18 posts from May 2007

With temps reaching into the 80's yesterday, it was time for a tapas dinner--a summertime staple for us.

I am working on a project that is more challenging than most; I like the challenge, but the time frame is making me crazy. I hit the wall this afternoon, staring blankly at my computer screen. I just... didn't... want... to... think. I got up from my desk and grabbed something from a lower bookshelf and promptly cracked my head on some built-in shelves above. It's amazing, actually, that I've not cracked my head on these before.

It was hard enough that I immediately checked for blood. No blood but a nice bump and a bit of a headache.

Time to call it a day.

I should have worked tonight, but I didn't have it in me. Tomorrow I seriously need to buckle down.

Last night was the first time we went to a student opera production of the U. of Washington.

We've always talked about doing this, but for whatever reason never actually made it happen. It was held at the tiny Meany Studio Theater with a small baroque orchestra and a simple set that looked like it could have just been part of the theater (I thought it was part of the theater, but Drake correctly guessed it was a set...we looked closely at it afterward).

The opera was very short... about an hour... originally there was an extensive prologue but the music for it is lost. Overall, it was well done, though the Aeneas seemed stiff and was not quite convincing as a Trojan hero. His costume didn't help: it looked like he was wearing a gold metallic v-neck sweater from the bargain bin at K-Mart. His skirt looked similarly modern, with some gold metallic trim. It contrasted sharply with the women's costumes, which were elaborate and beautifully done.

Before the opera started, the man in front of us enthusiastically stood up and said to some friends a few rows back "Dido is a student of mine!" It probably loses in the retelling, but he seemed happy to be teaching the Queen of Carthage.

Then, on the way back (via Capital Hill to get some dessert), we drove past an apartment building we've never seen before: the Iliad, which is hard to miss because of the enormous sign on its facade. You might say that made it a truly EPIC evening.

• Got out for a ride this morning... it was cloudy and cool but much better than last weekend's rain and wind (when I opted for an inside ride... I just wasn't up for a rain-soaked sufferfest.)
• Hippie-types are in our neighborhood for Folklife.
  
• Tonight, we are off to see Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) in a student production at the University of Washington. Prior, we are going to catch some tapas at a new Spanish restaurant in the University area.
• No plans for tomorrow really... the day is completely open.
• Monday I'll be working. I normally always take holidays, but I'm on a tight-timeframe project and it will just save me grief later in the week to put some hours in on Monday. I'll snag an extra day off some other time.
  

My Dad had this 5th chemotherapy treatment yesterday. It went fine and he continues to feel OK.

There is still a lot of up-and-down, but no medical emergencies. He's also doing better with eating.

I am so glad I got his computer set up for him; he's been feeling up to spending some time checking email, getting on the Internet, and playing some games.

In mid-June, I'll be flying up to Chicago for a quick weekend (from a conference I'm attending in Austin, TX). I'll be there for Father's Day!

I haven't posted a picture of my Dad in a while. This one was sent to me from my cousin Chris... it's at the family lake cottage in Wisconsin. My Dad eventually studied classical guitar, but before that he played folk guitar, which is what I think he is doing here.

When I was in Chicago, there were already signs of the cicadas coming to the surface.

The red-eyed, shrimp-sized, flying insects don't bite or sting. But they are known for mating calls that produce a din that can overpower ringing telephones, lawn mowers and power tools.

I last experienced cicadas in 1973. We lived in a neighborhood that butted up against the Forest Preserve. The darn things were everywhere. And they were huge.

They emerge from the ground and crawl up trees. Their skin breaks open in back and the insect crawls out. They turn black and fly to the tree tops. They make a lot of noise. They mate. They lay eggs. They die.

Image this:

An Illinois company that provides ice sculptures has turned down several outdoor parties over the next month. That's because of what happened when Nadeau Ice Sculptures owner Jim Nadeau delivered a swan statue to a wedding in 1990, during the area's last emergence of the periodical cicadas.

"We put our tray down and immediately the cicadas came off the ground and attacked the ice. Literally, it was a moving sculpture, this big black ugly mass of cicadas constantly moving," said Nadeau. "I don't want to talk myself out of work, but that was just too gross," he said.

I bet that made an impression with the guests!

...they remind me of my mom, who loved peonies.

Drake's grandmother grew peonies and so they always remind him of her.

These opened up with in an hour or so of coming into the house.

The Seattle Cheese Festival is in progress and my colleague John ducked out this afternoon to see the Cheese Nun (both the movie and Mother Noëlla Marcellino, who spoke after the screening). It sounded delightful... I was neck deep in a project so couldn't get away. But, I've got the DVD up next in our Netflix queue. Sorry to have missed her live, though.

This struck me as funny... because I have an interest in a 13th-century basilica, I might also be interested in jet aircraft.

While I was swimming laps this morning, someone took my shoes.

Like almost everyone else, I put my street shoes under a bench in the locker room while swimming. I've done this for years. Today, however, someone took my shoes. I couldn't believe they were gone... I looked everywhere, even the lost & found. But, they were gone.

I didn't go home barefoot because I had my Speedo pool slides, which I what I wear on the pool deck (street shoes not allowed). But, it was a disheartening way to start the day. Maybe someone took my shoes by mistake... maybe they will still show up in the lost & found. Somehow, though, I think not.