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diaryDiariesA weeklong electronic journal.2NA=1154&NC=1192&DI=4098&PS=58313&PI=7315diaryfalsefalsespacernotembeddeddiaryHer Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of JordanHer Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of JordanQueen Rania of Jordan in New York.Rania Al Abdullah0I've met many celebrities this week, but the message that will stick with me most came from a little Indian girl.Woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was phone my son Hashem to see how he was feeling. He was napping, and I didn't get much out of him, but it was still comforting to hear his sleepy little voice. I can't wait to give him a big cuddle.nonotruenonotochyperlinkno200892423004PMWednesdaySepSeptember149/24/2008 6:30:04 PM633578634040000000200892610610PMFridaySepSeptember139/26/2008 5:06:10 PM633580311700000000diaryMaking Lipstick JungleMaking Lipstick JungleLipstick Jungle:A bad day on set.Andrew McCarthy0A bad day on set.Dec. 10, 2007—I find that in acting, one out of every 10 days is a breeze, a joy. Everything feels easy, carefree. I am in a zone where I don't really have to do too much, I'm relaxed and aware, and every choice seems inspired, and everything falls into place, and happy accidents occur left and right.nonotruenonotochyperlinkno20082453427PMMondayFebFebruary172/4/2008 10:34:27 PM633377432670000000200828121109PMFridayFebFebruary122/8/2008 5:11:09 PM633380694690000000diaryAt Home in ShanghaiAt Home in ShanghaiAt home in Shanghai.Deborah Fallows0Some tips on how to get by in China.I'm keeping my guard up even along my familiar path to school. I turned off busy Nanjing Xi Lu onto Qinghai Lu, which is a big sidewalk but is nonetheless overrun with bikes, scooters, and the occasional Buick (luxury car of choice) with tinted windows. Passing a fast-food restaurant and watching preparations for the lunch crowd, I had an epiphany: China is dangerous.nonotruenonotochyperlinkno2006111315906PMMondayNovNovember1311/13/2006 6:59:06 PM6329902314600000002006111711200PMFridayNovNovember1311/17/2006 6:12:00 PM632993659200000000diaryAdoption Approved!Eric WeinerA weeklong journal of a hopeful father-to-be.Eric Weiner0A weeklong journal of a hopeful father-to-be.Today is the big day—our court hearing. The judge will decide whether or not to approve the adoption. Not that long ago, these hearings were a mere formality, handshakes and smiles all around. But we've been warned to expect a real grilling.nonotruenonotochyperlinkno2005121912458PMMondayDecDecember1312/19/2005 6:24:58 PM6327059549800000002005122770514PMTuesdayDecDecember1912/28/2005 12:05:14 AM632713071140000000diaryA Visit With an Author, Activist, and Dickens FanTamara ChalabiA weeklong journal of a writer in Iraq.Tamara Chalabi0A weeklong journal of a writer in Iraq.The waiting game began when the last ballot box filled up. Waiting doesn't seem to be something people do well or enjoy. There is a tension in the air that rises in crescendo with every complaint about ballot-rigging.nonotruenonotochyperlinkno2005121213134PMMondayDecDecember1312/12/2005 6:31:34 PM63269991094000000020051216120827PMFridayDecDecember1212/16/2005 5:08:27 PM632703317070000000200311442731PMTuesdayJanJanuary161/14/2003 9:27:31 PM631781584510000000200311442731PMTuesdayJanJanuary161/14/2003 9:27:31 PM631781584510000000falsetruefalsefalsefalsefalsetrue20011018111443PMThursdayOctOctober2310/19/2001 3:14:43 AM6313904368300000002001103090133AMTuesdayOctOctober910/30/2001 1:01:33 PM631400292930000000By spacerJane EaglenyeshyperlinkspacerJane  Eaglen yeshyperlinkJaneEaglenfalse13Jane Eaglen is an opera singer.ukbird@aol.com206-729-82977427 Corliss Ave NorthSeattleWA98103USA111601620011031113354AMWednesdayOctOctober1110/31/2001 3:33:54 PM63140124834000000020011031113354AMWednesdayOctOctober1110/31/2001 3:33:54 PM63140124834000000011Jane Eaglen is an opera singer. 2008101912436AMSundayOctOctober110/19/2008 5:24:36 AM6335997627697487192001102233453PMMondayOctOctober1510/22/2001 7:34:53 PM6313936169300000002001102240708PMMondayOctOctober1610/22/2001 8:07:08 PM631393636280000000, opera singer91/Eaglen-Sig-FNL.gif3408018http://img.slate.com/mediafalse2008101912436AMSundayOctOctober110/19/2008 5:24:36 AM6335997627697487192008101912436AMSundayOctOctober110/19/2008 5:24:36 AM6335997627697487192008101912436AMSundayOctOctober110/19/2008 5:24:36 AM633599762769748719L false2001102245911PMMondayOctOctober1610/22/2001 8:59:11 PM63139366751000000020011024100904PMWednesdayOctOctober2210/25/2001 2:09:04 AM631395581440000000spacerWho is this person?yeshyperlinkJane Eaglen is currently singing the title role in Norma at New York's Metropolitan Opera.WhoIsThisPerson2001102234231PMMondayOctOctober1510/22/2001 7:42:31 PM6313936215100000002001102643300PMFridayOctOctober1610/26/2001 8:33:00 PM631397107800000000DayOfWeekspaceryeshyperlink It’s 1:00 a.m. on Monday, and I am waiting for a shepherd’s pie to heat