A New Mimi In Chicago...

Lyric Opera has fired Ms. Angela G which means I won't be seeing her in La Boheme on Monday....

fall tv...

Lots of good stuff on the tube this week, which makes me happy that we have multiple vcrs. Now I just need time to watch everything....

Tuesday there was House - I love Hugh Laurie and I don't think there is really anything else to say. Oh, wait, yes there is - how James Spader won the Emmy over Hugh is completely beyond my comprehension. Whatever.

Last night there was the new cycle of America's Next Top Model - which I still love in a very odd, guilty pleasure kind of way. Yesterday, Tyra "took a stand" and made this the first ever non-smoking cycle of ANTM. So all of the girls who smoke gotta kick the habit and fast. Her reason was that lots of people watch the show and "look up to" these girls as role models. Uh, yeah, sure, okay. I just hope that they are now going to help the girls who do smoke to quit, since telling them okay, you're done, isn't terribly helpful and quitting is hard.

Then there was Private Practice, the Grey's Anatomy spinoff starring Kate Walsh as Addison Montgomery. I watched this for a few reasons - one, Addison was probably the most interesting character on Grey's - aside from Sara Ramirez's character, and I no longer care about stupid, wishy-washy Meredith. Two - Audra McDonald came into the cast as Naomi. 3. Taye Diggs (no further explanation needed). I liked the show, even though it seemed a little uneven. When two grown adults have conversations like "I did not move down here because you kissed me" it's kind of like okay... how old are you two? But there were many moments that I smiled at. These mainly involved Taye Diggs. Kidding. I have high hopes for this show, since I think I am Officially Giving Up on Grey's Anatomy this season. Too many McWhoevers and people I don't care about.

Then I went to sleep. I have to be here tonight & it's going to be a late one, so I turned in early....

weekend round up

At 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, I know the weekend isn't exactly over yet, but well, you know, close enough.

Yesterday, after my multiple Target Temperley Trips (and after I got cheapish gas in Lake County - $3.06!) I went to a lia sophia jewelry show hosted by my friend Beth. I didn't know anything about the company, but it's basically a deal like Partylite or Longaberger Baskets or the Pampered Chef or whatever, and there is a consultant hawking her wares and pressuring you to have a gathering in the comfort of your own home, yada yada yada. Actually, our consultant (also named Kristen) was very nice, and there wasn't a hard sell or a lot of pressure to hostess a party. Which is good, because while I will go to these things*
and usually buy things, I will not host one because a. I have no room, and b. I don't have many friends outside this same circle who would want to come. So we all go to each other's parties, and if one of them has one, why do I need to?

Anyway, I love jewelry. One of my favorite jobs was working at a craft gallery called A Unique Presence - we featured a lot of jewelry, and were allowed to wear the pieces while we were working. AND we got a serious discount, so a lot of my favorite pieces came home with me after we had our big sales. I like shiny things, and colorful things. So, I am the perfect sucker (I mean, guest) to have at one such party. It was a small gathering, just me, Beth, the other Kristen, Kim and Amy but it was fun to catch up, hear the spiel, try on the jewelry, etc.

Today, I decided to do something fun and relaxing because this coming week is going to be crazy. I thought a movie. And what better movie to see than the trippy, mellow Across the Universe, a film by Julie Taymor (you may remember her recent production of The Magic Flute at the Met, and she's also won several awards for her work with The Lion King.). It's set in the Vietnam war era and, oh, every once in a while, the characters burst into song - more specifically, they burst into Beatles songs. How much fun is that?? Throw in guest spots by Bono(singing "I am the walrus" on a psychedelic bus and Eddie Izzard in an extremely bizzare turn as Mr. Kite, some animated scenes, bleeding strawberries, a singing Uncle Sam, some sly references to Beatles song lyrics (main characters are named Jude and Lucy and a dripping wet girl named Prudence wanders into the apartment shared by the gang. When songstress Sadie, the landlady, asks who she is and where she comes from, Jude shrugs and responds "She came in through the bathroom window." I was the youngest person in the theater, and I am the only one who laughed)and you've got a brilliant afternoon of singable fun. I think it would be totally awesome to have a singalong version of it, because they use a lot of songs that are in the popular lexicon. It's lighthearted and fun, but there are also some powerful images used with some of the songs - the bleeding strawberries and the song "Strawberry Fields Forever" juxtaposed with scenes of battle from Vietnam. The song "Revolution" over protests of the war. I liked it. Go see it.






