No dreaming necessary...

It's going to be a white Christmas here in Cambridge.

This was the scene on our street this morning when I came trudging back from my church job... it's been snowing off and on since Friday afternoon and is still coming down! So gorgeous...

Baby, it's cold outside!

A quick catch-up: I had three trips to NYC for auditions in the span of ONE WEEK earlier this month. Mike came along for the final trip and we did some of our favorite NYC-at-Christmas-time things.

Caroling on the steps of St. Pat's on 5th Avenue
(l-r: Toby, me, Barry, Chuck)

Visit the tree at Rockefeller Center
Have hot chocolate after an afternoon of shopping (or caroling!)
Elbow our way through the Miracle (of consumerism) on 34th Street known as Macy's
Stop by Levain Bakery for a pick-me-up

Levain's Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie = ooey-gooey love in the palm of your hand

Happy Holidays to all! Stay warm and snuggled up next to those you love!

Vermont hygge

Without a doubt, the seasons have changed and phrases like "wintery mix" and "freezing rain" have once again become a consideration when leaving the house in the morning. We don't have a covering of snow here in the metro area, but there have been flurries and the temperature has been toying with single digits (Fahrenheit, thank you very much).

Before Mother Nature gave us a proper smack, she started rather lightly by giving the areas north and west of Boston a sweet dusting of snow. This made for the perfect backdrop when visiting family in Northern Vermont... and cutting down our own tree!

Happy Thanksgiving!

8AM: Rise and shine and sling a pumpkin pie in the oven. Have steel cut oats with blueberries from our August haul while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and rifling through the newspaper. Are there really places open for business at 4am tomorrow morning?! Yikes!

12PM: Decide that getting dressed would be a good idea.

1PM: We might as well be hosting dinner here -- we've baked pies, made supergarlic mashed potatoes, and roasted a turkey in the last 24 hours. In the spirit of Thanksgiving and sharing the meal with friends and family, everything except for the turkey will be taken to others' homes. The turkey is for our own sandwiches and next week's turkey soup!

3:30PM: Just in from a crisp walk to our favorite neighborhood bakery cafe - HiRise Bakery - I'm going to get cozy under blankets with books (plural) and Mike will snuggle up to the remote so that he can comfortably channel surf the array of football offerings.

Soon enough, we'll be off to our friends' home for dinner and thanks-giving. Tomorrow we'll journey up to Northern Vermont for a much-anticipated visit with cousins.

What a wonderful holiday. We're giving thanks for all of you!
xoxo

Apres-Faure

November has been really busy for both of us professionally...

I had a concert singing the Pie Jesu in the Faure Requiem earlier this month (the photo below is from that evening) and am looking forward to another concert with orchestra and chorus this Saturday night.
Oh, and I started a new day job. Heh.


Mike has been published (again!), is making headway both here at HMS and in past projects and is currently wowing the masses at the annual AiChe conference in Philadelphia. Something to do with genes and bacteria and the like, I'm sure!

The temperature severely dropped earlier this week and so the winter parkas have been definitively removed from the rafters and hung up for active rotation in the hall closet. Until next year, dear cotton overcoats and nylon windbreakers!

I've added a temperature icon in the sidebar so that you all (especially those in CA!) can live vicariously through us... take special note of the first snow (yay!) and our temperaments in February when we're ready to relocate to the Bahamas (grr!)!

They shall speak en francais.

Someday... when we have kids... we shall make them speak French.
I suppose this means we'll have to learn. But that's okay!
Why? Because this kid is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Ever.


Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

You know it's that time when...

Starbucks cups turn pomegranate-red

The air is Cold. (That's different than "refreshingly chilly".)

Apples and squash reign supreme in the produce section

Soup always sounds like a good idea

While shopping in Lord&Taylor during the first week of November, you hear strains of It's the most wonderful time of the year...! playing throughout the store.

Halloween's over... Bring on The Holidaze!

Vote!

Mere Hong Kong (more HK)

A few more photos to share...

The Bird Garden... lots of birdies for sale!

The flower market

View from "The Peak"

Hair-raising gondola ride down from the Buddha on Lantau

Swallows' nests in the apothecary

We hope that everyone is enjoying the transition to fall as much as we are here in Cambridge! It's that time of year when brisk winds whip up the fallen leaves to give you an occasional thwap! in the face when out for a walk... I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon enough.

12 Days in Hong Kong

Mike was invited to present at the Synthetic Biology 4.0 conference held at the Hong Kong University of Science at Technology earlier this month, so we went a bit early and traveled around the impressive metropolis for a week.


Hong Kong was a fascinating experience for the senses, and very easy for the non-Cantonese speaking Western visitor. HK was a British colony fom 1860-1997, so many things (including signs, menus and public transport announcements) are in both Cantonese and English.

