a little bit of this... a little bit of that...

Where the Wild Things Are - I have never read the book, and Mr. Man and I went to see it Friday night. He had read the book as a child and was very happy to see it, and loved it. I, on the other hand, did not really enjoy it and I wouldn't necessarily want to see it again. Reasoning? The movie was entirely from a child's perspective. A child with a huge capacity for imagination and a child who uses this imagination to deal with hardships in his life. I was not a child with a huge capacity for imagination and I dealt (and still deal) with hardships in my life very differently. I was the kid that played grown up, hardly played with dolls, read books ahead of my years, and would rather be a secretary than a princess. I was always older than my age, responsible, and "boring." Thus, I could not relate to Max at all, and I contrive most of my enjoyment in things by relating to them. I appreciate the brilliant writing and filming that made it so truly like a child's imagination, but enjoying and appreciating is definitely different...

... kinda like how I appreciate Baroque music (in a very broad sense) and I enjoy Romantic music (also broad). That relating thing plays in with my classical music tastes as well. I relate to the emotion in music and that is where I find most of my enjoyment. The Romantic period (and following) of music is overflowing with emotional writing... the Russian composers... Puccini... Massenet... sigh. I went on Saturday to the NY Met Opera live HD broadcast of Verdi's Aida. That was amazing, because any live broadcast of opera that you can watch in your sweat pants in a movie theater is amazing. It was quite a spectacle, all of the Egyptian style sets and costumes. The music was also meant to be a spectacle at times, very huge and triumphant, representing the story of Egypt vs. Ethiopia in war. It was also very intimate (in the words of Renee Fleming) in the love and jealousy scenes. The mezzo-soprano that played Amneris, the jealous Pharaoh's daughter was very disappointing. Her acting was child-like and not fitting for her role or the time period, and she didn't open her mouth when she sang! I was sad because I love to watch the mezzo roles extra closely because I am a mezzo. But all that to say that I love opera! It was so refreshing to my soul to watch this amazing work of music performed by people at the top of their careers, singing for the NY Metropolitan Opera, and the camera brought me close enough to see the sweat on their faces. As soon as the orchestra started to play it was a wave of continuous goosebumps (maybe it was cold in there too). I miss music deeply.

This weekend we also found a cake lady and a flower lady (both named Barbara, ha!) AND we assembled invitations. Oh, and found a place for tuxes. I'm starting to feel a little more put together. And you should want to come to our wedding for the cake.

THIS Saturday I will officially embark on a 2 month journey of living by myself! I am moving to our little place in Penn Valley, me and my 5 boxes of belongings (just kidding, it's a little more than that). It will be a grand adventure! I can't have my mom make lunches for me anymore (which was a wonderful thing for the past 4 months... or is it 5?) and I might have to learn how to cook now. (ha!) Despite the fact that I will now have to get up at 6am, I think I will enjoy it, but I'm very glad it's only for 2 months... then Mr. Man will join me and I won't be lonely. (wait, I'm getting married in TWO months!! WEEE!)