Norm: "I'm not proud of myself, but then again I never am"--Cheers!
Dreamed of meeting Eva Marie Saint (whom I'd seen in North by Northwest last week); the South Kensington area in London with all the museums.
Saw the DVD of Ang Lee's Ride With the Devil (for the second time). An eloquent and believable Civil War story.
Dinner was steak.
"Hey Norm, how's life treating you?"
"Like I ran over its dog!"
--Cheers!
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!)
"Mischa the dog lies dead in the bog.
The children cry over the carcass.
The mist chokes my heart, covers the mourners.
At least this year we eat.
--Cheers!
"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!)
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.)
Dreamed of striking matches to set grass on fire; seeing Susan Sarandon on 60 Minutes with a hairdo like a rosebush; the movie The Sting.
Dinner was McDonald's.
My headache is persistent. I think I will see the doctor about it.
"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?)
Went shopping.
Headache!
Dinner was roast chicken.
Started a new DVD of Popeye cartoons.
"Yes... and in all the right places too!"
--North by Northwest
"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 waking up at 17:00 and realizing I was going to be late for opera rehearsal.
Dinner was the rest of the lasagna.
At choir practice we rehearsed Norma and got to "Casta Diva."
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.)
Dreamed of a movie being filmed in my hometown Sackville, N.B.
Baked multigrain bread.
Dinner was sausage & mashed potatoes.
Saw the DVD of the second half of that National Film Board documentary on the War of 1812.
"I almost feel sorry for him."
"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 a reprint of a 1980s episode of Steve Canyon.
Went shopping. (I met Oksana from Coro Verdi in the supermarket.)
Dinner was ham quiche.
At opera rehearsal Barbara and David Roche took our measurements.
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.)
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!
In the morning Moira and I went to Scotiabank, where I arranged for my G.I.C. to be transferred to her ownership. (Afterward I voted in the election.)
Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.
In the evening I went to the St. Paul's NDP election night party at Boccone's. (I'm sorry my cold prevented me from doing much for their campaign.)
Dreamed of becoming an angel in heaven and doing something that unleashed turmoil; driving from B.C. to Alberta.
Dinner was more turkey pie.
We saw two episodes of Murder One tonight so the fourth disc will be ready to return when Moira leaves for Chicago.
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.)
"My heart may have led me astray."
"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.
Dinner was a recipe called straw and hay pasta.
Judge: "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
--Murder One
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.
Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.
Started a new computer game called Airport City.
"He's your father's dog. He'll shake your hand or bite it off"--ibid.
"I have a better idea, Arnold. Why don't you take a flying leap off the Hollywood sign?"--Murder One
Dreamed of an off-colour video for the non-existent song "Big and Somewhat Dimmer."
Went shopping.
Baked cheese bread.
Dinner was salmon.
Saw the DVD of Sam Peckinpah's unusually subdued Junior Bonner.
"I don't want luxury! I wants happiness"--Popeye the Sailor
"Isn't that dirty pool?"
"When she does it to us, yes. When we do it to her, no."
--Murder One
Dreamed of visiting an interactive museum south of Amherst, N.S.
I've started a new computer game called City of Wonder. (I also tried My Vineyard, but it didn't appeal to me.)
Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.
Headache.
"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.
"Was General Grant stoned when he won World War I? Was Al Gore stoned when he defeated global warming?"--Weeds
Dreamed of reflecting that bullfighting has lost its official cultural protection in Spain; not much regretting it; driving in England near Dover.
Dinner was the rest of the Indian food.
Saw the DVD of the Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur thriller I Walked With a Zombie. The creepy atmosphere was pretty impressive.
"Peasants breatfeed"--Weeds
Homer: "The internet--is that thing still around?"--The Simpsons
Dreamed of looking up information online about the Jet Li movie Once Upon a Time in China.
I was in bed till almost 14:00! (That cold still has me weak.)
Baked whole wheat bread.
John and Kathrine came over for dinner, so we ordered Indian food.
Got sick later that evening. (I must have eaten too much...)
