November 23, 2003
Well, this must be the first time I've been confined to this apartment for 4 days in a row. It really is not very big. :-) Makes me kind of glad I didn't have to do that SARS quarantine, although it sounded pretty good at the time. ;-)
I did go out once, yesterday, because my cat was out of food. But other than that, I have been lounging around here, recuperating. The cold is pretty much cleared up, just a lingering cough and sniffle, but *much* better than it was at the end of last week!
I got my new health card in the mail - and the picture is actually decent!! This is a huge relief, after 3 years of carrying a card that had a picture of me with my tongue sticking out on it. (No, I didn't stick my tongue out on purpose...I just happened to be licking my lips at the time they took the picture, and they wouldn't let me re-take it.) Anyway, this one looks pretty much like me, don't you think?

<------ old, evil picture!!! new, normal picture ------>

November 21, 2003
You know, sometimes I start to wonder why I spend so much time on my theatre site, and if anybody is actually reading it...and then I see things like this:
An 8th grade school assignment on Andrew Lloyd Webber - my site is listed as recommended reading!
A fan site for Wicked that I came across while working on my pages for that show
And then I had way too much fun with these: my website visitor stats ... do you know that there is somebody out there in Seychelles who is visiting my site? Whoever you are, if you happen to read this, send me an email and say hi!
And yes, I was bored at home sick today. But my head hurt too much to do anything meaningful. Your point being...? :-)

November 20, 2003
I am sick. *pout* I started getting a cold Monday, but still went in to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. But then last night I couldn't sleep at all because I kept sneezing and I couldn't breathe, so I was too tired to go to work, and spent the day alternately taking hot baths and trying to sleep. I still feel pretty bad, so I don't know if I'll make it to work tomorrow or not.
I'd like to, though, because Gregory Maguire is doing a free reading from his new book at the U of T bookstore tomorrow night, and I could go there after work. We'll see.
In an effort to distract myself from my cold, I finished scanning the pictures from my Europe trip - you can see them all now at the Europe trip page.
I'm so sad - I was looking at the December issue of Good Housekeeping, and there is no gingerbread house pattern in it! :-( I always make the one from their magazine, it's usually challenging but within reason. Now I'll have to try to find another one to try, I'm still not confident enough to make my own pattern.
However, I got an email from David Shannon yesterday that made me happy!
Does anyone else think it's odd that they're putting Bellaria on the Vienna Elisabeth highlights CD instead of Die Schatten werden länger? I guess it's to include Franz Joseph and Sophie, who wouldn't be heard otherwise, but still, seems like a weird choice to me!
And speaking of CDs, looks like they are going to release a London version of Romeo & Juliet after all - maybe it will come across better on CD.
Only 35 days until Christmas!

