Happy Halloween!

Carve a pumpkin here.... no mess...

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

Let's Sing a Round...

In honor of the time change today: A round from Elizabeth Gilpatrick's book Sing with me! Learn with me!

Spring ahead, fall behind. Keep the seasons well in mind.
Keep your clocks and watches humming; daylight savings time is coming.
Spring ahead, fall behind. Keep the seasons well in mind. etc etc etc

I feel like I've been up forever. Have nothing useful to show for it - aside from my beautiful cinnamon streusel muffins, that is. Watched the Bears (7 and 0!) and read a book (Terry Pratchett's The Truth - god, I wish I could write like that man. I bet his mental universe is a fun place to visit...) And that's about it. No crafting or much of anything else. Now am in the Sunday Night slump - not wanting the weekend to be over already, in serious denial about having to go back to work tomorrow. EEEEEK.

On the plus side, I have a few more operas in November (Salome and Romeo et Juilette - at least. Am switching some tickets around so there may be more). AND, according to my chocolate Patti-Countdown Calendar, 17 more days until the concert at Symphony Center! I haven't had today's candy yet, maybe for dessert....

Feeling the Burn - It Must be Sunday

So I was at the gym this morning. I say that like it's a big fabulous Bally type place, but it's not - it's just the workout facility at the community center. I only go once a week at the moment anyway, and it's just 6 bucks each time. Usually I am the youngest person there, and one of the only women (sounds nice, huh? unfortunately, the men working out there are usually of the older persuasion, huffing and puffing away, lifting weights (!) playing racquet ball and suchlike.)

I was in the locker room and the handle on my locker wasn't closing correctly. Part of the handle slides into another part, and there's a little place where you can slide a lock through. But it was stuck, not letting me slide the lock through. This lady comes up to me and says, rather condescendingly "Do you want me to show you how to do that?" Like I'm very very young and therefore very, very stupid. "No thanks," sez I, "I will just move over one." So I'm shifting my stuff into the next locker and she's playing with the door to the broken one like I must be VERY thick to not have caught on to this mechanism. And then she says (accusingly) "Was it like this when you got here?" Like I'd some how managed to break it! I played dumb (because if you do, they never suspect you could be up to something) and was just like, "Oh, I just got here," etc. Then I gave her a sweet (!) smile and went off to do my workout.

Why do people think they can talk to other people like that? Is it because I look like I'm 12? Actually, we were at the farmer's market the other day and picking up the last honey crisp apples of the year - and they have honey crisp CIDER. OMG. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The guy at the stand says "Oh, yeah, the kids usually like it, because it's sweeter. Uh. Not that you're a kid..." And I said "I'm 27, but thanks." And he was so embarassed. He thought I was like 16. I just said thanks. Maybe it's because I'm blond? Who knows?

Anyway. Have been feeling domestic lately - made lasagna for our dinner last night and baked this morning. Don't know where that came from. Fun times though.

Not much else planned for today - but going to watch Da Bears! Wooohooooooo!

"Happy Journal"

My boss told me once that I should keep a "happy" journal - record things every day that made me feel good about myself, or about life in general. I don't remember now why we were having that conversation, but I did kind of keep a little happy journal. After the week I had, I think it is important to highlight some happiness:

1. Saw Susan Graham in Iphigenie en Tauride at Lyric Opera. Susan Graham is enough to make the happy journal all by herself. She's amazing. The production was dark and labeled a 'psychological thriller.' If they say so. I just found it greatly diverting indeed that the chorus wrote "Iphigenie" "Agammenon" and "Clytemnestre" on the walls in chalk in big letters, then threw wet sponges at the walls to make them run. It wasn't supposed to be funny, but it kind of was. Oh, dear. Then Susan dramatically washed the "Iphigenie" off the wall during an instrumental interlude. Did not see where she would have kept a wet sponge on her during that scene.

1.5 We thought we'd be so crunched for time Monday night, I left work early and everything. We took the expressway and got there before 6:00. So we hung out in Cosi and had some dinner and got caught up. My mom is awesome.

2. Watching Dancing With the Stars. Nothing like watching pointless tv to take one's mind off one's hellish work week. I love love love Emmitt Smith. And I liked Jerry Springer, too, but alas, his time on the show has ended.

