The Alaska Experience

So far, so good. Really. Despite the small issues with my housing (no hot water at times, now, no heat), I am having fun. Rehearsals are going well, despite our extremely special rehearsal space (unfinished office space, complete with a dirty wooden subfloor, construction materials and dust like no tomorrow).

The weather has been surprisingly kind - only 2 snows, and one of them was super-light. The temperatures only recently dipped into the 20s, and we've all now brought out the heavy parkas we'd expected to be wearing straight off the plane. No temperatures near zero or sub-zero yet... amazingly, Anchorage has been warmer than a majority of places in the Lower 48 so far.

Sunsets and sunrises, when revealed from the cloud cover we've had over the last few days, are gorgeous, if short-lived. Daylight begins around 9 or 9:30 and ends around 4:30-5:00.

Here's a smattering of pictures that I've taken so far.











More can be found at my flickr photostream.

I'd hoped for a more beautifully written post, but my internet access is maddeningly sporadic and sometimes it's all I can do to send out the rehearsal report and schedule. Look for more regular blog posts to occur when we move to the theatre (soon) or when I return to the Lower 48.

Happy List, Week 9

1. Ponds Dry Skin Cream. Anchorage has been cruel to my skin and my normal skincare regimen just wasn't keeping up. Thankfully my face now no longer feels like sandpaper.

2. My Polartecs - because now that my apartment has no heat, they're with me 24-7.

3. The fuzzy green blanket on the bed in my room. This blanket is uber-warm and keeps me warm in a 65 degree apartment.

4. ABS brakes. I've been doing pretty well driving on ice and snow, but every so often, I misjudge slightly and the ABS brakes kick in. Mind you, I'm kind of driving around like a grandmother, so this is pretty impressive that the ABS kicks in when you're driving sub-speed limit. Native Anchorage folk must hate my driving, but tough... I'm driving a rental car.

5. The chinook that blew in prior to our arrival. Despite the ice hazards it created, it hasn't been near 0° yet, and it's a nice transition to Alaska weather.

Not much more here on the Happy List... it's been a long week and I've got a whole other post on the Alaska Experience, complete with pictures, coming up.

Happy List, Week 8

Better late than never, right? This week ran away from me with adjusting to a new locale, 3 hour time change, lack of daylight and spotty internet.

1. Puffs Plus with Lotion. Thanks to Houston's complete lack of winter, I've been overly friendly with the kleenex box for the last few days. If it weren't for the lotion, I'm sure I'd resemble Rudolph even more than I do now.

2. West Wing. I completed my series marathon of West Wing this weekend. Can i say (yet again) how much I love this show? The last several episodes were wonderful and this show made me cry twice for a good actor who died unexpectedly. Once for the episode where everyone found out (pt 2 of election day) and the episode where they laid him to rest.

3. Good, no great actors. I'm talking mostly of the West Wing cast, but this goes for many of my other favorites. What I found out while watching the West Wing is that many of the actors were friends prior to working together. You can act all you want but some chemisry you just can't fake. Way to go on great actors making tv worth watching!

4. My plane trip to Alaska for having such beautiful shots out the window to help compensate for the extremely long flight.

5. The gentleman who is my host proxy here who picked me up and got me settled in. A very kind man - who offered to start grocery shopping for me because of the inclement (icy) weather.

6. My host who has provided me with a lovely place to stay while here in Anchorage.

7. Alaska for having beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

A little more than 5 but not quite 10. Still trying to adjust to the 3 hour time change, and the lack of daylight. Photos and more to come, hopefully.

Awesome Neighbors!

It all started when LMB wanted to celebrate her last night (for two months) in Houston. I met CS & RM that night, among other new Opera folk. That night, when I got home, I thought I saw two people who looked a lot like them. I told myself that I was imagining things.

Then last night, I passed RM in the parking lot, and again, had the distinct feeling I'd met him before but didn't say anything. Because again, I wasn't quite sure.

