I just realized after eating the 3rd slice of Goldilocks Biscotti (biscotcho) that I ate in a matter of minutes whatever calories I've burned running for an hour (5 miles)! Yikes!
Oh well... You only get to live once...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Bumming Around
Why oh why do the days pass you by so quickly when you're on vacation? I cannot believe I'm already almost halfway through my vacation. Pleeeeeaaaassseeee, someone slow down the clock. I don't want to go back to work yet.
So, it's day number 8 of my 19 day vacation. Ever since we came back from LA, I have done absolutely nothing except bum around at home. Hehehehehe.... It feels great being able to say that.
I have tons of books in my to be read pile but I've only read one book so far. The Promise by Harlan Coben. It's a pretty good book. He sure knows how to keep you on the edge until the very end of the book. It's another one of those page turner books. I've started reading Deal Breaker still by Harlan Coben but I'm only into the first chapter of the book. I think I need to go to the bookstore and get one of those lovey dovey chick lit books that I dearly love.
I have about 6 weeks worth of Grey's Anatomy in my DVR. I've gone through several episodes but I still have about 2 more episodes to go. One of them is the season finale. It's been a pretty decent season so far.
Finally 24 season 6 is over. Well, this is the worst season. What can I say, 24 just sucked this year. It's a shame because season 5 was one of the best seasons that they had.
Aside from sleeping in till noon, I've been playing Puzzle Pirates. Check it out when you get a chance. My nick there is pretty obvious. It's an Ilonggo phrase which really is meant as a joke. :) I love the fact that I just need a mouse and sometimes 3 keys to play this game. Doesn't need a whole lot of thinking either so it's a good way to waste time.
Anyways... 11 more days of lazing around. I love it!
So, it's day number 8 of my 19 day vacation. Ever since we came back from LA, I have done absolutely nothing except bum around at home. Hehehehehe.... It feels great being able to say that.
I have tons of books in my to be read pile but I've only read one book so far. The Promise by Harlan Coben. It's a pretty good book. He sure knows how to keep you on the edge until the very end of the book. It's another one of those page turner books. I've started reading Deal Breaker still by Harlan Coben but I'm only into the first chapter of the book. I think I need to go to the bookstore and get one of those lovey dovey chick lit books that I dearly love.
I have about 6 weeks worth of Grey's Anatomy in my DVR. I've gone through several episodes but I still have about 2 more episodes to go. One of them is the season finale. It's been a pretty decent season so far.
Finally 24 season 6 is over. Well, this is the worst season. What can I say, 24 just sucked this year. It's a shame because season 5 was one of the best seasons that they had.
Aside from sleeping in till noon, I've been playing Puzzle Pirates. Check it out when you get a chance. My nick there is pretty obvious. It's an Ilonggo phrase which really is meant as a joke. :) I love the fact that I just need a mouse and sometimes 3 keys to play this game. Doesn't need a whole lot of thinking either so it's a good way to waste time.
Anyways... 11 more days of lazing around. I love it!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
My "Wicked" Birthday Weekend
I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday aside from spending it with Arvin and watching my favorite Broadway show -- Wicked. So, when the cast was announced for the LA Production in November and I found out that it was going to be Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty, I immediately got tickets to the show for my birthday.
Dropped Jack at the kennel last Thursday and then off we went to LA. We took the ultimate driving machine for a long drive as well on this trip. I drove part of the way. The car's too fast. I normally just go maybe around 75 mph to about 80ish max on the freeway. With this car, I think I went over 100 mph and was cruising along at an average 80 mph while watching out for the CHP -- I don't want to end up with a speeding ticket! The handling is awesome with this car. Clearly, it also has the power. Having a GPS navigation system in the car is great! We're not familiar with LA but we were able to go where we needed to go. It rerouted us based on the traffic conditions and when we took the wrong turn, it told us how to get back on track.
