Redhot and Blog

Disclaimer: I've just been reading (Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Steve Martin--a hoot and a half), which generally tends to make my writing slightly more articulate than necessary in such a casual setting as this blog. My apologies.

Hello, one and all.

I figured I would dutifully post on our so cleverly titled blog before it became a bandwagon for me to jump on. With the recent Metro collision merely a few stops away from me on Monday, I feel especially grateful to be able to do something as minor as impart my summer doings to you, my lovely Redhotties.

Okay, enough sobering words. Summer is wonderful. Before it began, I was expecting to work a 9-to-5 internship and be done with my day. "Twas not so. Allow me to escort you through my week.

It all begins on Sunday, when I wake up early after my only day off (Saturday) to accompany a Methodist church nearby. Think hand-clapping, feet-stomping and gospel-singing, and you've got the gist of the congregation. Interesting fact: the church meets in a building that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. I then run errands, followed by a quick change into my rescue squad uniform (steel-toed combat boots so totally make the outfit). Rescue squad duty, my favorite but most exhausting commitment, is from 1800 to 0600 the next morning, and is never dull. This past weekend I had back-to-back calls, seeing everything from a child with the flu to a high school kid who punched a window to a drunk guy with no pants on. Good times. Yeah.

Monday through Friday I have my 9-to-5 (open cubicle, desk, ergonomic chair, computer/laptop, black desk phone and all), which is so much more than I anticipated. I work at the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in the CNS (Cognitive Neuroscience) Section of NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) (countless acronyms...oh how reminiscent). I'm running an fMRI study on the neural foundations of morality (broad, much?), as well as setting up a new study and analyzing the data from a just recently completed study. I love my job. And have also developed an obsession with brightly colored Post-It notes. After work I take the Metro home (fulfilling my lifelong dream of sitting in the Metro during rush hour, newspaper in hand, business attire on, ID badge proudly displayed), eat a quick dinner and leave for rehearsal. Rehearsal, you wonder? Why yes, I'm the rehearsal accompanist for the summer company I was in last summer. We're doing The Pajama Game, which I wasn't particularly fond of at first, but have grown to tolerate and even slightly enjoy. The show goes up mid-July, at which time I will start my accompanist gig with another company doing Aida. And I thought I wouldn't be doing any theater this summer...

And thus ends a week in the life of Melinda. Repeat six more times, add in weekly voice lessons and frolicking about with friends and family and you've got my summer, followed by a week of the beach, then Maine. Then (horror of horrors) sophomore year.

Oh my lands.

M.