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.