So last night, we went to see Wicked on my birthday. After the show, I was telling Arvin that I really really want to see Wicked from the front row. You can only sit there is you win the Wicked lottery -- you put in your name 2 hrs before the start of each show and they draw the winners. If you get picked, you can get up to 2 tickets for $25 each. Anyways, I think he knew how much I wanted to see the show from the front row so he agreed to go try the lottery today. We went and played the lottery for the matinee performance. Arvin's name got picked!!!! So we were able to get tickets for the front row today! I keep on telling him that he's my lucky charm. I've tried the Wicked lottery in New York so many times already and I have never won. He kept on telling me that I picked well. He gave me my heart's desire -- to watch Wicked from the front row and the big plus was Eden and Megan were the ones performing!
I'm going to focus more on today's show since I got to see it from the front row. Our seats were almost dead center on the front row. You had to look up a bit from were were were sitting since we were so close to the stage but it wasn't such a big deal. I can't explain how awesome it is to watch your favorite show with your favorite performers from the front row. I absolutely LOVED it! The cast in LA is so much better than the cast on Broadway. I really liked this cast a lot. They're all so talented. Eden was amazing! I absolutely love seeing her perform. She has the best facial expressions and she absolutely rocks when she's on stage. She knows how to suck you into the story and makes you feel how she feels when she's performing. I've seen so many shows and not a lot of performers can actually do that. Seeing her fly in Defying Gravity from where I was sitting was just breathtaking. That scene never fails to give me goosebumps. Megan was wonderful as well. She really knows how to work the crowd and her comedic timing is awesome. Eden and Megan are still my favorite duo in Wicked. I've seen the show so many times but I still got really teary eyed when they sang For Good. I could see how sad they both were while singing that song and they were even crying so what can I say, I got carried away.
As of today, I've seen Wicked 7 times and I have seen 15 shows this year (Wicked 3x). I'm probably going to skip Wicked for a while even if I end up in NY again soon. I'm not too thrilled with the current Broadway cast-- they pale in comparison with the LA cast. We'll see once the cast changes if there is a compelling reason for me to go watch the new cast. It's too bad I don't really get to go to LA for business. I would love to see the show again as long as Eden and Megan are still in it.
I'll never forget this birthday weekend. I really couldn't ask for anything more. It really meant a lot to me being able to see my favorite show with my favorite performers from the front row with Arvin.
Dropped Jack at the kennel last Thursday and then off we went to LA. We took the ultimate driving machine for a long drive as well on this trip. I drove part of the way. The car's too fast. I normally just go maybe around 75 mph to about 80ish max on the freeway. With this car, I think I went over 100 mph and was cruising along at an average 80 mph while watching out for the CHP -- I don't want to end up with a speeding ticket! The handling is awesome with this car. Clearly, it also has the power. Having a GPS navigation system in the car is great! We're not familiar with LA but we were able to go where we needed to go. It rerouted us based on the traffic conditions and when we took the wrong turn, it told us how to get back on track.
So last night, we went to see Wicked on my birthday. After the show, I was telling Arvin that I really really want to see Wicked from the front row. You can only sit there is you win the Wicked lottery -- you put in your name 2 hrs before the start of each show and they draw the winners. If you get picked, you can get up to 2 tickets for $25 each. Anyways, I think he knew how much I wanted to see the show from the front row so he agreed to go try the lottery today. We went and played the lottery for the matinee performance. Arvin's name got picked!!!! So we were able to get tickets for the front row today! I keep on telling him that he's my lucky charm. I've tried the Wicked lottery in New York so many times already and I have never won. He kept on telling me that I picked well. He gave me my heart's desire -- to watch Wicked from the front row and the big plus was Eden and Megan were the ones performing!
I'm going to focus more on today's show since I got to see it from the front row. Our seats were almost dead center on the front row. You had to look up a bit from were were were sitting since we were so close to the stage but it wasn't such a big deal. I can't explain how awesome it is to watch your favorite show with your favorite performers from the front row. I absolutely LOVED it! The cast in LA is so much better than the cast on Broadway. I really liked this cast a lot. They're all so talented. Eden was amazing! I absolutely love seeing her perform. She has the best facial expressions and she absolutely rocks when she's on stage. She knows how to suck you into the story and makes you feel how she feels when she's performing. I've seen so many shows and not a lot of performers can actually do that. Seeing her fly in Defying Gravity from where I was sitting was just breathtaking. That scene never fails to give me goosebumps. Megan was wonderful as well. She really knows how to work the crowd and her comedic timing is awesome. Eden and Megan are still my favorite duo in Wicked. I've seen the show so many times but I still got really teary eyed when they sang For Good. I could see how sad they both were while singing that song and they were even crying so what can I say, I got carried away.