* unless it's a partylite party. I am SO over partylite and anything to do with candles, thank you very much.

my gawd, where did all my HAIR go?

Oh, okay, the post title is a slight exaggeration. I did get my hair cut last night - and it's shorter, but not Katie short. To compensate for that though, I decided to turn it a whole different color - I got lowlights, and it's now a nice shade of ash blonde/light brown. I really like it. I was going to do some before and after shots, but the camera battery was too low and I couldn't use the camera phone, either, since that battery had died completely. Tsk, tsk! I know, I'm a bad blogger. But I'll try and take some pictures of it, so y'all can see the new color.

I've been running around town, hunting down the new Alice Temperley line at Target - omg, what cute stuff....

The Perfect Gift for the One Who Has Everything...

For sale on eBay: Belgium

September 19, 2007
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The keys of the kingdom were posted on eBay.
Fed up with a three-month political standoff, a Belgian teacher posted an ad on the online auction site: ''For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts ... free premium: the king and his court [costs not included].''


This was in yesterday's Sun-Times. I guess you really can find everything on eBay, huh? I wonder if this includes their army (which according to my high school history teacher is made up of "12 guys with guns named Pierre" - the guys, not the guns.)

Check this out...

If you visit In Style you can "try on" celebrity hair (either by uploading a picture of yourself or using a model with smiliar face shape) so you can see how you look with that style before going to your stylist and chopping it off and then whining about it until it grows back.

AND you can get a daily "Hot Shot" of Brad and Angelina!

television twaddle....

TV's fall season is starting (YAY!) and so begins the airing of new shows and, my favorite part, the critics telling us what they think of these new shows. I don't take these critics comments as the be-all and end all of life, because they have to watch lots of tv and might not find the same things funny that I find funny etc.

What I actually really love is just reading what they have to say. In some cases, when they really hate a show or movie, some really great writing comes out of it, as they knock themselves out to describe just how terrible something is (gushy reviews are much less fun). For instance, Sun Times writer Doug Elfman has this to say about the Kelsey Grammer/Patricia Heaton show "Back to You"*:

"Anyway, "Back to You" stinks, shames the sitcom form, is written and directed with smelly gusto, and is not original, funny or redemptive by any universal standards known to science, creation or TV executives. Congratulations, crappy show, you may be the unfunniest sitcom on broadcast TV. I salute your achievement. "

Ouch. But see what I mean? Shames the sitcom form, even. It must be REALLY bad. Entertainment Weekly reviewers are also fairly impressive when it comes to reviewing mediocre media, and they never like anything...

* By the way, rest assured that I was not ever ever considering actually watching this show. I like him okay but cannot STAND her (and am probably the only person in America who did not, in fact, love Raymond) and I hope this one dies a quick death right along with "Kid Nation"

Hair Update...

Thanks, everybody, for caring about my head and what I may or may not do to it in the near future. I have an appointment on Friday evening, after work. Plenty of time to ruminate over options for cut and color this week, which has barely begun and is already crazy!

another winter in a summer town....

40 degree weather, free blankets, 5 layers of clothing .... doesn't that sound like the perfect night to go to Ravinia? I was there last night to work a private event, hosted by Cadillac, in which my company was asked to participate. Of course, I had volunteered for this assignment weeks ago, before we knew that the weather was going to suddenly turn downright wintry. Who would think that we'd have 40 degree weather in September? I was layered up - long sleeved t-shirt, sweater, Ravinia fleece purchased on a whim from the gift shop (all items 50% off... they have some cute stuff in there. Picnic stuff, obviously, note cards, cds, dvds, other random crap, posters, etc etc. I bet they never thought they'd have a rush on their fleece and sweatshirts, since they're usually open during the height of summer...) coat, and scarf.

Cadillac was giving away free blankets. I think the idea behind this giveaway was for these blankets to serve as picnic blankets for future Ravinia outings, but people were actually using them as, well, blankets. It was that cold.

