There’s Mildly Ambitious … Far Too Ambitious … and Insanely Ambitious

Shh … I’m booking tickets for musical events taking place later this year. If my audiologist finds out, I fear she’ll send me for a pre-implant psychological assessment, quick smart, to quash those Unrealistic Expectations.

Let’s start with Mildly Ambitious, scheduled for around 4.5 months after switch-on. (August 2010)

I am really, really excited about this one! Last night, I took advantage of an internet pre-sale and booked tickets to a theatrical production of West Side Story for August this year. I have always wanted to see this performed – am such a huge fan of the movie! And the best thing is, I had the good fortune of discovering this one in my ‘hearing years’, so I know the soundtrack very well. I plan to watch the movie (captions on!) many times before the show, to refresh my knowledge of the story. The music is a strong feature of this one, but there’ll be plenty of dialogue to break it up, and I also know the lyrics to the songs already. I’ll be sitting in the loop so I can make full use of the telecoil. So I think it’s safe to call this ambitious, but mildly so.

(By the way, I've been singing the soundtrack to Westside Story all day. Thought I'd share this with you: being a newly-deaf person, I recently asked my loving husband recently whether I ‘still sing in tune’. There was a calculated pause, and a hint of a smile, before he gave me this: ‘more so than you used to’. Ouch!!)

Hmm … let’s go on to Far Too Ambitious, taking place around 5.5 months after switch-on. (September 2010)

Yes, an extra month of sound adjustment to play with, but Far Too Ambitious is a ballet production – The Nutcracker. I know the story, and I’m familiar with some of the Tchaikovsky music that accompanies it, not all. I’ll have one of those FM systems around my neck, so can use the telecoil. But telecoil or not, this production is far more reliant on music to tell the story. I think I will get great enjoyment from the dancing, at least, but may well have a lot of trouble connecting the dancing to the subtleties in the music. I am willing to take the chance, but also willing to admit that it’s Far Too Ambitious.

And Insanely Ambitious. Oh dear. Around 7.5 months after switch-on. (November 2010)

I fear this one is completely irrational, on a million different levels, but I just can’t part with it. Are you ready? Here it comes. It’s a jazz concert. (A JAZZ concert?! Oh yes, I hear your voices in my head! Or maybe it’s my audiologist’s voice, I don’t know!) OK, let me explain this one, for those of you who haven’t already closed the browser window in disgust. I am a huge Michael Buble fan from … from … well, the moment I stopped being annoyed about “that smarmy kid ripping off Sinatra classics”, and actually started taking a genuine liking for his style. (I fear my Sinatra CDs are somewhat dusty these days.) I went to a Buble concert as a ‘hearing person’ in 2005, then to another one with a severe hearing loss, in 2008. And here we are (excuse the pun) in 2010. And I suppose I’m Insanely Ambitious to try and pull this one off. A friend of mine has gently informed me that jazz with a CI sounds like … well, like tin being hit. My expectations for enjoying the music at this concert are therefore pretty low. He is quite the comedian, so I’m going to try and sit in the loop and keep up with the jokes he makes in between songs. I remember that some of his songs, the ones he's written himself, are not so ‘jazzy’ and might actually be bearable. And during the jazz numbers? I suspect I’m going to have to turn those processors off … but I am sure going to make the most of the vibrations coming through my seat and dance along with the rest of the crowd as best I can.

Here’s to an ambitious 2010 for all of us!

PS: In the meantime, I’d better stop singing that Westside Story soundtrack lest hubby shreds the tickets! Oh he ain’t finding me oh so pretty or witty right now, I tell you. ;-)