As of today, I've seen Wicked 7 times and I have seen 15 shows this year (Wicked 3x). I'm probably going to skip Wicked for a while even if I end up in NY again soon. I'm not too thrilled with the current Broadway cast-- they pale in comparison with the LA cast. We'll see once the cast changes if there is a compelling reason for me to go watch the new cast. It's too bad I don't really get to go to LA for business. I would love to see the show again as long as Eden and Megan are still in it.
I'll never forget this birthday weekend. I really couldn't ask for anything more. It really meant a lot to me being able to see my favorite show with my favorite performers from the front row with Arvin.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
I'm Officially Off for 19 Days!
Yessirreeee..... I am off work for 19 days! I don't go back to work till June 4th. :)
I never had the chance to actually take any time off last year so a lot of my vacation days got carried over to this year. I was only planning to take off maybe about a week but I've been feeling so tired and I just wanted to get away from it all for a while.
What to do? What to do? Well, you just have to come back and read about what I've actually been doing. I'm sure it'll involve a lot of sleeping. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :)
I never had the chance to actually take any time off last year so a lot of my vacation days got carried over to this year. I was only planning to take off maybe about a week but I've been feeling so tired and I just wanted to get away from it all for a while.
What to do? What to do? Well, you just have to come back and read about what I've actually been doing. I'm sure it'll involve a lot of sleeping. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :)
Saturday, May 12, 2007
NY Trip 4 Show Quota
I was in NY last week and I went to see 4 shows. If a lot of the theatres weren't dark (no shows) on Monday's, I probably would've seen 5 shows. Oh well, I shouldn't be complaining when I got to see 4 shows right?
Tuesday (5/8/2007): Les Miserables
The only reason I actually went to see this show was because Lea Salonga is in it and currently playing the fole of Fantine. She's in it for something like 15 minutes in Act 1 then comes back in maybe the last 5 minutes of the show in Act 2.
This was the first time that I've actually seen Les Mis. I know most of the songs (Surprise! Surprise!) in the show. The cast was pretty good. I really don't understand all the hype and when people start raving about it and telling me that is is such a great show and it's their favorite show-- well, I've come into a conclusion that people say that because it is such a popular show and a lot of people have heard about it. It is such a depressing show about the French revolution and almost everyone dies in the end. Not really my type of show. Well, I guess you won't see me blogging about it again in the near future unless one of my favorites actresses/actors are in it and I'd watch it for the sake of seeing them perform. If ever I go watch it again and non of my favorite actors/actresses are in it, that means, I went to watch it while I'm on Vicodin or Valium.
Wednesday (5/9/2007): Wicked
Did you think I'd ever go to NY and not watch Wicked? Well, it depends... I didn't get to see it during my last trip. Anyways, one of our vendors gave me free tickets to the show. Who am I to refuse them? What can I say, I'm weak. ;)
Julia Murney is now playing the role of Elphaba. She's a really good actress. I love how she delivers her lines. Very good singer as well. I liked how she portrayed the role. However, I still prefer Eden's singing. Eden's a more powerful singer than Julia. Don't get me wrong. Julia's a good singer however when she pushes her voice like in the money song Defying Gravity, her voice starts cracking.
As for Glinda. It's currently played by Kendra Kassenbaum (sp?). I really didn't care much for her portrayal of Glinda. I thought it was weak. Well, I may be a little bit biased because I so love Megan Hilty as Glinda. I thought Kendra's delivery of her lines were kind of rushed and a lot of the humor in the best lines got lost.
I still think the show is worth seeing with the current cast. If it's your first time seeing the show, you'd still be wowed with it. I think the problem with me is I've seen it with a better cast so I would be comparing the cast with the ones that I've seen in the past.
