Where does the time go?!

Hello everyone. I have not written in a long time, and for that, I apologize. I will try to be better. My life is fantastic as of late and I really am having a great time. I am now living in Portland, in a beautiful condo with an awesome roommate who is not just studying to be a doctor, but who is an ACTUAL doctor, like an actual MD. It's fun living in a more grown-up place. Portland Oregon may also be one of the most beautiful places to live in the whole world. It is so lush and green and full of creative energy. Everyone here is very artistically minded and I love the atmosphere. I am the organist in the ward I am attending and having a great time getting to know some new friends here and there. I've started a new blog (check it out at operawithmax.blogspot.com) and I am still progressing towards receiving my Master's degree. I am a lucky man to have all these blessings in my life and they just keep getting better and better. More to come...

Hold please...

Hello again. After much time has yet again passed from my last entry in my personal blog, I shall here make another effort to illustrate my life for those who find it interesting. I am having a great second season with UFOMT (formerly Utah Festival Opera) and am grateful for the blessings I currently enjoy in my life. However, I am worried. When will I actually begin to know where my life is going to go from hereon out? The other day I received a disturbing email saying that my diploma is being held because the university thinks I owe it $1,000, which is not true or accurate by even the farthest stretch of financial reasoning. Also, I have no idea where I am going to live, work or how I'm going to be able to support myself in the next phase of my life. I know that all things are supposed to be in the Lord's time and I need some help here. I am slowly learning that I need to depend more on my Heavenly Father to guide me because I sure as heck have no idea how it will all work out in the end. And that scares me a little, because I am so used to doing everything by myself. All I can do is pray and wait for some inspiration because it seems like everything I've tried to do on my own has been wrong. When will my life actually begin to make sense? Not sure but still holding on to my optimism. More to come...

Reflections on Graduation!

I have three very important words to say: I DID IT! The light at the end of the tunnel has finally been reached and I have completed everything I needed to to receive my Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance. What makes it feel even better is that I literally had the week from hell during finals and accomplished a great many things including singing a fantastically successful senior recital, which I am actually planning on posting up on YouTube soon. Now all I have to look forward to is a great season with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater with some of my best friends and saving up for the big move to Portland in September to start my Master's Degree. It is a very exciting time in my life. I'm so grateful for the wonderful experience that Utah State has been for me and look forward to doing great things in my career as a musician. This is the first step on a long journey, but I am finally learning to enjoy where I am at instead of always dreaming of things to come. More updates coming soon...

Confessions of a doormat...

Blogs can be very therapeutic. In a way, it's almost like holding a mirror in front of your life so you can observe from a logical standpoint all the thoughts that are constantly swimming around in your head like fish in a bowl. At the present, there are many things in my life that are going very well. I'm back in full fellowship in the church, still not able to go to the temple or use my priesthood, but now I have a calling as a ward organist and am able to pay tithing, go home teaching and fully contribute as a member of the ward. I had a successful audition for grad school at Portland State University and have another one coming up at Florida State University. I sang a successful production of "Giulio Cesare" (my first time in a title role, exciting!) and I finally have a new computer, courtesy of my wonderful amazing daddy. Hey I do have a lot to be thankful for! However, I do wish to get out a few things that have been bothering me. Lately, I've felt that even though I am constantly in the spotlight as an example in the department to all my friends and peers, there doesn't seem to be anyone in my life right now that has stopped to ask the question: Max, what do you need? How can I help? How can I make you feel appreciated and needed?
Now, you're probably thinking: He's completely nuts. He's got scholarship money, gets all the lead roles, and has lots of friends and is getting a good education. It's not something that I can fully explain. But all I can say is, it's hard being Max Moreno. It's difficult going around and fixing everyone else's problems. This is so strange, but lately I get the feeling that although I am recognized for what I can do musically, that I don't feel recognized as a person. Just because I am able to give out sarcastic remarks and witty observations, does not mean I am totally devoid of feeling. The truth is, when I'm with my friends, a lot of times I feel like I just fade into the background. And what's scary is I'm not sure what to do about it. There's a certain friend in particular that I wish I could say this to, but I don't want to give him another thing to worry about. And I'm not even that worried about it myself, it just kind of bothers me, sort of like the wart on my right thumb. It's not something that's pleasant, but it doesn't inhibit me from doing my daily duties either. It would just be nice to have someone tell me that my opinion matters, that even though I am older than the general populace at Utah State, I know a lot about life. I just need someone to reaffirm this to me. And that's what I hate most of all, because I don't like it when people ask me to do the same thing for them. This post is too long and I don't know how else to phrase this. More to come...

