last friday of freedom!

Today is our last Friday of Summer Hours (since June, we've been able to leave at 1:00 on Fridays). I don't know what we're all going to do next week when we have to stay here the entire day. We'll be in shock for sure.

Today, however, we are going to celebrate our last Friday of Freedom, as well as say goodbye to a fellow colleague with some drinks and snacks at Flatwater.

Life on 13 is picking up, kids. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while, as we have some events coming up. But if it's been a while and you haven't heard from me, for god's sake, send a posse over here, won't you? You will know it's bad if I'm not checking my email....

a few things that have been rattling around in my head

This is going to be very random, so consider yourselves forewarned.


Things That Bothered Me Today (and, more accurately, yesterday):
1. People who drench themselves in stinky perfume (I think this was "Angel" or the new Estee Lauder "Pleasures") and get on public transportation. I had to turn away so I could get a little fresh air without my nose starting to run and my eyes starting to itch. I think this chick next to me seriously bathed in it this morning. Gross.

2. People who can't walk in a straight line down the sidewalk. They're weaving back and forth like drunken sailors, making it impossible to move around them.

3. People (do we notice a trend here?) who protest really stupid shit, like the ones I saw outside Macy's yesterday, protesting the store. Now, really. I appreciate people's right to gather and redress their grievances as much as the next person. But come on. Protest the war, protest about global warming, protest the lack of attention the AIDs crisis in Africa, protest over whatever stance you may have about immigration in this country, protest for world peace, protest against world hunger... but protesting a store? Don't waste my time. If you don't want to shop there, then don't shop there. It's just a store. I have no special loyalties to Marshall Fields and I just don't really care that it's gone. I don't shop at Macy's. (But I didn't shop at Fields, either.) In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really seem that important of a cause to get out the picket signs over, does it?

4. Eating at buffet places. Went to Sweet Tomatoes with my mom last night. It's usually pretty good, but it was just plain mediocre last night. People get totally moronic in that place, wandering around without looking, letting their kids run amok and smack into people with hot soup, stuff like that. I don't usually mind eating at buffets, I know a few people who refuse to do it at all. But wait until next month to go to Sweet Tomatoes - their Mexican food theme really sucks. The soup was crappy (even the chicken noodle!) How do you screw up chicken noodle soup? and the choices limited. The baked potatoes were a little wooden. And their usually awesome chocolate chip cookies were hard as little rocks. Very disappointing.

Sorry about all the bitching. But it's been a LONG week. Thank god we have a long weekend and I can just lay around and hopefully get into a better mood...

the secret drawer of hidden delights

That sounds so much better than "junk drawer" doesn't it? I have this drawer in my desk here at work (because at home, practically all of my drawers are junk drawers...) that has, in the few brief months I've been here, gathered the most interesting assortment of stuff you can imagine.

Actually, you don't need to imagine, because I'm here today to take you on a virtual lunchtime tour of The Secret Drawer of Hidden Delights. The contents, at this very point in time, include:

-2 sample packets of Advil (they were giving them away on the street outside the train station! woohoo! free drugs!)
-a zip lock bag containing 4 mini powder sugar donuts
-a zip lock bag containing 1 pepridge farm Tahiti cookie
- a bag of Almond Munchies of the honey dipped variety
- a bag of trail mix (cranberries, nuts, chocolate chips)
-hair brush, eye drops, nasal sprays of many varieties, tooth brush, tooth paste, gum, hand sanitizer, Head On, ponytail holders
-two nutrigrain type bars (strawberry)
-many many many self stick stamps already stuck on pieces of paper (? maybe in the hopes that these are salvageable?)
-part of a chunky kit kat bar, and a mini reeses crispy crunchy bar (can you tell I have a sweet tooth and like to snack??)
-A&W Root Beer throat drops
-box of biz cards (mine)
-staple taker-outer
-eye glass cleaner and little towel
-kleenex
-blank cd
-get well cards
-tin box with assorted pens, magnets, pencils, ruler, computer screen cleaner brush, thumb tacks
-assorted biz cards (not mine)
-random promotional video
-envelope of random stuff from old employer that needed to live here for reasons now uncertain.
-glue stick
-sheet of tack strips to hold up those big post-it pads...
-old pair of reading glasses (totally not mine. some previous desk owner's legacy to me)
-shout wipes (in case I make a mess after all this snacking)
- assorted cold remedies

There you have it. It's quite the delightful hodge podge, isn't it?

starry-eyed and stormy...