A short list of favorites from the trip:
- Attending Diana Krall's first concert on her China 2008 tour
- High tea at the Peninsula Hotel
- Nighttime view of the harbor... from our hotel room!
- 25-minute dramatic gondola ride up to the Buddha on Lantau
- Riding the funicular up to the Peak
- Shopping shopping shopping
- Dim sum at Maxim's in City Hall
- Walking through markets and the Graham wholesale district
- Hiking on Lamma followed by a very fishy lunch (yum!)

The DNA Age

Here is a NY Times article describing the Personal Genome Project. My boss, George Church, is the project leader and a subject.

Wrap it up.

Skipping rocks at the park

This is the last set of Spain images, and good thing... we have pictures from a wedding, Chicago, and Hong Kong coming down the pipeline.

This little set is from the last 3 days of our trip, which we spent in Madrid hosted by my cousin Katie, her husband (and awesome cook!) Javi, and fab kids Fiona and Ivan. Mike and I had just moved to Copenhagen when Katie and Javi were married in 2004, so we were able to hop down to Madrid for the festivities. This was our first (and long overdue) visit since then.

We did a little sightseeing in Madrid, but the focus was on spending time with the Perez-Hill family. (A second visit to a city is always nice as things like the transportation systems seem familiar, and a feeling of needing-to-see-it-all is not as pressing.)

My cousin rocks... we're going on 25 years of cracking each other up...

Oh, the places we've gone.

I just added that map in the sidebar to the right.

And we thought that we travelled a lot. Ha! Clearly, we have some work to do.

Perhaps we'll start playing the lottery... or maybe Mike can engineer a Money Tree?!

More Spain.

I'm nearing the end of Spain photos selected for the blog, so enjoy!

Tapas tab on the bar at Bodega Santa Cruz, Sevilla

Flamenco in Cordoba

These last few pics are from Cordoba, taken at La Mezquita, a religious structure with a stunning interior and varied history. The structure began as a Christian Visigothic Church around 600AD, was then refashioned into a mosque for 500 years beginning in 711, and in 1236 became the Catholic diocese of Cordoba.

Beautiful Muslim architecture from the interior of La Mezquita, Cordoba

Light pours into a chapel of La Mezquita, Cordoba

Patio de los Naranjos (Patio of the Oranges), La Mezquita, Cordoba

SPAIN Part III

We're in Hong Kong at the moment, but our blog is still stuck in Spain.

Here's another installation of photos - this time from Sevilla, our favorite city of the trip.

Charming and bodega-laden, Sevilla has managed to retain its turn-of-the-century charisma despite the high number of tourists trawling the streets. This kind of old-world beauty amidst 21st century tourism reminded us of Venice, whose magic shone through in a similar way.

Updated to add: GO SOX!

Sevilla rooftops from the cathedral's belltower.

In front of the historic cigarette factory (Act I of Carmen!)

Flamenco dresses!

A teesy corner of the gardens in the Alcazar.

Basketball in the river... on kayaks...

More photos, please.

You got it.

Here we have a selection of images from Ronda. Did we luck out on that stopover or what... Ronda is famous for its historic bullring and annual festival. Read more here.
We just happened to be staying in a teensy town called Alpandiere, 15 km from Ronda's centre, during the weekend of The Big Event.

Note: while we did not attend a bullfight, we did watch Las Enganches on Sunday morning in the bullring - Andalusian horses parading in their finest. It was quite a spectacle.

The Alhambra

Most of our day trips from Frigiliana went like this: drive 5km to ocean, swim/sun/eat paella (repeat as desired), drive home and make pitcher of sangria to drink while watching the sun set.

To break up all the sun and sand, we took a trip to Granada for a half day and toured the Alhambra. People, it was awesome. Here are some of our photos...

Click on any of these photos to see the ginormous version appear on your monitor.

What day is it?

Hi there. Our apologies to our two faithful readers for not updating in so long.

Toledo's Jazz Festival rocks out next to the historic cathedral.

We took a long vacation in Spain over late August/early September and have so many images we'd like to share with you, it's overwhelming. Well, that and Mike just took so many pictures we're still in the process of weeding out the unnecessary files.

The Balcon de Europa on the Costa del Sol (Nerja, Spain)

Post-Spain, we spent a relaxing four days at home filled with frantic work catchup and copious amounts of laundry before heading out to LA for a wedding and then Chicago/Evanston for a visit with Northwestern.

Now we're back. For a solid week. Oh yes.

Historical Charlottesville

250+ year old oak tree on James Monroe's estate, Ash Lawn - Highland.