3. Ditto America's Next Top Model. Even though my fave was voted off last week (AJ), it's such a fun show. Meeeeee-OOOOOWWWWW.

4. Learning how to change the waste toner cartridge. (Hey, it's the little things!)

5. Our value awards ceremony at work. it's always fun to get everyone together, especially when there's wine. I didn't get any awards myself (except for my 5 year service award) - could this be because the values I embody most are impatience and wanting to staple things to colleagues/or clients heads when they're being silly and unreasonable? But two of the people I work closest with did get recognized and deservedly so. Sometimes I am so proud to work with these people (that's of course when I don't want to throw myself out of the window!).

6. Our friday morning meeting. more fun, more laughter. if it wasn't for these clients, i'm telling ya. our jobs would be so much more pleasurable.

7. My little countdown to Patti's concert calendar. I was bored one day (and procrastinating, of course) and so I used my left over Basic Grey paper from last year's Blitzen collection and a binder ring, and some chocolate... Voila, a chocolate Patti-advent calendar. With pictures and
"clever" song lyrics written on each little page. Sometimes I scare even myself. But it's cute, really. AND it makes me happy.

8. Speaking of Patti - new Rambling posted on her site(www.pattilupone.net) , and new Ask Patti's, too.

9. the 6 cd changer in my car. Seriously? I love that thing. I can put in Renee's Homage CD, the new Grey's Anatomy soundtrack, some Audra, some Patti, and I have a great ride wherever I'm going.

Last but not least...
10. Just bought my ticket to New York in February, Jet Blue had a deal but I had to book today. Woohoo! I already have my Met ticket to see Renee and Dmitri NOW, I just need to figure out what show's I'm gonna cram in the few days I am there. Company? Oh, I think so.

It's Friday!!!! I hope next week's better than this one was, although that's not really saying much....

Now that it's getting cold...

"She wants a pina colada in a pint glass
She wants to be where the summer won't stop
She wants gin clear water and milk white sand
a sunburned nose and a drink in her hand
with a pink umbrella on top!"
-Gaelic Storm "Pina Colada in a Pint Glass"

Yesterday's News...

A few odd stories in the Chicago Sun Times yesterday. I swear, I'm not making any of this up (www.suntimes.com)

-The Re-Burial of Juan Peron (ummmm.. why?)
-Guy makes life size rosary out of bowling balls on his front lawn

And, my personal favorite:
1 in 8 don't know Alaska is a state

October 18, 2006
JUNEAU, Alaska -- Alaska's governor wanted to find out what the rest of the nation thinks about his state, so he commissioned a poll.
The results show Americans love Alaska, but don't know a whole lot about it.
More than half the nation thinks most of Alaska is covered in ice and snow year-round. (Actually, just 5 percent of the state is.)
And one of every eight Americans believes Alaska is a separate country or else doesn't know that it's a state. AP

Can Anyone Tell Me Illinois' State Flower?

In honor of the upcoming elections (the only downside of watching a whole lot of tv, aside of course from the slow shriveling and dying of a number of brain cells due to the watching of stuff like The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, and America's Next Top Model, is having to sit through all of those !@#&$*%* political campaign smear ads.) I am posting a little game from my page-a-day "America" calendar (by Jon Stewart.)

Ready?

Classroom Activities:
Find out each representative's "porn name" by adding the name of the largest city in their district to the name of their state flower!

Example: Ben Chandler, D-KY = Frankfort Goldenrod

Endless hours of entertainment. I'm tellin' ya.

Operathon!

It's that time again! Tomorrow, I will be down at the Civic Opera House, volunteering at Operathon. It's Lyric's radio fund drive, and stars from the productions and other notables are on the air on WFMT all day. There is a gift shop (www.lyricopera.org my favorite is the Fledermaus bat puppet. But there is a whole swell range of Lyric stuff you can buy to help the chapters raise money for Lyric.)



I don't know what I'll be doing tomorrow - in the past I have helped escort the special guests to the radio room (including some of the cast of Susannah, Ed Pashke and Studs Terkel) and (those of you who know me will laugh at this one) being put at the accounting table to tally up the gifts. Ha! Me Ms. No Mathematical Skills Whatsoever. Just call me Ms. CPA (not). I met Jane Eaglen that year, though, so you never know.

