Romeo and Juliet

Last night, Julie and I went to the ballet. I have season tickets and have enjoyed Swan Lake, The Little Mermaid (my favorite -- I love her fishy movements) and, last night, Romeo and Juliet. We started the evening with a light meal at Samovar at the adorable corner of Page and Laguna. (I love the tea-food pairing.) After the show, we had a lovely dessert at Beretta, which (take note!) serves food until 1 am every night of the week.

But back to Romeo and Juliet...my friend Julie, a trained ballerina (Julliard, no less), said she had seen duets she'd liked better, but never duets with more passion expressed through them. I was sucked in when they danced, completely believing their love affair without words expressing it. I love visiting real estate open homes because you get a peak into people's lives. I will look in windows and watch their residents' private lives if given the opportunity. These duets felt like something real, like we were watching a private expression of how the two felt about each other. The dancers were really good actors.

Well, no, apparently not.

After the final bow, someone handed Davit Karapetyan (Romeo, from Yerevan, Armenia) a microphone. He thanked the audience, the orchestra, the cast, and then he proceeded to get down on one knee and propose marriage to Vanessa Zahorian (Juliet, from Allentown, PA). She nodded yes, and he placed a ring on her finger. (I, for one, was losing my body's moisture quickly through my eyes.) It was without a doubt the most authentically romantic thing I have ever seen in my life.

The MAPP

A couple weekends ago, I had the magnificent joy to attend the MAPP, the Mission Arts & Performance Project, a bi-monthly, multidisciplinary, intercultural community arts event that takes place in the South-East neighborhood of the Mission District. It's my second favorite thing that happens in San Francisco all year round (first is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass). I'm not going to review our entire evening (fulled with Secret Gardens, soulful music, dancing, poetry about politics...), I'm just going to show you this photo I took of some of Carl Pisaturo incredibly cool robotic sculptures. Always a hit!

MAPP/Carl Pisaturo

A few weeks back, Kathy, Lindsey and I went to the Mission Arts and Performance Project (MAPP) which puts arts on the street level in alternative spaces like garages, basements and studios in block party form. We went to a series of venues, many crowded and closed by the time we got there, but we hit the jackpot at Area 2881 where Carl Pisaturo's robotic performance and kinetic sculptures blew our minds.

Pink Weekends

I've been super busy lately which leaves me little time for my usual Deep Thoughts. Last weekend, for example, my gallery party was Friday night. Then, I was on the water for a very long day on Saturday. Saturday night, we cooked dinner and passed out. My friends went out Saturday night to see one of our favorite bands. Sleeping late at least one weekend morning is important to me; that was Sunday.

I get up at 6 on workdays. So, I can't very well go out with my friends to hear music (for example) on school nights. But live music cleanses my soul and makes my life worth living. On the other hand, so does sailing... and hiking... and riding my bike. With only 2 weekend days and only so much energy, which do I choose?

It seems a cryin' shame to have to choose. It's not as easy as deciding that Friday we go out. Saturday I sleep in. Sunday I do something active and outdoors all day. The band I want to see isn't always playing on Friday night. And the cruise I want to do isn't always planned for Sunday; they're usually planned for Saturday in fact. I only have so much control over when the things I want to do take place. So, I strike a constant balance, every week, weighing my options.

Speaking of striking a balance, I noticed something on the cruise on saturday about sailing club women. They wear a lot of pink. I wear a lot of pink too. I mentioned this to my fellow sailors (all men) and Mark suggested that it was compensation. It's a male dominated sport (like most), but maybe there's more to it than that....

Malu said:
"...after many years of teaching I notice that men and women have some differences in how we tend to do things in boats. We have a lot to learn from one another. One chief difference is that women have to think about how we're going to do things a little more beforehand because we save energy this way.

"Men have longer torsos & more upper body strength, women have longer legs & less muscle mass. If a woman wants to do something physically demanding in a boat requiring upper body strength, she'll expend less energy if she uses the right body mechanics. Would you like to learn to do a man overboard retrieval in 3 easy steps with almost no effort?

"You could call it being lazy, I call it being clever."

Another form of compensation? Perhaps. Maybe there's a reason for the pink. For now, I just like it.

Aphrodesia

Aphrodesia returns to Afrobeat roots, Eric K. Arnold, Monday, January 7, 2008

Danielle's partner Henry plays with Aphrodesia. Kristin and I were at this show and may or may not be shown in the photo. We danced 'til we dropped!

Winterfest

Every year, the SF Bike Coalition throws an awesome holiday party. For the last 3 years, I helped with the silent auction. This year, my dear friend Brian was my date.

I love the photo booth. Here are the rest of them.

La Vie en Rose

A couple weeks ago, KT came over to catch up. We had a mellow but delicious dinner chez moi. She mentioned that she'd recently seen La Vie en Rose, and the adventures of Edith Piaf and her best gal pal reminded her of us. After dinner, we headed over to Luna Park for dessert and a cocktail.
We were about to call it a night, when I suggested we take a look at Medjool bc she'd never been there. The roof bar is kinda cool. There we met random guy (whose name I remember, but I don't want to open that door. I didn't realize Medjool is such a pick up joint). Random guy bought us drinks, called me inauthentic, spun me around, and then moved on to other chicks.
As KT would say, Life is Absurd.