Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Help, I'm Decaying!

What a Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day!

Since I no longer live in my hometown in California, a few months ago I decided it was about time to find a dentist out here in Mass. I had my first appointment a month ago; it was just a cleaning. For some reason they couldn't take x-rays that day or have the dentist see me, so I had to go back today for those things. At my cleaning last month the hygienist told me I had perfect teeth and had taken very good care of them, so I wasn't too concerned about my appointment today. I brush 2-3 times a day, and I floss and rinse with mouthwash every night.

The hygienist took the x-rays, and then the dentist came in to meet me. He said something that I swear sounded like, "Hi Sawah, how aw you?" in a very high-pitched voice. (I decided he was either gay, a big fan of Elmo, or suffering from a tragic speech impediment.)

He looked at the x-rays, and when I asked what the small tooth was in the back, I was told it was a wisdom tooth. I said, "I hope not, since I had all my wisdom teeth removed six years ago," but the dentist was quite certain about it. Apparently I have a small extra one. The dentist told me this is a common scenario with sharks, so at least I'm in good company.

Then the dentist told me that I have like a hundred million spots of decay in between my teeth.

And I found out that it will cost us our souls and our firstborn child to address the problem.

And I told him this couldn't be happening because I take such good care of my teeth.

And he shrugged and said I should try flossing twice a day instead of once a day.

Then he charged me a million dollars for a tiny piece of plastic that fits over my two front teeth and will prevent me from continuing in my well-beloved habit of insanely intense grinding in my sleep. This mouth guard doesn't extend over all the teeth, but just covers the upper incisors, with a small piece creating a gap between the upper and lower teeth. Now when I grind, all the pressure that would have been spread out over my entire jaw is pressed directly on my lower incisors, which apparently someone thought would be a good idea. The dentist claims the discomfort on my two lower teeth will teach me to stop grinding. I say if there were any rational response to discomfort involved in this I would have stopped grinding years ago, since it gives me a sore jaw and a headache to wake up to every morning.

Then the terrible appointment was finally over and I went out to my car and called my husband and promptly began bawling my eyes out. I think the conversation went something like this:

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I have a million places that are decaying between my teeth, I'm sorry, it's going to be expensive, I'm sorry, how can this be happening to me, I take good care of my teeth, why is everything always wrong with me no matter how hard I try to be healthy, why does everything always go wrong for me, but you're always healthy even thought you eat junk food and don't brush as long as I do and never floss, and I eat healthily but I'm the one with headaches and constant fatigue and I'm obese and I never feel good and now apparently I have a million spots rotting away in this hell hole of my mouth, I'm a terrible person, I'm so sorry, I'm like a dead weight chained to your ankle dragging you down in life..."

To which FavoriteBoy kindly replied, "You're not a dead weight! You're a live, kicking, writhing weight!"

(He always knows how to say the right thing!)

Later I called my Mommy and she suggested I get a second opinion, because apparently once upon a time my sister Emily was told by a dentist that she had 18 cavities! But when she went to our dentist back home he said there were actually only like two or something. FavoriteBoy agrees that a second opinion would be good. Now we just need to figure out who I should go to for this second opinion.

The rest of the day has been just terrible, because whenever I cry I reap some pretty nasty consequences: My eyelids get red and puffy and stay that way for at least 8 hours, I get a splitting headache, and my stomach gets upset for some reason. In short, I look dreadful and feel even worse.

All of this is pretty good incentive for me to avoid crying, but occasionally I forget, like when a dentist who vaguely reminds me of a homosexual Elmo tells me I'm practically dying of cavities.

What a wretched day.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Swept Up

So the Sox swept the Rockies in the World Series, and FavoriteBoy and I are left with mixed feelings of nostalgia and relief - relief that we can finally begin to go to bed at reasonable hours now. I have a feeling I'll be catching up on sleep for the next week or so; all those nights of staying up until 1:30 am have taken a bit of a toll. Not that I'm complaining, because every minute was worth it. And in fact, now that the postseason is over, I'm missing it. Holly came over for a bit this evening and we found ourselves singing "Sweet Caroline" - just to prolong the experience by one more evening, I suppose. "So good! So good! So good!"

