Dikete pedose, dikete tromera, somata, Maenades!

This evening there was a farewell party for a classmate who’s moving out to SF. All that delicious sourdough couldn’t happen to a nicer person. :)

Yawn. Rachel posted about the past week, so I should get my butt in gear and do my own, much chattier version. (She has mastered the art of brevity. I, as you may observe, have not.)

Ahem. Right. ( But first, a few comments on the Buzzer Beat Inter-Episode Kiss Battle, and other things )

...

Oh right, this was going to be about Adventures in New York.

Last week I took the bus in to the city for an astonishing $1.50, which was great. On the minus side, the passengers were forced to listen to (and watch) Happy Feet for the entire ride.

The excellent a4yroldfaerie met me uptown and we had awesome pizza and black cherry sodas before heading further up to her place, where everyone was absolutely lovely to me. Her cat promptly decided I was fascinating and new. I happily petted the cat and sat limply in front of the beautiful, beautiful air conditioning. And then we made quiche. Nothing burst into flames this time, but I was most happy with the experience nonetheless. (I was allowed to beat the eggs and wield the pointy cheese-cutting knife. Yeah, my joy in cooking is kind of predictable.)

We awoke in the predawn hours, hauled our stuff over to 81st Street, collected people, and proceeded to camp out for hours and hours to get free tickets for Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Bacchae. Some of you will probably remember that I was actually in The Bacchae a few years ago. The experience was memorable not only for my lingering affection for the play and tendency to suddenly intone bits of it in Greek, but also for my then-nascent addiction to chai.

Tickets obtained, we crashed for a few hours, ordered Thai, and headed back to the park. The production was really, really good. The music helped a lot-- originally it was musical, of course, and I think that went a long way toward making it accessible. I would personally have cut some of the long choral passages about the beauties of such-and-such fields, but in general having the chorus be an actual chorus worked really well. Dionysus was insolent and hilarious and a little crazy, as he should be, and had perfect Dionysus hair. Well, obviously I don’t know if the flowing curls were perfumed and dripping with oil, but they flowed very nicely.

The production notes were very clear on what an uncomfortable play The Bacchae is. And it IS uncomfortable. It has comic bits that work toward and culminate in tragedy. It has dancing and songs about idyllic fields and innuendo and cross-dressing and hideous, hideous gore. It has a king who is trying to keep his damn city-state functioning, versus a god who is in the right because he is a god, and for whom functioning city-states are completely beside the point.

I kept trying to remember what Nietzsche said about it, and could only remember that it was the only Euripides play he liked, and he didn’t just like it, he loved it.

I was delighted to discover that the translation they used was the same one I’m familiar with. I honestly got chills when the chorus started in on “From the mountains I have come.” And “It is finished” is much more elegant than “Thus have these things turned out” (my own version) for toiond’ apebe tode pragma. (Please pardon the accent fail; I’m functionally font illiterate and moreover working from memory here).

We finished up the evening, as one does, with very elegant desserts and very loud Beatles music. Delicious. ♥

I’ll leave the rest of the week for another time because I am sleepy and have packing to do. My bed, such as it is, is becoming more comfortable by the minute. *snuggles* Sweet dreams to me. (I do hope there is no body-switching tonight...)

Dikete pedose, dikete tromera, somata, Maenades!

This evening there was a farewell party for a classmate who’s moving out to SF. All that delicious sourdough couldn’t happen to a nicer person. :)

Yawn. Rachel posted about the past week, so I should get my butt in gear and do my own, much chattier version. (She has mastered the art of brevity. I, as you may observe, have not.)

Ahem. Right. ( But first, a few comments on the Buzzer Beat Inter-Episode Kiss Battle, and other things )

...

Oh right, this was going to be about Adventures in New York.

Last week I took the bus in to the city for an astonishing $1.50, which was great. On the minus side, the passengers were forced to listen to (and watch) Happy Feet for the entire ride.

