrinas..? any of the above, once in a while, and a doozy came my way just five days after my last post here.

It has taken me all of this time to resettle myself enough to commit anything to writing in this blog. My marriage came to the brink of divorce, my life took untold twists and turns, and introspection that I had probably been avoiding for quite some time burbled uninhibited to the top.

More on all of this as I get back into a rhythm of posting. But I'm back now. And not with a vengeance, but with a calmness and clarity I haven't had in quite some time. Maybe not ever.