Last night was a beautiful evening to be at Ravinia, blue cloudless skies, moderate temperatures... the only sign that gale force winds and torrential rains had ripped through the region just days before were the large areas of lawn space that were roped off, with warning signs "Extremely Wet Grounds - Sit Here and Get Your Ass Wet.' Parking fees were back to 10 bucks - did people complain or something? Did some of those parking lot volunteers put up the 20 dollar sign one night just for giggles and take the extra cash, or what?

But I digress. We had some (overpriced and yet not all that good) food for dinner, and wandered about the (wet) grounz - and who should we see? Mary Nell and Tim, enjoying a picnic. I also found an ex-colleague and his partner and stopped to chat with them right before going into the pavillion. Had the usual seating problems, as in, person with abnormally sized head sitting in front of me, and next to him, of course, his wife with large poofy style hairdo, who keeps moving around to try to see around the huge melon in front of her, etc.

And then, it was time for our Divas to take the stage. They opened with a duet called "Pack up your sins" which Audra (AKA Andrea McArdle)said was the first time she & Patti (LaBelle) had sung correctly and in public. Patti, literally, ran off the stage, causing Audra to cluck "She sings and runs away."

I would commence to regale you here with the full set list, but it wasn't published. Patti said something like "we only met on Friday the 13th and last night" to which Audra said "what?" Meaning - they had about 2 days to put the show together. So. No set list. Audra sang one from "The Apple Tree" and then one from the person who wrote "The Apple Tree" she sang lots of Sondheim "The Glamorous Life" -- uh --- one she dedicated to Barrack Obama from Anyone Can Whistle, "Not a Day Goes By" with... something else... She also sang "When Lola Sings"and something else. About happiness and joy. From a movie. Don't remember (sorry).

She started to sing "Can't Stop Talking" but then had to stop the orchestra. "Sorry," she said "I had to burp, and I thought better now than in the middle of the song." Which caused Patti, on her next sweep across the stage, to say she was going to burp the whole of the next song (and somehow, I believe she could have, if she put her mind to it). I remember her songs more distinctly - "Don't Rain on my Parade" "Peel Me a Grape" "Meadowlark" "So in Love" "Buenos Aires" "Ladies Who Lunch" "Losing My Mind" and "I Was Here" (might have forgotten some...) Together, they sang "Wrong Note Rag" and "Ohio" from Wonderful Town and oh, there was another one.... Patti threatened to do some kind of Evita duet, since Audra also played Evita in her hometown ("No," Audra insisted. "It's not gonna happen.")

They also sang the "Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again" duet as an encore, which I just love. They came back and sang that one again (but standing on opposite sides of each other, since Audra said "We've never sung this and stood on this side of each other before" and Patti claimed "We're not crazy." (okay) They left after that, after giving us 2 of the same encore,which seemed peculiar at the time, but which we later learned was because Audra had to catch a flight back to LA to begin filming Private Practice, the Grey's Anatomy spinoff. Audra + Taye Diggs? Reason enough for me to watch at least the first new episode (I do not care at all about Kate Walsh, Amy Brenneman, or what's his face - Tim Daly).

It was a great concert and on stage, our Divas did not disappoint. But no intermission. Oye. Fortunately, everyone in my row was very well behaved and didn't get up to leave during any part of it. If I was not a fan of Audra's before (but I was!) I certainly am now. She is warm and bubbly, chatty and charming. What a great presence and a gorgeous voice. I saw her last year at Ravinia at the Martin, and I'd absolutely see her in another solo concert.

Patti was Patti in every possible sense.
(Beforehand, someone asked me how many times I'd seen her this year - I was kind of surprised that it's been like 7. 2 Mahagonnys, 3 Gypsys, 1 To Hell and Back, and that concert. I wish I could explain what it is about her, that would induce bi-coastal travel to watch her, but I can't. They were also surprised that I was a little bit scared of her, which is completely true. I can't summon any words except I think "hello" and "thank you" which you know are probably pretty safe.)

