"If your daddy turned in his grave every time you've said he's turning in his grave, he'd have plowed the churchyard!"--Baby Doll
"Well, if you get young and thin I'll stop calling you 'old fat man'"--ibid.
Dreamed of looking for work (not seriously) at a small carnival; saying "Phooey!" about the British monarchy; the Arab dance from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet; passing by a prison.
Went shopping.
Dinner was a chicken.
Saw the DVD of the Tennessee Williams-Elia Kazan movie Baby Doll. A campy tease. (Mother hated it!)
Alan Partridge: "What was once a pipe dream is now the Channel Tunnel--and that's quite a pipe!"--Knowing Me, Knowing You
Professor Peabody: "I hate to brag--though I often do..."--Rocky & Bullwinkle
Dreamed of being in a helicopter; a newspaper page with comic strips in a foreign language.
Dinner was spaghetti primavera.
Went to a Games Meetup. I played Bohnanza, a new game called Metro (involving laying subway lines--I finished last!), and Smallworld, where my races were Alchemist Ratmen, Heroic Tritons and Wealthy Elves.
Tried to sign up for the spring night school drama course, but it got cancelled.
Alan Partridge: "She's America's biggest singing sensation, except for Barbra Streisand and Liza Minnelli"--Knowing Me, Knowing You
Dreamed of a coloured bust statue of actress Gena Rowlands.
Had my first singing lesson in a while.
Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.
Joined the Coro Verdi committee, and met with our patron Tony Fusco at the Columbus Centre. He assured us that he wasn't going to stop his support and insisted we'd misunderstood him.
"What a coincidence--I've been avoiding you everywhere"--The Princess and the Frog
Dreamed of reading a New York Times Sunday magazine with several puzzles but not getting around to doing them; a non-existent sequence from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs involving a horse race and contemporary jokes; Susan Hampshire in the actual British TV series The Pallisers.
Saw The Princess and the Frog at the Revue. Pretty good.
Dinner was McDonald's.
Performed The Seven Last Words of Christ at the St. Clair & Dufferin church.
Mary: "Our first game is called 'Well begun is half done'...
Michael: "I don't like the sound of that!"
"...also entitled 'Let's Tidy up the Nursery'!"
"I told you she was full of tricks!"
--Mary Poppins
Mrs. Banks (trying to dissuade the nanny from leaving): "Think of Mr. Banks! He's almost got used to you"--ibid.
"There's nothing like a good joke, and that was nothing like a good joke"--ibid.
"And shut the window. That bird's giving me a headache!"--ibid.
"That's just good clean soot, Michael"--ibid.
Dreamed of a sequel to Dangerous Liaisons in which the John Malkovich character was senile and went back to school; being on a small rocky island in the north Atlantic and walking to its highest peak.
Went to a Classical Music Meetup at a room in the Northern District library. (I was late because I thought it was at the Reference Library!) We did a talent show, and I tried to sing "Le Veau d'Or" from Faust, but the score was too hard for the accompanist to sight-read, so instead I sang "Il Balen di Suo Sorriso" from Il Trovatore. Afterwards I talked with the guy who wants to start a combo.
Dinner was frozen Italian food.
Saw the DVD of Mary Poppins (for at least the sixth time). It's a lot different from the books, judging by the one I read, and a lot better, though Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent is a little much. What great songs!
"Brilliantly original.... Where did you get the idea?"
"The United States."
--Knowing Me, Knowing You
Dreamed of the line in The Professional "Bonnie and Clyde didn't work alone. Thelma and Louise didn't work alone. And they were the best!"; a trade film for salesmen telling them to be extra smart.
Baked whole wheat bread, but I forgot to add the yeast! (I baked it again and remembered the yeast this time.)
The forecast was predicting colder weather, but it's still quite warm. (I opened my window for the first time this year.)
Dinner was steak.
Saw the DVD of the first episode of Playing Shakespeare, a show with not yet famous Royal Shakespeare Company actors like Ben Kingsley and Patrick Stewart discussing how to enact Shakespeare's plays. Fascinating.
We also saw the DVD of the first episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You, with Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge, the world's worst talk show host. Hilarious!
Then I saw the DVD of the concert movie Mad Dogs and Englishmen, depicting Joe Cocker's famous 1970 tour.
"Does that make any sense at all?"--Return to Lonesome Dove
Dreamed of a non-existent aunt sending me a letter advising me to jump-start my career through unethical actions; Father buying two new cars, one a large armoured car and the other small two-seater.
Six DVDs from zip.ca arrived on the same day! (Too bad the Rocky & Bullwinkle disc was cracked.)
Saw the DVD of the first part of Return to Lonesome Dove. A second-rate sequel.
