Ramblings

So I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with this little blog moving forward. In case you haven't noticed (and if you haven't, are you blind?!), I haven't had much to say here for about the last year. That's happened for a lot of reasons, but most recently, I attribute it directly to my Twitter obsession.

With my Google-addled attention span, I'm not sure I have anything of length worth sharing here anymore, but I'm not willing to abandon this quite yet. Honestly, it's the closest thing to a journal that I've got going, so sorry future children, you're mostly out of luck, but at least you'll know of my unnatural love for European baritones, which I'm sure will be exceedingly helpful when you're trying to make important life decisions, and all that jazz.


Lately, I've been:

• Taking selfies in distorted mirror pillars

•  Spending too much time (as usual) in teh naturez. This is one of my favorite hikes- the Living Room- full of "furniture" made of sandstone slabs. This was taken on a particularly cold and rainy day. I feel pretty lucky to live in a city where I'm only minutes away from sights like this. 

• Chasing quails around the backyard. On this particular day, they took refuge in the apple tree. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, almost nothing delights me more than ridiculous quails.  

Other stuff has been happening, but you don't really want to hear about that- you just want the good/boring stuff like birds and rocks. YOU'RE WELCOME.

I can't help it.

That awkward moment when your boss asks what you're listening to, and you answer "Karmin", because you've been mindlessly listening to "Brokenhearted" on repeat for an hour, and he says "oh Carmen! Oh that's wonderful, good for you!", and then you don't correct him, and you're not sure if it's because you're embarrassed to be listening to such ridiculous music at work, or because you know he'll never understand what you're talking about if you tell him that Carmen was SO eighth grade for you and that if you're going to listen to opera at work, you'd really rather just listen to the last 3 minutes or so of Wagner's masterwork over and over again these days.

And then you remember that OTHER awkward moment when you entered one of the cave chambers singing opera style at the top of your lungs- because you thought it was empty and also because you're RIDICULOUS- and then saw him turn a corner at the back of the chamber and start walking your way, and you know, in that moment of remembering, that you'll be that crazy opera obsessed employee in his brain for the rest of your days, just as you were, inexplicably, a Disneyland geek in the brain of your last boss.

But there are worse things, right?

Anna Bolena

Last night I dreamed that I was baking cookies or something totally mundane like that. Not that exciting, right? What if I told you that I was doing it in a modern kitchen, but there were tons of people around, and we were all dressed like it was the 1530s?

This is what happens when I watch opera too late at night. Btw, if you have even the slightest interest in opera, do yourself a favor and find a theater nearby that shows the Metropolitan Opera's performances. They. Are. SPECTACULAR. I've never left one feeling less than amazed. Even if, going into it, I think to myself "well, I don't really know this opera at all or like this composer, or the story just doesn't sound that interesting, but it's the Met so I guess I'll go", I'm always completely won over by the end. Completely.



Last night I watched "Anna Bolena", Donizetti's take on the story of Anne Boleyn. I wish I had something intelligent (ANYTHING intelligent) to say about opera, but I don't, so bear with me. I was mostly bored by the music in the first act, but the set was mind-blowingly clever, and the costumes wonderfully rich AND historically accurate (much more so than the opera itself). I can't help but be completely green with envy for anyone who works in the Met's costume shop. The level of detail they manage to achive (even when very few people will ever see the costumes up close) is really inspiring.

All that was well and good, but what really won me over was Anna Netrebko's performance as the beleaguered Queen Anne. By the end of the second act (when she has some temporary, heart-rending madness and finally bucks up, pulls her hair to one side, and heads out to face the executioner), I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and shout "Amen!" (you know, like the same way you feel whenever Mercedes sings on Glee, only stronger because it's so much better than that, and classier, of course, because it's opera :) ) Not only is she one of the best singers around, she's also an amazing actress (a skill which is sadly lacking in many singers).

Anyways, like I said, I don't really have anything super smart to say about it, except that I have a sneaking feeling that I just watched one of the best performances I'll ever see. Anywhere. In my whole life.

(But, let's be totally honest here, we all know the real reason I love watching these broadcasts is so I can crush on Russian Baritones, like Mr. Ildar Abdrazakov in the photo up there.)

All of my biggest crushes right now are opera stars (I'm looking at you (figuratively) Rene Pape and Bryn Terfel).





I really need to get a life...