To Kells and back

Since today is National Corndog Day, does that mean that St. Patrick's Day was Corndog Eve? If so, we celebrated Corndog Eve to the hilt - with Guinness, corned beef sandwiches, and green to spare. We spent the evening at Kells, socializing with friends, listening to music and toasting all things Irish. In honor of the wearing of the green, I decided to take all of my pictures in the green color-select mode (i.e. black and white with green all over). It was tricky to calibrate the exact shade of green that would pick up the most color, so I experimented throughout the night and ended up with a pretty good collection of shots. As for the rest of the evening's details, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

My point of view

Chris and I went to the ballet last night to watch the dress rehearsal for their newest production, "Points of View". It was Chris' first ballet, and I thought it was a really good one for him to see because it included three separate pieces displaying a wide range of ballet styles.

The Bridge is based on Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo. I didn't really like this piece -- I felt that it was rather repetitious, the music wasn't very engaging, and it lacked the emotion and drama that I would expect from such a tragic event. Chris wasn't very enthused either -- I could see him shifting and fidgeting and trying desperately to stay focused. We enjoyed Time and Other Matter a lot more - the passion, energy and rhythmic fluidity were mesmerizing. The third piece, La Valse, was a more classical piece by George Balanchine. It was beautiful, and Chris really liked it. When the curtain fell, he said, "What? That's it? There's not more??"

There were several little girls attending the dress rehearsal and it was so cute to see them practicing their twirls in the hall during the breaks. The best part, however, was when I came back to the lobby to find Chris practicing HIS twirls too.

After the ballet, we headed over to Kells to pick up our tickets for tomorrow and to meet Duane and Jeff for a couple pints. It was really nice to have some time to catch up with Duane before he heads off to Whistler for some skiing. I'm hoping that he will move back to Seattle soon!

One more day before we get to "celebrate my people" (as Margaret put it)! It's so fun to be such a hybrid mutt -- I get to claim so many heritages. Thanks to my mom, I get Chinese New Year. Thanks to my dad, I get St. Patrick's Day and 4th of July. Thanks to my stepdad, I get Oktoberfest. I finally put it all together to come up with my ethnic group. I am Tai(wanese)(I)rish-Ger(man)(A)merican: Tairish-Germerican. Kinda sounds like a designer dog breed gone bad, actually. I'll have to get on Photoshop and come up with something.

Too good to be true

Saturday night was the 11th Anniversary show of my second-favorite Seattle band, the Dudley Manlove Quartet (my favorite is the Sh*tkickers, which is the same band wearing cowboy hats and singing cowboy songs). They played the Croc and we managed to get a crew of 27 to enjoy the show. Paul told me that I would win a free pony (as supplies last) if I could get 25 people to show up. He even announced on stage that I'd won the pony, so now I'm getting the backyard ready. I'm gonna name him "Switters".

I'm not going to try to list everyone that came to the show (especially the poor gal who was sick right outside the window so everyone could watch), but it was fun to wander around the Croc and realize that you know every fourth person you see. Except for the part where every fourth person you see asks you to get them a beer.

The show was great, with DMQ playing a bunch of new material based on their Fan Favorites poll (next year I'm going to stuff the ballot box and make them play "I Wanna Be A Cowboy"). Everyone was having fun during their first two sets, but the third set was really something. Just as Duane left (so he missed the ensuing excitement), who strolls into the Croc? None other than the members of Super Diamond! I did the only thing I could do, given the circumstances. I started taking pictures of my strategically-positioned friends so that I could capture Super Diamond in the background (see picture at right for a view of Margaret "posing" with Surreal Neil).

Just when I thought it couldn't get any more exciting, DMQ invited Super Diamond to join them on stage. DMQ and Super Diamond, on one stage?? It was almost too much to handle. Then, the previously cool and collected Krissy suddenly disappeared from our side and reappeared right up at the front of the crowd. Way to go Krissy! And Meg grabbed me out of the crowd and pulled me to the front too -- way to go Meg!

What an amazing night. DMQ always delivers a great show, and this year's anniversary show was top-notch. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if the Sh*tkickers opened for them like they did last year. Regardless, we had a great night and I'm so excited to tell Switters all about the night I won him at the Crocodile Cafe.

6 months and 254" later, continued...

Beaver Creek Chapel Lawn


Beaver Creek


Centennial Chairlift


On the Mountain

Powder, fidelity, revenge and gratitude

pow.der n.
What we skied on while we were in Colorado. I'll update more on that trip once I have some pics up. High-level summary: I like powder, ski-in/ski-out accommodations, clear sunny skies, dominos, and prime rib with horseradish sauce.

fi.del.i.ty n.
One of the themes of Mozart's comedic opera, Cosi fan tutte. Chris and I saw it at the Seattle Opera last night and it was wonderful. Staged in modern times, it was full of kitschy and local humor and the music was amazing.

re.venge n.
A theme of Seattle Opera's next production, Macbeth, in which I have been cast as a refugee! I am a supernumerary (i.e. I'm on stage but I must keep my mouth shut) and I'm so excited to be taking part in this. It will be a huge time commitment, but I think it will be such a great experience. I'm gonna be in a professional opera production!!

gra.ti.tude n.
What I feel towards Ben and Carrie for getting me involved with the Seattle Opera, via Jim and Paula. I'll remember you when I'm a (non-speaking, non-singing) opera star!

6 months and 254" later

Centennial Chair - Beaver Creek, CO


Beaver Creek Village

Go Speed Racer Go

I tried out my new ski helmet at Crystal today, and yes, I look like Speed Racer. Unfortunately, I am quite a bit slower than Speed, and on powder days like today, I tend to ski with a more Bode-esque style (although, again, quite a bit more slowly). To summarize: I look like a Japanime character who is slowly skiing on the verge of control. Regardless, I love my new helmet. It's light, it's warm, and it has flourescent pink straps that remind me of my Euro-80's skiing youth.

In addition to the Speed Racer photos, I've included two lunchtime photos of Brett & Emily and Travis exhibiting the fatigue that comes from skiing on fresh powder all morning. Apparently I looked even more exhausted when I finally stumbled into the Snorting Elk after a full day of "freshies in the pow-pow". It's the first time I've entered a jam-packed Snorting Elk and had people jumping up to offer me a seat.

We didn't have quite the blue clear skies of last weekend (see photo below for the same view from last Saturday's post -- Travis is helpfully pointing out Mt. Rainier in the background), but it was a lot warmer and the snow was amazing. After following Chris down a few ungroomed blacks, I finally got the hang of carving turns in deep powder on steep slopes. My knees and quads are not happy about it, but I am.

Of course, we ended the day at the Snorting Elk. It was too crowded to get a game of Hearts going, so we did not get another opportunity to witness "Schnitty" Pearce's strategy. Instead, I taught them the cup-passing game (does it have a name? I have no idea -- I learned it from Heather and Whitney Stewart when I was a kid). After the trek back to the car, which was easier for me since my sweet husband carried my skis for me, we headed back to the city to pick Cowboy up from his day o' fun at Pixel's. All-in-all, another great day on the slopes!