First, let me plug an upcoming event. Members of Voices in the Glen will be telling stories at Spotlight on the Arts in downtown Fairfax, Virginia on Saturday May 5th from noon until 5 p.m.. I will be telling in the 1 - 2 p.m. slot and emceeing. We'll be in a tent outside Old Town Hall. It's also free and family friendly.
There were lots of possibilities for celebrity death of the week, but I'm going to choose Michael Smuin. He was chief choreographer for the San Francisco Ballet for several years and did some interesting and unusual pieces. I'm not really a big ballet fan, so I actually like it when people play with the form.
I'll also mention one-hit wonder Bobby "Boris" Pickett. Time for an unseasonal playing of "Monster Mash" in his honor.
As for things I did this week, I succumbed to a moment of annoyance with my wardrobe and actually went clothes shopping. I don't really hate everything in my closet, but it really had been a long time since I bought anything new. I found a few things (a dress with matching jacket and a cute skirt) at Macy's, but saved 20% by not picking them up until this coming Wednesday. And I got a dress at Nordstrom's that I wore Friday and got complimented on. I was, alas, unsuccessful in finding a pair of purple shoes, though.
The other major event of the week - well, other than being very busy at work - was the commute from hell on Friday. I should have known it would be bad when I had an 8 minute wait at Rosslyn for an Orange Line train. (At rush hour 4 or 5 minutes is normally the longest.) So I squeezed onto the train and waited for the doors to close. And waited and waited. There was some sort of announcement (inaudible from inside) that suggested that the doors in one car hadn't opened and people had to go to the next car to get out. That was followed by various suggestions that somebody was keeping a door from closing. We were there nearly 20 minutes, during which time several people got off. I didn't since I figured that any later trains would just get held up behind the one I was on.
Eventually, we did leave and slowly made our way west. We were about 100 yards from East Falls Church when the train stopped. There were various inaudible announcements suggesting a switch problem. At some point, several minutes after we had gotten stuck, there was something which sounded like we'd have to go back to Ballston and go on the other track. As we sat there, we learned that the people who'd gotten off were the smart ones, as at least three trains went by on the other track. (I am assuming that there was a massive delay inbound, as no trains could go in that direction during this. Eventually, the driver figured out how to actually use the intercom correctly and announced that the track was being worked on so we could continue without risk of derailment. All in all, we were sitting there for over an hour. I guess the track did get fixed and we did eventually make it all the way into the station (and on to Vienna), but my normal 40 minute commute took over two hours.
I went home and raced over to Jammin' Java to the CD release party for The Tone Rangers. It was a sell-out crowd and far more packed than any show I'd ever been to there before. It was a very entertaining evening and a good way to decompress from the stress of the commute. And, yes, I did buy the CD.
Yesterday morning I drove up to Newark, Delaware to do a Volksmarch. I had thought about going to Dover and doing a capital walk, but I'm also working on the A-Z special program and this filled in N. In addition, it was an easier drive, i.e. one with less potential for getting lost. Most of the walk was through the University of Delaware, the most interesting part of which is the wall separating what had once been the women's campus from the rest of the school. It was a pleasant walk, helped a lot by nearly perfect weather.
I made a strategic error when I finished the walk. I know that if you get back obn I-95 and go to Wilmington, you are going north. So I figured I could take a back way by continuing north on Route 896. This is the point at which a map might have been helpful, since I-95 north through Delaware really goes mostly eastwards. So I ended up in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. I did eventually get back to Delaware without actually retracing my steps, but it was a roundabout route that was fairly stressful as none of the signs indicated towns that I'd ever heard of. Next time, I should bring a map.
My object was Claymont, Delaware, which has no significance except that the Holiday Inn there is the nearest hotel to Arden. Where the Arden Singers were performing Gilbert and Sullivan's "Princess Ida," enabling me to satisfy another obsession. This is definitely one of the lesser operettas. For one thing, it's too long. It also lacks a really rousing finale. It is still G&S, though, and that's always fun. The performances were mixed with the singers doing Ida and Hilarion very good. The guy playing King Hildebrand had trouble projecting his voice over the orchestra, though.
I broke up the drive back today by doing a Volksmarch in Baltimore. This was a regular (i.e. one-time) event focused on architecture in the Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill areas. There were excellent notes keyed to the route. Coupled with historic signs (which I am a compulsive reader of) that made the walk take longer than most. All in all, a great weekend, despite not getting any household stuff done.
Copyright 2007 Miriam H. Nadel