Yes, we went to the stage gate afterwards, but that is a story for another time, to be told face to face, possibly over some wine, foie gras and french fries (which means we'd also have to go to New York, or at least some restaurant around here that does not mind flouting the rules). Or, in the words of the OMC song (what happened to OMC, anyway??) "Wanna know the rest, hey? Buy the rights! How Bizarre..."

divine inspiration...

I was bored on the train home the other day, and suddenly Inspiration struck in the form of an idea for a Gypsy-themed explosion book. I started sketching one out (from about Union Station to Forest Glen) and voila! Made a quick excursion for supplies yesterday and did the book last night. It all went well except for a few minor snafus making the covers. And for some reason I thought getting an acryllic stamp set would make my life easier, but alas, this is not the case. I spent several hours stamping out little quotes to put inside the book and by the time I was done with it I never wanted to see it again.

But really, it's quite cute. I don't know what exactly I'm going to do with it, but when inspiration comes a knocking, you can't just slam the door in its face.

In other news, tonight is the night when the Divas will Descend Upon us. The storm clouds have parted in their honor. Can't wait. Will be some fun times.

More details and a full report later.

She was shopping, of course!

So get this. There was a tornado warning for downtown Chicago. To say that this is a rare occurance is an understatement - it happens as frequently as the Cubs have won the World Series. There was a reporter on news radio 78, not a block from our perch on the 13th floor, telling people to take cover. Scary shit.

And I would have been a lot more scared had I actually been in the office today.

I took today off, before things get too nuts. I got a massage, and then mom played hooky with me and we went shopping at Woodfield. Wheeeee. There we were, innocently shopping. I bought an absolutely gorgeous satin trench coat at Bebe (I saw it in a magazine and was instantly smitten. More on this later.)and a whole bag full of stuff at H&M (bless those crazy Swedes and their awesome discount clothing emporium!). The only sign that there was anything amiss was that the power in the store went out partially while I was at the cash register. No one seemed too concerned about it though, so we didn't think anything of it. Then we tried to leave.

We were headed towards Sears (where we'd parked). When we approached, we noticed someone standing guard at the store and turning people back into the mall. She said her manager told them there was some kind of weather thing and that they weren't letting people into the store any more until it was clear. Which was funny that they didn't think we actually wanted to do something crazy like shop in their store, they knew we just wanted to pass through. And use the bathroom. They were right, as it happened, but you'd think they would try to get people in. At least to buy some umbrellas and rain gear. Is this not America? Do we not have the right to go running straight into a raging thunderstorm if we so wish? Strangely enough, we so wished. We went back into the mall, went to another exit (AHA. Didn't think of that, Sears, didja?) and looked out at the rain coming down in sheets. We decided (foolishly?) to risk it. Out we ran, got to the car and turned on the radio just in time to hear the above mentioned tornado warning.

Sidebar: There was a lady standing outside sears who said "So, I'm like from California. What's a tornado warning?" And we were like, "You know Dorothy? And the thing that looks like a cyclone? You aren't in Kansas any more, lady!" actually we didn't. But to clairify, a Tornado Watch is just when conditions are ideal for a tornado to appear. A Tornado Warning is when one has actually been a sighting - hold onto your butts, grab the cats and take cover! The warning was expiring as we drove back. The journey home was slowed by downed branches and traffic lights that had no power. But the worst of it had passed.

Back home now, and I am pleased to report there was not a lot of damage in the MG where I live. There is a big tree in the yard next to us that is thankfully still upright. We heard that there were winds of 80 mph. Crazy.

I am easily amused....

I don't even know what this is a commercial for, but it makes me laugh. Especially the look on the guy's face at the end....

go here and check it out.

Add this to the list of things that make me giggle, along with the automatic soap dispensers at Ravinia (sad, I know, but I laugh every time I use one), and those little automatic change things, where your change comes rolling out... they have them at the supermarket, I think...

Looks like I'm in for a good time....

Today's Yahoo-scope says:

Quickie:
Your jovial nature is out in full force, and it will make you a few new friends.

Overview:
A good friend brings some news that you've been waiting for -- maybe without realizing it. Your good energy makes the day even more enjoyable, and your social circles are especially appealing.


I'm so glad someone appreciates my "jovial nature." Maybe these new friends are the ones who are conspiring?

the honor roll...

Keeping on our Back-to-School Nostalgia theme, here is a list of some memorable educators from my formative years (at Park View School in Morton Grove...)

