Days 5 thru 8 - Total 2643 words in total of 5 hours - See main blog for notes

Day 5 - 298 words in 0.25 hours

Jessie went off to find her car. She knew that the conservatory would maintain her car for her, it was part of the deal. But first she wanted to know where they were keeping it.

Excuse me,” Jessie addressed a grounds keeper, “Do you know where the parking garage is?”

“Why, yes I do,” the grounds keeper replied. “But give me just a second and I will get someone to show you.” The grounds keeper pulled out a radio.

“Thank you very much, but you don't have to go to the trouble,” Jessie responded as the grounds keeper pulled out the radio. “I really can follow directions, it's no trouble.”

“No, miss, it's no trouble at all. In fact, they kinda make me do it.” The grounds keeper got on the radio. “Justin, it's Tim. Are you free for a transport?”

“I can do it, whadaya want?” the voice squawked back.

“I have a miss....” Tim started.

“Noshe” Jessie replied, smiling.

“I have a Miss Noshe.” The grounds keeper continued, “that needs transport to the garage. Do you think you could oblige us?” Tim smiled back at Jessie.

“Sure thing, I'll be there as soon as I can. Where's the pickup?” Justin questioned. The signal was strong and clear even though he sounded like he was responding from a tunnel.

“The gardens, stop...” Tim looked around, “Stop E-4. We'll meet you there.”

“Gardens at Edward 4, got it! I'll be there in five.” Justin squawked again. “Justin out.”

“This way, Miss Noshe,” Tim gestured toward the closest bench.

“It's Jessie, please! And thank so much for helping me, Tim.” Jessie smiled again. Timm blushed slightly as he escorted Jessie to the bench.

“Oh, its no big deal, miss, just doing my job.” Tim blushed a little deeper.

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Day 6 - 213 words in 0.5 hours

Jessie took a seat between Michael and Jason. She like being there even if both men had their girlfriend seated on the other side of him. Jessie would have liked if either one of the men didn't have his girlfriend there, just so she could openly flirt with him, but that obviously wasn't going to happen tonight. Instead Jessie would have to settle for covert knee squeezes, interlocking pinkie fingers, stolen glances and personal comfort induced arms around her shoulder. All of that action would be performed under the cover of darkness in the movie theater.

Jessie had even paid for this outing. But when she invited each of the men, they asked if they could bring someone along. Jessie didn't want to appear rude, so she consented. She liked the girls well enough, but she like their men more and she hated being the fifth wheel. Jessie still dressed to the nines for this date like it was like any of the others. Just because she couldn't be alone with a man she wanted didn't mean that she could dress like a slob. And who knew, maybe she would meet someone else that was better than these two. At the very least, she could make them think about what they were missing.

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Day 7 - 474 words in 0.75 hours

“So, Tim, how long have you been here?” Jessie questioned to break the tension.

“16 years, miss,” Tim replied quietly, looking at the ground.

“16 years? Wow! I bet you've seen a lot of good performers come out of here in that amount of time.” Jessie studied Tim's demeanor. She thought he looked nervous and a little embarrassed. Jessie thought that Tim was acting like not that many people talked to him.

“Yeah, maybe. I haven't paid that much attention to them.” Tim started looking down the path. He was still red-faced. After he appeared to be satisfied that Justin hadn't arrived yet, Tim went back to looking at the ground. He started to kick at a rock, pushing it around with the toe of his work boot. Tim let out a sigh “Look,” Tim started to say, “you don't have to talk to me. I know that you're just trying to act nice even though you'll probably just make fun of me to your friends later....” He trailed of, looking hurt.

“Whoa! I think you have me confused with somebody else.” Jessie stated, looking worried. “First off. We just met. Second, You don't even know me. And third,” Jessie grabbed Tim's hand and used her other hand to lift his chin so that she could make eye contact. “Third, you have to stop acting like the world is out to get you before you get to know a person.” Tim's whole face turned red as Jessie let go of his chin and hand. He immediately looked back at the ground.