up in the oven so I can have a little sustenance to recover from the evening at the Yankees game. This probably doesn’t sound much like the average evening for an opera singer, but I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an average day for me. Let me introduce myself. I am an opera singer, originally from England, now living in Seattle, and presently staying in New York City. I have been singing professionally for almost 17 years, though I started very young, straight from college. For the last 10 years or so I have been singing what’s known as the dramatic soprano repertoire, which is basically the heaviest soprano roles, especially Wagner, which I suppose is my specialty, though I sing lots of other composers too. I moved to Seattle two and a half years ago and a year and a half ago married my husband, Brian, which is why I came to leave England. He now travels with me, as around 10 months of the year are spent on the road, singing with various opera companies in the United States and Europe. Having traveled alone for so long, I still can’t get over how wonderful it is to not be alone after performances and to have someone to share this difficult but fascinating life with. We are presently in New York, where I am singing the title role in Norma at the Metropolitan Opera. Norma has not been performed in New York for 20 years, so the pressure was pretty enormous. It’s a role I love, though, and have done a number of times before, and I am having a really good time coming back to it, but more of Norma later in the week, I think, as I don’t have a performance for a couple of days, and I like to do other things when I am not actually having to sing. Hence this evening’s outing to Yankee Stadium. I became a huge baseball fan a couple of seasons ago and rapidly became a little obsessed. I have always been a sports fan. When I was a teen-ager, I supported Leeds United soccer team in England and vividly remember wearing black for a week when they lost the European Cup. I have learnt my baseball at Safeco Field in Seattle, so my husband and I seemed to be literally the only two people out of 56,000 who were not happy when the Yankees scored a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. I had been very good in keeping my shouts of encouragement as quiet as possible, which is no mean feat, as I can make quite a lot of noise if I want to. However, that was not an issue at the end of the game as I could do nothing but watch as the Yankee fans sang a rousing New York, New York, and we crept away. The Mariners only have to win all the three remaining games now to be the American League Champions. You can do it, boys!The rest of the weekend was fairly leisurely. I had a performance on Friday night, so we slept in late on Saturday. The opera I am singing here is an average length at around three hours, but it actually seems very short to me, as Wagner operas tend to last closer to five hours. It is important for me to get my body clock on track for performances, so even on days without a show I go to bed late and get up late. People sometimes don’t understand why singers sleep late, but I point out that we have to be at our best around 8:00 p.m., when people who have worked all day are coming to be entertained by us, so the energy level has to be up. My husband and I did do a little sight-seeing, which is a treat for me, as often there is no time to do anything other than work. We went to the New York City Public Library and saw the reading room, which was so beautiful and a real surprise to me. Then we saw a Beatrix Potter and an Oscar Wilde exhibit at the Pierpont Morgan Library, so it was nice to feel I had done something interesting and productive. Apart from that the weekend consisted of a few phone calls to England, to catch up with family, and too many games of backgammon on the computer, though with my husband’s help my rating improved dramatically. The shepherd’s pie, which heated up nicely, is now finished, and I suppose I should think of bed. I will probably read a few mindless magazine articles, or some of my book about Henry VIII and his court—which is fascinating, the Tudor period of history being another of my big interests. I love to go from one extreme to the other … English history, immediately followed by the National Enquirer, but that’s me altogether!242001102263000PMMondayOctOctober1810/22/2001 10:30:00 PM6313937220000000002001102265041PMMondayOctOctober1810/22/2001 10:50:41 PM631393734410000000spaceryeshyperlinkSleep finally came at 8 a.m. on Monday, after toothache all night, or should I say gum ache. I should have taken painkillers earlier but kept thinking it would pass, as it wasn't really that bad, but eventually I gave in and managed five hours of sleep. Sleep and rest are vital in my line of work. Someone once did research that showed that a singer uses up the same amount of energy singing a major role as a marathon runner. I can well believe