FavoriteBoy and I have decided that we'll go to at least one game next season. He has been to a game in Fenway Park before, but I never have. It'll be exciting! Plus, if you don't get the TV channel that season games are on, it's hard to be a fan until the postseason comes along. Obviously, the solution is to go to the games.

I stumbled across an article on espn called "Shut Up, Red Sox Nation," in which the author calls Red Sox fans "the most obnoxious fans in sports" and claims that "no one can stand to be around Red Sox fans anymore." The whole article brings to my mind that oft-repeated t-shirt slogan, "You have Red Sox envy!" In any case, in my opinion the litmus test of fandom is how the celebrities themselves feel. The Sox players love the fans and say so often, which probably means the fans are being respectful of privacy and keeping things under control. And hey, at least Sox fans don't wave towels...

Michael has an interesting post over at MMMusing about the active engagement of sports fans (and particularly Red Sox Nation) vs. the passive role experienced by classical concert-goers. It's a good read.

I guess I'll wrap up this post with a few photos shamelessly stolen from boston.com. I love these guys.





Saturday, October 27, 2007

Curt Schilling's Blog

If you want to start cultivating some team spirit in preparation for Game 3 of the World Series tonight, you might enjoy reading Curt Schilling's blog. His most recent post, Up 2-0 and a mile high, concludes with this touching paragraph:

As to the question that’s often asked, and always answered the same way. Yes I have thought about the fact I’ve made my last start as a Boston Red Sox. It might be the case, it might not. Both sides know how the other feels and when the more important matters are taken care of, it will resolve itself. Neither side is worried or concerned and I’ve stated repeatedly why it’s a non-issue for me. My faith in God means that whatever the outcome here, is what is and was meant to be. It’s that easy. If it was the final game, who can complain? The last 4 years have certainly had their share of ups and downs but I can promise you Shonda, my kids, and I, would not trade a second of the experience. Being able to become a member of this 16+ million people family has been an absolute honor and pleasure. Filled with way more unforgettable memories and experiences than we could ever have imagined or deserved. If it’s over for us here then the only thing we could honestly say is thank you.

It was an emotional moment for fans around the world when Schilling left the mound in Game 2; it's especially meaningful to hear about this time in his own words.

Not My Muffin

While FavoriteBoy was at a meeting this morning I baked him some chocolate multi-grain muffins. Shortly after he returned home, the following conversation took place:

SarahMarie: Have you had a muffin?
FavoriteBoy: I have not had a muffin. *pause* I have had several muffins, and the muffin I have now is not my muffin.

That's my silly, Biblical husband. (Replace "muffin" with "husband" and you'll see the woman-at-the-well connection.)

Friday, October 26, 2007

A Farewell

Goodbye, International Music Score Library Project. :(

Brotherly Gratitude

Today I received the best thank you note ever from my dear brother Jonathan and sister-in-law Jenn. The note was written by Jonathan and read:

Dear Nathan and Sarah,
We are deeply sorry that it was such a difficult trial for you to both attend our wedding. Most weddings don't involve poop, towtrucks, and thoroughly confused airline employees... Obviously God wanted to build some character in the two of you. So you are welcome for providing an opportunity for that growth. Seriously, it was no trouble at all. Don't mention it.
Oh, the silverware is fantastic and we love it!
Love,
Jonathan and Jenn

(You can read about the aforementioned wedding trials in this post.)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Let's Go Wikipedia!

So about fifteen minutes after Ellsbury's steal tonight, I looked him up on Wikipedia to find out how tall he is and found the following already added to the entry:

On October 25, 2007, Ellsbury's steal of second base against Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies during Game 2 of the 2007 World Series earned everyone in America a free taco in accordance with a promotion run by Taco Bell.

Very prompt!

"Steal a base, steal a taco"... free tacos on Tuesday.

Dilemma of the Day

The Office vs. the Red Sox...

What to watch tonight?

While I'm on the topic of The Office, I can't help mentioning a few of my favorite quotes from this season.

