too hyped, can't even think about sleep

The New York City Ballet was amazing! Symphony in C especially!!

I have the coolest mom: she totally realized how great it was that I got to see "Serenade" and the above and we got to talk about stuff that nobody else I know gets, like Jerome Robbins choreography and how insane it is that Darci Kistler is still a principal dancer.

The "Once" people are coming to Baltimore in concert!

Allison let me borrow a leotard, I'm getting new elastic for my old hole-in-the-toe ballet shoes, and I'm so ready for Friday, hurt and all.

And I lived through today without collapsing into a stressed, weepy ball of nerves, which didn't seem very possible at 11 am.

Taking the plunge

I just agreed to go to a ballet class with a friend on Friday. It's been approximately 9 and a half years since I've taken a formal class. Crazy? Yes. Exciting too.

Word to the wise

It's not very smart to start pondering your dinner options when you still have to be at work for another hour. Not only am I annoyed that I'm still here, but now I'm hungry too.

So happy

That "Falling Slowly" from Once won last night.

Girls' Poker Night

Buy in was $10, and I left with aching sides, a little lightheaded from champagne, and $9.95. Best buy for a nickel.

Alvin Ailey Company

Last night, Anne and Gina and I went to see Alvin Ailey at the Kennedy Center. While it wasn't life changing (as it was last year for me), it was a really wonderful show. Of all the many, many things I have seen in theatres, "Revelations" might be the best of them all.

Not to say there weren't some odd moments - the piece "Flowers" seemed promising, given that the music was by Janis Joplin and Pink Floyd, but in the end it was my least favorite. The costumes were really distracting, and though I'm sure it was supposed portray what one must feel like during a drug trip, mostly I felt like I was in a strip club. I kept thinking about these two sweet little girls that had been in the elevator with us and how it was really inappropriate for them, and also it reminded me of this terrible, terrible musical that Gina and I got free tickets to once. The dancers were still great though, despite the bad costumes.

The rest of the program was great. We saw "Night Creature" (music by Duke Ellington), "Unfold," and of course the favorite "Revelations," which is really a collection of pieces set to spirituals. Last year I loved the solo "I Wanna Be Ready" most, this year it was the pas de deux "Fix Me, Jesus." The woman in that piece, Alicia Graf (who was also in "Unfold") was freaking PHENOMENAL. I'm not sure she actually has bones, because human bodies aren't capable of doing the things she did. "Fix Me, Jesus" was hauntingly beautiful, and I spent most of it hovering between amazed goosebumps, slight teariness, and twitchy muscles because I could just feel how hard it was do (not that I was ever capable of that, but you get my drift I'm sure). All of this is to say, if AAADT comes to your city, you MUST see them.



("Fix Me, Jesus" is the third number in, but it doesn't do it any justice).

I've been having some trouble with my grains lately. Last night, I attempted to make some bread (focaccia, actually, from a mix), and it didn't end well. Despite all the things I'm decently good at when cooking, I'm still very intimidated by bread, particularly when I have do the yeast thing. So this time I painstakingly checked the water temperature, added just a smidge of sugar like my mama taught me, and added the yeast. All seemed to be going well. I let it grow a bit, and then added the mix and the yeast water together. And everything seemed...runny. Really runny. Again, I'm no bread expert, but I do know the difference between dough and batter. And this was definitely on the batter side of things. Seems that in all my concern about water temperature and such, I had decided that the box said to add 2 cups of warm water when it really said 1 cup. Oops. I tried to fix it by adding some flour, but in the end, it was a yeasty gooey mess. That didn't taste very good. Fortunately the rest of the meal was good, however breadless.

And then this morning I exploded my oatmeal all over the microwave at work. Excellent.

Seven Random Facts

So Joi tagged me for this AGAIN. Isn't there some sort of double indemnity on these things :)? I'm trying very hard to list things that I've never written about before.

1. I was very into "imagining" when I was little, and my brother and cousins were excellent accomplices in this. The favorite game was to play Robin Hood, but we intentionally played the Disney version so that we were foxes and bears and stuff, in addition to being the Robin Hood characters. I, being the eldest girl and by far the bossiest, got to be Maid Marian, and Chris (also bossy and older) was Robin Hood. Anna and Aaron were very good sports as Lady Cluck and Little Bear for a while, until they rebelled and we made up new characters. I also have fond memories of myself as Princess Leia.

2. Several years into the pretending, Chris and Anna got a baby sister, which their parents named Marion. This was pretty much the coolest thing EVER.

3. I can still spent a lot of time daydreaming (grown up pretending, really), but don't think it's particularly healthy, so I try to avoid it.

4. I gave up buying unnecessary stuff for myself for Lent. In other words, I'm allowed to buy things I need that I run out of (i.e. soap, lotion) but no frivolous makeup or clothing purchases. While it can be tough, it's actually very freeing too. Presents for other people are allowed (so never you fear, February and March birthdays...and there are many of you!).

