6 Month Recap
So, I haven't really blogged in about six months, since right before my trip to Provincetown for Bear Week in July. I've been away from blogging for a few reasons, but the biggest is just being very busy with life. But, I really did get into this to be able to look back and account for my life. So, I guess it's time for me to catch up.
This year was a year of travel. My goal was to travel out of town at least once each month. Although I did miss one month (October), there were at least three months in which I took more than one trip. So, I think I accomplished my goal.
In July, I went to Provincetown for Bear Week with Bryson and a bunch of guys from San Diego, including the adorable Brian. It was an absolute blast. I had an awesome time and am very grateful to Bryson for inviting me. We rented a great apartment with an incredible view.
Provincetown Rental: Kitchen
Provincetown Rental: Living Room
Provincetown Rental: View
Me and Bryson
On the last day, I took the ferry back into Boston and got a chance to meet and spend a fun afternoon with Jason, who showed me around MIT and took me to Legal Seafood for lunch before dropping me off at the airport. Thanks, sexy boy!
Pirate Ship in Boston Harbor
Jason
Legal Seafood
In August, I went to LazyBear in Guerneville. (Sure, it's not that far away. But, it still counts as "out of town".) I got to spend some more time with Bryson and lots of other friends.
In September, I took Buddy to Monterey. We had a great time seeing the new Wild About Otters exhibit at the aquarium. We were also there during the Cherry's Jubilee car show, so we got to drool over some amazing rides. Also going on that weekend was the Festa Italia, which was a lot of fun and offered a variety of delicious food options for our last day. Yum!
Buddy and one of his siblings
Buddy and a sweet ride
Also in September, I took a trip to Cincinnati for a long-overdue family reunion. Almost every member of my living (everyone on my father's side is deceased) family (out to second cousins) were there:
Grandma Lance
My Mother, Me, my brothers Jonathan and Jeremy, Jeremy's wife Kellie, and their two kids Jackson and Jillian
My aunt Susie, her husband Bill, my cousin Jason, his wife Heather, and their two kids Lance and Lauren
My uncle Jamie, his wife Mary, and their five kids Katie, Sarah, Lindsey, Alex, and David
My uncle Randy, his wife Barb, and their two kids Nathan and Nicholas
My cousin Amy and two of her four kids Julia and Hayden
My cousin Ashley
Absent were only my cousin Tommy and his family and Amy's two other kids Jordan and Rebecca.
It had been several years since I'd seen many of these relatives. We are hoping to make this reunion a more regular occurrence.
Jonathan, Kellie, Jeremy, Me, Mom, Jillian, Jackson, and Grandma
David, Katie, Alex, Jamie, Mary, Sarah, Lindsey, and Grandma
Mom an Grandma
Susie and Mom
Me, Grandma, and Randy
Mary, Jamie, and Ashley
Jeremy, Me, Amy, and Jonathan
Amy and Julia
Ashley, Sarah, and Lindsey
Sarah, Lindsey, and Katie
Jackson, Jeremy, and Jillian
In November, I went to Palm Springs for Leather Pride Weekend. Perry and I stayed with our friend and gracious host, David, in his condo. On Saturday morning we were given a private tour of Liberace's estate, a prize that I'd won in a Bears Out For Life raffle. Now, I'm not a fan of Liberace's, nor was I expecting to enjoy the tour much. But, the guy giving the tour was actually an acquaintance of Liberace's and had been to his estate several times for some of Liberace's parties. So, his descriptions of some of the goings-on at those parties, while giving the tour, were really cool. I actually had an awesome time.
I also met a guy from Vancouver who happens to know LJ's very own Trevor. (I have such gossip.) Though the guy was quite hot, I couldn't help but wish it had been Trev who was in town for the weekend. I guess I'll have to plan a trip to BC to actually meet him. On Sunday, I also made it a point to drive out to the outlet mall near Palm Springs, where they have my favorite Polo and Puma stores. Unfortunately, my leather wear leaves little room for a camera, so I have no photographic record of the weekend. That's fine. It's well documented in my head.