it, and many of the same muscles are used, too. I have had one singing teacher since I was 18 years old, and this makes me quite rare among professional singers. His name is Joseph Ward, and I truly believe I would not be here today but for him. He knew how to teach a big voice like mine and how to be patient and wait until the voice and my body were ready to produce the sounds he believed I would be able to. You cannot force a voice to do things, though some people do, and bigger voices tend to take longer to develop than smaller ones.Keeping healthy is something a singer tries to do at all costs. A cold is a nuisance for anyone, but for a singer it can mean the difference between getting paid and not. Most singers are only paid for performances and not for rehearsals, which can mean if you get sick during the shows you can lose a lot of money. I try to stay as healthy as I can, and if I feel I might be getting sick, I take the usual precautions of drinking water and taking zinc and vitamin C. However, there are times when there is nothing you can do but hope that it won't affect the voice. I have sung performances with bad colds and sore throats, and as long as the vocal cords are not infected, then you will not do any harm to the voice. Around 10 years ago I was diagnosed with a lump on my thyroid and was told that there was a good chance it was cancerous. I found the best surgeon I could, who was in London at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and put myself in his hands. As I went into the operating theater I told him I wanted to come out of the surgery able to sing the same notes as when I went in. He said he would do his best, but his first job was to save my life. The lump was not cancerous, and he did a wonderful job, saved my voice and left me with a very impressive scar in the middle of my neck. If I am very sick and think I cannot do my best work, then I will cancel. I do this very rarely, despite what has been written in some of the press. I think it is important to give the audience as good a performance as you can every time you step out in front of them, but if I think I cannot reach a certain level, I will not sing. It's always disappointing for any singer to cancel and for some of the audience, too. It always amazes me what some people will say or write to singers sometimes. I once received unsigned hate mail for "canceling a performance on a whim," whereas I had actually been violently ill. You learn to develop a thick skin in this business.Having finally got a few hours' sleep, the day was made up of doing errands and catching up on mail and messages. I did a little shopping and bought a new concert dress for a performance next month in Berlin. The concert came up at the last minute, and I don't travel with evening clothes unless I know I am going to need them. Packing for three months away is difficult enough without taking things you may not need. Luckily, both my husband and I don't really feel the cold, so we don't need huge sweaters and coats to take up the space. We would much rather have space for books and CDs … a mixture of classical music and rock music.I also managed to do lots of laundry, which is something I actually enjoy. I can't say the same for the ironing that follows, but my husband doesn't mind that, so in that regard we are a perfect match. Sadly, my beloved Seattle Mariners lost to the Yankees, and their incredible season is over. I have often thought how similar a professional sports person is to a performer. They hone a talent and make a living from it, they have to "perform" at a given moment … hit a high C or a home run … and they have a lot of people watching them who think they could do better and offer "advice." It's hard but also wonderful to be able to make a living from something that most people only have as a hobby.I am hoping that sleep will be long and deep tonight, as I have a performance of Norma tomorrow. I wonder if any of the Mariners players relax with opera, as I relax with baseball?2420011023125248PMTuesdayOctOctober1210/23/2001 4:52:48 PM63139438368000000020011023123200PMTuesdayOctOctober1210/23/2001 4:32:00 PM631394371200000000spaceryesnonehyperlinkIt's 2 a.m. and far too hot for late October in New York. The humidity here is horrible and particularly bad right now. Tonight was the fourth performance of Norma and it went very well indeed. Performance days are pretty much the same routine for me, whatever the opera I am singing. Part of that is normal preparation like warming up the voice; the rest is little more than superstitions I have accumulated, though I always deny I am superstitious.I slept late until the phone woke me at 11:30 a.m. As the performance tonight was at 7:30 instead of the usual 8, it was just as well I didn't sleep any longer. I don't start singing straight away, but just need to get the blood flowing by being awake for a while. If I have to sing a 1:30 matinee performance, I