Time for a Change...

...it's been happening for a long time anyway. Early on, I said the reason I was doing this blog was to get myself to make more art. It worked! For awhile. Perhaps my collage-a-day project was ill-conceived, given that I could not sustain the stresses that goal put on my time, sleep, and other commitments in my life. So, why not write posts about other things that interest me, or things in my life that others might find interesting? Next to art, the biggest category of personal obsessions is books--as well as music, interior decoration, food, gardening, animals, etc. The fact that reading a book is MUCH EASIER than producing art has something to do with it.

So....to bring you up to date with the highlights, and nadir, of my past several days:

Last Friday night I was delighted to attend Handel's Rinaldo when a friend's husband was not up to 3 hours of baroque opera!

Sorceress Armida (Alexandra Loutsion, center) has Almirena and Rinaldo (Shannon Dooley, left, and Stephanie Lauricella) under her power in Pittsburgh Opera's "Rinaldo."
© David Bachman Photography, 2010

 

 

 

The singing was nothing short of astounding, especially considering that these vocalists are members of Pittsburgh Opera's Artists in Residence program, singers-in-training, all so young that only one is just embarking on a professional career. Minimalist but effective sets, in combination with evocative lighting and costumes, also  made for a visually magical night. How about a little operatic beefcake?

Sexy & Shirtless: "Barihunk" Dan Kempson, who sang Argante in Rinaldo

Saturday night I attended a baby shower for a co-worker, and a fine, ribald old time was had by all! 

Sunday afternoon I picked up my daughter from a sibling reunion at her Dad's place, looking forward to spending Monday with her before putting her on a train back to NYC on Tuesday morning.

We watched the Steelers lose the Superbowl., in spite of this year's fabulous fight song, "Drink Up, Yinz Bitches!"...well, gotta give the other guys a chance to win once in awhile.

Alas, I awoke early Monday and found myself face to face with a nasty bout of the flu. I haven't been that sick in quite awhile, and lost my day with my daughter. Fortunately her Aunt was able to get her to the train station so she got home ok.

Last night I finally stopped the frequent dashes for the bathroom, but I stayed home from work today as well. I'll be back in harness tomorrow.

I'm online tonight, actually, because I was searching for pictures of the Honorable Stephen Tennant, whose biography, Serious Pleasures, I am currently reading. There's something about early-20th c personalities that I find utterly fascinating--Stephen Tennant, Diana Cooper, Ottoline Morrel, the Sitwells, the Mitfords, Vita Sackville-West, to name a few. Perhaps its that sense of temps perdu, of ways of life that are forever vanished, that makes the magic. Also, people seemed to conduct themselves with so much more panache and/or elegance in bygone times. Or does every generation think that?

Stephen Tennant costumed as Prince Charming