Thursday: 110 in the Shade
This has got to be my favorite show on this trip. It's a limited engagement show and I really wanted to watch it since I wanted to see Audra McDonald perform.
It's not difficult to figure out why Audra has won 4 Tonys. She is just amazing. When she sings, she makes you feel what she feels. I love the sound of her voice. You could really hear in her style of singing that she's a classically trained singer. Her voice is so beautiful and so clear.
The show's story is about a spinster who is looking for companionship and love. It is based on an old movie. I think the movie is called The Rainmaker.
Friday: LoveMusik
I really should avoid musica revues. They're just not my thing. This show is more of a musical revue of the works of Kurt Weil (composer) and the relationship between him and his wife. The performers were wonderful however, the book was weak. In several areas, it just dragged on and on. This is the second time I've seen Michael Cerveris. The first time was in Sweeney Todd. In that show, he was talking with an English accent. I had a hard time understanding him. In this show, he was talking with a German accent and it was soooo hard to understand what he was saying. Note to self, only go watch Michael Cerveris if he is talking with an American accent.
The story was forgettable, the songs were also forgettable but I still don't regret watching it. The only thing I regretted is that my time was so limited that I should've gone and watched something else that I would've liked a lot better. But then again, the problem is, I've seen so many shows that I really am running out of shows to watch on Broadway. They don't make shows as fast as I am watching them! ;)
Tuesday (5/8/2007): Les Miserables
The only reason I actually went to see this show was because Lea Salonga is in it and currently playing the fole of Fantine. She's in it for something like 15 minutes in Act 1 then comes back in maybe the last 5 minutes of the show in Act 2.
This was the first time that I've actually seen Les Mis. I know most of the songs (Surprise! Surprise!) in the show. The cast was pretty good. I really don't understand all the hype and when people start raving about it and telling me that is is such a great show and it's their favorite show-- well, I've come into a conclusion that people say that because it is such a popular show and a lot of people have heard about it. It is such a depressing show about the French revolution and almost everyone dies in the end. Not really my type of show. Well, I guess you won't see me blogging about it again in the near future unless one of my favorites actresses/actors are in it and I'd watch it for the sake of seeing them perform. If ever I go watch it again and non of my favorite actors/actresses are in it, that means, I went to watch it while I'm on Vicodin or Valium.
Wednesday (5/9/2007): Wicked
Did you think I'd ever go to NY and not watch Wicked? Well, it depends... I didn't get to see it during my last trip. Anyways, one of our vendors gave me free tickets to the show. Who am I to refuse them? What can I say, I'm weak. ;)
Julia Murney is now playing the role of Elphaba. She's a really good actress. I love how she delivers her lines. Very good singer as well. I liked how she portrayed the role. However, I still prefer Eden's singing. Eden's a more powerful singer than Julia. Don't get me wrong. Julia's a good singer however when she pushes her voice like in the money song Defying Gravity, her voice starts cracking.
As for Glinda. It's currently played by Kendra Kassenbaum (sp?). I really didn't care much for her portrayal of Glinda. I thought it was weak. Well, I may be a little bit biased because I so love Megan Hilty as Glinda. I thought Kendra's delivery of her lines were kind of rushed and a lot of the humor in the best lines got lost.
I still think the show is worth seeing with the current cast. If it's your first time seeing the show, you'd still be wowed with it. I think the problem with me is I've seen it with a better cast so I would be comparing the cast with the ones that I've seen in the past.
Thursday: 110 in the Shade
This has got to be my favorite show on this trip. It's a limited engagement show and I really wanted to watch it since I wanted to see Audra McDonald perform.
It's not difficult to figure out why Audra has won 4 Tonys. She is just amazing. When she sings, she makes you feel what she feels. I love the sound of her voice. You could really hear in her style of singing that she's a classically trained singer. Her voice is so beautiful and so clear.
The show's story is about a spinster who is looking for companionship and love. It is based on an old movie. I think the movie is called The Rainmaker.