Dreamed of turning on the TV early in the morning in our old house in Sackville, N.B., and seeing on a local channel part of a 1940s movie about a women fleeing the Nazis.
Went shopping.
Dinner was roast chicken.
Dress-rehearsed The Seven Last Words of Christ at the Renaissance church near St. Clair & Dufferin. My singing lessons are now going to be on Tuesdays.
Dreamed of having a place of my own and subscribing to big Sunday newspapers from across North America just for their magazines and comics sections.
As I was practising singing my scales Moira came in and said I was off-key. I didn't take it well.
Moira made dinner, which was lentil loaf.
I was going to attend a new Meetup group that was going to a drum circle, but I couldn't find the place! (But I did get to take a walk in the first warm weather of the year.)
Guest (to servant): "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."
Second guest: "Don't worry, it's nobody!"
--Gosford Park
"Will you stop that snivelling? Anyone would think you were Italian!"--ibid.
Saw the DVD of Robert Altman's Gosford Park (for the second time). Good fun, especially on second viewing.
Dinner was spaghetti.
Played hooky from choir practice to attend a new Karaoke Meetup group. We rented a box at Yonge Karaoke near Finch station (right next to Twister Karaoke, causing me some confusion). I sang five songs, including "When I Fall in Love" for the first time.
Julie Christie: "I've been married for six months, and I've never had an affair!"--Petulia
Dreamed of hiking across New England with a tour group; stopping for the night at a chain resort in a town in Maine; the Oriental Dance from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker; Tennessee Ernie Ford's song "Sixteen Tons."
Went to a Classical Music Meetup at the Tea Emporium. Mary talked about nationalism in music, with examples from all over the place.
Dinner was roast beef.
Tried to watch the DVD of Richard Lester's Petulia, but it was too avant-garde for us. (The screenwriter was trying to be another Frederic Raphael...)
Alan Rickman (cursing): "May you both... live... forever!"--Barchester Chronicle
Dreamed of describing the old comic strip Mutt and Jeff; movie star Alan Ladd.
Saw the DVD of Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces (for the second time) with Jack Nicholson's star-making role. He has a good scene talking to his paralyzed father.
Dinner was McDonald's.
Went to a Karaoke Meetup at a place just northwest of Dundas Square where we rented a room. I got to sing half a dozen songs, including "If You Could Read My Mind" for the first time. (My rendition of the Sid Vicious version of "My Way" brought down the house!)
Dreamed of being unsure whether I'd been sleeping in London and dreaming of Halifax or sleeping in Halifax and dreaming of London; hoping to find out by showing someone my London gloves and Halifax gloves and asking which pair was real!
We just sold a used book to China!
Dinner was the rest of the lasagna (and some other leftover stuff).
Finally fitted my new watch strap.
Started reading Jonathan Raban's Bad Land, about the American frontier in an accommodating part of Montana.
Went to a Games Meetup at Mary's place. I played Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan and Bohnanza. (I tried to start a different game, but it proved too complicated for us.) Mary introduced me to a carillon player who's played in the Peace Tower!
Dreamed of walking along the highway from Moncton my hometown Sackville, N.B., through a Mad Max-like world of violent chaos; writing this diary on looseleaf and running out; the scene in Kung Fu where the master tells Grasshopper "When you can snatch this pebble from my hand, then it will be time for you to leave"; wishing I had a similar sign to show I was ready to leave home.
Baked home bread.
Practised my solo singing for the first time in months. My voice is in surprisingly good shape.
It's warm so I brought out my spring jacket.
Dinner was lasagna.
Went to the Toronto City Opera soloist concert. Afterward I told Giuseppe I was ready to resume singing lessons.
Went to a Games Meetup at 401 Games for the first time in a while. I played Ticket to Ride and Bohnanza (a card game involving trading different kinds of beans).
"Ann decided not to continue her duel with Mrs. Harmon. You could not fence with an antagonist who met rapier thrust with blow of battle axe"--Anne of the Island
"My dear husband, please don't confirm your ignorance in front of guests"--Immortal Beloved
Finally downloaded the photos I took backstage at the opera. (There are over a hundred of them!)
Dinner was fettucine with turkey and pesto.
Went to a Classical Music Meetup at Bill's condo, where we saw Bernard Rose's Beethoven biopic Immortal Beloved (me for the second time). It's a guilty pleasure, a handsome production of a corny script.
Finished Anne of the Island and started the religion issue of Lapham's Quarterly.
Now I've got into the online computer games Caray Snake and Blox.
Dinner was a curry.
At choir practice we rehearsed Gounod's "O Divine Redeemer" for the Palm Sunday concert. (We had to do it downstairs because of a fundraiser in the rotunda.)
