(My thanks to my friend with amazon prime who ordered me a
new power adapter to be delivered overnight.)
That said, it was … ironic(?) that my computer went down on
Tuesday night, as I’d just been thinking about taking a quasi-Sabbath this
Saturday – to take it easy, maybe not be all electronically connected (do my
homework!) – but apparently the cosmos had a different time frame in mind for
my power-down day. It was nice, honestly, not even having the option of
trolling online, checking anything at all. I had internet at work on Wednesday,
and internet at The Dailey Method this morning. I’m not going all Luddite here,
but I did feel freer in my time when I didn’t feel like my few moments could be
packed with checking,looking,clicking.
I also questioned what my motives were in this whole
blog-a-day thing. This arbitrary rule and deadline that I’ve given myself when
I’m considering how I’m using and misusing my time. But, really, I do enjoy it
– I think about what I might write about (though it usually ends up WAY off
from where I intended), and I also really do know that it’s a good way to keep
any interested parties updated, and finally – I get to track my own progress.
Writing a few days in a row or in a week that I still have to contact that guy
actor friend, I get tired of writing that – it’s sort of like a daily tally
sheet, only public :P
Tonight I ushered at the SF Opera. I’ve been doing it for
about two and a half years I think now, after my friend who is a ballet fanatic
told me that he ushered for the Ballet (they’re in the same building, the opera
and ballet). I’m a ballet fan – sure there are tons of unique modern dance, and
some modern ballet too, but give me some old time Balanchine and Tchaikovsky,
and I’m sold.
The ballet is expensive; ushering is free. :) However, it
has become logistically much harder now that I’m in the East Bay, and it’s
really not quite worth it to travel via BART to and from, especially at night,
just for an opera. I had never seen opera before I began ushering, and I
resisted doing the opera shifts for a while, but finally I went. I went to three in succession
when I was still in the city, and I LOVED only one of the 3. The rest, meh. The
sets – incredible; the symphony – world class; the story and the acting (which
is now expected of the singers)? – meh. I’m really glad I saw the one I loved
first – Tosca.
I loved the costumes, the EPIC sets – all the SF sets are
epic – it’s radical. But, I'm not huge on opera which is good to know, i guess. In any case, I downgraded myself from regular House Usher
(I even had the little gold pin “Usher”) to a more irregular/by request usher
when I moved. But Nutcracker season is coming up.
The Nutcracker was surely where it all began for me – My mom and
dad used to have season tickets to the New York City Ballet, and my dad would
actually fall asleep during the performances, so I suppose my mom finally gave in and let me come
instead. It is pretty magical. The SF version is way different than the NYC,
but they both have merit. There’s nothing like watching that Christmas tree
rise out of the floor to become several stories high – it’s enchanting.
In any case, I chose to go tonight to usher cuz I sort of
miss it, and opera season is closing, and I thought I’d give it another shot. I
did leave tonight before it ended – opera is three hours – but I got what I came for: to help other people on their sometimes
one and only adventure to the opera, to listen to world class musicians and
vocalists, and to people watch.
Like most places, there are categories of folks - the regulars, the 'i can find my seat on my own, thank you very much', and my personal most favorite - the couples where the guy walks in with his super dressed-up girlfriend and has that wonderful "i'm so going to get laid tonight for doing this" grin. i love that one. ;)
(See, I had a whole blog about gratitude, humility, a
leather coat, and raccoons going in my head as I brushed my teeth that you may have liked it better than this - alas, till
tomorrow). Gnight.
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