try to get up around 6 a.m., which is difficult but necessary. The Metropolitan Opera typically has its live radio broadcasts on Saturday afternoons, so it makes it doubly important to be well warmed up for those.Singers can usually tell the state of their voice without singing a note. They are so tuned into their bodies that any slightly different feeling in their noses or throats is very obvious to them, so I felt that all was well today, and I didn't need to worry about the voice and start warming it up too early. Many singers refer to their voices in the third person as "the" voice, because in many ways it is like something inside you but still separate from you. "The" voice suggests this "other" entity you need to be in control of, almost like the naughty child the voice often is!I ate oatmeal for breakfast, which is a good start to a performing day. I like to eat little and often, so that my energy levels are in good shape in the evening. I dealt with e-mails and talked to my manager too. My manager is also my best friend from college days, and it is so wonderful to be looked after by someone who actually cares about me and doesn't just want to make money out of me, as is some agents' only aim. There is always a lot that need to be dealt with: travel agents, accountants, publicists, opera companies. I looked up some hotels on the Internet for some upcoming concerts and tried to think about what I will want to do in 2005. My diary is pretty full until 2005, and sometimes it seems odd to be planning things so far away, but they creep up before you know it, and we have to plan a schedule so that there are breaks for a vacation or just time to learn new music.I sing a scale sporadically during the day to start waking my voice up, but my real warm-up starts with my shower. I have a tape I have listened to before every performance I have done for around 10 years. Actually this is about the third tape, as I have to make a new one when the old tape gives up the ghost. It started out as music I just liked to listen to but is now a set program. The tape consists of "Anything for Love" by Meatloaf; four Whitney Houston songs, including "I Will Always Love You"; "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler; and "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meatloaf. I sing along to bits of these, always the same bits, and otherwise just listen and get in the mood for performing. The Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler songs were written by Jim Steinman, who also wrote both of Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell albums and is an incredible rock composer in my opinion. I was lucky enough to meet him after a performance of Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner at the Met and was not too surprised to find out he is a Wagner fan. He told me that he would listen to Little Richard and Wagner one after the other and never thought it was weird to enjoy such different types of music back-to-back. I have always felt the same way and usually relax to rock music. Maybe one day I'll record some pop album under a false name!I go into the theater about an hour and a half before the show starts and have my make-up done and hair pinned up to go under the wig. The costumes are long and heavy with big velvet cloaks, always too warm under the stage lights.Norma is about a druid priestess who has broken her vows and has two children by the enemy Roman proconsul. She finds out he has been having an affair with a novice priestess and threatens to have her killed. At the last minute, she realizes she cannot accuse someone of a crime she herself is guilty of and sacrifices herself. The father of her children is so moved by her dignity he joins her in death. The opera goes much deeper into the characters than some, especially that of Norma herself, and she is onstage for all but 35 minutes of the three hours. It's a wonderful role to sing and act, and I do enjoy it a lot. I felt well tonight and particularly enjoyed the duet I have with the Roman proconsul, threatening him and pointing a knife at him. Richard Margison sings this role and is a wonderful colleague to work with, as well as a great singer. Everything went as it should tonight, which is always a relief. I have been in performances where sets fell, curtains came in early, and once I was even kneed between the legs to get me off a high note when the other singer was not happy with the sound he was making, but that is rare!After the show there were some people waiting for autographs, which is always nice, and some flowers from some fans. I always feel that as long as you have made some people happy, then you have done your job. You will never please everyone; singing is very subjective and there is nothing you can do about it. You can only do your best and hope that you have entertained at least part of the audience.A group of us, including Richard and the conductor Carlo