“Grounds crew doesn't mix with the students, miss. That's just the way it is.” Tim started to bump the rock with his toe again. “We just do our job and stay out of the way. That's how the students like it.”

“Well, I don't like it. Everyone deserves to be seen and heard so that they can be recognized.” Jessie stated flatly. “You never know who you might meet and what they might turn out to be.” Tim looked back up to look around again. This time, he looked at Jessie while she continued speaking. “I know that my life has been greatly enriched by the so-called “little people”. They have been more important and nicer to me than most of the big wigs I have met.” Tim shoved his hands in his pockets while Jessie switched her bag to the other shoulder. Jessie smiled as she saw a little bit of questioning in Tim's eyes. “Of course, there are times when knowing the big wigs is helpful, but usually it's just a big pain in the hindquarters.” Jessie smiled while Tim chuckled. Jessie and Tim continued speaking for a couple more minutes until the transport arrived. As soon as the cart stopped, Tim made sure to introduce Jessie to Justin.

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Day 8 - 1658 words in 3.5 hours

As the house lights went down, Jessie settled down into her seat. She got to be the designated popcorn holder but there were 2 other bags of popcorn as well. Jessie was excited about this movie in many ways and for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons was because so many of the people she knew and were friends with were voice actors or otherwise involved with this production.

It was her beloved opera Carmen that had been the basis for this film. It was animated and toned down a bit, but she could still recognize so many things in the story. Jessie even thought she saw a couple of her old moves from her productions in the way that the character Carmen was moving. Jessie really wouldn't have been surprised if they had used her as a model in those scenes. She had heard from the friend that helped with the score that they had reviewed both of the productions where she had played Carmen.

One of the other things that was quite odd was that she had worked with both of the male actors who were the singing voices for the male leads. Johnny had been in the first production with her and Peter had been in the second production. One of the minor female characters was the woman who had played Micaëla in the Second production. All of Jessie's friends who worked on this movie swore that they had campaigned for her to be cast as Carmen, but the studio and the director both wanted a better known actress/singer to play the part so that they could “go in another direction” with the part.

Both the studio and the director also decided that Jessie's voice was “too strong” to be in the chorus. That wasn't the first time that Jessie had heard either of those rejections before. She had a big resonant voice that carried well over both opera houses as well as microphones. It was very distinctive and very much classical sounding. She could sing in the pop/rock style that they wanted, but it really only sounded right in the lower range of her voice. That range was more developed and she was more flexible with it.

Besides, she had just been accepted to the conservatory and her contract expressly forbid work outside of “pre-approved” locations and classes. Even though chorus work is usually reasonable, working more than 50 miles from the conservatory was not, let alone the fact that a principle part in any production is considered unacceptable and is grounds for dismissal.

As the opening scenes started with truncated versions of the famous overture followed by a shortened spoken scene of the first song. The first scene was followed by shortened version of Chorus of Urchins which rolled into the factory girls chorus. Jessie was on the edge of her seat all through that song because she knew that the next song would be her favorite, the Habanera. As the music transitioned into Carmen's entrance, the hairs on Jessie's arms stood on end. As Carmen appeared on screen and started the song, Jessie was more than disappointed with the director's choice of actress for the part. While she enjoyed what her friend had done to arrange the music and “update” it, Jessie also laughed as she heard the vocal arrangement and lyrics; they were the same English lyrics with the same base melody that she had performed so many times before. The saddest part of the whole thing was hearing the performer butcher the setting so terribly. The poor girl obviously didn't have Jessie's vocal range or talents and that required resetting the key in a couple of choice spots.

As Jessie listened, though, she was already sure that this version would be a hit. It was the perfect blend of pop styling with hard rock underpinnings and classical flair. She would love to re-record a version of this arrangement so she made a mental note to call Jim for a proper copy of the straight accompaniment without all of the inter-vocal key changes although she also made a note to request it in all three keys that the piece had to be transposed into as well as a possible copy with a single key change near the end just to shake things up. As Jessie was contemplating future recordings, record deals and rock star status, Michael leaned over and whispered into Jessie's ear.