This morning (afternoon?) I went to take the trash out and met RM on the walkway outside my apartment. Correction, our apartments. Not only were they in fact who I thought they were, they're my next door neighbors. I mean, what are the chances???

So tonight, along with another Opera friend, we all hung out at Dance Town Bingo and had a great time. The bingo calling is a bit slow, but if you go to chat with your friends, it's a lot of fun.

I'm excited to know more people here in Houston and to have awesome neighbors. And to top it off, they also have an awesome and adorable pup!

But there's also a slightly related story. My friend and I had dinner at the Spanish restaurant right next door to the Bingo Hall. As it turned out, a majority of the menu was in Spanish. And apparently our waitress spoke only Spanish. I had to drag out my extremely rusty Spanish from college and thankfully got by. I'd say I understood 75-80% of what she said.

But the best part of it all was noticed after we'd started eating:



Yes, those plates are definitely from Chinatown and have CHINESE writing on them!

Funny, eh?

This night totally makes up for some recently not-so-great nights. And it makes me look forward to coming back here in February.

Happy List, Week 7

As always, in no particular order.

1. Puffs Plus with Lotion. Thanks to Houston's complete lack of winter, I've been overly friendly with the kleenex box for the last few days. If it weren't for the lotion, I'm sure I'd resemble Rudolph even more than I do now.

2. West Wing. I completed my series marathon of West Wing this weekend. Can i say (yet again) how much I love this show? The last several episodes were wonderful and this show made me cry twice for a good actor who died unexpectedly. Once for the episode where everyone found out (pt 2 of election day) and the episode where they laid him to rest.

3. Good, no great actors. I'm talking mostly of the West Wing cast, but this goes for many of my other favorites. What I found out while watching the West Wing is that many of the actors were friends prior to working together. You can act all you want but some chemisry you just can't fake. Way to go on great actors making tv worth watching!

4. Krogers for having pretty darn good sushi for being from the grocery store.

5. Eddie Bauer for making so many warm pieces of clothing that have helped warm this poor soul as Houston makes an attempt at winter weather which still hasn't quashed my allergy problem.

Yes, welcome to the shorter version until I have more happy things. Right now, I'm feeling pretty darn miserable thanks to the ever-blooming Houston. Here's to hoping that the meds will help.

Random Thoughts

Really random ramblings.

Including kudos to the late Heath Ledger for winning a posthumous Golden Globe. So very well-deserved. If you haven't seen it already, you should. A chilling performance.

I'm down to less than a week to go before traveling to the Arctic, and Houston has decided to make a preview of what's to come by being unseasonably chilly.

I finally got to participate in a meetup with a flickr group that I'm a part of: Assignment Houston. This month's meetup was at the Houston Zoo and while a chilly day, an enjoyable one.

Here's a few highlights:







Look, Jonathan the Lion sleeps like Tommy the Cairn Terrier:

Happy List, Week 6

Whoops, my Monday came and went without the list. Here it is, again in no particular order.

1. Yale Street Arts Market. It was a little bit disappointing in size, but I was told that it's usually much bigger. But what was there was pretty good and it was worth the visit and the return visit the next time I'm able.

2. Pretty jewelry at a reasonable price. I like pretty jewelry, I like original jewelry and I like jewelry that doesn't break the bank or come even close to it.

3. Youtube.com for having the most random things on it... including a video of the closing credits of the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour with the old theme music. The older, better theme. Back when TV themes were composed of good music and not crap. I grew up listening to it, and youtube helped me with my nostalgia.

4. Houston Camera Co-Op for being a) nearby, b) being staffed with knowledgeable people, c) for having what I thought I wanted and for having what I really wanted, d) for being reasonably priced.

5. Tamrac for making a camera bag that didn't look like a camera bag. For making a bag that looked how I wanted it and still held all the equipment that I wanted to carry.

That's actually my list for the week. I never pledged on the length of the list, simply that it must be published weekly. It hasn't been the worst week, but it hasn't been the greatest week and I'm having to stretch to find things that I'm 'happy' about.