We arrived at 4:30 and manned (actually 'womaned') a table with brochures and other information. The performance featured a local high school band - they had a drum off - I feel the need to reiterate that this was NOT a Ravinia event, but rather a private one, so that kind of explains the random band. There were 2 large jumbo trons on either side of the stage that flashed the Cadillac logo when they were not being used to show off what was on the stage. There was a little Cadillac spiel (I think this was some sort of customer appreciation thing. But I don't know how the tickets were distributed or anything). The house, not surprisingly, was not full. There were people on the lawn, which I thought was kind of crazy. I can name the performers I would sit around outside in the freezing cold for on one hand.... One couple even had three small children with them. I mean, like, babies. Is it me, or is that just wrong? Freeze your own butts off, by all means, but leave the kids at home in the warmth.

The dancers performed the Donald Byrd piece "To Know Her..." which had its debut at Ravinia earlier this summer (actually, it was cold the first time I saw it, too) and once again, the dancers shared the stage with the Ramsey Lewis Trio. I love watching these people dance. I think I say that every single time I watch them. I am completely in awe of their abilities. It was cold onstage, too, which can't be good for their muscles, but they came prepared - they, too, were dressed in layers, and I think several of them filled out the Cadillac survey to get a free blanket. It's a great piece - I love the music, and the choreography is so in tune with the music, that the movements fit perfectly. I didn't know ballet could be funny & sexy & playful but this piece was all of those things.

Since it is the end of the season at Ravinia, the park looked pretty empty and forlorn...

...no one took the party tents down...

...the patio umbrellas come down...

how much would i hate myself if i did this?

I am talking, obviously, not about having a child with Tom Cruise (because, well, pretty much EW. I will give you Top Gun and Jerry Maguire and maybe one more movie that I can't remember right now, but other than that, no thank you. He's just not my favorite actor. And don't even get me started about the whole Scientology thing.) but about doing the above to my head.

It's cute, right? I always feel like I would like short hair, but then I go and do it and I just weep because it's like "where did all my hair go?" Still, every time I see a picture of Katie I go, "oooh, I love her hair" so I am trying to decide how much exactly I will hate myself if I get a short hair cut. My hair is fine and my face is very round so I don't know if I can pull this off. Still, something's got to be done about this hair for the winter, and for the upcoming HS reunion which I am still on the fence about.

Blonde moment....

I get every ticket brochure the CSO has to offer, and emails too, and yet I STILL missed the fact that Susan Graham is going to be here in January. Gotta get a ticket. January is going to be a diva-filled adventure!

Tag!

So I am bored and will take this pseudo-tagging from Simone (http://spazzgirldaily.blogspot.com). I am a sucker for this crap.

1. First and Middle Name: Kristen Lee
2. Birthday: November (in the extremely unpleasant early winter)
3. Married to: nobody. Single AND Fabulous (exclamation point)!
4. Kids: None
5. Name of High School Team: The Indians (has since been changed to "the wolves"
6. Favorite TV show: Hmmm. House, The Office, Dancing with the Stars, ANTM
7. Favorite band or singer: Band is U2. Divas: Renee & Patti.
8. Celebrity you have the hots for: Gerard Butler
9. Last movie you saw: Harry Potter & Order of the Phoenix
10. Movie that you cried your eyes out to: nothing comes to mind. I cry at most movies.
11. What did you do last night? Made cards.
12. Favorite Perfume/Cologne: All of them have been bothering my nose lately, so none.
13. Last Thing You Ate: Chips and "Vito" sub from Jimmy John's.
14. Favorite Holiday: the 4th of July
15. Something you dressed up for at Halloween: a princess.
16. Last concert you went to: Music? Patti & Audra together - other performance was Cool Vibes in Mil Park last week.
17. Siblings? Do you get along? None. I get along with myself very well.
18. Person you miss the most: Some of my team in "the old neighborhood"
19. Dream job: Something in the arts. I'm pretty close now, actually.
20. Toothpaste you use: aqua fresh
21. Dream Vacation: Italy
22. What color is your car: silver.
23. What are you listening to right now: Office noise
24. If you could look like a celebrity, who? I think maybe someone like Sienna Miller.
25. Hobbies: Scrapbooking , knitting, photography, knowing far too much about opera and musicals...

So yeah. More than you wanted to know, right? If you have nothing to do either, tag!

One more, for Luciano...