“She's not very good, is she?” Michael questioned in hushed tones that sent shivers down Jessie's spine as his breath made contact with her ear. “I mean even I could have done a better job of singing that song. At least it would have been all in the same key.” Jessie could detect a bit of a chuckle in Michael's voice has he referred to his singing ability. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't really good either. Sure, Michael was probably better than 75% of the general populous, but that wasn't a difficult feat. He didn't suck, but he wouldn't be getting a recording contract any time soon. Michael's singing was more suited to the shower and karaoke night at the local pub. Jessie had heard Michael sing in both instances. There was a reason Michael was a dance Padrone and not a voice one.

“Yeah,” Jessie responded, “her range is limited, so that led to problems when working to arrange the music. The way she sings this piece makes it near impossible for most orchestral studio musicians to play live. They actually had to record the instruments in three different keys and then digitally cut them together to mix with the singer's vocals. It took them an additional month just to get everything to blend properly before they could even lay down the rehearsal track for the singer. It took her six months to learn the basic melody and another three months to learn the scant few embellishments she sang.” Jessie took a breath and then continued, “that's why you'll hear some of the most popular embellishments reflected in the instrumental score. She just couldn't learn them in time.” Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Michael briefly returned to watching the movie before leaning over to say something to Jennifer. Shortly after Jessie ended her interlude with Michael, she felt Jason place his arm around her shoulders. Jason reached up and softly caressed her cheek before gently pressing her head towards his. His move reminded her of the way Jason sometimes caressed his microphone while on stage.

“So, that song was really cool,” Jason whispered. He, too, send shivers down Jessie's spine. Not only was his breath making contact with Jessie's ear, she could also feel it on her neck which gave her a bigger thrill. “It's nearly impossible to play though, those key changes are tough. Plus, I don't think this was a very good song for her. She isn't vocally flexible enough to execute it properly.” Jason took his hand off of Jessie's face but left his arms around his shoulders. As Jessie turned her face towards his, their eyes briefly locked each other's gaze and they rested their foreheads against each other. Jessie broke the eye contact and positioned her mouth next to his ear.

“It had to be digitally mixed before she even started to learn it. And then it took her nine months to learn what she ended up recording. Jim, the guy that I'm friends with that did some of the mixing and arranging, actually had me in mind when writing this setup. You can hear all of my embellishments reflected in the instruments. He did that because the girl could barely sing the melody straight, let alone dressing it up.” Jessie swallowed hard and breathed in Jason's ear a bit before continuing. “It's OK, though. Jim said that a couple of the studio execs wants me to record a more standard version so that they can listen to it when they work out or when they're driving. Can't you just picture my vocals over a techno beat?” Both Jessie and Jason giggled at the though of middle-aged Jewish gentlemen jazzercising to Jessie's vocals. Eventually both of them turned their attention back to the movie. Jason left his arm around Jessie for at least 10 minutes after the end of their conversation. Eventually he moved his arm, but not before he squeezed Jessie's shoulder as he retracted the limb back so that he could hold his girlfriend's hand.

By the end of the movie, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, the group was ready to get up and stretch their legs. Jessie suggested a stroll through the park before they headed to the bar for a little dancing and pool. As they walked through the spring air, Jessie started to sing the English version of the “Habanera” in a key that set the melody lower. As Jessie got a few bars in, both Michael and Jason started to hum along. By the time they got to the end of the first verse before they got to the chorus, all five of them were singing at the top of their lungs. By the middle of the chorus, they were all laughing and having a good time. Jessie decided that having the girls along might not really be that big of a deal after all.