"Anne laughed and sighed. She felt very old and mature and wise--which showed how young she was"--Anne of the Island
"If the good men did not squabble for money in this world, the bad men would get it all"--Barchester Chronicle
Dreamed of scattering crumbs for the birds in the rain; the soul group The Commodores; planning to visit Philadelphia.
Went to the Highly Sensitive Persons Meetup for the first time. We went on a walk in High Park. It was a nice day, cool rather than cold. (There's already an ice cream truck active there!) Some of the paths were muddy, of course.
John and Kathrine came over for dinner, which was pizza.
"It was November, the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines"--Anne of the Island
"Your words are pushing me away, because your hands won't do it"--Der Rosenkavalier
Slept fitfully.
Saw the cinemacast of the Metropolitan Opera production of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier at the Yonge & Eglinton. To avoid my headache returning, I left after the first act, which anyway had my favorite part (the Italian tenor song).
Dreamed of being a military deserter among the destitute refugee population at the end of World War I; getting a chance to join a band but not knowing how to play the instruments they needed; a P.E.I. beach with a steep cliff reinforced with asphalt to prevent erosion.
Dinner was more turkey pie.
My headache returned around suppertime so I napped in the early evening.
Dreamed of a movie about young vandals who break into an airport and ultimately cause the collapse of Western civilization, with Virginia Madsen as a hooker; meeting actor Ken Howard.
Dreamed of explaining the plot of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana.
In the morning I went to the Bickford Centre and helped them move the opera costumes out. One box that I packed had to be repacked. (Next year they can do the packing themselves!) They don't yet have the short list for next year's operas.
Went shopping.
Dinner was a curry (and the rest of the Chinese food).
Saw the DVD of the first episode of Barchester Chronicles (for the second time).
Saw James Cameron's shrewd adventure Avatar at the Yonge & Eglinton. Enjoyable but ultimately pretty conventional, not unlike the director's other movies. He embodies Americanness in a way only a native of Canada can.
Dreamed of getting mad at Father because he bought ice cream even though our freezer wasn't working.
Saw the DVD of the early Doctor Who adventure "The Romans."
Since it's now March, I've stopped wearing long johns. (It was warm enough to do so yesterday, but I didn't notice till I got outside and it was too much trouble to change out of them.)
Today's Father's 80th birthday, so we ate Chinese food. (Moira baked a chocolate cake.) My fortune cookie had no message inside, so I ate a second one, which was also empty! The third one had the message "You tend to express yourself passionately and courageously."
At choir practice we went over Theodore Dubois' oratorio The Seven Last Words of Christ. (Now that the opera season's finished, a few of the opera people have joined.)
Dreamed of a movie that ended with Brad Pitt driving his motorcycle into a lake (faraway splash on the soundtrack, followed by fade to black).
Yesterday they gave me that chorus photo of me Barbara's husband took. Today I showed my family and they were impressed.
Performed Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci for the last time. (Our stage manager Enza was at her grandfather's funeral, so Beatrice substituted for her on the last couple of shows.)
Afterward we went to a cast party at Barbara's house on Rathnelly Avenue. There was lots of lasagna and chicken. Some of us watched the last part of the gold-medal hockey game. I also saw part of a video of today's performance, which Barbara's husband recorded.
Dreamed of going to a romantic opera; hearing the Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann; returning to the theatre (on Roncesvalles Avenue) and finding my glasses case where I'd left it.
The latest online computer game to obsess me is Yellow Out, in which you shift cars parked in a small area so the yellow one can get out.
Dreamed of being on a June vacation that stretched into over a month. (I think I've had that dream before.)
Dinner was fettucine pesto (which I cooked).
Last night I sent Jackie He a greeting, saying that I was thinking of her and hoped to see her at another Games Meetup. Today she replied that she hoped to come in a few weeks.
Went to a Movie Meetup at the Yonge & Dundas and saw Reel Injun, a documentary about movie treatment of First Nations. Two of our group were Native Canadian women.
Finished a DVD of Pluto cartoons. IMHO, he's the most underappreciated Disney character.
Dreamed of being at a beach with a steep slant; recalling that in the film noir Out of the Past Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming looked a bit too much alike, causing confusion in an important sequence.
Saw the DVD of the last part of The Age of the Medicis. Every shot looks like a classic painting.
Dinner was roast chicken.
Performed The Marriage of Figaro. I felt unwell but managed to get through it since the chorus had only a few scenes. (Thank goodness we weren't doing Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci!) For once I didn't take any photos. I'd broken into a sweat on the bus, leaving my shirt soaked, so I hung it on a chair while I was in costume, and the dressing room air must be pretty dry because it dried out in no time!
I rewatched the part of The Age of the Medicis dealing with the plans for the Rimini church, because I dozed off the first time!