Dici che il fiume

Trova la via al mare

E come il fiume

Giungerai a me

Oltre i confini

E le terre assetate

Dici che come fiume

Come fiume...

L'amore giunger

L'amore...

E non so più pregare

E nell'amore non so più sperare

E quell'amore non so più aspettare

Translation:

It's said that a river

Finds the way to the sea

And like the river

You shall come to me

Beyond the borders

And the thirsty lands

You say that as a river

Like a river...

Love shall come

Love...

And I'm not able to pray anymore

And I cannot hope in love anymore

And I cannot wait for love anymore

- U2/Miss Sarajevo

this 'n that...

Happy Saturday. Went to the allergist this morning, since my symptoms just aren't getting any better and my (already vast) quantities of medication don't seem to be helping. She prescribed me an 8-day course of steroids. 'Roid rage, here I come. She did say if I had any side effects I could stop after the first dose. I took my first dose and my stomach is bothering me (TMI? I'll be done in a minute). I have to take 8 pills today. Oye. But here's the thing - I almost don't care what they do, as long as they help me feel better. I didn't know allergies could cause all the crap they are causing for me.Okay, anyway. Done with that now.

If anyone is in DC on October 2, go to the National Cathedral to see Ann Patchett talk about her new book. I went to see Renée Fleming there a few years ago. She was talking about her book, The Inner Voice. And so now the National Cathedral loves me and sends me many things. (At least, I think this is why they send me many things, but I am not totally sure, because the brochure came addressed to "Kristen Runge" which as you may have noticed, is not actually my name. Not even close. How they came up with that, I will never know.) For the most part, they have things I would never go to in a million years even if I did live in DC - the "Pray for Peace concert with Graham Nash and Friends" or Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the "religious beacon of hope" sharing "his prophetic vision of radical equality" or someone named Rodger Kamenetz who will, apparently, share his ideas of "the possibility of our dreams being divine revelations." Clearly, he's never heard one of my dreams. Or the one my dad had with Jimmy Smits in it, dressed up like the guy in his new show Cane, who came to our house and kept telling people "Sugar is the new oil" or whatever the hell he says. What kind of divine revelation is that??

So there are a lot of things like that from the National Cathedral, but definitely go and see Ann Patchett if you are there and have the chance. Her session is called "Creativity: Confidence of the Heart" and it says:

Is the source of fiction imagination or the disguised life and character of the writer? Or is it both, the creative process inviting the heart to show itself? In Ann Patchett's view "art is a valid way to change the world." Her concern for social justice threads provacatively through the award winning novel Bel Canto and her other works of fiction and non-fiction. "I recognize," she says, "the concerns of my own heart showing up in the writing."

I heard her speak a few years ago at the Chicago Humanities Festival, as she accepted the Heartland Award for her book Truth and Beauty. Oh, and if you haven't read that or Bel Canto, or one of my other favorite books of hers, The Magician's Assistant, go and read them.

a little Patti on your Friday morning...

Singing "I Will" on the Rosie show, many years ago.

(Sidebar - I took this music in to sing when I was taking voice, and when I was done, one of my classmates said to me "That's Andrew Lloyd Weber, right?"
Uh, no. It's the Beatles.)

Happy Friday!

I too, do an ecclectic celebration of The Dance...

Arreviderci, Luciano

The opera world has lost another legend - Luciano Pavarotti "King of the High C's" and fellow Modenese homeboy passed away today.

I never saw him perform live - but he was my very first tenor, and probably my earliest exposure to the world of opera came through listening to him. As I said above, he's from Modena, where my family comes from in Italy. My grandmother, la mia nonna is a fan, and I heard his powerful and soaring tenor voice when visiting her home.

And - I can't believe I am admitting this on the internet, where it is likely to be read by at least 5 people - I remember in the Olympics in 1988, watching Brian Boitano skate a routine to one of Pavarotti's songs. That song "Parla mi d'amore, Mariu" is one of my favorites. It's on one of Luciano's cd's - just go and get it. It's so beautiful, I always just close my eyes and pretend he's just singing it to me. My mom is also a fan of Luciano's. When I was in school, she was my "alarm clock" - and would wake me up by playing music. A lot of the time, it was recordings of Pavarotti. Opera was never "scary" to me as a child - I always thought of it as beautiful music in the language of my Italian ancestors.

