opera fan

Two Doors

As usual it looks better on Flickr

The weeks go by so fast....

NBCCD had a coffee house on Friday night in the drawing room and I was one of the few people who went. I didn't get it: it was well advertised, with posters on just about every door and bulletin board. But maybe that was the problem: because there were so many it became a sensory overload.

Nonetheless it was good. There were only a couple of performers (I think five people signed up but only two made it), but that made it feel more intimate: just a bunch of people who got together to hang out, make music, and eat treats and drink coffee.

The workload has levelled off, though I still feel stressed sometimes.

I didn't go to the market this weekend because I was up late the night before and didn't wake up until about nine (which is the time I want to be out the door). Instead, that afternoon I gathered some energy and went shopping at the two local natural food stores and photographing.

As I've been exploring the city during the past month I've noticed various back alleys in the downtown area. They're gritty, edgy, dirty, a tad shady and I wanted to take my camera and photograph them "sometime." After a meeting with Adam, my academic adviser, on Thursday (during which he told me to "rock out" this Saturday instead of holing myself up with homework) I tried to make plans to catch up with one or more friends. When those plans fell through I decided to take my camera and photograph some of those back alleys. See the photo above, which is my favourite.

Yesterday morning I had a bit of an odyssey in the name of opera. The day before, for whatever reason I suddenly got it into my head to go see the Met's simulcast of Turandot, which will be playing at the Empire Theatre in the Regent Mall. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that that opera won't be broadcast on the radio (which I'd been hoping for). When I tried to order a ticket online with my debit card it wouldn't let me because I didn't have an online bank account. I tried a couple of times to set one up and then just gave up and went to the bank.

Once the account was set up (with help from the teller), I went back to MJC, ordered the ticket, and emailed Lynn (back in April she made me promise to go to a simulcast "next year").

This weekend is Thanksgiving and I'll be going home for the first time. Cue the squeals! My family recently adopted a new cat, Baxter (a red Maine coon) and I've only seen him on my parents' webcam when I chat with them on Skype. I can't wait to meet him!