November 17, 2003
So I'm back from my city! It was a great time! I actually could have seen 4 shows, but opted just for 3 anyway, basically in order to ensure that I was able to speak to Douglas at the stage door of Little Shop. Pretty sad, eh? :-)
I lucked out on the lottery drawing again - there had to be around 75 people there for the Wicked lottery, and mine was the 5th name called! So I was sitting front row, centre - pretty sweet! And I had a *fantastic* time. The show is great!! I was ever-so-slightly disappointed in the music, but only because I love Stephen Schwartz and was expecting a lot. Still, there are definitely some catchy tunes - I was humming "No one mourns the wicked", "Loathing", "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" for the rest of the weekend. The cast is unbelievably wonderful - Kristin Chenoweth is perfect, and Idina Menzel rocks. But the star of this show is the story - really creative, and with an ending that completely caught me by surprise. It's not very often that I gasp out loud in the theatre. :-)
The next day was The Boy from Oz, which won out over Taboo for my matinee slot simply because it was the one up at TKTS. Hugh Jackman is fabulous. That's my main reaction to the show. :-) He is onstage for about 95% of the show, and is great for all of it. I didn't know *anything* about Peter Allen before I went, and only knew about 2 or 3 of the songs, so I can't say how well it presented his life or anything, but it was entertaining, if not entirely fulfilling. At the end, during the BC/EFA speech, they auctioned off a shirt Hugh Jackman wore during the show, and they actually ended up selling *three* of them...for $4500 each!!! Where do people get this kind of money??
And Sunday was Little Shop, which I enjoyed, but couldn't help comparing to the production we did at Carleton...and didn't find an awful lot in the Broadway production that made it really superior. The cast is great, of course, but I preferred some of the reading of lines the way I'd heard them before. And the sets are nice, but nothing really awe-inspiring. The plant is cool, but not quite as impressive as the hype had led me to believe. Anyway, the show was definitely enjoyable, but just not as ... spectacular ... perhaps, as I had been hoping for.
As for stage door, a few fun experiences. I got to talk to Norbert Leo Butz at Wicked, who was really sweet, and even posed for a picture 3 times, since my camera wasn't working. Idina Menzel and I talked about green nail polish. Hugh Jackman looked into my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to ask for a picture with Douglas - I really don't need another one. But I did get one with Hunter Foster instead, whom I was going to tell that I saw him as Rum Tum Tugger 10 years ago, but when I was in front of him, I suddenly got afraid that I was wrong, so I didn't mention it. But of course it was him. :-)
Other than that, we had fun doing other things - good food (Soup Nazi, Thai, Chinese, Sbarros, etc.), my special walking tour of Midtown, and several crowded hours at the Culture Club with a Boy George impersonator and drunk frat boys hitting on us. We didn't get to Harlem (we were actually nearly 2 hours late getting into the city due to high winds), but did pretty much everything else we'd planned on.
I'm ready to go back already. :-) But I'll wait until the spring, once Bombay Dreams is open. I'm seeing Scaramouche Jones next weekend, and then I think there's no more theatre until April! How will I stand it??
And one non-theatre related thought - Alexei Yagudin is coaching Brian Joubert now! Ce serait parfait!

November 13, 2003
For something different - an audio entry!

November 11, 2003
And the time keeps flying by - only 44 more days until Christmas!
Today was Remembrance Day, of course, but I had to work - I think it's really an outrage that it's not a statutory holiday in Ontario. My grandfather marched in his town, but it was only him and one other veteran. Apparently there are still two World War I veterans living in Toronto though - considering that the war ended 85 years ago, that's pretty impressive!
Laurie and Jeremy left today. I had a good time with them here! Laurie gave me "Bowling for Columbine" for my birthday, which I have been wanting to see forever, and it was worth the wait. I thought it raised a lot of really good points. Zorana tells me that she is a fan of Michael Moore, but then turns around and says that she likes George W. Bush as well. I don't see how that can be. :-)
Tomorrow we have a party at a law firm (in their new office), then Thursday I am going shopping with a girl from work to help her pick out skates, and then Friday morning Susan and I are off to New York! It looks like I will only get to see 3 shows instead of 4, so I am likely going to cut either The Boy from Oz or Taboo - whichever one is harder to get tickets for. I *really* want to see Wicked, but I think I'm going to have to try for the lottery, so cross your fingers for me that it works out. Little Shop is just regular rush, so I'll just show up very early to ensure my seats. :-) We're also planning on doing a self-guided walking tour of midtown and Harlem, plus going to an '80s club on Saturday night. I'm hoping to meet up with many of my friends from the Livent/Pimpernel days, which would be really fun too!
Alias was fantastic this week. And I also got to see Alexei Yagudin's farewell skate at the Skate Canada gala, and he cried, so I cried. :-) It was really touching. I hope he's happy in whatever he does next.
If I don't write again before New York, I'll update as soon as I get back!

November 6, 2003
Okay, a really short entry - I've been working on the photo album for WAY too long, and my eyes aren't functioning properly anymore. So check it out and let me know what you think!
There are only 49 days until Christmas; hence, the new site design! And Susan and I are going to New York in a week, which is pretty crazy - I really haven't made any plans at all! I just *really* want to see Little Shop, and anything else we do will just be icing on the cake. :-)
Laurie and Jeremy arrive tomorrow! My cleaning is almost finished. Luckily they'll be arriving quite late, so I have most of the late afternoon/early evening to finish up!
In case you haven't seen it yet, check out my interview with Jesper!
Blah - I've got nothing to say, I'm just too tired. A real entry will have to wait for another day.

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