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?....

Hello again, constant reader. It is now the end of December, Christmas has come and gone and we are now facing a new year yet again. Lots of things have happened, let's start from where we left off. My last twitterpated post was funny to me, since really not much has progressed in that relationship very much, but we seem to like each other and she has agreed to another date with me (this would make #4) so I think it's safe to say she is interested and I will see where it goes. The semester at school was wonderful, I've made and forged some lasting friendships with some incredible peers who make me glad to be alive. I played Keyboard 2 in the pit orchestra of Seussical the Musical, in which my ridiculously talented little bro played the lead role of Horton the Elephant. He actually made us all cry, he was so touching. I also got 3 leads in the next 3 operas: Cesare in "Giulio Cesare", Papageno in "The Magic Flute", and The Representative in "A Game of Chance". I'll be doing these in January, February, and April. My senior recital will also be in April. I sang my junior recital in November along with my good friend Kevin Diehl. We had a terrific time and everyone was pleased with our performance. My birthday was fantastic this year, despite the fact that I am now 27 in a culture that considers such an age to be a sign of either insanity or extreme personality flaws. But I digress. I went to a great birthday dinner at Olive Garden with a small group of my closest friends and afterwards we all went to see an awesome production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on the USU Campus for free. After some successful choir concerts and a few finals which I actually did quite well on, I traveled back to Kuna for "a fun old-fashioned family Christmas" (to quote Clark Griswold), where I am now writing this entry on my parent's trusty Dell desktop. But my biggest accomplishment is that I will finally be able to participate fully in my ward and receive a calling. I am most excited for this. As I reflect on this last year and prepare for a new one, I can't help but feel great about all that has happened in 2010. My bishop advised me in our last meeting to write down each day in my journal the ways that my Heavenly Father has blessed me that particular day, even if they seem trivial. Since doing that, it is remarkable the way my attitude has changed. I can only hope that this trend continues in 2011. Next on the agenda, New Year's Eve bash at the Rose's with all the cousins and Mom's family. Can't wait! More to come...

That Old Feeling...

Every now and then, I am reminded that I am a typical man in many aspects, though my choice of career seems to dictate otherwise to the cynical world that demands that anyone with any degree of masculinity should not be pursuing a career in the arts. Tonight was one such moment. Have you ever felt just absolutely twitterpated and lovesick just being around someone you don't know very well? You should know, constant reader, that I don't very often. But I did tonight. Now comes the fun part of finding out where my feelings will take me. I actually felt my heart leap a few times as I stared at the object of my newfound affection and quite frankly, it felt really good, especially since I kind of get the feeling that she may feel the same way about me. Hopefully, if this is true, we will be seeing a lot more of each other. But even if it's not, it's still fun to find out isn't it? Okay, so now you're probably thinking "Where the hell is he going with this?". The answer is, "Really nowhere. But it's just nice to put positive feelings on the page instead of venting negative ones sometimes." More to come...hopefully! :D.......

Time marches on...

Hello again, constant reader (whoever you are). In my usual craze that is my life, I have once again failed to keep my blog updated as much as I would prefer. I am now knee-deep in rehearsals with the Utah Festival Opera Company, which is just as rewarding and fun as I imagined it would be. I am currently cast in four shows: The Barber of Seville, La Traviata, Guys and Dolls, and George M! (the latter being presented as a radio drama with black binders and minimal costuming from the 1930s'-40's era). So now I am musing on what I should write about besides my usual thoughts about music, family, friends, but ironically can't come up with anything "better". I suppose this is what is important in my life and I'm really okay with that. I have been thinking a lot about my Daddy lately, seeing as how it's almost Father's Day and also his birthday in about a month. I know I say this a lot in these entries, but I am truly blessed to have a family as great and non-dysfunctional as mine. They are my whole life and I'm grateful that they feel the same way. The only thing I am not particularly enjoying as of late is my new ward. They have combined 4 different student wards into one, huge, "conglomerate" ward and it doesn't really make it convenient to get into see your bishop, especially when your daily schedule isn't known until the night before basically. But I digress...
So in short, a happy entry. Things in summertime Logan are going smoothly thus far and I am strapped for cash, but not starving. More to come...