Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Busy Thursday

On Thursday I saw The Intern with Bev.  It was enjoyable in a rather predictable way.  Robert De Niro was in fine form, playing a character who half the time is just observing. (Someone said that's the acid test for an actor.) In one scene he sat at his desk on his first day on the job waiting for something to do, and Bev said she knew that feeling.

Afterward we had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Serra.  I had spaghetti bolognese. (Maybe I should have tried something more imaginative.)

Then I went to the Victory Cafe for the History Discussion Group.  We discussed Roland Wright's A History of Progress, and seven people showed up!  Unfortunately, the place was a bit too loud, and  Margo suggested the Schnitzel Hub for the next event.  She noticed that I wasn't talking much, but to me it's a good sign when a Meetup group gets less dependent on its organizer:  it's getting a life of its own!

Sunday was the Classic Book Club, where we discussed the works of Poe.  It turned out that there were two Central American women there! (One was from Costa Rica, the other from Honduras.)

Monday night choir practice was a non-starter because the room with the piano was undergoing sprinkler renovation. (It was supposed to happen about ten days ago.) But we sang "Angels We Have Heard on High" a capella and ate pizza, which I didn't stay for.

At opera rehearsal tonight we did the line "Uno scudo veramente?  Piu brav'uom non si up dar!" It reminded me of the bit in Sesame Street where thirty squares got rolled out and there was always something irregular.  Adolfo said we had to do it with urgency, and I thought of the skit where the shifty salesman in the trench coat tried to sell something to Ernie.  He's whisper, "It'll only cost you a nickel," and Ernie would shout "A nickel?!" before being shushed.  That's the spirit we need.

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