10 things about me

  1. I’m a fan of food analogies; especially, while coaching other singers. In university, I had a teaching assistant who challenged a classmate to sing to the wall; as if all the nuances of her voice was a blob of spaghetti & ragu. You’ll hear me use that one a lot. 

  2. I’m not afraid of getting old or dying. My dream funeral includes a New Orlean’s style jazz march and a BBQ. Please bring good cornbread.  

  3. My first VHS was 1993’s “The Secret Garden”. Sarah Brightman’s “Winterlight” during the ending credits had me dreaming of that ethereal soprano sound before I even knew what it was. 

  4. In my teens & twenties, I was a huge Sting fan. I waited for 6.5 hours to have him sign his autobiography when I was 16. I was pretty star-struck and just said one-sentence. I said something along the lines of “You’re an inspiration.” He gently smiled and drew a happy face.

  5. I was named after “Vanessa Huxtable” from the Cosby show. 

  6. I like that the Mass is very physical - with all the standing ups, sitting downs and kneeling. It gives the Mass structure and a storyline. My childhood parish didn’t have kneelers. As a fussy child, I was completely thrown off by standing during the entirety of The Liturgy of the Eucharist. 

  7. Baz Lurhman’s 1996 romantic crime tragedy, “Romeo + Juliet”, fascinates me. I relish analyzing Christianity’s influence on pop culture, and vice-versa. The reverential, the crude, humanity’s relationship with tradition and how our existence craves it. 

  8. Organizing my music collection - autobiographically - à la John Cusack’s character in 2000’s “High Fidelity” is on my bucket list. 

  9. Seeing Jamie Cullum, at Massey Hall (2010), was one of the best concerts I’ve ever witnessed. I’m also a big fan of his wife’s granddad, Roald Dahl. I consider myself to be friends with his spirit - in my heart, of course. 

  10. I once heard the saying, “You can tell a movie is good, when you want to talk about it over a piece of cake.” I can’t remember who said it for the life of me. But, I consider it one of the ways I measure every significant life experience.