From 'Fun Run':

Michael: So, I need a little treat for the gang. Something to win their affections back.
Ryan: Back? Why is that, Michael?
Michael: Well, I ran down Meredith in my car.
Ryan: Ohhhh. Did you do this on purpose?
Michael: No. I was being negligent.
...
Ryan: Did this happen on company property?
Michael: Yes. It was on company property, with company property. So, double jeopardy. We are fine.
Ryan: I don't think-- I don't think you understand how jeopardy works.
Michael: Oh, right, I'm sorry. What is, 'we're fine'?

Michael: Guess what? I have flaws. What are they? Oh I dunno, I sing in the shower? Sometimes I spend too much time volunteering. Occasionally I'll hit somebody with my car. So sue me-- no, don't sue me. That is the opposite of the point that I'm trying to make.

Michael: Kelly, you're Hindu so you believe in Buddha.
Kelly: That's Buddhists.
Michael: Are you sure?
Kelly: No.

Dwight: As a farmer, I know that when an animal is sick, sometimes the right thing to do is to put it out of its misery. With the electricity we're using to keep Meredith alive, we could power a small fan for two days. You tell me what's unethical!

From 'Launch Party':

I loved the first half of this episode. First of all, the entire scene where everyone is watching for the 'DVD Video' box to go right into the corner of the screen is hilarious. And It was great to finally have Pam and Jim playing pranks on Dwight again!

Dwight: It appears that the website has become alive. This happens to computers and robots sometimes. Am I scared of a stupid computer? Please. The computer should be scared of me. I have been salesman of the month for 13 of the last 12 months. You heard me right. I did so well last February that Corporate gave me two plaques in lieu of a pay raise.

Dwight: Here's a suggestion, computer. I assume you read binary, so why don't you 0111111011011?
DunMiff/sys: While you were typing that, I searched every database in existence and learned every fact about everything. And mastered the violin. Oh, and sold more paper.

Darryl: Hey. How 'bout stop yelling at our sweet little Miss Kapoor over 500 sheets of paper and get back to your desk, and start selling multiple reams like a man. (This is possibly my overall favorite quote of the season so far. Nathan has spent the past two weeks attempting to alter this quote to fit any situation, any time.)

From 'Money':

Jim: You know, I just realized, this is Pam's and my first night away together. I used to play it over in my head, and it was just a little bit different. Maybe a nice hotel. Or, a romantic dinner. Wine... Um, but wine that wasn't made out of beets. Didn't think Dwight would be involved at all. And, uh, I always imagined less manure. I mean, some manure, just... less.

Andy: You need to set me up with her [Angela]. I know she told you that she's looking, and she's totally not responding to my moves.
Pam: What moves?
Andy: I've moonwalked past accounting like ten times.
Pam: I can't believe that's not working.
Andy: Yeah.

Kelly: Darryl Philbin is the most complicated man that I have ever met. I mean who says exactly what they're thinking? What kind of game is that?

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

World Series Game 1

SarahMarie, Lisa, and Holly: Oh, we feel so bad for the Rockies... we feel sorry for them! Look how young their pitcher is. He looks scared and disappointed. Poor Rockies. They are being trounced. They look so sad... etc...

FavoriteBoy: Ladies, please, get control of yourselves. This is not Lifetime television. This is baseball.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Croutons

Any time I eat at Outback Steakhouse I am in awe of their Caesar salad. It's so... zesty! I think it's partly the blend of peppers they use, and partly their amazing croutons. Well, I'm happy to report that after searching online for seasonings used at Outback, last week I was able to re-create croutons remarkably similar to those at Outback. They turned out really well!

Ingredients:
1 loaf of Italian bread
1 stick of butter
4-5 teaspoons of McCormick Cajun Seasoning
3-4 tablespoons of crushed garlic

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 F. Slice bread into crouton-sized pieces. Put bread on cookie sheet(s) and toast in oven until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. While the bread is cooling, melt butter in microwave until it's just slightly melted, but not runny. Add seasoning and garlic to butter. When croutons are completely cool, mix croutons and butter mixture in large bowl. Coat each crouton using your hands, making sure the seasoning mixture sticks to each crouton. Put croutons back on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Gently shake the pan or use a spatula to stir the croutons in the middle of baking.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Birthday Cake

My husband turned 23 last week, and we celebrated his birthday with friends on Friday evening. I made all FavoriteBoy's favorite things: 6 homeade pizzas, 2 quarts of homeade vanilla ice cream (using David Lebovitz's recipe from The Perfect Scoop), and this amazing chocolate layer cake from Gourmet Magazine / Epicurious.com. This cake is moist and rich, and everyone who tries it thinks it is delicious. In fact, this cake is everything a chocolate cake should be - it actually tastes like chocolate, and not some diluted, dry, cakey substitute for chocolate.