November also saw my return to Florida for a Thanksgiving trip. I followed my standard pattern of flying into Ft. Lauderdale on a Friday, spending the weekend there with my posse, driving over to New Port Richey for the week to visit my mother (with a pit stop at my alma mater), and driving back to Ft. Lauderdale for the following weekend for more posse time, then flying back out on Sunday. My mother cooked for just the two of us on Thanksgiving day, which was really nice. Of course I had to stop at the outlet malls on the trip back to Ft. Lauderdale (yes, on black Friday). On Saturday, back in Ft. Lauderdale, we got everyone (Tricia, Keith, Kathy, Eddie, Ed, and Kelly, along with Chris, Dan, and Tara) together for poker and partying on my last night in town. I love them all so much. When I go back, it's like I never left.
Earlier this month, I spent a week in Vegas for (mostly) a conference and (also some) fun time. Okay, so it always ends up mostly fun time with some work thrown in. I got to hang out a lot with some of my old colleagues from NSU (Kevin, Stephanie, Toni, and Jose). After two room changes at the New York New York Hotel (the first room was mistakenly a smoking room and the second had a crappy view), I was given an upgrade corner room with a bathroom the size of my bedroom at home and dual view of the entire strip and the mountains. We kept up with our Vegas ritual of spending one evening drinking at the Wynn's round bar.
Kevin and I spent a lot of time at the Venetian's poker room, a couple nights until the sun was rising. One night, we got to play some No Limit Texas Hold 'Em with poker professionals Allen Cunningham and David Singer, and I actually held my own. After one hand, in which I check-raised David Singer after the river, he said to me, "When you check-raised, I wanted to ask you, 'Do you know who you're raising?'." When I told him that I did, indeed, know who I was raising, he replied, "Well, you've got balls." What a compliment! (We actually ended up splitting the pot, since we both had the same straight.) Getting the chance to play poker with those guys was so educational and a highlight of a lifetime of card playing.
At the conference, I got an unexpected surprise that really made me feel good. Kevin and I were walking back to the Venetian from a seminar one evening, when a female voice from behind us started yelling, "Dr. Conrad? Dr. Conrad?" It was one of my former students from Auburn. She ran up to me and was almost in tears. In this flood of words, she started telling me that I had been her favorite professor and she had never gotten the chance to tell me how much I influenced her because I left Auburn so quickly and no one knew how to get in touch with me. She is in her final year of school and wanted to let me know that, because of me, she plans to pursue a specialized residency program in drug information (my specialty). It was so touching and made me miss teaching. After we exchanged contact information and were on our way, Kevin (also a professor of pharmacy) said that, for a moment, he thought she was a plant because he's never heard a student gush so much about a professor. It was definitely not a set up. And, it really made my week.
While in Vegas, I also got the chance to hang out with my buddy, Aaron, who manages the Ramrod Las Vegas. I met Aaron a couple years ago when I was at the same conference in Vegas. He is a really fun guy, and I had a great time seeing him again. I did take my camera to Vegas with me, but alas, it never found its way out of my room. :-(
In addition to all the travel I did in the second half of 2007, I also had the chance to do a lot of fun things in San Francisco.
In July, I went to see Kiki & Herb with Buddy, which was absolutely hilarious.
In August, I saw Avenue Q twice (once with Buddy and once with Sam), which was spectacular. I also attended Bears Out For Life, a benefit for STOP AIDS Project with my roommate, Jorge, where I won the aforementioned Liberace Estate tour.
In September, I went to my first (of several) San Francisco Opera productions, Samson and Delilah, with Matt. Though I wasn't thrilled with the performance of the lead tenor (Clifton Forbis), the incredible Douglas Schmidt-designed sets and the performance of the incomparable dramatic mezzo Olga Borodina as Delilah made the heavy Saint-Saëns season opener much more palatable.
Also in September, I saw my first show in the A.C.T. San Francisco, the John Doyle production of Sweeney Todd. I took Buddy, who really enjoyed the production. Unfortunately, I wasn't so thrilled with this staging. But, the concept of the actors playing all the instruments themselves on stage was at least interesting enough to keep me entertained throughout.
September was closed out with yet another awesome Folsom Street Fair, where the highlight for me was hanging at the Masters of the Universe party, thrown by the boys of KumaSF. (If you didn't see the giant banners of fetishized He-Man and Skeletor, you totally missed out.)
First in October was Annie Lennox in concert, courtesy of Buddy. What an amazing show that was. Thanks, Buddy-boy.
