akintsucrooner

Powerful stuff Andrew W. Potter. Bravo. Mad respect for your candor and clarity. Thank you for shedding important light on the state of our field.

For the past three decades, my musical career has been a chiaroscuro tapestry of multi-level teaching and freelance performing (wherever I can get it or create it) that sustains me and allows me share my muse. Coming from professional singer parents, I knew when I chose this path that talent is expected; there is so much more that goes into a career of which no two are the same, and much is sheer luck and timing. #akintsucrooner

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why I’m Retiring from Staged Opera at 43

25 YEARS LATER

E. Perryman 9.2026

#akintsucrooner

Dad, 25 years ago on 9.11.2001, you and mom watched in horror as the 2nd plane flew into the World Trade Center towers during the terror attacks.  You would live for only one more month after this depravity of human nature. This tragedy would be the worldwide advent of rampant unconscionable terror attacks that would ensue during the first quarter of the 21st century.  

Dad, on 9.15.2001, I drove home to Chicago from Louisiana along with my Nokia cell phone on a wing and a prayer so I didn’t miss an opera audition after all the planes were grounded. Lucky for me, I was fortunate enough to see you one last time. I distinctly remember staying longer than I intended and not wanting to leave. 

Dad, the last 25 years has brought enormous changes to our world: physically, mentally, culturally, ethically, politically, and emotionally making 2026 scarcely recognizable from what you knew at the turn of the 21st century. Reality that I knew 25 years ago seems like an altered state in retrospect; the blinders have gradually come off. 

Dad, your wife, children, grandchildren, family, friends still here face intense and mighty challenges that pervade life in 2026. The impact of modern day reality would surely have affected you deeply. I wish I could have witnessed how you would have poured yourself into your music making. 

Dad, who knows what tomorrow will bring but I can say with confidence that I have learned that nothing is promised and expectation is a fool’s quest. I’m 6 years younger now than when you passed away. I know if you would have been granted more time, you would have made the most of it as you had just begun your retirement after three decades of service as an educator and musical artist. 

Dad, as I continue to attempt to solve this riddle of living, I can only think about your life force and all that you gave others from family and friends to students and colleagues. In one of your world view moments of optimism, you told me once that you believed people are ultimately good at heart. Things are better, things are worse, and much is still the same. As always, Schöne Tochter

I am currently still gasping at this shocking guilty pleasure series, Beauty in Black. Season 3 dropped yesterday with all of its shocking 8 episodes. And, the unexpected ninja scene, omg.….did NOT expect those shenanigans. Had to watch that a few times, IYKYK. With all of the evil interactions going on with characters who span varying degrees of Beelzebub, the love story of Charles and Attorney Varney is what keeps hope alive. Be aware, this is NOT a show for those who are prone to pearl clutching but oh boy, Tyler Perry is one intriguing muse. He sure keeps the viewer guessing. I LOVED Tyler Perry Studios Passion and now I’m hooked with his other end of the spectrum series. #beautyinblack

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly: My Life And Other Unfinished Business

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” — “Dolly Parton, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones”

If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So I’ll go, but I know
I’ll think of you each step of the way
And I will always love you
I will always love you
Bitter sweet Memories
That’s all I am taking with me
Good-bye. Please don’t cry
We both know that I’m not
What you need
But I will always love you
I will always love you.

Dolly Parton

Question of Who:
E. Perryman

Very thoughtful insights today at Flagstaff Federated Community Church with Pastor Anders (fellow Chicagoan:-)

When someone asks “who are you” or even “what is your name”, how much of our response is based on our true self? How is our response influenced by the lifelong trauma we’ve experienced? What dress up version masks our past wounds and hurt?

Pastor Anders also shared the below words of Thomas Keating:

“In the spiritual teachings of Father Thomas Keating, the false self is an ego-based self-image created in childhood as a survival mechanism to find safety, happiness, and worth relying on cultural programs of security, affection, esteem, power, and control.”

Who are we beyond our collected trauma? What broken parts stand in opposition to our divine sparkle?

Yes, it feels deeply resonant to consider that we are greater than being merely sinful and flawed mortals rather we are profoundly loved and lovable. #akintsucrooner

HAIKU HEIGHTS
By E. Perryman 8.15.26
Reclaim warm embrace.
Breathe refresh with tender guide.
Ground anchor anew.

It’s been 23 years ago since the 2003 blackout. Crazy. I remember being asleep like I usually am during major events. I got a call on my landline from my Louisiana friend Andrea Jarmon wondering how my roomie Ray and I were doing in Jersey city. I had no idea what had happened. I said I was about to go to rehearsal in the city and she said no you’re not lol. She brought me up to speed on the blackout. My Nokia phone was dead and it was pretty crazy outside around journal square where we lived. So I got into my purple dodge neon and drove to electricity which I found at exit 11 on the turnpike. I remember all tolls were free. It was wild driving back and seeing a dark nyc skyline. #blackout

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Below is by New York Transit Museum:

A cascade of power failures in the Midwest triggered North America’s biggest ever blackout, affecting more than 50 million people. With no advance warning, #NYC was thrust into transit chaos, and it happened just as the evening commute was beginning.

Electric-powered railroads and subways stopped. Without these vital systems, commuters turned to gas-powered vehicles, but traffic lights at the city’s 11,600 intersections were dark. Buses were overcrowded and cars were gridlocked. Many found their own two feet to be the most reliable form of transportation and pedestrians streamed across bridges to get to other boroughs.

It took 29 hours to restore electricity, but, remarkably, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority – MTA had the #NYCsubway up and running only 9 hours after that.