5. Until I got glasses in third grade, I thought everyone saw trees as sort of topped by fuzzy greenness. Imagine my surprise that you can actually make out individual leaves!

6. I love old things - old posters, maps, antique jewelry, whatever. I like the idea that there's some sort of unknown story behind an object, or even better if it comes with a story.

7. I listen to music obsessively. If I have something new, and I like it, chances are good that I will listen to it non-stop for a good couple of weeks. For this moment, that music is by Mute Math.

Okay, I tag all of the same people I always do. Woot. Ebony, Barbara, Steph, Anne, and Danielle.

Awesome

Declaration of Romantic Intent (via Anne). So freakin' funny, and perhaps even useful? If it becomes so, please do share!

7. This weekend is a three-day one! Woo-hoo!

I mean, really

Is it necessary that Congress continue to interview baseball players about steroid use? Don't they have ANYTHING more pressing to deal with than that?

I once had a visitor from Denmark who I took to a Nationals game. We were supposed to meet up at the stadium, but he was a no-show for a while (fortunately Gina was along too, so I wasn't just sitting around twiddling my thumbs). Turns out he was wandering around the stadium, comparing and contrasting to soccer stadiums in Copenhagen and other various places he'd been. One of the questions he asked involved the whole steroid scandal. I believe it was something like "Why do they need steroids? I mean, they're just sort of these overweight guys with sticks...they don't even have to run that far." Exactly.

And in breaking news, it's still not even a little bit important in the grand scheme of things. New topic!

And the fun just keeps on coming

Yesterday it took me almost 3 hours to go the 8.4 miles in between work and my friend Jill's house. I know it's 8.4 miles because I checked on Google Maps. We had some winter weather issues, and combined with the reality that people here drive like reckless idiots, there were about 25 major crashes all over the city, shutting down most of the major highways. People often refer to the famed Beltway as a measure of people's attitudes in DC vs. the rest of the U.S; however, it is in fact an actual loop that runs around the city - in other words, all the roads eventually feed into it. So when there are several major wrecks, all those roads that would normally lead to the Beltway are parking lots, and people like me, who really only need to get to that house...that little one right over there...are pretty much screwed.

I finally made it to Jill's around 8:20 or so and managed to make it in the front door without falling or anything (no small feat, I can promise!). We had a good visit about life in general and some books in particular, and then I headed home.

Flashforward to this morning...we have no hot water in our building. Gina and I had issues with our water last week - there was a continuous hot water drip in the shower that turned into a full-on leak. Our hot water is really, really HOT, so things were getting a little steamy. Our landlord was supposed to send a plumber, but he never showed, so after a long day of dripping, steamy water, our entire apartment was like an Amazon jungle. Everything was just a little damp, and Gina's wall calendar wilted. So today there wasn't any hot water until about an hour ago, and even then, it was really spotty - I had to be prepared to hop all over the tub to avoid the scalding hot or freezing cold blast of water.

The only saving grace is that we have a two hour delay. If I didn't have a mountain of work staring me down, I would totally just crawl into bed and call it a day.

I'm feeling a little whiny, despite having aired all of the above, so in an attempt to brighten my mood, I'm going to list the things for which I am grateful in the midst of this:

1. I had lots of gas in my car last night before I left work.
2. I had just bought a radio converter for my ipod, and had music the whole time.
3. I have lovely friends that are willing to entertain me through various phone calls and text messages while I'm stuck in my car.
4. I am now clean and don't have to go to work unshowered.
5. My winter boots from Sarah came in yesterday, so my feet will be warm despite the slush.
6. Tomorrow is Valentine's, and my friends are having a party, where there will be cupcakes and good people.

I'm so ready for some sunshine, literally or figuratively. I'll take what I can get :).

Another link I like

Seriously folks, real content might come soon. Maybe.

In the meantime: Learning to Love You More.

U2 in 3D

Surely you've already heard about this, but there's a movie going around Imax theaters that shows several performances by U2 in 3D. Given the various rhapsodies and odes that I've written in the past on U2 and their concerts, it's pretty much a no-brainer that I was going to be seeing this.

Based on our informal straw poll of an experience, both long-term and listen-on-the-radio fans will both enjoy seeing this (we were 2 hardcore, 1 casual: all 3 were impressed). Not only is the music pretty freakin' amazing (more on that in a moment), the up close shots of the band rocking out are fun no matter your level of love for them. The camera swoops in so close that there were moments it was almost uncomfortable - in their faces, is Bono going to touch MY face?, wow some of them are looking a wee bit older. My only complaints were as follows: it was too short, and it was frustrating to not be able to throw my arms up and dance along to the music. And oh, was the music great. I had to remind myself to keep my eyes open...I was enjoying it all so much (especially the slower numbers) I had to keep myself from snuggling down in the movie seat, closing my eyes, and just absorbing the music, which is pretty ridiculous considering the whole point is to WATCH the concert :).

So go see it! I promise you won't be disappointed.

In fair Glendale, where we lay our scene...

This is the best thing to come out of anything related to the Super Bowl (in my opinion, anyway).