The last week in October was crazy, with the Blue October concert at the Warfield, followed by San Francisco Opera's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute (which was spectacular), and finally the Queens are Wild benefit for STOP AIDS Project, all with Buddy. It was Buddy's first opera ever, and what a better introduction than The Magic Flute, especially with Hungarian dramatic coloratura soprano Erika Miklósa in the role of the Queen of the Night. (To hear an Erika Miklósa performance of the Queen of the Night's famous aria, "Der Hölle Rache", one of the most difficult to perform well in the entire operatic repertoire with its many F6s, click here.)
October was closed out with the musical The Color Purple with Buddy, which was absolutely the best musical I've seen in years. (The earthquake that happened just as the orchestra started the overture was definitely a sign that we were in for an incredible night at the theater.) Though Michelle Williams (of Destiny's Child) and Felician P. Fields were stellar as Shug Avery and Sofia, and LaToya London's (of American Idol fame) stand-in played the role of Nettie to a T, Jeannette Bayardelle in the lead role of Celie has a voice like I've seldom heard on the musical theater stage. Her last number sent goosebumps the size of small mountains all over my body. It takes a lot to get me emotional, but this show did the trick.
November saw me attending three San Francisco Opera performances and the newest Cirque du Soleil, Kooza, the last three on consecutive days.
First, I took little Josh to see La Rondine (not just because the title means "the swallow"), which was his first opera. Josh seemed to really enjoy the performance. Unfortunately, I was not overly impressed with Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu's interpretation of the lead role, Magda. Her stage movements, for me, were distracting, random, and uninspired and her vocal strength seemed to be lacking at times. Of course, she is quite a popular singer, both in this role and others, so I guess that's just one man's opinion. But, that Josh enjoyed his first opera was enough to make me smile.
Next, I took Buddy to the David Pountney mixed-modern adaptation of Verdi's Macbeth, which was an absolute mess. I was a bit worried going into the performance because so much of the opera is carried by the role of Lady Macbeth. Verdi composed the role for a Wagnerian (or at least dramatic) soprano voice to reflect the strong female character of Shakespeare's play. I am not usually a fan of Wagnerian or dramatic sopranos, as they more often sound to me like big blowhards that are never truly on pitch. I am also not usually a fan of updated versions of Shakespeare in theater or opera. Nonetheless, I thought I'd give this performance a try. Unfortunately, it was just as I anticipated. Georgina Lukács yelled more than sang the role of Lady Macbeth. Thomas Hampson in the title role was melodramatic, even for operatic standards, and was not much better vocally. The staging and sets were incoherent, even in their metaphorical nature, and uninteresting. The costumes looked like rejects from the sets of Braveheart and Star Trek. I actually can't believe I stayed for the whole thing. I guess I do have some masochist in me, after all.
The third opera of the month was Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, which is a modern (mid-20th century), quirky Faustian tale. Again, Buddy attended with me. We both thoroughly enjoyed this performance. The imagery in the sets and costuming were often subtle references to great old films, which added so much to the show. Let's face it, The Rake's Progress is no Magic Flute, so it requires something extra in the way of staging to raise the level. And, this staging did just that. It was easy to laugh at the right times and then to be on the edge of your seat during the suspenseful moments. That's no easy task in opera. What a great show!
Last in the month of November was Kooza, Cirque du Soleil's latest adventure. This was an early X-mas present to Buddy and my roommates, Perry and Jorge. The show is a spectacle and everything that you expect Cirque to be, unless you're going for the "story", which was minimized in this production in favor of even more incredible acts. I have been to several Cirques in the past, and this one had my heart in my throat more times than any other I've seen.
This month, I saw Monty Python's Spamalot with Stephanie and her sister and Toni and her husband in Vegas. I must say that I haven't laughed so hard at live theater in a long time. The show is outstanding, even in Vegas, baby.
I also saw the San Francisco Opera performance of Madama Butterfly with Buddy earlier this month. Though the staging was minimal (which is often the case with this opera), who cares when all you're there to see is Cio-Cio-San sing her arias to her long lost Pinkerton and then run herself through with her late father's ceremonial blade. That's all you need when you see this staple of modern opera, which I was glad to be able to introduce to Buddy. But, the surprise of the evening (though Marie Plette's title role performance was more than adequate) was Zheng Cao's incredible performance as Suzuki, Cio-Cio-San's handmaiden. Mark my words, this is a fairly newcomer to the opera stage to watch out for.
Lastly, earlier this week, Buddy and I went to see San Francisco Ballet's staging of the The Nutcracker. I hadn't been to see The Nutcracker since I was a child. And, of course, it was everything I remembered.