Mrs. Miller - my kindergarten teacher. She is also my next door neighbor, so I learned from an early age not to believe all those stories about teachers living at school (I believe the story was that they lived in coffins in the basement, or something). Because I knew. They live in houses, just like you and me. A very important lesson.

Mr. (Richard) Johnson - sixth grade teacher. Sixth grade was a year frought with much drama and in-fighting and pre-teenaged angst. I am not sure what we learned at all, but I AM sure that we drove this man into early retirement. So for that, Mr. "Good-now-go-sit-down" Johnson, I immortalize you in the blogosphere.

Mr. East - taught shop class. Now think about that for a minute - shop for junior high students. What a good idea. Here, children, go play with power tools for 40 minutes. So safe. So useful. When have I had to use a jig-saw in my every day life? That would be NEVER. Also, we used to sit in class and count the number of times the man said "uh" because literally, it was every other word. Kids can be so cruel.

Mr. Paulos - junior high English teacher. Taught me the importance of proper grammar AND how to diagram a sentence. Tried to give me a reading assignment the year I was not actually in his class. Was known for falling asleep in class. Tried to get us to shut up on the bus on field trips by telling us to "listen for sirens." I am still trying to figure that one out. But after being a chaperone on a jr high field trip, I can understand why he would have wanted us to be quiet. Damn, those kids are LOUD.

Mrs. Clancy - music teacher. I had her for many years, as we had music class every day in most grade levels. Not a year went by that this woman did not threaten to retire. On a more serious note, she taught us about the composers, and started annual field trips to the CSO and Lyric, so she is probably partly responsible for my early classical music appreciation.

Miss Sfickas - gym teacher. My god, did this woman hate me. I'm not athletic, and naturally, all of her little pets were the jocks (or jockettes?). All of her favorites could pick whoever they wanted to be on their teams, including their friends, but when I was team captain (once) and I picked my friends, she pulled me aside and yelled at me. Scarred me for life. Really. That and those god awful yellow shirts we were forced to wear. YUCK.

Mr. Daiberl - my favorite teacher of all time. Made me, for a few brief moments between 1997 and 2001, want to become a teacher myself. I had him for History in 7th and 8th grade, and he made it actually interesting. All he did was lecture - he didn't show movies, we didn't do group work, but some how, he made it fun. We also played the News Game every week, which I totally always rocked, since I have a good memory for useless trivia and have, ever since I was a kid. I also student taught with him.

Mr. Cole - science teacher in Jr High. Also gets the distinction of making a subject actually fun. He was the classic Mad Scientist, but everybody loved him. I guess they shuffled things around and he was teaching english or something and all of us cried because he made so many kids like science. (Well, okay, we didn't actually cry. But we had many heated conversations about it. For like, whole seconds.) And (you'd better sit down for this one) I was on the Science Olympiad team in maybe 8th grade. We did horribly, but you know, whatever.

So there ya go. We'll talk about high school later. Surprisingly, the list there is much shorter. I had to actually think about it. Not as many colorful characters, that's for sure...

whatever happened to recess?

It's so weird for me to think that I am Done With School. Even these last few years, I've been in Grad School, so I could still tell people (if I so chose) "I'm a student." Now I can't. Because I'm not. I'm just me, a Working Stiff. One of the teeming masses.

One of the things I love about fall, aside from the boot-and-coat weather, is of course, the back-to-school shopping and the ritual of buying new stuff for school. For me growing up, it was a trapper keeper, shiny pencil case (one of those ones with the different compartments and the buttons - press one and the pencil sharpener comes out, press another one and a magnifying glass comes out, press another one, and the little tray with your number 2 pencils rockets into a vertical position, so you can better select which to use, I guess...), pens in a rainbow of colors (I took notes in different colors. Pink, green, turquoise, purple. Just to mix it up, not because it was a useful study tool, or anything. What else? New backpacks... Not like these kids today (Yikes. Did I just say that??) with their backpacks on wheels that they lug around like they're going on a flight, or something. I lugged around a heavy backpack on my back for 12 years of schooling, I think they can, too. All I got was a little mild scoliosis (kidding!) Honestly. It's not like they bring any books home, anyway...

