Dreamed of being among a crowd heading to a commencement at my alma mater Mt. Allison University.
Went to the cinemacast of the Met production of Wagner's Siegfried at the Sheppard Grande. That opera's overlong, but I liked this production more than I expected. As it was, I got drowsy during the third act. (Moira nodded off during the first!)
"Back in San Pedro, I was just a captain. At sea, I am the captain!"--The Ghost Ship
Homer: "Is he Ray J. funny or O.J. funny?"--The Simpsons
Dreamed of a TV show about a man who marries into a family of brutal drug dealers; reflecting that it was insensitive of Perchik, the young radical in Fiddler on the Roof, to say "I am not a beggar" next to an actual beggar; seeing a New York skyscraper with a small plume of smoke.
Dinner was Chinese food.
Saw the DVD of the Val Lewton-Mark Robson production The Ghost Ship. It's a sea story with a sense of paranoia.
"I'll tell people you gave it to me, and it'll be good for your business.
"Yes, but bad for my wife."
--The Leopard Man
Cemetery caretaker: "I have many good friends, and they don't bother me with talk"--ibid.
Dreamed of being in a group of tourists who had to get out of their bus, run into a storeroom, find an object and bring it back to the bus in two minutes, before it left; being a ghost returning years after a devastating nuclear explosion, looking for the ghost of my soulmate; being stuck in a twisted tube and slowly descending to the bottom.
Went shopping.
Dinner was the rest of the stew.
Went to a talk about Back at the Runnymede Library as part of a Classical Music Meetup. I was hoping that Father would drive me to the subway but he was out, so I arrived later than I hoped and it was SRO. (I didn't meet anyone from the Meetup group.) The talk was basically Bach 101, and I left early.
Saw the DVD of the Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur thriller The Leopard Man. It's sexy as well as scary.
"Cops aren't lawyers, Mr. Wyler. We just bring 'em in, we don't cook 'em"--Murder One
Dreamed of Britain's tabloid press reporting a non-existent story on the Duke of Cambridge getting into a fight in his school days, in Canada during winter.
Started spading the garden. (Yesterday I spread peat moss on it.) Next year I think we'll focus on potatoes.
Dinner was beef stew.
At opera rehearsal, we went through all of Lucia di Lamermoor. Giuseppe's concerned that we're behind schedule. (Adolfo's a bit of a perfectionist, which can slow things down.) Next week we'll finally get started on The Merry Widow.
Dreamed of a sequel to Grease with the children of the high schoolers now in high school themselves.
Baked whole wheat bread.
Dinner was pork chops.
At choir practice we did the rest of the first act of Norma. Quite a few people were missing, but Giuseppe praised us at the end of the rehearsal (which he doesn't often do!).
"To be faithful to one woman would be cruel to all the others!"--ibid.
Saw the cinemacast of the Met production of Don Giovanni at the Sheppard Grande. I liked the long pitchforks some of Massetto's posse were carrying!
John and Kathrine came over and helped with some chores like cutting down a cedar growing next to the house which allowed a squirrel to climb into the attic. They stayed for dinner, which was Indian food.
The Omnivore's Dilemma is an interesting book indeed. It's showing me a new way to look at food.
Kathrine had to borrow my computer to send an email to arrange the placement of a dog she'd help buy off an abusive owner for $80 and a pack of cigarettes.
Dreamed of trying to find a French consulate near some bicycle paths; the line from The Fabulous Baker Boys "I thought you were a loser, but you're worse--you're a coward!"; a non-existent episode of Kung Fu; being invited to a convention for the (actual) New York State Liberal Party.
Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked).
Went to a talk on the opera Don Giovanni at the Italian Cultural Institute as part of a Classica Music Meetup. I didn't stay for the reception because I felt unwell.
Dreamed of the movie magazine Premiere (which I read in the early 1990s); reflecting on the origins of nostalgia; exploring Antarctica.
Finally finished the food issue of Lapham's Quarterly.
Went to the library and took out The Omnivore's Dilemma. (A Lapham's Quarterly excerpt got me interested in it.)
Dinner was the rest of the stew.
At opera rehearsal we started the first act of Lucia di Lamermoor. (I lent the Merry Widow disc to Beatrice to pass on to David R., and invited her to look at it too--she's directing it!)
"This is L.A., Chris. Everything is about race"--Murder One
Dreamed of visiting the old Arthur Murray dance studio that I attended almost ten years ago; not visiting a non-existent skating rink, and comparing that to the Age of Innocence ending where Daniel Day-Lewis didn't go up to see Michelle Pfeiffer; a non-existent cartoon in the actual British girl's comic magazine Bunty, encouraging girls to arrange a party where half the kids dressed up like people from the moon; Father leading the federal NDP.
Dinner was lamb stew.
