Plays, Parks, and Restaurants

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend. We went to see the Civic Light Opera's performance of 1776. Since it was at Sand Point, and there was a book sale going on, we managed to do both.

I found a book by Simon Wiesenthal called Max and Helen. It's described as a true love story of Holocaust survivors who asked SW NOT to track down their tormentor. I'm still reading Heck, Where Bad Kids Go, but it's on my list. I also got a copy of Pink Triangle about Gay people sent to concentration camps by the Nazi's. Having just finished Himmler's Jewish Tailor, I guess I'm in a Holocaust frame of mind. We only had 10 minutes at the book sale, so I just got through one small section.

Then we ran over to the theater to see the play. The actor playing John Adams did a wonderful job, but was not the strongest voice in the show. It was only unfortunate during his big solo number toward the end of the play. The rest of the time, he was able to harmonize with the other singers - the women in particular were outstanding.

After the play, we wandered through magnuson park http://www.seattle.gov/parks/magnuson/. That is a gorgeous place - and huge! I had no idea. Years ago, I'd gone to Sand Point for a production of Djinn (Annex Theater http://www.annextheatre.org/) and have been there for special performances like Circus Contraption (http://www.circuscontraption.com/), but I had never wandered the grounds of the park. We followed the sign that said "beach trail", but soon found ourselves lost amid tennis courts, the off-leash dog park...eventually, however, we made it to the beach. The mountain was out in force, and the stunningly beautiful day was even better at the beach. Incredible. It was one of those days when it's easy to remember why we live here.

Since it was Sunday night, which means prepping for work on Monday, we headed home. However, not wanting the magic of the day to end, we stopped at Serafina (http://www.serafinaseattle.com/). I've wanted to go there for some time, but we just haven't fit it in the schedule. Part of the problem is that both my DH and I are trying to lose weight, and it's a real struggle when we go out to fabulous restaurants like this one. My DH ordered a pasta dish that arrived tepid and over-salted, BUT our wonderful waiter and the manager bent over backwards to make it right. My dish was the "fish of the day" - maki shark with a wonderful, light sauce, served over couscous. It was FABULOUS. I had a glass of white wine that was crisp and light. I did eat their wonderful bread, but managed - barely - to resist dessert. Why are things that taste so good so fattening? I think the answer to that question is in the question, unfortunately.

Well, back to work, and back on track. New Year, new beginnings - this year, I'll be better than I was last year...at least, that's the plan.

Thank goodness for Rob Brezny

My routine on Wednesday is to pop over to freewillastrology.com and see what poet-guru Rob Brezny has to say for the week. He always includes what he calls a "sacred advertisement" at the bottom of his readings. The one I read today is as follows:

Congratulations. Every cell in your perfect animal body is beginning to purr with luminous gratitude for the enormity of the riches you endlessly receive. You are becoming aware that each of your heart's beats originates as a gift of love directly from the Goddess herself. Any residues of hatred that had been tainting your libido are leaving you for good. You are becoming telepathically linked to the world's entire host of secret teachers, pacifist warriors, philosopher clowns, and bodhisattvas disguised as convenience store clerks.

The preceding oracle comes from Rob's book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings.

That sounds like something I'm going to need to remember as we are hurled into the election nonsense again this year. It's just not healthy to get so angry, but I want my country back.

There's a great song in the musical 1776 where John Adams wonders aloud "Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?"

So much of that musical resonates with me today. I still remember when my Dad took me to see it in NY. I remember that I thought it was the story of our forefathers, but that was before I realized that this country's forefathers are actually Carnegie, Edison and Rockefeller. The gentlemen philosophers were upstaged by the captains of industry. Somewhere in the last hundred years we lost a war most of us didn't even recognize as happening.

Got hope?

BTW, the picture is from the Rodin Museum in Paris.

Quote of the Day

A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell. - George Bernard Shaw

I can't imagine feeling that way - assuming, of course, I could afford a perpetual holiday. It's not that I don't like my job - I do. Well, today is not a great day for any such question, since I'm stuck doing tedious but necessary work instead of "real" engineering work. Still, though, this too will pass and I'll get back to doing the kind of work that provides some satisfaction at the end of the day.

Even with that, though, the idea of a prolonged holiday working on my condo, traveling to Italy, India, Israel and Ireland (do I have a thing for countries with I's?) sounds more like heaven than hell to me. The problem being that I have limited time and funds for such an endeavor, so I work until I can travel, then I work until I can travel again.

The picture here is our bedroom window in the Chianti region of Italy.

My Talented Husband

I've just started posting pictures from our trip to Alaska, but I have to post this one to show the work that my husband does. This is a sun mask that he created for his Mom's birthday a year or so ago. This is actually his second piece. I will get a picture of his first piece - a bear mask - up here eventually, but there's no telling when, since I'm trying to just let myself post whatever I feel like posting at the moment - no plan in sight...at least, for now.

When I first encountered First Nation art, I wasn't a big fan. My art preferences were heavily influenced by Western European prejudices, and it took me a while to warm up to this art form. I'm hooked now, though, and love the work that provides my DH inspiration, as well as the work he produces himself.

Spaced out

One thing I have always loved is the space program. I still remember staying up late with my Mom to watch the astronauts land on the moon. Tonight, instead of doing a myriad of things I should be doing here - cleaning, organizing, etc. - I'm watching "In the Shadow of the Moon". I just can't get enough of this stuff. Apollo 13 and The Dish are two of my favorite movies with what I call "high MVP" (multiple-viewing potential).

I just have enough time to watch it again if I end this quickly, so here's one more picture from Alaska.

Blog post number one...

My DH gave me a great camera a few years ago, but it turned out to be a little more complex than my point-and-shoot attention span was able to handle. Still, I keep trying, and I have finally gotten a connector that makes it easy to get pictures off the camera and onto my computer, so I'll be uploading photos over time. This is just the first post, but I expect the blog to serve for a place to vent about good and bad service, wonderful and terrible theater and dining experiences, culinary and gardening experiments, and trip pictures. I've been talking about blogging forever. Finally, I'm here.

Here's a picture from our latest trip on a cruise to Alaska.