Playing catch up
Mon, May. 18th, 2009 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scarlettinaSo I haven't been feeling like journaling much lately. Not sure what that's been about, but I feel like maybe I ought to try to get back on the horse. I've been so busy between job hunting, making jewelry, writing and doing fun stuff that the fact that I haven't recorded any of it is just weird. I'll recap the highlights briefly, and maybe I'll become a regular here again. As I look back at my calendar, I realize that more time has gone by than I realized. Looks like I haven't really posted much of substance for nearly two weeks. Hm.
Okay, here's a summary of the good stuff.
On Thursday, May 7, I was the beneficiary of a theater ticket for "Sunday in the Park with George" at the Fifth Avenue Theater.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bjcooper and her partner T were my benefactresses; ironymaiden was my date. ::grin:: We had dinner at the always-wonderful Andaluca and chose to eat from the small plates menu. I had the mushroom ala greque (cold mushrooms marinated in garlic, lemon, oregano, and rosemary), the cauliflower au gratin (baked with manchego cheese, harissa, cumin, and cipollini onions), and the filet beef skewers. The wine was Writer's Block, and the dessert was liquid chocolate cake (with mint-cocoa nib semifreddo, vanilla bean tuile, white chocolate sauce). Yum. Yes, yummy indeed.
From there, we hoofed it over to the Fifth. We had orchestra seats, 22nd row. The stage was dressed in white, the better to splash colors and animations across it. The cast was terrific. I'm a sucker for Sondheim, but this show really depends upon not just good performance and staging; it depends upon strong direction and an understanding that the second act, steeped in concept more than plot and broken entirely from the first act via time and characters, must be engaging on several levels to be as strong as the first act. I think the director did well in this matter. At any rate, I sat there with tears streaming down my face for the last 20 minutes. Of course, the last 20 minutes were all about family and art. It presses my main buttons pretty damn effectively. I had a wonderful time.
DG, whom I don't get to see nearly often enough, treated me to see the production of "Frost/Nixon" up at the Paramount on Saturday evening, May 9. We first has dinner at Dragonfish and, following the tradition of the previous Thursday, ate from the small plates menu. We shared the vegetable spring rolls, the spicy crab rolls, and the caramel ginger chicken. De-lish!
Frost/Nixon starred Stacey Keach, whom I've never seen on stage before. I thought he was remarkable, truly disappearing into the role. It's got to be an actor's part. there's so much there to work with. The cast was good, not dazzling, but certainly good enough, with only one weak link: the actress who played Frost's girlfriend. The production was still worth seeing, however. I'm glad we got to do it and was grateful for a lovely evening.
On Monday, May 11,greyjoy and I went to see a matinee of "Star Trek" at the Cinerama. It was the perfect venue, large enough to make the SPFX worth watching, not so large as to ruin my eyes or cramp my neck. (In other words, I didn't see it in IMAX. That would have been overkill even for me.) I checked my brain at the door and had a wonderful time. Casting Simon Pegg as Scotty was a stroke of genius. Karl Urban could not have been a better McCoy; were De Kelley around, he would be proud. Zachary Quinto had Spock nailed. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about the Spock/Uhura thing, but after watching "Charlie X" (as instructed by kradical), I can see it more now. Zoe Saldana did a lot with the little bit she was given. I think her Uhura is kick-ass and want to see more. Chris Pine didn't make much of an impression on me. He was certainly pretty but, honestly, kind of a cipher. And Bruce Greenwood was awesome as Christopher Pike.
I liked the rebooting of the universe, and I like that Spock was the crossover character. Nimoy gave them a good send-off. Plot holes? Yeah. Large enough to drive a starship through. Logic? Not so much with the logic. But there was some great stuff in there. I'll probably see the film again. It was a joyful experience.
This past Saturday, greyjoy and I met at the ungodly hour of 6:30 in the morning to go on a guided birding walk at Woodland Park Zoo. The entire day was to be a festival celebrating the return of migratory birds to the region, and we saw some beautiful birds. I don't have the kind of lens one really should use for birding, but I got some nice pictures.
You can see the whole Flickr set here. You'll notice that one of these things is not like the others. He was, however, too photogenic to ignore. And my companion? Excellent company.
Yesterday,e_bourne, markbourne, and jackwilliambell descended upon my place for Sunday morning writing. My accomplishment was doing a final line edit on a story, printing it and prepping it to go into the mail. After a good morning's work, Jack and I hopped on his bike to go get lunch at Pike Place Brewery and to poke around the market a bit. Lovely, lovely day.
And that pretty much brings us up to date. There are some other things going on that I'll talk more about when they're ready to be discussed. The short version is I'm being creative, the job hunt continues, and my wonderful friends provide constant sustenance. These days, for a number of reasons, I am hyper-aware of my blessings. I could not be more grateful.
