Celebrating My 30th Birthday

Over the last Remembrance weekend, I celebrated my 30th birthday with my family. My younger brother Thomas and his wife Anna came down from Scotland to join us all in London; we went to see Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre London. It was in-the-round with an immersive standing audience in addition to those seated, we all thoroughly enjoyed it, Matt my older brother had been in the same musical at High School and remembered all the songs. However, I was worried about passing on the nasty cold I had all week to my family.

Recently, I accomplished my Level II British Sign Language qualification and am starting my Level III. I am thrilled to share that I also passed and enjoyed taking a four-day course with LAMDA (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). It has always been my passion to communicate in all forms, and this certification now enables me to prepare students for their drama and music examinations.

I have a series of three Christmas Concerts coming up as guest soloist in Dore, a village near Sheffield in South Yorkshire. I will be singing alongside the Dore Male Voice Choir and I’m looking forward to catching up with some dear friends who sing with the choir.

The dates are 7th, 8th,and 9th of December 2023, with performances at 7:00 pm each day at St John Evangelist, Abbeydale Road South, Dore, Sheffield S17 3LE.

Inside St John Evangelist, Dore.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and kind messages, I have been engrossed in a large project which has taken up much of my time and I will try to get back to you all soon.

I have a question for all of you. Would you happen to know why YouTube doesn’t record views when people watch through WordPress blogs or Facebook links to the blog video? It used to register all views, so I’m curious if there has been a change.

57 thoughts on “Celebrating My 30th Birthday”

  1. Congratulations, Scorpio Buddy, belated though they are.You’re still not halfway to catching up on me. I’m glad you had such a lovely day, and I hope all your plans and projects, not just the short-term ones go they way you want, and deserve.

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much Martin, I’m working seven days a week at the moment, its a good thing George is touring in Scotland and is also busy. I’ve given up on plans, most things I’ve learnt are out of my hands. I just live for every day now and enjoy every opportunity that comes along.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thank you John, I had a lovely day, it was super having all my family spoiling me. I love Christmas. I’ve been learning carols for a couple of weeks now so I’m feeling very festive even though its still November.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

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      2. Yes here too, I think its because every time you read or see the news its so depressing, a few twinkling lights, actually the twinkling angels across Regents Street London are absolutely beautiful and seasons greetings give a bit of hope.

    1. Thank you Layla, I’ve not seen the gentlemen in the choir since before covid so I’m very excited to sing with them and catch up.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  7. I’m hopeless at responding to your YouTube question. That being said, the Happiest of Birthdays and MANY more!! May all the joy you are feeling for this and your most marvelous accomplishments, multiply over and over for as long as you breathe! xx

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    1. I used to think I knew what I was doing Annette but these platforms keep changing all the time and I know its only $0.01p per listen but to record all of them as though ‘one’ if they come through the blog viewer is wrong, I’m going to have to look up how to link to You Tube on facebook again rather than direct them through to my wordpress blog.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  9. Hmm, YouTube should record all views. OK, a few things I noticed – for the latest video it doesn’t show my views in the stats. Also, occasionally views show up hours, or even days later. Someone will comment on my blog making it clear they did watch the video, but their view doesn’t show up. A day or two later, my stats for that day go up a couple of views. Anyway, YT can be as frustrating as WP!
    Belated Happy Birthday! I visited my family last weekend and we celebrated my birthday (though almost two weeks late), so a small world in ways 🙂
    Very cool about your new certs 🙂
    Good luck with upcoming concerts. And it sounds like you will have something big to share soon.
    Hope you had a great weekend and have a wonderful week 🙂

    Reply

    1. Thanks for your thoughts and best wishes Trent, it wasn’t recorded thousands of listens from facebook either, apparently Tim says they’ve changed the way they record listens and you have to put a photo and a link to YouTube in all other media, so I’ll try that next time.
      It is a small world and I’m glad you had lovely family time too.
      All my best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

      1. When I post to Facebook, it is just a link to YouTube, so if someone watches, they are watching on the YouTube site. Maybe that is why I haven’t noticed lack of Facebook views (other than I get one or two views per Facebook post, not thousands 😉 ).
        Hope you are having a great weekend!

  11. Happy 30th Char!
    Guessed that Ma n Pa were down in London with you .. everywhere was tidy 😂
    She said you’d all had a lovely weekend together! Xx

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  13. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dear Charlotte. Looking ahead, you seem to be just as busy as ever! Congratulations regarding the BSL qualification, Level II, goodness that is a great achievement (I started the basic course, online, but that’s as far as I went. Being retired I should have the time to continue….but I’m even busier….excuses, excuses). Well done but don’t forget to have some quiet time too, to eat that birthday cake 🎂🍷🍷🙋‍♂️

    Reply

  17. Happy Birthday, Charlotte. Congratulations on passing your Level II British Sign Language qualification and the LAMDA.

    According to StackOverflow, YouTube changed the code for embedded videos and they no longer record views when watched from another platform. The suggested solution is to paste an image of your video with a link that goes directly to your YouTube channel. I hope that helps.

    Reply

    1. Thank you 😊. Re YT – It does help Timothy, thank you so much, it used to work by putting the video straight into the blog so I’ll change how I post them now. I hope they click through to the YouTube link in the comments from facebook post, people do like to just click and watch the video.