Eventually they got to the bar. By the time they got there they were in a really good mood. They ordered some greasy food and had a really good time dancing and playing pool and darts. There were even a couple of cute guys there that totally hit on Jessie. She exchanged info with them, but they were so drunk it really didn't matter. Jessie was sure that they probably wouldn't contact her after they sobered up and checked her profile on MySpace. It was no big deal, they were not her type anyway.

Day 3 - 1188 words in 2.25 hours - Check out the main blog for notes

“REGGIE!” Jessie exclaimed as the name finally hit her. Jessie picked up the kitten with both hands and held him in the air. “I shall call you Reggie.” The kitten softly mewed his approval.

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Jessie examined her surroundings. The room she was in was absolutely massive. She had been given the grande esecutore suite and the main room of said suite was bigger than any place she had ever lived. The great room was 30 feet long and 20 feet wide with ceilings that were 15 feet tall if they were a foot. The east wall of the room had five massive windows that stretched from floor to ceiling and overlooked the picturesque campus gardens. The front door was on the west wall and was closer to the north end of the room. The west wall also had 3 windows that looked out over the courtyard. On the north wall there were 2 doors. The door on the east side of the wall lead to a small guest “water closet” and the door on the west went into the massive bedroom. At the south end of the suite was a set of glass double doors that led into the rehearsal room. The total living space was really unbelievable.

Jessie stood in the middle of the room, taking it all in. Everything was so lush and luxurious, she was afraid to sit on any of it. Jessie started to walk around and look more closely at the pieces. There were two massive sectional sofas arranged around the middle of the room that formed a lovely entertaining area. There were several other couches, love seats, chairs and recliners in small groups around the rooms as well as quite a few tables. Jessie noticed a counter in the southwest corner of the room. Further investigation showed that this was a bar area with a sink and a small refrigerator and ice maker under the counter. On the north wall, there was a modern looking set of glass shelves that contained the components of an entertainment system along with a small container filled with various remote controls. There was also one very modern looking master remote control sitting directly on the shelf. Jessie could identify what looked like a stereo receiver, a cd/dvd player, a cassette deck, a satellite receiver, a VCR, a turntable and a master control box, but she couldn't seem to locate the television screen. In another corner of the room, Jessie noticed a large cabinet. When she walked over to the cabinet and opened the doors, she found a 32” TV with a DVD/VCR combo. Across from the cabinet was a small love seat flanked by small tables and a couple of recliners. When Jessie pointed the remote at the TV and pressed the power button, nothing happened. A few seconds later, she heard the sounds of people talking. When she turned around to see where the sound was coming from, she noticed a large screen coming down out of the ceiling on the south wall.

“Whoa!” Jessie exclaimed as she watched the screen descend from the roof. Jessie was impressed as the projector came on. The picture was really clear and really bright. Jessie looked at the remote a little more and notices a button marked “windows.” A shiver of excitement ran down her spine. After Jessie pressed the button, massive dark shade descended to cover the east windows. “I could get used to this!” Jessie said to the empty room.

Jessie manipulated the remote to turn off the overhead screen and raise the shades. She walked back to the master control center and placed the remote back on the shelf. Jessie headed for the bedroom door to look around in there. When Jessie opened the door, she got goosebumps. The room was 15 feet by 20 feet. There was a cherry wood king-size four poster bed on a platform on the east wall. On either side of the bed were tall, slender cherry wood tables with drawers. There was a matching cherry wood desk in the corner formed from the guest bathroom's intrusion into the space. The desk was “L” shaped with shelves and cabinets over both writing areas. In the interior corner where the two sections met, there was a computer with two 19” flat-screen monitors on either side of the main CPU. The keyboard and the optical mouse, both of which were wireless, were sitting in front of the CPU. There was a corner cabinet above the CPU. When Jessie opened the door to the cabinet, she discovered the printer and the wireless router and also the modem for hi-speed Internet. Jessie made note of the location of the router and the modem so that she could place her external hard drive when her personal belongings arrived the next day.