Just a sidebar here - it's really funny to me sometimes how things have changed between when I was in school and now. When I was in elementary school, we had a 'playground' in a field. When we got older, there was one with just different sets of climbing apparatus (apparati?) - covered in lead paint, probably. Over concrete. No soft rubber stuff or little wood chips to cushion the fall. The park by my house had a massively tall slide you had to climb up, and also one of those merry-go-rounds that you rode round and round and round on until you gor whiplash. Yeah, those playgrounds had character. (Why do I feel like I am 90 years old all of a sudden?)

But back to the shopping list - notebooks, loose leaf paper, folders, graph paper and graphing calculators, protractors and compasses for math of course (never to be used again, relegated to collect dust in the junk drawer), gym clothes (in jr. high we had really really unattractive reversible yellow and blue shirts and little tiny shorts), and the Chandler's Assignment notebook. When I was student teaching, there was a big teacher meeting about letting the kids have palm pilots. And, oh, wait, the kids were in Junior High. Honestly? I don't even have a palm pilot. I still use the assignment notebook style appointment diary. What could 6th graders possibly need with a palm pilot?

Look out for more School Nostalgia. I need something to occupy my mind so I am not constantly obsessing with my next field trip coming up here.

Oh, My Stars

I don't know why, but I love checking my horoscope. I don't do it every day, but I have, in the past, checked the Chicago Tribune (they rank the day on a 1-10 scale, 10 obviously being the best and 1 being a 'don't bother getting out of bed today'. I've never seen anything less than a 4 though), the Sun Times and the one that pops up on Yahoo every day. I don't really hold any truck with it, but it's still fun to check....

Today's Stars, from Yahoo:
Sagittarius (the date is November 24, in case you're keeping score at home)
Quickie:
Socially, your life is about to get a lot busier! You are loved by all your friends.

Overview:
Your friends are conspiring to make your life even sweeter. Act like you don't know, and when things really take off, you can feign surprise and enjoy the ride. You're luckier than you realize!


Nice, huh? But who are these friends "conspiring to make my life even sweeter"? Most of my friends around here don't even call me any more. So now they're conspiring?

can't stop eating 'em

So I was at a meeting yesterday and talking with our consultant. We were the only 2 present and waiting for everyone else to appear. He starts chowing down on potato chips. He tells me they are his food weakness. Fair enough. I have a few of those myself chocolate anything, pineapple, cheese (but not all together, that's weird), so far be it for me to judge anybody's food fetishes.

THEN he tells me that he had a very large collection of - wait for it - potato chip bags. I'm hoping they were empty. Not only that, he SOLD his collection to the Potato Museum in New Mexico. I'm a little startled at this point, as I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that a. someone would go to the trouble of collecting potato chip bags and b. someone ELSE would actually pay money for them and c. that there is actually a potato museum that people pay money to visit and view potato paraphenalia. So all I say is "I didn't know there was... a potato musuem." He was apparently hoping the Smithsonian would buy his collection, but I guess they reached their quota of quirky (crappy?)contributions for the year. Their loss is the Potato Museum's gain.

Hmmm....

+ Update: So, let's be clear. I'd go to this for Patti alone. I don't dislike Mandy, but he's not why I'd buy the ticket. If The Diva appears in my vicinity, it is not within my power to not go and see her. That's just the way it is.

Additional dates, it says. Hmm. I am thinking Ravinia. I am sending psychic vibes out right now: "Raaaavinnnniiiiiaaaaaa!! Raaaavinnniiiiaaaa!" etc. Maybe it will work!

From playbill.com today:

LuPone and Patinkin to Reteam for California Audiences
By Andrew Gans
14 Aug 2007