My mom also has recently rented many of the 3 Tenors videos (her interest ignited by our trip to hear Mr. Domingo at Ravinia) so Luciano has been on top of my mind lately. I was sad to hear of his passing.

So I wanted to pay a small blog tribute to him.

Mille Grazie, Luciano, for the role you played in my own musical development.

Riposarsi nella pace - lei sarà mancato

work shmerk

Seeing as it is Labor Day and most of us get the whole day off to do fun things outside like bbq and wash cars (okay, so that's what I'm doing today) while trying to keep their raging allergies at bay (I love a challenge), I thought I'd talk a little about labor. Work.

This month (on the 23rd) will be my 5th at my new place of employment (if I've done the math right which is, you know, questionable). A few people congratulated me on my more frequent blogging but asked me, "So, okay, what's 'Life on 13' actually like?" Hmm. Well, it's crazy. It's exciting. I'm learning a new aspect of a business I had read about in class and kind of experienced in my consulting gig. Now I am totally on the other side. Instead of being a consultant, we are employing one (actually several). I'm the client. It's weird. I'm trying to get there on time, trying to fit in, trying to fit my lunch into the fridge and learn how to manipulate a new coffee maker. I'm learning the habits of 2 new bosses (just when I had the old bosses figured out). And of course, I'm trying to do the job without screwing up too badly. I think I am doing okay so far.

Also, I was in such a dither about leaving the old place. It had been my first job out of college, and since it was founder run, it felt like a tight-knit family. Several people told me to get over it - that business is business, and it sucked to be stuck in a job where I was doing too much and not getting paid enough for it. My family members threatened to kick my ass if I didn't seize upon this new opportunity.

So I seized. And like I said, I don't think I'm doing too badly so far. Ask me at the end of my 5th month, or actually, ask me in January, and then we'll see.
But most of the team at my old place has left, and from all that I hear (quite a lot, actually) it's not the same place anymore. Not that I was regretting the move or anything. Quite the opposite. When your boss tells you there's pretty much no room for professional advancement, it's time to go. But I feel especially justified in my choice, being able to look back now and seeing where I would be had I stayed there.

how do ya like THEM apples?

Two words, everyone: Honey Crisp!

Crispety crunchety, sweet, tart and delicious.
Go and get some. Now.

+ Update: Sorry, was this vague? Was it clear I am talking about actual apples? A few years ago, I was having my lunch when a former colleague came in and shared some of her apple. Well, it was delicious. I've tried other varieties when these go out of season, but there's nothing even close. Red delicious? Fugheddaboutit. They're only around for a few months in the fall and this weekend was the first crop available at the farmer's market. But you can buy them in stores. Which I highly recommend. Actually, I don't care where you get them. But totally get some. Because I don't share my apples.

No, seriously. Who is this?

Friday night, 6:30, just finished dinner. Settling in to watch a Seinfeld re-run. Suddenly:

Ring ring!

Me: Good evening.
Caller: (laughing) "Good evening?"
Me (not recognizing the voice and wondering why the hell this person is mocking my greeting): Um, yes?
Caller: Good afternoon is better.
Me (trying to figure out who this is. Beth? Jane?): It's 6:30.
Caller: But it's not evening.
Me Isn't it? Have given up thinking person is calling for me. Must be for mom): I'm sorry, but who is this?
Caller: Who do you think it is?
Me: No idea. Sorry.
Caller (long pause, as she is clearly trying to think of some kind of inside joke she can share to remind me who she is): I don't have anything
(laughs).
Me (Thinking. Your name would be helpful!)
Caller: No really. When are we eating?
Me: No really. Who is this?
Caller: Is this Heather?
Me: No.
Caller: So who is this?
Me: No, no. YOU called ME. Who is THIS?
Caller: No, who is this?
Me: You called the wrong number. You figure it out.

Click!!

After I hung up I thought it might have been kind of fun to say I was somebody famous - "Don't you KNOW who I AM??" (since all kinds of famous people live in the MG, right??) Give her some kind of thrill, and make an already odd wrong-number conversation that much more interesting. Unfortunately, there was only one famously named person who came into my head at the time, and I was worried it would get back to her somehow that I'd impersonated her on the phone and then I'd be in trouble.
I was kind of hoping the caller would call me back and we could go around and around some more on the theme of "Who is this?"