According to the handy Lyric email they sent me today, the cast of Ifigenie will be around, so maybe I will glimpse OFMS, AKA Susan Graham. In addition to that, they always feed their volunteers well, and you never know who's gonna be around over there. So it'll be a fun day, and I will get to wander the halls like i did as an intern and pretend i belong at lyric. (sniff!)

Happy Birthday, Dear Heidi!

So, Heidi's birthday was on Monday, but we took her out for her activity last night. We went to The Melting Pot, and excellent fondue place in Buffalo Grove (but with locations all over the place). The girls had taken me for a chocolate fondue at Ethel's for my birthday last year, but that was the only experience I'd had with it. I'd not done actual food and was excited (and a little nervous, admittedly) at the prospect.

Jane, Kim, Amy and I blindfolded Heidi and drove her to Buffalo Grove, where we were joined by Beth. We presented her with her joint gift from all of us - the pink Razor phone from Motorola. (Oooh, I am so jealous. I have a vair crappy phone and that Razor is just so gorgeous. And pink.) She loved it, of course. Then we turned to the matter at hand - deciphering the menu which was complicated and kind of overwhelming. Fortunately, Amy had been there before and made very helpful recommendations - otherwise I think we'd seriously still be sitting there, staring at the menu going "But how do I??? What do I??" Choices, choices, choices!

We started with the CHEESE. One cheddar, one Swiss, in which we dipped a variety of breads, veggies and apples. Then came the salads (no fondue activity with these.). AND THEN came the actual food. We'd gotten a special type thing that involved beef, pork, chicken, vegetable ravioli, and veggies. We'd asked for two cooking styles - coq au vin and a boullion. I was kind of nervous about sticking skewers of raw meat into this steaming hot liquid, although, truth be told, I'd originally thought you'd stuck everything in cheese, so I was very confused about how this thing with the beef was going to work. I guess I thought fondue JUST involved cheese and bread. I did not understand how you were meant to make a meal of it. How wrong could a person be?? It took a matter of minutes for the things to cook, and we all kind of asked each other - does that look done to you? What do you think, etc?

We stuffed ourselves silly - and I am still here, typing this and not sick, so I am reasonably sure that everything I ate was actually cooked and done and no food poisoning occurred. Well done, there. Dessert was the piece de resistance - chocolate fondue! We had a milk chocolate and a white chocolate with amaretto in which we dipped strawberries, pineapples, bananas, pound cake, marshmallows rolled in graham crackers, marshmallows rolled in oreos, cheesecake, and.... wait, I think that's all. We got on a total sugar high, and I seem to remember lots of raucous laughter, convesation and a rousing rendition of "She Don't Wanna Be Here" - from last week's episode of "America's Next Top Model" (whhooooo hooo - buh bye, Monique!) . Surprisingly, we didn't get kicked out - the wait staff was wonderful and helpful and nice. They must be used to people having sugar highs in their establishment.... I think, though, we scared the table full of very dressed up high schoolers on their way to homecoming that were sitting behind us. Oh well...

New Link!

I just found Marian Keyes' website www.mariankeyes.com and have spent the last half hour reading her newsletter and giggling. She's one of my favorite authors. Truly. I've been reading a lot of her books lately - I found one I had not read (The Other Side of the Story) for some reason and brought it with me on the last trip to NYC. Don't know why I hadn't read it before, it was really good AND I got it free with the B&N gift card I got for participating in the last professional development call. (Yes, we have to BRIBE people to participate in these things. But you know, whatever works).

I have to stop blogging and do some actual research for this thing I'm supposed to be writing. I didn't think I was SUCH a procrastinator, but in fact, I am. Who knew? I have a long weekend for the holiday (had someone ask 'What holiday?' Come on! It's when our figlio, Christopher Columbus discovered America! Sort of. Anyway, shout out to the paesan and all that. AND we get the day off! I don't care what he did or did not discover if it means I get the day off!) and plan to get my s**t together. Really.

So ciao ciao for now and go check out Marian.

It's A Miracle...

Can it be? Can it really be??? We are actually getting a "Live From Lincoln Center" performance actually live on the same date, at the same time, as the actual action?? So it is, in fact, Live from Lincoln Center? Not "Two Weeks Ago" From Lincoln Center??