So, that's it. The second half of my year has been so awesome. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
This year was a year of travel. My goal was to travel out of town at least once each month. Although I did miss one month (October), there were at least three months in which I took more than one trip. So, I think I accomplished my goal.
In July, I went to Provincetown for Bear Week with Bryson and a bunch of guys from San Diego, including the adorable Brian. It was an absolute blast. I had an awesome time and am very grateful to Bryson for inviting me. We rented a great apartment with an incredible view.
Provincetown Rental: Kitchen
Provincetown Rental: Living Room
Provincetown Rental: View
Me and Bryson
On the last day, I took the ferry back into Boston and got a chance to meet and spend a fun afternoon with Jason, who showed me around MIT and took me to Legal Seafood for lunch before dropping me off at the airport. Thanks, sexy boy!
Pirate Ship in Boston Harbor
Jason
Legal Seafood
In August, I went to LazyBear in Guerneville. (Sure, it's not that far away. But, it still counts as "out of town".) I got to spend some more time with Bryson and lots of other friends.
In September, I took Buddy to Monterey. We had a great time seeing the new Wild About Otters exhibit at the aquarium. We were also there during the Cherry's Jubilee car show, so we got to drool over some amazing rides. Also going on that weekend was the Festa Italia, which was a lot of fun and offered a variety of delicious food options for our last day. Yum!
Buddy and one of his siblings
Buddy and a sweet ride
Also in September, I took a trip to Cincinnati for a long-overdue family reunion. Almost every member of my living (everyone on my father's side is deceased) family (out to second cousins) were there:
Grandma Lance
My Mother, Me, my brothers Jonathan and Jeremy, Jeremy's wife Kellie, and their two kids Jackson and Jillian
My aunt Susie, her husband Bill, my cousin Jason, his wife Heather, and their two kids Lance and Lauren
My uncle Jamie, his wife Mary, and their five kids Katie, Sarah, Lindsey, Alex, and David
My uncle Randy, his wife Barb, and their two kids Nathan and Nicholas
My cousin Amy and two of her four kids Julia and Hayden
My cousin Ashley
Absent were only my cousin Tommy and his family and Amy's two other kids Jordan and Rebecca.
It had been several years since I'd seen many of these relatives. We are hoping to make this reunion a more regular occurrence.
Jonathan, Kellie, Jeremy, Me, Mom, Jillian, Jackson, and Grandma
David, Katie, Alex, Jamie, Mary, Sarah, Lindsey, and Grandma
Mom an Grandma
Susie and Mom
Me, Grandma, and Randy
Mary, Jamie, and Ashley
Jeremy, Me, Amy, and Jonathan
Amy and Julia
Ashley, Sarah, and Lindsey
Sarah, Lindsey, and Katie
Jackson, Jeremy, and Jillian
In November, I went to Palm Springs for Leather Pride Weekend. Perry and I stayed with our friend and gracious host, David, in his condo. On Saturday morning we were given a private tour of Liberace's estate, a prize that I'd won in a Bears Out For Life raffle. Now, I'm not a fan of Liberace's, nor was I expecting to enjoy the tour much. But, the guy giving the tour was actually an acquaintance of Liberace's and had been to his estate several times for some of Liberace's parties. So, his descriptions of some of the goings-on at those parties, while giving the tour, were really cool. I actually had an awesome time.
I also met a guy from Vancouver who happens to know LJ's very own Trevor. (I have such gossip.) Though the guy was quite hot, I couldn't help but wish it had been Trev who was in town for the weekend. I guess I'll have to plan a trip to BC to actually meet him. On Sunday, I also made it a point to drive out to the outlet mall near Palm Springs, where they have my favorite Polo and Puma stores. Unfortunately, my leather wear leaves little room for a camera, so I have no photographic record of the weekend. That's fine. It's well documented in my head.
November also saw my return to Florida for a Thanksgiving trip. I followed my standard pattern of flying into Ft. Lauderdale on a Friday, spending the weekend there with my posse, driving over to New Port Richey for the week to visit my mother (with a pit stop at my alma mater), and driving back to Ft. Lauderdale for the following weekend for more posse time, then flying back out on Sunday. My mother cooked for just the two of us on Thanksgiving day, which was really nice. Of course I had to stop at the outlet malls on the trip back to Ft. Lauderdale (yes, on black Friday). On Saturday, back in Ft. Lauderdale, we got everyone (Tricia, Keith, Kathy, Eddie, Ed, and Kelly, along with Chris, Dan, and Tara) together for poker and partying on my last night in town. I love them all so much. When I go back, it's like I never left.