Tony Award winners Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, who co-starred in the original Broadway production of Evita, will again join forces in January 2008.
The duo will present An Evening with Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA. Show times are Jan. 18 and 19 at 8 PM.
LuPone and Patinkin previously presented this concert in September 2002 at the Charles W. Eisemann Center in Richardson, TX. That evening featured duets from several musical theatre classics, including tunes from South Pacific, Carousel, Sunday in the Park with George, and, of course, Evita. The award winning actor-singers also performed individually.
A Tony Award winner for her work in Evita, Patti LuPone also earned an Olivier Award for her performances in the West End productions of Lés Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock. Her other theatrical credits include Sunset Boulevard, Anything Goes, Oliver!, Working, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class and Pal Joey. LuPone also headlined two solo Broadway concerts, Patti LuPone On Broadway and Matters of the Heart, and received glowing notices for her performance as Mrs. Lovett in the Lincoln Center concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and a Tony nomination for her performance in the recent revival of that Sondheim work. She was seen in the Kennedy Center's staging of Marc Blitzstein's Regina and recently joined Audra McDonald for Los Angeles Opera's production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. LuPone was most recently on the New York stage in City Center's production of Gypsy.
Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award for his role as Che in the Broadway mounting of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita. His theatrical work includes roles in The Wild Party, Sunday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden and The Knife. An Emmy Award winner for his work on "Chicago Hope," his other screen credits include "Criminal Minds," "Yentl," "Ragtime," "Dick Tracy," "Broken Glass," "Life with Mikey" and "The Princess Bride." Patinkin's latest solo recording, "Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim," is available on the Nonesuch label.

Additional tour dates of An Evening with Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin are expected.

is that gonna leave a mark?

So this morning, I was awakened at 3:00 to the sound of the cats fighting with each other (in my doorway, naturally). Finish hissed at Start so loudly and emphatically, she started coughing. A skunk outside my window apparently heard the clammor and decided to join forces with her sister-under-the-fur - and sprayed energetically. May I repeat: right under my window. The smell just permeated everything and made it impossible for me to get back to sleep.

I must have dozed off though, because I remember waking up again, just after 6 to the sound of rain. On the one hand was pleased because rain was washing away ferocious skunk pong. On the other hand, I'd planned to wear a dress today, but didn't want to do my marathon hike in a skirt in the rain. So I had to change my plan, grab a coat and an umbrella and catch the train in the rain. It stopped when I got here though, so it all worked out. I was only moderately soggy when I arrived in the office.

I did succeed in spilling a few globs of Starbucks raspberry peach yogurt parfait on my pants though, and it appears to have left a stain. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Can today just be over?

a little bit of everything...

The weekend went by too fast, but then they always do. What did I even do with myself?? Not a lot. Slept. Hid from the sticky heat. Was hit by the Thunderbolt of Inspiration and went to Archiver's ("The Photo Memory Store") - I decided to do something with the photos and assorted bits of ephemera collected from the New York trip (well, okay, I am putting it all in a little album. Nothing too fancy.) It's been a while since I've been crafty - since I'm not working there any more (thank GAWD) and I'm not constantly surrounded by that new cute paper or those adorable little embellishments. AND I've found other things to spend my money on (shoes. and tickets to see Patti). AND there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day anymore. I'm not one of those crazy scrapbookers - I don't have kids, and I don't sit around scrapping everyday things. Just trips and stuff like that. And the occasional super cool explosion book mini-album for the Divas (and about the divas, IE the gorgeous one I did for Sweeney Todd, that I had signed by the whole cast.). But like I said, it's been awhile since I've done any of it, so it was fun.

I also worked on my knitting - it's hard to think about blankets when it's 95 degrees and humid, but I'm determined to finish, so I got back to work on it.

Other than that, it was a quiet weekend. Had to go to the dentist for a cleaning. I've been going to the same dentist for many years and usually it's not so bad. I had a string of bad visits, where I was worked on by a Dental Nazi from Hell hygenist. She yelled at me, made me cry and made me bleed. Ouch. And honestly, I'm not that bad. I brush twice (sometimes thrice) a day and floss every day too. I actually visit every 6 months, which is more than I can say for some people. And still I get the lecture. Who needs that, lady? So I've requested not to have Beelzebubette (she claims her name is "Sandi" but who does she think she's kidding?) and my dental visits have been much happier.

Saturday there was a new hygienist named Patricia. She was nice, but a little flaky. My appointment was in the afternoon and she said she hoped she "wouldn't fall asleep." Uh, that makes two of us. Then later as she was polishing my teeth, the little do-hickey they use wasn't working right, and she said "Sometimes they're just shitty attachments, ya know?" Now, I'm not averse to a little swearing, you know, but I'm not sure that you should be swearing in front of your patients on the first meeting. Something tells me she's not going to be around there for long...