According to not one, but two count them two tv guides for next week, "Audra McDonald and Friends" will actually be on WTTW channel 11 next Thursday the 12th at 9:00!

Happy news, indeed...

La Diva Renee...

Well, what can I say? As usual, it was an absolute joy to see Renee - it's been a while since she's been at Lyric singing anything (teeny tiny appearance at the 50th Anniversary concert in 2004, last time seen in a role was Thais in 2003!) and it was the perfect combination - my favorite diva in one of my favorite places in the city. Being me, I wanted to leave at 5 - ideally, I would have been hanging out at Lyric all day long, of course, kind of lurking around the building, maybe having some McGriddles across the street in McDonald's, visiting the development peeps on the 8th floor, saying a quick hi to the crazy guys in Wolf Camera, etc etc etc.... We had to take Lake Shore Drive into the city... The Drive is great, but getting there SUCKS. I have this crazy fear of being late and missing curtain. I mean, what if???? And they don't let you in, and you'd have to watch on a screen in the foyer.... I've never been late, knock on wood, but I always have this fear... It only took about an hour to get down there, but we were there with plenty of time to spare.

Seats were decent, on the main floor HH, on the left side. We kept an empty seat next to us, just in case Sarah or Sally decided to fly in from NYC to claim it. Or maybe the lady next to me didn't want my coat touching her, so she left a buffer seat between us. Who knows? The orchestra was on the stage, rather than in the pit, and Sir Andrew Davis had the baton. Can I just say - since he's usually in the pit, I've never had much chance to watch him - he's a very dynamic conductor and he's got, like, completely fabulous, happy and musical hair. He'd move, and it would move right along with him. He must get it especially cut to do that. Lots of conductors have similiarlfy fabulous hair, and I wonder if it's part of the jd? When you become a conductor, you get a plaque that says 'Maestro' the regulation baton, tail coat and number of a hair dresser to be sure that your locks have movement??

Sorry. On with the show. Program highlights for me - for the orchestra, I loved the overture from La Forza del Destino - the opening strains get me every time. Sighhhh. LOVE IT. Then there was the beautifully sung letter scene from Eugene Onegin which made me really excited that I've got that ticket for February. Also really liked the Gounod piece from Mireille - simply breathtakingly beautiful. For some reason, there was a change in song order from the printed program - but I couldn't hear what they were saying about it, either. There was a very, very very long orchestral interlude (during which I began the above speculation about Conductor Hair), the final scene from Capriccio, and then the show was over. The crowd was very very subdued. They applauded very politely. There was a standing ovation, started by yours truly and someone in the middle of the floor. Was it past their bedtimes or what??? They perked up considerably for the encores which included "O mio babbino caro" "Adieu, notre petite table" and the Song to the Moon. Before Adieu, Renee explained that a friend in the orchestra had asked in rehearsal if she was wearing two gowns for the concert. She'd said no, and had the Volpe gala dress flown in because she was suddenly afraid we'd get bored with her clothes. She said that in Manon, Manon has to make a choice - and she choses clothes and money over true love. She sings the song to the little table and is full of sentimentality, although, "Not enough to make her stay."

She also told a little background story before Song to the Moon, how it is the story of The Little Mermaid, and that Rusalka, in her "seafoam form" had embraced the prince, and was now appealing to the gods to intervene on her behalf. And then she sang the song... gave me chills, honestly. I have not heard her sing that one live since 2001.

Then, of course, to the backstage! We went back there and a guy was in the vestibule (not Mr. Sunshine who'd been so polite and helpful post Rosenkavalier.) He asked me who I was there to see, and I told him, and he asked "Are you on a list?" I said yes, and he seemed surprised. So he checked, and I had brought the email from Alison (aka SuperGirl. Seriously.) with all of our names on it. He started printing out little backstage pass stickers, then decided screw it, and just told the bouncer type person guarding the door to let me and my party back. So we were back there, all present and accounted for - we went to Find Our Diva. She came out of her dressing room and was talking for a bit with the people ahead of us. Amelia and Sage were both there, too. Renee chatted with both my mom and me, and posed for a picture. And I got a hug. :) It was a fantastic evening.

The Patti LuPoser...

http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Photo_Op.aspx?ci=538221

So. I know she's a fan. I know she loves The Patti. I know this was Lonny Price's idea.
I KNOW.