At choir practice we were dissecting the Norma aria "Casta Diva." What wonders Bellini does with the chorus part!
Saw the Cheers! episode "Any Friend of Diane's." (I remember the maudlin Russian poem from when I first saw it!)
Dreamed of Mother and me driving in the U.S.A.; Mother not knowing where she was going and ending up in Louisiana; me saying she should either tell me where she was going or let me drive (in real life neither of us knows how to drive); the song "Everything Old Is New Again"; the TV cartoon Underdog.
Saw the DVD of a Zurich Opera production of The Merry Widow. My favorite part is the Vilja Lied.
Dinner was meatless chili. (I sneaked out to KFC afterward.)
"Mom, you remember Roger Garfield." "And Pearl Harbor."
--Murder One
Diane: "I can no longer hold my tongue."
Carla: "Want me to do it for you?"
--Cheers!
Coach (on Sam): "He was a great drunk!"--ibid.
Dreamed of going to a Meetup where we played a game like Risk, but I couldn't quite figure it out; the host accusing me of rudeness, and me criticizing him too; becoming a half-witted character in a Victorian murder mystery.
Baked rye bread. (I had to get rye flour at John Vince the night before.)
Dinner was shrimp fettucine.
Saw the DVD of the first episode of the second season of Murder One. This season looks a bit more conventional than the first.
Saw the DVD of the first episodes of Cheers! It's still pretty funny.
Lay awake in bed for hours. (At such times I think about everything that makes me angry.)
When I finally got to sleep, I ended up having an unusually relentless nightmare, in which I was travelling down the St. Lawrence River with family members, we were arguing a lot, and I ended up in an out-of-control episode of The Simpsons (about a family vacation) involving jokes about polls, being on a roller coaster, and being nibbled with teeth and poked with needles in the nether regions when I closed my eyes. (Such nightmares usually wake me up, but not this time. Should I see a doctor?)
"Are you the gentlemen who want to murder my son?"--ibid.
Dreamed of a comedy about a small group of cardsharp grifters always on the move; one of them sneaking into a fancy gentlemen's club and signing the guestbook with "Yog, Monster From Outer Space" (an actual Japanese movie title); a space station; Alfred Hitchcock's line "Some directors' movies are slices of life. Mine are slices of cake."
Headache.
Dinner was salmon.
Saw Hitchcock's North by Northwest yet again, at the Scotiabank with the Movie Meetup group. What a glorious slice of cake it is!
Dreamed of having a big pile of laundry to do while on vacation; scrubbing the bathroom floor in our old house in Sackville, N.B., and finding a deep layer of dirt; a deep snowstorm; a deer on the sidewalk of York Street in Sackville.
Dinner was pork roast.
I had to leave opera rehearsal early because I wasn't feeling well. (It might have been the pork roast.)
Dreamed of getting to read someone else's almost-finished Ph.D. dissertation; a long, controversial 19th-century French novel turned into an expensive, unreleased movie; writing on confetti.
The cold weather's arrived!
Went to a new Classical Music Singles Meetup organized by Mia. Seems that Mary's group gave her some trouble, so she's discontinuing the group as a Meetup. (I encouraged her to start a Facebook group.) I had a Very Berry crepe. They were disorganized and we had a long wait before breing served.
Dinner was lasagna.
I've been enjoying the City of Wonder game, but now I can't load it!
Dreamed of trying to play a tenor saxophone. (I briefly played an alto sax in my youth.)
Went out and bought a new watch at Zeller's, along with a new pair of pants.
Dinner was butter chicken.
Went to Beatrice and Adolfo's concert at Blythwood Baptist Church. [She sang and he accompanied her.] It was mostly jazz and ragtime, and pretty fun. (Giovanni gave me a lift home.)
"Don't. If you're ever in a nuclear attack, stand next to Gary Blondo. He's a survivor!"--Murder One
We picked apples at Orchard Home Farm. (They were all out of Golden Delicious, but we got Jonagold and Mutsu.)
After we got home I had an afternoon nap.
Dinner was primavera.
Went out to 2Q and rented the DVD of the Jack Lemmon-Judy Holliday divorce comedy Phffft! There was a funny mambo scene. [I also liked Kim Novak's cheerleader routine.]
Saw the DVD of the last episodes of the first season of Murder One. (I had a theory that Francesca did it.) Quite enjoyable, and Louis the gay secretary was cool!
Dinner was spaghetti.
The Toronto City Opera had an acting class with David Roche and Tita Griffin. (First Giovanni gave us a lesson in pronouncing Italian.) I decided that in Lucia di Lamermoor I'm an impoverished cousin who dresses well and keeps up appearances on big occasions; in The Merry Widow I'm a Belgian who goes to parties to meet girls.