Earlier this month, I spent a week in Vegas for (mostly) a conference and (also some) fun time. Okay, so it always ends up mostly fun time with some work thrown in. I got to hang out a lot with some of my old colleagues from NSU (Kevin, Stephanie, Toni, and Jose). After two room changes at the New York New York Hotel (the first room was mistakenly a smoking room and the second had a crappy view), I was given an upgrade corner room with a bathroom the size of my bedroom at home and dual view of the entire strip and the mountains. We kept up with our Vegas ritual of spending one evening drinking at the Wynn's round bar.
Kevin and I spent a lot of time at the Venetian's poker room, a couple nights until the sun was rising. One night, we got to play some No Limit Texas Hold 'Em with poker professionals Allen Cunningham and David Singer, and I actually held my own. After one hand, in which I check-raised David Singer after the river, he said to me, "When you check-raised, I wanted to ask you, 'Do you know who you're raising?'." When I told him that I did, indeed, know who I was raising, he replied, "Well, you've got balls." What a compliment! (We actually ended up splitting the pot, since we both had the same straight.) Getting the chance to play poker with those guys was so educational and a highlight of a lifetime of card playing.
At the conference, I got an unexpected surprise that really made me feel good. Kevin and I were walking back to the Venetian from a seminar one evening, when a female voice from behind us started yelling, "Dr. Conrad? Dr. Conrad?" It was one of my former students from Auburn. She ran up to me and was almost in tears. In this flood of words, she started telling me that I had been her favorite professor and she had never gotten the chance to tell me how much I influenced her because I left Auburn so quickly and no one knew how to get in touch with me. She is in her final year of school and wanted to let me know that, because of me, she plans to pursue a specialized residency program in drug information (my specialty). It was so touching and made me miss teaching. After we exchanged contact information and were on our way, Kevin (also a professor of pharmacy) said that, for a moment, he thought she was a plant because he's never heard a student gush so much about a professor. It was definitely not a set up. And, it really made my week.
While in Vegas, I also got the chance to hang out with my buddy, Aaron, who manages the Ramrod Las Vegas. I met Aaron a couple years ago when I was at the same conference in Vegas. He is a really fun guy, and I had a great time seeing him again. I did take my camera to Vegas with me, but alas, it never found its way out of my room. :-(
In addition to all the travel I did in the second half of 2007, I also had the chance to do a lot of fun things in San Francisco.
In July, I went to see Kiki & Herb with Buddy, which was absolutely hilarious.
In August, I saw Avenue Q twice (once with Buddy and once with Sam), which was spectacular. I also attended Bears Out For Life, a benefit for STOP AIDS Project with my roommate, Jorge, where I won the aforementioned Liberace Estate tour.
In September, I went to my first (of several) San Francisco Opera productions, Samson and Delilah, with Matt. Though I wasn't thrilled with the performance of the lead tenor (Clifton Forbis), the incredible Douglas Schmidt-designed sets and the performance of the incomparable dramatic mezzo Olga Borodina as Delilah made the heavy Saint-Saëns season opener much more palatable.
Also in September, I saw my first show in the A.C.T. San Francisco, the John Doyle production of Sweeney Todd. I took Buddy, who really enjoyed the production. Unfortunately, I wasn't so thrilled with this staging. But, the concept of the actors playing all the instruments themselves on stage was at least interesting enough to keep me entertained throughout.
September was closed out with yet another awesome Folsom Street Fair, where the highlight for me was hanging at the Masters of the Universe party, thrown by the boys of KumaSF. (If you didn't see the giant banners of fetishized He-Man and Skeletor, you totally missed out.)
First in October was Annie Lennox in concert, courtesy of Buddy. What an amazing show that was. Thanks, Buddy-boy.
The last week in October was crazy, with the Blue October concert at the Warfield, followed by San Francisco Opera's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute (which was spectacular), and finally the Queens are Wild benefit for STOP AIDS Project, all with Buddy. It was Buddy's first opera ever, and what a better introduction than The Magic Flute, especially with Hungarian dramatic coloratura soprano Erika Miklósa in the role of the Queen of the Night. (To hear an Erika Miklósa performance of the Queen of the Night's famous aria, "Der Hölle Rache", one of the most difficult to perform well in the entire operatic repertoire with its many F6s, click here.)