Rizzi, then went out for a drink and something to eat, which was a nice way of winding down. A Cosmopolitan and a Caesar salad later, I was feeling mellow and relaxed and ready for bed. 2420011024113308AMWednesdayOctOctober1110/24/2001 3:33:08 PM6313951998800000002001102423927PMWednesdayOctOctober1410/24/2001 6:39:27 PM631395311670000000spaceryeshyperlinkHow can it be 80 degrees in New York at the end of October? Today has been horrid for those of us who like to be cool. It was not helped by only five hours of sleep. My husband and I were up till the early hours sorting out mail and paying bills. Then, as the cleaner was due today, we had to get up and out around 11:30, which is really far too early. We had lunch then and tried to find somewhere cool, so we thought of a movie. The theater was indeed cool; the only problem was they were not allowing anyone in with an even slightly large bag. We didn’t wait to find out why, as several potential customers were already arguing with the management, so we left and spent some time in Tower Records. The security in New York is obviously very tight indeed. No one is allowed backstage at the Met except my husband, not even if I ask for particularly close friends. Having lived in London during the times of IRA bombs, I totally understand how things have to change and people have to be much more careful; I just hope that with time things will even out into a still-secure but less intense situation. When I am singing away from home, which is almost all the time, we have to stay in short-term rental apartments or hotels. We much prefer an apartment, as it gives us more space and the possibility of cooking rather than eating out all the time. Some cities have corporate apartments, which are great … basic but clean and pretty well equipped. New York does not really have this, except at a ridiculous price. We have, like most singers, stayed in some horrid places, but we were very lucky on this trip to find an apartment, which is great. It’s close to the Met, spacious and quiet. It makes such a difference to living away from home to have somewhere that is comfortable. My first job singing abroad was in Geneva, Switzerland, one of the most expensive cities in the world, and I remember vividly the tiny room I stayed in and the mustard-colored curtains and green-and-red checked wallpaper. If we are only away a week or so, for example doing concerts rather than an opera, then a hotel is fine and can be a nice treat. Trying to sort out accommodation and flights seems like a never-ending task. From New York we fly to London to visit my family for 10 days. I come from a city called Lincoln in the east Midlands of England, about 150 miles north of London. My mother still lives there, and it’s a beautiful city with the most incredible gothic cathedral in the country. From there we fly to Berlin for a concert with Daniel Barenboim and Placido Domingo. We have been to Berlin four times this year for various concerts and recordings and have enjoyed getting to know that city. From there we fly home to Seattle for a week and a half before a week of concerts in Vancouver, then another free week and more concerts, this time in Chicago. That takes us to Christmas and a break to recover from a very hectic year. This evening I took part in a lecture for the Metropolitan Opera education program. Dolora Zajick, who sings Adalgisa in Norma, and I were interviewed and then asked questions by the audience. I have done many of these kinds of talks and always enjoy them. As any of my friends will tell you, I have no problem talking about almost anything, and it’s always interesting to have the chance to answer questions from the people who come to see you perform. We followed this with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Picholine. The food and ambience there are wonderful, and the pièce de résistance is their cheese cart, which has over four dozen cheeses, typically. We shared a small plate of these, rather than dessert, and staggered home tired but sated and happy.  I have a few more e-mails to deal with before bedtime, but it is definitely going to be an early night for me today. I think a little television, maybe the reruns of Saturday Night Live on the comedy channel, and a mindless magazine, and I may actually be in bed before midnight. When was the last time I was in bed that early? Probably sometime in the last century! 