Friday. November 9, 2001

Patrick, striking an elegant pose à la the 1930's

"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away."

"For What It's Worth" Buffalo Springfield, 1966

I'm in a pretty good mood today. I got my report written and I'm checking it and researching some stuff. I know I have enough time off to take some next week and then the three days of Thanksgiving week. I check with my admin. I find out I have two more days than I thought left. So, why not take off all next week and the next? Yeah, that's it. With that much time off, I can get anything done. Of course, my sister will be visiting and my mom may see this as her chance for a chauffeur and computer assistant, but still. Two weeks. Yeah I have to have twenty people for Thanksgiving. But in two weeks...I should be able to learn to cook!

Not. But still, it is an amount of time home, without going in to work on weekdays that I haven't had in a long, long time. Perhaps since I 'retired' in 1972 to travel Europe and came home to look for a job for a month or two. And, well, life was very different then, wasn't it?

At lunch SuRu and I meet a Nancy at Kyoto. I have gyozo (Japanese dumplings) and the sushi special which has some rolls and some ebi and maguro (which, for the unschooled, are shrimp and tuna). We drink the green tea (good for you, right?) and discuss the state of our business (software) and our desired creative outlets.

I rush a little when I leave the office. We are going to the opening night of the opera. FFP has heated some prepared stuffed salmon, a little something in the stomach before an opera that, we've heard, is three and one half hours.

I'm pondering sartorial choices when I see himself putting on a fresh white shirt and tie.

"You aren't wearing a tux?" I say. Men are lucky. They have the tux, then the suit with white shirt, then the slacks/sport coat and tie then the slacks, coat, open collar and on down. Each saying a certain something about where they intend to be. Women, however, have suits or slacks and jackets, can't make a tie statement and if they want to dress up (especially if they are dowdy old ladies) then it's pretty much sparkles on some stretchy fabric or a dress then look uncomfortable in. These most dressy alternatives cry for the hubby to be in a tux. Maybe. I'm not big on clothes. I just try to get by, not attract too much attention, be dressed enough.

"Everyone who went to the dinner before who sits in dress circle will be in a tux. They will be out-dressing you. You know how you hate that."

I don't think it's penetrated, but the next thing I know he's picking the just right cuff links to go with the bow tie and cummerbund (very nice match I notice later, looking at him at Four Seasons). Then I remember that the opera is Faust. Mephistophélès will be there buying souls and tormenting them. All my after five sparkly stretchy stuff for old ladies is black except this one bright red one. So I wear that. And off we go.

We are there early and get a good parking place in the reserved lot in spite of giant Coca-Cola and food trucks preparing for the football game tomorrow. We grab and gin and tonic and sit down to watch the people go by. It has occurred to others to wear red and black. They look very cool in a hot way, setting the stage for a tremendously devilish performance. Mephistophélès was my favorite and I also thought Susan Nicely's Marthe was inspired.

It was long. But the music was tremendous. Actual melodies, wonderful march riffs for the soldiers, great trio and chorus things. (See what an expert opera critic I'm becoming?)

So if it's 11:30 and you have been at an opera for three and a half hours and it's Friday night, do you go home? No, you do not.

If you are us, you drive straight to the Four Seasons, leave your car with the guys out front and order wine and pizza. Then your buddies Patrick and Don come in, also post-opera, and you talk and drink and have snacks until they shut the place down. So, yeah. We strike poses and talk about the world and style and Rebecca plays the piano and sings. Does Straighten up and Fly Right for me which always reminds me of my friend Mags.

And it's tomorrow and I'm home, out of the dress clothes and in bed.

Meta:
All caught up. The only thing imperiling posting is lots of chores to prepare for the Thanksgiving feast and relatives visiting.

JUJUST TYPING
A quote good unquote
demon
is one who is evil just for the sake of torturing people who might try to find comfort.