Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…

Well, maybe not NO, just no -- but clearly and without hesitation, and not in a panic at the last minute. Lillian Nordica, a famous American opera singer of the Gilded Age, wrote in her "Hints to Singers" (appended posthumously to her biography, Yankee Diva, written by Ira Glackens in 1963), that a career is built more upon the "no's" than the "yes's".  And I have long pondered that dictum, even if I didn't put it into practice. For years, as I worked day and night to build my singing career, if someone asked, I said yes.  [caption id="attachment_53" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Lillian Nordica"][/caption] But several years ago, I started to observe…