This area is laden with American history. Ash Lawn - Highland is the home of President James Monroe, President Thomas Jefferson's Monticello is a 5 minute drive from there, and President James Madison's Montpelier is 45 minutes North of the Charlottesville area.

Mike @ Monticello

In the craze of performances (and the subsequent need for rest and downtime), we didn't visit any of these sites last summer. This year I planned our free time a bit more wisely and managed to get to all three! Mike went on the Ash Lawn tour, and then he and I visited Monticello. The following weekend I visited Montpelier with my family. All three sites were interesting and especially beautiful!

And a (blurry) photo from our opera scenes concert in mid-July...

Emoting. :)

Carmen review

Carmen received a very favorable review this past week in the Charlottesville Daily Progress. If you'd like to see a photo from the show and read the review, click on the link below.
The text of the article has also been pasted into this post.

Link to review


By Eleanor Tudor Daily Progress correspondent
Published: July 29, 2008

Searing and haunting, Ash Lawn’s “Carmen” will leave you breathless.

As the stage director David B. Lefkowich warns us, it is “an emotional journey” heightened to an almost painful pinnacle by Bizet’s “visceral, exciting, throbbing, passionate” music. The intimate nature of the Ash Lawn Opera venue makes it possible to look up close and personal at the raw “fury of love” in operatic form. As it plays itself out among the everyday people of Seville, it touches each of us at our own fiery core.

Melina Pineda is devastating and divine as Carmen, the temptress who drives men mad with desire. Her great sensual beauty is her power — and she knows it — and she isn’t afraid to use it to get what she wants. Moreover, Pineda’s rich mezzo-soprano voice is as bold and gorgeous as the character she creates.

Christian Reinert, as Don Jose, who is destined to play the role of one who attracts and then repels, cries out from his very soul for constancy from love that has devoured him, only to leave him bereft and loveless. His voice, lifted in ecstasy with Carmen’s at the height of their passion, and then in despair through all of their goodbyes, is heartrending. His full-bodied tenor is a perfect match for Carmen’s rich, powerful mezzo, and together they create the fire that we crave from these timeless lovers.

Rochelle Bard, as Micaela, whose constancy and faithfulness are continually upstaged by Carmen’s beauty and sensuality, has been given some almost excruciatingly beautiful arias, which she sings with depth and intensity.

The Toreador, as sung by Benjamin Werth, at once champion in the bull ring and catalyst for the inevitable tragedy, swaggers and boasts his way into Carmen’s heart. Yet, for all of that — and a beautiful baritone voice — he never captures our hearts. Despite our best intentions, we respond more strongly to Don Jose and Carmen, each of whom in his or her own way fatalistically passionate, though destined to be parted forever.

There are many fine performances from the supporting cast. The tavern scenes are robust fun and full of delightful characters. The smugglers, El Dancairo (played by Jason Kaminski) and El Remandado (played by William Bennett) try to convince the Gypsy women Carmen (played by Pineda), Frasquita (played by Megan Beltran) and Mercedez (played by Jami Tyzik) to join them as partners in crime — to be the distractions, which they say is something that women do best.

Among the lusty young men, always with an eye out for the ladies, are Corporal Morales (played by Andrew Bawden) and Lieutenant Zuniga (played by Thomas Forde), both of whom are memorable for their voices and their acting.

The power and richness of the vocal quality of the entire cast and chorus allows the orchestra to freely interpret and amplify Bizet’s challenging and difficult score. And the children’s chorus is truly the icing on the cake.

Bizet’s opera is based on Prosper Merimee’s novella “Carmen,” in which Merimee is concerned with trying to create a new kind of realism in works of art. In an effort to break down the barriers between life and art, attention is given to the real problems that people face.

In “Carmen,” the spotlight is turned on jealousy, which is exposed as a marauder and a trickster. It promises everything — and in the end gives nothing. In its most poisonous manifestation, it becomes the “deus ex machina” of the tragedy of the central characters, engulfing them and destroying their lives.

Don Jose’s last words, as he cradles Carmen’s lifeless body in his arms, say it all: “I have killed my own love. She is dead. Oh my Carmen, how I loved you.”

Audiences will want to allow themselves to be caught up in the power of this acclaimed master of sensuality — Bizet — and his beautiful “Carmen.”

Visit to C'ville

Although a week late in the post, I was able to visit Megan last week in Charlottesville. I had a fantastic time and it was a treat getting to see Megan's premiere as Frasquita! Megan's picture was featured in the Arts Section of the local paper as promotion for Carmen. Here are the images.





















In addition to multiple performances, we also had a chance to see Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, a place I have always wanted to visit. I am headed back in two weeks for the final weekend of her contract.