Placido Domingo at Ravinia

Placido Domingo. 1/3 of the Three Tenors (and one of the recognizeable ones, at that). I've never seen him live before, and almost didn't have the chance last night. By the time I decided to suck it up and try to purchase an $150 ticket to Ravinia's Gala Extravaganza, they were all sold out. Boo. But serves me right, I guess, for waiting too long. But then, as I said, an ex co-worker of mine called me up Saturday morning and told me to get out my party dress. I didn't need to be told twice, and spent the rest of the day frantically making preparations. Dress? Check. Shoes? Check. Manicure? Check. Hair? Was in serious need of professional assistance, even though I'm blessed with good color, I hadn't washed it in the morning, and it was hanging around like limp spaghetti. Cathy made me look totally gorgeous, bless her.

I brought my mom (because she threatened to disown me if I didn't take her to see Domingo... haha, only joking) to fetch the tickets. We were in for the whole ball of wax - cocktails before the concert, post-performance dinner, and the concert itself. Plus, we got free parking in the main lot.

I love the fact that we're about 15 minutes away from Ravinia. Once you cross the railroad tracks and go through the main gate, you're in a whole other world with its green lush sprawling lawn (covered, even last night, with picnickers in rain gear), food (pizza! dove bars! sno-cones! what more could you want??) drinks, ample restroom space, and automatic soap dispensers (I can't tell you why I love these so much, but they make me smile every time. Sad. Very sad. But true. It takes very little to amuse me.)

The concert started at 7:00 pm. We sat early and watched the parade of be-tuxedoed Beautiful People of the North Shore stream in to claim their seats. Our row was apparently the designated Row of Drama - right as the lights went down, 4 people came in to sit in the spots to my left - or tried to. It transpired that some people were sitting there by mistake, so we all had to get up a few more times to rearrange accordingly. One "gentleman" (I use the term loosely) wouldn't shut up during the performance and was on the receiving end of a few nasty looks and SHHHs! from me. There was no intermission and each and eachof those 4 people to my left got up, walked by me, and left at various times in the program, and came back again. And they didn't even say 'sorry' or 'excuse me' or bring me a sno-cone. I mean, really.

The program kicked off with Maestro James Conlon leading the CSO and the audience in a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. The board chairman and some corporate sponsor came out and thanked everyone under the sun and their mothers for putting the gala evening together. They made tantalizing references to the star attraction, but yacked for like 20 more minutes before allowing the performance to begin.

Here's the program:

Overture to Oberon (Weber)
"O souverain" (Massenet - Le Cid - Domingo)
"The Jewel Song" (Gounod - Faust) * No, he hasn't started exploring new repertoire - Mr. Domingo shared the stage with soprano Ana Maria Martinez)
"Frederico's Lament" (Cilea - L'arlesiana - Domingo)
"Ebben? Ne andro lontana" (Catalani - La Wally - Martinez)
Sigfried's Spring Song (Wagner - Die Walkure - Domingo)
Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin (CSO)
"Gia nella notte densa" (Verdi - Otello - duet)
Prelude, Serenade, Intermezzo, Die Schneeman, Korngold (CSO)
"Amor vida de me vida" (Torroba - Maravilla - Domingo)
"El nino Judio" (Luna - De Espana Vengo - Martinez)
"En mi tierra" (Torroba - Luisa Fernanda - duet)
"Tonight" (Bernstein - West Side Story - duet)
"I Could Have Danced All Night" (My Fair Lady - Loewe - Martinez)
"No Puede Ser" (Sorozabal - La Tabernera del Puerto - Domingo)

Encores included
Grenada, O Mio Babbino Caro (the first phrase of which elicited a collective "Oooohhhh" of delight from the audience) another Spanish duet, and Lippenschweigen (or however you'd care to spell it).

Placido was greeted by rapturous applause (which he acknowledged with a dicatator-esque wave and semi-salute). Dressed all in black, he was regal, charismatic and in fine voice. As my mom said "He's still got it!" and indeed, he has. At over 60 years of age, the man can still work a crowd and hit those beautiful, soaring high notes. I wish we had seen more of him, and I wish he had sung some other operatic chestnuts. As I said, he shared the stage with Ms. Martinez - a young soprano with a pretty voice. She was fine, she sounded good and was wearing a gorgeous irridescent teal gown. She wasn't terribly exciting, but Placido was exciting and entertaining and charming enough for the both of them.