The excellent a4yroldfaerie met me uptown and we had awesome pizza and black cherry sodas before heading further up to her place, where everyone was absolutely lovely to me. Her cat promptly decided I was fascinating and new. I happily petted the cat and sat limply in front of the beautiful, beautiful air conditioning. And then we made quiche. Nothing burst into flames this time, but I was most happy with the experience nonetheless. (I was allowed to beat the eggs and wield the pointy cheese-cutting knife. Yeah, my joy in cooking is kind of predictable.)

We awoke in the predawn hours, hauled our stuff over to 81st Street, collected people, and proceeded to camp out for hours and hours to get free tickets for Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Bacchae. Some of you will probably remember that I was actually in The Bacchae a few years ago. The experience was memorable not only for my lingering affection for the play and tendency to suddenly intone bits of it in Greek, but also for my then-nascent addiction to chai.

Tickets obtained, we crashed for a few hours, ordered Thai, and headed back to the park. The production was really, really good. The music helped a lot-- originally it was musical, of course, and I think that went a long way toward making it accessible. I would personally have cut some of the long choral passages about the beauties of such-and-such fields, but in general having the chorus be an actual chorus worked really well. Dionysus was insolent and hilarious and a little crazy, as he should be, and had perfect Dionysus hair. Well, obviously I don’t know if the flowing curls were perfumed and dripping with oil, but they flowed very nicely.

The production notes were very clear on what an uncomfortable play The Bacchae is. And it IS uncomfortable. It has comic bits that work toward and culminate in tragedy. It has dancing and songs about idyllic fields and innuendo and cross-dressing and hideous, hideous gore. It has a king who is trying to keep his damn city-state functioning, versus a god who is in the right because he is a god, and for whom functioning city-states are completely beside the point.

I kept trying to remember what Nietzsche said about it, and could only remember that it was the only Euripides play he liked, and he didn’t just like it, he loved it.

I was delighted to discover that the translation they used was the same one I’m familiar with. I honestly got chills when the chorus started in on “From the mountains I have come.” And “It is finished” is much more elegant than “Thus have these things turned out” (my own version) for toiond’ apebe tode pragma. (Please pardon the accent fail; I’m functionally font illiterate and moreover working from memory here).

We finished up the evening, as one does, with very elegant desserts and very loud Beatles music. Delicious. ♥

I’ll leave the rest of the week for another time because I am sleepy and have packing to do. My bed, such as it is, is becoming more comfortable by the minute. *snuggles* Sweet dreams to me. (I do hope there is no body-switching tonight...)

Packing fail

Only a few days left until cadragongirl arrives and the fun Asian drama times begin! We need to think up a name for our place, since she will probably not be as amused as I am by the prospect of living at "The Heart & Lung: Food, Drink, and Oxygenation since 2002".

Yes, I do realize that nobody is as amused by that as I am. Probably nobody is even amused by it. This is because many people are in fact sane.

I've been packing my stuff and cleaning my soon-to-be-ex-garret like a good, responsible adult. But the number of books still on my bookshelf makes me want to cry. The thought of hauling it all down four flights of stairs makes me actually cry. (Better down than up, I suppose. I am strongly tempted to line everything up and just give it a good push.)

Grr. Why do I have so much STUFF?!

Packing fail

Only a few days left until cadragongirl arrives and the fun Asian drama times begin! We need to think up a name for our place, since she will probably not be as amused as I am by the prospect of living at "The Heart & Lung: Food, Drink, and Oxygenation since 2002".

Yes, I do realize that nobody is as amused by that as I am. Probably nobody is even amused by it. This is because many people are in fact sane.

I've been packing my stuff and cleaning my soon-to-be-ex-garret like a good, responsible adult. But the number of books still on my bookshelf makes me want to cry. The thought of hauling it all down four flights of stairs makes me actually cry. (Better down than up, I suppose. I am strongly tempted to line everything up and just give it a good push.)

Grr. Why do I have so much STUFF?!