Dinner at Cosmo Cafe

I've been wanting to try this restaurant for quite some time. Their $25 price fix menu was just the ticket.

I asked the bartender to make me something special with no alcohol. He presented me with this gem: fresh passion fruit, simple syrup and a little something fizzy. Refreshing!
I didn't know what to expect from this cup of soup, but what I got was FLAVOR! The menu described it as "Miso and Shiitake Mushroom Soup", but it should have been FLAVOR EXPLOSION!
My main course was the pan seared salmon. I will never be able to duplicate this fantastic cooking technique - perfect. The fish sat on artichokes, fingerling potatoes, with a olive-tomato relish. Yes, you can see that the sun came out when this dish was served (no kidding) and a sunbeam lit up it's loveliness.
The meal ended with Almond Cake (yes, there's cake under those strawberries and lemon cream). I wanted MORE!!!

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

I recently finished the 2nd Chelsea Handler book, the one that’s been optioned to be made into a sitcom for TV. It’s a light, breezy read (the kind I like) where each chapter acts as a stand alone story about specific times throughout her life.

It reminded me of being at a party with old friends and someone one would say, “Chelsea, remember when you were baby-sitting for that mean kid?” And Chelsea would spend the next 30 minutes making you laugh your ass off telling that story - sometimes sticking to the truth, but hopefully (because that’s what she’s best at) elaborating and embellishing the shit out of the story!
A couple of particularly funny passages – oddly enough having to do with pubic hair (in a leg lock)!

While spending one night in a women’s prison for a DUI, Chelsea gets a body cavity search:

“Even though I’m not an extremely unkept girl, I make it a personal rule to never allow others the displeasure of seeing my beaver in an unruly state. Turns out that I had nothing to worry about. Once we were all undressed, I realized the true meaning of ‘unruly.’ There were women in there who clearly had never heard of a razor, never mind a bikini wax. Hedge trimmers would have been a more appropriate tool for situations going on in between some of these women’s legs. One woman looked like she had Buckwheat stuck in a leg lock.”

On dating a red-head and seeing him naked for the first time:

“The part that wasn’t a jackpot was his baseball mound of red pubic hair that looked like it had literally been attached with a glue gun. I didn’t understand what porn he was watching to not be aware of the trimming that was happening all across the world among his compatriots. I’m not a finicky person when it comes to pubic hair maintenance and I certainly don’t expect men to shave it all off, leaving themselves looking like a hairless cat. That’s even creepier than seeing what Austin had, which could really only be compared to one thing: a clown in a leg lock!”

Blondie "Mother"

Debbie Harry is an institution! She and the boys have a new song, "Mother", which is impossibly catchy. Debbie sounds great. Looks great, rocking the thigh-high boots. And her boobs look spectacular.

Only downside? The video is stupid. Zombies? Really?

Die Walküre

Went to see the Met production, live and in HD -- Next-best-thing to being there.

In grand opera the drama is extraordinarily high. Characters don't just fall in love; they fall so hard that the heavens will not be able to contain their joy. They don't just get sad; they become so over-wrought with pain and despair that the world will end and death is the only answer.

Ridiculous, sublime, and never boring (ok, a little in Act 1), Die Walküre was a 5-hour marathon of a wild story, gorgeous music and singing, awe-inspiring sets and costumes, and my boyfriend, Bryn Terfel, in the lead as Wotan. Oh, and a gaggle of Valkyrie warrior sisters wearing horns!

While I don't consider myself a Ring Nut, it was a terrific way to spend a Saturday. Here's a clip from Act II (that's Bryn as Wotan and Deborah Voight as Brünnhilde, his daughter).

I Want To Sing in French

I want to sing in French
To eat rich sauces made with goose fat
Pretend I belong, but enjoy being mocked
Ask for a coffee, but get a baguette instead
Smoke cigarettes - outside
Buy a shirt I can't afford (doesn't fit either)
To be somewhere elegant,
Not for a lifetime
Just for a moment

I Dreamt I Was In Marching Band Again

I dreamt I was in marching band again, but I'm the age I am now.

We were playing the theme to "CBS Sports Spectacular" circa 1979. I had it memorized, but my chops wore out.

Steve Carell was the band director.

Hmm... musta been the crack I smoked before bed.

Audra McDonald at Carnegie Hall

In a New York Times review of the 120th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall Concert, my darling Audra gets some nice notices (luckily PBS will televise the concert!):

After intermission Audra McDonald, looking and sounding radiant, sang four works by Duke Ellington. In “Solitude,” Ms. McDonald blended luscious singing with disarmingly direct sentiment. Her wistful way with “Sophisticated Lady” was also haunting. I especially loved her dreamy performance of “On a Turquoise Cloud,” a vocalise in which the singer’s “ah” sounds are cushioned by Ellington’s plangent harmonies in the orchestra. Ms. McDonald ended with “It Don’t Mean a Thing (if It Ain’t Got That Swing),” a demonstration of how swing in the Ellington sense should be lithe and rhythmic, yet relaxed and easy.