Friday: LoveMusik
I really should avoid musica revues. They're just not my thing. This show is more of a musical revue of the works of Kurt Weil (composer) and the relationship between him and his wife. The performers were wonderful however, the book was weak. In several areas, it just dragged on and on. This is the second time I've seen Michael Cerveris. The first time was in Sweeney Todd. In that show, he was talking with an English accent. I had a hard time understanding him. In this show, he was talking with a German accent and it was soooo hard to understand what he was saying. Note to self, only go watch Michael Cerveris if he is talking with an American accent.
The story was forgettable, the songs were also forgettable but I still don't regret watching it. The only thing I regretted is that my time was so limited that I should've gone and watched something else that I would've liked a lot better. But then again, the problem is, I've seen so many shows that I really am running out of shows to watch on Broadway. They don't make shows as fast as I am watching them! ;)
It's been a while
Oh wow... It's been 2 months since my last blog. I didn't realize it until I actually saw the date of my last blog.
Anyways, I've really been busy. Lots of things going on and so little time.
Let's see, let me go through a quick recap of what has happened in the past 2 months.
* Bought my dream car -- yep, the ultimate driving machine! :)
* Been to Houston twice already. At least the weather was still nice when I went there.
* I'm at the New York JFK airport right now waiting for my flight back to SF.
* As of last night, I've officially seen 13 shows this year (and it's only May)! ;) I saw 4 shows this week. Will be blogging about those too.
* My priority date is finally current for my GC so hopefully my travel documents arrive pretty soon so that I can go home in time for Peace's wedding.
* I've finally decided to take close to 3 weeks off from work starting on Wednesday.
* I've ran 330 miles (528 kilometers) since I got my Nike+ gadget.
* I've signed up to run the SF half marathon (13.1 miles/21 kilometers) in July.
* I won the lottery and got an entry to run the Nike Women's half marathon in October. Yup, I want that Tiffany necklace that they give out to runners.
*I finally got talked into using a mac at work by my boss. So, I'm using a MacBook Pro (15 in). So far, I've been pleased with it. The battery life kind of sucks though. Can't get me through the SF-NY/NY-SF trip or even the SF-HOU/HOU-SF trip.
* I have not been reading much lately so my to be read pile at home is growing. Yeah, I still get the books but I'm not reading them as fast as I get them.
* I've seen Wicked 5 times already. Well, it'll be the 6th time on my birthday next week.
Arvin's doing well. Jack's getting bigger. He now thinks he's the homeowner. Such a spoiled dog! The tank is doing well too.
-Carmila
Anyways, I've really been busy. Lots of things going on and so little time.
Let's see, let me go through a quick recap of what has happened in the past 2 months.
* Bought my dream car -- yep, the ultimate driving machine! :)
* Been to Houston twice already. At least the weather was still nice when I went there.
* I'm at the New York JFK airport right now waiting for my flight back to SF.
* As of last night, I've officially seen 13 shows this year (and it's only May)! ;) I saw 4 shows this week. Will be blogging about those too.
* My priority date is finally current for my GC so hopefully my travel documents arrive pretty soon so that I can go home in time for Peace's wedding.
* I've finally decided to take close to 3 weeks off from work starting on Wednesday.
* I've ran 330 miles (528 kilometers) since I got my Nike+ gadget.
* I've signed up to run the SF half marathon (13.1 miles/21 kilometers) in July.
* I won the lottery and got an entry to run the Nike Women's half marathon in October. Yup, I want that Tiffany necklace that they give out to runners.
*I finally got talked into using a mac at work by my boss. So, I'm using a MacBook Pro (15 in). So far, I've been pleased with it. The battery life kind of sucks though. Can't get me through the SF-NY/NY-SF trip or even the SF-HOU/HOU-SF trip.
* I have not been reading much lately so my to be read pile at home is growing. Yeah, I still get the books but I'm not reading them as fast as I get them.
* I've seen Wicked 5 times already. Well, it'll be the 6th time on my birthday next week.
Arvin's doing well. Jack's getting bigger. He now thinks he's the homeowner. Such a spoiled dog! The tank is doing well too.
-Carmila
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