Okay, here's a summary of the good stuff.
On Thursday, May 7, I was the beneficiary of a theater ticket for "Sunday in the Park with George" at the Fifth Avenue Theater.
bjcooper and her partner T were my benefactresses; ironymaiden was my date. ::grin:: We had dinner at the always-wonderful Andaluca and chose to eat from the small plates menu. I had the mushroom ala greque (cold mushrooms marinated in garlic, lemon, oregano, and rosemary), the cauliflower au gratin (baked with manchego cheese, harissa, cumin, and cipollini onions), and the filet beef skewers. The wine was Writer's Block, and the dessert was liquid chocolate cake (with mint-cocoa nib semifreddo, vanilla bean tuile, white chocolate sauce). Yum. Yes, yummy indeed.From there, we hoofed it over to the Fifth. We had orchestra seats, 22nd row. The stage was dressed in white, the better to splash colors and animations across it. The cast was terrific. I'm a sucker for Sondheim, but this show really depends upon not just good performance and staging; it depends upon strong direction and an understanding that the second act, steeped in concept more than plot and broken entirely from the first act via time and characters, must be engaging on several levels to be as strong as the first act. I think the director did well in this matter. At any rate, I sat there with tears streaming down my face for the last 20 minutes. Of course, the last 20 minutes were all about family and art. It presses my main buttons pretty damn effectively. I had a wonderful time.
DG, whom I don't get to see nearly often enough, treated me to see the production of "Frost/Nixon" up at the Paramount on Saturday evening, May 9. We first has dinner at Dragonfish and, following the tradition of the previous Thursday, ate from the small plates menu. We shared the vegetable spring rolls, the spicy crab rolls, and the caramel ginger chicken. De-lish!
Frost/Nixon starred Stacey Keach, whom I've never seen on stage before. I thought he was remarkable, truly disappearing into the role. It's got to be an actor's part. there's so much there to work with. The cast was good, not dazzling, but certainly good enough, with only one weak link: the actress who played Frost's girlfriend. The production was still worth seeing, however. I'm glad we got to do it and was grateful for a lovely evening.
On Monday, May 11,
greyjoy and I went to see a matinee of "Star Trek" at the Cinerama. It was the perfect venue, large enough to make the SPFX worth watching, not so large as to ruin my eyes or cramp my neck. (In other words, I didn't see it in IMAX. That would have been overkill even for me.) I checked my brain at the door and had a wonderful time. Casting Simon Pegg as Scotty was a stroke of genius. Karl Urban could not have been a better McCoy; were De Kelley around, he would be proud. Zachary Quinto had Spock nailed. I'm still trying to decide how I feel about the Spock/Uhura thing, but after watching "Charlie X" (as instructed by kradical), I can see it more now. Zoe Saldana did a lot with the little bit she was given. I think her Uhura is kick-ass and want to see more. Chris Pine didn't make much of an impression on me. He was certainly pretty but, honestly, kind of a cipher. And Bruce Greenwood was awesome as Christopher Pike.I liked the rebooting of the universe, and I like that Spock was the crossover character. Nimoy gave them a good send-off. Plot holes? Yeah. Large enough to drive a starship through. Logic? Not so much with the logic. But there was some great stuff in there. I'll probably see the film again. It was a joyful experience.
This past Saturday, greyjoy and I met at the ungodly hour of 6:30 in the morning to go on a guided birding walk at Woodland Park Zoo. The entire day was to be a festival celebrating the return of migratory birds to the region, and we saw some beautiful birds. I don't have the kind of lens one really should use for birding, but I got some nice pictures.You can see the whole Flickr set here. You'll notice that one of these things is not like the others. He was, however, too photogenic to ignore. And my companion? Excellent company.Yesterday,
e_bourne, markbourne, and jackwilliambell descended upon my place for Sunday morning writing. My accomplishment was doing a final line edit on a story, printing it and prepping it to go into the mail. After a good morning's work, Jack and I hopped on his bike to go get lunch at Pike Place Brewery and to poke around the market a bit. Lovely, lovely day.And that pretty much brings us up to date. There are some other things going on that I'll talk more about when they're ready to be discussed. The short version is I'm being creative, the job hunt continues, and my wonderful friends provide constant sustenance. These days, for a number of reasons, I am hyper-aware of my blessings. I could not be more grateful.
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no subject
Date: Tue, May. 19th, 2009 10:58 am (UTC)The pictures are good and I'm glad to hear you're getting to see such good theater! I loved Frost/Nixon - glad you enjoyed it, too.
no subject
Date: Tue, May. 19th, 2009 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tue, May. 19th, 2009 05:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Wed, May. 20th, 2009 01:08 am (UTC)