Regina and Cousin Christopher

A week ago, my grandparents had two extra tickets for the opera. Their usual friends were indisposed, so they gave yours truly a call.

"Do you and your mom want to go to the opera?"
Me: "YES!"
Mum: "NO!"
Me: silence...
Me (to Grandmother): "Give Christopher a call and see if he'll be our fourth."

My cousin Christopher is a musician. He plays the piano, the bagpipes, the tin whistle, and he's starting on the guitar. He played his bagpipes for my auntie's wedding. I texted him last week and told him he should wear his seriously awesome kilt to the opera. (Kindof because I knew it would irk his mom and kindof because I thought it would be fantastic!)

We had dinner at The Olive Garden at bopped over to the Capitol Theatre for their pre-show synopsis/background thingy on the opera Regina.

Basically, the story was this: Manipulative sister out-manipulates her manipulative brothers to gain money, watching her un-loved husband die in the process.

The characters were captivating, the music appropriately discordant, and the lyrics completely asinine. For example, "Money can get me things and the things that go with things." Seriously, what the hell is that?

The best part of the evening though was watching Christopher. I was flipping through my program before the show and mentioned that it was going to be sung in English with English supertitles. Christopher looked at me quizzically and I said, "They project the lyrics over the stage, so you know what they're saying." He thought this was pretty cool, but not as cool as the fact that the music "wasn't canned," and that there was a symphony orchestra down in the pit. Not only that, but Keith Lockhart himself was conducting. (OK, I was probably more excited about that than Christopher was. Keith "Cutie-Pants" Lockhart has always been a favorite of mine.)

At the end of the night, Christopher was beside himself with delight at the whole thing. He was so gracious and thankful.

He also got many appreciative glances and compliments regarding his kilt. Only a couple were from me.

Random Funny Stuff

OK, these were infinitely funnier if you were actually there, so just take my word for it.

Funniest Conversational Segue Ever
"Speaking of humping..."

Latest Awesome Rock Band Name
"Fetching the Haggis"

That's all I've got.

Bono in Your Face is a Good Thing

This past Tuesday, Agent J and Agent K (that's my friend Jennie and I) went all the way down to Jordan Commons to see U2 3D. My crazy friend Debbie saw it in L.A. and I've been trying to see it for a couple of years now. She got to go across the street and see it. Jennie and I drove for over an hour.


Now, being the obsessive person that I am, this seems perfectly normal. After all, Debbie and I took a day off work and spent the whole day in line to see U2 live at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim on April 1, 2005. I missed a night of stage managing so I could go see these guys!

Anyway, U2 3D is a 3D Imax version of one of their concerts. I told my parents on Wednesday that it's like going to one of their concerts and sitting on the stage. It's loud and in your face and one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I can't remember the last time it only took $9.25 to make me so ridiculously happy for so long. Worth every penny!

I'm hoping to take my dear mummy back next month. I'm educating her musical tastes.

And, yes, I am a geek.

Sex and the Nation

Today was the beginning of the "Great Americans" unit in my American Civilization class and the professor went around the room asking us for one of our favorite Americans.

I started it off with Abraham Lincoln, cause he rocks.

The chick next to me continued with Martin Luther King Jr.

Next? Barack Obama. (Hooray!)

Then? Sarah Jessica Parker.

Wait. What?!

Imagine a seriously confused and vaguely affronted look on my face. And on the professor's. There was a pause and he said, "Who's that?"

He's just slighty older than dirt, so I completely understood his question.

I'm just as fond of Sex and the City as the next girl. Yes, I have all the episodes on DVD. Yes, I've had days with my girlfriends where we marathon and drink Cosmos. But Sarah Jessica Parker as a favorite American? Really?

I could probably come up with at least a hundred people that were/are more influential/crucial to our country, but that's me.

I doubt that the "Great Americans" unit is going to include Carrie Bradshaw.

Learn Something New Every Day

Spring semester is here! Things that I learned on the first day of class? My American Civilization professor told us all that the textbook is "extremely boring." Yeah, the one with Tom "Crazy-Ass" Cruise on the cover. Sigh.

My class on Microcomputer Applications is going to try my patience, but be super easy. The three units are on Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Sigh.

I actually get to submit two magazine articles to actual magazines for my Magazine Article Writing class. I may even sell them and make some MONEY on them. We'll see.

My British Lit professor is a fan of Sherlock Holmes. I can tell already from the number of times he mentioned Holmes in class today. We'll get on well.

Six hours is a long, freakin' time to go without a real break! I start at 7am and don't get done until 1pm. Thank God for ziploc bags full of almonds and my brain for remembering to pack one this morning!

A Holiday Summary Thingy

Whew! Holidays and parties can really wear a girl out!

I got a cold, I went to parties, I stayed home from parties and blew my nose a lot, I watched Robyn guffaw at Mamma Mia, I watched many episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I watched many episodes of The Big Bang Theory, I slept a lot.

I drank egg nog, pomegranate margaritas, and some very tasty wine. I ate fudge, divinity, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, sugar cookies, and my own weight in poatato chips.

The remaining Angeleno relatives departed this morning to return to the San Fernando valley.

I've managed not to burn myself with my new flat iron yet.

My cat's going to get a collar with a bell on it. I'm sure she'll be thrilled. Really.

I start my next semester on Tuesday and return to my African dance classes on Monday.

All is well in snowy Utah.