But I don't know what I think about this whole thing. I am very on the fence. And it happened to be troubling me all day, so I thought I'd talk about it. And basically talking about it involves... yeah. I don't know.

There ya go. Talk amongst yourselves. I've got a DIVA to beautify for.

Mental Health Half Day (or, I love a parade part 2)

Can a fresh, zenlike state of mind really be achieved in a half day off work?? I left the office at 12, and grabbed a quick lunch. It's a little chilly today, but the sun is shining.... It's one of those days I used to enjoy back before I had my car accident... gorgeous day, windows open, music blasting.... just wanted to enjoy the day and drive around. (With gas under 3 bucks again, this is a less expensive endeavor than it was over the summer.)

Stopped at Niles West to say hello to my favorite IRC staff members, and lo, it was homecoming! So I went and watched the homecoming parade. When I was a senior, I was actually in the parade, on the choir float. We actually MADE a float, with chicken wire and everything. The theme of the dance was.... well, hell if I remember what it was, but our float had the emerald city and we all dressed up like the wizard of oz. We didn't even WIN the stupid float contest (and we were the only REAL float! the others were pickup trucks with signs on them. seriously!) We weren't on the float for the judging and I think they didn't understand what the thing was suppsed to be. Hello?? Emerald city!!

Where did that come from?? Sorry. We were talking about achieving zen in a few short hours. Went for a manicure - which is a great way to relax while someone else makes you look pretty. My manicurist is really nice, and she likes to chat - she tells me all sorts of stuff. Last time she told me all about how her mother died because she'd gotten pregnant again and had to get a quickie abortion in a back alley somewhere. And keep in mind, this was only the second time we'd met!! Today, she told me about her boyfriend (who really sounds like the cable guy from Seinfeld... the one who puts cable in different rooms? On the down-low? The opposite of legal?). Oh fun times indeed. I should have gotten my hair done too, in preparation for the Divine Diva outing tonight, but I didn't think of it. Drat. So my hands look fantastic, but my hair, as usual, looks like crap.

So it's been a great afternoon. Every so often I want to jump up and down, singing "I'm not at Wooo-rkkkk right now!! I'm not at woo--rrrkkk right now!" But don't worry. I'm at home and not singing and dancing in public. And the best is yet to come - Renee!!! Am killing time before getting ready...........

More tomorrow......

What's that smell?

No, it's not the office fridge... Ohh, I know what it is. It's my pants. I think they're on fire.
Okay, okay, I didn't LIE about the film festival. We had tickets. We were gonna go. But at around 4, my friend calls me, from work. She's not feeling well, there's the beginning of a migrane starting, she didn't want me to trek down there (ticketless) and not have her end up going. She was feeling badly enough that we didn't end up going at all. Truth told, I wasn't feeling that great either, and I didn't mind sitting at home, watching Grey's Anatomy. (That Meredith. Does anyone else just want to slap her silly? Why can't it be called "O'Malley's Anatomy?" Ohh, that sounds kinda dirty.... Ah.... That's another post. I digress.) If there's something coming on, I'd rather rest and not risk anything coming between me and seeing The Diva.

That's right. Ms. Renee Fleming, live and in person TONIGHT (in about 3 hours) at Lyric Opera of Chicago (www.lyricopera.org) So, even though I was excited about seeing the movie, it's really all good.

I think...A Film...

Going here tonight to see "Stranger Than Fiction" with Emma Thompson, Will Farrell and Dustin Hoffman. I've never been to the film festival before, despite the fact that it is fairly conveniently located, so that will be fun. AND, I love all of these actors, and the movie sounds cute (got 3 stars in the Chicago Tribune today... www.chicagotribune.com)

She Was Swell...

Continuing my coursework in Divas 101 (for my major of Broadway Studies, naturally), I attended a Bernadette Peters concert last night. Even though I had glimpsed Ms. Peters at Broadway Barks a few years ago, I had not had the pleasure of seeing her live... until last night.

I had been aware of Bernadette before, but it was not until recently that I began paying more attention to what she's done, listening to her cds and watching her dvds (again, thanks to the tutelage of my most excellent teachers.) I really found myself liking her voice and admiring her acting skills (like in Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George) and of course, the hair. (I wonder what shampoo she uses?? hahahahhaha.)