I followed the recipe exactly, because FavoriteBoy loves his chocolate - and lots of it - but I also think this cake would be delicious with a raspberry filling (or any other fruit filling you wanted to use).



There is 1 lb. of chocolate in the ganache frosting alone. If you love chocolate, what's not to love about this cake?

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Let's Go Red Sox!

This shouldn't be news to anyone by this point, but...

THE RED SOX ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

Sometimes it's not so bad to live in Mass.

Drew's first-inning grand slam Saturday night was incredible...

Tonight Youkilis and Papelbon made the team proud...

And FavoriteBoy and I are looking forward to Wednesday!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Sleep-Talking

It may be October on the East Coast, but the weather has remained unusually warm. It was only a few days ago that we took the air conditioning units out of the windows. One night last week the AC was off in our bedroom and I was a little too warm. FavoriteBoy was sleeping, so I quietly got up and turned the AC on. It made a tiny beep as I pressed the button, but FavoriteBoy lurched in bed, mumbling, "Extrebebatremee--extra--babatra--extremely! Extremely loud noise! Why did you do that? Everyone will hate me now!"

Among my favorite things about being married is hearing FavoriteBoy talk nonsense in his sleep. Being the good wife that I am, I respond to him quietly, soothing him and asking him what he means - all to keep him going so I can collect more funny stories about the things he says.

Friday, October 19, 2007

What a Deal

I bought a denim skirt at Old Navy for $3.97. Yes, really. I think this surpasses the time I got Express jeans for $9.99.

You may now address me as Queen of All Bargain Shoppers.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Thanks, Sox

I blame the Red Sox that it is 11:45 and I am still awake. I gave the game up as lost hours ago, but still FavoriteBoy and I had to stay up and watch the dismal game unfold. Sigh.

But in 15 minutes it's officially FavoriteBoy's birthday, so being up late isn't so bad. I just made him a mug of birthday hot chocolate!

Long Overdue

I should have posted these photos a while ago. I am sometimes remiss in uploading photos from my camera in a timely fashion.

In August my father-in-law and brother-in-law came to visit. It was really fun having them here. We all went into Boston and had a great time. We toured the WWII fletcher-class destroyer USS Cassin Young,


explored three levels of 'Old Ironsides,'


had lunch at an historic pub, saw Paul Revere's house,


and climbed all 294 steps of the Bunker Hill Monument, where we had a nice view:


We discovered that Nathan might not have done too well in the early American Navy - he couldn't walk about on the lower decks of the USS Constitution because the beams were at his shoulder height! I, on the other hand, could stroll from one end of the ship to the other quite easily.


We went to the Old North Church:





And arguably best of all, I got a few classic photos of my inlaws! Rather than wait for a good blackmail opportunity, I've decided to share them with you now:

Here's Stevedad:



And here's Andrew:



I should mention that both of them willingly posed for those wonderful, touching photos.

I think I should take the time to post pictures more often.

Monday, October 15, 2007

The Arrival of Autumn

At last the summer heat is leaving us and being replaced by the crisp air and colorful leaves of Fall. Ah, Autumn. The time of year when all my young violin and piano students come to lessons with runny noses and coughs. They sniff and hack their way through pages of John Thompson and Suzuki and leave behind them trails of dirty Kleenex...

and lots...

and lots...

of germs.

Yay.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Thought of the Evening

Some people should be mortified by their blatant and disgusting demonstrations of unmerited yet undisguised favoritism.

Of course, if the person responsible for said favoritism is widely considered practically God (or some earthly equivalent, powerful yet not entirely good), who is going to stop it?

