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BohemiansA wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. |
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Tuesday, April 21, 1998
My friend Jon Newman thought, for a day or so, that he had a mystery admirer. Jon is a movie fan -- he gets a full series pass to the Seattle International Film Festival every year, as I do -- and someone sent him some movie gift certificates, anonymously. But he found out the next day that it was because he hadn't been at the meeting where these were distributed to his entire team. The "admirer" turned out to be the Administrative Assistant for the group.
That started me thinking: would I like having a secret admirer? I think it might be fun -- for a little while. Then it would drive me quite mad!
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Today at lunch, the Seattle Opera gave a preview in the auditorium that's attached to my cafeteria. This is the event that I invited X--- to last week, but he couldn't make it. Education director Perry Lorenzo was like the Music Man as he talked about the opera; he's a very energetic and entertaining speaker. He related the story of the opera, La bohème by Puccini, to the artists, slackers and urban hipsters of today, in a humorous way.
But is La bohème really part of the verismo movement in opera? It seems too Romantic and not violent enough, although the emphasis on "normal" people, not nobility or the supernatural, does seem to fit.
There were two singers: a soprano and tenor, part of the Outreach program. (I didn't write down their names, and they aren't listed on the opera web site. But they were good, especially the tenor.) They did the paired arias from the first act, then the duet, also from the first act. Then the soprano sang "Quando m'en vo" from the second act. This is such a beautiful tune, but the words are not what the music might make you think! It sounds like a tender love song, but the lyrics are about how when the singer walks down the street alone, all eyes are examining her from head to toe, and desiring her, and she loves it! Musetta sings this to inspire jealousy in an ex-boyfriend.
The object of these previews is to induce Microsoft people to buy tickets, then to subscribe, then to become donors.
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The Cacophony meeting this evening was a lot of fun! David Volk and Yasha Cunningham were both there, and we haven't seen much of them lately. Yasha was the proposed victim of the Klown Abduction last month.
Afterwards, I walked down Broadway and dropped off the originals for Issue one of my print zine version of Anita's BOD. I'm doing a reprint because I need more copies. Next thing, I need to prepare Issue Two! If you have a copy of the first issue, I'd love to hear your feedback for inclusion in the second issue. (Be sure to tell me if you don't want to be quoted.)
From there I went to the 97 cent store (they are cheaper than the dollar store!) and bought a few hair bows. I'm using these more often in combination with a barrette with hairnet attached, to put up my hair for dancing. I also stopped and bought some new-to-me CDs, so look for more wonderful music talk in the next few days.
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