It’s Wednesday morning here. Mom and I both slept abysmally Monday night, though Mom better than I did. I think I got maybe 5 hours total. We both gave up around 1:30am and had a wine break, and then Mom got back to sleep by 2:30ish and slept most of the rest of the night. […]
Mom and I flew to Oslo yesterday and today, hence the complicated meal plan. Our flight took off early Sunday afternoon from SFO, where we killed time with brunch at Andale–Mom had yummy chili verde and I had a pretty good burrito carne asada. We flew Lufthansa to Frankfurt, and I am trying to figure […]
16th century Tsar Boris proves he is Russian by wallowing in guilt for three hours until finally dying of guilt. Librettist proves he is Russian by giving long list of characters long names but very little to do. Composer proves he is Russian by giving long list of instruments very little to do but sound […]
Here’s an email I got from a friend of mine, whose husband is in the Air Force. I think it’s worth reading. Dear family and friends, TO ME THIS ELECTION IS A LIFE OR DEATH ISSUE (no exaggeration). Most of the public is completely disconnected from the wars on a personal level (which was my […]
All this excitement about Sarah Palin is bizarre. Sure, she’s funny and pretty, but her opinions about and track record on governance are scary! How is a funny, pretty scary politician any better than an ugly, boring scary politician? My friend Alicia has taken to calling her “Caribou Barbie.” I think Hillary Clinton got it […]
Recently we attended the San Francisco Ballet’s Program 2, which opened with Mozart’s “Divertimento 15” and choreography by Balanchine, continued with Mark Morris’ “Drink to me only with thine eyes” on piano etudes by Virgil Thomson, and closed with Stravinsky’s “Firebird” and the original Diaghilev choreography by Possokhov. I’m not a dancer, I’m a musician, […]
Recently a friend planning an Elfa closet system asked if I had any tips, since he knew I’d built three Elfa closets after our big hardware flooring project this summer. Do I ever! The Elfa system has worked out really well for us, but I do have a few tips about designing, purchasing, and building […]
Another nano-synopsis, this time for Stravinsky’s “Rake’s Progress,” on a libretto by Auden and some other dude: Boy gets rich, abandons girl, abandons virtue, abandons reality. It’s yet another twist on the Faust tale, where boy sells soul to devil, only this time he finds out the terms of the deal after the fact, and […]
La Rondine is your basic “girl meets guy, blows off icky rich husband, runs off with guy, wimps out, returns to rich husband, blows off and breaks heart of good guy” story set to equally boring music. So, yet another misogynist libretto and forgettable music, performed well by the San Francisco Opera, conducted adequately by […]
Well, we didn’t–I just forgot to write about it. We repeated something fun from last year’s Thanksgiving, was that we had an informal contest to see who could come up with the best wine pairing for the meal. The prize is bragging rights, and the fact that all the dishes were departures from tradition made […]