2420011025104810AMThursdayOctOctober1010/25/2001 2:48:10 PM63139603690000000020011025113508AMThursdayOctOctober1110/25/2001 3:35:08 PM631396065080000000spaceryeshyperlinkAwoke early this morning in order to get up and be somewhat awake to do a live radio interview at noon. A few cups of coffee and a piece of toast more or less did the trick, and I could just about put two words together when the car came to take me to the studio. I have a recording contract with Sony Classical, and they arrange promotional appearances around my performances, which hopefully takes the world of opera out to some new people (which I hope this Diary may also do). The interview was for WNYC with Leonard Lopate on a show called New York & Company. Their studio is downtown in one of the government buildings, and the trip there was long and difficult. I had not been anywhere close to the area of the Sept. 11 disaster, and it was very sobering to see the cranes and shattered buildings in the distance. I was surprised at how big an area is still closed off to traffic, and it took many stops to ask police officers and detours before we could even get close to where we needed to be. In the end we walked a couple of blocks, and as soon as I stepped out of the car I was immediately taken aback by the very strong smell and taste of masonry dust in the air. I saw a few people still wearing masks, but I imagine many people who are regularly in that area hardly notice it anymore. Two pieces of ID and two metal detectors later, we were allowed in the building and made our way to the studio. The interview was very interesting, and it’s nice to be able to talk about different things sometimes. Mr. Lopate has interviewed me before, so he knew something about me, and it was an enjoyable 45 minutes. The drive back to the Upper West Side took almost an hour and a half, though I relaxed and watched the world go by, wishing I could stop and look in some of the more interesting shops. I enjoy shopping but get bored with it very easily, so half an hour in a store is usually plenty and enough time to do a little damage to the credit cards. I freely admit to being a budding Imelda Marcos when it comes to shoes. I also buy a lot of my clothes in New York, mostly at a wonderful store called Daphne. I am what is called a “big girl,” though I have never been able to see what someone’s dress size really has to do with anything, and it has never been an issue for me. I get most of my concert dresses at Daphne too, and as you can never wear the same dress in the same place twice, I seem to have acquired quite a few. Audiences do like to see ladies in nice concert dresses, and I remember once when I was younger and didn’t have so many dresses to choose from that someone came up to me after a concert and said, “We liked that dress last time you wore it here too”; so since then, I always try and remember what dress I wear in what city. The rest of the day was spent doing errands, grocery shopping, and catching up on e-mails. We ate in tonight and watched the new Friends and ER. I do think sometime someone should do a sit-com about life backstage at an opera house, or maybe they should just make a documentary, which would probably be much funnier. An early night is definitely in order tonight, especially as my husband is not well, and I think sleep is the best medicine for most things. Hopefully I will not catch his cold, but I don’t believe in putting a bag over my head to try and avoid germs, so sleep, water, and “zicam” it is. My next Norma is on Saturday evening, then only two more performances before this run is over. People often wonder why opera singers can’t sing every night of the week. As we have no microphones and use our bodies to such an extent, to sing every night would be very dangerous to the voice. In rehearsals, singers alternate between singing out and “marking,” which is singing either very quietly, or just missing out high notes so the voice is not put under so much pressure. Usually there are at least two days off between performances, though when I sing Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” there is only one day off between each of the three different operas I am in. Somehow it seems to work well, though, and although it’s tiring, I usually feel pretty good. I am very lucky to have a lot of stamina and be very strong, which makes a huge difference when singing big roles. I hope this taste of an operatic life on the move has encouraged some of you to investigate opera a little more and hopefully even go and see one. It’s a wonderful experience, and without exception my family and friends, who only came to opera through me, now love it. One of my greatest thrills is to hear of people going to their first opera and having such a good time they can’t wait for their second. I thank you for taking your time to share a little of my life, and I look forward to seeing you at the opera.242001102631614PMFridayOctOctober1510/26/2001 7:16:14 PM6313970617400000002001102673727PMFridayOctOctober1910/26/2001 11:37:27 PM631397218470000000New YorkNew YorkNOperaOperaONational enquirerNational enquirerNMusicMusicMNew york cityNew york cityNSeattleSeattleSThe National enquirerThe National enquirerNEnglandEnglandESleepSleepSLondonLondonLWagnerWagnerW10000231falsefalse1falsefalsefalsefalsefalse2falsefalse472001102213056PMMondayOctOctober1310/22/2001 5:30:56 PM6313935425600000002001102673944PMFridayOctOctober1910/26/2001 11:39:44 PM631397219840000000