We had an eventful drive to Naperville (inadvertantly blew through an IPass Lane - but the IPass is in the other car.... oops. Now we are toll-way scofflaws!) but managed to find the North Central campus and parking and the building and Kari without any trouble. Even claimed the tickets without any trouble.

Can I just sidebar here for a minute and say what a total mess the ticket buying experience was? A waiting list and everything... Then, I got the tickets while pretending to be Sarah but gave MY credit card number - and they didn't even ask about the name on the credit card or anything. Nice to know it was just that easy. And then, I picked up the tickets and they just handed them over... I'd been worried they'd ask to see the credit card. But no. Here you go and enjoy the show! Well, thanks, guys... What's with these colleges? We had similar difficulties buying tickets at Dominican. And they had NO excuse, as they put on these shows every year.....

We now return to the regularly scheduled post.

Bernadette was fantastic. She looks completely amazing anyway, but last night she was stunning in a (what I am sure was) Bob Macke dress. She sang everything from "Let Me Entertain You" to tunes from South Pacific, Mack and Mabel, Song and dance, and OF COURSE music by the master and "our national treasure" Stephen Sondheim. She lounged on top of the piano for a smokin' hot "Fever" and sang "O Shenendoah" with just the piano. There was no intermission (good thing too. I'd been planning my escape route to the teeny tiny restroom and saw a long wait in my future.)

The whole second part of the show was dedicated to SJS, and she sang "Children Will Listen"
"No one is Alone" "Not a Day Goes By" and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy." One of my favorites was "Being Alive" - I just love love love love that song, and she just belts it out. She is, in fact, very versatile - she surprises you when you're not looking for it, with her range. All of a sudden she goes high, and it's like WOW. There's a lot of power there, and she just went for it. Brava.

THEN, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, it did. She made like she was leaving the stage, then came back and said, "Let's talk about Gypsy." We can talk about whatever you want, Bern. I was hoping she'd do "Some People" but she gave us one even better.

She did Rose's Turn - Oh. My. God. When I was prepping for going to see Gypsy at Ravinia this summer, I listened to Bernadette's recording non-stop. Sarah showed me the Tony awards clip where Bernadette performed Rose's Turn and brought the house down, and I was thinking, Damn, I wish I could have seen her. She gave a little taste of what her Mama Rose was like, and it was phenomenal. Like, Phuh-Nomenal. WOW.

She didn't want to leave it on that note, so she sang "Count your blessings." We were on our feet. It got the Mama Caruso stamp of approval. She sez to me as we are putting on our coats, "She was wonderful." And I'm glad. I mean, I was pretty sure she'd enjoy herself, but I didn't want to have dragged her out to Naperville only to have her not enjoy it.

We weren't going to wait by the stage door - we had a long drive back, but suddenly, I really just wanted to. So we stood out there with a handful of other people (including the Karens). There were three really amusing high school age fans out there - very loud and chatty and bursting with excitement (I am sure everyone knows the type I'm talking about here.) They took pictures of Bernadette's limo, pictures with her limo driver, and then, he opened the door to the car and was letting them look inside. So they took pictures with the three of them hovering around the open limo door AND pictures of the limo interior. The driver offered to let them sit in it for ten bucks, but none of them took him up on it .It cracked me up. Aw, just too cute. We even had "spies" from inside coming out to give us Bernadette movement updates ("Okay, so she just went upstairs to the meet and greet....") Finally she came out - the driver had said she wasn't feeling well, and that he was surprised she'd stayed as long as she had. She signed things and took pictures, then piled into her limo and was off. I was happy to have basked in the warm glow of her presence for a few extra minutes and my mom and I headed off for our long drive back home.

I am happy to report that we paid all of our tolls on the way home and did not get lost at all (which believe me is a crowning achievement).

A big huge shout out and thanks to Sarah for being so quick on the uptake and getting on the ticket waiting list and THEN allowing me to use her name to procure tickets even though she was not able to come. We missed you! Also, it is because of Sarah that I even wanted to go in the first place, and now I seem to have acquired another diva. Thanks for that, too. My ticket vault manager and my banker (not at B of A, in case anyone was wondering... I go to Chase) would like to have a word with you, by the way....