Those who read my blog every day and have total recall will know that I attended a board meeting for the Master Chorale last week, and that I left after only a couple of hours. Apparently, things got weird after I left, because last night the following fundraiser plan was announced:

We, the members of the chorale, will have a potluck dinner. Each of us will bring a gift in the $25 range, enticingly wrapped, and we’ll auction them off to one another. The idea is that we’ll pay $50 or so for an item, sight unseen, which we know cost $25. I guess there is supposed to be a spirit of madcap fun that will cause us to do this obviously silly thing.

I see a couple of problems. For one thing, we’re spending $75 each, plus enticing wrappings and food and drink for the potluck, and the chorale receives only $50. Why wouldn’t we just give $50 to the chorale and avoid having to bid on things we probably don’t want? For another, we’re the only ones invited. It’s like the story of the village where the people make their livings by taking in one another’s washing. The whole point of fundraising is to bring in money from other people, it seems to me.

Fortunately, I am not a member of the board, so I have no responsibility for this idea. However, it has been suggested that those of us with talents should also make things to be auctioned off visibly, so I could do my bit by knitting a scarf. La Bella suggested that I go ahead and do press releases for the upcoming concert, since the board is busy with party planning.

The Chemist and I finished getting the music in the choir room into a database yesterday afternoon. I had taken care of my Aussies, done the day’s blogging, and had a chat with a potential client who needs a website built for him as well as my services, so I volunteered to help finish up this task which we had begun months ago. The pastor asked me if I’d like to chair the worship ministry next year. I also had a request from a company in another state entirely to tutor English for the spouse of a local executive. She’s in the next county, and she wants this tutoring done on the days when I don’t already drive up there, so I declined. I also had another little burst of crises for Client #3, which made me keep La Bella waiting for a few minutes on the way to the rehearsal.

I’d been praying for more work, of course, since I have a slow week, but I guess I should have specified profitable work. Not that this sentence actually reflects my theology, you understand. It was just a little bit of prayer humor.

I am hopeful about the new client, an introduction via #1 daughter, and I’ve continued to apply to things. Today I have a class to teach. We’re getting the whole issue of sources and bibliography tied down. I hope. I also need to call the person on whom I’m doing the encyclopedia entry. My deadline isn’t till December, but now I have the time. If I wait, I might find myself putting it off in favor of more profitable tasks, and I want to do a good job for this lady.

I don’t expect that I’ll ever have an encyclopedia entry, but I think it would be nice. Sort of like a plaque. Hitherto, I’ve written about people who were dead, and about the former Miss America/Playboy bunny who had an affair with the president. That’s not the kind of encyclopedia entry I’d want, and I didn’t ask her for an interview. Maybe I should have.

My current subject, though, I definitely want to interview. I met her when I sang at a luncheon in her honor, and they had a video on her. I don’t look forward to having to watch the video again, but I had a performance coming up and didn’t have the presence of mind to take notes in case I might be writing about her in the future.

The lady in question had very soft hands, which I know because she held my hands in hers for quite a while after the song, and a sweet smile. She didn’t talk much, but I guess it must be hard to think what to say under such circumstances. I’ll have to come up with some good questions to ask her.

That might be a good example for my class today, in fact. You have to get a certain amount of information before you can tell what questions you need to ask to write the thing you’re going to write.

Not like this post, which is all vague ramblings. I’m off to the gym now, before the boys get up and want the car.

Oh — for complete randomness, I’ll also add that my marketing blog, which started up a month ago with PR of zero, as all new sites do, has gone up to PR2.