mojosmom

I was watching RAI-International, which is broadcast here for several hours on Sunday mornings. When I turned it on, they were showing a soccer match. Italian soccer players are adorable! That was followed by a segment about a production of Zelmira at Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival, starring Juan Diego Flórez, one of the hottest tenors around.

I feel as though the new year actually starts tomorrow, as I head back to work for the first time in 2010, and also start up my Italian lessons again. I spent the past week doing my regular coaching at the Appellate Defender's trial advocacy program, and enjoying it as much as always.

As always during the first week in January, we got hit with a snow storm. I'm glad I was taking public transportation instead of driving! In fact, I hadn't taken the car out in nearly a week, as I didn't need it, so Friday afternoon when I got home, I bundled up and went out and cleaned several inches of snow off it. It really wasn't so bad, as it was the light, fluffy snow, and I had no trouble at all getting out of my parking space.

It also wasn't as cold as they were claiming it would be yesterday (being so close to the lake mitigates the temperatures), so I did the grocery store/post office/drugstore run. Then I came home and was productive. I took the Christmas stuff down to my basement storage locker, and actually made significant headway on cleaning out a closet. I had a couple of boxes full of paperwork that I hadn't even looked at in years, so I tossed a bunch of it, and the boxes, which had become unnecessary.

Then I made soup for dinner. I used chicken stock as a base, and added chopped leeks, mustard greens and carrots that I had sautéed in a combination of butter and olive oil until fairly soft. I puréed about a third of the vegetables and added that back (this makes the soup thicker). At the end of the cooking time, I also added some milk. I used salt, pepper and thyme for seasoning. It was very good, and hit the spot on a cold day.

I had tentative plans for today to meet a Bookcrosser who was stranded here due to weather in Europe. Her Thursday flight to London from JFK was cancelled, so they booked her out of O'Hare Friday, but that was cancelled, too, and she wasn't going to be able to get out until Monday! When she posted that in the forums, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Having to sit in an airport hotel in a town where you don't know anyone for an entire weekend, while not as bad as being stuck at the airport itself, would really suck. So I took pity on her and volunteered my company. However, she was able to find a flight yesterday with one empty seat, grabbed it, and is now home.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is going to New York! It will be at Second Stage Theatre from April 27-June 20. It may go to Broadway if all goes well. My friend, Eddie Torres, will once again be directing. Casting hasn't been announced, but if they're smart they'll use the Chicago cast. I'll be in New York in early June for my college reunion, so I will definitely go see it again then.

I hauled a box of books over to the Hyde Park Co-operative Society for their annual book sale. Every year on Columbus Day weekend, hordes descend, among them myself, and acquire books. All for a good cause (the Co-op) and any leftovers are donated to other non-profits.

Finished paring the leather for my current bookbinding project, punched the holes for sewing, and started to set up the sewing frame. Oy. The bolts were frozen and I could not budge them. So I got out the WD-40, but still had to spritz them a couple of times and use some serious elbow grease. Got them moving, though. But decided to take a break and surf for awhile. (~smile~)

Yesterday, I had a really nice evening at Margaret's. Both Lois (who now lives in Colorado) and Sue (recently moved back from southern California to central Illinois) were in town, so there were some extra folks at dinner, and Lois brought her sister, with whom she was staying. It was pretty much the whole group, too, which is rare. It'll be great to have Sue back in the area (well, okay, Springfield is a 3-4 hour drive, but it's still closer than LA!). And she sure did move at the right time, considering what's happening to real estate prices in southern California. She says that if she'd sold even a month earlier, she'd have gotten $50,000 more, and that people kid her that hers was the last house sold there. But still, she sold "in the 8's", and got a bigger house (and a way bigger yard) in Springfield "in the 3's". She is still in a state of shock over how much lower the cost of living is there. Good move for her, too. In the time I've known her, she's worked her way up the masthead, from lowly reporter to publisher!

Friday night was dinner and theatre with the usual people. Dinner was excellent. The play, on the other hand, was not. I'd have stuck it out if I hadn't been headachey, but under the circs I left at intermission. It was King Lear, with Stacey Keach starring. Sounds like it should be good, right? No. They had to go and "update" it. When you walk into the theatre and see urinals onstage, it's not a good sign. Lear in the first scene is played like a buffoon, and what was that incestuous caress of Goneril's ass? And I really don't see how having Oswald performing oral sex on Regan, or having Edgar smoking crack, adds anything to our understanding and appreciation of the play.

The better cultural event of the week was Raisin, the musical version of Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun at Court Theatre. They suffer under some constraints due to the size of the place, and had to have the band onstage, but that was okay. One thing I didn't care for was that they had the cast seated behind the action, along with a small gospel group, when they weren't "onstage", as though they were part of the audience. I found that a bit distracting, especially when they reacted to the performance, but overall, it was a good show. Excellent acting, too.

Most of last week (Monday through Thursday), I was coaching at the Intensive Trial Advocacy program at the University of Chicago's legal clinic. I had great fun, as always, and did two lectures in addition to the small group coaching (one on impeachment and the other on objections/making the record). I kid Herschella that we all come for the food, as they give the faculty lunch every day, and there are two student-faculty dinners, all of which were delicious. It's also quite pleasant not to have to set my alarm, as the faculty meetings are in the late morning and I'm only a five minute drive from the Law School.

All in all, a good week.