Goal #24

Goal #24: Clean for visitors.

I have two very important visitors coming soon, and my place is the pits.  Must fix.

Recap of goal #23:
- Plane tickets: check
- Hotel reservations: check
- More plane tickets: not quite
- Be my own sponsor: not yet

Other things I forgot: rental car reservation, still more plane tickets.  Must add those to the list.

The Magic Flute

I took T to his very first opera a couple of weeks ago.  We went to see the season opener at Opera Theater of St. Louis, Mozart's classic but goofy The Magic Flute.

It is the tale of the daughter of the Queen of the Night, Pamina, who has been captured by Sarastro, the evil sorcerer.  The three attendants of the Queen of the Night send the lost prince Tomino on the trail of Pamina, along with his sidekick Papageno.  Trials and tribulations ensue.

The performance at OTSL was designed, directed, and produced by Isaac Mizrahi.  He is a fashion designer by training -- and it shows.  The set and costumes were colorful and fanciful, almost to the point of being a child's fairy tale.  Probably the only truly serious character in the entire show is the Queen, who also happens to have one of my favorite arias of all time.  You can listen to a version of it here, although it appears to be from a much darker performance of the show put on by the Royal Opera in London, and it's not in English.  (All performances at OTSL are translated into English.)

It was a bright and enjoyable kick-off to the season.

Quote of the Day

"I'm running in a race that's not worth running."
  -- The Falls, "Into the Fire"

Happy Birthday, K!

Goal #23

Goal #23: plane tickets, hotel reservations, more plane tickets, be my own sponsor.

My life has gotten to that point again where my goals are really just the things I absolutely must get done.  This is no fun.

Recap of goal #22: two out of three is better than any MLB player can do, so I'm counting it as a win.  I made the chai banana cake and the V8, but did not get to the chocolate cake.  Maybe this week?  Also I have some delicious dried cherries that I got from Mom yesterday, which may go into cherry almond biscotti.  Thoughts?

What I Watched -- Before Sunset

It took me forever to get around to watching this movie.  I probably had it for two months before I finally gave it the attention it deserved.

I'm not sure why it took me so long.  For starters, it's a short movie (running time: 80 minutes), so it wasn't much of a commitment.  Second, I enjoyed Before Sunrise when I watched it not too long ago.  And finally, I started this whole Ethan-and-Julie project because I wanted to see the newest movie in the trilogy, Before Midnight.  I've already seen the first two (years ago, both), but my whole goal here is to remind myself of the details so I can get to the new one.

The movie is filmed essentially in real time, which adds a sense of immediacy to what is otherwise a plotless story.  We've picked up our same two characters from Sunrise nine years later.  They meet again, the chemistry is still there, and the next 75 minutes are like enjoying a conversation with old friends: easy, rangy, pleasant.

Bottom line: simple but elegant.

Happy Birthday, R the Wonderdog

In light of all the sad pet events in our family of late (we're like the Kennedys for pets, apparently), I thought I'd take a moment to remember my little guy.  He would have been 15 today.

Doing one of his favorite things: snoozin'.

What I Watched -- Spiderman 2

T and I hung out for Memorial Day weekend, and one of the fun things we did (and they weren't all fun - we accomplished a lot and ran a bunch of errands too!) was to go see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 at the theater.

It was exactly what you'd expect out of the 3,282th Spider-Man movie in 5 years.  Andrew Garfield plays the man in the suit, and my best actress friend Emma Stone is his love interest Gwen Stacy.  He does the usual Spidey things, swinging between buildings in the Big Apple, rescuing the innocent and the obligatory child, and wondering about his past.

And of course, we're left set up for the Incredible Stupendous Fantastic Spider-Man 3! (Action figures sold separately.)

Bottom line: summer fun.  Nothing more, nothing less.

What I'm Reading Now -- Tabloid City

I'm pretty sure Mom sent me the audio of Tabloid City.  And just to be clear, that happened many moons ago.  As with most audio books, onto my computer it went, just waiting for its moment in the sun.  Well, that moment is here for Pete Hamill's latest!

Much, if not most, of Hamill's writing - fiction and nonfiction - is set in and around the Big Apple, and this one is no different so far.  I'm just a few tracks in, and we have (as the title might suggest) some newspapermen, and presumably the people they write about.  We shall see.

Goal #22

Goal #22: homemade V8, chai banana cake, chocolate cake.

These are three simple things, and I would like to make them this week.

Recap of goal #21: didn't happen.  All the CDs are right where they were last Sunday evening. Maybe next time.