random car

saw this on the street the other night right before sue and i went in to see the color purple.  has anyone else ever seen or heard of these things?  nifty!

birthdays 2007

kerry butler as kira in xanadu
photo by paul kolnik

wednesday, july 25th

joe throws me a surprise birthday party at the apartment.  technically a day early, but the numbers on the cake are a year ahead of the one we're celebrating.  i'm old for my age!

special thanks to my friend carol for helping joe put together the shindig, from her e-vite technical and emotional support to the cakeman raven red velvet cake recommendation!

thursday, july 26th

on my actual burfday, joe takes me to see xanadu on broadway.  i loved the movie soundtrack growing up, though my sister's olivia newton-john obsession is mostly to blame for that. 

as joe and i are waiting in line at the helen hayes, my friend sue comes bounding up to us to wish me a happy birthday.  oblivious as ever, i assume she has happened upon us by chance and sheepishly explain that this is my birthday present.  "so is this," joe says.  surprise!  (again!)  joe also has a ticket for sue!  isn't my man the sweetest ever?

to my delight, joe has purchased general admission tickets so that we are actually seated on stage with the actors.  yes, sue and i can now say we've made our broadway stage debuts.  granted, seeing what goes on behind the curtain does take away some of the magic, but i happen to love stagecraft.  plus we have the added thrill of the occasional interaction with the cast during the performance. 

if you see this show — and you should — get the general admissions seats.  highly recommended!

today, july 27th

i'm planning on taking joe to one of my favorite restaurants in brooklyn tonight — can't remember the name of it, haven't been in years, hoping it's still there and that they take reservations.  yes, my boyfriend goes through all the trouble to plan and scheme two days in a row, and here i am, the day of, crossing my fingers and hoping it all comes together. 

i did get him so pretty killer gifts, though.  more on those at a later date — don't want to give anything away just yet.

my december

(artwork © 2007 19 recordings / rca records)

i'm in love with this album.  no lie.

kelly clarkson is getting a lot of flack from the critics (and her record label, too, apparently) for releasing an entire album of break-up songs, but i seem to have a particular affinity for this kind of material.  no idea why. 

actually — in this one particular instance — i may have actually conditioned myself.  on my first listen, i found the first three songs of "my december" a bit difficult to take in one sitting — my shoulders actually tensed and i started to become slightly cranky. 

just before the fourth track came on, i said — aloud and to no one in particular — "okay, she really needs a ballad right about now." 

lo and behold, "sober" began to play.  the clouds parted, the angels sang and the endorphins in my brain went crazy.  instant love! 

so, now, like a pavlovian lab animal, i associate that song with a natural chemical rush.  i'm sure the limerance will eventually fade (as it always does), but, for now, i'm grooving to this album, listening to it on my iPod shuffle on the treadmill.  if i'm lucky, maybe my brain will extend the pleasurable association with cardio work-outs.

i loves me some k.c.!

lighting a candle

sean lighting a candle

profile

sean in profile

cafetasia lights

cafetasia ceiling lights

sean in nyc 2007

sean at cafeasia

sean finally took a break from his crazy busy schedule (workin' three jobs, shee-it!) and traveled down to NYC a couple weekends ago. 

a quick rundown:

• friday night: excelsior in park slope
• saturday day: shopping in soho and then lunch at cafetasia
• saturday evening: legally blonde: the musical
• saturday late night: therapy in hell's kitchen

crazy and fun — just like us!

the color purple

sue...with jazz hands!  (or just "hand")

for sue's birthday this year, i took her to see the color purple on broadway starring fantasia barrino — or simply "fantasia" as she is now known. 

sue and i both watched ms. barrino's ascension to fame on season three of american idol, although sue was on board the fantasia train much earlier on than i was.  by season's end, fantasia had won me over and i was elated when she emerged the victor.  however, when i heard she'd be stepping into the lead role of this show, i was extremely skeptical.  sure, she can sing, i thought, but could she act?  and how would she hold up six or even eight shows a week?

boy, was i wrong to doubt.

(photo credit: sara krulwich/the new york times)

granted, i'm a sap for this story — the movie always makes me cry.  still, i figured i'd be inoculated by the fact that i was thinking to myself, "i'm watching fantasia barrino, i'm watching fantasia barrino" while i was...well, watching fantasia barrino. 

even so, at the very end of the first act, when fantasia, as celie, shouts for joy at discovering that nettie is still alive, i burst into tears.  the curtain came down, the house lights came up, and i turned to sue — she was bawling, too.  and then we both started to laugh at how ridiculous we were.

seriously, though, we were completely caught off-guard by how incredibly sincere and genuinely moving fantasia's performance turned out to be.  she's really good!  i would definitely recommend everyone see her in this show before she leaves in october if you get the chance.  just fabulous!

warner esselen reid

mom, warner and dad

congrats to my good friend alex reid who is now the proud poppa to warner esselen reid. 

apparently, l'il warner was born back on june 23rd and alex was only this past weekend able to get around to announcing his boy's arrival to the rest of us via e-mail.  thankfully, baby and parents are all doing well and lookin' pretty happy.

bares '07 - finale

the finale

big finish!  everybody on stage!

bares '07 - daphne

daphne rubin-vega

bares '07 - pan

pan and a bunch of (lonely) goatherdesses

bares '07 - lilith and nigel

bebe neuwirth, david hyde pierce and leslie kritzer

very happy to see doctors lilith sternin and nigel crane reunited on stage at the roseland.

i never watched enough frasier when it was on.  i should dvr the re-runs.