      Reply

  18. Happy Birthday, Charlotte! 🥰 You look beautiful in the top photo, the church is amazing. Timothy sounds like he has your answer. WordPress didn’t mess up for a change, apparently. 😂

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  19. Happy Birthday! It’s always a good day when we get an update from you, and as so often, I am awed by everything that you are accomplishing. Best wishes for the upcoming Holiday season!

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  21. Happy Birthday, Charlotte! I’m so happy to know someone who is just turning 30!!
    Congratulations on your professional achievements, too – keep your eye on the prizes.
    Have a wonderful year as you start a new decade!

    Reply

  25. Wishing you a happy 30th birthday, Charlotte! Congratulations on passing your Level II British Sign Language qualification. I admire you!

    As for YouTube, it has been my impression it has always been that way. A viewer has to go directly to the YouTube site to have the views of the video recorded. I am not sure there is a way around that.

    Reply

  27. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE!

    I so admire that you were concerned about passing your cold on.
    It is a bit terrifying to venture into a world where some think it’s okay to be ill, sneeze and cough in public.
    Congratulations on achieving Level ll, and Kudos for continuing to further your education.

    I wish I could hear you sing at even one of tse events. I know you will be fabulous!

    Hmm, who knows what goes on with all the social media platforms, as they keep changing.
    However, now that you have pointed it out, I will be sure to listen to the music you post over on Youtube.
    Have a wonderful week! ❦❦

    Reply

  28. OH! PS. Did you see the email I sent about how to easily alter the bodice without picking out side seams or zipper? Let me know if I need to send again!

    Reply

    1. Yes I do have it Resa thank you so much, I was going to try to see my friend Hilary up North, but she was busy on a trip with the High School I used to go to when I popped up a few weeks ago, so I’m going to rope my Mum into helping me to stitch it, we were hoping to do it on my birthday weekend but we ran out of time, I would have liked to wear the full ensemble at the Christmas concert, I have two corset bodices that will match fabulously with it or I have a long sleeve black velvet off the shoulder top if the church will be cold. So I will still wear the skirt and we will have to make the train a little tighter too, it is so beautiful, the stitching of all those beads is truly magic my Mum said you must have the patience of a saint to hand stitch them. I hope you liked the photos I sent you, as soon as I am dressed up properly I will do a full post about it so all our friends can see how beautiful it is on.
      All my best wishes
      Charlotte x0x0

      Reply

  29. Happy Birthday, Charlotte! I can’t believe how time has flown. We first connected when you were a young schoolgirl! I hope you had a wonderful celebration!

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  30. Happy Birthday, Charlotte! I hope you had a bang-up celebration! I can’t believe how time has flown since we first connected when you still had several years of school to go!

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  33. Many happy returns of the day, Charlotte. Joyeux anniversaire…
    30 already? Compliments to your parents. An old friend of mine used to send flowers to HIS mother on HIS birthday saying that she’d done all the work that day… 😉
    About Youtube, it seems to me that if you just click inside WP, it doesn’t register in YT… Not so sure though…

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  35. A belated Happy Birthday, Charlotte! Congratulations on the new qualifications too. My elder daughter who lives in Sheffield belongs to a drama group and they give a performance every summer outdoors in Dore. It always looks so nice there when I sail past on the train on my approach to Sheffield but I’ve never been there. I hope the performances with the choir go very well.

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  37. Congratulations on the 3-0. I have a few months to go yet. I like your very festive, very Christmasy outfit.

    First, let me introduce myself. I’m Deborah. My dad, David, (through the viewfinder) has followed you on-and-off through the years. He’s very impressed with your operatic experiences and journeys. Anyway, he’s away, so I am minding his blog.

    A couple of my friends have studied and taken the American Sign Language (ASL) course. They have become certified, but they mostly use ASL to converse with close relatives who are hearing impaired. Whether they plan to do more with their certification, one hopes to teach others how to sign. They see it like learning another language. The other hasn’t decided, but there is always a need for interpreters.

    The technical question you asked about YouTube no longer counting views from other platforms, Vimeo doesn’t count views from other platforms either. Since they didn’t, we always thought it was because a video is being watched from elsewhere and not directly from Vimeo. Nice of Tim Price to ferret out the answer for us.

    Many best wishes on your Christmas concert schedule. My sister, Elizabeth, who does the singing, will be starting out on her own Christmas concert schedule at the end of this week. She may sing two or three Christmas songs for the season, and that’s it. The rest is rock-and-roll and jazz. Fortunately, her audiences haven’t minded.

    Have a very merry Christmas season and best wishes in the coming year.

    With warm regards,
    Deborah

    Reply

    1. Lovely to hear from you Deborah, your Dad has mentioned you and your sister. I love that you’re minding his blog. I’m deaf in my left ear but never had access to sign language as a child, it has been a revelation to me learning as an adult, I’ve connected with the deaf community for the first time and made friends and wrote an opera for children all along the hearing spectrum to be totally inclusive for totally deaf children by signing all the songs naturally as part of the performance. I need to find more hours in the week to continue my studies.

      Yes, Tim is a great friend to make the time to do that for me.

      Thank you for your good wishes, I will be singing a mixture of Arias, Operetta and Hymns and Carols a couple with the choir.

      It’s been lovely meeting you Deborah, I hope you have a very merry Christmas and Happy New Year too.
      Best wishes
      Charlotte 😊

      Reply

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