Tristan und Isolde

I went to a movie theater yesterday for over five hours to watch the Metropolitan Opera simulcast of their production of Tristan und Isolde. I thought I'd sleep during it, given how long it was and how little sleep I got this week. I didn't sleep much though, and I really enjoyed it. The set, as you can see above, was lovely. The backstage interviews were also fantastic.

One thing I hate is how I easily forget who was involved in productions. I made picture flash cards for this one.

Minor JPL-watch item: lawyer lauded

Alan Mittelstaedt at the LA City Beat (in the context of criticizing a lawyer):

You should be a lawyer more like Dan Stormer, who for free represented JPL scientists who fought back the invasive forces of the federal government that wanted to do background checks on their credit history and sex lives in the name of national security.

Why?

buried
Originally uploaded by _buttercup

My dog loves the inside of his soccer ball.

Spinach salad v0.2

Today's version had the same red pepper, spinach, apples and gorgonzola dressing, but I added canned mandarin oranges and left out the sausages I tried last time. Good, but definitely required the side dish of hummus and pita to make a full meal. I'd like to try to a wilted (i.e. briefly cooked) spinach salad with cheese and walnuts, but the inside of my mouth is too tender for walnuts right now. It was nearly too tender for today's salad.

I experiment

It's nice when it's pretty too.

State-supported prayer breakfasts?

Why? Why does an elected figure have to have a prayer breakfast? Can't they envision a broader moral leadership? If Mr. Random Mayor (I don't know of women mayors having prayer breakfasts, although they certainly may) wants very badly to have a prayer breakfast, I say that's your privilege. But use your name, not your title, and don't use city money to publicize the damned thing. Here's my local annoyance, and here's a link to the prayer breakfast network, which asserts that their strategy is to allow breakfasters to "experience a fresh reminder of our country's Spiritual Heritage." They seem a little fringe though, so maybe they're not as much a part of prayer breakfasts as they'd like.

Fashion don't

One of the first things I saw this morning was a discordant image in the periphery. Turns out even the corner of my sleepy eye is startled by the combination of jammies I was wearing.

Cravings

spinach salad
Originally uploaded by _buttercup

For some unknown reason I was motivated to make some food today. This salad has spinach, red peppers, apples, chicken-mango sausage, and some kind of gorgonzola dressing from trader joe's. Ultimately I couldn't soak enough of the grease out of the sausage, and the salad is too greasy. Guess I'll have to stick to eating the sausage with pasta and tomato sauce. Maybe I'll use bacon for the salad if I'm planning on making it my whole meal.