Dreamed of visiting Halifax; being sorry I'd left Toronto; hearing a group putting on an opera in English; an article about Nazi leader Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Moira returned from Chicago. (The weather was so hot that she ended up quitting the marathon!)
John and family came over for dinner, which was Thai food. (Kathrine made us a pumpkin pie.)
Dreamed of science fiction about three brothers in a half-destroyed world where people kept on the move and often got attacked, and life in cities was completely automated.
We ate at Swiss Chalet.
Saw the DVD of Ida Lupino's film noir The Hitch-Hiker. It grabs one's attention and doesn't let go. (Remind me not to travel in Mexico...)
Last night I went to a Karaoke Meetup at the Sports Centre Bar. It gave me sensory overload, and I only stayed for two songs, including Gerry and the Pacemakers' "It's Gonna Be All Right."
Today I went to an Asperger's Meetup in High Park. We met at Cafe Novo and went for a walk. (The weather was perfect!) Bev brought her dog Lily, who was entertainingly energetic. Evghenia brought her boyfriend and they spent a lot of time cuddling, so I didn't get home till 18:00.
Dinner was salmon. (The potatoes were riced with a gadget we got from Publishers Clearing House.)
Tonight I went to another Karaoke Meetup, this time at Bar Plus. There were fewer people than usual, and I got to sing over half a dozen songs!
D.A. (outraged about being called to testify): "And I remember these things--forever!"
"Good. That's what I like best in a witness."
--Murder One
Sinister Richard Cross: "I can see you're getting... overwrought"--ibid.
Dreamed of a non-existent MGM musical ballet number from the 1950s, with a woman wrongly thinking she'd killed a man and Ray Walston in two roles; arriving in my hometown Sackville, N.B., by train (from the west); taking the subway all the way west to Kipling station; a new Flintstones animated movie.
I'm still not completely over my cold. (Singing tires me before long.)
Dinner was more turkey pie.
At opera rehearsal, I already have some of Lucia di Lamermoor memorized again. [I'd done it eight years before.] Beatrice performed a ragtime song for us which she'll be singing in a concert soon.
"An' when a man does what he thinks is right --he deserves credick even when he's wrong"--Popeye the Sailor
Dreamed of visiting abortionist Henry Morgenthaler; visiting Bill Cosby's house (with sitcom family); noticing that someone was collecting stolen property near our old home in Sackville, N.B., and threatening to call the police; a period serial played for comedy called Believe It or Not.
Donald came over for dinner, which was turkey. (We had Thanksgiving a week early, since Moira will be in Chicago for the marathon there.)
"I don't think it was your heart that was leading you, Arnold."
--Murder One
Dreamed of being on a children's soccer team going to Cuba for a tournament; going to a promontory on the seacoast; being unable to keep up on long walks; boarding a turboprop plane; seeing a huge Miami tower whose base was beneath the horizon.
Saw a DVD of a PBS documentary about building New York City's first subway line around 1900.
Dinner was turkey pie (surprise, surprise).
Went to the year's first Coro Verdi rehearsal. (Giuseppe's back from Italy.) This year we'll be doing Bellini's Norma first, and Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera later. Norma has a superb opening number!
Dreamed of golf; making a new movie of Moby-Dick; seeing a conventional film depiction of a dream.
Went to a Sensitive People Meetup at the Java and Juice place in the Beaches. (I had an egg salad sandwich there.) Afterward I strolled along the boardwalk.
Dreamed of using invisibility to go into a courthouse in my pajamas and occupy an unused room; re-entering the place without invisibility and getting caught; the John Denver song "Calypso"; translating the chapter in Tom Sawyer where he persuades the other boys to whitewash his fence.
Went out and dropped some more NDP flyers in my neighbourhood, between Greensides and Arlington avenues. I got really sweaty.
"People are so concerned about... dogs"--The Body Snatcher
"Don't get too high and you won't get too low"--Murder One
"Weirdness."
"It's Mom."
--Weeds
Dreamed of the Tijuana Brass number "A Taste of Honey"; a non-existent animated cartoon involving a bad imitation of Robert Frost's poetry.
Saw the DVD of the Val Lewton-Robert Wise thriller The Body Snatcher, with Boris Karloff at his best.
Dinner was beef stroganoff.
Went to the second Toronto City Opera rehearsal and registered there. (Giuseppe wasn't there because he's gone to Italy.) We went through the Lucia di Lamermoor wedding scene, which I found pretty familiar.
"Why do we live in a town where the smart people have no power and the stupid people rule everything? Maybe I should just move back to Alabama!"--The Simpsons
Dreamed of the 1970s horror movie The House on Skull Mountain (which I've never seen).
Dreamed of living in Fredericton with a group of graduate students; spotting actor Danny Aiello when he was young, in a 1970s TV show about beach bums.
Dinner was pizza.