Adventurous

A conversation with my brother Jonathan today:

Jonathan: Jenn and I have gone backpacking, camping, scuba diving, and spear fishing since we got married.
SarahMarie: Wow, aren't you adventurous. Nathan and I went for a walk once.
Jonathan: I hope you didn't get hurt. Don't start doing anything too crazy, now.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Marital Mathematics

Everything I thought I knew about math has quickly dissolved since I got married. First FavoriteBoy and I were told, you know, marriage is the only time when 1 + 1 = 1, how cute, blah blah.

Then I realized that...

1 woman's laundry + 1 man's laundry somehow = 4x 1 woman's laundry...

1 woman's cooking to be done + 1 man's eating requirements to fulfill = a lot fewer easy salad meals and a lot more pot roasts and pork loins, brownies and chocolate cakes...

1 woman's dirty dishes + 1 man's dirty dishes = 5x 1 woman's dirty dishes...

1 woman's water splatters on the bathroom mirror + 1 man's sideburn trimmings, un-rinsed toothpaste spittle, and smeared shaving cream = 3x the mess a woman could possibly make...

And while I love each pair of dirty socks I find on the floor because they remind me that FavoriteBoy lives here, with me, I find myself wondering...

If marriage is a case of two individuals consolidating into one, why has the daily labor multiplied so dramatically?

Monday, October 8, 2007

Ahhh...

Yesterday after a delightful lunch with family friends who were in town, FavoriteBoy and I journeyed to Macy's to spend a gift card that was about to expire. We thought we might buy some wine glasses or towels - until we saw this massage cushion. I had a 20% off coupon, we received an additional 10% off because we had a bridal registry there within the past year, and we paid with a gift card, so it was a triple bargain!

FavoriteBoy claims he bought it for my happiness, but he also admits the real reason: he bought it so he doesn't have to feel guilty when my back aches and he's too lazy (his words, not mine) to massage it!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Responses to "Anonymous"

I've received several insistent anonymous comments regarding my 9/11 post. It's my general policy to remove argumentative anonymous comments because I don't believe that a person genuinely seeking intellectual discourse would do so in an anonymous fashion; my email address is clearly provided on this blog as a more personal means of contacting me. That said, this commenter has persevered in his/her attempts, and I've decided to publish those comments here and respond to them.

Comment #1:
While I respect your intelligence, and your profound desire to reach depth in life, and share it with others---I must say, this is the only time in my life, I've been compelled to leave a comment on someone's blog that I don't even know.

I just wish to present the notion to you of the 'other perspective' in regards to the incident that took place on 9/11. I feel that your insistence that this event should not be referred to as a 'tragedy' shows a real lack of consideration for those who lost their lives, and lost ones they love. I feel that attacking the mindset of devastation our nation holds when we reflect upon this event, seems extremely cold and also moot. It's almost offensive to play semantics like that--- I would never in my life take it upon myself to assume the power of deciding what is technically a 'tragedy' and what is not. While I fully understand the intelligent and opinionated efforts one may have in arguing that our nation is not handling its attitude and efforts toward terrorism correctly, I just don't understand how you could say that. Calling this event a 'tragedy' is not in any way placing the responsibility in the hands of fate. It's just an expression of loss, unexpected invasion, and the abrupt end to something beautiful---life, and lots of it.

Hopefully you understand where I am coming from, and you will reconsider your attitude when it comes to disregarding the human realities for the sake of a political platform. I'll confess, I have read your blog here and there, and I know what a compassionate person you are, from a distance, of course. I just wanted you to be aware of your words and how they come across, and hope that you don't make the mistake of discussing this political view in front of someone who has lost someone at ground zero.



You've made a lot of statements here, and I'll do my best to respond to them.

"I feel that your insistence that this event should not be referred to as a 'tragedy' shows a real lack of consideration for those who lost their lives, and lost ones they love."

I did not "insist" on anything in my post. You are free to use whatever terminology you choose to refer to any and all events in our country's history. It was never my intention to be inconsiderate; on the contrary it was only my intent to consider and remember the millions of lives that have been drastically changed since September 11 six years ago.

"I feel that attacking the mindset of devastation our nation holds when we reflect upon this event, seems extremely cold and also moot."