October was closed out with the musical The Color Purple with Buddy, which was absolutely the best musical I've seen in years. (The earthquake that happened just as the orchestra started the overture was definitely a sign that we were in for an incredible night at the theater.) Though Michelle Williams (of Destiny's Child) and Felician P. Fields were stellar as Shug Avery and Sofia, and LaToya London's (of American Idol fame) stand-in played the role of Nettie to a T, Jeannette Bayardelle in the lead role of Celie has a voice like I've seldom heard on the musical theater stage. Her last number sent goosebumps the size of small mountains all over my body. It takes a lot to get me emotional, but this show did the trick.
November saw me attending three San Francisco Opera performances and the newest Cirque du Soleil, Kooza, the last three on consecutive days.
First, I took little Josh to see La Rondine (not just because the title means "the swallow"), which was his first opera. Josh seemed to really enjoy the performance. Unfortunately, I was not overly impressed with Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu's interpretation of the lead role, Magda. Her stage movements, for me, were distracting, random, and uninspired and her vocal strength seemed to be lacking at times. Of course, she is quite a popular singer, both in this role and others, so I guess that's just one man's opinion. But, that Josh enjoyed his first opera was enough to make me smile.
Next, I took Buddy to the David Pountney mixed-modern adaptation of Verdi's Macbeth, which was an absolute mess. I was a bit worried going into the performance because so much of the opera is carried by the role of Lady Macbeth. Verdi composed the role for a Wagnerian (or at least dramatic) soprano voice to reflect the strong female character of Shakespeare's play. I am not usually a fan of Wagnerian or dramatic sopranos, as they more often sound to me like big blowhards that are never truly on pitch. I am also not usually a fan of updated versions of Shakespeare in theater or opera. Nonetheless, I thought I'd give this performance a try. Unfortunately, it was just as I anticipated. Georgina Lukács yelled more than sang the role of Lady Macbeth. Thomas Hampson in the title role was melodramatic, even for operatic standards, and was not much better vocally. The staging and sets were incoherent, even in their metaphorical nature, and uninteresting. The costumes looked like rejects from the sets of Braveheart and Star Trek. I actually can't believe I stayed for the whole thing. I guess I do have some masochist in me, after all.
The third opera of the month was Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, which is a modern (mid-20th century), quirky Faustian tale. Again, Buddy attended with me. We both thoroughly enjoyed this performance. The imagery in the sets and costuming were often subtle references to great old films, which added so much to the show. Let's face it, The Rake's Progress is no Magic Flute, so it requires something extra in the way of staging to raise the level. And, this staging did just that. It was easy to laugh at the right times and then to be on the edge of your seat during the suspenseful moments. That's no easy task in opera. What a great show!
Last in the month of November was Kooza, Cirque du Soleil's latest adventure. This was an early X-mas present to Buddy and my roommates, Perry and Jorge. The show is a spectacle and everything that you expect Cirque to be, unless you're going for the "story", which was minimized in this production in favor of even more incredible acts. I have been to several Cirques in the past, and this one had my heart in my throat more times than any other I've seen.
This month, I saw Monty Python's Spamalot with Stephanie and her sister and Toni and her husband in Vegas. I must say that I haven't laughed so hard at live theater in a long time. The show is outstanding, even in Vegas, baby.
I also saw the San Francisco Opera performance of Madama Butterfly with Buddy earlier this month. Though the staging was minimal (which is often the case with this opera), who cares when all you're there to see is Cio-Cio-San sing her arias to her long lost Pinkerton and then run herself through with her late father's ceremonial blade. That's all you need when you see this staple of modern opera, which I was glad to be able to introduce to Buddy. But, the surprise of the evening (though Marie Plette's title role performance was more than adequate) was Zheng Cao's incredible performance as Suzuki, Cio-Cio-San's handmaiden. Mark my words, this is a fairly newcomer to the opera stage to watch out for.
Lastly, earlier this week, Buddy and I went to see San Francisco Ballet's staging of the The Nutcracker. I hadn't been to see The Nutcracker since I was a child. And, of course, it was everything I remembered.
So, that's it. The second half of my year has been so awesome. I couldn't have asked for anything more.