I missed the first Toronto City Opera rehearsal last night (they started earlier this year), but I was sick anyway. I can't register online because all the places are (just officially) taken.
Lou Grant (watching TV): "Is there anything real on? Like a western?"
--The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Dreamed of driving toward a hellish-looking Chinese industrial area at night; a real-life version of the Acme freezer on Wile E. Coyote's back which ground ice cubes and sprayed them forth as snow for him to ski on.
Went to St. Mike's for another appointment with Dr. Scholzberg the haematologist. There was lots of waiting and I had a book, but my cold has me so worn out that I didn't feel like reading!
Dreamed of telling someone living in the 1930s that W.H. Auden would call this period "a lowdown, dishonest decade"; the movie Peggy Sue Got Married.
Father has a cold and now Moira and I have caught it! (Like in Contagion, which I saw yesterday.) I was going to attend a Games Meetup but wasn't up to it.
Dinner was KFC.
Saw the DVD of Tom and Viv. T.S. Eliot (a miscast Willem Dafoe) came across as a cold fish.
Went to another Heritage Walk, around the University of Toronto campus with an emphasis on astronomy. (At the start we were near a noisy football game in Varsity Stadium.)
Dinner was linguini primavera.
Went to a Karaoke Meetup at Twister. I got brave enough to sing Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On"!
G-man to blogger: "If I could throw your computer in jail, I would"--Contagion
"I can handle other people; it's me I'm worried about"--Murder One
Dreamed of trying to bicycle home from Cape Breton.
Baked raisin bread.
Got some literature at the NDP campaign office and distributed it in my poll division.
Dinner was butter chicken (using sauce we found in the supermarket).
Saw Steven Soderbergh's Contagion at the Yonge & Dundas. (A couple next to me talked too much.) Fairly predictable middlebrow fare, though with intelligent touches. Jude Law is cool.
Popeye (after beating up a hostile crowd): "I hated to do that, but it was easier than explainin' that I come as a fren'."
Dreamed of the actual New York Times headline "Francis Fukuyama answers his critics"; noticing that the Times would never run the headline "Noam Chomsky answers his critics."
John and Kathrine brough over dinner (vegan lasagna). Afterward I sneaked out to McDonald's.
Finally finished Daniel Boorstin's The Creators. It was quite enjoyable, despite some frustrating gaps. (For example, there's little about painting between the Renaissance and the Impressionists.)
Defiant son to father: "It's your house. You can throw me out whenever you want!"--The Tree of Life
Went on a Heritage Walk around the Casa Loma neighborhood. The number attending was quite big.
Afterward I visited the St. Paul's NDP campaign office. (William Molls, the federal candidate earlier this year, is managing David Haynes' provincial campaign.) I missed the party to open the office, but I did pick up a lawn sign.
Dinner was lobster rolls.
Saw Terence Malick's sententious, unconventional The Tree of Life at the Revue. I'm of two minds about it: it's like doing a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing!
Frasier: "You're a good brother, and a credit to the psychiatric profession."
Niles: "You're a good brother."
--Frasier
On Monday night I saw the DVD documentary An American Journey: In Robert Frank's Footsteps, about Frenchman Philippe Seclier Frank's 1958 journey as he took photos for The Americans. When I took it to the mailbox afterward, I saw a truly grandiose sunset!
Yesterday I got my hair cut.
I've started watching the second-last season of Mission: Impossible (which I watched at the time) on DVD.
Dinner was fettucine alfredo, which I cooked. (This time, to be different, I added some cream to the alfredo sauce.)
Saw the DVD of the first episodes of Frasier. I've seen them before, but it's still really funny.
Dreamed of getting a new watch. (I need a new one.)
Went to a Games Meetup at Jeffrey's house. I played Incan Gold (won by one point!) and two new auction-type games called For Sale and Medici (finished last in both).
Donald came over for dinner, which was Indian food.
Dreamed of the movie Kramer vs. Kramer (which I've seen); reflecting that whether you like that movie depends on whther you like Dustin Hoffman (true enough).
Dinner was teriyaki chicken.
Father went to Orchard Home Farms (without me this time) and brought back a nice bag of Gravensteins.
President Clinton (romancing Marge): "You may feel that you aren't good enough for me, but I'm telling you right here--you are!"--The Simpsons
Dreamed of a record album of war-related music; the Slade song "Run, Run Away."
Went to the Canadian National Exhibition with the Asperger's Meetup group. My lunch was Indian food. Afterward I got a Midway pass. (My favourite ride is the bumper cars, of course.)
Dinner was McDonald's.
I was going to meet Carita in Dufferin Grove Park for the Musical Run-Through Meetup. But I waited an hour and didn't meet her.
Saw the DVD of the Errol Flynn movie The Dawn Patrol. It's a bit stagey, but less gung ho than most air force movies.