Jessie continued to walk around the bedroom. As she went through one of the sets of the doors on the north side of the room, she walked into the master bathroom. The room was 10 feet by 12 feet with a spa bathtub and large walk-in shower. There was a second door that lead into the closet. As Jessie stepped through the door, she was shocked by the size of the closet. The room was big enough to have it's own chaise lounger and dressing table. The closet itself was cedar-lined and had bars, shelves and drawers everywhere. There was even a set of rotating shelves in the middle of the floor. There was also a door that exited out into the bedroom. Jessie noticed that the staff had already moved her luggage into the closet. She still had more clothes on the truck, but there was nowhere near enough to even make this room look anything closed to full.

“I think I'm going to have to buy more clothes,” Jessie thought out loud.

Jessie left the closet and walked out of the bedroom to return to the main living area. She walked across the living space to the set of doors on the south side. As she entered the rehearsal room, she quickly looked around. There was another cutout area in the room that contained yet another bathroom on the west. There was a grand piano on the west side of the room as well as a desk with yet another computer. This computer was hooked to an sixteen track mixing board with an electric keyboard, 2 CD players and a dual cassette deck. There was also more than one microphone on stands as well as massive speakers on either side of the desk. The thing that impressed Jessie the most was the quiet. The room was huge, another 20 feet by 20 feet with a 15 foot ceiling, hardwood floors and a mirror on the south wall, but there was no echo as she shut the door or walked across the floor. Her guess was that it was due to the large fabric panels on the top of the walls. They appeared to retract up to the ceiling and they were set at an angle.

Day 1 - 1411 words in 3 hours - notes in main journal

She never really knew her mother. That is to say, she doesn't remember her much at all. She has a vague memory; her mother singing, her mother's hair blowing in the breeze as the sunlight back lit her frame, blocking out all features. When she was a bit older, she saw pictures of her mother, she even had one by her bed. It was a family picture; her mother, her father and her, all smiling for the camera. She was almost two in that picture. She still keeps that picture wherever she goes. It helps to remind her of where she comes from.

Time has passed now, so much time, she can't believe how long it's been and how far she's come, how far the world has come. The world is a totally different place than when she was a child, yet it's finally the world she thought it was then. She was not surprised when the change occurred, it seemed like it was a long time coming, but the time was finally right. She took a deep breath, it was almost time.

*****

Her mother died when she was three, she doesn't remember when they told her, she just remembers the day: her aunt came over & spent the day playing with her. Her aunt seemed a little sad at the time, so she remembers trying to put on a show for her. She dressed up in her feather boa & her play high-heeled shoes with her big, floppy easter hat that she picked out herself. She danced & told jokes. To end the show, she started singing the song her mom used to sing to her. Her aunt really started to cry then. She thought that it was because she messed up in the middle.

“Don' cwai Ana Beth. Mommy'll hep me 'membew when she gets home,” she said in her 3-year-old drawl using her “big girl” words. Her aunt just smiled & wiped away the tears, but they never seemed to stop.

Two days later, they put her mother in the ground. She gave her mom her blanket & her favorite bear to take to Heaven with her. She finally understood what was going on. It was just her & her dad.

A few weeks later, she was in tears as she left her Sunday School classroom. They had moved far away from the rest of her family so that her dad could take a better job. She hated the new place with all the fury that a 3- almost 4-year-old could muster.

“What's wrong, sweetie?” her father questioned as she stormed out of the room with tears streaming down her face.

“I HATE IT HERE!” she yelled as she started to storm off toward the door. “I want to go HOME!” Her father grabbed her by the shoulders and stopped her retreat.

“We can go in just a second, honey, but you have to tell me what happened, “ he replied, squatting down to get on eye-lever with the squirming child.