I do not see how a careful reading of my post could lead anyone to conclude that I was attacking anyone's devastation. If I took a cold-hearted approach to the losses the world has suffered since 9/11 I would not have been moved to write the post in the first place. It is because I feel our nation's losses so deeply that I believe all the things I wrote in that post.

"It's almost offensive to play semantics like that--- I would never in my life take it upon myself to assume the power of deciding what is technically a 'tragedy' and what is not."

It was not my intent to offend. Politics are always a hot topic, and I am naturally aware of the varying sentiments felt around the world surrounding the war on terror. In fact, I rarely speak of politics on my blog. I hate confrontation and arguments and I probably worry too much about offending people. That said, you just can't go through life being offended by everyone who has a different perspective. What you viewed as offensive semantics was intended only to be a few of my humble thoughts in the hopes that a few might find them worth reading. I had read a few other posts on 9/11 that day, and many were, frankly, self-absorbed. "I remember where I was when I heard; here is how I feel..." I felt compelled to write a few of my thoughts precisely because I don't believe that in my case a self-absorbed response or remembrance is appropriate. At the risk of sounding insensitive, I believe many people take a selfish approach to what is in fact a world-wide grief; an event whose repercussions are felt daily by many around the world far more brutally than they are felt by us in America. (Of course, whether our country reponds appropriately to these events and to this war on terror is another topic altogether.) In any case, I don't think anyone thoroughly examining my post would view my thoughts on 9/11 as a "power trip" as you say. That was certainly not my intent.

"Calling this event a 'tragedy' is not in any way placing the responsibility in the hands of fate."

It seems that you did not carefully observe my delineation between the modern definition of "tragedy" and the classical definition.

"Hopefully you understand where I am coming from, and you will reconsider your attitude when it comes to disregarding the human realities for the sake of a political platform."

I am not running for any office and don't have a political platform. (If I did, this blog wouldn't be the place I'd choose to discuss it!) I would never, never disregard human life for any platform, political or otherwise. Again, I believe a careful reading of my post cannot show anything other than a true sorrow for the suffering not only of our nation but of the world since 9/11.


Comment #2:
I see my comment got deleted. Don't you have anything to say for yourself at all? There was no intention to offend, just wanted to point something out to you, and I'm disappointed to see an attempt to ignore rather than to address.

A comment box isn't a realistic place for a dialogue of this nature. When I receive an anonymous comment, there is no reason for me to expect that the commenter will return and re-open the comment box to look for a response. I had no way of knowing you were truly seeking a conversation with me; if you had emailed me directly I would have responded promptly.


Comment #3:
I don't understand why you've deleted both of my comments.... I think I make a valid point, and just so you know, I am one of your husband's closer high school friends.. like I said.. I didn't mean to offend... I just wanted to see if you had anything to say to another point of view.. Let me know if you have reflected at all on what I had to say. I think it shows a great deal about you that you have enough nerve to post your every thought on here, but hide someone's response.

It is certainly not my wish to reflect poorly on Nathan to any former friends of his. That said, it's unreasonable for you to expect me to "let you know" anything since you have provided me with no name or contact information.

I am sure you are correct - my blog does "show a great deal" about me. However, if you assume that I post my "every thought" here, you must think I am a very shallow person! I post a few thoughts here, because it is my blog and my place for sharing my life, thoughts, and interests with family and friends. It is not a platform for anonymous attacks from those who do not know me or those who are unwilling to seek a discourse in a reasonable fashion. It is completely at my discretion whose comments I choose to publish and whose I choose to hide. If you would like to comment and leave your name, I can almost guarantee (short of inappropriate content or profanity) that I will allow your comment to be published. If you want to think that my decision to remove your comments reveals a great deal of negative things about my character, well, that's your prerogative.

There you go, Anonymous. You were very eager to have your comments heard, and now I have published them and devoted my morning to responding to them. I hope this clarifies any misunderstandings about my original post. Might I suggest that if you are offended by the content in my blog you simply stop reading it? I don't read the blogs of extremist left-wing liberal nutjobs very often, probably because they would raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. If you think I'm a cold-hearted, war-mongering, insensitive person and find my views so upsetting, it frankly surprises me that you continue to read my blog.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Fashionably Violinistic

I have no idea what this article says, but you should take a look anyway - Amsterdam-based fashion designers Viktor & Rolf have created a line of clothing using the violin as inspiration! The results are... interesting.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Telekinesis

This evening I was telling FavoriteBoy that I had somehow hurt my shoulder at the gym and it was causing me a bit of pain. When he responded, I heard:

"Oh, my telekinetic wife."