Dinner afterwards was in the Freehling Room with food served from Carlos' Restaurant. Our selections included a "roasted summer vegetable terrine" (with a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc), Chilean sea bass, and for dessert a symphony of mini tartlets (lemon, raspberry and chocolate cappuccino mousse) and champagne, of course. The perfect ending to another stellar evening at Ravinia.

in need of professional help...

My ticket fairy godmother has visited me in the night, hit me with her wand and is sending me to the ball... okay, the Ravinia Gala tonight, featuring Placido Domingo. I debated going all week, but by the time I decided to cough up the higher than normal pavilion seat price, the cheap(ish) ones were all sold out! And I didn't want to pay the higher than normal lawn ticket price, to sit there by myself and watch Himself on a large video screen (which they are using for the poor schlubs on the lawn for this concert). Good thing, too, because it's totally going to rain.

Enter a former colleague of mine who decided they don't want to go tonight (????) and is giving me tickets to everything - pavillion, dinner and cocktails. I've been beautifying all day in preparation.

More to come, but I am very very excited to see Placido. He's probably my favorite of the Three Tenors (even though Luciano Pavarotti is from my family's home citta of Modena, Italy). I don't know how many more chances there will be to see him live (and I passed up my chance to see him in the Ring Cycle at Lyric a few years back. Nobody could make me want to see Wagner. Nobody.)

Nothing to say...

Look at these cuties instead. I'll talk more when I can think of something to say....

Looking Ahead...

Here is what my 2007-2008 Entertainment Schedule is looking like at this current moment:

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Auditorium Theatre (now thru Sept) still need to buy tickets

Patti & Audra at Ravinia 8.26 (!!)

Passion at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (10.2 through 11.11. I'm gonna get me some tickets to this even though I am a little doubtful about Ana Gasteyer. I missed her in Wicked, so someone needs to clue me in on her ability as a singer.)

La Boheme at Lyric Opera (10.1) My first chance to see Angela Gheorghiu (or however you spell it) - if she doesn't cancel, that is.

Giselle (running 10.17 thru 10.28) My first classical ballet experience (shhhhhh)

Caesar at Lyric (11.19) Ohhh, David Daniels.

Die Frau Ohne Schatten (11.26) I am celebrating the birthday of my TBV group by going to the opera and seeing - uh - well, it would be better if it was Renee, but it's Debbie Voigt, who was spectacular in Salome last season, so I am expecting good things.

The Nutcracker (12.12 thru 12.30) The ultimate Christmas in Chicago experience. I am looking forward to this, since I've wanted to go forever and now I can go whenever.I.want!

Doctor Atomic (12.17) at Lyric

La Traviata (1.14) at Lyric. Finally, Renee's back in Chicago! I just noticed single tickets are on sale, and subscribers can buy additional ones, so I am going go snap up a few extra performances of this one... Anybody wanna come??? Gotta get it in while she's here...

Falstaff (1.28) at Lyric. A few years ago, Bryn Terfel played the title role but I've heard he's retiring it for the time being. Too bad. While I was standing in the student rush line for Rent, I should have been checking out Bryn as Falstaff. But we live and learn. All the Lyric website had to say about this new Falstaff is that he's really tall (like 6'5") which is important, you know, but doesn't speak a whole lot to his singing.

Antony Tudor Centennial (2.20 thru 3.2) More ballet. For the past few months I've been calling him "Anthony" which shows you how much I know.

Barber of Seville (3.3) Three words: Juan Diego Florez. {swoon}

Eugene Onegin (3.24) at Lyric. Some of this season I feel is a giant Met re-tread - especially La Traviata, Barber and Onegin, all of which were at the Met last season. Most people saw a few of these on the tv or at the movies. So I'll see Onegin again. If I'd been in New York long enough to see it a second time with Renee as Tatiana, I would have, but otherwise once is usually enough for most of these. I do love Dmitri though, so at least there's that to look forward to...

American Moderns (5.14 thru 5.25) modern ballet.

So that's how it's shaping up. I'm hoping to get to NYC at some point (maybe for Otello at the Met? Maybe for La T? I'd also love to go and see Sunday in the Park with George...). I guess we'll see what happens...

Of course, our Broadway (in Chicago) prospects are pretty slim. We're getting Jersey Boys (a show I don't understand at all), Color Purple is closing early only to be replaced with... wait for it... POTO. We never get anything good....