“First everyone was talking about how great their mom is and how they got really cool stuff for her for today. Then the teacher asked me what I got for my mom. When I said that my mom is with Jesus, Tommy Gilbert started laughin' at me and callin' me a weirdo. When I told him I wasn't a weirdo, he just laughed again an' started singin' 'weirdo, weirdo, your momma had a beard-o.' That's when I got up and slapped him in the mouth.” She took a deep breath. “The next thing I knew, Miss Helen had me standing in the corner while Tommy was taken to the toy room. It's just not fair, daddy! I don't have a momma here so I get put in the corner while Tommy gets to go play with the toys!” She was bawling and collapsed into a heap in her father's arms. Her father scooped her up and started to comfort her.

“There, there,” he soothed as he smoothed her hair and patted her back. “It'll be alright.”he said as he started to wipe away her tears. “Let's go talk to mean 'ol Miss Helen and see what's going on.”

“Oh, dear,” Miss Helen sighed as Jessie & her daddy approached, “I do believe it's my fault.”

Miss Helen explained that they were having a class discussion about Mother's Day & that Tommy Gilbert started acting up right after they started. She had called Mister Jameston in there to help her keep control of the boys since Tommy seemed to set all of the boys off. When it was Jessie's turn to speak, Tommy was really amped up and would barely sit still. When Jessie said that her mommy had gone to Heaven to be with Jesus, Tommy jumped up and told the class that there was a girl in his class at school that had two daddies & that his daddy had said that anyone who didn't have both a mommy & a daddy was weird. When Tommy started to call Jessie weird and sing the chant that he made up, all of the boys and some of the girls started to join in. While Miss Helen and Mister Jameston tried to get the class to calm down, Jessie got up, walked over to Tommy Gilbert and punched him in the nose. As soon as Tommy saw the blood on his shirt, it was all over. Tommy started to bawl his eyes out when he saw the blood on his shirt. When Miss Helen took Jessie to the corner, Mister Jameston took Tommy in the bathroom to clean him up. After Mister Jameston helped Tommy clean his face, Mister Jameston took Tommy into the hall to sit him there until Mister Jameston was able to go get Tommy's father.

“And now I feel a little guilty about it because the Sunday school board wanted to split the three-year-old class into girls and boys, but I didn't feel like it was necessary at this age, “ Miss Helen sighed. “I really should have listened to them. They thought that something like this would happen. But I thought that the boys would be cammed by the presence of the girls, most all the girls are so good, including your Jessie.” Miss Helen smiled a little at Jessie while Jessie wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I'm sure Jessie never would have acted that way if Tommy Gilbert hadn't of started the whole thing. I swear, Tommy can be such a handful sometimes,” Miss Helen sighed again. “Unfortunately, I couldn't just let Jessie's behavior slide by. Not only was it not proper behavior for church, it also wasn't very lady-like behavior either.” Jessie's daddy chucked a little bit.

“Well, Miss Helen, I don't think that there was much more that you could have done,” Jessie's daddy said as he stood up. “I don't see anything wrong with what you did, but I did need to hear your side of the matter before I made a decision. Come on, Jessie, Let's go.” Jessie's daddy grabbed her hand and headed towards the door. Jessie tripped along behind her daddy while they walked towards the car.

“Am I in trouble?” Jessie asked as her daddy strapped her into her car seat.

“No, honey,” he replied. “You just need to make sure that you control your temper, that's all. The people in this city are different than the people in Oklahoma. They have a different set of expectations for little girls. When you're in this area, the people expect a little girl to act like a lady. That means that you can't punch little boys and you can't do cartwheels when you're in your dress either. You'll need to watch yourself out here, kiddo.” Jessie leaned her head back against the seat and sighed. She didn't like to hear about the things she couldn't do. Her daddy continued, “I know you don't like to hear all this, little one, but you'll understand all of this later. Right now, I want you to focus on having fun and being a kid, but there are still things you have to do,” Jessie's daddy looked at her in the rear view mirror and smiled. “I know it's not that important now, but you'll need to be ready when you start school here in a few weeks. Pay attention to your teachers, they'll teach you a lot.”