What he actually said was less interesting:

"Oh, my delicate little wife."

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The End of an Era

Last night FavoriteBoy and I finished the final episode of the final season of JAG. FavoriteBoy shrieked and squealed in mockery of the fabulous and long-awaited kissing scene with Harm and Mac - his cruel attempt to ruin the scene the entire evening for me.

FavoriteBoy had seen many JAG episodes as a kid, but I grew up in the sticks with no TV reception, so when we began watching the early episodes shortly after we got married it was a new discovery for me. We skipped season 1 because FavoriteBoy assured me that all the characters were better cast beginning in the second season. We started with season 2 and proceeded to watch straight through 9 seasons of this fabulous show.

When we reached season 10 about a month ago, the following conversation took place:

SarahMarie: What will we do when we've finished all the episodes of JAG?
FavoriteBoy: We could always watch a 90's sitcom like ___ (I can't remember the title he suggested) or something.
SarahMarie: Is that a comedy? I don't think I like comedies. I probably only like military drama. I like NCIS and JAG. Once we have finished watching all the episodes we will destroy our television in homage to those great shows as a demonstration of our allegiance.
FavoriteBoy: Yes, dear.

Well, we have finished JAG but have left our television intact. There are still new episodes of NCIS to look forward to each Tuesday night, and then there's The Office on Thursday nights!

But I think I'm suffering JAG withdrawal all the same.

Monday, October 1, 2007

" 'Planting Bombs Under Their Seats"

This past weekend I played two concerts with the C. A. Symphony. We performed Weber's Overture to Oberon, the Saint-Saëns cello concerto (with a BSO cellist as soloist), and Beethoven's famed 5th Symphony. The concerts weren't great, but in terms of terrible quality, the program notes far outshone the performances! They wandered aimlessly across a wide variety of topics with no focus or clear direction. The style was bad, the grammar was atrocious, and unnecessary punctuation marks were inserted here and there as careless typos. I am typing select passages below for you all to enjoy:

"Today's program, covers Romanticism in the 19th Century."

"To the early romantics, the big man--Beethoven always excepted--was Carl Maria von Weber and a good case for him can be made as the first of the true Romantics. He met most of the specifications. He was a major pianist--a touring virtuoso, his music was ahead of its time, he wrote operas on supernatural subjects, he dabbled in literature, and he had the fashionable disease--consumption, which carried him off at the age of 40."

"It is not generally realized that Saint Saens [sic] was an awesome child prodigy. He possessed the gifts of a very high IQ, absolute pitch, and he could read and write before he was three, when he composed his first piece."

"The most popular operatic composer of the period was Jules Massenet, but I notice that he is not on Saint Saens' list of great French composers. He is not on mine either."

"I suppose in opera you can get away with anything if the audiences loved it. They still do."

"Beethoven, unlike musicians before him, considered himself an artist and he stood up for his rights as an artist. He kicked open the doors, stormed in and made himself at home. And he had what Mozart lacked - a powerful personality that awed all those who came in contact with him. This high-voltage personality was coupled with an equally high-voltage order of genius. Beethoven had been a child prodigy and he suffered from the same syndrom as Mozart when he emerged as an adult - immaturity. He was the greatest pianist of his time, but where pianists before him elegantly wooed an audience, Beethoven's performance tactics were more like 'planting [sic] bombs under their seats."

"Unlike Mozart who carried everything in his head and then all he had to do was copy out the material, Beethoven struggled for four years to get this piece to the perfection in his mind."

"That motto theme [sic] permeates -- sometimes to a roar, sometimes in a whisper, sometimes as a barely audible throbbing in the depths of the orchestra."
(This is regarding the infamous theme of the first movement, which is, in fact, the only movement even discussed in the program notes. Nice.)